#the tragedy of loki in-universe and out | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

ijuststareatstuffhereok89 · 7 months

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*SPOILER FIC FOR LOKI S2 FINALE*

Do not read until you have watched or are otherwise ready to be spoiled. THIS IS YOUR WARNING!

Idunn & The Golden Apple

In the village of Time’s Ridge, they say when a little girl is sacrificed, she is adopted by the gods and granted any wish she makes. When the orphan Idunn is driven over the side, she blinks and finds herself before a mysterious entity known as the God of Stories. Luckily, in order to gain his favor, she brings a small sacrifice of her own before his glowing throne.

Characters: Loki, OFC (child), cameos of Thor and Mobius Genre: Tragedy, Comfort, Found Family Word Count: 3.3k Content Warnings: SPOILERS FOR LOKI S2 FINALE!, Loki gives off dad vibes, child sacrifice

This time, the annual sacrifice at Time's Ridge was almost a scandal. Woeful Idunn was only ten-years-old.

She stood on the precipice, overlooking the glowing green abyss she’d once played beside thoughtlessly, unaware at the time that it was about to become her grave. Her thick red hair was woven into two braids, laced with daisy blossoms. Idunn was wearing a gray frock meant to symbolize her mortality and humility, she kept her hands in the pocket of her simple, tattered pinafore, her left hand curled around a small ball hidden away.

Instead of weeping like most sacrifices did, Idunn was choosing to go with at least a little dignity (not that anyone was there to be awed by her maturity--being an orphan, no one really cared how she looked anyway). Perhaps she wasn’t even all that upset about being picked by the Leader to die on behalf of Time’s Ridge. A less-brained individual might be flattered by being selected.

Of course, Idunn knew better. The only reason she was here was because no one would miss her.

The green glow of the bottomless pit was somewhat new, and that was when The Ritual began, some two generations before Idunn was born and left to die by a helpless mother. No explanation was given, but the green aura of the trench appeared, and suddenly: the perpetual storms plaguing the fields ceased. People stopped disappearing mysteriously…at least until things began getting worse again. Then, only a few years before Idunn was born, a child fell into the trench and disappeared, but time and the weather stabilized again, and so it was accepted that only the gift of a child’s wish brought personally to whatever god watched over Time’s Ridge, the sad little village at the end of the universe, would bring safety back.

It was always such an honor to be picked to die, until it was your turn. Then, if you were fortunate enough to have a parent of means, your only hope to live to see the following year was to have them bribe the Leader to pick someone else.

“Idunn, Blessed Daughter of Time’s Ridge!” The Leader began his ceremonial monologue, which was surprisingly ho-hum for being the prologue to child homicide. “Today, you are being sent into the Higher Worlds to seek out aid for our small community--”

I’m not waiting for this, the little girl thought. Let’s just get it over with. I have nothing to stay for. She covertly pulled the golden ball from her pocket and held it up, slowly turning before the crowd.

“May I eat before I jump?” she asked. Gasps rang out.

“Where did she get one of those?” someone called out.

The Leader smiled sadly, shaking his head. “You may, Little Idunn. Though I am not sure as to where you found one. But be aware, silly girl, even one of those won’t save your conscious life now.”

Idunn twisted her lip, looking at the golden apple in her hand, shrugging and taking a large bite. The taste was as if the Creators themselves invented the perfect sweet. The crisp skin snapped between her teeth, and the delicious juices felt almost like a cool, gentle tea rolling over her tongue.

I just hope the weird peddler who sold it to me was right, Idunn thought bravely, looking down at the apple as the bite mark she made instantly healed itself, creating a perfectly full piece once more.

A bolt of lightning broke overhead, causing the little girl to jump backwards, startled, her courage failing her for the first time.

“An honorable sacrifice should not be afraid of a little lightning,” mocked a cruel adolescent from the crowd.

Idunn looked back over her shoulder at her glowing tomb. “I’m not overly fond of what follows,” she replied, deciding to turn around, the juices and magic sugars from the golden apple beginning to fall into her stomach and move around inside, warming her core.

Work quickly, work quickly…come on…

She breathed in and raised her voice, which boomed many times larger than her petite body would suggest she could utter. “I hate you all, and I would live forever with no guilt at all if it meant each one of you got to fall into the pit in my place. I hope the timeline frays and swallows you all whole!”

The disapproving murmurs from her assembly of executions gave her a small pinch of satisfaction. One last victory for the condemned. She couldn’t delay it any more when the cruel Leader signaled for the pounding, rhythmic drums to sound.

Fine, even if this is it for me, I don’t want to be here anyway.

The only regret Idunn had in the moment before she fell forward into the abyss was that she was born in Time’s Ridge, a place so afraid of the shifts in time and space that were otherwise so natural around their realm that they would throw children off cliffs in order to make the gods happy.

Gods, Idunn thought. Good thing gods aren’t real.

Idunn decided not to give the Leader the satisfaction of reciting the poetic Final Prayer of the Sacrifice, and instead did a graceful twist of her small body, her red braids flying about her face and standing out even in the twilight suns, falling over with just enough time to wave goodbye to the village before meeting her fate at the bottom of a fraying timeline’s abyss.

The little girl felt the sensation of falling…more falling…even more…then a blinding green light followed by the feeling of being lifted by a thin arm or branch---

Gods aren’t real. Gods aren’t real. Gods aren’t real. Gods aren't--

Infinite branches of time, universes, were binding Loki to his throne amidst a sea of green matter and light, where he would be sitting until time itself decided to rip his duties from him and end existence.

That…that would be soon, right?

Worse than the eons that were beginning to pass before his eyes without him, promising adventures he would never have, romantic nights he would never see, were the whispers, the noises. Loki could hear every spoken voice in every timeline, but they were all a low, maddening hum that rang in his ears as he sat, legs apart, in his supernatural throne room, nothing but the years for company. Of course, the voices of those he knew in life were the loudest and hardest to hear.

And he was hungry. So. Damn. Hungry.

Even Gods needed to eat, but what was there to find in Loki’s palace of emerald and gold, buried underneath countless layers of timeline branches, ensnared in the prison of Yggdrasil? Loki couldn't die of starvation, but the hunger pangs would frequently send surges of pain through his core, out his arms, and as a result, a few timelines would flicker for a moment before regaining normalcy. It was likely these places would only see inclement weather or a few years of time skipped over as a result.

It was painful, but the only way Loki could check on his few allies was through the branches tying him to his noble seat. Sometimes, he would follow the sound of Mobius’ slow voice and find his favorite timeline: where Mobius was happy, retired, living with his adult sons and their spouses and children on a cabin by the beach (three jet skis and an ATV in the garage, of course).

He smiled as he saw OB’s TVA manuals and novels being stored away in a timeproof capsule for posterity, ensuring his legacy. The little man was never taller.

He’d even caught a glimpse of Thor from time to time, and Loki had spent countless hours following him from afar as he traveled with a small band of space brigands. He even managed a chuckle upon seeing what Thor was getting up to: “Father would be embarrassed…and that music is terrible.”

Not that it mattered.

He was forever burdened with glorious purpose, just as he’d prophesied as an arrogant youth. Now, I’m gloriously burdened, Loki thought. He nearly smirked at the poetic irony, or perhaps it was justice for his past transgressions that fit the same meter. A Loki with freedom would have enjoyed the twist for what it was.

A tear formed at the corner of his left eye at the thought. Forever. Here. No food or love or friendship to keep his heart from slowly eroding away with the millennia.

Suddenly, the branches around Loki’s wrists began shaking, writhing in his grip, as if a blustery wind disturbed them. He looked up, his eyes following one of the timelines furthest away from his immediate sight: a gray and lethargic piece of the Tree of Life. As the other tendrils of time began shaking furiously at some invisible disturbance, this branch suddenly exploded into a thread of white hot light before curling in on itself and returning to its original state.

Loki attempted to get to his feet, but he was still bound by the thousands of other timelines he protected. No matter, the odd shift in the air quickly subsided, at least until a brief ‘pop’ was audible from somewhere ahead of Loki’s line of vision, buried behind the twisting strings of time.

“Odd,” analyzed the God of Stories, “but amounting to nothing.”

Alas, he was wrong. For almost immediately after his declaration that the anomaly was of no concern: a small, high voice cooed from beyond the branches.

“H…hello?”

Loki felt his heart still, his skin cool, and a strange current in the air moved about the green chamber, rustling the hem of his cape where it met his boots. It was the first time since he took his place on the throne that it did so.

No, it’s a trick.

“HELLO?”

No one, no mortal could survive being here. It’s why it had to be me…

“Is there someone here?”

No, that’s certainly another’s voice.

Loki dared to hope after all this time. He opened his mouth to reply…but nothing fell out other than a few sharp notes and breath. Had it been so long since he’d used his vocal chords?

Out of the tangle of time streams before Loki, a diminutive, pale figure stumbled over herself, gripping something yet unseen in her hand, wearing a disgusting, dirty gray slip. A little girl, no older to existence than a spring lamb.

Norns, it’s a child!

“Is this heaven?” the little girl asked, brushing a fiery red braid from her shoulder and walking hesitantly into the throne room. “Or somewhere else?”

Loki’s mouth hung open, but his words still somehow failed him.

“Are you The Creator, or some God? Are you real? I didn’t think you would be. I guess I’m glad you are.”

The questions were pouring out of Idunn’s mouth so quickly that Loki was reminded of himself as a child, when he’d ask his mother one too many questions.

“Maybe I should--”

“Who are you?”

Idunn was so startled at the Green King’s first successful words to her, she leapt backwards, tumbling over a branch that her ankle met by accident. Loki nearly attempted to rise again.

“Are you alright?”

“I’m Idunn,” said the girl, regaining composure remarkably quickly.

“...Loki.”

A moment of awkward silence went by before Idunn took another step back toward the throne. “Are all those a part of you?” she asked, her thoughts as aimless and unorganized as any ten-year-old’s.

Loki looked up into the time vines, feeling smaller and more alone than ever in the surreal presence of this little creature who’d managed to survive an entrance into open time without being torn into tiny threads and scattered across space.

“I suppose they are.”

Idunn sighed, shrugging and positioning herself at his feet. “I didn’t know gods were real. I thought they were just an excuse to--”

“--oh, gods are real, little one--”

“--get rid of me.”

Loki fell silent again, this time stunned at the bluntness of the child, and the darkness of her admission.

“What kind of miniature sorceress are you, Miss Idunn?” he asked, his voice starting to lighten in an attempt to alleviate the child’s fears. “Your powers must be fearsome if you stand before me now fully intact.”

“I’m not a witch,” Idunn conceded. “They just chose me for the sacrifice this year, and I had something to help myself survive.”

Loki didn’t know what part of this distressing declaration to address first. “Sacrifice?”

Idunn nodded, looking about the branches above her head, pointing to the one that was still recovering from the intrusion. “Time’s Ridge. They call it The Village at the End of the Universe. They sacrifice a child every year to stop the storms.”

The God of Stories was aware of the histories of many of his burdensome tethers by now, but even Time’s Ridge was a mystery to him.

“Sacrifice?” he repeated as the oblivious blatherskite before him went on, her fears quickly alleviating into a more normal enthusiasm that suited a youth her age.

“Yes,” affirmed the girl, “but the night before they took me to the abyss, a strange man came by my cell window and offered me this.”

She showed Loki the golden apple, causing his jaw to drop again. The girl was unfamiliar, but the apple was unmistakably Asgardian. A rare delicacy, the Golden Apples of Asgard gave the Gods their eternal youth and immortality. Every god had a single one on their person, for sometimes one could find themselves pulling back from the edge of oblivion by virtue of one bite.

They were so rare because they were so difficult to cultivate. Any one mistake during the process would render the apples lethal to even the Allfather. The only grower Loki knew to be alive was an elderly Asgardian somewhere out in the cosmos. How he made his way to this little urchin teetering at the edge of everything and knew to offer her the last apple in existence, Loki couldn’t even guess.

“Did he say where he got that?” Loki’s eternal hunger suddenly caught up with him again upon seeing the golden apple in her small hand.

“No. All I can remember is that he was very strong and handsome for a peddler. Only other thing I can remember is that he was blonde. Oh, and he had a big hammer with him, too. I think he was looking for me directly, like he knew who needed this.”

Loki’s cold skin shot back into a warm heat that made two more tears stain his cheeks.

Idunn looked regretful. “Oh, no, I didn’t mean to make you cry! Did you want a bite?”

Loki looked sadly off to his sides. “I cannot eat. I cannot let go of even a single one of these timelines, little one. I couldn’t hold an apple or a spoon.”

The child looked from Loki to the apple, and back. “So then I’ll help!” she said as simply as if it were the answer to 1 + 1.

Before the god could protest, or even ask, Idunn had taken it upon herself to climb Loki’s throne and sit in his lap, holding the unbitten apple before his lips. “Don’t you want--?”

Loki didn’t wait, his hunger overriding any sense of decorum, and accepted a large mouthful of fruit, almost unhinging his jaw like a snake to consume as much sustenance in a single crumb as he could. As a result, Loki had accounted for half of the apple with his bite. Idunn giggled at Loki’s accomplishment.

The food was not only the single most delicious morsel of food he’d ever consumed, but he felt it travel down to his stomach before warmly blossoming, artificially filling his stomach for the time being. The pains subsided almost immediately, and a surge of energy filled Loki’s veins.

Then, something remarkable happened that he didn’t expect. The timelines glowed gold instead of green for a moment, and each one that was even remotely loose or frayed was repaired and made stronger than it had been before. Small orbs of gold began appearing above their heads, looking as if golden apples were growing on the branches of the World Tree. Idunn gasped.

“Pretty!” she whispered. “I didn’t know these could do that!” she declared excitedly, looking down at the apple.

“Nor I,” said Loki, his gratefulness to the strange girl present in his tone. I wonder if this is affecting the beings within?

“Do you have children?” asked Idunn, suddenly. Loki shook his head, his large, horned diadem nearly whacking the girl off her perch.

“No. Do you have…parents?” he asked hesistantly in return.

“No. No one wanted me.”

Loki’s heart went out to the child. “I know the feeling.”

Idunn sighed. “Why do you think they picked me to jump at Time’s Ridge?”

Loki looked sadly down at the apple in Idunn’s fist, already repairing itself.

“I’m alone,” Idunn continued. “I had to come here in order to save everyone else while they move on with their lives without me. No family, no reason to expect to find one.”

Norns, am I looking into a mirror? Loki smiled, feeling an odd new sensation one could only describe as paternal. “Perhaps…when two unloved, unwanted people find each other, there’s a family to be found there, little one.”

Time passed, how much neither the entombed god nor the condemned child knew, but this was because neither cared. It was here that The God of Stories was able to share his own tales for the first time, and once he and Idunn moved past the initial shock of discovering one another here, in the darkest and least likely of places, his long stretches of details quickly became libraries’ worth.

Idunn may have been young, but her maturity was at least partially Asgardian. Loki suspected her heritage could have been closer to his own peoples’ than one would expect of one of the lowly residents of the edge of time. As such, Loki found his paternal instinct toward Idunn grow, and as infinite measures of time began to pass, he began encouraging her to eat and rest in between stories and songs. After all, she was only as immortal as the apples made her. She was not a god, nor a full Asgardian.

Before long, Loki felt compelled to say what had slowly begun to creep into his mind once she appeared: it’s so wonderful having someone to talk to.

Instead, he addressed what he least wanted to. “Idunn,” he said. “Unlike myself, you are free to leave here at any time.”

She sighed. “Are you tired of me now?”

He quickly denied her with a sad face and a headshake. “I suppose I just wanted to inform you that you could probably enter any one of these timelines and find a better world to live in than the one you knew…and the one that is here.”

Are you mad? thought Idunn. Why would I leave you, the first person to ever listen to me?

“No, I think I’ll stay here a while. You need someone to help you eat, and I need…”

Loki smiled and completed her thought. “...a glorious purpose?”

“Exactly.”

She nodded. “As long as I have this, and as long as you won’t tell me to jump off a ridge, then I will be here for you, King Loki.”

“Sweet daughter Idunn,” Loki whispered in relief, “just know one final thing: please don't call me King Loki.”

Idunn giggled and threw her arms around Loki’s shoulders in an embrace of perfect love and trust. For the moments she couldn’t see his face, Loki allowed the tears to fall freely.

Thus, the Goddess of Youth took her place alongside the God of Stories, giving him the strength and companionship he needed to hold reality aloft on his shoulders for however long the whims of fate would have him there.

For as long as she stayed there, Loki never knew loneliness again.

Yeah, this fic is basically "a wild daughter appears!" like Thor: L&T was for Thor, but Loki just can't and shouldn't be alone on top of the multiverse like that. Come on, y'all.

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TAGLIST: @acidcasualties @coldnique @fictive-sl0th @gigglingtiggerv2 @gruftiela @holdmytesseract @holymultiplefandomsbatman @itsybitchylittlewitchy @joyful-enchantress @loopsisloops @lokisgoodgirl @mochie85 @muddyorbsblr @michelleleewise @mischief2sarawr @peachyjinx @anukulee @queen-chaos-of-hell @purplegrrl27 @ozymdias @smolvenger @mrs-illyrian-baby

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psych0m3try · 4 months

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there’s bi intellectuals (me)

and then there’s straight people (that one person in a tiktok comment section who said that the Loki ending was weird and made no sense so i then had to explain in a 2-part reply that mobius’ comment “let time pass” is meant to indicate the fact that HIS “glorious purpose” used to be maintaining the sacred timeline for the TVA, but now he can live out his secret underlying dream to simply exist without the burden of a purpose (hence the quote “purpose is more burden than glory”) and how in DIRECT contrast to mobius, loki (who has always longed for a glorious purpose) also gets what he wants as he now has arguably the most glorious purpose of them all)

warning: if you encounter a bi intellectual, said bi intellectual may or may not inform you that the reason the audience visits s1 e1 with loki in the finale is because at that time, mobius wanted to be free of the burden of purpose and loki wanted nothing more than to have some glorious spot in the universe, but by s2 e6 neither want those things anymore because of the influence that they have had on one another, but end up getting them anyway in one of the most complex tragedies between two people ever

#marvel #mcu #loki #loki season 2 #loki series #lokius #tom hiddleston #owen wilson #mobius m mobius

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moonlight-prose · 6 months

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pretty please may i request ❛i once imagined you loved me a little bit, if you’ll excuse the presumption.❜ from the &. 𝐟. 𝐬𝐜𝐨𝐭𝐭 𝐟𝐢𝐭𝐳𝐠𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐥𝐝 𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬. prompt list with loki? clawing at the walls tysm 🌷

LOVE IS A SMOKE MADE WITH A FUME OF SIGHS

a/n: i haven't written anything this angsty is so long and it felt good to finally churn out that type of fic. i miss breaking these character's hearts. so babes i hope you know that i went so fucking pretentious with this one it actually made me pick up shakespeare just to title it. (yes it's from romeo and juliet which is ironic cause it's a love between a god and a human). but anyways i hope you enjoy! and of course the gif is crimson peak. it matched the vibe.

summary: you were never meant to be apart of their world, of his home. you were a mortal amongst gods and the time for your parting had finally come.

OR the heartbreak of losing someone who is half your soul.

word count: 2k

pairing: loki x reader

warnings: not explicit, angst, heartbreak, overly pretentious prose about love and pain, mention of death, waxing poetically about losing love, not edited because we live and die by the fucking pen.

The tragedy of love has always been steeped in irony to you. After all, there was something of hilarity bound between the emotions that connected two people so deeply they’d go to war for it. Or perhaps die for it. Maybe this belief came from never understanding it—never experiencing it for yourself. But how were you supposed to know what it looked like? What it felt like, when you had no notion of it even existing in the first place.

Maybe it was a well thought out joke that pulled people in, capturing them in the depths of something so mysterious. You understood heartbreak. Knew the depravity that came from having something ripped from you without a notion of consequence. But love…that remained as mythical to you as Lancelot and Guinevere.

You could feel his eyes on you the longer you stood there, fiddling with the drink in your hand. It wasn’t often that an Asgardian invited a human to visit their land and it was a rarity when it happened with a prince. But that’s where you wound up. Standing amidst legends and myths wanting to flee at a moment's notice. And he watched in earnest, with the hope that you would turn to catch his gaze.

“Excuse me,” you said with a smile to the man beside you who had been talking about the nonsense of science for thirty minutes.

Whether or not he actually believed the words he said became an afterthought. You couldn’t stand there and pretend any longer. You didn’t want to.

Music filled the surrounding space, drowning you in the joyous leisure of having nothing to worry about. What could possibly trouble such powerful beings? Where you were nothing but a small speck in the grand scheme of things. Something trivial that would one day pass and be extinguished just as fast as you were ignited.

You saw the way they viewed you the second you crossed the threshold of the hall. How they seemed to pity you. They would go on. They would continue to carve their names in the history of the universe and you would be but a fleeting memory in their minds. The most you could hope for was to place a smile on their face for a moment before you were gone entirely.

People danced wherever you went, others laughed and boasted about their triumphs. And you could feel the air begin to press out of your lungs. As if they were slowly stripping you of everything that made your body work. You gasped, pushing open a door that led to the courtyard in the hopes that you’d make it to a secluded area before you broke down entirely.

Flames were lit to preserve the warmth. They casted a glow along the architecture of the stone walls—trees placed perfectly along the outskirts. The temptation to hide away here lingered in your chest, but you could practically feel the seconds tick by. You only had a limited amount of time before people made their way outside to view the night sky.

Any other night this would be the most romantic setting to find yourself in. Tonight however you were plagued by a pain that refused to fade.

You wiped roughly at the tears that began to fall as footsteps echoed behind you. It seemed that your time was running out faster than you expected and you’d be caught in the open with no explanation to why you were crying. Maybe if you ran you wouldn't have to deal with the questions. But then the warm glow of the fire flickered an emerald green, sparks flying into the air and you felt the energy around you shift.

“I caught you leaving.”

The smile was prominent in his tone—light enough to presume he didn’t know why you were here. Yet no matter how much he tried to conceal his emotions…you could always read him like an open book. A fact he loathed about you.

“I needed air,” you replied, clasping your hands together.

“You will find plenty out here.” Another step echoed like a shot ringing through the air and suddenly he was pressing a hand to your shoulder. The cold sensation of his touch rippled through you. It flooded your senses with more than you could process at this time.

With a sharp gasp, you pulled away. “Don’t.”

“I’m not sure I understand—”

“Loki,” you sighed, finally giving in. With another breath, you turned to face him—the glimmer of tears now unmistakable in your eyes. “What am I doing here?”

You could see the mistake the second the words left your mouth to hang in the air between you. As if this was the final reckoning of something so delicate. The question had been building for days since he brought you with him. Something to explain that maybe…this wasn’t just a frivolous one time fling that he’d forget about soon after you returned home. But nothing ever came. It seemed he was more interested in showing you off to everyone else, rather than letting you in.

“You’re here for dinner of course.” He smiled, offered you his hand, and faltered when you didn’t take it. When you stood where you were with a somber look in your eyes.

The green color flared to life beside you again, reflecting his emotions and finally giving you an insight into his mind. But it wasn’t enough.

You wanted to know how he felt. What was he too scared to tell anyone? Perhaps he might let you in on it. But Loki had always been closed off even to those he cared about and you didn’t want to be simply another person he tried to love. You needed more than empty words and flowery promises. As you watched him come up with something to say you could see it. He knew that this wasn’t enough; that you wouldn’t be wooed by parties you had no place in with people you held no interest for.

“I think it’s time for me to go home.” You bit down on the inside of your cheek to stop the tears from starting up again.

“My darling—”

“I don’t belong here Loki,” you admitted. “Everyone in there can see that I am not one of you.”

His gaze turned sharp. “One of us?”

“You know what I mean. I’m not a god.” You stood a bit straighter as if facing the oncoming battle.

“So you think because you aren’t Asgardian that we will think less of you? That I would…” He snapped his mouth shut, eyes darker than you were used to seeing them.

“No!”

“Don’t believe for a second that I brought you here under false pretenses—”

“Then why did you bring me?” you exclaimed. “Because it certainly doesn’t feel like you actually want me here. You left me alone in there! As if I was meant to be shown off for some Asgardian amusement.”

He stepped forward, crowding into your space and like the stubborn human you were…you stood your ground. His lips quirked up slightly, admiration flaring in his eyes before that too was stolen away.

“You forget. I am not Asgardian.”

You scoffed, rising up to meet him—your nose brushing so close to his that you could feel his breath against your face. “That is not who I saw in there.”

His eyes dropped to your lips. The darkness from before returning with a vigor that stole your breath away. No matter how much you wanted to remain upset, you couldn’t deny the pull that existed between you. The longing you felt in your heart. Loki released a shuddered breath as his eyes dragged back to yours and something raw clicked into place.

Cupping your cheek, he dragged you forward until his lips met yours. Loki always kissed you as if this was his last time, as if he would never know the sweet taste of oxygen without you. You were the soothing balm against his wounds that refused to close. A piece of serenity in a place that bred nothing but chaos. He dragged you closer, no longer hesitant to lick into your mouth and drag out a moan, because what else did he have to lose?

You knew the malice that existed in him—had seen it first hand. Yet even that wasn’t enough to turn you away from this.

To make you flee from the man who viewed himself as a monster.

“Loki,” you sighed, fingers digging into the leather beneath his armor. It was as soft as his touch, the scent intoxicating you the longer you stood there.

“Don’t…” He could feel the hesitation in your kiss. The uncertainty in your touch.

You still remained unsure of what he wanted from you; what this actually meant to him. And even though he wanted to proclaim it loud enough for you to hear, he knew that you’d never truly understand the depths of his emotions. Loki had always believed he would remain alone in his life. A lost soul doomed to wander the universe for all eternity, but when he met you he hoped that for a moment…he would finally feel the warmth of the sun against his skin once more.

He hoped he would feel alive again.

“You are…” Warm tears fell against your cheeks and he wiped them away gently. “You’re the one I want to be with. The one I choose.” You cupped his hand in yours, desperate to keep his touch against your skin. “But I am not immortal.”

“We gods die too.”

You smiled. “Not in the way humans do.”

Silence washed over the both of you. A solemn understanding that began to infiltrate even his mind. And thus was the irony of love. Two souls so tragically different that even death would keep you apart until the very end of time. You almost laughed, but knew that the situation would only be ruined by it.

“I need to go home where I belong.”

“You belong—”

“I don’t belong with gods Loki. I never have. And no matter how much you want that to change it can’t.”

Within seconds you watched his walls begin to close up again, pulling back any sense of emotion he once showed. Until you were right back where you started. Alone in the middle of a world that didn’t deem you worthy to stand on it. You were the outsider looking in. A mortal who got a chance to dine with the gods of old and briefly pretend you were one of them.

“So you choose them.”

An ache sprouted in your chest, spreading down to the very tips of your fingers. Until you swore you couldn’t breathe. A necessary evil to stave off the heartbreak of what would eventually come down the road.

“My love…”

He pulled away, standing stiff and face void of any emotion. “That word doesn’t belong to me. Not anymore.” Turning slightly, he roughly wiped at his cheek to hide the tears. Meanwhile you allowed them to fall freely. “I once imagined you loved me a little bit, if you’ll excuse the presumption.”

With a final look—eyes filled with a plea to say something—he relented. He nodded his head, took in a large breath, and turned back towards the steps. Once again leaving you behind as he returned to a world you’d never fully understand. You watched him go, a sob wracking your body as he took with him a love that only came around once in a lifetime. As he took part of your soul.

The flames returned to their natural orange glow, once again emitting a warmth that should have flooded your body. But all you felt was the cold touch of a lover lost to you for good.

#loki x reader #loki x you #loki x y/n #loki laufesyon x reader #loki laufeyson x you #loki #loki of asgard #my writing #a dream within a dream week🍷

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gothicscorpiohub · 5 months

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Lost You 3

Genre: Romantic–Thriller

Pairing: Marvel's Loki x Reader

Summary: A happy ending with a lot of angst in between. Loki and Y/n conclude the tragedy of Thanos.

The air was growing thicker than Loki had ever anticipated. The iron grip at his throat was breaking every ounces of his belief to oppose vulnerability. In vain did he attempted to sway his legs to the way of freedom. He hasn't been so helpless in his lifetime. His mind was fuzzed, full of traffic of thoughts but none could be analysed clearly.

Sounds were heard far away from consciousness, leading into complete deprivation of sounds, replaced by a constant irritable ringing from elsewhere around. His body felt light, like his brain. It was like his body was floating, or perhaps it was. He tried to let his heavy eyelids remain open. With the last much of his strength, he figured an inky black haze forming around his body, enveloping him inside, buzzing warmth embraced him. With the increasing haze around him, the intensity of the grip around his neck decreased into nothingness, leaving a buzzing sensation. His stomach lurched, then his chest, his heartbeat was louder than any other voice. His leg twitched and in no time, he was swirling frantically into a portal he couldn't see, his head as well, was swirling, if he could fight the exhaustion, he was strongly feeling nauseated the feeling stopped just as it started, replacing the uncomfort into a stillness, rather comforting. Blurred as the next few moments were, he captured a glimpse of a total new place, the portal had bought him in, before passing out into nothingness.

"Your Highness, you must be awake."

"...Mmphh" groaned Loki.

"Your Highness!"

Loki jolted up, wide eyed, before the beautiful entity came into his focus. "Y/n," he gasped harshly.

Y/n smiled, as if their life wasn't in mortal danger.

"We've to move. NOW!" He scrambled up the floor, gripping her shoulders tightly, only for her to shake her head reassuringly and cup his face in her hands.

"It's fine your highness, Thanos is gone. We're safe." She spoke softly, sliding a hand on her bulging baby bump and stroking lovingly. Loki opened his mouth to speak, only for his silver tongue to betray him.

She did it. She did what the greatest of the warriors around the universe couldn't. How could he forget about her inevitable strength of a godess and an amazing sorceress?

He slid a hand around the small of he back, other securely wrapped around his unborn baby who'd undoubtedly inherit the wits and strength of it's mother. Rested his head in the crook of her neck. "You never fail to suprise me, darling." He spoke, voice muffled between the hollow of her neck . Y/n stroked his back in assurance "I am flattered"

Loki raised his head to meet her brilliant brown eyes. His own vision blurred by tears. "I love you, Y/n, my better half." With that, he pulled her into a soft-loving kiss.

The End

________________________________________

Wrote it in fifteen minutes because it's extremely late and I have my annuals to prepare for.

#fanfic #loki odinson #marvel #loki #loki fandom #loki fanfic #loki fluff #loki friggason #loki laufeyson #loki series #loki x y/n #loki x reader #loki x wife!reader #loki x pregnant reader #loki angst #scorpio

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atlas-the-bastard · 7 months

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LOKI FINALE SPOILERS!!

I see so many people saying loki should've just killed sylvie and like...fair enough, I mean she did kinda create this whole mess and then just leave everyone else to deal with it like shit move but... I feel like the WHOLE POINT of the finale was that loki was going to do it differently. Like how loki time slipped in the TVA, which was supposedly impossible. Loki doesn't follow the rules. HWR gave him a trolley-problem-esque decision - kill sylvie or let the whole universe be destroyed - and I don't ships sylki or anything but I do believe that sylvie has helped loki (like their bar conversation), so why would he kill her? In fact, why would he comply to any of the options HWR gives him?? Why should loki listen to him, and make the choice HWR wants him to? HWR is kind of a cunt!

I feel like it would've been a disservice to loki, to just have him kill sylvie. It'd be like him just giving in to HWR. No, Loki's whole purpose, going out and destroying the temporal Loom, was to replace it, and HWR, and the whole system, with something better. Which is also why I don't believe that loki will be stuck in that tree forever. It's not much difference if it's just Loki sitting there at the end of time, instead of HWR, with time being a tree rather than a loom, is it? That would defeat the whole purpose.

And sure, maybe that's the idea - maybe it's MEANT to be a tragedy, where the fate loki so desperately avoided is inevitable and inescapable. But i don't think that's the case. Loki's grown so much in this show, especially this season, and I feel like it would be a waste. Teach him to love himself and allow himself to be loved, then go "oops! You didn't say no takebacksies! Have fun being alone forever!"? I don't think so.

Anyway, it's a goddamn tree - like I've seen many other people saying, it's a living thing, not a piece of machinery that needs maintaining, and a hand to hold it the whole way. Loki is the gardener - he's planted the tree, but its just a baby now. He'll water it and feed it and protect it from storms for a bit, but then it will grow to be self-sufficient. You dont see gardeners watering a massive 50 year old tree. Victor said you can't scale for infinite- that's why, without the TVA doing branch pruning, the Loom will always overload, because it's mechanical and mechanical things have limits. But nature, trees, have no scale, no limits. They can keep growing as long as they like, just getting bigger and bigger.

Well that was a long winded way to say I don't think loki will have to stay in that chair. I also completely lost the plot - we were talking about loki killing/not killing sylvie, right? Oh well. You get my point. It's all connected. Or something

#atlas talks #loki #loki series #loki season 2 spoilers #loki spoilers #loki s2 #lokius #mobius #sylvie #marvel #mcu #loki laufeyson

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delyth88 · 7 months

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Loki - season 2, episode 6 series finale -immediate reaction

Okay, so this time I’m gonna have to split this into two posts. This one is my reaction after just watching the finale, but this time it’s going to be mostly my emotional response, and the more considered post with images will have to wait till later. I don’t have the heart for it right now.

So yeah, spoilers ahead.

Well that tore out my heart and stamped on it!

I mean it was an utterly perfect story for a character like Loki, but I’m still devastated. I love it. And I hate it.

I love it on a story level. The whole season was beautifully done! Loki developed so much over the six episodes, and really won my heart back. I fell in love with the gang from the TVA, particularly OB and Mobius, and I warmed to Sylvie and just wanted her to be able to live the quiet life she’s wanted for so long.

I loved that they really went into the depth I had assumed I’d only get in a fic about the different attempts Loki made to fix things by going back in time. They didn’t just gloss over things, they really showed him trying. I was shocked when after he asked OB how long it would take him to learn everything, he went and spent CENTURIES doing it! My stomach dropped. Because can you imagine what that means for someone? Even someone as long lived as Loki? What that has to do to your mind? And that should have been the first clue things weren’t going to turn up roses.

Then he finally succeeds! But they don’t show it to us like we’re experiencing that moment, but more as though we’re an observer, rushing through it because it’s yet another repeat. And for one brief moment Loki is happy because he thinks they’ve done it. But no, it turns out to have been an impossible task!

And then he finds out that HWR basically gave him his newfound powers, and that he still had a lot to learn, and then we see THAT HE ALREADY HAD LEARNED! The way they kept dropping the sense of time on us, that sense of dread and urgency. And inevitability. *shivers*

How he tries, and tries, and tries to convince Sylvie, but can’t get through to her, and how he has to contemplate whether he’s the sort of man who could kill her. I loved how he visited Mobius to ask for his advice. My god. What a horrible conversation to have to have. But what trust he places in Mobius!

And I loved how he kept refusing to take the easy path. How he decided he couldn’t kill Sylvie, and how he realised there was another way. But OMG at what price!? I can’t….

But I hated how much this hurt Loki, what this took from him. When the gold from the rock trickles upwards to create a mockery of a throne, which is more a prison… just…. 😭 The look on his face once he knows what he has to do. He had to make the impossible choice, and he chose the impossible.

I love that it kept the tone of tragedy that has haunted Loki all through the MCU. I love how they were true to his character in that way, but AT THE SAME TIME allowed him to retain his new sense of self, all that growth we’ve shared through this series but also the change that he’s experienced while he’s been isolated during centuries trying to find a way to defeat HWR and keep the people on the branched timelines safe. His desperate act to do the right thing. And finally it is the right thing in the eyes of the universe and the audience, and yet he still loses. My heart just can’t bear it!

It’s perfect and it hurts.

Tagging @woodelf68 @pinkpondofasgard @projectprotectloki @scintillatingshortgirl19 @juliabohemian @galaxythreads @makerofrunevests @ladyofthestayingpower @thelightofthingshopedfor @sparklegemstone @iamanartichoke

#I just want Loki to be okay #that did not look like the face of someone who thought they'd be okay #and those were not the shoes of someone who expects to be walking around much #my poor boy #will they ever let you be?#*wails*#I'm heartbroken #its not as bad as Infinity War but its still going to take me some time to get over this #but I'm so glad they allowed him to be the serious character this season and for his actions to really matter #his intent to really matter #he did it all for those he loves #and i have to assume he was also thinking about his family and all the people he ever knew on Asgard #gah!#I'm gonna go cry some more now #loki #loki series #loki season 2 #loki spoilers #loki s2 ep6 #loki s2 finale #loki season 2 finale #loki series reaction #loki s2 #loki review #also I know nothing of the comics #so I have no idea if this is what happens in them

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percheduphere · 5 months

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Hey! At first, I want to say that really adore your essays. I found your blog shortly after I joined tumblr and it was a great beginning.

My question is not only about Loki. Few times you mentioned that queer subtext always existed in cinema. So I wanted to know more about it. Are there any common tricks which artists use? How can we know that it isn't just our imagination?

And if you could give some literature recommendations on this topic I'd be thrilled :)

Hi Anon!

This is a really important question. I’m so glad you asked it, so I’ve bumped you to the front of my inbox queue.

Superhell (Destiel). Superheaven (Aziracrow). Supertime (Lokius). It’s not an accident these types of tragic queer endings are a pattern in our TV media. Though of the three, Good Omens is the most likely to deliver a happy ending eventually, the resources I provide below contextualize why queer subtext and queer tragedy persists. I believe the paper on Cat on a Hot Tin Roof is a particularly important read as it sheds light on tragic queer tropes and utilization of queer subtext from the 1950s that persist to this day.

I do need to clarify a few things:

1.) I’m not a formal scholar. I don’t have a Master’s, let alone a PhD. I would love to continue my education, but I only just finished paying off my student loans. This is to say, most of what I’ve learned is from self-guided reading, watching documentaries, and talking to literary and cinematic professionals and members of the LGBTQAI+ community.

2.) Subtext exists in all forms of art: literature, music, painting, sculptures, film, and so on. There is no 1-to-1 definition of what subtext could be because subtext, by its very definition, is the communicating of information and/or a feeling without communicating it directly. It’s also important to remember that we use subtext in everyday life without realizing it.

3.) It’s necessary to share foundational resources in order to provide a greater contextual understanding in response to your question. The resources I'll be sharing, which will go from broad foundational to specifically queer subtext in cinema, are as follows: A.) Using JSTOR, B.) Linguistics & Subtext, C.) Film History, D.) Queer Subtext in Literature, Theater, and Film.

USING JSTOR

JSTOR is an incredible academic journal article resource. You can sign-up as a user and have access to up to 100 articles per month online for free! If you don’t feel comfortable creating an account, you can also visit your local library, who more likely than not have a JSTOR membership.

When searching for articles, I recommend using these keywords: queer, homosexuality, subtext, literature, film, history.

LINGUISTICS & SUBTEXT

Pragmatics

-- Jerome Bruner’s “Pragmatics of Language and Language of Pragmatics” (Available on JSTOR; Published by The Johns Hopkins University Press)

-- Kristin Borjesson’s “The Semantics-Pragmatics Interface: The Role of Speak Intentions and Nature of Implicit Meaning Aspects” (Available on JSTOR; Published by Armand Colin)

Iceberg Theory and Theory of Omission

-- Silvia Ammary’s “Poe’s ‘Theory of Omission” and Hemingway’s ‘Unity Effect’” (Available on JSTOR; Published in the Edgar Allan Poe Review)

-- Charles J. Nolan, Jr’s “‘Out of Season’: The Importance of Close Reading’” (Available on JSTOR; Published in the Rocky Mountain Review of Language and Literature)

-- Paul Smith’s “Hemingway’s Early Manuscripts: The Theory and Practice of Omission” (Available on JSTOR; Published by Journal of Modern Literature)

Implicature

-- Catherine Abell’s “Pictorial Implicature” (An important read as it provides academic context on interpretation of the visual medium, which is connected to interpretation of film; Available on JSTOR; Published by The American Society for Aesthetics)

-- Eric Swanson’s “Omissive Implicature” (Linguistic study on implied communication through omission) Available on JSTOR; Published by University of Arkansas Press)

-- Jacques Moeshcler’s “On the Pragmatics of Logical Connectives” (Published in the book: “Aspects of Linguistic Variation)

Exformation

-- David Foster Wallace’s “Laughing with Kafka” (Yes, the same writer of the book, Infinite Jest! A quick 4-page read that explains exformation in literature using Kafka as an example; Available on JSTOR; Published in Log by Anyone Corporation)

-- Stephen J. Burn’s “Reading the Multiple Drafts Novel” (23 pages; can be a slog to read, but it addresses the issues of “canon”; Available on JSTOR; Published by The Johns Hopkins University Press)

FILM HISTORY

Generally, I recommend looking up Hollywood History pre-code (Hays Code aka the Motion Picture Production Code from 1930-1967). Notice that the code’s abandonment was gradual in the 60s, which was when the U.S.’s sexual revolution occured. The MPAA Film Rating System went into effect in 1968.

Sin if Soft Focus: Pre-Code Hollywood by Mark A. Vieira

Available in hard cover on Amazon (looks like there’s only 1 copy left); no digital version that I can find. You may be able to find this at your library.

Forbidden Hollywood: The Pre-Code Era (1930-1934): When Sin Rules the Movies by Mark A. Vieira

Available on Kindle. Similar to Vieira’s first book but considered inferior.

The Celluloid Closet: Homosexuality in the Movies by Vito Russo

Published in the 1980s, a groundbreaking work and the first of its kind. It’s dated but still considered critical reading.

Screening the Sexes: Homosexuality in the Movies by Parker Tyler

Available in hardcover and paperback. This is also considered critical reading to be paired with Celluloid Closet.

Images in the Dark: An Encyclopedia of Gay and Lesbian Film and Video by Raymond Murray

Available in paperback on Amazon (1 copy left); likely to be in the library as well.

QUEER SUBTEXT IN LITERATURE, THEATER, AND FILM

Queerbaiting and Fandom: Teasing Fans through Homoerotic Possibilities

The first book of its kind, published in 2019. A must-read as contributing articles include analysis on Supernatural, Sherlock, and Merlin, among many others. I highly recommend reading the entire book, but it is expensive. You may be able to find this at your library.

My recommended articles from this book:

-- Joseph Brenann’s “Introduction: A History of Queerbaiting” is critical to understanding the Loki series specific place in queer fandom and media history.

-- Monique Franklin’s “Queerbaiting, Queer Readings, and Heteronormative Viewing Practices”

-- Guillaume Sirois’s “Hollywood Queerbaiting and the (In)Visibility of Same-Sex Desire

-- Christoferr Bagger’s “Multiversal Queerbaiting: Alan Scott, Alternate Universes, and Gay Characters in Superhero Comics”

Fandom: Identities and Communities in a Mediated World

About half the price of Queerbaiting and Fandom but significantly more broad in scope.

My recommended articles from this book:

-- Cornel Sandvoss’s The Death of the Reader? Literary Theory and the Study of Texts in Popular Culture

-- Derek Johnson’s “Fantagonism: Factions, Institutions, Constitutive Hegemonies of Fandom”

Sir Gawain and the Green Knight (Reading of epic poem recommended)

-- David L. Boyd’s “Sodomy, Misogyny, and Displacement: Occluding Queer Desire in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight" (available on JSTOR; from Arthuriana published by Scriptorium Press)

Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray (Reading the novel recommended)

-- Jeff Nunokawa’s “Homosexual Desire and the Effacement of the Self in ‘The Picture of Dorian Gray’” (available on JSTOR; Published by The Johns Hopkins University)

-- Ed Cohen’s “Writing Gone Wilde: Homoerotic Desire in the Closet of Representation” (available on JSTOR; Published by Cambridge University Press)

-- Sandra Mayer’s “‘A Complex Multiform Creature’: Ambiguity and Limitation Foreshadowed in the Early Critical Reception of Oscar Wilde” (available on JSTOR; Published in AAA: Arbeiten aus Anglistik und Amerikanistik)

Tennessee Williams’s Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (Reading the short story [“Three Players of a Summer Game” and stage play and watching the film adaptation highly recommended)

-- Dean Shackelford’s “The Truth That Must Be Told: Gay Subjectivity, Homophobia, and Social History in “‘Cat on a Hot Tin Roof’”. (A must-read, in my opinion. You see a lot of patterns that continue in our subtextual queer stories to this day, concerning since Williams’s play was written in the early 1950s. Available on JSTOR; published in The Tennessee Williams Annual Review)

I hope these resources are helpful and interesting to you! Happy reading!

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so-i-grudgingly-joined-this-site · 1 year

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Part 6: “I reject your reality, and substitute my own”: Maybe There is Hope After All

Note: this is a part of my essay "The Awkward Meta-Tragedy of Neil Gaiman's The Sandman", see [here] for the masterpost of all links, reading order, and content warnings.

Well, despite everything the author might have possibly intended, I still do care about Morpheus and his fate. To paraphrase Ludo’s 2008 album title, “He’s awful, I love him.”

And that’s part of why the most common interpretation of his ending—as both a fully planned suicide and a tragedy—disturbed me so much. At best I could metaphorically “scoot” it around to interpret it as a traditional tragedy where his fatal flaw was his inability to seek help/treatment or cope with his issues, and thus the warning to the audience is a positive one to seek help if you’re struggling. Once again, though, given the way depression sometimes works, that still feels vaguely close to victim-blaming.

Another way to get around the unfortunate implications would be if his death was not, in fact, a carefully planned suicide. Maybe he just fucked up enough that eventually the various things he fucked up all stacked properly to be his downfall without any intent involved? But, that does raise the huge question of who got Loki to kidnap Daniel, provoking Lyta and thus causing the rest of the dominoes to topple. In the suicide interpretation it’s implied to be Morpheus himself who intentionally set the situation in place; without that explanation that’s an odd open thread left. But still, an accidental buildup of issues rather than intentional suicide would make things a lot less uncomfortable. Somehow, “you can do everything you can to change and still have negative and destructive consequences come your way” or “you can try your best and still fail” feels more reassuring than the alternative of “he did change, but he still decided to die—in the end, it didn’t even matter.”

Totally replacing a dead loved one still feels weird, regardless of their manner of death; I don’t think there’s any way around that. But, at least if it was not a suicide, then it doesn’t validate the “my family would be better off without me” sentiments that might be present in suicidal ideation.

And then, there’s the theories about how Morpheus might not be dead—at least not completely—and that he might have found peace and happiness outside of oblivion after all.

One major factor is the fact that Hob dreams about seeing Morpheus and Destruction together after the events of The Wake. While Hob himself dismisses it as “just a dream,” there’s the fact that both Morpheus in-universe and Neil Gaiman out-of-universe both insist that dreams in this series are never “just a dream.” Combine that with what I pointed out about “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” and how the story is meant to let the fae live on despite leaving Earth, and it paints an interesting possible picture.

Maybe Morpheus did find a way to leave his job after all. To live on as something else, as Morpheus rather than Dream of the Endless, as a dream or a story or a memory or a friendship, but no matter what, separate from the responsibilities that so stressed him—and with a responsible and eager successor to take up the reins in his place. Maybe Hob’s example of living through everything even showed him that changing with the times is possible. Just walking away like Destruction did wasn’t an option for him, and not just because Morpheus felt he couldn’t abandon his realm without leaving someone to be responsible. He also couldn’t just walk away because, probably, it wouldn’t be dramatic enough!

Come on, Morpheus is a (possibly literal) Drama King; of course he’s not going to quit quietly. Plus, he knows from Destruction’s example that just leaving also leaves open an eternity of the other universal powers trying to nag you into going back. What’s more dramatic, and conveniently going to prevent anyone from coming after you, than making sure everyone thinks you’re dead?

Or, well, actually dying. Sort of. I have no doubt that some aspect of Morpheus died. Perhaps the aspect that was Dream of the Endless, died, but, as I mentioned, left Morpheus to live on separately in some other form. “You cannot kill an idea” can go both ways; it can mean that we’re not supposed to care that Morpheus is dead, or it can mean that Morpheus lives on. He, as an independent identity, with a specific name he has chosen, is also an idea. If the question is “change or die,” it obscures the fact that this is also a universe where people can change by death.

Heck, there’s even an example in this series of people deciding to finally live upon finding themselves post-life. Chapter 4 of Season of Mists introduces the Dead Boy Detectives. At first, much like “Façade,” this chapter seems to have little to do with the overarching story; besides showing how bad it is to have the formerly hell-bound dead returning to Earth and featuring a cameo by Death, there’s little to connect it to the primary narrative. The majority of it is just about two random boys dealing with supernatural bullies, and both ending up having been murdered by the bullies at the end. But, the story ends on the fact that they choose to “make the most of their afterlives.” They leave behind the crappy situation assigned to them by their circumstances by living on in a new form (in the boys’ case, ghosts). If two random kids can do it, why can’t Morpheus do the same?

Actually, there’s a whole lot of events in Season of Mists that I’ve seen propped up as evidence that Morpheus was settling his circumstances to prepare for his suicide, but I believe can just as easily be interpreted otherwise. It could either be him setting up backup plans in case of his accidental imprisonment or death, or even intentional preparations for a successor to take over for him when he dramatically retires rather than straight-up dies. I could fill an entire other essay with that evidence; I planned to include it here but my page count is already far exceeding what I intended, so I’ll save that for a possible later time. If anyone reading made it this far, let me know if you’d like to read that!

So, do I believe in these more optimistic interpretations of the ending? In terms of authorial intent, I’m not sure. I think there’s certainly a reason everything seemed so shockingly pessimistic at first read, and possibly that was the intent. The books were written at a different time, when the author was at a different place in his life. But stories are also about belief. And when the author straight up says that it’s open to interpretation, well… I’d rather choose to believe that this grand, sweeping, thought-provoking narrative isn’t about an irredeemable depressed asshole being rewarded for suicide, with the reader being scolded for caring.

Perhaps asking whether or not that’s “true” is missing the point.

#the sandman #the sandman comics #the sandman spoilers #the sandman comics spoilers #neil gaiman's sandman #the sandman comics meta #the sandman comics analysis #literary analysis #my writing #sandman essay

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dandelion-blues · 3 months

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Bittersweet Blood

About:

What if Loki was Sally Jackson? Thus, Percy is born a half-blood of two gods from differing patheons. It's time Loki and Percy took the Marvel Universe by storm.

First - Previous - Next Chapter

Chapter 2, Part 4: The Sea Protects

Amphitrite, after some comfortable silence, reaches out her green hand to hold Loki’s. Loki startled but held her hand back. Her hand was soft, and even though it was much bigger than his hand, their hands fit well together. Her hand was strong and deft like a skilled warrior and craftsperson, different from Loki’s delicate hands that were forced to train but would mostly craft magic and potions and turn book pages.

“I know our family is filled with tragedies, but I hope to get to know your child, know their life, in the short time I’ll have with them, if you’ll let me.” Amphitrite looks imploringly at Loki, her gorgeous blues starting at Loki's greens.

Loki smiles wetly, “I would like that too.”

Amphitrite smiles fully, her lips showing sharp pearly white teeth that look deadly and beautiful, “I would also like to get to know you too Loki, the one who is so beautiful and kind to have attracted my husband.” The queen says as she looks over Loki’s frame sultrily.

“Of course, only if you allowed me to.” Amphirtite added softly.

Loki blushed bright red. He noticed how beautiful Amphitrite was, from her deadly grace to her regal presence and adored how kind and understanding she has been, but Loki feels a bit overwhelmed right now to think about more romantic or sexual relationships with these beautiful gods.

Loki looks into those glittering blue eyes, “I would like to get to know you too, but as a friend for now. I’m just really overwhelmed right now.”

“I’d love that,” Amphitrite smiles softly and squeezes Loki’s hand assuringly. They sit in peaceful silence, which allows Loki to calm down and await Poseidon and Triton.

Then, Poseidon comes back with Triton, both having tear tracks down their faces, and they sit opposite Amphitrite and Loki.

“I want to be in the child’s life,” Triton states abruptly.

Loki is shocked for a second before he smiles warmly, “Of course. They’ll have to know their big brother after all.”

Triton eyes go large, before his grins, “I’ll be the best big brother there is.”

Amphitrite smiles and then gains a steely look, “Now we just have to discuss how to keep the baby safe.”

They all gain serious looks, and start to discuss what to do going forward.

“We need to keep the baby a secret. They'll be better protected with fewer gods knowing.” Amphirtite starts, and the rest of the gods nod in agreement.

“We’ll keep it in the family.” Triton nods.

And Loki feels his heart fill with love. He and his baby are family just like that?

However, that brings a question to Loki’s mind, “What about your other siblings?”

Poseidon and Amphitrite share a sad look, and Triton grimaces.

“Well, many of my children haven’t really visited in centuries, and some like Kympoleoia for millenia.” Poseidon answers sadly, his green eyes shining.

Oh, Loki thought. That’s… so sad.

Amphitrite nods along, her crabs claws on her brow clicking mourningly. “Yes, and even Rhodes and Benthesikyme who visit the most still hardly stay around.”

Triton sighs, “I think it’s best to keep it to us four for now, and maybe talk about introducing more of my siblings after the baby is born.”

“Speaking of the baby, do we have any clue of if they are going to be Greek or Norse god, or somehow both? And how will we raise the baby and keep them safe in each circumstance?” Amphitrite implored.

Loki looked down at their still flat midsection and sighed, “I have no clue. I’ve never had a child before, and I can’t remember reading about any children being born from inter-patheon mixing.”

Then, for some reason, Triton and Amphitrite look to Poseidon alarmed, and Poseidon grimaces.

“This is your first child, my star?” Poseidon asks gently.

Loki looks confused, his green eyes looking at Poseidon weirdly, “Yeah why?”

Poseidon clears his throat, “Well I thought that maybe you had other children like, um, Hel or Sleipnir right? And oh Styx, how old are you?!” Poseidon adds on panicking.

Loki looks at Poseidon in disgust, “I’m 1036 thank you very much. 536 years passed Asgardian adulthood thank you! Just because you Greeks have thousands of kids doesn't mean the rest of us gods do! And do you know how Sleipnir was conceived? And don’t answer that. I know you Greek gods have a weird thing for beastiality.”

Loki gags, “I’m sorry, but I am just not into that. Sure, I turned myself into a fair share of animals, but I will not, nor will ever have sex as one! And I have never even met a person named Hel, let alone fathered them. Hel is just the name of one of our afterlives!”

Poseidon’s and Amphitrite’s cheeks light up in embarrassment when Loki points out the Greek’s… habits.

Poseidon coughs, “Um yes, well, good to know.”

Triton rolls his eyes and looks at his parents in disgust, “Disgusting. I’m glad that all that sexual and romantic nonsense doesn’t affect me.”

Loki wishes he could nod his head in agreement after that conversation.

“Also I can’t believe you’re younger than me, but so are most if not all of my parents' lovers.” Triton adds on, his golden fins shuttering.

Loki makes a face of disgust, he doesn’t want to dwell on their age gap, they're immortals for Norns sake!

“Anyways, um, I believe that the baby will be a mix of Greek and Norse.” Poseidon inserts in, changing the topic of conversation back to what they started at. (Not at all because he was embarrassed. Of course not.)

Loki looks at Poseidon bewildered, “How could you possibly know that?”

“Well I saw it.” Poseidon simply says.

‘What?’ Loki thinks, and then repeats out loud, “What?”

Amphitrite huffs fondly, “I’ll explain, or we will be here all day.” Poseidon starts to protest but Amphitrite silences him with a glare. Poseidon huffs and crosses his muscled blue arms. (What? Loki’s free enjoy the view of his handsome sea god)

Amphitrite rolls her crystalline eyes and continues, “Poseidon used to hold the domain of prophecy before Apollo was born, and remnants of that domain still linger. So Poseidon likely saw a vision of your child.”

‘Oh, that makes sense,’ Loki nods his head to Amphitrite in thanks.

“What exactly was the vision, and when did you have it?” Loki asks Poseidon curiously.

Poseidon smiles fondly, his shark-like teeth glinting softly. ‘Gods, Poseidon is so hot!’ Loki gulps. Maybe he needs to rethink his stance of beastiality a bit, or at least the attraction with some animalish traits.

Poseidon's deep voice continues, obvious to Loki’s dirty thoughts, “It wasn’t super clear and the child’s face was blurry, but last night I saw a small child around 5 summers old run up to us saying ‘Daddy, Mommy, Mama, look!’ and they held up their hand which had a small cut on their palm, and instead of caring that they were bleeding, said, ‘Look my blood is all glittery? That means I’m a vampire, right?’”

“And our child had red and gold blood, but our child just smiled so bright and happily and said, ‘That means that I’ll be five years old forever right? I’ll be like Peter Pan and go on adventures and save the day!’ And then my vision ends.”

Loki smiles, tears in his eyes. His child is going to be precious! He can’t wait to meet them!

Amphitrite squeals in happiness, “This means the child will be a child for much longer than us Greek gods are. We age to adulthood very quickly and don’t really have childhoods. So this means I’ll be able to spoil them and play games with them, and oh do dress up!”

Triton rolls dark blue eyes fondly, “It will be quite nice to have an actual child around.” Triton fondly remembers playing with some mer children some time ago, how happy and pure they were.

“This also means that the child can pass as a demigod.” Poseidon has to add and the mood grows somber.

“No. Poseidon, please don’t be thinking what I think you’re thinking.” Amphitrite looks imploringly at Poseidon. Her bright blue eyes shimmering with tears.

Loki looks down, he has a feeling he knows exactly what Poseidon is talking about. Based on the prophecy about a half-blood that was assumed to be about a demigod, but is actually Loki’s unborn child and will be both Greek and Norse — a half-blood, who would determine the fate of Olympus. And one can’t just determine the fate of an entire patheon by having a peaceful childhood when the prophecy says “A half-blood of the eldest gods shall reach sixteen against all odds.” Which means that his child can’t stay hidden from their world forever.

Triton's dark eyes filled with rage, “We already know that prophecy demands that the child will die at sixteen, and now you’re saying that we should hide the child’s true heritage and powers and identity from them?! So they can play a demigod and just become one of the thousands of dead child soldiers for Olympus?!”

“Triton!” Poseidon yells, “The fates leave us no choice!” Poseidon can still feel the phantom chains on him, even now when prophecy has long since left to his nephew.

Poseidon looks away frustrated, the sea around them growing increasingly choppy with the sea gods’ emotions.

“Stop it!” Loki yells, his bright green eyes glowing, “This isn’t helping, and for now we just need to worry about keeping my baby alive for as long as possible, and if it means hiding their Greek and even Norse heritage from them until they have to immerse themselves in the Greek world and fight their monsters, then so be it!”

The ocean calmed down as Triton and Poseidon looked away guiltily.

Loki felt sick to their stomach. He was just like Odin. Seeing into the future and being a cold father and merciless to his children, giving them no choice for what they can like or dislike, to force them to be warriors for the “greater good.”

Amphitrite breathed in and squeezed Loki’s hand comfortably. And Loki closed his eyes and took a deep breath in to calm down.

Loki smiled appreciatively at Amphitrite.

Notes:

Loki definitely has the hots for Amphitrite, but wants to take it slow for now.

Also, as you can see, Loki does not know who Hel (or rather Hela is)... yet. Also, see the parallels in hidden heritage between Loki and Percy? One was done in foolish greed, and the other was for protection.

First - Previous - Next Chapter

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galadhir · 7 months

Text

Tagged by @aintgonnatakethis and @judgeverse

Thank you! :)

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

2. What's your total AO3 word count?

802,066

3. What fandoms do you write for?

I'm a serial monogamist as far as fandoms go, concentrating on one at a time until I move on to the next. Over the past 15 years I've written

Star Wars (Prequel trilogy - all about Qui-Gon Jinn)

Tolkien fandom (all about Celeborn)

Pirates of the Caribbean (started off with Commodore Norrington/Jack Sparrow, couldn't make it work for me and jumped sideways into Norrington and Lt. Gillette)

Marvel - (the Thor movies reactivated a nascent fascination with Loki, so I dragged a whole bunch of mythology into the MCU fandom.)

Stargate Universe (all about Colonel Young)

Star Wars (Sequel trilogy - all about General Hux)

The Untamed (all about Jin Guangyao)

I've also done a couple of little shorts for Torchwood, Motive and Talented Mr Ripley

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

A Kindness Repaid - in which Loki and Captain America become friends

Supervillain Honeymoon - someone wrote a fic in response to A Kindness Repaid in which Loki and Steve got married, so I had to write a fic in response to that, in which I figured out how the Asgardians and the Avengers would take the news

The Same Last Name and the Same Coloured Eyes - in which Jin Zixuan decides to be a good big brother to Jin Guangyao, and averts most of the tragedy of The Untamed as a result

Defying His Doom - in which Doctor Doom inspires Loki to improve his public image, and they end up winning a Nobel Peace Prize.

Stepping Stones - an epic Stargate Universe fic I wrote with @seekingidlewild, in which an accident with the communication stones leaves Rush and Young bodyswapped and all communication from Earth cut off

5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

Of course I do! I've met all my best fandom friends by chatting with them in the comments of fic (mine and theirs.) Also who doesn't love talking to people about their writing?

6. What's the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

I tend to avoid angsty endings if I can. That said, it's probably Battle of the Golden Wood which ends with Galadriel and Celeborn saying goodbye, as she leaves Middle-earth and he refuses to follow.

7. What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

Hard to say - I tend to make them all as happy as possible. If I can save the world at the same time, I'll do that too. Maybe Seeds of Old Trees, which gets Celeborn and Galadriel back together and sets Tolkien's elves on a path towards a future of exploring outer space.

8. Do you get hate on fics?

I have had some rude and entitled comments. People trying to convince me that my blorbo is actually a terrible person who should be locked up (SGU) or that my understanding of the lore is faulty (Tolkien) and therefore I should have written a different story from the one I actually wrote. But I wouldn't really call that hate.

9. Do you write smut? If so what kind?

Heh, it's funny. I came into fanfic repressed and writing gen. Then I unpacked the repression, had about ten years writing slash, during which I discovered the queer community, wrestled with God and came out as an asexual queer Christian. Then I leaned into the asexuality and ended up writing gen again.

10. Do you write crossovers? What's the craziest one you've written?

In general I don't, but the craziest one is also the only one I've written - Strange Meetings in which Qui-Gon crash lands in Middle-earth and meets Legolas. They were going to go to the drowned ruins of Doriath and recover a Silmaril, but I lost interest after a couple of chapters.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not that I'm aware of

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

The same last name and the same coloured eyes has been translated into Russian, and I think one of my Tolkien fics was translated into Chinese, but that was on a non-Ao3 site.

13. Have you ever cowritten a fic before?

Absolutely! I wrote a number of Elu Thingol/Celeborn fics in the Tolkien fandom with Mirien, and Stepping Stones (where Rush and Young are bodyswapped, and Skipping Stones (where Young is age-regressed into a child) with @seekingidlewild

I loved it! It's a great experience writing with someone whose writing you already enjoy. Lots of bouncing ideas off each other and excitement - and of course it's half as hard and twice as fast as doing it all yourself.

14. What's your all-time favourite ship?

I don't think I have one. I'm honestly a single blorbo at a time writer, and I will read and write fics in which that blorbo is paired with just about anyone. I'm not particularly bothered which ship they're in.

I do have a soft spot for Rush/Young though, because they have such in-your- face dysfunctional obsessional chemistry on the show. And in contrast I also love Xiyao (Lan Xichen/Jin Guangyao) because they are so obviously in such a gentle, radiant sort of love, that I choose to believe would have survived the revelation of Jin Guangyao's multiple murders.

15. What's a WIP you want to finish, but doubt you ever will?

I would have said Do Not Bear Grudges, which was going to be my JGY resurrection fic, but it fought me so hard that I ended up deleting what I'd already written and I'm glad to have it gone.

I still vaguely wish that I had finished The Stolen Ones however, which was about Qui-Gon Jinn and Obi-Wan Kenobi and was jossed by the Jedi Apprentice books. (I still think mine was better.)

16. What are your writing strengths?

I think I'm pretty good at description/settings/worldbuilding, and I often have an unusual take on things due to my non-neurotypicalness.

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

I'm not great at giving each character their own unique voice, so my dialogue can get a bit samey. Also I forget that characters can lie - all my characters pretty much tell the truth all the time, which makes it difficult writing the kind of sneaky characters I so love, like Loki, JGY later movies!Hux and even Rush.

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language for a fic?

I could not do it. Massive respect and kudos to anyone who writes in a second language. It is beyond me.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

Star Wars: The Phantom Menace, when it first came out. The internet was on dial-up and fandom was on yahoo groups. It was the first time in my life I'd ever been able to speak to other sci-fi geeks like myself. An amazing experience, and good times!

20. Favourite fic you've ever written?

I know it's cheating a bit to choose more than one, but these three hang together as a series, telling the story of Celeborn and Galadriel from first meeting, to tragic parting and final reunion Oak and Willow, Battle of the Golden Wood, and Seeds of Old Trees. At about 140,000 words, it's a good size novel. And of all the characters I've stanned over the years I still feel Celeborn needed me the most. (Though Colonel Young comes a close second there.)

tagging @seekingidlewild @darthlenaplant @darthnostra @wyomingnot @gamebird

and anyone else who wants to have a go! :)

#about myself

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stuckybarton · 1 year

Text

The Forsaken II

Summary: You had only known about the many stories of Greek Mythology, interest peaked from a young age. Of the Gods and Goddesses as well as the monsters and heroes. But never in your life, during one of the many tours have you joined in seeing the ruins of the temples of Greece, did you even think of seeing your image in one of the bust. Persephone was her name, the most protected daughter of Demeter, and the beloved wife of Hades. Character: Hades!Loki Laufeyson x Persephone!Reader. Zeus!Tony Stark. Artemis!Wanda Maximoff. Apollo!Pietro Maximoff. Word Count: 1,145 Series Warnings: Toxic Overbearing Mother-Figure.

SERIES MASTERLIST || GREEK TRAGEDIES MASTERLIST || MASTERLIST ||

Chapter 2: Lemon

/ˈlemən/ a yellow, oval citrus fruit with thick skin and fragrant, acidic juice.

"ʏᴏᴜ ᴀʀᴇ ᴍʏ ᴅᴀᴜɢʜᴛᴇʀ ʙᴇꜰᴏʀᴇ ʏᴏᴜ ᴄᴀɴ ʙᴇ ᴀɴʏᴛʜɪɴɢ ᴇʟsᴇ."

“Are you sure that you’re doing the right thing moving here? I mean, the city? Why can’t you just stay in the farm, there are Community Colleges closer.”

You had gotten so used to this side of your mother growing up. Having every aspect of your life controlled by her, this was, by your own recollection, the first time you would be miles away from her. You couldn’t hide the relief for such fact. It was fresh start in a new place to live a life away from your mother’s ever constant need to control every aspect of your life.

“The University has the best Business College in the region, I can’t miss out on it.” It was true that the university you’re now in has the best Business from your location, but you weren’t gonna tell your mother what you realty took as a degree.

Greek History. Specifically anything and everything that has to do with the numerous of Gods and Goddesses that shaped them. Your love for the array of Mythology was something you wanted to pursue further and if and only if you have the degree and accreditation that comes with it, can you finally escape from your mother and every single thing she has against you holding you back.

Your mother’s infamous lecture was cut short by the door opening and the sight of your new roommate—rather, roommates. Wanda and Pietro Maximoff, whom you had met while getting your footing in the university when you inquired. An accomplice that helped in convincing your mother to have you finally be in the school and live in a Dorm with them both. You owed them by cooking food—but it was the least you could do for them both with what they had to accomplish for your freedom.

“You’re finally here!” Wanda practically squealed shoving the box she held onto her twin brother’s hold before coming to embrace you. A smile on her face to which was far too contagious not to join. She pulled away to come face to face with your mother. “Mrs. Y/L/N, we promise to make sure Y/N is safe at all cost.”

Trust Wanda and her charms as she begins to explain how the Dorms were the safest in the University as well as the constant activities that would keep you busy throughout your stay. You were left to greet Pietro with a wink as you helped him out with the last of their own boxes for their move.

All throughout, you had listened to how your own mother insisted that Wanda should ensure her about your whereabouts—but the fact that you were also to do such a task seemed more tiring than it needs to be. But for this one last moment, you agreed to every single demands she might have if it meant that she will leave the apartment to finally seal your freedom away from her.

Eventually with the twins tag teaming against your mother, she had finally relented, asking for you to walk her out of the door. You tried to keep your steps less preppy as the excitement was bubbling. This was finally it.

“You are to call me the first moment things aren’t going as planned.” Your mother demanded to which you nodded in reassurance, having nothing else to say that you haven’t already said to her since you’ve decided to study in this University and during her time in the apartment. “If I hear anything out of the ordinary, you will come home and I will see it personally that you are chained to the bedroom if it means I get to see you safe.”

“Mom. Don’t you think that’s too much?” You snort, already used to this side of her, often times fearing that there might just be a possibility of her doing exactly what she says she would if you weren’t careful.

But as her hand had grasped onto your jaws and had you looking up at her, you know just how serious she was in the moment.

“You are my daughter before you can be anything else.” Her words brought a shiver down your spine. It was so unlike her to do. “And all I want is to make sure you are safe and sound especially now that I’m far away from you.”

“I promise to keep safe.”

“No boys and no parties, Y/N.”

“I promise.”

Finally releasing her tight hold, the softness of her eyes was a shift that you were so prepared for. It was a whiplashed that genuinely disturbed you in the moment, but you held your tongue knowing it would do no one any good.

“Call me if you need anything, Darling. I love you.”

“I love you too, Mom.”

As you closed the door behind your mother, ensuring it was locked, you peaked through the hole to watch your mother slowly disappear and it was only then did you realize the coast was clear. Squealing to yourself and jumping as the excitement of this new found freedom was something you would have never thought you could have for yourself.

“I think this calls for a celebration.” It was Wanda that broke you from your little happy dance as you made your way back to the living room. “I’ll order pizza then we can all get settled in dealing with the boxes.”

Nodding in agreement all three of you had made a good wave in organizing all of your boxes, with Pietro being the one to do most of the talking, sometimes asking you questions of your life in the farm with your mother and more often annoying his sister in any shape or form that he could.

“And that’s the pizza, I’ll go and get it.” Pietro stood moving even before you could insist on getting it and even paying for it.

“Is he always this—energetic?” You asked turning your attention to Wanda that seemed all too familiar with her twin brother’s antics.

“You should see him in the morning without his coffee, you’d think he’s two different persons.” She smirked before the both of you were left in a momentary silence. “It’s good to have you here with us, Y/N. You seemed to look like you need company—other than your mother, no offence.”

“None taken.” You smiled knowing just how right she was in her words.

All your life, all you could remember was being glued to your mother’s side. Helping her out in the fields and helping with tending to the animals. It was downright suffocating at times when you couldn’t even have your own personal space at times when it comes to her. This moment, this four or more so years was the only opportunity you think you had of freedom and you would try to make the most out of it.

Whatever it may take.

#loki imagines #loki imagine #loki fluff #loki x reader #loki laufeyson imagine #loki laufeyson imagines #loki laufeyson fluff #loki laufeyson x reader #loki laufeyson smut #loki smut

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themountainsays · 6 months

Text

Something I just realized, is that Loki and Sylvie not only are the same person in different timelines, but that they have also both been, once, a single conciousness, one person in the same sense in which I am one person, or you are one person. Meaning they would share childhood memories.

Let me explain - I would like to draw a distinction between two types of variants in the show, let's call them surviving variants and free variants. Free variants are all people existing naturally as a result of the multiverse endlessly expanding. An example would be the three Peter Parker variants, or all variants we see in What If...?. There's an infinite number of free variants because there is an infinite number of existing universes.

Surviving variants are the tragic result of TVA pruning. Most die during pruning sessions, but a few lucky ones make it out through fighting or the TVA's will. These would be all of the main characters in "Loki". This Loki is a surviving variant, so are Sylvie, Mobius, O.B, Renslayer, etc. Even the other Lokis at the end of time are surviving variants. The difference between these surviving variants is that, because their worlds were pruned, they are all that's left of them. They have no timeline they belong to and nowhere to go back to. Even after the multiverse is released, trying to go back to your original timeline would mean there's already yet another you in your place, because killing HWR means all timelines were retroactively never pruned, so you (minor y) were never taken from it, but You (capital Y) are still left as the aftermath of a destruction that never took place in this new reality. Sylvie couldn't go back to her Asgard if she wanted to, because that Asgard was never pruned, she was never taken away from it, and there would be another Sylvie (maybe still named Loki) in there, being her parents' daughter and brother's sister, a free Sylvie/Loki in the place that was once our Sylvie's. I think that's the true tragedy of surviving variants. The newly released timelines don't have a vacant spot for them to return to.

Now, why do I think that means Loki and Sylvie come from the same one entity? In a canon divergence kind of way. Since the release of the multiverse, no new surviving variants could be created. You only have free, natural growth variants, and these variants could have a multitude of origins. Let's take the Peter Parker example again. These three Peters have the same name and powers, and roughly the same stories and personalities. But they look quite different. They aren't fully equal - for example, one of them can shoot webbing from his wrists while the other need mechanical devices to do so. You can name more examples if you rewatch the film, which I'm not going to do simply for the sake of making this one post. You know what I mean. The point I'm trying to make is that it's safe to say they are different. Maybe their parents conceived them on different days. Maybe a recessive gene here and there got out in one of them but not the other. As for the wrist webbing, maybe the spider was slightly different. You can come up with a million watsonian explanations as to why they're different, and I think it's safe to say they're different people, even if they'd be genetically the same as if they were brothers. If we continue to examine their differences from a watsonian perspective, we can even say when the split in the timeline ocurred: definitely before they were born. Peter Parker is a human being, and unlike Lokis, he can't change his appearance with magic, so their physical differences must be genetic. This sets these three variants apart from the Doctor Strange variants we've come to know, who all look like Benedict Cumberbatch. Again, watsonian lenses: if they're all Benedict Cumberbatch, they must all have split paths sometime after Strange was born. Otherwise they'd look completely different.

So you'd assume all Loki variants are different people if we go by looks alone, but all Loki variants we'd had the chance to know are surviving variants, not free variants like the Peters and Doctors Strange. Loki variants came to be when Loki in the old Sacred Timeline decided to go a little off the paved road. And we know they act quick - as soon as someone steps on the wrong leaf, a line shoots up at the TVA monitor. Nothing goes unchecked. Nothing goes unseen. Not a single mistake is forgiven.

So Sylvie being a girl wasn't what set off the TVA. Sylvie looking different wasn't what got her world pruned. If I remember correctly, as a young Loki, she was playing with toys when she got captured, so it could be something as simple as picking up the wrong toy. Something pathetic and insignificant. Maybe the Sacred Timeline dictated Loki would pick a toy knight instead of a toy horse, so young Loki is taken from her home to be judged and pruned for it, but she escapes, changes her name, dyes her hair, spends centuries on the run.

Our Loki picked the right toy. He lived by the Sacred Timeline for long enough to survive, but he made a mistake in the end and he was captured too. Eventually, he met himself, a Loki that was captured many centuries before.

But that isn't another Loki from another timeline - that's him, before they split when they took different toys, or sat somewhere else to play, or had a different thought at the same time. They were cut in two but before they were one and the same - a single Loki who became two.

As for their appearance, I'd simply point to the idea of Loki being a genderfluid shapeshifter. If it were anything else, such as Laufey having a daughter instead of a son, both Laufey, his wife and new child would have been pruned centuries before. Loki and their timeline survived, though, and kept growing branch after branch forever.

I think this interpretation adds another layer of depth to Sylki that I'd love to explore. The idea of both of them sharing a same conciousness once, a same body - changed and shifted but still the same - the same memories even, would be beautiful to watch, and it would help ground their oneness and sameness on a more solid base. Talking about the childhood mischief they enjoyed when it was only one Loki, their mother's love, the memory of being one, the anger from Sylvie's part knowing she did get to live in Asgard for centuries - only it wasn't her, but the other her, who threw it all away in a fit of greed, almost being glad she escaped that destiny, asking Loki what is it that he made of her life and hating him for it, yet knowing the seed of the anger had been in them since childhood - she simply forgot about it when everything changed. The cosmic horror of being one person turned into two. Love bringing unity to them again.

#sylki #selfcest #i know seeing sylki as selfcest isn't popular in the fandom because antis whine abt it a lot #but personally i find it beautiful and really interesting #and kind of what gives the ship its identity really #because there's always so much to explore #i just wonder... if i met the myself that took a different path in life... what would i ask her?#what would scare me? what would cause me curiosity?#what would I want to know? what would i resent her for?#falling in love with yourself is kinda crazy but that's kinda the point #it has to be weird and odd and strange and unique #and maybe there's something wrong with them for falling in love #maybe there's something weird in Loki for falling in love with themselves #but there's been so much wrong done against them #what would you expect? maybe everything that happened means this is now what they need #Loki has been lost for a long time. maybe they just needed to find themselves #and say #only through seeing themselves as if they were another #''maybe there was worth and beauty and love in me all along''#loki meta #loki #sylvie

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onehundredandeleventropicalfish · 2 years

Note

Any thoughts on the theory that Delirium is the only Endless that can break the fourth wall / is aware of their nature as graphic novel characters? I've seen it mentioned as an explanation to why she knows of things outside Destiny's garden.

oh interesting

i've never heard that theory before, but i am perfectly willing to believe it! (at least in the comics universe, dunno about the show)

both because a) delirium has literally broken the fourth wall before, to get back to her realm when she was upset

and b) the reason i say comics more than show, is that the netflix show is standalone. but the comics are dcu. and while it's definitely its own story, the dcu is integrated into sandman - both in small ways, like neil gaiman populating the dreaming with minor forgotten characters from other dc stories, and in large ways, like dream finding himself suddenly in the aspect of the martian dream god in the presence of martian manhunter, and being surprised because he thought this aspect was dead, that there were no green martians left

and while my knowledge of dc is kinda sporadic, i have a friend who's super into it, so i have it on good authority that those kinda fourth wall breaks are not new for dc, i believe one of the superboys was actually from our universe and a fan of the superman comics before he found himself in that world?

so yeah, if we take destiny's book to be the complete respository of sandman comics (which would make sense, given volumes like overture where we get stuff like this)

then yeah, since destiny's book is stated to contain everything in the universe, "there are things not in your book" is good evidence that delirium is very aware that the sandman comics are not the only universe out there, and that in at least one universe, they are fictional characters

(though if that is true that's one hell of a secret for delirium to have to keep to herself, she'd have the most responsibility of any of the endless)

(maybe also with dream, who is the only other endless we know to have definitively crossed universes when he rewrote the old one, it's confirmed even the endless forgot about the old universe, only dream remembers)

(i'd love to see a fic taking this headcanon, because that would mean delirium also knows of the old universe)

but that idea of responsibility brings me to another thing i've been thinking about in regards to delirium, which i think is the most tragic thing about her

there may be only one endless in charge of destiny, but i think the forces of fate act equally through destiny and delirium, just in opposite ways. if the endless represent the most fundamental parts of life, it makes sense that the oldest and youngest kinda bookend things this way

for the most part, she is everything i said in that post, she's a lot more aware than people assume of her

but she has moments of being unaware. times where the delirium takes over. and when she loses herself, fate takes control

like. sure, there were a lot of pieces surrounding dream's tragedy, and yes as any tragedy it does come down to the fact that dream was not the person who could ever have gotten himself out of that situation. but the situation still needs pieces to be moved into place.

destiny starts it off. and destiny gets both the privilege and the tragedy of knowing he has to start it. he calls a family dinner because it has to happen, which kicks off season of mists, which means dream makes that deal with loki, who kidnaps daniel, and now lyta's orchestrating dream's demise

delirium doesn't know what's going to happen. she just gets impulses that overtake her. it's been three hundred years since destruction left, but all of a sudden all she knows is she has to find him now. strongly enough that she's willing to ask every one of her siblings to help, despite admitting they scare her. strongly enough that she'll go on her own if she has to. strongly enough that it's the only thought in her mind, as the chaos within her makes her feel physically sick

coincidentally, this is at the exact moment dream is brooding over thessaly and will take literally any distraction offered, which means he goes with delirium, which kickstarts a chain of deaths destruction accidentally set up centuries ago, which means they need to find destruction to stop it, which means dream has no choice but to get help from orpheus, and there's only one thing orpheus has wanted from dream these last 3000 years

delirium thought if she found destruction it would bring their family back together again. but all it did was make him go even further away, and cement another piece of dream's tragedy

and then there's kindly ones, the next time she loses herself. part of her can sense that something bad is about to happen, but she doesn't know what, she just knows she lost her dog, and has to find him. and she goes to visit destiny to help, and sees that dream's statue is visibly upset, so she goes to visit dream to try and cheer him up and distract him again like last time, but he can't come with her this time, so he just sends a nightmare to help her find barnabas. and then on the way she runs into nuala and tells her dream's in trouble and won't leave the dreaming, which nuala takes to mean the dreaming is the danger and she summons him, and dream can't find it in himself to refuse, which gives the kindly ones control over the dreaming

and from there delirium tries so hard to save dream but everyone she goes to for help just tells her it's too late. and in this instance they're right.

she sees so much and understands so much and in some ways she's actually one of the more stable endless, bc she may be delirium but her current state is resilient and sustainable compared to the knife's edge dream and desire especially are living on, trying not to break by just ignoring the things they can't handle

delirium's seen the deepest depths of what she can't handle and pulled herself back together again

but how much is that knowledge and tenacity worth, if when it comes down to it she causes the things she tries desperately to stop?

i haven't written a meta about this yet bc honestly i think about it and just wanna give del a hug

but this is a good place for it i think, bc like. how does that change, if delirium is aware that she's not in charge of her life?

i can't decide if it would wreck her further (or rather, has already wrecked her further) or if it doesn't change anything at all

#sandman comic spoilers #the sandman #ask #delirium of the endless #meta #mine

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emeraldspiral · 7 months

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Thinking about how much the Zimvoid arc and Loki season 1 had in common.

Like, both of them star a villain protagonist who ends up trapped in an apocalyptic wasteland populated almost entirely by alternate versions of themselves, most of whom all suffer from the same vice of needing to scramble for power to prove their superiority while a handful of more enlightened versions of themselves reject competition in favor of cooperation. They even both have a kid version of themselves as the leader of the cooperative faction along with an older, wiser version, an aquatic version, and a huge beefcake version.

Of course because Loki is a drama and Invader Zim is a tragedy, the stories take different directions with their character arcs. In in a drama, the story is driven by characters having a flaw that they overcome or a false belief that is corrected, or possessing virtues that allow them to triumph, which all goes toward supporting whatever the story's thesis is. In a tragedy, the story is driven by characters who fail to overcome their flaws, who either never learn their lessons and change or just keep getting worse and worse, or who either abandon their virtues or let their vices win out over them, or whose virtues aren't enough for them to succeed without the support of the world around them backing them up.

Because Loki is a drama, Loki's story is about having his ego broken down so he can be built back up into a better man. He's humbled upon finding himself powerless in the TVA, forced to confront the ugly truth about himself and understand the neediness and insecurity at the root of his obsession with power and superiority. He meets other versions of himself who reflect his worst qualities back at him but also show him that he has the capacity to be better. He learns to be empathetic and care for other people besides himself and causes greater than his own ambitions, but also learns to love himself from falling for another version of him and recognizing that that all the qualities he admires her for are qualities that they share.

By contrast, Zim goes through his experience with the Zimvoid unchanged. Meeting other versions of himself and seeing them all compete for power doesn't make him self reflect on his own pettiness and meeting better versions of himself doesn't inspire him to do better. He doesn't learn to empathize with other versions of himself and doesn't learn to value himself for his own intrinsic qualities. If anything, the experience makes him worse because defeating all the Zims only reaffirms his false belief that his worth comes from his superiority over others.

Loki and the Zimvoid are essentially telling the same story, but the genre makes all the difference to the outcome.

One thing the Zimvoid does though that I really wish Loki had done is support its themes by making the villain another version of the protagonist.

Like, I remember when Loki season 1 first aired everyone was expecting Kang to be behind everything just because it would tie-in with the greater Marvel universe and I was saying I really hoped it would be Loki himself instead. Because Kang wasn't a character in the show until the very end. He had no personal relationship with Loki, he was just some guy we'd never met before. And literally everything else in the show was about Loki being in conflict with himself. It would've made so much more thematic sense if his line early on in the series about his plans to take over the TVA and become the most powerful being in existence was foreshadowing a reveal that one version of him had already done it and the reason he was pruning all other Loki variants who strayed from the path that would lead them to death was because he didn't want any other Lokis to overthrow him or mess up his timeline and throw him off the path that got him to where he was. Kang did end up still tempting Loki with the opportunity to have everything he ever wanted as a final test of his character growth, but it just didn't feel as impactful coming from a stranger as it would've from another Loki.

With the Zimvoid though, we got Zib as the absolute perfect villain for the story. A dark reflection of both our protagonists who are themselves mirrors of one another, reflecting all their worst qualities back at them and showing them the folly of basing their self-worth around proving their superiority over others.

#invader zim #loki #zimvoid #loki series #marvel #marvel comics #mcu #also #thematically speaking #dib is functionally the same as sylvie #therefore #zadr #and #sylki #are the same ship

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tonystarkbingo · 9 months

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TSB Round 7 - Week 11!

Happy Labour Day! Everyone put so much work into their fills this week (hahaha. Get it?) Check them out below!

Collaborator: scottxlogan Card Number: 7017 Square Filled: A2 - Loki Title: If I Could Turn Back Time Link: AO3 Pairings: Bucky Barnes/Tony Stark Word Count: 19865 Rating: Explicit Major Tags/Triggers: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Time Travel Fix-It, Past Steve Rogers/Tony Stark, Past James "Rhodey" Rhodes/Tony Stark, Unrequited Crush, Bucky Barnes & Loki Friendship, James "Rhodey" Rhodes & Tony Stark Friendship, Canon-Typical Violence, Heavy Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Cigarettes, Drinking, Aftermath of Violence, Group Kissing, Sexual Content, dual timelines, Supernatural Elements, Matchmaker Tony Stark Summary: In the past Bucky's dark history comes back to haunt him in the worst possible way. Meanwhile in the future Tony and Bucky are headed towards happily ever after when tragedy strikes under suspicious circumstances and Loki decides its time to intervene on his friends' behalf to make things right for them once and for all in ways that could change everything forever.

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Collaborator: deehellcat Card Number: 7014 Square Filled: K2 - Sokovia Title: An Impression So Deep, ch1 Link: AO3 Pairings: Tony and Wanda Word Count: 906 Rating: Gen Major Tags/Triggers: Canon Divergence Post-Age of Ultron, First Impressions, Misjudgments, Pietro Maximoff Lives, Second Chances, Apologies, Listening Summary: After the Avengers defeat Ultron, the Maximoffs return to their homeland to help in the relief effort, and Wanda crosses paths with someone she definitely does not expect to find hefting chunks of debris.

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Collaborator: illogicalkat Card Number: 7009 Square Filled: A2 - Election Night Title: Election Night Link: Tumblr Pairings: none Word Count: 0 (moodboard) Rating: Gen Major Tags/Triggers: moodboard Summary: Tony Stark is running for Senate

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Collaborator: celtic7irish Card Number: 7025 Square Filled: S1 - Crack Title: There Goes the Weekend Link: AO3 Pairings: Peter Parker & Tony Stark Word Count: 100 Rating: Gen Major Tags/Triggers: None Summary: “Mr. Stark! Look!” Peter exclaimed. “There’s, like, a giant crack in the sky!”

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Collaborator: May Card Number: 7031 Square Filled: K3 - Winter Soldier Title: Seasons of You Link: AO3 Pairings: Steve Rogers/Tony Stark Word Count: 1647 Rating: Teen Major Tags/Triggers: Getting together, fix-it, friends to friends with benefits to lovers Summary: One year of Steve and Tony’s relationship

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Collaborator: tinystark616 Card Number: 7008 Square Filled: K4 - Kink: Held Down Title: Hold Me Down Link: AO3 Pairings: Steve/Tony Word Count: 1700 Rating: Explicit Major Tags/Triggers: Plot What Plot, Anal Sex, Armor Kink, Bottom Steve, Top Tony Summary: Steve asks Tony to wear one of his iron man suits and hold his wrists down during sex. Tony gives Steve what he wants, and more.

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Collaborator: endlesstwanted Card Number: 7010 Square Filled: A5 - Wedding Title: Tony Stark Bingo Mark VII - August Round Robin Link: AO3 Pairings: Avengers Team Members & Tony Stark Word Count: 350 Rating: Gen Major Tags/Triggers: Wedding Planning, Surprise Party Summary: Tony's been holed up in his workshop... planning a wedding for his friend... the President of the United States. He knows from personal experience that the planning is officially the worst part of any wedding and he doesn't want to inflict that on his friends. There's only one detail left... getting a date with his crush.

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Collaborator: Hadrian Card Number: 7067 Square Filled: T2 - Sugar Daddy Tony Title: We are on the cam Link: AO3 Pairings: Steve Rogers/Tony Stark Word Count: 783 Rating: Gen Major Tags/Triggers: N/A Summary: After three months, Bucky and Tony had broken up, due to some misunderstandings that hadn't been mentioned to Steve who, on his part, hadn't insisted. Because, feeling extremely guilty, Steve had a crush on Tony. He had fallen in love with his ex's ex, which, of course, wasn't good news. How could he tell Bucky? And how could he explain to Tony about his past relationship with Bucky, without sounding like a slimy creep?

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Collaborator: Hadrian Card Number: 7067 Square Filled: A4 - Charming Title: It was you? Link: AO3 Pairings: Steve Rogers/Tony Stark Word Count: 925 Rating: Gen Major Tags/Triggers: N/A Summary: Steve looked up at Tony Stark, Natasha's best friend. Were in moments like this that Steve disliked his familiar relationship with Natasha. If he wasn’t Natasha’s cousin, he wouldn’t have been in the same room with Tony Stark.

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Collaborator: rebelmeg Card Number: 7001 Square Filled: R3 - grief Title: Not Yet - Chapter One Link: AO3 Pairings: Tony & Death, Tony & Maria Word Count: 585 Rating: Teen Major Tags/Triggers: near death experiences, personification of Death, apparent stillbirth Summary: Tony Stark is a particular beloved of Death. There are so many times he returns to her throughout his long and difficult life, hurt and ready and sometimes even willing to finally die. But every time she tells her favorite soul the same thing. "Not yet."

#tony stark bingo round 7 #tsb 7 #tsb weekly roundup #tsb week 11

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