#how long has boastful loki been in the void? | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

har-rison-s · 3 years ago

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pray, do tell

request: If you don’t mind me asking, request for Loki asking the other Loki’s if they have a s/o in their timeline during episode 5?

a/n: hi ! i absolutely ADORE this idea and i hope i'll write it out respectfully :)) i loved episode 5 so much, except for SOME scenes, and i especially enjoyed multiple lokis sitting around and talking, chilling, that's like... my dream place to be. YOU DON'T KNOW THE EFFECT PRESIDENT LOKI HAS ON ME. like it should be studied in labs and schools cos ??????? that feeling when he's on screen was just something else. also ! kid loki holding alligator loki my beloved <3. i'd love to be surrounded by lokis, me and loki actually have the same personality type so they're like... my people. sorry for the rant, hahah ! this one is a bit shorter than my other loki works, sorry about that :/ also it took me like 40 minutes to find decent gifs lmao. happy reading !! <3

masterlist

mcu masterlist

warnings: nothing really

disclaimer: lokis mentioned have he/him pronouns !

Weirded out by what he's seeing, and not entirely sure it's real, Loki can't take his eyes off it, either. The way alligator Loki drinks his boxed wine is just so fascinating to him, yet weird and other-wordly (he knows those well) at the same time. And he's weirded out more by the fact that he doesn't find a variant of him being an alligator strange in any way. He's had a few trying days, as he said himself.

Loki manages to divert his eyes off the creature with horns on its head and looks to the grapes he holds in his hand. He picks small dirt away from the berries and takes a grape into his mouth with ease. The taste reminds him of many things. His childhood, his home, his family... Thor, Frigga, Odin, Sif and the Warriors Three. Asgard. The Gardens, the waters, the Bifrost. Heimdall. Visits to the city, the markets, the celebrations.

Love.

Loki blinks, fooling himself and others by aiming to portray that he's not thinking about anything important. But he is. She was the most important thing to him, and now... Well, maybe during the New York heist, she's still fine, but after Ragnarok... Loki fears too much to think about it.

He wishes he could remember everything with her that followed New York, but all he has of their future is some worn-out tape in the TVA archives. Perhaps even pictures... He wants to live through all they had now, he wishes he could do that most of all. Of course, there's the finding Mobius and helping Sylvie burn down the TVA thing, but upon remembering her, it all falls into the background.

His first love. Not a god, like him, but she was a goddess in his eyes. He smiles now, subtly, at the fond memories of her. He noticed the little moments he had with her in the tape Mobius had, about his whole future. How beautiful she always was, her subtle way of laughing and going about her smiles and giggles, how exceptional and different her clothes always were, how her hair shined in any light...

“Did any of you...” Loki starts to say, and sighs shortly before continuing, thinking he'll probably regret asking it, “did any of you leave a... a lover behind when the TVA arrested you? Prince or princess?” He looks between his variants. Young Loki shoots him a stern look. “Apologies, my liege. You seem too young for that.” Loki bids him a polite smile, but his brain whirs. “How long have you been here, anyway?”

“Don't know. Time doesn't really... exist here.” Young Loki says and throws a salt biscuit into alligator Loki's jaws. “But no lovers in my lifetime, Loki.” He pointedly looks at the older variant of himself, nodding slightly.

“Not yet, at least.” Loki points out and gets scoffs and chuckles from Boastful and Classic Loki. He looks at them with a furrowed brow.

“Oh, you and your grand plan,” Classic Loki shakes his head before taking another sip from his huge cup. Loki only rolls his eyes, but still waits for answers to his question, “well,” Classic Loki downs his drink, “it would be no surprise to you that I had countless partners before I chose isolation. Partners of any kind.” He winks. Loki nods, understanding how much alike he truly is with his variants. “But I feel there is no one truly... truly made for me. Like midgardians would say - 'the one'.“

“In my case, there were many 'the ones',” Boastful Loki says, mocking Classic's use of words. All other Lokis roll their eyes, “I actually feel like every person in the whole universe was made to be with me. I'm just that irresistible.” He smiles pleasantly to himself. Alligator Loki growls again.

“That's another “liar” from him to you, Boast,” Classic Loki nods his head towards Boastful, who only shakes his head and frowns.

“I had my fair share of men and women before I was taken,” Boastful says, “must have been the same for you, Loki.” He looks at him. “Asgard was truly a giving place.”

Loki chuckles, but looks away from his variants. “Oh, it was...” he says quietly, “it was.” His voice grows even more quiet. Young and Classic Loki exchange a look.

“Do tell us, your mischievousness.” Classic Loki urges him. Loki shoots him a nervous look, then he leans back into the sofa and sighs, his eyes strictly focused on his hands.

“I had plenty before I met... one,” he starts to say, “me and her share a past, and, it seems, a future as well. After New York, I am taken to Asgard, imprisoned, but she is there. I fake my death and rule over Asgard as Odin, and she's there. I help Thor destroy our evil sister--”

“Oh, she was a nasty one.” Boastful says, shaking his head. “We used to have a connection, but then she just... I don't even know.” He shrugs. Loki eyes him for a second before continuing.

“We destroyed Asgard, but saved its people, and saved her. We make for Midgard, and she's there with me.” Loki sighs, his eyes gloomy. “And then... Thanos attacks, destroys half, if not all our people, and...” he can't even speak further. His variants share a look, each having quite the correct guess for what could follow after that. Boastful drinks from his cup in an awkward manner. “But I feel like that's another life I lived. Or another me. I don't know, I feel so... disconnected from her, from what we had. Must be the TVA and this... void. And all that's happened, all I've learned about my future.” He sighs again.

“Meeting her again would be a wake-up call, no?” Boastful asks. Loki shrugs, a sad expression on his face.

“Rather a sign that you're real.” Classic Loki says with a wide, true smile. Loki looks to him as if looking at a mentor. “I often felt like the people I loved and the love I had for them, even if it was not reciprocated, were a reminder that I am real, I exist and I can feel all these things.”

Loki considers his words, and then nods along, finding a truth in them.

“After all, love and all other emotions are the human part in all of us.” Classic says. “And it isn't always bad to feel like a regular human being.” Loki can also find truth in those words. Love makes one feel alive, makes you feel like you're on the right path, found the right person, found your purpose. It doesn't always have to be glorious, it can be small, but nonetheless important to you.

“I used to think humans smaller than us, more pathetic and puny, but...” Loki shakes his head, “we, gods, are just the same, really.” He chuckles sadly. “Having quarrels over the stupidest things, being as imperfect as humans... Sometimes I even felt like I was too good, too perfect for something like true love, which is a pathetic emotion that makes you feel all kinds of other feelings, but...” he smiles, “often times I felt like that, she told me everyone was deserving of love, even me.” His smile grows wider.

“She sounds lovely.” Classic Loki tells him with a kind smile.

“She was that, and more.” Loki nods along. Young Loki imitates the sound of a snore and throws a crumpled piece of paper at Loki's shoulder.

“You're making me extremely bored.” He announces and sits straighter in his chair, looking over the mess that is his palace. “Love's boring.” Young Loki throws a juice carton across the room, making a face.

“You are just too young to understand and know it, your majesty.” Boastful says with a wink, and the next juice carton is flying over his head with a snicker from Young Loki. Classic Loki keeps Boastful tight in his seat so an argument wouldn't arise, and Boastful hesitantly restrains, his drink almost spilling over his cup. Loki watches them with a sappy smile on his features, and decides this is a good place to spend eternity at, even without her.

Permanent tag-list: @hallecarey1 @gabiatthedisco @v0idbella @works-of-fanfiction @destiel-stucky4ever-loki-queen @ur-gunna-h8-ths @betweenloveandfire @but-legendsneverdie @deardeacy @thewinchesterchronicles @mavieesttriste16 @intrrverted @the-freak-cassie-131 @beverlyparkerr @gasbomb69 @rottenstyx

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#loki request #loki x reader #loki imagine #loki series #loki laufeyson x reader #loki laufeyson imagine #loki laufeyson imagines #loki oneshot #loki one shot #loki odinson x reader #loki odinson imagine #loki odinson imagines #har-rison-s writes #no but how old is kid loki?#how long has kid loki been in the void?#how long has classic loki been in the void?#how long has boastful loki been in the void?#which of them was the first???

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peterbarnes · 3 years ago

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Maybe Chapter 3

Summary: You work at the TVA as an analyst. Every day is the same- boring case after boring case- but your entire life changes one day when a new variant shows up.

Word Count: 6k

A/N: this is the longest fic I’ve written by far. that’s why it’s taken so long to come out. So 22 google docs pages later...I hope you enjoy!

Series Masterlist

Masterlist

When your eyes opened, your vision was completely blurred. There were beautiful swarms of yellow and green, but they were all mushed together, and you couldn’t make out any figures.

“Look, she’s waking up!”

A sharp shriek left your lips at the sudden voice. You made a fist and punched in front of you in an effort to defend yourself. You half expected to punch the air, considering your eyes were still adjusting, but ended up making contact with flesh and bone. Yet, nobody grunted in pain or fell to the ground. Instead, there was a maniacal and mischievous chuckle, and you knew, even before your vision had finally cleared, who that belonged to.

It was almost like a camera finally coming into focus once it found the perfect subject. The world fell into place behind him, but none of it mattered because here he was in front of you. He was glistening against the dull, grey landscape and you could feel the air abruptly leave your lungs as if it had been whisked away by the wind.

“Loki...” you said softly.

Except, he wasn’t. Not quite. Because though he looked exactly like your Loki, with his raven curls and light eyes that always looked as if they were holding a secret, the way he carried himself was completely different. Your Loki had his boastful moments, sure, but far more often he shrunk into himself, unsure and insecure. This Loki was a stark contrast, exuding confidence in everything he did. His shoulders were set back, his chin tilted up, and his lips curled up just enough to make a smirk and not a smile.

“Nice to see you again, my love,” he responded, the words falling off his lips smoothly.

“I don’t understand,” you told him, eyebrows furrowing. “You’re not him, how do you know me?”

“Silly girl, every Loki has a [Y/N].”

Right after he spoke, he slid his fingers through yours and lifted your hand to his lips, pressing a chaste kiss to your skin.

“Every Loki has a…” you trailed off. “That’s impossible. Every individual being has countless variants, there’s no way every one of my variants is somehow matched with one of Loki’s.”

“No?” Loki asked teasingly. “Then how do you explain that?”

He nodded to something behind you, and it is safe to say you were not expecting to see that. There stood a group of Loki’s and [Y/N]’s, waving at you excitedly. Even with the variant’s different genders and outfits, it wasn’t hard to determine which were yours and which were Loki’s. After counting, you saw there were exactly 12 of you and 12 of him. Huh.

“I didn’t think that was scientifically possible.”

“I think we’re beyond science now, darling.”

Your head snapped back towards the Loki who stood in front of you. As he helped you up from the ground, you finally took in his bright green coat and the pins that littered it.

“President?” You mumbled questioningly.

“Indeed. Of all the Loki’s, I am the superior one,” he said, his chin tilting higher if that were even possible.

“So what am I, the first lady?” You joked, chuckling at your own quip.

It was as if a shadow had cast over his face, parallel to the sound of the Loki’s and [Y/N]’s behind you collectively sucking in a sharp breath.

“She has passed on,” he said softly, his head turning to the floor for the first time since you met him. The facade fell and he fidgeted with his fingers anxiously.

That’s when you realized that no matter how different Loki’s variants were, or what kind of lives they led, their best skill was still presentation, performing to mask the loneliness they felt inside. It’s as if they were born with it embedded into their souls, and no matter what path they take, they can’t escape it. The void.

You felt a piece of your heart chip off and took Loki’s hands into your own.

“I’m sorry,” you told him, soft enough so only the two of you could hear it.

He nodded graciously before the facade reset. He cleared his throat as his posture returned to perfection and the pain faded from his expression. But the sadness still stained his eyes and his hand still clung to yours.

“Come,” he told you. “It’s not safe here.”

He pulled you forward, the crowd of variants trailing behind you. It was the first time you got to focus on the land around you. It was barren, with a few weeds growing here and there. The sky was bruised with clouds that were ready to storm, though there was no rain in sight. It was oddly dry, and for a place filled with Loki’s, it appeared uninhabited, unhealthy… dead.

It was at least a mile walk, and by the time you stopped, your boots were smudged with dirt and you were panting.

“You know,” you started. “We never had to walk this much at the TVA… we could just use the TemPad to get wherever. Kinda miss that.”

Loki shot you an amused look, before stopping in front of what looked like a cover for an underground bunker. But instead, when he took its handle bar and opened it, you were met with another Loki, scaling a ladder towards you. At first glance, you thought he was another variant, but then you saw his eyes. You weren’t quite able to put your finger on it, but you knew that, because of his eyes, you would always be able to find your Loki in a packed room of look-alikes. They were distinct, intimate and vulnerable in a way the others weren’t.

“Loki!” You exclaimed.

You’d never seen him move so quickly. He climbed the rest of that ladder in record time, scrambling to get up from the ground and race into your arms. You buried your head in his neck and he pressed a soft kiss to your head. You could feel the tension leave his body as he finally held you, felt your skin, confirming that you were alive and with him.

“You're okay,” he whispered into your hair, but it was more so to himself than to you.

“I’m okay… I’m okay.”

“Well, isn’t this touching,” the Loki, you now deemed President Loki, behind you drawled.

So captivated by finally seeing you, your Loki hadn’t even noticed the surrounding variants. You saw his eyes flutter with hesitation as he slowly scanned the group.

“Hello,” President Loki continued, his voice deep like a growl. “Which one of us are you?”

You could’ve sworn you heard Loki gulp. To be fair, his President variant was rather intimidating at first.

“It’s okay,” you told Loki, sliding your fingers between his and squeezing. “They’re our…friends, I guess.”

“This is a nightmare.”

—

“You bastard!” An old Loki variant, decked in a ridiculous getup, screamed. “You led the wolves right to our door!”

“Hey-“ You started in an attempt to defend your Loki.

“We prefer snakes to wolves,” President Loki chimed in.

“I’ve eaten both. They die just the same,” another one, a kid, spoke.

You couldn’t help but roll your eyes at the theatrics. Too many Loki’s, so much drama.

“Alright, ladies, are we done here?” You interrupted, your voice firm. The Loki’s collectively turned to look at you, startled by your tone. You saw one by one as they shrunk back and mumbled a soft apology.

“Now,” you continued. “How the hell do we- is that an alligator? You know what, I don’t even want to know. Just tell me how to leave this place.”

“You cannot,” one voice boomed. You turned to arguably the largest Loki variant, donned in fur with a hammer of his own. “Nobody leaves the void. Alioth makes sure of that.”

“Alioth?”

“He’s the entity that guards the void, a giant monster that will kill you if you even think to leave,” President Loki told you. “That’s why I brought you here, to keep you off the mainland, to keep you safe.”

Your Loki scoffed and rolled his eyes.

“Problem?” President Loki growled.

“Yes, actually-“

“Nope, we’re not doing this,” you said, stepping between the two men as they stalked toward each other angrily.

“Well then, I’ll fight to keep you safe!” One Loki spoke up.

“No, I will!”

Sweet Jesus.

Before you could even comprehend what was going on around you, the Loki variants began to fight one another. Some used their magic, causing emerald mist to flow through the room, while others used brute force, clocking each other in the head, and taking cheap shots below the belt. Ouch.

You and your Loki ducked and dodged the various weapons swinging around you, as screams of aggression filled the room. Meanwhile, your variants stood huddled in the corner, whispering to one another nonchalantly as if this was just another Tuesday.

“Come on!” You heard from behind you.

You and Loki whipped around to find the old variant in the ridiculous costume and the kid ushering you to follow them.

“Can we trust them?” You whispered.

“Honestly, we have nothing to lose at this point.”

“Fair enough.”

The two of you climbed the piles of junk that decorated the bunker as you made your way towards the old man. Loki walked behind you, his hand on the small of your back, keeping your figure guarded from the others so you wouldn’t get hit.

You saw the variant step through a green portal that flowed out from his hands. You stopped right before it, mentally questioning if you should follow him. You could feel Loki step up right next to you, looking at the side of your face. There was something he wanted to ask, you could feel it, but instead he took your hand in yours.

“Together?”

You nodded.

“Together.”

Stepping through the portal was nothing like the TemPad. At the TVA, you could always see your destination in front of you. Here, you couldn’t see anything. You could only see green, swirls of it flowing all around you almost like it was alive. But you could still feel Loki’s hand clasped with yours, grounding you. You took a deep breath and stepped forward, pulling him with you, a true leap of faith.

When you finally met solid ground, you saw you were on another part of the void. The beautiful green now replaced with a dark grey sky.

“Damn it, animals! We lie and we cheat, and we cut the throat of every person who trusts us, and for what?”

You could hear the frustration lacing the old variant’s voice as his horns pointed towards the sky, as if to curse it.

“Power,” he grumbled. “Glorious power. Glorious purpose! We cannot change. We’re broken, every version of us. Forever.”

You saw your Loki tense, his eyes trailing towards the ground.

“That’s not true,” you said. “I mean, everyone’s a little bit broken, no? But…you’re not the bad guys you think you are. I’ve grown quite fond of Loki’s, actually.”

The three Loki’s turned to look at you, all of their eyes glistening in the same exact places.

“Do you mean that?” Your Loki whispered to you.

“I do,” you said back softly, running your thumb over his palm.

“Well,” the kid spoke up. “I’m glad you see the better of us- you always have. But there’s no use, whenever one of us dares to try to fix themselves, they’re sent here to die.”

“That’s why we need to get out of here,” your Loki said. “Nothing can change until the TVA is stopped. And Sylvie’s the one who-“

Your heart clenched as you heard her name on his lips. You remember how adamant he was to see her back in the interrogation room. The thought of seeing her, seeing them together, left a bitter taste in your mouth.

“And you trust her?” The old variant questioned aggressively.

“Yes! I do. And right now, I believe she’s our only chance of stopping the TVA.”

You slipped your hand out of his and walked in front of him instead, missing the hurt look that flashed across his face at your actions.

“That’s good enough for me,” the kid said. “[Y/N]?”

“Yeah, sure,” you mumbled unconvincingly.

“Okay. Okay, we’ll help you, but…approaching Alioth is a death sentence. We’ll get you to it, but that’s as far as we go.”

You nodded, hoping to whatever higher power was up there for this to go well. You were exhausted after finding out the truth about the TVA. All you wanted after this was a quiet, normal life. Maybe even one with Loki, but you would never tell him that. If you tried, the words would just cling to your tongue out of fear of rejection. So you kept the fantasy to yourself, in your head, hoping one day it might become reality.

—

“So, do you have a plan of action?” the older variant asked as you reached closer to where Alioth towered over the void.

“Get inside, find its heart or brain or whatever, and then, you know, do it in,” Loki responded.

“Uh…” the kid let out.

“Hey, just because it’s not complicated doesn’t mean it’s bad.”

“It’s bad,” you chimed in.

“Thanks for the show of support, darling.”

You heard a growl from your left and turned to see the alligator trotting alongside you. You let out a shriek, jumping behind Loki, clutching his shoulders, and moving him in front of you like a shield.

“That thing’s been here the whole time?!!”

“He’s a Loki,” the kid told you casually. “He’s not gonna bite, he recognizes you.”

“What do you mean he recognizes me?”

“Every Loki has a [Y/N], remember?”

“So you’re saying there’s a little alligator me waddling around here somewhere?”

“Yup.”

“Fantastic.”

Suddenly, something in front of you bursted into color, bright yellows and pinks contrasting against the darkness of the void. However, they didn’t last, quickly transforming into a ginormous boat that dropped in the middle of the land. Another branch. The boat was filled with passengers on the deck who were scrambling to figure out what had just happened. You probably saw it before they did, the black clouds gathering behind them, the purple lightning that littered them. Do they know they’re about to die?

“Alioth is like any animal,” you heard Loki say. “He’ll go after the big meal first. And while he’s busy with that, we can sneak around the back and…”

Before he could finish, Alioth bellowed, the clouds expanding what seemed like infinitely, swallowing the boat whole in a matter of seconds before disappearing again into the air.

You turned towards Loki who wore both a confused and frightened expression on his face.

“Okay, uh. Maybe… um… think a bit more about this, huh?”

“Great job, honey,” you drawled sarcastically, rubbing his shoulder.

“Car!”

“What?” You asked, turning to the kid who was now looking behind us over the horizon. You followed his line of sight to see what looked like a pizza truck speeding through the grass towards you. Whoever was driving it had no skill, you figured, since instead of going in a straight line, the car zig-zagged as if the wheel was being turned every two seconds.

“Is that bad?” Loki questioned hesitantly.

“It usually means cannibalistic marauders or cannibalistic pirates,” the kid shot back.

“I’m too young to be eaten by pirates!” You hollered. “Well, I don’t actually know how old I am, but the point still stands.”

You noticed as the car got closer, enough for the yellow headlights to shine brightly on your face, it slowed down, eventually parking neatly a few yards away from the four of you- five, if you want to count the alligator.

“Stay on guard,” the kid warned, conjuring a dagger into his hands.

As the passenger door to the car opened, you saw a flash of blonde hair. Whoever it was, recognition immediately took over Loki’s face and he bolted towards the vehicle.

“I guess that’s Sylvie?” The kid asked.

“Guess so,” you responded weakly, your voice deflating. You twiddled with your thumbs anxiously and forced your feet to move forward.

“Don’t worry,” the old variant whispered as he walked beside you. “Loki’s and [Y/N]’s are destined to be together. No matter who comes along, you’re the one in his heart. Remember that.”

It was as if you could feel your heart flutter at his words, anxiety slowly being overcome with beautiful butterflies flying around in your stomach.

“Thank you,” you whispered back graciously.

By the time you got there, you could also see Mobius, a smile lighting up your face at the sight of your friend.

“Mobius!” You called.

The same smile you wore lit up his face as he drew you into a hug, squeezing you tight.

“Glad you’re okay, old man,” you told him. “Though you were a goner for a second there.”

“Old man? I see how it is,” he said playfully. “I’m glad you’re okay too.”

“Um, hello,” you heard from behind you.

You turned away from Mobius to see Sylvie looking you over, almost as if to analyze you. She didn’t look shy, just hesitant, unsure. Yeah, she’s definitely a Loki. You weren’t sure how to go about talking to her because, despite what the older variant said, you still felt the jealousy lingering in the pit of your stomach. But when you turned to Loki, he wasn’t looking at her, he was looking at you. Beaming at you actually, before nodding his head towards Sylvie as if to say go ahead, I think you’ll like her.

“Hi,” you responded, burying your insecurities in the back of your mind. “I’m [Y/N].”

“[Y/N]?” The name had startled her, her eyes glazing over as if a memory had surfaced she didn’t want to remember.

Every Loki has a [Y/N].

If you could have smacked yourself in the head then without it looking strange to the others, you would have. Sylvie’s not into Loki, she has her own version of you out there somewhere that the universe tied her to.

“I’m not your [Y/N],” you started carefully. “But we can still be… friends?”

“Friends?” Sylvie asked, the word coming out unnaturally as if it had never escaped her lips before. “I don’t have much of those.”

“Me neither.”

You smiled at her softly and were elated when she returned it genuinely.

“Hate to break up the moment, but why are you here exactly?” The kid interrupted, looking absolutely over the conversation.

“Thought you could use some back up,” Sylvie answered, looking at you and Loki. Loki put his hands on his hips and looked at her as if to say you haven’t gone soft on me, have you?

Sylvie only rolled her eyes in response, trying to hide the way the corners of her lips quirked upwards.

“Who are those guys?” Mobius asked, pointing to the variants that lurked behind you and Loki, observing the situation.

“These are my friends,” Loki explained, gesturing to them. “Well, they’re, um… how best to put this? Us as a child, us in the future, and us as an alligator.”

Sylvie’s eyes widened questioningly as she took in the alligator on the floor, its horned helmet lying slightly crooked on its head.

“It’s best not to question it,” you told her.

“You throw a rock out here, you hit a Loki,” Mobius quipped.

“So you’re all after the giant cloud monster too then?” Sylvie asked.

“Well,” Loki responded. “We haven’t decided how we’re going to kill it, but-“

“Sorry, come again, kill it?”

“Yes, we’re going to kill Alioth.”

“Oh, my god, that was your plan?”

“Yeah…”

“And you went along with it?” Sylvie turned to you. “I thought you were the smart one, darling.”

Your cheeks heated up at the pet name you had only ever heard from Loki.

“Nope, nope, none of that,” Loki budged in, pointing at Sylvie who only smirked back.

“What’s your plan, then?” You asked her.

“I think the person we’re after, the head of the TVA, is beyond the void at the end of time. And if they are, that thing is just their guard dog protecting the only way in.”

“So how do we get past the guard dog, exactly?”

Her eyes gleamed with ambition and pride, exuding a confidence you only wished you could have.

“I’m gonna enchant it.”

You took in a sharp breath as Loki let out a wheezing laugh.

“That’s insane,” he breathed out between chuckles.

“As insane as what? Paper-cutting a cloud to death?”

You let out a snort resulting in a glare from Loki. You stuck your tongue out at him and he mouthed real mature back at you.

“She’s pretty confident,” Mobius chimed in.

“Then, let’s do it.”

—

Before you took on Alioth, you and Loki found yourselves sitting in the grass outside an abandoned house that had dropped from the sky not too long ago. It was nice, just the two of you together. The conversation wasn’t constant, but you and Loki had reached the point where you could just sit in silence with each other for hours and it wasn’t awkward or uncomfortable- each other’s presence was enough.

“Can I ask you something?” Loki asked softly, breaking the silence.

“Yeah, of course.”

“Were you mad at me earlier when I mentioned Sylvie?”

Loki’s tone was cautious, like a child afraid of confrontation, or worse, rejection. You let out a sigh, scratching the back of your neck awkwardly.

“I wasn’t mad. I would never be mad at you for something like that, I was just…jealous. Which is so stupid, I know-“

You stopped at the sound of his laughter ringing in your ears. It wasn’t a small chuckle or even slightly maniacal.

“What?” You asked hotly. “It’s not funny.”

“It is,” Loki managed to get out between laughs. “It’s quite hilarious actually.”

You huffed and turned away from him, crossing your arms and staring out into the dark horizon. You only looked away when you felt something being placed around your shoulders. It felt soft and warm, almost like a cloud was wrapped around you, and when you tilted your head down you saw it was a dark green blanket.

Your head shifted towards Loki, whose hand was up from just performing a conjuring spell, a sheepish smile on his face.

“I wasn’t laughing at you. It’s just- it’s funny to me that you think I would have feelings for someone else. Sylvie’s like an annoying sister. You, my darling, are everything. You have my heart for always.”

You definitely didn’t expect the declaration that had just come from him, like beautiful prose from a novel.

“Yeah?” You whispered, your voice breaking.

“Yeah.”

You rested your head on his shoulder and felt the weight of his head leaning on top of yours, snuggling into you. You could’ve stayed there for centuries with him. It didn’t matter that you were in some sort of void in the timeline or that the universe was falling into madness around you. All of that faded away and you realized that, no matter what happened, as long as you had Loki you would be okay.

—

The six of you stood on top of a hill as the black clouds surrounding Alioth raged throughout the void, lightning striking wherever it went.

“Okay so what’s the next move?” Mobius hollered, struggling to be heard over the sound of Alioth’s thunder.

“The TVA needs to be brought down,” Sylvie said fiercely. “We don’t know who created it, or where they are, but that thing out there does. When it hit me earlier, I linked to it. It was brief, but I caught a glimpse of something, and I think if I can get close enough to it, I can enchant it, and it’s gonna take me to whoever’s behind all of this.”

“I’m staying,” you said, catching the attention of Loki and Sylvie, whose heads both shot to you.

“[Y/N],” Loki warns. “We don’t know if this is going to work, you’re safer away from here with Mobius.”

“You go, I go.”

You could see he was torn, both proud of your courage and fearful for your safety, but the thing you loved the most about Loki is that he never told you to back down. He knew your strength, knew that you had to do this, to find the people who ripped your life away from you, and wanted you to fight boldly by his side.

He nodded firmly, taking your hand in his.

“Stay with me.”

“It’s happening guys, the branch will be right out there!” The kid told you, pointing down the hill to an open field.

“I’ll give your regards to Renslayer,” Mobius told you, bringing you in for a hug.

“Please do,” you scoffed, hugging your friend back before pulling away and looking at him directly. “Stay safe, I’d prefer to see you again, alive.”

“Ha, ha,” Mobius drawled out sardonically. “I’ll try my best.”

He turned to variants asking if they wanted to go with him, a ticket out of the void. You had thought they would jump at the chance to leave, to get a second chance at their lives.

“No!” The kid insisted. “We’re staying here.”

“This is our home,” the old loki said. “We’ve survived this long. We know what we’re doing.”

You could’ve sworn you heard the alligator growl as if to add onto their touching show of bravery.

“Loki,” the kid said, turning to him. “You’re going to need this on your journey.”

He conjured a golden dagger out of thin air. It was beautiful, carved delicately with a bronze handle that glowed against the light. Loki took it in his hands, admiring the blade before him, then watching as his variants walked away, likely towards another bunker. The sharp sound of a TemPad being activated caught your ear, the orange door appearing suddenly adjacent to Mobius.

“Looks like you got away in the end,” Mobius teased Loki.

“I always do. What will you do at the TVA?”

“Burn it to the ground,” Mobius paused. “Thanks for the spark.”

Mobius reached out to shake his hand before Loki quickly brought him into a fierce hug. It made you beam to see two of your favorite people care about each other so much. They both needed a friend and had found one in each other.

“Thank you, my friend.”

“You’re my favorite,” Mobius whispered to you over his shoulder.

A chuckle fell from your lips as Mobius walked smoothly through the TemPad door, off to his own adventure.

Now, it was just the three of you, two Loki’s and a [Y/N], staring down Alioth from a mile away.

You’d never felt fear like this before, adrenaline coursing through your veins, your heart racing so fast it felt like it might implode. You had thought the feeling would shut you down, but it didn’t. It woke you up. You weren’t a sorcerer or a warrior, but you were someone with something to prove, and you’d be dammed if you backed out of this fight now.

“When a branch appears, Alioth will focus on it. That’s when I’ll enchant it,” Sylvie instructed. “[Y/N], wait until I have it under control before you come out, alright?”

Concern filled her eyes, not fully convinced you would listen to her. You nodded, you were reckless not stupid.

When you reached the bottom of the hill, you managed to make out a face in the clouds. The eyes were red and beady and the mouth looked more like a black hole than any human feature.

The cloud shot to the ground, swirling almost like a tornado, looking to consume everything around it. By now, you were only a few feet away from Alioth, cautiously stalking towards him behind Sylvie and Loki.

The beast roared and you felt the wind push against you, as if it wanted you to turn around and walk away from what you were about to face. So you planted your feet firmly, daring the wind to try again.

“What if we don’t have time to wait for a branch?” Loki yelled over the roars of Alioth.

“We’ll have to cause a distraction,” Sylvie said, her eyes flickering to you.

“I’ll do it.”

You didn’t even realize the words had come out of your mouth until you saw their faces. Loki looked at you as if you were mad, his eyes lit up in fear and shock.

“No, absolutely not,” Loki stated, his voice not even slightly wavering. “It’ll kill you.”

You let out an almost defeated sigh, placing your hand on his shoulder in an effort to comfort him.

“I don’t have magic,” you said confidently. “I can’t defeat Alioth, only you two can. If one of you causes the distraction there’s less of a chance of defeating him and finding out who really is in charge of the TVA. It has to be me.”

The fear never left their eyes but they now had a mix of recognition in them too.

“No-“ Loki insisted.

“We’re talking about saving the universe, Loki-“

“I don’t care about the universe, I care about you! None of this matters if you don’t come out of it with me.” He paused, hesitant before whispering, “I love you.”

Words died in your throat at his confession, instead replaced with a sharp breath. You bit your lip anxiously, your heart aching for him and for what was about to happen.

“Then let me go.”

Loki’s bottom lip wavered as if he could burst into tears at any moment. He went to respond but before he could say anything you and Sylvie locked eyes and you nodded at her.

“Good luck,” she said softly before green hues left her finger tips, traveling over to Loki’s head where they slipped through his skin and into his mind, his light eyes now turning an emerald shade of green. You stared at him in his enchanted state, wishing so badly that you had said the words back, but knowing it was too late.

You mouthed thank you to Sylvie before taking off running to the other side of the field. You felt the hard ground slap against your feet as you sprinted, pushing through the burning in your lungs and the aching in your knees. The wind didn’t fight you anymore, instead it followed you, almost carrying you to where you needed to be.

When you were far enough away from Loki and Sylvie, you waved your hands in the air and screamed as loud as you could muster “hey you big, ugly bastard, come and get me!”

Alioth turned towards you like a predator about to pounce on its prey. It’s red eyes stared you down as the clouds charged, swirling around your body, blocking out all light. You were in there for what felt like hours, waiting to die. Alioth might be chaotic and raging, but in that moment as it looked down at you, all was quiet. It was almost peaceful, even. You closed your eyes, ready for the darkness to get even darker when you saw a speck of green in the corner of your eyelid. It was as if a seed had been planted and started to bloom because suddenly, as you opened your eyes, the speck became a castle. Two castles. A village. Asgard.

“Holy shit,” you mumbled to yourself.

“Go!” You heard echoing in the field around you, the old variant’s voice ringing in your ear.

It was at that moment, too, that the beast turned away from you, charging towards the illusion of Asgard at full speed, ready to consume it. You felt someone behind you and turned your head to see Loki standing there, looking at you with an unreadable expression on his face.

“We’re talking about your reckless behavior later,” he said, slipping his hand into yours. “And your habit for planning things behind my back.”

“I love you, too,” you blurted.

His cold features melted, and you saw his firmly pressed lips curve into a smile.

“You mean it?”

“I do.”

As his eyes looked in yours intimately, shyly, almost fearfully, you realized that it’s possible that he’d never heard those words before they left your lips. He pressed his forehead against yours, closing his eyes to bask in your closeness.

“Let’s finish this together.”

Hand in hand, you walked towards where Sylvie stood in front of you, observing Alioth as it reigned down on Asgard. She turned towards the two of you inquisitively before grabbing Loki’s other hand and pulling all of you forward.

“What are you doing?” He asked.

“We’re going to enchant it.”

“I don’t know how!” Loki struggled, attempting to pull his hand away from Sylvie’s. She only grasped it harder, making him stand firm in between the two of you.

“Yes, you do. Because we’re the same,” she told him, before turning to you. “And you, [Y/N], you make us stronger.”

As Alioth brought down Asgard’s royal castle, the three of you ran right in front of one of his dark clouds. You saw Sylvie latch onto a wisp of one with her hand, the navy turning into her signature bright green. Loki had grasped onto one as well, but its color stayed the same, the magic refusing to flow from his hand. You saw him grimace as he tried to force it to come into fruition, growling slightly in frustration.

“Don’t force it,” you told him as pieces of the cloud swarmed around your legs and arms. “You have the power, let it come to you.”

You saw his eyes close as he took a deep breath. You swore you could see the emerald hues emerge at his feet and move fluidly up his figure until it flowed right into his palm, lightning up the cloud in front of him. His eyes opened again, alert to the magic in front of him, and he let out an almost surprised laugh.

The cloud tried to fight back, to wear out their magic and exhaust them until they fell to their knees. But it failed to notice that your hands glowed too, not green, but a bright gold. It was like the sun was trapped in between your palms as you clutched both Loki’s and Sylvie’s hands. You were their fuel, their power, their strength. As long as a Loki has a [Y/N], they cannot be defeated.

All of your palms grew brighter, the lights nearly blinding you as they burst outwards, quickly covering Alioth entirely until his eyes became a sharp green and his demeanor became submissive. You saw his clouds chipping away, turning into dust as the wind carried them onto the grass- a slow death. The path before the three of you was now cleared with the beast gone, and in front of you stood a portal. The green doorway opened to an old, dark house sat on top of a hill. Surrounding it was the cosmos, blends of purple and blue painting the sky like a beautiful portrait. You saw a bright white line as well, perfectly circling the house from a distance. The timeline.

“You ready for one final adventure?” You asked Loki and Sylvie, their hands still not having left yours.

They didn’t respond verbally, only nodding fiercely as you all made your way towards the portal that towered over you.

“Here we go.”

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anonymousewrites · 2 years ago

Text

Portal to My Heart (Book 2) Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Thirteen: In the Void

(Y/N) opened her eyes and looked around urgently. Loki was awaking next to her. She reached out for him.

“Loki…”

“(Y/N)…”

They were filled with relief at the realization that they were still with each other. Still, they might be in Hell (neither thought they were making it to Heaven).

“Are we…dead?” breathed (Y/N).

“Not yet,” said an unfamiliar voice. “But you will be unless you come with us.”

(Y/N) and Loki sat up in alarm. An alligator, teenage boy, old man, and muscular man, all sporting gold, green, and black outfits, stood in front of them. Lokis. The alligator blinked at them, the teenager looked them up and down judgmentally, the muscular man gazed at them condescendingly, and the old man watched them with a strange look. The pair scrambled to their feet, on guard.

“What is this place? Where are we? Who are you?” demanded Loki.

“This is the Void.” Classic Loki pointed to the glowing purple cloud approaching them. “That’s Alioth. And we’re his lunch. Come on.”

An animalistic face emerged from the cloud and bellowed.

“Shit, don’t have to tell me twice!” exclaimed (Y/N).

Loki nodded in agreement, and however wary of the Variants they were, they followed them. Classic Loki led the way over the hills and fields, never once stopping.

“I suggest we take a breather so I can ask several thousand questions,” said Loki.

“Got to keep moving so we don’t die,” said Classic Loki. “We don’t have anyone who can teleport us.”

Loki nodded at (Y/N). “She can.”

“Accidentally, and only myself! So unless you want me to leave you here, no way,” said (Y/N).

“She can’t,” said the old man. “It takes time to control teleportation.”

Loki huffed. “Fine, fine, but do we have any plan?”

“Don’t die,” said Teen Loki.

“Okay, but beyond that?”

“Don’t die.”

“That’s just a general demand of living!” Loki sighed in exasperation. “If you’re Lokis, you should always have—.” The Lokis ignored him. He groaned.

“At least tell us what this place is and what that thing was,” said (Y/N). They said nothing. Her eyebrow twitched. Lokis. “Alright! Someone tell me what the hell is going on! It has been a very long few days…months? Goddamn it I don’t even know when New York was! I just got pruned and thought I fucking died and now I’m surrounded by Lokis! Tell me what the fuck is going on!”

“She’s brave,” commented Boastful Loki. Classic Loki nodded.

“Shut up, you’ll signal Alioth,” said Teen Loki.

(Y/N)’s eye twitched, and Loki grabbed her before she could try to kill anyone.

Classic Loki looked at Teen Loki. “We were the same way when we arrived.”

“Fine.” Teen Loki rolled his eyes. “This is the place where the TVA dumps its rubbish, everything they prune,” said Teen Loki. “And Alioth…he ensures none of it ever returns.”

“It’s a living tempest that consumes matter and energy,” said Boastful Loki. “They send entire branched realities here that are devoured instant—”

“We’re in a shark tank.” Classic Loki cut to the chase. “Alioth is the shark.”

Alligator Loki croaked.

“Oh, there’s no such thing as an alligator tank,” said Classic Loki. “Besides, it’s a better metaphor.” He nodded to the alligator. “He’s a bit sensitive.”

“Hang on, that thing’s a Loki too?” said Loki.

“Oh, yes,” said Classic Loki.

“I thought he’d be a snake if he was an animal,” commented (Y/N).

“Why are there so many of you?” asked Loki.

“Because Lokis survive. That’s just what we do,” said Classic Loki.

“Great, so how do we escape?” said Loki.

“We don’t,” said Classic Loki harshly. “All of us were arrested by the TVA and pruned, just like you two. And just like you two, we all stood around making bad plans that went nowhere.”

“But we could use a Tempad!”

“Oh, the one thing that could get us out of here, yes,” said Boastful Loki. “They’re all over the place, right guys?” His fellow Lokis laughed.

I kind of miss there being only one Loki. This is insufferable, thought (Y/N).

“Fine, what about causing a Nexus Event?” asked Loki.

“The TVA doesn’t care what happens here,” said Boastful Loki as if it was obvious.

“There has to be something we can do,” said (Y/N).

“There is: survive,” said Classic Loki. “That’s all there is, all there ever was.”

“We’re done talking. Let’s go,” said Teen Loki. “Just do what you want.” He turned and hiked away with his associates following.

(Y/N) and Loki looked at each other.

“They know this place better than us,” admitted (Y/N).

Loki sighed. “Alright, alright.”

They caught up and began walking with the Lokis again.

“Why do you let the boy command you?” asked Loki.

“You’ll do well to respect the boy,” said Classic Loki. “This is his kingdom.”

“Right…What was your Nexus Event, your majesty?” asked Loki sarcastically.

“I killed Thor,” said Teen Loki scathingly.

Christ, that’s dark, thought (Y/N).

Nothing else was said during the rest of the hike. They eventually came upon and hill, and Classic Loki opened a hatch with a wave of his hand. They all descended into what was the Lokis’ base. Loki made sure he went down first in case the Lokis tried anything. He knew better than anyone how backstabbing Lokis could be.

“So why do you want to return to the TVA so badly, anyway?” asked Classic Loki. “You leave your glorious purpose there?”

“Our friend is there,” said (Y/N) absently. She looked over the base. The decorations were rather eclectic, and a throne with candy canes stood in the middle with bowling pins around the base. Yeah, this is definitely what happens when four Lokis decorate together.

(Y/N) sat with a goblet of grape juice in her hand next to Loki. Would have been nice of the TVA to prune a branch with a bar in it…Then I wouldn’t have to listen to that guy go on and on about his “triumphs.” Knowing Lokis, he’s probably lying about everything.

“So, after I vanquished Captain America and Iron Man, I claimed my prize, all six infinity stones and a queen,” said Boastful Loki proudly.

Alligator Loki growled.

“That’s alligator for growling and saying ‘liar’ at the same time,” translated Classic Loki.

“At least my Nexus Event wasn’t eating the wrong neighbor’s cat,” said Boastful Loki sullenly.

Alligator Loki snarled.

“He says that at least he didn’t pine over someone who hated him,” said Classic Loki.

“Why you—!” Boastful Loki lunged for Alligator Loki, who bit him in turn.

Classic Loki grabbed onto Alligator Loki while Loki and (Y/N) pulled Boastful Loki away. Teen Loki just laughed.

This is insanity, thought (Y/N).

“Tell them your story, Loki,” said Teen Loki.

“Me?” asked Classic Loki. “Nobody wants to hear about that.”

“I would, actually,” said (Y/N).

“Me too,” said Loki. “It’s just I’ve been wondering because I’m…Well, we’re supposed to die, right? Thanos kills us…” His eyes drifted to (Y/N) “and (Y/N)—” She raised her glass in acknowledgement “after Ragnarok.”

“Thanos?” Classic Loki sat forward and sighed. “In my timeline…everything proceeded correctly, my entire life, until Thanos attacked our ship. After…my (Y/N) jumped through the portal to save me, well, take no offense my fellow Lokis, but daggers are worthless in the face of Loki sorcery. They stunt our magic potential.”

“But they look awesome,” said Boastful Loki.

“Oh, yes. Especially when they clatter to the ground right before your neck is snapped,” said Classic Loki.

“What did you do?” asked (Y/N).

“Before my (Y/N) was stabbed, I cast a projection so real that the Mad Titan believed she did die. I then used it to make him believe I also fought and died,” said Classic Loki. “Then I hid us as inanimate debris.”

“I bet (Y/N) tried to get out and fight,” remarked Boastful Loki. He sighed. “She was never one to give up.” Classic Loki chuckled and nodded.

“It is so weird to hear about alternate versions of me,” said (Y/N), sitting back.

Loki leaned forward and looked at Classic Loki. “What happened after?”

“We drifted into space. Away from Thor, away from everything,” said Classic Loki. “Thought about the universe and my place in it, and it occurred to me that everywhere I went, only pain followed. So I removed myself from the equation, landed on a remote planet and stayed there. Stayed there for a long, long time.” He sullenly took a drink of grape juice.

“And what happened to (Y/N)?” asked (Y/N).

“She wanted to run, to fight…And I couldn’t stop her.” He looked down. “She summoned a portal and disappeared into it. I never saw her again.”

“Did the TVA find her?”

“I don’t know, said Classic Loki sadly.

“How did the TVA find you?” asked Loki, swallowing the lump in his throat at the idea of letting (Y/N) go off into danger.

“It took me some time, but I tried to leave. To find (Y/N) again. But as soon as I took the first steps towards leaving this planet, the TVA arrived. Because we, my friends, have but one part to play, the God of Outcasts. Nothing more,” spat Classic Loki.

Loki frowned and put his goblet down decidedly. “I’m going.” He stood up.

“Going where?” demanded Boastful Loki, getting up with Classic Loki.

“Out of this place, out of the Void, back to the TVA,” said Loki. He looked at (Y/N) and held out a hand. “Are you coming with me?”

She downed her drink, grinned, and took it. “Wouldn’t have it any other way.”

Loki gazed at his Variants and tightened his grip of her hand, almost to reassure himself she was sticking by him. “We’re as good at escaping as we are at survive. That gives us a decent chance.”

“You don’t do either, you’ll be murdered,” sighed Classic Loki.

“Then we die,” said (Y/N), shrugging.

“That’s our destiny to begin with,” said Loki.

“You’re different,” piped up Teen Loki. “Why?”

“No, I’m not, you see. I’m the same as all of you. But—” Loki pointed at (Y/N) “—I have her. And have you ever met a woman Variant of us? They’re what makes me ‘different.’ ” (Y/N) smiled at his words, her cheeks dusting pink. “We’re going back to Sylvie, and then we can take down the TVA together.” He straightened. “Now, you said Alioth is what keeps us here. You said it’s a living thing, like a shark. Well, if it lives, it dies.”

“I like this idea,” said (Y/N).

Loki grinned at her. “We’re going to kill a shark.”

The other Lokis began laughing. “No way, you guys are crazy.”

Annoyed, Loki and (Y/N) turned away.

“Monsters,” muttered Loki as he walked to the ladder.

(Y/N) squeezed his hand before stepping onto the ladder. “You’re better than all of them.”

Loki swallowed as a light pink tint covered his cheeks. “Thank you.”

(Y/N) smiled before climbing upwards. She pushed the hatch open and looked up into the cloudy sky. Her vision was suddenly obscured as a group of people looked down at her. Eyes widening, (Y/N) gazed in awe at the well-dressed Loki in front of her, one who looked almost exactly like her Loki.

He leaned down, giving her a view of the “Loki for President” pin her wore, and smirked. “Well, well, well. It’s been far too long without seeing your pretty face, (Y/N).”

Shit.

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illwynd · 3 years ago

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OK so I know even a lot of people who have generally not been pleased with the Loki show have liked Pres Loki for the way he does seem to behave a bit more like the Loki from earlier versions of canon. I was not so pleased with it, and I’d like to explain why. And also why I loved the interaction of the four variant Lokis in the bunker and felt that was a rare moment in the show that displayed any real understanding of the character.

So let’s start with the gang of Lokis and what that scene did right. With each little interaction, we were given glimpses of the ways in which these four---classic Loki, kid Loki, boastful Loki, and alligator Loki---differed from each other and what traits they shared, but more importantly, the ways they interacted with each other actually said something about how Loki feels about himself. It was, in a word, fraught. It was internal conflict made external, but not just that, because they are also surviving together, as uncomfortable allies. Classic Loki defending and deferring to kid Loki, both because no one one did that for him and because he has also reached the point where nothing really matters anymore and he has nothing to strive for or hope for, and after so long alone, how he treats himself is all he has left. Kid Loki (who we got criminally little of but he made the most of his screentime), the most bereft of all, so young to have such a wound, and who has had to get used to it, and does so by trusting in himself. These other selves. Alligator Loki---who even knows how the world looks to him or how he ended up here, but he’s still fallen in with them, cleaving to the recognition of himself. The group of them, they snipe and squabble, but they also clearly rely on each other for survival and companionship: Loki can always depend on himself. He hates himself and pities himself, he trusts only himself and he attacks himself, he protects himself and he hurts himself. The push and pull of these different aspects and reflections of Loki is an adept metaphor for the internal conflict that the earlier canon showed through different means, in implication and subtle gestures and unspoken words.

In contrast... the scene with the arrival of Pres Loki and his band of traitorous comrades is... unsubtle, and about as deep as gator!Loki’s kiddie pool. Pres Loki may be suave and confident, but he reflects nothing, and neither do his crew. They show up to conveniently break up the scene in what feels like more of the same disjointed, manic scriptvomit we’ve seen in the rest of the show that seems only intended to harp on the approximately two things that the writers know about Loki, as if he were Thor condemned to do nothing but eat poptarts and speak in a booming voice in a 2012-era fanfic: that Loki is incompetent, and that he reflexively betrays people. The point of Pres Loki’s arrival seems to be “ha ha, Loki is so stupidly committed to betrayal, he’ll even fuck himself over for no reason other than wanting to be powerful even when there is literally no benefit to doing so.” (Another misread of Loki’s character---Loki doesn’t want power for itself, and he never did. He wants it for what it represents, he wants to be seen as deserving of it, he wants to be loved and respected the same way Thor was. In the void, there isn’t any chance of that, so the whole thing is just... baffling.) And, I mean, it’s also just dumb. Pres Loki has none of Loki’s cleverness. How long has he been stuck there? Why is he still surprised at being backstabbed, given how we’re supposed to understand that’s all Lokis ever do? It’s just very Keystone Cops, honestly, and so not Loki.

So yeah that’s my take and why I loved classic Loki and kid Loki and gator Loki and that whole scene but I could have really done without the whole Pres Loki nonsense.

#i'm also kinda sideeyeing the fact that one of the two (?) black lokis was the mole #but that's another topic i guess #i wish we had gotten more of a read on boastful loki in any case #loki series negativity #loki series critical #marvel salt #illwynd is a weirdo

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valkyrieandstrangeridingaragorn · 3 years ago

Note

I would not say the Loki series is making all their male characters stupid in the favor of female characters. They don't have an issue with Mobius or the other Lokis or Kang. It's only Tom!Loki who is humiliated all the time. They seem to hate that version of Loki people loved for years.

I see where you're coming from but I disagree slightly. It's not that they're treating all the male characters like fools so that the women will shine, they're treating Loki and his variants as fools so that Sylvie can shine. And the only reason they needed to do that was because they refused to take their time to write a good character.

There's Mobius, a villain who has been pruning entire realities for who knows how long, loves his job at the TVA (“My own glorious purpose. ‘Cause the TVA is my life. And it’s real because I believe it’s real”) and only turns against them when it gets personal for him. From then on he's framed like a hero and any past actions are forgiven.

They don't need to dumb Mobius down because his existence doesn't affect Sylvie's personality or character at all.

The variants however... that's another story.

We have Classic!Loki who's portrayed as a coward who escaped the ship and hid away until he started missing his brother, at which point the TVA intervened so that he would never reunite with him again. That's not mentioning the suit, utterly ridiculous and completely unnecessary. He gets to show off his magic, sure... only to be killed off right away. His glorious purpose is to die and further somebody else's story.

Kid!Loki is a ruler, so a confirmation that all Lokis want is to sit on a throne, and in case that wasn't enough he's said to have killed Thor. No explanation, no story, nothing. He's a murderer, he killed his big bro, what a mischievous scamp. And he refuses to leave The Void because, as Classic!Loki puts it, that's their "home". It is their home to stay hidden away, never free to leave, doomed to an apocalyptic life where their fate is to fight and kill each other.

Boastful!Loki is a liar and a betrayer. And out of all the others the only one that gets a moment is President!Loki, a character whose only interest is to rule (wow, shocker) but ends up betrayed by every other variant and has his hand eaten by the alligator.

The only man left is HWR, the main villain we only meet in the last episode, who needs a 30-minute exposition to explain his story and his purpose in it, and whatever he says is treated as the ultimate truth.

The only men framed as fools, evil, worthless and stupid are the Loki variants because the writers wanted the audience to see how useless they are in direct contrast to Sylvie who's so resourceful and capable and intelligent and has the best ideas and knows just how to defeat Alioth even though she has been in The Void for 15 minutes whereas all the other variants have been there for years.

And sure, those characters are not called names or humiliated or kicked in the guts and so people think they were treated well but they weren't. Everything in ep5 is disgusting and this got long enough so I'll just reference this post I wrote a while ago.

#Loki critical #Loki negativity #antisylki

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twh-news · 3 years ago

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What makes a Loki a Loki? It all might boil down to one simple thing: what color are they?

[Article contains spoilers to 'Loki' S01E05]

Take Alligator Loki, for example. He has horns, hangs out with all the other Lokis, and furthermore, is green. So...that makes him a Loki, right?

“The question is, ‘Is he really Loki? Or is he just green?’ Tom Hiddleston tells Marvel.com with a laugh. “It's such a funny question that [the Lokis] all bicker about. One thing about Loki is that Loki loves to be right. And they all have a different opinion about this alligator.”

Though he appears briefly at the end of Episode 4 of Marvel Studios’ Loki, “The Nexus Event,” Alligator Loki makes his grand debut in Episode 5, “Journey Into Mystery.” As Loki travels through the Void, along the way he’s aided by other Lokis, including Classic Loki, Boastful Loki, Kid Loki, and the crocodilian du jour, Alligator Loki. While all the former are obvious 100% Lokis, the jury’s still out on the latter who may or may not actually be an Alligator of Mischief.

A completely original Loki for the series, you won’t find Alligator Loki anywhere in the comic pages, so don’t bother looking. The idea to include the gator came from an early pitch meeting between Loki head writer Michael Waldron, and producers Steven Broussard and Kevin Wright.

“We were talking about [how] we want to meet many different versions of Loki in this show,” Waldron explains. “I was just like, there should be an Alligator Loki. And it's like, well, why? Because he's green.”

If Alligator Loki doesn’t immediately become your favorite Loki, he more than likely wins you over by episode’s end, considering he bites off President Loki’s hand and then prays (in alligator) before the group heads off to find Alioth. All the while, though, the Lokis aren’t sure he’s even really a Loki — but he’s been with them long enough that they all just accept his status as a trickster. He has horns, after all! Besides, as Mobius points out in the episode, maybe lying about being a Loki is the most Loki-thing of all?

“It's so stupid, but it also makes total sense,” Waldron continues. “You almost have to take it seriously, like maybe he is [a Loki]? Why shouldn't there be an alligator version of Loki? For all we know, that's an alligator universe or whatever. It's just the sort of irreverent thing that, in this show, we play straight and make the audience take it seriously.”

And after a beat, Waldron adds: “I love that little guy.” Even Hiddleston has been bewitched by him too, commenting, “Very, very, very cute. I'm sure a cuddly companion for those lost Lokis.”

#loki #loki series #gatorki #tom hiddleston #article #marvel

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delyth88 · 3 years ago

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Loki episode 5 rewatch

It’s been a busy week so it wasn’t until yesterday that I had a chance to watch Episode 5 again. And I was a little worried I might not like it as much as I did on first watch, but thankfully I did still find a lot to like about this episode.

Spoilers below...

Firstly, I think it’s taken this long, but I’ve finally gotten used to this new variant of our Loki. To this overly emotive, sweetly stupid at times, often bewildered version of the character. Let me be clear, he is absolutely not being presented in the same was at the first three films, Infinity War, or even Ragnarok. But I’m finding him easier to watch now that I have no hopes or expectations that he will be the Loki I was hoping we’d get to see again. Sure, I’m sad they didn’t give us a continuation of the Loki we’re grown to love, but this guy seems to be starting to find his feet, and I’m curious to see what his potential is now.

I was again struck by the increased sense of purpose (no pun intended) of this episode. It seems to be going places more so than previous episodes were. And again I loved the opening sequence and the music as we travel through the TVA and then out into the Void. It did make me wonder whether the destroyed city was actually a version of the timeline where Loki/Thanos win the Battle of New York, and that’s as far as the significance of that set goes. My hunch is that we won’t see that long shot of Loki from the trailers in post-apocalyptic New York. They opted for the mirror of the Avengers scene instead as the way Loki finds himself in this place.

I laughed at Loki’s little rant this time too. Particularly the line “plus an alligator, that I’m heartbroken to report I didn’t even find all that strange!”. In fact there were a few moment when I felt we were getting a little bit of Loki’s old humour. Such as, his “Delightful.” In response to kid Loki talking about cannibalistic pirates, “This is a nightmare.” and “Don’t die isn’t a plan, it’s a general demand of living”.

I do wonder though if this is just about comparison with the other Lokis? Like they’re all so very much more on the extreme end of comical that it makes our Loki seem the straight guy in comparison? *shrug*

After several days I am still taken by Old Loki and his story. And on watching it again I was able to appreciate the little moments leading up to his fighting Alioth. He gives the impression of being just so Over It and his crazy comics outfit also directs the audience away from how much he actually cares. For example he is really quite upset at Lokis in general and presumably also himself after the betrayal by Boastful Loki. He says “We cannot change. We’re broken. Every version of us. Forever.”

And he seems quite affected by Mobius’ offhand comment that “it’s never too late to change”.

And then that look back towards Loki and Sylvie as Alioth approaches.

Gah! This is the kind of thing I wanted for our Loki. I don’t have the right words to describe it, but it’s partly the back story, partly the change of heart, partly the stakes, the emotional depth. I’m really quite sad that we won’t see more of him. :(

@scintillatingshortgirl19 you asked me what I thought of Loki’s response when Sylvie asks, “How do I know that in the final moments you won’t betray me?”

“Listen Sylvie, I…” Loki pauses and takes a deep breath “I betrayed everyone who ever loved me. My father, my brother, my home. I know what I did, and I know why I did it. And that’s not who I am anymore. Okay? I won’t let you down.”

To be honest on my first watch I think I just let it slide over me as yet another one of those lines where they keep telling us what we’re supposed to think of Loki (whether it’s true or not). I think Episode 4 might have broken me – I didn’t even blink an eyelid. I think I’ve just heard so many people saying things that I think are absolutely wrong about Loki that I’m just… used to it now? I dunno. Maybe it was just my mood, or the fact that there were enough other things I enjoyed in the episode that I could ignore it.

But since you pointed it out I’ve been thinking about it and after my rewatch I kinda think Loki has been a little bit influenced by recent events and conversations. He’s just watched with embarrassment several different versions of himself strike bargains and then betray each other, in such an extreme example of this behaviour that it seemed absurdly comic. Boastful Loki even says “I betrayed you, and now I’m king.” And as they leave the Loki fight behind Old Loki says “We lie and we cheat! We cut the throats of every person who trusts us! And for what! Power!” So I can kinda see why betrayal is on his mind.

And perhaps this is something he’s been thinking about for a while now. Since he tried to strike a bargain with Sylvie before he even really knew her. Old Loki ask if Loki trusts Sylvie and he says” “She’s the only one [of the Loki variants] I do trust! “

But I guess the way I interpreted it is not just literal betrayal like he just watched with the other Loki variants, but also letting people down. Letting himself down. In this context betraying his father would be the events of Thor 1 where he betrays his father’s trust by letting the frost giants into the weapons vault (I think he’s talking about Odin here, not Laufey), and then by not being able to be a good king in the eyes of his father or even his own standards while Odin was in the Odinsleep. I don’t think he would be thinking of the moment where he lets Laufey into Odin’s chamber because he always intended to betray Laufey and save Odin. Although maybe he feels guilt for that too, in terms of lying to his father. In regards to his brother, I’d consider any of the times Loki is acting against his brother’s interests, in a serious way such as the times that he was evading and fighting against Thor in Avengers, or when he sent the Destroyer in Thor 1 as betrayals of a sort, and the frost giants at the coronation again. And in regards to his ‘home’ I assume from his perspective this is again about the coronation and the events that led to the destruction of the Bifrost and as far as he’s aware war with Jotunhiem. Perhaps he’s thinking of the moment when Odin says to Thor “... you are unworthy of the loved ones you have betrayed!” Potentially he’s also thinking of Ragnarok and his actions in causing it after what he read in his file in the TVA. Personally I think he knows it was necessary but still feels a ton of guilt about being the one to actually do it. In this case it’s a betrayal in action but not in heart.

So I think he’s kinda focusing on the guilt he feels. And I think this is why he feels it could extend to Frigga, although he doesn’t mention it I think we as the audience are meant to assume it. But again, this is in terms of the guilt he feels at a future version of himself inadvertently causing Frigga’s death – as he’s heard this story second-hand from Mobius. You know how if you start feeling bad about something it’s very easy to expand that to a whole bunch of other things you’ve done? These are the times he feels guilty for his actions in hindsight.

I also think he’s kinda lumping a bunch of things together under the umbrella of the wording of the question that Sylvie has asked. I think if she’d used a different word he would have echoed that back to her too.

I also think he starts of with “Listen Sylvie, I..” because he was about to defend himself, refuse to acknowledge that he would do such a thing and minimise it, by saying some version of “I would never do that”. But he catches himself and takes the opposite approach of laying all his faults out plain. Admitting in a slightly exaggerated way that he has betrayed people in the past and he knows it, which he considers is more likely to be believed, and that he won’t betray Sylvie because he’s changed since then.

So I don’t know if I really have a conclusion to draw from this, but I think Loki is exaggerating out of guilt.

But this is also one of those lines that where the character is telling us not showing us. Which seems to have started in Ragnarok and is being continued in this series. It’s frustrating, I don’t like it, but it seems this is what they do now. :/

***

So, it’s taken me a whole ‘nother day to get to finish writing this, and I’ve realised that this is the first episode in a while that has been on my mind since I watched it. I’m actually invested again! Which I was very much not after Episode 4.

This episode had another piece of Loki’s story, in the form of Old Loki, and that was wonderful, and tragic. And we’re starting to get somewhere with the plot now.

And unlike in previous episodes where it looked like they’d left hints of things to come but that turned out not to be the case, I actually feel like we might get payoff for all those comments about Loki’s magic. Probably not in a way I’d prefer, but at this point I’ll take any sort of change that gives Loki a bit more control over his life.

I’m also feeling again like this story matters. With episodes 3 and 4 I wasn’t really feeling it. I hope I’m not too disappointed. lol

I still don’t like the romance, but having resigned myself to the fact this is what they’re doing last week I was better able to watch this. The fact that Sylvie is as utterly incompetent at personal relationships as our Loki does make it more tolerable to me, and if I take it as some weird AU (which lets be fair is exactly what this is) it is kinda cute. In a way I like that they’re both late 30s/early 40s in appearance, not teens or twenty-somethings. It adds this extra layer to their awkwardness and I think brings home how weird tit is that these thousand year old beings don’t know how to be friends if you can do the mental jumps required to believe this in the first place. I still want it to be platonic or at least not taken any further. I will gag if they kiss in the finale.

#loki #loki series #loki episode 5 #spoilers #my review #loki series negativity #loki series positivity #a bit of both

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ramblingandwritings · 3 years ago

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Classic Loki fluff alphabet

The first fluff alphabet. I had to Frankenstein this together out of other alphabet posts to get something that I was happy with. I omitted several letters since I've covered similar things in my headcanons

B = Beauty (What do they admire about their s/o? What do they think is beautiful about them?)

Classic Loki admires your sheer resilience. Surviving in the Void isn't easy especially when you have to put up with a group of Loki variants

C = Cuddling (how do they like to cuddle?)

He's the big spoon 99% of the time

D = Dreams (How do they picture their future with their s/o?)

He doesn't really care where you end up just as long as you're together

E= Equal (Are they the dominant one in the relationship, or rather passive?)

It's a 50/50 partnership between you two. You both make absolutely certain of that

F = Family (do they want one?)

He has one already, it's you, him, Kid Loki and Alligator Loki. Boastful Loki was a part of it, but that didn't work out so well

G = Gifts (how do they feel about gift giving? What are their habits when it comes to this?)

He loves it, it's just another way to show affection. He picks up any gift he thinks you'll like while scavenging

H = Holding Hands (when/how do they like to hold hands?)

He's not much of a handholder most of the time. He'll do it in the bedroom or if you're privately sitting together

J = Jealousy (Do they get jealous easily? How do they deal with it?)

No, he's confident in your relationship and he trusts you

K = Kiss (Are they a good kisser?)

He has years of experience backing him up and he puts it to good use

L = Love Confession (How would they confess to their s/o?)

It took Loki a while to confess, he was originally afraid of rejection but he eventually bit the bullet and confessed after a few cups of wine

N = Nicknames (What do they call their s/o?)

Love and darling are the most common but occasionally he uses sweetheart

O = On Cloud Nine (What are they like when they are in love? Is it obvious to others?)

It's obvious to all of the variants around him, he does things for you he couldn't be bothered to do for the others

Q = Quirk (Some random ability they have that’s beneficial in a relationship.)

His magic comes in handy frequently and he's very proud of that

S = Secrets (how open are they with you?)

Loki is actually very upfront with you and he expects the same from you

T = Time (how long did it take you to get together?)

It took a while for you to officially be together, to the point that the other variants were getting fed up with how long it was taking

U = Understanding (How good do they know their partner?)

He knows how to read people well to begin with, add that with the length of time you've been together and he knows you front to back

V = Value (How important is the relationship to them? What is it’s worth in comparison to other things in their life?)

It's one of the most important things he has next to Kid Loki. He treasures your relationship

W = Wild Card (A random Fluff Headcanon.)

He'll help you get dressed for the day. He hands you your clothes and if you wear makeup then he gets everything set out in advance

X = XOXO (Are they very affectionate?)

He's pretty affectionate in private. He tries to stay near you in some way

Z = Zeal (Are they willing to go to great lenghts for the relationship? If so, what kind?)

He will fight, kill and die for you but most importantly, he'll live for you

#Classic Loki x reader #Classic Loki #Loki Laufeyson x reader #Loki Laufeyson #Loki 2021

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uhlikzsuzsanna · 3 years ago

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[This interview contains spoilers for Loki episode five]

What makes a Loki a Loki? It all might boil down to one simple thing: what color are they?

Take Alligator Loki, for example. He has horns, hangs out with all the other Lokis, and furthermore, is green. So...that makes him a Loki, right?

“The question is, ‘Is he really Loki? Or is he just green?’” Tom Hiddleston tells Marvel.com with a laugh. “It's such a funny question that [the Lokis] all bicker about. One thing about Loki is that Loki loves to be right. And they all have a different opinion about this alligator.”

And after a beat, Waldron adds: “I love that little guy.” Even Hiddleston has been bewitched by him too, commenting, “Very, very, very cute. I'm sure a cuddly companion for those lost Lokis.”

Bringing him to life on-screen was done via CGI, which meant that while filming, the cast and crew needed to use an alligator stand-in, which came in the form of a stuffed animal. As Loki director Kate Herron adds, “We tragically didn't have Sean Gunn crawling around on the floor.”

Jokingly calling the stuffed alligator a “real diva” on set, Herron explains that the series’ first AD “actually stuck googly eyes on it. It was like a Muppet character on set.” But Alligator Loki wasn’t all just fun and games, as he was useful for the actors who had to interact with him, especially Jack Veal (Kid Loki), who frequently carries Alligator Loki from location to location.

“You put [the stuffed alligator] in there, and the actors can interact with it and get a sense of how heavy or how large the alligator would be,” notes Herron. “[It was filmed] in the world of imagination with our cast because sometimes they were acting to a blade of grass.”

Like all characters, Alligator Loki also went through a few different looks before settling on the version viewers see on-screen.

“We had some early versions when we were doing visual effects that probably were a bit too cute, in the sense of it was a bit more like a cartoony kind of alligator,” Herron explains. “But it just became funnier and funnier the more it looked like a real alligator that just happened to be wearing the horns. That was the sweet spot. Once we landed in that spot where it felt like a real alligator, but with a kind of slightly jaunty horns on, that's where we were like, ‘Oh, there he is.’”

However, this doesn’t answer the most pressing question: Is Alligator Loki really a Loki?

“I know, but I want people to wonder,” Waldron finishes. “I want that to be the next great Marvel debate. Is Alligator Loki really a Loki or not?”

As Mobius says himself, “It’s always the long game with these Lokis.”

***

Marvel Studios' Loki is now streaming exclusively on Disney+.

#Loki #Loki series #Tom Hiddleston #Michael Waldron #Kate Herron #marvel.com #interview #2021.07.13.#spoilers #episode 5 spoilers

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sheeboid · 3 years ago

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!LOKI SPOILERS!

Okay so, I’ve been trying to figure out why Loki’s development seemed so weird to me in the show because episode 1+2+3 seemed fine to me then episode 4 went weird. I did a summary of all the episodes from Loki’s perspective to find out what went wrong.

I’ve genuinely been going fucking insane trying to figure this out, but I think I got it.

Episode 1:

· Loki gets taken by the TVA.

· He doesn’t believe in it, so he doesn’t take it seriously.

· He gets interviewed by Mobius where he finds out that he killed his own mother.

· He escaped from Mobius then tries to escape from the TVA where he realizes there is no way out.

· He watches the whole tape about his life and self-reflects.

· He tells Mobius that the only reason he kills is because it’s a tactic used by the weak to install fear into people.

· He decides to help the TVA in finding the other Loki variant.

Okay, so far so good, we learn some things about him, and the development is steady.

Episode 2:

· Loki comes to terms with the fact that there is no way out and comes up with a plan, he’s going to overthrow the TVA.

· He starts helping Mobius and stays consistent with being the god of mischief – joking around, lying, messing with people, etc.

· Loki wants an audience with the timekeepers.

· Loki and Mobius find out the other Loki is hiding in apocalypses.

· Loki and Mobius begin to form a friendship.

· Loki betrays Mobius after he meets the other Loki. (This goes back to when Mobius was concerned that Loki would backstab him).

We’re also doing well here, we’re still with 2012 Loki, he’s changed a bit but it’s good because it’s consistent.

Episode 3:

· Loki meets the other Loki and they start to interact after Loki accidentally takes them to Lamentis-1 where the other Loki reveals that she wants to be addressed as Sylvie.

· They hate each other because ultimately what lies behind narcissism is self-loathing.

· They start to bond on a train that they want to hijack.

· We find out: Sylvie knew she was adopted, Loki’s bisexual (woohoo!) and they both have developed their powers in different ways.

· Loki gets drunk leading them to fail in hijacking the train and getting kicked off it.

· We find out all the TVA workers are variants and Loki has a visible look of concern on his face.

· They plan to get back on the train but right before they can, it gets destroyed and they’re left on a planet that’s about to get destroyed.

The development is also good and steady here but to be honest, I find it hard to believe that Loki would get drunk during a very important mission because he’s a very smart person but you could rebuttal this with the fact that even though they could use the TemPad to go back to the TVA and finish what Sylvie had started, there was no way they could go back to the sacred timeline and Loki knew this so he didn’t really care.

Episode 4:

· Loki and Sylvie accept their doom and Loki says that Lokis don’t die, they survive.

· Loki expresses his admiration towards Sylvie with how she single-handedly managed to almost take down the TVA, saying that she’s amazing.

· They hold hands and their bond causes a nexus event unlike any other, so the TVA finds them and takes them.

· Loki’s ego was hurt by the fact that he didn’t have as many security guards handling him as Sylvie.

· Loki tells Mobius that he betrayed him, Mobius point out the fact that he was betrayed by Loki and Loki tells him to grow up.

· Loki tries to tell Mobius that the TVA is lying to him, but Mobius doesn’t believe him because he’s studied him the entire time he was working at the TVA and thinks he’s lying.

· Loki gets put in a time loop with Sif where in the end, he confesses that he just craves attention because he’s afraid of being alone.

· After his confession to Sif, Mobius takes him back and talks to him about Sylvie.

· Loki lies and says he and Sylvie have been working with each other since the beginning, but Mobius knows he’s lying so he also lies and says that they pruned Sylvie.

· Loki is visibly upset since he just started to form a bond with her, but he acts like he doesn’t care.

· Mobius calls out Loki on his act and tells him that he likes Sylvie, calling their relationship sick and twisted while Loki denies they even had a relationship, to begin with.

· Loki tries to explain to Mobius that he is a variant just like him, but Mobius doesn’t believe him.

· Loki gets put back into the time loop.

· Mobius comes back to Loki after a while when he realizes what Loki was saying could be true.

· He talks to him, and they decide to try and find a solution to escape and Mobius calls Loki his friend.

· Before Loki and Mobius could even start with a plan, Ravonna stops them because she found out Mobius had stolen her TemPad. So, she prunes Mobius and Loki cries.

· Ravonna takes Loki and Sylvie to the timekeepers where they were supposed to get killed in front of them, but Hunter b-15 saves them, and Sylvie ends up beheading one of the timekeepers only to find out they’re actually robots. (The nightmare never ends).

· Loki goes to Sylvie to give her some reassuring words. He’s about to make a speech that starts with “This is new to me” while his hands are placed on her shoulders but before he can continue, Ravonna prunes him.

Okay so, as you can tell a lot more things happen to Loki in this episode than the other three episodes which to me means that they shoved in a shit load of character development into one episode. I don’t know how to explain it, but something changed with Loki this episode, he didn’t feel the same.

But I’m willing to understand the development they were doing so let’s start with Loki and Sylvie’s nexus event (these are all just my opinions):

I think Loki at this moment started to realize the vast range of his capabilities through Sylvie. Even though the entire day he was annoyed by her and the fact that she kept trying to fight him, he thought he was about to die so he wanted to patch things up with the only person there. By seeing how powerful she is, he’s realized that he could also be that powerful and learned to love himself more.

Personally, I’ve never liked the trope of learning to love yourself through someone else, so I didn’t really like this.

Next, the scene with him and Sif:

Through confessing that he seeks attention and that he’s afraid of being alone, I came to the conclusion that this was something he knew for a very long time, but he was in denial about it. And after being punched and kicked around and told that he will always be alone by Sif, I think he came to terms with it.

Mobius getting pruned and Loki crying:

I remember watching this with my sister and she didn’t understand why Loki was crying but I think the reason why he cried was that Mobius had just established that he and Loki are friends and as much as Loki tries to put up a cold exterior, he gets attached to people easily because he’s never had someone be there for him, so having someone call him their friend made him happy that he finally found one and then his only friend that he had just made being taken away from him made him cry.

Also when you think about it, he's going through so many emotions right now because of this whole day and emotional distress can lead to people crying because they don't know what to do.

Loki’s speech before getting pruned:

I don’t think that this was going to be a love confession, I think what he was going to say was that they don’t deserve to be alone, because after Mobius asked him “Do you really think that you deserve to be alone?” (Or something like that) he realized that he doesn’t and nor does Sylvie and this was a new feeling to him.

Episode 5:

· Loki wakes up in the void where kid Loki, old Loki, boastful Loki and crocodile Loki are all staring at him, and they help him get away from a monster called Alioth.

· Loki is confused understandably and tries to ask them questions, but they ignore him.

· We find out that kid Loki’s nexus even was that he killed Thor which Loki is hurt by this.

· They lead him to a bunker where they start talking.

· Old Loki tells that his nexus event was that he created an illusion of himself getting killed by Thanos and after that, he decided to hide on a planet. As soon as he tried to go back, the TVA took him.

· Loki proposes that they get out of the void by killing Alioth and the other variants laugh at him.

· Loki is upset by this, so he tries to leave the bunker and calls them monsters on the way up the ladder.

· Before he can leave, he gets stopped by Daddy President Loki.

· He tries to overthrow the king (kid Loki) with his team of Loki variants, but they all betray him because they’re Lokis.

· Old Loki is frustrated and leads kid Loki, crocodile Loki and our Loki out of the bunker through a portal.

· Old Loki says that Loki’s will never change, and they’re all obsessed with fulfilling their glorious purpose.

· They decide to help Loki in killing Alioth.

· Loki reunites with Sylvie and Mobius and Sylvie tells him she’s going to enchant Alioth.

· Sylvie calls Loki her friends as they share a blanket.

· Mobius decides to go back to the TVA and he hugs Loki before leaving through the portal.

· Sylvie and Loki go to enchant Alioth and Loki realizes he’s stronger than he thinks he is through old Loki and Sylvie helps him realize that he can enchant things.

· They enchant Alioth and it’s revealed that he was guarding a castle.

After episode four, I really liked this episode, I thought it was the most fun because we got to see Lokis interact with each other. I think they showed how much Loki has developed by showing the other Lokis, specifically President Loki because he was basically the perfect representation of a 2012 Loki.

I think Loki is still hung up on what happened on Lamentis and therefore can’t let go of his feelings towards Sylvie and unfortunately for Sylki shippers, I don’t think Loki and Sylvie are going to end up together because Sylvie very clearly just sees him as her friend and what happened on Lamentis was basically Sylvie being like “Let me just enjoy my last moment alive” so she bonded with Loki but when the TVA came to capture them, she realized that she still has a shot at taking the TVA down.

Episode 6:

· Sylvie and Loki meet Kang (He who remains) who is the ruler of the sacred timeline.

· He explains to them that he planned all of the steps they took to find him and that basically they have two choices, either they kill him, causing a multiversal war or they take his place in ruling the sacred timeline.

· Sylvie is still on her revenge plot so she thinks Kang is lying and she wants to kill him, but Loki stops her and tells her that Kang could be telling the truth.

· Sylvie concludes that this was all a part of Loki’s plan to take the throne.

· Loki is hurt by the fact that she would think that of him, saying that he can’t be trusted and that she will never be able to trust.

· Loki tells her that he doesn’t want to hurt her and that he just wants her to be okay.

· Sylvie kisses him as a distraction and pushes him through a portal that takes him back to the TVA and closes it before he can come back to her.

· Loki is broken and is crying.

· He tries to find Mobius but Mobius has no idea who Loki is because Sylvie killed Kang and this is a different timeline.

Now, I do think that the development is consistent here because Loki has changed due to the people around him. He thought that Sylvie would trust him because he changed but Sylvie would probably not care at all for any change he’s experienced because since she was a little girl all she’s wanted to do is take down the TVA.

Loki’s had an attachment to Sylvie since Lamentis and he thought she would have the same feelings towards him when she ultimately doesn’t. She has been her number one priority since the beginning of the TVA capturing her (Love that). She’s not going to let some guy take this opportunity away from her.

Loki’s crying because he thought he had found another friend, but he was betrayed and used.

He put himself out there for the first time, but it was a mistake because she took advantage of that.

THE MARVEL WRITERS CANNOT GIVE HIM A FUCKING BREAK.

Conclusion:

I love Sylvie because she’s an independent woman who’s not going to put a man’s opinion before hers.

I love Loki because he’s an adorable little puppy.

Overall, the show was alright. I think it explored some poor writing choices with Loki finding self-love through another person and the kiss that lead to betrayal.

The biggest problem was episode 4 for me because they threw in a shit ton of development, and it confused me.

final words,

i need some tea and a fucking life rn tbh.

#Loki #loki series #lokiedit #loki (marvel)#marvel #mcu #sylvie #mobius #loki review #i need a life #loki show #tom hiddleston #lady loki

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countesskittymeow · 3 years ago

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Loki time! Unforseen circumstances caused delays in my ability to watch the episode before and let me tell you, trying to stay spoiler free was hardddddd. But here we go.

Is just me or did the handle to Boastful Loki's hammer look like a wrench?

The destroyed Stark Tower doesn't actually have the letters Stark or Avengers on its side... They kinda look like a QE maybe an N and G. Guys! Guys! Its the fold! The Fold has invaded the Loki-verse! I wonder if the Darkling might show up next xD

Alioth is a doggo! Also wait a minute. The Void? As in the place that Loki fell into at the end of Thor? New headcanon! Loki has been here before back when he fell from the Bifrost but he lost his memories of the time he spent in there because... Because Alioth ate him and then he ended up in Thanos's clutches!

Is Sylvie really going to trust her? Like i get becoming temporary allies because their goals are suddenly aligned but... I wouldn't go so far as to trust her, really.

Kid Loki is adorable but why did our Loki fall on his back having a knife pointed at him by such an adorable face? Also, the end of space time doesn't actually look as depressing as it did in DW... I mean everything is destroyed and covered in overgrowth but like there's a certain creepy sort of beauty to it, no?

Grampa Loki is giving off... sweet old grandpa vibes. Also 'overly sensitive like the rest of us' sounds hilarious.

Amidst the garbage dump of discarded forks and styrofoam plates, trabbed in the dirt was a Mjolnir and a frog! thor in a jar. How is he still alive an breathing though? I mean it looks hilarious but a) how is he still breathing and b) how fucking horrifying would an existence like that be? Trapped several feet underground in the dark in a bottle doomed to an eternity being trapped in a tiny bottle unable to escape or even die...

Told ya not to trust her! Shoulda pruned her when you had the chance Sylvie!

Eating the wrong neighbor's cat? 🤣

Grampa Loki knows what he's talking about. Listen to him Loki. Blades are cool but magic is wayyyyyy cooler. Listen to grandpa you's wisdom and take notes. Use your fucking magic! Awwww Grandpa Loki missed Thor. He's definitely a MUCH better brother than depressed Thor from the movie that shall not be named because i refuse to accept it as canon!

Seriously? All Loki's are turning on one another because they can't stop being backstabbers? Really? Even at the end of time, that is the trait the writers decided that they had to retain? Really? Really?? Also, Loki over there in the corner hiding his face like, 'dont look at me. Im not one of them, I swear. They're all idiots. i refuse to be associated with these backstabbing morons'

Alligator Loki ate his hand! He at his hand!!! Is it awful that I literally laughed at that scream though? Also baby Loki hugging his emotional support hand eating Loki is so cute! And our Loki is just sneakily tiptoeing past all the others.

Its official, Grandpa Loki is now my second favourite Loki!

So B-15 literally just repeated all of the same reasons that Renslayer herself provided Sylvie with in an attempt to not be pruned and now she's acting like B-15 is imparting her with some profound wisdom? Like woman, I thought you were a smart backstabbing bitch... Wait a minute, maybe Renslayer is a Loki variant too! It definitely fits in with the scheming and the backstabbing that the writers are trying to tell us are Loki's core personality traits, right? (I'm definitely salty about that in case you couldn't tell)

Mobius looking at alligator Loki: i dont think he's a Loki variant

Crocki: -_- I'm green and I. Have. Horns! I'm Loki!

Sylvie, didn't you choose this outfit yourself? Also I'm pretty sure Loki knows how comfortable or uncomfortable a leather armor might be given he's been wearing one for a long long time...

So... Are they supposed to be in denial about 'being in love' here or are the writers confirming that they were messing with us?

The feeling was friendship!!!! Yessssss!!!!

.... Wait... You did not betray your asshole of a father! He let you fall off the Bifrost! This is Stockholm syndrome talking. Loki is NOT having a a great moment of self reflection here... This is total bullshit.

This isn't the Sylvie show so why is she being framed as the most important in this backshot? Also, the bobblehead irridiscent(i know i spelt that wrong) bird thingies are adorable IMO. I want them to have those as pets.

So they gave the burn it to the ground line to Mobius? Would have been more fun had our Loki said it once in the previous episodes though. Also, Mobius you're headed back to the TVA completely unarmed. And you're not a very good fighter sooooo how exactly are you going to burn it to the ground? I mean its definitely an inspiring scene but I can't help but picture him being pruned back to this end of time world literally five minutes after he leaves and grandpa Loki and Kid Loki are there rolling their eyes at him like, 'dude, you really suck at this so I guess we'll have to help you.' and then they all go back and are badass together and much fun times are had by all Lokisas they let their inner pyromaniacs out to have some FUN!!!

Fire magic! Fire magic! Fire magic!!!! He finally used fire magic! YESSS!!! I mean it came after he stupidly ran off to be the bait but he has a flaming sword!

No no no no Grandpa Loki no!!!! Also look at his magic! Fucking LOOK at it! He's strong! He's powerful! And he's a badass! Sorry Loki, grandpa Loki is now my favourite Loki. He literally recreated the entire Asgard! Grandpa Loki, no!! The helmet... It was all rusted and abandoned 😭 now I'm sad...

The soundtrack is gorgeous. I need it as my ringtone right nao!

Why does the puppet master behind the TVA live at Hogwarts? Are you telling me they're going to find Dumbledore in there? Is this one of his 'for the greater good' schemes?

#loki series #loki series spoilers #loki spoilers #loki #the loki show #loki episode 5 spoilers #live reaction #Loki is so done with his variants #he refuses to be associated with them in any backstabbing capacity #Grandpa Loki's Glorious Purpose was indeed Glorious!#and now I'm crying

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twitchesandstitches · 3 years ago

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a couple of gods for original content, meant to be part of broader pantheons; they might be from the same one, or from rival ones. depends on what sounds best!

The Trickster Spider

A trickster god who is infamous for several things: chiefly their immense intelligence and wit; secondly, their borderline invulnerability to harm and tremendous agility, and thirdly, the way the first almost constantly lands them into serious trouble and the second getting them out of the harm their schemes blunder them into.

This god, and sometimes goddess, and sometimes neither at all, is a shapeshifter with a whimsical love for schemes and pranks, constantly visiting mischief on gods, other pantheons, and mortals as well. Divinely cunning, charming and tough all at once, it is sometimes said that they are invincible because they once suckered all concepts in existence into swearing to never harm them. This may be true, or it may be a story, but they do often express dread at encountering impossible things that would realistically not be bound by such agreements.

They are closely associated with spiders, almost always appearing in a form that resembles spiders; often with multiple arms, with a lower body of a spider-like creature, or even a humanoid arachnid. Spiders obey them, and it is said that all spiders constantly report to them what they have seen. Ultimately, they are a cthonic god linked to the cycle of death, birth and rebirth, and some even claim that they devised the potential for mortals to leave the cycle by ascending through sufficient moral potency. In the same way, they constantly die or perish in their schemes, but come back not long afterwards.

They are closely linked to soil and earth, commanding it and shaping it as a spider spins its web. As things perish and become earth, and plants rise from that earth, so does the cycle of rebirth function.

That said, most of the stories about them tend to be about how much they screw things up and never grasp consequences.

(In brief, this god has elements of Loki and Anansi.)

THE THUNDER SERPENT

The mightiest goddess in her pantheon, though she chooses to labor and battle rather than lead, called the powerhead of the universe and overwhelming strength incarnate, this goddess is closely associated with snakes; she often takes the form of an incomprehensibly vast featherd serpent, so large that her coils are the sky itself, her eyes entire galaxies.

Thunder and rain falls in her wake, lightning striking down those that she deems to be her foes, and her waters also bring life to the land before her. Her touch brings food to mortalkind, and she is said to be a farmer at heart, happiest when tending the land. She is nonetheless a fearsome warrior, attacking with monstrous power and smiting the countless evil horrors that lay beyond the void.

Her strength is limitless, her toughness such that she has never been known to suffer a lasting injury since a great sacrifice in her younger days. She was so dedicated towards the stewardship of mortal kind, she sacrificed her leg during a time when she took on humanoid form; ever since, she has boasted immense power for this sacrifice, and when taking humanoid form, she can only ever truly manifest a single leg. Even in serpent form, she bears terrible scars along one side of her body.

None, it is said, may harm something she defends, sky crashing down to defend those she guards. She has a similar affinity for command and leadership, and some consider her a goddess of war, though one dedicated to halting it, rather than one that pursues it. With her power and influence, she is believed to be an ideal choice to lead her pantheon, though she has firmly declined this honor. Many stories abound to why she is so insistent that she must not hold the throne.

She generally appears as a gigantic serpent, wielding the lightning club that is her symbol within her own jaws. She sometimes takes on humanoid form, and even then, she almost always manifests as a naga, with a serpentine body below her waist. In any form she is impossibly beautiful and charming, her charismatic demeanor inducing worship and adoration where she goes. She sometimes takes on human form, appearing to be a dark-skinned woman with hair resembling the thunderclouds that follow her.

(Essentially a mixture of Jormagundr and Thor, with elements of Quetzalcoatl as depicted in Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid.)

#ideas #twitchy!ideas #twitchy!ocs #queued

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aion-rsa · 3 years ago

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Marvel’s Loki Episode 5 Ending Explained: Who is the Real Villain of the MCU Series?

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This article contains spoilers for Loki episode 5.

Agent Mobius did say that time ran differently in the TVA but who could have imagined that the penultimate episode of Loki would arrive so quickly? Marvel’s Loki episode 5 “Journey Into Mystery” keeps up a streak of superb installments for this increasingly superb show.

In this hour, Mobius joins the side of the heroes, Judge Renslayer has some questions, and Loki and Sylvie’s relationship continues to blossom thanks to the conjuring of an uncomfortable green blanket. Equally as important, however, is that “Journey Into Mystery” raises some big questions about the ending of this show and the future of the MCU. Questions like…

What is The Void?

This episode does a pretty good job of succinctly describing what the Void is. The Void is the end of time, itself. Since the Time-Keepers are unable to completely destroy matter (Theory of Conservation of Mass and all that), they send unwanted Variants to the end of the timeline to languish or be swallowed by a hungry monster (more on him in a bit).

In Marvel Comics, The Void is something of an actual character. It is a destructive amorphous entity capable of both adopting a corporeal form and destroying the universe as we know it. During the Siege storyline, the Void even killed Loki, which then facilitated his “rebirth” as Kid Loki. See how this all starts to fit together?

What is Alioth?

In the world of Loki, Alioth is a big, hungry cloud monster that prowls the Void looking to consume yummy matter. It’s the TVA’s unwitting cleaning service, wiping out all the Variants that the TVA can’t eliminate. Classic Loki helpfully offers up the analogy that the Void is a shark tank, and Alioth is the shark.

Alioth of the comics was first introduced in 1993’s Avengers: The Terminatrix Objective #1. That same comic also introduced Ravonna Renslayer and features Kang the Conqueror as its central villain. Oh yeah, it’s all coming together.

Alioth is considered to be the first being that broke free from the constraints of time. It’s no wonder then that it would make an appearance in Loki.

What’s Up With That Castle?

It’s about time a Marvel villain lives in an honest-to-goodness castle! While it’s still possible that this is a misdirect and this environment is not what it seems, for now it looks like episode 6 will be headed off to a spooky castle.

Interestingly, there are no shortages of spooky castles in Marvel comics lore. Perhaps the most famous one is Castle Doom within Doomstadt. Bet you’ll never guess who lives there! Yes, it’s ol’ Victor von Doom himself, Doctor Doom to his friends…of which he has very few.

Another notable abode is Castle Limbo, which serves as the home of Immortus, who was once Nathaniel Richards a.k.a. Kang the Conqueror. Look, Kang is a confusing character, so you’ll just have to trust us on this one.

What is Mobius’s Plan?

Thank the gods that Loki and Mobius finally embraced their destiny as best bros. Mobius leaves all the Lokis behind in The Void to return to the TVA. What does he plan to do once he gets there? Why, burn the whole thing down, of course!

It’s unclear how Mobius believes he’s able to pull off such a grand task. The TVA is an enormous bureaucracy with seemingly infinite moving parts. The only real weapon that Mobius has at his disposal is the truth. The truth changed his and Hunter B-15’s perspectives but can it do the same for everyone else? The only other named TVA employee that we’re aware of is Casey (Eugene Cordero). He seems like a sweet, non-confrontational lad. But perhaps that will all change once he realizes he’s been robbed of fish dinners his whole life.

cnx.cmd.push(function() { cnx({ playerId: "106e33c0-3911-473c-b599-b1426db57530", }).render("0270c398a82f44f49c23c16122516796"); });

What Becomes of the Other Lokis?

The most pleasantly strange aspect of “Journey Into Mystery” is how many new Lokis it introduces. This hour features: Classic Loki (Richard E. Grant), Boastful Loki (DeObia Oparei), Kid Loki (Jack Veal), President Loki (Hiddleston), and Alligator Loki (uh… a CGI alligator). Naturally, each of those Lokis has their own official hashtag sprite on Twitter.

Fittingly for their chaotic energy, each of the Lokis introduced in this episode have quite different ultimate fates. Boastful Loki betrays his Loki comrades, because that’s just what Lokis do. The subsequent scene of President Loki and his Void army battling the other Lokis is one of the best moments of this show yet. That causes our Loki to take off with Classic, Kid, and Alligator. When Mobius invites that trio to come back to the TVA with him, they decline because the Void is their home now.

Sylvie is the Secret Heart of Marvel’s Loki

By Lacy Baugher

Games

How Loki and Fallout Use Retrofuturism to Unnerve Us

By Matthew Byrd

That is the last we’ve seen of Kid Loki and Alligator Loki thus far but not the last of Classic Loki. The comic-accurate trickster returns to help Loki and Sylvie when they need it the most. He uses stunningly powerful magic to create an approximation of Asgard all around him, distracting the ravenous Alioth. Even Sylvie with her enchantress power is stunned by Classic Loki’s abilities.

Is Richard E. Grant’s Classic Loki Really Dead?

Ultimately Classic Loki is swallowed up by the Alioth and therefore finally blinked out of existence. Or is he? It seems like he could have been utilizing the very same technique here he claims to have used to escape his death at the hands of Thanos in Avengers: Infinity War. “I think we’re stronger than we realize,” Loki tells Sylvie, so this would certainly be a case of that if it came down to it.

Plus, that leads us to the final and most important question that this episode raises.

Who is the Villain?

Who indeed? There has been one name bandied about as the most likely Loki Big Bad. Before we get to him (and it’s absolutely who you think), indulge us in another theory. What if the villain of Loki is…

Classic Loki or Another Loki Variant

Richard E. Grant is kind of a big deal as an actor. It’s not every day you can find a seasoned performer who can portray a kindly exterior with some menace underneath. With that in mind, it’s possible that Classic Loki is a bigger character than he appears at first glance. This episode goes out of its way to communicate just how powerful Lokis can be. And when you combine that kind of god-like power with a trickster’s sensibility, it’s not hard to imagine that Classic Loki, or another Loki entirely, could be pulling all the strings.

Kang the Conqueror

While Loki confronting himself in the end would make for a dramatically interesting enterprise, the hard evidence at hand still seems to indicate that Kang the Conqueror is our real villain. The internet at large has been banging the drum for Kang the Conqueror as the ultimate Loki villain for weeks now and it’s not hard to see why.

This isn’t a case of collective delusion like with all of the Nightmare/Mephisto WandaVision theorizing, Kang really does seem to be a legitimate possibility. For starters, we know we already have an MCU actor for Kang in the fold already in the form of Jonathan Majors (Lovecraft Country). Kang was announced for Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania but doesn’t it sound very Marvel for the character to make his unexpected debut here?

In the comics, Kang the Conqueror is wrapped up in multiverses, timelines, and all manner of heady sci-fi nonsense that Loki is already invested in. In fact, as Reddit user u/Hpotter821 points out, one iteration of Kang in Marvel comics sought to become Immortus by eliminating all of his other Variants. It would seem that creating the TVA to police other timelines would be quite useful in that mission.

Then there’s the fact that Kang has at least some level of crossover with just about every major character and element of Loki. Kang has a relationship with Ravonna Renslayer in the comics and is also an occasional rival of Alioth. The show is not shy about injecting Kang’s aesthetic into the proceedings. While ostensibly space lizards as Loki described them, the Time-Keepers do appear to resemble the classic Kang the Conqueror look a bit. And the TVA logo?

Oh. Hey. I just noticed that the centerpiece of the Time Variance Authority’s seal totally looks like Kang’s head. 🤷‍♂️ #Loki pic.twitter.com/93QzNDVSbi

— Ken Plume (@KenPlume) July 2, 2021

Oh yeah, that’s Kang, baby.

Perhaps by this time next week, all of this Kang conjecture will look as silly as WandaVision’s Mephisto fever dream. It’s undeniable, however, that Loki has provided us with plenty of breadcrumbs. If it’s all a Kang-sized red herring, then so be it.

Doctor Doom

This is a considerable longshot, despite the fact that we’ve wanted it to happen for a long time. Doom was at the center of Marvel Comics’ multiverse-shattering Secret Wars event by Jonathan Hickman and Esad Ribic, and the castle we see in this episode’s conclusion sure does look an awful lot like his humble Doomstadt home.

Every time we get excited about Doctor Doom or the potential Secret Wars threads embedded in this show, we’re brought back to reality by the fact that there’s virtually no way that Marvel would introduce arguably their greatest villain in a teasing series finale episode, especially not when they’ve got the Kang-centric Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania to tee up with Kang. Yes, we’re hedging our best by including him, but can you blame us?

Anyway, patience, Doom fans. The Fantastic Four movie is finally a priority for the MCU, and we should see that by 2023.

Kevin Feige

This obviously won’t happen but in the spirit of Marvel’s next Disney+ series What If…?, what if Loki and Sylvie arrive to the throne room in the castle and Marvel Studios head Kevin Heige is hanging out there wearing one of his trademark baseball caps? As witnessed in WandaVision and now Loki, this phase of Marvel cinematic storytelling is clearly about setting up a new multiverse of possibilities. What better way to introduce that multiverse than by completely breaking the fourth wall?

OK, so there are probably a ton of better ways but Feige would at least be fun and truly unexpected.

The post Marvel’s Loki Episode 5 Ending Explained: Who is the Real Villain of the MCU Series? appeared first on Den of Geek.

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#aion-rsa #Den of Geek

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lokiondisneyplus · 3 years ago

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Some other thoughts:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

#Loki #spoilers #episode 5 #review #Rolling Stone #Alan Sepinwall

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