#he wasn’t part of the ‘friends’ that loki wanted to get back together in ep 5 because Loki didn’t rly know him well at that point

[musclesandhammering]

Pet peeve: nobody ever includes Timely in the found family :(

[kiteblue42]

Part 4 of - what the heck is going on with Mobius anyway?

S2e5 - the one with where they get the band back together

Disclaimer- I’m a single parent and found it hard to be objective watching this one. For me this episode was a very perfect reflection of how hard, lonely it can be to bring up children by yourself and how you willingly give up so much of yourself for them. They did this very well - I hope they don’t screw this up in the final episode.

A good life, but not a happy one

Mobius timeline life is good but not super happy. He comes across as struggling and lonely. Mobius works 6 days a week, he tries to sell Loki one of his jet skis that he no longer can use, he’s constantly being interrupted at work by his kids, the house is chaos and he had to leave the boys to fend for themselves selves while he was at work (therefore he has no friends or family to watch them or money to pay for childcare). This is a person struggling to keep it together, but he does manage to do so for his boys and he manages to stay kind and positive towards them. The boys are the top of his list of priorities “I can’t leave my boys”/ “I need to check on the kids” “I got to get back to my boys” “I’ll know”. This all speaks of someone who has given up his own wants for the kids and feels guilty about doing anything for himself.

Given the slightly flippant tone of “long gone” when discussing his wife I think it likely she left rather than died (or blipped) - as that’s not how a grieving widower is likely to speak (especially if he might be overheard by the boys).

The whisper of adventure

There are a number of signs that Mobius has a desire for adventure. His love of jet skis, the fact he immediately agreed to try out the time door, how much he loved the idea of being “Mobius.” (“Mobius is a pretty cool name”)

The idea of being your better self

It wasn’t just adventure for fun that’s calling his name though but also the idea of being something more. Mobius reacted emotionally to the idea of himself as someone that would “save my life when I first arrived”. His delivery of “I sell Jet Skis man” showed how little he thought of himself, but also a desire to be something more.

Loneliness

This exchange killed me:

Loki “you saved my life when I first arrived. You saw something in me I hadn’t seen in myself”

Mobius “Are you really my friend?”

Loki “I am”.

Just the way Mobius says this tell us how much he really really wants to believe he could have a friend like this.

Loki’s view of Mobius

Once again the major topic of conversation between Sylvie and Loki is Mobius (this is becoming a theme - and if they do get Sylvie and Loki together it’s just mad and funny).

Anyway this conversation tells us that Loki believed Mobius when he said the TVA was the “only life he knew” and that he “liked it”. Of course there’s an element of this being wishful thinking on Loki’s part, but he is pretty insistent that Mobius should be given the choice. So Loki thinks (at least until Sylvie talks him out of it) that there is a good chance Mobius would chose the TVA - and himself. And as Frigga once said (Thor: dark world) Loki is “.. so perceptive about everyone but yourself”. So I don’t think we should dismiss Loki’s perception about Mobius. (He is also pretty insistent in his conversation with Mobius that “this is not the life of the man I know”. And there’s enough for viewers to see “Mobius” is more at ease with himself than “Don”.)

Sylvie undermines this and persuades Loki he is being selfish. (Side note - Sylvie puzzles me this season and in particular in this episode- if you watch closely she sees that her McDonalds meal disappears and Loki’s drink in the bar disappear too - but says nothing to Loki and does everything to stop Loki from trying to fix it - is it just denial or something more sinister?)

Last episode

So some theory based predictions for Ep 6

Themes that still need payoff:

- order & chaos

- Partners & Friends & loneliness

- Hard choices

Th end of the last episode has me thinking we may get a happy ending because it would be narratively neat to leave Loki surrounded by his new TVA family - especially after the way last episode was concluded.

It would pay off the themes positively as follows:

order & chaos - Loki (chaos) working with TVA (order) to give balance

Partners & Friends & loneliness - Loki and his misfit friends get to stay together so they don’t have to be alone

Hard choices - this one worries me but it would be possible for a number of hard choices to be made that still ends up in a good place (even if it doesn’t seem like it will at the time).

Hard choices Mobius

I think this is aimed specifically at Mobius - Loki made his hard choice in Ep 5 when he was willing to let this team go. I’m hoping they will be able to square the circle with Mobius and his family, because he’ll *not* be ok without the boys or without Loki (& the TVA).

Given this is a time travel show with magic I don’t see why they can’t find an solution to that - because the issue is about not having enough time to both look after the boys and look after yourself. I’ll be super disappointed if they make this unnecessarily miserable by making Mobius give up either his fulfilling life & friends at the TVA or his boys. Though I also won’t be surprised to see this as a plot point. If they try to sell it to me as Mobius being super happy to return to his life I’ll be doubly annoyed.

In theory the boys timeline should be long gone so this choice should not exist, but they seem to be setting up this hard choice for Mobius in particular ( so maybe the loom explosion was meant to be a full reset).

Hanging threads & wild cards

X5 /Brad /Zaniac - is still in the TVA - is he going to cause chaos as they try to fix the loom?

Renslayer - is in the void - will she tame Alioth? Is Miss Minutes really gone or does she have another instance in the citadel at the end of time?

Kang - is HWR really behind everything? Are all the events just one pre-planned trap of HWR?

Sylvie - Sylvie knew more than she has told anyone (eg she saw the disappearance of items and said nothing). She has HWR tempad. Loki treats her like she has words of wisdom so we also tend to accept she is right or benign, but her last piece of advice was completely wrong. She has been acting pretty oddly all season too - what’s up with that? (Worth remembering she is a Loki variant and they are generally not to be trusted).

Romance

My own reading of Mobius remains that he lost his heart to Loki sometime around S1e2. By S1e5 he’d accepted this, but concluded it wasn’t going anywhere - so conveniently he didn’t need to exactly work out what the feelings were. Mainly because Loki was focused on Sylvie. This episode doesn’t change that since we don’t get any TVA Mobius.

Loki on the other hand did give more away this episode - and it was the first one (for me) where it looked like his feelings could be romantic or at least headed that way. Whenever he talks about saving his friends we all know this primarily means Mobius. I mean how much interaction has he really had with the others? The discussion in the bar was particularly instructive- he wants Mobius to have the choice (this is *after* seeing him on the timeline when he knows what Mobius would be giving up) and he desperately hopes Mobius would choose to stay with him. But Sylvie persuades him otherwise.

Sylvie - there is really no sign of the romance from last season left here. Loki does still greatly admire Sylvie. I’d say Loki almost hero worships her - and especially takes what she says about free will and choice as authoritative (as if she were an expert on it). This is consistent with his romantic feelings from s1e4,5&6 which seemed to grow out of his admiration for her radical / free spirit nature. But by this episode it didn’t seem to be romantic any more - rather a mentor / mentee conversation. Loki did not declare he wanted Sylvie back or even anything close to it - and it would have been the obvious time to do that.

Sylvie has never seemed particularly romantically interested in Loki to me. She kissed him to distract him in s1e6 and no doubt thinks he’s quite hot, but that’s all I’m getting. I actually like this about her as a character (she’s just not that into you Loki sorry). I hope she is a bit more villainous than we know (a bit more basic Loki if you will) otherwise she has been a bit of a spare part this season.

I am not expecting any romance from the last episode though mainly because:

(1) I don’t think there is time to do either romance option justice with all the other plot points to be resolved (2) romance is not central to the plot of season 2 - they have pushed the friendship / found family theme hard and that will do for plotting & emotional payoff purposes, and (3) if you want to be commissioned for season 3 you don’t resolve romantic tension. We’re on Tumblr so we all know there are a significant chunk of fans of any media that follow the stories for the romance aspect - and we all know this audience is likely to be very loyal, vocal on social media and will predictably turn up to watch the next season just to see how it plays out. If they resolve a romance arc either way too early they kill a lot of interest in season 3 - people are always more interested in “will they won’t they” than an established relationship.

[lokiondisneyplus]

A review of “Journey Into Mystery,” the penultimate Loki Season One episode on Disney+, coming up just as soon as I paper cut a giant cloud to death…

Journey Into Mystery was the title of the first Marvel comic to feature either Thor or Loki. It began as an anthology series featuring monsters and aliens, but Jack Kirby, Stan Lee, and Larry Lieber were so smitten with their adaptation of the characters of Norse myth that the Asgardians gradually took over the whole book, which was renamed after its hammer-wielding hero(*).

(*) The early Journey Into Mystery stories treated Thor’s alter ego, disabled Dr. Donald Blake, as the “real” character, while Thor was just someone Blake could magically transform into, while retaining his memories and personality. It wasn’t even clear whether Asgard itself was meant to exist at first, until Loki turned up on Earth in an early issue, caused trouble, and Blake/Thor somehow knew exactly how to get to Asgard to drop him off. Soon, the lines between Thor and Blake began to blur, and eventually Thor became the real guy, and Blake a fiction invented by Odin to humble his arrogant son. It’s a mark of just how instantly charismatic Loki was that the entire title quickly steered towards him and the other gods.

But once upon a time, anything was possible in Journey Into Mystery, which makes it an apt moniker for an absolutely wonderful episode of Loki where the same holds true. Our title characters are trapped in the Void, a place at the end of time where the TVA’s victims are banished to be devoured by a cloud monster named Alioth. And mostly they are surrounded by the wreckage of many dead timelines. Classic Loki insists that his group’s only goal is survival, and any kind of planning and scheming is doomed to kill the Loki who tries. But this ruined, hopeless world instead feels bursting with imagination and possibility.

There are the many Loki variants we see, with President Loki, among others, joining Classic, Kid, Boastful, and Alligator Loki. There are the metric ton of Easter Eggs just waiting to be screencapped by Marvel obsessives (I discuss a few of them down below), but which still suggest a much larger and weirder MCU even if you don’t immediately scream out “Is that… THROG?!?!?” at the appropriate moment. And all of that stuff is tons of fun, to be sure. But what makes this episode — and, increasingly, this series — feel so special is the way that it explores the untapped potential of Loki himself, in his many, many variations.

This is an episode that owes more than a small stylistic and thematic debt to Lost. It’s not just that Alioth looks and sounds so much like the Smoke Monster(*), that it makes a shared Wizard of Oz reference to “the man behind the curtain” (also the title of one of the very best Lost episodes), or even that the core group of Lokis are hiding in a bunker accessible via a hatch and a ladder that’s filled with recreational equipment (in this case, bowling alley lanes). It’s also that Loki, Sylvie, their counterparts, and Mobius have all been transported to a strange place that has disturbing echoes from their own lives, that operates according to strange new rules they have to learn while fleeing danger, and their presence there allows them to reflect on the many mistakes of their past and consider whether they want to, or can, transcend them.

(*) Yes, Alioth technically predates Smokey by a decade (see the notes below for more), but his look has been tweaked a bit here to seem more like smoke than a cloud, and the sounds he makes when he roars sound a lot like Smokey’s telltale taxi cab meter clicks. Given the other Lost hat tips in the episode, I have to believe Alioth was chosen specifically to evoke Smokey.

Classic Loki is aptly named. He wears the Sixties Jack Kirby costume, and he is a far more powerful magician than either Sylvie or our Loki have allowed themselves to be. He calls our Loki’s knives worthless compared to his sorcery, which feels like the show acknowledging that the movies depowered Loki a fair amount to make him seem cooler. But if Classic Loki can conjure up illusions bigger and more potent than his younger peers, he is a fundamentally weak and defeated man, convinced, like the others, that the only way to win the game into which he was born is not to play. “We cannot change,” he insists. “We’re broken. Every version of ourselves. Forever.” It is not only his sentiment — Kid Loki adds that any Loki who tries to improve inevitably winds up in the Void for their troubles — but it seems to have weighed on him longer and harder than most.

But Classic Loki takes inspiration from Loki and Sylvie to stand and fight rather than turn and run, magicking up a vision of their homeland to distract Alioth at a crucial moment in Sylvie’s plan, and getting eaten for his trouble. He was wrong: Lokis can change. (Though Kid Loki might once again argue that Classic Loki’s death is more evidence that the universe has no interest in any of them doing so.) And both Loki and Sylvie have been changing throughout their time together. Like most Lokis, they seem cursed to a life of loneliness. Sylvie learned as a child that a higher power believed she should not exist, and has spent a lifetime hiding out in places where any friends she might make will soon die in an apocalypse. Our Loki’s past isn’t quite so stark, but the knowledge that his birth father abandoned him, while his adoptive father never much liked him, have left permanent scars that govern a lot of his behavior. The defining element of Classic Loki’s backstory is that he spent a long time alone on a planet, and only got busted by the TVA when he attempted to reconnect with his brother and anyone else he once knew. This is a hard existence, for all of them. And while it does not forgive them their many sins(*), it helps contextualize them, and give them the knowledge to try to be better versions of themselves.

(*) Loki at one point even acknowledges that, for him, it’s probably only been a few days since he led an alien invasion of New York that left many dead, though due to TVA shenanigans, far more time may have passed.

For that matter, Mobius is not the stainless hero he once thought of himself as. While he and Sylvie are tooling around the Void in a pizza delivery car (because of course they are), he admits that he committed a lot of sins by believing that the ends justified the means, and was wrong. He doesn’t know who he is before the TVA stole and factory rebooted him, but he knows that he wants something better for himself and the universe, and takes the stolen TemPad to open up a portal to his own workplace in hopes of tearing down the TVA once and for all. Before he goes, though, he and Loki share a hug that feels a lot more poignant than it should, given that these characters have only spent parts of four episodes of TV together. It’s a testament to Hiddleston, Wilson, Waldron, and company (Tom Kauffman wrote this week’s script) that their friendship felt so alive and important in such a short amount of time.

The same can be said for Loki and Sylvie’s relationship, however we’re choosing to define it. Though they briefly cuddle together under a blanket that Loki conjures, they move no closer to romance than they were already. If anything, Mobius’ accusations of narcissism in last week’s episode seem to have made both of them pull back a bit from where they seemed to be heading back on Lamentis. But the connection between them is real, whatever exactly it is. And their ability to take down Alioth — to tap into the magic that Classic Loki always had, and to fulfill Loki’s belief that “I think we’re stronger than we realize” — by working together is inspiring and joyful. Without all this nuanced and engaging character work, Loki would still be an entertaining ride, but it’s the marriage of wild ideas with the human element that’s made it so great.

Of course, now comes the hard part. Endings have rarely been an MCU strength, give or take something like the climax of Endgame, and the finales of the two previous Disney+ shows were easily their weakest episodes. The strange, glorious, beautiful machine that Waldron and Herron have built doesn’t seem like it’s heading for another generic hero/villain slugfest, but then, neither did WandaVision before we got exactly that. This one feels different so far, though. The command of the story, the characters, and the tone are incredibly strong right now. There is a mystery to be solved about who is in the big castle beyond the Void (another Loki makes the most narrative and thematic sense to me, but we’ll see), and a lot to be resolved about what happens to the TVA and our heroes. And maybe there’s some heavy lifting that has to be done in service to the upcoming Dr. Strange or Ant-Man films.

It’s complicated, but on a show that has handled complexity well. Though even if the finale winds up keeping things simpler, that might work. As Loki notes while discussing his initial plan to take down Alioth, “Just because it’s not complicated doesn’t mean it’s bad.” Though as Kid Loki retorts, “It also doesn’t mean it’s good.”

Please be good, Loki finale. Everything up to this point deserves that.

Some other thoughts:

* Most of this week’s most interesting material happens in the Void. But the scenes back at the TVA clarify a few things. First, Ravonna is not the mastermind of all this, and she was very much suckered in by the Time-Keeper robots. But unlike Mobius or Hunter B-15, she’s so conditioned to the mission that even knowing it’s a lie hasn’t really swayed her from her mission. She has Miss Minutes (who herself is much craftier this week) looking into files about the creation of the TVA, but for the most part comes across as someone very happy with a status quo where she gets to be special and pass judgment on the rest of the multiverse.

* Alioth first appeared in 1993’s Avengers: The Terminatrix Objective, a miniseries (written by Mobius inspiration Mark Gruenwald, and with some extremely kewl Nineties art full of shoulder pads, studded collars, and the like) involving Ravonna, Kang, and the off-brand versions of Captain America, Iron Man, and Thor (aka U.S. Agent, War Machine, and Thunderstrike, the latter of whom has yet to appear in the MCU). It’s a sequel to a Nineties crossover event called Citizen Kang. And no, I still don’t buy that Kang will be the one pulling the strings here, if only because it’s really bad storytelling for the big bad of the season to have never appeared or even been mentioned prior to the finale.

* Rather than try to identify every Easter egg visible in the Void’s terrain, I’ll instead highlight three of the most interesting. Right before the Lokis arrive at the hatch, we see a helicopter with Thanos’ name on it. This is a hat tip to an infamous — and often memed — out-of-continuity story where Thanos flies this chopper while trying to steal the Cosmic Cube (aka the Tesseract) from Hellcat. (A little kid gets his hands on it instead and, of course, uses the Cube to conjure up free ice cream.) James Gunn has been agitating for years for the Thanos Copter to be in the MCU. He finally got his wish.

* The other funny one: When the camera pans down the tunnel into Kid Loki’s headquarters, we see Mjolnir buried in the ground, and right below it is a jar containing a very annoyed frog in a Thor costume. This is either Thor himself — whom Loki cursed into amphibianhood in a memorable Walt Simonson storyline — or another character named Simon Walterston (note the backwards tribute to Walt) who later assumed the tiny mantle.

* Also, in one scene you can spot Yellowjacket’s helmet littering the landscape. This might support the theory that the TVA, the Void, etc., all exist in the Quantum Realm, since that’s where the MCU version of Yellowjacket probably went when his suit shorted out and he was crushed to subatomic size. Or it might be more trolling of the fanbase from the company that had WandaVision fans convinced that Mephisto, the X-Men, and/or Reed Richards would be appearing by the season finale.

* Honestly, I would have watched an entire episode that was just Loki, Mobius, and the others arguing about whether Alligator Loki was actually a Loki, or just a gator who ended up with the crown, presumably after eating a real Loki. The suggestion that the gator might be lying — and that this actually supports, rather than undermines, the case for him being a Loki — was just delightful. And hey, if Throg exists in the MCU now, why not Alligator Loki?

* Finally, the MCU films in general are not exactly known for their visual flair, though a few directors like Taika Waititi and Ryan Coogler have been able to craft distinctive images within the franchise’s usual template. Loki, though, is so often wonderful to look at, and particularly when our heroes are stuck in strange environments like Lamentis or the Void. Director Kate Herron and the VFX team work very well together to create dynamic and weird imagery like Sylvie running from Alioth, or the chaotic Loki battle in the bowling alley. Between this show and WandaVision, it appears the Disney+ corner of the MCU has a bit more room to expand its palette. (Falcon and the Winter Soldier, much less so.)

[speedypandaweasel]

Loki Angst (3.5K Words)

Ever since Loki Ep 4 came out, I've been having a strong Maladaptive daydream to the ending credits song. So in true fashion, I'm going to write it here. Enjoy.

When reading, this story is in no way accurate to whats happened in the series so far, this was purely out of my imagination.

Song Inspiration - If You Love Me by Brenda Lee

~~~

Asgard's golden walls glistened proudly with streamers and its pillars blossomed with decorative flowers and fruit. The floor must have been cleaned until someone's fingers bled because when you looked down from the higher floor, you couldn't make up your mind as to which side of the arriving guests was the reflection. The small congregation was accompanied by floating champagne glasses and flowing fabrics of satin and silk, their laughs and high-class conversations wafted through the halls as you watched on in awe.

You knew you weren't exactly a part of this society, let alone this world, but you wanted to at least experience something like this. Watching from afar, you still needed to get changed into your dress for tonight. As for Loki and Sylvie, you hadn't seen them, so you wandered through the long hallways on your own.

Whilst wandering past small fruit and nut bowls displayed in the marble corridors, you thought as to what was happening between your two friends. Things had subtly changed between the three of you and even though they did their best, you knew something had happened between them. They would hopefully tell you though since you had known Loki ever since you could remember, and the thought of him keeping you out in the cold on a secret sent shivers up your spine. Sure, people can keep things to themselves but this felt - different, it put a strain on your friendship and you had the thought that maybe it was your fault that they became distant from you. Did you say something or do something that they weren't a fan of? You didn't like to think like that but it felt like your only option.

You pushed open your door and closed it behind you, making sure to lock it. The cold summers breeze met your face as you drifted over to the small window overlooking the wonderful scene that was graciously displayed below you. Accompanied by the royal gardens, you breathed in a sigh, as your eyes settled on the stars that trickled over Asgard like glitter on a golden trophy, and made sure to capture every single feature the Realm happened to have. You felt like you were home, yet your brain knew that you weren't. The reminder: The Bifrost. It sat in the very distance, its attention gravitating towards you like a persistent magnet, propelling you to come back to your true home and yet, you continued to push back, making sure you stayed here a little longer, just to see things out.

All the while, your hands sneaked their way to your neck, fiddling with a necklace that Loki gave you from your younger years. It became a habit of yours when you were worried about something, and the mischievous scamp had caught you out on it a few times, which then lead you to spill every worry out in front of him. He practically knew everything that you were afraid of and you were secretly proud to say that you knew things about Loki even Thor didn't know about. You two had a lot of history together and you couldn't imagine it any other way, but it wasn't until later that the two of you became a trio. Sylvie was a nice person but the resemblance of her next to Loki was oddly similar, and you still hardly knew anything about her - even to this day. But Loki seemed comfortable around her and when he was happy, you were. The three of you had a lot of fun together and tonight was going to be one of them again, having fun and messing around with anything you could get your hands on. It would probably be the fruit or Odin's staff like last time.

Contemplation was caught short when you heard a knock at the door. You tucked the necklace in your shirt, slid the window shut and closed the curtain. Walking over to the door, you opened it to a smiling Sylvie. Her black outfit was muddy all over and her hair was frazzled, yet her face held the joy of a child which was a new look on her.

Inviting her in, she strode in and sat on your bed, the clean mattress became mucky as her boots trailed in mud from outside. Her stubborn demeanour had dropped and she was talking about something that you didn't quite understand. You stopped her mid-sentence as you calmed her down, telling her to breathe slowly in and out. This was completely new and unrehearsed between the two of you as she started to wind down.

"Is this what you're wearing tonight?" She asked, "It looks nice" stroking the gown carefully.

"Thanks" You replied "Are you going tonight?"

"Yes, I am."

"Awesome! We can get up to all sorts of things tonight! We can steal the fruit, tip some hard liquor into the drinks, or maybe we could-"

"Actually, I don't feel like doing that type of stuff tonight" Sylvie interrupted you this time. "Could we have just one normal night? Like civilly?"

You were taken back. She had never said no to mischief before. This became strangely scary for you. Is this the same Sylvie you knew? She seemed so... mature.

"Oh, oh ok. That's fine." You said. "You better go and get dressed! You definitely need to go and have a bath!" You laughed.

Leading her to the door again, you let Sylvie pass through. An uneasy feeling settled as you watched her float down the hallway, the same grin plastered on her face.

What was going on with her? And where was Loki? He should be in the Palace by now? He was probably with Odin, or Thor letting guests in.

You turned back to face your room and walked towards your long vanity. Its clean mirror and your makeup kit sat proudly upon it, eagerly ready to be used. Sitting down at the station, applying your makeup routine always made you feel like you were going to a grand ball. Well, you were, but the feeling of actually going made butterflies break that pit in your stomach. You gazed at your own reflection, one of a goddess staring back at you. It was one of those surreal moments when you felt like the baddest bitch of them all, feeling like no one could ever stop you from doing anything.

The gown you had picked out slipped off the hanger pricelessly as you delicately slipped it on. Its expensive fabric clasped your figure elegantly as you zipped up the back, making extra sure that it didn't snag on anything. The makeup was wonderfully done and the hair was styled on your head just so, but there was one thing missing.

You untucked the necklace and layed it on top. Perfect.

Doing a small twirl with your heels on, you stood in front of the closets' large mirror for a minute, taking in your gorgeous outfit for the night. Tonight was the night you felt like a princess.

You grabbed your clutch as you glided out of the, now dim hallway. The main light now coming from the grand hall as it coaxed you its way, making your gown glisten with its warm appeal.

Finally basking in its glory, you peered down at the fully decorated hall. So many people had gathered as you watched on again, spotting Odin and Thor right below you, yet no sign of the other God. You stayed up the higher floor, weaving through the bannisters to see if you could catch a glimpse of the green cape. The orchestra played beautiful symphonies as you swayed on from above, fiddling with the golden chain. You slowly got carried away by the addicting melody as you glided down the grand staircase, blending in with the Asgardian crowd. People were beginning to look at you with admiration and smiles started to appear in front of you. You embarrassingly smiled and nodded back, trying to fit in with the night greetings.

You reached your hand onto a passing wine glass tray as you stepped to the outskirts of the crowd, allowing your heated face to cool and your breathing to slow. It had only been a couple hours and you were already flustered. But where were Loki and Sylvie?

You squeezed your way back through the large assembly as you crept up the stairs once more, getting slightly worried as to where the two were.

"There she is!" A familiar face grinned.

You turned and met with the face of Loki, his hair gelled back and that all too familiar smirk brought a chuckle to your lips. He stood at the top of the staircase, dominating the space around him. People had started to notice the young God positioned above them and started to utter whispers and occasional glances.

Your eyes studied his features like a book. The Emerald and Gold colour scheme never seemed to fade on him and his cape shadowed behind his tall and broad shoulders courageously like it always did. The addicting cologne lulled you into a warm embrace, his arms wrapped around you shallowly. Loki never was one for hugs but he didn't mind breaking his "reputation" for you. The gesture ended too soon as Loki scanned the grand room, his daring eyes searching for something. He turned to you.

Mischief chuckled. his eyes filled with amusement. "I should think so, she should be fine this evening, however."

"Have you seen Sylvie? I need to speak with her?"

"Uh, no I don't sorry, but she was acting a little strange earlier today. She was all smiley and a little too happy. Is everything alright with her?"

You nodded, taking his words with a pinch of salt.

"Speak of the lady." You muttered.

Sylvie glided up behind him and suddenly, everything went mute. Nothing but the sounds of your heartbeat entered your ears as you stared. The crisp sound of the orchestra was now muffled and guests discussions became mute. Your breathing shallowed yet you continued to stare.

Eternity flew by in a matter of seconds as you looked at your two friends before you.

Both were wearing Gold and Emerald. Sylvie's long dress complimented Loki's cape and boots and around what was around her slender neck was the cherry on top of this momentous cake.

You looked down at your hands that went to a necklace. All of its meaning had now been transferred to the new owner.

Everything had slotted together. Why Sylvie was smiling so much, Loki's mysterious absences, his short discussion, their secretive behaviour.

The noise came flooding back into your ears once more, making your eyes water. The chattering and clinking of glasses recentered you.

"Is everything alright?" Loki questioned. His arm now linked with Sylvie's, her face displayed the same curiosity.

Your mouth uttered something, yet nothing tumbled out. Instead, your body forced you to turn around and walk.

You walked. Just walked. Walked as far away as you possibly could. Your shoes took you further and further away from the Hall and outside to the gardens. More tears started to fall as you stupidly peered through one of the Palace's windows.

Your stained eyes met with the crowd making room for the event you didn't want to witness, yet couldn't help but watch. It made way for your two friends starting the evening. The urge to pull your eyes away from the situation unfolding became numb. You stood still as Loki took the small of Sylvie's back proudly as they began to waltz, the cushioned sound of the strings and flutes echoed outside as they floated around the room, their eyes never left one another's. Your body became weighted but you knew that one final flick would send you crumbling. Your hands clenched into fists and you couldn't do anything about it.

Loki looked so happy. Still, you weren't. Perhaps it was better for this to happen. They didn't fully know how you came to be in Asgard and thinking it through thoroughly, you didn't want to tell them, not now.

The God of Mischief never looked so proud to be in the centre of the crowd like this, so to keep this secret from you made your heart ache with either pride or betrayal, you couldn't make up your foggy mind.

The Hall became absent of one guest as they slowly walked into the gardens. The stillness of the night's air felt nice against your bare skin and the flowers bloomed gloriously around you. The tall shrubbery loomed over you, blocking out nearly all of the Palaces' light, but you couldn't escape the moon's view.

You strolled in and out of the beds, touching every delicate bulb that you passed. Relishing in its dainty scents, your path came to end with a wooden bench. Its worn planks provided support as you perched on it, resting your killing feet.

Now, what do you do? It was clearly evident that they were fine without you and to be completely honest with yourself, you knew the time to leave this world was drawing nearer and nearer.

The thought of leaving everything behind caused you to break down properly this time, that awful feeling of disgust and hurt pounded at your stomach as your throat was caught on itself.

The night's sky helplessly observed as the air blew colder and colder, the moons light leaving as you trailed back slowly.

Silent sobs resounded off the Palaces back stairwell and to your guest door. Heavy footsteps sounded on the damp carpet as the priceless dress was shrugged off, flopping on the floor lifelessly. The smudged makeup was wiped off and the styled hair was ruffled once more. Silence.

A piece of scroll and a quill were picked up and written on, the scratches of ink were all that could be heard in the small bedroom. Still, no words could be mustered.

A luggage bag was lifted from the top of the closet as t-shirts, jeans and essentials were folded neatly and zipped up. A sniffle was collected.

The open letter was placed on the bed and with a tearful kiss, so was the necklace.

"Thank you for letting me stay, but now I need to leave." A weak voice was finally projected.

The hurt walked down the hallway and back into the Palaces Grand Ball. It walked through the marble pillars, passed the infamous throne and out of the doors.

"Would you like me to carry your bag?" A smooth voice asked.

You whipped your head around to see Heimdall. Of course, he knew what you were doing. The man positioned himself humbly, his uniform reflected the warm lighting come from inside.

"Go and have one more look, I shall meet you at the Bridge."

You gave him a small smile and walked back to the large doors. You lingered in the doorway, eyeing the many guests and savouring the memories that were fading fast.

The vision fell on the young couple that were at the very far end of the room, They were talking to some of the guests, actually socialising. They looked so happy together, his hand draped around her like it was always meant to do that. Her eyes beaming with pride as she glanced up at him only made you cement your choice.

You smiled.

You took yourself on a little tour around the public square, seeing the many beautiful pictures of people houses, lavish fountains and well-kept marble streets. Each of its precisely cracked lines etched in gold, eventually directed you to the edge of the idyllic city. You laughed as you spotted the overly known spots the three of you used to meet at. You walked over to the tree as you looked on fondly at the permanent markings on its trunk. Your head lifted up to prevent an emotional collapse, you didn't want to make this harder than it should be, yet you were all the same.

Hours became minutes and you spotted Heimdall at the bridge, your suitcase grasped in his hand. Just one more time.

You made your final view on Asgard, from the Palace at the back from the small houses and shops at the front. Everything looked so much larger than from your bedroom window.

"Are you ready?" Heimdall said and offered his arm.

You chucked as you accepted, grandly strolling down the bridge to the Bifrost. The array of colours danced below you as Heimdall unexpectedly spun you around politely. His chuckle filled the air as you joked around on your way, forming even more moments that your heart desperately wanted to cling to. The evening's glitter shone above the both of you, customising spotlights on the two trying to make this special night one to remember.

"I am going to miss you Mid- Guardian."

"I'm gonna miss you too Heimdall."

The Biofrost expanded bigger and bigger until it was practically on top of you both. Your dance ceased to a stop as the gatekeeper placed a soft kiss on the top of your hand.

Footsteps bounced off the hollow walls as the two of you walked inside the orb. The cold interior made you shiver as your infinite time was now mere seconds.

"After you Heimdall" you laughed, trying to hold back tears that were starting to erupt again.

"Thank you, but before I forget, may I request you do something." He said. "Do you mind turning around?"

Confused, you obliged. Turning around, Heimdall's cold hands came to the back of your neck and left just as swiftly.

You stared down, your tired eyes widening.

"Heimdall how do you have thi-"

You spun back around but didn't come face to face with Heimdall.

You froze, paralysed to the spot as your breathing sharpened.

Your bags thudded to the Bifrosts floor and you crashed into him, your hands grabbed at his cloak as you sobbed into his leathered outfit. He dropped to his knees and pulled you in closer, his face burrowed into the crook of your shoulders. The jet black hair was becoming ungelled as the two of you stayed in that hug for a long time. His breathing became shallow and your shoulder was becoming damp. You pulled the hug in, infinitely closer, desperately not wanting to let him go. Your mind was scraping back at the fleeting moments as your exit grew bigger and bigger, applying pressure on top of the emotional wreckage to part ways.

Alas, you sadly tore away from one another, looking directly into one another's eyes, his green ones pierced into yours, pleading you to stay. Nonetheless, you both knew that couldn't be the case.

"I could stay here with you, you know"

"You know that can't happen Mid-Guardian. It pains me that you must leave. We have caused a lot of mischief together and I am so proud of the person you have become, even if you were under my influence." He choked, tears forming in his eyes. Your hand cusped his jawline, your thumb dragged along his cheek and to his eyes. His skin was made of pale velvet. His yearning tears were smoothed away from his eyes as he breathed out a shaky sigh.

You both dragged back yourselves up to your feet, his taller shadow looking down on you. He slowly picked up and passed you your luggage as you both locked eye contact for one last time.

He knew he had to let you go but for once in his life, this was the hardest goodbye he had to be a part of. You meant so much to him and the way he behaved tonight finally made him realise that no matter what he did or who he met, no one would be able to make him feel or experience anything like this the way you did, not even Sylvie.

"Don't forget me Loki."

"Oh my Dear, I won't be forgetting you for a very long time." He gave you a grin before wiping his eyes once more. "Now go and make some more mischief down on Mid-Guard for me."

You placed a sensitive kiss on his cheek as you edged closer to the Bifrosts vacuum. You turned around to admire the God of Mischief once more, a small tear leaked from your red face again.

Loki gave you a wink and then soon he wasn't there anymore.

Loki stood there painfully as you were soon out of sight, his mind racing with everything he should have said that never escaped his mouth.

He peered at the Bifrost that had now shut, hoping that for some miraculous reason that you would return, as his hand ran through his tousled hair. His breath became ragged once more as his knees buckled, his white-knuckled fists slammed into the floor, the impact caused the portal to shake slightly. If he didn't behave like such an arse hole tonight, maybe things could have turned out differently. how long did you know that you had to leave him one day?

His unanswered questions marinated as he regrettably crawled back to his feet and trudged back towards the festivities, his cape dragged behind him heavily. His bottled emotions made his blood boil as he let out a singular scream, cascading into the dark void of the Realm.

But if he loved you, then he had to let this happen.

[crazyaboutloki]

Just watched ep 1. The rest is under the cut, just in case 

Really mixed feelings here. I quite enjoyed a couple of scenes, especially the one in which Loki watches his “future”, sees himself in chains, sees his mother being killed, first when he is together with Mobius and then again when he is alone, and you can see all his true emotions. The moment when he witnesses his death is epic, this one I will be rewatching over and over later, even though it is really hard to watch but this is one of the few scenes where Loki really “feels like Loki”. It is heartbreaking to see him realize that instead of a throne all he will get is prison, dead parents, one of them he thinks died because of what he said, destruction of Asgard and in the end death.

Mobius is a master manipulator (”like you killed your mother?” - holy shit, I hate this dude so much) and a jerk. I disliked him from his very first appearance in the trailer and my opinion hasn’t changed on him even a little bit. I don’t even want to think about how they will become friends later in the series. I also hated Loki being vulnerable and opening up to Mobius, it was hard to hear him calling himself weak. It is sad that the first person Loki opens up to after many years of wearing a mask and creating an illusion of himself is not someone who truly cares about him but instead someone who has total contol over him and who just wants to use him.

“I can’t offer you salvation but maybe I can offer you something better”. That does ring a bell, doesn’t it?

The D.B. Cooper moment was kind of neat.

Actually I would call everything starting with Loki stepping foot in Mobius’s office quite good but there is a “but” - Loki keeps talking about himself wanting to go back to Midgard and ruling it, and then the 9 worlds and the universe and what not, becoming a God-King etc. This feels so off. As if he was still influenced by Thanos and the spear. Which he isn’t. No one mentions the hell he went through, the mental breakdown, the suicide, the torture, the conditions under which he “made his deal” with Thanos. It is implied that he tried to conquer the earth because that’s what he wanted, Thanos is in fact not being mentioned at all as far as I remember. Not by Loki and not by Mobius. So I guess this part of Loki’s past being erased completely. One of my biggest fears for the series came true.

The other thing that really disturbed me is that Loki, although he is supposed to be very smart, at times acts like someone who is - well, let’s go for not very smart (if I wasn’t talking about Loki, I would use a lot stronger word here). And in the 1st 30 minutes of the episode he acts in a not very smart way so often, that you start wondering if he isn’t being influenced by the scepter or something else after all, or maybe is just high. Otherwise this behavior is OOC through and through. I understand that the series creators just added all of that stuff to make the viewers laugh  but was there really no other way to do that except at Loki’s expense?

Anyway I am just confused at this point. Maybe the second episode will be better in terms of the characterization of Loki because it won’t deal with his past any more (or that much). Let’s wait and see.

And one more thing. I vaguely remember one of the series team saying something along the lines what Loki is going through is some sort of a therapy and also Mobius being called Loki’s therapist in an article about the series. If talking about therapy they indeed refered to what happened in episode 1, I have many questions (mainly, WTF).

[lokigodofaces]

thoughts on loki ep 2: the variant (spoilers)

under cut to not disturb your scrolling

Overall I enjoyed so that's good

Uh frick my mind blanked so sorry if things are completely out of order

I don't know, I expected the renaissance fair to be 2012 or 2021 or 2024 (Loki's time, our time, current time in the "sacred timeline"). So I was genuinely surprised when it was in 1985.

Ok, i really like the title card thing. And how the year scrolls around. It's a nice aesthetic touch there.

I wonder why the female Loki variant chooses her locations? Does she have a thing for renaissance fairs, French cathedrals, and Oklahoma?

1985 is when Back to the Future came out. And it's y'know, one of the most popular time travel movies ever. So I think they chose that year as a reference.

Again, not liking that the minutemen only have numbers, not names. It is giving me lots of Clone Wars vibes. If you don't know anything about Clone Wars, the clones are given number identifiers by the Kaminoans. Things like CT-7567. The clones would give themselves names (CT-7567, for example, names himself Rex). A really good sign throughout the series that someone is a sketchy person is if they call the clones by their numbers. The clones don't want to be known as numbers. They are people too, they deserve names, so they come up with all sorts of creative names (Rex, Fives, Cody, Tup, Hevy, Hardcase, Echo, Waxer, Boil, Wolffe, Jesse, Kix, Fox, Hunter, Wrecker, Crosshair, Omega, Tech, Matchstick, etc). The jedi respect this, and the only jedi that i can think of that called clones by their numbers is Krell, who fell to the dark side. the Kaminoans and other sketchy people all call them by their numbers and the clones don't like it. A big focus of the show is on the clone's agency (at the end, they all have brain chips that take away their agency and force them to kill jedi), and how the clones need to be respected. So for me to see in another series that people are only given numbers is bad. What's worse is that the minutemen are fine with this. They don't see it as dehumanizing or belittling. They are brainwashed into being okay with it. Which says a thing or two about the Time Keepers.

did. did the renaissance fair really have Bonnie Tyler's "Holding Out for a Hero" for their renaissance themed fight? Is this normal? Was it normal in the '80's? We saw later that the female Loki can do electronic stuff. Did she rig it to play it? For the vibes?

Also the stuff before the song was about fighting for a princess, and in the end she kidnaps C-20.

Okay, btw, I'm just gonna say Lady Loki for a while because no one has explicitly said Sylvie yet, so I'm going to refer to di Martino as Loki until she or another calls her Sylvie. Cool? Cool.

I was thinking the "Holding Out for a Hero" fight would be the roomba fight or something. It is such a good song that has huge potential for this genre. Why did they use it in a lame fight as that one?

When Lady Loki did the spell on C-20, it looked similar to what Wanda and Agatha can do. As in, it had similar visuals.

Loki reading a random magazine he finds while sitting with his feet on the desk bored out of his mind because he has to learn sh*t is a MOOD.

What is Miss Minutes? She can jump around anywhere, and pop into computers. But she can't be just a projection. She took the effort to dodge Loki swatting at her, so that may mean she was corporeal. She also could be something similar to the Kree's Supreme Intelligence?

So, did Mobius give Loki the shirt, tie, and slacks, but really didn't give him the jacket until they had to call him in? What? That makes no sense? Did the TVA not have any jackets with the variant label? Did someone have to custom design a jacket for Loki?

What is up with this show giving me things I wanted to see only in holographic form? First we saw Coulson's death, and now Loki in his Jotun form in a holograph of another variant.

Okay, Loki being someone the TVA has to constantly deal with is very on brand. Loki is a creature of chaos, of course he's going to unknowingly rebel against the sacred timeline.

Also, headcanon that the Jotun Loki we see is king of Jotunheim because that would be epic.

Also, for personal reasons I choose to believe there is a Loki variant that defeated the Avengers and immediately went queer rights.

Loki's reaction to there being many Loki variants. He's seen what his life is supposed to be. I think he is even more upset that the TVA often deals with him, that there are so many things that could have been instead if it weren't for the TVA and the "sacred timeline."

Also, I totally think Mobius was waiting for another Loki to show up to help him defeat Lady Loki. They get them so often, it makes sense.

Loki explaining the difference between illusion projection and duplication was great. And very helpful to me personally understanding lore. Also, Mobius, get your crap together. If you're a Loki expert, figure this stuff out.

Loki calling the TVA out on propaganda, we love that.

The wolf quote is actually very nice, I quite like it.

Okay, the TVA doesn't even bury or cremate or do any sort of ritual for their fallen minutemen, they just reset the timeline. Which to me seems like another way to show how little the TVA actually care for their workers.

There are statues of the Time Keepers in Ravonna's office. The camera pays extra attention to it. Keep reading for more about Time Keepers and cinematography choices.

What. What sort of relationship does Ravonna and Mobius have? What is going on there? I am really confused.

Who is this "analyst on the side?" What is going on there?

Ravonna is MEGA SUS. Along with that, the Time Keepers are mega sus.

She signs R. Slayer. Yeah. Slayer. Not at all subtle, Marvel. Letting us know that she'll do the deed if needed.

Mobius you are sending me mixed signals. What do you want?

Okay, Mobius saying Loki was a "cold, scared boy" and an "ice runt" and stuff was totally a jab at Loki being Jotun.

Mobius saying Loki is insecure because of Lady Loki is...probably true.

With the elevator, the camera stops and focuses on the Time Keepers.

The Creation of the TVA, the beginning of time, the end of time, all classified. That is sus.

Loki almost crying over Ragnarok was good. Let him cry over the destruction of his home.

Loki being the one to discover something the TVA had no idea about after a day is on brand for Loki. And it shows how the TVA really are vulnerable.

Mobius: Really? In front of my salad?

No but the object lesson was well done and actually did help me understand what Loki was talking about.

Casey! Casey drinks grape juice! Imagine how confusing this is for Casey though. Loki is captured, threatens to gut you like a fish (whatever that means), and now he's dressed like an analysist, stealing your juice box. Does Loki get Casey more juice?

Honestly, Loki looking at everything logically and scientifically is fantastic. Adds to the science = magic thing Marvel's got going on, since Loki is a sorcerer.

Loki saying volcanoes are cool is fun. I agree. Volcanoes mean the planet is geologically active, which means we won't die. Also, there is a volcano named Loki on one of Jupiter's moons. I wonder if the creators knew that and put Loki in Pompeii because he is already linked with volcanoes.

Mobius telling Loki to start off small and Loki completely disregarding that felt very personal to me.

Loki being absolutely chaotic and telling everyone they were going to die while speaking perfect Latin was iconic. I want more of that content. Let the man be buckwild.

Again, Loki finding something out after a day that the TVA never knew about is on brand.

"Be free, my horned friends, be free!" I love that way too much.

Mobius being obsessed with jet skis wasn't something I expected, but I'm down for it. Heck, even Loki admitted they were cool.

The discussion on beliefs is going to lead to saying the Time Keepers are bullcrap. Hopefully.

Grapes and nuts are "candy" on Asgard. So, when Loki was eating grapes in Ragnarok, we can interpret that as him eating M&Ms. Second, this might add to something I've seen around here. I've seen things about a book somewhere with Loki saying chocolate fountains are mythical (which is really funny to me). So, I guess Asgard really doesn't have chocolate.

Oh my gosh, so many apocalypses between 2047 and 2051...hopefully none of those happen in real life.

Roxxcart is probably part of Roxxon, something that has been around in Iron Man movies.

Lady Loki got the shovel thing from Roxxcart that she left in Oklahoma! The minutemen said it was from the early third millenia, which is where we are now! 2050 also fits that category!

I saw something about the file saying Class 8 hurricane...there are only 5 classes...which means this is a crazy storm.

Does B-15 want Loki dead? This is a legitimate question, because I think she does. Dead or pruned.

Loki looking around at the storm, I love it. This could be him loving science, or him missing Thor, since Thor creates storms. Also, at this point Loki probably things Thor dies shortly after him in the sacred timeline, so Loki would be particularly sentimental about Thor.

I love Loki drying himself off and not anyone else. And B-15 yelling about his magic. And Loki's motions are so fluid, it's so aesthetically pleasing, I love it.

Dudes, I thought B-15 was going to try to prune Loki when they were alone.

Okay, was Lady Loki bsing about the azalea sale, or does Roxxcart actually do that? I want to know.

Wunmi Mosaku did a really good job as Lady Loki, I loved it.

Loki being annoyed at Lady Loki and saying he understood how Thor felt, does that insinuate Loki can do what Lady Loki was doing?

B-15 and C-20 were both very shaken after being possessed by Lady Loki. I wonder how that felt for them? We've had different explanations of mind control/brainwashing/similar from Clint, Bucky, Daisy, Mack, Fitz, and Monica in the MCU (including AoS). I wonder what is specific to Lady Loki's possession.

C-20 kept going on about something being real. What was that about?

C-20 revealed the location of the Time Keepers to Lady Loki!

Lady Loki not wanting to be called Loki could be a sign she is Sylvie.

There's something weird where Loki's voice echoed around while the camera focused on Lady Loki. Maybe she's telepathic?

Someone needs to keep a tracker on people telling Loki this isn't his story in a show literally about him.

But, that does add to themes for his life, and how everything was always about someone else in his life. He was always a supporting character for Thor, for Odin, for Thanos. Now, even in his own story, everyone insists he doesn't matter.

I was wondering what the reset charges would be used for. I wasn't expecting a massive bombing of the sacred timeline! Wow! That was unexpected and I loved it!

Okay, this isn't from me, this is from New Rockstars. But to list all the places mentioned on chronomonitors, either bombed or not: Knowhere, Barcelona, Niflheim, Dartford, Phong Nha, Lisbon, Vormir, Thorton, Cookeville, Asgard, Rome, Sakaar, Barichara, Porvoo, Ego, Titan, New York City, Tokyo, Hala, Kingsport, Xandar, Beijing, Madrid, Portland, Jotunheim. Bolded are other planets. Those are almost all the planets visited in the MCU. So fun easter eggs there!

I like Lady Loki's aesthetic. The fingerless gloves, the cloak, I love it. And YES SHE ISN'T SEXUALIZED. So many genderbent characters are excuses to sexualize women. But Lady Loki is just as covered as the male Lokis.

Lady Loki just...left the time door open for Loki to follow...for a really long time...I'm worried he's running into a trap.

What is Loki going to do now?

Theory time y'alls: Lady Loki bombed the sacred timeline to flush the minutemen out of the TVA, leaving it defenseless. And she's gonna go after the Time Keepers themselves. We know she gets into the TVA from trailer footage, and that's what I think we're gonna see next episode. I think she (like the Loki we are following) is upset over the lack of free will, and she plans to change that. That's why she wasn't interested in helping Loki "take over" the TVA, because she doesn't want to become the leader of a new TVA, she wants it destroyed.

Alright, back to the Time Keepers stuff. They keep focusing on the middle Time Keeper. Even in the end credits they have a weird cut to focus directly on his face. I'm not 100% on this, but I like this theory. That face is similar to Jonathan Major's, the actor confirmed to be Kang the Conqueror in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania. Kang is a well known time travelling villain in Marvel. Maybe he is Kang, and is using variant versions of himself (that's a Kang thing in the comics) to mess with the timeline, and no one expects that from him. Also, Renslayer was his S/O for a bit in the comics, and they keep framing her in front of that one Time Keeper's face. I feel like this would be a good way to set up Quantumania and to show how sus the Time Keepers are.

Also, Loki was absolutely adorable the entire episode. And he got to sleep! Yay for him!

Again, I enjoyed, and can't wait for next week!

[canonicallysoulmates]

Here are my thoughts and opinions on the first season of Loki.

First of all, if you have not re-watched this season I highly recommend it. It’s only 6hrs, pick a day, get some snacks, binge the whole thing especially if you weren’t a big fan of it the first time around because re-watching it I noticed some things that I hadn’t before but I also found myself liking some things that I hadn’t the first time around. Which is why I recommend re-watching it, cause maybe it’ll be the same for y’all and you’ll find some new things to love, and end up enjoying some things you hadn’t before. It’s really a different experience to watch the whole thing together than when you watch week to week which makes sense cause MCU shows are meant to be movie-esque.

Now, I’ve spoken pretty positively about this show almost on the daily so let’s switch it up and start with the negatives aka the things that I personally didn’t like because while I enjoyed a lot of this show there are things I wasn’t a fan of and things that did irk me a lot; the first thing is very much a pet peeve: the title sequence, I’ve mentioned it before in passing but it reminds me too much of Gravity Falls and Bill Cipher, I gave it 6 episodes, 12 if you count the re-watches, and I just don’t like it at all, I get what they were going for but I don’t think it fits the show and I’m hoping they change it for s2.

But that’s a small thing, I can deal with that, the two (technically three) big things I didn’t like - and I think this is why episode 1 is my least favorite and to me the weakest of the season - is the way the show completely ignores Odin’s abuse and the effect that had on Loki, and the way he’s written in the first three episodes. I will go into detail.

I have no shame in admitting that I am pretty forgiving when it comes to this show and its flaws but the one thing I cannot forgive is how it not only ignores Odin’s abusive behavior but tries to paint him as a loving father and like Loki was the one in the wrong using the most insulting way possible which is that scene in Ragnarok where Odin tells his sons he loves them as if an ‘I love you’ undid years of abuse and bad parenting; it shouldn’t surprise me that they did this because the mcu does have a history and a pattern of being abuse apologists like portraying Thanos killing Gamora to get the soul stone as him loving her, or completely ignoring the horrible father that Howard Stark was. But it still really pisses me off that this show in which a big theme is exploring Loki psychologically and emotionally doesn’t even make mention of what a horrible father Odin was! And it tries to make it seem that just because Loki heard his father say a version of him that he loves him, that Loki suddenly thinks of him as a loving parent (referring to that line in episode 5 where he’s talking to Sylvie and says he has betrayed everyone who has loved him and mentions his asshole of a father instead of his mother!). I didn’t need them to go into details about this, but I did want them to call abuse abuse, and acknowledge Odin was a bad father. To me this is the biggest sin so far of this series. It doesn’t surprise me but it does disappoint me.

Connected to this, and in episode 1 we stay, is the “psychological exploration” of this character. I know after episode 1 a lot of fans were all “omg Loki finally got some therapy 😭” and then there’s me in the corner, shaking my head and saying no he didn’t, not at all, not even close. There was no therapy. And there was zero character exploration. I like Mobius but he is no Linda Martin.

All that happened was Loki being shown the consequences of his actions and being directly asked multiple times if he likes hurting people which of course he doesn’t, that’s not therapy at no point did Loki’s trauma get addressed, at no point did Loki get walked through that stuff or asked why he is how he is or what happened to change him from someone who was just mischievous to someone who caused harm.

Sorry to burst y’alls bubble but Loki did not get therapy in episode 1. Change Mobius lines about how Loki is just meant to cause pain and suffering and death for “imagined slights” and you’d have pretty much the same as every other MCU movie. At most what he got was an intervention to help him realize he didn’t want to be a bad person. Intervention and therapy are not the same thing.

And again, not surprised. If the mcu doesn’t properly explore their main, multiple movie having characters trauma and issues why were we expecting them to do it with Loki? Gotta keep those expectations in check. And in part I understand that the writers had a limited amount of time and they wanted to jump right into things but if they were gonna have only one episode with an emphasis on this they could have done a much better job while still jumping into the main story and moving on to character growth. To me this is the second biggest sin. And why episode 1 is ultimately my least favorite.

Last but not least, and something I can be more lenient and forgiving about but I still don’t like is the way Loki was written in the first three episodes. The way he was written was more comical to the point of borderline clown-ish sometimes which doesn’t match his personality at all, and don’t get me wrong there are times when it works but for the most part it just comes across as weird, like the writers were trying too hard to be funny and lighthearted at some points and it just doesn’t work, it ends up with him being a joke.

I’ll use a scene that I absolutely adore as a small example: Loki singing in episode 3. It’s one of my favorite scenes of the season, absolutely live for it, it lives in my head rent free in the VIP section but it’s a very flawed scene because Loki would never. Getting drunk on a mission is what Thor would do, not Loki, that is Thor through and through so as much as I love that scene, it is a flawed, ooc Loki scene.

The good thing is the show does improve in how it writes him in the last three eps, they stop trying so hard with the comedy, he’s more serious, more badass, he still has funny moments for example his reaction to Alligator Loki was hilarious but it’s more natural and fitting. So hopefully, in season 2 it will be the same writing team, and there will be more consistency and he’ll be written less comically and more badass.

Moving on to the positives, there are a lot of things I thoroughly enjoyed, starting with having Loki back on my screen and the center of attention- my baby, my darling, my love 💚 I’m so glad that he (and Tom!) is finally getting the attention, and love, and praise, and recognition that he has been deserving of all these years!

It gave me some of my favorite Loki scenes like I mentioned Loki singing it may be a flawed scene but I loved it nonetheless, it had some really cool fight scenes especially towards the end, it gave Loki a friend! A real friend! My baby is all grown up! 😭💚

The cinematography was beautiful, like you can say a lot about this show but you cannot deny that visually it is stunning and the directing was amazing. The soundtrack was pretty good too, I mean c’mon, ‘I need a Hero’? Iconic.

This show gave us Alligator Loki! How can one not love that! It kick started what looks to be the coolest aspect of Phase 4, it gave us bi, genderfluid Loki (which also brought out some of the ugliest sides of this fandom but this ain’t the time or place for that conversation 🙃), it gave me a new favorite character in Sylvie absolutely love her 💛

It gave me hope that the sun will shine again on Thor and Loki! That they’ll cross paths once again at some point and be reunited! And when they are, we better get that hug!

It gave me my new OTP in the form of Loki x Sylvie, they have great chemistry, and they’re super cute together, and they’re so good for one another and I just love them so much; I know it’s a “controversial” ship but I hope they stick to it and we get more of them in s2 because they are the best couple Marvel has ever given us they are passionate and cute and angsty, and they have the foundation for the most epic love story.

In conclusion, was Loki season 1 perfect? Was it everything I wanted? Nope. But ultimately, it gave me more that I enjoyed than not- also, I can tell this was something that was done with a lot of love and joy and effort put into it which as someone who has loved a show where the writer’s room noticeably didn’t give a rat’s ass, I can appreciate a lot.

Overall I’m very happy with the first season; I love this show, flaws and all, and I can’t wait for s2!

[pinktwingirl]

Loki Series Rewrite (AKA Loki Series but with Squirrel Girl) Ep 6

INT. CITADEL - DAY

Loki, Sylvie, and Doreen tentatively step into the palace. Out of nowhere, Miss Minutes suddenly pops up.

MISS MINUTES

HEY, Y'ALL!

DOREEN

Oh, Jesus!

She jumps as Loki and Sylvie pull out their weapons.

SYLVIE

You again...

MISS MINUTES

Welcome to the citadel at the end of time! Congratulations! Y'all had an awfully long journey to get here. He's impressed.

SYLVIE

Who's impressed?

MISS MINUTES

He Who Remains!

(Beat)

LOKI

And who is he?

MISS MINUTES

He created all. And he controls all. At the end, it is only... He Who Remains. And he wants to offer you a deal. He's been making a few... creative adjustments. And he's worked out a way to insert you back in your timelines in a way that won't disrupt things.

Doreen looks creeped out by Miss Minutes as they talk.

SYLVIE

Won't "disrupt things"?

MISS MINUTES

Mmm-hmm! The TVA can keep doing it's vital work, and y'all can live the lives you've always wanted!

(She turns to Loki)

How would you like... to kill Thanos?

Loki and Doreen exchange a look.

MISS MINUTES

You could stop the snap from ever happening... and get the throne you've always wanted.

Doreen's eyes widen.

MISS MINUTES

You want the infinity gauntlet? Yours. Throne of Asgard? No problem.

Loki tenses.

MISS MINUTES

(to Sylvie)

What about you, missy? All those years on the run... Desperate... Alone... How would you like to wake up tomorrow with just a lifetime of happy memories? Everything... exactly the way you've always wanted.

She purposefully ignores Doreen. Sylvie shakes her head.

SYLVIE

It's fiction.

LOKI

We write our own destiny now.

MISS MINUTES

Sure you do... Good luck with that.

She disappears.

DOREEN

So, we're all in agreement that this is a trap, right?

(Beat)

LOKI

Let's keep moving.

INT. KANG'S CHAMBERS - DAY

After meeting Kang, he invites the three into his chambers.

KANG

Please. Take a seat.

(He picks up a tray of tea and sets the cups down in front of some chairs.)

Uh... Loki... Loki... and...

(He smiles at Doreen.)

Ah, Miss Green. What an honor to meet you. A class five mutant... the TVA doesn't see many of your type around very often.

(Beat)

You know what I find fascinating about you? Out of all your little... Avenger friends... you... are the most powerful. You just don't know it yet.

Doreen looks utterly baffled. Kang laughs.

KANG

You! Not the... god from space, or the... part-time Kree... but a little girl who runs around spending time with squirrels.

He continues to laugh as the other exchange a confused glance.

KANG

You know, life may not be fair, but it certainly does have a sense of humor.

SYLVIE

Who are you?

KANG

Oh, I've been dubbed many names by many people... A ruler... A conqueror... He Who Remains... A jerk... But most people just call me... Kang.

The three exchange a glance.

INT. KANG'S CHAMBERS - DAY

After Kang explains who he is, he gives Loki and Sylvie a choice.

KANG

So now, you can either... rule the TVA together, as two Lokis... or... kill me... and let the universe burn. And if you think I'm... evil... Just wait until you meet my variants.

(Beat)

I believe you've met my wife, Ravonna? She can verify all of this, if you want.

DOREEN

You're full of shit. You don't care about protecting anyone; you just want power. You just want to have control over everything. Well, you don't get to make our lives for us.

LOKI

She's right.

(He unleashes his blade.)

And we've come to put an end to your reign once and for all.

He starts to attack Kang, but before he can, Sylvie uses her magic to block him.

LOKI

Sylvie, what are you doing?

(Beat)

SYLVIE

Do you really think I'm going to let you destroy my only chance at claiming what belongs to me?

LOKI

What?

SYLVIE

The TVA took everything from me. Now, I'm going to return the favor. By taking over, I can control all of those agents. Everyone that ever laid a finger on me... I can send their lives to burn.

LOKI

You said you weren't interested in ruling the TVA...

Sylvie laughs.

SYLVIE

Don't you know yourself at all?

(She smirks.)

I lied.

Doreen's eyes widen.

SYLVIE

I've waited my whole life for this moment. And no one is going to take it from me. Least of all, you.

She starts to attack Loki, but Doreen lunges at her, knuckles spikes unleashed. Using her magic, Sylvie enchants Doreen's hand and raises her knuckle spikes up so she is a second away from slitting her own throat. The blade chokes Doreen as she struggles. Loki uses his own magic to keep Doreen in place as he stares down Kang and Sylvie. Kang laughs.

KANG

Well, all this drama is making me thirsty!

(He takes a sip of tea.)

Who's it gonna be? Who's gonna get the throne?

Sylvie scoffs at Loki.

SYLVIE

Oh, I see. You just want the TVA throne for yourself, don't you?

LOKI

Is that really what you think of me?

(His gaze saddens.)

You never trusted me. You were always going to betray me.

Sylvie laughs.

SYLVIE

That's what we do, Loki. We can't trust. And we can't be trusted.

DOREEN

(Struggling)

Don't... listen to her... Loki...

Kang jabs a finger at Doreen.

KANG

I wouldn't interfere with our proceedings if I were you, young lady.

Doreen glares at him as he stalks toward her.

KANG

I'll admit, you've been a bit of a thorn in my side... You were never supposed to be here, but you just had to show up and help your little friend... and make my job harder. You're a problem, Ms. Green. A problem that needs to be... eliminated.

(Beat)

LOKI

I agree.

He suddenly conjures up a dagger and stabs Doreen through the stomach. She screams as he opens up a portal with the tem-pad and shoves her through it.

INT. DOREEN'S APARTMENT - DAY

Doreen falls through a portal into her apartment. Gasping in pain, she reaches for the dagger sticking in her stomach, only to have it disappear in a green shimmer. After a moment, she lets out a weak laugh.

INT. KANG'S CHAMBERS - MOMENTS LATER

As the tem-pad portal closes, Kang bursts out laughing and starts applauding.

KANG

Wonderful job, Loki! Wonderful! You know, if I weren't an all-knowing, all-seeing... god, of sorts, I might've actually bought that!

Loki's eyes widen.

KANG

Well, no matter. She'll be taken care of once we're finished here.

(He smiles.)

You know, there's something almost... poetic about it. Loki... the god of mischief... the man who believed he was destined to rule over all of Midgard... is in love with a mortal.

Loki grits his teeth and looks down as Sylvie sneers at him.

SYLVIE

You're pathetic. I honestly don't know how you even survived this long.

LOKI

Sylvie, listen to me... Please don't go down this path. If you do this... all of our variants will be stuck here at the end of time forever.

SYLVIE

And why is that my concern?

LOKI

Because they're us! They're all us! Can't you see that your anger is turning you into the very thing you hate?!

(He places hands on her shoulders.)

Please, Sylvie... I don't want a throne... I don't want to hurt you... I know how you feel. I've been where you are. But hurting the people that caused you pain won't change what happened. It took me so long, but I see that now! And I know a part of you must, too.

(Beat)

SYLVIE

Well, I'm not you.

She attacks him, and they start to fight.

LOKI

Sylvie, no!

SYLVIE

I won't let you stand in my way!

Eventually, Loki and Sylvie's blades are locked.

LOKI

(Voice cracking)

Don't make me do this... Please...

SYLVIE

I'll kill you...

Loki suddenly stabs Sylvie through the chest. She grunts in pain and collapses to the floor as Loki looks on in horror. Sylvie dies as he takes his blade out. Kang begins to laugh coldly as Loki collapses to his knees and sobs.

KANG

Bravo, Loki, bravo! Looks like you're the last Loki standing.

Loki lunges at him with his magic, but Kang uses his own powers to restrain him.

KANG

I'm hurt, Loki. I am giving you the chance of a lifetime! Power! Control! Wasn't it you who one said... what was it? "Freedom is life's great lie"? Didn't you want to free people from the burden of freedom? Well, now you can! All you have to do is say "yes"... And you can finally have it... The throne... The key to the universe... All to yourself. Away from everyone who pushed you around your whole life. Your father... your brother... your so-called "friends"... They're of no consequence anymore. You'll have everything you've always wanted... All... alone...

Suddenly, all the other Lokis, even Alligator Loki enter. President Loki now has a hook for a hand.

KID LOKI

He's not alone.

Loki looks at them tearfully, and a hint of a smile grows on his face. Kang laughs.

KANG

Oh? So that's how it is? You want to be the hero now? You and I both know that's not who you are.

After a moment, Loki slowly rises to his feet.

LOKI

No...

(Beat)

I'm not a hero... And I'm not a villain...

He begins to unleash his power, with a green glow emanating from his hands. He suddenly projects multiple versions of himself around the room, some male, some female. They all talk in unison.

LOKI

I'm me... First... Last...

(His eyes start to glow green.)

Always...

As his power begins to grow, his TVA outfit shifts into elegant green armor with a cape and white fur around the collar. His crown of horns appears on his head, and his power begins to levitate him off the ground. Suddenly, the room begins to glow green, with the army of Lokis joining in with their magic. We see bits of green magic expanding the timeline off into different branches.

INT. TVA - MOMENTS LATER

Back in the TVA, Mobius, Hunter B-15, and all the agents rise as the building begins to glow in a green haze. Mobius watches the monitor in awe as he sees the timeline beginning to expand.

MOBIUS

Wow...

Suddenly, everyone's eyes begin to glow green.

INT. KANG'S CHAMBERS - MOMENTS LATER

Loki stretches his arms out as his magic continues to free the timeline. Kang's eyes widen as a burst of green power extends from Loki's hands and hits him. With the other Lokis joining in, ray after ray of magic hits Kang, until he finally vanishes. Suddenly, portal after portal opens around the room. His magic weakening, Loki finally collapses to the ground. The other Lokis rush to his side.

KID LOKI

Are you alright?

Loki slowly sits up.

BOASTFUL LOKI

You've done it. You've freed us. 

(He looks around at all the portals.)

All the timelines have been restored. We can go home.

Loki looks around at all the other Lokis.

LOKI

Go on. You belong back home, with your families... Even if they're... complicated, at times...

(Beat)

We can live our own lives now.

The Lokis all start to go through their portals. Loki takes one last look at Sylvie's dead body before entering a portal back to the TVA.

INT. TVA - MOMENTS LATER

The TVA agents are all regaining their memories.

MOBIUS

Oh my god... Vanessa... Katie...

HUNTER B-15

I... I had a name... A real name once... Zoe...

CASEY

I... I remember now! I was a marine biologist! Back in San Francisco... Oh man, those sea lions are gonna be so mad at me when I get back...

Suddenly, Loki enters.

MOBIUS

Loki!

He hugs Loki.

MOBIUS

Where's Sylvie?

His face falls at Loki's silence.

MOBIUS

Oh... Oh, I'm sorry...

Loki bites his lip.

LOKI

Do you... remember now?

MOBIUS

Yes... I... I had a wife... and a daughter...

(He smiles.)

Thank you.

Loki nods towards the portal.

LOKI

They're waiting for you.

Mobius starts to head towards the portal. Before he walks through, he stops and gives Loki one last look.

MOBIUS

Whatever the future holds for you... I hope it's what you've always wanted. What you really want.

Loki smiles.

LOKI

Thank you.

MOBIUS

Oh, and...

(He tosses the tesseract to Loki.)

You might need this.

He exits through the portal.

INT. THE BENATAR - NIGHT

Loki appears in the Guardians' ship, holding the tesseract. Everyone turns to him.

DRAX

Empty-handed... And just when I thought I would have a decent snack around here for once.

LOKI

What? Wait, how long was I gone?

Thor shrugs.

THOR

Only around an hour. Why? What were you doing on Kylos, anyways?

Loki looks around at the Guardians.

LOKI

I... I'm going to Earth.

Before they can stop him, he vanishes with the tesseract.

INT. DOREEN'S APARTMENT - DAY

Loki and Doreen are sitting at a table in her apartment by the window. Loki pours himself a cup of tea, and Tippy-Toe brings him a sugar cube.

LOKI

Thank you, Tippy-Toe.

As he stirs the cube in his tea, Tippy-Toe extends her paw.

LOKI

Ah, yes, of course.

He conjures up another acorn and gives it to her.

DOREEN

Is that acorn number 78 or 79?

LOKI

79, I believe.

DOREEN

Huh. 12 more, and you'll have paid off your debt to her.

(She turns to Tippy-Toe.)

Will you like him then, Tippy?

Tippy-Toe squeaks in response.

DOREEN

Oh, "you'll consider it." Don't give me that!

Loki chuckles.

LOKI

Is Nancy home?

DOREEN

She's in class. My professors are letting me do my coursework online while... all of this gets sorted out. I mean, everything I do is on computers, anyways, so...

LOKI

I see.

Doreen glances at him as he stares blankly at his tea.

DOREEN

I'm sorry about Sylvie...

(Beat)

LOKI

Well, I guess it just goes to show that I... can't be trusted. Not even by myself.

DOREEN

No, Loki... What happened wasn't your fault. You tried your best to get through to her. But you can't control the actions of your variants; only your own. Just because Sylvie betrayed you... that doesn't make you a bad person. You deserve trust.

LOKI

Do you trust me?

DOREEN

Yeah. I do.

Loki lets out a bitter laugh.

LOKI

You know, a lot of people would call you naïve.

Doreen shrugs.

DOREEN

Doesn't mean that they're right.

Loki looks at her in surprise. He fixes his gaze out the window as Doreen sips her own tea.

DOREEN

There's something else, isn't there?

(Beat)

LOKI

I'm... I'm worried, Doreen. What if... What if I got this wrong?

DOREEN

What do you mean?

LOKI

What if it was a mistake to kill Kang?

DOREEN

Loki... You've freed trillions of people. You gave them back control over their own lives. That's not a mistake.

LOKI

I know; I just... What if Kang was telling the truth? About the multiversal war? What if... by freeing the timeline... I've unleashed something worse?

DOREEN

Loki... If it ever comes to that... We'll deal with it.

LOKI

How?

DOREEN

We'll figure it out.

(She extends her hand to him.)

And I trust you, so you trust me, too. Deal?

After a moment, Loki smiles and shakes her hand.

LOKI

Deal.

Doreen smiles.

DOREEN

Alright, enough of this doom and gloom. Here, give me your other hand.

Loki raises an eyebrow.

LOKI

Dare I ask why?

DOREEN

I'm gonna paint your nails! Duh!

(She takes out a bottle of black nail polish.)

Trust me, I have been wanting to do this for a while. Have you ever gotten your nails done?

LOKI

I... can't say that I have...

DOREEN

Ooh, well, you're gonna love it. I was debating what color to try on you, but then I figured I'd go for black. You have this very natural emo vibe to you.

Loki raises an eyebrow.

DOREEN

It means, like, dark and edgy and all that...

(She starts painting his nails.)

Wait, so there was actually a President Loki?

Loki chuckles.

LOKI

Yes, if you can believe it. You know, maybe I should run for president.

DOREEN

You can't! You have to have been born in the U.S.!

LOKI

Well, to be fair, I did die, and then I was reborn back into life at the Avengers compound, which is on American soil, so, technically, you could make the argument that I was born in the U.S.

Doreen snickers.

DOREEN

That is not how that works...

Her phone suddenly buzzes, and she picks it up.

DOREEN

Ooh! Look what Moby sent me!

She shows him a picture on her phone of Mobius riding on a jet ski with his daughter.

DOREEN

Look at my man out there living his best life! I'm so proud of him...

Loki chuckles, and she finishes painting his nails.

DOREEN

Okay, just let that dry for a bit. And that means no petting Mew, no matter how much she begs.

(She turns to Mewnir.)

I got my eye on you...

Loki smiles as she takes another sip of her tea.

LOKI

What will you do now?

(Beat)

DOREEN

I don't know...

(Beat)

You know, Ravonna told me that I was destined to spend the rest of my life in hiding.

LOKI

Well... the TVA is gone now. You're free to make your own life.

DOREEN

I know. I just... don't see how it could change. Right now, everyone either thinks I'm a criminal or some circus freak that needs to be locked up.

(Beat)

LOKI

That doesn't mean that they're right.

Doreen looks at him in surprise. A hint of a smile starts to grow on her face. After a moment, Loki clear his throat awkwardly.

LOKI

You know, you could... always come with me. I-I mean... me and my brother... and his friends. You wouldn't be an outcast there. We're... we're all... outcasts... in a way, I suppose...

(Beat)

DOREEN

I can't abandon the people here. There's still so much chaos going on after people returned from the snap... I have to help fix it.

Loki smiles at her.

LOKI

You're a good person, Doreen. They don't deserve you... But if you truly want to stay... then, I wish you all the best.

DOREEN

Thank you...

Doreen gives him a sad smile as he rises from his chair.

LOKI

Well, I suppose I can't put off returning to my brother and those buffoons any longer... By the way, do you think Kang really meant what he said? About you being the strongest Avenger?

Doreen scoffs.

DOREEN

Nah... He was just pulling my leg... 

Loki chuckles.

LOKI

Goodbye, Doreen.

Loki and the tesseract vanish in a blue haze.

(Post-Credits Scene)

INT. HIGH SCHOOL OFFICE - DAY

Ravonna is stepping through the office where she used to work.

RAVONNA

When I worked here... I thought this was all my life could be... I never thought that I would be destined for something greater... But now, you've given my life purpose... A destiny that I can be proud of...

She turns and the camera pans to who she is talking to. One of Kang's variants is sitting in a seat.

KANG

Yes, dear... It's time for us to begin our... corrections...

“Love is a dagger... It’s a weapon to be wielded far away... or up close... You can see yourself in it... It’s beautiful... Until it makes you bleed... But ultimately, when you reach for it... It isn’t real.”

Y’ALL SEE WHAT I DID THERE??? (Also, you know I had to put that “wow” in there lol)

So, apparently, Loki isn’t going to be in Thor: Love and Thunder... Hmm... GUESS I’LL JUST HAVE TO DO SOMETHING ABOUT THAT, WON’T I??? Don’t worry, Squirrel Girl and Nancy will return!

Also, for the sake of my own sanity, I will now be considering these rewrites canon thank you and good night

@drawntothedarkside

[vaguely-gestures-to-the-void]

Hindsight: My thoughts on Loki (2021)

Welcome back! Spoilers below!

I need to clarify that I watch Loki purely as an escape. I've got a biased perspective in that regard because I don’t actively try to find fault with the show, though there are definitely things I’m not so inclined to. This is more of what I noticed and think things mean and it’s something I’m doing for fun. Anyways, here's my thoughts on episode 2 my loves.

Episode 2: THE VARIANT

Pre-title scene

Miss Minutes’ monologue in the recap is different to the one last ep.

1985 Oshkosh, Wisconsin

C-20!

“Today’s guest performances” on a board. Don’t really know if it means anything tho.

The Iconic (TM) I Need A Hero scene.

Pony.

The green tent - the lair of Loki.

I know not everyone’s a fan of the lighting, but it made sense to me. They’re still in the dark about who Sylvie is.

Why does C-20 take off her helmet? For the drama?

I hope Sylvie cleaned her blade. Narnia taught me well.

The Time Samsung (I can’t remember what it’s called right now) says that the date’s 04/12/1985.

Loki’s first mission (?)

‘Volume 26’ - how many of these does Mobius have?? #giveMobiusajetski

“ONLY at your LOCAL AUTHORIZED DEALER” - subtext about the TVA being control freaks? Jet ski safety?

I googled Wake Magazine. They’re up to volume 20 from what I saw, whilst Loki is reading volume 26, so I guess that’s something

Loki and Miss Minutes lmaooo.

Behind Loki’s elbow is the taxidermy something from the last episode. Also confirms that Loki threatened Casey at Mobius’ desk lol.

The thing has an egg?? What the hell is Mobius collecting? (He’s a Harry Hart variant lmao).

There are little twitches in Miss Minnutes’ hands. That’s so cool!

The egg timer’s a nice easter egg (I’m a comedian).

Mobius! B-15! :)

Is it just me or do the minutemen look similar, but not exactly the same. Makes sense if they’re variants.

I just realised the lights are built into the ceiling. Whoops.

What’s Mobius’ favourite?

Couple of things:

The racks full of identical uniforms/ones just hung up on doors.

The music has started to pick up the pace, but not in the way we see later on in the episode.

There’s a sign saying ‘FARE THEE WELL’ on it. Google tells me that it’s ‘used to express good wishes on parting’. Dang that was some good foreshadowing!

The person that looks like Agatha is still present.

I wonder whether it was supposed to be colder or whether the weather was just like that when they filmed.

The pony’s still around.

I think B-15 certainty that “a Loki couldn’t have gotten the jump of C-20” comes from her experience with them. She constantly tries to make it clear that because she’s not a variant, she’d know Loki better than he would, which (personally) makes the revelation that she’s a variant feel more devastating.

Again with the lighting, they’re still in partial darkness, constantly moving in and out of the light. Whilst what Loki says about the variant setting a trap is true, it isn’t in the context that he says it. Sylvie whoops their asses later.

The black and red-orange flags remind me of tomb markers. It’s a stretch, ik.

B-15 only has tally marks on one side of her helmet.

Mobius has fake pockets in his suit jacket. They’re the worst.

The ticking increasing in tempo as they approach red line - great for setting up tension.

I believe that Loki uses personal space like a weapon - slowly approaching them from the front, and then going behind Mobius’ back when he wants his way. It would make anyone uncomfortable, especially on a subconscious level because there’s a threat behind you.

Or maybe it’s that I have different personal space boundaries, not everyone likes being approached from behind. Loki’s movement felt intentional at least.

Getting Mobius to physically turn his way because of that might have been very subtle manipulation?

Loki looking back and forth trying to judge their reactions lol.

I liked the music in this scene, it sets up tension for Loki’s first attempt at betraying Mobius but then doesn’t completely dismiss it when it’s resolved.

Ravonna Renslayer’s office

The music here is 18 morceaux, Op. 72, No. 2. Berceuse. 18 morceaux, Op. 72: No. 2, Berceuse (Arr. For Theremin and piano) by Clara Rockmore for anyone that’s curious. I found out through Natalie Holt’s Twitter (I think).

The score is, and always will be, perfection.

Mobius’ small talk amuses me.

“Why do you get to keep all the trophies from my cases in here, you don’t think I’d love having that roller skate?” Mobius, what about the thing on the shelf behind your desk????

Ravonna seems like she’s answered these questions before, but she has a fondness for him that makes me think they’re good friends.

Also does Ravonna have multiple complete collections of the Encyclopaedia Britannica in her office? What are those books??

“I hope it’s a double.” Me too Mobius, me too (drink responsibly).

I don’t get how people think Mobius doesn’t remember leaving the stains. It sounded like Ravonna was chiding him for a bad habit and Mobius just made up a remark, not confusion.

Although he does place the cup at a different spot to the rings.

The ship flying past in the windows is a wonderful detail.

“The variant likes to stall for time.” It's very satisfying to me how everything stays relevant. Every detail advances the plot/contributes to it.

“Look, I know you have a soft spot for broken things.”

“I don’t think so-”

“Yes you do.”

Both Mobius and Ravonna only look at the middle figure when referring to the time Keepers. Either the other two are side-lined or don’t contribute at all.

“I’ll delete him myself.” At this point in time, I think Mobius is serious. As the episode progresses, his status may have changed, especially after the Jet Ski philosophy session.

Ravonna’s sash on the peg reminds me of the ones the people talking to Casey were wearing in episode 1.

Man those doors are so cool.

Peak sitting outside the principal’s office energy.

Mobius whistles at Loki as opposed to talking to him like he does later.

Any screen shot from the following scene is pristine chaotic disaster bi Loki energy featuring tired-of-your-tomfoolery Mobius.

“Isn’t that precisely why I’m here?” This marked a change in Loki to me. Up until that point, he’d tried to use what he’d known, who he’d been by scheming his way to the Time Keepers. By admitting he wasn’t sure of his purpose, we’re back with the person at the end of the last episode. It’s very Loki to try all avenues to get what he wants, and after having his world turned upside-down a few times in a short period, maybe he just wanted the familiarity of his old tricks, who he thinks he is.

Loki tensing up and then trying to assert control again reaffirms what I just said.

Man, give Mobius a holiday after all of this. Loki really tested him, huh?

Loki definitely likes validation on some level.

TVA archives (a.k.a the Salad Scene)

I can’t believe that place really exists. The looks combined with the music are just *chef kisses*.

I’m not sure if I’m thinking of the right progression, but the music reminds me of a plagal cadence. Google examples and play it side-by-side, you’ll get what I mean, maybe someone knows what it really is?

On either side of the elevators near the Time Keeper statues are the signs TVA archives.

The symmetry pleases my goblin brain.

I believe the entire show was just flexing the skills of the Loki crew and I couldn’t be happier.

“Pretend your life depends on it. I’m gonna get a snack.” This was so funny in the trailers but Mobius is dead serious (delete him myself comment). And he couldn’t even enjoy his salad.

Love that the end of credits takes from some of the scenes in episode 2.

The archivist has neat glasses.

I want some TVA stationary y’all.

It’s that moment fam.

I can’t be the only one curious by the ‘DISPLACED by 000:000:002:162’. Is that in Units? It would explain why the time line looks slightly bendy whenever we see it, especially if Apocalypses are so frequent.

IT’S THE SALAD LADS!

Mobius is reading the magazine that Loki was looking at earlier. Jet skis are Mobius’ comfort character.

“Don’t set fire to the palace.”

Tom Hiddleston has so much energy, he can move so fast.

“Oh God.” - Mobius, Null Time Zone

“YOU.” - Casey, Null Time Zone

Casey!

No thoughts, head empty, the Salad (TM).

But seriously, people only seem to be at their tables with others that work in a similar section. Not hunters and analysts eating in tandem to me, folks.

Oh Casey. Please don’t hurt him.

Aw, Mobius’ little giggle warmed my heart. Owen Wilson’s giving me whiplash with Mobius. My heart can’t take this y’all.

79 AD Pompeii, Italy

They’re both so giddy, Your Honour, I love them.

Mobius snuck them out lol.

“Bird noises?”

“BE FREE MY HORNED FRIENDS, BE FREE!” The post wouldn’t be complete without this.

Loki just throwing food at people and telling them “...enjoy your last meal while you can” is top tier comedy to me.

This is the first time we see Loki openly say nothing matters. I feel like the case file on the destruction of Asgard really pushed him to treat fate as unchangeable.

LXXIX is 79. Nice one Loki crew!

Mobius’ eye twitching as he checks the variance is a nice touch.

Loki throws away the stick that was holding the goat pen closed at the end.

TVA Archives, TVA cafeteria

Mobius picked up those files so smoothly I had to re-watch it.

Their position reflected what they were talking about - when Loki thinks it’s his individual contribution, he’s walking separately to Mobius, but they meet up when working together. I loved the blocking in that little moment.

I seriously thought that Loki was unconscious when I first saw him asleep around Mobius. I’ll admit it, it felt out-of-character for someone with such bad trust issues. Both of them seem pretty tired tho.

It’s the Jet Ski conversation comrades!

I’m beaming. Mobius talking about Jet Skis was the only time I’ve really remembered it’s Owen Wilson talking. It’s such a fun line to think about!

Loki’s smile. Adorable.

Just go watch the scene, it’ll give you good brain juices.

Mobius does it all for the Jet Skis and nothing else. I don’t make the rules, the Time Keepers do.

“My own glorious purpose.” This is a recurring theme in the season. Ultimately, I think that Loki is going to run for as long as it brings in money/until Loki gets killed again. However, I do like to think that in following seasons we’ll move beyond setting up Phase 4 Marvel stuff and just get deep dives into Loki’s character, though it may happen in the later eps or not be as interesting. Part of what made this show so interesting is the new setting in the Marvel universe but it’s hard to make predictions as to whether it will last in a show featuring the God of Mischief. Whatever happens, I’m happy that we got to see Loki’s existential crisis together, lads.

The music picks up, signalling that this quiet moment is about to end.

“No one bad is ever truly bad. And no one good is every truly good.”

“Scared little boy.”

These lines mean a lot to me. Loki perceives Mobius as an equal, similar to himself but not completely identical. The TVA’s whole aesthetic is Kafkaesque (Disney+ used that word), the imperfections keeping the place from looking mechanical and orderly like what the TVA promotes itself to be. Loki wants Mobius to acknowledge it, but Mobius is in the past, not addressing what’s right in front of him, surrounding him. That’s probably because Mobius doesn’t believe, he accepts what he’s been told though Loki wants to change that. He’s still focused on his job, the variant. I don’t think Mobius will struggle against change in the ‘belief’ part as long as things are rational.

Kate Herron (director) said that the Kablooie scene was improv which makes me wish we had more B roll of Owen and Tom. They seem so professional, invested and fun on set.

“No wonder you’re so bitter.” I’m sorry Mobius you sound as salty as your salad.

‘Artificially flavoured chewing gum’ Has something happened causing artificial flavouring to be preferred?

‘Blue’ has canonically changed to ‘Bloo’ by 2050 in America in the MCU. I blame capitalism.

Why does Mobius look so tiny? I say that like Owen Wilson wouldn’t look like a giant next to me lol.

Owen Wilson is 3.5 inches (9 centimetres) shorter than Tom Hiddleston. Yet he is dwarfed as Mobius. I need to stop talking about this and move on.

There’s no ‘variance energy detected’ line in the report.

“You’re gonna take my job if I’m not careful.” Loki looks so chuffed.

One day, I’ll properly address my thoughts on the shipping. Until then, I just want no one to die.

“Yeah, he’s doing great.” Mobius is so hyped. Good for him.

Owen Wilson has dimples.

Ravonna’s screen doesn’t show the timeline like it does later.

Ravonna is the done mom friend. Sane, undeserving of this, please give her a jet ski moment.

Buckle up folks because the last twenty minutes of this episode are my favourite so far.

At 34 minutes in, we get the music fading in with “Okay. But Mobius...” and a transition to my favourite composition so far. Natalie Holt outdid herself. The soundtrack is nearly constant, there’s no break for a moment of clarity anymore. The progression of events is inevitable, tying the bow on a plot line created in an hour and a half. The little embellishment from the strings (possibly) as Mobius and Loki exit is perfect. Combined with Loki’s raised fist leading to a pan to the ceiling, it prepared the audience for everything being turned upside down.

The changing camera angles and shot lengths (the continuous shot when B-15 takes the knives, the circling behind as the briefing occurs) keep viewers on their toes. The continuous shot is fluid, B-15 doesn’t look at Loki or Mobius, her reaction is natural and that just proves that the timing on that scene was impeccable. The circling behind reminded me of Loki positioning himself behind Mobius as he did earlier, but now he’s on the same side, part of the team though he continues to distinguish between himself and the variant. The building sensation that change is coming is met by the incredible swell in the music as we watch the picturesque Haven Hills get destroyed by modern technology and face the terrifying reality that is the Roxxcart store. There’s a close up on the Roxxcart storefront with school buses with the words ‘Evacuation shuttle’ in the background as we see the TVA’s minutemen come out reinforcing that even when the end is nigh, large corporations will loom over. A storm is raging with worse to come. I can go on and on, but you get the point.

2050 Roxxcart Disaster

I love that y’all are calling this the Alabama supermarket breakup. Makes me chuckle, that’s for sure.

I too hate when people can hear my footsteps. Someone that gets the struggle.

Sylvie places the TVA Samsung over a Roxxcart Security manual. She’s overridden both and is in control.

The date is 03/15/2050.

I think that the way the Hunters and minutemen hold their baton things is so that they don’t get yeeted. Neat.

As always, the beats are slick yo.

I hope the Azaleas guy gets some Azaleas wherever he ended up.

I love the way Loki says “In this storm.” It’s so satisfying for no real reason.

The wonderful Wunmi Mosaku does not get the recognition she deserves for this scene. She switched from B-15 to Sylvie so effortlessly. They’re two distinct characters, her facial expressions, body language everything changed in that instant. Even from the one line, “No, they usually survive,” her delivery had changed in a way that was noticeable. It’s uncanny, exactly what was needed when facing a foe that remained unseen. And the smile? It’s before we know the variant as Sylvie, so naturally it’s that signature Loki smile with a hint of malice we associate with the variant. Damn y’all, Wunmi’s incredible! I really hope she’s recognised for being so talented in this series, if not in all her other work!

Mobius really cares about those people. I really want his redemption (?) arc.

It’s been pointed out that even in those conditions, Roxxcart were selling blankets and water. I think it means that by 2050, cash would be defunct. If only electronic payment existed, as long as there’s electricity they can run a business. Chew on that.

If the man they speak to is 50 to 60, he was a 90s kid.

There must be a difference in the reprogramming or kind of variant selected to be a hunter as compared to an analyst. The Hunters look after their own, but the analysts (or Mobius) go as far as empathising with variants.

C-20 is sitting in front of safety standards.

“A bit amateurish.” Loki knows that the variant isn’t as skilled with magic as he is.

As Loki and the possessed people walk, the lighting becomes brighter. He’s moving out of the shadows.

Me too Loki, I’m worried about B-15 too.

Sylvie unironically saying bless is hilarious.

Randy must be hella tall.

There’s a low angle shot as Loki and Randy face off with the flickering light above with a sign hanging above them like a sword of Damocles and a physical separation. Terror is nearly constant in Loki's life now, but he responds by letting go of his drive to survive.

The subtle swells in the music just add to my rising blood pressure.

C-20’s voice over is sad lads.

“I wanna go home,” we know she’s not referring to the TVA.

Mobius seems like a caring person.

When B-15 sits up and searches the room, I think it’s her realisation. Her shiver was from fear and shock, the music wasn’t about her not seeing Loki, it was about the TVA and what had happened to her.

The head snap and the score timing matching. So satisfying.

“I would never treat me like this. Hi.” I think that’s Loki realising that his foe is not willing to talk their way through conflict.

This fight scene contradicts all the magic we see later ik, but if he didn’t want to hurt anyone and was trying to draw out the real enemy it made sense.

Some of Sylvie’s powers must come into the people she possesses. The guy punched a glass screen and didn’t even bleed.

“I have shit to do.” Sylvie wasn’t raised with court etiquette (from what we know) and her lexical choice reflects that.

Dell computers survive into 2050 in the MCU. So do those robot dogs and Roombas. I am only happy about the Roombas. Where did the real dogs go? :(

“Mobius.”

“Where is he?”

“I lost him.”

“What happened?”

“I...”

Until now, B-15’s delivery has felt slightly rhythmic, like she was used to having the same arguments, particularly with Mobius. When she trails off however, I think it’s her trying to rationalise what she’s been through with Sylvie’s possession. Her devotion to the TVA was rooted in the fact that she wasn’t a variant, her life had a purpose and it was intentional. This must have rocked her, I’m invested in where she’ll go.

THE CUT TO BLACK OH GOOD GOSH.

Sylvie, my queen. I’d roll off a cliff for her.

The person with the moustache (you know the one) has pure fear on his face.

Ravonna knows what’s up.

And so do you, yes it’s the music, go listen to it.

THE RED LIGHTING

The zoom out to that incredible hallway shot and then stopping behind the time door. It was never about him after all, he was in the background of her plans.

Sylvie’s wave in Roxxcart vs. Loki’s on the train. Discuss.

The blackout, thunder and Loki’s pause under the flickering red and white light, do y’all really want me to talk about the s y m b o l i s m????

He’s conflicted, you know it, I know it, Mobius knows it.

Speaking of Mobius, there he is, we cut back to Loki and see him make his decision, zooming back in on him.

And with that final flourish in the score, we are done with episode 2!

Cue the most amazing end credits score you’ll ever hear.

Do yourself a favour, listen to all of it, including the part after the main credits, both are Works. Of. Art.

Ep 2 review

In case you didn’t notice, this is my favourite episode so far. There are parts I didn’t take to as much, but details from the previous episode being used in the plot as well as others being explained by Sylvie in episode 3. Rewatching it was easier than episode 1 though it left me wanting more. It will get more interesting from here, but until then, that was a fun romp.

See y'all next time. I hope whoever's reading this has a wonderful day!

Part 1, Episode 1 extend review link:

[what-is-your-plan-today]

CSI Rogers and Barnes: The Serious Cereal Serial Killer  Ep 14- Second Star To The Right

Co written with @icanfeelastormbrewing​

Episode Summary: The team desperately try to figure out where Rumlow has taken Katie, and their investigation leads them to a place that’s a little far from home and a very familiar face to one of the team in particular…

Episode Warnings: Bad Language words.

Episode Pairings:  Steve Rogers x OFC Katie Stark

Song for Episode: Stars by Simply Red

A/N: Who’s up all night to get Loki??? As always we live for re-blogs and comments

CSI R&B Masterlist //  Main Masterlist

Can’t you see that I wanna fall from the stars, straight into your arms.

Steve, Bucky and Thor sat in the squad car as it raced through the streets of Brooklyn, sirens blazing.

“Can this thing not go any faster?” Steve looked at Thor, his tone snappy.

“I know you're worried about little Stark, Captain, but we don't want another car accident do we?” Thor replied to which Steve gave a frustrated growl but before he could snap again his phone rang.

“What have you got Nat?” he demanded.

“Stark’s car left the precinct” She confirmed “And it pinged a few ANPR cams along the route so she was definitely heading to the lab.”

“Thanks Nat.” he sighed “Do me a favour, call Tony will you? Get him to head outside, see if her car is there.”

Without another word he cut the call and focussed ahead once more. At least they knew she had left, and they were following the right tracks. Even if it seemed to be taking forever.

“Are you flooring it?” he said exasperatedly.

“I can assure you I am driving as fast as I can.” Thor replied and from the backseat Bucky noted the patience in the blonde officer’s tone.

“I should have gone with her.” Steve slammed the palm of his hand over the front of the dash in front of him. “Why didn't I insist and for once ignore her fucking stubbornness?”

“’Coz you're a stubborn ass as well.” Bucky said gently, attempting to lighten mood a little.

“Buck, just don't...please.” Steve sighed.

His phone started to ring again. He glanced at the screen and swallowed, before he answered.

“Tony…”

“Her car is here but there’s no sign of her.” The scientist spoke quickly. “There's a bag on the floor, an evidence bag...”

“Fuck!” Steve cursed loudly.

“Cap…” “Just hold fire Tony.” Steve pinched the bridge of his nose “We’re not far off, I’ll explain when we arrive but don’t let anyone touch her car or the evidence ok?”

He cut the call and turned to look at Thor then Bucky “Rumlow must have gotten to her at the lab. But how the hell did he know she was gonna be there?”

“I'll call Nat.” Bucky said, “Tell her to check the Traffic footage carefully, see if it looks like she was being followed.”

Steve tapped his phone against his palm, nervously as Thor continued to speed through the streets, the traffic parting for them as the sirens and lights were both blazing and flashing respectively. With every rise and fall of the wail, he was repeating Katie’s name in his head, like a mantra. The thought that Rumlow had her somewhere was enough to knock him physically sick and the fear of what he could be doing to her cascaded over him in waves which were drowning him, suffocating him. He could feel the rising panic in his chest growing stronger and stronger and he closed his eyes, struggling to keep control of his breathing. He felt a hand on his shoulder, strong fingers squeezing softly. Just once. But that was all it took to bring him back from the brink of sliding under the surface of his panic completely and he glanced round at Bucky who simply gave him a reassuring nod.

After what seemed like an age but was, in reality, little over 15 minutes since leaving the Precinct they arrived at the lab. Thor had hardly brought the car to a stop when Steve was out, heading over to where Tony was stood, waiting by Katie's car.

“What the fuck is going on Cap?” he demanded, glaring at Steve.

“Rumlow.” Steve gulped “I think he's taken her Tony.”

Tony looked at Steve, blinking before he shook his head. “No…that’s…” he held Steve’s gaze and Bucky noticed the almost identical looks of devastation the two men wore. There were no smart quips from Tony to Steve as usual, nothing but a stunned silence which in itself was enough to tell everyone how upset the man was. Knowing that Steve wasn’t faring much better, Bucky decided to step up into his second in command role and glanced up, taking a relieved breath when he spotted what he was looking for.

“Tony.” he spoke clearly and the man turned to him as Bucky pointed to the CCTV cameras “Do those work?”

“As far as I'm aware.” he nodded.

“Ok, let's start there.” Steve said, Bucky’s observation kick starting his brain. He turned to Thor and pointed to Katie’s BMW “Thor, keep the scene secure.” “I’ll send Banner out to take a look.” Tony declared before the 3 men headed inside. No one spoke until they reached the main part of the lab and no sooner had the door closed when Tony rounded on Steve, his eyes blazing.

“How is this possible?” he spat, his finger jabbing Steve in the chest “How did you let this happen Rogers?”

“I didn't.” Steve sighed, his head dropping as shook it sadly from side to side.”I didn't let anything happen Tony.”

“Well Rumlow obviously knew where and how to take her and you didn't foresee any of it!”

“I don't know Tony ok?” Steve’s voice cracked as his blue eyes locked onto the dark irises of Tony’s holding his gaze as he assured Katie’s brother “But I’ll do whatever it takes to get her back”

“Sometimes I admire your giddy optimism” Tony shook his head.

Bruce who had been watching the pair of them from his desk gently walked across the lab, his white coat billowing slightly around him. “Erm what’s the rumpus?”

Bucky once more took the initiative and jumped in as he could see Steve was tearing up. “Katie has been taken Bruce, we suspect by our killer, Rumlow. Her car is in the parking lot but there's no sign of her.”

“Which reminds me Banner, I need you and Pete to go down and give it a sweep.” Tony turned to look at him. “And just so you know, if it takes all night, you stay all night…” “I didn't pack my toothbrush.” Bruce said in an attempt to lighten the mood but it fell flat.

Peter, in contrast, enthusiastically nodded “Yes Mr stark...whatever you need.”

The two men bustled around, grabbing what they needed for their kits before they scooted out of the lab.

“Tony…” Bucky turned to him “We need to speak to security and view the CCTV of the parking lot.”

“Yes…” Tony said, clapping his hands together, his left hand worrying the finger of his right “Jarvis, he’s our head of security…”

Steve was hearing words but not taking anything in. He was aware he was being of no use whatsoever but he felt like all his effort were being taken simply to keep him upright as the ground below was wavering dangerously as if it was going to swallow him at any moment. NO matter what he did, no matter what he tried to focus on the same thought swam to the forefront of his mind-the fate of all the other victims. His girl, his beautiful Star was completely at the mercy of a man who had shown them exactly what he is capable.

And Steve was scared.

Bucky glanced at his friend, saw the look on his face along with his slumped shoulders. He was dejected and he needed kick starting. He knew that all the needed was a glimmer, a slight lead that would give Steve something to focus on and go at like a dog with a bone. But until then Bucky had to keep him from spiralling. And when Steve was like this, the only way to get through to him was being brutally honest.

“There’s no body Steve.” Bucky said bluntly, ignoring the wince Tony gave besides him because he was being blunt on purpose. To drive the message home to Steve that Rumlow wanted her alive for whatever reason, and that worked in their favour. “That's a good thing.”

“I guess you're right.” Steve looked at him “But that doesn't make it any easier or…” “Come on pal, we’ll find her.” Bucky said, clapping his hand on his shoulder and holding his friend’s eyes. But it didn’t have the desired effect. Instead Steve gave a derisive snort and turned his head to the away.

“Yeah, because we've done such a good job of finding Rumlow so far.” he said sarcastically.

“Ok enough.” Tony snapped “We need to move and check that CCTV instead of just standing around here, kicking up a storm...”

Tony led them down to a small office on the 2nd floor which contained a desk and 3 rows of security monitors, each showing a different feed from the various CCTV inputs around the building.

“Jarvis…” Tony spoke and the dark haired man spun to face them, smiling.

“Good afternoon Mr Stark.” he nodded “What can I do for you?” “This is Captain Rogers and Sergeant Barnes from the 101st.” Tony introduced them.

“Pleasure to meet you Sirs…” Jarvis nodded to them.

“Yeah, erm, we need to see the CCTV of the parking lot. Start from…” Steve glanced at his watch. It was now 10 past 12 and Katie had left the station with the evidence roughly half 9, meaning had she driven straight here she would have arrived at 10 am give or take. “09:45…” Steve said, looking at Jarvis.

“Of course.” Jarvis turned and started to tap at a keyboard.

“Why does he speak like a British butler?” Bucky asked but Steve completely ignored him. As Jarvis brought up the footage, Steve instructed him to scan through and eventually, at 10:02 Steve spotted her car pull into the lot.

“Roll it from there.” he instructed. Jarvis hit play and they all watched the scene play out in front of them. Katie climbed out of her car and no sooner had she done so she was immediately approached by someone dressed in a black hooded top and jeans, their face hidden. Katie dropped the bag and her hands slowly raised to either side of her face, and Steve swallowed as he can see the form of a gun pressed into his girl's back. He watched her carefully, as she was led around the car, to a waiting black Volvo SUV at which point she turned and looked directly at the Camera, making sure it got a clear shot of her face. Then, the kidnapper grabbed her hair and shoved her in the car before slamming the door.

At that point Bucky reached over and hit the pause button.

“I'll get Nat to run that plate.” he said. Steve nodded, running his hand over his face as Bucky stepped outside of the room, phone in his hand.

“Cap need to get her face out there, get everyone looking for her.” Tony looked at him

Steve shook his head “that might risk him doing something stupid…” “More stupid than abducting her in broad daylight?” Tony’ tone was incredulous.

Steve swallowed, Tony had a pretty good point. By doing what he had, taking Katie in such a well monitored spot showed he wasn’t bothered about covering his tracks anymore. This was about ending it, in whatever sick and twisted way he had planned.

“Ok, I’ll have Gina call Fury, get him to speak to the press office” he agreed, turning to Bucky a he walked back into the room.

“The car is registered to a hire company. Clint and Nat are on their way over there now.”

“Thanks Buck. Let’s head back to the station, wait for them there.” “I’m coming with you.” Tony insisted, and Steve didn’t argue.

The Captain spent most of his time on the way back barking orders to Gina on his phone, which meant by the time the strode back into the bull ring of the office she was ready and waiting for him with a print out.

“Any news?” she asked kindly.

“No, not yet.” Steve shook his head.

“I called Fury like you told me to and he sent this over.” she waved the paper. “He said that now Pierce is dead, it seems there's suddenly information available on Rumlow, and that you and Thor should see this in particular.” “Me?” Thor frowned as Tony, Steve and Bucky both turned to look at him.

“Yeah.” Gina nodded. Steve took the paper from her, scanning the information and his mouth dropped open. "Son of a…” he grit his teeth and let out a growl “Seems like we finally found out what prison he was in..." he handed the paper to Thor.

“This…” Thor frowned “This is the same as my brother. He shared a cell with him on Asgard?”

“Asgard?” Bucky frowned.

“Yes it’s a wing of the Nine Realms Prison.” Thor replied.

“When was the last time you spoke to your brother?” Steve asked.

“They day he was charged…almost 4 years ago now Captain.”

“Then suit up, I think it’s time for a family reunion” he said, gravely a he turned to Gina “Call ahead, tell the Warden we are on our way.

***** The Nine Realms was a little further out of town than the Lab so would take a little longer to get there, even with the sirens blazing. Steve remained quiet, lost once more in his own thoughts, his eye flicking to the radio set when it blared out an all Units alert for the car Katie had been taken in.

He groaned inwardly as a sudden realisation hit him. If this was going to hit the news, then there was someone who needed to hear it first. Pulling out his phone he hit the relevant speed dial button.

“Hey Ma.” he said as soon as his Mother answered.

“Hey Son! Make my day and tell me you're coming for Lunch!” her voice was jovial and hearing it broke Steve that little bit more. “Are you bringing Star? I can make another pie and-"

He swallowed thickly “No, Ma, I just called to warn you... “ his voice cracked again and he stopped, forcing himself to keep it together.

“Warn me?” Sarah’s voice was surprised before she suddenly grew stern “What have you done Steven Grant?

“Nothing Ma...just listen.” he pressed “Try not to worry but don't watch the news, please,”

“Steven, you're worrying me. What's happening? Are you ok?”

“Not really. Katie is missing.”

There was a pause before Sarah responded, and Steve could picture the puzzled face she would be pulling on the other end of the phone “What do you mean she's missing? How? What...i don't understand...”

“We were working this case...you know....and... “ his voice choked and at that point he felt Thor’s eyes on him. Unable to hold it back anymore he drew in a ragged breath, trying to quell the sob of anguish that was threatening to rip from the very depth of his heart. Thor gripped his shoulder as Steve scrunched his face up, and he felt the phone being gently pulled from his hands.

“Little Stark has been taken Mrs Rogers. This is officer Odinson by the way...” Thor said, his deep voice calm. “Yes....ok...I understand. Yes madam.”

At that point he looked at Steve who wiped his eyes and nodded, taking the phone back off him. When he spoke again his voice was small, he felt just like that little kid from Brooklyn, way before he had gone off to University. “Ma?”

He could hear his Ma’s sniffles at the other end. “Stevie, darling, I just...”

“Don’t cry…just try not to worry and don't listen to the radio or watch the news. I'll keep you updated, ok?” he said, glad that his voice had returned to normal.

“Ok son. I love you....be careful.” she whispered back.

“Love you too.”

“Oh and Steve?”

“Yeah?” “Bring her home ok?

At that Steve could do nothing but choke out a “Yeah.” before he hung up.

"Don't worry Cap, we'll get her back.” Thor said confidently, looking at him.

“I hope you're right Thor, because I don't know what I’m gonna do if we don't.” Steve mumbled as he glanced down at his phone. His screensaver was a pic of him and Katie taken on their date. He’d changed it the moment he had chance after taking it. They were in Times Square, and he had his arms round her from behind, chin resting on her shoulder, his cheek pressed to hers. Huge smiles lit up both their faces, their eye shining with happiness at finally getting that moment together, to be with one another, admitting what they’d both been too stupid to realise for almost 10 years.

It felt like forever ago since Steve had taken that phone, but it wasn't even a week. In fact, a week ago today they were busy screaming at each other in his apartment after the whole Compound incident with Wanda and Storm, before they ended up furiously fucking against the door. He'd give anything to have her back, just in his arms...

“You and Little Star are destined to be.” Thor’s voice cut through his thoughts. “This will work out Captain, I have faith.”

Steve didn’t bother to tell him that he didn’t believe in fate. Like Howard had always told him, “You make our own luck in this world, Steve.” The problem was, right now he felt like whatever little they had made was fast running out.

**** After going through the usual security check, which took a few minutes because apart from the usual phones, wallets and keys, they were carrying their guns and badges, they were led to the Nine Realms Prison Warden's office. There, Mr. Selvig, who offered to receive them personally seeing as he was Thor's friend, explained to them he had instructed for Loki to be taken to an interrogation room so they could talk more privately and comfortably.

Thus, after a bit of small talk and thanking Selvig again, a prison officer showed them to a room just off the Asgard Wing which was where the troublemaking prisoners were locked. When they entered the room they found Loki sitting at a table, handcuffed to the ring on the surface in front of him. Thor sat on a chair on the opposite side while Steve remained standing.

Despite everything going on, the Captain couldn't help but notice how physically different the two siblings were. While Thor was huge and blond, Loki was slight and dark haired. But then again as Thor had pointed out in more than one occasion when his brother's deeds were brought up in a conversation, Loki was adopted. What was the surname Selvig had mentioned again? Lauki... Laufeyson was it.

"Great to see you brother." Loki said, and Steve was snapped from his thoughts by the silky voice of the prisoner, surprised by the smooth and elegant ways of the man. Was that even a soft British accent he could detect? Had Katie been there she would have surely spotted it, but she wasn't...

Steve tried to brush the negative thoughts out of his mind and focus the conversation between the two siblings.

"I wish I could say the same, Loki. Last time I saw you, you tried to stab me. Again" Thor snarked.

Steve could see Thor certainly wasn't pleased with his brother's behaviour and a stern look adorned his face whereas Loki merely grinned, as if he was recalling the fondest of childhood memories before sighing.

"Yes. I would rather be at home, in a robe, eating grapes but... here I am."

"You're evil, brother. This is where you belong. Father would..." Thor began again, his voice raising with anger.

Steve saw Loki's smug smile fade at the mention of his father, a second before he hissed "He wasn't my father..."

And that was it. Steve lost his temper and walked to the table. He had to get whatever information he could to figure out how to rescue Katie and he felt like the mischievous dark haired man was stalling.

"Ok. That's enough." he said, leaning over with both palms flat on the surface of the table. He looked at Loki, studying him for a few seconds, before softening his glare. "Loki, we need your help."

"What do you have for me in return, Captain Rogers?" Loki asked, studying Steve as well with curiosity.

"You're in no position..." Thor growled.

"Oh, and here I was thinking you came bearing gifts..." Loki said calmly, leaning back on his chair.

"Loki, we know you shared a cell with Rumlow." Steve offered, looking at the man. His voice was steady but his eyes were pleading and he felt like Loki might have sensed it.

"Crossbones." he said, looking at Steve in the eyes.

"What?" he asked.

"Crossbones. That's what he called himself. Rather crude if you ask me but there you are." Loki shrugged and paused at the two men in front of them who were waiting for him to continue "Yes, I shared a cell with him until his release. Now I have a cellmate called Korg. It was a bit rocky at the beginning but we have an understanding now. We discovered we both love the same videogame. It's called Ragnarok and you have to..."

"Brother! About Rumlow..?" Thor cut him off.

"Oh, yes. He was an odd man. Used to mutter in his sleep. Strike was what he would say the most. Always had letters to go into the post."

"He was writing to someone?" Steve asked, suddenly interested.

"Well, I don't think he was writing letters to himself... do you, Captain?" Loki quipped, raising an eyebrow at Steve.

"Who?" Thor asked, visibly irritated at this point.

"How should I know? I can't read minds, I'm not a witch." Loki snapped at his brother.

"Then why do you dress like one?" Thor asked, nodding towards Loki.

"Hey..." he protested.

Steve was getting frustrated by the minute. Last thing in his mind was discussing Loki's choice of attire, which truth be told was conspicuous to say the least. So he pinched the bridge of his nose and leaned on the table again before speaking.

"Loki, we need to know."

"And like I said, I have no idea. He wasn't exactly friendly..."

"You're a murderer, Loki. You killed 18 people in 2 days. You're not the friendliest either” Thor interrupted again.

"Relax brother. You've had a stick up your ass ever since Jane dumped you..." Loki jabbed at his brother.

Thor shook his head in disbelief, as if he couldn't believe his own brother had brought up this old flame of his, and looked at Steve "It was a mutual dumping."

"I don't give a shit." Steve snapped. As far has he was concerned the only love life that mattered, because it was at stake, was his own. He turned to Loki and started pacing the room, trying to calm his nerves, before speaking again. "Rumlow has taken someone very precious to me... I need to know anything you have that may help. Otherwise we're wasting time here."

"Precious, you say? A woman I presume." Loki mused and he then looked Steve up and down, his eyes stopping at the Captain feet "Kneel."

"What?" Steve asked, obviously angry.

"Kneel, Captain. The laces to your boots are undone... I'd hate for you to fall." Loki explained, shrugging.

Steve looked at him for a few seconds, dumbfounded, before glancing down only to corroborate Loki was right and, just as he was about to bend his knee to lace them up, Loki stomped his foot beside him, which startled both, him and Thor.

"Sorry, I had an ant on my boot..."

"Enough of the theatrics, brother! Now tell us what you know!" Thor yelled standing up, his large fist banging on the table.

"Ok, look... he was bitter. Very bitter. Used to mumble all the time in his sleep about revenge and striking back. When I asked him what he meant he said once he was out he had a plan. A plan to take revenge on everyone he deemed to have wronged him. He would pick them off one by one, building up a grand finale." Loki explained, loquacious all of a sudden.

Steve gulped at Loki's words and straightened up, turning away.

"But I can guarantee he wasn't working alone." Loki added, tuning his head to look at Steve's back.

"What?" Steve snapped back round.

"I said I would lay odds on the fact he wasn't working alone. He's not the brightest person I've had the displeasure to speak to... and I would further bet this is who he was writing to. If I was you I would look for someone in your immediate surroundings. Someone with a grudge against you Captain, or maybe against someone you love dearly..."

No sooner had Loki uttered those last words than Steve and Thor shared a glance and the latter growled "Maximoff..."

They burst out of the room without so much of a glance back at Loki, almost tripping on the guard that was perched outside the door, and Steve could hear a faint “You're welcome” but he couldn't care less about manners given the situation. As soon as he had gotten his phone back, he turned it on and called Bucky who immediately started talking, without giving him a chance.

"Steve, listen... Natasha and Clint got back. The car was hired by a woman. Steve... they got a copy of the driver’s license used, and it's a fake name but the photo on it is..."

"Maximoff." Steve finished for him, almost panting as he was running down the prison parking lot, Thor a few steps ahead of him.

"Yeah, how did you..."

"Doesn't matter. Gather the Avengers and meet us at Wanda's place. We're heading there now." Steve ordered.

***** When they arrived at Wanda's apartment block they met Bucky and Tony at the entrance talking to the landlord. Bucky explained they had arrived a few minutes ago and had contacted the landlord on the way after asking Gina to pull some strings from the station to get Wanda's address and the landlord's information. He informed Steve that Clint and Nat would be coming after a while as they were trying to get a search warrant from Judge Hill. They tried buzzing the intercom a couple of times but there was no answer, which didn’t surprise any of them. So, after being let in by the landlord, the three officers ran up the stairs followed by Tony, taking their guns out in the process, until they got to the tenth floor and Thor signalled to Wanda's apartment door.

He looked at Steve, who nodded, before sticking his ear to the door. Thor shook his head after a few seconds.

“Nothing…”

Steve nodded again before Thor and him raised a foot.

“Wait!” Bucky said, and they both turned to him. “Steve, if we go barging in there without a warrant, you could jeopardise the entire case.” “I don’t give a fuck about the case.” Steve shook his head “All I care about is my Girl.” with that he looked back at Thor “One, two…” With that they both raised their right feet and with a large kick each they successfully booted the door in. Steve could tell there was no one in there. But they still waited for Thor who entered first to make a quick sweep and then give them the green light before entering the apartment.

"Spread out. Look for anything that might help. Any evidence Rumlow has been staying here." Steve ordered, Captain Rogers taking over from the concerned boyfriend again.

They started sweeping the apartment looking for something that might belong to Rumlow or that might be evidence of what they were plotting and, most important, where they were planning on taking Katie. If ever there was a plan to take her seeing as the MO in her case had been a little sloppy. They rummaged every drawer and cupboard in the apartment, they even searched the kitchen high and low but nothing came out. At this point Clint and Natasha arrived, Clint clutching the warrant and they started the search but it all seemed rather pointless as they found zero evidence of anything that would help….until Tony spotted what seemed to be a small utility room or toilet which had a lock on the door.

"Really? That easy, Wanda?" Bucky heard Tony mutter when he found him bent over the lock.

"Found something?" Bucky asked.

"Might as well. Have you got a hair pin or something?" Tony asked, standing up straight again.

Bucky looked blankly at him.

"Guess that's a no. Ok, then. Do you think you can boot the door open? S.W.A.T like?" Tony asked.

"Stand back." Bucky answered, before tearing the door open with a swift kick of his foot.

"Good job. I'd have done it myself, but I'm wearing loafers" Tony thanked Bucky.

They both peered inside only to discover that the room wasn't as small as it had seemed from the outside. It was like a spare room with a wardrobe, a single bed, a desk and a chair. Bucky immediately reached for the wardrobe and found a few items of men clothing hanging on the inside.

"Steve!" he yelled.

A few seconds later Steve emerged in the door followed by Thor, Clint and Natasha.

"What's all this?" Steve asked, looking from the wardrobe to the various folders that were on the desk and that Tony was inspecting.

"I bet they're Rumlow's:" Bucky said, nodding to the clothes.

"I'll call the lab and send Banner to process all these. I don't trust anyone else with this.” Tony offered as he fiddled with his phone until Natasha stopped him.

“We already called him.” she said. “He’s on his way.” Tony and Steve both nodded. “Thanks”

Tony picked up one of the folders he had been flicking through, frowning slightly.

"What is it?" Steve asked, nodding to the file held in his hands.

"They're basically pictures but.." Tony trailed off as Steve moved to take a look. He felt the blood pounding in his ears as he looked down.

"Son of a bitch!" he cursed, snatching the pile from Tony's hands. There was shot after shot of Katie and Steve. Most seemed to have been taken outside of his apartment as they headed towards his car, hand in hand. One of them showed Steve giving her a quick kiss before he opened the passenger door for her. Another one showed them leaving the station together. Then there were several of her own, walking out of Tony’s apartment to her car. There were even a few of Katie and Bucky as they headed out of the station together.

“That was Thursday I think…” Bucky mumbled “We went for coffee. This is sick."

Steve’s chest was heaving with the exertion of trying to keep his temper at the photos of in his hands.

"Cap?" Tony called Steve’s attention and he turned as Tony held out another pile he had just inspected. Steve looked at Tony who had gone pale and felt his hand shaking a little as he grabbed the snaps off Katie

What saw as he shuffled through them froze his blood. They were single, close up head shots of each of the other victims, however they were all crossed off by a large, red X drawn directly over their faces. Only one remained still untouched as he reached the end of the pile. Katie's.

Still, Steve thought to himself as he run his thumb over Katie's smiling face.

He looked up as Banner walked into the room, nodding to them all and made his way to Tony who wasn’t listening. Instead he was frowning at another picture he had found, presumably from another pile on the desk.

"Hey Cap.." he said waving it at Steve. Steve looked at it and saw that it was a photo of Pierce and Howard in NYPD training gear, "... isn't this..?"

"Camp LeHigh" Steve confirmed Tony's suspicions "Me and Katie were only talking about that last night... " he trailed of at the memory of his girl cuddled in his arms only a few hours before he pushed it to the back of his mind. "What are Pierce and your dad doing there in their sports stuff?"

"Dad said in the 60s, before it was an activities camp, it was an old army base the NYPD used to use for drills." Tony explained. "They must have been on one when this was taken. But why does Rumlow have it? Why does it mean anything to him?"

Steve then looked at Bucky and swallowed before looking at Tony again whose eyes were glued to the picture.

"Tony... Rumlow is Pierce's son." Steve said, almost whispered.

"What?" Tony asked, his brow furrowed and his eyes wide open in surprise.

"Katie was on her way to tell you before." Steve paused, taking a deep breath "... he got a 16 year old pregnant. She died in childbirth and the child, Rumlow, was adopted. We believe he found out and was using the information to blackmail Pierce over the rape case and later the assault charge on Katie. It looks like your dad found out and..." he trailed off again, shaking his head.

"Spit it out, Rogers." Tony growled.

"We think Pierce killed your parents to keep his secret from getting out. Katie wanted to tell you herself, that's why she was alone when she brought you the evidence..."

Tony fell speechless for a moment, which was something to say the least. Steve saw him blink twice and then look at him  "This...all this is what was on that drive?" he asked,his voice quiet.

Steve nodded but he didn't see what was coming when Tony rushed forward and gripped his shirt tightly. Steve stumbled backwards into the wall in surprise.

"So you're telling me...Pierce KILLED my parents, and now his BASTARD SON has my sister?" Tony hollered at him, his face only a few inches apart from Steve's.

"Tony, I'm sorry." Steve whispered, his face flinching in anticipation for what was coming. And came it did in the form of Tony’s fist connecting straight with the left hand side of his upper lip. Steve’s head snapping to the right as there was suddenly a lot of commotion in the small room as Nat, Clint, Bruce and Bucky both rushed forward. Bucky jumped straight in between the two men as he saw Steve made no attempt to fight back, reverting once more to that little kid from Brooklyn that Bucky was persistently bailing out from fights throughout their entire childhood.

And Bucky knew the reason for that was simple. Steve thought he deserved it. He believed that Tony was right, this was all his fault because Katie shouldn't have been alone.

Bucky held Steve by his arms and shook him slightly to bring him back from the place he was in.

"Hey, are you ok?" he checked.

Steve nodded, pushing him away as he wiped a trickle of blood from his split lip.

"Tony, look, I know you're upset...but this isn't gonna help anyone." Bruce said, his hands on the man's chest as he wrenched his arm out of Natasha’s hold from where she had grabbed it to stop him throwing another punch.

Thor, who had left a few minutes before to speak to his troops at the station, appeared again on the threshold of the door. Bucky saw him take in Steve’s split lip and how Bruce was pushing Tony away, but he didn't pass any comment. Instead, he looked at Steve. "Captain...dispatch called... we have a ping on the plate. It tripped one of the cameras 10 minutes ago on the interstate, heading out to New Jersey."

"Bucky, Thor, we’ll go after it." Steve, ordered.

"I'm coming too." Tony said.

"Tony...I don't." Steve began.

"Listen to me Rogers, that's my fucking sister, so I'm coming." Tony hissed.

"Tony maybe that isn't the best idea...." Bruce intervened.

"Steve, if he wants to come let him, we don't have time..." Bucky urged.

Steve then nodded and ordered Nat and Clint to help Banner get the evidence to the lab, and asked Nat to instruct dispatch to secure channel 7 and keep all related coms through that channel alone.

"Channel 7 secured." Nat said a minute later as she fiddled with a pair of gloves. "What? I can multitask." she said to Banner who was looking at her in amazement.

"Ok. Let's go." Steve said and the four men sprinted out of the building to the patrol car.

"Jump in." Thor ordered as he fired car up.

As soon as they set off heading in the same direction as the suspect car had been travelling in Steve called Fury to explain what they had discovered and where they were headed.

"Leave it with me Captain." Fury assured him once Steve had finished explaining.

"What are you gonna do?"

"Something dramatic I hope. Stark, Maximoff's and Rumlow's photos are currently being sent to all news networks...soon there will be a Nation-wide alert for them and I'll order a code red on the plate of the car too." Fury informed.

"Thank you, Sir." Steve said quietly.

"Keep me up to speed." Steve could almost see Fury nodding fondly.

As Thor sped the car along, weaving through the traffic as it moved out of the way, Steve could feel his anxiety growing and tried so hard to keep the negative thoughts at bay and focus on what they already knew. But he found himself drifting through memories, memories that went way back over the years they’d been friends. Happy memories, tense memories, fond memories, sad memories…none of them he would change for a damned second, and even the shit times he’d go through a thousand times over because it brought him to the now. To being with her, to laying with her, making love to her…

He was pulled out from his thoughts as they got a call on the designated dispatch channel to inform them that the vehicle had been found somewhere on the road to New Jersey. Steve keyed the coordinates into the navigational system and Thor concentrated on following the directions.

After what felt like an age they arrived and were met by two officers from the New Jersey force who informed them the car had been abandoned a few hundred yards or so down the small dirt track off the interstate. Thor took charge in talking to them and as the other three ran to the car, Steve could hear him instructing them to keep area clear as a potential crime scene.

"2 sets of tracks in, 1 out." Tony, who was looking at the ground as they walked towards the car, pointed out.

"So they swapped cars." Bucky surmised.

Steve was already looking around the abandoned vehicle, peering in with his hands on his hips, whilst Tony was getting his kit ready and putting a pair of gloves on. From where he was, Steve could see nothing other than an empty water bottle, but as he moved to check the back seats he noticed something sparking in the light in the footwell of the left hand side. He leaned forward to take a better look as he called for Tony and Bucky, who had also put a pair of gloves on. He was almost sure it was Katie's star necklace.

Steve had an epiphany moment as Tony grabbed the necklace and showed it to him before putting it in an evidence bag before handing it to Steve.

"Oh, Baby...you clever, clever girl...." he breathed out, shaking his head proudly. He smiled at Tony and then wheeled to the officer who was talking to Thor and barked "How far is camp Lehigh from here?"

"About 6 miles sir...but it's been shut for 6 months..." the officer said, not fully understanding what that would have to do with anything.

"Steve what is it?" Bucky asked, sensing the change in Steve's behaviour.

"Everyone, get in the car, now! I'll explain on the way." he shouted as he started sprinting back towards the patrol car.

Thor, Bucky and Tony shared a glance and Tony shrugged before the three of them followed Steve's tracks and all jumped in the car. Steve was already re-programming the sat nav as Thor sat back in the driver's side and fired the engine.

"He's taking her to camp Lehigh...Like Katie said...he's a narcissist...and he's made it personal." Steve turned back to inform Tony and Bucky as he pointed to the navigator for Thor to check it.

"Personal?" Bucky asked.

"Of course. That's the point of all this..." Tony groaned.

"She must have figured it out, that's why she left the necklace behind." Steve said, this time his eyes fixed in the road ahead. His mind picturing the moment Katie sussed where she was being taken and yanked her necklace from her neck.

"Necklace? I'm not..." Bucky asked.

"Me and Katie...we took a trip to the Camp a while back. It's where I bought her the star pendant." Steve cut him off, his hand fisting around the bag in his pocket "... to help her remember that even in the darkest of nights, the stars are always there, even if you can't see them." he explained, choking up slightly at the last part.

She was his star, always there.

Bucky saw he was getting upset again and leaned forward to squeeze his shoulder. "Star spangled man huh? Or should that be Stark spangled man..." he joked.

Steve gave a small smile. Bucky was right, he was the Stark Spangled Man. He had been over the last ten and a half years and was determined to keep it that way even if he had to strangle Rumlow himself with his own hands. He ran that mental image through his mind and felt a strange sense of satisfaction washing over him as the vision of him kicking the shit out of Rumlow hit his brain.

That was settled, he would get his girl back and Rumlow was going to pay for real this time.

When you gotta go, you gotta go and now it was that bastard’s time to go, Steve thought as the car sped towards its destination.

[musclesandhammering]

First of all, you’re a saint for being super polite in your reply, cause I definitely worded that really rudely. (Side note: I hope no s*lki shippers were genuinely offended by this. I tag all my wank as “anti sylki” so it can be filtered out by those of you that do ship it. That’s absolutely valid btw, no one gets the moral high ground in shipping wars, that’s ridiculous, and I wasn’t trying to imply that you guys are Terrible Horrible No Good Very Bad People for shipping it. So, yeah… feel a little bad about my abrasiveness, in hindsight lol). Warning that this post is gonna be really long, cause I feel like I should explain myself a little better.

But anyway. My problems with S*lki as a romantic ship are like 90% out-of-universe, so the whole selfcest angle is just a very small part of it that we (antis) end up emphasising more than we really need to. Sure, some people (including me) are bothered by the whole “them being sorta kinda maybe versions of the same person” thing, but if that was the only problem with the ship, I think I could live with it.

What’s irritating is that they’re actually not a terrible-looking couple, they have some really good chemistry at times and- idc who assassinates me for this- that blanket scene was hella cute. And it’s a really great metaphor for Loki learning to love himself. However, there was no need for them to make them a couple at all. I was so so excited after episode 3 because I genuinely thought they were gonna frame their relationship as a weird sibling dynamic (Chaos Twins!!!). So Loki was going to have a twin that was a version of himself (Sylvie) and a best friend that wasn’t a version of himself (Mobius), thus symbolising how he’s learning to love/trust both himself and other people. That would have been just as powerful as the romance angle, and it would show that platonic relationships are just as strong as romantic ones (something a lot of people on the interwebs just can’t seem to grasp).

And then there’s the LGBT Representation that completely flopped. We were already irritated about his gender fluidity (which the writers and director are going around in the media taking Woke Credit for btw), what with them adding the less-than-a-crumb Easter egg in the credits with that “sex: fluid” file listing, only to go back in episode 5 and essentially make all the Loki’s (even Sylvie) cis. So we were promised genderfluid Loki, and instead we got a cisgender female version of him from a different timeline that’s not even really the same person. Ok. And then he confirmed he was bisexual in a one-off line that can be easily edited out for homophobic audiences, proceeded to never mention his sexuality ever again, and then proceeded to never show any hint whatsoever that he’s also attracted to men (never flirted with any man, never made any offhand comments, never referenced a male ex, zilch). Which would be fine, except he’s shown flirting with 2 different women (sylvie and the flight attendant from the first ep). And, listen, I get that irl bi people don’t have to ever date the same sex to still be valid as a bisexual, but this is a tv show, and on tv the golden rule is “show, don’t tell.” It just seems very sus and super convenient (read: frustrating as hell) that with m/m they tell and don’t show, but with m/w they show it even when it’s not necessary.

So, to sum this up: They added romance where none was needed, didn’t even give us any of the promised queer representation within said romance, and then on top of that, they wanted an unnecessary m/f romance subplot so bad that they were willing to put him in a somewhat-problematic, admittedly pause-giving, sort-of-weird, relationship with another version of himself, all because she was the female lead playing opposite to him, so Oh Of Course they were gonna get together.

Don’t know if that clarifies my feelings any, or if it maybe sounded even more judgey than my original post (I’m so so sorry lol), but yeah. That’s basically my whole thing.

New meme format

[regal-captain]

a few thoughts from a former C$waner and the road to Swen

why did I change my mind ? 

I was desperate for some true love story, and ouat was offering that or so I thought ...

we can all agree that Snowing is True love and same with rumbelle, but what what I really wanted was a true love story for the savior, Emma deserved it, especially after what she’s been through with Neal and Graham ... hook was the perfect candidate wasn’t he ? 

The guy is hot as hell, i’ve always loved blue eyes contoured with eye liner ;), he was cocky but most importantly ; a villain ! who doesn’t love villains ? Loki, moriarty, Rumpelstiltskin... hook was unapologetically selfish and just .. bad, but he starts developing feelings for emma, and starts the road to ‘redemption’, now comes my personal view on this, i’ve always had bad experiences with men, my father being the first ( the guy is a cheater and selfish af ), I was desperate for a good story showing that a man can change but mostly that men can be good, I mean we all want to see that, so I start investing myself in hook and let’s say the truth here, season two and three hook WAS GOOD, he was on the right path to redeeming himself ( with a few mistakes here and there, at the time I thought it was alright, you can’t change overnight ), with Captain swan hints being dropped along the way, I was okay with, more than okay with even, Emma was getting a love story with a man who willing to change for her, we have enough of these stories already but fairytale stories have more meaning right ? so this one was special,,, and things start going downhill from there ( I will never say it out loud, but C$ was disappointing me from there i’ll never admit it out loud but i can say it on here) hook was treating Emma worse and worse, but they always found a way to make him ‘apologize’ for it and just like Emma I bought his crap (because whether i want it or not society has taught me to just do that) even tho’ a part of me still thought that was wrong, I still gave him the 5th 6th 7th 8th ... chance! and another part of me also didn’t want to be disappointed in the show that changed my life, I watched the episodes days or weeks later on (never happened in s3 and before ) but I still cling to the hope of happiness for Emma and trusted the writers to make it better, but C$ wasn’t that ooh so worshiped OTP of mine, it wasn’t the true love story I dreamed of, I Got so confused at times ( when Emma lied to hook about him being the dark one for example, OR WHEN SHE KILLED HIM SO HE COULD DIE A HERO?!? I kept telling myself what kind of love is that ? and I’m passing so many more) but because they made sense on paper I didn’t give too much of a thought, I convinced myself that its writers giving us shit drama like always

 and then arrives season 6,the season of realization : while in the previous season hook  was making mistakes, and I forgived him, my brain just couldn’t take it anymore, hook is a living mistake in this season, I even started to question his character, and what was his general goal was ? but then again, I love Emma so much, I wasn’t now just acting like her but like most of the characters at this point ? they all want her happiness and just let her be with that toxic man ? I feel like her parents and everyone else feels the same at this point, in took David 4 seasons to finally ‘accept’ the guy ( and by his look he wasn’t sure of his decision), I just wanted Emma to have her happy ending.

when did I realize that they weren’t meant for each other you say ? 

WHEN HE LIED TO HER ABOUT KILLING HER GRANDFATHER. the guy lowkey wanted to burn the memory of it, he was thinking for an entire episode whether to tell her the truth or not ? and when he finally decides to do so the worst proposal of all times happens and then he just what?  burns the memory of his act. he could’ve interrupted her that night and tell her the truth BUT HE DIDN’T. he was willing to start their married life together with a lie, and not just oh I swear I didn’t at that woman’s chest lie, HE KILLED HER GRANDFATHER, thats a divorce cause material. thats when I realized Emma’s true love wasn’t hook ( plus all the previous moments in the previous seasons) 

let’s talk about Swan queen for a minute:

I was the biggest ‘swan queen friendship’ shipper, in my early oncer days I was against them being romantic, probably because of my personal experience as well, I was having some troubles with my own sexuality at the time, I refused to acknowledge it, even if it’s just watching a queer couple on TV, it made me uncomfortable and I feared that if I gave in in that aspect of my life it’d become too real ( and held into C$ ) Only just last year that I came out to friends as Bi, so yeah Swan queen was no option for me, BUT IT WASN’T for them, I still saw their actions, I still saw their looks their mutual love for each, their deep affection to one another, the fact that they lean on each other, help one another and never ever stopped believing in one another, but still my dumb closeted self refused to believe it.

how does my personal life influence my vision of this ship tho’:

I believe, like ouat has told in ep’ 6x14 the most important thing in life is accepting and loving yourself, after one special event in my life I finally saw the light about myself and admitted what I was denying my whole life and now I love me ( just like regina does now ) and started seeing ouat with new eyes, eyes that could finally see and a heart that could finally admit that swan queen is the real deal, my eyes and heart finally see that the true love I wanted for Emma has always been there the character development I wanted to see was in Regina, her happy ending was there that whole time. 

now thats just my personal take on it, you don’t have to be lgbt to see it, hook isn’t the right one for Emma, Regina is, and I will repeat this as much as i have to ... if it is the last thing I do ;)

ps: thanks to that ONE tumblr post who made me go back and re-watch all the swan queen videos haha