I made the mistake of scrolling the dash last night, hoping to re-engage my Loki fandom feels, only to be reminded of why I've more or less quit this fandom - which, for the record, is bc I don't know if it's purity culture or "woke" culture or just "for the love of god, I'm begging you to touch grass" culture, but I'd like to engage with my blorbo without running into posts spouting takes like "saying Loki has small, slender hands is a feminization kink (and therefore bad)." Like?? I think there's something inherently anti-genderfluidity(?) to assume that men can't have small, slender hands or that having small, slender hands is automatically a feminine trait, and also Loki does have small, slender hands, and also even if it is being written as some kind of a kink, so what? Why are we kink-shaming?
I mean, I don't know, it just seems like there are more and more and more things that are being shamed, or criticized, based on an arbitrary sense of morality that undermines fiction as a creative, explorative form of art and it's just beyond exhausting - and fucking obnoxious - at this point.
Last night (well, this morning, really; it was like 3am) I slipped and fell down a Loki disk horse rabbit hole and, to be frank, I am already exhausted and season 2 hasn't even started yet. I'm not gonna lie, idk if I'm going to be able to fandom-along for season 2; I might just end up quietly watching on my own and keeping my thoughts to myself. Which - isn't as fun, really, so lol fuck me I guess.
4. what was the last straw that made you finally block that annoying person?
Hoo boy - this could be a loaded question, lmao. It depends on which annoying person, too. I can - and do - overlook a lot, so I think the majority of the time, I block when there's something I just can't overlook anymore. It doesn't necessarily have to do with fandom all the time, either. But, that being said, in regards to fandom, I ended up unfollowing/blocking a lot of mutuals bc of the series wank. It wasn't so much my not liking or not agreeing with their takes - rather, I took issue with the rhetoric (or lack thereof) with which they presented their takes, along with the uncalled-for hostility and utter lack of any kind of nuance or flexibility to even allow for having fun with the character anymore.
Here's a solid example I forgot about until just now: there was something wank-adjacent going around about Loki's eye color. In canon, they're blue. In my headcanon, they're green. There was some post made by a mutual re: this, and I commented something about prying Loki's green eyes from my cold, dead hands or something like that. I'm pretty sure in the same sentence I acknowledged that this was a headcanon and I wasn't trying to force it on anyone else; I basically just did what I often (used to) do - had a train of thought that amused me and hopped onto a post to share it. And people just took it so seriously? Like, reblogging with these pretentious replies about how "the green eyes fandom" is so wrong, and canon matters so much, and - ugh. I don't remember specifics beyond that, but I do remember just being fed up and 500% done, and I'm pretty sure that's when I unfollowed/blocked that mutual. And it was like a domino effect, bc I'd been mutuals with that person for years, but once I stopped prioritizing the years-long-mutual thing over my waning tolerance for the toxicity thing, a sort of mass unfollowing/blocking followed. So - yeah.
12. the unpopular character that you actually like and why more people should like them.
I don't know that there's any unpopular character that I like/more people should like? I guess, again, it depends on which portion of the fandom you ask - I really like Mobius, for example, and one side of the fandom would say he's not unpopular at all, and the other side would say I might as well be worshipping the devil himself bc liking Mobius amounts to the same thing, so ... *helpless shrug*
Outside of the Loki fandom, though - is Carol Danvers still unpopular? Bc I like her a lot, actually. I don't think her character was given a fair chance by the majority of MCU fans - but, ymmv and I guess, again, it depends on who you ask.
I think part of what really makes me twitchy about "coming back" to tumblr and seeing the same old takes and discourse over and over again is that nobody is saying anything new or profound? Like at the height of my fandom activity, I wrote and read literal thousands of words of meta about all the complex layers of Loki and his universe, as well as the real life implications about some of these in-universe issues, but after the series when the takes started to be *really* divisive (the Ragnarok wank was child's play, tbh, imho), it just seemed more and more pointless to try to participate bc some takes were just so extreme.
So then I come back and I see posts about this or that being problematic, or that x factor reinforces y stereotype, or otherwise promotes or underlines this that or the other Problematic thing, it's like -
- bro, I've analyzed and criticized to hell and back, and at this point, I'm over it. I don't have anything particularly new to say and clearly neither does anyone else, so can we just, like, go back to enjoying the actual material? Yknow?
But idk, maybe I'm on this island alone. I'm also not really expressing myself well, but what can I say - I've lost a lot of braincells over the past year or so; this is the best I've got at the moment.
So "Tom Hiddleston and Zawe Ashton are engaged" was trending on twitter last night, and it popped up on my facebook feed (I gotta stop clicking on Marvel articles bc the algorithm tbh), and my initial reaction was, 😍 good for them! and my second reactions was, lol cue the uberstans* having meltdowns -
- so then I went to go find some wank bc I was bored and I think Tom wank - like, literally about Tom, not about Loki or any character he plays - is an 8/10 on the wanky entertainment scale (mainly bc there's just so much to unpack but I don't usually get emotionally invested [I do sometimes get angry on Tom's behalf bc dear lord] so it's just like, *munches popcorn* ) -
- and, anyway, I'm not sure what it says about me that a) I did this in the first place (intentionally sought out wank, I mean) or b) that I was not disappointed, bc oh my god, the takes. To be fair, the reaction seems to be mostly positive and supportive, but of course there's that faction of the Tom fandom - the aforementioned uber stans - who genuinely seem like they don't want Tom to ever have nice things.
Cut for length and also bc this post is stupid.
Some highlights -
It's a PR stunt (if so, they're really pulling off the long con) (not clear if it's PR for Tom [TES] or Zawe [new Marvel role] or both
Relatedly, apparently Tom (and Zawe) is irrelevant at this point and they're just trying to drum up publicity to keep his name out there (especially hilarious bc the last couple of years, he's been so relevant, especially compared to 2016-18ish when he'd dropped off the face of the earth, but what they really mean is that he's irrelevant for anything besides Marvel/Loki and they really resent that he's not out doing tons of good movies like Benedickle Cumberpickle**)
^^ Furthermore, Tom must think he has the star power/relevance to be picky about roles but he's no Leonardo DiCaprio or whoever and he needs to work, okay, bc the thirsty fanatics demand it (see: stan entitlement toward Tom's life, career, and general being)
^^ Also, Tom needs to be done with Loki now bc he definitely looks too old to play the part anymore
It's old news bc Zawe's been wearing a ring for months so, like, whatever, yawn, we already knew anyway
^^ but also Zawe wore a very loose-fitting dress to whatever awards the other day, and clearly this means she's pregnant, so they're now trying to spin the engagement narrative before the inevitable pregnancy announcement
Celebrity marriages never last, they'll split eventually (assuming they even actually go through with getting married in the first place)
Tom is about to lose so many fans bc the thirst is real but it's only worthwhile if he's single or they believe he is
And like I said, most of the reaction is positive/supportive, but the unhappy ones are really unhappy for, clearly, a myriad of reasons and I don't have time to unpack all of them but suffice it to say, this kept me entertained for at least a good hour and a half last night bc, like, boy howdy how do these people's brains even function.
* uberstans - the fans I consider to be completely unhinged about Tom, ie just obsessed, to the point that they lose their minds over stuff like this that interferes with the fantasy(?) that someday they will meet Tom and he will fall in love with them or whatever
** idk if making fun of Benedict's name is an Old Meme at this point and no longer funny, but to me it will never stop being funny, bc I'm very easily amused, I will not be taking constructive criticism at this time.
I don't know why anyone would assume that Loki isn't in Valhalla just bc he wasn't the one to greet Jane and Heimdall was. It's just. Odin didn't greet Jane either? Nor did Frigga? Or Fandral? Presumably they are in Valhalla. Why would it be different for Loki?
It's like having a scene where Jane moves into a new apartment building and a lot of other people are already living there, like Odin and Frigga and the Warriors 3, and Loki - and Jane walks into the lobby and runs into Heimdall who's like, "I heard you were moving in and wanted to see if you needed anything,"
- and the audience is like, OH I GUESS LOKI DOESN'T FUCKING LIVE THERE HUH even though we all saw his moving truck pull up last month or whatever.
So I'm looking for Thor spoilers, as you do, and I ended up on the Marvel spoilers subreddit, where I found and read a few Christian Bale interviews. And, well, I'll take Takes I Wasn't Expecting From Christian Bale For $500, Alex.
Cut; I don't think this is spoilery, but idk what people are considering spoilers at this point, so just to be on the safe side. (Also for length, this got long. And mostly pointless.)
Article Link.
"There's an awful lot that I wish was in this film, which you can't have a four-hour long film because there's so much gold that's on the cutting room floor, hilarious stuff, and creepy as hell stuff, but that was perhaps pushing it to a realm where maybe it wouldn't have been able to be family friendly, which we always wanted it to be. But Taika's sensibility, the comedy, the tragedy, the ability to have the Taika-ness and the humor of that. But he's got great sincerity as well. He's a real artist. And so, man, it's moving. That is the bloody surprising thing with this film. It's a very moving film and then two seconds later, you're laughing your ass off."
Incidentally, Christian has nothing but complimentary things to say about the rest of the cast as well, and specifically made mention of how welcoming Chris was (which might be in a different interview than the one I linked).
But, yeah. I'm not really sure why this perfectly lovely take surprises me, except to say that maybe seeing someone of Christian's status, I guess? expressing such admiration and respect for Taika is unexpected to me? By "status," I don't mean to undermine anyone else's accomplishments, as I obviously recognize the credibility of the actors who've worked with and praised Taika in the past -
- but, for me, I just consider Christian to be on his own level. The types of projects he tends to choose, how absolutely talented he is, how clearly intellectual he is - I may be biased due to having been a fan for literally most of my life (since the early 90s! Fuck I'm old), but I just have a lot of respect for him and have (somewhat subconsciously) elevated him to a bit higher on the totem pole of admiration. Even higher than Tom.
This was going to be a sidenote, but it turned into its own paragraph: I love Tom. I do. I got on a plane for Tom. I didn't get on a bus when I lived in Boston and Christian was filming American Hustle two towns over. My regard for both of them is clearly very different, and I'm not really sure how to explain it. I don't think that either is better than the other, in terms of talent/skill, but I do think that Christian is the more accomplished, experienced actor. Which makes his compliments for Taika hold more weight for me than Tom's?
Which sounds bad, but all I mean is that Tom was, obviously, very much a part of the Thor universe, he was entrenched in the role by the time Ragnarok came around, he had relationships with all the cast, and I think being in that position would hinder one's objectivity not just for the role but for the movie/universe in general. And, while I appreciate very much that Tom never has a bad thing to say about anyone - well, at the same time, Tom never has a bad thing to say about anyone, so whether he truly enjoyed working with Taika, especially in that context, or if he was just being diplomatic when promoting the film is anyone's guess.
Contrastingly, Christian is brand new to the MCU, to Taika, Chris and the cast (mostly), and to the Thor universe in general. Coming in as a blank slate like that, again, combined with Christian's body of work and tendency to be straightforward with his feelings (he's always very polite and complimentary, but he's not nice the way Tom is? Again, I don't know how to explain the difference, except to say I've never felt like he gives "fluff" answers; he doesn't heap on the praise if it's unwarranted, either (in my observations, anyway) - would naturally, I imagine, give him a much more objective point of view about the experience, making his feedback feel more legit, in a "here's my unbiased yet professional opinion (and I know what I'm talking about)" kind of way.
(I don't think I'm words-ing very well but) the thing is, I've always been lukewarm about Taika, at best. I've said this ad nauseum, but despite being critical of it, I liked Ragnarok. But I liked it as its own separate film. I didn't like it as part of the Thor franchise; I didn't like it as an overall story bc I didn't think it was well-written, and there were a lot of "problematic" implications within said story. Others have criticized it more thoroughly, but I have certainly done my fair share. And I think I mostly still have those opinions.
But I was way, way more upset about Infinity War than I could have ever been about Ragnarok, so that softens it a bit, too. And, look, this doesn't apply to anyone I am currently still mutuals with, but it does apply to a lot of former mutuals - regarding Ragnarok, at the height of wankness there was a lot of meta being passed around and analyzed and whatnot that made it easy to sort of spiral down into an echo chamber, encouraged by people who, again, include former mutuals who seem to feed on the negativity, despite claiming otherwise ("we wanted to like it, honest; endlessly criticizing hurts us more than it hurts you," etc). And the way that this dynamic played out - and is still playing out - after the Loki series came out was extremely eye-opening (and disappointing) to me bc suddenly, people whose Ragnarok takes elicited "yasss" from me were suddenly (I felt) posting takes that not only did I (sometimes wildly) disagree with, but that were fueled by an element of vitriol that fed right into the negativity (and made me very uncomfortable).
That's neither here nor there at the moment, just context I guess, but my point is that while I mostly maintain that Ragnarok is fine/enjoyable as a standalone film but has issues (at best) as part of the Thor franchise, said opinion left me feeling very "meh" about Taika as a filmmaker. I never hated him as much as some other people did (I hate(d) the Russos and Infinity War a lot more, fuck those assholes) but I didn't really respect him, either. And despite being interested in Thor 4 and excited for Christian Bale, I'm not really approaching it with any expectations of being blown away by the film itself; I'm mostly assuming it's mediocre.
Which - all of this was just a really rambly way of saying, well shit, if Christian Bale's probably-objective opinion is such a glowing review, maybe I should re-assess how I view Taika as a filmmaker? Maybe I shouldn't be so quick to dismiss this movie as "probably mediocre but it's Thor with Christian Bale so sign me the fuck up." Actually give it a fair chance. I mean, shit, I could still walk away from it saying, "Nah, my opinion hasn't changed, definitely mediocre," but at least it'd be a more genuine take, I suppose.
There is literally no point to this post, sorry. It's 1:30am and I'm having all kinds of feelings and I'm just Like This, okay?
Also, I just realized I didn't actually find any fucking spoilers.
I was rereading my fic, The Air Between Two Stars, in which Thor basically brings Loki back to life; it diverges from canon after IW bc Endgame hadn't come out yet when I wrote it.
So I came across these lines (edited for conciseness):
“How?” Loki asks ... "How did you bring me back?”
"Magic," says Thor, simply.
[...]
There are ancient resurrection spells that Loki has knowledge of, dark magic performed at great risk to the mage. It is possible. It is also extremely dangerous. He never would have imagined Thor would consider him worth such trouble. Certainly, after fooling Thor twice, Loki owed it to him to die for real so that Thor’s mourning would not be in vain.
I stopped bc that last line sort of jumped at me - after fooling Thor twice, Loki owed it to him to die for real. And it just struck me, like, I wonder how many people (if any) read that line and felt indignant and mentally yelled at me bc Loki never really faked his death, intentionally.
And it's like, yes, I, Charlotte, the writer, know that Loki didn't set out to intentionally fool Thor by faking his death. But my being cognizant of that on a meta level doesn't mean Loki can't feel like he's fooled Thor, in the story, and that all of Thor's mourning him has been in vain.
It just seems like - especially in the wake of the series - that wiggly space between what the author knows and what the character feels has been lost? Like, I'm not saying the narrative (not just in the series but over the span of the entire MCU) hasn't been unfair to Loki in a lot of ways, including regarding his "faked" deaths, but I also feel like a lot of wank stems from people wanting the narrative to be so "fair" that it hinders how Loki can function as a character in the story being told.
Not sure if that makes sense or not, but like - I guess what I'm saying is that this is yet another area where there's just a whole lotta gray in an increasingly black-and-white definition of "analysis." And it just makes me feel some kinda way, I guess.
