#and then makes Ronan drop him back to the airport immediately

[robobee]

I just thought of how absolutely hilariously terrible Adam would be to be married to and now I've changed my mind. I hope they never get divorced and I hope Adam behaves like a hateful miserable suburban housewife (he is a man with a job that regularly keeps him in the city) and Ronan continues to act like an equally jaded early 20s mother of 3

[movie-magic]

Loki: Every MCU Easter Egg In Episode 1

Loki has officially begun on Disney+, and Tom Hiddleston comes bearing plenty of Marvel Easter eggs in the premiere episode. Here's what we found.

The premiere episode of Loki is burdened with glorious Marvel Easter eggs, from potential future villain teases to skulking Skrulls. Even before the considerable success enjoyed by WandaVision and Falcon & The Winter Soldier, MCU fans were eagerly anticipating Tom Hiddleston's return as the God of Mischief. Now blessed with his own Disney+ solo series, Loki has all of time and space to bother, and the premiere wastes little time throwing Hiddleston from the Avengers' frying pan into the TVA's fire.

After using the Tesseract to escape The Avengers in Avengers: Endgame, Loki is swiftly picked up by the Time Variance Authority - a seemingly omniscient organization overseeing the entirety of time and space. Evidently not ones to take prisoners, Loki's fate at the TVA looks grim, but Owen Wilson's Major Mobius intervenes, handing the silver-tongued variant a reprieve. In the opening episode, Mobius successfully digs to the root of Loki's dastardly ways, breaking him down to (presumably) build him back up, all with the aim of enlisting Loki's services as an ally to hunt down an especially vicious variant murdering the TVA's Minute Men.

Loki's premiere is predictably heavy with exposition, and relatively limited in scope, mostly taking place within the walls of TVA HQ. Nevertheless, Michael Waldron (creator) and Kate Herron (director) pepper the 50-minute installment with an array of references to the Marvel comics, MCU history callbacks, and hints of the multiverse madness to come. Here's every Easter egg we discovered in Loki's "Glorious Purpose."

The Avengers Intro Sequence:

Loki's introductory scene is somewhat of an Easter egg itself, retelling the famous Tesseract heist from Avengers: Endgame. Much of the footage here derives straight from the 2019 box office behemoth, meaning no other MCU stars filmed additional footage or recorded new dialogue especially for Loki. With that said, a few extra Tom Hiddleston moments are spliced into the existing footage to show events entirely from Loki's point of view. The villain's Steve Rogers "search and rescue" gag is zoomed-in, and there's a closer shot of Loki waving goodbye to Hulk in the elevator, as well as fresh reaction shots during the Stark scuffle in the lobby.

An Iron Man Callback:

After commandeering the Tesseract in New York, Loki finds himself falling from the sky above Mongolia's Gobi Desert, landing unceremoniously in the sand below, and this scene might trigger a sense of déjà vu for longtime MCU fans. In 2008's Iron Man, Tony Stark escapes capture by creating a rudimentary suit of hi-tech armor. Flying to safety, the genius-billionaire-playboy-philanthropist also lands roughly in a remote desert. There's a symbolic correlation in how Iron Man marked the beginning of the MCU, while Loki is now ushering in a whole new chapter, and both begin with their protagonists in matching predicaments. Both characters also crash while evading incarceration, though only Loki immediately finds himself in chains once again.

"Burdened With Glorious Purpose":

As a man who rarely shuts up, Loki has plenty of wry MCU catchphrases, and one of his most famous would be "I am burdened with glorious purpose" from The Avengers. Disney +'s Loki premiere leans heavily into the line's popularity, with Tom Hiddleston repeating the quote on several occasions throughout the episode, the phrase becoming less sinister with every utterance.

The TVA:

The addition of the TVA to MCU canon was confirmed ahead of time via Loki's trailer and, sure enough, the paradoxical pen-pushers play a prominent part in the premiere. Although their motivations and methods are somewhat altered from the source material (as well as their aesthetic, which now sits closer to The Umbrella Academy's Commission), the TVA hails directly from the Marvel comic books. They were introduced by a 1986 issue of Thor that featured several time-hopping agents, one of which picked a random Earthling up for jaywalking.

A Skrull At The TVA:

Given their propensity to shape-shift and assimilate the forms of other races, it's not surprising that a Skrull might be lurking around the TVA's front desk. One of the MCU's green aliens can be spotted in the background as Loki gets marched in, and though it's not clear why the Skrull is present, the distinct lack of guards would suggest they aren't a variant. A timely reminder that Secret Invasion is right around the corner.

The Time Twisters:

As you'd predict, Loki tries running away. With minimum effort, Hunter B-15 (played by Wunmi Mosaku) clicks a device, and Loki is pulled back to where he stood moments earlier, effectively making escape impossible. These time twisters appear to be standard issue at the TVA, and have a vaguely similar counterpart in the Marvel comics called the Retroactive Cannon. Far more lethal than Loki's little clickers, these devices would rewind a person completely until they were unwritten from history. Like The Algorithm in Tenet, but less confusing.

Life Model Decoys:

For someone who spent many, many years unaware he was actually a Frost Giant, Loki probably shouldn't be shocked that some people don't realize they're secretly robots. Heading through the TVA's airport scanner, Loki passes the test with flying colors, though he remains perplexed by the idea someone could be unknowingly cybernetic, Loki's line is a nod to Life Model Decoys, which have appeared in both the Marvel comics, and Agents of SHIELD. These lifelike androids can mimic mankind so perfectly, the LMD itself isn't always certain of the truth.

Secret Wars?:

Whether you've accidentally arrived late for work, or just escaped a group of costumed vigilantes by seizing a glowing blue cube from the beginning of time, being labeled as a variant is confusing stuff. Luckily, the TVA has put together a short animation to fill quantum criminals in on the basics. The helpful Miss Minutes finally provides an explanation of the MCU multiverse, revealing how, long ago, separate timelines fought an inter-dimensional war for supremacy that almost resulted in total annihilation. Since then, the TVA has strictly maintained one single reality - the Sacred Timeline *echoes*. The history lesson bears some similarity to 2015's Secret Wars comic event, in which conflicting universes came together in Battleworld (the setting of the original Secret Wars), and attempts were made to streamline Marvel's sandbox.

The Time-Keepers:

The TVA's infomercial also confirms the organization are led by three Time-Keepers, who oversee the combined reality and dictate the proper flow of history. This big-faced trio were first introduced in the late 1970s, created from the sole remaining survivor of the previous universe's destruction. The mysterious overlords performed much the same function in the comics as they do in Loki, and possessed virtually complete mastery over time.

Kree And Nova's Attack On Titan:

As the animated exposition rumbles on, Miss Minutes (voiced by Tara Strong) uses "starting an uprising" as an example of something the TVA might potentially frown upon. The corresponding image shows two armies clashing, with the blue folk on the left appearing to be Kree, and the force on the right possibly the Nova Corps. Based on the spiky ruins in the background, the battle is taking place on Thanos' home planet of Titan. In Guardians of the Galaxy, Ronan confirmed the Kree and Nova Corps were at war for 1000 years - was the TVA involved somehow?

Nexus Events:

This week's lesson from Miss Minutes explains how stepping off one's designated path can create a "Nexus event," and spiral out of control to spawn countless alternate timelines that trigger another war. This word has cropped up several times in the MCU, first as an internet facility in Oslo (Avengers: Age of Ultron), and then as an antidepressant drug during one of WandaVision's fake commercials. The latter was most likely a reference to the Nexus of All Realities from the Marvel comics, which is essentially a gateway between every possible timeline. The TVA's Nexus events could take their name from the very same source.

The Timeline Diagram:

Throughout Loki's Disney+ debut, the TVA repeatedly use diagrams of a single flowing timeline with branches shooting off to represent unwanted deviations. MCU fans might recognize this from Avengers: Endgame, where the Ancient One drew something extremely similar while explaining the consequences of time travel to Bruce Banner. Perhaps Ms. One has visited the TVA herself once or twice?

Devil In The Church:

MEPHISTO. There, we said it. When Mobius asks a young girl who committed time crimes in 16th century France and the child points to a stained glass window depicting the Devil, Loki knew exactly what it was doing. WandaVision dropped several hints that Marvel's own Satan would appear, all of which proved fruitless, and Loki seems to be heading down the same hellish vein. Alas, there could be a simpler explanation. Mobius claims to be chasing an alternate version of Loki, and it's highly likely the child has mistaken the God of Mischief's famous horned helmet for the demonic horns of Lucifer.

Ravonna Renslayer:

Though her name isn't mentioned in Loki's premiere, Gugu MBatha-Raw's TVA judge is actually Ravonna Renslayer, who made her debut in a 1965 Avengers issue. In the comics, Renslayer is a human from the far future, most often a villainous figure associated with Kang the Conqueror. She certainly isn't a legal official sat behind a desk. One would imagine Marvel Studios has something more interesting in store for Renslayer further down the line.

Explaining Endgame:

During his TVA interrogation, Loki quite rightly points out that it was not he who meddled with the timeline. T'was those pesky Avengers who penetrated the Quantum Realm and disrupted the natural course of events in the aftermath of the Battle of New York; Loki merely picked up the Tesseract that fell at his feet. Unfortunately, this excuse falls on deaf ears, as Gugu MBatha-Raw confirms the Avengers' ambitious time heist was entirely sanctioned by the Time-Keepers. This exchange more or less clears up every single timeline wrinkle in the MCU, including Steve Rogers' reunion with Peggy, and Gamora from the past staying in the present. It's not altering time that irks the TVA; it's altering time in a manner the Time-Keepers haven't permitted.

Loki's "Wooing":

After Owen Wilson saves Loki from being "reset," the pair sit down for a more friendly conversation, but when Loki warns Mobius that cooperation isn't an option, the TVA officer retorts with, "even when you're wooing someone powerful you intend to betray?" Loki has betrayed a fair few people during his time, and Mobius' accusation could easily apply to Odin or Thor. Most likely, however, Mobius is alluding to Thanos here - a powerful figure Loki tried buttering up with intent to usurp him once the universe was brought to its knees.

Josta:

While not strictly a Marvel reference, it's worth noting that Mobius is a big fan of an ice cold Josta. Viewers of a certain age might not recognize this soda brand, but Josta is a genuine Pepsi product that was available in the late 1990s before being discontinued. An early variety of energy drink, there's evidently a few perks to hunting down timeline criminals. In Mobius' case, this includes sugary contraband.

Loki's Greatest Hits:

In a twisted version of It's A Wonderful Life, Mobius tries to change Loki by examining his choices in the past, present and future. Unlike the jaunty 1946 holiday classic, Mobius has access to a handy hi-tech screen which displays Loki's "greatest hits." The footage begins with the God of Mischief's defeat and arrest in 2012's The Avengers - perhaps not an entry Loki himself would've picked for the highlight reel. The screen next switches to Phil Coulson's death (which Loki definitely would pick), before moving on to images of civilian deaths from the Battle of New York, the gala eyeball removal scene, and the dictator speech, all from The Avengers.

D.B. Cooper:

More an Easter egg from real-world history than Marvel lore, Loki reveals the truth about D.B. Cooper - it was Agatha Loki all along! In 1971, an as-yet-identified man boarded a Boeing 727, held the aircraft ransom for $200,000, then parachuted out with the cash. Mobius' dive into Loki's past reveals that, thanks to a lost bet with Thor, the God of Mischief descended from Asgard to pull the plane heist himself as some kind of stunt. From Loki's hairstyle matching the real D.B. Cooper artist's impression to the smattering of bank notes left behind, there's an impressive attention to detail in this scene.

Infinity Stones In The Desk:

The Infinity Stones... Thanos would give his own daughter just for one. Entire worlds brought to their knees by their power. Humans turned into Gods at the merest touch. Gary from the TVA's HR department using one as a paperweight. Threatening Casey with a fishy demise, Loki finally gets his hands back on the Tesseract, only to discover even Infinity Stones are useless within the TVA's jurisdiction. To Loki's immense surprise, Casey's desk draw is chock-full of discarded Infinity Stones, most either of the Time or Reality variety (no surprises there). The scene essentially confirms that the power of these fabled jewels has led to more than a few timeline variant incidents over the years, but perhaps also undermines the once-unstoppable power of the Infinity Stones. Well, the Infinity Saga is over.

A 3rd Millennium Kang Hint?:

In its final scene, the Loki premiere might just be hinting at the future villain of Ant-Man & The Wasp: Quantumania. The MCU will soon introduce Kang the Conqueror, a major comic book baddie played by Jonathan Majors, and "Glorious Purpose" could represent the first step toward his arrival. Called out to 19th century Oklahoma, TVA agents find a piece of technology hailing from the 3rd millennium. Though it might be a coincidence, Kang hails from the 31st century, and is known for using advanced tech in his dominion of the timeline. The mysterious hooded figure is more likely a Loki variant than Kang himself, but since Ant-Man & The Wasp: Quantumania and Loki both deal in temporal themes, it wouldn't be strange for the Kang foundations to be laid on Disney+.

- Screen Rant

Loki releases new episodes every Wednesday on Disney+.

[emmerrr]

how about pynch where adam constantly steals ronan's clothes for barely existent reasons and has the most transparent excuses for it and everyone can tell they're ronan's clothes because they're too big on adam and fit ronan's punk aesthetic. bonus points if people at uni ask adam about it. love your writing :)

thank you so much! 

first of all, I’m sorry this took a while but after finishing my last prompt I took a little break. second of all, for no reason that I can fathom I was a little flummoxed by this prompt. I had no idea how to write it to the point where I nearly posted this ask with an apology that I couldn’t do it. BUT I persevered and I’ve sort of picked at it to turn into something I felt I could write, so it’s not quite what you asked for but it does involve adam wearing ronan’s clothes and uni. I hope you like it! [read on ao3 if it’s easier]

(also to the other anons whose prompts are still in my askbox, I haven’t forgotten about you I swear, and I thank you for your patience!)

- 

After a couple of years of dating, a fair few items of Ronan’s clothing had found their way into Adam’s wardrobe.

Some of this was accidental; a t-shirt Ronan had forgotten in Adam’s dorm after a whirlwind visit, a pair of pyjama bottoms that had got mixed in with Adam’s own belongings when he packed his bags at the Barns, a beanie hat Adam had confused for his own after an early start when he wasn’t quite paying attention to what he was picking up.

Others had been taken or left with clear intent.

After the Christmas break of Adam’s freshman year, Adam wore one of Ronan’s hoodies whilst Ronan drove him to the airport, a quiet understanding passing between them that Ronan wasn’t going to be getting it back any time soon. Adam had also knowingly taken one of Ronan’s black sleeveless t-shirts, for no other reason than because it was just so quintessentially Ronan, and having it nearby offered Adam an indescribable level of comfort.

Something else now in Adam’s possession was a shamrock green t-shirt with Kiss Me, I’m Irish emblazoned on the front that Henry had given Ronan for his birthday. Ronan had seemed bemused by the gift but Adam got a real kick out of it, so much so that Ronan started actually wearing it, albeit only as a pyjama top. Never in the daytime, never in public. After one of Ronan’s visits, Adam had been lounging in his bed feeling mightily sorry for himself and missing Ronan so much he could barely stand it, when he had tucked his hand under his pillow and found a handful of material. He pulled out the green t-shirt and smiled. Ronan had left it there for him to find.

With the exception of the hoodie, most of these clothes that were now under Adam’s care never left his dorm room. They were pieces of home, of Ronan, and if Adam wore them it was for his own comfort only. They were clearly not his and he had his own clothes, anyway.

That wasn’t to say it had never happened. On one occasion Adam hadn’t planned ahead well enough and got caught out on laundry day, having to wear Ronan’s black sleeveless tee for an entire day of classes. It was a little big on him and it had been too hot for a jacket so he couldn’t really disguise it, and Adam’s classmates had definitely noticed the sudden change in style.

“You look very, uh, punk rock today,” one of them said.

“Laundry day,” Adam said with a sheepish shrug.

“It’s his boyfriend’s top,” Adam’s roommate supplied helpfully with a shit-eating grin on his face. He had, of course, met Ronan and correctly pegged it as Ronan’s aesthetic. (In other words, black.)

“Yes,” Adam said, a little touchily. “But it’s still laundry day.”

It wasn’t that Adam didn’t like wearing Ronan’s clothes, it was just that they drew attention in a way that his regular attire just didn’t, and he preferred to keep them just for himself. 

Just for bad days.

*

Finals week was a special kind of hell.

Adam was well prepared for his exams because he worked hard, but that didn’t mean it wasn’t stressful, particularly when everyone else was also feeling a heightened sense of last minute panic; it seeped its way into Adam, too. It all boiled down to the fact that Adam was on edge all week, and by the time the day of his final exam arrived he was running on fumes.

He got out of bed at his first alarm, not trusting himself to snooze it even once. There was a couple of hours before he had to make his way over to the room where his exam was taking place, so Adam reasoned he could go over his notes for forty-five minutes, hop in the shower, then grab something to eat. He’d be done in enough time to have a leisurely walk across campus, nice and refreshed and prepared.

Adam packed his little rucksack with everything he’d need for the exam and left it by the door for ease of grabbing when he was on his way out, then he sat down at his desk where his notes were still open.

The next thing he was aware of was his phone dinging with an incoming message, and with frightening clarity he realised he’d fallen asleep with his head on his desk. He scrabbled for his phone to see his message was from Ronan.

- you probably won’t see this till after, but good luck. you’ll ace it einstein. call me later

The time at the top of his phone’s display read 9:46am, which meant Adam only had a little over ten minutes to make it for his exam’s strict 10am start time. If he was late, they wouldn’t let him take it.

“Shitshitshitshit,” Adam muttered furiously under his breath as he hurriedly pulled on his sneakers, grabbed his keys, his (thankfully) already packed bag, then ran from his room.

He made it to the right place with just under five minutes to spare, his classmates and other students taking exams at the same time milling around outside and looking over their own notes. The atmosphere was so quiet that almost everyone’s eyes zoned in on Adam immediately as he made his entrance from outside, doubled over with his hands on his knees and panting for breath.

He finally pulled up straight and took his bottle of water out of his bag, taking little sips until he regained his composure. When he had, he noticed that everyone was still staring at him.

“What?” he dared to ask. Surely they’d all seen someone running to an exam before; it was a regular occurrence. There was always one.

“Um,” one classmate ventured with a little smile, “overslept, did you?”

Adam shrugged. “Sort of. But I made it in time, so it’s all good.”

“I didn’t know you were Irish,” piped up another.

Adam tilted his head to the side, bewildered. “What? I’m not.”

“Adam, look down,” said the first, barely restrained amusement evident in her voice although she was clearly valiantly trying not to laugh, sensing Adam’s confusion.

Adam dropped his gaze and froze.

In his panic, Adam had forgotten that he was still wearing his PJs. Or to be more specific, Ronan’s PJs. His pyjama pants were the ones he’d accidentally packed at the beginning of the year, The Nightmare Before Christmas ones covered in a pattern of bones, bats and Jack Skellington’s head. To Adam’s utter mortification, the t-shirt was the bright green Kiss Me, I’m Irish one. Because of course it was, it had to be one so bold and ostentatious at a time like this in order to fully cement Adam’s humiliation.

Adam was luckily saved any further questions and stares and muffled giggles by the exam invigilator calling everyone inside, and although he gave Adam’s get-up a stern once-over and looked mightily disapproving, it wasn’t like there was anything in the rules saying Adam couldn’t take the exam in his pyjamas. It undoubtedly wasn’t the first time it had happened.

As he took his seat and tried to forget about anything other than his imminent exam, Adam reasoned that there really hadn’t been time for him to change even if he had realised what he was wearing in time. He pointedly ignored that fact that at least changing his t-shirt would have only taken mere seconds.

There will come a point in time, he said to himself, when I will think back on this day and laugh about it.

*

That point actually came quicker than Adam was expecting it to.

Once his exam was over, Adam hurried back to his room almost as fast as he’d ran out of it earlier. He put his bag down, fired up his laptop, then picked up his phone to text Ronan.

- I’m finished. Get on skype, I’m gonna call you in a sec

Once his laptop was sufficiently loaded, Adam logged into Skype and saw that Ronan was already online. He hit video call, then stepped away from his desk to grab his water bottle before Ronan answered.

He hadn’t made it back to his desk when Ronan accepted the call.

“Parrish?” came Ronan’s voice, tinny through the speakers. “Have you been kidnapped?”

“No,” Adam called, taking a sip of his water. “No, I’m here, hang on.”

“How was the exam?”

“Oh, good I think. There was a couple of questions that were worded a little weird but I think I answered them okay. No sense worrying about it now, anyway.”

“That’s the spirit,” Ronan said. And then, frustrated, “Will you come and sit down already, I want to see you.”

Adam smiled. “Okay I will, but when you see what I had to wear to my exam I want you to really, really try not to enjoy it too much.”

There was quiet static on the other end for a moment before Ronan said, curiosity obviously piqued, “Alright, Parrish. I’ll really, really try.”

Adam braced himself, then stepped into the view of his web-cam.

Ronan said nothing for a moment, but his lips quirked in a smile that was betraying his need to laugh. “Why—” he cleared his throat, “—uh, why did you have to wear my PJs in public? To an exam?”

“Because,” Adam said, sitting down in his desk chair, “I fell asleep and then didn’t wake up until you sent me that text, and I didn’t have time to change.”

“Adam Parrish,” Ronan said, mock horrified. “I never thought I’d see the day where you’d nearly sleep through an exam.”

“Yeah, well. It didn’t happen, so it doesn’t matter. Instead I got to have one of my classmates saying he didn’t know I was Irish, then the exam invigilator shooting me death glares for the majority of the exam. It was just perfect.”

Ronan went quiet again, and looked like he was biting the inside of his cheek.

“You can laugh,” Adam said with a resigned sigh, and it broke the camel’s back.

Ronan burst into peals of wonderful, contagious laughter, the kind that had him struggling for breath, tears of utter mirth springing in the corners of his eyes that were visible even through the grainy picture on Adam’s laptop.

He couldn’t help but laugh, too.

Eventually, he got more words out. “Okay, okay, it’s not that funny,” he said.

“Ohhh, Parrish,” Ronan managed to say between helpless little laughs. “I love you, but it really, really is.”

(A/N: I know, I know, Adam would never let himself cut it so fine before an all-important exam. indulge me. also, when I was in my first year at uni I accidentally turned my alarm off instead of pressing snooze, slept through an exam and had to re-take it in the summer. don’t be like me, kids.)