#reading loki comics from the beginning

[hulloitsdani]

What do u think Kiran is

How do u think the order sees kiran

*slowly sits up in my chair*

I think Kiran is a very normal person. This is someone you and I have met before. Be that from the other side of grocery store cashier, waiting in the same elevator, or walking by on a crosswalk. Kiran is a civilian from our world trying to roll with the punches of being warped somewhere completely alien. And you can see it in how they conduct themselves.

I always have a lot of fun writing Kiran’s dialogue because their casual modern speech almost feels like a dialect in comparison to the more formal fantasy tone everyone else speaks with. An “ain’t” will never exit Alfonse’s mouth, you know? And there’s a difference in “Do you have gold?” vs “You got gold?” To me, this gives Kiran an air of unfamiliarity to anyone they interact with. Let’s use Grima as an example, because it doesn’t sound like this grammatical change would make much of difference until Kiran has the audacity to hit Grima with a bro mid sentence. But that’s just how they talk. And as sweet and friendly as they are, there’s always moments like that to remind that no one has the cultural context to fully understand Kiran. Except for the audience, who can realize that Kiran let the customer service voice drop to talk to Grima like he’s an actual person.

And that’s just about how they talk! This view is only emphasized by every other thing about them! They’re a lovable goof, which is normal chill person behavior in the audience’s eyes but feels REALLY ODD to the characters of FE’s medieval fantasy war setting. There is this air of unknown about them that the more socially perceptive will pick up on and will try to come to a conclusion about. Example, I imagine Soren would interpret a lot of this as a dangerous and deeply annoying lack of intelligence from someone he has the displeasure of sharing a tactics table with. Or looping back to the Grima example, he would totally think Kiran has greedy ulterior motives behind that pleasant facade. It takes a lot of work for those types to realize that the discrepancy present isn’t really any of those things. But I also wouldn’t be too surprised if Kiran doesn’t try to directly prove any of those assumptions wrong unless they have to.

Why? Well now it’s time for the implications! Oh how we love the implications.

Because the Summoner is a different story. No one has any fucking clue what that is.

I can tell you what Kiran has pieced together so far. Summoning people from across time and space is apparently not easy. It’s not some school of magical study that some mage could pull off with enough time and research. Trust, Eitri tried. It’s a lot of complex moving parts. For example, the contracts. The contracts Kiran automatically binds their summoned to don’t even compare to the ones Veronica used in book 1. They are far more intense and infinitely harder to break. The only way out of them is if Kiran wills it so. Not even death is an option, because Kiran can come in for the revive. If they had to guess, it’s an older, more completed version of the art. Something lost to time. But no matter the case, Kiran has the ability to take full control of whoever they manage to summon. From a lowly farmer to the divine. And their power only grows.

In a similar vein, if there was any character to canonically see the hud, I think it would be Kiran. It’s genuinely part of their power set. I have previously described Kiran as the party mage until Veronica shows up to be the actual mage, but it would be way more accurate to call them a mystic/seer. They see the map, everyone’s stats, and is doing a fast amount of math to give the combat forecast. Then, upon processing all this information their enemies couldn’t dream of having at their disposal, Kiran can telepathically communicate any change in plans to anyone under contract. Kiran is not inherently some great tactician the moment they touch ground in Askr; they simply can do things no one else can. They’re learning the actual tactics part on the fly. This makes them simultaneously the largest ace up the Order’s sleeve and potentially its biggest liability. If they fall, it could cause a whole system cascade. By that same token, some of the biggest threats the Order has faced are the ones who do their research and rightfully target Kiran.

Now. Thinking critically about all that. That’s downright terrifying. A ridiculous amount of power has been dropped callously into Kiran’s lap and they have to work extremely hard to be moral with it. It’s terrifyingly easy not to be. It would actively take less effort to ‘take the reins’ as it were. But in order to be able to sleep at night ever again, they go the extra mile to not invalidate the will of their summoned. To take over like that. To make a colony of worker bees out of people. Because oh dear god they just summoned a child and the fact that they could easily force them to fight and die for them, only to be revived and do it all over again, is HAUNTING. No. No the Order has an in house orphanage now. This kid is getting adopted and cared for god damnit or Kiran might just pop a blood vessel. And sure that child is going to be a child and there will never be a world where they get along with everyone else, but that’s just going to need be a problem they address when they get there and not an excuse to use Hubris; the power set. Now replace the word child with everyone they ever summoned and you have the wider philosophy they apply to the entire Order.

They’re hyper aware of the power imbalance. They hate it with every bone in their body. They work really hard to correct it in whatever way they can.

So Kiran might not jump on the opportunity to correct those who think lesser of them. It’s… oddly comforting to know someone is keeping a critical eye on them. Holding them accountable. Especially since so much of the order just thinks of them as this quirky yet well meaning host. And, really, what can they even do about that? They have gone over the contract with every hero they summon and despite that they still choose to stay. So, what, do they try to inspire more mistrust? The problem with that they would have to actually do acts that intentionally inspire mistrust. And even if that was successful they can’t just waste the extra man power because every other month there’s some new divine asshole who wants them all dead. And if they fail that means they have to start their life from square one and god they can’t do that again so—

Just breathe Kiran.

It’s fine. You’re fine. Just breathe.

You have work to do.

[giveamadeuschohisownmovie]

Deadpool and Wolverine might actually be the best love letter to Marvel that I’ve seen.

On a meta level, the movie feels like it was written in response to people dismissing the Marvel properties that aren’t the MCU. The MCU is the “Sacred Timeline” while everyone else gets thrown into the trash aka the Void. Wade even tried to become an Avenger because he feels that his life doesn’t matter. Then, Wade gets a chance to join the MCU. Of course, he’s thrilled, but is then told that the rest of his universe is getting destroyed since they lost its “anchor” (aka it lost its relevance). So, Wade decides to fight for his universe.

On a surface level, you can read this movie as a criticism of the MCU in that it’s treating the only stories worth a damn as the ones coming from that universe. But I don’t think that’s the case. I mean, first off, this was made by Marvel Studios. Feige and Co had to sign off on this and a great deal of the plot stems from the Loki show. Second, the movie felt more like it was trying to say that ALL Marvel stories matter. It’s not really criticizing the MCU, it’s criticizing how audiences view the Marvel movies/shows that aren’t the MCU. The “why should I care about this movie if it doesn’t lead to the next Avengers movie” attitude.

That’s why I say this was the best love letter to Marvel I’ve seen. It’s a celebration of the company’s works, both MCU and non-MCU. You can see that from the Easter eggs, the cameos, the nods to the fandom, and the emphasis on forgotten characters getting a chance at redemption. Even the jabs at the company and fanbase feel like they come from a place of love.

But what really sold me on this movie being a love letter to Marvel was the ending. Instead of a tease to a potential De4dpool movie, it was a montage of the development of the Fox Marvel movies (I can’t say X-Men since clips of the Fantastic Four were there). On one side, it’s a touching send-off to the Fox X-Men franchise. On the other side, it felt like a reminder of why people love Marvel to begin with. It’s these people - actors, writers, directors, producers - coming together to make these entertaining stories for us, to bring the comics to life on the big screen. It’s like Ryan Reynolds was telling us to take a step back from all the conspiracy theorizing, nitpicking, and fanbase drama for a couple of hours, that we should just enjoy this Marvel movie as it is.

And it worked. It was genuinely just a fun, awesome movie to watch. If we’re using the MCU-as-a-TV-show-analogy that people love using, Deadpool and Wolverine is the 100th episode that is made dedicated to the fans and celebrating the show as a whole. It’s a fanservice movie done right, one that goes beyond just references and cameos.

[gremlin-girly]

Flufftober Day 10

@flufftober

Prompt(s): Bet/Game/Contest

Pairing: Dean Winchester x f!reader

Warnings/tags: misogyny/catcalling/dude being a creep and asshole (not Dean), duelling, canon-typical violence, Dean being a dork, I'm putting a warning here for cringe/stalker/gross behaviour from the asshole,

Summary: Whilst perusing a stall at the renfair you encounter a guy that just won't leave you be, when Dean overhears. As penance for coming to your "rescue", he's challenged to a duel for your hand.

Word count: 1.1k

A/N: I just loved writing this one. I actually went and re-watched the episode before I wrote it after I had the idea💀 I was stuck on this prompt for a while. I was thinking of pie eating contests (duh-doy) and bets with Loki but nothing seemed good enough. But I hope you enjoy reading! - Love, Grem 💜

As always, likes, comments and reblogs are appreciated! 💜

Prev | Next | Masterlist

Smoke wafted in-between the stalls and tents of Ye Olde Marketplace, the smell of meats, mead and treats making your mouth water. This was your second renaissance fair and you were determined to make it worthwhile. You were an elf this time around, not necessarily LARPing but just in costume; the whole nine yards with flowers in your hair, glitter on your cheeks and of course, pointed ears. Your outfit complimented your body excellently as well as your elven "character". Layered skirts and flowy bouse with your body adorned in earth-toned accessories, it was no wonder you were stared at by other fair goers.

One in particular had followed you from stall to stall. You tried blocking him out but the skin-crawling feeling of being watched had you on edge. You picked up a crystal at one of the stalls ran by a guy in a comical wizard hat and a long grey beard, reading the miniscule cursive card on the stand amongst the crystals. You couldn't make out every word but you thought it read something about keeping bad energies at bay.

You really needed that right now.

"Mi'lady." A voice said from beside you, making you jump. It was that guy. You can't control your facial expression as you cringe at him.

"Hi." You mutter and turn away. You secretly hope that all of the anti-douchebag crystals are out in full force because this is not something you do not want to be dealing with today.

"What doth bring a fair maiden such as yourself to a place such as this?"

His voice is grating and you suppress a shiver, opting to continue browsing instead of answering. Why did this have to happen to you?

"Hey!" The guy begins, reaching a hand out to you. "I'm talking to yo-"

You turn as you see his hand reaching towards you, ready to chew him out for being a creep, but another hand halted his hand in its tracks. Your eyes widen as you follow your rescuer's hand all the way up his arm to his face. He's dressed as some sort of knight, loose shirt and some chainmail, but his features have a stormy look to them as he glares at the guy who'd been following you. You melt into a puddle; handsome doesn't even begin to cover how damn good this guy looked. Even if he did have powdered sugar on his cheek.

"This guy bothering you?" His voice is gruff and stern, green eyes meeting yours and you find you can't quite say anything.

"Uh, well -"

"I wasn't doing anything - I was here first!" The creep protests and the look on your face says it all; you're disgusted and unimpressed.

You look back to your knight with no shining armour. "Yeah. He's bothering me."

"I declare a duel!" The creep says loudly and a few passers-by slow down to nosy in on the conversation. "For the lady's hand."

"Dude," Your hero sighs, looking incredulous at him as you roll your eyes with repulsion. "Give it a rest. Just take your damn potions and go."

The creep unsheathes a wooden sword and points it at your hero, who half-heartedly shrugs with an exasperated "really?". The creep jabs him in the chest once. He doesn't quite get to the second jab as his sword is smacked out of the way and a swift punch lands perfectly in the square of his face.

With a sickening crack he slumps to the ground, clutching a bleeding nose. You can't help but feel a little smug at the sight and your heart swoons just a little at the scene you've just experienced. A handsome knight coming to rescue a damsel in distress.

"Come on," You say to your knight, nodding to one of the other colourful stalls. "I believe I owe you a drink for rescuing me."

You set down two butter-beers on a picnic table, and jostle a brown paper bag of freshly made mini donuts in the middle. The smell that wafts from the bag is sickening - and you reach in and pop one into your mouth as soon as you're seated.

Your knight, who you found that his name was Dean, took a sip from the buttery stein in front of him, making a grunt of approval and immediately swigging more.

"Thanks again," You say over your own glass. "You fight for a maiden's honour a lot?" “It’s what I do. Saving people.” He looks like he’s about to add something else, but clears his throat, looking sheepish. “It’s a family thing, ya know?” “Hm.” You don’t know whether it’s the LARPing or if he’s being genuine, but your heart flutters again and you can't help but smile at him. He's stuffing two mini donuts into his mouth but when he catches you smiling at him, he attempts to smile back but his cheeks are too full and when you laugh at him his cheeks go pink.

"Well, cheers!" You raise your stein and clink it with his. The conversation ebbs and flows naturally and you soon find yourself engrossed in his family history - well, his character's family history - about monsters and demons and angels. It's so well-thought out you're almost embarrassed to not have anything so detailed.

After Dean's phone rings as you're traversing stalls together (nearly three hours later) and a very curt conversation with someone on the other end, Dean gives you an apologetic look.

"Sorry, duty calls." He sighs, tucking his phone away into his pocket again. You'd already exchanged numbers earlier after finding out you had more in common than you'd realised, and at the very least, if you couldn't date the guy you could at least be friends.

"That's alright. I had a blast today." You gush, grinning at him. He gives you a boyish smile in return and before he has a chance to say anything else, you lean up to place a soft peck on his cheek. Dean's smile only grows wider when you sternly remind him, "Keep in touch, Dean Winchester. I wanna know all about these monsters and the next parts of the story."

"Yes ma'am." He affirms with a short nod, making his way out of the fair, nearly tripping into a hidden rabbit hole because he can't stop looking over at you as he leaves.

You giggle and wave him out of sight. Perhaps you should make an equally intricate backstory for your LARP character, though not as sad as Dean's, using today as an example. You decide then and there that meeting Dean Winchester ought to be a turning point for something good instead of bad. Although, you can't quite decide who your next monster of the week will be.

You'll just have to call Dean for some ideas.

[darkficsyouneveraskedfor]

Home Away From Home 3

Warnings: non/dubcon, jealousy, mentions of loss, and other dark elements. My username actually says you never asked for any of this.

My warnings are not exhaustive but be aware this is a dark fic and may include potentially triggering topics. Please use your common sense when consuming content. I am not responsible for your decisions.

Character: Loki, Peter Parker (tall!reader)

Summary: You’ve been friends with the Odinsons since childhood. After years of separation, you reunite on Midgard after the destruction of Asgard, but find yourself caught between your old and new lives. 

As usual, I would appreciate any and all feedback. I’m happy to once more go on this adventure with all of you! Thank you in advance for your comments and for reblogging ❤️

Peter’s abode is intriguing. You find all Midgardians have such character in their homes. Stark's is elaborate and expensive, as all things he does, and the spider-hero's being is reflected in his simple but overcrowded decor. 

He has shelves of books and little figures. You investigate them as he rustles in the kitchen. You laugh at the miniature of Thor, his proportions comical as his head is far too big for his body. It’s even more amusing to think Peter would have it all while knowing the god himself. 

“Have you read any comics?” Peter asks. 

“Comics?” You put the tiny Thor back. You wish you could show him. 

You face Peter as he sets down a large bowl of popped kernels. He stands straight and grins, “graphic novels.” He steps around the coffee table and nears you. He takes a slender book from the shelf and opens it to show you the colourful illustrations within. 

“No,” you lean in to admire the pictures. “I did read a book about a strange immortal stalking this poor girl. It was about night time, I think...” 

“You read Twilight?” He chuckles. 

“That is the one. I didn’t enjoy that,” you say. “It isn’t proper the way the Ed—Edmund? Behaved.” 

He laughs again and slides the book away. “I only saw the movies.” 

“There are moving pictures?” You tilt your head. 

“Uh, yeah, maybe we can look them up after we watch some wrestling.” 

“Yes, watch wrestling,” you echo his sentiment with a lilt. “I’m intrigued. Show me.” 

You follow him to the couch. You sit and bounce a little on the spring furniture. You press your hand to the cushion and test the structure. It should do. He sits beside you, fidgeting as the hits buttons on the small remote. 

Your eyes flick up to the screen as he shuffles through the menu. Stark loaded up a device for you with all sorts of moving pictures. You find the TV too frustrating. 

He sets the remote down as the audio blusters and the images begin to move. A deep voice narrates the sights on screen. A man in bright yellow attire postures and poses as he comes down a slanted aisle. You stare inquisitively at the square platform surrounded by ropes. 

“That’s Macho Man Randy Savage,” Peter explains. 

“Macho Man,” you nod. 

“He’s going to fight Hulk Hogan,” Peter says. 

“Hulk?” You look at him. 

“Not Bruce,” he assures. 

“Ah,” you accept and focus on the screen. 

There’s music and a crowd cheering, roaring for the two figures as they put on a show just to get into the square pen. You tilt your head as you watch, leaning forward. 

“That’s the ring,” Peter says. “That’s where they fight.” 

“Hm, interesting.” 

A man in stripes comes to hold up a belt with gold on it. It’s not the sort of thing you would wear. 

“That’s the championship. The winner gets to keep it.” 

“It is not a very nice accessory,” you tut. “In Asgard, we fight for fun or gold. Who would want that?” 

“Well... it’s about what it means. The World Championship. So... they’re the best in the world.” 

You hum and watch on. The men tangle in each other. You stifle a laugh as they begin. The way they hit each other, the way they seem to dance, and do everything so deliberately is silly. 

“It is fake,” you say. “They don’t mean to hurt each other.” 

Peter sighs, “didn’t I say so?” 

You look at him and grin, “you Midgardians do stay too quiet. You never say what you mean.” 

“Oh?” His brows furrow. 

“Yes. You play at fighting and you play at your true intent,” you insist. “You bring me here and say let us watch the wrestling show but I know what you want.” 

He gulps as his eyes widen, “you do?” 

You scoff and reach to ruffle his hair. You stand and unclasp the buckles on your shoulders. Your satin tunic falls forward and unveils your naked chest, the fabric caught up in the belt at your waist. Peter gasps. 

“How do you prefer, dor-dígull?” You reach under the satin and unknot your belt. 

He stares up at you. “I didn’t--” 

“On Asgard, it isn’t a big matter,” you shrug as you free the belt and shimmy out of your top. You step out of it, your chest swinging and drawing his attention. “I have been rather looking forward to it.” 

“You mean...” 

“Oh,” you stand up, your hands on your leggings, “have I made a mistake?” 

He blinks and his cheeks tinge red, “no, I mean, I want to but I didn’t expect...um, well... usually guys make the first move.” 

“Hm, then you make your move, dor-dígull,” you swipe down your leggings and untangle your feet from the bottom. “I will take your lead.” 

He takes a deep breath and his eyes flit up and down your body. You feel tingly and a bit eager. Is it normal for Midgardian men to be so skittish about it all. 

He gets up and strips off his shirt. His chest is thickly muscled, his stomach too. He might be short but he is well-built. He undoes his denim pants and pushes them down, nearly tripping as he fights to get them off. 

You look around and eye the space, “on the sofa?” You wonder. 

“Ummmm,” he drones as he continues to strip. “I guess...” 

“Mm,” you hum and examine the cushions. 

“Unless, er, there’s the bed--” 

“You Midgardians are too slow,” you grab him and turn him, pushing him down to sit on the couch. He tries to cover his bobbing cock as he falls onto it. You tut and swat his hand away. “Let me show you how to do it right.” You snake your hand down between your legs and feel between your folds, “I’m ready.” 

“Uh, okay,” he flattens his hands on the cushions as he gapes up at you. You grasp his shoulders and bring yourself to straddle his lap. 

You grip his member and stroke it as you hover just above it. Your press his tip along your wet folds and tease him. Your hold on him is firm. He throbs and groans at your touch. 

“Mm,” you pause at his erratic shaking. “This is not the first time?” 

“N-no,” he stutters, his cheeks lighting up even more. 

You laugh, “then it will be the best.” 

You push his tip against you and slowly descend onto it. As you sheath him in your aching warmth, he sighs and pushes his head back. He trembles as you take him to his limit. You take his hands and guide them to your hips and begin to rock. 

“This is the better sort of wrestling,” you jape and move his hands up to your chest. 

[liminalpebble]

Stray (A Lokitty Tale): Part 2

Part 1 link

A/N: Hi all. This began as a prompt suggestion by @mischief2sarawr and has since grown three heads and answers to no one. It's now a multipart, very fluffy, story about Lokitty. I have no idea where I'm going with this except definitely to the comfort district of fluff town...maybe driving through a little traffic jam of angst on the way there.

Synopsis: It's 1971 and you're a single shop girl living in the tumultuous, often damp, city of Seattle, feeling lost and alone. Meanwhile, Loki (under the guise of D.B. Cooper) is on the run from Thor the moment he jumped out of that plane. After crash landing in a dumpster and disguising himself as a stray cat to lay low, he becomes your beloved feline room mate and an unusual friendship begins to grow.

Stray: Part 2

While the human was away, Loki sprawled out his long Asgardian body across your floor, passing the time with your extensive collection of books. It felt good to him, having arms and legs to stretch again, and opposable thumbs to turn the pages. Staying in a conjured form for too long could be taxing, and the breaks would be welcome, especially since he couldn't be sure how long this little arrangement might continue.

The god of mischief smiled a bit to himself, recalling how you had bustled around in your little uniform, getting ready for your day. You were obviously in a hurry, but you still took the time to stroke his fur and scratch under his chin while you talked to him.

“Good morning, little guy. I left some food out for you and the heater on. I'll be home late...hopefully with all the stuff you might need. Please don't pee in my shoes.”

Suddenly you stopped and rolled your eyes, raising up again to hurry out the door. “Jesus Christ, I'm talking to the cat again.”

Loki chuckled at that (well, meowed with amusement) and found, to his horror, that he was actually sad to lose your company for the day. He found he was becoming very curious about you.

Well, come on, he told himself, it's just that you're naturally curious and it's not like you have much else to occupy your time for now. Might as well observe the mortal.

Satisfied with his rationalization, he listened for the door to click shut and your heels to click down the hall. Once he was sure you were gone he returned to his usual body, and busied himself with your bookshelf, running his pale graceful fingers over the spines with delight.

She certainly has eclectic taste, he mused. The little apartment was crowded with books of all kinds; everything from Shakespeare to comic books, and where there weren't books, there were tidy stacks of records (again, a very eclectic assortment). His took it all in with gusto, fascinated by his choices of entertainment.

He blazed through several mystery novels (which were underwhelming as he was always well ahead of the reveal). Seeking the next read, his perceptive eyes landed on an antique volume, Norse Mythology. He smirked as he slid the book into his palm.

Now this should be interesting.

In a predictably self-indulgent move, he looked for an entry about himself, landing unfortunately on a beautifully illustrated page about Thor. He crinkled his nose in disgust and let the book drop to the floor, but as the tome landed with a thunk, it dropped open to the chapter with his name as the title. He lowered himself to the floor, laying on his belly as he read about his glorious self.

The description wasn't the most flattering. It painted the trickster god as a cruel and violent nuisance, but he had to admit that wasn't entirely inaccurate. There was, however, a glorious illustration in the style of an illuminated manuscript. Green and gold calligraphy snaked out the letters of his name and below it was a very handsome illustration highlighting his bright kaleidoscopic eyes and sharp rakish face (although they always got the hair wrong by painting it a garish shade of red). Oh well, what could one expect from foolish mortals.

His musing was suddenly interrupted by the sound of heels clicking down the hallway. In a panic he looked outside and realized it was already dusk. He had lost track of the time. As he heard your jostling and struggling to unlock the door one-handed, he quickly changed back to his feline form. Loki realized, a moment too late, that he hadn't had time to put the books back from where they laid sprawled out on the floor where he had been reading.

You finally shouldered your way inside, huffing and puffing, arms loaded with a heavy shopping bag. You set it down carefully and kicked your heels off forcefully, feeling weirdly satisfied that they smacked against the wall. (You always hated the damn things, and tended to punish them like this for the pain inflicted on your feet each day).

You smiled to where the sleek black cat was laying with his paws crossed delicately over the pages of a book, tail flicking lazily as if this wasn't at all odd. Loki noticed the quizzical expression on your face as you noticed the books on the floor. “Hey, buddy,” you chirped sweetly, “How the hell did you knock these off?”

“Mrrow,” the cat grumbled.

“Okay, okay. Keep your secrets you little magician,” you said, joining him on the floor and collecting the books. When you came to the volume under his paws, he refused to move them. He thought indignantly, I'm not done reading this! Though he was well aware he wouldn't be getting his way.

“Hrmmm,” you hummed, “Loki, the trickster...” as you traced your hand over the gold script. “He was always my favorite of the Norse gods, you know?”

“Meow?”

“Yeah! The tricksters always make life interesting, right?”

“Meroww.”

“See. I knew you'd agree with me.” You put a pensive finger to your lips. “He'd probably be a good namesake for your, huh, you mischievous scamp? I guess it's better than calling you “buddy” or “little guy” all the time.”

I should damn well think so, madam.

Loki watched curiously as you rose you to your feet, digging something out of your kitchen junk drawer. “Aha!” you exclaimed as you pulled out a green leather watchband (the clock was broken then lost long ago). Pulling out a marker you carefully wrote the name “Loki” in clear block letters on the tattered leather, then gently fastened the band around his neck. Smiling and stroking his fur with your warm hand you said, “Okay, Loki. You look very handsome,” you declared massaging his velvety cheeks with your thumbs. In return, you introduced yourself, saying your name and shaking his paw. “Nice to meet you, Loki.”

Loki wanted to protest this patronization, but your affection felt so pleasant, and it gave him a warm feeling to hear you call him “handsome”.

“Oh! I have...uh...stuff. I think this is the right stuff...Here, look, I've got a litter box and a little bed for you and I got a few different kinds of food. I'm not sure which one you might like best.”

You stopped abruptly, saying once again under your breath, “Jesus Christ...talking to the cat again, you lonely weirdo.”

Loki shot a paw out, tapping your arm and then nuzzling into it. And although you knew it couldn't be more than an animal trying to use you as a heating pad, it seemed like he was trying to say thank you, trying to say that he liked you talking to him and doting on him...and that he wanted to be held.

Crazy...I'm going crazy. I'm a crazy lonely cat lady, and I'm gonna die alone here someday and this cat is going to eat my eyeballs.

Still, it tugged your heartstrings as the little tomcat reached out its paws to your shoulders meowing and purring gently as it attempted to climb into your arms...and who were you to deny him?

Hesitantly, you reached out and held him against you, stroking gently and nuzzling your face against him.

You said quietly with a note of grateful awe, “Awww. I didn't expect you to be such an affectionate little guy.”

Neither did I. Loki thought, even more surprised than you were.

@mischief2sarawr @ladyofthestayingpower @acidcasualties @unlucky-number-13 @goblingirlsarah @gigglingtiggerv2 @lokihiddleston @lokischambermaid @lokisgoodgirl @marcotheflychair @smolvenger @alexakeyloveloki @littlespaceyelf @loopsisloops @joyful-enchantress @eleniblue @loz-3 @the-haven-of-fiction @sweetsigyn @muddyorbs @icytrickster17 @holdmytesseract @thenerdyoldersister @thedistractedagglomeration @sailorholly @peachyjinx @coldnique @sarahscribbles @peaches1958 @infinitystoner @mischiefmaker615 @coldnique @jennyggggrrr @tripleyeeet @itsybitchylittlewitchy @mochie85 @huntress-artemiss

[lukaslosteyelashes]

My Review of the Miraculous London Special, Part 4

I’ve finished part 4 (finally lol). There’s going to be one last part, the "final thoughts" which hopefully will be done faster than the previous parts. Anyway, I made a little bit different look for this post and I also will (or already did) edit the previous parts too to match with each other.

What this part contains:

How does time travel work in Miraculous? - I am basically trying to make sense of the logic behind the time travel in Miraculous by going through the Miraculous/MCU comparison others also made.

Ladybug = Gabriel Agreste - My honest reaction and thought about this.

Here it goes!

Spoilers ahead ->

How does time travel work in Miraculous?

Every time I think I can understand how time travel work in Miraculous I read someone else's post completely debunking everything I believed in and I'm at square one again. But here I am, still trying to make sense of things.

Older Bunnyx said in "Evolution": "Time is like a river with multiple streams and the Burrow is where they all come together." So, like, if we look at the time as a straight line that's come from the beginning of time to the end of time, then that's the river; and the streams are all the different timelines that are on that straight line; and the Burrow is this magical dimension where every timelines (the streams) are connected to; staying with the water metaphor, I guess it'd make the Burrow the ocean? The holder of the Rabbit Miraculous is the one who can jump to every other timeline from the Burrow. Right now (and in the future for who knows how long) Alix Kubdel is the Rabbit Miraculous holder and oversees the time for any possible anomaly. And her top priority is to protect and preserve their universe as is, where she's Bunnyx.

I saw people compare the time traveling in Miraculous to the Spider-Verse movies, or Bunnyx and the Burrow to the TVA in Marvel (I'm not familiar with the comics so I only know the movies and serieses). I think, this makes sense since it would explain well why Gabriel's wish got different treatment than Lila's even though his probably also rewrote the universe. It'd make Gabriel's wish a canon event or it'd be the intended future in the Sacred Timeline. While Lila's wish is not a canon event or it made a branch in the Sacred Timeline. Well, in the MCU it's not just about the timeline but the multiverse and while we know that in Miraculous different universes exist (Paris special) and it's possible to travel through them with akumatization or kamikotization, there's nothing really that connects the different universes and their timelines. So Bunnyx doesn't have to deal with other universe’s problems and only needs to focus on theirs, which doesn't make her job any easier at all tho.

I'm also in with that comparison and I'd go that far to compare Bunnyx to He Who Remains (Kang) but without the villain part (Loki series). For so long I thought that Kang basically wrote every event that happened, happening and will happen on the Sacred Timeline and he didn't allow any altering (so kind of like a God). But further searching made me realize I was wrong. Kang didn't make the Sacred Timeline, that's his original timeline which produced him and that's what he wanted to preserve. He made the TVA to oversee his timeline, detect anyone who deviates from and made a branch, and eventually eliminate them, preventing any alternate universes to develop. This not just stops any new, more evil Kang variants to emerge but also denies everyone their free will. Kang is just a time traveler who saw the future and wants his preferred timeline to be the absolute reality, that's why he created the TVA and located himself at the end of time. And isn't what Bunnyx is doing is kind of similar to that?

I already wrote above that Alix’s top priority is to protect and preserve their universe where she's Bunnyx. Lila's wish would've made a cut into the river and would've diverted it to create a completely new one with new streams. It'd break the connection with the Burrow too and erase a part of their universe, which is their future, and recreate it according to the wish. I guess if their plan hadn't worked Chronobug and Bunnyx would've sat there in that white space for eternity. With Gabriel's wish, the river wasn't really cut off, more like some streams got removed while other streams were created but still connect to the same ocean, I guess? I mean, Marinette is still Ladybug, Adrien is still Chat Noir, Alix is still Bunnyx and so on, and the timelines are still connected to the same Burrow. There’re two things that changed: Gabriel is dead while Nathalie is alive; well technically there's only one thing that change since Gabriel would've died anyway, he didn't have much time left before he made the wish. Bunnyx made the choice to not interfere after Gabriel made his wish because it didn't erase their future from their universe and he was Monarch who had to be defeated in some way. It did create a new villain though.

Anyway, the bottom line is, I still don't understand how this works 😂. Bunnyx can jump to the past and to the future too, so I was kind of baffled how she didn't know what would happen, only after her future selves started to disappear. Maybe there are rules with the Rabbit Miraculous that haven't been mentioned before. We know that Bunnyx's future selves cannot tell her anything, but maybe she can't look at futures that directly affect her either or she can only change events that happened in particular ways.

I guess the point with stories with time travel is to just sit back, switch off your brain, don't overthink things and try to enjoy it. If you know any good time travel stories hit me up with it, I'm only familiar with the MCU stuff and this, lol.

Ladybug = Gabriel Agreste 

Brilliant and hilarious!

I know not everyone is pleased with this, and thinks Marinette should have made a smarter move to deceive Lila, besides she didn't even erase the rest of the information Timestalker gathered (she didn't have time for that tho, the windows inside the Burrow were disappearing swiftly). But I adore this! It's almost like when Lila as Hoaxer in "Revelation" made everyone believe that Marinette is Monarch.

I know Marinette doesn't know that future Hawkmoth is Lila but I think it's still perfect that she trolled her like that.

Plus, not everything has to make sense and be rational in a story. We are talking about Miraculous here, even though the tone of the show changed, kids are still watching it too. It's perfectly fine to include things just for the giggles and fun.

I felt an immense amount of satisfaction when I saw Lila completely breaking down after she saw that in her notebook.

I was like "Yes! I knew all along you weren't sane at all". Okay, I know that's mean, but I've read a lot about how others think she'd treat Nooroo right, that he'd be the only one there for her and stuff like that, and I just couldn't grasp what would make someone think that. Just look at Nooroo, look at him!

He’s more miserable than when he was with Gabriel. She’s more cruel to him and he is with her for, like, a couple hours yet but she already controlled him in ways even Gabriel didn’t use (or just didn’t know about). Lila is going to be (already is) a terrific villain that you can hate to the core and (hopefully) also an unredeemable one.

And lastly, here is a happy Nooroo to lighten your day:

We probably won’t see him like that for a long time.

part 1 | part 2 | part 3

The last part is coming soon…

[percheduphere]

LOKI SEASON 2 - END GAME THEORIES PART 1

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

Part 1:

1.) The Original Timekeepers

2.) Trust as a Theme

3.) Social Intelligence is a Leadership Skill

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

Part 2: (read: here)

5.) Mobius's Plotline

6.) Sylvie's Role

7.) John = Mobius?

8.) The Original Timekeepers & Time Paradoxes

THE ORIGINAL TIMEKEEPERS

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

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

This seal is from the future:

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

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

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

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

TRUST AS A THEME

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

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

SOCIAL INTELLIGENCE IS A LEADERSHIP SKILL

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

S1 - Whisky scene with Renslayer

S1 - Cafeteria scene with Loki

S1- Salad scene with Loki

S2 - Cracker Jack scene with Loki

S2 - McDonalds scene with Brad

S2 - Pie scene with Loki

S2 - Hot cocoa scene with Victor

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

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

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

What does Victor dobwith the hot cocoa?

He gives it to D-90.

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

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

PART 2 HERE!

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

[patheticmenscuffle]

Drum rolls, please...

We're happy to reveal the roster for the Pathetic Men Scuffle! Thanks again to everyone who submitted characters, and we hope everyone's looking forward to this as much as we are.

We will begin posting the polls around 10pm GMT (4pm US CST) tomorrow 3/10. Each poll will be open for one week.

With this announcement, we will now be accepting propaganda! Feel free to send some in or tag us in any posts you'd like and we'll share them on here. Propaganda posts will be tagged as #propaganda and each character will also have their own propaganda tag.

Click the Read More below to see all of the contestants and their first matchups in text form as well as where they're from!

Izzy Hands (Our Flag Means Death) vs Lord Farquaad (Shrek)

Edgar Allan Poe (Bungo Stray Dogs) vs Jack Spicer (Xiaolin Showdown)

Pastor Daniel (Scarlet Hollow) vs Ron Stampler (Dungeons and Daddies)

Earl Harlan (Welcome to Night Vale) vs General Ultimax/General Fuff (Bug Fables)

Hunter Noceda (The Owl House) vs Asgore Dreemur (Deltarune)

Saint (Rain World) vs William Afton/Purple Guy (Five Nights at Freddy's)

Vash the Stampede (Trigun) vs Zote the Mighty (Hollow Knight)

Shin Tsukimi (Your Turn to Die) vs Victor Frankenstein (Frankenstein)

Peter B. Parker (Spider-Man (Marvel Comics)) vs Dr. Heinz Doofenshmirtz (Phineas and Ferb)

Anders (Dragon Age) vs Cyrus (Pokemon)

Mikoshiba Mikoto (Gekkan Shoujo Nozaki-Kun) vs Ron Delite (Ace Attorney)

Inigo (Fire Emblem) vs William Graham (Hannibal)

The Narrator (The Stanley Parable) vs King Dice (Cuphead)

Five Pebbles (Rain World) vs Satan/The Dark Prince (Madou Monogatari/Puyo Puyo Tetris)

Sebastian Debeste (Ace Attorney) vs Johann (The Adventure Zone)

Luigi (Super Mario Brothers) vs Charlie Kelly (It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia)

Stede Bonnet (Our Flag Means Death) vs Magolor (Kirby)

Dwight Fairfield (Dead By Daylight) vs Wes (Don't Starve) vs Linebeck (The Legend of Zelda)

Plankton (Spongebob) vs Spamton (Deltarune) vs Courage the Cowardly Dog (Courage the Cowardly Dog)

Father Paul (Midnight Mass) vs George Costanza (Seinfeld) vs Loki (Marvel Comics)

Harry du Bois (Disco Elysium) vs Darkrai (PokePark 2 (Pokemon)) vs Vlad Masters/Plasmius (Danny Phantom)

Reigen Arataka (Mob Psycho 100) vs Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III (How To Train Your Dragon)

Jon Arbuckle (Garfield) vs Wheatley (Portal 2)

Paul Matthews (The Guy Who Didn't Like Musicals) vs Jonah Simms (Superstore)

Buggy the Clown (One Piece) vs Abner Krill (Suicide Squad)

Shinji Ikari (Neon Genesis Evangelion) vs Tamaki Amajiki (My Hero Academia)

Rincewind the Wizard (Discworld) vs Rouxls Kaard (Deltarune)

Giovanni Potage (Epithet Erased) vs Clippy (Microsoft Office XP Advertisement (Microsoft))

Bruno Madrigal (Encanto) vs Kaname Date (AI: The Somnium Files)

The Devil (Cuphead) vs The Ice King (Adventure Time)

Alcryst (Fire Emblem) vs Starscream (Transformers)

Miles O'Brien (Star Trek) vs Spirit Albarn (Soul Eater)

Jonathan Harker (Dracula) vs Ethan Winters (Resident Evil)

Tsukasa Tenma (Project Sekai/Colorful Stage) vs Kendall Roy (Succession)

Mike Wheeler (Stranger Things) vs Dr. Eggman (Sonic)

Larry Needlemeyer (The Amazing World of Gumball) vs Saul Goodman (Better Call Saul)

Alador Blight (The Owl House) vs Andy Bernard (The Office (US))

Jonathan Sims (The Magnus Archives) vs The Cabbage Seller (Avatar: The Last Airbender)

Jedidiah A. A. Martin (Camp Here and There) vs David Ward (I Am In Eskew) vs Randy V. Jade (Dial Town)

John Gaius (The Locked Tomb) vs Gilear Faeth (Fantasy High (Dimension 20)) vs Filbo Fiddlepie (Bugsnax)

Dick Gumshoe (Ace Attorney) vs Zenkichi Hasegawa (Persona 5) vs Eeyore (Winnie the Pooh)

Larry (Pokemon) vs Steven Universe (Steven Universe) vs Fujimoto (Ponyo)

[isthepame]

[English review] Blue Lock Chapter 279: “Football Junkies.”

The chapter kicks off with an atmosphere of absolute tension as Kaiser gets ready to take the free kick. The scene is described as a final strike, setting the tone right from the start that this moment is pivotal both for the match and the characters’ growth. There’s a strong sense of uncertainty, something quite typical in Blue Lock, where the ability to shape the future hangs in the balance, decided in mere seconds.

Here we witness the beginning of a key conversation between Kaiser and Noa. Kaiser, annoyed, realises that Noa has been manipulating the situation all along to help him evolve. Not only does Noa confirm this, but he also reveals that he’s been guiding Isagi with the same goal: to motivate Kaiser. This dialogue is crucial because it highlights the complexity of Noa’s strategy. It’s clear that he views football in an extremely methodical, almost detached way, where everyone is just a piece for his own growth.

PXG takes position in the wall, while Kaiser continues to process Noa’s words. Here we can see that Kaiser feels everything has been orchestrated by Noa to mould him into a worthy rival. However, the surprise lies in how Noa, the best player in the world, admits that his title is merely a consequence of his lifestyle as a striker, making Kaiser question Noa’s role as a mentor.

Noa continues with his philosophical musings, explaining that his motivation isn’t to be the best in the world, but to express his vision of football. For Noa, being the best is just a natural consequence of his pursuit of perfection in the sport. What’s interesting is that he mentions Loki as his biggest threat, hinting at this character’s significance in the chapter’s outcome.

Noa makes it clear that after his clash with Loki, he hopes Kaiser will surpass him. This highlights the level of Noa’s obsession with football, which goes beyond titles and achievements. In his monologue, Kaiser sees Noa as a “football junkie to the core,” which leaves him puzzled. Here, we start to notice the disconnect between Kaiser’s mindset and Noa’s, adding more tension to their relationship.

Kaiser compares Noa to a comic book hero, highlighting Noa’s almost unreal dedication to football. Isagi, meanwhile, is watching Kaiser and trying to anticipate his next move. Isagi’s strategic mindset comes into play, and he knows that his only chance to score his own goal is to get ahead of Kaiser.

Isagi starts calculating the possibilities to intercept Kaiser’s shot. This is a clear example of Isagi’s metavision process, where he analyses every detail and external factor. He knows he has to gamble on one side, whether right or left, turning the next move into a mental game between him and Kaiser. The tension rises as Isagi prepares to make a decision that could change the course of the match.

Isagi reaffirms his desire not to follow the path Noa has laid out for him. Instead of being the “rival companion” that Noa expects, Isagi wants to write his own story. This is a crucial moment for Isagi, as he faces a fork in his development. He is determined to make his mark on his own terms.

Here, we see Kaiser’s monologue, as he seems to enter a special mental state he calls “zero.” For him, his life revolves around hurting others, but he does it out of a desire to be loved. This revelation humanises Kaiser in a complex way; behind his arrogant attitude lies a deep need for affection and recognition.

Kaiser uses his malice as fuel to power his shot, highlighting his competitive nature and his desperation to stand out. The chapter maintains the tension as Kaiser prepares to take his shot.

Isagi is in the midst of anticipating the shot. He reads the play and confirms that Kaiser is aiming to the left. Here, Isagi’s ability to read the game demonstrates his growth, as he’s keeping pace with Kaiser in terms of tactical vision.

The goalkeeper also reads the shot, adding another layer of complexity to the game. Isagi begins to plan how he can recover the ball if the goalkeeper blocks the shot. We see here how Isagi’s metavision allows him to think several steps ahead.

Isagi realises that Kaiser’s shot has an even sharper curve than he anticipated. This turn of events surprises both Isagi and the reader, as it seemed like Isagi had correctly predicted the shot.

The surprise is complete when Isagi realises he has been caught off guard by an even cleverer play. Kaiser has managed to deceive both Isagi and the goalkeeper, highlighting his incredible skill and control over the ball.

Isagi is in shock as he watches his prediction fail. This is a pivotal moment, as Kaiser’s tactical superiority is evident, leaving Isagi in a vulnerable position.

Loki enters the scene, intercepting Kaiser’s shot and preventing a goal for Bastard München. Loki’s entrance is an impressive moment, as his superhuman speed places him at a level above the other players on the pitch.

Isagi recognises Loki as a true football genius, someone whose talent seems to transcend what is humanly possible. Loki mocks Kaiser’s shot, saying it’s “slow,” highlighting his confidence and skill.

Chapter 279 of Blue Lock is an explosion of mental and tactical tensions, where the duel between Kaiser, Isagi, and Loki reaches a climax. The interactions between the characters reveal the layers of their motivations and desires, from Noa’s obsession with perfection to Kaiser’s search for affection. Loki, on the other hand, emerges as an untameable genius, whose natural talent places him in a category of his own.

@isthepame

[mcu-dangum]

"I've searched for you across the universe, and then I heard you were here. Sylvie, will you marry me?"

~Confessions from across the multiverse~

Every Loki, in any universe, will find Sylvie/Sophia, because he loves her, and he will eventually find her, and he will propose to her that he loves her. Including me, the Loki variant!

I was incredibly nervous the day before Comic-Con and the morning of, even though I had taken a sedative, my hands were visibly shaking. It was my first time meeting a celebrity in person and I was incredibly excited and honoured that it was you, Sophia!!! I was honoured to be in line with Sylvies that day, and Sophia even recognised us! Sophia looked at us and said, "You're Loki and Sylvie!" I thought of her as a goddess before I walked into the booth, but when I saw her, I was in awe, she was so beautiful, kind, gentle, and angelic. As I was marvelling at the fact that I dared to meet an angel, I saw Sophia asking her fans their names and saying all sorts of kind things to them, which is so sweet… I was thinking about what to say. Should I say you're beautiful? I decided to say you look amazing. And when I stood in front of Sophia, I was surprised when she said Wow! you look amazing first. She spoke first, but I managed to say, "You look amazing today, too!" And I felt sorry that I met her in Loki's cosplay (there was definitely a reason I was Loki! LOL), I told her, "I'll be Sylvie later, because I love Sylvie (so much), too!" and she smiled.

Then I pulled out the paper I had prepared. I had cut out the paper the day before in my hotel room and drawn the poses. When I showed the picture to Sophia, she squinted her eyes and read it slowly. 'Me,.. proposing… to… you… You… cover.. your… face… and.. look… shy…' I was already posing on one knee, and I remember Sophia bending down to read my paper intently. When she was almost done reading,

I pulled out my ring and said, "Oh, I prepared my ring!" and she and the staff there finally realised what was going on. Everyone in the booth laughed, and Sophia laughed, too!! My first goal for Osaka Con was to make Sophia laugh, and I succeeded perfectly from the beginning! From 1 o'clock, I had already fulfilled all my goals for Osaka Con and was the happiest I've ever been. At first she covered her face with both hands, just like the pose on my paper, but soon she put one hand to her chest and acted surprised. I held the ring with two hands because my hands were shaking so badly. As I was getting up to leave, Sophia asked me anxiously, "Is it okay my face is covered?" She was an angel… I said "It's ok!" and said, "See you later, Sophia!" before leaving. Because I had Sophia's autograph and duo tickets! +_+ Then she replied, 'You mean Sylvie, right? You will be Sylvie later,' and I was thrilled that she remembered! So I said, "Yes of course! I love you Sophia!" and I came out and fell on a desk and couldn't move for a while because I was so happy. I never expected to be able to spend so much time with you, Sophia, and thank you for being so generous with your fans and saying so many sweet and beautiful things. Thank you so much for fulfilling my request for a fun photo shoot. I still can't believe it, it was a dream. I can't thank you all enough, I love you so much. I'll definitely come back to see you again!!!

[buttercups-song]

Alright, so I’ve seen a couple of hot takes that there is no queerbaiting in the Loki show (and what’s even funnier that mcu has never queerbaited) because Loki is canonically queer… and like… alright so there’s no queerbaiting in spn because technically speaking cas is queer? Queerbaiting is a marketing strategy so even if we ignore what’s in the show, the chemistry between actors and some truly insane acting choices, the Loki show is queerbaiting because of how it was marketed, and especially how the first season was marketed. Before the show aired we were told that Loki was going to have multiple love interests, we were told that sophia di martino was playing loki (and told so in a way that suggested that she was playing ‘our’ loki). There is a part of the soundtrack that is literally named ‘lokius’. Even before this season started airing the marketing heavily focused on the relationship between Loki and mobius, reassuring us that Our Loki would be with Our mobius.

And alright I’ll give them that they confirmed that loki is bi/pan in episode three and let’s ignore that the confirmation was two seconds long, pretty vague, had no impact on the plot nor characters and wasn’t mentioned ever again. Ok. Fine. Honestly my much bigger gripe is with how they handled Loki’s gender.

Which is to say that they fucked up. Despite Loki being gender-fluid in the comics and despite how the show was marketed, the text of the show heavily suggests that both our Loki and Sylvie are cis. Ok so the arrest report in the credit says: “sex: fluid”. Which is completely different from saying (and showing) that Loki is gender-fluid. What is shown in the show (or rather in the credits, which let’s be real almost no one bothers to read) is that Loki’s sex is fluid… which yes he’s a shapeshifter. That’s not representation, they don’t say that Loki is trans, the fans can read it that way, but disney doesn’t have to fear backlash from conservatives because Loki in the show is not gender-fluid, he’s a shapeshifter (who doesn’t shapeshift for some reason). Sylvie literally says that she was born a “goddess of mischief”, every single other Loki is shocked by the idea of a ‘female version’ of them. It’s supposed to be a #girlboss moment but it’s not! It reads like every Loki is a (cis) man! And sure you can have a head canon that they’re shocked that Sylvie is exclusively presenting as a woman, or that Sylvie is not cis but obviously was born a goddess. But that’s not what’s in the text. From episode one when talking about the variant they’re hunting everyone in the tva uses ‘he’ pronoun when referring to them. Why? All they know is that they’re hunting a loki, so if Loki is gender-fluid (or even if their ‘sex is fluid’ as referred to in the show) why assume that the variant they’re looking for is a he? (Probably for the extremely obvious plot twist when Sylvie shows up). I’m actually so mad about this, gender-fluid representation is so rare and they took a canonically gender-fluid character and did what?

There’s so much queerbaiting in the show! And they know what they’re doing! It’s not a coincidence that they’re leaning so much into loki and mobius’ banter! It’s not a coincidence that in the First episode (!) of season two we get a scene in which Loki before pruning himself goes “if I don’t make it back, I…” which is meant to sound like a beginning of a confession! Which was a beginning of a confession last season when it was directed towards sylvie! It’s almost exactly the same scene! But let’s be real, he probably was going to say something like: “if I don’t make it back, find sylvie”.

Why are we still getting this treatment in 2023? (because it clearly pays well) If they didn’t want to give us good queer rep, why market it as such? Loki is queer in the comics, he wasn’t canonically queer in the movies (despite the immaculate vibes). They could have left it alone. I’m sure that many people still would have shipped Loki and mobius because of the incredible chemistry between actors and (let’s be real) that just how fandoms work, but that wouldn’t count as queerbaiting, because again that’s a marketing strategy.

[lokiinmediasideblog]

Thor + Balder=Marvel!Thor (3/3)

I have not watched TLAT and don't plan to do so. So I won't take that into consideration. Also, note I have read a small percentage of Thor comics and have a preference for those that have Loki on them (especially if Loki isn't "just evil").

Marvel!Thor's Similarities to Balder:

In the MCU, Loki kills him and he comes back to life. In the comics, Marvel!Thor and Marvel!Loki have a Cain and Abel dynamic. In the mythology, Balder dies when Loki hands a mistletoe arrow to the blind god Hodr (and Balder's twin brother) to shoot at the "indestructible" Balder in a game where everyone was throwing things at Balder for the lulz.

All of Asgard loves him and acts like he's perfect. In the MCU, Thor's friends are loyal to him no matter what he did. They are ready to try to unbanish him right away despite Thor nearly starting a war. In a large portion of the comics, it gets quite annoying how often and constantly Thor is being praised. I find myself eye-rolling so often. In the mythology, Balder is "the fairest of the Gods" and everyone loves him, and Frigga goes around making everyone and even fucking plants and rocks swear oaths to never harm Balder. Of course, she forgets a sprig of mistletoe. When Balder dies, they try to bring him back by making everything cry for him, but the giantess Thokk (believed to be Loki in disguise) refuses.

Considered to have been influenced by Jesus. Balder dies and comes back after Ragnarok to the new world. It's believed the Christian Snorri altered Balder for his purposes. The Thor (2011) movie was originally approached by writer Mike Protosevich with the intention of turning an Old Testament God into a new Testament God. MCU!Thor dies protecting a town and comes back to life after proving himself worthy (Fun fact, it was originally going to be set in the Middle Ages not 2011 NM but for budget reasons this was changed).

Not as hot-headed or bloodthirsty as myth!Thor. I consider Marvel!Thor to be an amalgam of myth!Balder and myth!Thor personality-wise.

Marvel!Thor is often compared to the sun despite being a storm god, and Balder is the god of Light. Thor's sunny disposition came from myth!Balder. It's my belief that had Balder a cooler/less Jesus-like title than "God of Light", Marvel would have Balder comics and not Thor comics.

MCU-specific: Frigga is his biological mother. In neither comics or mythology is Frigga Thor's mother. She's Balder's mother. And the closest thing to a Balder in the MCU is Thor.

Prophetic dreams of bad things to come. In AoU, MCU!Thor dreams of Asgard's ruin. In the Norse myths, Balder dreams of his own death, which prompts Frigga to seek oaths from EVERYTHING that they won't harm Balder (making him invincible) but forgets a sprig of mistletoe for being "too young".

An example of the convenient narrative bullshit I consider to be "Balder-like" in Marvel Thor (on par with "everything cried for Balder except evil Loki"):

Marvel!Thor's Similarities to Thor (They were basically added to make the Marvel amalgam "edgier" and "manlier"):

Hammer. The main difference is that in the myths the ability to lift the hammer is due to some gloves and a belt Thor outfits himself with. It has nothing to do with whatever Odin considers "worthy."

War-mongerer tendencies- In Thor 1 MCU!Thor nearly starts a war over an insult and kills some Jotuns along the way. In the myths, Myth!Thor's favorite past time was smashing things into puree with Mjolnir, especially Jotnar (mass murder was his favorite hobby). The comics are weird, and there's so many runs I feel weird making a broad generalization. But most of them have problematic elements because they'll portray Asgard as always good if they were written before a certain year/decade.

Uses physical violence for intimidation. In the beginning of TR, Thor threatened to bash Loki's skull in after finding out Loki survived. The comics show him casually manhandling or beating the shit out of Loki for a variety of reasons(sometimes warranted, sometimes not). In the myths, Thor is sicced after Jotnar and Loki on various occassions, and it ends up badly for the the Jotnar and Loki.

Anger management issues. See above examples.

Reacts very badly to insult. In the MCU, he nearly starts a war over being called "princess." In the mythology, he is rather pissed off about having to wear a dress and pretend to be Freyja.

Myth!Thor and Marvel!Thor differences:

Thor is respected/feared in the myths but he's not as charismatic as the Marvel version. He's not the one even the fucking rocks cried for to bring back from Hel. That's a Balder trait added onto Thor. Whereas in the comics, even Marvel!Balder is whining about how he's not as strong/perfect as Marvel!Thor.

Myth!Thor is crueler. Marvel softened him up (and it was pretty clear they would have picked Balder had he a cooler title).

Obligatory Thor is a red-head in the mythology.

Thor's hammer in myths was given to him by Loki who made a wager with some dwarves to restore Sif's hair and bring gifts to the Aesir/Vanir. Lifting it is also not dependent on worthiness, but on a powerbelt and some gloves. In Marvel, the hammer usually existed before Thor and Loki (unless it's a Norse-inspired run like Loki (2010)).

Thor's biological mother isn't Frigga in the mythology or comics, but she is in the MCU.

Myth!Thor in a nutshell^^^

Lazy Citations

This may not be as thorough because I don't have the energy to go through all the comics.

Previous parts of this post series:

[timeagainreviews]

From Page to Screen: The Star Beast

Growing up can feel like a lifelong process. I’m an adult, but I’m obsessed with a time-travelling alien show. Part of you will always feel like a kid, but another part knows the past is the past. While I may fantasise about revisiting my past like the Doctor, I admit it wouldn’t feel the same. I’ve changed. The ‘80s could never feel like the present. Every hairdo dated. Every new record in the shop window is a relic. Childhood always stays with you, but as an ever further memory. Understand then the implication that when my household of 30-40-somethings finished watching “The Star Beast,” we were like children.

In my “The Eve of the 60th,” article, I talked about how I don’t have a childhood nostalgia for Doctor Who. But sometimes, the things we love inspire a childlike enthusiasm within us. Somehow, Russell T Davies managed to retcon my past. In this timestream, Natalie has childhood nostalgia for Doctor Who. Using the TARDIS, RTD has managed to time travel back to our hearts. There’s something warm and fuzzy (and I don’t just mean the Meep) in my chest and I’d like to talk about it.

There are some Doctor Who reviewers who seem to think it’s impossible to talk about the Doctor Who episodes they enjoyed. But if we learned anything from the Jedi, it’s that walking the path of the light side is harder. Snarky shittiness is fun to partake in because it’s easy and immediately gratifying. But I’m not here for shittiness. I’m here for the love. It feels so good to say “I loved The Star Beast,” but it doesn’t mean I don’t have notes. I started out writing about the Chibnall era from a place of enthusiasm. I can’t help what happened after the fact.

My enthusiasm at the beginning of the Chibnall era isn’t a bad place to start this review. Because after “The Woman Who Fell to Earth,” I still possessed said enthusiasm. Seeing Jodie Whittaker as the first woman Doctor was a joyous experience. And seeing David Tennant in the TARDIS again was just as joyful. It’s a fabulous feeling, but I was burned the last time I felt this way. I further temper my expectations because, as I said, I do have notes.

When you spend a large portion of your time either watching, listening, reading, writing, or thinking about Doctor Who, you forget that to some, it’s just a TV show. It’s one of the many they try and watch but miss the odd episode. So while I may roll my eyes at the goofy PowerPoint presentation at the beginning of Saturday’s episode, I have to remind myself that not everyone has been obsessed with Donna Noble for years. Some people might need a little reminder. Fine. While the casuals and newbies are getting caught up on the Nobles, I’ll be over in the corner frothing.

Previously I mentioned that I was withholding judgement for Murry Gold’s new intro music until I heard the full mix. Now that I’ve heard it I can say I liked it much better. It’s far more bombastic with proper engineering. The intro sequence itself was colourful but safe. I enjoyed watching the TARDIS skim the perimeters of the time vortex like a surfer catching a wave. It’s ironic that Dan Slott admitted to writing The Silver Surfer to be like Doctor Who, as it was the Silver Surfer I thought of during this sequence. People have been musing that the Disney influence may have Doctor Who going down the path of the MCU, but this one is pure coincidence. The intro is stunning and fits this exciting new era perfectly.

It’s not as though “The Star Beast,” were an adaptation of a Marvel comic published in 1980. Oh it was? Oh right. Well they got us on this one! Surely they wouldn’t copy the MCU further by hiring the directors of Loki. Oh they have? Oh right. Well at least they didn’t do a Marvel Studios type of production logo that shows different characters across the franchise to play before every new show. Oh they did? Well damn, I guess they are going Marvel. It makes sense when you consider that many people said Loki was doing Doctor Who better than Doctor Who was doing Doctor Who. And on top of that, “The Star Beast,” is a fantastic comic in its own right. I would say Russell T Davies is a mad genius for mining gems from the extended Whoniverse, but he’s done it before with “Human Nature.” My only regret is that this somewhat undoes the continuity of the comics. The nerd in me can’t help but acknowledge the fact that the same comic recently canonically destroyed the Thirteenth Doctor’s sonic screwdriver, and put the Fourteenth Doctor on course to Skaro where we saw him briefly in the Children in Need special. Timestreams.

“The Time Beast,” has now gone the way of “Shada.” Both stories take place across multiple Doctors and multiple forms of media. Not only is there an audio adaptation of Shada featuring Paul McGann, there’s also an audio adaptation of The Star Beast starring Tom Baker. Add the upcoming Target novelisation and you’ll soon have both stories in book form. It’s the fandom’s new “The Doctor’s Daughter was played by the Doctor’s daughter who then went on to marry the Doctor who played her father in the episode ‘The Doctor’s Daughter.’” Get ready to hear that ad nausea. All of this is to say I love when Doctor Who acknowledges its other media and this one was well played.

This adaptation of the Pat Mills and Dave Gibbons comic is a loose one. While the Meep and Wrarth Warriors look fantastic, some minor liberties have been taken with the story. Yet it’s hard not to admire how Russell T Davies has woven the Noble family and a narrative about gender identity in such a way that it feels seamless. Themes of duality and stereotyping are heavy throughout this episode. Speaking of gender identity, I totally called it with Rose’s choice of name. I said I hoped they would use the trans experience of choosing ones own name to tell a wibbly wobbly timey wimey story, and they did. But this also brings me to my biggest sticking point in the entire episode. I’ve seen a lot of people online using the word “clunky,” and that’s exactly what I would call it. Having Rose choose her name from a latent human/Time Lord meta-crisis going on inside her was great. However, having it be a factor in her gender identity left me a bit cold. It may have worked better if it had been implied that Rose was non-binary at some point before.

Ultimately, it feels like a cis male trying to write an empowering trans narrative and missing the mark a bit. It’s like your uncle using the wrong language to awkwardly say “I support you.” It’s in no way problematic, but it could have done with being passed through a few different trans people’s hands before going into production. Donna’s line "Anyone has a go, I will be there and I will descend,” is the Doctor Who equivalent of David Lynch telling transphobes to “fix their hearts of die,” and I want it on a pin. As a trans woman, I do appreciate the trans representation, but it didn’t quite stick the landing. Moving forward, my personal preference would be to just let trans characters exist. We don’t need you to constantly point out our differences. On the other hand, we did get what seems like very positive disability representation. My disabled Whovian friends all seem to agree that having Shirley Anne Bingham with her rocket chair and a wheelchair-accessible TARDIS made them feel seen. One out of two ain’t so bad, Russell. 

It’s funny to me that it took the Doctor becoming a man again to even start asking questions about gender. Chris Chibnall felt as though he was afraid of bringing up the Doctor’s new gender. It felt very “I don’t see colour, I just see people,” like mentioning the Doctor’s gender would have been the real sexism. I can think of three moments where the Doctor’s gender comes up in the Chibnall era- when the Doctor called herself daddy, when Captain Jack thought Graham was the Doctor, and when the Sontarans thought the Doctor was a companion. It wasn’t until Juno Dawson, a trans woman, wrote “The Good Doctor,” did we get a great conversation about the Doctor’s non-binary nature. I guess “The Star Beast,” was right, trans people are fucking magic.

Seeing David Tennant in his new threads with a sonic screwdriver that draws shields in the air was very cool. He and Catherine Tate haven’t missed a step, and of course, they haven’t, they’ve been playing the same characters on Big Finish for years. But people still felt the need to point it out, so here’s me doing it too. That’s quality. Their meeting again played out almost exactly as I predicted it would in my article “The Future of Doctor Who.” The Doctor is going to see Donna behind some packages, freak out when he realises it’s her, but come running like a puppy dog at the name “Rose.” Only in this instance, the Doctor is torn away from this intriguing discovery by what appears to be an alien craft crashlanding in London. Donna, of course, remained oblivious, as per the terms and conditions of the the Doctor’s neural block he placed on her 14 years ago.

This “new” Doctor prefers to play things close to his chest at first. He avoids Donna and UNIT alike. He still doesn’t know why he has this face again, or why out of all the people in time and space, the TARDIS decided to put that face in front of Donna Noble. If there is a reason, he’s not going to assume what it is, or who might be responsible. I loved watching the Doctor question Shaun about Donna. The fact that the Doctor still remembers the name Nerys after hundreds of years made me laugh out loud. It’s nice to see the Doctor being Doctory. He’s skulking around. He’s getting clues. He’s not making assumptions. Already he’s learned that the rocket hadn’t crashed. Something is not as it seems, and the Doctor intends to find out what.

Meanwhile, on the other side of town we meet Fudge who tells Rose about the alien space pod that landed near their houses. Fudge is one of the few characters who kept his name from the comic. They don’t even call the Meep "Beep" anymore (sort of.) As in the comics, Fudge is an excitable boy interested in science and space. He also plays a major part in helping the episode feel like classic Davies era stuff. One thing we often missed from both the Moffat and Chibnall era was the human cost of alien invasion. Watching Fudge’s reaction to the streets of London turning molten was a nice reminder that the danger was real. Seeing the BBC news correspondant being thrown into the back of a UNIT van made me happier than you might expect. I was reminded of Trinity Wells giving us news briefs. I missed the clever ways in which Davies made the world feel involved in his stories while also getting a bit of exposition out of it. It was at that moment that I realised RTD and Doctor Who were officially back. 

While going back to the house to grab her phone, Rose meets the Meep hiding amongst her bins. Right away she feels kinship to the Meep who she sees as a misanthrope hiding from oppressors. Of course, she gives the Meep sanctuary. Even though the E.T. moment of Donna discovering the Meep among Rose’s “gonks,” had been played over and over throughout the trailer, it still made me laugh. Catherine Tate has great comedic timing, and watching Rose attempt to draw her attention away was charming. Everyone but Shaun seems hellbent on hiding aliens from Donna, especially Sylvia. I found Sylvia’s transition into a sort of June Whitfield à la Ab Fab entertaining. She’s just let herself in making enormous sausage rolls and tuna curry.

The Doctor says things like “I absolutely love her,” now. Even Sylvia feels warmer toward Donna. Her insistence that the Meep doesn’t exist, even as its holding onto Donna’s leg doesn’t come from her old streak of meanness, but rather from a place of protection. She’s horrified by the prospect of Donna seeing an alien and it burning up her mind. She’s carried the facade this long. This falls into line with the character growth she began experiencing toward the end of the original RTD run and I am happy she didn’t regress.

Most of the Donna Noble story remains in tact and accounted for. Shaun? Still her husband. The lottery winnings? Gave it away. Nerys? Still a snake in the grass, despite the accident. The only one missing is Wilf who the Doctor fears is dead. Honestly, who can blame him though? The only times people say “He’s no longer with us,” are usually when someone has either left their job or died. I guess it’s a nice fakeout for people who didn’t see behind-the-scenes photos from some guy on Twitter. We are given hints that we’ll see him at some point, probably in “The Giggle.” I liked the implication that UNIT has put him up in some comfortable digs. It’s nice to imagine that Wilf and Benton are probably playing chess in a posh retirement home somewhere.

UNIT is back in a major way, and it appears to have some new players. I feel like we’ll see more of Major Singh and Colonel Chan. It would be nice to get some recurring UNIT soldiers again. I feel like they missed a chance with Ross Jenkins in “The Poison Sky.” Kate Stewart is set to return, but replacing Osgood is Shirley Anne Bingham. I loved Osgood, but after seeing Shirley take those soldiers out with darts hidden in her chair I thought “Oh no, I think I fancy her.” She’s got a mischievous air about her that makes her feel a bit cheeky. It will be a lot of fun to see what Ruth Madeley brings to the table. I hope they don’t shunt her off as quickly as the rest of them. 

After a daring escape through the lofts of several people’s homes, the Doctor and the Noble-Temples escort the Meep to safety. But after witnessing the Wrarth Warriors’ tendency toward non-lethal force, the Doctor begins to piece together who might have taken over the minds of Colonel Chan and his men. The Doctor decides it’s time for the Meep to plead its case in the court of a parking garage. After gathering two Wrarth Warriors as witnesses, the Doctor dons a barrister’s wig and invokes Shadow Proclamation Protocols 15, P and 6. And dammit wasn’t it good to hear David Tennant invoke the Shadow Proclamation again? Blissful, even.

One thing I particularly liked about the barrister’s wig is that it calls back to the Fourth Doctor in one of my favourite stories- “The Stones of Blood.” Not only was it good to see the Fourth Doctor referenced in what was originally a Fourth Doctor story, but it also mirrors the circumstances of the original trial quite well. In both cases, an evil villain is posing as a harmless innocent and it’s on the Doctor to prove it. Like the black sun of the comics, a Psychedelic sun turned Meepkind into hideously evil monsters. Their once gentle natures now give way to sadism and conquest. The last remaining Meep, the worst of them all, stands before us today. If you had read the comic book like I did, you would have known this to be true, but up until the reveal, my wife would have died for the Meep. She was mostly alone in this as everyone else saw the Meep’s “I will either die or turn evil,” t-shirt quite early on. Interestingly, some people were actually drawn in by the Meep’s lies.

Casting off its ruse, the Meep’s face contorts as it produces a laser gun from its marsupial pouch. I absolutely love the transition from Puss In Boots to Dr Evil’s cat. The marriage of CGI and practical effects had me wondering how they managed the change. I imagine they had two separate sculpts for the head. One cutesy floof and one twisted grin. I know it’s difficult work, but I love an old fashioned person in a costume. It was cool to get a glimpse into the performance with the Cicely Fay interview on Doctor Who Unleashed. As a person interested in practical effects, this was right up my alley. It’s nice to see that no matter how big Doctor Who gets, they’ll still use a performer in a suit.

The Meep takes the Doctor and company back to its ship to keep them as an in-flight meal. But before the Meep can get them all on the ship, UNIT intercepts leaving only the Doctor and Donna onboard. It’s up to them to stop the Meep before the ship’s dagger drive takes out 9 million Londoners upon lift-off. Evoking the MCU once again, the Doctor deprograms Donna like she’s the Winter Soldier or Black Widow calming the Hulk. The code awakens the Doctor Donna which causes her to exhaust artron energy. We get another classic David Tennant yells at God moment as yet another member of the Noble family is separated by glass. But just as things begin to feel hopeless we learn that not only is Donna not dead, but Rose is also part human and part Time Lord. Using her brief taste of Time Lord consciousness, Rose fully disables the Meep’s ship and the molten cracks from the dagger drive powering up disappear. This was so cheesy and I adored it. Classic RTD right there.

A recurring argument I see in favour of Chris Chibnall is to point out how people often complain about things the Thirteenth Doctor does that other Doctors also did. According to this theory, every Doctor has their own “giving a brown man up to the Nazis,” moment. You know, kind of like when the Eleventh Doctor murdered Solomon by teleporting a bomb onto his ship as he was escaping. He could have teleported the bomb anywhere but chose murder. Who was it that wrote “Dinosaurs on a Spaceship,” again? Chris Chibnall? Oh. We do get a bit of that here with the Fourteenth Doctor ejecting the Meep from its ship. But the Meep was refusing to know when it was beaten. It’s the Sycorax all over again- no second chances. It’s dumb to call the Doctor a pacifist, but is it better that the Twelfth Doctor pushed the Half-Faced Man in “Deep Breath,” or that he talked him into jumping? These are some pretty heavy concepts, but no, the Nazi thing was still worse.

I was glad to see the human/Time Lord meta-crisis taken care of in this first story. It’s nice that Donna is out of the woods and able to have some final adventures with the Doctor before she bows out again. It would have been kind of distracting for them to have to keep worrying about her mind burning every time someone said the word Doctor. It also allows us to fully enjoy the TARDIS reveal. Watching David Tennant run through the slick new interior like a little boy was euphoric. It was cute to get confirmation that even the Doctor has a moment of discovery whenever there is a new console. You always assume the Doctor just knows how to pilot any configuration of TARDIS controls, but even he sometimes has to ask “What’s that?” The TARDIS redesign was well worth the wait. Such a gorgeous set. It’s easily my second favourite TARDIS interior after the Eighth Doctor’s. The changing colour of the round things will offer so many different moods. White for normal function, red for the cloister bell, and purple for the disco party. The Doctor should get some roller skates now. Maybe if they visit the ‘70s at some point. I pray there’s a mirror ball.

Along with a possible mirror ball, the new TARDIS console comes decked with a coffee machine. If you’ll recall “The Doctor’s Wife,” the TARDIS doesn’t always take the Doctor where he wants to go, but always takes him where he needs to be. This means that the TARDIS dropped the Doctor off next to Donna, redecorated knowing about Donna’s tendency toward spilling coffee on computers, and offers her a cup of coffee. That’s some 3-D chess there, old girl. But wherever it is she was so keen to take them in “The Wild Blue Yonder,” she seems as equally keen to escape. From some of the stills I've seen, I wonder if it isn't some sort of evil TARDIS they've found themselves inside.

Judging by Davies' past penchant for planting the seeds of future stories across multiple seasons, it may be a while before we meet the Meep's cryptic boss. Will this boss have anything to do with the woman in Dubai who is gaga over Rose's gonks? Was that just a red herring? Perhaps this boss is actually the Toymaker and I'm overthinking it. But why would he be interested in two-hearted creatures? Is he searching for two-hearted species to track down the Doctor for some revenge? I have so many questions! As wonderful as it is to be curious about Doctor Who again, we'll still have to wait until next week. But the longer wait is over. Doctor Who is back, and isn’t that exciting?

[shiningshenanigans]

When Sacrifice No Longer Feels Loving: Raw, Messy, Emotional Thoughts on Loki Season 2

It’s been a little over two weeks since the season 2 finale of Loki came out, and although it’s been pretty much all I’ve been able to think about lately, I haven’t really been able to put my thoughts into words. And I have a lot of thoughts. I need to get them out of my system, and I’ve tried to write them down on multiple occasions, but every time I do, they keep getting stuck on the way out.   

So, I’ve decided to do something different. Rather than trying to analyze the series critically, I’m going to just start writing about how it made me feel, and see where it takes me. I’m not really sure what’s going on in my heart and mind as I reflect on this story, but I have a vague idea of the truth that it’s tapping into. Fair warning: these thoughts are going to get very Christian-y and preachy, so if the gospel is not your thing, I don’t know how much sense this post will make. But, if you’ve been having a similar experience with the season and care to read, I hope that you find some encouragement and truth in these messy, emotionally honest thoughts!

When I try to sum up how I feel about season 2 as a whole, the only word that really comes to mind is “upset.” I’m just upset about it. The morning after the finale aired, I woke up with a deep, hollow pit of sadness in my stomach. I broke down crying a couple of times over the next few days just thinking about certain scenes in episodes 5 and 6, and I couldn’t rewatch the finale for almost a week. 

Is it weird to feel this kind of grief over something as simple as a TV show? Yeah, probably. But I think that’s kind of the point. I’d been looking forward to the release of this season for two years. Without getting too personal, I’ve recently been through one of the hardest years of my life. Just this year, I’ve gone to two funerals for people that I grew up with, been in a car crash, faced rejection in a relationship that I had grown emotionally attached to, and mourned with my community as we experienced one of the most tragic shootings in our country's history. The release of Loki season 2 had become a little bright spot in my 2023; something to look forward to in all the madness. 

When the first season came out, I remember being overcome by how good it was. It was wacky, and sweet, and funny, and sad, and redemptive all at once. Even in its darkest moments, there seemed to be a thread of hope that ran through the series from beginning to end. Over the years it had become a comfort show, a beautiful piece of art that offered me encouragement when I needed a pick-me-up. Because if a comic book super villain with a long history of screwing his life up can change his ways, make new friends, fall in love, find meaningful work, stand up to his oppressors, and ultimately write his own destiny, then gosh darnit, so can I. 

My roommate and I invited our friends over, every Thursday night for six weeks, to watch the new episodes as they premiered. Our watch parties started off full of excitement and anticipation. I even made key lime pie for us the first couple of times, which was a big hit. But as the weeks wore on, and the episodes started to spiral deeper into tragedy, our post-watch conversations became more full of questions and complaints than anything. When the credits rolled on the finale, we sat in an almost mournful silence, watching the screen, waiting with baited breath to see if there would be a post-credits scene. There wasn’t one. You could almost feel a sense of dread fall over the room. That’s it. That’s all they’re going to give us. That’s how they’ve decided to end the story. 

I think the first words that were uttered when the Disney Plus screen finally popped up were, “I hate Marvel,” before we all began to voice how we felt.  

I can honestly say this has been one of the weirdest, strongest emotional reactions to a piece of media that I’ve ever had. It’s genuinely felt like I’ve been going through the five stages of grief over this show, but the grief isn’t just stemming from the inherent sadness of the story. I’m also grieving the show itself; what it’s become, how it was handled by the people it was entrusted to, and the knowledge that there will likely not be another season to redeem it. I feel angry, unseen and unloved by the writers who set up everything over the course of six episodes to ensure that the finale was as heartbreaking as possible. 

At the same time, however, I can’t say that I hated it. A part of me knows that the reason it’s affecting me so deeply is because it’s so well-made. Art doesn’t grip you this much unless it’s objectively good. There are legitimate critiques of the story/filmmaking that I could make and a lot of people already have. The temptation to scoff and say “Michael Waldron wouldn’t have done it this way” and turn all my excitement towards Secret Wars is very strong, but that just seems like misplacing my hope. Underneath all the sadness and the frustration, there’s also a layer of confusion. Am I supposed to be feeling this way? Is this what the writers of this show wanted me to feel all along? And if so, why? What are they trying to say through this story?  

I don’t normally mind stories with tragic endings, so long as I can understand the purpose behind them. I remember feeling similarly unsettled when I finished the first season of Arcane, wondering what the point of it all was. But after a little bit of analysis and reflection, I could see how the tragedy was fitting; how the characters choices had led to the ending and the cautionary tale it was trying to tell me. Even in the tragedy, it was still good. I’ve also learned to love the grief that comes with watching a character make a heroic sacrifice for those he loves. I think of Tony Stark in Avengers: Endgame, Janner in The Wingfeather Saga, or Stoick in How To Train Your Dragon 2. All these deaths are heartbreaking and painful to watch, but there’s a certain beauty to them too, and you can feel the goodness and love in their sacrifices.

This one is different, though. Something about this one feels wrong. Something about this one feels deeply, inherently, not good. And analysis is only making it worse. 

I’m having a really hard time seeing the beauty in the sacrifice that Loki makes at the end of season 2. This story wasn’t supposed to end in tragedy. It was supposed to be a reversal of tragedy. A second chance for a beloved character (one who has already sacrificed himself for love on multiple occasions) to finally receive some kind of reward instead of punishment.

To end the series the way the writers did feels almost like a stab in the back, a betrayal if you will, of all the hope and joy and restoration that the first season promised. I guess adopted children who are abandoned at birth really are destined to be alone forever, no matter how much love they have to give. I guess villains can’t find redemption, and even if they do, they will not escape eternal punishment for their sins. I guess quarrels between brothers (or lovers) can’t be resolved, and every relationship we cherish is doomed to fall apart eventually. I guess young women like me, who are strong and independent because we’ve had to be, are not worth pursuing, and we should be content with our middle-management jobs and casual friendships as if that is the peak of human existence. I guess we should embrace isolation and selfishness after all. I guess true love doesn’t really exist, and we should walk away from any semblance of it before it makes us bleed.

Bummer. 

The night after we watched the finale, I drove a couple of my friends home. On the drive back, I could feel the sadness of the story aching in my gut. I thought specifically about Sylvie, and how unsatisfied I felt with where the story left her. I’ve always connected with her as a character, and I hated the way she had been sidelined throughout the season. Every week, I had tuned in hoping I would see some kind of reconciliation between her and Loki. I just wanted some kind assurance that she loved him back, that they would somehow end up together in the end. One kiss, one hug, just… one conversation, for heaven’s sake. One apology from either side. One confession of love. But six episodes and it never came. Their relationship wasn’t even addressed. It was reduced to subtext, as if it wasn’t the back bone that Michael Waldron built his original pitch off of back before 2021.  

I thought about the way she shrugged and smiled when Mobius asked her what she was going to do next, and it just irked me. Why didn’t they tell us what her plans were? Why didn’t they give us some kind of clue? It seemed so obvious to me what she should do. She should make good use of her Tempad and go be with Loki. How could she just walk away, knowing everything he just sacrificed for her? Do people really think she could just… go back to her life after that, with so many things left unsaid between them? If she really does love him, how could she? How could she go through life, knowing that the truest love she’s ever experienced is lightyears away, always watching, always with her, but unable to be physically present with her in a mortal, tangible way? It sounded like such a sad, lonely fate and my heart broke for both Sylvie and Loki as I thought about it.  

But then it dawned on me: wait a second… isn’t that what it’s like to be a Christian? Isn’t that the reality I’m living every day, as Christ’s bride? The weight of that realization was so heavy I almost had to pull over on the side of the road because I couldn’t breath. My savior loves me more than anything. He gave up everything for me, just like Loki did for Sylvie. I don’t even know how many rounds he went with the enemy on that cross, just to bargain for my soul. And what do I do about it? I shrug it off with a smile. I forget about it until it’s convenient. I go back to my job, my house, my car, my record store, as if every second of my life hasn’t been paid for by the blood, sweat, and tears of a God who just wants me to be ok. As if I could ever fool myself into believing a life without Him is enough for me. 

As if I shouldn’t be fighting like hell to get back to Him. As if love so amazing, so divine, doesn’t demand my life, my soul, my all. Just so you know, I teared up again writing that last paragraph.

A lot of people have pointed out the parallels that can be made between Loki and Sylvie and Adam and Eve. The comparison really does work in a lot of ways. A perfect likeness, a counterpart created for a lonely man because “it is not good that the man should be alone” (Genesis 2:18). One flesh, two halves of a whole. Equals, balancing and complementing each other perfectly. A couple chosen by a higher power to rule the universe with authority. There’s something edenic about that scene where they snuggle in the grass under that blanket together: a man and a woman, wrapped up in a garden of green, completely unguarded and vulnerable with each other. The man promises the woman his protection, and the woman shyly offers him her trust and thanks in return. 

When they make it to the Citadel at the End of Time, their parting echoes deeply of the fall. The serpent (He Who Remains) sows seeds of distrust between them, knowing full-well that they are stronger together and could easily overpower him if they remain united. The two halves are torn apart and turn on one another. The woman, in her thirst for freedom, takes control of the situation, and the man fails in his duty to stop her. Free will is unleashed into the world, and with it comes consequence and chaos and danger.         

If season 1 can be read as the journey from the garden to the fall, season 2 reads more like the journey from the fall to the cross. Chaos and confusion, spiraling slowly towards death and destruction. Constant distrust between the man and the woman, between God and his bride. An inability to reconcile, to fix what’s been broken. The citadel goes from being Eden to being Gethsemane. When every other option has been tried and all hope is lost, Loki returns to the moment of the fall and pleads with his love, over and over again, to make a different choice. But she will not stop rebelling, even though it leads to her death every time. 

Unable to reason with her, Loki confronts He Who Remains to bargain for her life. But there’s no option that doesn’t end in bloodshed. Loki must either kill Sylvie, the woman he loves, and go on committing genocide in HWR’s place. Or, he must break the temporal loom and let the chaos that ensues destroy all of reality. These, according to He Who Remains, are the only two choices. So Loki makes a third choice. Instead of sacrificing others for the multiverse, he makes a total sacrifice of himself. I think you can see where I’m going with this. 

It’s not lost on me how weird it is to compare Loki, a marvel super villain based off of a pagan norse god, to Jesus. But the crucifixion/ascension parallels here aren’t exactly subtle. Loki puts on a heavy crown, carries a great burden up a hill, and “dies” on a tree of all things, to save both the woman he loves and the group of friends he’s grown close with during his time at the TVA. His last words to his loved ones before he ascends are, “I know what kind of God I need to be, for you, for all of us.” When I think about the story in these parabolic terms, I’m almost overwhelmed by how much truth is woven into this mythology.  And yet, something about it still feels deeply unsettling to me. There’s still a piece missing that makes it feel more like a Greek tragedy than a Jewish parable. 

As they are, Loki Seasons 1 and 2 show me a reflection of the fall, the cross, and in some ways, the ascension of Jesus Christ. What they don’t show me is a picture of the resurrection. And any christian will tell you that the resurrection is the most vital part of the story (1 Corinthians 15:16-20). The series shows me sin and what it costs. They show me what is lost in sacrifice, but they don’t show me what is gained. The hero meets a fate worse then death, and is forced to remain there, alone, for all eternity. There are no tearful reunions at the tomb, no assurance that death has been defeated, no eucatastrophe. No curse reversed. God and man are forever separated, and for some reason that’s supposed to be beautiful, according to Marvel. It’s not. It’s a question mark, a gaping wound at the end of the story that offers no comfort. To live in that tension, that separation, in those three days between Christ’s death and his resurrection, is literally the most painful, most hopeless place for the human heart to dwell. But, maybe it’s a tension that we should sit in more often, so that we can appreciate the weight of what Christ did for us. 

The more I think about it, the more I realize that I don’t really hate season 2 of Loki. It’s a beautifully crafted piece of art, well-written (sort of) and well-acted, with gorgeous production design and a deep, meaningful story at its core. What I hate, with every fiber of my being, is the thought that that is where the story ends. That it’s supposed to end there. That this ending is good. As a Christian, I almost can’t accept it. Everything in me screams that there has to be more resolution beyond the credits of the finale. 

That, I think, is where all the pain swirling in my heart around this story is really coming from. And whether they know it or not, I think that’s where a lot of the Loki fandom’s pain is coming from right now. The gospel is so written into our DNA that it pours itself out into every mythology we try to create. We are so desperate for the reassurance that the resurrection is true, that when we get even the slightest hint that it might not be, it triggers our deepest, darkest anxieties. Nothing scares me more than the thought of being alone, separated from God, for all eternity. Not even death is scarier, or more tragic, than that. It is, by definition, hell. 

So yeah. Curse you, Marvel. Curse you for telling me a story that hurts like hell, and expecting me to just be ok with it. For giving me an ending that could never, in any reality, be satisfying or conclusive, and then trying to gaslight me into believing that it is. For ensuring that I will probably end up buying a ticket for both Secret Wars and Kang Dynasty (even though I’m really tired of superhero movies) just so that I can see if I’m right, that love really does win in the end. I don’t really have any kind of expectation that the next two Avengers movies are going to give me the closure I’m looking for. But I think I know where I can find it.  

As grieved as I am by the way Marvel handled this story, I’m also kind of amazed by the way its incompleteness is revealing to me the total, satisfying completeness of the gospel. Marvel can’t promise me that, at the end of time, the God of Stories will be reunited with his warring bride and live happily ever after in the presence of his inner circle. But the gospel does. And the hope that I find there is immeasurable.

[taraljc]

It's weird sometimes to look back at around this time in 2011, and writing crackfic with Loki and Darcy bonding over being adopted and him just like showing up in her apartment unannounced and the two of them watching How To Train Your Dragon. because, you know--crack.

There's an epic fuckton of me rambling about STUFF behind the Read More, about Thor, about Loki, and about the process of writing Simple, Not Easy and the delight of seeing where the characters have ended up in canon in the 10+ years since.

When I started writing Simple, Not Easy, all I had to build on was the Thor movie and the Avengers trailer and the comics. okay and the encouragement of folks on livejournal particularly from the Darcy community and the kinkmeme folks actually.

So yeah, my Loki killed people and was scary as fuck. But he also did things like bring the statues of Alice in Wonderland in Central Park to life to fight the Avengers just for the lolz.

But what's been interesting is seeing the Darcy and Loki that I saw in my head and whose speech patterns I had mimiced and wrote insane and silly and heartbreaking and stubbornly genuine appear in these little flashes in WandaVision and Loki.

There are just these little moments where I'm like you know what, I did a half-decent job, building off of not a heck of a lot, but still somehow being true to their voices.

that doesn't happen all the time. in fact it's pretty fucking rare to see the characters 10+ years later and still recognise them.

But that's part of why Thor is my favourite MCU movie. Because all of the characters are really strongly drawn with unique voices, and excellent storytelling where you knew who these people were from the first second they showed up on screen.

Like, specifically look at Jane Foster who is like 'look at him he'll be fine. you go take him to the hospital, I'll stay here and SCIENCE'. I mean we're not even getting into the part where you do not go out into the middle of the desert in New Mexico and drop somebody off in the middle of the night and then come back for them later because coyotes and coyotes and also other things but mostly coyotes.

But the biggest thing I love about the movie is that it's about ego death. It is only when Thor loses everything that he begins to genuinely change. And it's not because of Jane, or even midgard itself. It's because when Loki tells him that their father is dead and Frigga will not end his banishment, Thor accepts responsibility for his actions and it sets in that he has lost everything and that he deserved it for breaking the hardwon peace with Laufey because he has grown up on epic tales of his father's prowess as a warrior and completely missed what Odin was actually trying to teach him about the horrors of war.

The humility that he displays, the empathy, is completely new. Because the guy who was banished to Earth was banished for a very good reason--he was a complete douche canoe. Total spoiled dick and he wasn't ready to be king. He really wasn't, and the way Loki went about trying to prove that was the worst possible way he could have and everything rapidly spiraled out of his control until it became something too big and it began controlling him instead of him controlling it.

But at the same time you have Loki also going through a form of ego death because he finds out that not only is he not who he thought he was he's not what he thought he was. He's not even a person, according to the way that the æsir view jötnar. and you know that internalised self-hatred is on its own pretty dangerous but when you weaponise it and decide to commit genocide then yes it's absolutely right for your father to be like WHAT THE FUCK because he saw everything. I don't think Loki really processed the fact that his dad saw absolutely everything he had done up to an including Thor's death at the hands of the Destroyer and it was only by accepting that he had treated his brother pretty much like shit and bore some responsibility for what was going on and then sacrificing himself for others that made Thor worthy.

And that's what the series is giving Loki the chance to discover: what it's like to act selflessly. He genuinely puts Sylvie's well-being above his own. He acknowledged the importance of the lives of all of the people in the TVA and his responsibility to them because of the results of his actions.

He's owning his shit. He's doing the work.

And as someone who spent a huge chunk of autumn 2011 writing Loki coming to a place where he was able to actually own his shit, and accept responsibility for his actions and even entertain the idea of change, it's really cool seeing that even though I took a vastly different road to get there, I was on the right track.

(and okay yeah like at least 50% of the story is also about Darcy and Clint figuring their shit out and then start banging like a screen door in a hurricane which obviously is not the way the movies went. But again I was working off of the 2 minutes of Clint Barton that's in Thor. To be fair, there's more character development for Clint Barton in those two minutes in Thor than there was in the entirety of the Avengers. and the only thing that actually redeemed bringing in the storyline from Ultimates to bring in his family just to fridge them was the way the Hawkeye series made them into real people instead of your average superhero tragic backstory.)

anyway I know that the current generation of Loki fans almost certainly have never heard of Simple, Not Easy and they sure as hell haven't read it and why would they? It's not cool or sexy or even particularly violent. It's ridiculous and cracky and has Loki shape shifting into a baby sloth and falling asleep while hugging a bottle of Goldschläger like a teddy bear.

But I had a moment, after the drunken singing on the train, where I thought yep. That's my Loki.

This moments are precious and rare and really freaking cool when they do come along.

[brsb4hls]

Long rant about Lokis sexual orientation and representation, comics- and show-wise:

Marvel comic fans please correct me if I am wrong btw, I haven't read everything and might have missed vital stuff!

Afaik Loki only came out as bi/pan in 'Young Avengers' which isn't that long ago and it's also ikol Loki, not classic Loki.

Classic Loki was never confirmed as anything other than straight, right? (If not, point me to it, I'd be hyped).

Loki being genderfluid started in 'Agent of Asgard.' Also fairly recent and the 'new' Loki.

(I'm not counting 'Lady Loki' since that was just body snatching for nefarious purposes).

And I do not recall Loki ever being in a relationship with a man or even kissing a man.

We see his ex lovers including different genders and species in the last 'pride' issue, but there is no story that connects to that.

I only remember female crushes and 'relationships' of sorts.

(Kid Loki and Leah, Loki and Amora in 'Axis', Zelma when Loki's sorcerer supreme. Classic Loki Sigyn of course and Lorelei).

So while the comics do pretty good in regards to Loki's genderfluidity (even including it in Thor issues, which usually have a different target audience), there is next to nothing in regards to his sexual orientation.

Only lip service. Just like in the show.

Just saying.

So what makes people think a Disney show would do better? Theres money involved folks! And a spoken line can be way easier ignored then a visual.

(Hence why things like onscreen kisses are actually important for representation, because in a heteronormative world a lot of people will not recognize a queer couple unless it is burnt into their retinas).

Loki is among the most popular MCU characters (somewhere in the top 10 I think).

He sells merch.

They probs use him as a literal deus ex machina in Avengers 6.

Making him kiss a dude on screen is basically burning money and will make Disney lose entire markets.

It's not that I'm happy about that, I would have loved to have that rumored montage at the beginning of season 1 visually confirming his bisexuality, but it didn't happen.

(Full disclosure, I am so not into Lokius, so for me it should have been another guy).

Heron had to fight for that one line and had Russell T. Davies make fun of it.

So if you actually want more representation, support independent shows.

Not saying you can't also enjoy the MCU, (I am on here doing that very openly and I try not to be a hypocrite), but it wont give you anything, no matter how hard you push.

This might be a bit depressing, but I am being realistic. There is more queer media now, but also more and more people complaining about it, because they cannot stand having the privilege of being the only ones catered to taken away from them.