#the TVA is definitely covering something up though

[noodlecupcakeswritings]

A Second Chance - Chapter 11 (LokiXOC)

After the snap and losing her husband, Raven tries to settle on New Asgard with Thor and Valkyrie. But even after losing Loki twice before this time around doesn’t make it any easier. Until a variant of Loki shows up looking for her. Could this be the second chance they both need?  

Warnings: A little fluff, A lot of feels, A lil angst, Language, A lil sexual tension 

Chapter 11

Loki

A few days passed and Ginger was sleeping with Raven each night, curled up by her feet or on the other pillow. I couldn’t deny I was jealous of both of them. It would have been nice for Ginger to choose to sleep at my feet some nights. But I suppose he was still getting used to me and his surroundings. Raven had made him feel safe, so of course, he was going to be at her heels constantly. And I was jealous of Ginger for being able to sleep in the same bed as Raven whilst I was still bound to the couch. She didn’t even let me see her in her pyjamas, always making sure she was fully dressed and covered.

Thankfully, today she was begrudgingly taking the day off, mainly because Valkyrie had pestered her too. Raven hadn’t taken a single day off since I had arrived, so it would be nice to spend the entire day with her. I had questions I wanted to ask her, and I felt ready to tell her more about my timeline if she were willing to listen. Maybe I could even convince her to give me a tour of the village, considering I’d stayed in the cottage, mostly. Anytime I’d been outside had been with her, but I had yet to fully explore New Asgard.

Getting up from the couch, I folded away the blankets and straightened the cushions before starting my morning routine in the bathroom. By the time I was showered and dressed, Raven was awake. Hopefully, she wouldn’t turn down the offer of breakfast this morning, considering we were on better terms now. “Morning,” she greeted. “Good morning,” I replied, “breakfast?” “Sure. I’ll just have some toast, though.” Toast was better than nothing, considering I knew how terrible her eating habits could be. And at least she had faith in me to make something as simple as toast.

Raven sorted Ginger’s breakfast before sitting at the table ready for her own. Sitting opposite her, I took a bite of my toast. I noticed that she didn’t look as tired this morning, meaning she must have slept through the night for once. Raven getting decent sleep and having an appetite was always a good sign. “So, what did you want to do today?” I asked. “No idea. This is the first day off I’ve probably had in months. What about you? Any ideas?” “I was thinking maybe you could show me around New Asgard, seeing as I haven’t really explored it yet. I didn’t want to make the other Asgardians uncomfortable with my presence.”

She seemed to understand what I meant by that. With their Loki being dead and me suddenly appearing, some of them would definitely question it. Some might even assume it was a horrible prank by the Loki from their timeline. “Sure, I can show you around,” Raven agreed. Once we finished eating, Raven insisted on doing the washing up, as I had made breakfast. I ended up getting a little close for comfort, having to squeeze past her and the table to put the plates back. At our close proximity, Raven and I both paused.

I could have easily leaned in and kissed her, and I wanted to. But I knew that would likely result in her slapping me. Or I was at least ninety-five percent sure of that. Raven broke the tension by sidestepping me and putting her shoes and coat on. Once both of us were ready, we exited the cottage, and I let Raven lead the way. She led us down the path and into the village centre. She made sure to point out the town hall and library, as that’s where I would be able to find Valkyrie half the time. “So how did you and Valkyrie meet?” I asked.

I knew how. I’d watched plenty of tapes that the TVA had on Raven’s timeline, but if it got a conversation started, I didn’t mind hearing the story again. “Well, we didn't have much time to talk when she first showed up. We were fighting off Hela’s minions and trying to get as many people off Asgard as possible. It wasn’t until after that, we finally got a chance to talk. It’s weird how tragedy somehow brings people together,” Raven explained. I suppose she had a point. While I hadn’t experienced togetherness quite on her level, my own tragedy had led me to Mobius.

I hated to admit it, but a part of me actually missed him. “Judging by the look you gave her the night you arrived, you didn’t have a Valkyrie in your timeline?” Raven asked. “I don’t know. If I had been allowed to continue my timeline, I may have had a Valkyrie.” “You said the TVA arrested you for killing Thanos. Why? I don’t quite understand why they would arrest you for doing something that would benefit everyone.” “So, according to them, I ventured off the path that had been set for me. I was never meant to kill Thanos. They called it crimes against the sacred timeline. Once I had been arrested, I’m assuming a clean-up crew stepped in and reset the timeline. So, Thanos essentially got away with everything.”

Raven turned to me, frowning, but there was sympathy in her eyes. “So, they just let him go ahead with his plan and take out half of the galaxy?” She asked, clearly frustrated. “Yes. According to them, everything happens for a reason. I did stab the man that told me that.” The man deserved it after telling me that my wife had died for a reason. Raven became visibly irritated, as if she couldn’t believe the audacity of these people. I had the same feeling to begin with.

“I guess it’s a good thing I won’t be meeting them anytime soon because we both know that saying is bullshit,” Raven replied. I could imagine Raven giving Miss Minutes a piece of her mind and the thought made me smile softly. Raven and I stopped for lunch before continuing the tour. It wasn’t until sunset that we reached the last stop. Raven led me up to a lookout point, overlooking the entire village. It was quiet up here, peaceful even. One thing that had been playing on my mind was when Thor was due to return and whether he would want me here. I imagined he wouldn’t be pleased to see me after everything that happened between him and my counterpart.

“Can I ask where Thor is? As far as I’m aware, he’s still alive in this timeline, right?” I asked hesitantly. Raven could see how anxious I was with my question and offered a soft smile. “He’s with the rest of the Avengers trying to undo what Thanos did. He’s been gone for months and none of us have heard from him.” “Valkyrie mentioned he wasn’t doing well when he was here last.” “Yeah, he was blaming himself for not stopping Thanos when he had the chance. He thought it was his fault that Thanos succeeded. After losing Asgard, his parents and you, having that thought process really didn’t help him. I’d never seen him depressed before, he’d probably never experienced depression before either, so he spiralled hard.”

Now that I understood the situation a bit better, I had more sympathy for him and understood why he needed the care Raven and Valkyrie had offered him. “And there’s no telling him when he’ll be back?” I asked. “No.” There was a slight sadness in her tone. Obviously, she was worried about him and not knowing made it all the worse. “Do you think he’ll want me here?” Raven turned to me, “Loki, you have no idea how happy he’ll be to see you again.”

That filled me with a sense of relief, a glimmer of hope that when we did meet, it would go well. I admittedly regretted the way things had turned out between Thor and I in my timeline. I’d been so blind in my hatred for Odin that I had taken it out on the person who had always had my back. It made me think back to the last time we had seen each other, on the rooftop of Stark Tower. How he’d still been willing to try to get through to me, to see the good in me. I wish I’d given it all up at that moment and fought by his side instead.

With no forewarning, rain began to fall. Using my magic, I conjured an umbrella; glad it hadn’t failed me at that moment. My magic had still been patchy after leaving the TVA; some days, I wondered if it would ever fully return. I shifted closer to Raven so she would also be shielded from the rain, our shoulders touching. We glanced at each other as if to see if the other was okay with the touch. Raven smiled softly before turning her attention back to the village below. “Do you ever wish for thunder? Just to know that he’s all right? That he’s still out there somewhere?” I asked. “All the time.”

Taglist: @jana-banana-fana, @fictionaljunkie, @kittyofalltrades, @ozymdias​, @n3rdybirdee​

#Loki #loki fic #loki fanfic #loki fanfiction #loki feels #loki fluff #loki au #lokixoc #loki smut #loki angst #Marvel #Marvel fic #marvel fanfic #marvel fanfiction #marvel feels #marvel fluff #marvel smut #marvel angst #marvel au #mcu

[i-have-zero-chill]

It’s kinda hard to tell where the show is going with Loki and Mobius at this point, but I wouldn’t be surprised if something is revealed about the TVA or the time keepers that cause Mobius to lose his faith in what he’s doing and make him question everything. Even though he tells Loki he cares more about what is rather than worrying about what to believe, finding out that the everything is a lie would probably change his view. Something about the way he asked Ravonna how the time keepers were doing and pointed out that he’s never met them just made me think he starting to question things, even if it’s subconsciously.

The main thing we know about Mobius so far is that he’s confident in the purpose of his existence. The reason he’s okay with all the bureaucracy and secrecy is because he knows he’s working for the good of the universe. But if something were to shatter that? If it turns out that the TVA is involved in something shady? I don’t think he would just keep doing their bidding. He’s already been shown to be more of a free thinker than everyone else working there, it just hasn’t caused any problems until now. I could definitely see him teaming up with Loki to stop whatever nefarious thing the TVA might be involved in.

#Loki #lokius #mobius #text post #meta: Loki #I acknowledge that Mobius could also be shady #this is just a possible theory #the TVA is definitely covering something up though

[delyth88]

Loki series first reaction

So, yeah, spoilers.

*sits at her desk to type*

…

…

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

Things I liked:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Things I wasn’t so keen on:

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

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

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

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

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

Other thoughts:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

[trashmenofmarvel]

Always Will Be - Ch 10

Pairing: Loki x TVA Agent!Reader

Series Warnings (18+ Only): Eventual Smut, Slow Burn, Violence, Time Shenanigans, Enemies to Friends to Lovers

Chapter Summary: A new nexus event occurs, in a place you don't expect, with a tall demigod you aren't prepared to face.

AO3

The debriefing with Mobius was surprisingly, well… brief.

As soon as you entered his office and he waved you to his desk, you began your report, mostly with the emphasis that Loki’s lies were to be expected and that this was no reason to terminate him.

“I agree.”

“—and therefore, if you would give me a chance to…”

You trailed off.

“What?”

“I happen to agree with you.” Mobius leaned forward, clasping his hands in front of him on his desk. “Loki plays games, that’s what he does. If he hadn’t tried to betray you, then I would have gotten worried. Would mean he has a bigger scheme in mind. But no. His efforts to trick you were pathetic at best. He’s a scared little boy grasping at straws because he doesn’t know what he wants.”

Your jaw popped shut.

“That’s… a very astute observation.”

“Thanks. It’s almost as if I’ve been chasing these guys for longer than you’ve existed.” He softened the words with a gentle smile. “Come on, Chanterelle, relax a little. You’re doing great. Keep an eye on him, don’t fall for his little games, and you’ll be just fine. That being said.”

He wiggled his eyebrows and offered a mischievous grin.

“If he gives you any trouble, feel free to give him an ass-whoopin’.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Good.” He leaned back in his plush, high-backed office chair, weariness settling on him like a shroud. “I hate to say it, but in order to catch this killer, we’re going to need your Lokis help. You think he’s ready to do that? To actually give a damn about something other than himself?”

You thought back to your recent confrontation with the demigod, mainly shoving him against the wall to get your point across. His response to the whole thing had been very unusual. There hadn’t been any anger, any royal indignation. Instead, he’d been, well… frustratingly civil.

“Maybe,” you allowed. “Maybe not. I’ve definitely made progress.”

“That’s what I like to hear.” Mobius took out a folder and opened it, mind already focused on his next task. “You’re dismissed, Agent. Keep up the good work. And remember what I said about that ass-whoopin’. Have a feeling a new case will be coming up soon, and we need him to take this seriously.”

“Yes, sir.”

He raised his eyes from his paperwork, fixing you with an amused stare.

“Where’d you learn to be so stuffy? Certainly didn’t get it from me.”

Your shoulders loosened and you returned his smile, though it wasn’t nearly as full as his.

“Sorry. I just… want this all to be over with.”

His own smile faded, his own sadness at so many souls lost slipping through.

“Me too, kid. Me too.”

After the meeting, you went in search of Laufeyson, but he wasn’t in the last place you’d accosted him. That was fine. You were tired and needed sleep, not to mention a break from the variant’s ego and vanity. He was draining, and you would have to recharge before facing him again.

Your room was small, modest, and sparse. Easy to keep clean and had everything you needed, including your plain twin bed with white and beige sheets. You barely got dressed into your pajamas before falling into bed, asleep soon after your head hit the pillow.

You opened your eyes to the sound of screams, the stench of acrid smoke, and the pain of two hands wrapped around your biceps, dragging you up a set of modern-looking stairs. They would have been quite luxurious if it hadn’t been for the flickering floorboard lights and the layer of dust covering everything.

Your captors were difficult to focus on, but their limbs were distorted and their features terrifying. They weren’t human, whatever they were, further proven by the clicks and small, angry screeches that came from their mouths filled with too many teeth.

Finally, after years of climbing those horrible steps, you were dragged through a door into bright sunlight. The setting sun was colored bloodred through the rising smoke of the city, cast into the room without the barrier of glass. The walled windows lay sprinkled on the marble floor, the opulent penthouse marred with battle.

You struggled, but your tennis shoes slid across the polished floor, unable to find purchase. You were led to a dais where a tall man stood, armored in dark green and muted gold, and you knew, you just knew, you had to get away.

He spoke before you arrived, his voice low and sharp, though it appeared he was having a conversation with the air.

“I care not for Lord Thanos’ impatience. I have earned this glorious victory, and it is I who shall bask in my achievement. His Majesty has waited this long, he can wait a little longer.”

The creatures came to a stop and one of them clicked his maw in its detestable language, and the man turned—oh, he wasn’t a man at all. It was him. The one they said was a god, come from some other world to rule all of humanity.

He didn’t look like a god. He simply looked angry.

“Go,” he snapped at the beasts. “Leave her.”

They released you, and you didn’t move, frozen under that withering gaze. The god drew his eyes up and down your body, his displeasure turning into something else. Curiosity.

He took a step towards you. Your fear broke through, unfreezing your limbs heavy with shock, and you bolted.

A steel grip snatched you by the arm—Jesus, he was fast—and spun you around, hauling you up onto the dais. You trembled, body aching with excursion as your frantic mind tried to understand how you’d come to be here. How all of this had happened.

The god let go of your arm and grabbed you by the jaw, the expanse of his hand easily encompassing it. His cold eyes dove into yours, searching them for something, his lips pulled into an unpleasant, sharp smile. Your hopes of escape were braced between those pearly white teeth.

“You’re mine.”

His voice was smoother than expected, low and pleasant as it tickled up your spine. You really were certain he would devour you, and that too felt familiar.

“You’ll always be mine. Don’t forget that.”

He squeezed your jaw harder as he pulled you forward, and his lips claimed yours. His kiss was just as aggressive as his anger, as hardened as his battle armor, and as cold as the wind swirling through the open air.

Despite covered in ash, soot, and most likely blood, despite having been terrorized and dragged here against your will, his lips pulled from you a quiet sigh. This was somehow familiar, somehow right, and though you couldn’t explain it, this was where you belonged—

Cold ripped through you, tore into you like a winter storm, your breath blown away on the wind. The god pulled back, the smile was gone, and his eyes shiny with regret. He still held you close, even as he slid the dagger out from your side, warm blood spilling out to chase away the blade’s freezing touch.

“I had to,” he choked in apology. His eyes brimmed with tears, and you watched in distant amazement as one slid down his cheek. “I had no choice. I never do. Don’t you see? Free will is a lie.”

He pulled you into his arms, the strength having vanished from your limbs, and he spoke gently into your hair, the words haunting as they chased you down into the darkness.

“Don’t you see we’ve been here before? It’s our destiny to lose.”

You bolted upright, clutching your racing heart as you fought to catch your breath, wincing at the blaring noise next to your head. You fumbled at the nightstand and picked up your TemPad, blinking at the blocky readout on the screen.

ALERT: NEW NEXUS EVENT DETECTED. LOCATION: ASGARD. CRITICAL. REPORT TO DEPARTURE GATE 4.

“Shit.” You dropped the TemPad on your bed and raced around your room, pulling on clothing and stumbling as you continued to curse. “Shit. Shit.”

Asgard. That could only mean one thing: it was definitely the Loki you were looking for, and he was about to make his big move.

Too focused on rushing out the door and trying to locate Laufeyson, you pushed the strange dream to the back of your mind. You’d had odd dreams before, ones you didn’t share with your colleagues because you had the inexplicable feeling that none of them had dreams like that, if they had them at all. It was better to set this one aside for now and dissect it later.

After all, it was no mystery where and when it had taken place. The lush but destroyed penthouse was Stark’s, caused during the Battle of New York, though in this version of events, it appears Laufeyson had won.

Again, you shoved the dream aside, harder this time. You couldn’t allow the distraction and needed to shake the very real, very vivid pain of the dagger sliding between your rips. You shivered as you entered the bullpen where your desk was located.

No Loki there.

You checked the scenic walkways with a view over the city. You searched the time theater where you’d conducted your interview. You even peeked into Mobius’ office, confident that he’d already gone to investigate the nexus event.

Nothing. No sign of a mischievous demigod.

Panic as well as foreboding gripped your throat until you heard a familiar derisive laugh as you entered the commissary.

Laufeyson sat on one of the dining tables, a foot propped up on a plastic chair, a small crowd of TVA agents gathered around him.

Well, perhaps gathered wasn’t the right word. They were in the middle of their meals, wide-eyed and helpless expressions all around as if they didn’t know what to do. Laufeyson had decided to regale them of tales, perhaps true, of his glory days. A captive audience if there ever was one, most of the clerks and assistants too polite to excuse themselves from the tall figure with the wolfish grin.

And then he met your eye. The dream rushed back to you. You couldn’t breathe for the span of a heartbeat, reliving the gentle warmth on your lips and biting cold at your ribcage.

Laufeyson blinked and his expression brightened, and he gave a little wave, his grin wide and annoying. You shook it off.

When his grin grew wider as you grew close, you had no problem grabbing him by the sleeve and dragging him off the table, making a beeline for the direction of the Departure Gates, ignoring his small huffs of indignation.

“So long, fellow TVA employees!” he called back to the commissary. “I shall recount the tale of the bilgesnipe I released into Thor’s chambers another time!”

“That story isn’t nearly as interesting as you make it out to be,” you grumbled, and nearly lost your footing when Laufeyson started to walk beside you instead of needing to be dragged.

“Of course it is,” he said, plunging his hands into his pockets. “It’s a legend adored by everyone, especially children and simpletons.”

You sent him a glare and he put up a hand, adding, “That wasn’t an insult. I quite enjoy simpletons.”

The glare did not lessen.

“You let loose a bilgesnipe into Thor’s room,” you said, “and he didn’t even notice the destruction or the beast afterwards because his room was already a huge mess. That’s the event.”

Laufeyson opened his mouth, shut it, and frowned.

“Wake up on the wrong side of the bed, Agent?”

Your expression deepened into a scowl. You didn’t have the time or patience for his antics right now, not when you might actually catch your killer with this next mission.

“We happen to have a nexus event, one where we shall find the even more evil version of you, and you would know this if you’d been paying attention to the pager we gave you.”

“Oh, this ancient thing?” He unclipped the black, square device from his belt, turning it over in his long fingers. “I turned it off. It annoyed me.”

“Ugh,” was your only response as you turned the corner, the Departure Gate thrumming to life before you.

You held onto his elbow as you went through, belatedly realizing as the crackle of electricity and time displacement ran over your skin, that you’d forgotten to tell Laufeyson exactly where and when you were going.

You both emerged out the other side, a team of soldiers standing guard, Hunter B-15 close by. And hunched over a dead Einherjar soldier, you spotted the silver hair of your boss, already on the scene.

You tried to move forward, but the elbow you were holding didn’t bunch an inch. Laufeyson was staring upward, eyes widen and jaw slack as he took in the golden arches and gilded columns of the Royal Palace of Valaskjalf of Asgard.

Laufeyson’s former home.

There was no time to see if he could adjust to his new settings; Mobius was already on his feet, his features furrowed into investigator mode.

“Lots of bodies but no sign of our variant yet,” he said, mouth pulled into a grim line. He glanced at the variant beside you, curiosity narrowing his eyes, but he didn’t comment on Laufeyson’s sudden, uncharacteristic silence.

“Should we split up and search?”

“It’s a risk,” Mobius said. “Not just from the variant. We’re in the middle of the Asgardian Palace. Anybody we run into is likely to be a little pissed we’re here. You know, stab-first, ask-questions-later kind of deal.”

You frowned, taking in the scene before you. Five Einherjar lay dead, though you couldn’t see any obvious wounds. Typically, the variant left evidence of a short sword as his weapon of choice, and something tugged at the back of your thoughts.

“Maybe we should—”

“I can lead you to him.”

You turned on Laufeyson and crossed your arms.

“I can,” he insisted, his smile long gone. “I grew up in the palace, I know it as well as anyone. Better, actually. There are hidden passages and corridors that no one in living memory would know.”

“Except for you,” Mobius added, his eyes still fixed in that dubious way.

“Except for me.”

Laufeyson met his glare without mirth or amusement.

“Do you wish to find this variant or not? I can help you. That’s why I’m here.”

Mobius turned his attention on you, brows raised.

You hated to admit it, but Laufeyson had a point.

“I’ll go with him,” you told your boss. Or, more accurately, placated him. He wouldn’t be happy you were going off with Laufeyson alone. “If we find anything, I’ll let you know.”

His deepening frown informed you that you were correct.

“Don’t go too far,” he warned. “Last thing we need is to red line in a place like this.”

“Yes, sir.”

You turned away, making sure the tall demigod was at your side. He was, and not looking particularly happy.

“Chanterelle?”

You paused and half-turned to your boss, catching the baton he tossed your way. His lips were pulled into a wry smile.

“Make sure he behaves.”

“I think he’ll be just fine.” You met Laufeyson’s eye, your words a warning rather than an affirmation. “You’re going to be on your best behavior, won’t you, partner?”

Something flashed across his features, too quick to catch, and then he graced you with a wide grin.

“I’m always on my best behavior, Agent.”

You rolled your eyes and shot Mobius a look, and he returned it with just as much wry humor. You guided Laufeyson away with a hand on the small of his back, leading him away from the scene of the carnage.

“So,” you said, “where should we start looking?”

“If the variant were me, and he is, I’d be heading the Odin’s Vault. Lots of treasure in there to sell if I was in need of gold, not to mention the artifacts that can be used as powerful weaponry.”

You nodded, it made sense. But when he guided you down a golden hall you knew led away from the Vault, you slowed your pace.

“Where are you going? The Vault’s that way.”

“Yes,” he allowed, fixing you a look over his shoulder. “That’s the long way. This way is a shortcut.”

Frowning, you quickly caught up to him, peering ahead into the massive room opening before you. Wonder and awe swept over you despite your best efforts as you slowed, turning in a circle to gather in the magnificence of the Royal Palace library. Seeing it in a life record was one thing, it was entirely another to stand in the buttery warm sunlight as it streamed in through the glass dome, surrounded by towering shelves on several levels, the smell of old tomes and parchment giving the space an air of ancient secrets and forgotten knowledge.

You turned to Laufeyson, a faint smile still on your face, and then it faded. You looked left, then right, then behind you. You even went to the nearest row of shelves and leaned around the corner.

Laufeyson was gone.

“Damnit!”

You covered your mouth, the curse echoing off the marble floors, but silence followed.

“Damnit,” you repeated at a more reasonable level. “Damn you, Loki Laufeyson.”

You pulled out your TemPad to warn Mobius that your variant was on the loose, and the soldiers should not prune him, by accident or otherwise.

Your wrist was seized by a hand with long fingers, the forearms covered in loose green sleeves.

Your head jerked up, the blood draining from your head to your feet.

“You curse my name,” he said in a low purr, “but I don’t believe we’ve been acquainted.”

Before you stood Laufeyson, just not your Laufeyson. His resplendent robes went to his calves, a dark shade of forest green trimmed in gold thread, and his dark hair was slicked back, reaching just past his shoulders.

Your throat worked but no words came out, and he continued to hold your wrist as he appraised you with eyes the shade of ice.

“Hmm.” He tapped his chin thoughtfully. “Not what I was expecting, but you shall do.”

There was a hunger to his gaze, a predatory glean that had you attempting to yank your arm back to your chest. Laufeyson’s hold remained fast.

“Oh, I don’t think so, my dear.” His smile was wide and sharklike. “It took too much careful planning for you to ruin it now. How did you like my present? I left them where they could be easily found.”

Your thoughts churned, struggling to catch up, and something snapped into place, stealing your breath.

“You… you killed the Einherjar? Why?”

“Because it wasn’t supposed to be.” He lowered your arm to your side but still kept a tight grip. “And when things are out of place, that’s when the puppet masters behind the curtains make their appearance.”

He tilted his head, eyes once again roving over your body.

“I thought the time-manipulators would be garbed in something a bit more… impressive, but one must work with what they’re given.”

This wasn’t the variant you’d be searching for. This had been a trap set by another variant, one that somehow knew about the TVA.

The TVA was in danger.

Mobius was in danger.

“Now,” he squeezed your wrist painfully,” give me your fascinating little device, and I will—”

A switch flipped. Something unlocked within your unconscious, a cold presence that forced its way through your mind.

You twisted your arm away so hard your bones popped out place, the joint dislocated, but you didn’t pause. The baton crashed across his face, knocking the demigod back on his heels.

His amused expression vanished, replaced by a vicious snarl. You lashed out again, striking him across the shoulder, then upwards into his chin, and when he was off balance again, you flipped the baton around and shoved the glowing edge against his chest.

At the point of contact, his body was engulfed in a multicolored fire of nothingness, his body becoming undone. He had just enough time to give you a look of pure fear before there was nothing left but glittering sparks falling to the floor.

You remained there for a moment, arm outstretched, muscles trembling and locked, until your body unfroze, and you stumbled. You cried out and dropped the TemPad, your wrist stiff and throbbing with agony.

Panicked, you looked around the library, but you were alone. Alone, because you’d pruned the Loki. Brutally, efficiently, and completely without intention.

You stared down at your baton, grip now shaking where it had been firm a moment ago. Your body had been a stranger to you, as if someone else had reached inside your skin and taken over. It hadn’t been you doing those things. You couldn’t have. Never in your existence had you ever fought like that before.

Only Hunters fought with that level of violence and brutality.

#loki #loki x reader #tva loki #always will be #wolveria writes #new tag because of apple shenanigans

[worstloki]

Can I just add, how deeply manipulative it was for Mobius to discredit the validity of the Nine Realms as something divine and important, because Loki was legitimately unnerved, and disturbed by *what turned out to be the more pleasant cover story* origin and operations of the TVA.

the way Mobius talks about how the TVA fills in the role Loki had applied to the Nine Realms was one great way to get him to work with them though yeah it was a bit cruel :')

but also take note that LOKI didn't bring any mystical belief aspects into it. That was Mobius, after Loki started asking questions about his heavily-propaganda'd belief and what made his version of things real. Which works well on the idea of theology in my opinion.

Loki: Three magic lizards...

Mobius: Time-Keepers.

Loki: ...created the TVA and everyone in it...

Mobius: Right.

Loki: ...including you?

Mobius: Including me.

Loki: Every time I start to admire your intelligence, you say something like that.

Mobius: Okay, who created you, Loki?

Loki: A Frost Giant of Jotunheim.

Mobius: And who raised you?

Loki: Odin of Asgard.

Mobius: Odin, God of the Heavens. Asgard, mystical realm, beyond the stars. Frost Giants. Listen to yourself...

Loki: It's not the same. It's completely different.

Mobius: No. It's not the same. It's exactly the same thing.

Loki only referring to names and planets while Mobius was the one to bring in mythological aspects of divinity was certainly........a choice, especially because Marvel itself was insistent on the Not Gods, Just Aliens That Humans Looked Up To side of things before.

A theme I liked that the first two episodes had going on was free will/choice, and it's because Loki in Episode 2, in this conversation especially, was bringing up legitimate questions about the TVA. He even calls them out on their propaganda and sanitizing rhetoric at the start of episode 2.

So then after Loki's entire spiel about how if he wins it'd be because it's his choice and he simply believes he has some glorious purpose (a belief that gets shattered after he watches his death at Thanos' hand, you'd think??) they go on to the above conversation about beliefs, and Mobius justifies his own faith in the TVA with

"it's real because I believe it's real"

right after saying

"Because if you think too hard about where any of us came from, who we truly are, it sounds kinda ridiculous, existence is chaos, nothing makes any sense, so we try to make some sense of it... And I'm just lucky that the chaos I emerged into gave me all this... My own glorious purpose."

It doesn't just explicitly mirror Loki's own previous explanations (which Mobius did back in episode 1 too! What a hypocrite!) but the conversation leads us onto questions which DO become significant later in the show.

The fact that Loki's role in the narrative is significantly reduced after this episode drops the themes with his involvement almost entirely and fails to revive them in the final episode when Kang reveals that everything since he was pulled out of the Sacred Timeline was also predestined to happen in favour of Sylvie's revenge narrative and being frustrated with her own 'reality' of being insignificant.

It follows the theme of "It never stops," in regards to higher powers after the Time Keepers being fake is supposed to be a surprise until the moment it does stop (Kang saying he no longer knows what will happen) and Loki's "then who created the TVA?" leaves the end of the show at "it never stops" again.

I think setting up such major themes only to fail exploring them at more than surface level was definitely a way the show lost potential, but it clearly tried to establish good concepts.

#I really wanted something like Those Who Sit Above In Shadow to show up to disprove that at some point #but nope #just Kang #and the TVA actually *is* in charge to our knowledge so far :) #the Loki show #loki spoilers #loki show spoilers #they REALLY should've explored the entire 'choice' topic with the other Lokis #I appreciated that Classic Loki CHOSE to isolate himself after escaping but they didn't consider alternatives exactly #Kid Loki killing Thor for example also wasn't elaborated on #I feel we can assume that was unintentional though so going into 'choice' on that would also be cool #the show really Did Things when it started focusing on Sylvie instead because it meant episode 3 being filler/romance plot and new themes #and general topics like fate v free will are cool and you can always find meaning in them but like. doesn't feel the show tried to followup #focusing on Sylvie's revenge plot would've been better if Loki got to at least pretend he was smart as the show progressed

[vidavalor]

"You're my favorite" is a dialogue callback & a major hint as to what's up with Mobius

Let's talk about Mobius, Ravonna, the drink rings, the pen, the trophies, and "you're my favorite" because I don't think the clues are leading towards Mobius being a villain or a clone or a Loki... but they are leading towards him being a lot more *like* Loki than maybe we realized at the start... meta/analysis under the cut

Mobius is not a villain. The set of scenes meant to really underline this fact are when we see him sneak off to the library with Ravonna's Tempad to watch the Hunter C-20 video and see for himself that his suspicions that Loki was right about the agents being variants is true. If he were a villain, he would have already known this. That said... there are some clues that there *is* something that Mobius already knew and let's look at what those clues are and just what Mobius may be up to.

Mobius is something that Ravonna and the TVA need-- he's smart, inquisitive and a good leader. Their problem with that is he is smart, inquisitive and a good leader. That makes him a bit dangerous should he get too close to the truth. Other agents love him and might be more likely to follow him if he told them they were being lied to so that can't ever happen. On the other hand, it's far easier to "fix" someone that's broken by TVA definition than to just outright destroy it because good analysts don't grow on trees. That other agent who collected the other half of the trophies in Ravonna's office? The one who left drink rings on her table that overlap (in a Mobius loop-like pattern) with Mobius' own? That was the dude whose name is literally his name *twice over*-- Mobius himself. That is why there is no other analyst for Mobius to have ever bumped into in the hallway or been introduced to. Now, think about how Mobius must have thought about this other analyst. Like, a *lot*...

Mobius likes his puzzle and his ears are sharp, too. He brings up the other analyst to Ravonna in conversation, keeping it light, to watch what she says about this person. The more vague she is, the more he realizes that what he's beginning to suspect is likely true. He jokes with her to cover up that he's beginning to understand what's happened and what does he say? He jokes that he hopes that he's her *favorite*, a line of dialogue that he uses when hugging Loki and looking at another version of Loki in Sylvie. What does this mean? It means that while Mobius didn't know that all the agents are variants who were kidnapped from their timelines until Loki told him-- and we know that's the case because we saw him steal Ravonna's Temppad to watch the proof of it that he needed to see for it to be true, even if it was clear that he believed Loki when he was told of it-- Mobius *did* know something already at the start of the show: he knew that he had been reset.

He knew he was not the first version of Mobius that had existed.

That first version was the man he couldn't remember, who had gone on other TVA missions and collected half the stuff in Ravonna's office and had whole other conversations with her where he left other drink rings and that person was just gone now to him. This? Is one of the reasons why he's so empathetic towards Loki and bends over backwards so much to give Loki another chance at being the person he wants to be-- because Mobius himself has been doing that too, in secret. He probably blames Ravonna more than the TVA as a whole at that point-- he turns on the TVA more after he discovers that the agents are all variants-- but it's also why he's willing to take more risks and do things like bring Loki in to help because he identifies with him. Mobius has figured out that he was Ravonna's other agent but he knows that if he ever said that aloud or led Ravonna to think that he had realized it, she would reset him again or prune him and Mobius doesn't want to die. Ravonna tests him frequently with that pen, in particular-- it's either tied to who Mobius was in his timeline or it's something he brought back from before he was reset. She's looking for any signs that Mobius has remembered any of the resetting or any of his life from before. Mobius pretends that he doesn't but he does remember who he was before he was reset into who he is now-- at least enough to know that he was reset in the first place.

Another clue to this? When he rescues Loki from the judge in the courtroom, he's saving him from undergoing the same fate he previously did. There are only two options that we saw-- don't take a ticket (and so prove that you are not pliable and of no use to the TVA) and you get pruned to The Void. Take a ticket (and so prove that you have potential to follow orders) and the judge sentences you and then you get "reset"-- have your memories wiped & be turned into a TVA agent. That was about to happen to Loki when Mobius ran in but look at what Mobius said to him about it. Loki asked if he was taking him somewhere to kill him and Mobius said no, that that's where Loki just was. But think about that for a second-- it was clear that Loki had passed enough of the ticket test that he wasn't going to get pruned to The Void.

If Mobius at that point thought, like most do, that pruning = death, then Mobius would know that Loki had already saved himself from that by taking the ticket. So what is the "death" that Loki would have faced instead, if Mobius hadn't saved him? Mobius knows now what it is because he knows it happened to him before. He saved Loki from having his memory wiped and this version of himself from being killed by the TVA. Just as he's giving Loki another chance to embrace the moment and be whoever he wants to be, Mobius is also trying to do the same thing for himself. Whoever he was is gone now, in some ways, and Mobius can't even remember the missions he went on before, the trophies he brought back to the woman who killed who he was before and made him yet another version of himself. He struggles with what it is to be *him*-- an individual in the midst of similar copies-- and to have an identity of his own... just like Loki does.

Then, Loki uncovers the truth about the TVA from Sylvie and tells Mobius that all the analysts are variants-- that they were people kidnapped from their timelines to serve in the TVA-- and while Mobius does seek out the proof (and I think he also just is trying to figure out what happened to poor C-20, now realizing that she knew before the rest of them did), he believes Loki enough to seek out that proof. He instantly doesn't trust Ravonna. For a man who has spent his whole life (as far as he knows) in service to the TVA and its mission, it's a huge leap, even if he suspects Loki to be correct. The reason why he believed him so readily is because he already had reason to distrust Ravonna and the TVA brass because he already had figured out that he had been reset.

It's also possible that B-15 was also reset alongside Mobius, namely because she works with him all the time and might begin to notice that he wasn't remembering their previous missions. If there is anybody in the TVA that Mobius might have told about his suspicions that he was reset, it might be her and she could have been helping him. (For instance, who is it that tells Loki that he *has to take a ticket* in no uncertain terms? Why does B-15 care if he does or doesn't? What was it to her if they pruned Loki at that point? He was just another variant. Unless Mobius, whom she trusts and is her friend, told her to do everything she could to keep Loki alive in there long enough for him to get there.) So, there's a slight possibility that B-15 knows she and Mobius were reset but I also think he probably didn't tell anybody and if B-15 was helping Loki in the courtroom, it was just because Mobius asked her to.

Which means that Mobius has been wanting to fuck with the TVA a bit-- or at least annoy Ravonna-- for awhile, hence his willingness to go traipse around with Loki. His whole of the word "favorite" though is more loaded than it seems. When he says it with Ravonna, it's a dry joke only he really gets. He's flirty, he's joking with her that he hopes that she likes him more than this other analyst guy who is bringing back these other trophies for her. He makes it sound like a romantic rivalry between him and her other time-hopping Indiana Jones. Mobius at this point *knows that other analyst is himself* when he's saying this but he can't let her know that he knows, so he pretends it's a whole other person, and not a previous sense of himself that she has tried to erase and reset into a version of himself that he wants. Worse, Ravonna *never answers him*-- she never tells Mobius that he is her favorite. She talks about their friendship being uncommon and keeps trying to gaslight Mobius into believing that they have a thing between them that is exclusive to them when Mobius knows damn right well that she had him mind-murdered and he can't trust her. So, even this reset version of Mobius gets the run-around from cold fish Ravonna.

So, when Mobius is then in a moment where he's saying goodbye to the god he loves who is on a paralleling journey to his own, in terms of trying to be the best version of himself he can be with the single chance he has left, he says "you're my favorite" in such a way that while he is saying it, in a whisper, to the Loki in his arms, he's looking at Sylvie when he says it and that's intentional. He respects Sylvie, whose end goal isn't to do harm so much as to free the imprisoned and whose determination to that end is freeing Mobius more than he had previously thought possible, and he loves Loki-- and he's determined to not have them feel what he feels with Ravonna. He wants them to know they are both good as they are, that they can be their own selves and don't need to be more than just the best versions of themselves that they can be. Ravonna makes multiple copies of Mobius and tries to strip him of his sense of self and he's been fighting back quietly, recognizing the same type of fight in all of the Lokis that he meets, taking in their various issues with stride because he just admires all of it and feels a kinship to it. Telling Loki and Sylvie "you're my favorite" is a way of giving them what he hasn't had for himself, which is a sense that he's fine the way he is and he's loved and enough and who he is as a person-- the same traits that make him a good agent-- are not inherently subversive in a bad way or wrong... and if you read that last sentence and realized that Loki is then the perfect person to love Mobius, I agree. :)

#lokius #agent mobius #mobius #loki series #loki speculation #loki (marvel)

[lucywrites02]

Ch. 7: A new addition

Main Masterlist | The great escape Masterlist

<<beginning | <<prev | next>>

A/N: This chapter has a tiny bit of plot, but it's mostly about Loki and Sylvie bonding. Btw i really like this Sylvie. I wanted to make her mean und unlikable but she ended up being a babie. And Loki adopts her on the spot.

Pairing: (they/ them) Loki x gn! Reader

Word count: 1.4k

Warnings: reader has a mental breakdown

Series summary: You finally got the chance to escape the TVA but nothing ever goes according to plan when the god of mischief is around.

Chapter Summary: Loki and Sylvie have a talk. some things are still unclear, but the trickster decides to trust her. you wake up, confused and break down- the events of the last few months are getting to you once again and Sylvie sending you back to the bad place didn't help much.

Tag list: @twhiddlestonsstuff @dreamingyouth @xladyxfatex @castiels-majestic-wings @lokistan @cozy-the-overlord ​ @whatafuckingdumbass   @electroma89 ​ @dpaccione @silver-lupines @poetic-fiasco @lokitrashfan @weirdfangirl2416 @rorybutnotgilmore @the-emo-asgardian @wolfish-trickster @serpentargo @darkacademicfrom2021 @imnotrevealingmyname @nyx2021 @theaudacitytowrite @high-functioning-lokipath @i-beg-your-pardon-laufeyson @funsized-mimi @aliiiyyaaah @handmaiden-of-mischief @bouffantofdoom @mischief-siriusly-managed

“Let me get this straight,” Loki walked around the living room in circes, pinching the bridge of their nose in irritation. “I made you and gave you powers that are similar to mine and that’s why the TVA thinks you’re a Loki.”

“Something like that, yeah.” Sylvie fiddled nervously with the sleeves of her sweater. She was still kinda scared of Loki and didn’t want to piss him off. She heard what this guy was capable of. And she really valued her life.

“Am I like… your parent or something?” The god asked, carefully sitting on the couch trying not to wake you up.

“What? NO!” The woman exclaimed, shaking her head. “That would be weird, no. I don’t know who you are to me, but definitely NOT a father.”

“A parent.” The trickster corrected her.

“Yeah, you’re not.”

“Oh, no I meant- a parent as in not a father or mother. It’s more gender neutral, you know?” Loki explained and looked down at your still unconscious body. They put their hand on your head, gently massaging your scalp. Sylvie said you will wake up soon which eased Loki’s nerves a bit.

“I didn’t realize, sorry. I shouldn't have just assumed.”

“It’s okay, don’t worry,” the god assured her. “I’m actually both, sometimes neither. It varies from moment to moment.”

“Oh, that’s cool.” Sylvie said. The girl felt her stomach grumble and cringed at the sound it was making. She just wanted to steal some food and run away, but that didn’t go according to plan. She didn’t want to show Loki her discomfort, but the trickster wasn’t blind. Loki actually felt bad for Sylvie- the woman has been living on the run for way longer than you two. “I’m sorry,” The woman said, covering her abdomen with a hand as it was going to solve her problem, “For that and for using your friend.” She pointed at you, clearly ashamed of what she’s done. "And for breaking into your house. That was probably mean."

Thankfully, you’ve been moving a bit, which meant you were about to wake up any moment now. Loki hoped you wouldn't snore though. The trickster wouldn't be able to contain their laughter because let's face it- this situation was intense and there you were, snoring like a pig in front of a potential enemy.

“Stay here, I will get you something.” The trickster said and headed to the kitchen, leaving you alone with the stranger.

Sylvie could use this moment to escape- the TemPad was in her pocket. It would take a literal second to take it and run- but there was something inside her that desperately wanted to stay. Maybe you could help her find the time keepers? Or maybe years of isolation finally got to her and Sylvie’s need for any kind of human interaction was too strong to ignore anymore.

Loki wasn’t stupid and they woulnd’t leave you with an intruder. A copy of them was lurking in the corner of the room- hidden from anyone’s eyes and to attack if needed. The god didn’t trust that girl, but wanted to give her the benefit of the doubt. Maybe she wasn’t that bad after all.

-------

You woke up with a loud yawn. You stretched your body, making a noise similar to a dying pterodactyl and opened your eyes. That's where you noticed a woman sitting on an armchair not so far away from you. She smiled at you awkwardly and you stared at her dumbfounded. It was…. Strange. This girl definitely wasn't Loki, but her clothing was really similar to the ones that the intruder had on. You were slow right after waking up, but not stupid and even though it took you a minute you finally connected the dots.

“LOKI!” You screamed and stood up, still on the couch. Your friend barged into the living room with a plate in one hand and a bottle of juice in the other. How could they be so calm in a moment like this. Now that you thought of it, yelling wasn’t the best idea because your head hurt like a bitch.

“What’s wrong?! Are you okay?!?!” The god put down the food and took your face in their hands, examining it carefully. “How are you feeling?”

“I- I’m good?” Loki seemed to pay no attention to the girl sitting nearby, now munching on the sandwich they brought mere seconds ago. You had a feeling that you missed a lot. You opened your mouth to say something, but closed it immediately. Looking between Loki and the intruder you wondered if you were still dreaming.

The god realized what was wrong and laughed awkwardly. “Oh yes that,” They said and pointed at Sylvie who was now watching the two of you with her mouth full of bread. You had no idea what to do so you waved at her with a nervous smile on your face. She waved back. “I will explain everything to you, but first, are you sure you’re okay?”

“My head hurts but I will live.” You and Loki sat down again, still far away from your guest. “So…. what did I miss?”

“Oh right,” Loki pointed at the woman and continued, “This is Sylvie and she is the variant TVA was looking for all this time.”

“I’m sorry for enchanting you. I panicked.” The woman- Sylvie- said and took a sip of the orange juice you bought on your shopping trip yesterday.

“She wants to find the time keepers and destroy the TVA.” Loki added.

“And I am not a Loki” The girl chimed in.

“Yes, she was created by me. Not me-me, but a me from a different time line or reality… I’m still not sure how that works. Is it possible for different realities to coexist as long as they follow the flow of the sacred timeline? It’s all so confusing.” Your companion started babbling and you were even more confused than before.

“I wondered that, too!” Sylvie said.

“Hey, woah, wait a second.” You interrupted them, waving your hands around in hope they would stop. “I- I need a minute to process all of that!"

Loki and Sylvie fell silent, not expecting you to yell at them.

"I'm sorry guys, I'm just-" You put your head in your hands and took a deep breath. You felt a weight on your shoulder and moved your head up. Loki was kneeling right in front of you, their eyes full of worry. Your body might have been free, but your mind was still stuck in the loop of bad memories. You didn’t even notice when you started crying. The noise from the outside reminded you of the upcoming apocalypse and your anxiety only got worse because of that. There was still so much to do- get the TemPad from your bedroom, pack all of the food, the books, plants and then take Mr Ribbit with you. It was too much for you!

Loki called your name, but you were in your own bubble of misery and nothing could pull you out of it.

"Are they okay?" Sylvie asked, feeling bad for you. She wasn't the best at social interactions and had no idea what to do.

"Why would you do that?" You sobbed, not caring how awful you must have been looking. "Why would you send me back there?"

Loki put their arms around you and pulled you closer for a hug. Turning their head, the god looked at Sylvie. The woman didn't know what to say. 'I didn't mean to' would probably sound very insensitive and you clearly needed some comfort. Some of your memories were really sad and Sylvie wished she had never seen them. Because her magic wasn’t as advanced as Loki's, she had no control over what memories she can and can't see. Only random snippets of one's life.

"I'm so sorry." The girl said. Loki had no idea what caused your breakdown, but it had something to do with Sylvie’s enchantment- that's probably why the woman was apologizing. "I can't control it, you have to believe me." She turned to Loki, hoping they wouldn't get mad at her.

The god put you in their lap, gently rocking you from side to side and waiting for your tears to stop falling. They assumed Sylvie must have sent you to a very bad place and Loki wished they could do something to make you forget.

<<beginning | <<prev | next>>

A/N: The next few chapters are gonna be very... uhm... different

#loki x reader #the great escape #loki series #variant loki #loki x reader fluff #loki x reader angst #loki x y/n #loki x you #loki laufeyson x reader fluff #loki laufeyson imagine #loki laufeyson x reader angst #loki laufeyson fluff #loki laufeyson #loki adopts sylvie on spot because why not

[twh-news]

Tom Hiddleston, Owen Wilson, Kevin Feige & creative team talk Loki | The TVA, D.B. Cooper & the god of mischief

Loki is one of Marvel’s most complicated characters. He’s a hero, a villain, a frenemy, and everything in between, and starting Wednesday, June 9 on Disney+ his series kicks off with a brooding adventure that spans the timeline.

Avengers: End Game setup a chain of events that is likely going to be a big part of the next phase of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. In that film, Loki, played by the one and only Tom Hiddleston, picked up the Tesseract and vanished to parts unknown. Now, in Marvel’s Loki, we finally get to see what happened to him, and why the Time Variance Authority (TVA) are after him.

Just a hint though, it’s not good, and it’s going to lead to trouble.

As far as the TVA is concerned, it’s a massive organization, and no one there seems to be a fan of the god of mischief’s work. That includes Agent Mobius (Owen Wilson), Judge Ravonna Renslayer (Gugu Mbatha-Raw), and Hunter B-15 (Wunmi Mosaku), to name a few.

To launch the new series, the key cast, executive producer Kevin Feige, creator and lead writer Michael Waldron, and director Kate Herron sat down to chat about the who, what, when, where, and why of Loki. Read on for the story of how the team came together, and what to expect from the Marvel series.

So what was it like for Hiddleston when he realized he was going to get to play Loki again? As he admits, it was unexpected.

“[It was ] a combination of delight and surprise. I think it’s probably the accurate way of describing it,” Hiddleston said. “I was so excited by the idea and I also had to scratch my head a bit because that scene in Avengers: Infinity War had felt so conclusive as the end of Loki’s story.”

“But I knew that Avengers: End Game was coming around the corner. And in that scene, in that film, Loki picks up the Tesseract and disappears in a puff of smoke. And where does he go? When does he go? How does he get there? Kevin [Feige] and Louis d’Esposito and Victoria Alonso all reassured me that that would be the starting point of the series. And there were so many places we could go, so many possibilities to think about.”

“And in due course, everybody that you can see [points to the other cast and creators] jumped on and had so many brilliant ideas and created thi new show, which I think is really exciting and I’m happy to be doing it.”

For Kevin Feige, he suggested that they had the plan started for Loki while they were filming the last Avengers movie.

“I think we did not know it when we shot Infinity War, but I think we did know it when we shot End Game,” Feige said. “[That’s] my recollection of it.”

“What that meant and where that specifically would go, we didn’t know, but one of my favourite things coming out of End Game was people saying that we forgot to tie up the loose end of Loki. Loki just disappears. And we forgot to mention what happens to them at the end of that movie. And at that point, we did know that there was Disney+ coming in, and it became very exciting to make people wait until, we figured out what the show would be, and now, finally, two days from it being unveiled to the world is pretty cool.”

After the idea, came head writer Michael Waldron, and his plan for the story.

“I was just thinking Loki is D.B. Cooper. That’s all I was [thinking],” Waldron said. “I was so excited about that opportunity.”

“When I heard that it was going to be a series about Loki. It was already, you know, my favourite character in the MCU and it was going to have a time travel element. Just the opportunities for chaos and fun within that. Obviously it seemed like it would be a great time as writers, so I just went after it and started eliminating my enemies one by one, so I could try to get the job.”

Coming in to direct the series, Kate Herron said that she had a plan to get the job.

“I remember that I found out they were making the show and I told my agent to just call them every day until they caved and it worked,” Herron said. “I just was like, ‘just get me in the room, just get me in the room.'”

“So, yeah, consistency, I guess, and being a pain in the butt, got me the job.”

But there’s a lot more to it than that, as Feige, Hiddleston, and Waldron said. Herron helped shape the whole series.

“We knew we wanted to do a Tom Hiddleston Loki series,” Feige said. “We knew we wanted to have time travel elements. Our producer, Stephen Broussard, Kevin Wright, and I were always fans of this Time Variants Authority organization from the comics.”

“For years and years, we’ve loved the idea of it, but just didn’t know exactly what to do with it before Kevin and Stephen had the idea of putting it up as a major part of this show, but it’s really Kate’s meetings with us and her pitch that brought in all those references and allowed us to look at this in a slightly even different genre than we were anticipating.”

“So that’s my answer. Our inspiration was Kate and her and her pitch for this job.”

And then there’s MCU newcomers Owen Wilson, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, and Wunmi Mosaku. How did they feel about joining the universe of characters?

“Well, it’s exciting to be a part of it. You know, with seeing the trailers start to come out, and how excited people get,” Wilson said.

“I’ve kind of talked about how I worked on a lot of things, but the secrecy sort of surrounding this, I didn’t quite understand until I saw that it’s just so much, and the fan base is so revved up and passionate and Marvel’s just so committed to trying to surprise people. So then you kind of get into it.”

After that, he said he was definitely “walking on eggshells… because you’re not quite sure now if this happened in episode three or four, or one, or have they already seen it? And so I just tend to sort of fall back on ‘There’s some very shocking things that are going to happen.'”

For Judge Ravonna Renslaye, Mbatha-Raw has a lot of story in the comic books, but that didn’t necessary play a part in Loki.

“Well luckily or unluckily for me, Kate explained to me that this was sort of more of an origin story for Ravonna Renslayer, you know, sort of predating some of the stuff in the comics,” Mbatha-Raw said.

“So all that stuff is there, but there was also the opportunity to feel like we were starting with something fresh with the TVA that hadn’t been seen before by fans on screen. But there’s so much there that I feel like there’s plenty of potential for her in the future as well.”

On the other hand, Wunmi Mosaku plays a brand new character, made just for the series. So how did that impact her role?

“Yeah, no pressure because no one’s got any ideas of what they want her to be,” Mosaku said. “I can bring you who she is and you have to accept it, and that’s just as it is. And I kinda liked that because it does feel like a bit of pressure when you’re joining the MCU. It’s like, it’s the MCU and yeah, being able to just have like a clear slate and just do whatever I want to do with Kate and you know, it’s just, it’s great. It’s fun. It’s kind of free.”

Finally, what can you expect from Loki?

“Well, stylistically, I would say like me and my DP, Autumn [Durald], we were really inspired by a lot of film noir… and you can see that in our lighting and how we approached it. Seven is a very heavy influence. There’s a little reference to Seven in episode two, of a little needle drop, which I’m sure fans of that film will recognize instantly.”

For Waldron, he said “I think Fincher for sure… Zodiac and The Silence of the Lambs were two specific [influences] we were really looking at a lot in the writers’ room.”

There is a lot more to cover from the Loki press conference, so stay tuned for more with the cast and creative team throughout the week.

#loki #loki series #press conference #article #interview #tom hiddleston #owen wilson #kate herron #michael waldron #wunmi mosaku #gugu mbatha raw #kevin feige

[mxgilray]

Loki Season 1 Thoughts

Overall, I really liked this series. It has some issues without question, but I sincerely don't think it's the dumpster fire so many viewers on this site treat it as. Did it go how I expected? Not at all? Did I enjoy the heck out of it and look forward to it every Wednesday? Hell yeah!

Loki's Good Guy Personality

A big complaint many have had with it is how much Loki's demeanor has changed and how his emotional growth feels rushed or his personality is ooc. Truth is, he saw his entire future, saw what his angry, power hungry, I-work-alone persona would get him in the end, and it snapped him back to reality. He has always been shown to be quite emotional and craving attention and lacking in self assurance, it's just in the past movies he's masked it with violence and fake narcissism, and he's always been a secondary character so his perspective is rarely shown. But if you really pay attention it's obvious he isn't truly villainous; we all know that, it's largely why he has such a huge fan base.

Right after meeting Mobius, Loki got an infodump of his future, saw his parents both die, found out that free will means jack shit, and learned he's absolutely powerless in this realm. On top of that, this is 2012 Loki, fresh off of being under Thanos' control, suddenly being shown that the guy who controlled him is going to end up killing him. Frankly,, I think it all broke Loki. He was too shook up by it all and by the sheer helplessness he found himself in at the TVA that he let all his barriers down momentarily. Just long enough for him to open up to Mobius about his motivation and his lack of self confidence. And you know what I bet? Loki felt relieved after talking to Mobius. A weight was lifted, because he bore his heart to someone and wasn't rejected or laughed at or treated like a psycho. And after letting his walls down fully, Loki didn't feel the need to put all of them back up. He stayed guarded around other people, but he didn't need to pretend around Mobius. Mobius has seen under the mask, so Loki doesn't feel pressure to perform as an all knowing, all powerful God around Mobius. That freedom is life changing.

People who gravitate towards broken, pseudo-villain characters do so because we relate to their internal conflict, their mental illness, their need to fake it around everyone close to them. Their turmoil and depression and self destructive behavior are familiar and we see ourselves reflected in their actions. Now, when a person really truly let's their guard down, drops all their layers of facade, and embraces themself, they tend to change demeanor and even personality pretty drastically. It's jarring in real life, so of course when it happens to a fictional character who you usually relate to it is going to be jarring, maybe even more so because it feels like a change you yourself would never go through. I know this sounds bad and people might get at me for it, but...

I believe the issue here is that a large part of Loki's fan base doesn't want him to get better. They don't want him to move past his mental illness, to learn how to cope with anger and disappointment in healthier ways, to be happy. They like his damaged persona, they like the internal conflict. Maybe it's because they're still at that low place themself and feel like a relatable character is getting taken away from them, maybe it's because they don't understand how much being at peace with yourself can alter a person and to them it feels like he's been changed too much. To those of us mostly on the up and up from battling depression and mental illness, it's comforting to see Loki getting a chance to be genuinely happy and accepting of himself.

Sylki and Lokius

First things first, I'm not anti anything. Ship what you want, idc. Personally, I do not see the Sylki dynamic as romantic, but I get why people read it that way. I thought the series did a good job of showing unrequited love, namely Loki falling for Sylvie and Sylvie feeling zero romance towards him. This was aware of his attraction and in the end used it as a distraction so she could get the upper hand. The show played up the potential romance because we are viewing things from Loki's perspective and he's become smitten as a kitten. I do think in the long run they'll have a more sibling-like dynamic, one Loki realizes that you can feel extreme love and care for a person without it being romantic. I enjoyed how the show explored their relationship, though I do wish they hadn't had every character under the sun mention their moment on Lamentis-1 like it was some big deal to bond with someone you're about to die with.

I'm bitter towards the development of Lokius. It had a strong start in the beginning, and in ep 5 had some potential reignited, but then they had Mobius not know who Loki is at the end. I'm still hoping they're playing the long game with this ship and that it'll come to fruition partway through season 2. The chemistry is there, and Mobius knows Loki very intimately and isn't put off by his past. Loki also feels much more at ease around Mobius than he does around Sylvie. It's the comfort of a deep loving bond with Mobius verses the nervousness of a new crush that he feels for Sylvie.

I don't think Loki is quite aware of his feelings for Mobius, simply because it's based in friendship and mutual respect and isn't a hot and heavy lust. Plus, as soon as he was away from Mobius he was thrown into a near death experience with Sylvie and developed a surface crush during their heart to heart. Since Loki's still figuring out what genuine feelings are beyond anger and sadness, he sees the simplistic crush he has on Sylvie as love and the intimate bond he's been forming with Mobius as friendship. He doesn't understand his own feelings yet, but I think he'll figure it out next season. I mean, he was probably already rethinking his feelings for her after she kissed and betrayed him, mentally kicking himself for expecting her to not pull a Loki betrayal like he would've in the past.

The Time Variance Authority

I really like the concept of the TVA, the structure of it, the methods they use, the deeply fucked way they recruit employees, the cult like motto, shady Miss Minutes who is definitely playing her own long game, and the blind acceptance TVA agents have of the Time Keepers' will. It's all very well done... until your dig into the core, aka He Who Remains. They built up the idea that the Time Keepers created the TVA to prevent a multiverse war and that they created agents to enforce their will. Then the creating agents turned out to be fake, the Time Keepers were fake, I expected the reason for the TVA's existence to be fake to. It felt too simple to have it genuinely exist just to keep the multiverse in check. Why the anonymity, unless it's to keep from having agents target and prune versions of himself which.. songs like a decent solution. HWR made it sound as though the multiverse war was just a bunch of versions of himself screwing shit up, so why isn't the TVA's focus on eradicating every other variant of this guy? Sounds a lot easier and nicer than fucking with the free will of every other living being. So either Marvel made a bad call when choosing what HWR's motive was for creating the TVA, or he was lying about it all to cover up something sinister.

Overall Storyline

I'm fairly happy with the plot as a whole. There were some pacing issues and I think a few missed chances for deeper conversations between various characters. While I enjoyed the Loki variants, I honestly would've been happier seeing Tom playing most the variants (except Kid Loki and Classic Loki since they are clearly different age ranges). If there is supposed to be one sacred timeline, it seems off to me that Lokis would be allowed to vary so extremely without it causing a nexus event(an alligator, whose nexus wasn't that he's an animal who obviously can't do any magic much less command Thanos' army, but that he ate someone's cat) and not just in appearance but in life path (ie boastful Loki collected all the infinity stones but it wasn't till he had 6 that he caused a nexus event even though him gaining control of the Soul, Power, and Time stones should've each caused nexus events since on the sacred timeline he never interacts with those 3 and taking any one of them would've fucked up a lot of other timeline parts)

I love the display of Lokis raw power, and 2012 Loki coming to the realization that he's way more powerful than he ever thought. And it wasn't just Classic Loki who spent thousands of years alone honing his skills, 2012 Loki reversed time on a goddamn falling building! I also liked the small magic, the fireworks, the tablecloth blanket, Loki yanking Sylvie away from HWR with just magic.

As someone who is both bisexual and genderfluid, I would've really loved more concrete representation. The comment about there never being another female Loki hit me in the gut; it undermined the Easter egg "Sex: Fluid" on Loki's TVA file. With how big a deal Sylvie being female was made out to be throughout the season, I expected her gender to play a key role in taking down the head of the TVA, like it was foretold that only a female Loki could end it all or some shit.

I don't mind the idea of Loki finding love in a straight passing relationship. I don't even mind the selfcest all that much. It just feels so obvious to me that Sylvie is written as not having any romantic inclination towards Loki, while Mobius is clearly written as falling in love with someone he shouldn't and trying to maintain an heir of professionalism to keep from wrecking his bond with Loki. I really really hope they come through on season 2 and give Lokius the canon relationship and proper representation they deserve.

Mmkay I thinks that's all the thoughts I've got right now. If you've been feeling cheated or clowned by how things went this season, maybe my perspective of things can help ease your pain.

#loki spoilers #loki series #loki #mobius m mobius #sylvie laufeydottir #lokius #sylki #tva loki #time variance authority #marvel #mcu

[wolvesandpetals]

Playing House: Part 2: Loki x Sylvie Fanfiction (Rated: T, Humor/Romance).

Part 1 here. Masterlist of Sylki fanfictions here. This chapter mostly fills in the gaps and acts as a backstory, providing some answers. Sylki hijinks in next chapter!

---

Sylvie wakes up the next morning with the sunrays lighting up the room through the windows. It's so different from the life she has always known- hiding in the shadows, endlessly on the run.

She has spent her entire life waking up in unfamiliar places. Yet, this feels different. This feels familiar, almost mundane. Even though some unknown dangerous entity has trapped them here, it feels... safe.

[[MORE]]

And she swears it has nothing to do with the fact that his arm is wrapped around her waist, and how it makes her feel protected. Nothing at all.

This is what her dreams were made of- a home, a person to wake up next to every day, a sense of serenity instead of the ever present death and despair. And now she has it all.

She shifts a little, earning groans of protest from him, and it makes her smile. The warmth radiating from his body makes her long to stay like this forever. Slowly and reluctantly, she pulls his arm off her body and places it on his chest, her smile widening as she watches him sleep. "Loki?"

He groans. "Please, mother. Can you awaken Thor first?"

She touches his shoulder gently. "Loki, it's morning."

"No, mother, princes do not wake up so early", he mumbles in his sleep.

She just cannot bring herself to force him awake. Not when he looks so happy.

---

His morning starts at 10 am. He picks up the newspaper that the delivery boy left on the porch. Apparently, it's 2021, there's a new president, and a new iPhone, whatever that is.

She makes breakfast. It's just milk and cereals, but it's the first meal they have both had at a kitchen table with someone akin to a loved one in a long, long time, and it feels good.

He picks up his phone, hoping to learn how to properly operate it, and goes through his contacts list. There are a lot of people that he does not remember meeting, mixed with people that he never wishes to meet again, but one name in particular makes him pause. "Thor's number is programmed in my phone."

Sylvie looks up in confusion, clueless why this is significant. "Alright?"

"I didn't know he even had a number." Loki explains. Maybe it's recent? Maybe that is the reason he did not know, and it's not because they have been at odds lately?

"Maybe it's not Thor?" Sylvie suggests. It is a different reality, after all. Everything may be just an illusion.

Loki takes in a deep breath, bracing himself for what he knows he has to do. There is only one way to find out.

---

There are exactly four rings before he hears the familiar voice on the other side of the line. "Hello, brother."

"Hello, brother." He clears his throat, trying to push down the emotions swelling in his chest. In reality, he last saw Thor the day he was captured by the TVA. Yet, it feels like a lifetime ago. "How have you been?"

"I've been well", Thor answers. There's noisy chatter in the background, like a restaurant or a bar, and what sounds like old 60s music. "How are you?"

"I am well too." Loki lies. "It is so good to speak to you. Umm, how are the Avengers?"

There's a brief pause on the other end. "The Avengers? You are enquiring about my friends? Are you not going to ask about mother and father?"

Loki forgets how to breathe. "M-mother and father?"

"Yes?" Loki can picture Thor rolling his eyes as he speaks. "Our mother and father? The people who have loved and adored us our entire lives? Rings a bell?"

The last time Loki met his parents, they were furious and disappointed with him for his betrayal of Asgard. Then New York happened, and he is sure those emotions were heightened.

The rest of it, he has only watched on the projector screen at the TVA and not experienced himself, but he heard his parents express how much he means to them, right before watching them die. After spending the last few months angry at them, and craving power that makes him superior to Thor, he realised in that one moment that none of it mattered. All he wanted was the life he once knew, the life back at Asgard, the one he can never return to.

It's a truly cunning being that has trapped him in a reality where these cruel events may not have happened. Trap a man in hell, and he will burn it to the ground, trying to find his way out. Trap him in his heaven, and he is forever imprisoned. This is an eternal prison indeed, because why would he ever want to leave?

"Mother and father?" Loki repeats, still in disbelief, and a little optimistic. "They are not dead?"

"What kind of sick question is that, brother?" There's the familiar irritation in Thor's voice. "Why would you even ask that?"

"I'm... I'm sorry. I just feel a little... disoriented."

"Is everything alright with you?" Thor pauses, hesitating before he asks the next question. "Are you having marital troubles? Is Sylvie alright?"

"You know Sylvie?"

"Of course I know your wife." There's genuine concern now. "You are scaring me, brother. Is this a trick?"

"No, no." Loki shakes his head for emphasis, even though Thor cannot see it. "Not a trick, brother. I am just happy to hear your voice."

The line goes dead. There's a flash of thunder, a loud bang in the backyard, and then a thunderous voice. "Loki?"

Loki rushes to the backyard. Sylvie follows him, ready to fight the intruder, if necessary. She finds a blonde man in 60s clothes, wielding the hammer that she knows too well.

Sylvie goes pale. She hasn't seen her brother in ages, and this isn't her brother. She has never met this man, never played with him, never turned him into a toad, and definitely never missed him. Yet, her heart aches at the sight of this stranger who is another version of him.

"Oh, hi, Sylvie." Thor smiles warmly at her, before it turns apologetic. He tugs at an ear. "Sorry about your flowerpots." He glances at the mess he has made- again- vowing to land on the street next time. He spots Loki standing in the background and gives him a slight nod. "Brother."

"Brother." Loki takes a step forward, resisting the urge to rush to his brother and embrace him tightly. Not long back, they were on opposite sides of the battle. All he wanted back then was to be equal to Thor.

All he wants now is to be brothers again.

"Thor?" Sylvie says his name carefully, like it's a word that can break this spell. "Is that really you?"

Thor feels the panic coming back. "Alright, what is the matter with you two? Are you on drugs?"

"Me? Drugs?" Loki scoffs indignantly. "You are the one who looks like you just spent a week at Woodstock."

Thor takes a brief moment to glance down at his outfit- courtesy of StarJerk- before returning his undivided attention to the couple that is acting extremely strange.

"Prove that you are not on drugs." He places the hammer on the ground, next to Loki's feet. "Here."

"You want me to lift Mjojonir?" Loki stares in confusion. "Are you insulting me?"

"You can't lift it, can you?"

His irritation grows. "Of course I can't lift it. I've never been able to lift it."

"Loki... You... We've... Do you not remember the time we..." Thor stares at him, dumbfounded. "Do you really not remember that you too can wield Mjojonir?" Then another thought occurs to him, one which seems more likely. "Wait, is this another elaborate scheme of yours to steal Mjojonir?"

Sylvie takes in a deep breath, pushing down all the complicated emotions that have found their way into the spotlight since she met the mirror image of her brother. Right now, she is trapped in a reality that is not of her choosing, by an entity that is not known to her, and she cannot allow herself to get lost in the illusion. The man in front of her is merely an opportunity, one which she has to seize. "Alright, then. Come in already, brother." She tilts her head towards the door, gesturing at the brothers to come inside.

"Brother?" Loki mumbles under his breath.

Sylvie shrugs. "Well, he is your brother, and I am your wife, right?"

---

Thor walks through the kitchen and into the living room like he knows the place extremely well. He sits down on the couch- in the spot that Loki already considers his own spot, Loki notes with annoyance - and examines a cushion. "I see you replaced these after the mishap with the gun."

Loki and Sylvie exchange a look. They have no idea what he is talking about, but if they know themselves at all, they were definitely the ones responsible for the incident.

"Here, have a drink." Sylvie offers him a coffee mug filled with whiskey on the rocks. When Thor reaches for it, she covers his hand with hers.

Loki feels that ever familiar feeling that he has felt anytime something he wanted has gone to Thor instead. It's not like Sylvie is his actual wife, and he has any right to be jealous. But the mere sight of Sylvie's hand covering Thor's is a source of extreme irritation for him. "What are you doing?"

Sylvie places the finger of her free hand on her lips, asking him to be quiet. She returns her attention to Thor. There's a flash of green, travelling from her hand, to Thor's, and rising up his arm, to his heart. "Oh, the gun. That was something. Remember the day we met?"

Loki finally realizes what is happening. "Are you enchanting my brother?" He whispers.

Sylvie rolls her eyes, whispering back at him. "Obviously."

"You can't enchant my brother!" He hisses. "He's my brother!"

"And you've done worse to him." She points out. "We need to know what he knows."

Loki sighs, finally giving in semi-reluctantly.

"You know how we met." Thor answers, confused, and oblivious to the conversation between his brother and his wife.

"I know. But let's reminisce." Sylvie keeps her tone calm and cheerful. "Tell me about the good old times."

"It wasn't good." Thor reminds her. "You broke Jane's telescope."

"Right. Good ol' Jane." She fakes a laugh, before turning to Loki. "Jane?"

"The human he's dating." He supplies.

"Human?"

He gives her a sad nod.

"And what is my name, my full name?"

"Sylvie Lushton, from Broxton, Oklahoma. You took my brother's name only to escape the internet fame under yours. Clever." It is clear from the way he speaks that he thinks highly of her.

Loki and Sylvie exchange another look. A few days back, this is when he would have asked about Mjojonir, what the deal is with him apparently being able to wield it. But now, he can think of only one thing, because there is only one thing that actually matters. "Ask him about my parents."

"And your parents? Where are they now?"

"At New Asgard, of course." Thor tells her like it's obvious. "The same place they were the last time you visited."

Sylvie lets go of his hands abruptly. The thought that she probably has a set of parents at Oklahoma, and a version of Odin and Frigga at New Asgard is too overwhelming. She leans back against the sofa, trying to catch her breath.

Thor blinks, trying to adjust to the fact that he is back at Sylvie and Loki's living room instead of his bed chamber at Asgard. "Did you just-?" Realizing what happened, he stares at Sylvie in shock. "All the years, and you have never once tried to enchant me, not even when Loki begged you. You have always been a loyal friend to me." His voice grows resolute, like that of a man on a mission. "Tell me this instant what is going on with you two. I demand answers."

"I'm sorry." Sylvie tells him sincerely. She knows now that this man is not the one responsible for the illusion. His memories are real, at least to him. He is not a danger to them

Loki smiles sadly. "You wouldn't believe us even if we told you."

Thor crosses his arms in front of his chest and leans back against the cushions, making it clear that he is not going anywhere until he is satisfied. "I travel through space with a talking racoon and a grunting hormonal tree. Try me."

"Okay. We are from a different reality. Two different realities actually." Loki begins his Loki lesson. "I was supposed to be immortalized in the hearts of Asgardians after meeting a heroic end in glorious battle with Thanos. Sylvie was taken from Asgard when she was merely a child. There is this evil organization called the TVA. Time variance authority. We weren't supposed to exist, yet we existed. So these pathetic, low-life bureaucrats arrested us. We were trying to find the man in charge. We were so close. Then we found ourselves here abruptly."

Thor just stares at them, utterly confused.

"You're rubbish at this." Sylvie comments, before taking over the storytelling duty. "Loki and I are not who you think we are. We are from a different reality. Your memories are not real to us. They never happened to us. I have never met you. And we are most definitely not married."

"Ouch." Loki places a heart over his chest to express his hurt. Sylvie grins at him.

Thor tries his best to process this wild tale. "Let me get this straight. You're telling me that my brother, my only brother-"

"Adopted." Loki interrupts with the quip. He can't stop himself.

"- My annoying brother", Thor continues, "is supposed to be dead? And you? You're from Asgard?"

"I'm him, actually." Sylve explains. "Well, not him, another version of him, the superior one. I'm Sylvie Laufeydottir." She half smiles at Thor.

Thor stares at Sylvie, then at Loki, then back at Sylvie again. "Are you sure you're not under the influence of any narcotics?"

"Yes!" Loki reaffirms, more exasperated by the minute.

"Are you sure I'm not under the influence of any narcotics?" Thor wonders.

"Not really." Loki admits.

"But I assure you, what we are saying is the truth." Sylvie looks him in the eyes, hoping he can see the honesty in hers. "This life, this house, we have only known it for a day."

Thor is quiet for a long while. When he speaks again, his voice is more sympathetic, and less skeptical. "Would you like to know more? About your past, I mean? The one I know?"

"Of course." Sylvie answers immediately. Part of it is to gather information so that they can decide how to get out.

There's another part of her that really wants to know what a happy life looks like for her. She can't resist the temptation to sneak a peak down the rabbit hole.

Thor takes a sip from the mug. The ice has melted by now, but the drink is cold enough. Taking in a deep breath, he begins. "I met you six years back at London. You were filming something for YouTube, and you accidentally broke Jane's telescope. You were gracious enough to offer to buy her a new one. But she wanted nothing to do with you." He adds, as an afterthought, to lessen the blow. "It's nothing personal, Jane just doesn't really like influencers. You gave me your number, in case she changed her mind."

"A while later, Loki stole my jacket. Well, borrowed, in his words, but I haven't seen it since that day, so you be the judge. Where is it, by the way?"

Loki rolls his eyes. "Isn't it clear that I do not know?"

"Right." Thor nods. All of this is still bizzare to him, but he's willing to be open to the possibility. "Anyways, Loki found the little card with your number in the pocket, and he called you up. You hung up on him within a minute. That's your version of the story, anyway. Loki swears you talked to him before you hung up."

"And then my brother, ever so proud of himself, took that personally. He called you back to tell you off." He puts on his best Loki imitation. "I'm Loki, the prince of Asgard, the God of mischief, and you must treat me with respect, or I will use my hairgel to slick your hair back too. Bla bla bla." He grins when he notices Loki glaring at him, and his grin grows wider at the next part. He looks at Sylvie with a smile that conveys how proud he is of her. "You hung up on him again."

"He Googled you up and showed up at your doorstep the next week, ready to turn your clothes into snakes and show you your place. But the moment you opened the door, my brother was putty in your hands. Seriously, he wouldn't shut up about you for weeks."

"Instead of snakes, he gave you flowers. He serenaded you, actually. What was the song, brother? When she sleeps- no, wait." Thor hums the tune, trying to remember the words. "That's it! When she sings, she sings come home." He laughs, like he always does when he imagines Loki acting like a lovestruck fool. "I can't believe you didn't get a restraining order on him. He kept sending you flowers every day. Until you finally decided to go out with him. You guys hit it off right away. Your parents liked him. I don't know why." This earns him another glare from Loki and results in another grin. "Our parents liked you. It was all surprisingly easy."

"Loki proposed during the Convergence. He was so nervous about it. It was fun to watch him squirm."

"You had a June wedding. You moved here after a few months. And you've been happily married since."

It's almost impossible for either of them to imagine a world where they have sworn to spend eternity with another person.

But it's not impossible at all, not anymore, not when they have found each other. Sylvie tries not to dwell on this for long.

Another thought occupies her instead. If she is not an Asgardian princess in this reality... "How do I have my powers?"

Thor shrugs. "How does anyone have their powers? How do the Avengers have their powers?"

They still do not know who did this, but now they have an idea about what was done to them.

If he's being honest with himself, a reality where he and Sylvie both exist together, where his parents are alive, and Thor doesn't hate him, is not the worst thing in the world. It is almost like a scene from his dreams, depicting his heart's desires.

"Thank you." Sylvie sincerely tells Thor. "Now we need to find a way out."

#loki x sylvie #fanfiction #loki disney+ #sylki #sylvie x loki #pro sylki #loki #fanfic #sylki fanfic

[mimisempai]

You are making every day a little less ordinary

Summary:

During one of their usual lunches in the TVA cafeteria, Casey, curious about his friend's datinf life, wonders what a date between Mobius and Loki is like. Loki remembers and recounts his most memorable dates.

Or

5 times where Mobius surprises Loki and once where Loki returns the favor

Notes:

Tumblr request : 5+1 about their dates with one being a picinic

https://archiveofourown.org/works/32863855

3042 words - Rating G

"Hey Loki, mind if I ask you a question?"

Casey and Loki were eating lunch in the TVA cafeteria, as they regularly did. Loki was still surprised at how Casey had somehow grown fond of him, where many people kept their distance. Which he couldn't blame them for, given his past.

So he was enjoying these moments with Casey.

"Since when do you need to ask?"

Casey looked a little hesitant, "well, it's a little bit of a personal question."

"Go on and shoot." Loki replied, curious as to what the man was going to ask him.

"Ahem... you and Mobius are together."

"I think that's obvious, since we don't hide it."

"Yeah, yeah, and so considering it's been over a year, um... I guess... you guys have dated already... and uh... I have a hard time imagining what you and Mobius can do on a date." Casey paused, his cheeks on fire before continuing, "No, forget it. I should never have asked you something like that."

Loki shook his head and laughed, "No, no, I have no problem talking about this. You're talking to someone who didn't even know what a date was until a few months ago..."

Loki straightened up a bit in his chair and continued talking, "Looking back, I'd say our first date took place here."

"Here?"

1.

After their return from Pompeii, Loki had fallen asleep in the middle of their research. Mobius had woken him up and taken him to the cafeteria. Thinking back, even if at that moment they were not together, for Loki it was still a first date.

There were only them in the cafeteria, the light was rather dim, which had given even more of an impression of intimacy and in addition there was the close way they were sitting, their legs touching.

Loki remembered perfectly all the details of that moment.

Those few minutes of respite, where they had gotten to know each other, or rather where Loki had gotten to know Mobius.

"By the way, at your desk, that magazine?"

"Yeah. The one on jet skis?"

"Yes. Why do you have that?"

"Because they're awesome."

There was something touching about Mobius as he spoke of his passion, a passion he had never practiced.

"So, why read about them?"

"It just helps remind me of what we're fighting for."

"I mean, you really believe in all this stuff, don't you?"

"I don't get hung up on, "Believe, not believe." I just accept what is."

He was surprised by what followed, not by the content, because it was clear that Mobius really believed in the cause he was working for, but he was surprised that Mobius did not feel attacked, that they both left the dialogue open, without judgment.

"Actually it's exactly the same thing. Because if you think too hard about where any of us came from, who we truly are, it sounds kinda ridiculous. Existence is chaos. Nothing makes any sense, so we try to make some sense of it. And I'm just lucky that the chaos I emerged into gave me all this... My own glorious purpose."

Mobius' arguments, in the context in which Mobius lived, had held up surprisingly well.

They had not agreed, but they respected each other's opinions. If not for the context, of Loki in captivity of sorts, and the lie upon which the TVA had been built, the evening could almost have ended in "My place or yours." Because undoubtedly they had gotten closer at that point.

So yes, it was indeed for Loki their first date and that's what he told Casey.

**********

"Honestly Loki, I have to say that this is an original first date, but ultimately a true reflection of your couple." reacted Casey with a wink before continuing, "but now I'm curious what your other dates were like, if there were any at all."

Loki laughed softly, "Oh there were, many. Mobius, knowing that the concept of a date was totally unknown to me, redoubled his creativity and used this pretext to make me live all sorts of unknown experiences."

"You don't want me to feel sorry for you, do you?"

Loki smiled again, "Oh no, I have nothing to complain about at all. I'll tell you the most memorable ones for me. One of them was a picnic."

"Oh?" Casey's eyes sparkled with interest, as he settled down to listen to Loki's tale.

2.

Loki was reading on the couch when Mobius hugged him from behind, kissing the top of his head.

Then Mobius had said in his ear, "Sweetheart, don't be scared, I'm going to blindfold you, because I'd like to take you somewhere and keep it a surprise until the end."

Loki trusted Mobius completely so it was easy for him to agree.

"I'm really curious though."

Once the blindfold was tied, he felt the light caress of a kiss on his lips and Mobius took his hand.

He let himself be guided.

He heard the typical sound of a timedoor appearing, and then letting himself be pulled by Mobius' hand, he recognized the usual sensation that accompanied the crossing of the door.

He felt a difference in the ground under his feet, like grass perhaps.

Deprived of sight, his other senses were alert, so he also felt the warmth of the sun on his face and the smell of flowers reached his nostrils, while he heard birds chirping around them.

Mobius was now holding him by the elbow and guiding him gently.

"You still okay, sweetheart?"

Loki simply nodded, a smile on his face because he could feel the excitement in his lover's voice.

After a while, Mobius stopped him, and made him sit slowly on the floor, on something soft. Then Mobius gently removed the blindfold.

Loki's eyes adjusted to the radiant light even though they were in shadow, and he took in the sight.

77_Frigga... the little planet Mobius had already taken him to when Loki had told him he missed the starry skies of Asgard.

Loki looked around, he was sitting on a blanket spread on the ground, under a tree that while providing shade, did not deprive them of the beautiful light. They were in a field of flowers, the same paradisiacal vision as on their first visit here. Mobius sat next to him and clearly waited for his reaction.

Loki leaned in and put his lips to Mobius', letting him know in a slow, passionate kiss how much he enjoyed his surprise.

Mobius turned to a basket that Loki hadn't noticed and began to pull out everything needed for a perfect picnic.

"Did you pack all this?" Mobius nodded his head and Loki kissed him gently again.

They enjoyed the meal peacefully, chatting about everything and anything. Once the leftovers were put away, Loki lay down on his back, his head on Mobius' lap

"Thanks love, that was amazing."

Mobius, a little embarrassed, leaned over and kissed him tenderly.

They had finished the afternoon while enjoying the heavenly surroundings and each other's presence.

**********

Loki lost in his memories, was brought out of his reverie by Casey's whisper of admiration, "Aww, Mobius is really dedicated, you know you are lucky right?"

"Don't worry Casey, I'm totally aware of how lucky I am."

This reminded him, another original date, another surprise from Mobius that he was quick to tell Casey about

3.

Sounds from the kitchen woke Loki from his sleep. He stretched, shivering because the sheet had slipped down to his waist.

"You're awake."

Loki looked up to find Mobius smiling at him, standing by the bedroom door, dressed in just sweatpants and a t-shirt, his longer hair still disheveled and a budding beard. A perfect view to start the day, in Loki's opinion.

What caught his eye was the tray in his hands.

Mobius moved closer, carefully perching himself on the bed and balancing the tray on his lap.

"I wanted to surprise you." Mobius smiled, offering the tray to Loki and laughing affectionately as he watched him contort himself to sit up. "Breakfast in bed or let's call it a breakfast date. I thought it would be a nice change, since it's our day off."

Loki's mouth suddenly watered between what he saw and what he smelled.

Usually they had a light breakfast, but on days off, getting up later, breakfast also served as lunch.

On the tray was a plate of bacon and eggs, buttered toast, a small pile of pancakes covered in syrup, a large glass of orange juice, and an assortment of fresh fruit.

"Oh Love, you spoil me." said Loki, a piece of pancake already in his mouth.

Mobius shakes his head with a small laugh. "I always want to spoil you."

Loki leaned forward to capture Mobius' lips in a sweet kiss. Mobius took the opportunity to sneak his hand through Loki's hair and pulled him to him while being careful not to flip the tray.

When they separated, Loki was out of breath.

"Let's eat."

Mobius sat next to Loki, the tray resting on their knees. They ate breakfast, talking, feeding each other.

Later, Loki hummed over one last incredibly delicious bite, his head resting on Mobius' shoulder.

Definitely, this dating concept was quite interesting.

*********

"Okay Loki, thanks to you, now I'm hungry." Casey paused for a moment and then resumed staring Loki up and down, "But I wonder where you put it all..."

Loki replied with a mischievous smile, " Workout, Casey, workout..." His impish look left no doubt as to what kind of workout he was referring to.

Casey pretended to cover his ears. "I don't want to hear about it!"

Loki chuckled, "Too bad you won't hear about another memorable date of ours."

Casey, calmed down, too interested in what was next.

4.

"Uh, wow, that's... that's gorgeous." said Loki, looking around their living room.

The entire room was bathed in a soft glow from a multitude of small candles, scattered here and there.

"Do you like it?" the voice of Mobius whispered in his ear as his lover took off his jacket, before hugging him from behind.

"Hmm." Loki nodded in the embrace.

"I figured we both needed a little break, are you hungry?"

"I'm starving." replied Loki turning his head to drop a kiss on Mobius' cheek.

His lover directed him to the table that Loki had not noticed, perfectly set, bathed in soft light, and garnished with two steaming plates and glasses of fresh wine.

Mobius gallantly pulled out the chair for him to sit on and took a seat opposite him.

They began to eat, discussing their day, their work, and all the while hardly letting go of each other's hands that were entwined on the table.

Then after the dessert, Mobius got up, took the remote control of the music system and a soft music invaded the atmosphere. Under the eyes of Loki, he approached him and offered his hand, « May I have this dance, sweetheart?"

Loki nodded, smiling softly, and took the outstretched hand. Mobius immediately wrapped his arms around him and they began to sway to the soft notes coming from the speakers.

Loki sighed with contentment, his face buried in Mobius' neck.

They must have looked like the epitome of sap and fluff, but at that moment, Loki didn't care. This was them, here, in the privacy of their lives. Their happiness.

They continued to sway for long moments, so absorbed in each other's presence that they didn't notice that the music had stopped.

**********

"Loki... you know I just feel like I'm listening to a digest of all the romcoms out there?"

"Romcom?"

"Romantic comedy.Haha I know something you don't."

Casey laughed cheerfully at Loki.

"Very funny, but do you know what karaoke is?"

"Yep... I'll remind you, since the fish thing, I've been catching up, and I'm learning every day. So what about karaoke?" Casey frowned for a moment and then exclaimed, "No! Karaoke? Who? Mobius or you? Or both?"

Loki chuckled at Casey's excitement.

"Mobius came up with the idea for the date, but I did the singing.

"Tell me about it!"

5.

"Mobius..."

Loki stood on the stage of the small bar, and pointed to his lover leaning at the bar, "Mobius, my partner, brought me here because he dreams of hearing me sing in my native language for him. No one will be able to say I don't like to satisfy my beloved." He blew a fingertip kiss to Mobius under the whistling and wolf howls of the customers. He waved to the DJ and the music started to play. He began to sing in Asgardian, the words and notes flowing naturally on his tongue.

So many people around me without a meaning or a goal

It's always someone left

Tell me, why does it always be like that

Someone from up above must have seen me

And yet thought that it's his turn,

my turn to meet someone who knows what I need

it seems like my lonely days

For its always gone

As he sang this, he began to walk towards Mobius, his eyes in his. He saw the understanding in Mobius' eyes, who, understanding perfectly all languages, grasped perfectly the meaning of the song for Loki and him.

For I have the heaven around the corner

My own angel in a bed

As if all the heavens tiny stars

Sang for me, sang for you

In a wonderful refrain

You are the heaven

around the corner for me

When he reached the end of the song, Mobius' eyes were filled with emotion.

As soon as the last note came out of his mouth, Loki hugged Mobius and kissed him, ignoring the cheers and applause of the customers.

When they separated to catch their breath, Mobius asked him, his forehead against his, in a joking tone, « Am I your own angel?"

Loki grasped his head in his hands and replied seriously, his mouth against his, "You are Mobius. You are the angel that brought me out of my darkness. You saved me from myself." Then he captured his lover's lips again, putting into the kiss all what Mobius meant to him.

**********

"Loki, I think I'll be fine, I think I've had my fill of sweets for the day, if not for the next month. If I get diabetes, you'll be responsible for it."

Loki laughed again and shrugged, "Hey! You're the one who wanted it."

"Well, at least you have a lot of work to do to be on the same level as him, because apart from the karaoke, he still made the most effort."

Loki smiled cheekily, "Hm, I think I made up for it with our one-year anniversary date, but since you don't want any more sweetness... I'll shut up."

Casey pointed his fingers at him, "Ah no Mr. God of Mischief, you're not getting away with this!"

Loki surrendered and began his last tale.

+1

This time it was Loki who had surprised Mobius by blindfolding him and leading him through a timedoor.

When they reached their destination, he slowly untied the blindfold, "You can open your eyes, love."

Mobius opened his eyes and gasped. Then he laughed softly.

Loki hugged him from behind and whispered in his ear, "Happy Anniversary my love. It was here a year ago that I started to fall in love with you."

They were in the TVA cafeteria. Alone, because Loki had made sure of that.

A table, THE table was elegantly set.

Mobius let himself be guided by Loki, who said softly, "I know it's unconventional, that we weren't a couple yet, not at all, but-"

He could not continue, Mobius had closed his mouth with a tender kiss.

Pulling back, he placed a finger on Loki's lips and replied, "Don't justify yourself.First of all, since when are we conventional?" he raised an eyebrow before continuing, "Secondly, you weren't the only one who was already feeling something at that moment sweetheart."

It was he who pulled Loki to the table.

They sat there, almost the same way they had that day, their knees touching in a familiar way. But this time the rest of their bodies were close. They shared the meal, interspersed with renewed oaths, smiles and casual conversation. Just savoring the joy of being together.

Mobius noticed, however, that the closer they got to the end of the meal, the more excited Loki seemed, almost as if he couldn't wait for the dinner to end. So much that once the last bite of dessert was swallowed, he stood up and bounced over to Mobius and held out his hand.

"Our night is not over, I have one more surprise. Can I put the blindfold back on you?"

Amused and intrigued by Loki's excitement, Mobius nodded.

Loki tied the blindfold behind his head, placed a kiss on his forehead and took his hand.

He felt them pass through a timedoor again, then suddenly felt a great warmth around him. He recognized Loki's magic that passed over him, and suddenly felt warm sand under his naked feet.

The blindfold came off and he let his eyes adjust to the light.

For the second time that evening, he gasped, and then almost cried with emotion at the sight before him.

He realized he was in a bathing suit when Loki made him put on a life jacket. Then his lover gently pushed him towards the jetski that was waiting for him at the end of the pontoon. "Go my love, go..."

He moved forward a few steps and then turned back to Loki who was looking at him with a loving smile. "And you? Don't you want to come?"

"You deserve to have your first round alone, don't worry, I'll be there."

Winking at him, Loki pointed to two lounge chairs under an umbrella.

"Go my love."

Loki went backwards to settle on the deckchair and with a cocktail in hand, he did not leave the eyes of his lover who listened to the instructions of the instructor before finally making his first ride of jet-ski.

Long minutes later, he saw Mobius coming towards him, a bright smile on his face, he whispered again, "Happy Anniversary my love."

________

As always, bear with me as it is not beta'd and english is not my native language I hope you enjoyed it 🥰

Song used for the karaoke date : Himlen runt hörnet by Lisa Nilsson

Whole series of oneshot here : X

#lokius fics #lokius #loki series #loki #mobius m mobius #moki #wowki #established relationship #domestic fluff #5 + 1 things #time husbands #timefrost

[sylvie--laufeydottir]

an obligatory analysis of sylvie’s character (aka: who betrayed who?)

in case you can’t tell, i like sylvie. but here’s a big fuckin post where i share my thoughts on her role in the finale in a sort of disjointed kind of way.

NOTE: this isn’t about sylki. i don’t ship it personally, but that isn’t really relevant to this at all. this also doesn’t go into the criticisms i have of the show because this isn’t really the place for that. maybe i can do that later, whatever.

also, this is gonna be a long post. i have a lot of thoughts.

sylvie’s introduction and motivations

one of the first things we learn about sylvie is her opposition to the tva. (okay, it’s literally the first thing, whatever.) in episode 3, we get to see her entire plan - overthrow whoever’s running the tva, and... that’s it. loki questions her about the power vacuum that would leave, to which she shows that she’s not interested in running the tva. (this is also stated in ep 2.) her goals are clear. she wants rid of the entire organisation, and doesn’t care about or want the sort of power that would come with pulling the strings.

her reasoning for this seems pretty simple. she doesn’t want the power ruling the tva would entail because she knows what it’s like to be on the other end of that deal. she had everything taken from her as a child, and doesn’t want that to happen to anybody else. she believes that that kind of power belongs to nobody, not even herself.

this easily establishes her as a character who, despite having an ego, has principles that trump everything else. she’s very dedicated to her cause; the ‘never at the expense of the mission’ line in ep 3 just states it out loud. her entire life has been dedicated to this cause. this is a good time to segue into the next section...

sylvie’s personality, character and flaws

she’s fuckin stabby.

despite only really being present for 4 out of the 6 episodes of the show, we manage to get a pretty good idea of sylvie’s personality right from the start thanks to episode 3 being largely a character study with both her and loki. she’s shown as a very competent and strong character - however, contrary to marvel’s guidebook on writing female characters, those aren’t personality traits. what we actually see of her is that she’s very confident, and has a tendency to be rude or dismissive of other people. episode 3 has a bunch of examples of this, but the easiest one to point to is the fireworks scene. after loki does something nice to cheer her up, something which visibly works, her response is to waive it away as ‘not bad’.

her coldness in this scene even after bonding with loki is likely due to her upbringing. sylvie spent the majority of her life, including her childhood, on the run, unable to form relationships with people who weren’t moments away from dying. it feels a bit redundant for me to point this out, but this is, as they say in the medical field, mega fucking traumatic. not only did sylvie not have the opportunity to form these kinds of connections, she couldn’t even develop the ability to form them. loki is a bandaid to cover a bullet hole in this regard, one she needs years to heal from. while she does bond with him to an extent, she is physically unable to trust him to the point where they can be considered close.

another thing we learn about sylvie is that she’s very violent - and that she enjoys it. being a character that grew up running from an organisation that wanted her dead, it makes sense for her first instinct to be confrontational. however, despite having to fight to survive, she visibly takes pleasure from fighting. this was brought up in an interview with sophia (that i am not going to link here, because tumblr is kind of a hellsite and i’m not in the mood for that today). here’s a nice extract instead.

“She's not trained like Loki is,” Di Martino continues. “She can't do some of the flourishes that he would, but she's figured out how to brawl. She's a street fighter and she loves it. That was a really great key to unlocking part of Sylvie for me, was how much she just loves a fight. She knows that she's either going to win, or if she isn't going to win, she'll survive. She's that damaged character who's dangerous because she knows she can survive.”

her tendency towards violence is actually a key part of sylvie’s character. this works as both a strength and a flaw. on the one hand, she’s able to survive scrapes most other characters wouldn’t, and she knows that. she’s not one to freeze in most (note: most) scenarios, because she knows what to expect. on the other hand, violence isn’t always the answer, and she’s very unlikely to consider any other option than a fight.

her enchantment abilities tie into this - they’re another weapon for her to use, and one she’s not afraid to call on. however, her eagerness to enchant people without hesitation puts her in a pretty bad place morally. her enchantment clearly leaves hunter c-20 traumatised, and yet she’s more than willing to enchant people for the sake of the mission. she’s also relatively dismissive of human sentient lives. an early example of this is in episode 2, where loki asks her if the person she had enchanted was dead, to which she responds with a casual ‘they usually survive’. additionally, she’s more than willing to fight the guards on the train in episode 3, despite them seeing her as a threat for completely understandable reasons.

in the case of the guards, her reasoning for placing such little value on their lives is likely that they’re about to die anyways. everyone on lamentis is doomed, so from her point of view, whether they die at her hands or at the hands of the moon from majora’s mask isn’t really important. however, c-20 is a different story. sylvie places next to no value on the lives of the tva’s workers, content to slaughter them en masse for the sake of her goal. this is despite her knowing that every one of the tva workers is a variant plucked from the sacred timeline. this sets up a weird sort of transactional nature in how sylvie views other people - to her, they’re less important than the mission, and she doesn’t hesitate to eliminate threats.

was this a long section? this was a long section. i would like to call back to the fact that this is not a sylki post for this next part. and also to praise anyone that got this far, because fucking hell, is this excessively long or what? who would have the time to write this out?

sylvie’s bond with loki

i want to go back to that whole thing about her relationship with loki. he’s the first person she’s really spoken to since she was a child who isn’t about to face imminent death. furthermore, despite their differences, they have quite a lot in common - enough to hit it off surprising well for two people who kind of want to kill each other. they’re able to relate on common ground like frigga, and even though they clash due to loki’s initial carelessness, they’re overall able to get along well enough aside from occasional bickering. the blanket scene from episode 5 is probably the best example of this. sylvie allows herself, albeit briefly, to be vulnerable around loki.

except, not really. one of the first things she does is tries to ensure he won’t betray her. i’ve seen somebody cite this before as proof that her fondness towards him isn’t real, and that she was planning on betraying him from the start, hence why it was on her mind. that’s definitely possible, but i think it’s far more likely that it’s just her difficulties connecting to people stopping her from feeling safe around him even as they share a nice moment. she really does seem to care about loki - an easy example of this is her asking how he is during episode 4 without being prompted. she’s just unable to properly process these kinds of feelings due to an incomprehensible amount of trauma. as loki puts it, she can’t trust.

and loki can’t be trusted. she knows - or at least, thinks she knows - his nature as a trickster and a villain. loki embodies a part of sylvie that she considers herself completely separate from; the tva-approved liar whose purpose is to bring out the best in others. while she does show him more decency than to treat him like that, at the end of the day, he represents something that makes her deeply uncomfortable, hence her rejection of the loki name. despite what they have in common, loki is an incredibly difficult person to trust, especially for somebody who has deep-rooted trust issues. so, this brings us onto...

who betrayed who?

so, sylvie and loki make it to kang’s castle. after all this time, she’s finally about to reach her life’s goal. she’s clearly nervous - this is out of her comfort zone, unlike most fights. loki reassures her, and they head in. they meet kang, learn the true nature of the tva, have the opportunity to kill him...

and loki stops her.

loki’s motivations are left ambiguous. the uncharitable interpretation is that he wants to rule the tva for himself, as per kang’s offer. he’s expressed such an interest to sylvie before. for the loki we know in avengers 1, this seems perfectly in character.

however, for the loki we’ve seen in the show, there’s a different option. he believes kang’s threat that there are multiple of him, and that killing him won’t solve anything. to him, he isn’t willing to risk unknown horrors for the sake of taking his revenge out on kang. this is the loki who offered diplomacy and guile to counteract sylvie’s brute force.

but sylvie, who can’t trust, assumes the worst.

to her, loki was the one who betrayed her. they had a plan - find whoever pulls the strings, and destroy them. to her, loki’s hesitation isn’t caution, but treachery. taking kang’s offer to rule the tva is exactly what she thinks she should’ve expected from the guy who hurts everybody who loves him. her fight or flight responses kick in, and she chooses the one she always chooses. loki’s attempts to reassure her fall on deaf ears, not just because she doesn’t want to trust him, but because she’s physically incapable of it. she makes the short-sighted decision of brute force, just like she did back on lamentis, because it’s all she’s ever known, and the cause she’s dedicated her life to.

from the outside, it looks like sylvie was the one who betrayed loki, but things look pretty different from where she’s standing.

this is why i take issue with people calling sylvie a ‘villain’ or questioning whether this was her plan for the start. in my opinion, her motivations line up pretty clearly as a creature of habit, one who panics at the first hint of smoke and pushes away the first person she’s been able to bond with for the sake of self-preservation. did she make the wrong decision? unquestionably - the effects of her actions will no doubt plague the multiverse (and the mcu, for us) for as long as they go unchecked. but she made the only decision she was capable of making, and that’s not villainous, just tragic.

conclusion

well, this is a kind of depressing way to finish this post. for what it’s worth, though, i don’t think sylvie is a doomed character. regardless of how brief it was, she did show a real connection with loki. just because something requires a lot of healing doesn’t make it impossible. this is why i like sylvie as a character so much; she’s deeply flawed and complex, but that complexity makes her interesting, and relatable. marvel has a long history of sexy lamps and supposed ‘tortured backstories’, but sylvie is the first time they paid attention to this with their character writing without having to give somebody a wholeass prequel movie. with loki confirmed to appear in multiverse of madness, i’m hoping we see more of sylvie - not as a villain, but as a hero who can overcome her past experiences and rise to better things.

or maybe another kang shows up and kills her immediately. who knows.

#sylvie #sylvie laufeydottir #loki #loki theory #loki analysis #loki series #long post #like really fucking long #i’m so sorry for this #not a gif

[i-dreamed-i-had-a-son]

Ok just processed that like...we see Loki using magic in the trailers?? Like people have been getting concerned about how weak Loki has seemed in the action in the past two episodes and I was one of them but we literally have footage of him absolutely OWNING TVA soldiers and we all forgot???

I think that happened because we've kind of gotten hung up on how underwhelming the action scenes came off and how they make Loki seem like he's not a skilled fighter, but they all make sense if you think about it. His apparent "lack" of fighting ability when confronting Sylvie makes sense when we notice that Loki was only fighting defensively; he didn't want to hurt the people she was using (even his captor, who he checks on to make sure she's still alive--probably out of both sympathy and self-preservation, as he wouldn't want to be blamed for her death). Someone else on here pointed that out, and I totally buy it. It also makes sense that Loki would be unlikely to use his full strength so soon in that conflict, as he could tell he wasn't in mortal danger. By fighting conservatively and seeming weaker than he actually is, he ensures that Sylvie will underestimate him if they ever fight directly themselves; he's also able to use the drawn-out conflict to learn about Sylvie's strategy, both fighting and otherwise, which gives him a picture of who he is interacting with and how he should do so.

When in the TVA, Loki is similarly strategic with how he uses his strength. Before he knows what he's up against, in the courtroom scene, Loki initially does try to use his magic to get himself out of there. Now I didn't enjoy how the scene was handled, as it did definitely contribute to the feeling of him being weak, but it was evidence that Loki, y'know, remembers he has abilities? He wasn't just going to let the TVA manhandle him. But when he found out his magic wouldn't work in the TVA--and discovered what they were capable of doing to him--of course he was only going to put up a half-hearted fight in the courtroom. He wanted to avoid getting killed, which clearly they were willing to do, so he dialed it back and let them take him where they wanted him to go. That gave him time to figure out his approach and get a better idea of what they wanted with him.

He continued doing this with Mobius, playing himself off as less physically capable and less intelligent as a cover while actually determining the limits of his environment. For example, by doing things that forced Mobius to use the transportation device, he learns about its limits. This is information he needed to have when he discreetly stole it from Mobius--which he was only able to do because Mobius didn't think he was a physical threat--to enable himself to utilize it most effectively later.

But when Loki has something he actually wants? He is more than capable of getting it. When his guard comes into the room he's trapped in, he is able to get the better of her fairly quickly, even without his magic, and transfers his transportation collar to her--and, though this was mostly just because he was feeling vindictive, he does learn more about the limits of the transportation device by..."testing"...it repeatedly on her. Then he promptly escapes and gets to the head office, where he learns even more about the TVA and those who work in it. That's hardly something that anyone had expected of him, as Mobius is clearly very alarmed when he hears of his escape. But Loki just goes back to the room and is waiting, free of all his restraints, but otherwise not aggressive. He knows it's important to keep Mobius from feeling threatened, so he stays mostly still and allows himself a moment of vulnerability--not too difficult as he genuinely is feeling a mess at the moment, since he now knows he really can't go home and he's just been freshly traumatized. Getting to talk openly probably isn't the worst thing for him, but it's also a strategic ploy to direct Mobius' attention to where he wants it to be. Loki wants Mobius to notice how open and genuine he seems, making Loki less of a threat in his mind; what he doesn't want Mobius to notice is that Loki has managed to remove many of the factors that could be used to keep him in check: he is no longer uninformed about the TVA and its capabilities, and he is much more physically mobile. This, in reality, makes Loki much more of a threat. But, by playing himself off as relatively harmless and willing to work with the TVA, Loki succeeds--Mobius does not restrain him again, and tells him about why he's being kept there, bringing him fully into the loop.

In other words, when Loki doesn't have anyone to fool (or anyone he needs to avoid injuring), he clearly shows how competent he is. He's perfectly capable of utilizing his magic, but he doesn't want to harm innocent bystanders, and often, showing off what he can do would put him at a strategic disadvantage. But if Loki is fighting for his life, he has no motivation to hold back. That looks like what we're gonna see in the coming episodes, now that he's escaped the TVA; we know they'll be hunting him, and who knows what else he'll be going up against now that he's gone through Sylvie's portal. So I think we can be optimistic for what's to come--we have literally seen parts of it, and it looks really good--and maybe we can also be a little less frustrated with what's come before.

#marvel #loki #loki series #loki series spoilers #meta #and again i think there are ways that they could have made this a bit more obvious #bc to be honest i do feel at times like i'm going out on really long limbs to try to justify the series' somewhat clunky handling at points #honestly reminding me a bit of the whole secret fourth episode of sherlock season four lol 😂😂 #but i think it's way too early to call and my main point is that we've forgotten that we've literally seen better things coming #a lot of the criticism it's getting seems unduly harsh especially given that these things will be at least somewhat addressed later #and maybe i am just defensive because i really want to like this series??? but i really do think we need to give it more time #and maybe think a little bit more about why things are being done the way they are. i don't think my explanation is entirely unreasonable #so let's give it a chance and maybe i actually won't seem like i've just been in denial by the end of this whole saga #maybe i'll be right lol 😂 but we have to wait and see. so like i guess i'm just saying don't judge it too harshly #bc we all collectively forgot that we've literally seen some of the things we've been worried about get fixed #anyway that was a lot of repetitive thoughts...sometimes i don't know what i'm saying ok?? ok?? anyway #my meta posts #quality meta seal of approval #not to hype my own post up i just put that on all meta posts so that i can find them #kay can i just catch my breath for a second #edit to add: I WAS RIGHT HAHAHAHAHA I'M NOT AN IDIOT I WAS JUST FRICKIN *RIGHT*!!! YESSS!!!! #edit edit to add: don't remember what i was so excited about bc this problem was never really solved and the show was not great -_-

[fatefulfaerie]

Abnormality

Zelink Week 2021 prompt #6/7 @zelinkweek2021

Word Count: 2,225

Incarnation: Age of Calamity

Additional Prompts Followed: Timeline Alteration

“UTA” inspired by the “TVA” of the Disney+ series “Loki”

Trigger Warnings: abduction, brainwashing

Before Link knew it, he was being pushed along a dark hallway, hands tied and feet tripping on each other when he was pushed too abruptly.

“Faster.”

He could barely see, but long, blinking blue lights told him it was a narrow space, and his boots sounded as if they were walking on steel. He walked faster nonetheless. His own iron armor made even more of a ruckus.

“Where are you taking me?” He asked over his shoulder to the man who was pushing him. “What’s going on?”

He was in Hyrule Field last he remembered, returning to the castle after battling a Moblin. He saw an odd, egg-shaped robot and the next thing he knew he was pushed to the ground, landing in the steel trappings of wherever he was now. He was brought to his feet and pushed whenever his captor thought his pacing was too slow.

The man never answered. Link was blasted with light when a door opened as if automatically with the same noise as a sword slinking into a sheath. Link, who marvelled at such unprecedented technology, was pushed in before he could remark at it. The man behind him was gone when those same doors closed behind him.

Link looked behind him and there were no longer doors, just a wall. So he looked in front of him.

The room was clad with a silver material unlike stone. Angles jutted out at odd places and Link had never before seen architecture like this as he slowly paced forward towards the table.

Someone cleared their throat, a woman. Link’s head popped directly forward.

“Name?” She asked.

“What’s going on?”

“Name?” She repeated. It seemed Link found another person who would not humor his questions.

“Link,” he answered.

The receptionist seemed annoyed, eyes rolling to the back of her head and her eyelids fluttering. Link wondered what he did to upset her, but she scribbled something down on a piece of paper nonetheless.

“Birthdate?”

“August 16th,” Link replied. “But--”

“You have been charged with the crime of temporal misdemeanors,” she interrupted. “How do you plead?”

Link’s mouth moved but no sound came out.

“T-temp…” he tried, but failed. “What even is that? What did I do?”

“How do you plead?” She asked. There seemed to be no negotiation.

“G-guilty,” Link stammered. “I guess.”

She pointed her pen to the left, where there was now an opening, a doorless entrance.

“Step onto the platform for processing please.”

Link hesitated.

“Now,” she said without even looking up, and so Link did as he was asked, stepping onto the platform with oddly textured lines. With a jolt, it moved him along, Link’s arms drifting from his sides and knees bending as if bracing for danger. But before he could even get a sight of what was in this next room, his vision was clouded by white mist, a substance that shot a tingling feeling throughout his entire body until he couldn’t even feel his body. He was paralyzed completely and before he could fall, mechanized hands clutched his limbs, his arms, his legs. He felt his armor being stripped off but he didn’t have the control over his eyes to see who was doing it or where it was going, to object to showing this much skin and feeling this vulnerable in a strange place. Neither could he employ his vocal nodes to object to the last bit of clothing being removed until he was left only with a blue Sheikah-grade undergarment covering his most private area.

He could still see though, still tell he was being moved along into the futuristic building with no discernible connection to anything he had ever seen in Hyrule.

When he finally stopped, he stopped in front of a man behind a podium. Around Link were burn marks and the foul smell of burning flesh. His heart began to race.

“Link 816-D, you have been--”

But the echoey voice of doom was stopped when someone came racing through a now opened door, a woman in a blue dress with jagged and yet structured patterned white lines. The dress was far too tight and far too short for anything fashionable in Hyrule, but the dark-haired woman looked professional and put-together nonetheless. The fact that her dress almost exposed her knees was the least of Link’s concerns, it was just odd.

He definitely was not in Hyrule.

“He is to be questioned,” the woman said. Link couldn’t deny she was beautiful. He tried not to think about it. “Concerning the matter of the leading variant at large.”

“Very well.”

Link felt the greatest sense of relief when he was able to move again, permitted to step off the platform, and given garments to clothe himself in. They actually quite resembled the white and blue that everyone in this place wore, Link given white pants, a blue shirt, and a jacket that said “variant” on the back.

He stayed silent until the woman sat him down in a room, sitting across from him with a welcoming smile.

“Sorry about all that,” she said with her hands clasped into each other and her elbows on the table. “We don’t have the best reception here at the UTA. Let’s just say you are very lucky to be with me right now.”

Link didn’t quite know what to say.

“I-I’m sorry but…” Link stammered. “What is the UTA? Why...w-why am I here and...who are you?”

She pursed her lips.

“Somehow I always forget you guys come in here with no context,” she said, almost apologetically. “Allow me to explain. My name is Whitney and I am an employee of the UTA, which stands for the Unified Timeline Authority. We are in charge of making sure that the timeline is pure of contamination such as unauthorized time travel, timeline splits, and nexus events that cause timeline splits. We have worked long and hard to turn a chaotic and temporally lawless timeline of Hyrule into a unified and cohesive timeline. We work tirelessly to make sure the timeline stays straight, and doesn’t veer off from the set path.”

It sounded rehearsed to Link, but more than that, it sounded confusing. He got bits of it but he still stared, overwhelmed beyond belief.

“Okay, okay,” Whitney said, pulling out a piece of paper and a pencil. She started drawing a straight line on the page.

“Here is your timeline. You pull the sword at thirteen but you put it back, right? You didn’t tell anyone?”

Link nodded.

“Okay so time moves along and you age, as you know.”

She started drawing another line, exactly parallel to the first.

“Meanwhile, there is an alternate universe where you do keep the sword. Believe it or not, these both are heading towards the same destination until BAM!”

She stopped drawing the first line abruptly and let the second keep going straight. She continued the first with a line askew, making an angle.

“You encounter the little robot and everything changes. The destination is put in jeopardy at a rate we’ve never seen before. So we step in.”

“You have seen the robot so we took you. We also took the robot so he can do no further damage. We then go to where the robot came from in the first place and make sure he doesn’t come again. Thus, we have two robots. Both are now destroyed. Now I know what you’re thinking. Two robots but one of you, how does that fix it? Eliminating the second robot made it so that it never contaminated your timeline, and so there is now another Link that made it to the destination, the event where all alternate timelines become one. Thus you are the extra Link, a variant.”

She erased some of both lines and made it so that the two lines converged into one, drawing a dot at the exact place where they did and labeling it “the destination”.

“So I’m here because I saw the robot?”

“Not quite. You see, we could have wiped your memories or even wiped you but we took the opportunity to gain some…intel…about another variant.”

“Who?” Link asked.

“You,” she answered simply.

“What?”

She almost laughed.

From below the desk she pulled out a clipboard, the exact one that Link saw that first woman with. She handed it over to Link, who took it and knitted his brow at what he saw.

At least half of the names on each and every of the many pages were either Link, Zelda, or Ganon, each name accompanied by two to four numbers and a single capital letter.

In the middle of the last page was what the judge called him, Link 816-D.

“Yeah sorry about that,” she said. Of all the things she could apologize for, she sounded too casual to be apologizing for any of them, for kidnapping him, for stealing the armor he earned, for uprooting his life. “You are actually the fourth Link to come in with that birthday, thus Link 816-D.”

Link put the clipboard down slowly, and returned his gaze back to the diagram.

“The destination,” he said, before looking up. “What is it? Why is it so important that you can’t have it not happen?”

The destination is the singular moment where we were finally able to unify the timeline into one. We refer to it as the calamity.”

The word struck fear into Link’s heart.

“C-calamity…” he began, attempting to fight his shock at how cheery she said that word, how casually she referred to something that could kill thousands of people. “As in Calamity Ganon? Are you serious? You...y-you want that to happen? Do you realize what that means?”

Whitney nodded.

“It’s unfortunate,” she said. “But it was necessary that we let it happen. The near destruction of Hyrule was the only way to unify the parallel timelines. It isn’t the first time we took advantage of a disaster to slowly work towards unification. There used to be three separate timelines that were nowhere near parallel, mind you.”

Link went pale, cold. His eyes stung and his lungs paused. Not only did they permit the calamity but they let entire kingdoms be destroyed for their order.

For some reason Whitney assumed that Link was just as comfortable as her with the situation.

“The variant we are concerned with exists in the single timeline beyond the destination but the variant is trying to undo the calamity, and we need to know why. Activating that robot and sending him across parallel timelines was his first attempt. He is, of course, only a variant of you, but we feel that questioning you will lead to a bit of clarity as far as his motives. If you submit to questioning right here and now, we can offer you a job, you won’t have to worry about being destroyed or anything. I used to be a variant, too, you know. All of us were variants once. We’d love to have you join us.”

Link wondered how long this woman had been here for her words to sound so fake, so insincere, so rehearsed. Perhaps she was kidnapped as a child, perhaps she was raised by other people like her, who lost themselves gradually.

Thus Link most assuredly did not want the job, did not want to be a part of something that trades apocalypses for senseless organization, that trades lives for convenience.

The kingdom of Hyrule he once served not ten minutes ago was so much more…

It was...

Well he supposed they were no better, doing those same things, just on a smaller scale.

So he could either work for the UTA or be destroyed like the variants who did not comply. He could die for his morals or he could sacrifice them.

But perhaps there was a third option, one where he fought for his morals, destroyed the UTA from the inside.

“I’ll take the job,” he finally said, Whitney smiled. “But I have to ask...you said you were a variant...who were you?”

It didn’t seem like a question that was commonly asked, and she hesitated. It wasn’t that she didn’t want to answer, it was more like she genuinely forgot. Link narrowed his eyes.

“I was a variant of Princess Zelda,” she said. “I used to go by Hilda but when I got here they labeled me as Zelda 108-A. I was taken the moment Lorule got it’s own Triforce. Lorule was destroyed by the UTA, but...it was already a mess.” Whitney shrugged. “It was probably for the best.”

Her entire kingdom was destroyed and she showed so little empathy. Link could hardly believe it. She was so casual about it, like she was talking about what she had for lunch.

“A friend got taken alongside me but,” she laughed. “You know it’s funny I don’t remember their name.” She shrugged again. “Must not have been a very good friend. I’m sure you’ll be a better one.”

Link pitied that poor friend. He could very well have been her best friend, could have refused to comply and could have been erased from her memory so that she would comply, would slowly lose herself and become another drone of the UTA.

Link inwardly refused to resign to the same fate, to maybe, if possible, save her too.

“What is your first question for me?”

#zelink #I guess #the concept kind of took over #zelink week 2021 #zelinkweek2021

[delyth88]

Some quick initial thoughts on episode 2

Spoilers ahead. 

Okay, so I’m gonna have to get used to the whiplash between this weird new version of Loki and serious Loki. At least this week wasn’t quite so aggravating as episode 1 in this regard. I find I can better tolerate this oddly lively Loki better than the weird posturing version.

One of my hobbies is historical re-enactment, not quite a Ren Faire North American style, but enough that that whole sequence was insane from my perspective.  Loki… in that context…??! Brain… short… circuited…

Given my anxiety over his characterisation I was a wee bit relieved when it turned out that Loki’s whole spiel in the tent about the other Loki setting a trap was a ruse.  It just felt even more... off, and I was worried it was going to be another level of ooc.  

I loved that they showed Loki finding out about the fall of Asgard.  ;’(  Makes me wonder if we might get a few more moments of his past and identity in this sort of way.  I’m still holding out for some acknowledgement of Thanos, but feeling less hopeful.

I have to admit I died laughing over Loki shouting at the poor terrified Pompei residents, about time travel and their doom. In. Latin!  Perfect!

The “I know” line was less awful in context.  The “I’d never do it again” line somewhat less so. :/

That explained the carton of fruit juice and the soft drink can thing.  

I think I should not have spent so much time analysing the trailers – I found myself ticking off the moments we’d seen as they came up.

I was hoping for more out of the “It’s adorable you think you can manipulate me” conversation.  They really are riding the line between lovable fool who happens to get lucky, and master manipulator. And I really don’t know where’re they’re going with this.  This whole show has me so off balance.

I kinda liked the conversation where Loki described the difference between casting duplicates and illusions.  Maybe not the context and delivery, but I like that he’s showing a detailed technical knowledge about it.  Feeds into the beautiful headcannons about him being a scholar.

Also interesting to see the new variant showing a new (to us) power.  Initially I was confused, thinking she had done something similar to Wanda in Age of Ultron, and so was mighty confused when she jumped bodies.

The whole sequence with the other variant gave me such Dr Who vibes.

The climate change joke hit a bit too close for home.

I did like that the guy who was beating up Loki actually was Loki. Makes so much sense now. So Loki’s powers transfer too? I’d still like to see, as @iamanartichoke has discussed in the past, some fun instances of Loki having super-human strength.  

I did love Loki’s comment about how he can see why Thor would get so irritated talking to him! <3

I’m unsure what Loki’s actual plans/hopes are now.  They have been very open about plans for taking over the TVA so I have to assume that’s not it. there’s definitely something up with the Timekeepers. [okay so apparently I can’t type Timekeepers without hearing it said in his voice. XD ] No idea wot tho.  And the new Loki seems to be intent on creating the Multiverse again.

And that also puts paid to my previous thoughts that the Loki series might end up creating a multiverse and Dr Strange fix it.  Seems a bit early to be creating a multiverse in episode 2 if that’s the state you need to finish the series in.  ?  I like that this is so far not going in a way I had expected.

I’m unsure whether Loki didn’t wait for Mobius because he was trying to get away or whether he just didn’t want to lose the opportunity to keep tabs on the other Loki variant and will prove Mobius’ trust in the end.

 We seem to have covered off most of the scenes from the trailers now. Except for the purple ones, the flaming sword, and the Loki variants having a chat. Oh and the post-apocalyptic New York. Does that mean we get Purple World in the next episode? I do like that they’ve left a lot unknown from the promo material.

Overall I’m still getting more out of this than I’m disliking. Though still getting whiplash from the characterisation.  Mobius seems a more consistent character than Loki atm.  I do hope we get more of Dramatic Loki than Comedy Loki in future episodes as the stakes get higher. ‘Cause the bits we do get are so good!

Tagging a few folk since the amount of content these days and the timezone difference... 🤷‍♀️ I look forward to hearing what you thought of the episode when you get there. :)

@iamanartichoke @sparklegemstone @scintillatingshortgirl19 @projectprotectloki

#loki #loki episode 2 #loki series #spoilers #loki spoilers #my review

[valkyrieandstrangeridingaragorn]

(Please ignore me if I'm being unnecessarily toxic. I've had a super bad couple days and I guess I just need to rant about something to let out some bile 🙃)

Im not sure if its just me but it feels like Strange has been super OOC in anything not his own film.

Thor Ragnorak: Stephan let Odin just... hang out on earth without any questions or supervision. Then when Hela showed up Strange was nowhere to be found even though he showed up RIGHT AWAY when Loki landed.

Infinity War and Endgame: These are complete trashfires on there own and can have their own rants about how they did Stephan dirty. But the most glaring thing is that the whole "14 million futures" thing is rendered null when you realize that the TVA exists. So none of those futures would have actually existed because the TVA would have pruned them. So Strange just looked at a bunch of nothing and gave himself and everyone an anxiety attack over nothing.

No Way Home: You and everyone have covered this one to death. No need to beat a dead horse.

- 🐍 Anon

Oh honey, I'm sorry to hear you've had a few bad days. If you want to talk I'm always here, okay? And rant away, it's good for the soul and I'm happy to read whatever you've got to say 😊

I wholeheartedly agree with you about his appearance in Ragnarok. This is from the prelude comic, here we can see how they found out Loki was on Earth:

Stephen said he was keeping tabs on certain dangerous individuals so it's safe to assume the very moment one of them show up on Earth the sorcerers can sense it - and I'm willing to accept that perhaps they didn't know about Hela's existence so catching up on what was happening in Norway couldn't have been easy, but come on, with how powerful she was they didn't sense it?

Am I supposed to believe that Stephen would just lead Thor and Loki to Norway then close up the portal and not keep an eye on them just in case? This is the guy who trapped Loki in a portal as soon as he saw him, he would have wanted to eavesdrop.

So yeah, that one I find hard to believe.

As for IW I'm going to have to disagree slightly. Even though the Ancient One, Wong and Mordo mention the multiverse in the first movie, they never go into specifics and it is implied not much is known about it (then Stephen confirms that in NWH). So I don't think any of them knew about the TVA.

In Titan they were running out of time and Stephen was completely alone, I can see him using the Stone trying to come up with something that would work - and in fact I think it's a rather interesting story to have him of all people doing this: surrendering control and choosing to lose. Remember the Ancient One's words about controlling the river by surrendering to it? Stephen is obsessed with control and being able to fix everything. For someone like him to give up and lose instead.... that's huge! It's one of those things where a character does something out of character but not because the writers have made a mistake but because Stephen in this case feels forced to do something he doesn't want to do.

Now, if you're referring to the fact that now that we know about the TVA then the 14 million outcomes were silly... then yeah, you're definitely right!

You're certainly not alone in thinking that way though, I've seen many people agree that Stephen has been ooc for a long time now. I don't see it that way necessarily (which doesn't mean I agree with everything he has done, mind you) but I can see where you're coming from.

#doctor strange #stephen strange #Loki