#(...a great many things but ragnarok in particular has made him >>;;;;)

[magnusmodig]

❝  𝐍𝐎 … 𝐁𝐔𝐓 𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐍 𝐍𝐄𝐈𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐑 𝐃𝐎 𝐆𝐎𝐃𝐒 𝐋𝐄𝐀𝐑𝐍. ❞ he swirled his drink around in a slow circle and was painstakingly reminded of the olympian's ichor. for even 'gods' bled. and even gods were paltry , foolish beings. or at least that was the thought that thor had long begun to believe for himself. he once likened his family to bilgesnipe. destructive and ghastly things. for what were they besides beings who pretended as though they were more advanced? what good was MIGHT if one's own mistakes made entire worlds bleed?

and for that thor found that he condemned his own line. . . . even . . . though he was now the last.

❝  i'd wager that what difference there is between you and i is that you have the privilege of courting time, ❞ he continued , looking up. ❝  such is your beauty. you are born , you live , you die. and in truth , so do we. but humanity's years are quick. but a blink of the eye to my people. so much so , i find the fire of your hearts greatly outshines the match you've left to burn. ❞ he smiled , something wistful , something contemplative. ❝  we have more time. perhaps to you that would be a privilege. yet our ills beget the suffering of all those who surround us. true that perhaps humanity is hasty ... and yet for it i can find within me no heart to cast blame. your triumphs shine more brightly than the blood you've bled. ❞

If Badou notes Thor's healthy (???) thirst (????????), he doesn't say anything aloud. Just steadily gazes at the would-be god, and listens.

Tenacious...his mouth quirks wryly. He tilts his head, humming a little.

"I don't know if we can be commended. Humanity never learns the right lessons from itself. They keep making the same mistakes, and hurting the same people."

Badou doesn't have enough drink for this.

[disgracefulthings]

Hello..If you don't mind me asking, can I ask, what are your top 7 (or top 10) favorite media (can be books/ manga/ anime/movies/tv series/etc) and your top 10 favorite (fictional) characters from any media? Why do you love them all? Sorry if you've answered this questions before......

Thanks for asking! Be warned, long post

For media in no particular order:

Code Geass - Great male lead and phenomenal ending. Has that anime trope of too many love interests with little personality, but still has some really good female characters (Nunnally and Euphemia are amazing). The Lelouch and Suzaku relationship is just how I like it - filled with many complicated feelings

Scum Villain Self Saving System - As someone who loves fanfiction, I think Scum Villain is a must read. MXTX really shows her understanding of fandoms in the story. Shen Yuan is an amazing main character, his chaotic thoughts and his lack of understanding of everything makes him really funny, and I love learning more about the characters around him as they become more real to him

Puss in Boots: The Last Wish - Just a really great movie. Great characters and villains, you don't need me to tell you why it's amazing

Infinity Train - Gone too soon. Therapy train that forces you to get better or it kills you, a great idea for a kids TV show! It honestly was a really good show that showed people going through realistic issues, and have them try to be better, though the protagonists are never perfect and can and will fail. I will never forgive HBO for cancelling it

Gravity Falls - Being in the Gravity Falls fandom while this show was coming out was really fun. I loved all the theories and seeing which ones came true. Great characters and villains, and I can't wait to see what Alex Hirsch comes out with next

Hannibal (TV Series) - A great rom-com with some delicious looking food. Also Will has 7 dogs, 10/10 show

The Mandalorian (First 2 Seasons) - Got me into Star Wars. Tired gun dad and little gremlin baby carry the show, and I love watching Mando slowly learn Star Wars lore

Iron Man - Favorite Marvel movie. It does so many things right, I don't care if the main villain makes their own iron Man suite and fights Tony using his own power, that wasn't an annoying Marvel trope yet, and Iron Man does that trope the best. Stane actually has a personal relationship with the main character so we can feel Tony's betrayal when he learns what Stane has done. Also it has Phil Coulson, so 10/10

My Next Life as a Villainess: All Routes Lead to Doom! - This show is just hilarious, I don't care if Catarina ends up with any of her love interests, I just love all of the characters (except Keith, I'm not a fan of 'I can't believe it's not incest' type ships)

Epithet Erased - Criminally underrated. The story takes place in a world where some people have specific words attached to their souls called epithets that give them power. The series has many amazing characters, but mostly follows Molly, a little girl whose epithet is 'dumb'. She is forced to grow up after losing her mother, and is made to do things 10 year olds shouldn't know how to do, like taxes. It's an amazing series that can be very heartwarming and funny, but also very tragic. Please watch!!!

And now my favorite characters, this time in order:

1. Shang Qinghua, Scum Villain Self Saving System - I love this pathetic hamster man. You can see parts of himself in the characters he wrote, and while his backstory isn't as tragic as most of the other characters, it is still very relatable and sad. He has really great chemistry with many of the characters, so he can be fun to write. He is my best friend and I would kill for him

2. Loki, Marvel - I'm a young adult woman on Tumblr, of course I love Loki. His characterization has kinda gone out the window since Thor Ragnarok, but he's still very charming and funny

3. Sesshomaru, Inuyasha (and only Inuyasha. Final Act made some questionable choices for the character, and I refuse to acknowledge Yasahime's existence, may it burn in hell) - I love the trope of redeeming a character by giving them a child. Sesshomaru's character growth throughout the story was fun to watch, and I love the fact that even though he has 1 arm, he doesn't hesitate to punch his brother in the face. The show ends without resolving anything, but at least it doesn't ruin the relationship he had with his father, gives his arm back in a stupid way, and changes his relationship with Rin in a creepy way. Nope, none of that happened

4. Yakushi Kabuto, Naruto - I loved this nerd since he was introduced, and the fact that he was given a tragic backstory near the end of Naruto just made me love him even more. He's a healer that uses his abilities to harm others, and I love that for him

5. Pythor P. Chumsworth, Ninjago - Best villain in the show. It doesn't always handle his character well, but his motivation for revenge is very tragic and I wished the show acknowledged it. His release with Lloyd was fun in ep. 4, and I wished they had a reconciliation. Still, he was fun throughout the show

6. Natural Harmonia Gropius, Pokemon - I love the idea of a character that can understand Pokemon, and he has a compelling arc in the games and anime. I love villains who do the wrong things for the right reasons, and also have good relationships with the people he's apposing

7. Mitth'raw'nuruodo, Star Wars (specifically when he's written by Timothy Zahn) - He's too smart for his own good and can be a little shit, but he also holds importance to the life around him, even though he's on the Empire's side. I love my morally grey characters

8. Discord, My Little Pony - I watched the entire show just because I liked one character, and it was worth it. I love my chaotic gods

9. Kumoko, So I'm a Spider, So What? - I love shows where we watch a protagonist get new abilities. Kumoko is very silly and chaotic, and while she seems nice, she wouldn't hesitate to commit atrocities

10. Lan Qiren, The Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation - I just think he's funny

[marvel-and-dc-geek]

Thor: Record of Ragnarok

Chapter 9

Well, it was showtime: honestly, Bruce wasn’t too much of a fan of attention. He had never been, much less when it was the attention he received thanks to the other guy…but that day, he could understand it.

~okay Loki, let’s see what you got for us ~ the big guy and Kara wanted a good entrance, so he had accepted the offer of the mischievous deity. First, he had to wait : it seemed like Heimdall was going to take charge of it

~~ was this even a good idea ?~~ Kara, on the other hand, didn’t like to allow Loki so much creative liberty

- UP NEXT, WE HAVE A MAN…OR MAYBE MEN, AS IT WOULD BE MORE FITTING - he knew the guardian’s voice quite well - WHO EVERY ASGARDIAN HAS HAD THE PLEASURE OF KNOWING JUST HOW MUCH OF A BRAVE WARRIOR HE IS -

Ah yes…that small incident with Loki trying to set him lose against the citizens of Asgard as Odin slept wasn’t going to be forgotten soon, wasn’t to ?

-Punny god was mean - Hulk complained

~~I don’t think he’s speaking about that ~~ Valkyrie tried to calm them…

- HIS PATH DESTRUCTION SO GREAT, THAT THE GREATEST FOES OF THE VANIR, THE OGRES, STOOD NO CHANCE AGAINST HIS RAGE !- phew, no comments about certain incidents that he would rather not talk about. It was nearly time to step out… - NO MAN, WOMAN, MOUNTAIN, OR ANY OTHER BEING, HAS PROVED TO BE A OPPONENT THAT COULD MATCH HIS STRENGHT !- some of those might have let the humans know it was him, as he started to hear cheers, but also screams of fear

~well big guy, it’s show time ~he mumbled. Loki said he would have Heimdall do something special, but it didn’t seem there was much…

The door was closed, for some reason. The solution for the other guy was easy: break it, roaring angrily, but mainly because it was annoying. And for once, all he heard where cheers from one side, but the gods seemed to be silent..

-THAT, LADIES AND GENTLEMAN, WAS PURE ADAMTOUM, A METAL THAT HAS PROVED ON ITS OWN EVEN AGAINST GODS - simple, but an effective way of helping with a good entrance. The fireworks (green, of course ) were another nice detail

-~we gotta thank Heimdall later ~-Bruce suggested. Kara agreed

-I PRESENT TO YOU, THE INCREDIBLE - Heimdall didn’t complete the word, instead, he allowed the audience to do so. And it wasn’t even something he had to request

—HULK!- now it was the humans in the audience roaring.

The big guy wasn’t used to be so cheered on, and the sight was a surprise to both of them : children present in the audience were using green paint on their bodies, and several had masks and fake fists. There were some familiar figures that many audience members were using as well…

~~ I called in for some favors, good to see they were fast ~~ Kara knew, their hearts were one after all. The green smoke even made Bruce ignore certain faces that he would rather not recall, others that it was too painful to remember….

The wakandan warriors were, once again, there to cheer him as they had cheered for Wanda. Of his own country soldiers had grim faces, tho it was hard to blame them for it. However, the green smoke that the human spectators had acquired (and he would guess Loki could be thanked for that ) made them all be part of the same team.

Thor watched from above: he was happy that his friends got a good welcome . Brunhilde, the oldest of the Valkyrie sisters, was standing on his side. She knew it was him, even if he had decided to done a hood in an attempt to prevent the other pantheons from seeing his face.

- What sort of power will aid my friends Bruce and Hulk on their battles ?- he asked with curiosity

- I have to admit, your majesty, that this Volund in particular wasn’t my choice - Tho even then, the Valkyrie sounded quite calm for that case

- that is puzzling - the god knew she didn’t take that sort of things well.

-Kara knows your friend better than I do - the Valkyrie had to admit it - their hearts already have good connection as well, for what I could see of both of your friends -maybe one or both thought of her sister in other ways

-and what is her power ?- it was hard to tell what a Valkyrie could do outside of their own power, if he was honest.

— it’s not precisely her power that makes her ideal- Brunhilde spoke, it was not usual to explain things to someone other than Geir -while her names alludes to a wild nature, a perfect fit for the Hulk, it’s their bond which made me not change it. Their hearts were already one, through friendship -

- and perhaps something else, in Bruce’s case - it was a good idea, and he couldn’t help to be saddened at the thought that maybe his daughter had felt the same thing…

-whatever it is, is of great help. Kara serves as bridge for the doctor and the Hulk to talk among themselves, to make them work together - and for the opponent, it was needed

- who are they going to fight ?- Thor had good guess, but he wanted to confirm it.

-I sent humanity’s most powerful monster, as some unfortunately know him as - judging the emerald giant as that was understandable, as she recalled certain incident in Asgard - against the god’s own monster

- AND FIGHTING FOR THE GODS- Heimdall could be heard from that spot, luckily. And so could the next god’s roars, and his bangs against the door . The Watchman of the Aesir decided to get closer to the green giant - SHE IS THE PUNISHMENT THAT THE GODS CHOSE TO SENT HUMANITY THOUSANDS OF YEARS AGO, AFTER THEY GREW TOO PROUD ! - he added, searching for a quick way to get off the arena.

As the guardian of the rainbow bridge, Thor recalled that Heimdall that faced great perils on his life. Heimdall never left his spot, always being the first one to defend Asgard against every single type of giant. Heimdall stood there, wether rain or blizzard poured from the sky. Heimdall was there when Thor himself and Loki, being young gods back then, nearly caused a war between the Jotuns and Asgard, having been the first one that would have to face them had the young princes not returned on time . Heimdall, who had been closer than any other god, human,Demon, or creature to the fights, having to avoid all sorts of attacks by the fighters. And yet, Heimdall, at that moment, chose be as far away from the goddesses’ door as he could. It had to be Her, for sure.

- THE DAUGHTER OF RA HIMSELF, THE BANE OF EGYPT, THE FIERCEST HUNTER OF THE GODS, THE MISTRESS OF DREAD, LADY OF THE SLAUGHTER, GODDESS OF VENGEANCE, RETRIBUTION, CONQUEST AND WAR -the face of many human spectators, and even some of the gods, was pale, with some even having fainted - LADIES AND GENTLEMAN, I PRESENT TO YOU THE ONLY GODDESS FIERCE ENOUGH TO MAKE IT AS ONE OF THEIR REPRESENTATIVES - for sure, some other goddess would have a word with the gods later -SEKMETH!

The door opened, and it hadn’t even been a second after that, as a slim creature ran in all fours towards the giant. Her head was that of a lioness, the rest of body was a mix between that of a human and the same feline, at least for what could be seen . Her…paws ? Hands ? It was hard to tell, as it looked more of a mix between those as well, her nails sharpened for the occasion. She stopped still, however: perhaps her father had given her certain instructions.

Sekmeth smelled the air, and smiled - ohh, how delicious…human blood has been spilled here…-the goddess practically purred, tho her expression didn’t match her happy tone -I wanted to go out before…so delicious…so many delicious humans right here…some of you are even still alive-the fight hadn’t actually begun as of yet. Her tail moved slowly, her ears did as well. She was happy, but also angered -father promised I could get as much blood, if I win my fight…I want to try green blood…-a wicked creature, for sure

- Hulk don’t want to fight kitty!- the emerald giant complained, tho luckily, to seemed that only Bruce and Kara could hear

~the kitty wants to fight us, Hulk ~ Bruce reminded him

~~the kitty will hurt your friends, you heard her. The kitty will kill innocent people, children even ~~Kara added. Hulk seemed to stopped minding hurting her

-Green blood, green blood! Does it taste sweeter or bitter than red blood? I want to know!-the goddess eyes could barely fit her pupils: something so adorable on a cat somehow managed to be be terrifying on her.

Heimdall was sitting with the rest of the Norse gods: as they were technically neutral (technically, as Thor trusted them enough to let them know what was going on ) their seating was between the humans and the gods. One could tell who was angrier with the decision

-LET THIS ROUND BEGIN!- was there a safer way to announce the whole thing ? Thor couldn’t blame him

The first one to strike was the Egyptian. Her movements were fast, deadly as a lioness could be, but she was no lioness, as she was, unfortunately, a goddess. The three heroes felt a huge scratch, with claws so sharp, that they could match those of a certain mutant.

Hulk tried to hit her, but the kitty proved to be to fast. Then another scratch reached them, and another…To the viewers, particularly the human side, things were concerning.

-it’s sweet green blood!-the lioness purred.

- Hulk wants to smash kitty - the giant grumbled angrily

~~no yet, big guy~~Kara reminded him gently, tho she sounded hurt

- KITTY HURT FRIEND !- Hulk angrily complained. The emerald giant took a leap to at least try to avoid the lioness, his jump nearly sending him out of the stadium. The lioness growled angrily and went after him, clutching herself to his knee, but quickly falling to the floor

~remember the plan, buddy ~ Bruce gently spoke, he understood that he was worried

~~I’m a tough girl, you are a tough guy…heck, Bruce is tougher than it looks like. We will be fine, let’s get back there, and do what we planned~~Kara could make them both work together well, which Bruce figured meant they didn’t have an extra power as the rest did.

Hulk leaped down, as the gods were taunting him

- is this really humanity’s monster ?- several chuckles could be heard

The lioness tried to attack again, but Hulk clapped his hands: the same effect that the clashing of a god vs a human could get, he accomplished with both his hands. Sekmeth was send flying against the walls on the same side were the laughing gods were at, and the laughing stopped.

The lioness, however smirked..or that’s what it looked like for the doctor, as her expressions weren’t the same as a human

-fight me ! Fight me ! You are so strong !~ her eyes looked huge again, her tail moving happily ~ no human ever lasts more than one little scratch! They bleed and die so fast!-

Hulk wanted to rush and fight her as she was asking for, hit her as he had wanted to hit the funny purple god that lost his arms. Hit her like the wanted to hurt the blonde god that was hurting his friend Wanda and the little girl. But he couldn’t hit her: that wasn’t what puny Banner and the big girl and him had planned

Hulk was gone before Sekmeth reached him, in his place was what she considered a disappointment. A human, and not the best example of one, if she could tell what one was. His eyes squinted as he tried to look at her, and he couldn’t even stand up as she was recovering from all of her attacks, what a pathetic being. She approached slowly

- finish him already, you stupid harlot !- a man with a bird head yelled at the goddess. If he was right, that was her…

-

- father, this is boring-the goddess complained -the green giant is better, his blood was green…this is a normal human, I’ve killed many of those before -felines liked to play with their food. Lions weren’t an exception, and the good thing was that the goddess was half one.

Unfortunately for Bruce, he would have to be the mouse. Or antelope, more accurately. When lions weren’t hungry, the poor creatures would suffer…Sekmeth didn’t seem in a hurry to get him (and, if she tried, perhaps their plan would be over, but she still wouldn’t win )

Her hit felt like a slap, at best. Not even a regular lioness could’ve hit that low. She looked rigid, her tail stiff and curling around her body…

-I want the green human! He was fun! I want to bite him!-she complained, another hit. Perhaps she thought that killing him wouldn’t bring Hulk back

~kitty likes Hulk?~the other guy asked

she probably just likes that someone doesn’t die immediately after she harms them _- Kara answered. They had investigated a bit, Bruce being Bruce.

-BRING HIM!-she roared, her slap this time drawing his own blood, yet the other guy remained in his place.

~~almost, big guy..~~the Valkyrie spoke softly in her beautiful voice…dear lord, she knew he was thinking that ~~ah Bruce, don’t worry, i think your voice is pretty too

~~

His face might have become red, based on the laughter he heard from the gods, yet again

- is this humanity’s monster ? Pathetic !- laughter was all he was getting

- He isn’t a monster, he is the Hulk!- a little voice complained. Bruce and Hulk could remember him: a little boy from Brazil, back from their days running away. While he couldn’t stop his death, the doctor had made everything possible to allow them to be comfortable - and he isn’t pathetic, doctor Banner is the smartest man in the world !-

- he is stronger and smarter than your ugly fleabag!- the old woman who yelled was from India, they remembered her face, tho her hair wasn’t white back then. It had been her village who was saved, as the Hulk had been very persuasive towards the men who tried to attack it.

- teach that pussy cat a lesson, man! No one is stronger than you two !- he could recognize Jim, a friend of Hulk that they couldn’t save from a disease that no person could find a cure for.

It was weird for him or the big guy had ever gotten as much cheering. Usually, all that they got was people screaming in terror, even after they became heroes.

Sekmeth slapped him again, she had no interest on killing a tiny human.

- YOU STUPID WENCH, SLICE HIS THROAT ALREAY!- Bruce knew who that god was; her own father was the one saying such things to the goddess.

- KILL HIM, YOU DUMB MONSTER !- while the goddess did have support from her pantheon and the other gods, their words still weren’t kind

-this is boring ! He can’t do anything, not even see!-maybe if the human was green again…

The three almost felt bad for their plan, but it had to be done.

~~big guy, give him your strength ~~Kara mumbled, even tho only Hulk and Bruce would be able to hear it. The other guy allowed Bruce to use his strength, while he stayed inside.

The half lioness kept roaming around him, so close…too close to Bruce…perfect enough to grab her tail. He pulled it with brute strength, tho not enough to rip it off. The goddess shrieked in pain

when a cat’s tail gets damaged, it results in rear paralysis in the body.

The doctor knew that. His hands were smaller and, unlike Hulk’s, grabbing her in such state was easier. When an animal had a tail, severing its connection within with the rest of the body means that the brain can't send signals through the tail to the rest of the body.

She shouldn’t be able to move, in theory…and luckily, in practice too. Bruce didn’t even have to make an effort to move off her way, as her legs simply weren’t responding.

- I warned you, you retarded beast - was all the compassion she found on her father’s words.

His words were all but too familia -I was going to to win, father -she was going to be useful again. Sekmeth tried to jump, using all her strength to stand up, go after him, try his green blood…but she fell again. She tried standing up once more, but couldn’t even lift herself

- I’m afraid your legs cant do…they can’t do anything anymore - maybe it was the blood he was losing, but Bruce felt bad for the lioness goddess. Her voice sounded sad, and the words of the ones she was fighting for didn’t help

- she is a brainless brute, why even send her ? - at least one god mumbled. The same gods who had been eager to have her rip apart the human champion now only had harsh words to give her

- You would have been more useful as a rug -that, again, was her own father’s words.

Perhaps a goddess or two felt compassion for their sister, even if they were on opposite sides. Perhaps a certain thunder god found the other gods to be way too harsh, as not one of them was mourning her.

Could lionesses cry ? Bruce, Hulk and Kara could might as well be about to find the answer, or the closet one at last.

-the green human…I’ve never seen a stronger one…-even talking hurt, maybe that’s why she had tears on her yellow eyes-let me see him…let him…- at least going out by dying to his hands would be less shameful

~what does kitty want ?~the green giant asked, tho he wasn’t happy with the words the Egyptian chief was saying _ bird man is being mean !_

~~she wants to die, big guy…but she wants you to kill her ~~Kara answered, tho it seemed Hulk wasn’t convinced

~Kitty doesn’t deserve it…_ ~not if the gods were so mean to her

-please, big guy…- Bruce mumbled, and soon his skin turned green, and so did his blood

-no one ever managed to bring me down like this…-Sekmeth pretty much purred, tho followed by a cough - father had to use wine…-

-Kitty fought well - the emerald giant recognized. The goddess seemed to smile, and still tried to claw at him (or so it seemed ) but her strength was fading.

~hit her head with all your strength, it will hurt her less ~Bruce recommended, that would avoid more issues

Hulk raised his fists. Kara, Punny Banner, and his other friends had explained to him that their opponent had to die if he wanted to win. And seeing that it was kitty’s wish, he would let her hear some last words

- HULK SMASH!- he yelled as he hit her, with enough strength to make sure her suffering stopped . She quickly turned into dust, as had the other fallen warriors. Whiled he wanted to fight the bird man and the other mean gods who were cruel to kitty, Kara and Bruce talked him out of it

-AND OUR WINNER IS THE INCREDIBLE HULK!- Heimdall announced as he got off his seat back to the arena . Roar and cheer could be heard from the human side, even the nordics celebrated that they had proved a challenge to the warrior who stopped the goddess.

Tho Hulk wanted to be sad, he was happy that his friends would be okay, and that maybe punny Banner could kiss big girl later. He was also happy that he had friends, unlike the poor kitty.

[wrenhyperfixates]

Loki Series Thoughts—Glorious Purpose

Ok, I’m always nervous about posting my thoughts, but here we go. Spoilers ahead of course!!! (Disclaimer: Any gifs or images are not mine.)

Let’s start out with the episode’s name: Glorious Purpose. I know some people were a bit miffed about the emphasis put on the line, but I actually thought it worked well. It’s not so much that Loki actually believes in this “purpose,” but rather he is clinging to what he’s been told his purpose is. And by the end of the episode, he’s finally working through some of the things he’s been hurt by, abandoning what he’s been forced into and ready to be who he wants. Granted, it’s still going to take some time for him to come to grips with all that has happened, but I’m excited to see the journey.

The TVA. They undeniably suck. Whether or not it will be addressed directly, they are the (or one of the) antagonists in the show. What they are doing is, frankly, tyrannical. Three “time keepers” have taken it upon themselves to force countless versions of time and people into one single stream. And you know what? They can’t control that timeline. Not like they want to. As much as Loki’s line about “the weak” applies to himself, it applies to the TVA, too. It’s a facade of control that they cling to; if they truly had the right, the ability, to control time, everyone would follow their path. There would be no variants. Now, I could write a whole separate analysis on the MCU’s explanation of time travel. It’s convoluted and in a large way doesn’t make sense.

I’d like to talk about Loki’s characterization. I am, in a word, relieved. From the trailers, Tom seemed to be over-acting, something rather strange for someone so good at conveying deep emotions through nuanced actions. Now I believe any exaggerated lines from the trailers are just Loki trying to separate himself from who he’s been told he is, and trying to reinvent himself. I don’t think that’s a bad thing either; they’re not rewriting Loki, he’s just growing in a new way. And though this way is “new” I think it will be similar to what we’ve seen before. From what we’ve seen so far, there is good continuity, and they are addressing things about Loki that should be addressed in canon.

Loki projects. Most notably in the Avengers, but also a bit in Thor 1 and The Dark World, a lot of Loki’s lines can be applied to himself, though he is talking generally or towards another group. What comes to mind is actually something he touches upon again in the series. The illusion of freedom. And though it is not said that line in particular is him thinking of himself, it can be inferred based on his admission that the line in the gifs above apply to him. Also that little gesture when he says “weak” breaks me. He’s hurting so much.

Loki is not a villain. He may think he’s one because everyone else is telling him that, yet we’re already seeing it brought up that it’s not true. I can only hope that we’ll see Loki state this himself later in the series. He was largely forced to do what he did. It is not his fault, so how can he be a villain?

Loki cares. Tom’s acting is just *chef’s kiss* Seeing his mother’s death hurts so much. I love that his first response is denial. Loki is thrown into something he’s never known about before, being shown things that, to his knowledge, have never happened. But then when he’s had a few seconds to wander around the TVA on his own terms, he’s more come to grips with all that’s going on. So, when he’s by himself and see’s Frigga lying there, dead, it gets to him. Then seeing Odin still call him his son, he feels the slightest glimmer of hope, but also regret; he already knows in the back of his mind that he’s not actually going to get that. Loki’s living from second to second, trying to hold on. He probably thinks this ends with his death. (I do have issues with that Odin scene in context of Ragnarok but that’s more a tangential aside, so I’ll gloss over it for now.) Then seeing Thor and himself acting like brothers again is heartwarming. So just when he’s feeling uplifted, Thanos comes into the picture. He realizes how much control the titan still had over his life; he never really escaped. And in the end, Thanos made good on his promise. And that is terrifying! And he laughs at it. It’s a sad sort of laugh, one that’s slightly crazed. Loki feels that no matter what he does, it ends in pain. By the end of seeing all that, he is a man broken. Rather, more broken than he already was.

Loki is struggling. That’s nothing profound; it’s obvious. But where it really stands out to me is actually in a part I originally thought to be out of character. I am referring to “What if I was a robot and I didn’t know it.” Upon closer inspection, I realize it’s actually that his perception of himself has been so thrown that he really isn’t sure about his own chemical makeup anymore. Odin and Frigga keeping from him that he’s a frost giant made him so unsure of himself, he thought he might not even be a living being.

Nervous tics. Was I the only one noticing his leg bouncing when he talked to Mobius? And what about that scene when he’s sitting on the steps? He begins to pick at his hands. Note, that’s something he did in T1 after finding out he was a frost giant and while confessing to the Warriors Four about how he was the one who told the guard of their trip to Jotunheim. Just a little detail I really appreciated. (If anyone has gifs of any of these things, feel free to share :)

Mobius. I’ll be honest, I’m a bit undecided. I’m hesitant to say he’s evil. After all, we haven’t seen that much of him yet. However, I will say he is unscrupulous and manipulative. His questions weren’t to help Loki work through his trauma. Mobius was trying to goad him into helping, and likely was trying to gauge how much this Loki is like the variant he’s tracking. When Loki makes any admission of his feelings, it’s something he already knew, not a conclusion Mobius helped him reach. Mobius mocks him a bit and pushes his buttons because he sees Loki as a means to an end, and wants to know how easily he can get him to work with him. And what strikes me is how similar Mobius’s deal is to Thor’s deal in TDW. Thor doesn’t offer Loki freedom, he offers revenge. Mobius’s deal is just another variation of this. He can’t offer “salvation” but he can offer something “better”. Working for the TVA really isn’t better, though. So what does he mean? Well, I think he means a chance for Loki to prove he’s a hero. I hope as the show progresses it’s addressed that Loki doesn’t have to prove himself to anyone. That’s what he’s been doing his whole life, but I want Loki to see for himself that he doesn’t have to.

Miss Minutes. Propaganda. Plain and simple, it’s propaganda. Besides the way it praises the “time keepers” as amazing saviors, necessary to keep the world in order, it’s essentially saying “don’t think for yourself.” The whole point of the video is “the time keepers are great. The TVA is flawless. Trust us to decide everything. You have no autonomy in the world we want, so surrender your free will. Submit to the system we’ve decided is perfect and everything will be just fine.” Of course, by “just fine” they mean the variant will be pruned and the timeline will keep going as the time keepers see fit. The animation style was great though! It really fit.

The infinity stones. I think their inclusion makes sense. If you remember from Endgame, the stones being in the right place in the right time keeps the timeline from branching, and thus prevents the multiverse from being created. Likely, the time keepers used the stones to make their “sacred timeline.” Naturally, any variant time stones would cause a problem. That’s why they have so many extras. But think about how pointless so much of what happened seems. Nat, Gamora, Vision, Tony, everyone who was snapped, everyone who was left. So, literally the entire universe was flipped upside down for paperweights. It really puts Thanos’s pursuit of the stones into perspective, doesn’t it?

The cloaked figure. I think there’s some misdirection going on here in one way or another. Mobius says he’s chasing a Loki variant, then immediately it cuts to a scene with the cloaked figure. Our minds are likely to assume that is the variant then. But they don’t actually say it’s Loki, so I’m inclined to believe it’s not. Though, I don’t have enough information to say who I do think it is, I could make a couple of educated guesses and say Mephisto (he certainly interacted with Loki in the comics, plus there’s the stained glass window) or Sylvie. Well, whoever Sophia Di Martino’s character is. I know she was previously listed as Sylvie on sources such as IMDb, but that has since disappeared. But why would you have a “young Sylvie” (Cailey Fleming) without an older version? There is speculation Di Martino’s character will be Lady Loki, but I hope this won’t happen. If they make Lady Loki her own character, I doubt we’ll see Variant Loki get to be fluid. Even if it’s confirmed on the record, it’d be nice to see actually happen beyond a piece of paper. And with twist villains being such a prominent force in modern media, I’m interested to see who our cloaked friend really is.

Time travel. Like I said earlier, this is a lot. But I can’t talk about the episode and not mention this aspect in at least a little more depth. I don’t like how the MCU deals with time travel. I think it’s an unnecessarily complicated mix of a number of different, already complicated theories. However, I think Loki will ultimately escape from the TVA and create a multiverse too difficult to prune (and maybe he’ll actually get to burn the place down too!) This will then tie directly into Doctor Strange 2. Do you guys know what that’s called? The Multiverse of Madness. Actually, in the Miss Minutes propaganda, they almost exactly say “will throw the multiverse into madness.” Will we get to (finally!) see a certain raven-haired god meeting Dr. Strange? And maybe even the Scarlet Witch herself? Well, I’m not sure, but right now I think it’s looking pretty good!

And some random things that didn’t really anywhere else:

Peggy is in the background?! My thought here is that Steve wasn’t supposed to stay with her. This made not only a Variant Steve, but also a Variant Peggy. We may not see Steve, but I bet he’s been taken care of too!! And who knows? Maybe there will be a cameo later. Otherwise, it might be something that was cut from the show, or just a fun easter egg of sorts.

The score was so good! It sets the mood perfectly.

Loki is a good fighter. Even if he’s overpowered, he finds a way.

Some of the humor didn’t land, but that might just be a personal thing.

So now my final thoughts. It’s their strongest pilot yet. So much emotion crammed into less than an hour. A lot of exposition, too, yet it didn’t feel tedious (Endgame I’m looking at you). And then we get to delve into Loki’s psyche, something that really appeals to me! Overall, 9/10. I hope the rest of the series is as good!

Did I miss anything? Was there something you were hoping I’d mention and didn’t? Or do you have something to add or (politely!) disagree with? I’d love to hear it all! Remember, fandom is a safe space to talk about, analyze, and debate about things you enjoy. My ask box is always open with anon on. Reblogs and comments are great too. Thanks!

Me after watching the episode:

[digitalagepulao]

to be honest im still working this one out TvT this is long so read more time <3

Loki is very much on a revenge path after all the shit Odin put him through. the combination of his Spartan rage and Giant empathy when surrounded by so many suffering people is a bad mix for him, and what causes him to turn into Fenrir now and again.

after one last particular bit of cruelty from Odin, he breaks an oath of non-aggression to the Aesir, and that's Heimdall's cue to kill him. luckily Loki has plenty of tricks up his sleeve and survives, though the Aesir deem him pretty dead.

so for those hundred and so years prior to GoW, he's recovering and planning for Ragnarok. Atreus and Kratos still discover that Atreus was called Loki by the giants which is, odd, given that they already know there is a Loki in the stories. they keep that little bit to themselves for a while, but Atreus is curious as always and wants to poke around, which leads him to Odin's stash and a weirdly friendly wolf.

the first year of Fimbulvetr pass on, and they eventually discover this wolf is actually a Giant. Mimir feels he's familiar but can't pin down why, but hey he knows there were wolf giants in the Ironwoods, so maybe this guy is from there. in the meantime, the wolf (now called Fenrir by Atreus, a name Mimir finds an ominous choice) and Atreus go off to look at the tryptichs and uncover the prophecies in them.

by the second year, Freya makes her move and starts to chase Kratos. that finally makes the wolf giant reveal his human form to assist. he keeps his identity from Freya, but opens up that he's Loki to the others. after a tense conversation and a some dodgy explanations, they allow him to stick around and teach Atreus more about his powers and his Giant heritage. of course, Atreus and Kratos are still concerned over the whole Atreus is Loki thing, it's a rare name after all.

then, GoWR rolls in. Loki is an exasperating guy, equal parts annoyingly vague and incredibly savvy and friendly. Atreus already thinks of him like a (much!) older brother deapite Kratos' warnings to be cautious, and Kratos can't deny Atreus has made great strides thanks to Loki's mentoring.

theeeen, comes the visit. Loki makes himself scarce, but after its done he offers the duo a place to stay where no Aesir can reach. a replacement for the Huldra brother's home, and its his own pocket dimension manor, covered with all the gifts and artifacts from his centuries around the world.

after that, the plot follows more of less like the game, but the first few arcs it has Loki hopping about doing his own thing much to everyone's annoyance. he's up to something but no one can quite figure out What, except that he's not at all subtle or vague that what he wants is revenge on Odin, and to see Ragnarok happen. it often puts him at odds with the group trying to well, avoid it from happening, though Kratos appreciates that he's trying to keep the group from being involved more than they already are. and he doesn't seem concerned by their efforts, he lets them do as they please, including bringing Tyr to his place.

however after Atreus runs to Asgard, he offers to keep the lad safe which Kratos dismisses. tensions are high and he decides to open up to Kratos, since the man put up a wall around himself and he needs him to understand Why he wants Atreus safe as much as him. Kratos is, pretty devastated to see the man Atreus grew up to become without his guidance, left to figure out the world and his own self by himself since such a young age. still he agrees, and Loki returns to Asgard and keeps watch from a distance.

there, Atreus finds out quite a bit of the damage Fenrir left after his cataclysmic jailbreak and the lingering curses and poison on the land. it's bleak, though the Aesir made quite the recovery. and he finds out, Loki's wife and Týr's daughter Sygn is still around, though she's a somber and quiet woman. he tries to talk to her which she's surprisingly careful to be seen around him, but she does and when he shares that he know Loki, she's just amused that he's still alive and still believes he'll come and help her.

their marriage was more of a mockery from Odin, the daughter of the noble and world-travelled Týr and the giant in their midst, ain't that a laugh! but Odin figured a few more ties to bind Loki's loyalty would be in order, so he had them married. they were reluctant at first but found a mutual ally in each other, and though there was no romance (Loki's heart still remains with Angrboda), they loved each other as friends very much.

also yes, most of Loki's rage at Odin comes from the murders of Nari and Vali. they were Sygun's children with another Aesir but Loki raised and loved them as his own, he saw no issue with Sygin having her affairs since their marriage was a sham anyway. But his children paid for his misdeeds and it was the final drop for him.

as for the rest of the story im still ironing out the details, Ragnarok has a lot of moving pieces and Loki is a very careful schemer, but suffice to say that he gets lots of visitors in his abode, and that includes Wukong in the middle of the Journey coming by to catch up and unwind, or even ask his advice on certain issues xD

The God of Mischief and The Great Sage Equal to Heaven.

If there was a GOW game in chinese mytholgy, specially focusing in the Journey of the West storyline.

How do you guys think Atreus and Sun Wukong (Monkey King) would interact? Would their be pals? Frenemies? Write in the comments what you all think.

dont forget to repost so everyone can see.

[thelightofthingshopedfor]

do you have any thoughts on Loki's "death" in TDW? like, was he somehow planning something like that (i don't think so but stilll)? how did he even survive, let alone manage to glamour himself and get back to Asgard so soon after being stabbed?? i have so many thoughts and feelings about TDW but i can't stop wondering about all this

oh I very much have thoughts! for various reasons, I think it was a very real injury and Loki absolutely believed he was dying--partly because I like that better in terms of whump, angst, and characterization, but also because it's just...simpler? that was the actual behind-the-scenes intent when the scene was filmed, for one thing, that this was it for Loki and it was supposed to be a sacrificial, redemptive death, and as far as I know the filmmakers didn't change anything about the actual scene, just added the bits that let him come back. for another, if it was fake--if Loki decided in advance at some point to fake his own death or he took advantage of a split-second opportunity when he confronted the Kursed--that just raises so many questions about how much of it was faked, and how he was able to do it at all when Ragnarok in particular went out of its way to establish that Loki's illusions aren't solid to the touch and in fact can't do much of anything except stand there and talk. for that matter, Loki's play in Ragnarok actually has him expanding on what he's sorry for specifically, with Thor forgiving him for each one, and...I mean I know the play is mostly supposed to be funny, but to me the additional detail provided by the play just strengthens my impression that he was being sincere when it really happened.

the show does complicate this by establishing that Classic Loki was able to create a solid illusion that fooled Thanos, and at this point I am honestly not sure whether or not his nexus event being what it was means that Classic Loki essentially didn't exist as a separate being until he did that. so it's...possible that Classic Loki was better at illusions than Sacred Timeline Loki because they actually did have somewhat different histories. but as far as I can tell, we're meant to understand that they were the same person right up to the point of divergence, when for one reason or another Classic Loki made a different choice than Sacred Timeline Loki did. (my general thought there: Sacred Timeline Loki thought about doing what Classic Loki actually did, but he discarded the idea because he wasn't confident enough that it would work, and he was positive Thanos wouldn't leave both him and Thor alive--so he gave Thanos a reason to kill him instead of Thor. Classic Loki was just a little more scared to die or a little more confident in his abilities, I guess.)

(I am only okay with talking about Loki's death, this many years later, because I only ever consider it in a context where he came back later or didn't fully die to begin with, because I am a normal person with normal issues about fictional characters.)

anyway, TDW. even with the baseline assumption that the injury was real and Loki believed he was dying, which is my firm belief, there's room for a lot of different options in terms of Loki's intentions and the reasons for his survival, and I guess I'm not...married to any of those options over the others? I usually approach it in fic with the idea that Loki believed he was dying, woke up again after all, and was like "...well great, I guess I have to deal with this now." but he could have been badly injured when he woke up, or he could have been in much better shape because his body healed itself quite a bit while he was unconscious, or he could have actually died and come back to life for a lot of different reasons, or it's possible the injury wasn't as bad in the first place as Thor and Loki both assumed, or Jotnar have some of their vital organs in different enough places that his body kinda shifted internally as he was dying and then the injury was no longer fatal, or Jotnar can kind of go into a hibernation-like healing coma that would look like death to anyone who didn't know better, or...honestly, there are tons of options for the actual mechanics of Loki's survival. at that point I think it's reasonable to assume Loki decided for a lot of different reasons that he didn't want anyone to know he was still alive, at least not yet, so he patched himself up with the magical equivalent of a big bandaid and went back to Asgard in disguise. he might have intended to overthrow Odin before he went there, or it might have been a spur-of-the-moment decision when he actually confronted Odin, based on something Odin said or did--and he could've had a lot of different motivations for that too, which we really don't know because we never see what happened between them.

now, I do think one aspect of all this was premeditated, which was: the second Loki left his cell, I think he had absolutely zero intention of walking back into it, and all his actions afterward had the underlying motivation of not going back to that cell even if he didn't have any firm plans on how he might accomplish that. I think he probably considered a lot of options, and deliberately faking his own death was one of them, but I don't think that's what he actually meant to do at that particular moment because there were way too many variables for him to have planned it. I think he would've been okay with actually dying and was maybe more reckless for that reason than he would've been otherwise. if he'd made it to the end of the battle when Malekith was defeated, maybe he would've tried to sneak off or convince Thor to let him go. I can't remember if I've said this in a fic I've actually posted or not, but I think it occurred to him that if Thor wouldn't let him go, he could force Thor to kill him instead (probably using Jane as leverage), so there was a sense of relief when things unfolded the way they did because now he wouldn't have to do that and he could die loved instead of hated.

so, I mean...the whole thing is complicated, but because there's so much we don't know about exactly what happened, pretty much any speculation can answer the questions as long as it fits the facts we do have.

[kinnoth]

What's your take on Thor Ragnarok? What's your take on Thor's development within the MCU so far?I'm a fan of your posts and tags!

GREAT QUESTIONS THANK YOU FOR ASKING, THANKS FOR BEING A FAN

tldr I """"like"""" Thor's canon development now bc I've done some fucking Olympic grade backfilling and contortion to recontextualize the canon to make it meaningful, but this results in me living in my own pocket universe of an interpretation where I can't really interact with other people bc they don't subscribe to my exact reading of canon

But bro I LOVE Ragnarok. I know that can be a controversial take (I've read the meta of people who think it "slaughtered" Thor and Loki's characterisations), but I just thought it was so much fun! Like on a movie watching experience level and on a lore/meta level, it's FUN. That's not something I can say for 95% of marvel movies, which are nigh universally too dimly lit and too reliant on hateful sarcasm between characters as a substitute for a relationship.

On a meta level, I 1000% subscribe to the idea that the entire movie is a retelling that Thor is preforming for his refugees, so it's a heavily edited, exaggerated, and sillier version of events meant to keep everyone's spirits up. On the point of lore continuity, I really appreciate that thor3 makes CANON and EXPLICIT Odin's campaign of imperialist violence behind his "peaceful" reign over the nine realms, I FUCKIN LOVE IT. I LOVE the context Hela gives to their family, because she makes canon and explicit Odin's disappointments in Thor. I LOVE that Mjolnir was Hela's weapon before it was Thor's because Mjolnir was never meant to be a metric for moral goodness or readiness for rule, but a metric for a colonialist's commitment to imperialist violence on behalf of an empire WHICH IS WHY IT FINDS CAPTAIN AMERICA WORTHY BUT NOT LOKI

(btw if anyone else can draw a line between Hela and Steve Rogers that is a. representative of Odin's priorities and b. includes Thor but excludes Loki, hmu, bc this is the best I got.)

(Mjolnir rejects Thor in thor1 bc Thor was trying to conquer Jotunheim for personal glory and doesn't accept him again until he starts thinking about the good of the empire again by protecting Midgard, an imperial asset. Mjolnir rejects Loki bc Loki is a not an imperialist in service of an empire)

Off topic but I know a lot of people get hung up on Thor leaving Loki paralyzed in the parking garage, potentially to be found by the grandmasters dudes? Like people say that was unaccountably cruel and ooc for Thor. But like, ok, they killed everyone on the way up, and Thor knows his armed gladiator rebellion is on his heels also headed for the parking garage, so I dunno, I never read it as Loki was in any particular danger? But I'm a notorious Thor apologist as well as a Loki apologist so 🤷‍♂️

Things I also love: loki defunding the military to spend that money on art and infrastructure, Loki's live action thorki fanfic that Asgard unaccountably loved, Loki stonewalling Odin's attempt to reconcile bc fuck Odin, Thor's lightning powers, Bruce banner is now a Jewish grandma, Hela have I mentioned Hela love that girlboss, Jeff goldblum love that wiggly man, the Valkyrie love that angry girl, "piss off ghost", inglorious deaths for all the warriors 3, "I'm here" (screaming, crying, shaking), the story about how Loki bit Thor as a snake as well as the confirmation that they are in fact the same age

I have complicated feelings about Thor's canon development tbh. On a very ground floor sort of reaction, I despise what they did to My Boy in infinity war and endgame. I think it's a disgusting character assassination and I don't think the russos understand humour and specifically how to use humour to expand on tragedy like what thor3 did.

On the other hand, if you've read my fic and meta, you'll know that I've accepted the canon development, bc at this point, I've done a LOT of very deliberate and concerted labour to MAKE the canon development we see between thor1 and endgame WORK. But, like, there was a LOT of labour that I, specifically, put into it. It fully relies on me specifically doing a lot of digging and reaching and mining these movies for every possible frame of content to the point where I am pretty sure I've put more effort into making all the development make continuous sense than any of the screenwriters put into the actual development.

And I think I've probably just drank too much of my own Kool aid but like, I am in a position now where I do think my interpretation of Thor's character development is THE most complete and accurate reading of his character development. Key to these points are: a) I think he is an ex-imperialist who is currently and actively trying to deprogram himself from the colonialists' mindset that Odin instilled within him b) he is trying to deprogram himself from Asgard's culture of extreme toxic masculinity wherein he was not taught to have any sort of emotional processing that did not involve physical violence c) Loki is/was/always will be the person he loves best

So like, as I try to show in my thorki canonverse fics (shameless plug for myself), I can make most of the bad decisions made about Thor's character in infinity war and endgame work if I recontextualize all of his canon actions with my own (well supported, well documented) headcanon'd baggage. Of course he goes on a death wish mission to get revenge on Thanos -- he has a literal deathwish bc he was already supposed to die with Loki. Of course he sinks into an unshakeable depression afterwards -- he has no identity now that he has no family bc he was never taught to live by himself or for himself. Of course he leaves new Asgard and abdicates his rule -- he hasn't wanted a hand in the dirty business of Empire ever since Odin's ambition got his mom and brother killed in thor2, and that hasn't changed. I try to make him go through all the canon-implied feelings and anxieties and doubts in front of the reader. My entire goal of this is that people read my shit, then look at canon and think "oohh that context DOES make it better!" I will be gratified if that is the case.

(The only thing I cannot fix is the bit in endgame where Thor walks past Loki's Tupperware cell and the narrative doesn't come to a screeching fucking halt as Thor has so many feelings that he has some sort of paralytic breakdown where he simultaneously wants to commit Time Crime (tm) so he can just stay here forever and also wishes he could just die here, next to loki, like he was always supposed to. Like, that needed to happen to really lynchpin all of my work together into one smooth, problem free reading, but I'm not allowed to have nice things so)

(oh also I didn't like Thor calling frigga "mom". Shouldn't it at least be "mum"? I think "mother" is best tbh, bc I don't really read them as having that sort of relationship, see "toxic masculinity", see also "homosocial socialisation")

(and ok I get that it was a nice moment for Thor to call the hammer back to his hand, and I get that it even still works with my headcanon that mjolnir finds Thor worthy still bc Thor is defending the imperial asset that is Midgard, but like God damnit. The uncritical and unquestioning use of that word "worthy" when he catches the hammer again. Like worthy of what you guys? Do you ever ask yourself that question bc I very much do. I kinda wish they didnt bring it up at all, or if they did, it didn't come back to Thor's hand and he is just like, wistfully, "that's all right, I suspected as much. I'm such a different man now, mjolnir doesn't recognize me. I don't think I'd be alive right now if I had been the same man I was")

Wow that got long, anyway, thanks for chatting with me! Again, always a pleasure to field asks!

[twh-news]

Tom Hiddleston on The Evolution of Loki: From Villain to Hero and Back

After playing the cosmic superbeing and anti-hero Loki for a decade in six Marvel Cinematic Universe movies, actor Tom Hiddleston says he was “surprised, delightedm and in some ways completely thrilled” by the notion of continuing to personify the God of Mischief in the new Marvel/Disney+ series Loki.

“When I first started playing the character, I did a lot of research,” Hiddleston tells Den of Geek. “And the thing I realized at that time was the character has so much range and contains all these different characteristics sometimes which contradict each other. I loved what Marvel Studios had invented as a context for exploring and externalizing some of these things that he’s always contained.”

In Loki, an earlier version of the character than the one we have seen in recent years manages to escape the custody of the Avengers in 2012 with the help of an errant Infinity Stone. But he inadvertently creates an alternate timeline by doing so, bringing him to the attention of the extra-dimensional bureaucracy known as the Time Variance Authority, who are charged with keeping the timeline secure.

“I think the TVA, the institution that claims to govern the order of time, is a fascinating place to put Loki,” says Hiddleston. “Loki represents chaos and mischief and transgression and disruption, and he’s playful and charming and can be very dangerous. To have these two forces of order and chaos meet in the middle is really exciting.”

We first met the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s version of Loki, God of Mischief and member of the royal family of Asgard, in 2011’s Thor. He was a loyal brother to the title character and a dutiful son to Odin, ruler of the Nine Realms.

But doubt and ambition began to quickly chip away at Loki, especially once he found out he was not a true Odinson but the child of Laufey, leader of the Frost Giants, taken by Odin after the last major war between the Asgardians and the Giants.

Feeling hurt, betrayed and passed over in favor of the full-blooded Thor, Loki schemed to align himself with Laufey and his people, bring down Thor and Odin, and rule Asgard himself.

Defeated at the end of Thor, Loki survived a plunge into the void of space and aligned himself with the Mad Titan, Thanos, gaining possession of the Tesseract, vessel for the Space Stone, and leading an army of Chitauri to invade Earth in 2012’s The Avengers.

Although he was beaten back by Earth’s Mightiest Heroes in that epic battle, Loki would appear in four more MCU films — Thor: The Dark World (2013), Thor: Ragnarok (2017), Avengers: Infinity War (2018) and Avengers: Endgame (2019). Over the course of the first three, he would gradually evolve from a complex villain into an anti-hero of sorts — fighting once again alongside his adopted brother — and finally into a hero who sacrificed himself in a doomed, fatal bid to stop Thanos.

But it’s in Endgame that a trip back to 2012 by several Avengers goes astray and allows that version of Loki — the still unrepentant trickster who just tried to conquer Earth — to snatch the Tesseract and vanish into space and time. So the Loki we meet in the new series is not the regretful and ultimately noble warrior who gave his own life in Avengers: Infinity War.

“I had to un-stitch some of the evolution that Loki had gone through in The Dark World and Ragnarok,” says Hiddleston when asked about resetting the character back to an earlier stage in his development.

“It was kind of like time travel in its own way, because I was going back to a time when I performed the character again in a particular context, in the first Avengers movie,” Hiddleston elaborates. “It was really interesting, because obviously Loki hasn’t lived through the successive evolution, but I have. I actually have real memories of doing those things. It was a really curious day at work.”

For director Kate Herron, who is guiding Loki’s progression as a character through all six episodes of the series, picking up with the God of Mischief as he was nine years ago was a “unique opportunity.” She explains, “I’ve loved Loki’s arc over the last 10 years of Marvel. I just was so pleased that I got to be the one that goes back in with him.”

Herron continues, “But he’s from Avengers, so he’s in a very different emotional head space. A really cool question I wanted to explore in the show was, is anyone truly bad or truly good or in that gray area in between? I feel Loki lives in that gray area so often for so many of the films. That to me was really exciting — can he move past decisions that he’s made in his past or will he always be defined by them?”

Although Hiddleston has had other successes on the stage, TV and in the movies — including hits like The Night Manager and Kong Skull Island — Loki remains his breakout role and, for millions of fans, the one that defines the actor in pop culture. But even after inhabiting Loki for more than a decade (and perhaps more to come), Hiddleston is careful to separate himself from the character.

“I can tell you, I am not an iconic character from ancient Norse myth,” he says with a laugh. “That’s not one of the strings in my bow, as it were. (But) I found him such a fascinating character and I understand that he means a lot. He means a great deal to a great number of people and that something he represents is something that’s part of the experience of being alive. He is unpredictable and spontaneous and playful, but he’s also emotionally complex and there’s some fragmentation there.”

As for the appeal of Loki, Hiddleston adds, “I think his kind of chaotic energy is something that people are drawn to, as well as his vulnerability at the same time. Tricksters in all mythologies occupy this position, that you can’t ever pin them down. You can’t put them in a box or categorize them. It has been a real honor to step into those shoes for the time that I’ve been able to do it. Loki will live on in the minds of human beings for some time, I think, and I’m just a temporary passenger.”

[scarletarosa]

Odin

Norse god of wisdom, knowledge, poetry, war, victory, sovereignty, divination, and magick

One of Odin’s countless titles is “All-father” (Old Norse: Alfaðir), since he is essentially the father of all of the Norse gods and was believed to be the divine ancestor of countless families from all over northern Europe. He is simultaneously an Aesir god, a Vanir god (the Vanir god Odr is only an extension or transposition of Odin), and a jötunn (ancient giant). Odin’s mother, Bestla, was one of the first frost-giants. One Old Norse poem even identifies him with önd, the breath of life. Furthermore, Odin is also the discoverer of the Runic alphabet and is married to the mother-goddess Frigg. 

Appearance and Roles: Old Norse texts portray Odin as one-eyed and long-bearded, frequently wielding a spear named Gungnir and wearing a cloak and a broad hat. One of the most striking attributes of his appearance is his single, piercing eye. His other eye socket is empty – the eye it once held was sacrificed by himself in order to gain wisdom. Odin is often accompanied by his animal companions and familiars—the wolves Geri and Freki and the ravens Huginn and Muninn, who bring him information from all over Midgard—and rides the flying, eight-legged steed Sleipnir across the sky and into the Underworld. Odin is the son of Bestla and Borr and has two brothers, Vili and V��. Odin is attested as having many sons, most famously the gods Thor (with Jörð) and Baldr (with Frigg), and is known by hundreds of names. In these texts he frequently seeks greater knowledge, at times in disguise (most famously by obtaining the Mead of Poetry), makes wagers with his wife Frigg over the outcome of exploits, and takes part both in the creation of the world by way of slaying the primordial being Ymir and in giving the gift of life to the first two humans, Ask and Embla. Odin has a particular association with the festival of Yule, and mankind's knowledge of both the runes and poetry is also attributed to him. 

Old Norse texts also state that female entities connected with the battlefield—the valkyries—were led by Odin, since he oversees Valhalla, where he receives half of those who die in battle, the einherjar, the honourable warriors. The other half are then claimed by the goddess Freyja for her afterlife location, Fólkvangr. Odin also is said to consult the disembodied, herb-embalmed head of the wise being Mímir for advice, and during the foretold events of Ragnarök Odin is told to lead the einherjar into battle before being consumed by the monstrous wolf Fenrir. In later folklore Odin appears as a leader of the Wild Hunt, a ghostly procession of the dead through the winter sky. He is also associated with charms and other forms of magic, particularly in Old English and Old Norse texts. 

As a god of sovereignty, Odin is paradoxically also the favourite god and helper of outlaws, those who have been banished from society for some especially heinous crime, as well. Like Odin, many such men were exceptionally strong-willed warrior-poets who were apathetic to established societal norms – Egill Skallagrímsson (Egil’s Saga) and Grettir Ásmundarson (The Saga of Grettir the Strong) are two examples. The late twelfth/early thirteenth-century Danish historian Saxo Grammaticus even relates a tale of Odin being outlawed from Asgard for ten years so that the other gods and goddesses wouldn’t be tarnished by the vile reputation he had acquired amongst many humans. Whatever their social stature, the humans favored by Odin are distinguished by their intelligence, creativity, and competence in the proverbial “war of all against all”. For Odin, any kind of limitation is something to be overcome by any means necessary, and his actions are carried out within the context of a relentless and ruthless quest for more wisdom, knowledge, and power, usually of a magical sort. 

Odin’s competitive side once drove him to challenge the wisest of the jǫtnar (giants) to a contest to see who was more knowledgeable. The reward was to be the head of the loser, and Odin won this challenge by asking his opponent something that only he himself could know. Odin then claimed his prize and returned to Asgard. Along with Freyja, he is one of the two greatest practitioners of shamanism amongst the gods. The Ynglinga Saga records that Odin often “travels to distant lands on his own errands or those of others” while he appears to others to be asleep or dead. Another instance is recorded in the Eddic poem “Baldur’s Dreams,” where Odin rode Sleipnir, an eight-legged horse, to the Underworld in order to consult a dead seeress on behalf of his son. Odin’s mastery of necromancy, the magical art of communicating with and raising the dead, is frequently noted. While there are several reasons Odin maintains this commerce with the dead, including his desire to learn what knowledge and wisdom they possess, the most significant reason is his dread-driven desire to have as many of the best warriors as possible on his side when he must face the wolf Fenrir during Ragnarok – even though he knows that he’s doomed to die in the battle. 

Myths: In myth, Odin needed to make a sacrifice of himself in order to obtain great wisdom. This myth displays the great desire for knowledge and wisdom Odin holds, as well as his unstoppable will-power. Odin All-Father was troubled deeply for the whisperings of the Yggdrasil tree had told him the prophecies of the end, of Ragnarök. He had listened and knew of how Surtr the Black would join the giants in their war against the gods, how he would arise out of the flames of Muspell and drown the earth in fire. Odin’s wisdom told him that he could not prevent this end, but he hoped that perhaps, with wisdom, something could be done to have some gods and humans to survive. Odin travelled the Bifrost to Midgard and began to search for the well of Mimir. The well lay beneath the root of Yggdrasil that grew out of Jotunheim. It was kept my Mimir, the man who drank its wisdom each morning and who kept watch over the Gjallar-horn that Heimdallr, the white watcher, will blow on the day of Ragnarök. 

After many days of travel, Odin came to the edge of the well deep in Jotunheim. Mimir approached him and took up the horn Gjallar and filled it with good water from the well and gave the horn to Odin to drink. As he drank, his eyes opened and saw visions of great and terrible sufferings that would befall both men and gods. He drank again and saw the ways that gods and men might, in great noble courage, fight and defeat the evils that would surely arise, though at great cost for he saw also his death and the death of the Aesir that lived in Asgard by his side. How mighty Thor would succumb to the venom of the great serpent, and how Loki would come against Heimdallr and would kill one another, he saw his own defeat at the jaws of Fenrir, and many more deaths and failings that would come of Ragnarök. 

After witnessing these things, Odin put his hand to his face and plucked out his right eye. The pain was great and searing, but he made no sound nor showed his great suffering. Mimir took the eye and threw it into the well where it sunk deep but glistened like glass, a sign to any who might pass of the price Odin All-Father paid for his wisdom. And Odin returned to Asgard and sat upon his throne and considered the things he had seen. 

In another myth, Odin underwent a ritual death and rebirth in order to discover the runes. At the centre of the Norse cosmos stands the great tree Yggdrasil. Yggdrasil’s upper branches cradle Asgard, the home and fortress of the Aesir gods and goddesses, of whom Odin is the chief. Yggdrasil grows out of the Well of Urd, a pool whose fathomless depths hold many of the most powerful forces and beings in the cosmos. Among these beings are the Norns, three sagacious maidens who create the fate of all beings. One of the foremost techniques they use to shape fate is carving runes into Yggdrasil’s trunk. The symbols then carry these intentions throughout the tree, affecting everything in the Nine Worlds. Since the runes’ native home is in the Well of Urd with the Norns, and since the runes do not reveal themselves to any but those who prove themselves worthy of such fearful insights and abilities, Odin hung himself from a branch of Yggdrasil, pierced himself with his spear, and peered downward into the shadowy waters below. He forbade any of the other gods to grant him the slightest aid, not even a sip of water. 

And he stared downward, downward, and called to the runes. He survived in this state, teetering on the precipice that separates the living from the dead, for no less than nine days and nights. At the end of the ninth night, he at last perceived shapes in the depths: the runes. They had accepted his sacrifice and shown themselves to him, revealing to him not only their forms, but also the secrets that lie within them. Having fixed this knowledge in his formidable memory, Odin ended his ordeal with a scream of exultation. Having been initiated into the mysteries of the runes, Odin recounted:

“Then I was fertilized and became wise; I truly grew and thrived. From a word to a word I was led to a word, From a work to a work I was led to a work.”

Equipped with the knowledge of how to wield the runes, he became one of the mightiest and most accomplished beings in the cosmos. He learned chants that enabled him to heal emotional and bodily wounds, to bind his enemies and render their weapons worthless, to free himself from constraints, to put out fires, to expose and banish practitioners of malevolent magic, to protect his friends in battle, to wake the dead, to win and keep a lover, and to perform many other feats like these.

Personality: In my personal experiences with Odin, he is withdrawn, reclusive, analytical, methodical, studious, very serious, loves riddles and numbers, is a physiomancer (can divine the future through many methods), and takes oaths very seriously, rarely forgiving anyone who breaks them. He can help with many things, including gaining wisdom and knowledge, magickal prowess, divination, shamanism, spiritual rebirths, cunning, and discovering what truly matters in life so we can move past lesser things. Odin says that he can also assist in protecting against the malicious god Loki, who tricks others into trusting him and then harms them unsuspectingly, or disguises himself as their loved ones in order to hurt them or get his way.  

Offerings: beer (all types but prefers dark/stout), meat (pork, all game animals and birds), eggs, courgettis, oak, ash wood, runes, amber, lightning bolt imagery, any form of fortune telling tools (tarot, pendulum, etc.), crow/raven skulls or feathers, black silk, aubergine, wooden bowls, white sandalwood, black peppercorns, cedar, white daisies, cosmic tree imagery, crow/raven statuettes.

[notallthosewho-wanderarelost]

Real quick scattering of thoughts on Loki 1x02 and x03 before I watch the newest episode. I watched them pretty much at the same time so it’s a two-for-one post. Here be spoilers for episode 3! On mobile so no cut again, sorry.

Spoilers ahead. You’ve been warned.

Okay. In no particular order but attempting to start with ep 2 first:

Loki trying to get info on the Timekeepers and the TVA in ep 2 and being blocked by the most bored archive librarian ever was hilarious. The whole sequence of him trying to get her attention only for her to completely ignore him until he rang the bell was creepy but so funny.

Loki’s reaction to getting the details on Ragnarok made me so sad. :( Same, Loki. SAME. I’m also still gutted Asgard was destroyed and I refuse to even watch the movie ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ But him going to look at that in the first place made me wonder if maybe in the back of his mind Loki’s coming up with a plan to save Asgard? (Or at least, one version of Asgard in the multiverse.) I would love that. I want Asgard back in general and was hoping for Thor 4, but having Loki be the one to save Asgard would be SO fitting. He may be adopted but he’s still an Asgardian at heart, truly. Having Loki be the one to save Asgard would be a great way to show him finally acknowledging that and have all the Asgardians acknowledge it too.

We have an official population for MCU Asgard! 9719 people. That fits. It’s about twice the size of a pretty small suburban town. Asgard is SMALL. It just doesn’t have the space for a lot of people. It’s still a city, but Asgard the Realm has other things on it besides just the city, so it can’t have a huge population.

I wonder what the official population of New Asgard is when we see it in Endgame? And how many Asgardians come back post-Blip? This would really all depend on how many people made it through Hela’s rule and onto the ship during Ragnarok- and then half of them would’ve been killed by Thanos in the beginning of Infinity War. Would half of the remainder have been Snapped away at the end of IW, or would Thanos leave them out since he already halved their population? File under questions Marvel will probably never answer. Also file under “Thanos continues to be really bad at math.” (Should probably go look at the New Asgard sign again to check, but I don’t think it listed population.)

Loki annoying Mobius by messing with his salad was great. Loki annoying Mobius in general was great.

Loki letting the goats free in Pompeii made me think he might have a liking for goats, which means I now have a headcanon that Loki was friends with Thor’s goats as a kid and would sometimes let them loose to get their assistance with pranks. Thank you show, for cute kid Loki headcanons.

Tom Hiddleston probably had a BLAST yelling at people in Latin in character as Loki, and good for him!

Sylvie’s entrance sequence at the beginning of the episode with the fight scene vs the TVA set to “I Need a Hero” was amazing. I haven’t seen Shrek in a while but this might just reach the same levels of A+ “I Need A Hero” song usage as the Shrek sequence.

Speaking of the beginning of the episode, the Ren Faire setting was SO good. Great way to get laughs, and it made me want to go to a Ren Faire again.

The Roxxcart setting for the big encounter later in the episode made me flash back on all the times Roxxon’s appeared in the MCU. Two main thoughts: 1. I so want a Jane!Thor movie where the main villain is Dario Agger, evil Roxxon CEO and Minotaur. Preferably working with a better version of Malekith (from another universe probably) like in comics, because as much as I love Thor 2 my one complaint is that their version of Malekith was SO LAME. Especially compared to comics!Malekith. Plus an Agger + Malekith teamup would mean both the Nine Realms AND Earth are in danger, by definition. Thor 5 please, Marvel. 2. I really, really miss Cloak and Dagger and that show deserved so much better.

(Our) Loki’s perpetual insistence that he’s better and that the plot (pun intended) is about him is both funny and also a little sad- because he knows, or at least thinks, that if he stops insisting those things, everyone will stop paying any attention to him whatsoever. And he needs attention.

Poor Mobius probably felt so betrayed at the end of this episode. :(

Onward to episode 3!

This was by far my favorite episode so far. I LOVE Sylvie. I love her and Loki’s dynamic. I love that we get Loki talking to someone he considers an equal about some very personal things, and that Sylvie does the same thing with him. They understand each other in a way nobody else has. Because they’re the same person, sort of. I’ve taken to calling them “alternate reality twins” and that’s what I’ll keep calling them unless told otherwise.

They also annoy each other in a way nobody else can. And it’s hilarious. They look equally annoyed at the other not falling for their tricks and equally annoyed at needing the other’s help before they really start to bond and I LOVE ALL OF IT. I also feel like they adopt each other a lot quicker than either would be willing to admit, and then they’re annoyed at that! Loki yelling “you’re so weird!” at Sylvie made me go “OH they’re bickering like siblings!!!” and that was pretty early on! I’m an only child but that had peak sibling energy to me. Even them trying to trick and outdo each other had sibling energy most of the time.

Their earlier fight when they first get to Lamentis, before they realize where they are, had some VERY quality quips and also really had me wondering who would win in a fight between the two of them. Sylvie seems to have more physical strength, and she’s got a sword instead of daggers so longer reach, but Loki has skill and he has tricks. I think with his skill at magic (he can TELEPORT?! Probably only a few feet and probably limited by where he can see but that’s SO COOL!!! I don’t think we knew he could do that?!) Loki would likely run rings around Sylvie IF there were no people around for her to enchant. And assuming that she wasn’t able to set any traps beforehand, because Sylvie has proven well able to set traps to take down people who should be at a major advantage against her. Otherwise, I think Sylvie would win. She seems to have better physical training than our Loki, and if there were any people around for her to enchant he’d have to contend with them too. And if Sylvie could lay traps ahead of time, then it could go either way (you never can tell with a Loki, much less two) but I think Loki would probably lose. Loki is just as tricky as she is but that seems to be something she’s had a lot of practice in. Loki is more about confusing opponents with illusions and duplicates and talking his way around people. Sylvie sets traps instead, and is more comfortable/better at using brute physical force.

Speaking of enchanting, me while watching episode 2: “Hey, these mind controlling powers remind me of Enchantress’ powers!”

Sylvie in episode 3: calls her powers “enchanting”

Me: “OH.”

So Sylvie seems to be a composite of 3 characters. 1. Lady Loki, as in Loki when identifying as female. (There’s also that time from before they said Loki was genderfluid and a shapeshifter and back when Loki was still evil when he possessed Sif’s body and went by Lady Loki, but we don’t talk about that.) 2. Amora the Enchantress, a major Thor character/villain who uses magic to “enchant” people into doing what she wants-yes this is definitely a cringey “magically enchants people into loving her, consent-issues-out-the-wazoo” evil seductress stereotype in old comics, but it’s gotten better recently. And 3. Sylvie Lushton, the much lesser-known second Enchantress, who was a regular teenage human girl when after a Ragnarok (don’t remember which one, there have been multiple but this would’ve been early 2000s) Loki for shits and giggles decided to make her think she was Amora and give her the powers to match. She was on the Dark Reign-era (aka when Norman Osborn was in charge of SHIELD and the Avengers) version of the Young Avengers, the Young Masters of Evil, and that’s where I know her from. She’s a great character- she genuinely wants to do good and help people, but her brain is a bit messed up by the number Loki did on it, so she gets confused. I believe she’s currently in comic book limbo after Amora found out about her a while back, got pissed at her for stealing her name and her whole Thing, and tossed her somewhere dangerous on the World Tree while saying something about how if she can survive it then she’ll prove she deserves the name Enchantress. She sadly hasn’t been seen since as far as I know.

So each of those characters have similar characteristics with Loki’s Sylvie. Sylvie 1. Is a Loki who is female (Lady Loki), 2. Was presumably raised on Asgard and uses her magic to “enchant” people via a form of mind control into doing what she wants (Amora the Enchantress), 3. Is named Sylvie (Sylvie Lushton, Encanhtress II). Also worth noting that both Amora and Sylvie Lushton have blond hair, and so does the MCU’s Sylvie. All three characters also have green colored magic!

May turn the above bullets into their own post just for informational purposes. Also, when we said we wanted Enchantress in the MCU, this is not what we meant. Stop with the Monkey’s Paw-style wish granting, Marvel! (Looking at you, X-Men comics’ response to us wanting more Wanda.)

Anyway. Will round off with my favorite thing: everything on the train. Everything on the train was WONDERFUL.

Loki telling Sylvie about Frigga and how she taught him magic and then demonstrating the fireworks made me tear up. 🥺 Right in the feels. I miss Frigga a lot. I miss Asgard/the old Thor franchise in general a lot, but this is about Frigga. She was AMAZING and I miss her. Forever love the detail that Tom and Rene came up with the idea on the set of Thor 1 that Frigga is the one who taught Loki magic and fighting and how that informed their characters’ dynamic to the point of it being canonically discussed later. There’s a great Thor 2 deleted scene where Frigga talks to Thor about this exact thing. Frigga is such a fave of mine.

Sylvie telling Loki about her own past in turn made me very curious what her life was like and what the differences are. She seemed to have had a really hard time of it as a kid and I just want to hug her. (I also want to hug Loki, but that isn’t news.) Loki has had a very tough time, but really only after finding out he was adopted. He doesn’t appear to have had many friends on Asgard before (though I headcanon that he was friends with Lorelai before her exile, and since it’s my headcanon I imagine a similar situation with Amora, if not quite as close a friendship because comics Loki gets along better with Lorelai than her sister) but he at least had a family who loved him and who he loved, and a status as a prince that would’ve given him a good life and protection. Sylvie doesn’t seem to have had any of that as a kid. :(

“Surely there were some would-be princesses? Or perhaps a prince?” CANONICALLY BISEXUAL LOKI YES! YES.

Comics Loki is canonically both bisexual and genderfluid! Explicitly discussed on page, multiple times, and expounded on by writers too. (One of the most heartwarming Odin moments for me- yes, Odin does have heartwarming moments!- is when he’s telling his kids he loves them and he says something to the effect of “my son, my daughter, my child who is both.” The latter is Loki, the former are Thor and Angela. I might still be bitter over MCU Hela taking Angela’s place in the family sorry not sorry. This was in Original Sin: Thor and Loki, for anyone wondering.) I tend to default to he/him pronouns when talking about Loki because Loki tends to be male more in appearances, and also partly because it’s what I’m used to, but when Loki is clearly female I’ll of course switch to she/her. I have seen people use they/them pronouns for Loki too. I don’t think Marvel has ever said what pronouns Loki prefers though.

Speaking of which: I realize the “Sex: fluid” on Loki’s info card in episode 1 was probably foreshadowing Sylvie, but I kind of want to also read it as a nod to Loki being genderfluid. (Loki is also a shapeshifter, so gender would = sex in this case.) Whether it would be a nod to specifically comics Loki or also to MCU Loki is anyone’s guess as of now. We’ll find out I guess, or if it turns out to be strictly headcanon than it’s whatever floats your boat. :)

Back to the train scene!! Sylvie loudly protesting that she can’t sleep near people she doesn’t trust and then promptly falling asleep across from Loki a few minutes later made me emotional. ALTERNATE REALITY TWINS. Also VERY much a parallel to Loki falling asleep across from Mobius last episode.

Loki realizing that Asgard was really his home and his family really was his family only to also realize that he’ll never see either again and deciding to handle this by getting ABSOLUTELY DRUNK is SO ASGARDIAN OF HIM. I cannot. He even did the “Another!” *smashes glass* thing just to bring the point home.

Oh gosh, LOKI SINGING IN ASGARDIAN. FEEEEEEELS. I know, it’s actually Norwegian. I wonder a bit why they didn’t use Icelandic instead? Anyway, this was lovely and I love that going by the translation it’s a song of longing to go home, and it mentions Idunn’s apples of immortality. Apparently the full version of the song is going to be on the soundtrack and I’m so excited for that.

Loki’s metaphor of “love is a dagger” was actually quite good, he and Sylvie just lost the thread of it right at the end there. I wrote about this in tags somewhere, I’ll copy it in here later.

Edit: here’s an edited version of what I wrote on this post: This was a great metaphor until it got away from him. So close to the point (heh) and then they veered right away. Let me finish this for them: “Love is a dagger. It’s a weapon for far away and up close. You can see yourself in it. It’s beautiful. You have to give it to the right person.” So what this scene tells us about Loki is that he’s been hurt by love because it hasn’t been real. Or hasn’t felt real to him. Maybe he’s given it to the wrong people, or maybe he couldn’t tell who the right people were. (And if this is in reference to his family then I think he’s still too close to the revelation of his identity to be able to think clearly about the situation. Because his family DID love him! Even Odin. He just lost sight of that with everything happening.) Love is also about trust. And Loki doesn’t trust easily.

I really love this quote and this scene. Kinda want to do a “Love is a dagger” graphic of i ever have time.

I also wouldn’t be surprised if Loki and Sylvie come back to this conversation and come to a more satisfying conclusion. I hope that happens actually.

Sylvie using her headpiece against an opponent in the train fight instantly made me think of Wonder Woman. A+. Also, I haven’t mentioned yet but I love the fact that Sylvie’s headpiece looks exactly like God(dess) of Stories Loki’s from Agent of Asgard. Loki’s Ragnarok headpiece definitely had big AoA Loki vibes, but Sylvie’s headpiece is much closer- mostly it’s smaller, which is very Agent of Asgard Loki in general, but the one horn being cut off is specifically a God(dess) of Stories Loki thing and I love that they pulled from that.

Loki throwing the dagger and missing because he’s drunk was hilarious. Not good for Sylvie, but hilarious to watch. Don’t fight while drunk, Loki. Also, he threw “love” at Sylvie and I laughed when I realized that.

I didn’t realize until I saw a parallel gifset of it why Loki carefully going up to Sylvie after her scream felt so familiar- it’s just like how he went up to Thor after Thor overturned the table in Thor 1. The CONTINUINTY!! Absolutely amazing.

While trying to save the Ark Loki was probably thinking a lot about what he saw in the TVA clips of his own people trying to escape Asgard during Ragnarok and that hits kind of hard.

Loki apparently using telekinesis to stop the column from falling on him and Sylvie threw me off a lot until I saw another gifset that included the moment in Thor 2 (trailers only, I think) when he finds out Frigga is dead and all the furniture close to him breaks and flies away from him. The pose was even the same as when he stopped the column. I think he can sort of... push things away from him? (Almost like a Force Push 🤔) He seems to need to stop and tense up his arms while he does it though. And it doesn’t have the green effect the rest of his magic does, which is odd.

Speaking of Loki’s powers, I’ve said this in tags for sure but I’m so happy they’re FINALLY letting Loki hit people with green magic bolts. He does tend to prefer more subtle uses of magic, but I still can’t believe it took over 4 movies for that to happen. It’s kind of a no-brainer magic attack- probably exactly why Loki prefers other things- but you’d think he would’ve done it at least once after 4 movies.

I saw a post point out that by the end of the episode, Sylvie has lost both her headpiece and her cloak/robe thing, which makes me wonder if she’s going to get a new outfit by the end of the show. Or at least different accessories. I’m also curious if she’s going to take up the Enchantress moniker by the end of the show.

Finishing this with theme analysis and theory time:

The revelation that TVA agents used to be variants and were somehow reprogrammed makes so much sense. There’s something immediately shifty about the idea of 3 Time Keepers dictating the fate of everyone in infinite multiverses, and this just solidifies the hint that the Time Keepers are going to be the overall Big Bads. Which makes sense, narratively! But this shifts the TVA agents from villains to victims. Mobius gets to stay sympathetic and so does Sylvie, AND once the TVA agents find out about their origins it puts the same choice onto them that Loki has. They all have a choice now about who they’re going to be. They’re not who they thought they were, but are they going to let themselves be defined by what other people (here, the Time Keepers) think they should be, or are they going to be who they want to be.

This is exactly what Loki: Agent of Asgard is about, by the way. And I know I said in the last post that Loki’s greatest villain is himself, but I’m going to amend that because I didn’t say it quite right. Loki’s greatest villain is his evil self. Loki the god of evil, the Loki that is the villain. Loki (and all the other Asgardians) in Agent of Asgard is genuinely a god, and AoA tells us that gods are defined by belief- they are what people believe them to be. That’s how they exist. So because so many people believe Loki is an evil villain, the universe tries to twist him to fit that role. The plot of AoA is Loki trying to avoid that fate, to be better, be who he wants to be. It’s a meta story. It’s Loki trying to break free of the narrative he’s been part of up until that point. And eventually he manages to break the fourth wall itself and take control of his own narrative by becoming the god of stories. He controls his own story and it no longer matters what other people think he is, only what he thinks of himself. Nobody else gets to change or define him.

AoA’s villain is a future version of Loki that does go back to being evil. He’s basically the cosmic force- destiny, the narrative itself, etc- that’s trying to fit Loki into the “evil” box personified. Loki is seemingly taking that idea and subbing in a different personification for that same idea of lack of choice: the Time Keepers. We know from the Miss Minutes short in episode 1 that the Time Keepers want one timeline. We don’t know if that’s actually to prevent a multiversal war like the short suggests or if that’s just propaganda. When Loki tries to find out more about the war or about the beginning or end of time in episode 2, he can’t access those documents. Something doesn’t seem right there.

Edit: Also, in episode 2 Loki compares the TVA to Asgard by saying both the TVA agents and Asgardians are equally stupid. The reveal of who the TVA agents are adds a new dimension to that comparison. They both see themselves as guardians of the world around them, special, but really they’re no more special than the people they’re fighting to protect. Or in other words, they’re only as “special” (“heroic,” really) as they make themselves.

Also an edit: damn I just realized the continued stupidity of R*gnarok having Fenris and Odin in the same movie and Odin dies but get killed by Fenris. Asgardians have a saying about watching for wolves’ teeth.

I’ve seen the theory around that Sylvie might be a former TVA agent (which seems to be backed up by the midseason trailer I very belatedly saw, oh my GOD TINY SYLVIE!!!!! But also oh no tiny Sylvie at the TVA :() and I really like that. It makes sense. Maybe she went rogue because she realized the TVA is preventing people from choosing for themselves. Maybe she even knows what it is the Time Keepers actually want. Or maybe she’s doing this just for herself because she didn’t enjoy being brainwashed by the TVA and she doesn’t like being told who to be! That is after all part of “what makes a Loki a Loki,” even if she doesn’t use that name anymore.

I’m also wondering (hoping?) if maybe her being a former TVA agent could explain why she’s a mashup of different characters, instead of it just being Marvel mashing characters together because they can. This is mostly wild speculation, but could the TVA possibly have put multiple people’s timelines/memories inside her head? What if she’s in universe an amalgamation of a Loki, an Amora, and/or a Sylvie?

We’ve had some clips of what looks like a Thor 1 era Loki in front of the throne on Asgard- which looks different to me; maybe Loki redecorated? We’ve also gotten a shot of Loki in front of a ruined NYC skyline, including Avengers Tower. Maybe we’ll get an episode where Loki wins and we’ll see different timelines where he wins in different ways, until he realizes that this isn’t actually what he wants?

Whoops this got long??? Thanks for reading if you read this far!

[parvismaxima]

Ragnarok references in Attack on Titan

Ragnarok is a series of apocalyptic events that will define the end of the world, where gods will band together to fight against the giants in a final battle that will ultimately destroy the planet, submerging it under water. According to the legend, the world will resurface, the surviving gods will meet, and the world will be repopulated by two human survivors.

The following major battles will be fought:

·       Odin vs Fenrir

·       Vidar vs Fenrir

·       Thor vs Jormungandr

·       Heimdall vs Loki

Major warriors during Ragnarok:

Odin

Odin is the chief of the Æsir and king of Asgard. He will lead the battle against giants during the Ragnarok

(Hange and Odin both sacrificed their left eye in exchange for knowledge)

Heimdall

is the guardian of the gods and the personification of order. He will blow a horn, called the Gjallarhorn if Asgard is in danger. His senses are so good that he can hear the grass grow and he can see to the end of the world. Heimdall could hear a leaf fall. He does not need any sleep at all.

Loki

The god of trickery and mistrust, Loki has a complicated relationship with the  Æsir, oftentimes assisting them or hindering them in bringing their goals to fruition. He is the personification of chaos

Tyr

He is the God of war, and the bravest of all the Gods in Norse mythology. Tyr is interested in justice and with fair treaties, which makes him a God of law as well.

The reason why Tyr is the bravest of all the Gods is because of his most written story:

He once put his hand into the jaws of the gigantic evil wolf Fenrir. He did this while the other Gods bound Fenrir to a rock. When Fenrir saw this, he became suspicious, and declared that he would only allow the gods to put it around him if one of them would stick an arm in his mouth as a pledge of good faith. At last,  when the wolf noticed that he could not get free from the chains, he became furious and ripped Tyr’s right hand

And there in that chain, the giant wolf remained in that sordid state until Ragnarok.

Freyr

the central god of peace, prosperity, sunshine and with good harvest. Freyr is in particular associated with the horse cult, and in the Hrafnkels saga, a noble Gothi once killed a man for riding a horse that he had dedicated to the god.

Thor

The champion of Asgard, Thor’s job is to protect both it and Midgard from the likes of the Jotnar, the giants of Jötunheimr.

He has two children: Modi and Magni

Vidar

is the god of vengeance. A member of the Æsir, he is the son of Odin and the giantess Gríðr. To be honest, Vidar isn’t really an important God. Virtually all of the references to him Norse mythology are concerned with his role in Ragnarok; we know little to nothing about his origin or function outside of his one particular role at the end.

Personally, I only saw two things for Connie’s role in this story — Sasha’s comedic counterpart and someone who will justice for Ragako (however that justice might look like). Given that Sasha is gone and the series has taken a serious route, there is only one role left for him to finish

Eren’s soul: Fenrir

Is the half-giant wolf of Norse mythology. The Æsir gods raised Fenrir themselves in order to keep him under their control and prevent him from wreaking havoc throughout the Nine Worlds. Fenrir however, grew at an astonishingly fast pace, and eventually the troubled gods decided to chain him up. 

Eren’s titan: Jormungandr

The biggest beast in Norse mythology, he's a sea serpent who was imprisoned into the sea by Odin and is fated to rise during Ragnarok. In literature and prayers,  he symbolizes the destructive forces of nature, with everything from hurricanes, tornadoes, vulcanism, earthquakes, etc... His greatest foe is Thor

Before Ragnarok:

In Norse mythology, gods belong to either one of two tribes: the Æsir and the Vanir. And these tribes fought a lot. They fought so much that Prose Edda had poems entirely dedicated to the War of the Gods.

On the other hand, the Giants (Jotun) came before these two tribes and lived in in Jötunheimr, one of the nine worlds of Norse cosmology. They were banished there by the Gods, who refused them entry to their world, Asgard. In the ancient Norse stories, the Giants frequently interact with the Æsir and the Vanir, but they are usually in opposition with them.

The Æsir fought by the rules of plain combat, with weapons and brute force, while the Vanir used the subtler means of magic.

Loki is the mixed-blood son of a goddess and a male Jotun. His role in Norse mythology is unique and controversial since he appears to both help the gods and hinder them. According to the story, Loki tricked the blind god of winter Hod, an action that resulted in the death of the god Baldr, the shining god beloved by everyone.

Because of this, he was punished and cast into a cliff where he was to remain bound to a rock until Ragnarok, the end of the world.

Baldr’s death is one of the many signs that will fortell Ragnarok. First, there will come a great Winter “Fimbulvetr” which will last for years. Brothers will slay brother, father will slay son, and son will slay father. It will be an age of war

Next, the wolves Skoll and Hati (Fenrir’s sons) who have hunted the sun and the moon for a very long time, will at last catch their prey.

Loki will escape his prison to join the other Giants.

the chains that has been holding back the monstrous wolf Fenrir will snap, and the beast will run free. 

Jormungandr, the mighty serpent who dwells at the bottom of the ocean and encircles the land, will rise from the depths, spilling the seas over all the earth as he makes landfall.

These convulsions will shake the ship Naglfar (“Nail Ship”) free from its moorings. This ship, which is made from the fingernails and toenails of dead men and women, will sail easily over the flooded earth. Its crew will be an army of giants, the forces of chaos and destruction. 

Fenrir, with fire blazing from his eyes and nostrils, will run across the earth, with his lower jaw on the ground and his upper jaw against the top of the sky, devouring everything in his path. Jormungand will spit his venom over all the world, poisoning land, water, and air alike.

The gods who have been warring all these time, will decide to join arms and go to battle, even though they know what the prophecies have foretold concerning the outcome of this clash.

They will meet their enemies on a battlefield called Vigrid (Old Norse Vígríðr, “Plain Where Battle Surges”

An ominous horn blast will ring out; this will be Heimdall, the divine sentry, blowing the Gjallarhorn to announce the arrival of the moment the gods have feared. He will be the first one to stop the giants

Odin will anxiously consult the head of Mimir, the wisest of all beings, for counsel. Odin will face Fenrir, and by his side will be the Einherjar, the host of his chosen dead human warriors whom has preserved in Valhalla for just this moment.

During Ragnarok:

Odin and the champions of men will fight more valiantly than anyone has ever fought before. But it will not be enough. Fenrir will swallow Odin and his men.

Then one of Odin’s sons, Vidar, burning with rage, will charge the beast to avenge his father. He will stab his sword through the wolf’s throat, killing him.

Heimdall and his archenemy Loki will do the same, putting a final end to the trickster’s treachery. Both will inflict fatal wounds on each other, but Loki refuses to die until he sees the destruction of the worlds which happened soon after. They both died next to each other

Tyr will perish fighting Fenrir. The wolf will bite his remaining hand and he will bleed out, but not before he gives the beast a mortal wound

The god Freyr and a fire giant will also be the end of each other. 

Thor and Jormungand, those age-old foes, will both finally have their chance to kill the other. Thor will succeed in felling the great snake with the blows of his hammer. But the serpent will have covered him in so much venom that he will not be able to stand for much longer; he will take nine paces before falling dead himself and adding his blood to the already-saturated soil of Vigrid

After all these, these gods will die, the giants will alight the world in flame, until a flood finally covers the world.

After Ragnarok:

Several of the Gods will survive, among them is Odin’s sons Vidar. Thor’s sons Modi and Magni will also survive, inheriting their father’s hammer Mjölnir.

While most of the Gods will die in the mutual destruction with the Giants, it is predetermined that a new world will rise up from the water, beautiful and green. Before the battle of Ragnarok, a woman and a man, Lif “life” and Liftraser “lover of life”, will find shelter from the cataclysm in a place called the “Wood of Hoddmimir” (Hoddmímis holt).

They will now come out and populate the lush land in which they will find themselves. A new sun, the daughter of the previous one, will rise in the sky. And all of this will be presided over by a new, almighty ruler.

After Ragnarok” by Emil Doepler (1905)

 The significance of Ravens in Norse mythology

Ravens are found everywhere in Prose Edda, a collection of poems detailing the legends of Old Norse. It is the holy bird circling around Odin

In Norse mythology, Huginn ( "thought") and Muninn ("memory") are a pair of ravens that fly all over the world and relay information to him, causing Odin to become very wise.

Now I know I just said that Hange is supposed to play Odin during Ragnarok, but given the bird’s role in the Norse story, and all the perspectives being dropped, I think it’s safe to say that Eren’s been hearing his enemies pretty well, as well as seeing the literal bird’s eye perspective of the entire war

Anyway, these are all the Norse references I saw during the Marley arc onwards. What do you think? How do you foresee the final battle ending?

[aion-rsa]

Tom Hiddleston on The Evolution of Loki: From Villain to Hero and Back

https://ift.tt/3wpnGBO

After playing the cosmic superbeing and anti-hero Loki for a decade in six Marvel Cinematic Universe movies, actor Tom Hiddleston says he was “surprised, delightedm and in some ways completely thrilled” by the notion of continuing to personify the God of Mischief in the new Marvel/Disney+ series Loki.

“When I first started playing the character, I did a lot of research,” Hiddleston tells Den of Geek. “And the thing I realized at that time was the character has so much range and contains all these different characteristics sometimes which contradict each other. I loved what Marvel Studios had invented as a context for exploring and externalizing some of these things that he’s always contained.”

In Loki, an earlier version of the character than the one we have seen in recent years manages to escape the custody of the Avengers in 2012 with the help of an errant Infinity Stone. But he inadvertently creates an alternate timeline by doing so, bringing him to the attention of the extra-dimensional bureaucracy known as the Time Variance Authority, who are charged with keeping the timeline secure.

“I think the TVA, the institution that claims to govern the order of time, is a fascinating place to put Loki,” says Hiddleston. “Loki represents chaos and mischief and transgression and disruption, and he’s playful and charming and can be very dangerous. To have these two forces of order and chaos meet in the middle is really exciting.”

We first met the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s version of Loki, God of Mischief and member of the royal family of Asgard, in 2011’s Thor. He was a loyal brother to the title character and a dutiful son to Odin, ruler of the Nine Realms.

But doubt and ambition began to quickly chip away at Loki, especially once he found out he was not a true Odinson but the child of Laufey, leader of the Frost Giants, taken by Odin after the last major war between the Asgardians and the Giants.

Feeling hurt, betrayed and passed over in favor of the full-blooded Thor, Loki schemed to align himself with Laufey and his people, bring down Thor and Odin, and rule Asgard himself.

Defeated at the end of Thor, Loki survived a plunge into the void of space and aligned himself with the Mad Titan, Thanos, gaining possession of the Tesseract, vessel for the Space Stone, and leading an army of Chitauri to invade Earth in 2012’s The Avengers.

Although he was beaten back by Earth’s Mightiest Heroes in that epic battle, Loki would appear in four more MCU films — Thor: The Dark World (2013), Thor: Ragnarok (2017), Avengers: Infinity War (2018) and Avengers: Endgame (2019). Over the course of the first three, he would gradually evolve from a complex villain into an anti-hero of sorts — fighting once again alongside his adopted brother — and finally into a hero who sacrificed himself in a doomed, fatal bid to stop Thanos.

Read more

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But it’s in Endgame that a trip back to 2012 by several Avengers goes astray and allows that version of Loki — the still unrepentant trickster who just tried to conquer Earth — to snatch the Tesseract and vanish into space and time. So the Loki we meet in the new series is not the regretful and ultimately noble warrior who gave his own life in Avengers: Infinity War.

“I had to un-stitch some of the evolution that Loki had gone through in The Dark World and Ragnarok,” says Hiddleston when asked about resetting the character back to an earlier stage in his development.

“It was kind of like time travel in its own way, because I was going back to a time when I performed the character again in a particular context, in the first Avengers movie,” Hiddleston elaborates. “It was really interesting, because obviously Loki hasn’t lived through the successive evolution, but I have. I actually have real memories of doing those things. It was a really curious day at work.”

For director Kate Herron, who is guiding Loki’s progression as a character through all six episodes of the series, picking up with the God of Mischief as he was nine years ago was a “unique opportunity.” She explains, “I’ve loved Loki’s arc over the last 10 years of Marvel. I just was so pleased that I got to be the one that goes back in with him.”

Herron continues, “But he’s from Avengers, so he’s in a very different emotional head space. A really cool question I wanted to explore in the show was, is anyone truly bad or truly good or in that gray area in between? I feel Loki lives in that gray area so often for so many of the films. That to me was really exciting — can he move past decisions that he’s made in his past or will he always be defined by them?”

Although Hiddleston has had other successes on the stage, TV and in the movies — including hits like The Night Manager and Kong Skull Island — Loki remains his breakout role and, for millions of fans, the one that defines the actor in pop culture. But even after inhabiting Loki for more than a decade (and perhaps more to come), Hiddleston is careful to separate himself from the character.

“I can tell you, I am not an iconic character from ancient Norse myth,” he says with a laugh. “That’s not one of the strings in my bow, as it were. (But) I found him such a fascinating character and I understand that he means a lot. He means a great deal to a great number of people and that something he represents is something that’s part of the experience of being alive. He is unpredictable and spontaneous and playful, but he’s also emotionally complex and there’s some fragmentation there.”

cnx.cmd.push(function() { cnx({ playerId: "106e33c0-3911-473c-b599-b1426db57530", }).render("0270c398a82f44f49c23c16122516796"); });

As for the appeal of Loki, Hiddleston adds, “I think his kind of chaotic energy is something that people are drawn to, as well as his vulnerability at the same time. Tricksters in all mythologies occupy this position, that you can’t ever pin them down. You can’t put them in a box or categorize them. It has been a real honor to step into those shoes for the time that I’ve been able to do it. Loki will live on in the minds of human beings for some time, I think, and I’m just a temporary passenger.”

Loki is now streaming on Disney+, with new episodes premiering every Wednesday.

The post Tom Hiddleston on The Evolution of Loki: From Villain to Hero and Back appeared first on Den of Geek.

from Den of Geek https://ift.tt/3wotHPf

[pooshnulooshnu]

Alright, most of the people I follow don't like Thor: Ragnarok, and it seems to be for good reason. I can sympathize with Loki, and how he was the center of every joke, but I wanted to show some highlights of the movie.

We got to see Loki as king. It may have only been for a few minutes, but it was still there, and we still got to see his technique. Loki isn't a violent king; he invested his time in plays and creative arts. He's respectful to his citizens (cue, "thank you, darling" as the handmaiden hands him some wine), and he built rails on the bifrost bridge, which I don't know why he did that, but it looks cool, right?

We get to see the differences in Thor's and Loki's style on Midgard. I mean, we all love the suit, right? Plus, Thor's "you look like a witch line," was pretty brotherly. I understand some people see that as condescending, but if you have siblings, you understand we tease eachother non-stop, so, to me, that line is pretty special. Also, the suit was amazing. You can not prove otherwise.

Doctor Strange. If you don't love Benedict Cumberbatch, there is something up with you because he's awesome. I've been wanting Tom and Ben in a scene together since I learned about War Horse, and, though I didn't necessarily like how it played out, I'm glad my wish came true. Besides, I can deal with Doctor Strange and Loki's bickering. I didn't like the portal situation, but find their additudes towards eachother to be pretty funny.

Hela is pretty cool too. I found it weird that they added her into the story as a daughter of Odin, given she's Loki's daughter in myth (I think), and I really wanted Thanos and her to have a thing like in the comics. Besides that, she was amazing. Cate Blanchett is by far one of my favorite actresses, and I think she portrayed the character really well. Plus, we got a lot of fanart of the Odinson trio together. (If only Odin wasn't the world's worst dad™, we could have actually had that)

Sakar was like a comic book brought to life. I know plenty of you could care less what Tikita Waititi says or does, but I know he purposely made Sakar look colorful and different.

This is probably as close as we'll get to a Planet Hulk movie, at least until someone starts either re-making the movies or the MCU goes off the alternate realities thing and makes a movie for it.

Jeff Goldblum gets 10/10 goldblums, my friend. I know the Grandmaster\Loki situation is a touchy subject, but when you look past that particular peice, we get a great character. We know the Grandmaster and the Collector are related, so it leads to the question of what the heck happened to their family? Why are they so weird? When did the Collector start collecting things and was it because of the Grandmaster? When did the Grandmaster get to Sakar and did the Collector ever go there? Do you think the Grandmaster and the Collector keep in touch? And if they do, does the Grandmaster know about the infinity stones? Do you think he took such an interest in Loki because of the Tesseract? And, yes, these are actual questions I'm asking, so if you know, please tell me.

Valkyrie is also a great character. I know she's meant to be, "more of a guy than the guys," but really who cares? We got a tough, flawed, awesome woman hero. Not to mention Tessa Thompson's confirmation that Valkyrie is indeed bisexual.

To add onto the previous comment about Valkyrie being bisexual, we got a pretty LGBTQ+ movie here. I'm pretty sure the Grandmaster is sexually active, no matter the person or species. Loki is most definitely genderfuild\genderqueer. Even Korg is canonically gay (despite Tikita saying he doesn't play him gay).

Bruce is adorable throughout the whole movie, and I will fight you on this.

We got to see Fenrir, the wolf, which I found was pretty cool, even if he wasn't Loki's son.

We got some wonderful Heimdall shots. I think he should have had more screen time, but we can see, even after Asgard has gone to chaos, Heimdall is loyal and reasonable, as he's always been. I'm really glad his character wasn't victim to any jokes or condescending comments.

Finally, the elevator speech. Before you freak out and start sending me hate mail, hear me out. This speech totally split Loki and Thor apart. The, "there is no Thor without Loki and no Loki without Thor," totally got demolished. But isn't that a good thing? Chris Hemsworth has said that he wouldn't bring Loki back, so Tom is on his own, which leaves Loki with so many plays. He doesn't have to be dependent on Thor, and he doesn't owe anything to Thor because Thor is ready to be on his own. Loki can build new, hopefully more stable relationships with other characters, and he can practically do anything. I don't know where the Loki tv show is going to go, but I really hope they use the elevator speech as a turning point for Loki.

[iamanartichoke]

magic headcanons in the sanctuary ‘verse

Or, I have come to a point in my fic where I needed to stop and write down the rules I’ve found myself establishing for How Magic Works. 

Disclaimer: This is not an exhaustive list, as I assume Loki has magic and abilities that have not yet been explored in canon; therefore, some of these headcanons may be subject to change. They also may be subject to change depending on if I change my mind, cause sometimes it be like that. 

Note: “Canon” refers to MCU canon. I understand that Loki may have more abilities in the comics but that incarnation of Loki isn’t pertinent to my fic portrayal. 

Cut for length.

1. Canon Abilities 

superhuman strength, durability, speed, stamina

cold immunity 

regenerative healing factor, longevity of life 

master sorcerer: illusion manipulation, presence concealment, shapeshifting, mental manipulation, conjuration, telekinesis 

other skills: genius level intellect, master tactician, expert combatant, mastery of spear and knife, expert piloting and marksmanship skills.  (Source.) 

2. Canon Abilities not included in Wiki

Teleportation.      -  Loki knows how to get from one realm to another without using the Bifrost. In TDW, he pilots through a portal; in Thor 1, however, he’s shown to simply appear and disappear              from places without a ship or any other devices. I interpret this as his being able to go back and forth between places with teleportation magic, similar to Dr. Strange’s portals (Loki’s portals are visible only to Loki). 

Invisibility.        - When Loki visits Thor in Thor 1, he’s invisible to everyone except Thor. I interpret this as Loki having the ability to cloak himself when needed, hiding himself either entirely or just from certain people.        - It’s also canon that Loki knows how to cloak himself from Heimdall’s gaze. 

Ability to handle infinity stones.      - Phyiscally, Loki can pick up the tesseract with his bare hands, store it in his pocket dimension, and use it as a teleportation device.      - It’s canonically stated in Avengers 1 that Loki has been taught the power of the tesseract. Loki also sent the reality stone away at the end of TDW, implying that not only does he have knowledge of/understand what the stones are and how they work, he also knows they are too dangerous not to be separated at all times. 

3. Magic and Asgard: My Interpretations of Canon (Plus Shit I Just Made Up) 

Asgardians as a race are all capable of magic.       - Thor 1 establishes that magic and science are one and the same (Thor, Thor 1).       - Additionally, “ Asgard is millennia beyond you in our pursuit of science and knowledge” (Lady Sif, Agents of Shield).       - Therefore, I interpret that scientific magic is something all Asgardians have access to and know how to use. 

There are two types of magic: scientific magic and gifted magic.        - Scientific magic is more technological, used for things like engineering, medicine, transportation, etc. This level of scientific development is such the norm in Asgardian society that most don’t even consider it magic at all. One doesn’t need any magical talent to use magical technology.        - Gifted magic, on the other hand, is more like an internal energy; Asgardians are born with it (so are Jotuns; it’s like how both species are very long-lived) and are capable of developing it (though many don’t).        - Those who choose to harness and practice the art of magic are the sorcerers (or seiðmaðrs, or witches, if you like). They are mostly women and their brand of magic includes spellcraft, illusions and trickery, transmutation, telekinesis, etc. Gifted magic is the type of magic that is generally scorned by the warriors when practiced by men.        - Loki explains it like this: “Magic was an inherent ability in Asgardians, interwoven so closely with their scientific developments that sometimes it was hard to distinguish the two. That said, it took hard work and great skill to become a seiðmaðr. Practiced by many, but mastered by few, his mother used to tell him. It was like dancing; anyone could move to the rhythm of a song, but dedication, practice, and a natural, ingrained talent were necessary to make it an art” (Sea, Ch. 9).       - This is why it’s possible for Dagny to have the potential to learn and become a sorcerer herself. In short, it’s not like the Force, where only certain people are capable of it. It’s more varied than that. 

Some Asgardians have very unique magic that cannot be learned.      - Some sorcerers are also “seers,” who have the ability to see into the future. Frigga has this ability, and Thor has the potential for this ability (as shown via his dreams of Ragnarok and the infinity stones; I think he thinks those prophecies were tied to Ragnarok, and doesn’t realize it’s a power he specifically can develop).       - Loki, notably, does not have this ability and makes it a point to say so, which is the basis of my interpretation that this particular skill is innate in some and not others, and can’t be learned.       - Heimdall, of course, has the ability to see all of the universe at all times. This is his gift from the norns, and cannot be learned.       - Thor’s lightning powers and ability to control the storms were also a gift from the norns (not to Thor specifically, but to the firstborn son of Odin). It can’t be learned or transferred; it exists solely in Thor.       - Finally, there is the Odinforce, which is strictly a tool of the kings of Asgard. When it gets low, it must be replenished by the Odinsleep. (Source.) My interpretation is that the Odinforce is the most powerful magic that exists, second only to the power of the norns.      - In later chapters of Sea, I plan to explore how Thor now also has access to the Odinforce, but he doesn’t realize it yet. 

4. Loki’s Seiðr

Loki’s magic is tangible energy.       - The more developed the sorcerer, the more tangible that internal energy becomes. I imagine Loki’s seiðr, at this point, to be so developed that it’s like a chemical. It rests in his core and flows through his veins; it’s an intrinsic, physical part of him, like a limb or an organ or blood.         - Like any energy source, the magic can become depleted. If Loki overexerts himself (usually by pushing himself to his limits or attempting a spell that requires a lot of magic), not only does his magic become inaccessible while it “recharges,” but because his magic is physically a part of him, being without it makes him terribly ill. He experiences symptoms such as nausea, exhaustion, headaches, etc. His mother referred to this condition as being “spell sick.”         - When he is spell sick, he can’t do advanced magic at all. He may be able to muster up enough energy for rudimentary spells, at the risk of making himself even sicker.       - Being spell sick does not affect his natural enhanced abilities, such as his strength or durability.

Loki’s magic responds to extreme emotions.        -   In TDW, after finding out about Frigga’s death, Loki clenches his fists and everything in his cell goes telekinetically flying. I interpret this as his telekinesis going haywire as a result of his extreme distress.       -  Likewise, when his emotions are beyond his control, the magic lashes out because Loki is no longer capable of controlling that energy. This is why lights and machinery shattered when he had a panic attack, and why little mage lights appeared everywhere when he was having sex with Brunnhilde (bc it was a particularly emotional encounter).        -  Extreme emotion can also fuel Loki’s magic. Spells and abilities can be performed at a more powerful level when Loki channels things like rage, grief, elation, etc into it. 

Some magic is visible to everyone; some is only visible to Loki.        - Some magic, of course, can be seen as it’s being performed. Mage lights, electricity, fire and ice magic, and so on - these are all things that everyone can see.        - Other magic is, again, energy - it flows, it ebbs, it gets tangled up, it hovers in the air. This type of magic exists on a level that can’t be seen except by those who know where it is. Loki, of course, knows where it is. He can also “pull” magic out of a bespelled object. In Sea, Dr. Strange enchanted a bracelet to bind Loki’s magic; Loki was able to visibly pull the magic from the bracelet in order to access it and set about dismantling it. He likened it to unraveling a ball of yarn. 

Miscellaneous.         - Some magic can be performed without a thought, like telekinesis or conjuring; other magic requires incantations and/or physical objects to work. The more advanced the spell, the more complicated the process.          - Loki has a veritable treasure trove of magical components, such as potions, charmed objects, spellbooks, and so on. He has several pocket dimensions and has been squirreling things away for years. A lot of his resources were lost on Asgard, but Loki has plenty more than anyone realizes hidden away. 

I’m pretty sure this is everything I’ve come up with so far, but I might make this its own page on my blog so I can add to it later. 

[simonjadis]

Anon I’m ASSUMING that these are from the same person; apologies if they are not

I would say that my feelings are similar to yours, but not quite identical ...

Disney’s handling has been imperfect, and some of the mistakes have been made the highest level (I know that people give Kathleen Kennedy a hard time, but if rumor is to be believed, some of the interference that made IX kind of weird came from higher than that)

for example, Kennedy said in an interview that she tries to find people who just make big, successful movies to make sure that these are also big, successful movies. I can understand that as being a safe bet from a business stand point, but that’s not the same thing as finding someone passionate about very specifically telling good, new Star Wars stories, which we did not really get in the Sequel Trilogy

(one of the most common theories that I saw from TLJ apologists was that people didn’t like that it was new/different than what they were expecting, which was really not the issue for me or my friends. Also it was just a speedrun of parts of Episodes V and VI)

I think that I’m “too close” to Star Wars to see it as a financial asset rather than a beloved universe full of characters and stories that I adore, but I don’t think that “literally just rehash the Original Trilogy for two movies and barely acknowledge any other part of Star Wars until IX” was a good idea

Rey deserved her own story. and Luke deserved to not be retroactively robbed of his

as for George Lucas, I do think that years of backlash over the Prequels sucked the fun out of it for him. Also, who doesn’t want four billion dollars? it was a sweetheart deal for Disney, of course

the sad thing is that this meant the end of Clone Wars, because Disney took one look at Lucasfilm’s budget and was like “OH NO YOU CANNOT SPEND THAT KIND OF MONEY ON A CARTOON” which is why Season 6 was paid for by Netflix and why Maul: Son of Dathomir was a comic

I love Star Wars Rebels and I’m not trying to knock the show at all, but the budgetary difference was palpable. Clone Wars did have it a little easier because of the Clone Troopers (all having the same face), but on Rebels, you notice that 90% of the Imperials are the same guy wearing a hat with his visor obscuring most of his face. market scenes show just a few people (but plenty of Storm Troopers)

the designs of the main characters -- Ezra, Hera, Sabine, Zeb, Kallus, Thrawn, Kanan, etc -- are great and loving and detailed and most of those change a little over time, but there’s a reason that we only see so many planets on Rebels. look at the huge armies and crowds in Rebels. my friend @drunkkenobi​ is the first who pointed out to me that in Clone Wars, you sometimes see lines of ships (Space Traffic) and each ship in line will be unique, distinct from the others

it’s not Rebels’ fault that they didn’t have that kind of budget. that’s also why their space battles (and space ships) never quite look right. meanwhile, for Clone Wars, if they wanted a particular scene or ship that went over their planned budget, all that they had to do was ask Uncle George

eccentric billionaires funding expensive media isn’t necessarily the most sustainable model for storytelling, but it sure worked out well for Clone Wars and for The Expanse

(Jeff Bezos personally called up the head of Amazon Prime programming, who had already been considering acquiring the extremely good but expensive show, and was like “hey the cast from this show is at a thing where I am, I’d love to just tell them that their show is saved, give me it?” and we saw as many new locations in Season 4 as we did in the first three seasons)

but streaming -- where you actually get money directly from customers who then, through their activity on your platform, show you exactly what they want to see aka what is keeping them on your platform -- offers a new opportunity for high quality genre media. remember, scifi and fantasy were EVERYWHERE in the ‘90s and the early aughts, and then because too expensive for regular TV unless they had huge audiences. only through streaming do we have these new Star Treks, The Witcher, and the real possibility of a new Stargate series

why do I bring up streaming? because

The Mandalorian goes to show that Disney can 100% do good Star Wars. Rebels was good, despite its budget, but can you imagine how much better it would have been if it had aired on Disney+

as with the DC movies (three of which are good and I’m also excited for Birds of Prey), the solution to the our-movies-made-a-lot-of-money-but-aren’t-strictly-speaking-good is literally just “let the people who do the cartoons make the movies”

and now we’re getting a final, seventh (half) season of Clone Wars! twelve episodes looking better than the show has ever looked!!

if you’re like me, you probably thought to yourself “gee, only 12?” and, cynically, you figured that it’s a trick -- announced at ComicCon in 2018 to build up the first wave of hype for Disney+

and it is ... but it 100% worked on me, I signed up for Disney+ and will pay anything for Clone War

my HOPE is that this is a test run to see if people really like high-quality animated Star Wars stories enough to continue with it. there’s only so much clone wars that one can cover (my suspicion is that we will see Ahsoka fake her death during Order 66 in these eps, so yep, that’s the end of the Clone Wars right there)

imagine a well-written series with everything that Clone Wars had in terms of content and visual quality, but it’s set after Episode IX. to my frustration, IX ends with effectively the same worldstate as VI which essentially means that nothing much happened in the Sequel Trilogy. but imagine a series set after IX. we could see a new set of (Force-wielding) characters. we could see Rey, Finn, Poe, and Rose during some episodes. Rose could finally get to do something that’s not an insulting fool’s errand (she deserves so much better!!!!!)

we don’t need a new Big Scary Empire/First Order thing, just organized crime and pirates and Hutts and bounty hunters and individual planet systems going to war as the characters try to assemble a NEW New Republic (gods I hate the unchanged worldstate)

now, I know that Star Wars Resistance is not ... reassuring. this is the only screencap that I have from it because I couldn’t get into it. it’s not the animation (I enjoyed Tron Uprising and Iron Man: Armored Adventures and this is the same kind of deal), but three things:

-I watch Star Wars for the Force primarily; other stuff can be cool but I need the Force

-I will never care about ships racing and really I don’t care about an individual ship flying; I’m a Command Ship kind of space nerd

-apparently the writing doesn’t improve much during the first season. people tell the main character to not do something, then he does it, and disaster ensues. that’s ... it’s fine, it’s fine to exist as a show, it’s just not for me

obviously, not all Star Wars media is for me, but when something -- like TLJ or the Sequel Series as a whole (even though VII and IX are enjoyable) or Resistance -- disappoints me, I would never accuse it of “ruining Star Wars”

Star Wars is a whole franchise. the breadth of canon isn’t all wiped away by some disappointments. was the MCU ruined by Age of Ultron? no. it was a bad movie but from the same franchise that gave us The Winter Soldier and Thor Ragnarok. hell, Dawn of Justice doesn’t “ruin” Wonder Woman or Aquaman or Shazam. bad movies aren’t contagious

for the past several years, the Entitled Dude crowd has felt empowered. they were radicalized in the altright/redpill/MGTOW/meninist/nazi/gamergate/comicsgate/etc spheres of the internet and now they just have a reflex where they see any sort of representation and decry it as “SJW,” which they also seem to think is a bad thing

in the same way that well-meaning people on tumblr can get radicalized into being antis/puriteens, people with certain vulnerabilities on reddit or youtube can get sucked into a world that tells them that they are the default and that other people existing is “political” in media and in real life, and that people being upset by outright cruelty towards them is both funny and means that the cruel person is the victor. they need therapy and studios need to not listen to them

unfortunately, sometimes there are movies that are bad despite having things like solid representation. Ghostbusters 2016 was a delight, but my friends and I with whom I saw TLJ (all of us queer feminists) left the theater angry. we’ve bitten our tongues a lot (even if it seems otherwise) because publicly criticizing the film too often leads some incel monster to chime in with agreement, and we’re just like

the redpillgate crowed et all is a natural ally of conservative white evangelicals, even though the former group is generally made up of New Atheists (the short version is atheists who hold socially conservative views because racism/misogyny/transphobia benefit them without using christianity as an excuse). it’s kind of like how terfs will side with conservative hate groups because, though they’re natural enemies, they both despite trans people just for existing

unfortunately, when you’re looking at who went to see a movie or who hated it, not everyone posts with an ID card saying exactly their demographic. which is only going to make studios like Disney even more nervous about including queer content in Star Wars and in the MCU (I mean real queer content with characters whose names don’t have to be searched on a wiki)

that was a bit of a tangent, but yeah. sorry if I missed anything

[machi-kun]

Thanks for answering my question! And I’d love an in depth explanation of the compatibilities if you’re offering!!

of course! it’s no problem at all, I actually have a lot of fun talking about stuff like this SJDFSKDJFHKDJFS Here’s a brief explanation of why I put them in that order:

1. Rhodey: I feel like this is pretty self-explanatory. Despite Rhodey’s attitude being a little more uptight at times, you can see, in canon, that he’s just as dynamic and wild and capable as Tony, they share a similar humor and they have genuine care and affection for each other. Even if they have bad moments, like in IM2, it’s never out of hatred or anything like that - it’s Tony acting contrary to their friendship on purpose, out of his own issues, not a demonstration that their friendship isn’t as strong as it seems. In fact, it’s only proof that their friendship is as strong as it seems that Rhodey is able to jump back to Tony’s side almost immediately as he realizes what is really happening, and no hard feelings are kept from either of them. Out of everyone else, these two are the ones who truly understand and support each other.

2. Pepper: Pepper goes second because even though she has learned to navigate through Tony’s personality and issues quite well, and they do seem to have a nice relationship, Pepper falls short in a place where Rhodey doesn’t, and that’s why she’s the second, not the first, on this list. Pepper really struggles to understand Tony’s motivations as Iron Man - which is to say, she tries really hard to help Tony with some of his issues, but she goes about it in a less than advisable way. It’s not the worse of problems, certainly not in this list, but it’s enough not to give her first place, because between someone who vehemently tries and fails to conciliate this part of their lives together, in comparison to Rhodey, who does it flawlessly, does indicate that something in their relationship doesn’t fit quite as neatly as the first one does.

3. Natasha: In the MCU, Natasha and Tony are so eerily similar it’s shocking. They both have the same kind of personality, they both are very good in keeping a tight hold on their feelings, but are hopelessly loyal, despite pretending they’re lone wolfs or whatever they want the world to believe they are. They also are adaptable, in a sense that if they need to change plans quickly, change sides, change perspectives, change everything to make a certain mission work, they’ll do it, even if it’s hard - they struggle to live on the line between being practical and being idealists, because they are both, and sometimes they make decisions that hurt each other, but they never harbor too many hard feelings because they understand each other far too much to not see the other’s logic when they try to analyze their decisions. What’s unfortunate about the MCU is that Natasha made one of those decisions at a very essential moment of the story, which makes her seem far more loyal to Steve than to Tony - and whether you believe that or not, it’s up to you, but she doesn’t do it out of dislike for Tony; she merely does it because that’s what they do, they adapt.

4. Bruce: Though Bruce and Tony have opposite reactions to things sometimes, with Bruce choosing to step back because of his insecurities and being far more hesitant for it, and Tony acting despite them even though it costs him, almost to the point of recklessness - they have a very deep understanding of why they do so, much like Natasha and Tony. Both Tony and Bruce share some very similar insecurities, guilt about hurting people when they’re not careful, and despite it all, they still feel strongly enough about it to fight and help, because that’s more important to them than their insecurities. There’s a lot of camaraderie in that. See that Bruce also goes along with Tony in AoU despite their small problems along the way, and also despite Bruce’s fears about Vision coming out like Ultron: because they both understand what they’re trying to do, they don’t doubt the other’s intentions, and even if Bruce is not willing to push himself as far as Tony does, that doesn’t mean he doesn’t understand why Tony does it.

5. Bucky: The thing about compatibility is just that we don’t always have the same amount of shared screentime for every duo, so it’s a little hard to figure out dynamics like this, since they interact so little and in such a specific situation. Based on what I know about these characters’ personalities, I also have to do some theorizing to figure out some more informative details from the dynamics. What I see from Bucky that would be a stepping stone for a great relationship between them is exactly their very careful approach to determine if someone is trustworthy or not. Bucky is in a bad mental state so he’s very cautious, but very open, to gather information - and when is Tony not that? Both are also staggeringly loyal, but Bucky is not loyal the way Steve is, despite their friendship - Steve is forceful, and Bucky is conceding. And guess what - Tony is also conceding. They share an unfortunate amount of trauma too, which, for better or for worse, really adds a layer of understanding between them, even if their history begins with a bad story, it allows a kind of companionship and feeling of protectiveness and community that only a few things in life do. If they had the opportunity to surpass this bad break and become friends - they would be really great friends. It’s a shame they never got the chance.

6/7. Strange and Steve: I put them in the same place not because they have the same problem, but because their problems are equally impeding - they both are too involved in their own plans to make concessions, and that’s something that causes problems with Tony. Tony concedes most of the time, but he’s incapable of doing it all the time, nor he should do it all the time. We haven’t seen enough of Strange for me to believe he has trust issues that run as deep as Steve’s do - he seems to suffer from the same brand of assholery and i-work-better-if-i-make-the-call attitude Tony did at first, but if Tony can grow out of it, there’s no reason for me to believe Strange can’t do it too - even though Strange is, by nature, more reserved than Tony. Steve’s problem runs a little deeper. He and Tony share similar ideals, and they’re both as pro-active, which would put Steve above Strange on this list, but at the same time, he has massive trust issues and we’ve already seen what kind of consequences those trust issues can have between them. I would almost say Steve gets over it thanks so some of his attitudes in Endgame, but alas, his ending contradicts a lot of stuff, so as it stands, it’s very ambiguous how exactly they would be capable of a prolonged, peaceful relationship. 

8. Thor: What makes me really upset about Thor sometimes is his lack of availability to be present and open with the rest of the team. Taika was the only one to get it right, I believe, but unfortunately, since Ragnarok only has Bruce around for us to test that theory, it makes it really hard to get a clear idea of what it would be like had Thor been emotionally available for the others too. I feel like they could get along, had the Thor we saw in Ragnarok continued - if that was the case, I would have put Thor all the way up next to Bruce, but seeing as canon cant make up their mind and changed Thor’s attitude and personality again for IW and Endgame, I have no choice but to assume Thor is simply not compatible for the kind of interactions with Tony that others can have, not the way he ended up being cemented as in canon.

9. Clint: Clint is, by far, the least compatible with Tony, from what I can gather from him. Though it seems at moments that they can be amicable (like the party in AoU) Clint is quick to change his opinion in a way that’s very intense, he can jump from complete mistrust to total attachment in a matter of minutes, and that’s not something Tony can handle, because if there’s something that fucks up Tony a lot is trust issues. Clint also seems to be very mistrusting of Tony in particular, and even if it wasn’t, and he would grant Tony the same “courtesy” he grants Wanda for example, to change his opinion and give the people he finds less than pleasant a chance - he doesn’t do it with an expression of genuine and vulnerable regret, as an apology should; either he doesn’t do it, or he doesn’t do it to the person who deserves to hear it, or he does it too late. Clint’s emotional availability is untrustworthy, and at times it almost seems like his loyalty is untrustworthy, so the way it stands in canon, I think there’s no way they could have had a better relationship than the trainwreck they had.