#here's to mobius being the character of all time for all time always and lokius side by side where they belong 💖

[mobius-m-mobius]

I can rewrite the story.

Loki 1x01 // 2x05

[gloriousburden]

A few types of MCU Loki fans I’ve encountered/noticed being in the fandom for over three years now:

DISCLAIMER: DON’T TAKE THIS TOO SERIOUSLY PLEASEEEE IT’S LIGHTHEARTED!! Some of these things apply to me as well, and some don’t lol. Doesn’t necessarily apply to everyone it’s all just for giggles.

The Lokius shipper Series Fan:

- Usually younger Gen Z. Can be anywhere from 14 to 23 years old. They’re younger teenagers most of the time.

- Heavily on TikTok but also on Pinterest/Twitter.

- Got into the MCU/Loki more recently. Either from the Series, or from Ragnarok.

- For some reason, wholeheartedly believes that one Tumblr post from like ten years ago that states Loki is 16/17 in human years. Even though that’s not canon at all and it does not work like that.

- Favorite depiction of Loki tends to be the Variant/Ragnarok. Sometimes Avengers.

- Almost ALWAYS a fan of Good Omens or OFMD.

- Obviously… Ships Lokius.

- Very anti Sylvie/Sylki, but LOVES Mobius.

- EXTREMELY anti Thorki, even though not a lot of people ship them anymore.

- Spreads a lot of misinformation. Such as taking the fact that Marvel confirmed that the Scepter influenced Loki, and mistaking that with them 100% confirming the theory of Loki being brainwashed by Thanos.

- Thinks Loki’s eyes are green???

- Newer to fandom in general.

- Doesn’t talk a whole lot about the series outside of the ships/fanon discourse.

- Making Loki tree/Yggdrasil jokes CONSTANTLY.

- Either thinks that Loki before the series was completely evil, or an angel. No in between.

- “For you, for all of us 🥺” / “Your savior is here!”

- Often forgets/doesn’t remember the fact that Loki/OG Loki are two different characters, and groups them together.

- Either a Swiftie who likes to constantly joke about when Taylor and Tom dated for 3 months like 8 years ago and also associates a lot of her Songs/Lyrics with Loki, or is someone who has a bit more of an Alternative taste in Music/Fashion.

- Doesn’t really talk about Thor that much, or really wants him and Loki to reunite.

- They’ve probably seen other movies including Tom like Crimson Peak, Skull Island, and High Rise. The more popular ones.

- Owns a lot of TVA related merch.

- “He’s not Odin’s son, or Laufey’s son… He’s Frigga’s son 🥺” or insists on calling Loki by “Laufeyson.”

- In Fanon, sort of treats Loki as a very normal, modern human, and not a god from an entirely different realm.

- Has either dropped the Series/their love of Loki a few months after the Series ended for the “next best thing”, or is currently still raving about all of it.

- Quite immature about other’s opinions/perspectives on Loki/or even people who ship the opposite ship from their own. This is mainly because they’re younger or because they really like their Fanon idea of Loki/Which ship should be Canon.

- Has some questionable headcanons/opinions of their own on Loki.

- Loves Frigga.

- Hates Odin.

The OG Loki fan who’s been a fan of him since 2011/2012, but is a bit more casual about his characterization:

- Usually a Millennial/in their late twenties or mid thirties. May even be in their fourties.

- Has been here for a good while, and saw just about every movie featuring him as well as other MCU movies in the theater when they first came out. Was probably a younger adult/older teenager when Avengers came out.

- Fanfic writer!!

- Favorite depiction of Loki tends to be Ragnarok, TDW, or Avengers.

- Mainly reside on Tumblr/AO3 but also on Twitter from time to time.

- “The Sun will shine on us again.” / “Love is a Dagger.”

- Some depict Loki in their Fanfics in a Smutty/BookTok YA Fantasy Novel style. Some in other ways. They also have a lot of fun with their Fics! So many AUs.

- They are carrying the Loki x Reader tag, I won’t lie. 🫡

- Doesn’t necessarily love the Series, but also doesn’t necessarily hate it. Does prefer the OG Loki they know and love over the Series and had a few disappointments with the Series, though.

- MAJOR Hiddlestoner. Some may like Tom more than they like Loki. Have watched his entire filmography and then some.

- A lot of them have really cool Loki related tattoos.

- Collects a lot of merch. Both from the Series, as well as more OG Loki merch. Also owns about fourty Tom magazines.

- Probably has met Tom/owns an autograph or something signed by him.

- Usually ships Loki with Sigyn, Jane, Tony, or an OC they’ve had since 2013. Honestly, I don’t personally see them that often anymore, but may ship Thorki. Does not really ship Lokius/Sylki whatsoever, or uses Sylvie as a bit of a self insert in Fics.

- Sometimes also a huge fan of Bucky/The Winter Soldier or Sebastian Stan. Associates Bucky and Loki a lot especially in Fics.

- Some are also fans of Star Wars who love Kylo Ren.

- Actually they like a lot of other morally grey characters.

- Probably has a pet named after Loki.

- Feels deeply for Loki, and relates to him in certain ways. Really likes humanizing him in their fics. Loves the more vulnerable side of him.

- Loves Frigga.

- Hates Odin.

The Loki purist/“He’s literally me” Fan:

- Anywhere from 16 - 28 years old. May be a bit older than that. Usually Mid/Older Gen Z, or younger Millennial.

- Has either grown up loving Loki, or became a fan a bit more recently.

- Favorite depiction of Loki tends to be TDW, but obviously can be any of the three OG depictions of him.

- LIVES on Tumblr. A bit of an extinct species elsewhere, but some may also be on Twitter.

- #1 Loki defenders. Very protective of/sensitive about how he is depicted not only in Canon, but also in Fanon. Usually deemed as harsh by series fans/non series haters whenever they criticize the Series or Ragnarok, but in reality, deeply relates to Loki and takes it very personally when he is depicted inaccurately. They see themselves in him, and are so, so, SO tired of seeing him mischaracterized. But also can be genuinely harsh at times. I’ve been guilty of that.

- Either heavily believes the “Thanos Brainwashed Loki” theory, or completely rejects it.

- “I never wanted the Throne. I only ever wanted to be your Equal.” / “Trust my Rage.”

- Very creative. Creates Art of Loki, Fanfics, Edits, Cosplays him, etc…

- Sometimes weirdly resembles him in ways??? LOL. Taking “He’s literally me” literally

- Has a more Alternative taste in Music, Fashion, Aesthetics, etc..

- They either see Loki as their bff, their life partner, or as an enigma to observe. Or all of the above.

- Pretty into Norse Myth, and likes incorporating aspects of it creatively, or when talking about Loki.

- Has a good amount of Fandom experience, and does not tend to argue with other Loki purists/OG Loki fans over petty things. Because at the end of the day… it’s just Tumblr. And we usually all have a common middle ground. Or, is constantly arguing with others.

- They don’t really ship Loki with anyone, but if they do… it’s usually Sigyn or Thor. Or someone really random.

- Either really enjoys depicting Loki in a more Feminine/Neutral form, and wishes his fluidity was depicted in the MCU, or doesn’t talk about it all that much.

- Single handedly keeping the memory of Loki (prior to Ragnarok) alive. 🫡

- Loves the comics, or hasn’t touched a single one.

- Disliked Taika Waititi before it was cool.

- Lost complete trust in the MCU after the handling of Loki’s characterization in Ragnarok, and had no hope in the Series when it was first announced. Or… really hoped it would be our last hope.

- Either deems Thor as the origin of all evil, or actually likes him.

- Wishes it was still 2013 everyday of their lives.

- Either respects/likes Tom to a certain extent, or really does not like him.

- Has a few really cool merch items, or has a lot of everything and anything they can find that doesn’t include Ragnarok/The series. Usually, they DIY their merch.

- Needs to emulate him at any given moment and in any way possible.

- Likes Frigga, but acknowledges that she has messed up in ways. Or really does not like her, period.

- Hates Odin.

The… Male MCU casual/dudebro who strictly lives on TikTok/Instagram/Twitter and did not really like Loki that much until the Series finale came out and thinks Loki is a Sigma Male who dropped everything in order for his friends and his… “Girl” to live:

- ????? Wtf

- Okay I added this one more as a joke because obviously they’re not Loki fans, but…

- Anywhere from ages 15, to 24. No older than that.

- Definitely disregarded Loki’s character before the Series. Also due to him having a fanbase where Women/Girls are the majority. Now Loki is the best MCU character and has the best arc out of everyone else. 🤦🏻‍♀️

- Wholeheartedly believes that Loki was a narcissist/was overreacting about everything he’s been through, or believes that Loki is an angel now because he had a “Redemption Arc”.

- Has never picked up a single Loki comic.

- Jokes a lot about Loki “loving” himself (Sylki kiss).

- Calls the Series “Peak Fiction” just because the rest of the bullshit the MCU has been putting out was absolute garbage, and also because they haven’t really watched anything else.

- If you as an actual Loki fan correct them on any of their bullshit, they act like they know more than you because they loved the series. How could anyone hate it?

- Makes self insert memes/tries to project onto Loki in the absolute worst ways possible.

- Worships the ground that Michael Waldron walks on. Though, they all hated Multiverse of Magic..

- “Let time pass…” / “I know what kind of god I have to be. For you, for all of us.” (Once again.)

- Similarly to our Lokius shipper Series Fans… they do not realize that Loki/the Variant are literally two different people.

- Loves Mobius JUST because he is portrayed by Owen Wilson.

- Also very annoying about Loki being confirmed bisexual in the Series.

- Really wants not only Thor and Loki to reunite, but also Hela.

- Hated the earlier Thor movies, loved Ragnarok, hated Love and Thunder.

- Probably thinks the treatment of Thor in Endgame was funny af.

- Who’s Frigga?

- Loves Odin probably. (Hehe)

[percheduphere]

LOKI SEASON 2 - END GAME THEORIES PART 1

This is going to be a super long post that will need to be divided into 2 parts due to the 10 image posting limit. Here's what I'll cover:

Part 1:

1.) The Original Timekeepers

2.) Trust as a Theme

3.) Social Intelligence is a Leadership Skill

4.) Mobius's Presence Through Food - Food is Socializing ... and Friendship

Part 2: (read: here)

5.) Mobius's Plotline

6.) Sylvie's Role

7.) John = Mobius?

8.) The Original Timekeepers & Time Paradoxes

THE ORIGINAL TIMEKEEPERS

I am 99.99% certain that the original 3 timekeepers are Loki, Mobius, and Sylvie, and that we are in a time paradox by which the future influenced the past. The lore and set design have repeatedly highlighted that there have always been THREE timekeepers.

More than once, the camera has held on the TVA seal for an extended period. The seal above is from the past, when HWR was in power.

This seal is from the future:

In both cases, the image of the seal remains the same. The dagger represents Loki, the hourglass (drawn like a mobius strip) represents Mobius, and the mask (that looks like shield but isn't) represents Sylvie, who can enchant. The papers covering the text appears intentional as well, a nod to the comics, "Loki: God of Stories".

And the writers, cunning folk that they are, are counting on the most avid fans to be too busy looking for scenes supporting their ships to realize that the end game is for Loki, Mobius, and Sylvie to trust and care about one another enough to protect all time(lines), always. Please note that I'm not an anti. I love shipping! It's fun. But an awareness of shipping is also a useful tool to keep the audience distracted from the narrative and cinematic hints that are right in front of our faces. These three need to become a team. The shots below (adored by Lokius fans, including me) foreshadow this in 2 ways:

First, that Loki's character has progressed to the point that he trusts and supports Mobius. Second, that both shots are imbalanced. There needs to be a third person on Loki's other side to balance both shots' composition. The Heart of the TVA is missing its 3rd timekeeper: Sylvie.

This shot is significant for several reasons, all of which are thematically connected. Despite there being two people on either side of Loki, the shot is still imbalanced. Loki is slightly closer to Mobius. In this scene. Sylvie is positioned at a distance, demonstrating lack of trust in both of them.

TRUST AS A THEME

Stepping back for a moment, S1 predominantly focused on Loki and Mobius developing trust in one another:

By Season 2, that trust is well-established. Sylvie hasn't had enough time to build trust with either them. She continues to operate in a survivalist mindset. Her history justifies this: she's relied on herself since childhood. But not having anyone to trust is not the path to happiness, nor is it to the path to success when in the face of an annihilation event. Sylvie is still emotionally and psychologically where Loki was at the beginning of S1.

SOCIAL INTELLIGENCE IS A LEADERSHIP SKILL

I'm an older fan. If you've ever worked for a medium to large employer, the different types of managers that exist become apparent.

1. The micromanagers, managers who do not trust their staff and consequently create a tense environment that can become toxic where no one trusts one another.

2. The absent managers, managers who delegate and disappear, leaving their team feel uncared for.

3. The blurred-line manager, who's friendly and approachable but doesn't hold others accountable and doesn't know how to create and implement plans at a high level (out of fear of upsetting anyone), making their team feel frustrated with in-fighting and lost in terms of what the main goal is.

4. The authoritarian, a manager who follows the book to a T, is rigid, punitive, and has no compassion for individual circumstances.

5. The leader, a manager who takes the time to know team members individually, change their management style based on individual needs, keeps an eye on the big picture and ensure actions are taken toward it, holds people accountable but also makes time to make sure people are getting along.

Renslayer, Brad, and Sylvie tearing Mobius down are foreshadowing, plot set-up, and red herrings. Mobius is not a perfect leader, but he is a strong one by virtue of having exceptional social skills, which Sylvie doesn't have because she's never had real friends before. It's not her fault. However, it is imperative that she move beyond this.

And Loki, who has developed compassion, self-awareness, and personal accountability through Mobius's friendship and love, extends those things to Sylvie. He is gentle when he confronts her. He shares his experience with Thor because he knows where Sylvie is at mentally. But he also doesn't force her to come with him. He leaves her with the free will to choose.

MOBIUS'S PRESENCE THROUGH FOOD - FOOD IS SOCIALIZING ... AND FRIENDSHIP

In S2E4, Mobius's presence and influence are heavy in scenes in which he is not there. The pie scene is one of them, with the flickering lights and sweets sitting forlornly behind glass symbolizing that Mobius's sense of self (very much grounded in trust and hope in others, even if they are broken) is wavering. And as @charcubed noted in their INCREDIBLE meta here, everything goes wrong from this point. Why?

Having pie together was an opportunity to build trust and friendship with Sylvie.

None of them have the technical know-how to help OB, Victor, and Casey. The best thing they could have done is get out of their hair because too much overseeing leads to anxiety and anxiety leads to mistakes. Mobius knows this. What can they do in the meantime? Stress eat and integrate Sylvie as a member of the team.

Note that every moment Mobius makes to eat or drink is not only a moment to de-stress, it is also a moment he uses to bond with others and get to know them better. Renslayer (and later Loki, because he's become close enough to Mobius to know what comforts him) uses this method, too.

S1 - Whisky scene with Renslayer

S1 - Cafeteria scene with Loki

S1- Salad scene with Loki

S2 - Cracker Jack scene with Loki

S2 - McDonalds scene with Brad

S2 - Pie scene with Loki

S2 - Hot cocoa scene with Victor

Knowing what people want and care about is critical to motivating individuals, and yes, this talent can be used as manipulation when the situation calls for it.

Socializing over food is also a means of feeling less alone. We tend to eat with people we trust and care about (a tradition meant for family, found or otherwise), or at the very least want to get along with.

The second scene where Mobius's presence is felt despite not being there?

What does Victor dobwith the hot cocoa?

He gives it to D-90.

Victor gives it to D-90 out of a sense of comradery, a basic human desire to share something nice with someone and maybe make friends.

But this moment leads to tragedy. As @charcubed explained, Mobius separating from Loki led him to comfort eat via hot cocoa. The hot cocoa caught Victor's interest. D-90 goes with Victor to check out the machine. D-90 is pruned, and Victor is separated from the team. This causes a delay in getting Victor prepped and out onto the Loom gangway, which causes the temporal radiation to build up so high, it's impossible for Victor survive. The Loom consequently explodes.

PART 2 HERE!

Thank you to @bebx and @mobius-m-mobius for responding to my asks which consisted of end game theories for Loki Season 2 (here, here, here, and here), and for @wowwwmobius for supporting my thoughts. Your replies got me to feel brave enough to post everything I've been thinking in full!

[avelera]

So I never really commented on the "Loki" show on here very much, even though I watched it, for a few reasons.

I found the first season visually beautiful but spiritually hollow and ultimately uninteresting. My connection to Loki was through his story as an Asgardian, his relationship with Thor and Odin and the others. I was prepared for the possibility that the show would focus elsewhere, by necessity, but I was always facing a similar uphill battle to liking it as I did the Winter Soldier show: the relationships I wanted to see more of (Steve/Bucky, Thor & Loki) weren't going to be there in favor of new side characters and my heart just wasn't really in it. But I gave it a chance.

The bigger issue was this: I fucking hate magical policing agencies as a plot point. Corporate organizations tasked to control time, or magic, or stop normal people from learning about magic, blah blah blah, I hate them. I find them immensely boring. Part of it is because I tried to write one once for NaNo in college! I understand the appeal! But they are just deeply, deeply boring to me as a concept. They are overplayed and tired and dull. Loki's TVA would have to have been something truly exceptional to win me over and then it was the whole point of the show and it wasn't exceptional, just the trope played straight and I just... wilted with disinterest.

I also hate mid-20th century aesthetics. Truly despise them. I hate the orange decor and the brown suits and the atomic era gigantic room-sized computers. It's kitchys and awful and I loathe it with my entire being. It repels me. So when the TVA had that aesthetic and the TVA was core to a story about a Norse god, you can perhaps begin to see the problem.

I loved Sylvie's actress. I loved the idea of Sylvie. I loathed the Sylvie plotline. Why don't we know more about what her life was like as a Loki? Did she have a relationship to the Asgardians ever? Why aren't Loki and Sylvie being constantly teased for being narcissists at best and incestuous at worst if they show any interest in each other? I loathed that romance, I found it gross and hollow and uninteresting and cheap. I was so glad when S2 seemed to drop interest in it.

Look, at a certain point, I just accepted that I'm not the target audience. It wasn't the Loki show I was hoping for, something more akin to Journey into Mystery for example. It barely acknowledged Loki's mythological roots, his actual magical abilities which on numerous occasions would have far outclassed the threats they faced with weird TVA technology, and just... look, it wasn't for me, a mythology buff. I just didn't like it or what it was going for.

This isn't to say it was bad! Just that it was absolutely stacked against my personal tastes in its aesthetic and story choices about 3/4 of the time.

But I did watch the whole thing. And I loved the visuals of the ending sequence in S2.

I hope this means if Loki returns, the door is open for a more magical, mythologically informed Loki. I hope he returns! I hope that just being on his magical time throne doesn't mean he's stuck there but that either his variants, or his ghost, or him puppeting his own variants or whatever can continue to interact with the timeline. I think it's such a magical mystical set up that it's very likely to be possible. it's magic! They can do anything!

But for the love of all the Norse gods, if I never see that hideous cliche TVA again it will be too soon. Sorry, Mobius, you were fun and charming and I loved seeing what the Lokius shippers cooked up, but I hate your work place so much it made me want to claw my own eyes out.

[cha0ticlesbian]

Sorry for the rant but like- I hate being a lokius stan sometimes😭 like why is my autistic hyperfixating ass putting myself through all this PAIN

Why can’t I be like a normal person and just like them a normal amount? OR NOT AT ALL??? Why am I literally out here crying over these fictional men and their sad ending and the fact that Loki is alone forever and mobius will always be waiting for him :(

I’m literally grasping at straws because there’s RUMORS there was a cheek kiss, but even then it’s pointless because marvel will never give a canon queer couple with main characters.

They’re literally ruining my life and I can’t stop myself from thinking about them! I cry all the time about them and all I read is fanfics about them and all I think about is them😭 IM TRYING TO GET OVER THEM BUT I CANT

Anyways I hate them sm (affectionate) and canon doesn’t exist and they’re happy and I am infact extremely mentally ill.

[dewdropreader]

❦ ➷ get to know your fellow fanfic writers better ༊ ✧.*

I was tagged by @bebx and @loki-is-my-kink-awakening for this “get to know the writer” tag! Thank you! 😊

when did you post your first ever fanfic?

I believe in 2012-2013? I was around 13-14 years old, so around then anyway (my first one doesn’t exist online anymore as far as I know so I can’t double check.) it was the usual middle school fandom girl era lol. First for my current account was February of 2022!

first character you wrote for:

It would have been Rin Matsuoka from Free! Iwatobi Swim Club! Specifically him and Nitori, they were one of my fave ships in that series!

main character(s) you’re currently writing for:

Basically anyone from the Loki series but especially Loki and Mobius and Sylvie, not necessarily in that order or all together but some combo of them 💚

character(s) you haven’t written about before but plan on writing about soon:

I haven’t written for OFMD but would really like to! I’ve had a lot of feels s2, no solid ideas yet but maybe something will spark some inspiration! Also Red White and Royal Blue! I haven’t gotten a chance to read the book yet but I watched the movie and got hooked and love those boys too 💕 so maybe one or both of them if the Loki series even temporarily gets it’s hooks out of me (with s2 though I’ve been as bad if not worse than before with my obsession so who knows lol)

And for within marvel the ship that got me into fanfic and got me to make this current ao3 account was Stucky so even though I only read for them and never wrote, they always have a place in my heart!

fandom(s) you’re currently writing for:

Also just Loki atm! But who knows for the future.

platonic pairing(s) you currently write for:

Mobius and any of the void Lokis as the best found family ever (Mobius and kid, Mobius and classic, Mobius and all of them my beloveds)

I haven’t written it recently but also wrote B-15 and Sylvie in a non romantic context and even though I think they’re also cute romantically I love them as a platonic pair and want to do more with them too! Similarly Sylvie and C-20, I wish they could have been friends if things had gone a bit differently 🥺

romantic pairing(s) you currently write for:

Lokius and Sylkius! Haven’t written any pure Sylki but who knows (I just like Mobius too much to not include him atm)

your top 3 tags on AO3 (if you post your works on AO3):

Hurt/comfort, fluff, and hugs 😂 sounds about right to me! I like some pain and crying and working through stuff but need the hugs and comfort alongside it/after it for sure.

your current platform where you post your works

AO3 is the same as my name here!

I try to post my fics links on tumblr too but don’t always remember so ao3 is always best bet if you want to read my stuff!! 😍

snippet of the wip you’re currently working on:

Right now I’m most heavily focused on a character study type fic cataloging different moments with Sylvie adapting to her McDonald’s life but specifically looking at her relationship with Jack, I think she would have such a great big sister vibe and they could learn a lot from each other 🥹

“Good job today, Sylvie,” Jack says, his lopsided smile clear even before Sylvie glances his way. He’s always got compliments and kindness at the ready, and he’s young and gentle enough that they’re always believable.

“Thanks, Jack,” she feels a smile curl onto her face. She still, even after knowing Loki and Mobius and B-15, feels like she doesn’t know how to have friends or family or any genuine connections at all. But Jack is the first in a long time to feel so real to her, to feel like a relationship she can stick with, with these new more permanent circumstances and her distance from the trauma of the TVA. She doesn’t remember what it’s like to be a sister, her memories of Thor long gone beyond the occasional glimmers in her dreams, let alone what being the older sister would be like, but this is what she suspects it is. A fierce protectiveness and gentle care, the ignoring of any silly flaws or naïveté because you just care about the person. That’s what she has for Jack, ever since he took her under his wing as an employee, she’s done the same for him as just a person.

“Mind if I stay here for a bit? My ma is going to be a few more minutes.”

Sylvie just smiles softly and scoots over on the wide hood of her truck, gesturing to the empty spot.

Jack nods rather sagely as he awkwardly hoists himself on to the hood of the truck, pushing himself up with his arms and then practically throwing himself on to it.

He pants softly as he adjusts to lay on his back a foot or two away from Sylvie, giving her another boyish grin. “Hey.”

“Very smooth, Jack,” Sylvie snorts.

“Your truck is huge! I’ve ridden in trucks before but yours is massive! I’m not sure how you even get up here, you’re shorter than me!” He laughs.

“My little secret, I guess,” Sylvie shrugs with a slight smile, returning her gaze to the inky sky, dotted with a trillion stars.

I’m excited to keep writing this, I’ve got some Lokius ideas in the works too but this one has been my focus for a few days!!

I’d love to see anyone do this that is interested but I’ll tag my usual group!!

@insert-witty-user-name-here @starport-seven-five @lgwilt @mirilyawrites @cha-melodius @chaos-monkeyy @waterhorseyblues-ao3 @blackbirdofasgard @dreamycloud @queen-of-meows

[time-variance-archive]

Sorry, I haven't made posts of my own for a while, mainly because I am a bit tired when I come back from work and I don't find the creative energy or the self discipline to do basic ressearches. My next posts include references to Henri Bergson's Time and Free Will, and watching a few more online classes about the Eddas and historical knowledge of the Norse myths.

But recently I got caugh in a very interesting conversation (tw for heavy topics) and while I don't want to include myself in the thread, I want to make my own post it.

I'm not sure where to begin, because violence in fiction is a very complex topic that have been discussed since humans make up stories. I don't have any moral ground to hold there and I think everyone's feelings and opinions on the matter have a value. I am not one of those poeple who scream against "antis" all day, because "anti" is a word that can mean anything and nothing at once (okay, I use it occasionally, always for specific situations like anti-Sylki, anti-Lokius, anti-series... it's just an easy way to name the sides of an argument). I think it's a mere courtesy to respect other poeple's triggers and emotional response, as well as their argumentation.

I think a good text to read on the matter is Aristotle's Poetics, but I am too lazy to look at anything else than the Wikipedia page and my few memories from college.

I think a good part of the "fandom wank" comes from an opposition of a Platonician and an Aristotelian approach of fiction. Some poeple take fiction as a symetrical imitation of the real world while other people read fiction in a more metaphorical way. I don't think any of those sides are better, especially because not all fiction is meant to be consumed the same way. I would say it is not appropriate to watch historical fiction the same way we watch fantasy.

Anyway, sorry if I'm rambling, I'll come to the point discussed here : does Mobius' interrogation methods qualify as torture, and is it appropriate within the narrative of the show ?

As @iamanartichoke said, fiction is subjective to a certain point and I agree. I've been talking about the time loop scene with several poeple in DMs and we confronted our perception of the scene, and how it clashes with the answers of @lucianalight and @tori-artemis.

I think a lot of poeple, me including, percieved the time loop scene as a memory loop, aka, not Loki being repeatedly beated by Sif, but Loki experiencing a memory of being repetedly beaten by Sif. It's not a big nuance, but it changes the whole meaning of the scene.

By putting the emphase on the memory aspect, the scene becomes an introspective moment. What matters here is how Loki reacts to the memory and how it shapes his character journey. After the first loop, Loki mocks the choice of memory, saying "I never thought about it again, because it was just a little fun". It takes him a few loops to come to the realisation he has hurt Sif, and to apologize. Interesting part, his apologies worked, even in a memory, and fake-Sif tells him "you have always been alone and you will always be."

What I understood of this scene is that sometimes, we have to think over and over about a past event to take a lesson from it. I think we've all been Loki there, remembering a morally dubbious deed with fondness or indifference. Wasn't it funny when we pranked the poor math teacher and they lost their temper ? Here, Loki comes to an important realisation : one of the reasons why he's been alone is because he was seeking attention the wrong way. It's only by admitting his wrong that he can take something out of the memory.

Note that my interpretation is purely doylist : the time loop scene serves as a visual metaphor for introspection. This is not an admission that Mobius was right or Loki deserved it, because I am in no way a TVA apologist. My feelings for Mobius are complex and I keep that for another post.

I hope I'm not offending anyone with this post, I am not interested in discourse at all and I have no claim that my interpretation of fiction is more valid than anyone.

@iamanartichoke @lucianalight @tori-artemis @rollychan @acertifiedmoron

[alexjcrowley]

I was reading a Lokius fanfiction on ao3 ("Not so forgotten birthday" by Mercury_writer), which is about Loki's birthday and how Loki has always celebrated his birthday the day he was taken by Odin, but Mobius, having seen his whole life, knows when Loki is actually born.

Do you think Mobius, even before meeting Loki, had a little celebration for his birthday? Let me explain myself.

It's like when you celebrate the birthday of a fictional character. You know, when you post an insta story or a Tumblr post for a character you really like. Mobius could be considerated an expert in Loki (you know, like an academic who is specialized in a determined time period/author), and, as he declared in the first episode, he was really fascinated by Loki's character.

Because now I have this image stuck in my head of Mobius, on the day of Loki's birthday, simply taking a sweet from the cafeteria at lunch- like a slice of cake or a cupcake. You may say he uses Loki's birthday to treat himself, and I would be inclined to agree, because, you see, in the second episode we see Mobius at lunch. When Loki goes to Mobius to talk about his theory, Mobius is having lunch alone.

Now, I don't know how lunch break works in the TVA, but it is a pretty sad image, if you think about it, the one of Mobius eating alone at the TVA for all the time he was here. You may say that the show didn't say Mobius always eats alone, but we also see Casey eating alone in that scene. And he and Mobius, who are coworkers and should know eachothers, don't even think of sitting at the same table just for the sake of company and "there are literally two people in this place, might as well chat otherwise the situation would be awkward".

So yes, I am assuming Mobius always eats alone. (And I am assuming most of TVA employees eat alone too). And I am assuming, on Loki's birthday, Mobius takes something that could sweeten his lunch, which is mostly boring and lonely. And before eating that piece of cake of cupcake or whatever, he mentally says "happy birthday, Loki".

Consider this an excuse to eat some cake or a genuine bond he feels with Loki (like the one an academic feels for a figure he focused his studies on), Mobius celebrates every year Loki's birthday.

Alone and in secret, in a way. He may thinks "I am eating this for you too, buddy" or something like that, but still, it's kind of melanchonic image for me.

Every year, while Loki was growing up, was fighting, was being controlled by Thanos, was pretending to be Odin, was hurting, was lost, in a place far, far away, an old looking man is eating a piece of cake, murmuring, in a way no one can hear him, "Happy birthday, Loki, whatever age are you turning now".

He is alone in a sad cafeteria, he eats his cake thinking he probably shouldn't eat that much sugar at his age, but he is probably immortal, so he shouldn't get diabetis (he hopes).

And then, years later, he finally gets to eat with someone (an overexcited norse God who makes him almost regret eating alone, at least he could eat something and not get his salad ruined by salt, pepper and milk).

And it would be cool if one day Mobius brought two slices of cake to their table and when Loki would ask "what are these for?", Mobius would smile softly saying "Well, for you. Happy birthday, Loki, finally I get to tell you."

[discoscoob]

Disagreeing with the straight cis female Slash shippers is very dangerous on SM but there indeed are lots of issues with the straight women taking up such a large space of the gay fandom. Like, you are a hypocrite if you do not see the problem with having the large proportion of gay fanart/fanfics being produced by the straight cis women while understanding that the straight men being obsessed with the lesbian women is fetishization. The issue is obvious here: you have a representation of minorities through the straight lenses.

Need a proof? Take mpreg for example. These fics are not always the exploration of futuristic medicine/alien biology and rarely even include trans men. There is a parody video on youtube by Nicholas Black titled "when a gay fanfiction is obviously written by a straight woman". It is embarrassing how point on this parody is.

The thing is, yes, talking from the point of view of our irl experience, the straight men fetishizing the lesbian women have the horrible and criminal consequences. The straight women fetishizing gay men does not have such consequences but this does not change the fact that fetishization of the entire community by the outsider party is still objectifying.

Some of these women feel entitled to ownership of the male homosexual representation. They gaslight the gay men who voice their discomfort with this situation.

And regarding the controversy with Anthony Mackie... i think his reaction was understandable. I do not remember exactly how he worded his opinion tho. But people were not really invested in SamBucky's relationship. They did not see a love story in it. They saw sexuality and eroticism. They reacted to every single SamBucky interaction with "uWu they wanna FuCK, probs can't keep it in THEIR PANTS". They reduced the potential romantic bond between these two men to simple and primal sexual desire while being quite childish and immature about it.

Same goes with Lokius. Lokius shippers will puritan-wash the Twitter threads with their moral superiority but then ignore JUST HOW PROBLEMATIC IT IS TO SHIP AN OLDER WHITE COP WITH HIS PRISONER. It just shows how they lack awareness for the gay experience and do not understand how some narrative choices would be harmful considering how the age gap and power imbalance is a huge issue in the irl gay relationships. Or, lets be real here, these ppl do not see how having the ex-villain be the very first ever Marvel character in a mlm relationship is not exactly the purest, fluffiest, healthiest representation choice.

So, yeah, i do not know whether they project on Mobius or Loki but i do know that they see the threat in a woman who could take away their fave male character because, "if i can't have him, no other woman can". But another male character is fine, because in the end of the day, fetishization is dehumanizing. For these people, whether it is conscious or subconscious, the mlm relationships are never really "real". They will always be the projected caricature fantasies. A man can't truly "have" another men because, for a straight cis women obsessed with the gay men, the gayness will always be something out of fantasy.

Let me finish by saying, it is ok to ship the gay pairings if you are a straight cis woman. It is ok to draw homosexual erotica and write the gay fiction too. But sometimes we should talk critically regarding these things as well.

I have nothing to add you made several good points. I just want to also clarify that it goes without saying that this is clearly calling out straight cis women, as stated several times in the post, it’s just all too often that whenever I see posts where someone is clearly calling out a certain group someone who the post clearly wasn’t directed towards comes along to complain because they feel like the post is targeting them when it clearly isn’t.

[vidavalor]

Lokius/Mobius thoughts...

The part of the jet ski conversation that gets lost in the shuffle is the most interesting bit to me. It's not when Mobius expresses why he loves jet skis but when he expresses what he feels about basically all of history that causes him to love the rare bright spots like, to him, jet skis. He says that all of history is basically terrible and then it nearly all of it gets destroyed. Listen to that. Sit with that for a moment.

This guy is exhausted. He admitted to Loki in another scene that he has no idea how long he's been at the TVA but we know it's been awhile and no one really ever seems to do anything but solve time crimes. Mobius is the only real subtle rebel we see in the place-- he has his jet ski magazines and there's a novel on his desk. He's smart and a little bored and a little depressed and Loki-- *this* Loki-- is the human equivalent of jet skis to him.

Mobius has seen and knows about history and while he has not lost a sense of empathy and compassion towards humanity at all, he has lost something of a sense of hope that things that are dark and repeated traumas can maybe end for the better. 'Most of history is terrible and then it's destroyed' is also basically the story of Loki's life-- most of it was kind of awful and then he was brutally murdered. The end. It must have depressed the living hell out of Mobius to watch that. Loki's life was essentially Mobius' favorite story, only it was real and he knew it was, and he just absolutely *hated* the ending.

He hated it so much that at some point, he actually took a tempad and *went into the movie*, which is not what the TVA is supposed to do. They are supposed to halt stories that deviate from what they are told the plan is. The changes they make are to prune and shape, sure, but to a specific end goal and there's no reason to go roaming around time and space without that. Yet, Mobius went into the story and while Thor is meeting the Guardians of the Galaxy, Mobius is seeing Loki-- this Loki, *his* Loki-- in person for the first time and it's when Loki is still very dead, having been floating on a rock in space until Mobius probably pulled his body into a ship.

Consider that the tape of Loki's life ends with his death in Infinity War. That's where his file ends, officially, with the TVA but Mobius was the real ending. Long before he and Loki would figure out how there could be no consequences in the moments before the death that is an apocalypse, Mobius had figured out there would be no consequences for him if he hid away the dagger he took from Loki's body-- the one that Loki had conjured to kill Thanos, that he had *made* from his own magic, that was then a part of *Loki himself*- as no one would know Mobius was here, hiding in the bit of time after Loki's file-- and life-- had ended.

It is, in all likelihood, Mobius who closed Loki's eyes and draped something over him, probably his own TVA jacket. It is, in all likelihood, Mobius who recovered Loki's body in Infinity War and buried him somewhere.

Mobius buried Loki before he ever met him.

He and Loki look at one another for the first time, meeting with Loki alive for the first time, as Loki is shouting about how the TVA will not dictate how his story will end, having no idea that Mobius was his epilogue before and has since decided to help Loki rewrite all of the last chapters. History is terrible and then it gets destroyed. Mobius thought that true but didn't let it completely best him into cynicism-- it made him seek to be someone who would try to make proverbial jet skis happen. History might be a series of dark times upon dark times but Mobius can find the joy in it and when he's broken by Loki's horrible ending, he wants to change it because Loki, too, is to Mobius a rare alignment of form and function-- a perfect, beautiful, god equivalent of a jet ski that should not be destroyed.

When was the moment that Mobius decided to go back for a second dagger? Did he take it from some point in The Dark World, off of the illusion of a dead Loki, so he again would not disrupt time as Loki would not be able to interact with him? The two daggers from The Dark World and Infinity War look alike. Why does it matter? Because one would have sufficed for Mobius to have for himself, to keep as a memory of the Loki he only ever got to see in person in death, but two? Two daggers means he meant to give them *to* Loki. Two daggers of Loki's own making, to protect himself with and help him rewrite his story because Loki is always better with two than with one alone and one alone is too reminiscent of his murder for Mobius' taste.

Mobius was a man tired of the order of bad endings, tired of just observing, tired of reading and watching a story unfold and not being able to be a character in the story of his own life, let alone Loki's. He was already beginning to burn down the TVA just by wanting so desperately to inject it with a dose of the literal God of Mischief. He had fallen in love with the protagonist of the saddest damn story he'd ever watched and then decided to go from watching it-- yet another tragic tale in history, yet another beautiful part of the world destroyed-- to deciding that he was going to become a part of the story himself.

The movie is now his story, too, and he is determined for it to have a different ending this time around. One day, this Loki variant-- the same man Mobius fell in love with watching, really, just stopped at the point of the beginning of his terrible demise (taking the Tesseract)-- this Loki variant will have a different movie that ends with the end of his life again but Mobius will be in this movie now, too, and with any luck, it will not end with a tragic murder but some happiness and peace. History might be terrible but Loki, now, maybe won't be destroyed and Mobius was already burning down his world for that before he ever walked into Ravonna's courtroom to save Loki and step not just into Loki's life but more fully into his own. That's just... really romantic and lovely. This damn show is going to slow burn the living hell out of this, aren't they?

[trutrustories]

Okay, this will be probably long and with many errors (my english isn´t very good) But I saw several posts here on Lokius tag, talking about this ship as result of gay fetish, and about non existing chemistry and  how this ship doesn´t make sense etc… And from what I understood there is tagged Lokius because of genuine interest to understand others point of view, so here is mine: I wil try to explain where my frustration comes from, and how I feel about Lokius, Sylkie, AND representation + some other things which I saw here somewhere. But first of all: I like Sylvie, I don´t hate sylkie shipers, and after so many years reading fan fictions, I don´t mind selfcest – I read weirder things. I have some issues with this ship (the mainlythe fact that it isn´t Lokius), but  this is not one of them. Also, I am not about to tell anyone, they shouldn´t ship sylkie.Ship whatever. And I LOVED the show as a whole. 

I just want to defend my standpoint, that Lokius does make sense, people shipping it does make sense and whether it will happen or not, (I don´t have my hopes very high, and I learned to be very skeptical in this regard ) it is more than just about crack ship, or fetish. I´m honestly blown away that people are still surprised that this ship became a thing :D First of all, let´s look at some romantic story telling and tropes: I mean the way they introduced them in the first two episodes set the tone for all series and how the heck this isn´t romantic? Somehow there are all these romantic tropes existing in a show. They´re just there. Just chilling between Loki and Mobius and large portion of audience can´t even see them. (and some of those tropes were used for Sylki as well, so you could actually see them side by side)

For example: 1) traveling to the apocalypsis 2) breaking law/rules for the other 3) literally changing for the better thanks to the other 4) arguing like old married couple 5) saying secrets, personal things to the other 6) sharing glances, touches, visibly being happy around each other - in case of Loki happier then we´ve ever seen him before 7) being completely themselfs around each other 8) One knowing everything (even the worst) about other and still accepting him completely 9) teasing, being comfortable and domestic around each other 10) one being literally enthusiastic FAN of the other 11) Mobius defending Loki whenever he has a chance 12) Freaking amnesia trope that they pulled of in the end??? (It could be different Mobius, but point is he suddenly doesn´t know him - and Loki knows more, in contrast with the beggining) 13) the jealousy in ep4 14) Misunderstanding - when Mobius thought Loki betrayed him and Loki (thanks to Ravonna) thought Mobius betrayed him... 15) witnessing death of the other and being absolutely broken afterwards 16) The goodbye hug with romantic music in the backround 17) Saving life of the one (even when it means problems for the other ) - like Mobius saved Loki´s ass at least three times when he was trying to stop others from pruning him. 18) sharing deep conversations about meanings of life, freedom and how it would be fun to make some chaos and ride that fucking jet ski!!! 19) Inspiring the other 20) looking for each other (Mobius didn´t believe for a second, that Loki would die in the Void and the way how in the last minutes of the series Loki run through all places they were together when he was looking for Mobius... and I could go on. Point is, even if they are not planning to make Lokius canon, all these things are used on a daily basis to describe romance in media and they are used here. On top of that it´s just very poetic and cute, that this drama queen and powerful god of Asgard who looked down on people would find his match in someone, who is so quiet, ordinary on the first sight, and basically is just human from 90s, who loves jet skis. Mobius can´t even fight. But is highly inteligent and he also happen to be as good manipulator, such as Loki himself. - That´s why they work together so well. Mobius sees right through him and once Loki understands that, he drops his evil persona. Almost nobody expected to ship it for real. But story itself and chemistry between them just made it probably the most exciting duo in the whole MCU. And I mean it genuinely. Third episode, even though it was beautiful and Sophie was great in it (and is literally dipped in bisexual colors), is the least favorite for a reason. And that reason being, there is no interaction between Loki and Mobius whatsoever. Lot´s of people though that series slowed down a bit. Even when in fact there was more action, then when we watched Loki and Mobius working at the TVA.

(and let´s just talk about evil!Mobius narative for a bit and how some people say he is manipulative and toxic for Loki: show itself explore heavy themes and one of them is in Loki´s line: no one bad is ever truly bad and no one good is ever truly good. And as a theme in a fictional world, it is working as it should, for the  story. When Loki and Mobius meet, one of them just killed lots of innocent people and destroyed almost whole city. The other one is a part of fascist organization – and in the beginning of the series they both believe what they´re doing is right. They´re both bad, they´re both good, they´re both broken. And they are changing with the help of the other.) From all reactions I watched - and there was many of them, lots of people actually didn´t see dynamic between Loki and Sylvie as romantic in the third episode. So it´s not like Sylvie and Loki had unequivocally love story right from the start.

The only difference is that lots of people won´t see romantic tropes, when it comes to two men in a mainstream show – show that isn´t primarily about relationships and problems that queer people has to face. Because in super hero story and science fiction we have to warn audience, that they´re about to watch two man in love, right? At this point It´s just frustrating really. There were many M/M dynamics that used similar story line, as for example Lucifer, or X-files, or Bone collectors. -  But unlike those M/M pairings, no one was making fun of people for shipping main characters in these shows. But when it comes to two men suddenly you´ll see from all corners of the internet: “why can´t it be just platonic?” “There is not enough platonic relationships” “why can´t two man just be friends?” (They can and they almost ALWAYS are) and “if you think there something romantic between them, you´re delusional” “fetishist“ “And for god´s sake just let them be friends, Loki needs a friend more then....” oh wait, but Sylvie is allowed to kiss him. Sylvie doesn´t have to be just friend. (And I must say, that I love Sylvie, I liked most of the interactions between her and Loki and I think she is a great character ((I hope we learn more about her in the future)) it just doesn´t work for me as well as Loki´s dynamic with Mobius. Maybe partly because of chemistry between actors, partly because combination of characters and they´re personality and also because I had two whole episodes to fall in love with the pair before Sylvie was even introduced.)

First of all: people can be friends and then evolve into lovers. Not only it is common romantic trope, but it is also the most realistic one. And those relationships are usually strongest. second: If people want to see Loki in a platonic friendship so desperately, why can´t it be a woman for a change? They were acting like chaotic siblings for most of the episode three anyway. The age gap aspect is also very funny. Owen is only about 12 years older (That is not that much. But I imagine, some people would get uncomfortable. But If it was man and woman, most of them wouldn´t even blinked. But two men, that has to be somehow automatically son and father figure dynamic) And If you want to dive into age of an actual characters, then good luck with that in a series about gods, variants and time travel. Almost nobody cares about age gap between Lucifer and detective Decker, or Bella and Edward. On top of that, it was heavily implied, that Loki slept with older, silver haired guy in Ragnarok, so it´s not like he would have problem with that.

Different standards are projected in a way how we see romantic dynamics between fictional characters depends on what we are used to, how are we perceiving world around us, what we are expecting to see and ALSO, what we would like to see, that much is true.  When people are used to make no differences between heterosexual and homosexual pairing, then everything what happens to the characters is measured with the same meter. (Even though I experienced queerbaiting many times (( Once upon a time, Sherlock, Supernatural, Good Omens – the last one hopefully is not the case, but I guess we´ll see)) I also saw lots of lgbt shows like Queer as folks and Sense8.) And when we are not used to see it the same way, well… then it looks basically like that one comment under Castiel´s “I love you” scene on youtube, that said  “what a beautiful friendship”.

If we forget about all that chaotic mess behind the scenes (all those articles and contrary messages)  What is happening in a show between Loki and Mobius can be objectively considered romantic and what is happening between Loki and Sylvie in a series can be objectively considered platonic (until the kiss) and vice versa.  And then to see comments about how absurd it is to even think they have chemistry, and about gay fetish - it´s hard to swallow. I read posts about absurdity of a ship and how there is absolutely nothing that would suggests romance.  Well there is, actually. But whether creators are going to work with it or not, that´s something we can only speculate. They already made Loki officially bisexual. So why should it be so absurd to assume, that there is an actual possibility of romantic subplot between Loki and Mobius? Oh right… it´s Disney and Marvel we are talking about.

So on a subject of bisexuality: Bi people can date whoever they want.  But It is a little frustrating, when there is so many heterosexual pairings in the mcu and disney but when there is a promise of lgbt character (speaking of endgame) we get one line about date from a man we´ll never see again. And when there is a promise of lgbt representation you can´t even blink during movie, or you´ll miss it (Star wars, Beauty and the beast). And then Loki said “A bit of both, I suspect the same as you”. And I won´t lie, I was happy. And I think creators made biggest step yet with this one line (which is honestly terrible, that “a bit of both” coming from Loki of all people, is the biggest step forward.) But they played it VERY safe. Obviously, both Loki, and Sylvie are bisexuals, and in three episodes, we had Loki flirting with female flight attendant, Sylvie talking about her relationship with POSTMAN and then they fall for each other. So the only thing that suggests they are really as bi as Lamentis 1 is that little sentence, that can be edited out, or easily overheard. It´s the bare minimum. And I think that frustration with how freaking slowly we´re moving into some progress is understandable. From all those great M/M dynamics I talked about, those, that could make great love story, nothing happened, because too many people “don´t mind gays but don´t need to look at them” or are scared for their children. In 2021.

It is not a fetish to wish for a gay love story in superhero movies/series. (But anyway, I don´t think there is anything bad about it. Some men like to watch lesbian porn, some woman like to read gay porn. AO3 wouldn´t be were it is today, without people reading and writing slash :D – but that has little to do with what we actually see on tv)

I´m not delusional. As much, as I love these two characters together, I know how little chance it has.  I´m not delusional. I´m just in the future, old and tired, waiting hundreds of years for at least one of my OTP to finaly become a fucking canon.

[ailendolin]

Whump Wednesday - 6 - Loki

Fandom: Loki

Characters: Mobius, Loki, Sylvie

Pairing: Lokius pre-slash

Prompt: "Look at me. Hey - I'm right here. You're not alone." (x)

Warnings: implied torture, non-consensual enchantment, panic attack

A/N: Inspired by a discussion with @bluejaneaustenwritingtaco about Mobius only knowing almost everything about Loki’s life. Loki's torture at the hand of Thanos is one of those moments he’s never seen.

-------------

Mobius knew something was wrong the moment he saw Loki standing in the middle of the mall, wide-eyed and seemingly frozen in place. The variant they’d been hunting stood in front of him, her arms raised so her fingers could touch Loki’s temples, and Mobius’s stomach dropped. He started running, driven by an unstoppable force to get to Loki, to get him away from her, to keep him safe.

The variant turned her head to look at him and laughed. As if she had all the time in the world, she slowly dropped her hands from Loki’s face and opened a time door. She didn’t walk though, though. No, she waited until Mobius had almost caught up with them before she gave him a little wave, still with that insufferable smirk on her face, and vanished with a happy, “Until next time!”

Mobius couldn’t have cared less. She wasn’t his priority, not anymore, not with Loki gasping and crumbling to the ground like a puppet with its strings cut the second the time door closed behind her.

Mobius dropped to his knees beside him, looked him over for injuries, his hands hovering over shaking arms but Loki didn’t even acknowledge his presence. He just kept staring at the floor with wide, unseeing eyes – and he kept gasping for breath.

Desperate. Helpless.

“Loki,” Mobius said, trying to keep his voice deliberately soft and calm even though he could feel his own heart racing a mile a minute. “Your breathing’s a little fast there, partner. I need you to slow down, alright?”

Loki shook his head. “I – I can’t.”

“Look at me, Loki,” Mobius said. Loki’s glassy eyes met his and Mobius forced himself to smile as if nothing was wrong. “Hey – I’m right here, okay? You’re not alone. Just breathe.”

Loki tried; Mobius could see that. He did his best to be encouraging and optimistic, went through every variation of, “You’re doing good, Loki. Well done,” he could think of but it wasn’t enough. Not knowing what else to do, he took Loki’s cold hand into his and pressed Loki’s fingers against the pulse point of his wrist.

“Do you feel this?” he asked. Loki nodded shakily. “Good. Just concentrate on that. Steady. In and out. You are safe.”

It seemed to help. Slowly, the tension drained from Loki’s body and his breathing became less erratic and frantic. Mobius waited until Loki’s eyes were clear and alert once more before he placed his other hand on Loki’s shoulder and asked, “What happened?”

Loki sucked in a shuddering breath. “She was in my head.”

Just like Hunter B-15, Mobius thought grimly.

“Did she hurt you?”

Loki shook his head – too hesitant for Mobius’s liking. “I … no. I don’t think so. It just – it felt like before.”

Mobius frowned. “Before?”

Loki swallowed hard and averted his eyes. “When I was with the titan.”

A hundred alarm bells started ringing in Mobius’s head, terrible and clamouring. He knew Loki had been with Thanos after his fall from the Bifrost – everyone knew that – but he’d never found out what exactly had happened between the fall and Loki’s reappearance in New York. TVA records of that time were … sparse. Mobius had no doubt they existed but no matter how often he’d asked to see them, he’d always been denied access.

At the time, he’d chalked it up to the footage not being important for his work. Loki and Thanos had probably spent their time plotting Earth’s downfall and Mobius would be the first to admit that he had better things to do than listen to two crazy wannabe-gods talking about world domination. But now he wondered if it hadn’t been about something else entirely, something that would have painted a very different picture. Because what if Loki hadn’t been as willing a participant in the invasion of New York as Mobius and everyone else had always been led to believe? What if he wasn’t the villain of the story after all but merely a lost soul who had just happened to be at the wrong place at the wrong time?

His heart felt heavy at the thought.

“Did … did Thanos dig around in your mind, too?” he asked tentatively.

Loki scoffed – a wet, angry sound that failed to hide the pain it was meant to cover. “Don’t pretend you don’t know what he did to me.”

Mobius faltered. “I … I don’t, Loki. That part of your life – I never got to see it.”

That brought Loki up short. His eyes, wide and damp and awfully young and old at the same time, met Mobius’s beneath the flickering lights. The world seemed to stop for a moment, existing out of time like everything else in their lives. Then Loki lowered his head and looked away, his shoulders dropping.

“Perhaps that’s for the better,” he murmured.

Without thinking, Mobius pulled him close.

“No,” he whispered fiercely against Loki’s hair. “It’s not for the better, not if it’s hurting you.”

Loki made a soft noise in the back of his throat. Tentative hands curled into the damp fabric of Mobius’s jacket.

Mobius tightened his hold.

“You don’t have to tell me,” he said quietly. “But I’m here, Loki, alright? I’m here. Today, tomorrow, in a week, a month, a year – I promise I will listen if you ever want to talk.”

For a heartbeat or two, the only sounds around them were the raging storm, the low current of electricity thrumming above them and their breathing – one slow and steady, the other still frayed at the edges. Then Mobius felt Loki’s fingers digging into his back, returning the hug with a desperation he hadn’t expected, followed by two soft words.

“Thank you.”

Mobius squeezed his eyes shut, moved by the honest and heartfelt gratitude he heard in Loki’s voice. It was more than what he had hoped for and more than he deserved at this still fragile stage of their acquaintance? Friendship? Partnership? Whatever it was, whatever they might one day become he knew it didn’t mean Loki would ever speak to him about what had happened when he was with Thanos. And that was alright. Mobius didn’t need him to talk. He just needed Loki to know that he wasn’t alone.

“You’re welcome,” he whispered, holding him closer.

For now, that was enough.

[dreamycloud]

Our favorite Mobius M. Mobius, for the character ask game!

Thanks, @cha-melodius for the ask!

First Impression:

For whatever reason, I was not aware that Owen Wilson was going to be in the Loki TV series, so seeing him show up in episode 1 was a big surprise! And he looked so unlike himself it took me entirely too long to realize it was him! But my first impression of Mobius was immediately latching onto him as a favorite character and hoping he wasn’t going to turn out to be a villain. My gosh, it was my One Fear. I do have a soft spot in any fandom for little bureaucrats with their funny suits and dedication to filling out paperwork. So I was doomed to instantly like him anyway.

Impression Now:

Full-blown obsession with Mobius. Probably one of my favorite characters ever—period, full stop. Getting to rewatch the episodes and sink into fan theory and, well, just studying gifs as they crop up, has just been lovely in terms of uncovering more about him. His comic origins are pretty interesting, but I just love how this Mobius is. He’s stubborn and creative and just so incredibly gentle for the type of job he has. I think his softness is my favorite part about him.

Favorite Moment:

My gosh, how can I just choose one???? Okay, to be fair, I have too many favorite moments. If not all of them. Frankly. But I’m going to single out the scene where Mobius returns from the Void and decides it’s a good idea to fight Renslayer in her office. I’m so used to MCU characters knowing how to fight, so I was shocked (and even more charmed by this guy) when he took a swipe at her and she just kind of knocked him over into a table. That was it. End of the fight with Mobius sprawled out, shrugging it off with it “okay fine, I’ll let you leave.” There are so many layers to that—his physical abilities and also his strained friendship with Ravonna—to dissect from such a small scene.

Idea for a Story:

So I’ve written a handful of Lokius fics and I always shout about them on here. And I will definitely be writing more (I have another fandom that I need to dip back into, but I will be back for more Lokius). One story that I’m intending to write centers around Mobius retiring after from the TVA after S1 and settling down in New Asgard, in the hope that Loki would naturally make his way back home after they parted ways. And this would involve Mobius getting to know Thor and crew, and it’s going to be such a fun idea to play with.

Unpopular Opinion:

Okay, so I know everyone loves long-haired Mobius. I would not be opposed to seeing it, especially if it marks the passage of time in which Mobius must be searching the multiverse for Loki. So you know. That’s cool. I’m ready for it. But I actually like and prefer short hair Mobius. I feel like it fits his image of being this strait-laced analyst who wouldn’t want the fuss of having to style his hair any more than he already does. I also love how the look, along with the mustache, transforms Owen from looking like Owen to *being* Mobius, if that makes sense.

Favorite Relationship:

To the surprise of no one, I ship Lokius haha. Love them. Hoping against hope that they get together one day. The dynamic is just so good. Mobius is someone who has seen the very worst of Loki, but also the very best, and a still cares for him in a way that no one clearly ever has up until this point. He encourages Loki to grow and figure himself out. And if we’re talking about sacrifices, Mobius willingly sacrificed himself for Loki. He was just so brave in that moment, stepping in front of Loki, staying calm, knowing that at any moment Ravonna was going to order his death—and he didn’t back down. His unshakable faith that Loki will survive (aka, that conversation he had with Sylvie in the car) is just icing on the cake. He is the order to Loki’s chaos and I can’t wait to see more of it.

Also honorable mention to Mobius and B-15’s friendship. Not sure how close they were before Loki arrived, but they seemed to have a good working relationship that only grew during the events of the show. I’m dying to see them team up going forward, since, you know, both of them have been forever changed by Lokis and will do great things.

Favorite Headcanon:

I’d like to believe that before joining the TVA, Mobius didn’t have a family. No husband/wife or kids. He seems like the kind of character who embraces his alone time. Rolling through life solo would just mean more time for him to pursue his interests (jet skiing!) outside of whatever job he held on his timeline. And you know, he’d also be very available to be swept off his feet by a mischievous god ;)

[ladyblogger-margie]

Wherever we go, what glitters is gold

Pairing: Loki Laufeyson x Mobius M Mobius (MCU)

Summary: At Sam and Bucky’s wedding, Loki must confront his feelings for Mobius. 

Word Count: 3251

Warnings: There’s some making out and tooth rotting fluff and yearning. 

a/n: I write MCU fanfiction like the Avengers are actually all friends with each other and I’m OBSESSED with lokius right now. This is based on this prompt post from @screnwriter about characters dancing together who won’t admit their feelings. 

MY MASTERLIST

Loki rolled his eyes as he watched the DJ announce Sam Wilson and Bucky Barnes as husbands, welcoming them to their own wedding reception. How he even ended up invited to this Midgardian wedding in the first place he’d never fully understand. But being here with Thor and Valkyrie was the closest he’s felt to Asgard since he joined the TVA so he figured it would have to do.  

“What happens now?” Loki asked Thor, not bothering to whisper. This earned him a stink eye from Hope. 

“We celebrate,” Thor said simply before he headed to the bar, not even bothering to wait for Loki to follow him. 

Loki looked around, bored. He really couldn’t understand why he was invited, certainly there didn’t seem to be many other guests enthused to see him. He considered following Thor to the bar, but realized his brother was caught in conversation with Hope and Scott and Loki was not interested in facing down another death glare; he didn’t trust himself to rise above it and had promised Thor he’d try not to make a scene. 

Suddenly he looked up and saw another guest who looked lost and out of place. He could feel the shock and confusion crawl across his own face as he watched Mobius look around the party with his hands stuffed in his pockets.

Loki froze in place, Mobius hadn’t mentioned he’d be coming. Though to be fair, Loki remembered he hadn’t mentioned it either. He debated going over to talk to his partner; he internally flinched at the word - his work associate from the TVA. 

Mobius looked up suddenly and cocked his head to the side when he saw Loki. Loki ducked his head immediately and turned away. He bumped straight into Natasha, someone he hadn’t seen since his rather impolite visit to New York. 

“Loki,” she said, her tone and expression unreadable, but she had a sly smile on her face which lowered Loki’s defenses. 

“Miss. Romanov,” Loki purred in return.

“Vodka,” Nat said, as she passed Loki a shot glass. She tipped her own in his direction, “To new beginnings.”

Loki nodded and tapped his glass to hers and followed her lead in shooting it back. Midgardian alcohol had no effect on him, but he accepted the gesture for the olive branch it was. 

When Nat slipped away, Loki was left alone again, deliberately trying not to turn back to see if Mobius was still looking at him. 

Loki wasn’t sure if he was ready to talk to Mobius after what happened on their last TVA mission. They were out in the field and they had an extended period near a Nexus that forced them to stay in a hotel together overnight. Normally that would be fine, as stunning as it was at the TVA, Loki always enjoyed the chance to get out into the world. 

But this time, the hotel room only had one bed forcing Loki and Mobius to share, something they had never done before. It shouldn’t have been a big deal, Loki shouldn’t have been so aware of the heat from Mobius radiating against his skin, but yet, it gave him a strange, unfamiliar sensation deep in his chest. 

Loki had asked him when the lights were off and the rain pounded on the windows, “Why did you bother working so hard to keep me on as part of this team?” The question had plagued him for ages now, the answers Mobius always gave never seemed to provide the whole picture. 

Mobius paused for quite some time, his hands folded across his chest in the dark. He paused for so long that Loki wondered if he had fallen asleep and missed Loki’s question entirely. 

“Because I think you’re worth the effort,” Mobius replied with barely a whisper, so much softer than his usual voice; within the words was something Loki couldn’t quite name. 

Loki’s breath caught in his throat. 

“Anyway,” Mobius said, in his normal tone this time, “Big day tomorrow, good night.”

Loki felt Mobius roll over and tug most of the blanket with him as he did. Loki didn’t protest the pull despite the fact it left his leg fully exposed as he lay there lost in his own thoughts. 

“Why do I care what his answer is anyway?” Loki asked himself, furrowing his brow. It was a question he’d asked himself repeatedly in the past, yet refused himself the indulgence of the truth. 

Until that night, laying next to Mobius when Loki finally allowed himself that indulgence. 

“Oh,” he breathed out, relieved at the revelation, and mortified at the reality. 

“This isn’t good,” he thought to himself as he lay awake all night, desperately trying to ignore the gentle sound of Mobius’ sleepy breaths and the feeling of Mobius’ leg pressed against his own. 

The next morning Loki solved the Nexus without Mobius and hadn’t spoken to him since. 

So, seeing him today at this Migardian wedding was the last thing he wanted, or expected. Yet he found himself unable to resist checking if Mobius was looking at him too. 

He looked up as saw Mobius in conversation with Doctor Strange and took the opportunity just to watch. Mobius didn’t look that much different than he normally did at the TVA. He wore a suit and a tie, his grey hair neat and orderly. The biggest difference was the general sense of unease in his shoulders and the pocket square sticking out of his breast pocket. 

Loki was constantly amazed with how Mobius always seemed so genuinely interested in other people. He tried to push down the jealousy that came with that to properly give the other man his due. Loki would never admit that he wished that level of compassion and interest was reserved only for him, but rationally he knew the only reason he was not incinerated and even part of the TVA in the first place was precisely thanks to Mobius’ tendency towards compassion. 

Mobius had started to talk with his hands and shoulders now proving he was fully engaged in the conversation, and Loki couldn’t care less what it was about or what Doctor Strange was contributing, he just wanted to be part of whatever Mobius was doing. 

Suddenly the music changed and all of a sudden Thor was dragging Loki to the dancefloor to dance along to a high tempo number that had seemingly the entire reception grooving along together. Despite himself, Loki found he was actually starting to have fun, also relieved to have the distraction from his own inner turmoil. Nothing cleared the mind like a good dance.

The music was unfamiliar to him, but he was going to have to look it up later because dancing to it was addictive and delightful. The whole crowd was full of energy and the party was in full swing and Loki was just starting to think that maybe it wasn’t a mistake to come to this little swaray afterall. 

Suddenly he got knocked in the back and he was ready to be snarky about it, but he was stopped in his tracks when he turned to discover it was Morbius who had bumped him. 

“Sorry,” Mobius yelled, not sounding sorry at all as he tried to be heard over the music. 

Loki grinned at him, “I always figured you’d be a clumsy dancer.”

“You haven’t seen my moves yet,” Mobius countered. 

Loki, before he could stop himself, reached over to fix Mobius’ tie which had become askew in the excitement. He did his best to ignore the snap of electricity through his fingers as he brushed across Mobius’ chest and then to his collar to straighten that as well. 

Mobius had a softness in his eyes that Loki had seen before but dared not speculate about. Loki let his fingers linger a little longer than was necessary as the crowd danced around them. 

Then the music changed and it slowed way down without so much as a warning. “This Is How You Fall In Love” by Jeremy Zucker and Chelse Cutler rang out over the speakers with Loki’s hands still on Mobius’ lapels. All around them couples were pairing off to dance to the incredibly romantic song. Surprisingly, it seemed no one was actually leaving the dance floor. 

Loki looked around and saw that Thor and Jane were dancing next to Sam and Bucky and Scott and Hope. As his head was turned, Mobius cleared his throat and reached his hand out. 

Loki smiled and gave a slight nod as he took Mobius’ hand in his and wrapped his other hand tightly around the shorter man’s waist. Mobius’ other hand slipped neatly to Loki’s lower back. Then they stood frozen in place, unsure of who would take the lead, but neither quite sure how to ask. 

The lyrics ran through Loki’s ears:

This is how you fall in love 

Let go and I'll hold you up 

So pull me tight and close your eyes 

Oh, my love, side to side

At some point the pair just starts to sway. Not the stylish, flooring clearing style Loki was used to, this was a clumsy, simple shuffling of feet, and despite the simple movement Loki found his heart racing. He kept his eyes firmly away from Mobius’ face and maintained a distance between their chests ensuring there was no way Mobius could feel his racing heart beat. 

In avoiding Mobius, Loki instead locked eyes with Thor accidentally. His brother tilted his head towards Loki’s partner and gave an enthusiastic nod. So enthusiastic, Jane noticed his reaction and turned to see what he was looking at. When she saw Loki and Mobius dancing, she smiled wide and gave him a thumbs up. 

Loki thought he liked her better when she was slapping him in the face. 

The music continued back to the chorus for a final time:

This is how you fall in love 

Let go and I'll hold you up 

So pull me tight and close your eyes 

Oh, my love, side to side

Loki felt Mobius’ hand brush across his lower back in time with the song and he looked hard up to the ceiling, unsubtle and clumsy attempting to hide the flush in his cheeks. The song wrapped up and the DJ came on the microphone and announced that dinner was about to be served and that everyone should take their seats as the toasts would take place during dinner. 

Loki dropped his hands from Mobius and darted away towards Thor, ripping his brother away from Jane and marched him over to their table. 

“You didn’t tell me you were courting anyone from work,” Thor said as Loki shoved him into a chair, “He’s sitting next to you, why didn’t you lead him to his seat?”

Loki looked panicked and the name cards at the table and realized Thor was right. He looked up and saw Mobius walking to the table, arm in arm with Jane, his head thrown back in laughter. Loki was temporarily distracted by the exposure of Mobius’ throat and he desperately tried to ignore the flash of an image of his lips on that exposed flesh that ran uninvited through his brain. 

He shook his head, “We just work together.”

Thor raised an eyebrow, “And you haven’t run out on him yet?”

Loki laughed, “Oh no, I’ve run out many times.”

“And yet he remains your loyal friend,” Thor said simply, a smug look on his face that inspired an eye roll from Loki, but left him without a response. 

Jane and Mobius reached the table and Loki pulled out Mobius’ chair for him and earned a sweet smile for his effort. 

Loki didn’t break eye contact this time, instead he kept his eyes on Mobius’ face, studying it, looking for a hint of annoyance, frustration, but instead, all he found was that same softness. He also saw an eyelash stuck to his crooked nose. 

“Hold still,” Loki barely whispered, grasping Mobius’ wrist to hold him in place. He tried not to overthink the rapid rate of Mobius’ pulse beneath his fingertips. He, just for a moment, imagined that Mobius’ heart was racing for the same reason Loki’s was doing the same, but he knew better than to delude himself. 

Loki reached up with his free hand and delicately plucked the stray eyelash free from the bump of Mobius’ nose and held it on his long finger in front of Mobius’ pouting lips. 

“Blow,” Loki’s voice was raspy as the rest of the reception guests melted away. 

Mobius smiled, their blue eyes locked on eachother. He only looked away to blow gently across Loki’s finger, sending the eyelash away. 

“What did you wish for?” Loki asked. 

“If I tell you, it won’t come true,” Mobius said and he looked down to where Loki still had his wrist firmly in his grip. 

“Right, sorry,” Loki said, dropping his hand. 

Mobius took his seat and Loki stood awkwardly behind his chair, debating if he should just bolt rather than continue to make a complete and utter fool of himself. 

Then Sarah Wilson stood up with a microphone to give her speech and Mobius pulled on the sleeve of Loki’s suit and tugged him into his seat. Loki took his lead and sat down and listened to Sarah tell an anecdote about when Sam was a small child. 

Her words didn’t resonate with Loki though, he was lost in the fact that Mobius hand was now sitting on the table so close to his own that he could feel the electricity flowing between them. Every single one of his senses are lit up and absorbing only Mobius, oblivious to all else. 

After Sarah finished her speech and got a hug from her brother, she passed the microphone to Scott Lang who was clearly holding back tears. 

“Sam asked me to be his groomsman after I beat him up that one time at the Avengers base, and frankly I’ve never been more honored to be friends with someone I’ve been in a fight with,” Scott began, sending a ripple of affectionate laughter through the room. 

Loki allowed himself a glance in Mobius’ direction and was surprised to find Mobius was looking at him with that same soft smile. Mobius turned back towards Scott as Loki’s eyes lingered on Mobius’ face a moment longer. 

Loki turned his attention back to Scott’s speech having missed most of what he said. 

“But that’s just it isn’t it?” Scott said, clearly reaching the end of his speech, “Love is just finding home in another person, it’s as simple as that.”

Loki felt a lump in his throat rise at Scott’s words. He’d spent most of his existence alienated in his own house, and then Mobius showed up and gave him a home. Mobius felt like home to him, and apparently that’s all that love is, and if Mobius built Loki a home, did that mean that he loved him back?

Loki looked over at Mobius whose hand was still on the table and eyes had turned back to Loki. Loki took a deep breath and reached out, metaphorically and literally to Mobius. He intertwined his long fingers with Mobius’ on the top of the table, and gave it a gentle squeeze. 

Mobius' face lit up as he squeezed Loki’s hand back with a smile and nod. Loki felt an overwhelming wave of joy and relief, hand in hand with the man he loved. 

Scott gave up the microphone and people were instructed to head towards the buffet. Thor and Jane walked to the line without hesitation, joining Valkyrie already there. Mobius got up without releasing Loki’s hand. He tried to lead Loki towards the buffet, but Loki pulled him back, nearly pulling him over in the effort. 

“Don’t you want to eat?” Mobius asked. 

“Let’s get out of here,” Loki suggested with a devilishly charming smile. 

Mobius nodded and allowed Loki to lead him out of the reception hall to the garden out back. 

Loki pulled Mobius close to him underneath a leafy tree, soaking in the soft look in Mobius’ eyes now that he knows what it means and relishing in the reality that he is about to get everything he’s ever wanted, ever secret yearning about to pay off. 

He traced his thumb across Mobius cheekbone before he delicately gripped behind his head and tipped Mobius face up towards his. Mobius licked his lips and collected Loki’s jacket in his fists to pull them closer together. Finally, Loki pressed his lips gently against Mobius’, the pout of his lips as soft as Loki had imagined, the taste of them intoxicating and inviting. 

Loki pulled back, blinking, and searching Mobius' face for a reaction. 

“Finally,” Mobius breathed, refusing to let go of Loki’s jacket. 

With a guttural moan Loki pushed Mobius’ back against the tree trunk and pressed their lips together far rougher this time and Mobius kissed him back with a similar enthusiasm. 

Loki’s brain stopped overthinking everything and finally just let himself go, let him feel and think nothing but Mobius against him, the brush of his lips, the feel of his hands sneaking under his jacket and groping around the fabric. Their breath was hot and intertwined with the cool night air that smelled of fresh flowers and summer breeze. 

Loki pulled Mobius’ head to the side and exposed the side of his neck. Loki only hesitated long enough to acknowledge his good fortune to be in this moment before his teeth were rough against the tender flesh. He sucked, nipped, and pulled leaving a deliberate mark there. Now that he had Mobius, he wanted everyone to know. 

After he was content with the mark he left behind, Loki kissed Mobius’ jawline gently until their lips came back together, raw and well worked. Loki felt Mobius’ moustache tickle against the skin of his upper lip and never wanted the sensation to stop. 

Finally Loki tilted his forehead to rest against Mobius’ and they caught their breath, just looking into each other's eyes the sounds of the reception in the background the only signal that they weren’t alone in all of time and space. Loki couldn’t keep the smile from his face, and was so happy to see Mobius’ own kiss-swollen lips pulled back in a matching smile. 

“Wow,” Mobius said, his hands calm against Loki’s lips. 

“What now?” Loki asked. 

Mobius looked around, “We should head back to the party probably, that’s good manners, right?”

Loki chuckled softly, “I suppose.”

Loki stepped back and turned towards the reception, but Mobius tugged his arm and dragged him back into his embrace. 

“Maybe not right away though,” Mobius said with a conspiratorial smile. 

Loki licked his lips and let Mobius back him up against the tree and slip between his legs. 

“Surely no one will begrudge us a few moments longer,” Loki agreed, bracing himself against the trunk of the tree as he slunk down to be eye level with Mobius. 

Mobius pressed his plump lips against Loki’s neck and Loki begged the gods of time and space to never let these few moments end. He felt Mobius tug on his throat with his teeth and hoped a hickey would appear on the skin of a god. He wanted everyone to know who he belonged to. 

But if it didn’t, perhaps that would be as good a reason as any to keep trying, for all time if necessary. 

[mxgilray]

Loki Season 1 Thoughts

Overall, I really liked this series. It has some issues without question, but I sincerely don't think it's the dumpster fire so many viewers on this site treat it as. Did it go how I expected? Not at all? Did I enjoy the heck out of it and look forward to it every Wednesday? Hell yeah!

Loki's Good Guy Personality

A big complaint many have had with it is how much Loki's demeanor has changed and how his emotional growth feels rushed or his personality is ooc. Truth is, he saw his entire future, saw what his angry, power hungry, I-work-alone persona would get him in the end, and it snapped him back to reality. He has always been shown to be quite emotional and craving attention and lacking in self assurance, it's just in the past movies he's masked it with violence and fake narcissism, and he's always been a secondary character so his perspective is rarely shown. But if you really pay attention it's obvious he isn't truly villainous; we all know that, it's largely why he has such a huge fan base.

Right after meeting Mobius, Loki got an infodump of his future, saw his parents both die, found out that free will means jack shit, and learned he's absolutely powerless in this realm. On top of that, this is 2012 Loki, fresh off of being under Thanos' control, suddenly being shown that the guy who controlled him is going to end up killing him. Frankly,, I think it all broke Loki. He was too shook up by it all and by the sheer helplessness he found himself in at the TVA that he let all his barriers down momentarily. Just long enough for him to open up to Mobius about his motivation and his lack of self confidence. And you know what I bet? Loki felt relieved after talking to Mobius. A weight was lifted, because he bore his heart to someone and wasn't rejected or laughed at or treated like a psycho. And after letting his walls down fully, Loki didn't feel the need to put all of them back up. He stayed guarded around other people, but he didn't need to pretend around Mobius. Mobius has seen under the mask, so Loki doesn't feel pressure to perform as an all knowing, all powerful God around Mobius. That freedom is life changing.

People who gravitate towards broken, pseudo-villain characters do so because we relate to their internal conflict, their mental illness, their need to fake it around everyone close to them. Their turmoil and depression and self destructive behavior are familiar and we see ourselves reflected in their actions. Now, when a person really truly let's their guard down, drops all their layers of facade, and embraces themself, they tend to change demeanor and even personality pretty drastically. It's jarring in real life, so of course when it happens to a fictional character who you usually relate to it is going to be jarring, maybe even more so because it feels like a change you yourself would never go through. I know this sounds bad and people might get at me for it, but...

I believe the issue here is that a large part of Loki's fan base doesn't want him to get better. They don't want him to move past his mental illness, to learn how to cope with anger and disappointment in healthier ways, to be happy. They like his damaged persona, they like the internal conflict. Maybe it's because they're still at that low place themself and feel like a relatable character is getting taken away from them, maybe it's because they don't understand how much being at peace with yourself can alter a person and to them it feels like he's been changed too much. To those of us mostly on the up and up from battling depression and mental illness, it's comforting to see Loki getting a chance to be genuinely happy and accepting of himself.

Sylki and Lokius

First things first, I'm not anti anything. Ship what you want, idc. Personally, I do not see the Sylki dynamic as romantic, but I get why people read it that way. I thought the series did a good job of showing unrequited love, namely Loki falling for Sylvie and Sylvie feeling zero romance towards him. This was aware of his attraction and in the end used it as a distraction so she could get the upper hand. The show played up the potential romance because we are viewing things from Loki's perspective and he's become smitten as a kitten. I do think in the long run they'll have a more sibling-like dynamic, one Loki realizes that you can feel extreme love and care for a person without it being romantic. I enjoyed how the show explored their relationship, though I do wish they hadn't had every character under the sun mention their moment on Lamentis-1 like it was some big deal to bond with someone you're about to die with.

I'm bitter towards the development of Lokius. It had a strong start in the beginning, and in ep 5 had some potential reignited, but then they had Mobius not know who Loki is at the end. I'm still hoping they're playing the long game with this ship and that it'll come to fruition partway through season 2. The chemistry is there, and Mobius knows Loki very intimately and isn't put off by his past. Loki also feels much more at ease around Mobius than he does around Sylvie. It's the comfort of a deep loving bond with Mobius verses the nervousness of a new crush that he feels for Sylvie.

I don't think Loki is quite aware of his feelings for Mobius, simply because it's based in friendship and mutual respect and isn't a hot and heavy lust. Plus, as soon as he was away from Mobius he was thrown into a near death experience with Sylvie and developed a surface crush during their heart to heart. Since Loki's still figuring out what genuine feelings are beyond anger and sadness, he sees the simplistic crush he has on Sylvie as love and the intimate bond he's been forming with Mobius as friendship. He doesn't understand his own feelings yet, but I think he'll figure it out next season. I mean, he was probably already rethinking his feelings for her after she kissed and betrayed him, mentally kicking himself for expecting her to not pull a Loki betrayal like he would've in the past.

The Time Variance Authority

I really like the concept of the TVA, the structure of it, the methods they use, the deeply fucked way they recruit employees, the cult like motto, shady Miss Minutes who is definitely playing her own long game, and the blind acceptance TVA agents have of the Time Keepers' will. It's all very well done... until your dig into the core, aka He Who Remains. They built up the idea that the Time Keepers created the TVA to prevent a multiverse war and that they created agents to enforce their will. Then the creating agents turned out to be fake, the Time Keepers were fake, I expected the reason for the TVA's existence to be fake to. It felt too simple to have it genuinely exist just to keep the multiverse in check. Why the anonymity, unless it's to keep from having agents target and prune versions of himself which.. songs like a decent solution. HWR made it sound as though the multiverse war was just a bunch of versions of himself screwing shit up, so why isn't the TVA's focus on eradicating every other variant of this guy? Sounds a lot easier and nicer than fucking with the free will of every other living being. So either Marvel made a bad call when choosing what HWR's motive was for creating the TVA, or he was lying about it all to cover up something sinister.

Overall Storyline

I'm fairly happy with the plot as a whole. There were some pacing issues and I think a few missed chances for deeper conversations between various characters. While I enjoyed the Loki variants, I honestly would've been happier seeing Tom playing most the variants (except Kid Loki and Classic Loki since they are clearly different age ranges). If there is supposed to be one sacred timeline, it seems off to me that Lokis would be allowed to vary so extremely without it causing a nexus event(an alligator, whose nexus wasn't that he's an animal who obviously can't do any magic much less command Thanos' army, but that he ate someone's cat) and not just in appearance but in life path (ie boastful Loki collected all the infinity stones but it wasn't till he had 6 that he caused a nexus event even though him gaining control of the Soul, Power, and Time stones should've each caused nexus events since on the sacred timeline he never interacts with those 3 and taking any one of them would've fucked up a lot of other timeline parts)

I love the display of Lokis raw power, and 2012 Loki coming to the realization that he's way more powerful than he ever thought. And it wasn't just Classic Loki who spent thousands of years alone honing his skills, 2012 Loki reversed time on a goddamn falling building! I also liked the small magic, the fireworks, the tablecloth blanket, Loki yanking Sylvie away from HWR with just magic.

As someone who is both bisexual and genderfluid, I would've really loved more concrete representation. The comment about there never being another female Loki hit me in the gut; it undermined the Easter egg "Sex: Fluid" on Loki's TVA file. With how big a deal Sylvie being female was made out to be throughout the season, I expected her gender to play a key role in taking down the head of the TVA, like it was foretold that only a female Loki could end it all or some shit.

I don't mind the idea of Loki finding love in a straight passing relationship. I don't even mind the selfcest all that much. It just feels so obvious to me that Sylvie is written as not having any romantic inclination towards Loki, while Mobius is clearly written as falling in love with someone he shouldn't and trying to maintain an heir of professionalism to keep from wrecking his bond with Loki. I really really hope they come through on season 2 and give Lokius the canon relationship and proper representation they deserve.

Mmkay I thinks that's all the thoughts I've got right now. If you've been feeling cheated or clowned by how things went this season, maybe my perspective of things can help ease your pain.

[diamondcitydarlin]

So I actually...enjoyed Loki the show...but I prefer Lokius as a ship and I find your takes on the episodes really interesting! You mention things I hadn't thought of before. tbh I didn't go into the show expecting much in the first place, maybe that explains it lol

Hey no shame, I genuinely envy anyone who was able to find entertainment value in the last three episodes because I spent most of all of them in a silent, perplexed rage lmao. Like, I do get ship/writing preference envy. Do you know how BADLY I wish my brain favored pairings that actually had canon support and romantic advancement??? Not only that, but I genuinely still feel that the first two episodes (and even to some extent the third, in parts) hold up extremely well and, on their own, are pretty good pieces of work. I rewatch them regularly, so that says something.

What it comes down to for me -as it always does in these cases- is the lost potential. What we ended up getting after the first three (generally) strong episodes is not consistent with what was established to begin with, and what was established to begin with was a story that focused on Loki's development as a character alongside his new partner in solving Time Crimes, Agent Mobius, meanwhile both of their preconceived notions about 'how things should work' is unraveling around them along with the multiverse as a whole. Of course it's absolutely possible that I get a little too attached to my own ideas of what should happen next, but then I've enjoyed a great deal of media that took turns other than what I would've chosen- still quality writing choices though that I could respect and didn't feel the need to criticize.

What also doesn't help me is that I watched Wandavision and Winter Falcon (what I lovingly call that show lol) prior to Loki's release and I find that both of these shows were significantly stronger in quality than Loki's series ended up being, so expectations for me were perhaps a bit higher than they should have been. That's not to say Wandavision or Winter Falcon are perfect, I'm still angry about Evan Peters' Pietro and the Ralph Bohner nonsense (tho I'm a Pietro truther and assuming we haven't seen the last of him...that's a different post lol) and Winter Falcon, while having imo pretty solid writing that flows well, is still a little predictable and had some moments that made me roll my eyes a bit (Bucky just so happened to kill the son of his veteran friend who just so happened to be in the same place he was at the right time to get killed??? A WOC leading a group for the humane treatment of human beings is a terrorist?? whahahahaaaaattt??? Bear in mind I might be missing info here, I'm not as schooled on these characters as gay trickster goth) but uh...neither of them ever go completely off the rails and manage to turn into a different show entirely halfway through only 6 episodes. If that were the case Agatha would've just replaced Wanda as the focal character completely instead of getting her own show (that she absolutely deserves!! BTW!!!) and that actually would've made sense and maybe even been funny and...kinda sorta happened but in a way that didn't suck. If Winter Falcon had been like Loki the show would've just entirely pivoted to focus the story on John Walker by the fourth episode and either Bucky or Sam would've been sidelined except to show up to maybe save one of the characters and make a quip. I'm uh...glad that wasn't the case, but you see my point lol.

Lastly, I guess I just feel compelled to share my ideas of what the show could've been, because the potential is just unREAL. Yeah sure I could just shut up and accept that the show wasn't for me and move on with my life, but I'm neurodivergent and I fixate so here we are.