#how i depict Lokius in my head

[thank-you-my-friend]

[agentoffangirling]

I know I've said this before, but I keep thinking how differently the Loki series could've gone had he gotten a creative team that genuinely cared

Bc when I look at the other Marvel projects centering marginalized identities, they get a team that cares. Echo, Shang-Chi, Black Panther, even to an extent Agatha All Along-- all of these creators wanted to tell the stories of the mc, and they made sure to do their research and pay their respects to each of the cultures depicted

But at no point throughout the process was it ever hinted at that anyone other than Tom Hiddleston wanted to tell a story about Loki

And I, and many others have said so much on the specific's of Loki's character, and that is in no doubt incredibly important, but I want to talk about something that tends to go overlooked, and that is the queer aspects

I mentioned above that when it comes to MOST projects centering minorities, whether it is regarding ethnicity, queerness, or anything else, the creators usually do their research. Echo featured several Native American writers, and they consulted with several tribes to ensure that what they were depicting was accurate and positive. They asked Deaf and hard-of-hearing people as well, and all of this is obvious when you watch the show. I saw none of that with the Loki series

Nowhere was it hinted at did Waldron, Herron, and Wright work with queer organizations. While Herron did hire a fair amount of female writers, it doesn't look like many of them returned for season 2, and no evidence suggests that the people leading the show did their research on the LGBTQ+ community

And you know what? Maybe I would be okay with this had they not plastered "Loki is genderfluid and bisexual!!!" on every piece of marketing. So many times the creators gave interviews on how much they cared, about how it was so important to them to showcase Loki's identity, and when the show came out, we saw the evidence of that

Nothing. Literally nothing. Fine, you can put your "sex: fluid" on the file and have Loki say that he likes men and women, go ahead and do that, but don't tout it around. Don't trick us into thinking that you did so much research for less than two seconds of screentime

It's even more annoying when you look at the comments made by Kevin Wright (executive producer) last year on Lokius. This isn't a Lokius-centered post, but it is important to acknowledge that the ship played a very large role in the queerbaiting for season 2:

"...But also, we can't get into Loki's head and Loki as a character is bisexual and gender fluid, and I don't know. But it wasn't something that we were ever exploring, I would say."

???

You are one of the producers on this show, you literally help decide what goes on in Loki's head. And if you, a cishet man, is having trouble figuring that out, then, oh, I don't know, hire someone who is??

I'm quite sure that if you reached out, queer agencies would've been more than happy to help you out on that bit. Hire a bi person who knows how Loki could feel. Hire a genderfluid/trans person to look over your scripts to make sure they're not offensive

You cannot go ahead and claim that you cared so much about Loki's queer identity, doing nothing to pursue that, actually going backwards and putting in negative stereotypes, then coming full circle with, "actually, we don't know what Loki thinks bc we're not gf and bi"

My god, if this series could stop being so contradicting-

[a-victorian-girl]

Do you think Loki queerbaited the audience? Asking you 'cause you ship Sylkie, I think. You're also a Johnlocker, so you know what queerbaiting really is.

I haven't watched the show but I've seen the ship wars in the Loki tag. I was curious to know what you think about all that.

Hi Anon!

Look, I'm gonna be honest with you, and I know that what I'm gonna say probably won't be liked very much (sorry, but it's my opinion and I have the freedom to express it): I don't see any ship in Loki. Just because I reblogged that kiss doesn't mean I ship it :) It's my friend's account, and I support her by reblogging (and because I love how she created that gifset, nothing more :)

In my opinion, that kiss between Loki and Sylvie wasn't a romantic one. You haven't watched the series yet, but if you do, consider the context in which that kiss happened, and keep in mind that both are gods of deception. What I'm about to say is not a spoiler, and it'll make it clear why I don't see ships in the show: towards the end of the first season, Loki revealed his feelings for Sylvie, and she used that emotion in the last episode as a strategy to distract him and steer him away from her main mission (you'll know what it is when you watch the series). That's why Loki stares so bewildered when he realizes it (the god of deception was deceived), and for that reason, a romantic situation between them didn't unfold in S2. She doesn't care.

And (I'm sorry), but I don't see the Lokius ship. I watched both seasons twice, and at no point did the show depict clear sparks between them. So, in my opinion, Loki is far from queerbaiting.

Characters don't always have to be romantically involved, do they? :)

Unlike Loki, in Sherlock was very visible. Whether you like it or not, it was there. I'm a Johnlocker because it was tangible, they made it very noticeable (despite what the producers may say), they gave too many signals... and maybe they enjoyed playing with that, idk.

That's why I detest queerbaiting. It seems like an act of cowardice and a lack of respect from the show's producers towards the Community. You can't play with that to gain more audience. Giving so many signals -as a traffic light- between two characters, and then not developing a romantic relationship between them? Is pathetic and cowardly.

Personally, I don't usually ship arbitrarily. Doesn't always have to be romantic involvement in shows; it seems too forced to me. I prefer to enjoy the show as it is, but I'm not stupid, I notice when there's flirting or hints between characters. Still, I don't think it should be a requirement for writers and creators to create ships… at least it shouldn't, I believe.

And I'll be honest with you: for a moment, I thought Good Omens was also heading towards queerbaiting too, but… in this case, they grew some balls and showed on screen that there is indeed a romantic relationship between the two main characters (well, at least one of them demonstrated it by acting).

Damn, I made the response so long!! So sorry!!… 😅

[quipxotic]

Next up on the week-long focus on soundtracks I love is “Pep Talk“ by Natalie Holt from season 1 of Loki.

This was by far the hardest pick of the week. I listened through the Loki soundtrack multiple times (which, trust me, was no hardship) just to narrow down my options. Picking just one song took even more listening and debating because I love all of it. No, seriously, I love ALL of it.

But I finally picked this one because it features a few things I love about the soundtrack as a whole. We start off with what you could call the “Longing for Home” theme or the Frigga theme, since that’s generally what and who Loki is either thinking or talking about when this theme plays. The theme features an instrument called the nyckelharpa (which I didn’t just know off the top of my head, it was mentioned in a Variety article), which gives the already haunting melody a breathtakingly plaintive tone. The theme is muffled in this track (if you want to hear a clearer version try “Catch Up,” or “Temptation”), perhaps representing Loki’s confusion over his feelings about Sylvie or maybe a distancing from his past?

And then we get a brief hint of the theremin as it carries a theme associated with the TVA (you can hear it in other TVA related tracks like “TVA First View” and “Loki Processing”), before it’s overwhelmed and subsumed by the “Loki Green Theme” melody. I know I’ve mentioned it before, but I love, love, love the theremin as an instrument. It’s such a cool, old school science fiction sound that works so well with how the TVA is depicted in the series.

“The Loki Green Theme” carries pretty much the rest of the track, which is fitting since Loki is meeting the other Loki variants for the first time while this track plays.

Honorable mention to...all the rest of the soundtrack? No? Okay, here are some highlights, beyond the tracks I already mentioned above: “TVA,” “Aix-En-Provenice, 1549,” “Miss Minutes,” “Dangerous Variant,” “DB Cooper,” “Glorious Purpose,” “The Archives,” “Roxxcart, 2050,” “Very Full,” “Lokius,” “Pruned,” “God of Outcasts,” “Reunion,” “Living Storm,” “Classic Builds,” “Ravonna’s Mission,” “Stop,” and “He Who Remains.”