ineffablelara

[ineffablelara]

[ineffablelara]

Officially, the Papal Household has yet to recover from the Filipino Carbonara Incident.

There were exactly two people who actually liked Pope Innocent XIV's Filipino carbonara.

One of them was Cardinal Thomas Lawrence - to no one's surprise. He was, of course, initially skeptical, the Italian half of his heritage protesting in abject horror. However, all of his Italian ancestors fell silent at the first bite.

He actually had seconds and the pleased, beaming grin Vincent directed at him had nothing to do with the happy butterflies making his heart beat faster.

Somewhere in his subconscious, one of his Lomeli nonnas smiled wisely and said, "L’amore si misura in piatti cucinati." (Love is measured in cooked dishes)

The second person who actually enjoyed His Holiness' carbonara, was, of all people, Cardinal Goffredo Tedesco.

He shrugged as he ate the whole thing up with relish. "What? He never said it was a proper Italian carbonara! Let Sua Santità cook what he wants in his own cucina, eh?"

(This last remark may or may not have sent Cardinal Aldo Bellini composing his proposal to nominate the Pope for sainthood. This had to be a genuine, heaven-sent miracle.)

Sister Agnes had wisely set aside a corner in the kitchens for Pope Innocent and the sisters cheerfully kept the cupboards and fridge stocked with Filipino grocery and market staples. They smiled and greeted His Holiness whenever he wandered there. There were constant exchanges of recipes and kitchen tips.

There may or may not have been some candid shots uploaded to social media of a certain Supreme Pontiff believing himself incognito, wandering off to market with the sisters and at least one slightly nervous but still amused Dean.

A Twitter/X user basically tweeted this reaction: OMG THEY ARE SO DOMESTIC SEND HELP 😭😭😭

It was only a matter of time before someone took videos of Pope Innocent cooking (and making sure a certain Dean was well-fed, because honestly, mahal, it's no trouble at all, someone has to keep you from looking like a perpetually exhausted and hungry pigeon...).

Yes, there were actual videos.

Yes, they were uploaded.

Yes, Monsignor Ray caught the culprits but nobody got excommunicated since they all had the sense to edit the videos, clearly taken with a lot of affection for the parties involved.

Several things happened:

The videos, obviously, went viral. The entire planet adored seeing the tiny figure of Pope Innocent XIV cooking. Usually, he was out of his normal papal whites and was instead wearing the light blue barong favored by Filipino priests with the clerical collar and an apron.

A certain Secretary of State may or may not have watched a specific video several times, blushing like an infatuated schoolboy. Said video featured Cardinal Tedesco showing Pope Innocent how to cook "a proper Italian carbonara" and generally acting like actual siblings from another mother.

Sister Agnes revealed a complete diabolical streak when she commented that "This is Thomas' favorite - something his nonna used to make" when it was her turn to "guest star" in what the Internet now referred to as "Heaven's Kitchen." The blush on a certain Supreme Pinoytifex's face was meme-worthy.

The video of Pope Innocent teaching Cardinal Lawrence how to use a rice cooker got a reaction from YouTube's Uncle Roger, who commented: "Ohhh.... Pope Innocent true Asian. He teach Cardinal well. Yes, you wash the rice two times and use rice cooker, very easy. Fui-yoohhhh. Now you teach Cardinal Lawrence how to cook garlic rice. Don't forget MSG!"

TBC

@frogguchi this one's for you

[ineffablelara]

I have a type 🥸

[ineffablelara]

I'm just, I can't even begin to describe how much I love this, there are some passages that made my heart warm and I decided to write a reblog instead of a comment bc there's just so much I want to say

"This was not just home; this was an extension of him, it was his mindscape externalized; nothing existed here that he did not manifest."

"More than one timeline wiggled around him like affectionate snakes seeking warmth. He patted them on his way in"

"The occasional vine wriggling near Mobius, trying to figure out this strange being that did not feel like their creator."

"His interactions with Sylvie had proven this; they were not even alike, but close enough, and his mirror images tended to bear cruel words and a distinct lack of love and care for him. It was different now"

“It was not a prison,” said Loki softly, “I should know. I have been in a great many of them over the years. This was my home, too, for much, much longer than I lived in Asgard, at the TVA or here. Never doubt that I love it dearly.”

"The vines demanded his attention and he let go of Mobius’ hands so that the timelines could curl around his fingers, calling him home, being so very happy to see him. They were so young still and he felt bad for staying away, even if it had not been too long since his last visit. The vague impression of curiosity followed them as they climbed up, but they did not actually poke Mobius despite their wishes."

"“Absolutely not,” replied Loki, drawing his head back, appalled and resolute and so very tempted. “They are babies!” He kept the youngest timelines very close, they could hear them!"

Okay so, I've always liked the idea of Loki's throne being for him and only him, if anyone else dared to sit upon it they'd loose their minds bc it's just too much power and knowledge to take in, so thanks for adding that!

I LOVE how you made the branches sentient, they're very fond of Loki and are curious about Mobius, they are his children, he even calls them babies 🤧

Thank you so much for making Loki call that place his home, I'm still sad about the finale and the thought of him finding joy in living there with his creation makes me happy, the branches keep him company and he creates a little world for himself there, one he can share with Mobius now and that makes me so happy!

The part about his mirror images bearing cruel words and a lack of love got to me bc it's so real, Lokis really should learn to be more kind to themselves

I think this is my favorite work of yours so far! Thank you so much for tagging me, you have no idea how much I love your stories, they give me so much inspiration!

Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: Loki (TV 2021), Marvel Cinematic Universe Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Loki/Mobius M. Mobius Characters: Loki (Marvel), Mobius M. Mobius Additional Tags: Post-Episode: s02e06 Glorious Purpose (Loki TV), Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Hurt/Comfort, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Bit of humour, Dorks in Love, Anxiety, loki is anxious, Loki Needs a Hug (Marvel), Loki Gets a Hug (Marvel), Self-Hatred, Loki is working on it, Fits with LokiusWeek 2025 Series: Part 10 of Let’s Grow Together. Summary:

Loki shows Mobius the world he had created for himself.

@lokiusweek: fits with Day 7 prompt “Free Day”

@ineffablelara: inspired by your last comment on Talkie-Talkie. Have fun

[ineffablelara]

Yes to all this but I want to make an addition: Mobius is not only responsible for breaking Loki with the tortures and the things he said in ep 1, he also was the one who convinced Loki he was in love with sylvie

Now I'm not saying Loki had no feelings for her but I think the idea of him falling madly in love with someone in the span of twelve hours (the time they spent together in Lamentis) is absurd

He might've had a crush or something like that but being in love is just too much (and maybe that's why it was so easy for him to get over her in s2, it wasn't that big of a deal to begin with, he cares for her deeply but not necessarily in a romantic way)

I do think he admires her and was very moved by her story, maybe he got a little protective over her when he learned that she was snatched from her life as a child bc he put himself on her shoes and realized how terrifying of a life she lived

So I think his protectiveness towards her paired with the beginning of a crush made it very easy for him to mistake what he was feeling with romantic love, when Mobius said he liked her Loki seemed surprised, since he had never experienced that before he just accepted it and didn't question it (he didn't have the time to)

Then Mobius puts him in a loop where he keeps listening again and again that he is alone and he always will be, Natalie Holt said that Sif told Loki those things bc they had spent a night together and then he cut her hair as a prank, I know some people don't accept what she said as canon but I do and for the sake of my next point I'll ask everyone reading this to accept it too, just to get the point across (I actually think it works even if you don't accept it as canon but it makes the point stronger imo)

Loki was facing a woman he probably had feelings for and whom he let down (to put it mildly), she beat him up and told him he deserved to be alone, Mobius had just told him he was in love with sylvie and he rolled with it, so when he got out of the loop he was terrified by the idea of being alone and probably of letting down yet another woman he had feelings for

So he decided to not run away from his feelings anymore, if he still had a family in a timeline I think he would have done everything he could to fix his relationship with them, but he had nothing, Mobius was starting to turn into a friend and he got pruned right in front of him, the only person he had left in the entire existence was sylvie

That surely amplified whatever feelings he had for her up to the highest level, she was his chance of having a fulfilling life, she was someone who had suffered a lot at the hands of the tva, he admired her resilience and his heart was broken by the knowledge that she had her life stolen from her when she was a little child, this explains why he's so patient with her imo, I think deep down he thinks she's still that scared little girl

(just like he's that scared little boy, I don't want to sound patronizing, I just think he sees a lot of himself in her for obvious reasons, they are the same after all)

He lets her rudeness and bluntness slide bc he knows she never had the chance to grow up in a palace as a princess like he did, he becomes empathetic and kind and all those new feelings are easy to mistake for romantic love, especially for someone who doesn't even know what that means

But then everything goes to shit in the citadel, and Loki is left to deal with yet another heatbreak caused indirectly by Mobius, I wonder if he is even aware of this, did he really think Loki was in love with her or did he say that just to taunt him?

Anyway, Mobius directly and indirectly caused Loki A LOT of pain, and I wonder if he ever had a moment of realization where he understood just how destructive his influence on Loki's life was and if he cried himself to sleep when he noticed that

Obviously he had a HUGE positive impact on Loki's life too, he supported him, gave him strenght to continue and made him smile in moments where I'm sure Loki was feeling desperate and lost, he was the light of his life in s2 and the most important person to him, but I'm sure it's easy for Mobius to overlook that when Loki never really told him how much he meant to him, and when you're deep in negativity it's easy to forget about the good things

The funny thing is, if he ever went to apologise to Loki crying and begging for forgiveness, Loki would just be like lmao wtf do you mean, you're literally the person I love the most in the universe, calm down dear

Thanks for reading my rant lol, this got way longer than I intended but the process of writing it gave me a lot of insights

Mobius' guilt

I started to think about the shift in Mobius' treatment of Loki in s2 and the only explanation for it in my mind is that he's wrecked by guilt and regret over his actions

After he returned from the void he wanted to unveil the truth and to change the tva, Loki was gone with sylvie and they were probably going to kill the man behind the curtain and then go on together to live their lives on the timelines, but them, suddenly Casey appears saying that Loki was there looking for him and he seemed to be in pain

Mobius can't believe his ears and he tries to get miss minutes to locate Loki so they can talk, but then things happen and he finds himself in the war room with B15 and everyone else, Loki then fucking materializes himself in the room and he looks desperate, anxious and 5 seconds away from a mental breakdown

Mobius grabs him immediately, he gets protective over him, he touches him as if to convince himself that this is real, that Loki really is there with him, he grabs Loki by the waist and guides him to safety, away from Dox and X-5, but first Loki unveils yet another secret, his voice breaks, he's visibly shaking and Mobius' first instinct is to soothe him, to guide him to safety

In s2ep1 it's very clear that Loki's well being is above everything else for Mobius, he doesn't care about Dox going after sylvie, he doesn't care about He Who Remains or whatever the hell he is called, the only thing he cares about is Loki, his friend who is visibly in a very bad headspace, when Loki's about to prune himself to fix the timeslipping D-90 appears talking about Dox and her plans, Loki immediately wants to drop everything to follow them and stop Dox but Mobius is having none of it, he seems exasperated when he says "we have one shot at this!", he's not letting Loki risk his life for anyone now, HE should be the priority, Mobius even risks his own skin in the gangway to save him, he stays there for longer than he should have, all because he desperately wanted to save Loki and keep him safe

After that we see how cool and loose he is in the mission to find Brad, the roles are reversed and now Loki is the one most focused on the misison and Mobius is enjoying himself and the time he's spending with Loki, he even wanted them to sit down and have some drinks together lmao, the urgency is over, Loki is safe and sound and whatever crisis the multiverse is about to go through can wait, they have time

And I think this shift comes because Mobius feels immense guilt and regret over what the tva and especially him, did to Loki. The tortures, the beatings, the mockery, the humiliations and insults, he's ashamed of what he has done and he wants to compensate for it all, he wants to enjoy this new chance he was given to live with Loki, he was assigned to be in charge of him by Ravonna and now he takes that task more seriously than ever, and not in a pedantic way, Loki's not a child that needs to be watched over, but Loki is to him, someone that deserves to be taken care of, especially with how the whole situation in the citadel affected him, he wants to support him and be by his side at all times

Until Loki suddenly ignores their plan to fix the loom and gives him goodbye, taking up the responsability of the multiverse on his shoulders and leaving Mobius behind, feeling empty and impotent, unable to stop Loki and to understand what drove him to make that decision in the control room

I think that hit Mobius stronger than anything else, he wanted to make up for all the pain he inflicted upon his friend, he wanted to enjoy their time together, he wanted to fight by Loki's side, and hell, maybe he was even planning on making a formal apology to Loki, after they fixed the loom and could worry about other things

But Loki left and Mobius couldn't do any of those things anymore, he couldn't make up for his mistakes, he couldn't say a proper apology, and he could never see or hear Loki again

So he became a shell of a man and got consumed by grief, so much that he had to leave the tva for a while until he regained strenght to go back and make Loki proud

I think he loves Loki deeply, and his guilt and regret almost eat him alive, especially with how kind and soft Loki turned out to be with him, he wanted to repay that kindness but he couldn't, and that's what broke him in the end, that and the realization that he was not strong enough to protect Loki like he wished he could

Anyway, these are just some thoughts that came to me after our interactions earlier @justanotherhopelessgeek, I couldn't stop thinking about it so I had to get it out of my system

[ineffablelara]

Man I'm gathering some screenshots and I'm preparing to write a meta on Loki's melancholy in s2 and some changes in the way he was portrayed in both seasons, I'm so excited!

I'm mostly going to talk about how he seems to have kinda lost some of his mischievious spark in s2 and how this reflects the way both seasons view the character

[ineffablelara]

I know what simony is, thank you

The line just cracks me up in the movie because it works on multiple levels. From the Doylist perspective, it's the writers winking at the audience—of course the priests know what this particular jargon means but the audience does not so they put the definition into Thomas's dialogue and then hung a lantern on how silly it was for him to say it in the first place.

But then it actually also completely works on a Watsonian perspective because, of course, Thomas was a Professor of Canon Law and has had. A very long, very stressful day. On top of like three very very stressful weeks. So, of course, he reverts to Professor Mode (TM) and then Aldo—who is also stressed AF and was the Rector of the damn university—snaps at him for it.

[ineffablelara]

It's been weeks and I can't get Conclave out of my head. So. Do you want a comparison of Conclave (the Book) and Conclave (the movie) ? Well, you're getting one anyway. Spoilers for the book and the movie, although I am roughly operating under the assumption that people have seen the movie but not necessarily read the book.

I am also splitting this post into two because I hit the image limit.

First things first, the two are very similar. Whole scenes are left practically identical. An enormous number of lines are verbatim from the book. In my opinion, it makes what they changed stand out even more.

In terms of characterization, I think they made almost all of them a bit worse. Not worse characters, worse people, which makes sense in order to heighten the tension in movie format.

Bellini gets the shorter end of this particular stick. The movie leaves ambiguous whether Tremblay got to him or not. This is not present at all in the book. Bellini is not nearly as ambitious, his not wanting to be pope reads as more sincere, and he says that his first vote was for a theologian, and all the others for Lawrence.

He also doesn't yell at Lawrence. The line about the participation of women is extended, which by showing the opposition makes him look more liberal in my opinion.

The lack of screaming does mean that he doesn't say my favorite line in the movie

that instantly made me go

Lawrence is an interesting case, because we have his inner monologue in the book. Overall, I think it makes him more sympathetic (with one NOTABLE exception that I'll come back to). Book!Lawrence is Italian and is called Lomeli, but for simplicity's sake I'll keep calling him Lawrence. Book!Lawrence is somehow an even wetter cat than his movie counterpart. He's praying to die instead of the Pope on the very first page.

He skips meals.

He doesn't sleep.

He's had cancer.

While most of his inner turmoil is very skillfully portrayed, the movie doesn't let us in on most of his cattiness, and it is a real shame. This is Lawrence when Adeyemi is on the verge of being elected:

And this is Lawrence after Tremblay speaks to him for the first time:

Book!Lawrence could be a world-class catty bitch, unfortunately he is always trying to be empathetic and forgiving.

While looking for screenshots that illustrated that point, I found all of these examples of Lawrence hating on Tremblay and it's hilarious, so enjoy:

This lead me to the Notable Exception:

First, not very subtle way to let us know that Lawrence had nothing to do with all that. Second, what the hell do you mean? You wouldn't have reported sexual abuse? Is this supposed to make you relatable? I am uncertain of the effect this passage is supposed to have on the reader, but I don't think it was supposed to sink Lawrence in my opinion as much as it did, so good job not including it in the movie.

Tedesco's character is a testament to Sergio Castellito's acting ability because movie!Tedesco is much more of a dick inter-personally and yet by charisma alone he's one of the most compelling characters (notice how I say compelling. Not good. Not sympathetic. Compelling). In his very first appearance on screen, movie!Tedesco hits an attendant. Here is the same scene in the book:

Book!Tedesco has humble origins. Book! Tedesco is the less wealthy of all the cardinals that the previous Pope was investigating.

Book!Tedesco has a possible trauma around food.

Book!Tedesco has had several scenes cut in which he banters with and is quite nice to Lawrence.

In comparison, movie!Tedesco is an extravagant cape-wearing diva who is constantly smoking. I don't know how that would have changed this character's reception, but I completely support these choices for one reason: there is no mention of smoking in the whole book, and I think the vape should have won an Oscar.

On the ideological front, book!Tedesco is arguably slightly less racist. The first scene that made me go "Oh fuck OFF" in the movie is the diner scene, and here is how it goes in the book:

He does go on an islamophobic rant at the end of the book, but unlike his movie counterpart, he doesn't call Muslims animals. I wonder if movie!Tedesco might also not profit from the fact that most of his lines are in Italian, which means that to the not-italian-speaking part of the audience (which I belong to), he can say the most vile rhetoric and it just sounds like Italian. Reading it doesn't have exactly the same impact. Tedesco is also not a very serious candidate for most of the book. He only needs enough votes to block any election for thirty votes, then a pope can be elected by simple majority, and only then he may have a chance. His rant is also triggered by Benitez saying they should all just vote Lawrence.

[ineffablelara]

"When the applause ended, Lomeli gestured to the room. ‘Your Eminence, would you care to bless our meal?’

Benítez’s expression was so alarmed that for an absurd moment it passed through Lomeli’s mind that he had never said grace before. But then he muttered, ‘Of course, Dean. It would be an honour.’"

HIS EYES WHAT THE FUCK HIS EYES ARE SO BEAUTIFUL

[ineffablelara]

[ineffablelara]

conclave got my searching about the great schism of the catholic church on a friday, at 6am, what am I even doing with my life lmao

[ineffablelara]

[ineffablelara]

Also I think it hadn't hit me before, but oh - when Lawrence breaks into the previous pope's apartments, he is specifically breaking Tremblay's seal. Tremblay as the Camerlengo was the one who put the seal on the apartments, which is meant to be a duty to the late pope and the church, but also hid, literally secreted, locked away, obstructed, the evidence of his crimes.

And that's the seal Lawrence broke.

[ineffablelara]

HES SOOOOO OMG 😭😭

[ineffablelara]

he's so pathetic

[ineffablelara]

Mobius' guilt

I started to think about the shift in Mobius' treatment of Loki in s2 and the only explanation for it in my mind is that he's wrecked by guilt and regret over his actions

After he returned from the void he wanted to unveil the truth and to change the tva, Loki was gone with sylvie and they were probably going to kill the man behind the curtain and then go on together to live their lives on the timelines, but them, suddenly Casey appears saying that Loki was there looking for him and he seemed to be in pain

Mobius can't believe his ears and he tries to get miss minutes to locate Loki so they can talk, but then things happen and he finds himself in the war room with B15 and everyone else, Loki then fucking materializes himself in the room and he looks desperate, anxious and 5 seconds away from a mental breakdown

Mobius grabs him immediately, he gets protective over him, he touches him as if to convince himself that this is real, that Loki really is there with him, he grabs Loki by the waist and guides him to safety, away from Dox and X-5, but first Loki unveils yet another secret, his voice breaks, he's visibly shaking and Mobius' first instinct is to soothe him, to guide him to safety

In s2ep1 it's very clear that Loki's well being is above everything else for Mobius, he doesn't care about Dox going after sylvie, he doesn't care about He Who Remains or whatever the hell he is called, the only thing he cares about is Loki, his friend who is visibly in a very bad headspace, when Loki's about to prune himself to fix the timeslipping D-90 appears talking about Dox and her plans, Loki immediately wants to drop everything to follow them and stop Dox but Mobius is having none of it, he seems exasperated when he says "we have one shot at this!", he's not letting Loki risk his life for anyone now, HE should be the priority, Mobius even risks his own skin in the gangway to save him, he stays there for longer than he should have, all because he desperately wanted to save Loki and keep him safe

After that we see how cool and loose he is in the mission to find Brad, the roles are reversed and now Loki is the one most focused on the misison and Mobius is enjoying himself and the time he's spending with Loki, he even wanted them to sit down and have some drinks together lmao, the urgency is over, Loki is safe and sound and whatever crisis the multiverse is about to go through can wait, they have time

And I think this shift comes because Mobius feels immense guilt and regret over what the tva and especially him, did to Loki. The tortures, the beatings, the mockery, the humiliations and insults, he's ashamed of what he has done and he wants to compensate for it all, he wants to enjoy this new chance he was given to live with Loki, he was assigned to be in charge of him by Ravonna and now he takes that task more seriously than ever, and not in a pedantic way, Loki's not a child that needs to be watched over, but Loki is to him, someone that deserves to be taken care of, especially with how the whole situation in the citadel affected him, he wants to support him and be by his side at all times

Until Loki suddenly ignores their plan to fix the loom and gives him goodbye, taking up the responsability of the multiverse on his shoulders and leaving Mobius behind, feeling empty and impotent, unable to stop Loki and to understand what drove him to make that decision in the control room

I think that hit Mobius stronger than anything else, he wanted to make up for all the pain he inflicted upon his friend, he wanted to enjoy their time together, he wanted to fight by Loki's side, and hell, maybe he was even planning on making a formal apology to Loki, after they fixed the loom and could worry about other things

But Loki left and Mobius couldn't do any of those things anymore, he couldn't make up for his mistakes, he couldn't say a proper apology, and he could never see or hear Loki again

So he became a shell of a man and got consumed by grief, so much that he had to leave the tva for a while until he regained strenght to go back and make Loki proud

I think he loves Loki deeply, and his guilt and regret almost eat him alive, especially with how kind and soft Loki turned out to be with him, he wanted to repay that kindness but he couldn't, and that's what broke him in the end, that and the realization that he was not strong enough to protect Loki like he wished he could

Anyway, these are just some thoughts that came to me after our interactions earlier @justanotherhopelessgeek, I couldn't stop thinking about it so I had to get it out of my system

[ineffablelara]

HES SO BABYGIRL I LOVE HIM !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!