#They’re completely different people throg

[ramontism]

[hiddleloki]

*insert Mushu “I live” gif*

Ok, so I finally watched Loki and I loved it. Loki and Quicksilver are my fav characters and I was really, really mad at Marvel for what they did to my boy Quickie, but I’m still holding out hope that they somehow fix that at some point. I mean, hello, variants? That thing officially exists now.

Luckily Loki seems to be more favored by Feige/Marvel and seems like we’re gonna see lots more of him. Season 2 and possibly even MoM. Season 2 is old news as there were already reports of it actually happening last year, and this year in January Deadline confirmed S2 of Loki with Michael Waldron returning. But I was holding out hope for Loki making an appearance in MoM (I want to see Strange interact with Loki again) and it seems like there’s a good chance of this actually happening.

Anyway, some thoughts about the show:

- I loved the show’s cinematography. It didn’t feel like a tv show at all

- Soundtrack is just *chefs kiss*

- TVA Loki my beloved. I honestly think TVA Loki might be my favorite version of Tom’s Loki so far. This show finally gave us the opportunity to really delve deeper into Loki, who he is as a person, how does he form relationships with people outside his family. It was just so fun to see different sides of him, like making a friend, falling in love? I never thought I’d ever see that. Especially not after IW

- Really liked his reaction to watching his ‘greatest hits’ and realizing his family actually loved him. Loki was always kind of a softie who genuinely cared about his family and seeing his parents’ (and his own) deaths was so emotional

- Infinity Stones being used as paperweights for the TVA will never not be funny. It broke my mind and sent me into existential crisis just as it did with Loki. 

- Loki needs to give Casey a fish at some point. Or take him to an aquarium.

- Mobius needs his jet ski in season 2. I also want to know more about Mobius and his backstory. What was his Nexus event, does he have a family, what is his real name?

- I really liked his friendship with Loki and the fact that he’s canonically Loki’s first real friend. Loki needed a friend (the W3 and Sif were never really his friends, Loki just tagged along I guess) and I’m happy he finally has one

- I need to find out more about B-15, who she was, her real name...Wunmi absolutely killed it during “I looked happy.” scene. God, that bit broke me

- Ravonna was sus to me from the start and she’s also one of the characters I want them to explore more. Especially now since Kang and his variants are also involved.

- Sylvie is probably my favorite new character introduced. I knew Sophia’s gonna play Sylvie and she’s gonna have a large role, but damn I didn’t expect to love this character as much as I do. There’s so much more left of her to be explored and I think her arc in season 2 will be amazing

- I saw that Loki/Sylvie romance coming the moment Lamentis episode ended. There were so many hints in that episode, I’m actually surprised so many people viewed them as having a sibling type of dynamic.

- I know that their love story is not a typical straightforward romance, but also serves as a metaphor for self love, but I found the idea of Loki falling in love with someone who is an au version of him, but also isn’t him both interesting and hilarious. Also, it was adorable especially that blanket scene in the void. There’s just something adorable about Loki being a complete softie for someone else. You know what, I’m rooting for them. I hope they get their happy ending, they deserve it. 

- Literally every character in this show deserves their happy ending. Like, just the idea of the variants not knowing who they are, being brainwashed and forced to work for this organisation...*happy endings for everyone please*

- Majors’ variant of Kang, aka He Who Remains was everything and is right behind Sylvie as my new favorite character. The guy absolutely killed it and I need more of him and his (many) characters/variants right now. Plus I would’t mind if we see this particular version of He Who Remains again. 

- The way they made Loki come out as bi was also so well done and I’m so happy they acknowledged that. Disney is notoriously bad with LGBT+ representation so the fact that the creators of the show managed to put that in was everything. I heard the director was fighting real hard for that to be made canon and I appreciate her effort.

- We were shown more of Loki’s abilities. It was about damn time.

- Alligator Loki is the baby Yoda of the marvel verse. I loved the theory that there’s an universe in which Alligator Loki was adopted by Crocodile Odin.

- Classic Loki.....Richard E Grant stole that episode. God, I wouldn’t mind an episode that focuses strictly on Classic Loki, he was just such a great character and he broke my heart

- I wonder if Kid Loki will travel to the main timeline and join the Young Avengers at some point

- THROG

- I really liked how they established that variants are basically their own people. Their own beings, they each have their own backstories, autonomy, clear differences that make them THEM. They aren’t copies, they’re individuals. And that they aren’t genetically related, but that they share the same soul and role in their universes (basically temporal aura) because that will also clear up some confusion with upcoming multiverse movies, for example Spiderman

- I suppose Loki confirms that all Peter Parkers in NWH are basically variants of Peter Parker, but just like Lokis, they aren’t the same, which explains why they all look different and why they also have different aunts and families. It’s not DNA that makes someone a variant of a certain being, it’s a soul. A role.

- I really hope that that one rumour of various Stephens in MoM actually turns out to be true.

- Strange is gonna kill Loki and Sylvie

- Which brings me to the last take:

- Ralph is totally Peter. I am clowning yes, but lemme have this.

Overall, I really liked the show. I loved it in fact. It was really character driven and didn’t focus much on action, which is a plus for me, because I rather watch characters talk and interact with each other than action sequences. 

The bad thing is that now I’l have to wait at least 2 years to see what happens next. And I’m curious if there’ll be a bit of a time jump between both seasons.

[meadow-roses]

aske time :) for the writing asks: A1, A2, A10, A12, A14, your choice of anything in B, C8 ( :^) ), C11, D6

A1: Introduce the characters from one of your current WIPs in one or two sentences each. 

Okay let's gooo,,, I'll do The Keepers cause I haven't talked about that one as much. These aren't gonna be the best descriptions but whatever 

Ketsler: Quirky, fun-loving, everyone's weird grandpa, but also the most powerful person to have ever lived. He's old- so very, very old- and he's seen so much over all the centuries he has been protecting the worlds from Chaos, but he still makes an effort to slow down and appreciate the little things around him, because he knows better than most how fleeting life is.

Skylar: Skylar is from a world where faerie circles are real and witches turn people into frogs and trolls live in great, big castles and are slain by talking cats, a world where there's too much adventure to stay in one place, too many people to meet, and too many monsters to slay to stop running. He may be only a human (ooo mystery!!) but he is proficient in Wind magic and carries around a good bit of rune stones he and his pet dragon have found along his adventures. 

Felix: Felix is just a normal human from a small town after the earth becomes united under one world power. He wasn't born with superpowers like most soldiers are, but he was still skilled enough to join a special force working behind enemy lines when the rebellion made its move to free the planet from the tyranny that built this dystopian reality. 

Betty: A very sweet young lady, she's from a planet that was colonized by humans centuries ago. She may seem naive, but Betty can read anyone like a book and uses her gift to help those who are lost find themselves again. 

There's more characters but I'll just stick with those main ones cause I really struggle with descriptions xD

A2: Who's your favorite character to write and why?

Probably Joden? I haven't written most of my characters, but I looove writing his dialogue. He also makes me think so I can keep him clever lol

A10: What’s your character development process like? (As in how you develop them, not necessarily their development in-story)

I roleplay them! The more developed they are, the more I've acted as them. It really gets me inside their head to try and think like how they think, and that results in me being more equipped to "discover" why they are like that. 

A12: What kind of internal conflict does your character go through (want versus need, personality complexes or strong personality flaws/”fatal flaw” kinda thing)? How does this affect them?

It really varies depending on the character? For example Joden has this need to always have a plan, always be in control, and a breaking moment for him comes in when he finally just,,, doesn't know what to do. He's in over his head and the only thing he can do is trust Jacer to do what he can- knowing Jacer doesn't have things under control. 

So that's an example of a flaw that the character gets to overcome, but there also characters whose flaws are part of who they are. Skylar wouldn't be Skylar if he weren't stubborn. Ketsler wouldn't be Ketsler if he weren't arrogant. They never grow out of these flaws, they just learn to control them. Or I guess not be controlled by the flaw. 

This is actually something I think I struggle with for my characters, giving them those visable flaws. I see other people's characters that start out "bad" and grow into heroes, but it kinda seems like all my characters start out as heroes. 😅 I mean, they have flaws, but in comparison to other people's characters they feel really bland in that aspect. Idk

A14: Ramble about your characters. Anything special you like about them? Random little details you’ve added that you enjoy? 

Uh,,, I don't even know where to start I just love all of them for so many various reasons. Joden is just a clever little genius but he still can be so naive. He just has simple pleasures and it's not hard to make him laugh or smile and practically impossible to discourage him. He starts off just,,, wanting his old life back and then he sees what the world is like outside his little bubble and the bubble pops. He sees the atrocities for what they are and to be able to settle down again, he has to fix it. He can't just smile and do as he's told, he can't let the bad guys win. It I just his mother and wife and son he's fighting for, it's the entire wood and the idea of being actually, truly, free.

Jacer is so savvy, he knows what to do and what to say to get into and out of any situation, but at the same time he's just clueless when it comes to genuine connection. He's a princeling who's really never had a friend and now he's saving the world with Joden who only knows how to make genuine connections. Why does he have to keep hugging me??  

And Twylla who's ready to fight anything so she can get her clever idiot husband back? 

Adric who's just doing his best to be a good leader but everything keeps going wrong. He wasn't born to be a king, he wasn't born to lead an army, he always had his big brother to help him do these things and he's gone- he's gone and he's not coming back he messed up again so bad and yet here he is with everyone looking to him for answers and he doesn't know what to tell them. But he's got his friends, and he's got a good heart, and he genuinely cares and they're going to figure it out.

Skylar just keeps running forward and he never looks back at the past he just jumps from one adventure to another stopping the monsters and saving the day. He's got Gigi what more does he need? 

Felix is just,,, he's just such a nice guy. Over and over he stepped into the gap because someone's gotta fly that fighter, someone's got to fire that gun, someone's got to stabilize the bomb, someone's going to lose their life to ensure the victory, why shouldn't it be him? But he never actually dies, somehow he always survives and lives to fight the next day, and the next day and the next day, and then they win the war- the world is free. And even though he's been through so much he still hasn't lost that kindness, that love for all life that makes him himself. He still falls in love and starts a family and has his own beloved children… and even when he loses them he still doesn't become cynical. He still stands in the gap and is the one to fire the gun, to hold the hand of the one who's mourning, to scoop up the orphan child and carry them home. He fights, so others don't have to. Father to the fatherless and hero for all. Also he puts up with Skylar's time traveling craziness lol

And Ketsler? Unlike everyone else he never chose to be a hero. What are you supposed to do when you're a four year old boy and everyone tells you you're the hero they've been waiting for, praying for, you have to save them. It wasn't at all his choice to be born with the power of the universe running through his veins. To hold the Inness in his hands and bend reality to his will. But he didn't run away. He never hid from his destiny. He took the world onto his shoulders and never set it down. Only once- and he's never going to do it again. Never going to ask someone to fill in his role for him, it is his burden to bear… Except not anymore. Despite being multi-millenniums old, all that time didn't dull his appreciation for the little things. A baby's smile, sunshine through the leaves, the change of the seasons. The union of two souls in marriage, or the colors of the sunset streaking a foreign sky. He still sees these things, loves these things, fights for these things. Cause it's the little things he's fighting for, not just the big things. The precious moments and precious lives that make up the worlds. One of his apprentices asked him once, he'd been fighting for so long, when was it going to end? It's not his job to strike the final blow, to end the suffering and bloodshed, just to help. He saves the world, so that he can save it again. 

I have… several more characters I'd love to ramble about but that answer's gotten pretty long so I'll cut it off there. XD

B3: Do you have any plot twists? No need to describe them, just think about what kind of reaction you want from your readers. 

Oh I was just talking to August about this the other day. XD There is one plot twist in the Keeper's story I'm reeaaally looking forward to hehe I want to make people confused and then really mad when the whole thing is stretched out. >:) 

C8: Does magic exist in your world? Who can use it? How does it work?

It really depends on which WIP, but in general I like to keep magic restricted with rules. Joden's story and the Keeper's story are in the same universe (along with ThRoG) and follows that magic system. It's too complicated to go in depth here, but "magic" exists in another plane of existence, and things in the material world have varying levels of connection with it. It's kinda the energy that holds all worlds together and sustains life. The magic realm- the Inness is not a place where physical matter should exist, only spirits can walk there. 

Wizards are creatures that stand with one foot in the physical realm and the other in the Inness. Tevlar is destroying the world basically by turning it inside out- pulling the Inness out.

C11: Have you developed historical figures? How do you develop them? How in-depth do you go?

Oh yes. I am a complete history nerd so if any world EXISTS it has history, and history only happens because people. 

Sometimes it's a thought through process of "somebody needs to go here" and sometimes it's an npc from a time travel rp that took on more importance than I originally intended. 

It really varies how in depth it will go? Sometimes it's just a name to fill a spot and other times it's like, man I could write a whole book about this guy!

One historical figure would be Ares of the Pegasus. He was a powerful warrior that won a bunch of wars and united the different pegasus clans under his leadership and became the first king. He's really famous and people like naming their kids after him in a kinda superstitious hope they'll grow into attributes of his character. Ares is the male form of the name, Aris is for girls. It's like, the most common Pegasian name. XD

D6: Are there any writing styles that inspire you?

Probably the first writing style I wanted to emulate was Tolkien's, but I also really liked Andrew Peterson's? Tolkien is so dramatic, and Peterson isn't heavy on location descriptions, so I'm kinda aiming for in between I guess. 

[rayegunn]

Updated Asgard speculation

So, this is kind of an update on my last mega-ramble speculation post, you can go read it for the full (very long) explanation of WHY I think this, but the TLDR version is basically that I think that in Marvel, the lives/fates of the Asgardians are governed by an in-universe narrative with pre-defined roles that starts anew every so often (not the Ragnarok cycle, that's a cycle within this larger cycle, it's different) when there is a new King. So when Thor became King, a new cycle began, and right now all the characters are finding themselves in new roles. I correctly predicted that Thor would have to formally give up his old role and Mjolnir, to allow someone else to fill that role (he had been trying to do both roles, but that is not possible) and that Mjolnir was trying to force the issue. I think Loki will be his replacement. I know some people will find that hard to believe, but there has been a lot of foreshadowing and setup for that if you read close.

SO. The new bit of speculation comes after seeing the solicit for issue 18. This speculation has a bit less to back it up, it's more a couple epiphanies i had, and what i think could work, so I think it is not as likely as all the roles stuff, which has some very clear elements supporting it, but still. I just like writing these posts out to get all my thoughts in order, of other people like them too, that's good too. I've gone over this in smaller posts on CBR already, but wanted to collect it together again.

The solicit says that Throg is being sent by Thor on a "top secret mission" that only he can do. It at first seemed a bit odd to me, why Throg as a spy? You'd think if they needed a spy, they'd go for Loki. Throg's more about action than subterfuge. In terms of personality and tactics, he is basically a very small amphibian Thor, all about glorious battle and stuff. And what's his mission? Well, the mission at least seems clear, Mjolnir went missing the issue before, according to solicits, and no one seems to know where it went. Either it was taken by someone who could get in and out of Avengers Mountain undetected, or it just.... abducted itself, and flew off or something on it's own. I think there are things to support either scenario, and I think each has pros and cons. But in either scenario, I presume that because Thor formally gave it up, he can no longer simply recall it from wherever it is, like he did before. So there needs to be another way to track it down, if it's new wielder is not making themselves known, and they can apparently hide from Sif's sight. So how do you track it down if Thor can't call it back, and Sif apparently can't see it? Then it hit me. This is why it had to be Throg. What if a little piece of Mjolnir could be used as a sort of tracking device? Because that is what Throg's hammer is, it's a small chunk of Mjolnir. Could this little piece be drawn to the larger hammer? If so, then Throg makes complete sense for this mission, he truly is the only one who could do this, if we assume the most obvious solution, asking Sif where it is, and who took it, isn't working.

Though this brings up questions on the specifics of the mission, and how Mjolnir went missing. First of all, WHY can't Sif just go 'oh, there it is'? There are not many that can hide from her sight, and Loki is one of them. This is part of the reason Thor approached him to help with Blake, he wanted Loki to hide them from Sif. Is Throg intended to get Mjolnir back, or is he just there to find out who has it, and what they are doing with it? I mean, with the enchantment acting up, it could technically be taken by just about anyone, after all, and could be being used for good or bad purposes as a result. But there are very few people that have the ability to take it from inside Avengers Mountain, let alone do so while remaining undetected. Loki is one of those people, it wouldn't even be particularly difficult for him, even though to most, Avengers Mountain would be extremely hard to get into, something previously only done with inside help. so really I'd think Loki would be a prime suspect, particularly if Mjolnir was actually taken directly. But it is also possible Mjolnir flew off on it's own, to either act autonomously, or to find the person it chose.

I'm a bit torn on which would be better. If it just up and flew to Loki, (or whoever, but I do think he's likely) then it's a clear sign that's the chosen successor it wants, and shows that Loki doesn't have like, malicious intent, cus he didn't actually do anything. At least to the reader, anyway, I'm sure the characters would question it. And we have had some foreshadowing that it has chosen Loki. It seems to act up in his presence, and when Sif sent it to Jotunheim, it proceeded to fly to him and land at his feet, accompanied by blatant foreshadowing that this would be brought up again as 'a story for another time'. I don't think Sif would have sent it to Loki specifically, i think it was just a general destination of 'Jotunheim' and then it kinda... chose where it landed specifically. But questioning Loki's motives may make the better story, if he went in there and took it himself, and then had to work and prove he deserves it, rather than people just accepting the decision of the hammer. And it would show agency, though as with the TV series, the point may be to strip him of agency, since that's something he hates. So yeah, i can see merits to both scenarios. Tho, with Jane it just kinda called to her, but she still had to go there to get it, so it was kind of both.

But, regardless of the specifics of how it gets to him, Loki is one of the very few that could hide this from Sif and everyone else. And I could understand why he would want to, even with no malicious intent at all. He knows he is not trusted, and that if people knew it was him who had it, it would be likely that they'd try to take it away. There may also be an element of not wanting to hurt Thor, who seems to be ready to give up his old role, but is not quite ready to pass it on to someone else.

So then Throg. I think it could end up in a scenario where he ends up finding him, and tries to act as a sort of mentor to Loki. Like he finds the hammer, and then rather than fighting him or trying to take it back, he instead tries to make sure Loki does the right thing. I mentioned in my previous post, that I thought it would be a good idea to do the Hero's Journey with Loki here, and follow it very closely. The monomyth requires at least one mentor figure, and it could make sense for Throg to try to be that to Loki. But if it is Loki in the role, I don't think the point is to make him into a clone of Thor, but because the role has to update for the newest generation. The general beats will echo what came before, but specific details like methods used, and personality will likely change. So it will likely end up that Throg thinks he's giving good advice by trying to make Loki be more Thor-like, but that's not actually what's needed, and they both have to come to realize that. Still, he'd probably be able to offer some help, and it would be fun to see them together. But another possible mentor that's been set up is Iron Man, who is definitely more in line with how Loki operates. So he's actually probably be a much better mentor figure there. Though not without risks, as they could end up feeding each other's bad habits. I think that could be a fun trio for an adventure, Throg, Iron Man, and Loki.

But I had another thought, about echoing the past. Occurred to me that Cates said Throg would be appearing again after this, but not necessarily in Thor, and... he's writing Hulk. Loki used the Hulk as his pawn in the scheme that inadvertently got the Avengers together... so, if they're gonna echo the past... then Cates could do a bit of a crossover with Hulk for that part. Presumably with Blake breaking free and trying to get the Avengers to fight Loki, using Hulk. Or even just try to get Loki to fight Hulk. We'd probably get a 'puny god' callback in that case, but hopefully Loki fares a bit better here.