okay let's talk about loki and natasha's confrontation.
the first thing that really strikes me on this watch is that loki is visibly frightened of natasha. he knows she's a manipulator, he knows she's good at it, and he keeps bringing that up verbally but also his *body language* is all about threat.
natasha appears behind loki, and he freezes for a moment before turning around. (a subtle mirror of his earlier interaction with the other.) when she starts to approach he makes an excuse to sit down which i think is really about backing away, then he watches her with his shoulders raised and his head ducked, *picking at his fingers*.
and even when he's trying to threaten her, it's worth considering that he's basically just rattling the bars of his cage. he is physically incapable of hurting her right now. he may have longer-term leverage, but in this specific moment, he is the vulnerable one, the prisoner, no matter how high he raises his hackles. it might as well be an illusion.
another interesting thing is that, although natasha's manipulation kind of works, loki seems more confused than disturbed by it. when i first encountered the interpretation that by "you brought the monster" he was obliquely referring to thanos i had a kneejerk negative reaction to it (due to my dislike of thanos getting into *everything* in fanon), but on second thoughts i think it's probably right. if not himself or bruce, there's no-one else it really makes sense for loki to be talking about. loki is blaming shield for thanos' interest in earth and the tesseract, just like thor does in the next scene, and natasha making the connection to bruce is just a coincidence.
regardless - this is not the outcome loki feared. natasha was looking for intelligence and she got it, which was frightening and perhaps a little humiliating for loki, but... that's all.
what loki talks repeatedly about fearing, though, is a bargain. why is a bargain worse? because it creates an obligation, a *debt*. a conditional freedom that in his mind is not freedom at all, but a form of servitude in disguise. and, crucially, the process of striking a bargain means it's not just his captors getting something from him, but them making him agree to give it. not just physical harm or constraints, but violations of the will itself.
loki is, of course, already trapped in such a "bargain". it's happened with thanos. in a sense, it happened on asgard without him ever knowing it. and even though he has deliberately got himself captured for his own benefit, now that he's in a cage he can't help but feel like it's All Happening Again.
and the really interesting thing about natasha is that loki sees her as both a potential abuser and as a reflection of himself. he knows her history, so he knows she was abused in a similar way herself as a black widow. (which is actually less like his experience with thanos and more like the daughters of thanos, or loki's relationship to asgard.)
he doesn't have any sympathy for her, though - his response is fear, horror, even disgust. he frames her bargain with shield as immoral on both sides, without sympathy for anyone involved. he tears into her guilt and perceived hypocrisy (because he sees his own guilt reflected in her) and he threatens her with torture because he still anticipates it himself (not irrationally! we HEAR fury consider it!) - but he also calls her childish, sentimental, effectively delusional. as if she is allowing herself to be manipulated and used for evil, yet again. her bargain with shield, too, is a thing of fear and horror for him.
and his aggression towards clint... this is a threat to natasha, sure. i don't think it's a genuine threat, just showmanship. but in his own head, i think loki thinks it's somewhat justified rage/fear. because if natasha is being manipulated and used, who is doing it but clint? is clint not a monster too? aren't they all?
loki isn't right about all of this, of course. shield IS as evil as he thinks, not just because it's shield but because it's hydra, but natasha and clint, as individuals, have a relationship of equals now. clint is not an abuser; his mercy for natasha was genuine. but loki can't process such a thing. he can't allow himself to believe it when he has been hurt in this exact way so many times. he can't even see it happening without revolting against it, trying to scare any threats off while practically screaming about his own trauma.
...and this is all despite the fact that loki apparently chose clint for "having heart"! he doesn't think clint is coldly and flatly evil. he sees that there is something more than that in clint, there is even something clint has that loki WANTS - "sentiment"? love, loyalty, belonging? but he dreads it as much as he wants it, and he doesn't dare get close to it unless he can be certain he controls it. so perhaps clint, too, on some level terrifies him. and loki is doing what loki does - viewing every moment of human contact as a power struggle and trying desperately and futilely to claw his way to the top.
