#loki things

[geehollow]

I will be talking about the Eurasian magpie, since it's the bird relevant to Loki in terms of symbolism and folklore area. I'm also talking about all of Loki's iterations across mythology, comics, books and movies.

Magpies are damn clever for their brain's size, like all corvids. They're known to do stuff just for the shits and giggles, using tools, playing around, solving puzzles, bothering other animals, exchanging trinkets as currency, shit talking people and animals amongst themselves and passing the knowledge down through generations. They've proven to have some sense of morality and to ignore it on purpose. They recognise themselves in mirrors. They can organise themselves to work in teams.

Their fame about liking/stealing shiny objects comes from Rossini's play The Thieving Magpie, where a magpie is the actual culprit of some thefts, and that forever modified its common name in Italy as gazza ladra (indeed, "thieving magpie"). While they're not attracted to shiny objects, observations show that they'll move them around. So it's now assumed they actually don't like shiny stuff, and try to get rid of it somewhere less bothersome. Relocation rather than theft, but still.

And their symbolism in folklore is incredibly apt for Loki:

Another name for a group of magpies is "a mischief" due to their behaviour, which mirrors Loki's more whimsical sides

through their dual colouring of black and white, they symbolise the union of masculine and feminine, of light and darkness coexisting. It also associates them to deceit and illusion (though those are also linked to their shenanigans with shiny stuff)

scandinavian folklore says witches transformed into magpies. Roman folklore associated magpies with magic and fortune-telling

while they don't sing, their chatter is fun. It sounds a bit like laughing, and can imitate human speech–so it has an element of supernatural shapeshifting

They're associated to creativity, problem solving, the artistic union of logic and imagination opening new paths and possibilities, to loyalty, commitment, good fortune, protection from evil magic, metamorphosis and change, knowledge, language

They're considered harbingers of divine news, and a sign to take a leap of faith and change your path, to shape your own destiny. They're a sign that death, usually metaphorical, is approaching–like an ego death, and a reminder that transformation isn't about erasing one's self but getting rid of what isn't you. Spiritual guidance across books and the internet says that when faced with a magpie as a sign, you must 1) realign priorities, 2) nurture relationships that uplift you, 3) nurture self awareness. So, basically, see also: Loki, Agent of Asgard

Magpies also signal strong connections to family lineage, to honour the ancestral wisdom passed down through generations (like oral storytelling traditions)

They're considered pests when they mess with crops, and they're scavengers, so they're considered nuisances and opportunists in tandem with all the more positive meanings, carrying a duality of good and bad symbolism

Essentially, they're the tricksters of the bird world. They combine good, bad, change and magic.

(Eurasian) Magpies are one of my fundamental obsessions. I've grown up with them around. Discovering how much their folklore mirrored Loki's was delightful.

The whole Loki being like a magpie confused me for so long because I live in Australia and anyone else in Australia would know... Magpies are straight up evil. No redeeming qualities. Try living in Australia during swooping season. Ask any Australian, Magpies are MEAN.

[smokingcaterpillar]

I feel like Loki would own a flip phone. But only for the pure satisfaction of slamming it shut when he gets into an argument with an asshole on the other line.

[geehollow]

I've thought a bit more about Older Loki from the series and what his existence means for the MCU.

(bear with me because I've seen season one once and never again except for a quick peek at the scene where Older Loki talks of his nexus event)

My take was that it means the Loki from Infinity War is alive on an asteroid somewhere. So basically Loki's not dead in the main MCU. After all, Older Loki says he made a double so convincing Thanos thought he'd killed him for good, while really Loki had retreated to "an asteroid" and that the TVA had snatched him when he'd tried to go back to Thor.

Now that would mean that the TVA thought "as long as everyone else believes you're dead, you can do you" and only intervened when Loki stepped out of (time)line. But that implies that Sacred Timeline Loki was indeed meant to die because of Thanos and never pop up again, and the TVA let a branched timeline exist?

A version where Loki survives Thanos, if that's the case, is already a nexus event (like a Loki being born female*). The TVA should've cropped him as soon as that happened, because otherwise, as said, it means that it's allowing a separate timeline to exist. Why allow this one random branch to exist when the TVA is so strict about variants?

Unless the gist of it was "if everyone believes Loki is dead, it combines into the bigger picture that leads to HWR. Indeed, for HWR to happen, the universe needs to have Loki out of the equation at this point in time and not a moment after." In that case, the fact that Loki survives and exiles himself to the asteroid forever is not only allowed, but what actually happens as a canon Sacred Timeline event, because he was only pruned when trying to let the universe know he was still around.

If that's so, then my take that Loki survives Infinity War still holds merit. Now that Tree Loki has replaced HWR, establishing the flow of time as a multiverse since the start (see this meta by me and @lucianalight for more in-depth explanation) in fact Loki can leave the asteroid or be discovered whenever.

Whether that means in a branched timeline or the main one (I'm still debating the main timeline thing), it means Hiddleston's Loki is not out of the equation–in fact, there's no more equation. It has been replaced. If the HWR equation needed Loki out of the way, the new time structure doesn't. If the condition needed for MCU Loki to be "dead" doesn't exist anymore, then by all means, the sun might shine on us again.

The MCU seems to have dropped the Kang plotline. In a version of the MCU where Kang-HWR happened, then perhaps MCU Loki had to stay "dead". With a multiverse? Eh. With that plotline dropped? Double eh.

So the MCU, whether it acknowledges it or not, has two potential Lokis: Main Loki and Kid Loki. It is my assumption that they'll try to use Kid Loki and ignore Main Loki, but to be honest, who the fuck knows anymore what they'll try to do. I've heard of the scrapped Waldron's Avengers 5 script (thank fuck it's scrapped) and I'm consistently 80% hopeful they'll never touch Loki again.

*a Loki being born female is already a nexus event and should've been pruned as a baby if all other (male) variants are shocked at her existence and she herself says that's the reason she's been pruned–clearly no one here is genderfluid. Once again I'm going off of my one watch, but it stuck to me. Sylvie's existence as a child and adult makes no sense. A very easy way to solve this would've been saying Sylvie is the Loki that didn't hide their fluidity, and chose to present as a girl either against Asgard's criticism (and here's your Very Strong Female Character that has a brownie point more than a male counterpart for sticking to her guns) or even accepted by Asgard (which would've been tragic, Loki living a nicer life and being ripped from it). But then again, it's Disney-owned Marvel and they're cowards and prefer that pitiful mess around the character's gender and sexuality.

[theitcharchives]

Reorganised my Loki nook

[tonictransistor]

I love having dreams that lead me to add to the list of actors I think should play Lore accurate Loki.

Today's addition is Matt Smith 🤪

[shutupcrime]

I feel like so many problems people have with tv at the moment could be solved if we just went back to the good ole days of 20 episodes a season that’s just sixty percent filler and character development. Give the people what they want- less condensed story and more meaningless shenanigans

[faramirsonofgondor]

Any queer man in fiction can’t have a healthy relationship. All they know is pining, divorce, cause the apocalypse, wear silly costume, fight they homo boyfriend, trauma, be disastrous, eat hot chip & lie.

[lokisgoodgirl]

I would not survive. But I am very much enjoying watching it on repeat.

Aadkdhajdjajajaj

[actually-mentally-ill]

[lotus-pear]

he's so crazy we can't take him anywhere 😭🤣

[inthedarkofficial]

Homer, Hades 2: Sing, O Muse, of the saffron robed goddess, whose fair countenance was bathed in Selene’s light at the moment of her birth. Homer, Hades: The fire-stepping prince was lifted by Night from the cold ground, where his lord father had discarded him, outside Taco Bell.

[smokingcaterpillar]

I'm continuing my Loki portrait WIP this morning and as I take a step back to look over the pose and the clothes and his facial expression, I realize..... this is a thirst trap.

Because of course it is.

Sneaky bastard (affectionate)

[geehollow]

Take a look at this Into the Spiderverse style picrew!

@lucianalight I made Loki and Ambrose lol

[theitcharchives]

Fun fact: all of my Loki figures (funkos, eaglemoss, the one I made with moldable DAS, the one I put together with various lego pieces) at some point had to be glued back together or otherwise repaired. Tonight it was the turn of my latest, the AoA Loki funko with the flaming sword whose head bounced off after a nasty fall. Promoted from newbie to veteran.

RIP that one funko keychain I lost tho, you were still in one piece (so I guess RI1P lol haha I'm crying inside I loved that keychain)

[mobius-m-mobius]

#the Nowhere Man who waits and the God of Stories who watches

[adobe-outdesign]

so apparently the idea behind Zygarde's very random forms is that it was originally supposed to have TWO 100% forms, one to counter Xerneas and one to counter Yveltal (source)

The Xerneas counter would be a wolf (which became the 10% form), because wolves hunt deer

The Yveltal counter would be a humanoid anti-aircraft gun (which became the 100% form) because it flies

It's signature moves, Thousand Arrows and Thousand Waves, were meant to be assigned to each 100% form as a counter

Thousand Arrows works as a smack-down like move to deal with Yvetal as a nod to the anti-aircraft gun thing

Thousand Waves is a trapping move to deal with Xerneas as a nod to how wolves are used for hunting and trapping deer