LS rant: He who remains was such a lazy excuse for the plot holes and bad writing to 'make sense', WHEN IT DOESN'T!!!
Genuinely such a lazy plot device istg. Maybe I am illiterate, but how can THIS be one of the strongest beings in the multiverse?
Don't get me wrong, I do like how they portrayed him and how he acts. He definitely has a very stark contrast between what you would think someone who runs the timeline would be, and that's what gives the 'ah ha' moment when he is first revealed. But it doesn't cover the fact that everything just suddenly makes sense because of the excuse
"their futures are being written by him, that's it."
Right, as if that explains it. He is so powerful, yet only knew that Loki had a conversation with him more than once in his time slipping, but not the exact amount?
It feels very much like the stranger things series (that they ruined with the last season, but that's another tangent). How they spent years being tortured and subjected to grueling fights and losses, just for the final battle (that had 5 seasons worth of build up) to end in 10 minutes and become insignificant.
GRAH I'm no good at putting my thoughts into words, but it feels so underwhelming when you defeat a villain like thanos; who wiped away HALF of the multiverse, just to counteract it by someone so childish and seemingly insignificant. I mean, the majority of the MCU leads up to the final battle with Thanos, just for it to not matter at all in the Loki show. Then we got this mf who says he has everything planned out when it is the most laziest excuse EVER just to rid of Loki.
(But boy those stones look delicious...)
IM MAKING NO SENSE AND MAYBE IM TIRED BUT IT INFURIATES ME THE AUDACITY. THERES NO WAY THIS GUY CAUSED THE MULTIVERSAL WAR!!!
Oh, this is another good example when talking about the idea of Loki’s tyranny stuff being partially himself projecting (though that is definitely not everything, but you see it at times, I think most notably when Natasha interrogates him).
“They are a lost people.” Loki himself is lost physically and mentally. He is trapped in the service of Thanos, away from home and perceived as doing all of this willingly, making him even more of an enemy of Asgard. But he also only recently learned he is Jotun and has had his whole life turned upside down. And the mind stone is fricking with him. Overall, he seems pretty lost to me in multiple ways.
“They mistake selfishness for spirit.” Do I think Loki is particularly selfish? No, he’s shown to be least selfish character in the Thor franchise through his actions. But considering Loki’s self-esteem is pretty much non-existent during this time, I certainly think he thinks he’s selfish. Selfish for wanting a loving family that doesn’t lie to him about his own race and then raise him to hate his race. I me"an, lots of real life people go through periods where they feel selfish for wanting toxic/abusive people to treat them better (because it takes time to recognize the abuse sometimes, and takes longer to break yourself out of habits or thought processes you gained during the abuse). At this stage in Loki’s life, he probably thinks that about himself. Doesn’t help that he is being fricked by the mind stone.
“When the sky falls, it will be every man for himself.” I think this is talking about loyalty, and Loki just went against the loyalties he had to Asgard and the Nine Realms not long ago, and is doing it again. Evidence of his “selfishness,” isn’t it? Every man for himself, just like him. Not just that, ever man for himself, because even if you are willing to be loyal, will anyone be loyal to you? Odin has shown him that even familial ties aren’t sure.
“Unmercifully.” Just as how Thanos has ruled overhim. How Odin ruled over him.
I love seeing things like this because they look like a cry for help in a way, as well as just how much Loki hates himself now. It shows how he obviously is Going Through It and a complete self-worth mess. But part of me can’t help but think that it’s at least partially a cry for help. That even though this is happening because of the mind stone twisting his thoughts, part of him is using his words to portray what is really happening (in his eyes), but it won’t come out in a way that anyone will notice.
(references made to this scene and more in depth reasons)
The reason I say this is because they give us that bit of information that Loki is bisexual, then never show us again!!! This is also very akin to them revealing that Loki is gender fluid in the file, then never shows him even shape shifting into another person, or even mention it again.
This was such a missed opportunity and honestly doesn't feel like enough representation. It truly feels like it was only there to serve the purpose of saying they had representation and were inclusive, yet it was only briefly mentioned.
They then double down on no representation, by making him fall in love with the most terribly written character; Sylvie, And furthermore making a weird relationship with Loki and Mobius, just so they don't have to write Lokius (rip)
(Not to say I don't like Sylvie, she was just written so poorly and deserves better than to be there just to serve as a love interest and cause problems.)
Do I think Mobius is any better than Sylvie? No. When it really comes down to it, they both used Loki for what they wanted. Sylvie mainly used Loki as a way out of the TVA and to get free. Mobius just has Loki as a pawn to find Sylvie and so forth. But at least there were some cute and caring moments between Mobius and Loki, to which he was actually able to say Loki is his friend. (unlike Sylvie).
There was a post on here going more in depth on how the relationship between Loki and Mobius was no better than sylkie, but oh my norns I cannot find it.
But overall: WRITE YOUR CHARACTERS BETTER!! AND GIVE US MORE REPRESENTATION FOR A CHARACTER WHO IS FULL OF IT!!
Loki, God of Mischief, at the San Diego Comic Con in 2013.
Featurette about that one time, at the SDCC, when Tom Hiddleston dressed up as Loki for a short appearance on stage and messed up with our lives forever.
LET'S TALK ABOUT LOKI'S SHOES (ACTUALLY, HIS WHOLE WARDROBE)
Production costs aside, clothes tell the audience about how characters think of themselves.
Loki's shoes in the S2 finale raised a lot eyebrows, but I find them quite fitting: they are comfortable, practical, and most importantly, they are humble. The camera brings this to our attention to communicate his evolution in character.
Loki has always dressed well, often times ostentatiously. Whether he is at war, passing as a Midgardian, or held captive as an Asgardian prisoner, Loki communicates his social class and sense of superiority through clothing. For him, clothing armors his fragile sense of self and against others' opinions of him. He intends to be perceived as deadly charming but ultimately unapproachable.
His attire in the first Thor movie is roughly equal parts green and gold, signifying his royal status. His style is dressed down for his brother's misadventures in Jotenheim, yet overall both silhouettes are lofty, princely, but not hardened or threatening.
In Avengers, Loki's look has more black and leather, with exaggerated emphasis on his shoulders meant to intimidate as he assumes the role of villain. The silhouette is very hard, heavy, and edgy. Gold detailing is prevalent as well. Combined with the goat's helm, this is Loki's most pretentious outfit, which speaks to an undercurrent of low self-esteem and a compulsive need to impress. There's no mistaking he is the main antagonist of the story.
In Thor 2, Loki's attire is similar to Avengers but the overcoat is exchanged for a less bulky version (perhaps conveying he is less guarded now that the effects of the Mind Stone are no longer influencing him). Loki's role likewise pivots from the harsh lines of a villain to the more flexible edges of a reluctant villain-turned-ally. This aligns with his character arc when he protects both Jane and Thor, seemingly sacrificing himself.
In Thor 3, Loki's silhouette is streamlined even further. The overcoat is done away with in favor of what appears to be a leather doublet, pauldrons, and vambraces. Gold accents are minimal. While stylish, Loki's attire is more practical than showy, and his helm serves the dual purpose of protection as well as weaponry. At this point in his arc, Loki has become a full antihero, joining his brother's side in rescuing as many Asgardians as possible, and eventually dying in a vain bid to protect Thor from Thanos.
The TVA does something very fun and interesting in taking away Loki's ability to dress himself. Since Loki cannot use his magic in the TVA, he is forced to wear the same clothing as his captor/advocate, who eventually becomes his best friend and peer.
Perhaps, on a subconscious level, this helped Loki to feel included. We know by his pwn admission that Loki fears being alone and desperately craves a sense of belonging. At the same time, he intentionally dresses to put people at a distance, thereby protecting himself from potential rejection at the cost of isolating himself further.
When Mobius gives him that TVA jacket for the first time, Loki seems uncharacteristically pleased. It is not an attractive jacket by any means, yet he neither scoffs at it nor refuses to wear it. Instead, Loki puts it on and is content when Mobius says it looks "smart" on him. He continues to dress like Mobius and, indeed, mimic some of his mannerisms such as placing his hands on his hips. Without clothing meant to push people away, Loki opens up, has more fun, and makes friends.
Loki's choice of attire as he assumes the mantle of God of Stories (and time) is fascinating. Setting aside the clear design inspiration from the comics, Loki's silhouette is soft, remarkably so. His colors are earthy hues of green, and the only bit of flare are the light gold trimming and crown. The look brings to mind the garb of sages and wise wizards rather than royalty or warriors. He's powerful yet approachable because there is humility in his bearing. And that humility springs from a well of healthy self-worth, self-love, and a deep love for others.
The shoes are not meant to be attractive. They are meant to help him ascend the throne, nothing more.
Not only that but he wasn't even sentenced for that! He was sentenced for the attack on NYC which wasn't even really his fault to begin with. Loki's real crime aligns perfectly with the asgardian ideological views (that's largely why he committed it in the first place, despite being opposed to the idea initially), and therefore nobody was ever mad at him for it. And yet they're willing to hate him for all of the things he never did.
His "redemption" in the series also includes torturing someone because he was asked to.
It's never about what he's doing, it's only about whether or not his actions benefit people in the position of power over him. And I'm PISSED.
If you really want to get into the Asgardian ideals as well, tell me why Odin CONQUERED the 9 realms and doesn't get hate for it? He even taught Hela to follow in his lead, and technically what she was wanting to do wasn't even far off from the morals HE sets up when doing his conquering. He banished her for being too much like him, he imprisons Loki for him following in those footsteps.
Some aspiring words from our all knowing Odin (sarcasm btw):
Odin: "Do you not truly feel the gravity of your crimes? Wherever you go there is war, ruin and death."
Loki: "I went down to Midgard to rule the people of Earth as a benevolent god. Just like you."
Except for the fact that Odin never did rule them as a benevolent god, he caused war. He even goes as far as to take loki as a child to be used as a pawn against the frost giants, then tells Loki:
"your birth right, was to die."
Maybe if you weren't a selfish asshole who wanted power over everyone, you would've let him die. But instead you fed him lies his entire life and did not expect him to rebel.
I could go on, but I'm going to leave it at that because I could go on for hours.
Yall ever think about how Loki’s birth father leaving him to die caused such a core trauma that he was plagued with a debilitating fear of abandonment for the rest of his life?
As im forming an outline of what I want to write for my Loki fic, I just keep noticing more and more inconsistencies in the tva as a whole. Maybe I just don't understand it fully since I am a newer fan, but most of it makes no sense even after I watched video essays and research what it all means. But what really confuses me is Loki's change in character.
A perfect example: how did loki believe mobius from the start?
I know he was in a new place and didn't understand what was going on, but if you are a TRICKSTER god, why would you take all of that to face value? Maybe I am trying to put myself in his shoes with this, but when mobius showed him the video of his future, I wouldn't have believed it to be true. The way he instantly believes it AND wants to change his morals immediately after seeing that seems out of character (ESPECIALLY if they took the avengers loki and not a Ragnarok Loki or something.) I feel like the whole story could have been different if Loki was more about his mischievous ways, and I definitely feel like his change would've taken a lot longer for him to realize or act upon.
If we look at Ragnarok Loki and the one leading into the events of infinity wars, Loki was definitely making a change when saving the asgardians from Ragnarok and also sacrificing himself to try to kill thanos. Granted, I did just say that we needed more time for him to want to make this change in the show since it was only until the end of Ragnarok and beginning of infinity wars when he made the change, but I feel like his reason for change in these movies gave him more of a push than the show did.
Loki HAD to experience the events of the dark world, Ragnarok, and infinity wars for his change to be more reasonable. He saw what happened when he lost frigga, lost Odin (good riddance), and also almost lost his people in real time. he needed to experience the loss for him to realize that what he is doing is a loop of bad behavior and causes people he loves to die. Thor even tells Loki that he basically can't move forward with his life if he wants to keep trying to stab people in the back over and over. That felt like a good time for Loki to look back at what he has lost, and make the change for the end of Ragnarok and into infinity wars.
But when the loki show starts, and the tva takes Loki, they take him BEFORE he can have those experiences.
(They have the loki from the avengers, and expect him to not do anything dangerous? After the destruction of nyc? Luckily he didn't, but that itself seems like something he wouldn't do, ESPECIALLY at that time.)
Then they just show him a video of his future and suddenly he has a change of heart. This just feels like a huge mischaracterization and has no emotion or depth behind it. I understand why he would want to make the change because of the oppression of the tva with other Loki's and the killing of timelines, but if we are still talking about avengers loki, he wouldn't believe it right off the bat.
Lmk if I'm just spewing straight up facts or shit, because like I said, I'm new gen. 🥹🥹
