#mcu loki meta

[raisedbythetv89]

Spoilers for Loki Season 2 Finale below: Comparing Spike and Loki’s redemption arcs:

This is such a rushed off the cuff analysis but Loki’s finale hit me really hard in the best way and it’s making me feel so many feelings and I know there is a lot of crossover between Spike & Loki fans (including that these characters got their longevity thanks to our absolute obsession and love for them - go us lol) so just wanted to put this out there for anyone losing their minds like I am

Both struggle to fit in and just want to be accepted and loved but are unable to find their place

LOVE their mammas like the ultimate mamma’s boys

When they’re not accepted they become mischievous trouble makers who are used and manipulated by a true evil for their own gains

They break free of that influence and become reluctant hero’s but are still morally grey and unpredictable (due to their love and connection to Dru and Thor)

Then they have a life changing soul searching event that alters them permanently that involves loving another as well as their mirror self (for Spike - Buffy is both. For Loki it’s both Mobius & Sylvie)

Rediscover the strength and depths of their power post transformation

Make a completely selfless and painful sacrifice for the ones the love to be safe and happy but also for the entire world/universe after they found the love and belonging they always sought. Putting the needs/well being of others before themselves cementing their transformation from selfish villain to truly selfless hero because giving everything up when you have nothing is easy but giving everything up when you finally have everything you’ve ever wanted is the hardest thing to do and they both do it and oh my god I’m so proud and so devastated and so emotional and what absolutely beautiful stories to witness.

Not my usual level of detail but I just don’t have the brain space at the moment and trying to be ok putting less than perfect things out into the world lol

[gloriousburden]

Wait I don’t know if anyone’s talked about this before, but in Jotun Loki fics, people always have the reader touch him while he’s in that form which sort of… never made sense to me.

Considering the fact that he’d be reverted to his Jotun form, wouldn’t anyone who touched him began to freeze? Hence why (perhaps one of the reasons) Loki in Thor 1 was so apprehensive about grabbing Odin’s hand, with the hand the Jotun grabbed him by and reverted him with in Jotunheim?

I… don’t think you’d be able to touch him. And he wouldn’t just be cold to the touch. Loki is ALREADY quite cold to the touch canonically (right bottom corner shown in the picture above), so in his Jotun form… he’d be freezing.

Anyone please correct me if I’m wrong, though. Was just wondering because I always had the sort of idea that if you touched Loki while he was reverted to his Jotun form, that it would be dangerous. Just like touching any other Jotun.

Which is one of the reasons he was probably afraid to grab Odin’s hand. Not only at the thought of himself being a “monster” and untouchable in that sense, but also literally being untouchable because it wasn’t necessarily safe and he was hyper conscious of it, even if he had already been reverted back.

I get people excuse things for the sake of Fanfic, but I actually don’t think I’ve seen people talk about this before. So I don’t know if it’s just them excusing it, or a fandom-wide misconception.

May reword this later. Probably sounds a bit stupid and might be straight up incorrect in some areas because I just woke up.

[sacredfixation]

Loki and the violence of physicality.

From the very start, Lokis experience with touch is about power & possession.

As a baby, he is taken from Jotunheim, Not rescued. he is handled like a stolen artifact, a trophy of war.

As a child, touch never seemed much about comfort, it was control. A hand meant to remind him where he stands, what he is allowed to be.

Thor, for all his love, is rough. Playful shoves, dragging Loki by the arm, knocking him over. It is familial, maybe, but it is still forceful.

In Asgard, when he is handled, it is with expectation. Servants dressing him, guards grabbing him, Odin guiding him into place. It is all directional touch movement imposed upon him.

Loki learns, very early, that touch is something that happens to him, not for him. That it is a way to move him into place, to contain him. Even when someone means well, it is still a form of control. Until TVA Loki, rarely has he been touched in a way that feels safe. That feels like choice.

when he falls, touch is punishment.

He is slammed by the Hulk, thrown by the avengers in battle.

Loki is bound when captured, muzzled, handcuffed, paraded.

when Loki grieves, no one really touches him with kindness. When he dies, it is by force: stabbed, choked, crushed.

Touch has only ever been about control, submission, violence, or restraint. So of course, Loki learns to be untouchable. He learns to be slippery, a trick of the light, a flicker. He makes himself untouchable before anyone can reach for him first.

Loki does not naturally touch others. When he does, it is intentional, weaponized, or performative.

Lokis hands hold weapons before they hold people, his illusions and projections: they make him untouchable even when he is standing right there. Romance? seduction? typically a tool. it is all performance.

Loki doesnt just avoid touch he redefines it, because if he is untouchable no one can take anything from him ever again. This is a man who has been handled his whole life, so what does he do? he becomes a man who is impossible to hold.

Loki does not seek comfort through touch, he does so through manipulation, words, through proving he is smarter than you. He does not ask for closeness, he makes himself something interesting, undeniable, that you will come to him.

Until TVA loki, if he touched you, it was to hurt you, to trick you, to control you. He touches to remind people he is now the one in control.

[prettydjarinsoloinspires]

no but think about the Loki from Thor. from Avengers. the fact that he’s fighting for something good that he believes in means so much. the fact that he can sit there and say he just wants his friends back. these friends. the ones who see him for him. who don’t judge him. who he feels like he BELONGS with.

when has Loki ever felt like he belongs anywhere? he’s always been the outsider, the outcast, the villain. at the TVA he has felt appreciated and accepted. no one is singling him out or giving him a hard time for being himself. he FITS. he has come so so far. and shipping aside, the main reason for that is Mobius. someone who has seen every dark crevice of his life and his bad choices and his darkest moments and treated him with compassion and understanding.

the orphaned, abandoned, misunderstood villain has been able to write his own story because one ordinary man believed in him.

[musclesandhammering]

The fact that Loki canonically is a good singer and dances when he’s happy, loves theatre, likes human literature and reading astronomy books, enjoys fashion, and likes eating healthy little snacks. 🥹

[hurtspideyparker]

my favourite type of moments in MCU movies:

Iron Man trilogy: When Tony argues with Pepper

"I WAS ATTACKED!", "I'm not on my CYCLE PEPPER!", "I was gonna make you an omelet and tell you." "'We could've been in Venice' 'Oh please.'" "It's a big bunny, relax about it!"

Captain America trilogy: Bucky Barnes. Just Bucky Barnes.

1. Howling Commandos Bucky all dirty and grinning, or confused and concerned "I thought you were smaller" "No not without you!" "I had him on the ropes" 2. Winter Soldier ALWAYS, but particularly the knife fight. Also the way his metal arm rolls the bomb in that one scene. And weepy lost Winter "but I knew him" 3. Beefy Bucky!!! I'm biased for Romania plum picking Buck, the stubble and hat combo, long hair peeking out and that jacket barely covering his bulging muscles in the henley. And the way he stares at Steve in his apartment... oh sweetheart. He needs a hug so bad

Spider-Man trilogy: When Peter cries. His teary brown eyes 😭🫶 (ik I'm a freak mk)

"I lost the Stark internship" in the oversized shirt and hello kitty pjs, needing May to comfort him. Crying like a little kid when he's stuck under the rubble. FFH when he's in the night monkey suit and just his goggles are up and you can see how watery his eyes are when Fury is reprimanding him. NWH: God... too much really. Reaching for May as she dies. Breaking down all over again when Ned and MJ find him on the rooftop and hold him. That beautifully cinematic shot when JJJ is tearing Spider-Man apart for being ruinous and unsalvageable

Thor movies: Loki's smirk/cockiness

Every time he smirks. Loki shapeshifting in Dark World during their escape, especially as Captain America. Ragnarok when Thor tells the snake story from when they were kids and Loki's just sitting there smug in the corner

Avengers movies: The domesticity of the team + when mom and dad fight (stony)

AoU did domestic so beautifully. The after party, Clint's farm, bantering about Worthiness, Nat's humour "I thought you and Tony were still gazing into each other's eyes". The whole "language" bit. The compound, everyone living together. Shawarma. Endgame when they are figuring out time travel together, Tony teasing them for being idiots, Nat, Tony, and Bruce cuddling on a table discussing the stone locations. Stony making up, "I trust you".

Stony fights: "Genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist" "I don't trust a guy without a dark side" "'she's just a kid!' 'gimme a BREAK'" "you're gonna come with us, now! Because it's us." "Don't bullshit me Rogers, did you know?" "No trust, liar."

GOTG movies: Rocket being a dad to Groot

When Groot sacrifices himself and Rocket holds the twigs from his body, being gentle with him and him only, Groot showing the picture he made and Rocket being proud, the entire scene of Rocket trying to teach Groot not to press the big red button, and the scene of trying to get Groot to bring Yondu's fin. Arguing with angsty teen Groot

[loki-is-my-kink-awakening]

S2E1 Lokius moments

Rom com run

What a way to begin S2. They really wanted us to know Mobius is all Loki can think about, huh?

"Loki's here?"

The way Mobius sounds so surprised, like he didn't expect Loki to come back for him. 😭

"Mo—"

Every time Loki cries out for Mobius and timeslips, I want to scream. They love him so much. And their search for him was heartbreaking.

Reunion

So frantic, so desperate to have Mobius back, so glad he recognises them.

Joined at the hip

It wouldn't be Lokius without them just being like this 99% of the time.

"If I don't make it back"

"He'll make it back." The way Loki is not hopeful, but Mobius can't let himself do anything else but hope.

Twinkle in Mobius' eye

They really wanted us to know this, just in case we didn't get it.

Test drive

Loki needed to know how heavy Mobius was in that suit for "science".

Bonus: "What other guys?"

Between Loki having a sombre moment seconds prior about Mobius and how he must've had other people in his life (foreshadowing of S2E5), to Mobius laughing at Loki's playful banter. So much packed into a tiny moment.

S2E1 | @lokiusweek day 5

[latent-thoughts]

I know it's a minor thing to some fans and fic authors, but it gives me a whiplash every time I see Loki being called "Laufeyson" in fics that are specifically based in Asgard, especially when his Jotun heritage is kept hidden or simply not discussed.

It's even funnier when it's a pre Thor 1 fic. (Like why is the Asgardian prince being addressed by the name that suggests he's the son of the Jotun king, who's Asgard's long time enemy? He should be called Odinson not Laufeyson.) He most certainly won't call himself Laufeyson, or let anyone else call him by that name in a setting where his Jotun origins aren't common knowledge.

Moreover, post Thor 1, it's a pretty big deal for Loki, to be called by the name of the father he has no connection with, who, as far as he knows, abandoned him as a baby, who he killed himself, and lastly, who belonged to a people he was taught to hate. He may learn to accept that heritage, slowly, over the course of time, but he most certainly won't call himself Laufeyson. Even in The Dark World, he called himself "Loki of Jotunheim" and not Laufeyson when he was trying to lure the dark elves into trusting him with handing over Jane.

To some extent, the same logic applies to the name Odinson as well. But Loki uses it based on convenience. Plus it's the name everyone knows him by in Asgard, and there's no reason for him to reject it pre Thor 1, or even afterwards. Unless it's someone really close to him or someone who understands his strained relationship with Odin, he won't bring it up.

What he usually goes by, post Thor 1, is Loki of Asgard, even though, in his perspective, he doesn't belong there either. But it's a connection that most people know of, hence he uses it based on that.

Idk where I'm going with this post, just sharing my annoyance I guess. I know that post TDW stuff is also on shaky ground regarding this issue, but I'm not going there. I don't even consider the series as canon.

[lokifarbautison]

(MCU) Loki and Autism.

Alright so, I want to talk about Loki and his autistic coding. Now I won't give much credit to the russo brothers since they made it very clear they don't particularly like Loki as an individual or character..

Anyway, Loki has always been different from the other asgardians. He never had friends of his own, he didn't have people he could really connect with, he was just different.

But that's not all that I want to talk about- I feel like his powers specifically his illusions come into play in this as well. Also his lying.

Okay, so, we know that autistic individuals tend to mask to fit in with society because they're not really accepted if they don't. (Society sucks.) Loki is never really accepted as himself- if he is faking being someone/thing else and people don't yet know of him/his intentions he's more accepted. I feel like it's a form of masking. Playing a role to be accepted. He lies his way through life, uses illusions to mask his true intentions and desires, his true self.. yet people can tell something is slightly off..

He still can't really fit in. Until he meets people like him such as Mobius. He can find connection through similarities although not voiced out loud. (Yes, I believe Mobius is autistic. With Loki and Jet Skis being his special interests) There's just that connection that they have- even at the start when they were enemies and trying to manipulate each other, they had some sort of connection. (Just my opinion though)

[whitoknighto]

The best post-avengers loki fanfic I've ever read (in regards to Loki mental state) was a loki & Jane Foster one where they become friends while she visits thor on Asgard.

I dont remembera lot of the plot, but overall I liked the characterization. It changed my brain chemistry.

in the fic Loki was in psychiatric care and he was DELUSIONAL. Like, Thanos truly broke him.

Loki was like to Jane "i could've saved you all" in the sense that Thanos made him believe that the nyc thing was his idea in the first place and he was so conflicted whether he believed or not.

Anyway, I really like this take and it is so rare to see people write it that way.

(Don't remember the fic name and Ao3 is down 😭)

[lokiusly]

OG s2e5: Loki observes timeline Mobius from afar, unsure of how to proceed. They make eye contact. Mobius walks to Loki & kisses their cheek. “Hey honey, what’s up? Where are the kids?” Loki’s cheeks redden for the first time in eons— mouth agape.

[gloriousburden]

(No disrespect intended towards OP whatsoever ‼️)

If you read any of my posts about Loki, let it be this one. I feel this is the best and most coherent I’ve been able to explain why I dislike the series so much.

Found this from a post analyzing Loki’s costuming throughout the MCU and it’s just… really depressing to me. Got me thinking.

(OP is speaking in favor of the series btw)

He had all freedoms taken away from him. Even the most basic such as dressing himself. He couldn’t even express himself stylistically/through his clothing.

‘He is forced to wear the same clothing as his captor.’

They’re aware.

Love and connection can change others, but this is him changing himself in order to receive that “love” and “connection.” (You guys already know how I feel about his “relationships” in the series, but let’s just go with it for now.)

Loki has never been loved or accepted for who he is, and instead of the series uplifting/proudly presenting those traits of his that haven’t been loved by others, they have him abandon those traits instead. You can only be loved or accepted if you change every aspect of who you are. You can only be included if you strip yourself of who you are. That’s the message the series/his characterization in the series sends. It doesn’t send a message of acceptance, and friendship. He couldn’t even be accepted “despite” who he is. How is him changing who he is to feel a sense of belonging acceptance?

(And I don’t even mean traits such as his coldness or harshness. No, I mean everything from his own way of speaking, his intelligence, his ability to stick up for himself, his ambition, his mischievousness, just… all of it. He lost even the non “difficult” traits.)

He wasn’t worthy of being loved as is. He had to conform in every way. From the way he expresses himself, all the way to his mannerisms. Consciously, and subconsciously. He rejected pieces of himself, to become like those around him.

I understand why the writers did this as they are ignorant and the series was never meant to be about Loki or about uplifting him, but to have “fans” accept this… Loki, I’m sorry they couldn’t love you for who you were. I know he’s not real, but it makes me emotional that the characters around him didn’t accept him for who he was, nor do his “fans.”

Ignorant “fan” talk aside, the writers in the first place didn’t understand that one of the reasons we love Loki is because he wasn’t loved for who he is. No one who truly loved him, wanted him to change and conform to other’s ideals. I understand that Loki needed to be dumbed down and stripped of everything that made him himself in order for the series to work, but no one wanted this.

To make the god of mischief, someone who’s chaotic in nature, conform to order… ooh, it is so irritating.

And this is one of the reasons I dislike the motives behind the costuming in the series. It’s not because I hate Tom Hiddleston and don’t respect his choices, or because the costuming is ugly (it is, but that’s not what I’m here to talk about), it’s because I hate what these choices represent. I hate the fact that people feel that they need to change every aspect of who they are in order to be loved, when there is always someone who will love you for who you are. I hate that it’s encouraged, and seen as acceptance when it’s nothing of the sort.

‘The new costuming shows humility’, as if Loki was ever allowed to be anything but humbled in the first place. As if he were allowed to be above anyone in the first place. As if he was able to be celebrated in the first place. Those “bad” traits, were never accepted. They don’t realize that just because Loki was the villain of the Avengers, it doesn’t mean he walked out successfully.

He was humbled just like in every movie he’s been in. Whether that’s him being rejected by Odin, disrespected by The Warrior’s Three + Sif, humbled by Thor ‘Know your place, brother’, tortured by Thanos, defeated by The Avengers, left to rot in a cell in the dungeons of the Palace he grew up in and was raised as Royalty in, denied the ability to say goodbye to his own mother after her death, threatened by people who were once his friends… You know I can go on forever.

I don’t think there’s been a moment where Loki was allowed to feel better than anyone else without immediately being shut down, denied, humbled, dehumanized, or humiliated.

So for that all to happen to him about a thousand times more in a series that was meant to uplift him… it just sucks. ‘Healthy self-worth and self- love’ he was stripped of who he was and constantly belittled, and did not stick up for himself. He just accepted everything that was said about him, and he accepted the disrespect. I don’t see how that is him having healthy self worth. He was treated horribly by those around them and instead of attempting to stick up for himself like in the previous projects he’s been in, he just accepted it. As if he felt he deserved it. He has less self worth/self love than he’s ever had.

He never got uplifted or praised or accepted or anything besides gaining new physical abilities and a new title. He’s been given a position he’s never wanted, because Loki’s always sacrificing himself. He’s always sacrificing himself the better of other characters, and other MCU plot lines. It’s what the MCU does when they get bored, or need to start a new plot.

I don’t want to see Loki be humbled. He already has been in everything he’s been in. He’s already been humiliated and made the laughingstock. I want to see him uplifted. I want to see him proud of who he is. I want to see him accepted.

I want him to realize he can be happy, even if he doesn’t belong or fit in. He can be loved for who he is.

The series did nothing of the sort, and I don’t know how people can be so unaware of that. Or if they are aware of it, I don’t know how they can accept it.

It’s not even the bare minimum “I accept you despite your flaws” no, it’s “I sort of accept you now that you’ve sacrificed yourself for me and changed every aspect of who you are, but I still do not like you as a person and I still won’t give you even the most basic respect.”

I want better for him. Not more humbling that he accepts without any complaints.

Loki I’ll always love you for who you are

[sacredfixation]

Loki and the Deeply Valid Fear of Being a Government-Issued Android Without Knowing It

Imagine living for over a thousand years, committing intergalactic crimes, then one random underpaid TVA clerk with a monotone voice suddenly introduces the possibility that, oh, by the way, what if you were secretly a robot this whole time? And Loki, who has always carried himself with the absolute certainty of a god, pauses. Like. “Wait. What if I am?”

He hears that question and immediately does a full mental diagnostic. Have I ever glitched? Ever felt oddly mechanical? Experienced an unusual fondness for oil? Maybe he’s too good at lying. Too good at surviving. What if that’s just the programming?

The TVA worker just moves on. He doesn’t elaborate. no reassurances. theres no safety net. Just the terrifying possibility that he might get instantly vaporized for something completely outside his control.

Id like to note, his hesitation isn’t even just some random existential crisis, it’s trauma-informed. This man already lived through the experience of waking up one day and realizing he wasn’t who he thought he was.

He grew up thinking he was a prince, a god, Odin’s rightful son, only to find out he was actually a stolen relic of war. A Jotun. A creature he’d been taught to hate.

He thought he knew himself before, and he was wrong. What if he’s wrong again? What if theres something else about himself thats been hidden? If he didn’t realize he was a Frost Giant, whats stopping him from not realizing he’s actually some highly advanced synthetic being?

It’s not just a funny existential gag, it’s a callback to one of the most devastating truths of Loki’s existence:

He has never really known who he is.

It’s the muscle memory of having his entire identity ripped out from under him. It’s the learned fear of asking, What am I, actually?

Because the last time he asked that question, the answer ruined him.

[textsfromthetva]

Loki + Veep [34/?]

[musclesandhammering]

Something about the fact that the Loki writers have confirmed multiple times that his variants all look so different because of their inherit chaotic nature.

Something about the fact that it says in the show that the universe wants to be free so it manifests chaos in the form of Lokis.

Something about the fact that Loki is the TVA’s most common variant because every version of them refuses to adhere to their ‘destiny’.

Something about the fact that there was a scene in the show where Ravonna said “this is about order & chaos. I’m order-“ and then a loki variant violently burst in, implying “I’m chaos.”

Something about the fact that the entire story arc of the Loki series was about him choosing to free the sacred timeline & embrace all the anarchy & endless possibilities- positive & negative- that came with it instead of continuing to enforce the absolute order that would keep them all safe.

Something about Loki literally sacrificing himself so chaos could reign.

Something about the fact that Loki tried for years to beat He Who Remains through playing by his rules, and was only able to do it when he came up with a solution so insane that HWR didn’t anticipate it.

Something about the fact that messing with people’s minds & using tricky and unorthodox means of fighting has always been Loki’s Thing.

Something about the fact that at least one loki variant has the natural ability to rewrite the laws of time, space, and reality.

Something about the fact that Loki is literally the god of chaos- in the series, in the comics, and in Norse mythology.

And also..

Something about the fact that all of Wanda’s variants look and act exactly the same.

Something about the fact that the TVA never mentioned Wanda whatsoever despite her being a Reality Breaking Cosmic Anomaly.

Something about the fact that Wanda fans thought her reading the Darkhold caused the multiverse to open but Kevin Feige confirmed it was Sylvie killing He Who Remains that opened the multiverse, and in turn allowed Wanda to hear her kids through the Darkhold.

Something about the fact that Wanda almost always uses her ‘chaos magic’ to control people/events & bend reality to her will, which directly contradicts the meaning of chaos.

Something about the fact that Wanda has never once had any sort of symbolic arc or subplot or character dive directly linking her to chaos as a concept.

Something about the fact that the only thing about Wanda you could consider overtly chaotic is her propensity to go on destructive rampages when she doesn’t get her way.

And finally..

Something about the fact that, in the mcu, Wanda is constantly awarded with the chaos moniker- they decided to keep the ‘chaos magic’ name from the comics, fans call her the queen of chaos, and she gets credited as the token reality breaker pretty much constantly… while they’ve never even acknowledged on-screen that Loki’s the literal God of Chaos.

[thestarlightforge]

They opened the MCU TV era with the Young Avengers. Billy and Tommy, then Eli, then Kid Loki, then Yelena, then Kate, then America (even if they did butcher her), then Kamala and Riri from the Champions, then Cassie as a teen (mid as her movie was as well).

But it’s like they’ve given up. The MCU is such a mess, it seems Marvel is shifting towards its 90s mentality—the Avengers are a C-list team at best, and Fantastic Four are the real headliners.

I’m as excited as anyone for Pedro to finally make me like Reed Richards, Matt Shakman (WandaVision) is directing and the movie looks great. From a marketing standpoint, it’s probably a smart move.

But honestly? I’m really sad they didn’t stick the landing.

I have some hope. Jac Schaeffer is still kicking around, Agatha All Along was really popular, Tommy is back officially, and Billy has essentially impenetrable plot armor now (even if they make him swap actors, he canonically can’t die/he’ll just keep body-swapping). Iron Heart looks like it will be really good. Though they decided not to stick with Kang (the Young Avengers’ first big bad in comics) as the MCU’s mainline villain because of Jonathan Majors, Doctor Doom was their antagonist in The Children’s Crusade—which was also a book that revolved around getting Wanda back.

But I worry they’ll cut their losses, and that sucks. YA is one of my favorite teams, certainly Marvel’s queerest, they have such potential, so many charming characters, and those cast thus far have mostly been fantastic. Their books are all about struggling with legacy—the very problem the MCU is steeped in now—and they could breathe fresh life into it while not cutting off these older characters.

Part of me thinks “keep Billy and Tommy’s names out of your mouths” after how bad Multiverse of Madness was. But I don’t want that wonderful little team to get forgotten. Fingers crossed.