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sheliesshattered · 7 months

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Sylki fic: When She Sings She Sings Come Home

Loki/Sylvie, 3200 words. Post s02e06 fix-it, angst with a happy ending. Also available on AO3 under the same title and username.

When She Sings She Sings Come Home

Sylvie wakes with Loki’s voice in her ears.

It’s been months since she last saw him, striding out to the Loom to save the timelines. Winter has come and gone, here in this little corner of a branch that she’s made her home. Every day that’s passed, she’s half expected to turn around and see him standing there, like that night he appeared in the parking lot next to her truck. But for months, there’s been nothing but the absence of him, growing larger and more crystalline every day.

She wakes with his voice in her ears, singing that ridiculous song from the train on Lamentis.

To Sylvie, everybody! he’d said, grinning at her, not drunk only too full. She would give anything to see him smile like that again. She would give anything to see him again.

And it isn’t that she hasn’t looked. Of course she had. She’d barely gotten through a single shift at McDonald’s after leaving Mobius standing outside his variant’s house before she’d used He Who Remain’s TemPad to try to find Loki.

He wasn’t dead. She knows he isn’t dead. But he also isn’t anywhere. There are an infinite number of branches now, layers of reality twisting around each other into something larger, a shape she can almost see, almost recognize. But Loki isn’t on any of them. No matter where she searches, he remains just outside her grasp.

Sylvie goes to work, she drives her truck home, she listens to music at the record store, she checks in on Mobius, she tries to sleep. But everywhere is marked by Loki’s absence, and every moment is overlaid with the sound of him singing.

She can’t find Loki, but that song is a thread she can pull at. Where did he learn it? The words were almost Asgardian, but not quite. Something similar, a branch of the original. A variant. Because of course it was.

It’s not until she thinks to quietly spy on the New Asgard settlement in Norway, forty years on from her quiet life in Oklahoma, that she hears the language again. Norwegian.

Remember this place, she hears Odin say, in a memory that is not hers, rippling through the interwoven timelines because it is what she needs in this moment. Home.

She turns her back on New Asgard, on the man who is almost but not quite her brother, on the Valkyrie who will come to lead their people like the hero out of a saga that Sylvie had once wished she could become. She turns her back, and walks into this strange, beautiful land. Norway. One tiny place on one tiny planet in one insignificant branch of the ever-growing tree of time, where the syllables are shaped into words that resonate with Loki’s voice from so long ago.

Sylvie wanders into pubs, into taverns, into bars, into concerts. She hums the few notes that never leave her head, and hopes to find someone who knows the song.

Until, miraculously, one day, she does.

“It’s an old drinking song,” the bearded man at the bar tells her, gesturing with his beer. “It’s about taking the long way home, but knowing you’ll get there in the end.”

“Can you teach it to me?” Sylvie asks, unblinking, gaze trained on the stranger’s face.

“For that, I will need a lot more beer.”

So she buys him beers. She coaxes the song out of him. She buys rounds for the whole bar, until they are all singing it. They teach her the words in Norwegian, teach her to shape the vowels as carefully as any incantation, and then teach her the meaning behind the words.

In storm-black mountains, I wander alone

Over the glacier I make my way

In the apple garden stands the maiden fair

and sings, “When will you come home?”

“You, I think,” her drunk bearded acquaintance says to her, “you are the maiden fair.”

“And what if I am?” Sylvie asks, raising her chin, still dead-sober despite the bourbon clutched in her hand.

“Then you must sing for him to come home!”

“From an apple orchard, if you can manage it,” leers his friend next to him.

“Will it work?” she hears herself say.

“Of course it will work! Music is magic. Galdr, they used to call it, in the old religion. The power of your voice to shape reality.” The man is drunk, but his words tug at something in Sylvie’s memory, long buried. “Sing, and he will come home.”

“As simple as that?”

The bearded man laughs uproariously. “When has love ever been simple?” he demands jovially. “When has magic ever been easy? But that does not mean it is not worth trying. There is beauty in the trying. There is love in the longing.” He’s slurring his words, barely managing to stay atop his barstool.

But he’s not wrong.

I know what kind of god I need to be, Loki had said, tears shining in his eyes. For you. For all of us.

But Sylvie is a god, too, she reminds herself, as she tosses back her bourbon and turns her back on the little Norwegian town, with the northern lights rippling over head. She’s not the goddess of chaos anymore, and she hasn’t felt mischievous since she was a child.

But the goddess of galdr, yes, that perhaps is something she could be.

She returns to her little Oklahoma town, cloud cover obliterating the stars, and drives her truck to the record store. There’s only one song she wants to hear, only one voice to sing it, but music has been her comfort since she came to this place, and she cannot simply become the goddess of music-turned-into-magic because she wishes it to be so. Music has been her shield, her cocoon, her comfort these long lonely months. Now she must learn to form it into other shapes, into weapons and tools. Into a lighthouse, shining out into the vast dark of the multiverse.

She taught herself enchantment, while running for her life from one apocalypse to the next. She can teach herself galdr in this quiet little record shop in this quiet little town.

Sylvie slides the headphones into place, and lets the music move through her.

Oh, sweet nothin'

She ain't got nothin' at all

Oh, sweet nothin'

She ain't got nothin' at all

But what if she had something? What if she had the one person who would make all of this worth it?

I know what kind of god I need to be, she tells herself. For you, Loki.

She murmurs the words along with the music, infusing them with intent, with magic.

And for one fraction of an instant, she can see him.

He’s alone, on the throne he never wanted, surrounded by the threads of the multiverse, pulsing green as they grow and twist. There is nothing, nothing else, only Loki alone in that vast emptiness, in that expanse of everything that ever was or ever could be.

His eyes are dull, unfocused, far away. And then— a flicker of recognition, a spark of life—

Sylvie loses the connection.

She’s alone on the sofa in the back of the record shop, with Lou Reed singing in her ears.

He ain’t got nothing at all

She drives home. She tries to sleep. She keeps hearing Loki’s voice, keeps seeing him alone in that emptiness. She murmurs into the darkness— not quite a song, not quite a spell—

But trees dance and waterfalls stop

When she sings, she sings “come home”

There is a shape to the enormity of what Loki has done. There is an order to the way the branches of the multiverse wrap around each other. It is just outside her grasp, but Sylvie feels that if she could just see the shape of it, she might understand.

She might be able to reach him.

In storm-black mountains, I wander alone she whispers to the emptiness of her tiny apartment, in this tiny town, in this little branch of a timeline, one miniscule part of a greater whole, and falls asleep dreaming of trees dancing, of waterfalls stopping, of Loki taking her outside the flow of time to tell her that there was no other way to keep her safe.

Sylvie wakes with her own voice in her ears.

The song is coursing through her, jeg saler min ganger, and she can feel the magic at her fingertips, on the tip of her tongue, pushing at the insides of her ribs, swelling her lungs and begging to be released.

I know what kind of god I need to be.

She gets into her truck and drives. North and east, away from everything she knows, vaguely towards those northern lights dancing over the fjords, too far away to reach on roads such as these.

But once upon a time, when she was very young, there was another road. A rainbow road, the Bifrost, that could take her anywhere just like magic.

Every bit of magic she has now she has taught herself. And this, too, this song swelling in her chest, is magic of her own making.

There is beauty in the trying. There is love in the longing.

She drives past fields of wheat and fields of corn, through days and nights, with the glare of the sun or the pattering of the rain against the windshield. Sylvie drives and drives and drives, and keeps the song tucked away inside her, growing in fury like a hurricane in a bottle, like the storm that had raged outside the night they met.

She drives until the scent of apples wafts through the open windows of the truck, and then she pulls over, knowing this was her destination all along.

Iðunn, a childhood memory whispers, too long ago now to have any meaning at all. The apples of eternity.

Home she thinks, and then hears, from a memory not her own:

Asgard’s not a place, it’s a people.

This could be Asgard. Asgard is where our people stand.

Her brother’s voice. The voice of the man who had once raised her as his daughter. The family she lost and can never regain, no matter what shape the multiverse twists itself into. Words reaching across time, across branching timelines, to reach her here and now, because it is what she needs to hear.

Sylvie climbs out of her truck and walks into the apple orchard and doesn’t look back.

She walks until she can no longer see the road from between the trunks and branches. She walks until there is nothing but the smell of apples, the soil under foot, and the sky over head. She walks until the song finally bursts out of her, all of her desperation and loneliness flooding out of her lungs to shake the very air around her, in the shape of words that are his but also hers, now.

But trees dance and waterfalls stop

When she sings, she sings “come home”

In storm-black mountains, I wander alone

Over the glacier I make my way

In the apple garden stands the maiden fair

and sings, “When will you come home?”

But trees dance and waterfalls stop

When she sings, she sings “come home”

When she sings, she sings “come home!”

And then he is there, standing beside her in the sunshine and the scent of the apple orchard. Loki glances around at the trees dancing in the wind, his eyes bright, before his gaze snaps to hers.

“You’re here,” Sylvie croaks, her voice burned through with the force of the magic that poured out of her, the magic that’s brought Loki to her.

“No, not really,” he says, his eyes never still as they trace over her face. “I’m still there too. I’m sort of everywhere, really. It’s hard to explain.”

“Help me to understand,” she says before the words even have the chance to fade away. “You said you knew what kind of god you needed to be. You saved us, you saved everything, and then you disappeared. Make me understand.”

“I can’t, Sylvie,” Loki says gently, and there is a sorrow in his eyes deeper than oceans, more boundless than the vastness of space. “It’s been centuries for me. Lifetimes. I wouldn’t know where to start.”

Enchant me, he had begged her once, standing in the McDonald’s parking lot in his ridiculous TVA uniform. You can see what I saw.

“You don’t have to say anything,” she tells him, raising her hands slowly towards his face, green magic flickering between her fingers. “Just let me see what you saw.”

“Sylvie,” he starts, and there are tears in his eyes again, like there were in that last moment before he turned his back on her to destroy the Loom.

“We’re the same, remember?” she says, and if her voice cracks it is only because of the abuse it’s suffered, only because of the magic that poured out through her vocal chords to shape reality to her desires. “You shouldn’t have to bear this burden alone, Loki,” she tells him, with as much tenderness as she can force into her ruined voice. “Let me understand.”

“It was the only way,” he says, as if in warning, but Sylvie cups his face in her hands before the tears can fall from his eyes.

Centuries. Lifetimes. The same day, over and over again. Reality unspooling, starting with Victor Timely and ending with her, again and again. Their fight in the Citadel at the end of time, relived hundreds of times, always with the same ending. Always the death of He Who Remains, and the unraveling of everything, failure after failure after failure.

And yet in all of them, she does not kiss him. And he cannot bring himself to kill her. Until only one choice remains.

I know what kind of god I need to be. For you.

Sylvie watches in Loki’s memory as the temporal radiation burns away his TVA uniform, as his magic replaces it with something older, something primal, something true. She watches as he grasps the decaying branches of the multiverse and breathes life into them, wills them to live, to be whole and part of a whole.

She watches as the branches twist around each other, each variation of the timeline finding support in its neighbors, building into something greater than the sum of every moment of every timeline that has ever existed.

She sees the shape of what Loki has done, the enormous, infinite tree dancing in the nothingness outside of time. Yggdrasil, the worldstree, green and glowing, alive and growing, all because Loki willed it so. To restore freewill and safeguard it forever. For all of us.

His hands cover hers and Loki gently pries her fingers away from his face. “Enough, Sylvie. Enough. I know what I’ve done.”

There are tears on her face, the apple-scented wind plucking at the wetness as she stands there, staring at Loki. Even without the enchantment, she can see him sitting on his throne, alone but for the infinite tree he tends.

“It was the only way?” she asks in the ruins of her voice. It is only when he folds his hands around hers that she realizes she is shaking, trembling like a leaf in the wind. Not like dancing. Like shattering, collapsing in on herself with the weight of what he’s done.

“No,” Loki admits. “There was one other way. I could have left He Who Remains in charge. I could have let the TVA go back to pruning the timelines. But I would have had to kill you. I would have had to kill you with my own hands, and watch as you died, and then betray everything you ever believed in. I lived every variation of every action I could possibly change, but not that one. Not that.”

“You don’t even know me,” Sylvie blurts out before the words have fully formed in her mind. All of this, to save her? She cannot, she cannot—

Loki’s expressive face twists, stung by her words, hurt in this moment even beyond the deep sorrow that he wears like a cloak. “Of course I know you,” he says, wounded, his gaze searching her face. “Like I’ve never known anyone. Sylvie, I lov—”

She surges up onto her toes and kisses him, there among the apple trees. She kisses him for what he’s done, for what he refused to do. She kisses him for the loneliness they have both known far too much of, she kisses him for coming when she sang for him to come home. She kisses him because there is nothing else she can do, because there was never any other way for her, either.

And Loki kisses her in return, with a desperation borne of years, centuries, lifetimes of facing this alone. He kisses her in the apple garden, as the trees dance and the waterfalls stand still. He is there, kissing her, but also somewhere else, far away and outside time, tending to the tree that he gave his life to save.

“I can’t stay,” he says when they finally part, pressing his forehead to hers, his hands cupping her jaw in an echo of how she had enchanted him moments before. “I want to stay, more than anything, Sylvie, but I can’t, I can’t.”

“I know,” she assures him, even as she clutches at his robes for fear he will disappear at any moment. “I know you can’t stay here with me,” she says, then takes a deep breath to steady her ragged voice, her thundering heart. “But you don’t have to be alone.”

Loki pulls away abruptly, only far enough to see her face, confusion pinching his features.

“We’re gods, you said,” Sylvie explains, tripping over her words, her voice trembling with the weight of what she has already done, the weight of what she plans to do. “We have a responsibility. That’s what you told me, in that ridiculous room full of pie. We can’t just give everyone freewill and then walk away.” She offers him a small smile, the best she can summon at the current moment. “You have to sustain Yggdrasil. But you don’t have to do it alone.”

“I did this for you,” he says, holding on to her as desperately as she is clutching at him. “So you could have a life. That’s what you said you wanted, to live.”

“It’s freewill, Loki,” she says, shaking her head. “You can’t just give it to everyone and then be surprised when I use it to choose to be with you. I know what kind of god I need to be. You taught me that. I won’t let you bear this burden alone. That’s the kind of god I choose to be.”

“I can’t let you sacrifice yourself for me—”

“The only sacrifice would be giving you up.”

He gazes at her for a long moment, his uncertainty slowly transforming, then sings softly, “I stormsvarte fjell, jeg vandrer alene,” and this time Sylvie understands the words. “Over isbreen tar jeg meg frem. I eplehagen står møyen den vene, og synger: ‘når kommer du hjem?’”

The apple orchard dissolves around them, replaced by the rippling greens and blues and purples of Yggdrasil, shimmering in the darkness outside of time.

“Home,” Sylvie says, and kisses him again.

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lettingtimepass · 7 months

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Lokius Nation we won, but at what costs? A quick breakdown of my thoughts on the Loki Finale!

Watch on the Clock App

Transcript below!

Let’s talk about the Loki Finale.

Spoilers incoming.

Sighs deeply

As Twitter user Han (@hansoeii) put it, Lokius Nation, we won, but at what cost?

Now you might be thinking, but we didn’t get a Lokius kiss or a love confession, how could we have won?!

Let me explain…

In episode 5, when Loki is talking to Slyvie at the bar, he talks about how he wants to give his friends - and Mobius - the chance to choose. To choose to stay at the TVA or to have a life on the branch if they want. Of course, he wants Mobius to choose to have a life with him - but after the time loops and talking with HWR, he realizes this isn’t possible because he’s the only person who can make the difficult choice - To give up his own life to give everyone else the chance to choose. To finally accept his Glorious Purpose, his burden, as Mobius puts it.

The other heartbreaking part is that Loki doesn’t talk to “his” Mobius before making his decision. Because if he did, Mobius wouldn’t have let him make that decision. He wouldn’t have let him go alone. That's why Loki can’t say anything before heading down those steps.

But after all this - Mobius realizes he doesn’t have a purpose at the TVA without Loki. So he goes down to the branch to see Don and his boys - the life he could have had.

Apologies I can’t find the post, but on Tumblr someone pointed out that Mobius might have left the TVA just so Loki could see him on branch. Since the TVA exists outside of time, Loki, and formerly HWR probably can’t see directly into it, which is probably partly why HWR created Miss Minutes to keep an eye on the TVA and report back.

So Mobius goes down to a branch and stands in the light. Sylvie joins him. When we cut between these two, we see this green and gold light around only Mobius. Green and gold? Do I have to spell it out?

Finally at the end it’s revealed that Loki is watching the conversation, but we specially hear Mobius’ words echo across time. Let time pass.

I absolutely adore this post from @makkarisbelova, “Mobius wanted to just stand there and let time pass simply to feel himself in a timeline sitting in the palm of Loki’s hand.”

Loki was watching, and Mobius knew.

The fact that Mobius and then Loki are the last shots of the show solidified that whether you consider them romantic partners or best friends, their friendship is the center - the heart - of the show.

Obviously this is extremely heartbreaking and feels like it’s perpetuating the trope where gay people are never allowed to be together. BUT I will give you one more breadcrumb.

Tumblr user @kcscribbler pointed out that Loki's magic includes duplication-casting, along with time manipulation. Theoretically, he could cast a duplicate of himself into any timeline, without leaving his new throne.

So I think at some point, whether it’s right after the screen cuts to black or perhaps sometime after when they’re both ready, Loki casts a projection down to Mobius’ branch and he’s able to talk to him and explain why he did what he did. Then Mobius can finally have closure, because remember, he has no idea that Loki went through thousands of time loops trying to fix the loom. Loki can finally have all the time in the world to explain everything to Mobius, including confessing his true feelings.

It’s still not a perfect, happy ending by any means, but all things considered, I think the writers and of course the actors understood how special and important this relationship is. So please don’t be discouraged that we didn’t get a happy ending. Please keep creating art, writing fic, posting your theories, and loving them. And since we now have an infinite multiverse… everything is possible 💚

#did i just essentially write an essay on Lokius just for fun?#Yes I did #I hope this was succinct enough!#interested to see how it does on tiktok #Loki #Loki Series #Loki Tik Tok #Loki Video Essay #Loki Season 2 #Loki Finale #Loki Show #Loki Spoilers #Lokius #Lokius Nation #Loki analysis #loki theories #Mobius #Mobius. M. Mobius

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where-theres-smoak-2 · 7 months

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Loki 2x6 Review (Spoilers!)

Phew, so that episode was quite the ride. Overall as an episode I really loved it. Were there some things I feel a bit conflicted about? Yes, but for the most part I thought it was an epic finale to the season, also I am pretty sure I cried my way through about 70% of this episode. Fair warning I have a lot of thoughts so this is another fairly long post, sorry bout that. So lets get into the episode.

Spaghetti Loops

The episode starts off exactly where we left off at the end of ep 5 and this is one of the very few predictions I made that actually came true, Loki just kept going back and trying it again and again trying to do it faster and poor Victor got spaghettified over and over. Now don't judge me ok, but I just found this whole sequence hilarious. Loki getting more and more exasperated every time it fails. Also the way everyone was looking at him like he had gone completely mad and being confused when he keeps saying again and faster this time because for them this is the first and only time its happened. I also loved when Loki gets the loom model out and says 'Mobius you're in luck. It looks like Mobius but its actually Victor Timely' about the little figurine. Loved the call back to the argument they had in ep 4.

Another moment that had me cackling like a mad woman was when after asking OB how long it would take to learn everything to know about mechanics, physics and engineering, and Victor answering centuries, it comes up with the centuries later text screen. This guy legit spent centuries learning everything he needed to know to make that multiplier faster, he's dedicated that's for sure.

A concept I did like about this sequence was how Loki would take all the things that go wrong each time and then ensure they don't happen the next time, like making sure Victor's suit is taped in all the right spots, that his visor is locked properly, that he doesn't trip on the first step, that he doesn't put down the multiplier so it won't roll off the gang way. Eventually he is able to guide Victor through a successful attempt. Well successful in the sense that he is able to get the multiplier to connect to the loom and make it back. I'll admit when they were celebrating and for a moment it looked like it had worked, my first instinct was nah this is too good to be true, it is way too early in the episode for this to be fixed. Which is when we learn that actually the Loom is impossible to fix.

A Looming Problem.

I felt so bad for Loki in that moment when they realise that the Loom can never be fixed because you can't scale for infinite. I mean he looked so damn relieved and happy when it seemed as if it had worked, poor Loki had done that scenario and watched it fail who knows how many times and for a moment it finally seems like its going to be ok but then you realise the terrible truth that all your efforts will always be futile.

I do feel like the whole sequence before that was played off in a very comedic way despite the scenario actually being rather dark, Loki has to watch Timely and his friends die over and over. But I do think choosing to give it this comedic tone was a genius move on the writers' and producers' part as it puts the audience in a good mood, so when the moment when both the characters and we the audience learn the Loom melting down is always doomed to happen, its even more of a gut punch. It really puts you in Loki's shoes, like him you're on a high and then you just get dragged right down with this drastic tonal shift.

Sylvie saying that as soon as the timeline branched this was doomed to happen gives Loki the idea to go back and try to stop her from killing HWR. I loved the scenes that took place in the citadel particularly the conversation between Loki and HWR. I loved how it seemed like once again HWR is the one in control and in the know. He reveals to Loki that the time slipping, Victor and the Loom were all part of his plan too. That the Loom was actually a fail safe to protect the sacred timeline and a way to ensure his own resurrection. It also explains why everyone was sent to their branches when the Loom exploded. HWR says that the TVA was collateral and easy to rebuild, so the Loom resets everyone and then HWR just goes around and collects them all and on and on it goes.

I love when Loki stops time and its revealed that actually Loki is the one that is a step ahead of HWR and has already had that conversation with him. I really loved that moment. When HWR tells Loki that the equation always has the same outcome, loki loses, Loki decides to 'change the equation'. This reminded me so much of the end of ep 5 when he says he'll rewrite the story. His plan is to just break the loom. I think it is interesting that HWR actually looks surprised by this. He immediately starts trying to manipulate Loki into not doing that. In episode 4 Sylvie wonders if HWR was scared when she killed him and she just didn't notice, well I can't help but wonder the same now, is HWR scared in this moment, is he scared because he knows that Loki could destroy the Loom and if he does then all of HWR's plans come crumbling down, Sylvie will kill him and with no Loom there's no failsafe, no resurrection.

HWR's response to this is to try and scare Loki into doing what HWR wants. Its like what Loki said in 1x01, its an illusion conjured by the weak to inspire fear. The illusion being this threat, if you destroy the loom there will be a war that will kill and destroy everyone and everything. Now I don't think he's lying about all of it. I do think with HWR gone there will end up being a multiversal war between his variants but do I think this war will kill everyone and destroy every timeline? Nope! This is a superhero franchise so obviously our heroes are going to band together and save the day.

Before the episode was released I made a prediction post, well there was one thought that crossed my mind that I didn't put in that post because it was more of a deep fear than a prediction and I didn't want to accidently manifest it into being. That unwritten prediction (fear) was that as a last, nothing else has worked so this is the only option left, move Loki would go back to the citadel and kill Sylvie. So you can imagine my distress when we first have Sylvie, repeatedly, saying you'll have to kill me. Then HWR says Loki has two options, destroy the Loom and unleash a war that destroys everything, or kill Sylvie and protect what you can, ie the TVA and the sacred timeline.

My immediate reaction to this was something along the lines of, no, no, NO, NOO! Not going to lie they had me going, I really thought they were going to go through with it and have Loki sacrifice Sylvie to protect everyone else. Especially when he goes back to speak to her in timeline OB's workshop. And I will come back to that scene in a moment but first I want to talk about how great the transition was between the scene where HWR lays out the two options and you see Loki looking at Sylvie as he slowly approaches her and then you hear Mobius asking 'What are you going to do?' and then we're back to when Loki was first arrested and interrogated by Mobius.

What is really interesting about this scene is that looking back at it now they give us the answer to the question here, they tell us what Loki is going to do, past Loki tells us himself, when Mobius asked what he was going to do he replies, 'Finish what I started... Claim my throne.' Then when Mobius asks if he wants to be king, Loki responds 'I don't want to be. I was born to be." Throughout the whole franchise this idea has been pushed that Loki was born to be a king, he says it multiple times himself, but Odin also tells him as a child that even though only one of his sons could sit on the Asgardian throne they were both born to be kings. Come the end of this finale Loki is now on his throne. There is also this idea of Loki being burdened with glorious purpose that's repeated throughout the franchise and that is something else we see him find in this episode. I just find it funny that they told us all the way back in 1x1 what choice Loki was going to make in the season 2 finale. One little detail I like is that both ep 1x1 and ep 2x6 have the same title 'Glorious Purpose.' It's a neat way of bringing it all full circle.

The story Mobius tells about the hunter and the 8 year old boy he couldn't prune was also really interesting to me. Firstly because it reveals that Mobius, like Renslayer, was once a hunter before he became an analyst. Also that Renslayer was his partner which explains their bond. I do wonder if the reason why Mobius couldn't prune this boy was because he was just a kid playing with his brother and maybe subconsciously it reminded him of his own boys and even though he didn't remember them, some protective instinct kicked in and stopped him from pruning the boy.

I also feel like this story about the boy is supposed to be a mirror to Sylvie's own story. They were both kids who were minding their own business playing, when the TVA showed up and destroyed their realities. In the boy's case he was pruned to boot. In both instances it was Renslayer who was the responding hunter. I think its fascinating that Loki is trying to make this impossible decision on whether he should kill Sylvie and in that moment he is told a story that has to have reminded him of Sylvie and how she was a little girl who had everything ripped away from her.

Whilst they told us in that scene with Mobius what Loki would ultimately decide to do, obviously whilst watching the episode I hadn't figured that out yet, so when Loki went to see Sylvie right after this scene, the moment in timeline OB's workshop that I promised I'd come back to, I was filled with dread. To me at first it seemed like a goodbye scene and like he had gone there to kind of explain why he was going to have to kill her. I am not ashamed to admit that I did tear up at that moment, the mere thought that they might go through with having him kill her for 'the greater good' was heartbreaking to me.

But once I had pulled myself together I rewatched that scene and what is really interesting about it is how it parallels and links to their pie room scene. In the pie room scene you had Sylvie saying that it would be easier to destroy the TVA and start from scratch and Loki saying fixing things is hard, hope is hard. Here in this conversation those two ideas combine and meet. You have Sylvie explaining to Loki that growing up in apocalypses taught her that sometimes its ok to destroy something and that's when Loki realises and finishes for her 'if there is a hope that thing can be replaced by something better.' Loki is being asked to make the hard choice and here Sylvie is asking him to have hope that destroying the loom will lead to something better which links back to what Loki said in the pie room, hope is the hard choice and therefore the choice he chooses.

King of Time

Sylvie asks Loki some really good and deep questions in this scene as well which I think influences the decision he makes. She asks him what kind of god he wants to be, whether he really wants to be the kind that takes away people's free will, aka the god he was in the first Avengers film. She also kind of points out that he is asking the wrong questions. He's asking what good is free will if everyone is dead and she's asking but who are you and what right do you have to make that decision for everyone. They have the right to chose to die trying, fighting for something better. I just think its a really interesting debate.

Another little clever detail that I noticed is that after making his decision when he timeslips into the loom room the aura reader announces 'welcome he who remains.' Loki is about to become the kind of new HWR and it's almost like they are announcing it in that moment.

So now we get to the hard part, and yes I did bawl like a baby during this whole scene. Loki heads down into the Loom and looking back to where Sylvie and Mobius are behind the locked doors he says. 'I know what I want. I know what kind of god I need to be. For you. For all of us.' Again I think this is a parallel back to the bar scene between Sylki where she asks him what he wants and also the scene in this episode where she asks what kind of god he wants to be. I know there is some debate over whether Loki was speaking to Sylvie or Mobius or both here when he said 'for you.' Personally while I do think it was partly to both I do think it was mostly directed towards Sylvie. My reasoning being that it was a reference to those conversations he had with Sylvie alone.

The scene where he was walking down the gangway and his clothes turn into his new King of Time outfit was stunning, like breathtakingly so. Him breaking the loom and setting the timelines free was also really beautiful imagery. There's a moment when Loki reaches for one of the blackened branches and tries to bring it to life with his magic but the moment he lets go it begins to die again and that's when he realises that he is going to have to weave the branches and hold them stable himself. It's such a bittersweet moment as he takes one last look back at the ones he loves and cares for before making the hard, the impossible choice to isolate himself at the end of time. Again the scene where he is weaving those branches together and the way what once was HWR chair turns into a pure golden throne that Loki takes his seat in, stunning, visually it was stunning.

Yggdrasil

Just when I thought nothing could be more stunning than that sequence the camera panned out and showed us that the timelines were now woven together in the form of a breathtakingly gorgeous tree. I mean it was such a stunning image that I want to get a copy to frame and put on my wall.

But I am sure I am not the only one who saw it and instantly thought of Yggdrasil, the world tree of Norse Mythology. So here I have, well I don't know if I would call it a theory or not, but a thought at the very least.

So something that I think is really interesting that I think might possibly have some significance later on, maybe, is that in some versions of the myths around Yggdrasil (there are different and varying accounts and sources) the tree has three main roots. One is rooted in Midgard, the realm of men. The second is rooted in Jotunheim, the land of the giants and the third is rooted in Hel, the underworld.

I think these three roots are symbolic of Loki, Sylvie and Mobius. Mobius would represent Midgard, he's a human who had a life on Midgard. Sylvie would represent Jotunheim, as a Loki variant she would have been born on Jotunheim and is a frost giant. Then Loki would represent the root for Hel, he's currently at the end of time and in season one to get there you had to go through the void and when Loki first woke up there he asks if its Hel, it definitely has that imagery or symbolism of an underworld.

I don't know exactly what this could mean going forward but I think the three of them are going to be the key to keeping the tree together and protecting it. Or I could be looking too much into it.

Sylki

So anyone who has seen any of my previous posts will know that I am huge sylki fan, so obviously I have to talk about them in this review, feel free to skip over this section if you aren't a fan of sylki.

But anyway, before this episode I was of the opinion that if we didn't get a kiss or at least a scene where they talked about their feelings and cleared the air, then I would be really disappointed, and whilst yeah it would have been nice to get those scenes I am surprisingly not disappointed because in my opinion what we got might have been even better, or at the least just as good. After this episode I am in no doubt that these guys love each other, Loki was particularly obvious about it.

I've said in previous posts that in my opinion everything Loki has done this season has been for Sylvie. His motivation was simple, what he wanted was simple, he wanted Sylvie to be ok. This episode is no different it only further reinforces that this is Loki's desire.

He is faced with this impossible choice kill Sylvie and save everyone else, or risk everything by protecting the free will Sylvie gave everyone, that she fought for. Give her the chance to live a life. HWR I think thought Loki would choose himself, would choose to sacrifice Sylvie to ensure he wouldn't be alone and so that he could get a throne. But I think HWR underestimated the love Loki felt for Sylvie. I mean he replayed that citadel fight over and over because he was not willing to hurt Sylvie even to stop her from killing HWR. Again it all circles back to what Loki said in 1x6, he doesn't want to hurt her, he doesn't want a throne he wants her to be ok, and this is something HWR doesn't understand and that is why he loses.

The moment when Loki chooses to sacrifice himself for her is so heartbreaking, the way Sylvie immediately followed him down to the loom and how she desperately said she had to get in there when she realised what he was doing. There is also a moment when the portal thingy opens to the end of time and Loki knows what he has to do, he looks back to Sylvie and she shakes her head at him, he just gives her this sad smile and does what he needs to do. It reminded me so much of the moment in 1x5 when Sylvie says they need a distraction for Alioth and Loki puts a hand on her shoulder, Sylvie shakes her head because she doesn't want him in danger. It was clear how deeply she cared about and loved him, it was just so bittersweet.

Sylki's romance in season 1 was very different from season 2, last season they were very flirty and cute whereas this season has been mostly angst thanks to the fall out after the citadel in 1x6. But I still think it was still a romance in season 2. Loki sacrificed his own happiness for Sylvie, there are so many quotes out there about sacrifice being the purest form of love and I think that is what they were going for here. Loki choosing to sit at the end of time and hold the timelines together was the burden he chose to carry for her, what's more romantic than that? I mean it hurts and it sucks and makes me want to cry, but its still the epitome of romance.

Also I couldn't help but see the parallel between Thor choosing to destroy the bridge and therefore separating himself from Jane for the greater good and Loki choosing to trap himself at the end of time away from Sylvie to protect her and his friends, as well as the greater good. Both brothers end up away from the women they love in an act of heroism. The glimmer of hope for me is that Jane searches for Thor, eventually they are reunited. I'm just saying Sylvie still has that tempad. I would love if we get to see these characters again in a season 3 or other Marvel project, if we find out that Sylvie has been searching for a way to free Loki but still keep the branches stable. Maybe she could even team up with thor and mobius. Or she could seek out Wanda or Dr strange to get more magical knowledge. The possibilities are endless.

After

So lets talk about the ending and where everyone ends up starting with B-15, Casey and OB. So I like that they all stayed at the TVA and that B-15 seems to be kind of running the show. I also loved that OB wrote another TVA guidebook edition 2, I feel like it might be a bestseller. I also love that it is yellow as that colour symbolises optimism and the promise of a positive future which I think will be good for the TVA going forward. Another thing of note and which I really loved was that when they show the new TVA with its new 'growing together' propaganda posters, everyone look really happy and content, like they've got this new purpose and its one they feel good about.

Well everyone looks happy but Mobius. Both his and Sylvie's endings were left very, very open. I do get the sense that they are both feeling lost now that Loki is gone. That could be why Sylvie seeks Mobius out, she knows he too feels lost without Loki. When asked what she's going to do now Sylvie shrugs because she doesn't know, which is interesting to me because if she is happy on her branch like she has been saying all season, why wouldn't she just say she's going back to her life there? Unless Marvel have other plans for her character. Same with Mobius we don't know what he's going to do next. Though the door for him to return to the TVA has been left open with B-15's offer that there is always a seat for him if he wants it.

Ok so let's talk about Loki. Now can I appreciate the character development of Loki going from the selfish, narcissistic god who wanted a throne and who tried to take away people's free will, to a hero who sacrifices himself for the greater good and to ensure people get to keep their free will. Yes. Do I think it was hella romantic that he chose this path because he couldn't bear to hurt Sylvie? Oh yes that was some real romantic stuff right there. Do I think his arc was well written? It was, beautifully so. Am ok with Loki ending up trapped at the end time alone, something he feared? ABSOLUTELY-FRIGGEN-NOT!!! What the hell marvel! Honestly if this is the end of the story for this character then Marvel and I are going to have issues going forward.

A Glimmer of Hope?

The first thing I did this morning was hop onto google to see if there was any information on whether we'll get a season 3 because I had seen alot of talk about season 2 wrapping up the story and I was met with a little spark of hope. There are several articles out covering an interview from producer Kevin Wright where he says this about a potential season 3:

We take it season by season, and there are certainly things that Tom and I and other casts have talked about of where we see this going, and I know there’s some excitement for that internally, but just from a storytelling standpoint, I think we always conceived of seasons 1 and 2 as a whole."

The producer went on to describe both of the Tom Hiddleston-led seasons as "two chapters of the same book," but admitted that there are "other stories" or "new books" to be told:

"That these are two chapters of the same book, and that season two is finishing that book, and there are other stories to be told there, but I think they would be new books, if that’s not too coy."

"It was similar to Season 1 in we wanted to tell this story and tell it well, but even in Season 1, we obviously were thinking about where we were going. I would say Season 1 and Season 2 were developed and created as, like, kind of two chapters of the same book. We felt pretty strongly, all of us involved, that Season 2 was about closing that book but that there are many other books on the shelf for this character and for this world. But this felt like it wanted to be the conclusion of these great things that we set up in Season 1. We don't want to constantly leave people with drastic cliffhangers for our finales."

So it seems like all the talk about closing the story was actually just in relation to the storylines they had set up in season one and that this isn't intended to be the end of these characters' stories full stop.

A few of the articles also talked about Marvel's plans for their tv shows going forward:

Contributing Loki's Season 3 odds is Marvel Studios' new direction for its Disney+ shows since, via The Hollywood Reporter, Marvel is reportedly "leaning into the idea of multiseason serialized TV" a la Loki instead of the "limited-series format:"

"And just as 'Loki,' which returned Oct. 5, marked Marvel’s first season two of a series (out of nine TV shows to date), the studio plans on leaning into the idea of multiseason serialized TV, stepping away from the limited-series format that has defined it. Marvel wants to create shows that run several seasons, where characters can take time to develop relationships with the audience rather than feeling as if they are there as a setup for a big crossover event."

So if they are going to be leaning more into multiseason shows it would make sense to me for them to make Loki one of them as it is one of, if not the most, popular shows they've done so far. So I would expect that they would monopolise on that.

So I do think there's a good chance that we'll potentially get a season 3, I for one would love to see where they take these characters next. And that is all the thoughts I have on the finale, sorry this got so long but if you did read all the way to the end thank you.

#loki #loki season 2 spoilers #sylki #loki x sylvie #loki review

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theitcharchives · 7 months

Text

I caved. I watched Loki S2

Loki season two was fine but too many of you are being insufferable about the series itself and its lore. Timelines and universes are not interchangeable things–a universe contains timelines according to the series' lore itself and I don't understand how people do not understand this. MCU Loki now holds the timelines of 199999. Quit throwing the 616 thing around (looking at you Feige) and talking about "worlds". Variants are the same people across timelines according to logic, that's why some of the Lokis in S1E5 (iirc episode number) made no sense–Mobius did.

The first season remains one of the worst things I've ever had the misfortune to see, so to say I'm pleasantly surprised by the second is something.

Be warned–pleasantly surprised does not mean "omg it's perfect" it means "I did not expect this measure of respect for character and narrative, there's some good points and there's definitely bad points".

Still, the first three episodes were boring. The narrative in them and in some places of the second three was clunky. Things were underexplained and impersonal, both rushed and scattered. X-05 did not appear outside of the first season premiere, not even the first season proper (according to the internet because I indeed had zero recollection of him and refuse to rewatch S1) yet the second season treats him as if the audience is familiar with him–and it's confusing as heck. I cannot even properly recall what exactly happened in those episodes because it was so clunky and scattered and half explained. Especially the characters and their goals and stakes. I barely cared for Loki's, let alone anyone else's–well except Ouroboros. I love that guy.

Wow, we have to save all these freed timelines? Sure. I mean it's the right thing to do, so let's do it. It would've been so easy to actually get the audience to personally care–have Loki realize in those infinite timelines, there were some he could be happy in. His mother, his brother, even his father to whom his attachment is not resolved, there had to be timelines where they were happy and safe, perhaps even with him. In some of those timelines, Loki gets his revenge on Thanos, he gets to heal. He comes to term with his birth and heritage, he remedies the wrongs he has been done and has done to others in turn. Yes, those timelines deserve to exist, because Loki should know he deserves to be happy too. His "friends" too. Those stories deserve to exist.

Speaking of under-explained... so at one point Loki just... gains control over time jumps? Like that? Did I miss something in the whole thing? Like if it's because it's him, according to The Who being what is important ("in magic", I would have expected) then say it.

Some pieces were predictable. The whole interrogation of X-05 match one and two, the ending path itself (I was surprised by the tree thing though), Loki pruning himself (did that scene really need to be drawn out like that? We get what's happening, get on with it).

Some pieces were drawn out like the self-pruning, like retrieving Victor Timely. The whole time I was like "You've seen him, you can block objects in mid-air and teleport people in cages, snatch him and throw him in a portal so he can see the TVA instead of just talking to him and convince him–why does he need to be convinced?? Show him!!?" Details like these, like the machine that makes the shrinking cubes being left at all in the cell, Ravonna not actually looking to see if any other minutemen were considering her offer before compressing them all (I guess they had to slim down the cast, but man), Loki the Jotun with super strength having to run kilometers to catch one human–silly.

Things that were left out–Thanos, completely. The Jotun heritage. Loki being the scapegoat child in the narcissistic royal family, all his conditioning. It is said he wants a throne, it is never acknowledged why: being groomed to do so since childhood through mentions he was born to be a king, upbringing, education, treatment by family and society. The gender fluidity and sexuality, though with the MCU's regard for those things, it's likely better they left them alone–though the lack of shapeshifting was miffing. New York was handled better than I would've expected, but still breezily.

Now to be fair, many things were good. B-5 outright stating that the pruning the TVA does is an atrocity and convincing others. I'm ambivalent about Loki and Mobius–their relationship in the first season was a terrible one, but they genuinely roped me in in the second. Some things were funny in that delicate way that doesn't need clownery and one-liners that I'd been missing ever since the first two Thor movies. Ouroboros (especially in episode 5–ouch, too close to home). The soundtrack, amazing. The acting came across as more heartfelt. I even managed to tolerate Sylvie in the last few episodes–and oh yeah, leaving romance of any kind out, completely. Thank fuck. Loki actually being the main character of his own series. The fifth and sixth episodes. The sets, the props also felt real. The final outfit is growing on me. The dialogues, the interactions, the camera work, my gods, some parts were amazing. I am willing to rewatch it to make more sense of things, and look at other MCU works to see if it will impact them. I had given up on the MCU–Loki roped me in, Loki gave me back some interest when I thought it was dead for good.

Oh I'm still mad all my searches for comics appearances are cluttered with MCU stuff. I'll be mad until it calms out. "What if it never-" then I guess I'll never stop holding a grudge and complaining.

In the end, I'm just glad Loki got his not-terrible ending. I don't like that his final choice and chance was to sacrifice himself and all his needs for others, sitting in a tree holding the 199999 universe's timelines together, alone after saying teary eyed that he doesn't want to be alone. But it's still better than how he was treated and discarded from T:Ragnarok to Infinity War, and it doesn't exclude Loki from showing up again, some way or the other.

Obligatory link to the Loki comics reading list.

#loki series spoilers #loki series #loki show #mcu loki #loki series critical

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inevitably-johnlocked · 3 days

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Lokius fic rec drop when

(referencing my comment on this post)

LOVELY THANK YOU YOU'RE PERFECT!!! Ask and ye shall receive! I've been reccing them here and there lightly on 5FF posts since the show aired, but never all as one post. So, in classic Steph Rec Style, here are all of my current Lokius Bookmarks as of June 2024 in one place!! Enjoy!

LOKIUS BOOKMARKS (JUNE 2024)

rises the moon by HobblyWobbly (T, 1,158 w., 1 Ch. || LOKI SERIES || Lokius, POV Loki, Fluff and Angst, Established Relationship, Declarations of Love, Feelings Realization, Kissing, Cuddling/Snuggling, Hurt/Comfort, Insecure Loki, Introspection, Touch-Starved, Non-Sexual Intimacy) – Loki overthinks his own emotions, and Mobius is honest as ever. Part 4 of effloresce

all to myself by markofalover (G, 1,577 w., 1 Ch. || LOKI SERIES || Lokius, S02E03 Rewrite, Fake Relationship, Undercover as a Couple, Pining, Flirting) – “Oh, come on, Mobius,” Loki says, finally looking over, and oh, okay, they’re really close. “Have some fun.” “This is fun to you?”

but you saw enough by markofalover (G, 1,882 w., 1 Ch. || LOKI SERIES || Lokius, S2E5 Rewrite, Time Travel, Recovered Memories, Love Confessions, First Kiss, Getting Together) – “What if,” he breaks the silence, at his desk. Loki’s got a chair pulled up right beside him, actually studying the TVA manual, because they can’t go anywhere without the other these days. “What if—we go look? Together?” Loki looks up immediately. “To your place on the timeline?”

out of focus, eye to eye by markofalover (G, 2,129 w., 1 Ch. || LOKI SERIES || Lokius, S02E05 Alternate Events, Pining Loki, Loki POV, Flirting, Misunderstandings, Crush at First Sight, Insecure Loki, Oh-Oh! Moment) – “You know…are you still in the market?” Loki raises his eyebrows. “Oh, for the, uh,” he sets his hands out in a wild gesture that he hopes somehow makes the mark, because he doesn’t know what an ATV even is— “Oh, no, no,” Mobius says. He’s smiling, now, for some reason Loki can’t quite understand, eyes sparkling in the sun, soft color in his cheeks. “I mean—sorry, I haven’t done this in a while. That was a bad line.”

Off The Beaten Path by ChaosAndOrder (T, 2,219 w., 1 Ch. || LOKI SERIES || Lokius, Post S2, S2E06 Fix It, Grief/Mourning, Loki Has ADHD, Feelings Realization, Pining Mobius, Angst with Melancholy Ending, Made Me Cry) – Mobius deals with the aftermath of Loki's choice and makes one of his own.

Are We Dating? by AindyGhosh (G, 2,288 w., 1 Ch. || LOKI SERIES || Lokius, S02E05 Rewrite, Flirty Mobius, Flustered Loki, Fluff) – Now that the thought had taken root in Don’s mind, it refused to let go, clinging on to him like a limpet. As it was, Don was infamous in his friends’ circles for his lack of a brain-to-mouth filter. Therefore, it didn’t come as a surprise to him when he just gave in, and verbalised the one doubt that had been making rounds in his head since the moment he had talked to Loki. “Are we dating?” It was only logical to deduce that. And Don couldn’t believe this God-like person had been interested in him enough to agree to date him.

might just have been you by markofalover (T, 2,395 w., 1 Ch. || LOKI SERIES || Lokius, Post-S2, Recovered Memories, Mutual Pining, Reunions, First Kiss) – The thing about Ohio, is that Mobius isn’t limited to one slice of key lime pie per week.

Let Time Pass by sharkbait33 (G, 2,759 w., 1 Ch. || LOKI SERIES || Lokius, Post S2, S02E06 Fix It, Reunions, Sad Mobius, Pining Mobius, Protective Loki, Forehead Touching, Angsty Fluff, Timey-Wimey) – Loki’s resolve is only as strong as their want to see them happy. All of them. Mobius doesn’t want to. He doesn’t want to go; he doesn’t want to stay. So, where does that leave him?

Moribund by sticks_and_souls (T, 2,884 w., 1 Ch. || LOKI SERIES || S2 Deleted Scene, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Time Slipping, First Kiss, Making Out, Kissing, Time Looping, Heavy Angst) – Everyone keeps talking about how in all the infinite replays that Loki did, he would have taken time to make out with Mobius. So I manifested a version of that (with just a wee sprinkling of angst).

Exsanguination by Beb (T, 3,061 w., 1 Ch. || LOKI SERIES || Protective Loki, Mobius Whump, Hospitals, Worried Loki, Mobius Needs A Hug, Blood and Injury, Angst, Hurt/Comfort) – As a trained agent, Mobius really believed his presence was required in every mission, no matter how risky. As a worried friend and lover, Loki really believed this was absolutely, undoubtedly the last straw. He wasn't about to do nothing and let Mobius carelessly throw himself in danger anymore. Not after the last incident nearly cost Mobius his life.

how's that for glorious purpose? by unintentionallyangsty (T, 3,081 w., 1 Ch. || LOKI SERIES || Lokius, Post-S2, S02E06 Fix It, Romance & Drama, Soulmates, Friends to Lovers, Love Confessions, Fluff and Angst, Crying, Reunion, Touch Starvation, Soft Mobius, Hugs, Both Need a Hug, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Romantic Fluff, Hopeful / Ambiguous / Open Ending, Anxiety, Made Me Cry, Forehead Kisses, Soft Loki, Love Confessions, Friendship/Love) – A Loki is left alone without his Mobius. Mobius finds himself completely alone and purposeless without his Loki. Realistically, how long can it last? (Or; directly after Sylvie reveals the reality of Mobius' previous life on the timeline to him, Loki finds a way to return).

The Green Means I Love You by VeggieHarumaki (T, 3,576 w. 1 Ch. || LOKI SERIES || Soul Mates AU || Colourblindness, Pining, Caring Mobius, First Kiss, Pining Mobius, POV Mobius, Forehead Touching, Angst with Happy Ending) – Green. It’s the first color Mobius sees. His world fills with new colors, sensory levels overwhelmed as his gaze scatters across the courtroom. Browns, yellows, colors he’d only heard of before he finally sees with his own eyes. But the green. The cold, emerald green. L1130 stares back at Mobius, eyes full of suspicion, and Mobius can’t help but let his breath hitch. Oh no. Mobius’ heart sinks as fast as it had risen. This variant, L1130, Loki, is his soulmate. But Mobius had read Loki’s files one too many times to forget. Mobius is not Loki’s.

So, Stay by Marauderess5 (G, 4,299 w., 1 Ch. || LOKI SERIES || Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Mission Gone Wrong, Loki Whump, Caretaker Mobius, Protective Mobius, Protective Loki, Touching, Soft Mobius, Forehead Touching, Love Confessions, Idiots in Love, Fluffy Angst) – Mission-gone-wrong. Loki has to make a sacrifice to protect Mobius. Will he do it? Spoiler alert, of course he will, they’re in love. Part 2 of Lokius Whump, my Beloved

more than words by unintentionallyangsty (T, 4,716 w., 1 Ch. || LOKI SERIES || Lokius, Post S2, Slow Romance, Awkward Romance, First Dates, Awkward Flirting, Attachment Issues, Abandonment Issues, Touch-Starvation, Slow Dancing, Shyness, Insecure Loki, Anxiety Attacks, Mild Hurt/Comfort, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Domestic Fluff, Romantic Fluff, Fluffy Angst, Hugs, Getting Together, Future Fic) – After everything - in spite of everything-, there are only a few words that have truly gone unspoken between Loki and Mobius. And, in spite of Loki's famed "silver tongue", none of these words ever seem to come easily. Luckily, Mobius is patient. They have all the time in the world, after all.

Whoever, whatever you wanna be (Even someone good) by attack_choppa01 (T, 5,248 w., 1 Ch. || LOKI SERIES || Post-S1, POV Loki, Fluff and Angst, Protective Loki, Protective Mobius, Friendship, First Kiss, Injury Recovery, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Soft Loki, Bed Sharing, Mobius Whump, Anxious Loki, Love Confessions, Both Need A Hug, Arguing, Emotional Loki, Cuddling/Snuggling, Near-Death Experiences) – After a fight with two Kang variants puts Mobius in danger and injured, Loki gets defensive out of his desire to protect him. They argue and they make up (And make out). Part 4 of GLORIOUS PURPOSE

Branches by Ailendolin (T, 6,322 w., 6 Ch. || LOKI SERIES || Post-S1, Lokius, Pining Loki, Five and One, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Worried/Panicking Loki, Protective Mobius, Made Me Cry, Angst, Loki Needs a Hug, Multiverse) – 5 times Loki searched the Multiverse for his Mobius, and 1 time Mobius found him.

Magic Like You by Anonymous (NR [M], 9,714 w., 5 Ch. || LOKI SERIES || Post-S2, Light Angst, Soft, Friends to Lovers, Jotunn Loki, Pining Loki, Heavy Pining, Bed Sharing, Jealous Loki, POV Loki, Living Together, First Kiss/Time) – Loki and Mobius are trying to carve out a new life for themselves after all the chaos and hurt and destruction that was caused by the TVA. This story explores Loki's new life and his relationship to Mobius through magic. (With lots of stupid fun and soft moments along the way, because with these two, it's inevitable.)

we can stay here (& laugh away the fear) by unintentionallyangsty (T, 11,100 w., 1 Ch. || LOKI SERIES || Lokius, Canon Divergence, TVA Shenanigans, Attention Seeking Behaviour, Praise Kink, Touch Starvation, Pet Names, Angsty Fluff, Romantic Fluff, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Shyness, Awkward Flirting, Crying, Misunderstandings, Cuddling/Snuggling, Blushing, Depression Mention) – Loki is bad with people and relationships, and tends to assume the worst of every intention and interaction because it's easier in the long-run. Mobius is good with Loki. (Or, two times Loki is spooked off by Mobius' unexpected gentleness and familiarity, and one (1) time the opposite is true).

The Best Gift of All by frommyhearttoyours (T, 25,959 w., 2 Ch. || LOKI SERIES || Parent / Teacher Modern AU || Lokius, Mobius POV, Single Dad Mobius, Teacher Loki, Single Parents, Love Confessions, Insecure Mobius, Frustrated Mobius, Mutual Pining, Sweet Fluff, Forehead Touching, Oh-Oh! Moment) – Mr. Laufeyson is the most popular teacher at Lakewood Elementary School, where Mobius's sons are students. He's not just popular among the children, though. He's an even bigger hit among the parents...especially the single ones on the hunt for a Mr. Right. Mobius isn't ashamed to admit he counts himself among the man's many, many admirers, but he also has no delusions that he could ever win the beautiful and intelligent Mr. Laufeyson's interest and attention. Because that would be impossible... right?

never known how it broke me down by RunnyYolk (E, 51,152 w., 8 Ch. || LOKI SERIES || Post-S1 Divergence, Lokius, Five and One, Alternating POV, Protective Mobius, Protective Loki, Jealous Mobius, Hurt Mobius, Vague Multiversal War Plot, Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Injury Recovery, Feelings Realization, Mutual Pining, Misunderstandings, Love Confessions, Anxious Loki/Mobius, Hugs/Cuddles, Bed Sharing, Developing Relationship, Reunions, Making Up, Friends to Lovers, Affection/Tenderness, Self-Esteem Issues, Top Mobius/Bottom Loki, Smut in Epilogue, Marriage Proposal, First Kiss/Time) – Wild curls caress his face as a melodiously shaky inhale cascades across the shell of his ear, arms wrapping desperately around his shoulders, and Mobius leans forward, giving his all in return until their hearts are nearly aligned. Nearly, yet not quite. Not quite.

where the edge began Series by by RunnyYolk (M, 189,207 w. across 6 Ch. || LOKI SERIES || Season One Divergence / Rewrite, Developing Relationship, Introspection, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Flashbacks, Trust Issues, Mutual Pining) – Episode 3 AU and full canon rewrite. Loki follows Sylvie through the time door, but it doesn't result in the Roxxcart Divorce. The depth of the TVA's lies are unraveled from the inside instead as Loki and Mobius stumble their way into a real trusting partnership...and more. (this whole series is FANTASTIC. It's complete, so give it a read)

#steph replies #lokius fic recs #my fic recs #bookmarked fics #fave fics

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sortofanobsession · 6 months

Text

Catching Up (Part 2)

A/N: Merry Christmas! Enjoy the (overdue) update. Probably not exactly what you wanted but it's something.

Part 1

Lokius x Platonic!Reader

Summary:

You walk into repairs and advancements to find someone you hadn't expected to be there. As excited as you are, you know this isn't about you. You have planned for this. You know what your friends need. You just need to kick Mobius out of his own house.

Chapter 2: Unexpected Success

You had known that OB, Timely, and Casey were testing a new prototype. One to hopefully help anchor and sustain the time tree, as you often called it, that housed Loki’s throne at the end of time. You hadn't realized they had been successful until you walked in to find a familiar figure standing in the Repairs and Advancement room. You drop the file in your hands, and without thinking, you run to them.

Loki catches you like they had expected you to do it. You can feel the chuckle rumble through the god’s chest as they hold you tight.

“You're here,” you say, but it's mumbled against their shoulder. Your eyes are full of tears of joy.

“Missed you too, my friend,” Loki grins against the top of your head.

You pull back. “Mobius is going to be so happy.”

You barely give them time to finish their discussion with OB as you insist they have to go.

“We’ll be back, just…yeah. Let's go,” you tell them, making the newly returned figure laugh.

“Talk soon,” Loki assures the inventors as they let you drag them towards the timedoor.

“When exactly-” Loki starts to ask you.

You give them the date and tell them it's a Saturday night since Mobius would have Sunday free. And you had had dinner with him a few days before.

“Why this point?” They ask you.

“Just trust me, okay,” you smile at them. And the god smiles softly at you because they missed you, even as they had watched over all of you. You were one of their closest friends, and they had known how hard it was to lose so many people you had known and worked with for so long, including the one person you trusted your heart with. Now, you took it upon yourself to watch over your friends. Loki could understand that urge. They had done that on an infinite temporal scale. But the god respected your choices. Loki wished you could be happier, but there was only so much anyone could do. Even a god had limits. Loki follows behind you, amused by your excitement. You barely knock as you reach the door of Mobius's home, and the god feels something tighten in their chest. They had been hoping this moment would come, though they hadn't anticipated how you practically buzz with energy as you let yourself in. Loki knew you were close with Mobius, but this level of familiarity was almost familial. They were almost jealous, almost. You checked in on Mobius more than anyone else. Twice a month, you would meet with Mobius. The former analyst had even offered you the spare room in his home, but you had insisted he'd need it when the boys got older and no longer wanted to share a room. You had assured him you were happy with your little apartment outside of time.

“Just me!” You called out. “well, sorta!”

Loki watches. It almost feels strange to be witnessing this from inside the timeline. The god has spent so long observing from the remains of the citadel in the void surrounded by the branches of time. They smile as two blond boys shout your name and rush to greet you. You take it all in stride, beaming with joy as you hug Kevin. Kevin is already talking your ear off as Sean eyes Loki suspiciously.

“Where's your old man?” You ask.

“Kitchen!” You hear a shouted answer, and you see the way the silver-tongued god shifts. If Kevin hadn't been talking, you would have heard the Jotunn’s breath hitch.

“Well, turn off whatever appliance is on and get out here!” You shout towards the kitchen. “You have a guest!” You smirk before, in a softer tone, telling the boys, “Come on, boys, show me what you have been up to.” Kevin grabs your hand and tugs you toward the living room. “Have fun.” You wink at your newly returned best friend. And Loki has never loved you as much as the former prince does now. They now understood what you were doing. You were appointing yourself as babysitter so that Loki and Mobius could reconnect. But all thoughts are pushed aside as Mobius walks into view, and the god forgets how to breathe for a moment. All the daydreams and fantasies that kept Loki’s mind busy at the end of time were nothing compared to the simple reality of the man they loved drying his hands on a towel and just standing there is a thing of beauty.

“Loki,” Mobius's tone is filled with emotion.

“Mobius,” Loki says fondly.

“You're welcome!” You poke your head out of the living room. “And go! Shoo! I got these hooligans. Oh, wait,” you toss your tempad towards them. Loki uses their seiðr to catch it. “I want that back.

“But you-” Mobius starts to insist you might need it. What if something happens to the boys? You need to be able to reach him.

“I will just steal yours,” you smirk.

“How do you-”

“Learned mischief from the best, M,” you grin at the pair. Loki laughs.

“You're sure?” Mobius asks you.

“Go before I kick you out of your own house. I will recruit and corrupt your sons if I need to.”

The god laughs again. “Haven't you already?”

You gasp in mock offense. “I have never.”

“As much as I missed this banter,” Loki says. “Shall we?”

“Thank you! Finally, someone gets the point. I have a job to do, so quit wasting everyone's time and GO!”

“Alright, alright,” Mobius says. His hesitation vanishes as he gets closer to Loki.

“Took you long enough. We’ve been waiting,” Mobius said, grining at the god.

“You don't know that half of it,” Loki says sweetly. “I've missed you so very much.”

“Me too,” Mobius says.

“Awwwww,” you say from where you are still half in the living room.

Loki shakes their head and smiles. Mobius sighs, but it's a fond look on his face when he glances over at you. He takes the tempad from Loki and pulls up a timedoor.

“You boys, be good!” He calls to his sons.

“We will!” Both boys answer.

“You too,” Mobius says to you.

“Always,” you grin.

“Try not to burn the place down,” Mobius says. “Dinner will be done when the timer goes off.”

You laughed. “And make sure Kevin eats at least half the veggies. I know, M. I've been here before.”

You wait until the timedoor disappears to go into the kitchen and ensure dinner hadn't spontaneously combusted while it was unobserved.

“Where’d dad go?” Kevin asked as he came and clamored up the barstool at the kitchen counter.

“Who was that guy?” Sean asks, his tone more serious.

“Loki is a friend your dad and I haven't seen in a while. He had to leave us before, and your dad missed him a lot.”

“But where did they go?” Kevin asks again.

“I didn't exactly ask,” you tell him honestly. “But don't worry, I know how to get a hold of him if we need him. But we three always have way more fun when he’s gone, right?”

“Yes!” Kevin agrees enthusiastically.

Sean looked unsure still. So you decided to distract him.

“So, how is the plan of convincing your dad to get you a snake going?” And that gets them talking about how they had been trying to convince their dad they were old enough for not only a pet but a pet snake.

“You should tell him that snakes are less messy than dogs.” It wasn’t exactly true. They were just more of a contained mess than a dog. “Tell him that, and Loki loves snakes. I'm sure they will help you.”

“Really?” Sean asks.

“Oh, they are Loki’s favorite,” you grin.

“Cool,” Kevin says.

Dinner goes off without a hitch. You only have to bribe Kevin a little bit to eat his green beans. And you keep them busy, and their bedtime gets pushed back by a half hour for all the veggies being eaten and having helped clean the table. It was the weekend, so Mobius wouldn't mind.

The only issue was when you checked on them after putting them to bed. You can tell Sean is just faking being asleep by the constant movement of his foot—an anxious tell.

“You okay, bud?” You ask as you knelt beside his bed. You brush his bangs out of the way to get a better look at him.

“Dad's still not home,” Sean says.

“He will be soon, kiddo, I promise,” you assure him.

“But he's usually back in time to tuck Kevin in,” he pouts. You smile at how he makes it out to be a Kevin problem despite the fact Kevin is in his own bed snoring. Sean insisted he was too old to need his dad to tuck him in.

“Want to come watch boring TV with me, and I will get a hold of your dad?” You ask because you know this anxious kid isn't going to just roll over.

He nods. You send him off downstairs and go to Mobius' hiding spot for his tempad. You send a quick message to your own tempad and put it back. It wouldn't be long now.

You dramatically drop down on the sofa next to Sean. “He’ll be home soon,” you assure him. “Want to watch some terrible infomercials until then?” Sean just shrugs. You switch the TV to some late-night, after-hours infomercial. He was curled into your side asleep before the primary part of the sales pitch finished. You turn the volume down and settle in to wait. Less than 20 minutes later, you hear the telltale swooshing of a timedoor, and then Mobius's figure appears in the living room doorway. The room is lit only by the TV and a single lamp. You think it fitting that Loki appears over the ex-agent’s shoulder, backlit by the hall light.

“That rough, huh?” Mobius asks quietly as he approaches you.

“Nah, was a breeze. Just missed his dad,” you tell him. And not long ago, if someone had told you that one of the TVA’s best analysts would have the softest and sweetest look on his face as he saw his sleeping son tucked in next to you, you would have laughed. Mobius lived for the job. But things changed.

“Let's get you out of here,” Mobius says. And he begins to move Sean gently off your arm. You both laughed quietly as the sleeping boy protested.

“It's okay, bud,” Mobius says.

“Dad?” The half-asleep boy mumbles.

“Told you he'd be back soon,” you say once you are on your feet.

“Time for bed, kid,” Mobius says. And Sean goes, too tired to fight.

“Thank you,” Loki says. You turn to look at them as they step closer.

“It's nothing,” you reply.

“It's not nothing,” the god says. “It's more than I expected.”

“You saved all of time, you saved the TVA, you saved all of us. A night out with Agent Dad up there is the least I could do. Besides, it’s always fun to kick him out and make him think I'm corrupting his kids.”

“You enjoy that more than you should,” Loki grins.

“You don't believe that, oh mighty god of lies,” you nudge his shoulders. “You just don't want me corrupting your future kids.” Even in the dim room, you catch the flustered look on his face. You laugh.

“Here,” Mobius says when he returns and hands over your tempad. “Do I need to find a better spot for mine?” He asks.

“Nah, though a lockbox couldn't hurt. The last thing you need is Kev to find it. I don't think OB has made them fireproof yet.”

Mobius cringes. “Fair point.”

“Well, holler if you need me,” you open a timedoor.

“Wait, I should-” Loki starts.

“I'll come get you if the brain bunch needs you. And Casey and I will keep a close eye on the branches if anything fails. You’ll be the first to know.”

Mobius calls your name before you leave, and as you turn to face him, he hugs you.

“I owe you one,” he tells you. “I really appreciate what you did. I can't-

You chuckle. “Yeah, you might not feel that way when you hear what I told the boys tonight.”

“What did you do?” He asks, but his tone is more curious than angry.

“You might have to look into a wildlife permit soon,” you grin.

“You didn't,” he said, narrowing his gaze and studying you.

“Didn't technically do anything, just floated some ideas.”

“Bye Lokes! See ya, M.” You say as you slip through the timedoor.

You only just catch the sound of Loki laughing and Mobius wondering why he still lets you watch the boys. You know he isn't serious. He knows the boys love you. You are almost as much trouble as they are, but he also knows you'd die to defend them. Just like you were willing to do for all those strangers on branches of time, you could never possibly meet. He could trust you. You trusted him. But you also know your job just got a lot easier because you wouldn't need to monitor his timeline now. And he would thrive now that Loki had come back to him.

#loki series fic #platonic mobius x reader #platonic loki x reader #marvel reader insert #marvel x reader

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oh-three · 7 months

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Loki S2E6:

LOOK AT THE EPISODE NAME. SOMETHING'S GOING DOWN TODAY. (Also, this is the same name of S1E1).

Holy shit, it's an hour long.

The Marvel Studios logo is going backwards in time 👀

Time to watch Victor die again.

The first of many times.

Rip.

TIME LOOP!

Miss Minutes 🤣

Oh, well, that one was gruesome. Nice close-up of poor Victor's skull.

Loki: speedrunning the plan Sylvie: 🤨

He's actually gonna make OB teach him everything to make the next loops faster.

WAIT, REALLY. I did not expect the "centuries later" timecard, omg.

"Do not set the Multiplier down, or it will roll off the gangway." I wonder how many times that happened.

MOBIUS JUST CURSED 👀

There's the microphone shot.

HE'S ACTUALLY DOING IT. COME ON, VICTOR, YOU CAN DO THIS.

Suit integrity's failing....

HE DID IT.

Victor ain't gonna make it. I have never been so glad to be wrong.

It feels too good to be true. Something's gonna happen.

"The Loom is overloading again." Noooooooooooo 😭

"You can't scale for infinite. It's like trying to divide by zero." He's not even wrong. Damn, they were so close.

"It's almost as if as soon as the timelines started branching, this was doomed to happen." Yeah, and who helped create that problem, hmm?

YEAH, OKAY, THAT MAKES SENSE. BACK TO THE BEGINNING. HELLO, S1 FINALE.

Do it right this time, Loki.

Now he has to fight Sylvie a few dozen times, brilliant.

My heart is breaking all over again.

"If you want to stop me, you'll have to kill me." DUDE, IF IT ACTUALLY COMES DOWN TO THAT, I WILL LOSE MY MIND.

"So, how many times have you been at this?" Lmaooo, He Who Remains might be a time tyrant, but he is hilarious af. And scarily smart.

Oh. He froze time. Neat.

A COUPLE THOUSAND? This man is having way too much fun. Leave Loki alone.

He would totally mock his variant, oof. Be nice to Victor.

I can't decide if he's encouraging Loki or trying to keep him from stopping the Loom's overloading. Or if he just hates Sylvie that much.

OH, HELLO, S1E1.

Loki realizing that past Mobius doesn't know the Timekeepers were fake 😂

He's pretty much just telling him to kill Sylvie, omg. But also, that eight-year-old story is heartbreaking. Holy fuck, it was Renslayer.

"You just choose your burden." Ouch.

'Goodbyes' plays/Mobius spagettifies NO. I WISH I DIDN'T MEMORIZE THE NAME OF THIS TRACK FROM THE S1 ALBUM. Thank god for the timeslipping.

"I'm not giving you my blessing, if that's what you're waiting for." We'd never want you to, Sylvie. We'd never want you to. That might make it hurt even more.

Alright, Loki, what's the plan. Are we killing Sylvie and breaking everyone's hearts, or are we just letting them go back to the timelines as who they were meant to be?

Whoa, this guy's going out there himself. Without gear.

"I know what kind of god I need to be...for you. For all of us." 😭

Ooooh, now that's an iconic look. Definitely looks more like it's from the comics, that's for sure.

Oh, shit, there goes the fucking Loom. Is that undoable?

Ladies and gentlemen, may I present Loki, the God of Stories.

Also, I can't not mention the music. It's beautiful.

Well, there's one way to get back to the end of time.

HIS CAPE IS MADE OUT OF TIMELINES. HOLY SHIT.

sits down in the pristine golden throne in a crumbling castle

YGGDRASIL.

Oh god, they brought Miss Minutes back.

And, yay, OB's out of the shadows at last!

Oooh, Quantumania Kang reference.

"You're leaving." I don't know if I should be happy for him or fucking devastated. Mobius, don't go 😭 (all the same, he's earned it. and he's got good reason).

B-15 literally is the perfect person to run the TVA, though. They've got that right.

New TVA guidebooks 👀

A Victor Timely that got to live out life as he was meant to. ❤

Ravonna in the Void (good riddance)

GET HER, ALIOTH.

Mobius watching Don and his sons 😭

Oh, what's up, Sylvie

"It's the best house on the block." He's totally biased. But he should be allowed to be.

I love how supportive Sylvie is of him going back. She shouldn't have criticized him for it, but she's damn proud of him for having the courage to actually do it.

Is Loki just. Going to sit on that throne for all of eternity? That is so depressing. He sacrificed his life in a completely different way- he didn't die for the timelines, he decided to live for them, to literally be the one thing that lets them all flow. He really is the God of Stories.

Something tells me there won't be a season three..

#rip d-90 #guess he really is gone #unless he somehow evades alioth #i hope it eats ravonna #loki spoilers #loki series #mcu #I HAVE SO MANY THOUGHTS RIGHT NOW

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strawberryjam-scribbles · 3 years

Text

You’re a Genius!

Warning(s): None as far as I’m aware of, please let me know if you would like me to add any

Word Count: 1.5k

A/N: I had an idea to do just a little thing based off of the new and wonderful Loki. FYI the reader insert is a TVA agent so keep that in mind. One last thing, as little has been revealed about specifics on how the agents were born and now live, I took some creative liberty on those details.

You woke up in the deceptively comfortable bed. The dull browns of the TVA often gave off a feeling of stiffness and unreality. Hearing Miss Minutes’ drawl in your ear alerting you it’s time to wake up, you swung your legs over the side of the bed. Despite there being no magic in the TVA, your hair always managed to be in perfect shape, every strand in order.

Perhaps the Time Keepers created you like this to cut down on wasting precious time, which can be used to keep the timeline on track. The thought brought a smirk to your face. As much as you admired the Time Keepers, you acknowledged they seemed to do things without having any specific reason.

An example of this is that you still need to manually get dressed like any other anthropomorphic being. Though you mused, it did remind you that you were only human, albeit a human in charge of keeping the endless time of an infinite amount of galaxies in order, but human nonetheless.

“Hey there sugar! Mr. Mobius is requesting your assistance in room #348 with a new and troublesome variant!” Miss Minute alerted just as you slipped on your shoes.

A quick spin around in your mirror confirmed you were meeting the TVA’s appearance code. Huffing to prepare yourself for whatever Mobius has in store for you this time.

Hoards of minutemen were running in the same direction you were going, never a good sign.

“Shit.” you muttered under your breath.

You picked up the pace, a silent prayer that the Time Keepers deemed you first to reach the incident and not the trigger happy blockheads who often made your job more difficult than it should have been.

Luckily there was a reason they were minutemen and not analysts. The double doors to room 348 were shut, but you could pick up voices slipping through the cracks in the door. You opened the door just wide enough to fit your body through before shutting and locking it behind you.

The distraught man sitting on the floor abruptly stopped talking to Mobius, whose blonde hair you would recognize anywhere.

“Ah Loki, this here is my assistant Y/N. I was hoping I could introduce you to her under more amicable circumstances, but the Time Keepers obviously had something else in store.”

At the last sentence, the Loki variant made a clear face of annoyance.

“Oh will you shut up already about the Time Keepers. Is there truly no such thing as free will?” He stood up and swung his arms to emphasize his frustration.

“No,” you and Mobius remarked at the same time.

You took a glance at the screen being projected. ‘End of file.’ That must have been why he seemed so upset. Working with Mobius, you were very familiar with Loki’s intended path.

“So, has he agreed to help?” You questioned, turning your full attention to Mobius now. You knew how badly this case bothered him; you knew he would take the first chance he could at having another Loki variant assist him in catching the much more dangerous version.

Mobius turned to Loki. Loki seemed to think for a moment, looking down, then back up.

“Yes.”

You and Mobius looked at each other and smirked. Excellent.

While Mobius worked on the diplomatic front, trying to gain permission to use Loki out in the field, you were tasked with making sure Loki did as he was told.

It’s quite the complicated job as he seemed to take it upon himself to make your life a living hell. He disregarded every piece of advice and information you gave him on the TVA. He’s downright childish to Miss Minutes, having caught him arguing with her on multiple occasions.

Despite the trouble he was, you couldn’t help but laugh at his snide remarks. You noticed he seemed to be more willing to cooperate when you laughed, after all, Mobius teaching you the art of observation.

Mobius strolled up to the cubicle where you and Loki were playing go fish—when you first suggested it, he scoffed, remarking how it was something for puny Midgard mortals, this was your 64th round if you were counting correctly—the smug look on his face told you everything you need to know.

“We’re clear.” You smiled wide, you loved going into the field. Mobius handed Loki a Variant identifier jacket. An encouraging smile from you brought him to shrug it onto his slender but muscular form—not that you were watching him or anything like that.

Your bodies walked through the TVA, three people, three purposeful strides. The desk analysts held deep envy for the excitement and spontaneity field work held. You could feel their eyes on you, and suspected that’s where most of them landed. Not on the infamous Mobius or the cunning Loki variant, you.

Mobius handpicked you to be his assistant and teammate, something which most of your former colleagues held one opinion or the other over. Perhaps they watched you so they could learn how to one day have the exciting work of chasing down variants and directly fixing the timeline.

Loki knew none of this about you; you knew to keep your cards close to your chest with variants such as Loki. Loki did know that he did not like the number of people looking at you with that look in their eye. Time moved oddly in the TVA, but no matter how much time had passed, he still formed a quick liking to you.

Meeting up with the minutemen, Mobius briefed the team on Loki’s involvement. As he was doing this, Loki was pulling mocking faces that had you stifling a laugh. You couldn’t afford to look weak in front of (minutemen leader lady)

Renaissance Fairs confused you at first. Why relive something which happened centuries ago, while not even doing it accurately. There seemed to be little point. Over time, Mobius taught you to enjoy the places you went and teach you why the inhabitants did some of the odd cultural things they did.

You walked Loki through to the tent where the scene of the crime was. Your eyebrows rose at seeing the leftover helmet. He took a hostage. The variant had never done this before, only killed the minutemen and taken the time reset charges.

Mobius verbalized this anomaly, though there wasn’t much we could do from inside a renaissance tent in the ’80s. The team turned around to leave and return to the TVA but was stopped by Loki’s voice, warning you not to leave the tent.

For a split second, you believed he was genuinely trying to help, then you saw the glint in his eye. The sparkle that gave away that he wanted to trick you at the first available opportunity. A disappointed frown overtook your face.

Loki glanced towards you, he felt a cold wash overtake his chest. He didn’t like knowing he caused the unamused frown and upturned brows.

Mobius shut him down with a dismissive look and comment regarding him as though he were not there. You were the first to leave the tent.

Yet again, Mobius had tasked you with watching Loki. It was somehow worse than the first time. With Loki essentially being put into time out, and you still hurt with his earlier attempt at betraying you.

Blankly scanning a file, you heard the screech of the chair pushing out, followed by the swift stride of Loki’s long legs. Despite your anger, you knew you still had a job to do. Pulling your body out of the chair, you made haste to follow him. He was engaged in interrogating the librarian.

Something he said must have gotten through to her. Her short heels clacking along the linoleum down a narrow dark aisle.

You silently crept up behind him.

“What do you have there?” He jumped. Evidently, he was engaged enough in the file to have not noticed you behind him.

He opened his mouth to reply, but he narrowed his eyes at the page instead.

“He’s hiding in apocalypses.” You weren’t sure you heard him correctly. His deep mumble was hard to decipher. You were close enough you could almost feel it reverberate through his chest.

He turned towards you. You weren’t expecting the proud grin on his face. “The variant, he’s hiding in apocalypses. Just think of it. There can’t be any variant activity if the whole thing goes up in flames!”

How could neither you nor Mobius have missed this! It was so obvious. Without even realizing what you were doing, you swiftly leaned up on your toes to join your lips with Loki’s. The kiss was brief, so brief you hardly noticed you did it.

“Loki, you’re a genius! We have to go tell Mobius.” Loki could bring up the kiss another time; he just wanted to do what he could to keep you happy and smiling at him.

#loki #loki spoilers #loki x reader #loki laufeyson #loki laufeyson x reader #x reader #oneshot #fanfiction #fluff #slight angst #fanfic #tom hiddleston #reader #readerinsert

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shades-of-stony · 3 years

Text

Time Travel Stony Fanfic

Character from the Future travels to the Past

A Shadow Hanging Over Our Fate by CaptainDean13

Summary: The Avengers get sent back in time to WWII where they run into the Howling Commandos... complete with Bucky and Steve. Little hard to explain that away, especially when you are trying to keep some major secrets. Secrets like how you ended up in the future and why the hell Bucky is now a scary (reformed) assassin with a metal arm, not to mention that you married your friend's son.

Note: A 1000/10 READ. THIS IS SO FREAKIN’ GOOD THAT I READ IT 3 TIMES SINCE I FIRST FOUND IT LAST YEAR. It’s a nice and well written time travel fic with the howling commandos and past Steve and Bucky!!

A New Way For Us by ann2who

Summary: They fight Thanos—and they’re losing. And before Tony knows what’s happening, he’s standing with Doctor Strange in front of the Eye of Agamotto and gets send back in time. Can he find a way to fix things this time around, or are they doomed to fall apart all over again?

Note: This is where Tony went back in time to fix everything that went wrong and prepare for the arrival of Thanos! Due to an unexpected twist of fate, he found himself getting closer to Steve of all people!

Two More Miracles (To Be A Saint) by queenpenthesilea

Summary: “Get up, Stark, you sleep too much. You said you would teach me paper football.”

Tony’s eyes snapped open. No. No. Had it all been a dream? Had he just imagined five years – five years - of an idyllic life, complete with a beautiful, wonderful daughter? He pushed himself up, looking around; he was on the Milano – he was on the fucking Milano, and either this was a really weird version of hell or everything had been a dream. Or, a little voice whispered, something had gone horribly, horribly wrong with the infinity stones.

Note: A nice and juicy post-Endgame Time Travel fanfic!! Though, this one held a few what ifs.

Saving the World is a 12 Step Program by janonny

Summary: Tony and Steve fall to pieces when Thanos’ wins.

Then they pick themselves up, and find a solution. They also find something infinitely more precious in the process.

“It’s going to sound pretty outrageous,” Tony admitted, rubbing a hand over his brow. While he had put on some weight and wasn’t as gaunt anymore, he was still easily tired nowadays.

“More outrageous than talking racoons and a purple villain traveling through space to collect magic stones?” Steve asked drily.

Note: This is another post-Endgame fanfic but with a twist and different take on the whole time travel!

Oh, Snap by wedelia

Summary: Peter wakes up, and he’s simultaneously five years too early and right on time.

Or, Post-Endgame Peter goes back in time and accidentally-on-purpose gets Steve and Tony together before the initial snap happens. And, oh, yeah—he also recruits a former-Air-Force-pilot-turned-galactic-hero, has lunch with Black Widow, and somehow befriends Nick Fury. This changes things.

Note: It’s Peter who time travels this time around!!

If We Never Got This Second Chance by Pookaseraph

Summary: When Tony and Steve’s son from the future, Jake Jensen, arrives at Avenger’s Tower, the two of them are forced to confront some hard truths: Tony that he might not actually become a horrible father, and Steve that he might not be able to set aside his discomfort with sharing a child with another man. When they both get a second chance at a first try at fatherhood, it’s up to the two of them to learn from their own future's past.

Note: Anyone up for some future son time travel? Enjoy this nicely written fanfic of Stony’s future son traveling and meeting the past versions of his parents! Past versions that are not even together yet! Things are about to get weird for Steve and Tony.

Your Name on Every Wall by Sineala

Summary: The Time Gem throws Steve into the past rather than the future, and in doing so, it gives him the opportunity to undo his past mistakes. But when it turns out that all of his mistakes involve Tony Stark, Steve begins to wonder if he's ever going to be able to mend things between them.

Note: A unique plot where Steve travels to the future and realizes what he is missing on!

Together, At Dawn by RoseGoldAmpersand

Summary: Steve returns the Infinity Stones to New York and finds himself in conversation with Tony of the past. More mature and willing to listen to Tony he realises that what he previously thought were taunts was actually Tony flirting with him.

In light of this new discovery and alone in Tony’s workshop after the battle of New York, one thing leads to another...

Note: ohhhhh, some juicy smut anyone?

Don't Look Back, You Can Never Look Back. by iL0Vsuperman

Summary: Tony Stark: billionaire, playboy, philanthropist, and, now, superhero.

It’d only been a few months prior that he’d revealed to the world he was Iron Man and life couldn’t be better.

That is…until he stumbled upon an old abandoned Hydra lab and kinda set off one of their machines by accident. A blast of blue light later and he found himself in the same lab…only it is seventy years earlier and it is full of Hydra agents.

Cue the entrance of the Howling Commandos led by Tony’s childhood hero, Captain America.

Suddenly, Tony is living out a dream. He’s joining up with the Commandos in the search to get Tony back to his right era. It’s the adventure of a lifetime and, at first, it’s amazing…but then he and Steve connect in ways more than just friendship and he finds that he is torn between wanting to stay with him or go back home.

In the end, whatever the result, he loses.

Note: Tony meets his childhood heroes-the Howling Commandos and Captain America!

The Future is Yet in Your Power by FestiveFerret

Summary: "Now." Wong leaned back in his chair. "What would you do to save this world from Thanos' attack? What would you sacrifice?"

"Anything," Steve said. "Anything at all."

Wong considered him for a moment, expression unreadable. "There's one thing, maybe."

Note: This is nice fanfic about Steve putting everything on the line to hopefully make a change.

The Good or Bad Thing by petreparkour for SeetheSea

summary: “It’s the metal suit,” Thor informed Steve, his normally-booming voice tinny over the SHIELD comms. “What did Stark call it—Iron Man?”

“But he’s down here,” Steve protested as the Hulk roared in Stark’s face, startling him into waking with a shout. “How could—”“It’s damaged,” Thor reported. “But it looks different. More advanced. And he—ah. He’s carrying you, Captain.”

“Please tell me nobody kissed me,” Stark breathed out, and then Stark’s voice suddenly came over the comms, but the man lying next to him hadn’t moved.“

Guys, come on, you’re killing me here. What is it, 2012? God, I hate time travel. First, I'm fighting Thanos. Now, I have to deal with my past self and Thor's bad haircut? Oh my God, Cap, yes I hacked their comms, they’re my comms.”

Steve nearly opened his mouth to protest that he hadn’t said anything when he realized that this replica of Tony Stark wasn’t speaking to him.

Note: Future Tony and Steve accidentally traveling in the past!

Character from the Past travels to the Future

hold the things you wanna say by SailorChibi

Summary: Tony is still a consultant, and between SI, the team and SHIELD he's overworked and exhausted. That's okay.

He and Steve have been having sex for weeks but that's all it is, just sex, and Tony wants more but he'll never get it and that's okay. Really.

What's not okay is the fact that Howard Stark has somehow appeared in the future and is the same as always.

This is definitely going to fuck up his schedule.

Note: ANGST! READY YOUR TISSUES.

Twice Upon a Time by TsaritsaElena

Summary: Tony Stark has never had an easy relationship with his father, but when Howard Stark circa 1983 time travels to the future in a freak accident, things get even more complicated, especially since Tony is dating his dad’s idol, Captain America, and Howard doesn’t know. As they work toward a solution that will restore Howard to his own timeline, will Tony get a second chance at a father-son relationship with his dad, or is he in for more of the same unforgiving treatment from Howard? Time travel, Avengers missions, and a secret project of Howard’s: things at Stark Tower are about to get a little crazy.

Note: SOME MORE ANGST AND HOWARD TRAVELLING TO THE FUTURE.

The Future Is Ours (Whether We Want It Or Not) by ann2who

Summary: After a hit from the Time Stone, Steve switches places with his future self.

Note: Another of Steve traveling to the future! Though this time, it features both timeline! Both POV of the past and future!

Ordinary Men by RiaRose

Summary: "Aren't you at all happy to see me?" Howard shot back, holding his glass out and pointing with his index finger. At Steve's stony face, he dropped his arm. "Want a glass?" he tried, picking up an empty tumbler, "This is good stuff."

"Tony doesn't skimp on - well - anything. And no, thank you."

"Was that Tony?" he queried, gesturing toward the hallway the other man had disappeared down. Steve nodded but didn't give any more information, so Howard repeated his earlier question, "Aren't you happy to see me?"

It took Steve a moment to answer. Howard could see his jaw working.

"No, not anymore."

In which Howard travels to the future and just messes up everybody's day, Steve is conflicted, and Tony is a piping hot mess, as per usual. It's not going to be easy, but Steve and Tony have to somehow navigate through Howard's arrival and the strain it puts on their relationship.

Note: From the summary alone, you can tell that THIS WILL BE ANGSTY.

To Have My Time Again... by WilmaKins

Summary: It's been two years since Siberia, and Tony Stark is still dealing with the fallout - personal and political. Life is quite complicated enough, without Bruce falling through a wizards roof yelling that Thanos is coming.

Thor and Loki are stalling, but time is running out. The fate of the universe is at stake. Steve Rogers is back in the picture. Really, the last thing Tony needs is for their plan to go horribly wrong and bring Howard Stark forward in time.

But his Dad *is* standing in his office, whether he likes it or not.

So, it looks like Tony will have to fix that mess too.

Note: There is just something about Howard-travels-to-the-future fanfics.

Howard Stark Meets The Avengers by SerlinaBlack

Summary: Howard Stark unknowingly travels to the future with his son and wife. Luckily the heroes of the future were somewhat ready for it. Unluckily , they don't seem to like him very much

Alternative summery: when will Howard learn? Not now lmao.

Note: ANOTHER ONE.

#stony #stony fanfiction #stony fanfic #stony fic #stony fic rec #stevetony #stevetony fic rec #steve and tony #steve and tony fic #superhusbands #stevetony fanfic

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aion-rsa · 3 years

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The Rick and Morty Season 5 Finale Explains…Well, Just About Everything

https://ift.tt/eA8V8J

This article contains spoilers for Rick and Morty season 5 episode 10.

Rick and Morty is fighting a losing battle with its own canon.

The show has demonstrated time and time again that it prefers crafting episodic, self-contained stories to fully realize the potential of playing in a massive sci-fi sandbox. Like Rick Sanchez himself, the writers of the show understand that infinite universes (and a hefty 70-episode order from Adult Swim) means that a concept as earthbound as “story” will soon become pointless.

Viewers, however, have never felt that way. Despite being presented with the promise of infinite creation, many Rick and Morty fans just want to follow the story of the world’s smartest, yet most damaged man, and his happy-go-lucky grandson. It’s all quite ironic. Rick and Morty co-creator Dan Harmon has spent much of his career advocating for the elemental power of storytelling, even crafting a “story circle” that is now a feature of many writers’ rooms (and probably the Marvel Cinematic Universe). But now the one time a Harmon writers’ room wants to have some non-serialized fun, fans crave structure more than ever.

And fans finally get that structure in the Rick and Morty season 5 finale “Rickmurai Jack.” Several writers promised before the season that this batch of Rick and Morty episodes would be more canon-focused than years’ past. Sure enough, this finale explains…just about everything in the Rick and Morty canon! You can tell it’s all canon too because Rick loudly proclaims it over and over again with lines like:

Rick: “The Citadel runs on canon.”

Morty: “We’ve been through a lot and he doesn’t like…” Rick: “Serialized drama.”

Rick “You wanna jump the shark? You wanna know my stupid crybaby backstory, then knock yourself out.”

Morty: “Woah, dead wife.” Rick: “Yeah, now everyone can shut up about it.”

Rick and Morty fans finally get just about every bit of canon they’ve been clamoring for from “Rickmurai Jack.” And in case you missed any of it, we will explain it all. Because that’s what we do.

What Is Rick’s Origin Story?

Rick Sanchez is clearly ashamed of his origin story. We finally find out why in this episode because it’s all so…human. Yes, as the series has long intimated (first in season 3’s premiere and then again in season 5 episode 8), the beginning of Rick’s multiverse-jumping saga begins with “sad about dead wife.”

Once upon a time, an evil (or probably just normal) Rick dropped into Rick C-137’s timeline to invite him along on multiversal adventures. When C-137 declined, the asshole Rick dropped a bomb into his garage killing his wife Diane and daughter Beth. Despondent, C-137 built his first rudimentary portal gun and traveled every possible timeline and dimension looking for revenge. In the process, he killed thousands upon thousands of his fellow Ricks but never found the Rick he was looking for.

Eventually, Rick grew tired of all the bloodshed and founded the Citadel of Ricks so that all the Ricks could live in relative peace. He then traveled to a timeline with a new Beth and settled in for a lifetime of adventures with his little buddy Morty.

What is The Central Finite Curve?

The Citadel of Ricks wasn’t the only thing that Rick C-137 and his fellow Ricks created. Have you ever wondered how, in an infinite set of universes, Rick Sanchez just so happens to be the smartest creature in each one? If the universe were really infinite, then wouldn’t there be dimensions where a Morty, a Jerry, a Beth, or even some random beetle was the smartest creature alive?

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

It turns out that the Ricks wanted to make sure there was no Genius Jerry universe. They’ve walled off their own set of realities from all the other realities. Using a concept known as the “Central Finite Curve” they’ve been able to isolate only the universes in which Ricks are the smartest creatures to use as their own Rick playgrounds. How did Doofus Rick sneak in then? That’s anyone’s guess.

What is Evil Morty’s Whole Deal?

Evil Morty makes his triumphant return in this episode. First introduced as a one-off joke all the way back in season 1, Evil Morty has now become arguably the most mysterious and important figure in the Rick and Morty canon.

Previously we saw Evil Morty elevated to the position of President of the Citadel and now we see why he wanted the job. Evil Morty wants to break free from the Ricks’ Central Finite Curve. He no longer wants to live in a set of curated universes where Rick Sanchez will always win. Ultimately he gets what he wants as the final moments of this episode find him entering into a new set of dimensions, 2001 or Interstellar-style.

Evil Morty scores his biggest win of the series yet but it’s still unclear where the little guy even comes from. Is it possible that he hails from a different dimension of smart Mortys to begin with? Maybe. But we think it’s more likely that Rick and Morty is operating under Jurassic Park rules: life finds a way. The Ricks tried to create a walled-in universe where beings like Doofus Rick or Evil Morty aren’t possible. Unfortunately for them, infinite universes aren’t so easily tamed.

How Cool is Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania Going to Be?

So cool. This may seem like a weird digression but keep in mind that the writer of this finale, Jeff Loveness, is also penning the next Ant-Man and the Wasp movie that will find Jonathan Majors’ Kang the Conqueror making his MCU film debut (after previously popping up in Loki).

In fact, this was Loveness’s last episode on Rick and Morty before heading off to Marvel-land.

Came back to write the Rick and Morty season finale. Airs Tonight. It is about the burning of the world and the lies we tell the people we love because we are afraid.

— Jeff Loveness (@JeffLoveness) September 5, 2021

What Has Mr. Poopybutthole Been Up To?

After becoming a fan favorite (and sustaining a near-fatal gunshot wound) in season 2, Mr. Poopybutthole has retreated to the background of the Rick and Morty world. Now he operates as an Oatu-like Watcher, dispassionately viewing the events of Rick and Morty from his couch, sometimes wistfully wishing these mortals could see what fools they be.

Mr. Poopybutthole’s monologue at the end of this episode is particularly haunting. Here is the script page in its entirety courtesy of Loveness’s Twitter account.

Learn from him. pic.twitter.com/lHaPQ5ZTkh

— Jeff Loveness (@JeffLoveness) September 6, 2021

“We don’t have as much time as we think. We never do. Oooowee.”

The post The Rick and Morty Season 5 Finale Explains…Well, Just About Everything appeared first on Den of Geek.

from Den of Geek https://ift.tt/3n8mIbt

#aion-rsa #Den of Geek

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krinsbez · 3 years

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Infinite Four, Refurbished: A Marvel Fanfic Concept

Here is the complete-as-of-now, refurbished version of Infinite Four, my attempt at envisioning an FF version of the eXiles or Web Warriors. Comments and suggestions welcome.

On Earth-9499729, Victor Von Doom has finally defeated the accursed RICHARDS! and assumed his rightful place as ruler of the Earth. Unwilling to rest on his laurels, Emperor Doom has begun studying the Multiverse. And when he finds out that in most realities, a version of himself is repeatedly defeated by a version of RICHARDS! he reacts….poorly.

Meanwhile, on Earth-75845525, Victor Von Doom, smarting from his latest defeat at the hands of the accursed RICHARDS!, decides to distract himself by studying the Multiverse. And when he finds out that in most realities, a version of himself is repeatedly defeated by a version of RICHARDS! he reacts….poorly.

Meanwhile, on Earth-34373402, Victor Von Doom takes a break from planning his latest attempt to defeat the accursed RICHARDS! by studying the Multiverse. And when he finds out that in most realities, a version of himself is repeatedly defeated by a version of RICHARDS! he reacts….poorly. Yeah, so in an infinite multiverse, there’s an infinite number of Dooms throwing an infinite number of shitfits over the fact that in most realities, the Richards family wins and he loses. And because Doom is often kinda bad at recognizing and/or caring that his actions can have negative consequences for everyone else, this gets very, very bad, and needs to be dealt with.

Someone has to clean up the mess, and that responsibility has been taken on by the Baxter Brain, an artificial hyper-intelligence housed inside a massive arcology that began as the combined uploaded consciousnesses of a version of the FF. But, even it’s astounding intellect and power can’t cope with ALL of the various Dooms (and Wizards, and Mad Thinkers, and Diablos, and occasionally an evil Reed) screwing things up for everyone with their egomaniacal disregard for everyone else. So, it has to recruit agents, and what better agents could their be than alternate versions of it’s previous selves? There are four teams: Alpha Team and Beta Team are each made up of an alternate Ben, Johnny, Reed and Sue; in the former case, they have additional power-sets from the "baseline", in the latter, they have additional skills or alternate powersets. In both cases, the individual team-members come from realities where they lost their version of the family. Gamma and Delta Teams are made up of versions of allies of the core four, and serve as support for Alpha and Beta. I only have two members of either ATM, help please? Alpha Team: -Reed Richards, Dr. Fantastic; from an Earth where, instead of Ben being the only member of the Four who was mode-locked, Reed was the only one who wasn’t; obviously, the celebrity adventurers thing didn’t wasn’t going to work. Desperate to find some way of curing his friends, Reed turned to magic, and eventually ended up becoming Sorcerer Supreme…which unfortunately led to the Dread Dormammu killing his family. -Johnny Storm, Ghost Torch; from a world where Reed’s guilt over turning his friends into freaks caused him to commit suicide. Unsurprisingly, this made things even worse for Sue, Ben, and Johnny, the latter of whom ended up being so lost that he joined a Satanic cult and found himself bound to a demonic Spirit of Vengeance… -Ben Grimm, Wolf-Thing; from an Earth where Reed’s moonshot wasn’t canceled, meaning that when it went to space it had adequate cosmic-ray shielding, and Ben managed to make it to the Moon without any problems whatsoever. Whilst on the Moon, however, he found a certain red gemstone…Fortunately, Reed figured out the wolf-monster stalking NYC was his best friend and built a gizmo to restore him to sanity, albeit by blasting him with cosmic rays that turned him into a rock monster. Unfortunately, he ended up dead in the process of using it (I can’t decided if Ben mauled him, or if some triggerhappy cop or something shot him by mistake) -Susan Storm, the Invincible Woman; a version of Sue who was forced to become a Herald of Galactus. Beta Team: -Dr. Maggie Wingfoot, the Human Torch; a female version of Johnny (named after her Aunt Marygay), who left the team to marry Wyatt Wingfoot and go to college, eventually earning a PhD in Mechanical Engineering. Unfortunately, at some point, something went wrong and the Baxter Building was destroyed, killing the rest of the family. Convinced that, if she’d been there she could’ve prevented it, Maggie’s marriage subsequently fell apart. -Susan McKenzie, Sub-Mariness; from a world where Reed died, leading Sue to take up with Namor; she was subsequently given an infusion of Atlantean DNA to enable to her to live underwater, and ended up with same mutations as him and Namora, but lost her cosmic-ray induced powers. -Ben Grimm, Juggernaut; during his service in the Korean War, got shot down and ended up falling in with a bunch of of Army grunts, including a pair of bickering step-brothers named Charles Xavier and Cain Marko. When they stumble onto a hidden temple, it is Ben who finds the crimson Crystal of Cytorrak and is transformed by it’s power into the Juggernaut… -Reed Richards, Director of SHIELD; from a world where the FF got caught trying to steal the shuttle. Fortunately for everyone, Nick Fury stepped in and offered his old OSS buddy a deal he couldn’t refuse; if Reed came to work for him at SHIELD, he’d make the charges against the other three go away. Not wishing to ruin his friend’s lives, Reed agreed, and became one of SHIELD’s top operatives, ultimately taking over the organization when Fury eventually went down. Gamma Team: -Victoria Von Doom-Grimm, Dr. Grim; female version of Doom, fell in love with Ben when they were in college, and subsequently married him. Unfortunately, having her genitalia on the inside didn’t make her less of a narcissistic megalomaniac, and their marriage was…rocky, with them constantly separating and getting back together. During one such separation, the fateful trip to space happened. Victoria was…displeased that her handsome husband had been turned into a monster, and was so determined to fix it, that she did not adequately test the cure she concocted. On the plus side, inadvertently making herself a widow forced her to take a good hard look at herself and try to change her ways. -Namor McKenzie-Richards-Storm, Sub-Mariner. From a world where Reed and Namor were both bisexual, resulting in Reed, Namor, and Sue all getting together. Unfortunately, this led to Reed and Sue being assassinated by one of Namor's political rivals. Also, presenting two teams of recurring sometimes enemies/sometimes allies: The Brides of Doom (women who had been married to their local version of Doom, who have dedicated themselves to cleaning up his mess): -Susan Von Doom (duh) -Ororo Von Doom (again, duh) -Victoria Von Doom (female clone of Victor. Honestly, given how egomaniacal Victor is, it’s astounding this isn’t a thing in canon) -Natasha von Doom, it’s happened in a couple weird alternates, so might as well. (thanks to Xero Key for this suggestion) A Natasha who made some different choices after the USSR fell apart, and ended up working for Doom instead of the new Russian government. -Jennifer von Doom, because a Hulk is required here. (ditto) Haven’t quite worked out how this one happened. Suggestions? -Shuri Von Doom, owing to a political marriage in order to obtain Doom’s aid in fixing the mess that resulted when one of the many attempts to oust T’Challa that failed in 616 worked. Was not happy about it, but accepted it for the greater good of Wakanda. -Anelle von Doom, likewise owing to a political marriage, albeit rather different. Anelle was even less happy about this, but her father was on an enemy-of-my-enemy kick and thought he could handle Doom after the FF were eliminated. Suffice to say, this didn’t work out so well for him. On the plus side, Emperor Victor I is actually doing a good job running the Skrull Empire, which as a bonus is a lot more work than running Latveria, reducing the amount of free time Doom has to scheme. -Emma Von Doom, from a world where the Hellfire Club thought they could get away with manipulating Doom. Unsurprisingly, they were wrong. Emma still ended up making a Heel-Face Turn eventually, though. -Loki Von Doom, from a world where the whole Cabal thing went very, VERY differently. The Token Evil teammate. The Stormborn, a collection of sons and daughters of Johnny Storm, from timelines where everyone’s favorite matchstick was killed by Doom. Said folks have therefore dedicated themselves to avenging their parent by hunting down and killing every single Doom in the Multiverse. -Namor Storm, the Human Geyser; leader of the team, son of Johnny and Namorita, named for his uncle. Has the standard human/Atlantean hybrid powerset, plus steam powers. -Agatha Evans-Storm, the Fantastic Witch; Johnny’s daughter with his OG girlfriend Dorrie Evans. Despite having a kid together, the issues that caused them to break up in 616 remained, and they separated, retaining joint custody of their daughter (who was named after her cousin Franklin’s nanny, who had recently died). Unlike her cousins she appeared to be totally normal. When she turned 13, however, she was kidnapped by Dr. Doom, who was on a magic kick and had discovered that being named after the old witch created a slight but distinct mystic connection that he could exploit as part of a plan to become the God of Witchcraft by ritually sacrificing her. She was saved, but at the cost of her father’s life. Also, she became a witch, and was subsequently apprenticed to Wanda. -Luna Storm, She-Serpent; from a world where Johnny left the FF to be with Crystal. Like her cousin Franklin, Luna is a mutant, with the power to control the weather, though it took people a bit to figure this out what with living on the Moon and all. Obviously, the subsequent history of the Inhumans was rather different, but a Terrigen Bomb was eventually released, and to everyone’s relief Luna managed to survive. She did turn into a winged snakewoman who breathes poisonous gas though, which kinda sucks. -Wyatt Storm, Speed-Hulk; Johnny and She-Hulk’s kid, named after Johnny’s BFF and Jen’s ex, Wyatt Wingfoot. As the name suggests, is a Hulk, and also a speedster. -JJ and Jeannie Storm, the Mutant Torch and Firebird; Johnny’s twin son and daughter with Rachel Summers (or Rachel Grey, whichever you prefer). They’re both Omega-class mutants like their mom; JJ is a teep, Jeannie is a teek, and they’re both pyrokinetic. Also, they can do that thing Aurora and Northstar or Fenris do, where they can become even more powerful by holding hands. -Jimmy Storm, the Human Robot; from a world where Roberta the Robot Receptionist was upgraded to sentience, and she and Johnny fell in love and got married. The one flaw in their marriage was the obvious inability to have children, and so for their second anniversary, Reed presented them with a child-form robot (named after the OG Human Torch) with an AI that was initially simple but designed to learn and grow in the way child would, albeit somewhat faster. The plan was to periodically upgrade him to simulate physical aging, but when he was two years old (though emotionally, intellectually, and in physical appearance being more like ten), Doom decided to launch a frontal assault on the Baxter Building, which involved destroying Roberta. Driven berserk by rage and grief, Johnny subsequently killed Doom, but was himself killed when Victor’s armor self-destructed, leaving Jimmy orphaned. That was ten years ago, and he has refused to change his appearance since. Like his mother, despite his harmless appearance, Jimmy is super-strong and tough, and possess a small arsenal of built-in weapons. -Ramonda Storm, the White Wolf; Johnny’s daughter with Shuri. Has no inherent powers (unless you count being able to consume the heart-shaped herb safely), but is a tactical/strategic genius on par with her Uncle T'Challa. When said uncle was injured and her Aunt Ororo killed by a Sentinel attack, she donned the long-abandoned ceremonial garb/vibranium-laced hi-tech suit of the White Wolf to assist her cousin Azari in tracking down and bringing to justice those responsible. You can imagine how she reacted when her own father was killed by Doom.

#Infinite Four #Fantastic Four #Marvel Comics #Fanfic #Marvel Fanfic

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hateful1979 · 3 years

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loki finale ask (finally)

tbf i didn’t really go in blind because i am an internet addict. parts that were already spoiled for me include:

mobius doesnt know who loki is 😭

sylvie and loki kiss (why!) & she immediately transports him back to the tva. so presumably wasn't actually that romantic, just manipulative (still bad)

the multiverse gets created

kang is the one who remains

actually watching the episode taught me that:

kang created the tva is because he’s a genius egomaniac who wanted to keep himself safe from all the other genius egomaniac versions of himself (this totally works given his comic origins, he's dealt with many versions of himself, eg. immortus, but i have a lot more questions below)

sylki kiss was definitely not romantic. she tricked him so she could kill kang. (still not a good enough excuse smh)

my interpretation of their fight: neither loki nor sylvie, if they 100% knew that kang was telling the truth about the tva, would kill kang. sylvie told loki she was doing this because she thought he was lying. (not totally true to loki's characterization imo, i'd think that both loki and sylvie would rather deal with infinite kangs than give up on free will)

new mobius doesn't know who loki is not because the tva wiped his memories, but because this is a totally different version of mobius (unmined angst potential imo)

ravonna fights mobius, lets him live, and goes out in search of "free will", and may align with kang in the future, since ravonna in the comics is kang's wife. (curious to see what they do with her. i have Thoughts on her place in the whole religious allegory of the show i will explore in my wowki fanfic)

me overthinking things

if kang knows all why would he go through all this trouble to lead loki and sylvie here? he couldn't have done this in an easier, less heartbreaking way? his plan was so contrived :/

one question i've kinda pushed aside for the show is: what kind of time travel disruption would qualify for a nexus event? because technically any variation, no matter how small, should create a branch in the timeline, because 2 contradictory things can't happen in the same timeline at the same time. but now we might have a kind of answer: if kang founded the tva to avoid other versions of kang, he doesn't need to make sure there's 1 sacred timeline, he'd just need to make sure all the variations are so small that the infinite timelines are basically the same, so there's basically infinity copies of the same timeline in existence, thus averting multiversal war between egotistical kangs.

why was there that arbitrary barrier past which kang couldn't see? yeah, ✨suspense✨ and ✨plot✨, but it's arbitrary, and it really would've made no difference if he knew what happened to him. in fact i quite like the idea of kang walking into his own death.

thoughts that don't really fit on this list

the finale was awful. not just the sylki kiss & bad narrative choices or whatever. there was so much padding and exposition, jonathan majors's performance totally took me out of it (i doubt he's a bad actor, this episode didn't give him a good opportunity to shine), the writing was super slow and bad, this ep could have been slimmed down to like 15 minutes because not a lot actually happened.

natalie holt's music — both the titles (lokius!) and the actual tracks — slap so hard. probably the best soundtrack in the mcu other than black panther. she really gets the show

production & costume design of everything related to kang was amazing, felt very vast, old, and regal

sylvie is acutally a surprisingly well-realized woman character and i'm quite proud of the show for that. (unfortunately neither her nor b-15 are fully realized until they kiss each other which has not happened as of yet)

please watch this it has brought me great comfort

HIIII so happy u saw it <3

1. YEAH :’) that broke me .

2. IKR i am Not a Fan and yeah! it was a manipulative kiss so sylvie could get what she wants but there are so many other things they could’ve went with !!!!!

3 + 4. damn it sucks that u got spoiled for those but yeah that’s what new in the em c you !!

——

1. yep! i don’t know much about his comic origins but from what i know it seems pretty in character

2. exactly!!!!!! and yeah it’s not a good enough excuse they could’ve gone with anything else !!!!

3. yeah !! i think both options (killing kang and fighting other versions of him / ruling the timeline) seemed pretty loki HJSKD but i feel like he’s gone through lots of character development through the show and i thought they would both go with killing kang but i guess not dhdjjfjd

4. yep and it hurts . so much .

5. yeah that makes sense !! and yeah i’m curious to see what they do with her, she felt kind of vague and didn’t have enough good motives to be a villain, so yeah i’m curious to see where her character goes !!!

——

1. yeah his plan kinda backfired HJSJDJD but i guess it works for plot HJSKDKD

that’s a lot of thinking to do but i think ur right !!

3. yeah ! i think that ✨suspense✨ was nice for a minute but him walking in to his own death seems way more fun

——

1. yeah it was really,,,,,,, boring ? idk i wasn’t really interested yknow? there was a lot of talky talky (ha mobius reference am i cool) so yeah this ep could’ve been a Lot better but it is what it is i guess

2. YES !!! everyday i was up and think about the opening of ep 5 (was it ep 5? i think it was yeah) but anyway i could listen to the soundtrack for HOURS

3. YEAHH they made him really interesting so i’m excited to see him again !!!

4. YES i think that’s why so many people love her bc she was really well written and she didn’t turn out to be the whole “woman helps man to get what he wants” trope !!!! she actually got what she was going for in the end so yeah !!!! also so true manifesting sylvie and hunter b 15 kiss next season

5. HAAHHAHAHH i love that tysm my day is blessed

#ILYYY #u are so right in all of these #feel free to not read all that LMAOO i just said yes and rambled a lot #ANYWAY tyyy ilyy sorry this look so long #asks #tiger <3 #loki spoilers

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cherrycoveredpythia · 5 years

Text

Extended thoughts on Brave the Tempest

2017’s Ride the Storm closed out the four-book arc that also included Hunt the Moon, Tempt the Stars, and Reap the Wind. In these books, Cassie battled Ares and his minions while drawing closer to Pritkin and eventually hunting him through time and space. She learns more about her abilities while trying to save his life, and also becomes a reluctant power player in supernatural (and inter-dimensional) politics. Without her faithful companion by her side, she becomes more confident in her own powers and resourcefulness. Of course, she’s still Cassie, so all her discoveries and victories are slapdash and hard-won. But they are still victories. She’s a daughter of Chaos, give her a break.

Brave the Tempest focuses on Cassie’s political duties and her complicated feelings about being a leader and a “hero”. She’s now slain two gods (with help), but that doesn’t result in easy respect from the witches or the vampires. The witches see her as a tool of the Silver Circle, while the vampires see her as an extension of Mircea. They are all so wrong.

Cassie has to demonstrate her full strength to convince these factions to cooperate with her. It works, but nothing is ever simple. In the long run, who will love her and who will fear her?

She’s becoming more like her mother every day.

Overall feelings

There are some amazing, joyful moments here. Please understand that I adore these books and characters, so I say this with love…

… but the book felt disjointed to me. We buzz back and forth from the witches to the vampires to the demons, and then go to Faerie and Victorian England. We get emotional scenes with Mircea, Pritkin, Marco, Rhea, and Rico. Augustine brings home a kidnapped fae. Tami needs to hire some staff but no one will take the job. Fred is a spy. Cassie is exhausted. I felt kind of exhausted too.

Important plotlines: Cassie’s growing pains with her powers, the political trouble with the witches and vampires, and the imminent invasion of Faerie. And then there was the timeline rupture. The rupture was terrifying and the fight with Jo in Victorian London was a full-on horror show. Cassie learned more about Pythian spells and then linked up her powers with Pritkin through the Lover’s Knot spell. She’ll probably need these tools for the coming showdown. She and Pritkin are even more powerful together than they are apart. And they are both forces for good. But will everyone see them that way?

I think Karen is just laying out all the pieces for the next arc. It’s a little messy right now, but it will all fit together soon. I’m glad that Shatter the Earth is coming in December. If I had to wait another two years for the next book, I would be upset.

Favorite moments

Pritkin flirting and Cassie retaliating during S’mores night. Especially the marshmallow at the end. Goddamn.

The Dickening.

Everything related to Saffy and Vi, and seeing Saffy and Rhea becoming friends. I think she is a great influence on Rhea.

Pritkin and Cassie’s meeting with Adra. I high-key love Adra. He’s a really interesting foil for Caedmon, who leads their alliance with the “heavenly” planes. Caedmon is manic and charming, while Adra is pleasant and even-keeled. Except when he forgets to animate his glamourie. I reallllllly want to know what Adra looks like under there, but I figure he’s a Lovecraftian monster that would drive us insane.

Adra shading Pritkin for never attending demon council meetings like other “heirs apparent.”

Cassie nonchalantly offering to bring Adra to the vampire council.

Gertie nonchalantly easing Pritkin out of the room and shifting him to the depot.

Cassie borrowing Pritkin’s powers to suck the energy out of Jo.

Big events and revelations

Pritkin is not shy and neither is Cassie. I thought we would get some pussy-footing about their relationship, but we DID NOT. Pritkin came on strong and Cassie reciprocated. I wish I had a chance to read Siren’s Song first. They had some time to let the tension build and I *do* love a slow burn… torture me, baby!

Ancient Horrors! Children of Tiamat/Tethys! Pritkin is 1/16th divine! Kind of a watered-down Ancient Horror, if you will. Minus the tentacles.

Lover’s Knot

Fucking Jonathan

Invasion of Faerie needs to happen ASAP

Jo is more dangerous as a ghost because ghosts can absorb infinite power. (Can we turn Billy Joe into a super soldier???)

MIRCEA THE BOLD!

Cassie agreed to go find Elena because she’s afraid that Mircea will do it himself. And she doesn’t want to kill him.

Fred is a spy working for MARLOWE! And I guess his master power is camouflaging his aura.

Rico is from Napoli (this explains a lot, because I was confused when he said putanas instead of putane. Dialect!)

NEW PYTHIAN SPELLS: Shards and Chimera!

Young Agnes is a real bitch.

The pros

I said this in a separate post, but I’ll say it here too. Cassie and Pritkin are back together and their relationship is so healthy and mutually supportive that it makes my heart ache. This is real #relationshipgoals. They are confidants and protectors and cheerleaders for each other. They don’t keep secrets or manipulate or gaslight. We need more of this sci-fi/fantasy and romance. There are too many dark, brooding male love interests who are borderline abusive. (Ahem, Mircea.)

MORE LGBT REPRESENTATION!

The emergence of Mircea the Bold. I like Mircea as a character, but not as a love interest for Cassie. I’m happy to see him going through this transformation. He’s becoming more open and genuine. He’s not going to win Cassie’s affections, but I do think that he’s going to redeem himself in Dory’s eyes.

GERTIE IS BACK! And *not* as a roadblock. She’s a powerful woman who helps other women, and I am all. about. that. mood.

The cons

TOO. MUCH. RECAP. Especially recap that broke up highly emotional moments. I don’t care if you are trying to explain things for new readers. Fuck ‘em. Anyone who buys a book, discovers it is part 1000 of an ongoing series, and tries to read it anyways… is a psychopath.

Too many plot-lines

I miss Rosier.

We all knew that something was up with Fred, but I don’t think that his revelation as a spy got as much weight and screen-time as it deserved.

I feel like the “wrap-up” with Jonathan felt rushed. He’s supposed to be terrifying but I’m like “meh, whatever, Jonathan, small fry compared to Apollo and Ares.” But I think she’ll get back to it in greater depth in the next book, so I can deal.

Can we PLEASE have some consistency about Agnes’s age? We see her as a teenager in late 19th-century London, for god’s sake. She must have been *at least* 130 years old when she died, and that’s being charitable. Previously, Cassie has said that Agnes was about 80. Lies.

The questions

1. My BIGGEST question. Cassie is changing. Not just maturing, but changing on a metaphysical level. The coldness, the hunger… I’m frightened for her. It’s not withdrawal from the Tears of Apollo and it’s not normal exhaustion. I have some theories.

Her divine side is becoming stronger and she’s beginning to require life energy in the same way that her human side needs food, water, and sleep. Why is this happening now? Maybe the Tears of Apollo are part of the equation, albeit indirectly. She’s been using more and more Pythian power thanks to the potion, and perhaps that has awakened her divine side more strongly. This is a little worrisome because she may have to feed on a regular basis to stay functional. Can she get all the energy she needs from incubus sex or from the Lover’s Knot? What are the moral considerations here?

Less likely, but she might really be pregnant. I’m not a huge fan of this idea, but Rosier does mention in Reap the Wind or Ride the Storm that the incubus-child feeds on the life energy of the mother as it grows. That’s why his attempts at procreation failed until he impregnated Morgaine, who was part royal fae and part divine. If this is the case, Cassie might be having life-energy cravings instead of food cravings. Or maybe this is the divine/demon/fey version of morning sickness? Pritkin, please start using birth control.

2. What happened with Pritkin in Siren’s Song? Does Jonas know his true identity now?

3. So who is Pritkin’s divine great-great grandmother? Any speculation?

4. Cassie begins to wonder if any of the gods might be open to diplomacy. This must go somewhere. And it’s true, there are a number of gods in the pantheon who are traditionally friendlier towards humans than others. Athena is the first that comes to mind. There’s also the mythic trope of the Trickster/Fire-Bringer who helps humanity: Prometheus, Anansi, etc. And there’s Loki, who doesn’t so much love humans as he loves to trouble the other gods.

MVPs

Ok, Cassie is the real MVP, as always. But barring her, I’m awarding this prize to the no-nonsense, sisterly duo of our hearts: Gertie and Hilde. They are officious and annoying, but that’s because they tell you what you don’t want to hear, and they are RIGHT. They are so right.

#btt spoilers #brave the tempest #my disorganized thoughts #please feel free to disagree and discuss #cassie palmer #karen chance

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