#(b/c *absolutely* no way they could be using that term if there wasn't some kind of a license in place)

[honestlyvan]

I'm not gonna lie, hearing that the Nintendo Switch Online Playtest is identified as a "strand game" has made me more excited than any video game news since Alan Wake 2.

[celestialmatcha7]

sfw alphabet | fujii k. ⋆ ˚｡⋆୨୧˚

cw: suggestive and fluffy fluff :)

!!! pure fiction for entertainment purposes only

A = Affection��(How affectionate are they? How do they show affection?)

Kaze is pretty affectionate. He shows his affection in numerous ways. He loves cuddling with you and giving you kisses all over. When you two go out, he loves holding your hand. When you two are sitting together, he would keep his hand on your knee or thigh. When you're feeling down, he would give you words of encouragement and share a funny story to cheer you up. Most importantly, he would play your favorite songs on the piano and you two would have a fun little karaoke party with each other.

He'd also love to travel with you. Quality time with his significant other is very important. Exploring new places with him is exciting for the both of you. He's glad to have someone like you to go.

B = Best friend (What would they be like as a best friend? How would the friendship start?)

You and Kaze's friendship would first start when you met in grade school. You were both in-band students. You both played the saxophone together. You two would meet up and practice together for band concerts. After graduating, you two would start meeting up to hang out. You and him would get to know each other and got closer with each other, because you two had so much in common.

C = Cuddles (Do they like to cuddle? How would they cuddle?)

Kaze is a big fan of physical touch. He loves having you close to him. You could be watching a movie on the couch and he would come crawl next to you and lay his head on your lap. He also loves it when you sit in his lap. He would wrap his arms around you and embrace your warmth against his. He would shower you with kisses on your jaw and neck while you're cuddled up against his chest.

D = Domestic (Do they want to settle down? How are they at cooking and cleaning?)

Kaze would enjoy the idea of settling into a pleasant home filled with music and laughter. He's a very great cook. He loves cooking for his partner. He would like to cook his favorite childhood dishes and he would cook some of your favorite dishes.

During the first year of dating, Kaze was kind of messy. He wasn't a big fan of cleaning all the time. He would see that you were often frustrated with his lack of cleaning around the house. He made himself more tidy and helped with the cleaning chores, because he didn't like seeing you like that.

E = Ending (If they had to break up with their partner, how would they do it?)

Kaze would struggle with breaking up with a partner. He would try as hard as to end the relationship on good terms. He cares about your feelings and doesn't want to leave you heartbroken. Kaze would bring his partner in a quiet and secluded environment, his eyes filled with anguish and determination. He would tell them that he cares passionately about them, but that circumstances have changed and he believes it is time for them to part ways.

F = Fiancé(e) (How do they feel about commitment? How quick would they want to get married?)

Kaze would get married in a day if he could. Instead, he would take his time before proposing to you. He doesn't want to rush you into something that you're not ready for. Whenever you're ready to settle down together, he will make the proposal very special and express all of his appreciation and express how you are his entire world.

G = Gentle (How gentle are they, both physically and emotionally?)

Kaze is very gentle with you. He can be rough with you if you'd like him to be. But the majority of the time, he's soft with you. He would rub your back and shoulders to soothe you. He speaks to you gently and uses kind words when you're upset or stressed about a situation that has occurred.

H = Hugs (Do they like hugs? How often do they do it? What are their hugs like?)

Kaze absolutely loves hugs. He loves to give you a bear hug and nuzzle his face in your chest. He loves your scent. He also loves wrapping his arms around your waist and pulling your back to his chest, leaving soft butterfly kisses on your neck. And when his partner gives him a back hug, he melts. He thinks it's so cute when you do this.

I = I love you (How fast do they say the L-word?)

You and him were 2 months into your relationship. You both were outside laying on a blanket on the grass at the park. It was a beautiful warm sunny day and the cool gentle breeze hits the two of you. Kaze looked over at his partner and he was in awe with their beauty and he never someone like you would make a man as happy as him. Without any thought, he blurts out "I love you, y/n". You turn your head over at him and looked at him with adoration and quickly followed after him. "I love you, too, Kaze"

J = Jealousy (How jealous do they get? What do they do when they’re jealous?)

Kaze doesn't get jealous of people easily. He has a pretty good self-esteem about himself. He doesn't like to compare himself to others. He rarely gets jealous of others. When he does, he gets quiet and has a low gaze. You try to cheer him up and give him reassurance. You tell him that he is perfect the way he is and that's why you chose to have him as your boyfriend.

K = Kisses (What are their kisses like? Where do they like to kiss you? Where do they like to be kissed?)

Kaze's kisses vary depending on his mood. You two could be cuddling and he could place small soft kisses on your neck. He kisses so passionately. In public, he tends to do cheek or forehead kisses. In private, the kisses are more intense. He's more desperate and can't get enough of you. He leaves kisses all over you from your collarbone to your legs. Overall, his kisses are tender, sweet, and indulgent. His lips taste like vanilla bean chapstick.

L = Little ones (How are they around children?)

Kaze is so cute when's around children. He talks to the kids in a "baby voice" and does whatever the kids want to do with him. He does it because he wants the children to like him. He's excited to have a family of his own someday with his partner. He can't decide if he wants two or three children.

M = Morning (How are mornings spent with them?)

Kaze is not an early bird at all. When you're trying to get up out of bed, he would try and tighten his hold around you.

"Baby, can you please stay in bed a little longer with me? I love your warmth. Pretty please y/n..."

You can't say no to his adorable face so you decide to stay in bed a little longer with him. In the mornings, you both like to cook breakfast together. He enjoys spending precious moments together with his partner.

N = Night (How are nights spent with them?)

Kaze is kind of a night owl. He stays up late sometimes when he needs to finish writing music. Many other nights, he's completely chill in bed. He simply loves being in bed with his partner. He would rub your back, legs, or feet if you felt sore anywhere. Your presence makes him feel comfortable and safe. The quiet time he spends with you in bed helps him fall asleep peacefully.

O = Open (When would they start revealing things about themselves? Do they say everything all at once or wait a while to reveal things slowly?)

Kaze isn't the type to spill out his guts with someone. When you start getting together more, he opens up about his ideas and stories. You two would have late-night talks and discuss things that would be bothering him. He loved how great of a listener you were and how you would console in times when he was feeling down and lost.

P = Patience (How easily angered are they?)

It would take a lot for Kaze to get angry with you. He can get irritated in some situations, but that was definitely different from being angry. He has boundaries and if those are broken then things will get heated.

Also, if anyone does anything to hurt you, they are done for. You are his everything and seeing you in pain causes him rage.

Q = Quizzes (How much would they remember about you? Do they remember every little detail you mention in passing, or do they kind of forget everything?)

Kaze has a pretty good memory. He knows what your favorite food, color, music genres, and even allergies are.

R = Remember (What is their favorite moment in your relationship?)

His favorite moment in your relationship was when he wrote a song dedicated to you. As he was playing and singing his song for you, he noticed that your eyes had watered up a bit. Once he finished, you wiped your tears.

"Kaze, I absolutely loved this. No one has ever done this for me before. You don't know how much this means to me"

He didn't mean for you to cry, but it made him happy to know that you knew you were very special to him. He walked away from his keyboard and gave you a big hug. At the moment, it was just you and him. You were the love of his life and he was one lucky man.

S = Security (How protective are they? How would they protect you? How would they like to be protected?)

Kaze is very protective over you. He is constantly supporting you and will harm anyone who does anything to hurt you in any shape or form. If there is a slight change in your feelings, he is immediately concerned and asks what is wrong. He will do anything to keep you happy.

T = Try (How much effort would they put into dates, anniversaries, gifts, everyday tasks?)

Kaze can be very romantic. He would buy you a gift here and there. The gifts he would give you are very personal and full of thought. He would take you out to your favorite restaurants and go to your favorite vacation spots to spend time with you. He would also tuck you into bed when you're extremely tired from a long day of work.

U = Ugly (What would be some bad habits of theirs?)

Kaze tends to get too occupied with his music and forgets about his responsibilities. He can get a bit opinionated at some times.

V = Vanity (How concerned are they with their looks?)

Kaze is concerned about his looks, but not too overly concerned. He makes sure to present himself well, but he doesn't overdo. To him, he cares more about the inner qualities of a person.

W = Whole (Would they feel incomplete without you?)

Kaze feels complete empty without you. You're the love of his life, his muse and his inspiration for his music. He doesn't know what he would do without you. Meeting you was the best decision that he's ever made in his life.

X = Xtra (A random headcanon for them.)

After a long day in the studio, Kaze loves it when his significant other plays with his hair and scalp. The way your fingers would run around across his scalp brings him utmost comfort. Many times, he would end up falling asleep in your lap because the scalp massage felt so good. He also likes when you braid his hair. Sometimes, you like to place pink bows in hair. You can't help it, because you think he looks so cute with them on.

He's like "y/n, I look so coquette, right now." lol

Y = Yuck (What are some things they wouldn’t like, either in general or in a partner?)

Kaze doesn't like a person who is constantly pessimistic about situations. He likes to think positively about life. He doesn't like when someone is being dishonest with him. Dishonesty makes him feel like he can't trust someone. I also don't believe he would like a partner who is very judgmental of others.

Z = Zzz (What is a sleep habits of theirs?)

There's nothing too unusual about Kaze's sleeping habits. Kaze tends to stay up late at night writing his music. His bedtime is usually 1 or 2 a.m. When he is sleeping he snores, but his snores are not too loud to the point where it disturbs your sleep. Occasionally, he'll talk in his sleep lol.

[navree]

Have you seen the theories that jace will support b&c theirs not point putting actual stock in fandom theories but it'd be a intresting way to give him a actual personality also out of all of rhaenyra's kids he's the most intresting choice to make into a asshole

I haven't seen it but to be entirely honest I'd be surprised if they do that. There has been a lot of effort put into trying to make Jace seem like this good, honorable, just king to be, a proto-Robb, a "oh isn't it so tragic that he never got to sit the Iron Throne" figure. It doesn't work because the writing is bad and doesn't work, but there's clearly an attempt. He's a protective older brother (allegedly), he's a defender of innocents to the point where even cousins he's never met before go to him for help (you know, so he can start a fight against someone who did nothing wrong and escalate it into violence and then be surprised when he and his dumbass little brother nearly killed someone due to their stupidity, at least Baela and Rhaena are allowed to be irrational due to grief, what's this moron's excuse for his actions on Driftmark?), he's studious and dutiful as seen in the way he's trying to learn High Valyrian (and still hasn't gotten it despite being a full adult by the standards of his time, those Strong genes gave him his hair but certainly not a brain), he's an honorable and kind person because he danced with Helaena that one time (as part of a pissing match with another dude and shows no care or concern for her and NO dumbass fans I'm sorry but Jace marrying Helaena wouldn't have solved anything she still would have ended up in danger and probably still suffered just as badly, just a bit later in life), he's a good leader because he came up with the idea to have the dragonriders fly to deliver Rhaenyra's terms to the realm (so am I allowed to say that he killed Lucerys? cuz I can say it if I'm feeling mean enough), he doesn't cheat on Baela with Sara Snow or even Cregan, he's all upsetti-spaghetti that his boring ass cardboard cut out of a brother got made a meal out of (can't imagine why considering that we saw one (1) single solitary scene together that wasn't even about them but about re-introducing Aemond and also Luke was such a nothing character that I remain impressed anyone feels anything about his absence). So him being on board with Blood and Cheese doesn't really fit into the characterization they've tried to give him and the version of him they're trying to impart on the audience.

What I'd honestly expect would potentially be the opposite. Rhaenyra, after some initial horror, likely trying to justify Blood and Cheese to herself, saying it's the cost of war, the Greens brought it on themselves, Daemon and Mysaria went rogue, the assassins clearly went off the rails so it's not really on her anyway, and Jace being the one firmly against it. Jace, who actually does know Alicent's kids better because they're of an age, Jace who remembers growing up with Helaena, Jace who used to hang out with and like Aegon, who looked to him for reassurance and guidance almost the way one might an older brother. And Jace is absolutely disgusted with what happened, and given that we saw some Looks he gave Daemon season 1, pushing very hard for Daemon to be brought to task for what he's wrought, only for Rhaenyra to say no (either due to legitimately not considering it a big enough deal or not wanting to turn her strongest military asset against her). And therein comes any rift, Jace doing his "honorable heir" thing and being appalled that nobody is seeing this for the crime that it is, and also completely unjustifiable considering how it has nothing to do with what happened to Luke anyway and coming into conflict over Rhaenyra essentially endorsing this and becoming complicit in her silence. I had an anon theorize about this a while back (like, November 2022 while back), but that could also create the opportunity for a wider rift with Rhaenyra in general, with Jace feeling like Rhaenyra's created a lot of problems that have had material consequences for him, like the loss of his boring ass brother, and trying to take her to task for it and this creating conflict (with an extra helping of Pain if they never resolve it before he gets punctured like a porcupine).

Now, do I think any of this is gonna happen the way I've lined out? Honestly no, after last week I do not trust these writers for shit and I do not believe that anything that comes out of this show is going to be good. There's a reason why it's Superman Summer for me and I'm gearing up to watch MAWS today rather than 2x02 (tho I will be on the lookout for grieving Aegon clips, I'm down for that). But I think my interpretation is a bit more likely than Jace being on board with Blood and Cheese.

[twh-news]

‘Loki’: Behind the Scenes of the Crumbling Time Variance Authority

Find out what Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Wunmi Mosaku, Owen Wilson, and Tara Strong all have to say about the TVA.

by Rachel Paige

[spoilers to Loki S01E04]

The Time Variance Authority sure seems like a cool and fun place to work! That is...until you start peeling back the layers of the previously unseen and unheard-of organization, and realize that they’ve been lying to everyone this entire time. Welcome to the TVA, y’all!

In Episode 4 of Marvel Studios’ Loki, “The Nexus Event," the truth starts to come out, and when it rains at the TVA, it pours. Where to even begin?

For starters, the Time Keepers did not create everyone working at the TVA, and it turns out the employees walking the halls and filing paperwork are all variants — with their memories scrubbed, of course. And if that’s not enough to swallow, the Time Keepers are actually robots and completely useless figureheads. Oh, and Mobius and Loki find themselves pruned at the hands of Judge Renslayer. That’s still just scratching the tip of the TVA iceberg!

So what’s it like when everything you thought you knew about your job turns out to be a lie? Marvel.com chatted with Gugu Mbatha-Raw (Judge Ravonna Renslayer), Wunmi Mosaku (Hunter B-15), Owen Wilson (Agent Mobius), and Tara Strong (the voice of Miss Minutes) about bringing the TVA to life, and what happens next in the series.

JUDGE RAVONNA RENSLAYER

Renslayer wasn’t always sitting behind a big desk in a big office at the TVA. “She has worked her way up to the top. She wasn't born into power. She started as a Hunter,” Mbatha-Raw tells Marvel.com. As viewers see at the start of Episode 4, Renslayer was the Hunter tasked with grabbing the Loki variant — aka Sylvie — from her timeline to stand trial.

Now that she’s in a higher position, she’s not going to veer off her straight and narrow path.

"She's really worked hard to get where she is, so she's not going to be reckless with the power that has been hard-earned for her,” Mbatha-Raw continues. “She, in some ways, is deeply indoctrinated with the ways of the TVA. She's completely conditioned by their thinking and the idea of the Sacred Timeline, and the concept of free will is quite alien to her. She's a believer. She believes in law and order, and it's done quite well for her so far in terms of getting her to where she is. She's not going to abandon her philosophy lightly.”

We see this in action when Renslayer realizes that Mobius has gone behind her back trying to get to the bottom of what happened to Hunter C-20. After a meeting with Renslayer, Mobius swipes her TemPad and discovers that the young Hunter was questioned, and in the process confessed that she knew they were all variants. And the person interviewing her? None other than Renslayer herself, who ends the interview abruptly. This is the sort of information Renslayer does not want to get out.

“It was fun to start off with everything being sort of very orderly and black-and-white for Renslayer. As her reality begins to crumble, we discover that alongside her. She has put everything into this. This is her whole world. Her career is her life.”

Renslayer isn’t going to let anything and anyone stand in the way of what she’s worked hard to accomplish, and that includes Mobius. Mobius tries to confront his superior about Hunter C-20, the variants, and the TVA, and in a shocking twist, Renslayer orders the agent pruned for being compromised!

“Her only friend, really, is Mobius, and she kind of betrays him,” Mbatha-Raw says. “Or she sees it as he betrayed her, and they have this massive schism. And you sort of think, gosh, where is she going to go now? Who's going to be in her corner? Who's she going to have a drink with at the end of the day. It's a lot of stress!”

HUNTER B-15

Someone else who has led their entire life believing in the TVA and what it stands for is Hunter B-15. The part of no-nonsense Hunter, originally written as a male character, ultimately went to Mosaku after her audition.

While reading the dummy sides (fake scenes for the audition), Mosaku and director Kate Herron determined the gender didn’t alter who Hunter B-15 is at the root of the character. “Despite being written a man, Hunter B-15 is a Hunter and works for the TVA. It didn’t change the scripts. I have free reign because she's new. B-15 doesn't exist in the MCU, so I really got to start from scratch and explore different ideas and themes, and take her wherever Kate and I wanted to.”

But, one thing the character couldn’t do? Be swayed by Loki’s charms. Mosaku was excited to step into this role, and not take any nonsense from Loki.

“It's very rare to have a [character], especially as a woman, [who doesn’t want to be] sweeter, nicer, or make people like you. She's not interested in that at all. And therefore, she's not interested in [Loki] — and Loki is very interested in that. He's charming and all that stuff, and it's all about luring you in. She just doesn't take any of it. It's not attractive to her. It's not intriguing to her. She's just, ‘Let's get the job done, please.’”

While Hunter B-15 starts off all commanding and tough, slowly she, too, begins to realize that not everything is what it seems at the TVA. After she’s enchanted by Sylvie at Roxxcart, Hunter B-15 has memories come rushing back to her — but what are they, and what did she see? That’s still a mystery for Mosaku, too, who explains, “I'm as intrigued as you are to find out what that backstory is.”

Whatever she saw, it propels her to take a stand against the TVA. This meant Mosaku went through training — in more ways than one, “They drilled us on the physical vocabulary of the TVA and the fight sequences that we had.”

At the end of Episode 4, Hunter B-15 comes to Loki and Sylvie’s aid when they come face to face with the Time Keepers, throwing the latter her machete (which she’s clearly stolen from Renslayer’s office). What follows next is a battle for power in front of the Time Keepers, one in which not everyone survives.

“We did have a trainer to make sure that we were physically capable of doing it all and not injuring ourselves,” states Mosaku. “I really loved that, because I love to box. I felt really strong and able to use my physical power in a way that I hadn't been able to before.”

MOBIUS

Agent Mobius is having a day. Not only is he watching his whole life and career crumble around him, but he then winds up on the wrong end of a pruning stick by the end of the episode. While he might have started off as a through and through company man when we first meet him, after Loki tells him they’re all variants, Mobius starts to think about where his true allegiance lies. (And if he ever had a jet ski??)

The biggest revelation in the episode for Mobius is not necessarily that he’s a variant, but rather that his closest friend, Renslayer, has been concealing the truth from him this whole time.

“The relationship between Mobius and Renslayer, it's the way you might have with your boss. Or when you're back in school with the principal or someone in a position of authority and having to sort of try to charm them so you're able to pursue your projects,” Wilson tells Marvel.com. “That's the dynamic between Mobius and Renslayer. She sort of loses patience with Mobius and with another one of his schemes. But, I think, she also sort of enjoys that he's a little bit of a rascal.”

That certainly might have been true at one point in time, but after Mobius swipes Renslayer’s TemPad, as Wilson continues, “by the end of that relationship, it has become something very different”

Mobius might have caught Renslayer in a lie, but it’s Renslayer who orders him pruned — and Loki witnesses the whole thing.

"The betrayal of Mobius by Renslayer is pretty shocking. And it's a little bit of a hall of mirrors within the whole series, that people aren't quite who they seem to be. In the same way that Loki, when he lands in this bizarre place called the TVA, Mobius will have sort of the same struggles. What is this organization? And is it something that is worthy of his devotion?”

MISS MINUTES

There’s one other very important person at the TVA: Miss Minutes! She’s not really a recording, and she’s not really alive, she’s sorta both! So what’s going to happen to the organization’s spokesperson as the TVA starts to fall apart?

Coy with her response, Tara Strong, who voices the perky clock, explains, “It's safe to say that Miss Minutes knows absolutely everything, and it's also safe to say I wouldn't mess with her too much.”

Recording for the character, Strong actually watched episodes (over video chat), and synched up her dialogue with the action in each scene.

“The show was already done before I stepped in, which was such a great gift,” she explains. “Had I gone first and watched a placeholder, it wouldn't have been as magical. But getting to sit there and witness the animation, and how cute it is and how stylized it was, and of course, to play off Tom Hiddleston, who's so brilliant, it was really a gift to have it all come together in front of me.”

For every scene, Strong recorded dozens of different versions of dialogue “to play with for the production crew to see what would fit in the best and what would make the most sense.” As the show was coming together, Strong knew she had the difficult task of giving Miss Minutes life and unloading “exposition while still making it fun and playful.”

“Everything she says is important and funny and interesting. I also love that even in the very beginning, when she's like, [Miss Minutes’ voice] ‘Don't hesitate to let us know how we're doing. We could explode you in a minute, but drop a line to let us know how you feel about it!’ It's like the perfect mix of who she is that she can be giving you such dire information with a smile on her face, and you still want to sit down and have a cupcake with her.”

Considering what she knows, and how many times she’s now dumped information, how else might she be able to step in and help Loki?

“She knows so much about the TVA, and it’s her job to relay this information to Loki,” says Strong. “[She needs] him to get past some of the things he's done [in order] to improve himself as a member of this universe, and how to grow and help. I [navigate] these moments with him, careful to not give away how much I actually know in the world.”

[otterskin]

I wouldn’t say Odin wouldn’t be cruel to him… I mean this felt pretty cruel to me:

Odin: Your birthright was to die as a child. Cast out onto a frozen rock. If I had not taken you in you would not be here now to hate me.

Overall, Loki’s family too, in different ways, said/did some mean things to him.

Man, I wrote a whooole thing about that, but yeah, that was a bit cruel, but I'd argue that in his mind, it was cruelty with the end goal of kindness (if also tainted by Odin's resentment at being rejected). It was a calculated action to try and shock Loki into A) Recognizing he wasn't owed better than everyone else, like he did to Thor and B) getting him on speaking terms with Frigga again while Odin cast himself as Loki's main antagonist. Which did work since Loki abandoned his attempts to push Frigga away after that confrontation and started speaking with her more honestly. It wasn't the best course of action he could have taken, but I understand why Odin felt he had to take it, especially since his attempts at a kinder approach failed so miserably in Thor 1 and he's got responsibilities as King and All-Father beyond that (plus the whole sick, dying and stressed thing). At the end of the day, that scene of Loki and Odin had two very similar people fronting in very similar ways, each pretending apathy and putting on the guise of an unrepentant ruler - setting things up for the end where Loki literally puts on the guise of Odin. They've always been reflections of each other.

When Mobius is cruel, it's for the purpose of honing Loki into a tool he can use as an arm of the TVA, and not for Loki's benefit in the slightest. He doesn't have a personal stake in Loki other than having studied him, unlike Odin. He's a trickster like Loki and Odin both, and has many similarities to both, but, as you say, he lets him vent - although I disagree that he didn't antagonize him in Episode 1, he absolutely did, by bringing up Frigga's death, by telling him he was a 'little pussy cat' compared to other big bad variants, that sort of thing.

However...

Episode 4 ruined everything.

Loki: You betrayed me!

Mobius: You betrayed me!

Loki: Grow up!

Mobius: You grow up. You know, it occurred to me that you're not really the God of Mischief.

Loki: Oh, here it comes. The folksy, dopey insult from the folksy dope. What am I? The God of Self-Sabotage, yeah? The God of Back-Stabbing?

Mobius: Just kind of an asshole and a bad friend. Yeah, chew on that for a little bit.

This is not calm and warm and level, without judgement and with compassion. Mobius is angry because he felt betrayed, he’s judgemental and has no compassion as he doesn’t even asks for Loki’s reasons first but just has Sif beaten him and telling him hurting words. And okay, maybe the idea is he’s having compassion because he’s not immediately pruning him but… and Loki is not even the one who teaches him he’s a Variant, he’s merely the first who says so, in order to believe it Mobius has to go and see C-20’s video.

Like Odin, he gets upset when he perceives Loki doubting his friendship. With Odin it makes more sense - Odin has constructed a large part of his self-image, particularly the nicer bits of it, on his conception of being Loki's father. With Mobius it makes way less sense. He's not Loki's father, hasn't known him personally for a thousand years, hasn't even known him for more than half a case. I understand why he doesn't believe Loki right away and goes to confirm everything for himself (I really liked those scenes, got to see more of the bureaucratic trickster at work when he stole the time-pad) - because obviously he's not really had time to build a friendship with Loki. He's never even really been himself with Loki, it's all been airs and manipulation. He turns to Sif's violence to subjugate Loki to manipulate him again, as punishment for 'betraying their partnership', which is...odd, because again, Mobius has had no time to build a relationship with Loki.

Yeah, they rushed the hell out of that.

A part of me justifies Loki's side of the relationship by thinking that Loki is extending the forgiveness to Mobius that he wishes he could extend to Thor, Odin and Frigga - he knows Mobius did him wrong, as did his family, but he can't reach them. Mobius already acts in a way that is meant to invoke Odin, although a far harsher, crueller, and more manipulative version of him than was true in the canon. I totally get Loki's mind drawing the line. He even says that he recognizes that Mobius isn't a very good man but that doesn't matter to him (which I totally get and makes sense for Loki).

But Mobius feeling that way about Loki? I dunno. At least it's Loki initiating the hug with Mobius.

As for Verity...the thing about Verity is that she's written as a great foil to Loki, one who I think absolutely could have worked in live-action. She's deadpan where Loki is OTT dramatic, she's realistic where he's fantastic, she's calm and collected where he's agitated, but she can also be funny in her own unique way, has her own story and relationship with the truth that's different than Loki's constantly restated and recreated narratives, and is generally just great in the bandinage department, bringing a flavour that Thor doesn't but that works in a similar way. I have a LOT of problems with the Agent of Asgard comics (as I do with all Thor comics), but she was never one of them. Such a highlight. She absolutely can go on to show up in other people's stories and still be a compelling individual, too.

Sylvie is not a good foil. She doesn't bring out anything new in Loki, doesn't compliment him, doesn't even really need him. They aren't interesting screen partners at all. Mostly because Sylvie herself isn't interesting. Verity Willis is so much more defined, and Loki contrasts against her so much better. Sylvie is just...well, as you said. Just sort of an angry action girl.

While I appreciate they didn't adapt the highly problematic Enchantress, they've found whole new problematic stuff to do with Sylvie that was a totally unforced error.

I don't need Loki to have nice friends who are nice to him. I actually really like the idea of a friend who's a manipulative bastard Loki's not really sure is a friend but that he treats like one anyway because it's the best he can manage right now. If that's how the narrative played it. But like you said, it seems to want to present Mobius as just so good for Loki, and Sylvie as fixing his problems with self-hate because now he loves himself, see? And that's not at all what we got nor a good message.

While I've no hopes for a Season 2 fixing any of this (I think we're going to have to ride this out like we did Thor 2), I do hope, like you do, that we build out of these ashes because there are some great ideas. I want more of Mobius being an awesome low-key bureaucratic trickster. I want more of Sylvie figuring out what she is and what she wants and being funny and weird as her backstory should have allowed her. But forcing these relationships to be happy-happy and things that FIX Loki is unhelpful and, I daresay it, unhealthy. Because relationships with others can help us help ourselves, but they should never be what 'fixes' us. And that's what they're trying to do.

I suppose I can't really turn to fanfic to fix my issues, either. Because I'll admit it, sometimes fandom gets too far into its own head about things as well. I can't stand it when fanfic flanderizes Thor, Odin, Frigga, etc. I don't enjoy seeing those characters made into something they're not. Like - too often Odin is portrayed as abusive, violent maniac in fanfic, or Thor as an idiotic golden retriever, or Frigga as a boring saint who can do no wrong. All of which are NOT the canon, and lack the subtleties I loved in the films. (Particularly poor Odin. There's a character this fandom needs to re-evaluate, because the toxicity and misrepresentation when it comes to that wonderfully nuanced character is suffocating). Having to dig through all of that is honestly exhausting and I don't enjoy doing it anymore.

I have found a few fanfic that do me good, but at the end of the day, the fandom feels fractured. I get attacked for my opinions and told I'm a terrible person for having them.

Honestly, I think I'm probably gonna withdraw for awhile.

MCU Loki Ep 6 “For All Time. Always.” intensive analysis

So that’s the end. No, actually it’s nota s there will be a second series so basically this episode too follows the same trend the other episodes followed, it ends on a cliff-hanger.

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