#the only person who is allowed to be Interesting is loki apparently

[damnation-if]

on today's episode of Hashing Out Concepts Theatre, i spent a while today while waiting for my new fridge/freezer to be installed after my previous one died and i lost all my food hashing out a bunch of concepts for another game idea i have. (rest assured i'm not actually working on it as a game yet i just like to bash out a framework for things every now and then to make my brain do happy chemicals lmao)

putting all of this stuff under a cut since it's a bunch of images and also in case people aren't interested XD

i am regrettably a huge fan of comic books (mostly DC) and i've seen a couple of comic book inspired IFs popping up lately, though when it comes to my own interest, i'm definitely more into a straight interpretation of a comic book universe than a more. the boys-style universe - i'm into the camp lol, not so much the grim and gritty stuff. (though that's just my own personal preference)

anyway the idea behind That's Just Super is something that i really like about certain comics - giving the villains more of a purpose and rounded existence than just existing to be in somebody's rogue's gallery. the joker's angry defence of the batfamily from various other DC evil forces, lex luthor's furious resistance against brainiac alongside superman because it's His planet, damn it, DOOM throwing in with the heroes in every second marvel event comic... i really like stories where villains and evil characters don't always make the Most Evil choice just Because, but have clear and explainable motivations that sometimes bring them into what we'd consider a 'good' alignment because unlike in d&d, there's no real such thing as a concrete moral alignment.

(this is my banner design for it)

the basic idea is that an inexplicable cosmic event removes all of the superheroes from the planet, leaving it vulnerable to attack by evil mindflayer style aliens - unless the supervillains who remain are able to band together despite their more unpredictable, less cooperative natures and save the planet in the heroes' absence. after all... if aliens take over the earth, the villains can't take it over themselves.

here's my fun little UI design idea lmao...

the other major thing about That's Just Super that i've been hashing out is the pc. the basic idea is that you pick your villain identity from a list but you get to customise their like. birth name and secret identity, while the villain identity comes with its own name, costume, and set history (including occasionally past romantic encounters). i like playing around with the way that IF works with the idea of mcs and customisable mcs so i just thought it'd be a fun twist... it also allows me to create nice drama by having set occurrences in the past lol.

so i did some profiles for the nine villain options - three each of the DC triad of tech/metahuman/magic origin. they're all based on a specific kind of villain archetype, and i really tried to limit myself to ones where i could definitely pin down more than one specific influence so it didn't end up like me just making too many analogues haha... even if some of the influences are probably pretty obvious.

weirdly i haven't even Thought about ROs yet since i've been so focussed on the pc... maybe i'll play around with the partially set background idea even more and only have 1 possible RO for each villain choice or something. maybe a couple that you can romance as anybody... not sure. (talionis could definitely have a messy broken romance with his superhero for example)

apologies that readability isn't great but these are mostly just made for me lmao

#posts from the mortal world #dc give me a job writing for you please... jk i'm not moving to the us (not that they'd have me anyway) #long post. #i think i'm so funny for that joke of labelling the reset button a joke about time manipulation lmfao #but isn't that perfectly on the nose for a comic book themed IF?? that's what i tell myself anyway #absolutely Could Not Stand the infinity saga honestly. for Many reasons. #but in regards to this stuff in particular. every villain just threw in with thanos or immediately got killed off... boring!!!! #the only person who is allowed to be Interesting is loki apparently #and the fact that they cut. Doom holding the gauntlet with all the fucking gems on it for as long as he did from the story??? Crime #All of the crimes. go to Story Jail marvel. doom will get his just rewards for you screwing him over like that some day!!!! doom is!!!!!!!! #man also just yesterday i was thinking to myself that i Need to reread in blackest night and i So do. i'm such a lantern girlie... #that's right i like d&d i like m:tg and i like comic books. bow before my supreme embarrassing taste #it has been a Chaotic couple of days if you can't tell. i haven't slept nearly enough and i. Cried when all my food got spoiled #at least the new fridge works fine so far though...

[kcscribbler]

So, the character and theme parallels this season have been glaringly obvious. Chaos vs order, relationship triangles, choices and consequences, is free will actually free, etc.

We have one (the OG, apparently) triangle: Renslayer/Timely-HWR/Miss Minutes And now the other: Mobius/Loki/Sylvie

More below the cut due to spoilers & finale speculation, though I don't know how anyone didn't see said spoilers coming:

The time loop(s) going on in S2 have been pretty obvious, since S2 started with a character and episode literally named Ouroboros (which point was hammered home with zero subtlety in this last episode).

But we now know that HWR created the entire system, then had Miss Minutes wipe Renslayer's memories of what seemed to be a powerful partnership (maybe more?), ensuring the continuance of the TVA over all else.

So now that we're apparently in the process of re-building a new type of TVA, and the over-arching theme seems to be history repeating itself (literally, in time loop cases), this makes me very concerned.

Will Loki eventually replace HWR as the unseen overseer of the timelines? If the character parallels carry through, that would seem to hint that he'd have Sylvie wipe everyone's memories once the TVA has been rebuilt to be less genocidal. A personal sacrifice, to ensure the safety of the timelines.

Maybe they set up a new system, new timekeepers (real or otherwise, and it's again interesting how that number of 3 recurs), new structure and new rules. They allow TVA workers a life on the timeline or a memory wipe.

Sylvie helps with all of this, then disappears to live her own version of free will, the only one with omniscience about the new system framework (see her parallel to Miss Minutes).

Memory wiped, Mobius becomes the new Renslayer.

And Loki is left alone, a callback to Sif's words in the S1 memory-loop cell. Mobius even foreshadowed it in S2E1 - a Loki Who Remains.

Full circle, rinse and repeat.

Side ramble:

It's worth noting that Mobius in the comics has three pseuds: Mr. Tessaract, Mr. Paradox, and Mr. Ouroboros. S1 tossed the Tessaract in our faces in the first episode, S2 the ouroboros in the first episode. Will S3 start with a paradox, something like For All Time, Always?

#fandom rambles #loki spoilers #loki season 2 #loki series #lokius

[five-rivers]

Life's Great Lie 2

Danny watched the alien – Loki, he called himself – carefully. 

As much as Danny knew what mind control felt like from the inside, he was even more experienced in detecting it from the outside.  He had met Spectra long before Freakshow.  Walker’s invasion had been a lesson in paranoia. 

Whatever else Loki was, he wasn’t in control, and he hadn’t been for a long time.

In theory, that put them in the same boat, on the same side.  That is, the side against whatever person or force was pulling their puppet strings.  In practice…

Well.  Danny had met Dora, too, and as far as he knew, her brother hadn’t needed mind control after everything else. 

He pushed up against the boundaries he had been set inside, trying to get a feel for them, for what was allowed and what wasn’t.   As much as this was like Freakshow, it also wasn’t.  This had been designed with the living in mind, not the dead.  He needed to know what he had to work with. 

Danny looked outside himself, too.  Dr. Selvig, the archer, and the other SHEILD people who had been taken by Loki didn't act like Danny was.  They acted less like automatons and more like Loki had hijacked their loyalty, their passions, and harnessed them to his own aims. 

Danny could feel something like that in what was pressing against his own mind.  But that structure was too delicate, too… familiar to affect him, which left the more robust but rather crude method of direct control.  He’d follow Loki’s instructions to the letter unless Phantom pulled Fenton up short. 

Or if Danny let himself be affected, if he stopped resisting.  Which, obviously, he wasn’t going to do. 

He could figure out some way to play literal genie with Loki.  His experiences with Desiree should do him some good. 

“So,” said Loki, reclining as indolently as he could on the hard seats of the SHIELD vehicle, “your powers interest me.  Tell me about them.”  Despite his position,

“They’re ghost powers.”

Loki waited. 

He kept waiting. 

He frowned.  “And what can you do with them?”

“Ghost things.”  Apparently, questions counted as orders.  Good to know.  

“And what are ghost things?”

“Scaring people.”

“How?  Show me.”

Yeah.  There was no way Danny was making this easy for him. 

Danny launched an ectoblast at Loki’s face.  Next thing he knew, he was on the floor of the jeep, the staff pressing against the back of his neck.  Loki could move faster than expected. 

“You will not attack me again,” ordered Loki, his voice a hiss.  It barely sounded like he was speaking English. 

“Sir,” said the archer, “we need to get clean transport.  Fury will be tracking us.”

“Indeed,” said Loki, distracted from Danny for the moment.  “We will also need more soldiers for our cause.”

“Can you show them what you showed us?” asked the archer. 

“I…” said Loki, turning the scepter over in his hand.  He looked at it almost as if he was surprised it was there.  “I would like to hold that kind of revelation in reserve.”

“I know a few groups,” said the archer.  “Might be easier to convince them with a display of force, though.”  He looked at Danny, who hadn’t yet been allowed off the floor. 

“Hm, yes,” said Loki, also looking at Danny. 

Wow, awesome, amazing, Danny had always wanted to be dumb muscle for a wannabe alien overlord.  Great.  

(… the alien thing was still pretty cool, though.)

“I don’t suppose,” said Loki, turning to the archer, “that you know the boy’s capabilities.”

“Fury briefed me,” said the archer. 

Okay.  Fury told this guy all about him, too?  Well, then, screw Loki and Fury.  Danny didn’t even know the archer’s name, and the archer knew everything up to Danny’s new and rarely used telekinetic powers?  That just wasn’t right. 

At least it seemed that the archer only knew about Danny’s ghostly abilities, not his human ones, although he wasn’t sure how useful that would be.  It was, after all, Danny’s human half under control, and Danny couldn’t see his ability to pilot a space shuttle, play hours’ worth of video games, or turn his eyelids inside out saving the day. 

Obviously it wasn’t impossible (thanks again, Freakshow, Technus, and Youngblood), but it didn’t seem very likely.

Danny watched passively as the archer, Dr. Selvig, and Loki started to make plans.  There wasn’t anything else he could do.

Being mind controlled was really boring.  Even when the one mind controlling him was from outer space. 

Come to think of it, wasn’t it really weird that Loki looked human?  Where humanoid aliens common?  What was Loki’s planet like?

.

So.   Danny might have zoned out a little.  In his defense, he’d spent a fair amount of time training himself to zone out during road trips.  It was a thing. 

When he zoned back in, Loki was ordering him to hijack a car.

His exact words?  “Go get me that car.”

Danny happily walked over to the car, even as the archer stalked over to another, weapon raised.  Danny gently phased the (shaking, terrified) driver out and picked up the car before turning back to face Loki. 

Hm.  Danny could hit Loki, but then the car would also hit the other mind-controlled agents standing next to Loki, so…  Danny tossed the car so that it landed behind them, on the SHEILD Jeep, crushing both vehicles into uselessness.

Loki gazed at him appraisingly, and Danny wondered if he hadn’t just made a mistake. 

.

They got in the car the archer had stolen and drove to what the archer called a ‘safe house.’  They stayed there for a while.  When they left, they had twice as many people and four times as many cars. 

The new people made Danny’s hair stand on end.  He didn’t like them. 

Their next destination was a tiny airstrip, and they loaded themselves – and far too many guns – onto a small plane.  Being trapped on a plane was even more boring than the car.  He couldn’t even eavesdrop on the conversations because no one had given him a pair of headphones and it was too loud in the plane otherwise.

It hurt his ears.  He wanted to curl up on himself.  But, of course, all he could do was stare blankly. 

He didn’t know where they were when they landed, but when they did, they were met by even more disturbing and armed to the teeth men and women. 

Loki started to talk about business deals – that’s all Danny could catch after the beating his ears had taken – but the situation devolved rapidly into violence, both sides shooting. 

Danny… stood still and did nothing.  He had not, after all, been told to do anything.  For a moment, he panicked internally, because gun battles weren’t places he wanted to be while human, but then he made the not at all disturbing discovery that, when his brain was disconnected, intangibility was reflexive. 

(Okay, it was actually massively disturbing, but Danny was mostly just glad that he wasn’t bleeding out from a bullet hole in his gut.)

“Boy!” snapped Loki.  “To me!”  The alien waved his hand, and Danny felt something cold and almost-not-quite like the Ghost Zone wash through the area.

With a flare of light, the airport tarmac was filled with duplicates of Loki. 

“Defend me,” barked the real Loki. 

Danny obeyed.  That, at least, was going to be one order he couldn’t throw off at all.  Too simple.  Too short.  Too in line with what he was as Phantom.

They retreated into a hanger, both sides of the battle taking cover behind or underneath planes and maintenance equipment.

“Take them down!” ordered Loki, pointing. 

Well.  English was a funny language.  ‘Them’ could refer to oh so many things.  Planes for example.  Or walls.  Roofs, even. 

He spread his arms and sent ectoplasm flying in all directions.

.

“Were you trying to kill me?” roared Loki, hand resting on, but not yet constricting around, Danny’s throat.  The battle was well and truly over, but only just.  Dust sifted from Loki’s hair and shoulders.

“No,” said Danny, honestly.  Case in point: Loki was still alive.

Loki barred his teeth.  There was a surprising amount of humor in the expression.  “Oh, you think you’re clever, don’t you, little ghost?”

“Not usually,” said Danny. 

“Ha!  Well, I’ve been thinking about how to bring you to heel since

.

Danny exhausted and pulled apart.  Fenton wanting to go one way under the pull of the scepter, Phantom steadfastly refusing to budge.  Loki could ask questions.  More importantly, he could make an entire Fortune 500 company’s worth of elite lawyers cry. 

Maybe he should have waited to act out, played at obedience until he could do something, until he could figure out how to escape.  Too late for that now. 

“To summarize,” said Loki, “you will stay at my side.  You will not harm me, either through action or inaction.  If I am in danger, you will protect me.  You will not create situations in which I will be harmed.  Do you understand?”

“Yes,” said Danny, hating the word as it forced its way past his lips. 

“Good,” said Loki. 

.

They had a base, now. 

Danny wasn’t sure who it had belonged to originally, but now it was Loki’s.  They’d had to fight for it.  Danny hoped that when the SHIELD agents woke up, they didn’t remember what they’d done. 

There was a lab in the base, a pretty good one, too, if Danny was any judge.  Dr. Selvig’s delight upon seeing it made Danny nervous. 

Everyone else was running around, putting things together, setting things up.  Danny was standing next to Loki, as was becoming usual. 

Loki, meanwhile, was…  Meditating?  Sleeping?  Did Loki’s type of alien even need sleep?  Judging by the way he’d been making everyone work, sleep was a foreign concept to him, regardless. 

Something felt wrong. 

Yes, yes, he was being mind controlled by a megalomaniac alien.  Of course something felt wrong. 

This was something different.  Something… 

Loki began to twitch, his breath coming faster.  That scream of wrongness peaked and Danny reached out, grasping Loki’s shoulder, letting his hand phase in just a little bit, just enough to brush against Loki’s mind and—

Loki gasped.  “You!” he said, his eyes finding Danny’s.  “You—What—Why?”  His eyes went narrow and sharp with the last word. 

“You were in danger,” said Danny, neutrally. 

Loki regarded him for a long moment.  Danny could tell they were both disturbed.  Whatever had just happened was not right.  Was that related to whoever was controlling Loki?

“Very well,” said Loki.  He stood up.  “Come with me,” he said.  “We have much to do.”

#danny phantom #life's great lie #marvel/dp crossover #dp/marvel #op!danny x marvel #dannymay #dannymay 2022

[lisztful]

GO Season 2 and fandom history ramblings

Spoilers for Good Omens season 2 to follow:

I've watched the second season of Good Omens twice by now, and several days later I am still thinking about it. I know many people are delighted, pained, moved, and excited by the storyline, but that's not the only thing that I keep coming back to. For me, it's the novel experience of seeing the subtext become text, after countless years of existing in fandom without any possibility of that occurring.

For context, I've been in fandom for about 15 years, which is certainly not as long as many other folks I know. There are friends in my circle who collected Kirk/Spock zines back in the old days of fandom, who watched Starsky and Hutch as it was airing and read in it the love that dared not speak its name. Personally, I was one of many people of my generation who entered slash fandom via Harry Potter and LiveJournal, and began writing in the Merlin fandom.

From the beginning of my time in fandom, it was exceedingly clear to me that slash pairings for these shows were never, ever going to be canon. Articles about the Merlin tv series touted the parallels between magic and gay identity as early as the first season, but the show included straight romances for just about every main character. I tend to characterize fandom from around this era in the following buckets:

Deny, create straight pairings.

Token queer rep.

Cultivate queer subtext

Queer story arcs

Good Omens season two, apparently a category of its own

***often one show can be in more than one bucket at once, or moves between them as discourse evolves.

(More below the cut)

Deny the subtext, create straight canon pairings to dispel slash undertones, express discomfort with the very idea of slash pairings, and sometimes downright mock the idea:

The paired actors from Stargate Atlantis, Supernatural, LOTR, and Sherlock did this, repeatedly denying, expressing discomfort, and sometimes even mocking slash at conventions and in interviews. So too Merlin, the Harry Potter films, etc. Hugh Dancy of Hannibal expressed this discomfort in a number of interviews, though notably Misha Collins and Mads Mikkelson, speaking about Supernatural and Hannibal respectively, were more open to the possibility of homoeroticism. All of these pairings were given heterosexual romance arcs.

In many examples, as the writers became aware of the subtext, the characters were actually separated to try to prevent any potential subtext from being read into their interactions. In Teen Wolf, Hannibal, Supernatural, Captain America, and the Witcher, character arcs separated pairings who previously spent a lot of screen-time together, physically distancing them to reduce any opportunity for subtext.

2. In the next category, there are the creators who write in minor gay characters in the hopes of appeasing fandom or shifting their focus from the main slash pairing. See JK Rowling making Dumbledore gay, Felicia Day's character in Supernatural, Jaskier in the Witcher, etc. This kind of redirection is often an attempt to say, see, we're not homophobic, but also we have no interest in alienating middle-America cable viewers by asserting that a traditionally masculine lead could in fact be queer. See Watson's queer sister in Sherlock, even while the writers denied any queer subtext between the leads.

A more contemporary subcategory of this category involves giving a character a backstory that hints at or includes queerness, but doesn't show it on screen or allow it for the character's present day arc. I think the Loki tv show is an example of this, as is Valkyrie in the Thor films, although I haven't seen Loki and I think there was a cut scene with Valkyrie that made her bisexuality canon for the film verse. WWDITS does this a little as well, though I think it's much more self aware and also, is an unfinished story arc. The main characters are revealed to be queer but the pairing is not thus far canonical, though both Nandor and Guillermo are shown having on-screen queer relationships with other (or in fact the same) people.

3. The next category, which I believe begins to push the boundaries of fandom, are those shows that purposefully wrote in or allowed subtext to flourish, likely for financial reasons. Again, there was no chance the writing teams were going to make a slash pairing canon, but they would certainly wink and nod at it to appease fandom. And, largely, this worked. Fans noticed it, we liked it, we worked it into fic. Did we also feel mocked and disrespected by it? Certainly. But those liminal spaces were where our identities were allowed to live, and so we took those seeds and turned them into the vibrant culture of fandom.

One particularly egregious example of this comes from the Teen Wolf television show, which produced a viral video featuring the members of the slash pairing. The video showed the actors cuddled close on a boat, and opened with one of the actors saying, "We're on a ship, pun intended." The ad was intended to garner votes for an award for the show, and purposefully capitalized upon slash fandom to that end. However, the show also simultaneously wrote out the possibility of these characters having a romantic arc.

Some subtler examples have surfaced often during unscripted Q&A sessions with actors, for example Hannibal's Mads Mikkelson reacting humorously during a panel discussion in which Hugh Dancy describes Hannibal and Will's love as platonic, indicating that he disagrees. See also Misha Collins saying, "Also, Cas is gay" in an instagram post, after a canonical declaration of unrequited love from Castiel to Dean in Supernatural (or requited if you believe the Spanish subtitles, though there's still plausible deniability for this to be platonic love).

Hannibal I think begins to push the boundaries here, and some fans will say that the Hannibal/Will slash pairing is canon. While there is a ton of space to read that in the show, especially in season three and in creator Brian Fuller's statements since the end of the show, the show utilizes ambiguity both for artistic effect and (in my opinion) to avoid ever making the subtext into text. See for example this much quoted line from the second last episode of season 3:

Will Graham : "Is Hannibal in love with me?" Dr. Bedelia Du Maurier : "Could he daily feel a stab of hunger for you and find nourishment at the very sight of you? Yes. But do you... ache for him?"

We quote this scene all the time and say, it's canon! Hannibal loves Will! I am personally a gigantic Hannibal fan and I love the room for subtext in this writing, but note that while it certainly SEEMS like Bedelia is saying Hannibal is in love with Will, she does not explicitly say that it is romantic love. Also, Will doesn't reply! We can read many emotions into his facial expression, but we don't have explicit canonical confirmation.

Similarly, the show's climactic ending is often touted as a romantic embrace, but I would say it is not undeniably, explicitly romantic. I feel it has strong romantic undertones, but the writers chose not to make the subtext into explicit text. It's important to mention that this show aired on cable, and as such was beholden to network censorship and the need to target cable audience for ratings. The next category of shows is different.

4. As television production has moved into the realm of streaming services, there has of course been a rise of well-received queer television and film, Orange is the New Black being one of the early examples. There is of course a financial market for this stuff, and it's easier to tailor content to sympathetic audiences. I do think this stuff is also just becoming vastly more visible in general (in politics, on tiktok, etc.) and as such we've seen more and more representation from TV shows. These shows were all, from their inception, intended as queer stories. This category includes Heartstopper (a show much beloved by me), Gentleman Jack, and notably OFMD. I think Our Flag Means Death stands out because it took pains to dispel many of the characteristic elements of fandom queerbaiting, which while evidently unintentional on the part of creator and writer David Jenkins, was almost certainly an intentional choice from the overwhelmingly queer writer's room for the show. But again, though many fans were surprised to see the pairing made canon, it was intended from the original arc of the show. I think the remake of Interview with the Vampire also falls into this category of more fandom-aware, intentional queer stories.

5. And then there's Good Omens. In season one, I think the show fit into categories 2 and 3, containing queer and nonbinary representation and allowing a lot of space for subtext. Michael Sheen stated in interviews that he was playing Aziraphale as a person who was trying not to show someone that he loved them, but never explicitly stated this to be a romantic love. I know fandom read it that way, including myself, but technically it was never explicitly stated as romantic love. It seemed reasonably clear in the landscape of season one, and the other shows that were being made at the same time, that slash pairings do not become canon. Much was made of a line from the Good Omens book, reiterated by Neil Gaiman on tumblr that angels are agender. Several of the characters are in show canon only referred to by gender neutral pronouns, though not Aziraphale or Crowley. Much more still was made of Gaiman's references to conversations in which he and Terry Pratchett joked? discussed? the pairing living in a cottage in the South Downs together after the events of the book. There was a great deal of room left by Sheen and Gaiman's comments, and by the subtext of the show, in which to imagine a queer romance.

As I prepared to watch season two, I remarked to a friend that I was curious to see what, if any, impact fandoms like Hannibal and OFMD might have had on the series. Hannibal fandom seems to have largely convinced Brian Fuller of the viability of a queer romance, though he has been cagey about if it would happen in a hypothetical season 4 of Hannibal (I've seen several interviews in which Fuller states that it might not happen in season 4 because "Hannibal would want Will to be able to consent, and he would not be able to in the planned storyline for season 4").

OFMD's success seems to have paved the way for story-lines containing queer representation and romance that are not in fact centered around the experience of being queer. OFMD, in addition to showcasing many different kinds of queer relationships, worked hard to write a story that was not a Heartstopper style coming out story. So too, Hannibal and Good Omens season one are compelling as stories that happen to contain possible queer pairings, not as stories framed around the experience of being queer.

Additionally, through each of his recent television series but most notably with Sandman, Neil Gaiman made an explicit statement about including substantial queer representation in his work. He did not seem to be overly burdened with the requirements from the Terry Pratchett estate, or with any personal fear of writing queer narratives. If ever there was a moment to make a slash pairing canon, it seemed to be now.

As I watched season two, I felt much as I had watching OFMD - filled with a sense of disbelief that after countless fandoms in which there was no eventual queer arc, the subtext seemed suspiciously close to becoming text. I kept reminding myself not to get my hopes up, because that has basically never paid off in the past! I assumed the show would hint heavily but leave some room for ambiguity.

But it didn't! And not only did it deliberately and explicitly state that the arc was a romantic one, it also referenced and validated subtext from season one, which I suspect was before anyone had a serious intention of making this pairing explicitly canonical. I cannot think of any other example of a fandom that began a story without an intended queer romantic arc for its main characters, and ended up writing one in. If there are any other shows out there I would love to know, but for now Good Omens stands alone as the first fandom I know of in history to do this. What a time to be alive, and part of fandom! I can't wait to see what happens next!

#meta #ramblings #GOSeason2Spoilers #Good omens meta #Hannigram #OFMD #this is exceedingly long

[musclesandhammering]

Every Single Issue I Have With S*lki (It’s Not Just The Selfcest)

Here goes. I threatened to post this a few days ago and never did, but I just saw a s*lki stan Twitter account claim that Loki caring about Sylvie more than the whole multiverse was a Good And Romantic thing and it pushed me over the fucking edge, so now you all have to read this. I’ve divided it into categories cause there’s just THAT much.

OOC Bullshit

• First and foremost, no amount of mental gymnastics you do will ever make me believe that this specific Loki- the one that just invaded New York, that just came off a year of Thanos Torture, that just got done being influenced by the sceptre, that was literally in the middle of a crisis already, and then on top of that went through all the trauma of Ep 1- would even be worried about a romantic relationship. That would be the furthest thing from his mind. Go back and watch how he acted in Avengers- you think that guy would abandon his previous mission to become a snivelling simp for a girl he’d just met 3 days prior? Yeah, there’s no universe in which that makes sense.

• “It’s very in character for Loki to fall in love with himself lololol-“ NO, it’s literally not. Out of all the characters in the mcu, I don’t think I can think of anyone that genuinely hates themselves more than Loki. He even referred to all his other male variants as “monsters” and said meeting them was “a nightmare” in this series. He’s got so much self-loathing, plus the fact that he genuinely thinks himself to be an evil backstabbing scourge- so there’s no evidence at all suggesting that he would ever develop a fondness for, or even be inclined to trust, another version of himself, after only knowing them for 3 days.

• Building on that, the whole concept of Loki falling in love with a version of himself just feeds into the annoying ass misconception that he’s a narcissist. No matter which way you stack it, he’s not. If you’re referring to NPD, he doesn’t fit the criteria, and if you’re saying “narcissist” just as a slang term meaning “selfish and arrogant”, that still doesn’t accurately describe him. But when creators like Waldron and Herron do things like having him fall in love with himself, it makes it so much easier for casual viewers to think that he is.

Shitty LGBT Rep

• It’s kinda sus that Loki’s are allegedly genderfluid and yet the only female-presenting variant we see (and apparently the only female-presenting variant there is, cause the male Loki’s all seemed unfamiliar with the concept) is treated as some kind of mind-bogglingly special paradox. Also very sus that, out of all the Loki variants, the one our Loki falls in love with just so happens to be the only female one. What a coincidence.

• The fact that the creators of the show went around bragging about Loki’s bisexuality and Marvel purposefully (lbr) allowed stories about Loki possibly having a male love interest to circulate, specifically enticing queer viewers to watch the show (you know, the definition of queerbaiting), and then instead of having a male love interest (Loki was the first queer main character, so it was the perfect opportunity) they gave us *gestures to this dumpster fire* this… it’s just a middle finger to LGBT fans. The fact that they would rather have this relationship with all its myriad of problems than have a gay relationship is just……. Very telling.

• While him being with a woman obviously doesn’t refute his bisexuality, the fact that they showed/talked about him being interested in 3 different women (flight attendant, Sylvie, Sif) and never even hinted at him being attracted to a man, definitely makes it seem like they were trying to cover up his bisexuality to smooth things over with the more homophobic viewers. You know? It’s like “I know you’re pissed that we sorta confirmed Loki as bi, so we promise we’ll never mention it again! Or even hint at it! As a matter of fact, we’ll give him lots of female lovies and make him seem as straight as possible! That’ll take your mind off of that horrible crumb of queer rep, right? Please please please keep giving us your money!!!”

• Aside from all the other issues, at its core, the biggest reason why I think I’m so irritated with s*lki is that it took one of the most interesting, complex, and diverse characters in cinema atm and squished him into a tired ass unnecessary heteronormative subplot…. Like literally every. single. other. protagonist. ever. Loki is such a unique character, and it’s so so so incredibly disappointing that they stuck him into that same boring cookie cutter romance that happens to every other character in every other movie I’ve ever seen. It’s a disservice, and it’s honestly just not compelling or entertaining at all.

Thematic Issues Galore

• His arc didn’t need a romance. With anyone. It was unnecessary and it didn’t make sense plot-wise. In fact, one of the reasons he was my fav prior to this was because he was the only big-name mcu character whose story wasn’t muddied-up by a romance that didn’t need to be there. So much for that.

• He wasn’t emotionally ready for a romantic relationship with anyone. Hell, just a genuine friendship would’ve been pushing it for him at this point. He was in such a bad state that any relationship he got into would’ve been toxic and unhealthy for both him and the other person, and it doesn’t make sense why the writers would want to put him in one when there were so many cons and essentially no pros (other than “Uwu aren’t they cute together”).

• Sylvie’s character in general was unnecessary and Loki’s character was robbed just by her being there. The whole show became about her post-Ep 2. They spent most of the time giving her backstory, building her up, telling us how awesome she is, trying to convince us to like her, etc when what they really needed to be doing was building Loki up- cause I gotta say, if I had to describe TVA!Loki in a few words, they would be Flat, Boring, and Weak.

• The romance overtakes the plot. They spend time portraying their supposed connection that could’ve been spent adding depth and complexity to literally any of the characters. They make the big Nexus Event them giving each other googly eyes on Lamentis when it could’ve been so many other way more profound things that speak to the fundamental nature of Loki’s. They have the climax of the finale be “oh no she betrayed him to kill He Who Remains” when it could’ve been something way more compelling (Loki having a moral crisis over whether or not to kill HWR, Loki contemplating the state of the multiverse and weighing the pros and cons of freedom vs order, Loki looking into some What If situations and getting emotional about what could’ve been regarding his family, Loki realising the gravity of HWR’s offer and finally coming to terms with how important he is to the universal cycle, etc etc). The entire plot suffered in favour of a romance that half of us didn’t even want.

• It essentially reduced all of Loki’s potential character growth down to “He did it for his crush.” He seemed to at least have some motivations of his own in Ep 1-2 (feeble as they were) but after Sylvie showed up in Ep 3, literally every action he took was just him being a simp for her. Why did he lie in the interrogation? To try to protect Sylvie. Why did he fight the minutemen and Timekeepers? To survive kinda, but mostly cause it was important to Sylvie. Why did he get pruned? Cause he got distracted trying to confess his crush to Sylvie. Why did he try to get out of The Void? Cause he thought Sylvie needed him. Why did he stay in The Void? Cause Sylvie was staying. Why did he try to enchant Alioth? Cause Sylvie told him to. Why did the multiverse get cracked open, leading to an infinite number of Kangs waging war on all of existence? Cause Loki didn’t wanna hurt Sylvie in their fight at the Citadel and then get distracted by her kissing him. It’s uninteresting and honestly pretty embarrassing.

• Throughout their “relationship arc” the writers do their absolute damndest to convince us that we should like Sylvie more than Loki. And you know what? It’s the most hypocritical shit I’ve ever seen. They preach and preach about how Sylvie’s life has been so difficult/we should feel bad for her/she had it so bad/poor poor sylvie/she had it SO much worse than pampered prince Loki…. But then they never even touch on any of Loki’s trauma of hardships (the ones that have been ignored for literally 3 movies now). They frame Sylvie as a good person and a Freedom Fighter after she spent literal decades/centuries mass-murdering brainwashed TVA agents and showing exactly zero remorse for it….. but then they make it their mission to constantly remind us that Loki is a terrible person and constantly put him in situations where he’s forced to acknowledge his wrongdoings/show remorse/admit to how “evil” he is for being a mass murderer for like 2 years. They show him on-screen having a wider range of powers than her, and perpetuate his whole shtick of being a “master manipulator” or whatever….. But then they make Sylvie “the brawn” more competent, intelligent, and physically capable than him. Tell me how it’s a good thing for a ship to be so narratively biased toward one character.

Missed Opportunities

• If they absolutely had to have a romance subplot, then they could’ve paired Loki with one of the characters that have already been established OR one of the characters that were a big part of the whole TVA storyline anyway. It would’ve been so interesting if they’d revealed that Loki had a history with some of the players from previous films (Sif and Fandral both come to mind). It also would’ve been really interesting if they’d given Loki a love interest that actually had some allegiance to the TVA as a whole (Mobius maybe, but not necessarily. It also could’ve been Renslayer or B-15). Hell, imo it would’ve been cool if they’d followed through with that “See you again someday” line that he said to the flight attendant in Ep 1. ALL of these characters have way more chemistry with him than Sylvie, and they were also already relevant to the plot without wasting half the show to give background info on them.

• If they absolutely had to have a hetero-presenting love story involving an enchantress-type figure, then there’s a whole Enchantress (Amora) that was actually Loki’s love interest in the comics. Plus, fans have been screaming for Amora to appear in the mcu for years. Plus, Tom literally pitched an Amora/Loki storyline way back in 2012-13. Also, Lorelei (another enchantress) is also one of Loki’s love interests in the comics, and she already exists in the mcu (she was on Agents of SHIELD). There were several different established characters for them to choose from. Creating a whole knew amalgamation of a character and going with the “she’s a Loki variant” storyline was just completely unnecessary and made no sense.

• They completely robbed us of a Chaos Twins dynamic. Had they handled Sylvie better and not forced her and Loki to smooch, the two of them could’ve had a really really complex and interesting sibling relationship. Loki could’ve stepped into Thor’s shoes and sort of used that new role to gain some self importance, and Sylvie could’ve finally had somebody to look out for her/teach her magic/be there for her. It would’ve been very aesthetically pleasing, the vibes would’ve been out of this world, it would’ve been way more profound than this bs, and frankly it would’ve been much more entertaining to watch.

• Loki’s relationship (read: obsession) with Sylvie completely overshadows all Loki’s other relationships in the show. Loki and Mobius were literally the focal point of the series in Ep 1-2, but after Sylvie showed up in Ep 3, they barely had any interactions with each other, and Mobius pretty much faded to the background entirely. Loki had the beginnings of a pretty interesting antagonistic relationship with Renslayer (with her wanting him pruned, then arguing with Mobius that he couldn’t be trusted), but after Sylvie showed up the dynamic shifted to focus on the history between her and Ravonna. Loki and B-15 started off very badly and openly disliked each other throughout Ep 1-2, and then in the end of Ep 2, Loki showed a little bit of concern for her when she was possessed, hinting that they might be inching toward a reconciliation- especially considering how obvious it was that Loki was gonna uncover the TVA’s sins eventually. There was so much potential for him to be the one to give her her memories back and convince her to change sides, but no, of course that honor went to Sylvie. In fact, after Sylvie showed up, Loki and B-15 never even spoke to each other again.

Various S*lki Fails

• If they were trying to convince us that this affection was mutual, they completely failed. There’s nothing I’ve seen that even hints at Sylvie feeling the same way about Loki that he does about her. At most, I’d say she has a slight endearment to him. She finds him likeable and she’s grudgingly fond of him, but she definitely isn’t in love with the guy. Maybe she thinks he’s cute and hopes that he gets out of this mess alright, but her mission obviously comes before him- whereas, it’s been confirmed multiple times that Loki cares about her above anything else. She doesn’t trust him, she looks at him like he’s an incompetent fool half the time, she shows little to no reaction during most of his confession moments, and she kissed him as a means to distract him so that she could get him out of her way. Look, all I’m saying is, when you get into a relationship where one of you is way more invested than the other, it never ends well.

• This goes without saying for a lot of us, but the selfcest is just straight up odd and cringey. If you’re cool with that sort of thing, fine! People can ship what they want! But don’t pretend it’s not at least a little bit uncomfortable. Yes, I know they’re not technically siblings so it’s not technically incest, and they’re also not technically the exact same person, but they’re similar enough that it makes things weird. And yes I know selfcest can’t happen in real life, so there’s no way to judge it morally, but neither can most of the other stuff that happens in these shows/movies (the Snap, Loki destroying jotunheim, superhero with powers being held accountable, mind control) and yet we still find ways to judge their morality, because they all mirror real-world events. (The snap= genocide; Loki destroying Jotunheim= bombing other countries; superhero accountability= weapons accountability; mind control= grooming and coercion). And lbr the closest real-world mirror to two versions of the same person (who may or may not share DNA, family, backgrounds, physical and emotion characteristics) being romantically involved with one another is incest. And you can be ok with that if you want- that’s your prerogative- but don’t get pissy just cause a lot of us are squicked out by it.

• The whole mirror metaphor (learning self love via each other) thing just fell completely flat. First of all, having Loki learn to love himself by looking at someone who mirrors him did not, in any way shape or form, require them to be romantically involved. But they were. Of course. Secondly, the creators have contradicted themselves so many times on whether Loki and Sylvie are the same or not, that it doesn’t even really register to the viewer that the mirroring thing was what they were going for. Finally, Loki and Sylvie are shown to have so little in common- and to have only the most bare minimum of similarities personality-wise- that it doesn’t even make sense that Loki would “learn to love himself through loving her”. Like? They’re nothing alike. So how would he make the connection that he himself is actually pretty cool, based on her alone? There’s virtually nothing in her that reflects him.

• I know the objective of the entire show was to convince us of how awesome and unique Sylvie is, but honestly her relationship with Loki just did the opposite. A hallmark of a Mary Sue is having her constantly upstage the male lead, and then having him instantly fall madly in love with her anyway. And that’s.. exactly what happened here. Everything they’re doing to try to force her character to be more stan-able is really just forcing her to look more like their self-insert OC. Which is exactly what she is. It would’ve been so much more satisfying if she didn’t have to try so hard to look cool, if they didn’t have to try so hard to make her backstory tear-inducing, if they didn’t have to turn our protagonist into a snivelling simp just to prove how incredible she supposedly is. Very much #GirlBoss energy and we all know how performative and cheap that is.

• The entire thing was too rushed, there was too little build-up, and it was nowhere near believable. As stated above, it’s ridiculously unlikely that Loki would canonically even be interested in Sylvie, and this show did nothing to explain why he was. He just suddenly was. There was nothing they showed us as viewers that would justify a guy as closed-off and preoccupied as Loki falling head-over-heels for a girl he just met. Their was no explanation, no big revelation, no reasoning, it just… kinda happened. And I’m also severely skeptical of any love story that has the characters go in this deep after only 3 45-minute episodes of exposition.

I’m sure there’s other stuff, so if anyone thinks of anything, let me know and I’ll be more than happy to add it. Tagging @janetsnakehole02 @raifenlf @natures-marvel and @brightredsunset800 for expressing interest. This is all your faults.

#antisylki #loki meta #kinda #loki series critical #loki series negativity #anti loki x sylvie #anti loki series #anti sylvie #frosty bby #loki deserved better #I don’t even like TVA!Loki tho so I guess it doesn’t matter with him lmao #tva loki #loki laufeyson

[watchingwisteria]

personally, i think that ajak told ikaris about arishem’s plan at babylon because she knew that his loyalty was shifting to sersi and her interests above everything else. i think she had to get him to commit his loyalty to something “higher” than he and sersi’s relationship because otherwise, ikaris would fight with sersi against the celestials when it was revealed that “help humans thrive” was a cover plan for “help humans thrive so tiamut can be born and destroy the world.” basically, i think ikaris was programmed by arishem to be a good and loyal soldier, and his loyalties had to then be assigned by ajak when his own interests started taking priority.

that’s why, right before he pushes her off the cliff, she says, “i’ve led you down the wrong path,” because her intervention in babylon has led directly to this moment. and that’s why he says, “it’s the only one i know,” because it is. ajak stopped him from putting sersi and their relationship and her love of humanity first 2500 years prior. he gave up everything for a cause he may not have chosen without her redirection, and every part of how arishem designed him demands that the cause be upheld as the highest good before all else, even the lives of other eternals. he stopped thinking of anything else as more important so long ago, and she’s asking him to change loyalties now? when the mission is so close to completion?

that’s why ikaris breaking down, weeping at sersi’s feet, allowing her to finish what she started, is so moving, because it reveals that his true loyalty has always been with sersi. it’s why he had to leave as the emergence approached. it’s why, in spite of everything, when he stands in front of all that he desires most (sersi, her love, her happiness and well-being), he still lets her destroy all he has fought and killed for the past 7000 years. because even ikaris, the perfect soldier, programmed to sacrifice everything for the cause, cannot sacrifice the person who means the most to him.

does that make him a good person? no. but that’s not really the point. i really think ikaris is one of the most compelling, morally ambiguous, and complex characters the mcu has put out so far. it’s just that the reasons he might deserve the viewer’s sympathy are more subtly explained than other morally ambiguous/grey characters (ie. loki, wanda, bucky).

so idk, hate him if you want, but every other complex/grey character whose tragic backstory and whatnot was spelled out for us gets their motives analyzed and defended, just apparently not ikaris. i think he’s a very interesting character who had so much potential to be good but was made villainous for the time being by things beyond his control (ie. his design and ajak’s intervention), and there’s something very tragic about that

#the eternals #ikaris eternals #sersi eternals #ajak eternals #ikaris x sersi #there i go overanalyzing fiction again #not to MENTION his pretty privilege!!!! #but fr ikaris is so so so well written and performed and he gets NO CREDIT bc yall hate him #im sick of the slander!!!! #saw a post that y’all are writing him as aggressive or abusive towards sersi and.. NO! #the eternals spoilers #marvel #mcu #meta #marvel meta #thena eternals #druig eternals #makkari eternals #druig x makkari #character analysis

[giorno-plays-piano]

Vicious

Part II

Pairing: Steve x reader, Bucky x reader, Thor x reader, Loki x reader, Peter x reader

Warnings: yandere, obsession, stalking, possessiveness, theft, all characters are adults.

Words: 1891.

Part I

Summary: Transferring to Stark Academy that has only allowed to take in female students last semester, you realize you are just one of three young women among hundreds of students. Your things are constantly being stolen, and soon you begin fearing for your safety.

P.S. To avoid any confusion, I changed the name Savages -> Vicious.

________________________

The next day you spent doubting your own decisions. Was it really wise to leave everything to Steve? How could he find those students all by himself and deal with your problem? Could he really stop them from acting like that? You thought once again it would be so much easier to ask for a transfer, but you had already given him your word to meet him today at 5. It would be very inappropriate not to come when he was trying to help you.

When the time came, you were sneaking in the student council room as if you were some petty thief. You were afraid people would start talking: if everybody knew who stole your things, they would understand you came to Steve for help like a little girl. It was embarrassing - even in a situation like this. Besides, somebody could be following you since at 5 pm the academy was almost empty.

By the time you reached the right door, you heart was beating as if you had just run a marathon. You really, really hoped Steve found some solution, and you wouldn’t have to be humiliated by the student advisor for wanting to leave the school.

Opening the door, you saw a couple of students on the sofa and quickly stepped away, afraid the student council was still having a meeting, “Ugh, sorry!”

“Come in, please,” Steve said calmly behind the door, and you shyly got in again, watching four other guys staring at you with interest. “We’ve been waiting for you.”

“What, they too?” You were so perplexed by his words you forgot your manners, speaking of others as if they weren’t in the same room. “I’m sorry, I mean, I didn’t know you were involved.”

Wait, were they the ones who stole your things? Did Steve bring them here for you?

“No need to be so nervous.” One of them, a guy with long, jet black hair forming waves around his shoulders told you, motioning you to come closer and sit in one of the chairs opposing the sofa where he sat. “We’re here to help you.”

You remembered his name was Loki. A mathematic genius, he was considered one of the top students of the academy.

“That’s right! Come, come!” Seeing Peter among others was surprising, but his smiling face made you calm down a little, and you smiled at him in return. 

No, they weren’t those guys who stole your underwear, for sure. Apparently, Steve asked them to join you because they knew something and could give you a hand in finding those bastards.

“Thank you for agreeing to see me.” Feeling a little self-conscious among five different men you'd barely known, you landed on one of the chairs and saw that the other two were Bucky and a captain of the academy’s basketball team, Thor. “Did you find out anything?”

“Yes,” Steve said with a loud sigh, “I know exactly who they are. I can hand them over to the school’s officials and get them expelled by tomorrow, but that’s not the real issue here.”

You felt the chills ran up your back. What did he mean by the real issue?

“Is there something else?”

When you saw Loki smirking at you, you suddenly realized you were among five strong men in the student council room on the fifth floor where most classrooms were already empty. If you screamed, nobody would even hear you.

“Stop it.” Bucky’s angry voice cut through the silence, and you saw him literally burning a hole in Loki’s face. “Don’t make her scared, freak.”

Obviously, he wanted to say something offensive to Barnes in return, but Steve silenced them both with his icy glare. Loki sent him an innocent smile while Bucky snorted and rolled his eyes in irritation. It felt like they were in the middle of some school play, and you bit down on your lower lip, having a feeling something was going horribly wrong.

“The thing is, even if we got those ones expelled, it probably won’t stop the others from doing something similar.” Steve leaned up against a desk with his arms crossed over his chest. “I feel terrible admitting it, but many of our students are completely wild. I’m afraid they might keep harassing you.”

“Oh.”

You averted your eyes, realizing your attempts to find a solution were futile. Obviously, Steve could do nothing - he wasn’t a knight in shining armor, ready to protect you day and night from those delinquents who followed you everywhere. As you thought before, the one thing that could help here was leaving the school for good.

Shit, you didn’t know how to explain it to your family, Even your friends thought it was too bizarre to be true and laughed at your worries, saying you probably lost your things yourself. You would have to find a better excuse for a transfer in the middle of the semester.

“Well, anyway, thank you for trying,” you nodded and smiled apologetically at him as if it were your fault, “tomorrow I will talk to the student advisor about my transfer. Sorry for the trouble!”

“I don’t think it’s real to get transferred by now. It’s passed all the deadlines.” Shaking his head, Bucky raised his voice, and you felt suffocating.

Apparently, you would really have to skip a whole year of school. Explaining everything to your family, looking for some garbage job to have enough money to rent a room and pay your bills... Fantastic.

“You don’t have to do that. I’ve found another way.” 

Immediately, you raised your head, your pupils dilating.

“You see, the reason they are doing that is because you have no one to protect you. They know the administration won’t take it seriously because they’re a bunch of old misogynists, and you also have no means of protecting yourself. It would be better if you started dating someone, someone strong enough to make these guys back down.”

Steve looked deadly serious for someone saying such nonsense. A boyfriend? Now? Was he for real? Did he think you'd be using someone like your personal shield? Besides, even if you chose the strongest guy at school, it didn’t mean he would be stronger if several people attacked him.

But when you shared your thoughts with Steve, you saw others smiling at you as if they knew you would say that, and you felt uneasy.

“That’s true. That’s why you need more than one boyfriend.”

“What do you mean? How can somebody have more than one boyfriend?" Puzzled, you stared at him wide-eyed as if he said something stupid.

What on Earth did he mean by that? Were you to have your own squad of bodyguards at all times while you were in the academy? This was so foolish you couldn't believe someone like Steve said it out loud.

But then you caught glances of five men in the room and forgot how to breathe for a second. They weren't serious, were they? Steve didn't assemble all these guys here to make them into your boyfriends. It was preposterous even thinking of that, right?

Right?

"Please tell me it's not what I think it is." You muttered, crossing your arms over your chest as if trying to protect yourself.

"Why are you being so nervous?" Baring his teeth, Loki smiled at you. "Some other girl would be happy if five men were to be her boyfriends."

"It's a joke, right? You're all joking."

You hoped to see any of them laughing and nodding their heads, saying they simply wanted to cheer you up, but all you saw was a guilty expression on the faces of Bucky and Thor and the excitement of others. They really gathered here to offer you this.

"All of us here," Steve looked upon others, becoming a little displeased when his gaze fell upon smiling Peter, "are perfectly capable of helping you. If each of us were to accompany you one day a week, others won't be so brave. I'm sure they will no longer be a nuisance to you if they know what we can do to them."

There was something very dark in the way Steve said that, and for a couple of seconds you weren't sure whether you have to be more scared of him rather than those who was stealing your things.

"But it would be very uncomfortable for everyone, wouldn't it? I mean, going with me everywhere, not using your own time as you'd like. And, well, surely, others will see that we won't act like a real couple, so they might still keep harassing me. I don't think it would work."

Apparently, Loki was bored with this talk, you thought as you heard him clicking his tongue in annoyance.

"Then don't pretend. Act like a real girlfriend. Kiss in public, hug, go to the cinema together, what else girls do?"

"Wait, you mean, with ALL of you?"

"Yeah? Do you think anyone gonna be against it?"

You very much hoped they would be. Being followed by someone like your bodyguard was one thing, but having a real boyfriend was very different. Did they really want to pretend to be lovey-dovey with you? Act like you were close to them?

Oh. Of course, they would. They belonged to the same kind of touch-starved barbaric men they were trying to protect you from. They would do all those things to you, too.

You realized you were crying only when Peter flew off his seat in a hurry and squatted down beside you, taking your shaking hands in warm his.

"Please, don't cry. Nobody's gonna force you into doing anything, I promise. You will only do things you're comfortable with, ok?" Handing you his pearly white handkerchief, he smiled to comfort you. "No one of us gonna say anything."

"And if she starts dating one of us for real? What's then?" It was Loki again, cocking his head to the side and obviously provoking Peter to yell at him.

"We'll be ok with that, too."

The silence felt heavy. As you opened your eyes, Peter's handkerchief in your hands, you realized it was Thor who spoke for the first time, and the way he looked at you softly made you feel a little better. Despite the fact you knew little of him, for some reason, it felt like you would be safe with him - certainly safer than with Loki.

"Naturally, if any of us will bring you discomfort or do something unacceptable, you need to let us all know, and we'll decide what to do with that person." Raising his voice, the head of the student council made everyone to turn their head to him. "We will be meeting here, in this room, if anything happens. Each of us will give you our phone numbers. We will also make a schedule who accompanies you every day of the week."

It seemed he no longer asked for your opinion if you even wanted it to happen.

__________

"Bucky will be with you on Mondays, Loki on Tuesdays. Wednesdays are Thor's, on Thursdays Peter will be following you, and on Fridays it will be me going with you. Of course, if you need any of us to watch over you on weekends, feel free to contact whoever of us you like more."

Part III

Tags: @finleyjayne @alexakeyloveloki   ​@helenaeisenhower @villanellevi @hurricanerin ​@inlovewiththefictionalcharacters @chris-evans-indian-fanfic @navegandoaciegas @rosalynshields @brattycherub @sllooney @angrythingstarlight @lookiamtrying @buckysbunny @stargazingfangirl18 @dillybuggg @literate-lamb @cosicas-cuquis @sarge-barnes-sir @buckybarnesplumwhore @jaysayey @megzdoodle @gotnofucks @lux-ravenwolf @ximebebx @jeremyrennerfanxxxx123 @sourpatchspinster @biiskuitx @iheartsebandchris @lovelydarkdaydream @soleil-dor @illyrianprincess @vampirestrawberries @stupendouslovegarden

#steve rogers x reader #bucky barnes x reader #thor x reader #loki x reader #peter parker x reader #dark steve rogers #dark bucky barnes #dark thor #dark loki #dark peter parker #yandere

[lokiskitten]

Loki Laufeyson | before the power

Loki Laufeyson x fem!reader

Author’s note : I saw this TikTok and I absolutely binged watch it for hours and I really felt like transmitting it through text ( find the video at the end of the imagine ). It’s very short so feel free to read as a quickie!

plot : After Loki had become king, you progressively began to lose track of who he became. He’s changed, and you decide to confront him about it.

warnings : none.

After Loki had finally gotten what he truly wanted, after he had become king, you would’ve expected for your friend to remain who he truly was. Unfortunately, things had taken a turn for the worst which directly affected the strong bond you once shared. Loki used to be your best friend, your everything. You two grew up together, and you never managed to find the courage to admit the crush you kept hidden and which turned out to be none but the god of mischief himself. If he once appeared caring when it came to you, Loki had seemingly diverted away from being interested in you and the things you had to offer after being covered in wealth and power. He now hung out with other women- girls who only desired to get his attention for the sake of being closer to the throne.

It made you feel sick to watch him get attached to another specific woman, the way he appeared to praise her like you once wish he would’ve done with you. In your eyes, this girl was none but an attention seeker who desired to get benefits out of your childhood friend’s wealth. You had tried many times to get to talk to Loki, but you now even needed to take an appointment if you wished to do so- and all of that because he was an apparently busy king. That you could understand. But the fact that he never found time to even welcome you by his side did hurt and above all was ridiculous. When you finally realized and accepted that the good times you once shared were now deeply buried within the hallways and gardens of Asgard, you found the strength to gather your belongings and leave.

There wasn’t going to be any goodbyes, nor handshake. Besides, you believed he had probably forgotten about you anyways, and that he wouldn’t even be noticing your departure. Yet, as you made your way towards the place where Heimdall was once allowed to make you travel throughout the realms, a familiar voice suddenly called after you. You stopped in your track and turned around. It was Loki, accompanied by his army of submissive guards. Rolling your eyes to the sky upon hearing your name again, you turned around and began to fasten the pace in an attempt to escape his sight. However, you were soon stopped by the sensation of someone taking ahold of your forearm. Again, it was none but your childhood friend.

“Where do you think you’re going?” The king asked, settling down now that he understood you had agreed to stop. A groan escaped your lips. “I’m surprised you’ve noticed. I would’ve taken an appointment to let you know about my departure, but you see, I’m running sort of short.” You answered sarcastically, not hesitating to put up an attitude for the man who had severely hurt you. Loki sighed. “Don’t be ridiculous. You know I don’t want you gone.” The raven haired man answered, earning saddened eyes from your exhausted self. After all he had done, you truly had a hard time believing him. Currently, it would’ve been so tempting to let anger take over. But you knew you couldn’t let him win by putting your sadness on display.

“Then why are you acting like this? You don’t talk with me anymore, you don’t laugh with me nor even hang out with me. All that, you do it with her.” You responded on an upset tone, watching as Loki frowned upon realizing who you were actually referring to- aka his current hookup. The only memory of watching them interact with one another pushed you on the edge of letting down a tear. “Why?” You added, genuinely looking forward to receiving an honest answer. You were tired of tricks and lies. “Well, because she treats me and makes me feel like I’m somebody.” Loki answered through seethed teeth, the tension rising between the two of you. The guards remained a couple of feet behind him, trying their best not to show emotions face to this argument.

His response officially broke the barrer which held you back from causing a scene. It landed on you like a personal attack and insult. “Yeah but would she love you if you were nobody?!” You asked, your tone rising in order to appear louder than his and to put your anger on display. Loki felt vulnerable face to you exposing the truth, especially as he knew that you weren’t speaking lies. He just didn’t feel like admitting it, and therefore reacted like an animal trapped in a corner : aggressively. “Nobody loved me when I was nobody!” He yelled in return, this time turning around and allowing his cloak to fly through the wind as he took a couple of steps to the left. Your heart sank. The god of mischief stepped away from the scene in order to evacuate his frustration.

“I did!” Your scarred self responded, this once allowing sadness to take over anger. This sentence led Loki to stop through his track, body twirling to the side so that he would be able to make eye contact with you. “Before you got to the throne, and before all of this.” You explained further, watching carefully as your childhood friend took a couple of cautious steps towards you. “Before the lie...” you whispered once he had gotten close enough, underlining the fact that he had lied to the people of Asgard in order to sit on the throne- a detail you knew Loki didn’t wish for his guards to hear. His green eyes looked down at you with sorrow. And just like that, Loki realized what he had lost.

credit : thesummersoldier on TikTok.

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[youlackconviction]

*hugs* thanks for answering, what about his ideal traits and relationship deal breakers

ideal traits for a companion or partner?

hmm. this will necessarily be supposition because LOKI himself is presently unavailable for comment, lol. and i’d prefer to have his opinion straight from his mouth than presume to speak for him. but my guesses and reasoning for such might include... • intellectual - so that his mind could be exercised and he wouldn’t constantly feel frustrated at being the only “adult” among children • quick witted - another form of intellect and essential for verbal sparring • playful - i think he has been starved of this for a long time, and it’s more important to him than he perhaps realises • kind/empathetic/compassionate - he needs someone who has the patience to really SEE him. and he is so empathetic, he needs people who are careful of others’ feelings • generous - he would give the worlds to those he loved, and he deserves the same in return, though he would probably argue he doesn’t deserve it • courageous - LOKI deserves people who would take a stand for his sake or have his back for his sake without being fearful of their own interests • loyal - all the things he offers to those he loves are, i suspect, the things he most wishes people would return to him • affectionate - again something that LOKI seems desperately starved of and would treasure from his partner or close friends (if he had any) • logically minded - his intense frustration with the peers he grew up with is so apparent; they seem to make every decision based on archaic principles or personal preferences/mood swings and not on logic or reasoned argument

relationship deal-breakers?

sadly for LOKI he doesn’t appear to have many healthy boundaries around toxic treatment that he will refuse to accept from his family - and even his subordinates (servants, non royal acquaintances). he might distance himself from his family to avoid their indifference or cruelty but they still have that unbreakable emotional power over him.

so, if a person somehow managed to achieve for themselves the incredible and immense privilege of capturing LOKI’s true affection, there probably wouldn’t be anything they could do to break their emotional hold over his heart, once established. he is far too generous towards those who should have loved him but hurt and wronged him instead. and that’s so sad for him... his only defense against further mistreatment is simply not to let anyone new get close in the first place. because, once they have his heart, he wouldn’t have a hope of getting it back - even if they deliberately shattered it.

i don’t believe LOKI would allow someone to get close to him (aside from family) who mistreated him, shut him down, made him feel foolish or weak or irrelevant, mocked him, misjudged him, criticised him. those people would have his barriers up, as you see with his interactions towards thor’s companions.

and this is why i’ll never align myself with the headcanon that MCU LOKI and sif were ever involved. it is ALSO why i refuse to accept the premise that was presented to us in the series season 1, that he would fall in love with someone so consistently hostile and toxic to him. he would certainly fight to protect and even help them just as he did for thor’s companions “in his youth”, but generate spontaneous feelings of romantic affection? i’m not buying it, sorry marvel. you failed to earn that plotline, for me. in LOKI’s own words “i just want you to be okay.”

note - all these answers were given in context of MCU LOKI only. not norse LOKI, not comic LOKI.

#in defense of loki #speculating on loki #loki and relationships

[the--sad--hatter]

Steam - Chapter 1 (Loki x Reader)

Warnings - Loki, Smut, Violence & Gore, Swearing, Death, Angst, Dark Humour, Crack Humour, Shenanigan’s, Mutual Pining

Pairing - Loki X Reader (Slow Burn Romance), Enemies to Frenemies to Idiots in Love

Reader Description - Female, No physical descriptions, Only referred to by nicknames & Petnames (No use of Y/N)

Description/Blurb -

“So how’d you get the firepower? What’s your origin story?” Stark asked, peering at you curiously.

“Uh, this is my origin story…” You winced, sighing when he motioned for you to elaborate, “I got these powers about three days ago.”

It’s a tale as old as time, boy meets girl, boy tries to invade girls mind, girl sets boy on fire, boy turns into angry blue boy, they become sworn enemies.

When you suddenly become imbued with a power you have no idea how to control, Nick Fury picks you up and dumps you on The Avengers doorstep, deciding that they are best people to turn you from a wacky novice into a force to be reckoned with.

The power burning inside you has the potential to make you a hero, or destroy you completely, but your new fire based abilities are more than they appear, and in a stroke of spectacularly bad luck, The God of Mischief is the most qualified teacher to mentor you. With Loki guiding you, will you ever learn to control your power? Will you ever make it as an Avenger? Or will you crash and burn?

Only one thing is absolutely certain, when fire and ice collide, things are bound to get… steamy!

Chapter One - Ice Breaker

It was every bit as imposing as you’d imagined it would be, not that you’d ever imagined seeing it under these circumstances.

 “Are you coming?” Fury barked at you, breaking you out of your slack-jawed awe.

 You snapped your mouth closed and tore your eyes away from the legendary tower, looking at the doors where Fury was impatiently waiting for you.

 “Coming!” You squeaked, scurrying over to him, “It’s just when you said you were taking me somewhere where I could safely learn to control my powers, I was sort of picturing an underground bunker in the desert, not the freaking Avengers Tower!”

 “I utilise the assets I have, why would I send you away when I have a team of perfectly capable super-powered individuals?” He asked wryly, leading you across the lobby and straight past the security teams who did nothing to stop you both as you made your way into an elevator.

 “I’m just saying, a heads up would have been nice.” You muttered petulantly, crossing your arms over your chest and tucking your hands out of sight.

 You felt him look at you and studiously refused to meet his eye, staring instead at the numbers above the door as you were carried all the way to the top of the Tower.

 “Heads up, you’re meeting The Avengers.” He shot back.

You could say what you liked about the former director of Shield, he was true to his word, because the elevator doors wooshed open to reveal a waiting crowd of Avengers, all of them staring at the man next to you with varying levels of annoyance and/or distrust. You diligently pattered after Fury as he stepped forward to greet them, looking around the room reverently.

 The first person you laid eyes on was Tony Stark, Iron Man; the billionaire who had kicked off the modern age of hero’s, and next to him, Captain America, the first of the first, the OG Superhero. Stood behind the Captain was Sam Wilson, the Falcon and a personal favourite of yours, side by side with Bucky Barnes, the former Winter Soldier and poster-child for taking back control of your own fate. Clint Barton aka Hawkeye and the deadliest marksman in the world stood to the side with the Black Widow, deadliest person in the world full stop. In the back of the room two other figures were hanging back, emitting two very different aura’s. Doctor Bruce Banner eyed Fury with trepadition, and well-placed mistrust.

 It was the last person in the room that the majority of your attention was reserved for, the tall, imposing god who skulked in the shadows. Contempt and boredom radiated from him, and you couldn’t safely say it was directed purely at Fury. He was also the only one who spared you more than a cursory glance, and you slowed to a stop as you found yourself trapped in his curious gaze. You stared back, trying to reconcile the villain who once tried to subjugate the planet with the one you were locking eyes with. It had been months since he had joined the Avengers, but it never stopped being strange to see him standing with them whenever you watched footage of them taking on whatever bad guy of the week they were battling. However, he had been fully cleared of any wrongdoing in the battle of New York, apparently he had been mind-controlled. As to why he was helping the Avengers, nobody really knew.  

 Someone cleared their throat loudly and you forced yourself to look away from the stupendously tall god, glancing around the room to see that you now had all eyes watching you expectantly. Apparently you’d zoned out for the introductions.

 “’Sup?” You offered, waving in Tony Starks general direction.

 “So you’re Fury’s fiery friend, what has that got to do with us?” Stark sighed.

 “What, you think he bothered to explain his reasoning to me before dragging my ass up here?” You scoffed.

 “She’s here because she has abilities, abilities that she is more likely to learn to handle among similarly gifted people.” Fury explained in a tone that brokered no argument.

 Naturally, The Avengers argued.

 “We don’t have anybody with fire abilities.” You heard Natasha Romanoff point out, just before you took the opportunity to zone out again.

 You were absolutely certain that nobody cared very much what your opinion on the matter was, thankfully. You weren’t sure you had an opinion on the matter. It wasn’t like you had a lot of experience with these kinds of issues, and as far as you were away there wasn’t some superhero academy that you could enrol yourself in. Besides, you were much more interested in re-instating your staring competition with the god of Mischief.

 In the brief time you’d been distracted, he’d stepped away from the shadows and moved closer to you, staring at you with his arms crossed.

 You resisted the urge to inhale deeply, who knew ex-murderous gods would smell so nice? You looked up, and then up again.

 “How tall are you?” You asked incredulously.

 His gaze flickered down at you impassively, while you stared back and tried to mentally calculate his height.

 “I’m a Frost Giant.” He stated coldly.

 “Oh in that case, you’re kinda short.” You scoffed.

 You were flooded with immediate remorse but it was drowned out by amusement.

 “I beg your pardon?” He demanded, uncrossing his arms and stepping into your personal space.

 “Down boy.” Iron Man sniggered, stepping between you. “So how’d you get the firepower? What’s your origin story?” Stark asked, peering at you curiously.

 “Uh, this is my origin story…” You winced, sighing when he motioned for you to elaborate, “I got these powers about three days ago.”

 “So you’re a baby.” He stated matter-of-factly.

 “If I say yes does that mean I can just sit on the floor and cry until someone picks me up and holds me?” You asked, fully willing to give it a go.

 It had been three days since your life had literally gone up in flames, three days of pinning your arms at your sides, afraid to close your eyes, afraid to let your guard down for even a split second, afraid to allow yourself to feel even an iota of emotion.

 “So how did it happen?” The Captain asked firmly, getting the conversation back on track before you could find out if anyone would volunteer a hug.

 “I, well, I kind of…” You trailed off and looked at Fury for help, but he just stared back at you, the bastard.

 All eyes were on you as they waited for you to explain, nobody offering any kind of help. You exhaled forcefully and slumped your shoulders, tucking your chin so you didn’t have to look at them anymore.

 “I ate a bomb.” You whispered.

 There was a very long beat of silence before it was broken by several voices all at once.

 “I’m sorry, what?” Stark demanded.

 “What did it taste like?” The archer wondered, looking at you almost giddily.

 “She didn’t eat a bomb.” Fury finally stepped in to clarify, “She absorbed the blast, after failing to defuse it.”

 “Why was a civilian defusing a bomb in the first place?” Captain Rogers asked sharply, glancing at you in concern before turning back to Fury with a hard expression.

 “I’m not a civilian, I’m actually an Agent.” You reasoned.

 “She’s an Agent-In-Training.” Fury rebutted. “It was her first mission in the field.”

 “Baby.” Stark reiterated, faking a cough and smirking at you when you scowled at him.

 That was true, and you still didn’t think it was entirely your fault that the bomb had gone off. Yes you’d failed to diffuse it, but you were supposed to be watching the perimeter when you’d stumbled across the explosive device. It had less than thirty seconds on the clock, and you’d stupidly chosen to spend those seconds trying to stop it detonating instead of running away.

 “And you put her on bomb duty? Were you trying to get her blown up?” The Black Widow demanded, and you almost laughed until you saw the serious expression on her face.

 “There wasn’t supposed to be a bomb there, she was in the wrong place at the wrong time.” Fury shrugged, like it was inconsequential.

 To him it probably was.

 “She is still in the room, and I was exactly where you told me to be, when you told me to be there. If your intel was bad, that’s on you Mr Superspy.” You snapped.

 “Oh I see it now!” Stark briskly announced, “You’re trying to pawn her off on us because she’s too sassy for you.”

 “Precisely.” Fury admitted, surprisingly.

 “In the words of shortstack over there,” You hissed, gesturing at Loki “I beg your pardon?”

 “You don’t have the temperance to be an Agent.” Fury told you blankly, not bothering to soften the blow by at least telling you this in private instead of in front of the world greatest heroes.

 “I’d take that as a compliment.” Stark assured you.

 “You’re telling me I’m fired? Literally. Because I got blown up, through no fault of my own?” You huffed, clenching your firsts in an effort to keep your emotions from manifesting in a fiery inferno of rage.

 “Because you choose to try and handle a bomb you had no training to handle, instead of pursuing the target.” Fury amended, unphased by your distress.

 You bit back your retort because you knew it wouldn’t matter to him in the slightest. You couldn’t reason with him, couldn’t explain that you had made the choice not to pursue the target who’d planted the bomb, because you had to try and stop it exploding in a building filled with innocent people. Maybe Fury was right after all. Maybe you weren’t suited to being an Agent, because an Agent would have known that they couldn’t stop the bomb but they could stop the bomber. They would have let a hundred innocent people die and stopped the killer from killing a thousand more the next time. You weren’t an Agent because you’d chosen to die trying to save the hundred, and trusted in Fury and Hill to take down the Bomber.

 Of course, that wasn’t what had happened, and in the end nobody had died.

 “None of this explains how you ‘ate’ the bomb.” Clint Barton pointed out, and it was a good observation.

 “That’s because we don’t have an explanation. She went through the standard medical tests in her training, and all her bloodwork and scans indicated she was fully human. She walked into that building as a human being, and walked back out after absorbing a bomb, as who the hell knows what.”

 “So you’ve never done anything like this before?” Dr Banner asked you, speaking directly to you for the first time.

 “Not even remotely. I mean my eyes water when I eat chilli.” You shrugged.

 “Fascinating.” Banner muttered. “Inhuman?” He asked, turning to Stark.

 “Unlikely, she would have probably noticed going through Terragenesis.” Stark responded. “Mutant?” He shot back.

 “No, the mutant gene would have shown up in testing.” Dr Banner sighed, looking you over with a scientifically calculating eye. “Can you explain what happened in more detail?”

 “Sure, bomb went boom, I went AHHHHHH, and then it was all bright and hot and then the boom went away.” You told them.

 “So how do we know that it was you? What if something else contained the blast?” Someone asked, and you looked around before you finally realised it was Sam Wilson who had spoken.

 “No, it was… it definitely me.” You sighed.

 “How do you know?” Bucky Barnes interjected, backing up the Falcons line of questioning.

 That was the million dollar question. How could you be sure that you had anything to do with the bomb, that you had been imbued with fire power?

 “During the post-mission de-brief, there was an incident.” You alluded, side-eying Fury and taking a not-so-subtle step away from him.

 “Please tell me you tried to set him on fire?” Barton asked giddily, looking between you and your former boss.

 When Fury levelled you with a glare and you developed a sudden vested in the ceiling, the Archer sniggered joyfully. You chanced a look around the room and saw that Barton wasn’t the only one exhibiting mirth at the idea of Fury being set ablaze by your.. well, your fury.

 “He was yelling at me!” You defended, taking yet another step back when his glare intensified.

 “You’re lucky you had no aim and only managed to set fire to the table.” He snapped.

 “I think you were the lucky one.” Stark sniggered at Fury.

 “Do you want her or not?” Fury sighed.

 “Do I get a say in this?” You objected.

 “No.” Fury, Stark, Romanoff, and Loki said in unison.

 “I can run some tests to figure out what happened to you, if it’s reversible.” Banner offered comfortingly. “With your permission of course.”

 “I’m gonna go stand over there with him.” You huffed, making a beeline for the doctor and awkwardly hiding behind him.

 “Yeah, we’ll take her, should be an interesting riddle to solve.” Stark shrugged.

 Captain Rogers and his buddies glanced at you before appearing to have a silent conversation.

 “She can stay here while Stark and Banner figure out what happened, and we can go from there.” The Captain finally decided.

 “We’ll take good care of her.” Loki added with a charming smile.

 His eyes said something completely different, and you had a sick feeling that you were going to be made to pay for your short jokes.

 “Glad I meet your approval; I was worried I was going to fall short.” You sarked, immediately resisting the urge to punch yourself in the face.

 “Approval has nothing to do with it. Of all The Avengers, who do you think will be responsible for testing your abilities? You would do well to remember that I am more than mischief and lies, I am the god of chaos and fire.” He warned you cockily, visibly delighting in the way your grin faltered.

 You shot a pleading look around the room, but nobody was refuting Loki’s claim. In fact, they were nodding thoughtfully, or in Stark’s case; shrugging apologetically at you. You turned back to Loki, ignoring the deep sense of foreboding in your stomach.

 “Well Fe-Fi-Fo-Fuck.”

I have been trying to get back into writing for so long, and this is my last attempt. If this doesn’t work then I am out of ideas. 

I know this is a boring start but I have been re-working and rewriting it for days and I can’t improve it. If you enjoyed any part of this, please do tell me! If you didn’t, then tell me that as well. Just give me any feedback at all, I’d appreciate it so so so so so much. 

For those of you unaware (especially on AO3), I haven’t been writing for a while because my estranged mother passed away and it brought up issues that needed to be dealt with, but all that is over with now. Thank you to everyone who sent supportive messages and was patient with me ❤

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#Loki #Loki x Reader #The Avengers #Avengers x Reader #Deadpool

[sserpente]

A/N: Request from @wrenstrange! Put up the decorations, it’s finally time again! Enjoy, everyone!

Words: 1957 Warnings: pure fluff, blood sample/needle/syringe, soft!Loki, fatique, fainting

You dropped like a piece of wood right about when you were making yourself a cup of tea in the kitchen. Knees ceasing to support you any longer, vision darkening, stars dancing around you making you dizzy. Your eyes rolled to the back of your head and before you knew it, your body finally won and shut down.

Although if you could have chosen, you would not have fallen straight into Loki’s arms whose reflexes caught you, preventing you from hitting the hard floor beneath you. He cradled you with his brows furrowed, his blue gaze almost helpless as he looked at Thor and Stark for support.

Then, everything went black.

-

“Welcome back.” You blinked, the artificial lights above your head blinding you. A hand held you down when you attempted to sit up drowsily. Bruce was leaning against a metal table in Tony’s lab, hands crossed before his chest and with a concerned expression on his face. “You blacked out,” he explained, “out of the blue.”

“How are you feeling?” Tony added.

You only realised then that it was Loki who had held you down. He was sitting on a chair right next to the makeshift bed they had carried into Tony’s lab and he was observing you with Argus eyes. Your heart sped up when you noticed. You usually tended to avoid the God of Mischief at all cost. There was a part of you that was afraid of him after watching him making an entire crowd kneel in Stuttgart, the other was hands down swooning over him. It had all started when he had rescued a cat from a tree, honouring a cliché he had not even been aware of. But someone who helped defenceless little kittens had to have a soft heart deep down, no?

Thor had brought him to Earth along with him after Asgard had been destroyed. He could not exactly be considered an Avenger but he had long surpassed the villain image… at least, to some extent. Well, you were no Avenger either. You used to be a SHIELD intern and then somehow ended up with the superheroes themselves. Apart from some basic fighting skills and the ability to use a gun, you had been trained to spend most of your time in front of a computer, often working twelve hours or even more a day. What did they say? Evil never sleeps.

“Any idea what might have caused this?” Bruce continued.

You shook your head. “No. But I’ve been having migraines and a persistent fatigue that just won’t go away.”

“I see… anything else?”

“Um…”

“You can talk to us, (Y/N).”

“Well, I… I’ve been dizzy a lot lately but that sometimes happens during my special week of the month so I didn’t think anything of it.” You took a deep breath but hesitated.

“And?”

“I’ve been sweating way more when working out. Like, a lot more. Instead of making progress… I feel like I’m getting weaker every day. It’s frustrating.”

“Uh-huh. I’m taking a blood sample. FRIDAY will run a couple of tests on you to figure out what’s wrong.”

“What? No! Nothing’s wrong! We don’t need a b-blood sample.”

“No one faints for no reason, (Y/N), especially not on Loki.” Loki rolled his eyes but did not leave your side, even when Bruce started fiddling around with some gear and apparently, a first-aid kit and then approached you with a syringe and a small clear vial.

“I’ve done this a million times before, I’ll be gentle.”

“No! No, no blood test, Bruce, please!” Almost hysterically, you moved back on the bed, your heart in your mouth.

“(Y/N),” Loki suddenly said calmly. You shivered when he spoke your name, his head tilted slightly. “Are you afraid of needles?”

“N-n-no…” You lied. Loki raised an eyebrow.

“Look at me.” He said. Hesitating only a little, you did as you were told. It wasn’t like his tone allowed any contradiction anyway. In fact, it reminded you a lot of his strict and bossy tone when he had caused chaos in Germany. “It has to be done. Hold my hand and do not take your eyes off of me.”

“Who are you and what you have done to Reindeer Games?” Tony tossed in, throwing the Trickster a suspicious glance. Loki rolled his eyes once more. As if he had any obligation to explain himself to Stark of all people.

In the meantime, you were panicking even more. Loki was being nice and considerate with you and Bruce was about to pierce your skin with a needle. Oh, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck… your breathing sped up.

“Look. At. Me.” Loki repeated. You obeyed this time, allowing him to take your hand and press it gently. Much to your surprise, it immediately calmed you down a little. You gaped at him unbelievingly. You didn’t even feel the needle going into your skin and drawing blood. Wait… was he casting a spell on you?

“There. All done.” You could not bring yourself to look where Bruce brought your blood sample but when both Tony and he stepped away and turned their backs on you, you swallowed.

“T-thank you…” You had to ask—not because you did not think he was not capable of offering his help without seeking a personal advantage and not because you didn’t think he was too evil to even think about being selfless… but because you were genuinely curious about his motivation. Loki did nothing without a reason, he was always one step ahead. “You put a spell on me, didn’t you?”

He nodded. “Why… why did you do that for me?”

“We are all afraid of something.” It was the only response he gave you. For a few moments, you merely sat there quietly, neither of you uttering a single word. Only when Bruce and Tony returned did you realise that Loki was still holding your hand.

“Okay… I’ve got the results from your blood test and FRIDAY couldn’t find anything suspicious.” Tony announced, scrolling on his tablet. Bruce adjusted his glasses to take a peek.

“You said you’ve been feeling tired? You sweat a lot, you get dizzy, and I’m presuming you barely have an appetite?”

“I don’t have time to eat a lot to be honest…” You confirmed.

“Any concentration problems?”

Pressing your lips together to a thin line, you thought about it for a moment. Now that he mentioned it… it had gotten obnoxiously hard to focus on your work lately. Eventually, you nodded.

“Sounds like severe exhaustion to me.” Bruce said. “Do you have issues with low blood pressure or diabetes or any other medical condition? No, FRIDAY would have found something like that. You know what I think? You overworked yourself.”

“Like… a burnout?” You probed.

“Most definitely.”

You grunted. Oh, that was just great. There you were, attempting to squeeze in regular workouts in this awesome training hall the Avengers called the HARM room after work to get stronger and hence, eventually gather up the courage to speak to Loki and now you looked exactly like what you did not want him to see you as—a weak and meagre human.

“The best medicine would be for you to quit work for a while and stop physical exercise altogether.”

“Banner is right,” Tony added. “Take a few weeks off and rest, sleep in, eat more and healthy… the whole program. I officially give you a holiday.”

“You’re not my boss, Tony, you can’t give me a holiday.” Your smile was weak. “But I don’t have time for this anyway! I can’t believe this is happening so soon before Christmas!” You whined. “I can’t stay in bed, I’ve got so much to do! I have to buy presents and decorate and bake biscuits and make gingerbread… Besides, I’m gonna fall behind on all the data.”

He shrugged. “I’ll take care of that. Let me talk to Fury. You let us know if you need anything. Can you take her to her room, Reindeer Games? And please, no funny business.” Beside you, Loki was just frowning, utterly ignoring the billionaire’s request.

“Why were you pushing yourself so hard?” He finally spoke when the two Avengers had left—whether it was genuine confusion or mere curiosity in his voice, you were not sure. “Why were you training for battle in the first place? I have never seen you out on a mission.”

You sighed. Time to let the cat out of the bag, it wasn’t like you were still going to make a good impression on him anymore now.

“I wanted to impress you, I guess…”

“Impress me?” Loki repeated incredulously.

“Yeah… catch your attention… in a way. I mean, part of me is still terrified of you, of course but… you have a good heart, Loki. I knew when I saw you rescuing that cat from the tree.”

The God of Mischief rolled his eyes. “I knew this was going to damage my reputation.” He responded with a sly smirk, making you grin. “It was an innocent kitten, what was I supposed to do?”

“See?”

Your heart skipped a beat when his blue eyes locked with yours. He appeared… uncertain; not used to dealing with affection. Loki swallowed.

“Can you walk?”

“I’m not sure…”

The God of Mischief sighed, his lips pressed together to a thin line. Without any hesitation, he snuck one of his arms under your knees and wrapped the other around your waist. He lifted you off the makeshift bed as if you weighed nothing—and to him, you probably didn’t.

Loki carried you to your room in utter silence and eventually lay you down in your bed. Your heart jumped when he sat down on the edge of the bed himself, with a peculiar interest in his hands so he would not have to look you in the eye.

“There is no need to impress me.” He suddenly said. Your head shot up. “I did not think anyone would even… never mind.”

Oh. It almost felt like you were finally getting to know each other, for real this time.

“Do you want to stay for a while? I was going to watch some Christmas movies if I’m not allowed to get out of bed.” You sighed. “I can’t even decorate. You have no idea how many decorations I have to put up. None of the others care to make it a little more festive here, especially not Fury.”

“Yes, I have seen the boxes.” Loki replied. “It’s a little… corny, wouldn’t you say?”

“Honestly, when living among superheroes who risk their lives every single day, you could use a little corny.”

“I see.” Loki simply waved his hand and before you knew it, your entire room was decorated. Green and red tinsel shimmered on your window sill, holiday lights were blinking above your door and fake—but incredibly real-looking—snowflakes hung from the ceiling. Many of your favourite decoration items were now sitting on your nightstand and your desk, including your tiny little Christmas tree. The rest of the decorations, so it seemed, Loki must have spread all over the Tower.

“Oh my Goodness… Loki, this is amazing!” The God of Mischief winked and when you looked down on yourself, you noticed you too were wearing a green and gold Christmas sweater. Heavens, you could kiss him. “Thank you so much! What did you… is the entire Tower…”

“Yes.” He confirmed. He didn’t have to. Tony did only a fraction of a second later.

“Thor! Can you tell me why my Ironman helmet just grew metal antlers? I swear to God, if Reindeer Games has something to do with this…” It was then you exploded with laughter despite your exhaustion.

-

A/N: If you enjoyed this story, I would appreciate it so much if you considered supporting me on Kofi! It’s either for caffeine or red wine, I’ll take both. ko-fi.com/sserpente ♥

#loki #loki imagine #loki x you #loki x reader #loki fluff #loki laufeyson #loki laufeyson imagine #loki laufeyson x you #loki laufeyson x reader #loki laufeyson fluff #loki odinson #loki odinson imagine #loki odinson x you #loki odinson x reader #loki odinson fluff #thor #thor imagine #the avengers #the avengers imagine #mcu #mcu imagine #marvel #marvel imagine #tom hiddleston

[iamanartichoke]

Another totally unprompted ask, on the assumption that you are definitely no longer in need of them… another thing I’m trying to work out about Loki characterisation in preparation for perpetrating fic torture on him is how suicidal the poor sod is most of the time. This is another thing I’ve seen referred to a lot but only in passing. Though obviously this is a pretty triggery topic, so ignore if you want.

I am always in need of totally unprompted asks, otherwise I just assume no one wants to talk to me lmao

So, hoo boy. I have been mulling over this for, apparently, three days now bc there's just ... there's a lot to unpack here. Putting under a cut for obviously triggery content and also for length bc fml.

In my opinion, the response to "how suicidal is Loki most of the time" is "very, but whether or not he wants to do anything about it varies from moment to moment" (see what I did there? I'll see myself out). In other words, I have always had a headcanon that Loki is consistently, passively suicidal. This is a headcanon that comes straight from TDW, bc I'm certain that Loki never had any intention of surviving their mission. And that could be a whole other post, really, but the point is that even though this is a TDW-centric headcanon, I have come to adopt it as applying to Loki in general as well, not just in those specific circumstances.

When I say passively suicidal, I mean that Loki is just sort of ambivalent about the value of his own life. He feels like he doesn't deserve to be alive, and feels like there's little point in being alive. Which - I don't mean to sound all gloom and doom, like, poor uwu emo Loki (and I kinda hate that I have to pause to disclaim that, no, I don't just have a fixation on Loki being depressed for funsies/the aesthetic/whatever); I think that this mindset stems from really complicated places that I'm not sure I can articulate, but I will try.

I view Loki as someone who suffers from a severe inferiority complex, and I feel like it stems from being abandoned as an infant. Loki's life started with a traumatic event and, even if he doesn't remember the event itself, the feelings he experienced stayed in his subconscious. Feelings of loss, of fear, of despair and abandonment, of suffering - these are all feelings that burrowed into his bones and lived there for his entire life, feelings that colored how Loki viewed himself as a person as well as how he compared to the people around him.

Keep in mind that Loki didn't know he was abandoned until the events of Thor 1, obviously. We don't really know how old Loki is, in human years, but I have always assumed that he and Thor were at least adults (not teenagers), maybe the equivalent of early twenties - and the reason I bring that up is because it means Loki made it all the way to adulthood carrying the weight of a trauma that he did not remember or even knew had happened, so to him, there was no real reason for how wrong he felt. There was no explanation for the feelings of loss, of neglect, of fear. So on top of struggling with those feelings, Loki was also burdened with the alienation that comes with wondering why one can't just be like everyone else, why one can't just "snap out" of depression, why one's sense of self-worth has always been lacking.

So imagine what it's like to grow up as Loki. He was traumatized as an infant. The trauma has been with him his entire life, along with the confusion/alienation of not understanding why he feels the way that he does, and then on top of that, his basic personality lends itself toward introspection and isolation, so he likely felt even further removed from Thor and from his peers. Loki's too smart for his own good, and he's got an enormous capacity to feel and I feel like this is a combination that works against him as much as it does for him, bc it probably means he spent a lot of time examining himself and identifying all of his perceived flaws - and then berating himself for said flaws.

People with depression are probably pretty familiar with the bully that lives in your head, the one who is always there to remind you that you're stupid, or ugly, or that nobody likes you, or that you have nothing of value to contribute to anyone, etc. Loki's no different; he's got that bully in his head, too. Add onto this the fact that his brother is literally perfect, that he feels his father doesn't love him (or love him as much), that his interests in things like magic are looked down on in his culture, and that he's a prince (meaning that along with the privilege comes pressure, and being in the public eye, knowing that everyone around him is comparing him to Thor as much as he compares himself to Thor, well.) and you have a total clusterfuck of a mindset, and Loki's been existing inside of that clusterfuck for nearly all of his life.

I always go back to the quote where, when filming I think the vault scene, Kenneth Branagh directs Tom by saying, "This is the moment where the thin steel rod holding your brain together snaps." And it's such a significant moment for Loki bc this is where it all crumbles for him, learning the truth, but I also fixate on the "thin steel rod" part of the quote bc that's not how one would describe a healthy, stable person's mind. The implication, to me, has always been that Loki wasn't that stable to start with due to his general upbringing, his internal struggles, and his personality, so of course the devastation of learning he's adopted, and Jotun, would send him over the edge. One doesn't go from zero to 60; one doesn't fall over the edge unless they were balancing fairly close to it in the first place. And to me, the "thin steel rod" basically equals the aforementioned clusterfuck of a mindset.

THE POINT IS. (Holy shit, I ramble.) This is the foundation on which I'm basing my headcanon that Loki neither values his life nor feels as if he even deserves to live it - bc his default mindset is one of inferiority, of loss, of pain. And I think that going from being a general unstable person pre-canon to being passively suicidal post-canon is a thing that happened because, somewhere between the vault in Thor 1 and the dungeons in TDW, Loki just stopped caring.

Life is exhausting for everyone, but even moreso when your mental load becomes more than you can carry. Loki is exhausted. His experience is that things just keep getting worse and worse for him - he's never been valued, he's always been found wanting. He discovers that he was literally thrown away as an infant, unwanted and left to die, and things haven't gotten much better for him since then. Everything that can go wrong, does go wrong. His plans spin out of control. He's unable to prove his worth and his value and when he is, in fact, rejected, he literally tries to kill himself (only to survive and end up in an even worse situation).

It all just continually goes downhill, and Loki is fucking exhausted. He's done. He has no hope that anything is ever going to change - he will never be valued or even seen, he's unable to connect to anyone, he has no family (aside from Thor, but their relationship is so fraught with pain). As far as he's concerned, his life has been nothing but a waste since he was born and if no one else values it, why should he?

So - passively suicidal. He places no value on his life, and doesn't shy away from situations that could cost him his life. It's possible that the only reason he's not actively suicidal is bc his previous attempt not only failed but led to such a horrible situation that he's probably too afraid to intentionally seek out death again. He doesn't want to fail and end up worse off for it.

And - not that you asked this in particular, but - my biggest disappointment in the series is that none of what I've just written is addressed in a satisfying way (to me). That is, we don't get any real explicit acknowledgement of the trauma of Loki's abandonment as a baby or how that affected his mental health growing up; we don't get to explore how devastated he was to learn of his adoption; we don't ever see him reconcile his ingrained belief that jotuns are monstrous savages with the fact that he is jotun. He says "I betrayed everyone I loved, but I'm different now" and we're supposed to infer what he means without Loki actually articulating why he feels that he's the only one who should be held responsible for all these things that had happened or what "I've changed" even means to him (aside from not betraying Sylvie).

I would have liked to see these things addressed for a lot of reasons, but one of those reasons is that I would want to see how Loki comes to terms with all of his issues and his pain enough that he stops being passively suicidal. We never get to see that; after TDW, the time that passes allows for Loki to kinda chill, resulting in the Ragnarok version, but if there was any real healing or recovering going on, it was happening off-screen, with the audience expected to just go with "yeah Loki was going through it for awhile but he's kinda better now."

Furthermore, much of what I've written here is based on prime Loki's development through TDW, but doesn't account for series Loki's split from that timeline nor the theme of "Lokis survive" that's so prevalent in the series. So I don't think the "passively suicidal" headcanon is really appropriate for series Loki but, at the same time, I'd like to have seen why. I'd like to have seen Loki learning to value his life, or where the "we survive" mindset comes from, since that's not really been a thing before now. (Out of universe, I suspect it comes from the context of Loki just not dying whenever he tries to, but since TDW and IW haven't happened, and Loki didn't intend to survive his fall from the bifrost, framing Loki as an innate survivor doesn't really make sense, but to be fair, I'm just being picky.)

So, yeah. I'm not saying Loki doesn't experience growth or development in the series, I'm just saying that his arc left much unsaid and, furthermore, framing his growth as "wanting a throne to not wanting a throne" without addressing that Loki doesn't actually want the power of the throne, he wants the value and self-worth he associates with the throne, is - well, again, unsatisfying. Not bad, but it leaves viewers like me wanting bc we're cognizant of how much more could have been done.

I ... am going to end this now. This is probably nonsensical and all over the place, so I'm very sorry, and I'm sure this is why I don't get meta-starter asks lmfao bc no one's out here trying to read my dissertation submission for a Ph.D in Loki, but well, sometimes it just be like that.

Thank you for the ask and the opportunity to ramble.

#asks #charlotte replies #loki pokey artichokey #loki series #loki series criticism #loki meta #tw suicidal ideation #tw suicide attempt #tw suicide #tw mental health #tw depression #i spent two fucking hours on this yet i still feel like it's rambly nonsense #i hit stream-of-consciousness at some point and just went with it #and now i'm too lazy to revise #so i'm sorry #this'll probably only get like 10 notes anyway bc that's how it be on tumblr #put effort in and get little validation; put no effort in and everyone loses their minds

[dresupi]

Darcy/Loki - Speedrun - Truth Pollen

for @whyndancer

Rated: T

Truth Pollen - Accidental Declaration of feelings

~~~~~~~~~~

“I find your eyes quite lovely, like deep blue pools of still water…” Loki said, eyes widening infinitesimally. If the average person was witnessing this declaration, it likely would have gone unnoticed, and said recipient of the Trickster’s proclamation would have swooned immediately.

But Dr. Darcy Lewis wasn’t easily swayed by pretty words.  She’d been around too many Asgardians by now, it had lost its novelty.

Especially since Loki had treated her with mostly indifference up until now. She scarcely said two words to him, and in return, he’d left her alone. Unless she had something he wanted, and then… well, this.

Rolling her “deep blue” (snort) eyes, she shook her head. “Not gonna work this time, Loki. Whatever it is you want, I can’t provide.”

“I only wish for a moment of your time,” he said, placing both hands on the surface of her desk, giving her a bit of alarm, but not much. He wasn’t being aggressive, but the look on his face was interesting. Sort of confused, sort of intrigued.

“A moment? Is that anything like a minute? Because that’s all I can spare,” she said, reaching for a potato chip from the nearly empty bag on the desk beside her. “I’m analyzing your timeline breech and it’s sort of important.”

“No, I understand what you do is very vital,” he said, immediately grimacing and looking like he’d tasted something bitter. “I don’t understand what’s happening, I don’t want to say that, I want to say I wish you’d kiss me with your pillowy lips until I lose my breath.” He looked even more alarmed now.

Darcy wasn’t sure what kind of game this was, but she was sort of invested. Didn’t everyone want someone to talk to them like this? Well, maybe not everyone. And maybe it was just because it was Loki. Dude was very convincing when he needed to be.

But pillowy?

She raised her eyebrows in surprise. “Say what now? What’s pillowy?” She bit both of her lips, wondering what was pillowy about them. Yeah, they were plump and luscious, she was well aware of that. She wouldn’t exactly call them pillowy.

“I don’t… your lips look to be the softest things in the multiverse.”

She snorted. “Keep it in your pants, Laufeyson. Don’t make me go get HR.”

“No, I don’t want… Dr. Lewis, you really must allow me to explain. I have been secretly in love with you since I laid eyes upon you.” He sighed in exasperation. “I didn’t want to say that, I apologize, but you’ve captivated me, heart and soul, ever since you asked me to prepare your coffee that first day we met.”

She hadn’t really known who he was at the time, she was sort of eyes deep in all this fucking work. If she’d have known who it was that she was ordering around… well, she’d probably have been a bit meaner about it, to be honest.

But this? This was too difficult to believe. Her frown deepened. “Seriously, dude. It’s not funny. Whatever it is you want, you can have it after I’m finished with this graph.”

“No, I…” He clamped his mouth closed and reached for a pad of paper, scribbling something on it in elegant longhand, but scratching it out furiously when it didn’t yield the effect he wanted. “I… there’s something wrong.”

“No kidding, I didn’t want to say anything, but I think you might have inhaled too much of that weird flower Monica brought back from that alternate branch. It makes you loopy, or so I’ve heard. I stayed away from it. I know I’m a lightweight, I don’t need a weirdo flower to make that readily apparent to everyone in the immediate vicinity. Go sleep it off, you’ll be fine.”

“No, I… you don’t understand…” Loki looked so frustrated. It was almost funny, usually, he drove other people to this, not himself. Karma was a bitch indeed.

“What don’t I understand, dude? I’ve seen Thor drunk before he says a lot of words. Not all of them he remembers.”

“I am not inebriated right now!”

“No, technically, you’re high.”

“No, technically, I’m not susceptible to that alien flora in the same way as Midgardians are. It affects me differently…” he glanced down at his hands and back up at her. “It makes me say things.”

“What kind of things?” Her eyes widened in alarm. “Fuck, is that a sex pollen flower? Like on Star Trek? Or any number of fanfiction stories I might or might not have read in college?”

He frowned. “Sex pollen?”

“Aphrodisiac. Of the airborne variety.”

He scoffed, laughing a little. “Thankfully, no. It appears to affect me differently…” he pressed his lips together. “I think your clever mind will suss it out soon enough without any help from me.”

“My clever mind? It makes you bald-faced lie?” she teased.

He sighed. “No. I lie all the time. It appears that right now, I can’t.”

Her eyes widened once more. “You can’t? So I could ask you anything right now, and you’d have to tell me the truth?”

“It appears that way, yes.”

She chuckled. “That must bother you, dude. Lying’s kind of your thing, isn’t it?”

“Lying is not my thing,” he scoffed.

“Still, it’s a big part of your whole deal,” she said, gesturing vaguely in his direction before turning back to the screen.

“That’s it?” he asked after a few silent beats.

“What’s it?” she asked.

“You could ask me anything. Anything, and I’d have to be truthful with you. Most beings would give their right leg to be in your position.”

She sniffed. “I’m not most beings, Loki.”

“So I’m beginning to see,” he said quietly, materializing a chair to sit in and watch her. “You’ve got a kind heart, Dr. Lewis?”

“Don’t know about that, but I’m not a dick,” she replied bluntly.

“No, no you’re not.” She thought she sensed the smallest smile in his words, but she didn’t look up from the screen again.

#Tasertricks #Darcy Lewis #Loki #Darcy x Loki #Loki x Darcy #Darcy/Loki #Loki/Darcy #my writing #speedrun prompts #whyndancer

[buckyownsmylife]

Hiya! Hope you’re haven’t a lovely day so far :3!!! 💕 If requests are open, I’d love a Loki x Reader headcanon post where the Loki hears the reader’s, who is really quiet until they open up (only talks to people they completely trust), voice for the first time?

This was a bit of a challenge because I’m the exact opposite of shy, but I loved it! Thank you for sending me your request!

If you’re reading this, it means that headcanon Sunday has started! If you want me to write something, feel free to send me your idea! I’ll be writing headcanons all day!

He noticed it the first time he saw you

How you were excitedly chatting with Nat yet the second the rest of the group walked into the tower’s living room, him and his brother in tow, your mouth abruptly stopped moving, like suddenly you’d never ever thought about speaking in the first place

But then it was easy to believe it was because you got interested in his arrival, or at least that you were curious about what the team had to say, not wanting to sound rude by making them wait until you were finished chatting with your friend

Yet, the first week of his stay went by without ever hearing your voice

He only realized it when it happened again

You were happily talking to the doctor who turned green when he walked in with his brother and the tin man, and you simply shut your mouth

Apparently, mid-sentence, by the way it took Banner a few seconds to understand what had happened

When he asked his brother about it, Thor just shrugged

“I, too, have never heard her speak. They say she’s just shy. Only opens up to those she really trusts.”

And then, his interest was caught.

You were all he saw when the group was reunited

He found you endlessly fascinating

The way you could communicate without actually speaking

It was so clear how you were feeling at all times

You had a very expressive face, and despite your uneasiness at speaking in front of strangers, you had no problem in letting them know you were uncomfortable, or even angry

Loki came to the conclusion that he was the person you didn’t trust in the tower, after all, he was the new arrival

And he didn’t push to make you feel comfortable around him, no matter how much the curiosity to get to know you better kept teasing him to make you speak

He just didn’t, acknowledging that it most likely would only push you further away from him

Besides, he felt like you had your own special way of communicating with him, too

Every time your eyes would meet, whenever he entered a room you were in, you never avoided his gaze

In fact, you even smiled softly at him sometimes

It made him weirdly warm inside, it made him hope that the day where he would be able to uncover all of your layers would soon arrive

Though when it did, he was in no way prepared for it

Some of the Avengers had gone on a top-secret mission he was in no way interested to know about

When they got back, bringing something from Loki’s past with them, it became clear his lack of attention had been a mistake

The tesseract seemed to taunt him, whispering in his ear about his past mistakes and tempting him to go back to his old ways

So he flees the scene, not even realizing that he walked all the way back to his room instead of simply teleporting there, and threw himself at the bed, head hidden behind his face in an effort to control his own thoughts

And that’s when he felt two warm, smaller hands, over his, cradling his face as best as possible, considering the position he was in.

“Loki? Can you hear me?”

He didn’t recognize the voice, but your perfume was unmistakable.

His hands immediately dropped, allowing you to hold his face directly

And then he met your eyes

Your sweet, caring eyes

“I’m sorry they didn’t realize that seeing the tesseract could trigger you.”

Loki was flooded by very unfamiliar and contrasting emotions

Mainly, confusion over why you were talking to him and warmth because of your care for him

“I thought you didn’t speak to strangers,” he noted, frowning, and your mouth momentarily opened in surprise

“You’re not a stranger anymore. I just hadn’t had an opportunity to be alone with you yet.”

“Besides, I feel safe around you.”

Loki couldn’t believe that while there were still avengers you didn’t trust, you had decided to open up to him

And he decided right then and there, that he’d do everything in his power to earn this trust that you had placed on them, by keeping you safe for all eternity

I’m feeling so fluffy today, what the fuck is going on?

#my headcanons #loki angst #loki #angst #loki requests #loki headcanons #loki headcanon #loki imagines #loki imagine #loki reader #loki reader insert #loki x reader #loki reader inserts #loki fluff #fluff #loki fanfiction #loki fan fiction

[the-witty-pen-name]

Can’t Help Falling in Love

Loki x Reader (f) 

Valentine’s Day with the God of Mischief 

Based on suggestion by: @squadleaderchase​

A/N: Thank you so much for the suggestion! I loved writing this, it was so much fun! 

Happy Valentine’s Day y’all!

There is also a gender neutral version of this fic, and will be posted shortly after this one! Read it here! 

I recommend to putting on Can’t Help Falling in Love by Elvis towards the end just for that finishing touch! 

Summary: When Loki learns about the traditions of Valentine’s Day, he asks you to be his Valentine- and reluctantly takes advice from Steve Rogers. 

Word Count: 2.9k

Warnings: none; just fluff 

“Can’t Midgardians have a holiday that doesn’t involve such a grotesque display of… red?” Loki asks walking into the living room of the Avengers compound. Loki arrived at the compound a few weeks before Christmas and so far, he’s experienced two Earth holidays: Christmas and New Year’s. Of course, Tony had picked the theme for both parties to be elaborately red and gold- he claimed the fact that it matched his suit was merely a coincidence.

“Just wait until next month,” you reply casually, your eyes not leaving the brief you were reading while you sat cozied up in one of the large armchairs. “I think you’ll like St. Patrick’s Day much more… color scheme wise at least.”

Loki looked up curiously at the hearts of all shades of red and pink Natasha had hung up to decorate the Avengers’ living quarters. She had gone to visit Clint’s family and his kids spent hours making Valentines and decorations out of construction paper and glitter. Loki looked almost puzzled at the lopsided hearts that hung from the ceiling on transparent line so they looked like they floated mid-air.

“Perhaps I might,” he mumbled to himself, the lovesick aura of his surroundings making him slightly disgusted. “Though I suppose I find your rituals as bizarre as you’d find on Asgard.”

“Mhmm,” you mumbled in response to his thinking out loud. It was rare that the compound would be this quiet. It was a Friday evening and in the middle of a team meeting earlier today, Tony declared exhaustedly that everyone needs to start the weekend early and dismissed everyone despite Steve’s protests. You weren’t sure where everyone else went and you didn’t particularly care- enjoying the rare peace and quiet.

You didn’t mind Loki’s company. He was a little aloof but overall, you found him more to be misunderstood than anything else. He wasn’t like Thor and sure, he had a very trouble ridden past to downplay it- but he’s confided in you all it wasn’t entirely his doing. Out of everyone living at the compound, he probably had grown the closest to you, or as close as Loki would allow himself to be to someone.

“What even is this holiday?” Loki asked, pulling his attention from the decorations to where you sat, binder in your lap. You looked up and closed the brief, tossing it onto the coffee table in front of where you sat.

“Sunday is Valentine’s Day,” you say looking back over to him, meeting his eyes. “I mean overtime the traditions and how we celebrate have changed but it’s originally the day meant to honor St. Valentine and commemorate his death. There’s a lot more to it than that and there’s all different of different origins, but now it’s more like a day where you celebrate love, because he was the patron Saint of Love.”

Loki nods, liking the idea of this holiday much more than New Years already. He didn’t mind Christmas, but the elaborate parties made everything not very appealing to him. You can’t blame the god for not having a good time at parties where every guest fears him or hates him. He walks over and takes a seat on the couch and crosses his legs. He was intrigued enough to continue the conversation and ask you more questions. “What are the traditions?” He asks curiously.

“Traditionally, you would ask someone to be your Valentine, and that’s the person you want to spend the day with,” you answer with a small shrug, trying to explain a holiday you’ve never had to explain before. “Some people have it easy and they ask their significant other, and if you don’t have one, you ask someone you’re romantically interested in to be your Valentine. Then you give each other gifts, like chocolates or flowers, anything really that’s romantic and you go out on a date, like a nice dinner but it doesn’t have to be. That’s the basic gist.”

“Thank you, (y/n),” Loki said, mulling over your explanation. “You’ve been helpful, as always. Tell me, who’s your Valentine?”

“I don’t have one,” you answered honestly. The only time you really celebrated was when you had been with someone. You’d never really participated otherwise. You planned to just spend the night alone or with Nat if she also didn’t have plans and probably watch a movie- most definitely Pride and Prejudice.

“Shame,” Loki said with a tsk. “Perhaps, if you would be interested, you could be my Valentine?”

“Really?” you ask, honestly surprised.

“I actually like the idea of the day,” Loki shrugged. “And I don’t know many people, people seem to hate me on this planet- no idea as to why. You’ve always been kind to me, and you are the most tolerable person I’ve encountered on this planet.”

“That’s oddly very kind of you,” you say with a chuckle. “I appreciate the sentiments. Um, yes. I’d be happy to be your Valentine.”

“Excellent,” he grinned. He clapped his hands together and stood up. “Splendid. I’ll ask Thor to help me plan something.”

“I’m looking forward to it,” you smile, picking up your paperwork again as Loki heads off to find his brother.

***

“Brother,” Thor’s voice echoed in the training room. “Spar with me?”

“As much as I would love to,” Loki said sarcastically, “I need your help with something I need to plan.” Loki walked over to the side of the mat where Thor had been training with Captain Rogers.

“Plan what?” Captain Rogers asked curiously. It was an innocent enough question but Loki took it as Rogers insinuating his distrust in him. Of course, Loki can’t blame the man but it did rub him the wrong way.

“If you must know Captain Rogers, I’m making plans for this upcoming Valentine’s Day,” Loki said matter-of-factly. “I’m sure since you have quite the active love life recently, your words of wisdom are probably of infinite value.”

“You can learn a thing or two from me,” Steve retorted as he put the punching bag beck into place. “But I don’t like your attitude.”

“I don’t know how I’ll ever manage without you,” Loki scoffed. He turned his attention back to his brother. “I need help to determine where I should take (y/n) and what I should get her.”

“(y/n) agreed to this?” Thor asks, his eyebrows raised in confusion. Rogers kept his mouth shut, deciding to see where this conversation will go before

“Yes, brother. I asked her to be my Valentine as stated by tradition and she said yes.”

“Ah! Good for you, brother!” Thor exclaimed, happily. “I’m glad you’re immersing yourself in the Midgard culture.”

“Yes, yes,” Loki waved him off, “Now, please, tell me what I should do.”

“I’ve never celebrated Valentine’s Day,” Thor says with a shrug and a sympathetic look. “I haven’t had much opportunity to explore the culture. Every time I’m on this planet I’m a little busy preventing its destruction. Perhaps Rogers can help you?”

Loki let out an exasperated sigh. He avoided Rogers as he knew the man had such a smug look on his face. Loki refused to give him the satisfaction. However, he realized that wouldn’t be fair to you. Rogers not only knew what to do, but he was also close friends with you. He quickly realized if he wanted to celebrate with you properly, he’d need to rely on the infamous super soldier.

“Captain Rogers,” Loki said with a charismatic smile, turning back to the man. “I wholeheartedly apologize for my lack of… social niceties. If you’d be willing to help me, to ensure your dear friend enjoys her holiday, I would be sincerely grateful.”

“Only because of (y/n),” Rogers says skeptically, waving a finger at Loki. “She deserves to enjoy her time and I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if I let you screw up her evening.”

“What a loyal friend.”

Years later, the Avengers would still talk about the fact Loki cared about you so much, he sought out advice from Captain America and Thor. And as Captain America said, he helped Loki with every last detail and Steve never let Loki forget it.

***

Loki had told you that he’d come to your room to get you at 6 o’clock Sunday evening. He wore clothes he had picked out, black dress pants, a white button-down shirt and shiny, black dress shoes. He had kept the last button of the shirt unbuttoned and he had rolled the sleeves up, a styling tip he had gotten from Thor. He had his long hair gelled back and tamed, ignoring Captain Roger’s horrible suggestion for a haircut. He felt very weird not wearing any green, but he took the advice he was given on his ensemble.

You were just putting on your heels when he knocked at your door Sunday promptly at 6pm. Of course, Loki would be very punctual. You gave yourself one more quick once more in the mirror in your room before heading to answer the door.

You had on a pair of dark green heels that perfectly matched your dress. You also layered over the outfit a suede brown jacket, that complimented the jewel tone of the dress and shoes nicely. You kept your appearance simple, sticking to how you usually styled your hair. Not wanting to keep him waiting, you quickly opened the door, your jacket and bag both in hand.

“Wow,” you say with a grin, when you take in Loki’s appearance. “You look very nice.”

“You look stunning,” Loki said, his eyes widening, taking in your appearance. The compliment made you have butterflies.

“Thank you,” you said with false confidence. Underneath, you were a nervous wreck as you took the arm that he extended to you.

“So,” Loki began to walk down the hallway with you. “Apparently, this planet has something called reservations, and anyone who tries to get one a few days before Valentine’s Day is a “moron,” according to a very rude young man I had the pleasure of speaking with- the first time using a phone too on top of that. So, I hope you don’t mind if the evening is a little… makeshift.”

“I’m sure it’ll be great,” you reassure him. You feel him relax slightly. You found how hard he was trying so endearing.

Where else did he bring you but just down the hall to the living room. At night with the lights dimmed, combined with Natasha’s homemade decorations, it actually looked quite beautiful. He had decorated with an eclectic array of candles as well that covered most surfaces of the room. It also looked like he had swiped every throw pillow in the whole compound and had them arranged the coffee table in the center of the room.

“Did you do all of this?” You ask in awe.

“Yes,” he replied, just watching you. “Do you like it?”

“It’s perfect.”

“I had to make my own version of advice I received,” he disclosed to you. You sat opposite each other on either side of the coffee table, you kicked off your heels and he did the same with his shoes. “Captain Rogers said- and I’m trying my best to quote verbatim, ‘You need to show a girl a good time. You gotta take her to dinner and dancing.’” He even mimicked Steve’s voice perfectly. It made you laugh.

“I can’t believe you subjected yourself to Steve for me, I’m touched,” you smiled. “I mean I love Steve,” you continue, “But I can’t imagine you too being best friends anytime soon.”

“No, I suppose we probably won’t be,” Loki chuckles.

“I hate to point it out,” you continue, “but I think you missed both the dinner part and the dancing part of that plan.” Loki smirked and when you blinked, he transformed the whole room.

“Did I?” he asks, with an eyebrow raised. You gasp, looking around the room you were now in. You knew it was an illusion, but it felt very real. The atmosphere, the breeze coming in from the large bay windows that weren’t there before. The coffee table now a table now one of many dining tables in an incredibly high-end restaurant. The table had food, and a bottle of wine. You were stunned. There was a live band and other couples in other tables and out on the dancefloor.

“Loki?” You exclaimed, looking around at your new surroundings. It was amazing. You couldn’t believe the magic right before your eyes. Of course, you knew it was just one of his tricks, but it felt so incredibly real. You picked up your fork and took a bite of the food in front of you. It was incredible, you questioned if you were even eating.

“It’s real,” Loki said, like he could read your mind. Honestly, he had only just anticipated your next question. “I made it. Well, I made it with Friday’s supervision.”

“It’s fantastic! I can’t believe you went through all this trouble just for me.”

“Sweetheart, you are very much worth it- worth much more than this,” he responded casually, throwing in the term of endearment to see how you’d react. He caught the way it made you smile.

You continued to talk for a little while, and shared stories. You were worried that compared to his life on Asgard, he’d find your stories incredibly boring and mundane. It seemed to be the opposite. His attention was only on you and he held on to every word you said. He created this elaborate setting just to keep you the center of his attention.

“Should we dance?” He asks suddenly, a glimmer in his eye. You looked down apprehensively.

“I’m not really a dancer,” you tried to insist.

“Do you actually not want to dance, darling? Because if so, I will not bring it up again,” he says earnestly, “But, if you’re saying no because you’re afraid I’m going to judge you, I honestly can promise you I would never dream of doing so.”

You give it another moment to ponder over his words. You were taken aback at how well he seemed to know how you were thinking. You let out a sigh of defeat, and smile. “I’d love to,” you reply.

He stands up and offers you his hand. His smile is enough to make you weak at the knees. You take his hand and he leads you over to the dancefloor as the band starts playing its next song. “Does that singer sound like Elvis?” You ask, the small glitch in the illusion throwing you off for only a moment.

“I don’t know who that is,” Loki says with a laugh. He pulls you in close and rests one hand on the small of your back and the other grasps your hand close. You wrap your other arm around his shoulder. You are both pressed up incredibly close to one another. You rest your head on his chest comfortably, and you can’t see how much the action makes his whole face go red. Guiding your movements together, it mostly just swaying in place. The steps were small, and with the music playing for the two of you.

“This place is incredible,” you sigh happily looking up at him. “But I think I liked the first place a little better.”

He nodded in agreement and you got to watch a green hue encompass the walls of the restaurant as they almost melted away, and everything around the two of you just fade away. The sconces on the walls, revealed themselves to be the candles that cluttered the living room and the couples evaporated with the green mist. The table you had both sat at, turned back to the coffee table but the empty plates remained. The elaborate statues that surrounded the room turned into the furniture you knew well, and then the live band faded away to reveal Steve’s record player indeed playing a 45 of Can’t Help Falling in Love by Elvis Presley.

When the room finished revealing its true appearance to you, you laid your head back on Loki’s chest and mumbled that now it was perfect. He smiled to himself, thinking about how without a doubt in his mind, Valentine’s Day is his absolute favorite holiday on Midgard. He now couldn’t believe this reality was real. If he wasn’t holding you, he’d pinch himself. You were here, with him, in his arms, dancing in the middle of the living room on this godforsaken planet.

“(y/n)?” he whispered softly as the song was coming to an end.

“Mhmm?” You responded, your eyes closed, really just basking in the feeling of being so close to him and the smell of his cologne.

“Will be mine?” He asks carefully, remembering the phrase from Captain Roger’s advice. That phrase apparently being very important if today went well and he wanted to ask you to “go steady.” You chuckled softly, hearing Steve’s influence in the phrase.

“I would love to,” you say with a shy smile looking back up to him. He beams, incredibly happy you said yes. Swept up in his emotions, he swiftly leans down and presses his lips to yours capturing them in a passionate first kiss.

“Oh gross!” You hear someone exclaim, making you both pull away. It’s Tony- who was currently holding his side in pain as Pepper elbowed him in the side.

“You really had to do that?” she chastised him, rolling her eyes and giving an apologetic look to you and Loki before pushing Tony down the hallway to give you both your moment back, as sullied as it had become thanks to Tony.

“I’m so sorry,” she said embarrassed by his outburst, ushering him out as quickly as possible.

Loki turns his head back to you, immediately after they are out of view. “Where were we, darling?” He smirks, pulling you in for another kiss.

#loki laufeyson #loki x reader #loki x you #loki x y/n #valentines day imagine #marvel imagine #mcu loki #loki imagine #loki fluff #fluff imagine #tom hiddleston x reader #tom hiddelston imagine #tom hiddleston x y/n

[mrsdeanwinchester19]

The Dinner-Sequel to The Interview

Pairing: Steve x reader

Word Count: 3k

Summary: Sequel to The Interview.  Steve takes his wife to meet his team after her interview

Warnings: None

“Steve, do you think this dress is ok?” I ask, coming out of our walk-in closet wearing my lace, off the shoulder red dress.  Steve is taking me to dinner with the team tonight, so I want to make a good first impression.  Most people would think I’ve met the team before, but Steve kept our relationship a secret in the beginning and then the team broke up because of the Accords and we got married when we were on the run, so we really couldn’t invite any of the team members.

We had our wedding in Norway, one of the few countries that hadn’t signed the Accords.  They claimed they didn’t sign because if a non-government owned unit made from people from different countries called the Alsos Unit hadn’t helped them in World War II, the Germans would have succeeded in creating an Atomic bomb in their country.  In Norway, there was one team member, Thor, who was visiting Earth; he vouched for us.

After our wedding, we went to Wakanda on our honeymoon and visited Bucky. We had been having dinner with Bucky, T’Challa, and Shuri when we told him we got married.  He was upset that he couldn’t be there, but he understood when he found out the wedding happened when he was asleep.  When he said Steve could make it up to him by naming his first son James; Steve started choking on his Umqombothi drink.  I know Steve wants kids, but he wasn’t willing to have them while being on the run. Now that we’re not hiding, we’re actively trying for a baby.  I wonder if tonight he’ll break the news that he has a wife AND is trying to get said wife pregnant.

As I walk out of the closet, I bend down to adjust the ankle strap on my right heel.  I stand back up, smooth my dress, and look up at Steve.  He’s staring at me with a dopey smile on his face, love evident in his eyes.  “The dress itself is fine, you make it look perfect.”

“Ugh, Steve, quit it with the cheesy lines,” I protest while blushing.  Men used to say these things to their wives and girlfriends back in their time, it’s why Steve and Bucky can be prince charming when they want to be. Bucky more often than Steve now that he’s more like his old self, or so Steve says.

“I’m just being honest,” he defends, shrugging his shoulders.  He comes over to me and wraps his arms around my waist.  “You nervous?”

“What do you think?” I ask rhetorically.   I haven’t been this nervous since I first met Steve. In 2014, during a career conference once for journalists, the resort we were at was seized by terrorists.  One of my coworkers and I were the only ones from The New York Sun attending, despite the fact that it was in New York. I suppose they only wanted to go if the convention was out of town so they could get out of work and go on vacation. We were held in the resort’s Grand Hall for hours until the Avengers were able to save us.  There was a pretty big fight between Steve, Thor, Iron Man, Hawkeye, Black Widow, and the terrorists but luckily no one died.  I had been hurt in the kerfuffle, a broken finger, but after Steve wrapped my finger in a brace, he allowed me to interview him.  During the on-camera interview with him, Thor was teasing him in the background, doing silly faces and the “blah blah blah” hand motion.

Steve had asked for my name and number to “keep in touch and see if my finger heals correctly”.  When I gave it to him, he wrote it down in an old-fashioned address book. I hadn’t expected him to call me ever, but he did, asking for a date.  At first, he was weary of me being a journalist, in case things ended badly and I wrote a bad article about him.  However, a year later, he was thankful I was a journalist because I had access to all archived articles about the Winter Soldier.  After that happened, I knew he trusted me wholeheartedly and I felt the same. When the Accords started happening, I had access to the signing, to interview government people about it, and relayed that information to Steve about who he could trust.  That was how I found out about Norway not signing.

“They’ll love you,” he says.  “Bucky loves you, Tony will probably love you because he’ll think the interview prank you pulled on me was hilarious.  Nat and Wanda will be happy another girl is around.  Thor likes you, even Loki took a liking to you; he would love the interview prank. Clint will like you, Bruce will like you; no one has a reason to dislike you.

I turn around and take a good look at him. Royal blue dress shirt and black pants. His hair is up and I want nothing more than to run my fingers through it. He keeps me pressed to his body closely and I rub my hands along his chest. “If we didn’t have to go to dinner with your friends, I would be all over you right now.”

“Sorry, last night’s sex is just gonna have to hold you.” I give a little laugh.  “I’m just messing with you, I’ll be all over you tonight,” he growls, pulling my face up to his and kissing me deeply.  His kisses always leave me breathless, whether they’re passionate like this or small, chaste kisses when he’s leaving for work in the morning.  This however, is a whole new level and it’s making my heart go crazy.

Steve picks up the basket on the kitchen counter and we walk out the door. When we get to the car, he opens the door for me, ever the gentleman, before climbing in himself.  As he drives there, I fiddle with the hem of my dress.  I’m so worried I’ll talk too much or too little, or I’ll offend someone or embarrass Steve. What if I mention something about him that they don’t know?  Like that he bawled like a baby at Where the Red Fern Grows and Homeward Bound. Tony would probably love that but I don’t want to make Steve feel bad, I was crying too.

My biggest worry is what they’ll think of me after the interview.  Will they think it was funny or will they look at me as unprofessional for not telling them I had a conflict of interest with the Avengers?  I think Tony will like me, and maybe Nat, but I have no idea about the others.   I don’t think Bucky would come around as much as he does if he really didn’t like spending time with both Steve and me. Besides, sometimes when Steve is on a mission and he isn’t, he comes and keeps me company with old movies and our little two person book club we started.  His first choice of book was The Hobbit, which he told me he had read it when it first came out in 1937.  He was happy but not surprised to find out there were movies based on them.

When we drive up to the compound, Steve has a difficult time getting me through security.  They recognized my face and apparently Tony told them not to let me back. “Don’t alert Tony about her,” Steve said as he explained the situation to the guard.  He looked skeptical but agreed.

Steve led me upstairs, but not to the dining room where the team was waiting. He led me to his room.  “Well, well, well, Mr. Rogers, I thought we had to meet your friends in a little bit. Though I know you could probably get it done in ten minutes.”

“Ha ha ha, very funny,” he sarcastically replies.  “I just needed to grab…this,” he says, pulling his wallet out of his nightstand.  “Forgot it here yesterday.”

I simply hum in response to his explanation because I’m too busy looking around his room.  I’ve only seen it over FaceTime and in pictures.  It’s very different from our room at home. Our house, which we had just moved to from our apartment in preparation for a family, has a farmhouse theme.  Our master bedroom has a cream colored walls and one shiplap wall which our bed’s decorative headboard sits against, while our king sized bed is covered in a thick white comforter.  There’s a gray bench at the end of our bed and a blue and white rug.  There are nightstands on each side of the bed where we keep our small before bed items and our white, shared dresser is on the other side of the room, next to the door for our walk-in closet.  We have an attached bath with a clawfoot tub and a shower stall.  Our room lets in lots of natural light, which Steve loves because he likes to let the morning sun warm his back on his days off.

This room has a completely different feel to it. It’s much darker than our room at home. The walls are gray and his comforter is dark blue.  He has a black dresser across from his bed with a TV mounted to the wall above it. A plain bathroom with just a few essentials like shaving cream, a toothbrush, toothpaste, etc sit on the counter.  While our walls at home aren’t covered in pictures, we have more than the two he has here.  One is a picture of him and Bucky laughing and the other is of his parents before his father went to war; the war he never came back from.  Both pictures he has copies of hanging up at home. There’s a somewhat large window on the wall, but it’s covered with a blackout curtain.

I did most of the decorating at home, while this decorating was all him.   “Steve?” He looks at me.  “Do you not like our room at home?”

He furrows his eyebrows.  “No.  I love our place.  Why would you think that? Also, that’s very random to be bringing up now.”

“Well it’s just…this room is so different from ours at home.  I just didn’t know if you liked the darker colors better.  I want you to be comfortable in our room at home.  We can change it if you want it to look more like this one.”

He gives a little laugh and turns to face me.  “I didn’t decorate this room, Tony’s person did and he gave me this room because it’s the “most masculine”.  I prefer our room because it’s bright and spacious.  The fact that you decorated it is special to me because it’s like a present you gave to me.  Plus, I don’t have the best eye for interior design since everything I grew up with was either floral or had doilies.  But to be honest, this one feels a bit like a dungeon.  I just don’t bother to change it because I just sleep at home.  And I didn’t change it before I met you because even then I just used it to sleep, if I slept at all,” he looks into the distance, remembering all the nights he spent up in the gym, trying to beat the memories out of his mind.  He changes the subject, “Ok, so when we go down there I’m gonna have you wait around the corner and then you can come out when I tell you.”

He leads me downstairs and has me wait in a hallway. He walks around the corner and I hear Tony say, “Alright Capsicle, what’s the surprise you have for us?”

“Everybody just sit down and I’ll get to it in a minute,” he replies.  The sound of chairs scraping the floor is heard and Tony grumbles something about how he had been planning to have lasagna with Pepper tonight.  After a few seconds of silence, Steve comes back around the corner, grabs my hand, and leads me out. I nearly trip over my heels when we start moving and the pit in my stomach only grows.

At the sight of me, Tony and Natasha stand up startled. “What is she doing here?” Tony angrily asks.

“I thought you banned her,” Natasha adds on.

They all begin chattering, asking Steve why I’m here until Bucky calmly says, “Hey Y/N.”

Sam looks at Bucky confused, “You know her?”  Bucky nods his head and Sam looks at Steve, confused and a little hurt.  “Steve?”

“Everybody,” Steve starts, setting his hand on my lower back.  “This is Y/N, my wife.”

“WIFE?!” they all shout at different times.  Steve and I get bombarded with about a million questions at once.  When did we meet, why weren’t they invited to the wedding, when the wedding was, why I interviewed Steve the way I did, etc.

A loud thud on the balcony draws everyone’s attention. Thor is standing there in his armor and cape, holding his hammer.  “Sorry I’m late for team dinner,” he begins but stops when he sees me.  “Lady Y/N, I haven’t seen you since the wedding.  How has being married to the Captain been?”

“Oh you know, being married to a man-child is a struggle, but he’s hot enough for me to keep him around,” I joke.

“Thor, you know her too?” Tony asks.

“Yes I do.  Loki does too but I decided not to bring him tonight.  I think it would have been a bad idea.”

“Alright, Tony, sit down and I’ll explain everything,” Steve says.  Tony hesitantly sits down and everyone else follows.  Steve explained everything from why we met to why we couldn’t invite them to the wedding.

As he’s finishing telling the story and answering questions from the team, Tony’s bots bring in the pasta and Steve gets up and grabs something from the basket we brought.  He opens a bottle of wine and begins filling glasses.  When he gets to mine, I put my hand over my cup.  “Not tonight,” I say.

“But it’s your favorite,” he says.

“I can’t,” I say, not wanting to get in to it.

“C’mon, I won’t let you drink too much,” he says jovially.

“No, Steve…I can’t,” I say forcefully, looking up to make eye contact, hoping he understands without giving anything away.

He understands, but unfortunately his mouth works faster than his brain.  He looks down at my stomach and an excited smile spreads on his face.  “Are you…?”

I look around the table, seeing the Avengers all looking at us expectedly.  I look back at Steve and sheepishly nod.  He gasps and nearly drops the bottle, but luckily he realizes that when I reach out to catch it.

“A babe,” Thor says happily.  “Mazel tov.”

“They’re not Jewish,” Bucky says to Thor.  “Can’t wait to meet little James or Jamie.”  I give Bucky a look to let him know it’s not happening.  “Ok, Bucky works too.”

Tony puts his head in his hands looking like he’s about to pass out.  “Oh my god, we find out Steve is married to a woman I banned from the compound, and now that he’s going to be a father.”

I look at Steve to see him with tears in his eyes. Thankfully, Natasha saves us. “I’d like to propose a toast,” she says, standing up and holding her glass out.  “To Steve and Y/N, I hope you have a long, happy marriage and a healthy baby girl that you name Natasha.”

“That was the other thing we had planned to tell you tonight.  We’ve been trying for a baby.  I guess we were successful.”  Steve finishes pouring the drinks while everybody suggests baby names.  After a while, the conversation drifts to other things.  I enjoy listening to them, though they’re constantly quipping (mostly Tony).

Bucky, who’s sitting next to me, whispers to Steve, who’s on my other side, “Are we going to church this Sunday?”  The three of us go to church most Sundays. Steve and Bucky both grew up going to church, and it gives them some hope in a dark world.

Tony, who wasn’t involved in the conversation, cuts in. “Barnes, you could live at church and you still won’t go upstairs when you die.”

Bucky’s metal hand clenches so hard around his fork I’d be surprised if it isn’t bent.  He looks at Tony and gives him a very fake, overly sweet smile.  “Tony, I love how mean you are to me because it makes me feel less guilty about what I did to your parents.”

Tony stands up, slamming his hands on the table and Bucky mirrors him.  It looks like they’re about to attack but Steve intervenes.  “Tony, Bucky!  Tony, that was uncalled for and Bucky, that was unnecessary.  We know how you actually feel about your past and we’ve watched you try to change.”  Both men slowly sit back down.  “We have a guest.”  Bucky relaxes first, then Tony does.

“Y/N,” Tony addresses me.  “I need to apologize for my rudeness towards Bucky on my first night officially meeting you.  I was hoping not to fight with him tonight.”

“You call that a fight?  You should hear these two,” I say, gesturing to Steve and Bucky on either side of me.  “These guys can bicker with each other like an old married couple for hours about the smallest things.  Last week they had a 45 minute argument on how many times you can reuse a towel before it needs to be washed.”

“Wash it right away,” Steve mutters.

“Steve, we used to use towels so many times before we washed them in the 40s,” Bucky argues.

“Yeah but that was because if we needed to wash things, Mom had to heat up water and then hang-dry it on the balcony.  It’s easy to wash things now days.”

“Anyways,” Tony says, stopping their argument.  “I guess the interview you gave Cap makes sense now…somewhat.”

“Well I was pissed at him that day, so I think he deserved it.”

Tony smiles at Steve.  “You need to bring her around more often.”

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