#like......king we get it you almost fought hydra in the mcu and you still ended up yeeting shit around

[viggos-mortensen]

Wilson Bethel as Mark Callan in All Rise 2.13

[beansie009]

You're confusing head canon with canon.

How so? I’m assuming this is in response to this post.

Loki, throughout all of his MCU appearances, is motivated by a desire for love, praise, adulation, etc. Loki did not want the throne in the first Thor film. He admitted so himself and his actions during that movie largely support this. He even says this again during his show, leading me to further believe this is true and he wasn’t lying. Which, granted, he is known to do....

Loki wanted Odin’s approval in the first Thor film. That is what drove him throughout most of the movie. He snuck the frost giants into Asgard to postpone Thor’s coronation, not to seize the throne. Loki wanted to prove to Odin that Thor wasn’t ready yet (and he was right, sorry not sorry.) He didn’t want the throne himself. This plan succeeded, but Loki couldn’t leave well enough alone and he goaded Thor to go to Jotunheim. And we all know how well that went….

Odin rescued them, but not before Loki discovered he was Jotun. His parents never told him about his heritage because they “wanted to protect him from the truth." If they truly thought there was nothing wrong with him being Jotun, why would they have felt a need to protect him? Asgard is a prejudiced civilization. They colonized the other eight realms and, judging by their rhetoric against them, largely think themselves above them. They nonchalantly call the Jotuns monsters, compare Midgardians to goats, and refer to the Dark Elves as creatures. Thor and Loki grew up with stories of Asgard’s greatness and, for the most part, believed them for most of their lives. When young Thor proclaimed he would “hunt the monsters down and slay them all,” Odin only told him not to seek out war. He said nothing about the negative language used to describe the Jotnar, even with young Loki present. It was completely normalized.

When Loki confronted Odin about his heritage, he referred to himself as “the monster parents tell their children about at night.” That language didn't come from a vacuum and he is directing it not only at the Jotuns but at himself. When he fought Thor at the end of the film, he told him he would “destroy that race of monsters.” Loki holds a lot of self-loathing towards himself for a multitude of reasons, but I'll settle on his heritage for this post. He thinks little of the Jotnar and so thinks little of that part of himself. He blamed his heritage for his feelings of inadequacy when compared to Thor.

I would make an argument that Loki feared Thor after he learned of his heritage, too. Thor vowed to destroy all of the Jotun as a child, he wanted to “finish them together” with Odin, and he told Odin in the Bifrost that “the Jotuns must learn to fear me just as they once feared you.” I think Loki lied to Thor about Odin’s “death” to keep him from interfering with his plans for Jotunheim, but also because he was afraid of him. I can’t find the reference, but I am almost positive that Hiddleston himself confirmed this at some point of time. (Btw, I don’t think for one second Thor would have hurt him, but Loki is an emotionally stunted idiot.)

All of this leads me to be highly skeptical that Loki from Thor 1 would proclaim himself as the “rightful king of Jotunheim” and freely use the Casket of Ancient Winters in front of the Asgardian army. He was still deeply ashamed of this fact at this time and would not have wanted it known. (He supposedly overcame this by Thor 3, but I don’t think the narrative earned it. The movie told us he came to accept it enough to put it in a play, but it didn’t show us how he got to that point. Regardless, he was certainly not emotionally at that point during Thor 1.)

Also, at the very least, the Casket should have revealed his Jotun form, which it didn’t.

After he discovered his heritage, Loki’s motivation was to prove himself a worthy son of Odin by any (terrible) means necessary. In the end he failed to destroy Jotunheim and Thor destroyed the Bifrost. Even while hanging from the edge of the bridge, Loki sought Odin’s validation, which was denied. Loki was as low as he could be and he let go. He landed on Sanctuary I and Thanos found him. I’m aware there are a bunch of theories about what happened next, but I really don’t want to get into them here because that is all they are really. Theories. Nothing solidly confirmed in canon.

Regardless, something happened between Thor 1 and Avengers 1 that twisted Loki into the would-be conqueror of Midgard. That desire was born out of his anger towards Thor and Odin after Thor 1. Loki said he wanted to be king in Avengers 1, but really he wanted to exact revenge against something Thor held dear. He wanted to hurt Thor. He wanted the adulation a throne would give him. He did not think he could have Odin’s love so he would at least have Odin’s respect as a king. He wanted Odin to see that he was just as worthy of a throne as Thor and him - which is batshit crazy but so was Loki in Avengers 1. Even Coulson knew Loki didn’t know what he wanted. “You lack conviction.” A throne would never have made him happy and I think, as messed up as he was, even Thor 1 Loki realized this.

I completely believe that Thor 1 Loki would come to Earth and even seek to destroy it to avenge his brother’s death. And he was definitely unstable enough at the time to do so– see Jotunheim. Despite everything he says to the contrary, Loki loves Thor. I do not believe that when everything was settled at the end of that episode that Loki would seek to rule Earth though. He had no motivation to do so yet. That only came after he fell from the Bifrost and met Thanos. I would have believed it more if he had betrayed Fury in the end of the episode and still tried to destroy Earth, but not to rule it. Thor 1 Loki giving his Avengers 1 “you were made to be ruled” speech at the end of that episode comes across like the writers just copied and pasted their favorite moments from the movies into the show without an understanding of the motivation behind them or why those moments worked in the first place. It’s sloppy writing and in the end, disappointing, because I for one would love to see a story tackle an unstable Thor 1 Loki hell-bent on avenging his brother’s untimely demise whilst dealing with all of his other issues. I’m here for the premise, not the execution.

I would have also rather have seen HYDRA taking out the Avengers than Hank Pym. It doesn’t make sense in canon that HYDRA allowed the Avengers to form under their control. It would be in their vested interest to eliminate this threat before it would take them out. However I don't know enough about Hank Pym's character, so I'll leave this here.

I also think it was naïve of Sif to tell him that Odin wouldn’t want him to destroy Earth. When Frigga died, Odin wanted to destroy all of the Dark Elves even if that meant the destruction of Asgard. I’m on the fence about whether Loki would have halted an attack at her council. They famously dislike each other and Loki and Odin are cut from similar cloths. Would he stand down if he was that angry? Or would he heed her words since, at this time, he so desperately sought Odin’s approval? It’s food for thought....

[always-winter-baby]

feel free to add anything i missed, endgame haters.

This is a Wordpress post that I never posted about a Facebook post that I made last fall (2019) about how godawful Endgame was.

-------- I know I've been gone for a while and when I was here, I was writing about films I had watched. (Maybe I should start that.)

However, I am a HUGE fan of Marvel and their cinematic universe. I have the movies, the comics, the clothing, and far too much memorabilia to be considered a "casual" fan at this point. I've been reading comics for about twelve years and I started dedicating myself to the MCU around the end of Phase One.

That being said, it means everyone comes to me with their Marvel questions and everyone comes to me to see what I thought of each new film. And I don't give simple, "It was good. I really liked it," answers. I make complete strangers regret their own questions sometimes because I dive into the deep end immediately describing how they really pulled off the Mysterio "mind-bending" stuff fantastically, but how the story hinged really hard on Tony Stark when Peter in the comics stands on his own and Peter in the MCU should be able to as well.

I can give you speeches on the reason why Natasha's backstory would have been better established in The Winter Soldier than Age of Ultron or and how killing off Pietro in his first film did a disservice to Wanda's character, etc, etc. In the words of a person I passed by at work the other day, "I can talk the ears off a snake."

That's not the point of this post. That was just establishing that I am very dedicated and I Care deeply about these characters and this world.

That being said, when someone on Facebook not too long ago asked me to share my opinions on Avengers: Endgame, I asked him if he was really prepared for the novel I was going to spill on why I think that Endgame was a poorly written and directed film. He said his was. But his lack of any response to my novel was proof that he clearly was not.

However, for anyone else wondering, I copied that little book of a response and I'm posting it here. It's a little scrambled up (it was a facebook post so these things happen, okay?). I think it will still get the point across as to why I tell people that if I pulled the good parts of Endgame, I could make a really great thirty minute Avengers movie.

The post went as follows:

-Thor’s characterization was a three hour long fat joke. Thor had the most character growth out of anyone in Infinity War. His part was fantastic. Then they turned around and made everything about it completely idiotic. Thor has lived over a thousand years. He’s lost battles and lost countless, countless people before. Infinity War wasn’t the first time he made a mistake in battle that cost someone their life. He lost his entire family and almost all of friends and none of that turned him into lazy, sloppy, unshowered, fat Thor. I refuse to believe this time would magically break him. Character annihilation.

Banner has hated the Hulk for the entirety of Hulk’s existence. He’s talked about how exposed and vulnerable it makes him feel. He’s always been a quiet, shy, reclusive, and work-focused kind of guy. Now magically, he’s happy being Hulk 24/7, dabs, and takes selfies with kids? He’s hanging out in public as Hulk and drawing attention to himself? Sorry. Refuse to believe it. I know Professor Hulk is from the comics. It seems stupid and forced there too. I’m not of the opinion that just because something is found in comics that it’s necessarily a good thing. I’ve read plenty of bad comics as I’m sure any decent comic reader has.

-Tony isn’t awful. I actually think he’s done pretty well. No complaints.

-However, Pepper is awful. And it makes sense now that they’ve released the info that Gwyneth Paltrow just made up a lot of her own lines. She doesn’t know the character despite having played her for a decade. Pepper is always super cautious and she is constantly on Tony’s case about his heroic ventures, etc. Therefore, I find it incredibly hard to believe that she let him go without a fight after he “solved time travel.” I also find it absolutely impossible that she sits beside him as he’s dying and is peaceful enough to just tell Tony that he’s okay and he should rest. Per her character for the last decade, she should have been frantic. Of course it wouldn’t have been as sad and poetic an ending, but it would have been much more believable for the character.

-Clint. Meh. I can live with Clint, I think. I don’t love it or hate it. I am glad they reestablished his closeness with Natasha after AoU tried to erase it.

-Natasha. I actually like Natasha’s character in this one. Same as Tony, I think they wrote her without compromising her. Good for them. Even though I hate that they killed her off, I think that the final scene where she fights Clint is SO WELL DONE. (Except her father wasn’t named Ivan. Not even in the MCU. But whatever. Maybe Markus and McFeely know absolutely nothing about Russian names despite giving Natasha’s full name in CA:TWS. I’ll chalk it up to ignorance. Whatever.) HOWEVER, despite liking Natasha’s character and death scene, the death should not have happened. I don’t know if you’re a comic reader, but if you are, you know that the trip happens where you see the bad guy or a random person or whatever do a Bad Thing. Then later in the comic, when the Bad Thing comes into play again and there seems like absolutely no hope, the hero pulls out One Last Magic Trick. The hero manages to do what the previous person could not. And they Save the Day because they are the hero. And the hero is the one designed to give readers hope that we can overcome all odds, etc. It is literally the entire point of superhero stories to tell the stories that “realistic” books never could. We’ll come back to my complaint with Natasha’s death in a moment.

-Scott, Rhodey, Rocket, Carol were all fine. No complaints. But Okoye.

They made it out in promo that Okoye was going to have a much more significant part. She was barely in the thing. And I think it was a very missed opportunity. We saw T’Challa turn to dust. And we were told Shuri did (although, I would have paid much bigger money to see her alive and operating as The Black Panther. She’s assumed that mantle in the comics before so definitely not out of the realm of possibility.) I wanted them to show us what Wakanda would look like with half its population dusted and its ruler gone. Does M’Baku rule? What do Okoye and the Dora Milaje look like now without their King and who do they protect/defend? They had a great opportunity to show us how the world was faring after five years post-Snap, especially a place like Wakanda that rarely suffers any devastations due to their tech. Now without that protection, how are they handling the aftermath? Enormous missed opportunity.

-Steve. On my god. Where do I even start? Going into Endgame, Steve Rogers had the BEST story arc of anyone in the MCU. But here is where Marvel really shot themselves in the foot. They let the opinions of fans after Civil War severely alter their original plans for this film. (That’s a fact that’s been admitted by former Marvel employees. I didn’t make that up.). After Civil War came out, there were two strong opinions being voiced. 1) Fans who didn’t know the comics didn’t understand Sharon being there and didn’t like her quickly becoming Steve’s love interest. 2) Fans saw the always-present and ever-growing bond between Steve and Bucky and got bolder about their campaign that Steve and Bucky were a couple. Doesn’t matter if you’re for that or not. The fact of the matter is that the idea of them as a couple has A BIG FOLLOWING. I don’t think people were really pushing to see it become a real thing on screen or anything, but the execs at Marvel suddenly did this thing where they all quickly shouted “NO HOMO” really loudly and promptly dropped Bucky from as many scenes as possible. They admitted to creating distance between Steve and Bucky for this reason. And because Steve and Sharon didn’t get the reaction they wanted, they had Steve go back and get back with Peggy.

But let’s recap here and see if any of that makes sense for Steve Rogers.

—He and Bucky were “inseparable on both playground and battlefield.”

—He literally broke the law and went behind enemy lines against orders just in case he had even the slightest chance of finding and saving Bucky from a Hydra base. He didn’t even know if Bucky was still alive.

—He added Bucky to his elite team and they fought side by side until Bucky’s “death.” When Bucky “died,” Steve went from saying, “I don’t want to kill anyone. I don’t like bullies” to saying, “I’m not going to stop until all of Hydra is dead or captured.”

—Years later, when he realized Bucky was still alive, he literally stopped mid-fight and dropped all defenses. Later in the same film (on the helicarrier), he refuses to even fight Bucky. He drops his shield and was going to very willingly let Bucky kill him rather than fight him.

— When the Accords become a thing, Steve defied his own friends and 117 countries to get Bucky to safety. And then continues defying them with Bucky at his side because he is determined that Bucky deserves due process and a lawyer and help, not imprisonment.

— He helps Bucky get somewhere safe to hide and recover and visits him there. (Russos said they even discussed showing that Steve and Bucky were in regular contact between CW and IW.)

—He fights the Battle of Wakanda with Bucky and then gets to see him disintegrate right in front of him. It’s built up to be a very big moment. Bucky collapses into nothingness and Steve sits there touching Bucky’s dust remnants and with tears in his eyes. “Oh, God.”

—Then, magically comes Endgame and Steve is in a support group for people lost in the Snap and he’s grieving over PEGGY??? HE NEVER EVEN WENT ON A DATE WITH PEGGY. NOT ONE DATE. He kissed her ONE TIME very briefly 75+ years ago! HOW CAN HE BE SO SURE THEY WERE SOULMATES?! This is just awful writing.

— Then when everyone is brought back through the portals, Steve doesn’t even look for Bucky to make sure he’s there. They fight far away from one another. They never acknowledge the other one. These men have literally looked at each other before thinking that would be the last face they ever saw and then at the Battle to End All Things, they don’t even glance around to see if the other is present.

— Steve literally barely says goodbye to Bucky. He fought and was willing to die for the man, but now he is in such a rush to get back to that one girl he kissed that one time that he forsakes the people he should care about. (Sebastian Stan says he questioned this to the Russos and was actually told to just imagine Steve and Bucky must have talked it over offscreen and Sebastian tried to fight it, but was shot down.)

— Steve jumps in a time machine and goes back to live with his supposed soulmate thus creating an alternate timeline.

I have a real problem with this. A man who has been selfless his entire life chose to go and be selfish for 75+ years instead of helping anyone. This man lives to fight injustices and we are supposed to forget that? In order to believe that he went back to a woman he didn’t know that well and who already had a husband/children. CA:TWS showed that she had lived a happy life. She told him she only regretted that he didn’t get to live his. She didn’t regret them not getting to spend theirs together. And he didn’t seem to either. He was actively moving forward with his life. Thus the reason for Sharon.

Anyway, his entire story arc which is based around him being partners with Bucky and him being selfless got absolutely destroyed when he went back in the time machine and just ran away from everything he had built.

Which seems more likely? That everything in the three Cap films and IW was wrong about his character? Or that Endgame just slapped a big “No Homo” sticker on the script and did whatever they could possibly do to make sure fans could not say that Steve and Bucky were a thing?

Furthermore, I have no problem with Sam becoming the next Cap. I have a big problem with them doing it if the reason was to further the sever the ties between Steve and Bucky.

-And the Russos said that Bucky couldn’t be Cap because his mind had been compromised and that he couldn’t be trusted with a weapon. Which means that Bucky’s whole recovery story was what? A lie? They established that Bucky was really a great guy and not a terrible terrorist. And they said Shuri fixed his mind. And we still can’t trust the guy with the shield?

So either Shuri failed dramatically even though we saw her talent and progress with him in Black Panther and IW, Bucky is now magically “too broken,” or the writers and directors are stupid.  Your call, I guess.

They literally foreshadowed Bucky!Cap in all three Cap films. Bucky handles the shield in ALL THREE FILMS. But now he can’t be trusted with a weapon? Now he’s dangerous? He literally fought the battle of Wakanda with knives and an assault rifle. The shield is a DEFENSE weapon. So this excuse is the flimsiest argument ever and says horrible things about putting trust/faith in people after they’ve been victims and recovered from trauma. Gross.

-At least they FINALLY got Scarlet Witch right. I’ve been waiting to see my favorite Avenger done right for years. No complaints here except it took them long enough.

-Let’s not even discuss how their time travel ideas and theories are a MESS. Plot holes everywhere. (Steve would have created a new time line by going back. Did he just magically put the aether back in Jane? Did he have to kick Red Skull’s ass again on Vormir because I can’t imagine he would just stand by idly. This stuff would take me too long to even add onto here.)

-But back to Natasha. If it’s a “soul for a soul,” then when Steve returned the soul stone, he should have gotten Natasha back. Apparently a lot of fans saw this plot hole because they asked the Russos about it and the response they seriously got was something to the idea of, “No, you can’t do that. It doesn’t work that way.” Which WHY NOT? (Apparently because of poor writing.)

-Also not bitter (yeah right) that Tony got this big deal send off and everyone forgot about Natasha half an hour after she died. Shouldn’t the big send off at the end have been for both of them?!?! Would that have been SO hard?!

-Should I even discuss the fact that for some stupid reason Steve goes back in time and the serum stops working? Why does he age? Thor establishes in AoU that he doesn’t think Steve is mortal. And Peggy says in CA:TFA that Steve’s cells regenerate at four times the rate of average human cells. So he should still be fairly young even if he went back to the 40s. He shouldn’t start to age like a regular human just because he time traveled. He didn’t travel back to before he got the serum. I literally said, “No,” angrily the second they showed the back of Steve when he was sitting on that bench at the end. The other people in the theater turned to look at me and I was already pissed as hell and the movie wasn’t even over yet.

-Nebula having to kill her last self just seemed sloppy and cliche. I wasn’t impressed. That character had been through hell.  She is the one who really turns the tides in in the Infinity Saga comics so for her to get such poor treatment in the film?  SHE should have been the one to kill Thanos.  I know what Thor said, but Nebula literally has a lifetime of torture to make up for and she would have gotten some small consolation in avenging the death of her sister. GUH.  THIS MAKES ME SO ANGRY.  SHE DESERVED THIS.

-So we really just backtracked and retconned Gamora’s whole story like that, huh?  I’m sure James Gunn is thrilled. (I’m joking. I’d be annoyed to high heavens if I were him.) Gunn had literally written this character’s story arc and progression and the Russos and Markus/McFeely took over and then literally wrote the story equivalent of “and then they all died” with Gamora’s story.  Such a jerk move and I sincerely hope Gunn finds a way to make GotG Vol 3 work out really well despite this.

I’m sure there’s more I’m unhappy with, but you get my point. I had high hopes for this film and they did not deliver.

It’s been months and I am still so immensely disappointed in Endgame. I expected the people who had written such great films in the past to deliver with another great film and they did not.

It wasn’t a completely awful film though. I thought they did a really good job with Doctor Strange and Wanda (finally!). And I loved Steve lifting Mjölnir! Carol’s short hair made me hot and bothered.  So the film had a few perks. 

I have friends who liked the film until I started pointing out its flaws. Sorry, not sorry. I'm glad Marvel broke box office records, but I'm not going to lie to anyone and say it was with a great film.

They are ----- And look, I never posted it on my blog because the rant ends there mid sentence and was never completed, but I think it’s safe to say I’m not happy.  That great cinematic masterpiece is a mockery of good character arcs. Anyone is welcome to try, but I’m unlikely to change my mind.

ETA: Since writing this, I have found multiple things about Tony’s character that upset me too.

[fieldbears]

Washed-Up Stucky MNF/Fic Writer Provides Endgame Opinions

I’m going to try to tackle this linearly, at least to begin with:

I am very much Team Bored With MCU Hawkeye, but I want to give sincere props for the cold open, which I think accomplished several things simultaneously: recapped the consequences of the last film (since, hey, it’s been a fuckin while), set the tone, and began Clint’s narrative arc.

That said, jesus, I’m still irritated by the shoe-horned family to begin with. First they were invented for convenience and narrative stakes, and then their final, ultimate reason for existence was to be temporarily fridged. Take a moment to imagine a world where Clint was the circus runaway loner he was supposed to be, who only had his coworkers as found family, who either responded to The Snap by throwing himself harder into his teamwork work OR went rogue because his sense of justice and agency was so fucking destroyed by what happened. He didn’t need a blood family to have the arc he had. And he didn’t even need the arc he had. But this is a bitchfest about a choice made many years ago, not made in this final movie.

The first third of that movie was rough. The whole thing had the narrative flow of “A Series of Related Short Stories Played One After the Other”, but the first third seems to be Failing To Establish the New World and then Clumsily Establishing The Emerging Situation.

The establishing shots and scenes to show the audience what The Snap’s consequences were worldwide were... lacking. It’s dark? No more baseball? People are relying on natural light instead of interior lighting, but this is also happening at Avengers HQ, where they clearly still have power and internet access to work their tech, so... was it just an aesthetic choice? I feel like the film tried to spend time showing us what the consequences were for the average New Yorker, but instead we get a weird Canonly Gay Russo Character who gave a good performance that tells us about the human loss but not about the mechanics of this new world. We get the ‘no baseball’ shot and all we get afterward are ‘people miss the missing people’. But restaurants still exist? Businesses are functioning? (Wouldn’t New York run kind of smoother if it wasn’t overpopulated?) I feel like we were invited to start thinking about how this dystopia works, but were never given answers. (There are so many interpretations of how things could go wrong if certain people just disappeared, and their knowledge/access were suddenly unavailable, and none of it was explored, even briefly, outside of establishing shots.)

The Garden Planet - it’s discovery, the traveling to it, the fight there - lacked emotional grounding in a way I find hard to explain. The audience was excited for Brie Larson being a fucking boss, and the quick execution of the grab-him-and-cut-his-arm-off plan was satisfying, but the twist and subsequent letdown was just a weird beat after a slog to get there, after waiting on a deep letdown beat from the last movie.

Last thing about flow and emotional beats, because I want to move on to character analysis, and this is a huge one for me: Clint’s fight in Tokyo and Steve’s fight with himself were some of the biggest missed opportunities in the entire film.

Not counting the football field brawl at the end, which I don’t count as a real fight scene, these are the two major fight scenes of the entire film and as far as I can tell, there was no effort made to make these showpieces. They went to the trouble of bringing Clint to Bladerunner Central, and pit him against the last bastion of aesthetic-obsessed mafia in the world. The panning camera in the interior as Hawkeye fought goons brushed past lazy fight scenes that only showed who was winning, not the brutality that Clint was supposedly falling into, not the grit of this new awful world, just... shapeless dark bodies getting thrown through windows? And on top of that, they could have made up (or picked from canon) any Big Bad to pit him against outside in the street, and we get an Orientalist sword fight that could have fit in nicely on a CW superhero show, and some of the most unnecessary exposition dialogue I have ever heard. Someone bothered to weave Clint’s arc in earlier, with Rhodey explaining to Natasha that Clint’s gone International and also Worryingly Dark. Why the fuck do we have the ‘I’ll give you anything you want’ line, on the rotten cherry on top of ‘stop being mean to the yakuza, we didn’t start it’? You already covered his motivations with the cold open.

And while Steve’s fight ended in a FABULOUSLY HEARTBREAKING WAY, the fight itself was nothing - you can pick little character details out like how they both ditched their shields almost immediately, and it was funny that Then-Steve mistook Now-Steve for Loki in the first place, but it was still a completely lost opportunity to get one true superhero battle in this three-hour slog. Both Steves could have gotten up and carried out the rest of the narrative after a decent brawl, but instead they fall a great distance after some blocked shots and it... was nothing? Missed opportunity for some cool shit.

Okay, skipping to character assessments now:

Clint’s character has been mishandled from the beginning and this seemed to be the “better late than never” eleventh hour arc. Except the end of the arc is unclear - it made sense for him to fall apart after losing his Shoehorn Family, but how did Natasha’s choice to fall do anything but fridge someone else, with more agency this time? It makes Natasha noble, which she already was, and it made her win against Clint, which I appreciate, but Natasha didn’t need salvation through death and Clint learns nothing by getting them back, just experiences relief.

Bruce. I want to say, first, that I love Hulk in a Cardigan. Cardihulk can stay. I want fanart, I want t-shirts, give me all of it. But Bruce’s explanation of “I scienced it so I could get the best of both worlds” only gives us half of the acceptance that Banner’s character is already working towards. As we saw most explicitly in Ragnarok, the Hulk isn’t just a physical form, he has his own separate consciousness, originally defined by rage but revealed to be more complicated. Bruce merging into Cardihulk seems to have... erased Hulk’s separate consciousness without merging it into himself? If there had been some acknowledgement of a second voice still within him that shot out opinions or demands for certain menu items in the diner, this would have been a much cleaner end to his arc, which has been equally messy between actor and narrative shifts.

Speaking of Ragnarok... it’s time! Are you ready? Have you read articles about the Gambit Gambit too? Are you fucking depressed that a fat suit was used for comedy gags in the year of our lord 2019? Because I was. The Russos seemed to... not struggle with what progress Ragnarok had put onto Bruce and Thor’s characters, but reject it. This movie’s Thor was anxious for laughs, was desperate for easy answers to a a feeling of lost heroism, and it didn’t feel like a familiar character. The time-travel scene with his mother wrapped it up very elegantly, and was well performed, but that scene didn’t need to follow a series of “chunky drunk in sweatpants” jokes to show us that Thor was struggling. Everyone in the film is fucking holding on by their fingernails, but only one is played for cheap laughs.

At least we get the bisexual Asgard lady king we deserved.

Tony got the right death. He got a hero’s death and Pepper’s last lines of “you can rest now” were exactly the right lines to wrap up an arc characterized by fear and a desire to protect and control at any cost. I knew the MCU was never going to really acknowledge that Tony’s The Problem, even with lines like ‘you should have let me do the fascist robot thing, that was gonna work fine’ thrown around pretty much as soon as he touches down on earth again.

I’m not sure if there’s much to say about Natasha. It was fitting that she was running HQ, that she was struggling, that she was rejecting emotional help from Steve but clearly still close with him. Seeing her break down after hearing the report on Clint felt right after, I think, being told by several directors (or making the personal acting choice? idk) to just be as flat and as decolletagey as possible. And again, while I feel like she would be self-sacrificing on that cliffisde if given the opportunity, and that she would win, the narrative choice to place her there and have that be her end didn’t really give her anything she didn’t already have. She had nothing to prove.

I have a hard time really laying out my thoughts on Steve without launching into the pregnant absence of Bucky, but I’m going to try. Chris Evans did a good job being the emotional heart of a really fractured story with a lot of conflicting pieces. Seeing him lead a talk therapy session after The Snap seemed very out of character for him until one realizes that Sam isn’t there to lead it himself. His scene offering help to Natasha was another good scene between them proving that not every m/f relationship has to be sexual to be interesting or add to the plot. His leadership speech during the Stupid Fucking Slow-Mo Heroes’ Walk to the platform was well done and makes me think of what could have been for the MCU, if they’d ever just let them be a cohesive found-family team for twenty minutes and let them fight some doom-bots or something. Fuck. Imagine.

Something weirdly satisfying about the deceitful ‘hail hydra’ line in the elevator. Yes? Yes.

The hammer scene was satisfying to me without being too gratuitous, but I’ll acknowledge that some people weren’t into it. Having paid more attention to Steve’s arc than most, I’ll argue that he earned it several times over.

His ending - that is, the secret life he alludes to but doesn’t explicitly reveal to Sam - is earned too. I’ve read at least one thing saying that Steve’s arc was all about him learning to let go, but that’s... never what Steve does. Not at the end of any arc, of any comic story, does Steve let go. Not of his principles, not of the people he loves, he is always “Thinking... Thinking About Bucky!” and getting in fights he can’t necessarily win. So I don’t think his final ending is ever Learning to Let Go. I think it’s fair that it’s Just Once, Just This One Time, Getting What You Want And Getting To Enjoy It.

And now I’m backtracking to Bucky. I’ve read one article already that theorizes that Steve’s arc, which was highly prioritized, included literally as little direct interaction with Bucky as possible because... the MCU? the Russos? Marvel?...  is aware that Steve/Bucky is the most popular same-sex ship in the MCU. And that’s tiresome as fuck but I think there’s some truth to it. I wonder if, like in Civil War, we’ll hear later from the actors that a lot of contextual one-on-one scenes were shot and then mysteriously cut from the final edit.

I will say that in my head, Bucky is relaxed when Steve goes back in time for the final time, and lets Sam goes to talk with Steve one-on-one at the bench, because Bucky is not worried if Steve will come back, and does not feel a need to check on Steve on the bench. Because, like Peggy, Bucky has been getting secret visits too. Maybe as far back as during his time in Wakanda, but certainly since the final fight with Thanos. Bucky was calm because he already knew. He didn’t miss Steve because Steve hadn’t given him an opportunity to do so.

d

[andinewton]

Born To Be King - Avengers Redemption Series - Part Three - Chapter 33 - Epilogue 4

Characters: Loki, Sigyn;  pretty much everyone from the MCU appears at some point!

Pairings: Loki x Sigyn; Bucky x Amelia

Warnings: Smut, canon typical violence, swearing

Word Count: 60k + (complete with ongoing epilogues)

Summary:

He never wanted the throne…

Loki’s life seems to be charmed of late. His dead wife has been reborn and has married him once more, they have beautiful twin boys, and they are working and living with The Avengers. The only blot on his otherwise perfect landscape is the constant friction Odin seems to be able to cause with one simple request delivered by Thor. Odin wishes to meet the twins but will not cancel Loki’s banishment, allowing him to travel to Asgard with his wife and children. Loki finally caves but has a sense of foreboding about the trip which proves to be all too true…Join Loki, Sigyn and the team as they fight to find one another against all odds and protect their sons from those who would have them as their kings.

Master List

Chapter 33 - Epilogue 4

Summary:  When a mission goes slightly wrong Sigyn is the only one injured, but the medics can't seem to find a problem...

I guess this is a little kind of fluffy? Definitely not smutty, although Loki is enticing, as always. Anyway, it ran to 14 pages, so I got a bit carried away, but I like it!

The entire mission was possibly the most chaotic Sigyn had ever been involved in since she joined the team some years ago.  The enemy seemed to be everywhere, more than they had expected, and it was one hell of a fight.  Any teams they had been put in had long since disbanded under the sheer numbers, and they all fought their own smaller battles, trying to get through the defences to the building, which was being evacuated, and they were sure any data purged with it.  Sigyn was on the south side of the building, the setting sun casting long shadows, and due to the nature of the fighting it had mostly been hand to hand.  She was grateful her combat skills were honed, along with her weapons training, thanks to Natasha she was now proficient with more than just blades, and since the incident with the power nulling tech they preferred to have them as another string to their bow, but this building housed some sort of artefact that meant using powers was a temperamental business and should only be used as a last resort.

‘Heat signatures shows a mass evacuation about to happen, east and south sides.’  Tony’s voice came over the comms.  ‘Keep your eyes peeled for our target.’

‘Roger that.’  Sigyn confirmed as others on the two corresponding sides of the building agreed.  She could see Clint, he was closest to her, with those who could fly over head giving air support.  Loki had ended up on the north side of the building, but he worried less if they were separated now that she had proven herself time and again.  She swung her arm and shot a stinger into a retreating soldier before turning her attention to the doors.  She didn’t have long to wait, as they crashed open and eight armed men ran out.  Clint fired a stun arrow into the first, and he was close enough to two of his compatriots that they too were taken down, but Sigyn spotted their target, HYDRA’s mysterious scientist they had been tracking for months without any luck.

‘Eyes on the target.’  She stated, angling herself for a better shot with the stinger.  She operated it…and nothing happened.  ‘My stingers are out!’

‘Don’t kill him!’  Tony yelped loud enough she actually flinched.

‘I only did that once, and it was an accident!’  She said defensively.

‘Once was enough.’  He shuddered in his suit, even as they heard Loki chuckle.

‘As we practiced, sweet.’

‘Got it, Mischief.’  She replied, and tapped into her power instead.  Whether it was the exertion of the battle or the mysterious artefact, she wasn’t sure, but it was tricky to grasp, hard to call forward, but she did it, even as a film of sweat covered her top lip.  ‘Engaging.’  She said, the effort evident in her voice.

‘Got your back.’  Clint added and she nodded.

The entire area was suddenly engulfed in an explosion, knocking everyone in a fifty foot radius off their feet, creating a dust cloud that obscured the south side courtyard completely.

‘What happened?’  Sam’s voice yelled anxiously.  ‘We have zero visibility on the south side!’

‘No clue.’  Clint replied.  ‘I’m on my ass, if that helps.’

‘Really doesn’t.’  Tony said.  ‘South side, sound off.’

‘Barton.’  Clint said unnecessarily.

‘Barnes.’

‘Don’t make me say it.’

‘Say it, Scott!’  Tony snapped.

Scott sighed.  ‘Bug Boy.’

Tony smirked to himself.  Scott was the only one who hadn’t stood up against the nicknames, and was now stuck with it to sound off, instead of Ant-man or Lang.

There was silence when there shouldn’t have been, that went on just too long, and it was Steve who asked.

‘Sigyn?’  Nothing.  No reply.  ‘Anyone have eyes on her before the explosion?’

‘I did.’  Clint answered.  ‘I’ll make my way to her last position.’

‘And I shall clear the air.’  Thor took to the sky and began drawing the dust away from the area.  The air started clearing and Clint spotted Sigyn, laying prone on the ground, unmoving.

‘I see her, she’s down!’

‘Down how?’  Loki shouted.

‘I don’t know, unconscious maybe.  I’m checking now.’

‘I’ve got you covered.’  Bucky’s voice came from close to his left and he gave him a nod as he pressed his fingers to her neck.

‘Got a pulse, she’s breathing, just out for the count.’

‘Evac her, get her to the Quinjet.’  Steve ordered.

‘You take her.’  Barton nodded to Bucky, knowing he was stronger and faster.

‘Okay.’  They switched places and Bucky lifted her easily, running to the Quinjet where Bruce was waiting, already unpacking medical supplies.

‘Loki, head back too.’  Steve continued.

Loki thought about arguing, that he was quite capable, thank you, of carrying on, but he needed to know she was okay.  That the team knew him this well helped.  ‘Thank you.’  He said simply before setting off at a run, taking down any enemies who crossed his path.

‘Any signs of visible injury?’  Bruce asked as Bucky laid her on the examining table.

‘Not that I can see.  No blood, nothing.’

‘Pulse rate was a little high.’  Barton added over the comms

‘Okay, let’s see what we’ve got.’  Bruce initiated the body scanner and it was finishing its final sweep as Loki arrived.

‘How is she?’  He asked, rushing to her side.

‘I’ll head back out.’  Bucky said, heading towards the door.  ‘Bruce is on medical.’

‘Bruce?’  Loki prompted him as he examined the screen.

‘No injuries, internal or external, no sign of a head trauma.  Might just have been a small bump to the head in the wrong place at the wrong time.’

‘It takes more than a small bump to the head to take down an Asgardian, as you are well aware.’  Loki stated.

‘I don’t know what else to tell you.’  Bruce turned the screen so Loki could see for himself.  ‘She’s fine, just not conscious.’

Sigyn remained unconscious for the journey back to the compound, and Loki accompanied her to the medical wing where she underwent further tests, all of which came back negative for any signs of actual injury.  Darcy brought the boys to see him in the waiting room, and he assured them that their mamma was fine, she just needed some tests, and they could see her as soon as the doctor okay’d it.  Darcy quickly distracted the boys from their worries with the promise of pizza and extra cheesey garlic bread, and Loki gave her a grateful smile as she left.  He was back by Sigyn’s bedside in minutes and the doctor finally gave him the go ahead to try and heal her, as they still had no sure indication of what had happened.

‘You certainly know how to scare me, petal.’  He said as he took her hand in his, feeding healing energy into her at a slow but sure rate.  It took only moments for it to have the desired effect and she began to stir, taking a deep breath as though waking from a heavy sleep.

‘Hey, Mischief.’  She murmured before she even opened her eyes, her voice hoarse and quiet.

‘Hi.’  He smiled at her as her eyes opened and fought to focus.  ‘How do you feel, darling?’

‘Like I need about twenty-four more hours sleep.’  She grumbled, pushing with her hand to try and sit up.

‘Here.’  He rearranged her pillows and operated the bed, helping her get comfortable.  ‘Other than sleepy, anything else?  No one can quite pin point what happened.’

She shook her head, her hair rubbing on the pillows.  ‘I don’t remember much.  Did the guy get away?’

‘The scientist?’  He checked and she nodded.  ‘No, he didn’t.  But you don’t need to worry about that.’

‘I thought I had him.’  She screwed up her eyes, even though the lights were low.

‘You almost did.’

‘Oh God, I didn’t kill him, did I?’  She asked worriedly, her eyes shooting open again.

‘Not even a scratch, I swear to you.’  He promised.  ‘He was on the floor and disoriented when Clint and Scott found him.’

She nodded and licked her dry lips, a horrid metallic tang burning her throat and tongue.  ‘Can I get some water?  Or lemonade, or something?’

‘Which would you prefer?’

‘Lemonade.’

He turned his hand and created the beverage she desired, iced in a glass with a bendy straw, which he held close for her to sip.  ‘Better?’  He asked as he put the drink on the cabinet beside the bed.

She nodded.  ‘Need to clean my teeth.  Shower.’

‘Later.’  He insisted.  ‘Let us just wait until you feel a little better.’

She sighed long and deep, knowing he was right.  ‘Do we have any more information?’

‘Some sort of explosion.’  He explained.  ‘It came on the tail of your power, so whether it was the artefact that reacted to your sorcery, we are as yet unsure.’

‘Anyone else hurt?’

‘Just you, sunbeam.’

‘How embarrassing.’  She grumbled as she reached for the drink again.

He handed her the glass.  ‘You have nothing to be embarrassed about.’

‘I think I do.’  She said around the straw.

‘I know I shan’t convince you otherwise, my beautiful stubborn girl.’  He got to his feet and kissed her forehead.

‘Damn right.’  She agreed, affording him a small smile.

Sigyn was discharged in the early hours of the next morning, Darcy having created a blanket fort for the boys to stop them fretting and enjoy their sleepover, but Narvi was a consummate worrier and didn’t sleep well, so he was only dozing when he heard the door to their apartment open.  He scrambled out of the fort in the living room to see his parents coming in, his dear mamma bearing no signs of injury other than a cotton ball taped on her inner elbow where they had belatedly decided to do a blood draw, just in case.

‘Mamma!’  He sighed as he wrapped his arms around her waist.

‘Hello, baby.’  She bent and kissed the top of his head, stroking his red hair as he gave her his usual quick squeeze before leaning back to look at her.

‘Did you get hurt?’

The worry in his blue eyes made her heart clench with guilt that he had been so concerned.  ‘No, I’m fine.’

‘But you were in the hospital.’  He argued.

Sigyn smiled to herself.  Their boys weren’t stupid, and Loki answered for her.

‘There was an explosion and your brave mamma was knocked unconscious.  Because she is so important they wanted to make sure she was truly well before they would let me bring her home.’

‘Are you truly well?’  He checked as Vali yelled; ‘Mamma!’  And almost tripped over pillows and blankets as he tried to get out of the fort.

‘She’s fine.’  Loki hauled Narvi into his arms, tickling him as he made room for his brother.

‘Is hospital food horrible?  Did you have an infection?  Are you sick?  Will we all get sick?  Can we not go to school Monday?’  Vali said in one breath.

‘I didn’t get any food yet, I don’t have an infection, I don’t think.  I’m definitely not sick, other than homesick, and yes, you have to go to school.’  She replied, hugging him tightly.  ‘Do you have any pizza left?’

‘Tons, but you’ve got to come in the fort.’  Darcy’s voice came sleepily from the blankets before her head poked out of the opening, her hair a nest of bed head as she slipped on her glasses.

‘Pizza tastes best in a fort.’  Vali insisted as he pulled on her arm.

‘Cold pizza?’  Loki screwed up his nose as Narvi pushed himself out of his father’s arms.  He had never seen the appeal of cold pizza.

‘It’s great, Dadda.’  Narvi insisted, taking his mother’s free hand and helping pull her to the fort.

‘It’s disgusting.’  He replied, but followed anyway as Sigyn gave him a pleading look.  ‘But luckily I love you three of you enough to forgive such revolting habits.’

‘Boring, Mischief.’  Sigyn replied as Darcy helped the boys bundle her into the fort.  It was surprisingly plush, and Darcy had manufactured a frame to hold the blankets up and draped them with fairy lights, making a cosy den that had the floor filled with cushions and blankets, and in one corner stood a pile of pizza boxes.  ‘Jeez, Darcy, how many people did you have in here last night?’  She asked as Vali covered her crossed legs with a blanket.

‘Just us three, but we couldn’t decide on toppings.  Narvi wanted pepperoni, but Vali didn’t, he wanted pineapple, and we all know that’s sacrilege, but he’s cute enough to get away with it.  And I wanted onion, but both boys said it gives you bilgesnipe breath, so we had one each.  And garlic bread.  And a plain cheese one.’

‘I’ll take a pineapple slice, if this growing boy didn’t eat it all.’  She pulled Vali into her lap as she sat, Narvi already pulling the pizza boxes down to look through.

‘You’re disgusting.’  Darcy pulled a face before looking up at Loki, still in the doorway.  ‘If you aren’t coming in go and make coffee.’

‘Ohhhh, coffee.’  Sigyn looked at him hopefully.  ‘Even better, tea.’

‘Tea?’  Loki and Darcy chimed together.

‘Dear heart, you rarely choose tea over coffee, especially in the morning.’

‘I just fancy tea.’  She shrugged.  ‘Maybe because I still have a weird taste in my mouth.’

‘I’ll make a pot of both.’  He eyed her suspiciously.  ‘But I shall begin to question your sanity if my caffeinated goddess does not return.’  He joked.

‘I bet she’s not far away.’  Sigyn assured him, blowing him a kiss before snuggling up to Vali.  ‘So what did you monkeys do while we were off with the team?.  And I include Auntie Darcy in the monkeys.’

Loki brought back a tray of everything needed to make drinks and some toast for himself, unable to think of stomaching cold pizza, and they picnicked until they had their fill, when Sigyn made the boys go clean their teeth and dress while the grown ups dismantled blanketville.  Or rather Darcy and Loki dismantled, they made Sigyn sit and fold blankets, nothing more strenuous.  Darcy grilled them on what had actually happened but there really wasn’t much more they could tell them.  She promised to hang around until after the afternoon’s debriefing and watch the boys, but first Loki insisted she go home for a spell while he made Sigyn take a nap.  He took the boys down to the gardens at the compound to play for a while despite the crisp autumn day, and Georgie joined them for the last half an hour with Bucky, who asked how Sigyn was doing.  Amelia was up to her eyeballs in data from the mission and would be busy for a while with Tony, Bruce and Scott.  When the debriefing did happen Sigyn learnt of what she had missed; the taking of the scientist into custody and securing the building, but no one could yet explain the explosion.  She was a little disappointed as she really wanted an excuse for her collapse.

She stretched as Steve called the meeting to an end and Loki stood, offering her his hand.

‘Back to bed with you, sunbeam.’  He stated.

‘TMI, Comet.’  Tony said as he passed.

‘No one is inviting you, Stark.’  He smirked.

‘Actually I was thinking I’d quite like to spar before you force me any more bedrest.’  She said hopefully as Loki drew her to her feet.

‘Are you sure that is wise, petal, after what happened?’  He frowned disapprovingly and as she had known this was coming she fought not to roll her eyes.

‘Pretty sure.  I feel all tense and I’d like to loosen up a little.’  She rolled her shoulders to demonstrate and Stark rested his hands on her shoulders, pressing his thumbs into her muscles.

‘Let her, she’s like concrete.’  He commented as he massaged her shoulders a few times.  ‘If I keep this up I’m liable to break my thumbs.’

‘Don’t do that.’ Sigyn stepped away from him with a smile, Loki pulling her away and into his embrace.  ‘Although I appreciate the effort.’

‘You need someone with far more strength that Anthony can offer.’  Loki said and she ignored his jealous tone.  Even after all this time he didn’t like the friendly way some members of the team treated her.

‘I need to smack the shit out of something.  Are you volunteering?’  She looked up at him with a small smile.

‘I am always happy to be your punching bag, sweet, however let us take it to the Enforced Training Area rather than the gym, then you can vent to your hearts’ content.’

She sighed.  ‘I guess so.’

Twenty minutes later they were changed and in the ETA; a modified reinforced repurposed hangar where the team could use their extended abilities without fear of doing too much damage.

‘How would you like to start, dove?’  Loki asked as they each stretched, him in loose shirt and leather pants, as he would have worn on Asgard, her in black capri work out pants with a purple stripe down the outer leg and a galaxy print racer vest that clung to her upper body.

She shrugged.  ‘Hand to hand?  Knives?’  She suggested.

‘You want to get up close and personal?’  He smirked.  ‘Very well.’  He created two practice knives for himself as she did the same, spinning them in her hand as she reacclimatised herself with the weight and balance.

‘Oh, wait.’  She trotted forward and went up on tiptoes, kissing him softly before dropping back down on her heels, revealing she had one of the blades pressed against his sternum.  ‘You let yourself get distracted by the enemy, Chaos.  One point to me.’

He smiled proudly at her, still unmoving.  ‘Sneaky, kitten.’  He replied before knocking her hand away and swiftly swinging the blade in his left hand around, but she had been prepared and jumped back, blocking it with her own as he continued to advance on her.  He continued on the offensive until she ducked his swing and came up closer to him, knocking him back and making him continue to back up.  They continued like this for several minutes until she overreached and he was able to drop his knife and grab her wrist, pinning it to her back and holding her bodily against him.

‘Care to up the stakes, sunbeam?’  He asked in a low tone, his eyes tracing over her skin with its light sheen of moisture.

‘Power?’  She raised an eyebrow at him and he lowered his head, his lips by her ear.

‘Power, and a reward of,’ his whispered his suggestion against her skin and she shivered at the suggestion.

‘We back up a few paces then begin.’  She set down the first rule and in way of a reply he gently licked the shell of her ear and she had to swallow the sound that threatened to escape her.

He carefully released her and began to step back, which was when he realised the blade in her free hand had been pressed close to his groin and he frowned at her.  ‘Underhanded.’

‘Desperate times, my prince.’  She shrugged as she stepped out of his arms.

‘Indeed.’  He threw his hand towards her and a white-green light shot towards her but she had been expecting it, diving to the side in a roll before calling her power, the effort harder than it should have been, but the amber wave that left her hand struck him like a tsunami, flooring him in seconds.

Loki groaned, his head spinning as Sigyn’s attack made his every muscle twitch.  She certainly seemed to want to win.  ‘Your victory, petal.’  He dropped his knife and pushed himself to sit up, only to find Sigyn unconscious on the floor, crumpled where she had collapsed in a crouch.  ‘Sig!’  He was halfway to her without realising, his muscles cramping and spasming after her blast, and he moved her to a more comfortable position, cradling her head and shoulders in his arms.  ‘FRIDAY, inform medical Sigyn has had a collapse and to prepare for our arrival!’  He called, knowing the AI would pass it on.  ‘I will have her there in moments!’  He pressed his lips to her forehead, feeding her healing energy, and she soon began to stir in his arms, groaning as she tensed, and he pulled her closer, letting her know she was safe and not to struggle.

‘Easy, love, I’ve got you.’

‘You’re a competitive bastard.’  She growled as her eyes fluttered open and he bit back a laugh at both her words and in relief.

‘I promise you it wasn’t me.’  He said, tucking his arm under her knees and getting to his feet.

‘Well, I didn’t knock myself out.’  She licked her lips, the sharp tang in her mouth from earlier back again.

‘Actually, darling, you did.’  He explained.  ‘You blasted me and we both went down.’

‘Why would that happen?’  She frowned at him.  ‘And you can put me down, I can walk.’

‘Not until we reach medical.  You are going to be checked thoroughly, my beautiful girl.’

‘I thought I was already checked thoroughly?’

‘You were, but that was for the last time.  If they can offer no results this time I will personally take you to Eir and try to get to the bottom of this.’

‘See if Asgard can succeed where Midgard has failed.’  She nodded, understanding.  ‘But seriously, Mischief, I can walk.’

‘I would not put you down now for all the tea in Midgard.’

‘It’s tea in China.’  She corrected him with a smile.

‘Nonsense, that hardly covers half enough of how I feel for you.’  He smirked, stepping into the elevator.

Within two hours, Sigyn found herself back on Asgard.  She argued Loki into allowing her to walk and Thor offered to accompany them so the boys could come along, taking them to visit Odin while their parents went to the healing rooms.

‘It has been too long, Princess.’  Eir bowed her head respectfully as they entered and Sigyn shifted uncomfortably.  She didn’t mind Loki calling her princess however reminding her it was once her title, when it didn’t feel like it still ought to be, put her on edge.  Loki sensed this and squeezed her hand reassuringly.

‘Greetings, Eir.’  Loki bowed to her.  ‘I believe you are expecting us?’

‘Indeed I am, Your Highness.’  She inclined her head to him next, her patient taking priority, no matter their status.  ‘Please, Princess, if you would?’  She held her hand out to Sigyn and she took it, letting her lead her away from Loki, who followed anyway.  He wouldn’t let her out of his sight.  Once she was comfortable on the soul forge Eir activated it, drawing layers up from Sigyn’s body.

‘It won’t be long.  I’m sure we will find if there is a problem.’  Eir assured her and Sigyn smiled at her gratefully.

‘I remember.’

‘It has been some time since you were in my care.’  Eir replied, not yet paying great attention to the display, unlike Loki.

He was concentrating hard on what he saw on the scarlet display before him and couldn’t help but zoom in on something he didn’t recognise.  He made a small humming noise then a smile began to spread across his face.  ‘I’m sorry, Eir, we may have wasted your time.’

‘What do you mean?’  Eir asked as they both looked at him, equally confused.

‘I mean, my darling, what may be unbalancing your sorcery is the fact you’re pregnant.’

‘I’m what?’  Her head shot around to the display where the area Loki had zoomed in on showed the smallest of underdeveloped cells, but within it was a small but steady heartbeat.

‘My word.’  Eir breathed.  ‘Congratulations, both of you.’

Sigyn pressed her hands to her mouth, not quite believing what she was seeing and hearing.  ‘Another baby.’  She whispered.

‘Another royal baby.’  Eir patted her arm.

‘Our baby.’  Loki said and it made her look at him.  ‘A sibling for the boys.’

‘Just one though, right?  Because I don’t need any more surprises.’  She moved her hands and squinted at the display.

‘It does appear to just be the one.’  Eir chuckled, having heard the story of how the twins surprised them.  ‘And looking over the other data it would appear that your increased hormonal activity may indeed be the cause of your sorcery acting irrationally.’

‘It’s acting like it did before I rediscovered who I was.’  Sigyn realised, glancing at Loki.

‘Of course.’  He nodded.  ‘Which is another reason why you will now be off active duty.’

‘Desk job again!’  She groaned.

‘I know how much you hate it, sunbeam.’  He stroked her hair.  ‘But another baby!  And if your powers are not behaving I would put you at no greater risk than taking the stairs.’

She sighed as Eir deactivated the soul forge, now that they had their answer, and he helped her to sit up and swing her legs over on the side nearest him.  ‘I suppose I could always ask Charles if he’d let me teach for a bit, to break up the monotony of paperwork.’

‘We will discuss your options.’  He stroked her cheek before kissing her softly.  ‘Thank you, Eir, for giving us such wonderful news.’

‘I truly did nothing but provide you with the means.  And I am honoured to be privy to such information.’

‘Have you any advice for the stubborn mother-to-be?’

Sigyn pouted at his accurate accusation.

‘Use your common sense, Princess.’  Was all she said.

‘I always do that.’  She pushed off the table to the floor.

‘When it is everything but your own health.’  Loki remarked.

‘I promise to try and behave, okay?’  She looked up at him.

‘I will help you remember.’  He wrapped his arm around her and pulled her close, kissing her forehead.  ‘Let us go and find our pests and share our news.’

‘Isn’t it rather soon?’  Sigyn complained as he backed her towards the exit.

‘You think I will not shout this from the rooftops?’  He grinned at her.

‘The fact I’m pregnant or the fact I can’t go on missions?’  She narrowed her eyes at him suspiciously.

‘The former, of course.’  He got her out into the hallway and picked her up, spinning her around.  ‘Another baby, love!  All those years together before and we have three children in less than a decade!  This is our miracle, sunbeam!’

‘I actually can’t quite believe it.’  She admitted as he rested her feet back on the ground.

‘It is an amazing surprise.  And I can foresee only one problem.’

‘And what’s that?’  She frowned at him.

‘That we had better start thinking of names now, as it took us so long to choose last time.’

She laughed.  If that was the only problem he could think of she was very grateful, and as the news began to sink in she realised he was right, this life of theirs, truly was a miracle.

A/N:  I actually wasn't planning on posting this yet, as the boys are so much older it deserves to be on the end of part four, whenever the hell I finish it! But I really wanted to share it!  

This is my last complete epilogue for now, however.  I am working on a few things, including my own series of novels which are published through Amazon, but part four of this series is coming on nicely, and part five has the bare skeleton of an idea too!  So stay tuned!  If anyone has an ideas for epilogues they’d like to see, let me know!

[sarahsblog]

FAVE MAN

Wilson Bethel as Mark Callan in All Rise 2.13