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zvaigzdelasas · 2 months

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[ABC is Private US Media]

Attacks on the international airport in Port-au-Prince generated headlines worldwide. Coordinated assaults on multiple prisons freed thousands of prisoners over the weekend. But all that could be just the beginning of what an increasing number of Haiti experts are openly referring to as a full-blown rebellion against the country's sitting government.

I was speaking to a senior diplomatic official in Haiti on Monday, a very sober and calculated person not prone to hyperbole. In discussing the situation, I used the word "gangs" and he cut me off.

"I would stop using that term if I were you," he said, arguing that gangs are what you find in American cities. In Haiti, there are multiple large criminal groups with enormous firepower, now unified with the stated goal of toppling the sitting government.

"They are armed rebel groups and this is civil war," the source said.[...]

Some 80% of the capital is under gang control, if not more, according to the UN. Those groups have fought each other and the government for years[...]

But things have fundamentally changed in the last month. We will get to the "why" in a moment, but consider the following:

-Haiti's dozens of gangs, largely grouped into two competing alliances, have seemingly set aside their differences and rather than attack each other, are working together to attack the government.

-The gangs are not hiding their goal. It is a change in government. Gang leadership, most notably a man called Jimmy Chérizier, aka Barbecue, has said the fighting won't stop until the unelected acting Prime Minister Ariel Henry is no longer in power. He's called for Henry's arrest.

-The gangs have launched a series of well-planned, massive attacks against key targets around the city. Nearly 30 police precincts have also come under fire, many completely taken over or destroyed. Government buildings have also been attacked, including one just 500 meters from the U.S. embassy. There is random, sporadic violence constantly around the city, but these attacks are strategic and targeted.

As to the why—gangs have long sought to fill a power vacuum left behind when President Jovenel Moïse was assassinated in July 2021. But an inflection point came last month.

Henry, in charge since just a few weeks after Moïse's death, had said he would step down by early February. But then, he changed course. The U.S.-backed Henry said the security situation needed to improve before he could leave and new elections could take place. Last week, he committed only to holding elections in August of 2025, a full 18 months away.

That appeared to be the final straw.

In a way, this gang-fueled violence is the armed manifestation of widespread popular anger against Henry and his government. Ordinary Haitians are furious over the ever-worsening poverty, hunger, and violence we've seen under Henry. He is a near-universally loathed public figure.

It is not hard to find people in Port-au-Prince who fully support the actions taken by the gangs, even if they are terrified that they themselves or their families could be collateral damage.

It is not that most in Haiti support the gangs or the chaos they cause. Far from it. Most despise the death and destruction they’ve wrought in the country. But for now, some feel the gangs are the only group capable of forcing Henry out.[...]

Remember this staggering fact: in this democratic country, there is not one elected leader serving at any level of government anywhere in the country. No elections have been held since 2016.[...]

So the rebellion, the attempted revolution, has begun--alongside the seemingly never-ending suffering of millions of innocents.

6 Mar 24

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vidavalor · 7 months

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This is the face of an angel who just realized that his oppressors are afraid of him and his friends because, together, they are a force that threatens the regime.

This is the face of an angel that just realized all of this Metatron nonsense is to separate them and keep him-- the best strategist-- from starting a revolution. If they are split up, The Second Coming goes off without a hitch... but if Aziraphale unites them, then Heaven will fall. Crowley & Aziraphale alone are enough trouble together to stop Armageddon. Crowley & Aziraphale with the eons-long leaders and commanders of Heaven and Hell in Gabriel and Beezelbub, though? That is a coup.

How little would it take to overthrow it all at this point? How long until it's Crowley & Aziraphale & Gabriel & Beez... & Muriel & Eric & Furfur? How til they get Michael and Dagon on their side? How long until it's actually most of the demons and a sizable portion of the angels teaming up against what's left of Heaven?

Give Me Coffee or Give Me Death. Aziraphale took the coffee. The Metatron thinks it means subservience. He thinks it means he's tricked Aziraphale and that he's won and he was almost right, so is the level of trauma these beings have suffered. He didn't know, though, that coffee is already coded as liberty. He handed Aziraphale a cup of symbolic freedom and didn't realize how so very true that was going to be. Just like a certain empire once did when they gave some of their people the option to form some colonies, thinking that the empire would always remain in control, and now we call those colonies not part of Great Britain but The United States of America.

"Out of his mouth go burning lamps, and sparks leap out"-- the Job quote on the matchbox. The matchbox containing the fly, containing Gabriel via Beez. Out of Gabriel's mouth goes burning lamps-- Gabriel lights the way. He's the path forward. He is first shots fired in the rebellion...

...and sparks leap out.

Some Boston Tea Party stuff afoot, you guys.

That is the face of an angel that just realized that he and Crowley were both wrong: the solution isn't running away but it's also not taking over a broken system that doesn't want to be fixed... it's fanning the spark that Gabriel lit into a flame and then into an inferno and burning this entire mother to the ground.

Aziraphale is no longer headed to Heaven to run it.

He's headed to Heaven to *overthrow* it.

He's headed to Heaven to *liberate* it.

No idea how much of a chance he will get to succeed alone but this is Aziraphale. He will give them hell if it's the last thing he ever does-- for Muriel and all the angels like them. For all the persecuted demons. For the humans Heaven wants to destroy. For Gabriel.

Most of all, for what they did to Crowley and the 6,000 years of fear and pain they've put them through.

That is the face of an angel who just realized that he had almost been drawn back into Heaven's web of darkness again, only to hear that Heaven wants him to oversee the destruction of 8 billion people and the Earth he calls home and the stars the love of his life built and he has reached his absolute last remaining straw.

They've taken his home and hurt his friends and they took *Crowley* and at this point, Aziraphale no longer gives one flying fuck what it might be that God wants because God can go fuck herself if this it is. The elevator scene is Aziraphale saying Crowley was right:

That angel is *untethered* with barely controlled rage. They nearly played him for a sucker. He might die doing this and they fooled him and he broke Crowley's heart and they've taken too. Fucking. Much. It's just utter destruction. There will be no system of Heaven and Hell done when Aziraphale is through with it.

Aziraphale is about to go from not sure if he should stop Armageddon in S1 to being the angel that destroys the system of Heaven and Hell in S3.

Yes, you can save everyone, Aziraphale, but not alone. You need Crowley's imagination and Gabriel's leadership and Beez's intelligence. That's what they're afraid of. You finally got it in that elevator, so get up there now, get your gang back together, and make some trouble.

#ineffable husbands #good omens #crowley #aziraphale #good omens s2 #good omens 2 #good omens meta

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yourtongzhihazel · 11 days

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I stg that "bitches will be like 'voting pales in comparison to my strategy firebombing a Walmart" and then not firebomb a walmart" tweet has made any attempt at discourse around revolution and the status quo fucking impossible because as soon as it starts some shitlib pulls out that thing not realizing how bad it completely misunderstands basically everything to do with communist thought

Like okay for one that's no communists actual belief system!!! That's some dumb anti-civ extreme anarchist bullshit it has nothing to do with the prominent strands of Marxism!!! And for two it's just a massive fucking cope to enable libs to delude themselves into thinking that doing no real political action besides voting a few times per year is equivalent to actual meaningful political action when it just isn't!!! God I fucking hate liberalism

Liberalism just can not stop inventong ideas in abstract and then hastily plastering it over the real world. They keep erecting straw person after straw person then striking them down.

"All we can do is to laugh as we gaze at this spectacle, for one cannot help laughing when one sees a man fighting his own imagination, smashing his own inventions, while at the same time heatedly asserting that he is smashing his opponent." - J. V. Stalin

To liberals, there's only two forms of political participation. Voting (submitting to the bourgeoisie) and adventurism (a symptom of their deeply rooted individualism) neither of which are participation in politics nor are in any way, shape, or form effective.

#death to the usa #i fucking hate liberals #hazel's press releases

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n2nataliegoodman · 7 months

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God every time I watch episode 37 it feels like repeatedly getting stabbed in the gut with a knife. Utena asking Akio out on a date because now that she knows what he’s doing to Anthy she tries to keep him away from while also taking off the ring in place for the sweater Anthy knitted for her. And Akio somehow not getting the hint that she knows who he is. What he is.

Anthy saying all girls are like the Rose Bride before taking Utena’s hand, knowing that despite both of them trying to keep Akio away from the other they’ve both failed and Akio’s abuse has changed both of them.

Saionji and Touga being honest with one another about how they feel and seeing each other as allies rather than rivals, while letting Akio believe that Utena is still completely under his spell.

Anthy echoing what Akio said a few episodes earlier, how she wishes she and Utena can be friends forever and her unchanging slight resigned smile as Utena rips up the letter because, regardless of what Akio thinks, she will choose Anthy and herself over him every time. Because choosing Anthy is choosing the moment she changed her destiny from that of a princess in need of rescuing to a prince. Choosing Anthy is choosing herself.

Juri, the only other explicitly sapphic character who gave Utena the sword to “take back her self”, forcing Utena to confront the fact that she and Anthy are not just friends and that Utena doesn’t even have the words to describe their bond.

Everyone, but most evidently Nanami, believing that Utena is still naive to who/what Akio and, more importantly, Anthy are while she gives them all a knowing smile without actually answering.

Juri and Miki admitting that Utena has caused a revolution for each of them too and that they have been able to change thanks to her.

The Shadow Girls saying they really are “true friends” before kissing paralleling Utena’s inability to truly answer Juri’s question about her feelings towards Anthy.

The car scene showing that, despite everything, Akio has to work harder than ever to keep Anthy under control, and even then it’s still slipping.

The iconic cantarella scene. No words are possible. That scene makes me feel so many things every time. All I’m going to say is that it’s Anthy’s final attempt to try to make Utena run away from Akio, but instead Utena shows she’ll stay no matter what.

And following this, Anthy choosing that, no matter how much pain she’s been in, Akio’s abuse of Utena was the last straw and she would rather die than let it continue. Because if not for her, Utena has no reason to continue down the path towards revolution. And if she can’t make Utena run away she has to try the only other thing she can to free Utena from the duels.

“Whoever believes in true friendship is a fool.” “Didn’t you know? I am a fool.”

Both Utena and Anthy choosing to confront Akio: Anthy through taping the letter back together, Utena by putting on the ring.

Not to mention the fact that this idiot pedophile honestly believed that Utena would choose him over the girl she’d been fighting to protect the entire time, for longer than she even remembers.

No piece of media has ever made me feel the way this specific episode does and I don’t think any piece of media ever will again.

And no piece of media will ever make me absolutely loathe a character the way RGU does with Akio. I have never had a villain turn my stomach the way he does.

#rgu #revolutionary girl utena #shoujo kakumei utena #sku #I swear this show is going to be the death of me

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gnwookieee · 11 months

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Going to an arcade with zb1!!! Who’s the most competitive??? Who’s got the skills???? Who’s going to win you the biggest teddy bear????

: arcade with zb1!

📁 🖇️ : hi anon i love this request so much! thank you for being patient, i hope this meets your expectations <3 !!

genre : fluff

pairing : zb1 member x (gn!)reader

———————————————————————

: 김지웅 // kim jiwoong

honestly you probably had to drag him there

i imagine him not being that great at games (srry Jiwoong) at the beginning

but once he starts playing he gets really into it

makes up for lack of skill with enthusiasm

gets very invested in the game

so focused, really serious facial expressions while playing

soon he wants to try every single game the arcade has

by the end he is actually quite good

always plays fairly

: 장하오 // zhang hao

will spend all his money and time on the craw machines if you don’t drag him away

pride will be hurt if he can’t win anything

but gets so excited when he finally gets the one he was aiming for

hypes you up when you win games

honestly would love it if you won him a prize too

or even better matching prizes

pays attention to what other couples have won, secretly now in competition to win more

: 성한빈 // sung hanbin

okay so hanbin wants this to be fun, it’s a date after all

plans to be that boyfriend that wins you the best prizes

but if you are competitive then so will he

may or may not play fairly

playfully tries cheating on the 2 player games by trying to distract you

really good at throwing games like skee ball and pinball

drags you to the photo booth, takes so many photos and will always carry them in his bag

gets so smiley when he wins finally at a game after a failure streak

: 석매튜 // seok matthew

is really great at the games but isn’t focused on being competitive

wants you both to have fun and it not turn into an agressive competition

feel like he would be really good at air hockey idk why

probably lets you win most of the 2 player games

acts super offended if you accuse him of letting you win

careful with his plan, not letting you win every single time because he knows that is too obvious

insists he must reward you with kisses every time you win

so really he is winning too

sweetest

: 김태래 // kim taerae

drags you to the arcade

makes it his mission to teach you how to play different games

prefers two person games so you can play together

another member that plays fairly

makes sure you are having fun

highly amusing to watch him play dance dance revolution

pls video him

tries to show off but ends up failing

gets all shy and smiley in embarrassment because he insisted he was really good

holds your drink for you while you play a game, ready at all times to give you the straw when you need a sip while immersed in the game

supportive boyfriend

: 리키 // ricky

he wants to win you all the prizes

not bothered about the biggest. but the most

tries to bribe the arcade workers into giving him the prizes without the hard work of winning them

probably nearly gets you kicked out

finally gives up and accepts that he will actually have to win them

honestly ends up being pretty great at them

ao proud of himself but brushes it off pretending it is no big deal

*slightly freaks out when he wins at the claw machine*

blushes hard if you win him a prize in return

: 김규빈 // kim gyuvin

tries to break into the machines

espically the claw machines

insists they are rigged and that no one can actually win at them

sees another couple playing them and winning a prize on the first attempt

gets pouty

gets even poutier when you win a prize for him first

refuses to leave until he wins something

has 3 attempts at a game before giving up and trying another one

would be better at basketball games, his height would help

buys lots of snacks for the two of you for ‘energy’

: 박건욱 // park gunwook

this man’s goal in life is to win you the biggest prize possible

spends all his time at the same game because he knows they have the biggest teddy bear

you insist you don’t need the biggest one, you would be happy with any because you didn’t expect him to win a prize for you

obviously he succeeds because he is that type of boyfriend

takes so many photos of you two and the bear

very proud of himself

officially become the bear’s parents and debate over its name

“how about Beary?”

“omg no we can’t call our child that! that is the worst bear name ever!”

: 한유진 // han yujin

i imagine yujin would love going on arcade dates

probably your most frequent date

never pretends it is not going to be a competition

probably most likely to not 100% play fairly

it’s part of the fun for you two

you spend hours running around, playing every game possible trying to get the highest scores

time goes by so quickly when you have fun with yujin

both of you are so exhausted after but also really happy, probably just end up giggling at each other

📁🖇️ : hiii everyone! hope you are doing okay, make sure to look after yourselves 🫶🏻

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lilly-white · 1 year

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You, coming up to your 2nd year of being a pro author: OK. I’m fine with the fact that I need to go at my own pace. I DON’T want to write “for the money”. I want to write authentically, what I love, and it’s fine if I grow at a slow pace. My readers are loyal & engaged, and a smaller following is less anxiety-inducing anyway. To look for “more growth, fast” is ultimately to disperse yourself & move away from an authentic artistic expression that comes from your true personal experience, which is why you write in the first place.

Success posts on the 20Booksto50k group:

HEY YOU GUYS I PIVOTED AWAY FROM “WRITE WHAT YOU LOVE” AND INSTEAD WROTE 5 REVERSE HAREM ROMANCE BOOKS AND I JUST BROKE BANK!!! Here’s how I did it: - FB group promotion - Tiktok promotion - Read ALL the romance books I could get my hands on & listen to what readers want & remodel my entire writing voice & tropes according to that!!!

You, who hates FB & TT, and who hates 99% of het romance books:

#i went and looked at her quotes #writing is bland american contemporary romance style :'DD AGAIN :'DDDD #but man you wouldn't think she's this successful from her presence on social media #nor from her goodreads/amazon profiles #just goes to show the online façade gives you nothing of what the author is really earning in the background #indie adventures #MANY WAYS UP THE MOUNTAIN #she's taking the highway i'm taking the windy-ass broken up shitty little donkey path okay that's FINE i'm FINE WITH THAT #i need to go relisten to the One Straw Revolution #Masanobu Fukuoka please save me from the pull of American consumerism #business voice: BUT IMAGINE ALL YOU COULD DO WITH CONSISTENT 20K MONTHS LILLY

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percheduphere · 4 months

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So...Thoughts on the whole people thinking Sylvie is Aro-Ace? I can kinda see her being Aromantic, but with her mentioning she's more "hedonistic" than Loki and silently hinting that she's Bi too, can't really see her as Asexual. But what do you think?

LET'S TALK ABOUT SYLVIE'S SEXUALITY, HER RELATIONSHIPS WITH LOKI AND MOBIUS, & HER CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE SERIES NARRATIVE

Before I answer this, I think it's important to acknowledge that fictional characters exist for people's comfort and pleasure. I write original fiction, and I would hope that most artists believe in the right of the audience to interpret character to meet their personal needs. To me, canon is a sandbox. Everyone should play with it as they please and not hate on each other. There are more important things in life to worry about. Therefore, if Sylvie reads as Aro-Ace to you and that reading brings you joy, then she is.

This question inherently requires the need to talk about Sylki in this post. I predominantly analyze Lokius, so please, no hate! My number one rule is never yucking someone's yum. Furthermore, Sylvie plays a critical role in Loki's development and the philosophical thrust of the series, of which Mobius also contributes to as the other half of Loki's character arc equation (selflessness and sparing life [Mobius] + free will and revolution [Sylvie]). It would be biased and disingenuous to not acknowledge her contributions to the overarching narrative.

ARO-ACE INTERPRETATION

All right, your question! I can definitely can see Sylvie as being aro-ace. That's a legitimate interpretation based on how she responds to Loki's flirtation and romantic advances. It is also possible that she's an aromantic bisexual. This second possibility is more likely based on the text the audience is given.

THE CANON TEXT

Having said that, I think you're curious about what the source material is trying to say about Sylvie's character and how that influences her sexuality. I believe it's important to remember that external behavior doesn't dictate how someone defines themselves. Closeting and disengagement from intimacy because of trauma are prime examples of this.

The train scene in S1E4 reads as earnest. Loki and Sylvie are both very lonely characters. In this moment, both are trying to connect with someone who finally understands them because they are the same. It's actually a lovely nod to the queer experience.

The dialogue, lighting, and costuming (blue, purple, pink) in this scene communicates they are both queer, specifically bisexual. The lighting and costuming combining to represent the bisexual pride flag is an example of queer subtext in film. The dialogue, while direct, is also written in such a way that it avoids explicitly stating "men and women." Sylvie later comments that the brief flings she indulges in during apocalypses helped her "keep going". She even specifies that apocalypses make people desperate. This suggests that Sylvie likely didn't need to do much wooing or charming like Loki would to obtain a sexual partner. Finally, the way Tom and Sophie play this scene is vulnerable. I therefore believe we can take this on-screen admission at face value.

So the question becomes, why does Sylvie respond to Loki's flirtations the way she does?

SYLVIE'S BACKGROUND

Sylvie was orphaned and forced to run all her life from a very young age. Her backstory is deeply tragic. To live in such a way means that she never had the opportunity to experience adolescence.

NOTE: This is honestly my favorite gif of Sylvie. She's so sweet and cute when she's happy. I can't get over the 5 stars on her employee badge. "Sylvie, can you refill the straws?" "Already did it!" The sweetheart.

Sylvie working at McDonald's accomplishes two things: it allows Disney to fulfill their advertising sponsorship agreement for the fast-food franchise, and it subtly alludes to Sylvie's need to live the adolescence she didn't get to. The TVA forced her into arrested development. She never had the chance to make friends and safely socialize on her own terms. The centuries of trauma have made trust, let alone romance, completely foreign to her.

Which is why, when Loki and Sylvie have romantic scenes, she is often awkward or, if not unreceptive, wary. Her previous flings, as she agrees with Loki, were "never real". Physical intimacy without emotional intimacy is a familiar dynamic for both characters. Their relationship with one another is their first experience of emotional intimacy (or at least attempt at it) outside of their families. The pursuit of this emotional intimacy feels safe to them because they are the same entity and thus they know each other's base nature (versus nurture!) to some degree.

The difference between them is that Sylvie has not experienced social rejection in the way Loki has (nurture!). She recognizes the wrongness with which the TVA has treated her. She knows the absolute atrocities the TVA has committed. She is determined to destroy them to free herself and all timelines. Sylvie is consequently more self-assured, more confident in what she wants and believes in, than Loki. In S2, Sylvie's clarity on desire is what allows her to help Loki articulate what he wants: his friends back, most especially Mobius.

In S1E1, Loki, still posturing before Mobius, describes himself as a "liberator". At this point in the story, we know that isn't true, but it will become true by the finale. This line of dialogue foreshadows Loki's trajectory as well as Sylvie's revealed motivation in S1E4: to liberate.

THE NEXUS EVENT

There are a variety of ways for viewers to interpret what exactly the Nexus Event was. The canon, within the text of Mobius's dialogue and verbal confirmation from the creators, is that Loki and Sylvie fell in love. Now, I'm not going to spend time arguing over other interpretations here, but I will say that regardless of whatever pairing or OT3 a viewer ships, the Nexus Event was ALSO definitively this: two Lokis in the same place, at the same time, not feeling lonely together.

And Sylvie, who had confessed to Loki she has no friends and has never really experienced joy, answers Renslayer with the number of positive memories she has:

Sylvie doesn't state it outright, but the subtext is clear that her one positive memory was her time with Loki on Lamentis. Indeed, moments later, Sylvie prunes herself in an effort to find and rescue him.

SYLVIE & MOBIUS

But being the harshly pragmatic individual she is, upon arrival and encountering Alioth, Sylvie assumes Loki didn't make it. I don't think Sylvie means what she says in a cruel way. I think she believes this because she is accustomed to disappointment and accordingly guards herself with cynicism. Sylvie's traumas, her difficulty with trust, her inexperience with intimate relationships, and her cynicism all combine to create an individual who may appear aro-ace when that may not necessarily be the case. Please note, however, that Sylvie being aro-ace or aro-bisexual may still be a possibility. My analysis here is based on what the text and subtext seem to be telling us about her character.

Notably, it is Mobius who is more optimistic about Loki's survival, wondering if Sylvie truly believes that Loki is dead.

This moment is brief, but it is significant because Mobius's optimism implies that not only does he believe in Loki, he also wants Loki to be alive. Sylvie is intelligent. She can read between the lines. We can also assume an off-screen conversation took place between them that confirmed for Sylvie Mobius's genuine care for Loki. When Sylvie informs Loki of this fact, I believe we get this:

Mobius was conservative in how Loki might interpret their relationship, extending a handshake before their goodbyes. Loki, on the heels of his conversation with Sylvie, chooses to hug him instead. The result: Mobius is delighted!

I've long pondered on why Mobius would say, "You're my favorite" to Sylvie. I believe this is why: she helped along their friendship and opened the gates for physical affection between them. This demonstrates that Sylvie cares enough for Loki to ensure he is secure in his bond with Mobius. It likely helped that Mobius did not deny the TVA's evil when she pointed it out to him, and that he did not hesitate to apologize to her for it.

Ironically, it is Mobius's optimism, especially in the potential of broken things to become something better (whether it is Loki himself or the TVA), that creates the fraught philosophical divide between Sylvie and Mobius (and Loki) with regards to the TVA in S2.

THE S1 FINALE

The S2 finale is where the narrative between Loki and Sylvie turns, and the plot pivots to the deepening relationship between Loki and Mobius. Triggering this event is Loki's desire to slow down and think about the consequences of killing HWR in the Citadel at The End of Time.

This may seem out-of-character at first glance. S1E1-E4 have demonstrated that Loki's decision making is sometimes chaotic by virtue of impulse. What was the last impulsive decision he made with heavy consequences?

He ran off after Sylvie. A good decision ultimately, as Loki learns the truth about the TVA through Sylvie, but only by luck. This decision very nearly cost Loki a friendship, one he didn't even realize he had until Mobius called him a "bad friend."

Despite the fallout, Mobius recovers relatively quickly once he confirms Loki's claims and views Ravonna's recording of C-20. He reestablishes trust with Loki as soon as possible to help Loki be with the one he loves. Why? Because Mobius is ultimately selfless and wants Loki's happiness regardless of his own feelings of jealousy.

Which circles us back to the theme of trust and Sylvie's challenges with it.

Loki and Sylvie's relationship falls apart not because of lack of mutual interest, but because Sylvie loses trust in Loki and with good reason: HWR (and thus the TVA) is the cause of all her suffering.

It is not Sylvie's fault she is this way. She hasn't had enough time to develop meaningful relationships, and the one relationship that was meaningful to her (Loki's) became, in her eyes, a profound betrayal. This experience only adds to the other traumas Sylvie carries with her, making encounters with Loki in S2 emotionally difficult if not triggering.

The relationships of Loki & Sylvie and Loki & Mobius are intentionally set side-by-side for 3 critical reasons:

1.) To demonstrate Loki's growth by developing trust and thus emotional intimacy with others.

2.) To create the Plot B emotional source of conflict in S2.

3.) To set-up Mobius and Sylvie's individual beliefs and values (selflessness and sparing life [Mobius] + free will and revolution [Sylvie]), which Loki combines into his own system of beliefs and values. This combination gives Loki the strength and wisdom to ascend the throne and become the God of Stories (and Time).

THE S2 FINALE

Loki comes to his final decision after speaking with the two halves of his character arc equation. Loki first seeks out Mobius, who shares with him the distinction between himself and Ravonna. Now, this is brainwashed Mobius. Brainwashed Mobius believed Ravonna could do the impossible while he couldn't. But Loki knows Ravonna's corruption.

Beneath Mobius's wisdom that "most purpose is more burden than glory" is also Mobius's heart: he could not prune children and that instinct was the right decision. His "failure" was not a failure of duty but rather his humanity succeeding despite the brainwashing. It's this same intrinsic compassion that drove Mobius to convince Ravonna to spare Loki. Loki articulates this to Don as such. He therefore takes the message of selflessness and sparing life from Mobius to Sylvie.

Sylvie, in turn, challenges Loki, stating they should have the freedom and right to fight whatever comes on their own terms.

She also stresses that it is all right to destroy things. Upon hearing this, Loki comes to the conclusion that what is destroyed must be replaced with something better. What needs to be destroyed? Not the TVA and the people in it (not Mobius, Verity, OB, and Casey), but the Loom.

Loki sacrificed himself (selflessness + sparing life [Mobius]) in order to save all timelines (free will + revolution [Sylvie]). Loki sparing Sylvie's life is a direct consequence of Mobius having fought to spare his.

Through this sacrifice, Loki gifts Sylvie the chance to get the type of positive experiences she wants and needs, which includes future romance, if she so chooses. That is canon and is a genuinely romantic gesture regardless of anyone's interpretation of mutual reciprocation or lack thereof.

It is also canon that Loki loves Mobius and Mobius loves Loki. Their actions for one another across both seasons demonstrate this to be true. Is it also romantic? Absolutely. Is it sexual? On screen, no, and it doesn't have to be. Romance does not require sex, let alone physical contact, to exist.

Loki loves them both.

#loki #sylvie #loki series #loki meta #my meta #loki season 2 #lokius #mobius #loki spoilers

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