First big test and she aced it

She’s so close, she can taste it

She got a chip on her shoulder

Guess you never can tell!

From: Legally Blonde the Musical

Shoutout to @beheworthy for helping me with the gifs! 😄🫶🏼

i realised recently that i should probably clarify this, since not everyone has been reading my blog like the morning paper for two years, so:

when i compare loki to a jester, clown, or similar, it's not an insult, not even an affectionate one. i'm not calling him stupid, ridiculous, bumbling, inept, or anything along those lines; and it's not in reference to the post-TDW characterisation people often describe very unaffectionately in those terms. i'm actually saying he IS clever, calculating, and extremely deliberate in his self-presentation, because i'm calling him a performer.

this comparison originally grew out of the idea that, in less acute crisis situations, pre-canon loki might have been a kind of "class clown" to his peer group. and what i mean by class clown, specifically, is: an outsider and misfit who tries to disguise and compensate for their poor social standing by entertaining others, whether through humour or other attention-seeking stunts/performances.

there are two major pieces of evidence for this being true of loki.

the first is in T1, on the bifrost, before jotunheim. this is a brief moment, but it's still a significant one. for the first time, we see loki stepping to the front of a group, smiling, preening, and asking for attention. he practically says, "watch this."

the second is in TDW, after thor springs loki from jail. this one is emotionally messy, because (IMO) loki is not just trying to get thor's attention or approval, he's probing him, trying to work out what he's feeling - but there is still a very needy undertone to it. loki's been alone for so long and he doesn't know if he has any relationship with thor to salvage; he needs to make thor laugh or smile or even roll his eyes affectionately just to know that he still can. and so, again, he is suddenly and surprisingly taking centre stage - literally walking backwards in front of thor to make himself impossible to ignore.

between these two moments, we see loki trying to soothe his insecurity through many kinds of performance - humour and magic and even deliberate displays of manipulation/deceit. i think it makes a lot of sense for his character if you assume this is a long-standing habit.

for one thing, the mind games we see from him are often just an inversion of this - acting deliberately sinister or dangerous in order to elicit a particular negative response in his audience. for another, it really resonates with the double meaning of "tricks" - loki is not just disparaged for "tricking people", as in dishonour and deceit, but for "doing tricks", like a travelling entertainer - like someone of much lower status than a prince.

(and then we get into the servant side of the jester comparison, which is very much its own can of worms.)

ragnarok and the loki series were both like watching loki die again, and have it rubbed in your face. he was “brought back”, just to be desecrated more. a reminder that not just his physical body is dead and long gone, but the idea of who he was not only to himself and the characters around him, but to real life people as well. it’s like no one remembers who he was anymore. he was dug out the grave, to essentially become a reanimated figure/puppet who no longer resembles the character you loved so much. as to say, he is truly gone and you are not getting him back. not in his own universe, nor another. or whatever the tva is. loki series loki is obviously not our loki and he’s very insignificant to me, but it’s a whole different story with ragnarok loki. he literally is supposed to be our loki.. we were left off with his best character development yet in tdw, and it was put together with so much care. the writers cared to humanize loki, without stripping him of everything that made him, him… and it all just went to shit because of new careless writers/directors. it’s made grieving loki really weird. he actually died in infinity war, but it seems like he’s been dead since after tdw. the character i love has died multiple times, and not just literally. i know recently i’ve been less serious on here and i haven’t talked my shit about ragnarok/the series in a minute, but i’m still in complete shock of his death. whether that be his literal death in infinity war, or the death of any idea of his character and who he is post tdw. i can’t believe my favorite character is dead. i have a lot of favorite characters who have died, but not like this. this is worse.

Honestly I always just assumed that it was only the power stone that could vaporize you by touch (because it’s the *power stone*) but everyone always says that it’s all the stones. So I’m wondering if there’s any time where another stone hurts someone just by touching it? I haven’t been watching any mcu recently, especially not the newer stuff, so maybe that’s why I didn’t know?

no worries! When Fury touches the outer casing of the Tesseract in Avengers 1, he is visibly in pain and he has to shake his hand to get rid of the numbness.

(do not have gif of this, but it's when he's putting the Tesseract in the suitcase before Clint shoots him in the chest and Loki says "please don't, I still need that")

^ Red Skull is vaporized when he tries to break the Tesseract in Cap 1:

^ just lightly touching the mind stone activates Wanda's innate magic 3000 + gave Pietro his powers

^ ULTRON won't touch the mind stone

^ Raw energy of the tesseract gives Carol her powers

^ CONTACT ALONE with the power stone is enough to make Thor scream

+ the scene you were talking about from gotg1 with the power stone

^ an enormous plot point of TDW is that hours after getting possessed by the infinity stone, Jane is on the brink of death. Is it instant vaporization, no, but I think that's only because it's not in one go, she's taking it in her body like a fluid, so there's more skin to absorb the power, if that makes sense?

+ other examples I'm too tired to think of. Like vaporization is only shown with the Power Stone on screen, but all of them clearly have an adverse effect when you touch them and we know that even though they don't state it explicitly because of the WAY the infinity stones are presented to us. ALL of them (except the soul stone) are encased in something to make it easier to touch. That was done on purpose, not just convenience. if you watch mcu infinity saga closely, you'll notice just how much care was put into making the infinity stones visibly powerful without ever having to say anything about it. People use the magic from them, but they rarely, if ever, actually touch the stone.

i.g.

the scepter ^

^ an entire magic spell has to be cast in order to OPEN the necklace that holds the time stone, let alone USE it. it's dangerous to touch, so they have it locked away

^ he's USING the time stone, but look how much effort was made into NOT touching it

when he gives Thanos the time stone he makes an effort NOT to touch it

^ the reality stone is consumed by Jane, but any time anything tries to touch her, a magic shield appears that protects it from threats (Also couldn't find a gif of this, but again, massive plot point of TDW is that they can't get the aether out without Malekith's help)

HOWEVER. you are right. People do touch the Infinity Stones with what is basically bare hands a lot, but not really until Endgame/Infinity War

So...rules are fluid? I guess? Personally, I just don't understand why so many infinity stones would be encased in such powerful objects for protection unless it WAS dangerous to touch them

The Tesseract was put in shatter-proof glass that survived centuries, the Soul Stone is...under some sort of spell via God(?)(unclear), the aether was broken into pieces so it's evil kool aid (which is a protectio device because you can touch the bits of the aether without it killing you, rather than the entire infinity stone), the time stone is in a necklace you have to use magic to open, the power stone was hidden in an unbreakable orb and the mind stone was encased in the scepter (Thanos might have done this himself, also unclear)

The point is that I think MCU didn't really decide one way or the other, and even if they DID, thanos is intended to be a bit sturdier than the average human, so him making contact wouldn't vaporize him instantly, I think.

How about these for the ask game?

6. Least favorite movie

9. Favorite fight scene

21. Unpopular opinion about anything

34. Favorite outfit/look of the character of your choice

HI THANKS!!! <3

6. Least favorite movie

I was gonna say this was hard because I don’t think I have an MCU movie I despise, but also not really hard at all: every Thor movie after the dark world for the OG6. More recently Quantumania. I enjoyed Quantumania, but I’m not a fan, if that makes sense? I think I was just overall disappointed with Kang in this movie. I was sooooo hyped, like unbelievably hyped, about seeing Ant-Man and Kang fight. I rewatched the trailer countless times, I obsessed over the soundtrack - I was really into it. And it fell really flat towards the end for me. I was expecting more. Nonetheless, the world and idea of it is still super cool to me and I may even rewatch it.

For the post-TDW Thor movies, I’m being insanely petty because I can’t even remember Ragnarok clearly and I haven’t watched Love and Thunder. I remember enjoying Ragnarok, but I also remember disliking it. I think I felt it was weird on the characterization front and also too comedic in a bad way. The things I’ve heard about Love and Thunder makes it seem that it has the same issues as Ragnarok, but like, way worse. I still plan on watching it though, because I don’t like speaking on things I have no business speaking on lol. 

I’m just really sensitive about Thor characterization, I’ve realized. I think he’s so complex and I really don’t like to see him…portrayed as a shallow clown. Or a fool. Or any resembling that. I adore Thor, so so much and so I’m extra nitpicky about him. He has depth and insight that deserves to be explored! I don’t understand where the MCU is trying to take him, but I don’t like it! Same with Bruce, kind of.

Honorable mention: AOU but only for that scene where Bruce fell into Natasha’s boobs. Literally so fucking ridiculous, I will never pass up a chance to talk about how much hatred I have towards that cliche - ugh. 

9. Favorite fight scene

I answered this in the previous ask, but I’ll add another one! Not so much of a fight…but a pre-fight maybe. STEVE IN ENDGAME WHERE HE FACES THANOS’ ARMY ALONE. I melt into a puddle each time. I tear up each time. As I’m typing this my eyes are getting misty because I love that moment so much. It encapsulates Steve Rogers (Captain America) so damn well that it makes me want to scream at the top of my lungs. A lone, human, with a broken shield, knowing it’s completely hopeless, but standing up to fight anyways cause the vulnerable people who rely on him are more important than fearing what’s in front of him. I LOVE STEVE THAT’S MY MAN, MY ONE AND ONLY, I WILL NEVER GET OVER EG STEVE. 

This is also why I hate when people bash EG for his last 10 minutes of screentime because we have some of his absolute BEST moments in this movie. Literally so fucking good…and people want to circlejerk over how much they hate him because he decided to go back in the past. Mind you, I’m a former “I’m not fond of Steve’s ending because I feel like it doesn’t fit him, but I don’t blame Steve for it” fan - but after all the slander, I’m now the type to draw up an essay on why it makes perfect sense for him to make that decision. 

21. Unpopular opinion about anything

I’m trying to think of a #real unpopular MCU opinion that I haven’t said before. One of my pet peeves is when someone asks for an unpopular opinion and it’s like the coldest take you’ve ever heard, lol. I don’t want to be that. I’m realizing I have a huge mouth and talk too much because everything I’m thinking I’ve already said, examples being: 

Endgame Steve going back into the past makes perfect sense for his character arc and the circumstances he’s had in the future

I’m not sure if this is unpopular in my corner of fandom or overall: IM1 Tony still holds at least some responsibility for his weapons being…misused. I mean, I feel like even Tony acknowledges this and I don’t even think he’s wrongly giving some blame to himself. I think it shows his self-awareness…and I like that about his character. I know a lot of people say that Tony doesn’t do accountability, but I’d say he absolutely does. Half of his mistakes in the following movies are because he’s trying to find a way to atone. It’s moreso a lot of his fans that like to absolve him of his mistakes, he seems to own up to them pretty frequently. Not always verbally.

Oh! I just thought of one that yes, I’ve said…but I think I’ve said it in DMs not publicly (or maybe I said it in the server before)? Also it’s not even an MCU criticism. I think every conversation surrounding SteveTony in CACW is automatically in bad faith if we only discuss the murder of Howard and Maria and not the Accords. This is partially why I’m in a state of constant annoyance when giving CACW fics a chance. I don’t think it’s a fair or honest discussion or break down without looking at the two main corners of the conflict. Because the Accords is not something to gloss over people! The implications of what would happen to people like Steve is not something to be taken lightly. And the way they were presented is not - Let me stop here before I fall into a rant. I have some self-control.

34. Favorite outfit/look of the character of your choice

I love, love, love Steve’s AOU suit. Well, aesthetic wise at least. They could lose the red accent on the chest and it would be 10x better. But if I’m going for Captain America realism, I’m throwing in my vote for the CW suit! I was going to say the Smithsonian suit was my favorite (lowkey is….) but someone told me that it’s a replica and isn’t fully accurate to the suit he wears in CATFA and frankly, I’ve never checked to confirm. But if that’s wrong, then the Smithsonian suit is absolute my favorite. I can’t even tell you why I like it so much. Classic. Leather. It could benefit from a tighter fit, but the look of it screams Captain America to me <3

THANK YOU FOR THE ASK <3 <3 <3

There’s a lot about the Loki show I didn’t like but I didn’t see Loki as being out of character. It seemed pretty in character from what we’ve seen of him: Really mischievous, Short tempered, avoids difficult emotions or moments with comedy, Smart but doesn’t always think ahead (Yeah great planner but dude’s plans always end up failing cause he missed a detail), etc. only real difference I got from the two Lokis is that TVA Loki is forced to be humbled and constantly stressed. I don’t really get the complaints on that matter.

I see where you’re coming from and honestly a part of me agrees with you, though there’s also another part of me that still thinks “nahh he wouldn’t say this” while watching some of the scenes from the show. I think the main reason why some people, myself included, think he’s kind of ‘out of character’ is because this isn’t the Ragnarok Loki who’s grown and earned his character development but pretty much literally Avengers Loki who was supposed to still be mentally fvcked and just overall very messed up. I would’ve understood if it were Ragnarok or Infinity War Loki, since those versions of Loki would’ve let his guard down, and it would’ve been in character for him to be funny, mischievous, etc. Avengers Loki — aka the version of Loki TVA Loki is supposed to be — is still very much wounded, physically and mentally. So, in my opinion, some of his actions in the series can be seen as a little bit ‘off’ — especially when we saw how hostile The Dark World Loki acted towards Thor and his own family, and TDW Loki is kind of the same version of Loki as Avengers Loki in terms of ‘How He’s Likely to Behave After What He’s Recently Been Through’. So Avengers Loki, TDW Loki and TVA Loki, in my personal opinion, should’ve been very much similar to one another. Except TVA Loki is the odd one out. In other words; for TVA Loki to just ‘be his funny, mischievous self’ when he was pretty much kidnapped and was around total strangers, after he was held hostage and tortured by Thanos, can be… weird? I mean sure I’ll admit there’re scenes from the series that I adore and think are wholesome; how he genuinely trusts Mobius and how he’s able to care about him, for instance. Or even how he cares about Sylvie. But I also personally believe those scenes would’ve been more meaningful if they were scarce; to show that this Loki is still very wounded and guarded, but he’s still able to care for someone else. To have him act like a lovesick child 80% out of his screen time, when this is supposed to be Avengers/TDW Loki, is not very in character for him. That’s just my opinion.

P.s. would love to assure everybody again that, while I have my personal favorite, I do love every version of Loki, be it TDW, Ragnarok, TVA or any version/era of Loki. What I’m saying here is that I don’t think TVA Loki would say some of the things he said, or do some of the things he did, in the series when he was supposed to be wounded and mentally guarded, followed by what happened in Avengers, since TVA Loki is supposed to have the same personality as Avengers Loki; basically he’s supposed to be the same version of TDW Loki, only that TDW didn’t happen in this timeline in which the events in the show took place.

I've been watching She-Hulk recently (which I've quite enjoyed). In one episode there is a character described as a shape-shifting light elf from New Asgard. I like this integration of something from the wider MCU that gives a glimpse of how different the world must be now that aliens and superheroes are commonplace.

But, I didn't like the tone with which they presented a light elf for the first time. It was played entirely for comedic effect and while it's only a small role in a comedy show, I was still disappointed that it was yet another piece of the 'Asgardian universe' that is being presented solely as silly. I hate the vibe that TLAT seems to have doubled down on. I loved the Asgardian parts of TDW (I'll admit the earth based bits were a bit... meh), and there the world was taken seriously.

I'm okay with comedy, but if its in a fantasy world then I really need it to be in the context of taking that world seriously.

It just makes me sad. The light elves could have been introduced later as a real culture, but I guess they're never going to go there. :(

I'd like to hope that the success of the Rings of Power and the GOT spinoff might make it possible to return to taking the fantastical seriously in the Asgardian sphere. But I'm not holding my breath.

Aren't you guys upset that loki hasnt been mentioned in any recent MCU films

Before the series I wanted him to be part of the MCU's Phase 4, yes. But after the series? No, thanks. I don't want to see him or hear anyone talking about him, I don't want him in MoM, I won't be watching S2, this Loki variant is of no interest to me at all.

I'd rather keep my Thor1, Avengers and TDW Loki + a couple scenes from Ragnarok and his IW's death. Anything else is not canon and I'd rather not see him again.

Good thing even Marvel agrees the dark world was horrible

Since most of their recent products in phase 3&4 have been terrible, I would say if they believe sth is horrible then there is a good chance that thing is actually quite decent. And listen, everyone is entitled to their opinion, but I don't think TDW was horrible. It definitely wasn't a flawless movie either and I have criticized it on occasions too. But its issues wasn't worse than any other average MCU movie. The pacing was not good at times, it had a villain problem, some plot holes etc. But the characterization was consistent, the acting was good, it had a good balance between drama and comedy, the narrative was fair for the most part, the cinematography and outfits had that otherworldly and fantasy vibe to it and you could say that you're definitely watching a movie about Thor and Loki and Asgard. So despite its problems, I would prefer to watch it a thousand times rather than watch anything with Loki in it post TDW, or any phase 3&4 MCU movie.

Glad I'm not the only one who hated Loki's breakdown scene. Not only did happen way too early (episode 1? in front of a captor he just met?) but it feels incredibly OOC given how Loki was ready to choose death over even mentioning Thanos in TDW. Plus, that's not how therapy works! Plus having him literally tell us his motivations felt insulting. I'm not a child, Disney. Please tell me this isn't what passes for great writing these days. How the standard has fallen.

Exactly! Around the time of Avengers I think Tom Hiddleston said: "The thing with Loki is that, if he’s afraid, he won’t show it. He’s been highly trained, through the experience of his slightly traumatic life, to shield his fears." That perfectly matches how Loki was characterized at the time and how we saw him on screen and shows that what we took away was indeed the intent of the performance at the time. 

They just totally change that characterization in the show. Loki would never open up like that. Loki's behavior in that scene was out of character. I really do think of the tv series character as Larry because I simply can't see Loki when I watch the tv footage. His hair is the wrong texture, his skin is the wrong color for Loki, his reactions are wrong, his dialogue is wrong, his movements and decisions and stance and personality are all wrong. So nothing about the character feels like Loki. All the little mannerisms and character tics and personality that brought him to life are completely absent.

And yeah. In addition to all of that even if we just view Larry as his own character that scene was still horrifying. That's not therapy! That's torture. Berating a recently suicidal person and telling them they’re inherently worthless and monstrous (exactly the reasons Loki wanted to kill himself to begin with) is not therapeutic. It's horrifying. The fact that this scene is portrayed as beneficial in any way is deeply toxic and offensive.

And on top of that. Having Loki literally turn to the camera and explain his motivation is 1) ooc but 2) insultingly bad writing. C'mon guys. It's too cringe to have the character do that!

so i'm going to lose access to my laptop for an uncertain amount of time Again, starting tomorrow, but i want to watch a movie while i still can. i've done TDW really recently so it's either T1 or A1. considerations:

t1 activates Prequel Brainworms like those r babies. they're just little guys!!! this is vital and fundamental to my relationship to these characters.

a1 has a lot of fun double meanings and makes me feel like a conspiracy theorist in a good way

a1 has more direct interactions between thor and loki, but no other asgardian characters are present

both contain the horrors but in slightly different flavours

there are bits of a1 i always skip so it's slightly more annoying to find the scenes i want to see

i've *finished* watching t1 more recently but *started* a1 more recently

i am more likely to actually finish a1 in the time i have available. i think.

hmmm.

Thoughts on Loki ep 3

I thought I’d finally write down some of my thoughts about some of the things that happened in the episode. I know a few people (whilst finding it amusing) thought Loki getting drunk was out of character for him, but I disagree.

Remember, this Loki is not the Loki we saw in TDW and Ragnarok. He’s not gone through those experiences, he might have witnessed some of those events on the tape, but he didn’t live through them. This Loki is still reeling and processing the trauma he went through at the hands of Thanos, his mind will still be recovering what what happened to it, and to top it all off, he’s trapped in the TVA and unable to return to his timeline.

Then, it gets worse. He watches his mother die, the only woman (in his words) that he ever felt had his back, that supported and loved him, and he was told it was his fault she died. Then, he saw himself get killed by the very person who tortured him for a year, who he thought he had escaped from. 

Loki isn’t the type of person who lets other people see he is struggling, he’s very private about it (e.g. when he used an illusion to hide how broken he was over his mother’s death) and after everything he saw on that tape, he only had a few minutes to mourn before he was interrupted and had to push all those feelings down, to put the mask back on, because in his eyes, it’s a weakness, being vulnerable and exposed gives others an opportunity to take advantage of that.

He’s never given adequate time to process any of it. Whilst searching for where Slyvia could be, he learns about the destruction of Asgard. Loki might claim to hate the place, but it was his home for over a thousand years, no matter what, that is still going to have an impact on him, especially when he saw how many people were killed. But again, he only allows himself a brief moment to grieve, to process it before he goes to Mobius with his idea. You can tell by how manic he is that he’s pouring all of it into solving a problem instead. It’s a distraction. So long as he focuses on the puzzle, he doesn’t have to think about everything he’s lost.

Now onto episode three. He’s with Sylvie and when they get on the train, they get onto the subject of love. I think it’s very telling that Loki says none of his relationships ever felt real, this is a man who found out in the worst way possible that he had been lied to all his life. It makes sense that he would feel this way. When he talked about love being a dagger, it broke my heart because in my opinion, this was Loki being brutally honest and open about it. Love to him hurts, it might look nice at first, but it has caused him a lot of pain and as Sylvie said, it wasn’t real. 

Yes, Loki saw the clips of Odin saying he was loved, but again, he didn’t experience that, so to him, the words are hollow and rather meaningless. The only person Loki truly loved was his mother, a mother whose death he caused, so of course he will see love as a weapon, as something sharp, cold and deadly, because he is deadly, he is a villain and not worthy of it.  This is a man who was abandoned and left for dead as a baby. He started his life being unloved and unwanted and that will have left a mark, even if he was unaware of it for most of his life.

He misses his mother, that much is evident by the way he talked about her. Loki is overwhelmed by grief and has no healthy way to process it. I honestly don’t believe he knows how to process it, because he has been hiding it and pushing it down for so long. It’s not just recent events that have caused this, Loki has been doing this for most of his life, and it’s created an unhealthy coping mechanism to all the trauma he’s been through. 

So given the opportunity, what does he do? He’s in an apocalyptic event, in his own words nothing matters, nothing has any consequences. No one here knows him or what he’s going through, not even Sylvie knows the full extent, so Loki lets go and loses himself in alcohol. It’s another coping mechanism, and the more he drinks, the more numb he is to his pain, allowing him to feel a bit of joy. Even if it’s fleeting.

So no, this isn’t out of character for Loki. It’s very in character, we’ve just never been privy to see him deal with his trauma.

It kind of gave the impression that it just conveniently happened that all three fell into similar patterns, rather than exploring why exactly that was. It's why I never bought Thor being all like "I'm not as strong as you" in Ragnarok. I know he idolises him, but I'm confused at to why at that point he still would.

Sorry for taking a while to answer this. I think you mean that the similarities between Thor, Loki, and Odin weren't intentional, but were a writing accident? I don't think that's true. Thor 1 does a really good job setting up the parallels, and TDW builds on them, then Ragnarok builds on them even further and gives us more context. TDW could have done a lot more, but at least I don't watch it and think, did any of you actually watch the previous movies? Unlike some recent releases

Odin is still Thor's father, even if Thor now knows all this bad stuff about him. Thor also was Odin, or at least, on the path to becoming Odin, and remember who put the kibosh on that...Odin. I don't think it's realistic that most people would turn around and despise their parents, even if they found out what Thor finds out.

Also, "I'm not as strong as you" doesn't mean Thor idolizes Odin, it just means he thinks Odin is stronger than him.

Also also, Thor's talking about physical strength. Odin's talking about emotional and mental strength when he says "You're stronger."

I've watched part of TDW like a thousand times recently (I have two fics taking place then), so I have finally come up with what I think happened before they fought Malekith on Svartalfheim.

My first question was whether Jane knew the plan. Because she was asleep the majority of the time they were on Svartalfheim, I wondered whether she was thrown into the thick of it or not. Because it's not like there was much time from when Malekith arrived to when Loki stabbed Thor. And Jane seems genuinely scared when Thor is stabbed. Maybe she's a good actress, but it did not seem like she was playing along.

But then I realized that there's something else that doesn't add up. Thor and Loki's discussion before the "betrayal." The first thing Loki says is that Thor's plan is going to get them killed. So, Loki isn't a fan of the plan. Then there's a back and forth on whether Thor should trust Loki, ending in Loki agreeing that he can't be trusted before he stabs Thor. As the audience of the film, those lines are what draw us into the "betrayal," making you think Loki really is evil or whatever you want to call it. Which works fantastically for us.

But that isn't practical for the in-universe audience: Malekith. They're quite a ways away from Malekith. There is no way Malekith heard them (well, maybe, if he has like Kryptonian level hearing or something, but I do not believe we are ever told he does). They don't have to say anything. If anything, if the plan was what we saw on screen, Loki stabbing Thor is a sign that he can be trusted, not that he is untrustworthy. So why this line?

(I understand this is not the intention when making TDW, but, headcanons, welcome to fandom. That line was included for the out of universe audience).

I propose that what really happened was Thor told Loki and Jane some other plan. And Loki thought it sucked. Sucked bad enough to completely throw it out. Thor has been stabbed by Loki before with minimal consequences, and these are also the same brothers that throw each other as a battle strategy. I would not be surprised if they had something "Get help"-like that involved Loki stabbing Thor. The line about how Thor shouldn't trust Loki is a subtle way of telling Thor to f*ck himself and his horrible planning. And once Thor realizes what is happening, he falls into the act he's played a thousand times. Obviously, Jane wouldn't know what is happening, so she really thinks Loki betrayed them.

Captain Marvel is currently sitting pretty on Rotten Tomatoes with 83%. This will most likely go down over the next few days as new reviews come in. Overall, the reviews range from mixed to positive. 

and even with this positive score I go on twitter and see people like b** s****** are tweeting this

This was the nicest one I took a screenshot of, while other tweets were downright patronizing. From most of the “negative” reviews I’ve read, critics were upset that the movie does not live up to the hype and is underwhelming, that there is a cliche villain, and that the movie is just average and mediocre. It doesn’t compare to previous MCU movies. 

Oh I’m sorry? I didn’t realize Marvel had never released a mediocre or average super hero movie before. 

I love Marvel with all my heart, and Thor, Thor: TDW, and CA: TFA are some of my favorites. Yet compared to most of Marvel’s other movies, they are just average. I pretend Age of Ultron and Incredible Hulk don’t exist, and am impartial to IM2. 

While some critics praised that Marvel used their same origin story formula with Captain Marvel, other critics complained that the plot was predictable. Oh you mean like how Ant-Man is Iron Man but with ants and Doctor Strange is like Iron Man but with magic? 

Due to the success of Black Panther, Thor: Ragnarok, Spider-Man: Homecoming, Infinity War, Guardians, and the latter movies of the Cap trilogy, it can be easy to get high hopes about a new Marvel movie. But from the start people have been out to get Captain Marvel. Maybe it’s because Brie Larson is outspoken about feminism, or that the first trailer did not meet expectations. Fanboys complain that the movie “hates half its audience” and that they can’t voice negative opinions about the movie without being accused of hating women. Yet before the movie was even available to audiences, tons of negative audience reviews were submitted to Rotten Tomatoes.

Maybe some of the critics will end up being right and Marvel played it too safe. Maybe it will be underwhelming compared to other recent Marvel releases. But so what? Even if that is the case when the film is released to general audiences, it shouldn’t matter. Marvel has already made a handful of movies that did not meet expectations, yet no one batted an eye when people still bought tickets and sequels were made. No one complained that Marvel made Ant-Man after the success of Iron Man and argued against having multiple male superheroes. No one rallied to give the movies negative scores to dissuade people from watching it. Making average superhero movies wasn’t considered a problem until the movie in question was led by a woman. 

This is shaping up to be another classic example of how it takes so little for a woman-led movie to fail, while it takes so little for a male-led movie to be successful. It coincides with the idea that women still aren’t allowed to be anything less than perfect without being a failure, while men deal with lower expectations and are given respect without question. 

Quarantine Q&A

Tagged by @scintillatingshortgirl19 and @thelightofthingshopedfor - thank you! 

Are you staying home from work/school?  No, I have been going every day, bc my particular job requires me to be on-campus as long as it’s open, which it still is, despite my state’s stay at home order. I don’t particularly want to work from home, just bc I feel like I would find it super hard to concentrate as well as I do at work, but at the same time, students have been coming in to use our workspaces and I’m not thrilled about the exposure. Idk. We’ll see what happens. 

If you’re staying home, who’s there with you? I live alone, so it’s just me. 

Are you a homebody? Yes, very much so. Honestly things aren’t too much different in regards to social distancing/isolating, bc I don’t really go out much anyway. 

What movies have you watched recently? I rewatched Thor Ragnarok for the first time in ages last week? The week before? which was amazing for my Loki and Thor feels. I watched a movie called “Blood Father” on Netflix, which was weird and violent and starred Mel Gibson, but the girl who played his daughter was Hope from Jessica Jones, so I stuck it out. Last night, I watched “The Roommate” which was pretty stupid, but Leighton Meester is beautiful to watch. I may sign up for Disney + again to rewatch Thor, Avengers, and TDW. 

An event that you were looking forward to that got cancelled? Not anything I was planning to attend, but I was looking forward to the Ace Comic Con Tom was supposed to do, bc it’s always fun to see people’s pictures and I was hoping he’d talk about the Loki series. I was also hoping for good pics with his Loki hair, too. Alas. 

What music are you listening to? I’ve pretty much been listening to the same 20 songs for a year now, so that hasn’t really changed despite the quarantine lmao. 

What are you reading? I, uh, started re-reading my own fics, which is terribly self-indulgent but, I mean, I wrote them mostly for me in the first place, so. I just reread my Grandthorki fic, “Gave You Every Piece of Me,” and I think next I’m going to re-read “Stars, Hide Your Fires.” I’m also going to catch up on fics I’m subscribed to, and then tackle my “Marked for Later” list, eventually. 

What are you doing for self-care? Sleeping, mostly. 

Tagging literally anyone who wants to do this, if you are reading this, consider yourself tagged!