#also. love how at this point not ‘killing’ coulson just means | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

notquiteaghost · 4 years

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there’s nothing i wouldn’t do

mcu/hawkeye comics, post-avengers, barney&clint, 2k

inspired by this post

AO3 link in notes

He wasn’t expecting it to be a thing, is the problem.

Like, how often do aliens fucking invade New York? Once in a lifetime deal, it’s gotta be. Clint was busy — with having a hole in his chest, but SHIELD wouldn’t like him picking fights with run-of-the-mill mobsters, so it was, once again, up to Barney to step up and keep his baby brother safe. Hell, even if Clint could’ve got out his building without passing out, Barney still probably would’ve gone instead. Clint’s just a guy.

He had a plan, and it should’ve been simple. Bandana tied round his face, hair hidden under a beanie, and only Natasha’s gonna notice which Barton is actually slinging the arrows around, and Natasha’s well-aware of Clint’s stab wound. Murder all the aliens, sit through Coulson’s lecture on Clint’s behalf, hopefully their building’s still standing by the end of it. Hold it over Clint’s head until they die. Never, ever do it again.

Except.

He goes after the wannabe god, and the wannabe god can, obviously, control fucking minds, so then he shoots a shit ton of almost-entirely-innocent SHIELD employees. And then Natasha knocks him out of it and they all murder a shit ton of aliens, so hopefully SHIELD will cancel the shoot on sight order, but after all the aliens are dead, Tony goddamn Stark drags them all to get shawarma, and it’s not like Barney can say no. He can’t make Captain America think Clint’s an asshole.

And then, three days later, when Barney’s trying to explain to Coulson that, no, Clint is absolutely not going to fucking Russia, Clint can’t lift his arms, and also they’re still trying to get back the power in their building and also also as far as SHIELD is concerned it was Clint who got used as a puppet by a hostile alien and then bounced without any kind of medical eval so what is this actually about, because it sure as shit ain’t a human trafficking ring — three days later, his phone rings. Caller ID says Your New Sugar Daddy, so it’s Stark, so Barney hangs up on Coulson and answers it.

“Y’know, I could use some new shoes,” he says, throwing Clint’s phone on the couch when it immediately starts buzzing again. “What’re your terms? How much skin am I showing to get some new shoes?”

Stark splutters, but recovers within seconds and says, “Shoes are a titty pic at least,” and Barney is suddenly, sinkingly certain that him and Stark could be friends. It makes him shudder.

He bites back the joke he wants to make about how many titty pics he gets to send before Stark stops buying him shoes, and says, “Titty pics ain’t why you’re calling, though.”

“Heard you’ve been having some apartment trouble,” Stark agrees, casually, like he has any way of knowing that that isn’t really fucking creepy. “Y’know, I have this great big tower. It’s got, amongst a lot of other things, an entirely self-sustaining power system.”

“…You want me to move in with you?”

“I’m just letting you know it’s an option, that’s all.”

Barney narrows his eyes. “Anyone else say yes?”

Stark huffs. “You’re first on my list, actually. Figured I’d start with the easiest, work my way up.”

Again, Barney bites his tongue. He cannot flirt with Tony Stark when Tony Stark thinks he’s his brother, no matter how funny it is. He’s sworn off starting shit with Clint since they got banned from Lithuania. “And what if I like my apartment?”

The briefest of pauses, before Stark says, “Then you keep living in your apartment. Again, just letting you know your options.”

“Pay to have the power lines for my block fixed,” Barney says, just as Clint stumbles out his room, “and maybe I’ll swing by for lunch. That’s what this is really about, yeah? Team building shit?”

“Wait, your block doesn’t have power?”

Clint is staring at him, eyes narrowing. He’s been awake maybe ten minutes, and it’s a coin toss if he’s remembered to put his aids in yet. Barney makes a face at him. “Half the damn city doesn’t have power, don’t you watch the news? Hell, ain’t people waving big signs outside your front door?”

“I’ve been—” Stark starts, then stops himself, then presumably remembers he’s trying to tempt Barney into some kinda morning-cartoons perma-sleepover and that’s gonna require some emotional vulnerability, and says, “Been in the workshop, mostly. The suit didn’t cope so well in the vacuum of space. But, yeah, power, I can do power. Text me about lunch.”

“Only if Captain America’s there, too,” Barney says, then hangs up. Clint’s eyes are even narrower. He’s gonna give himself a headache. “What?”

“Were you talking to Tony Stark?”

“Yeah, he wants me to move in with him.”

“He wants me to move in with him,” Clint counters.

“Hey, I’m the one who actually fought the aliens, kid—”

“I was all for fighting the aliens! You ziptied me to the bed!”

“And that you couldn’t get out of those makes it clear you were in no shape for fighting the aliens.” Barney walks into the kitchen, digs through their pile of homecooked food — you showing up on TV saving the world makes everyone want to cook you things, it turns out — for Clint’s pain meds. Clint leans against the wall and looks pitiful.

“Maybe I wanna live with Tony Stark,” he says. Barney laughs, hands Clint the tablets and the water so his hands are free to talk.

“Thought you were gonna die in this shithole. Thought, next time anyone shoots you, you were gonna demand they carry you back here so you can bleed out on the floor since getting the blood out’ll be someone else’s problem.”

“Bet Stark’s eyesore of a tower’s got power, though.”

“And soon,” Barney assures him, “so will we.”

Clint shuffles back to the couch and flops over it, and almost hides his wince at the feelings his stab wound has about that. “Bet Stark’s tower’s got heated floors. Stupid fast internet. Bet he’s got chefs and cleaners and everything.”

Barney always forgets how being hurt makes Clint into a five year-old again. “If some stranger tried to clean your room, you would stab them.” Clint sticks his tongue out.

Then he jumps, because Barney’s phone is buzzing again. Got his aids in, then.

It’s a text, this time, from an unknown number.

???: Stark tells me you’ll only come out to play if I come out too - Steve

“Holy shit,” Barney says, “Captain America is texting me.”

“What the fuck,” Clint pushes himself up, “Give me the phone. Give me the phone! He’s texting me!”

“Again,” Barney says, typing complete nonsense so Clint hears the tapping noise, “it was me who he bonded with when we murdered a load of aliens together, he has no idea who you are.”

“Barney. He’s Captain America.”

Goddammit, that fucking whine. He throws Clint his phone.

Then stands behind him to watch him type.

You: he ain’t exactly my usual kinda buddy

You: appreciate the thing with the missile obviously but also i don’t think he pays taxes?

Clint backspaces four times to change his terrible text speak for actual words. It’s hilarious.

steve!!!!: He fucking better.

You: if you yell at him about this please film it

You: i promise not to put it online i just want it playing on a loop in my apartment

steve!!!!: He says ‘Excuse me of course I pay taxes, I have to get rid of all this money somehow’

steve!!!!: I’m double-checking with Miss Potts.

You: did shield just give you the phone numbers of the entire population of new york

steve!!!!: No, I think it’s only 30%.

You: oh shit do you have fury’s number

steve!!!!: Strangely, no.

You: dammit

You: one day

“You are definitely the reason Fury didn’t give Captain America his personal cell number,” Barney says. Clint shoves at him.

steve!!!!: Not planning on moving into Stark’s place, then?

You: think living somewhere that expensive would give me a rash

You: don’t tell shield this but i stole my apartment from the mob

“Oh my God Clint they are definitely reading his texts,” Barney groans.

You: hey uh unrelated but anyone give you an update on opsec

Clint glares at him, pointedly, then makes a truly inhuman noise when he reads Steve’s next reply.

steve!!!!: Is that an offer?

“Oh my fucking God I’m gonna become best friends with Captain America,” Clint says, low and reverent.

Barney rolls his eyes. “He still thinks he’s talking to me.”

“So? You wore a mask and shit, he won’t notice.”

“You are so fucking injured. He will definitely notice.”

“Okay, then you wear a wire, and I tell you what to say—”

Barney snatches the phone back, types out ‘hell yeah let’s get a drink, when you free?’, then locks it and tucks it away. Clint is fully pouting.

“I’m going out,” Barney reminds him. “Coulson wants you in Russia, I’m gonna find out the fuck why. Amuse yourself for a while, you can keep flirting with Captain America when I get back.”

“If you really loved me you’d wear a wire,” Clint huffs. Barney ruffles his hair and goes to find his jacket.

–––––––––––––––

“Explain to me again,” Coulson says, exasperated in a way Barney’s more used to seeing directed at Clint, “why you thought pretending to be Clint was in any way a good plan.”

Usually, they have chats like these in some pretentious hipster place, where all the drinks have dumb names and cost twenty bucks a pop, but for obvious reasons that’s not happening. So, they’re in a park, miraculously untouched. There’s a flock of pigeons going at what looks like some bodega’s entire stock of bread.

“Clint was stabbed doing something SHIELD don’t need to know about; SHIELD didn’t tap me for the Avengers, ‘cause they still think I’d sell them all out for the right price; aliens were invading New York; I live in New York and I didn’t have any other plans.”

Coulson pinches at the bridge of his nose. He for sure agrees Barney made the right call, given the givens, and he will for sure die before he ever admits it. Barney is the reason the wannabe god didn’t stab him through the chest, though, so Barney is gonna try and make him admit it.

“You don’t have clearance to know about the Avengers.”

“Half the world knows about the Avengers, we were on every news channel there is.”

“Prior to the Chitauri invasion,” Coulson says, exasperation ticking up a notch, “you did not have clearance to know about the Avengers Initiative. SHIELD already don’t trust you, and now you’ve been compromised by a hostile alien with unknown motivations and allegiances—”

“Which is why SHIELD’s gotta keep thinking it was Clint,” Barney agrees, “‘cause they'll just straight up shoot me.”

Coulson sighs, heavily. But he doesn’t disagree.

“Going forward, then,” he says. “Are you going to continue to be Hawkeye?”

“I kinda really thought the alien invasion was a one-time thing. You telling me we’re expecting more aliens?”

“Not with any certainty,” which is Coulson for ‘yeah, probably’. “But I, for one, would rather we were prepared. And with the way some things are going, the Avengers may be needed for purely Earth-based disputes.”

“You get superheroes, you’re asking for supervillains?”

“Unfortunately.”

Barney lets out a long breath. It should be hilarious, that some idiot might actually pull on a cape and a dumb mask and try to take over the world, but he just got done stopping the last idiot, and they’re still pulling out the bodies. Morning cartoons never have collateral damage.

“I gotta talk to Clint,” he says. “He’d be better at it, but he’s been muttering about bouncing from SHIELD lately. Taking it real personal that you don’t trust me, who’d’ve thunk it.”

“I trust you,” Coulson says, lightly. Barney rolls his eyes.

“Yeah, no shit. Look, I’ll go to Russia, but someone’s gotta babysit Clint while I’m gone. I’m sick of the fucker pulling his stitches.”

“I don’t know who’s going to be there to meet you—”

“This ain’t the first mission I’ve run in Clint’s place.”

Coulson blinks. Huh, Barney had honestly thought he knew about that. “Well,” he says, “then you leave bright and early tomorrow morning. Try not to get in too much trouble, would you?”

Barney grins, trademark Barton asshole. “No promises.”

#marvel #the avengers #hawkeye #hawkguy #clint barton #barney barton #tony stark #steve rogers #hello it’s me the world’s only barney barton stan #yelling at clouds #fic tag #also. love how at this point not ‘killing’ coulson just means #ignoring all the agents of shield bullshit #no he didnt get forced to fake his death. that was so dumb.#fuck you fury. all your ideas suck.

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olderthannetfic · 2 years

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Out of curiosity I looked up Clint/Coulson on A03 and 11k fics?! Just why? I mean I'm all about ship what you want but 11k fics! I'm curious about the appeal of these two together. Is it something from the comics? Because in fic a lot of people write MCU Clint like his comic counterpart.

Hahaha. Oh god.

No, it is absolutely not comics.

Okay, so, I dislike how C/C gets used in dumb arguments as though ships like this are commonplace when it's really just this one and maybe Kylux and/or Arthur/Eames... But I'm more than happy to talk about the weird outliers as that.

Clint/Coulson needs to be understood in the context of Avengers fandom where it sprang up. First, let's look at posting dates:

This is really a 2012 phenomenon that got big enough to be self-sustaining for a while. And being a 2012 phenomenon, it has nothing to do with Clint.

You heard me: Nobody cared about Clint. Nobody cared about comics. This was 100% fandom being Horny For Coulson.

At the time, MCU was some of the origin movies. Everyone was really looking forward to Avengers where the characters would meet for the first time. With fewer overall movies, the cameo characters stood out more, especially Coulson with his funny one-liners. People loved him in the first two Iron Mans, but there was nobody to ship him with. And then came Thor. Yeah, it's like two seconds, but he has that funny radio conversation with Hawkeye. Bingo! Shipping potential!

And then Avengers came out and killed Coulson.

So not only did people finally have a cardboard cutout who'd been in Coulson's vicinity to ship him with, but they had fixit fic to write, and fandom has always loved fixit fic. And Clint was conveniently mind controlled for 90% of his, at the time, very minimal screen time so he was a blank slate aside from the tasty built-in angst of him being mind controlled while Coulson was getting killed. Cue the bajillions of fics where they're secretly married and no one knew (boring) and the heaps where Clint had a secret crush and now it's too late to confess except oh wait (my jam).

It was at that point that people started going to comics (or, realistically, comics wikis) to fill in some actual personality and backstory for Clint. However, I read a bunch of the fic at the time, and it all had the unmistakable ring of being pure asset/handler trope. I'm a sucker for that, and I also love the trope of the dude who looks like an accountant but is a secret badass.

A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To Thor's Hammer is the most epic unadulterated dose of 'secret badass looks like an accountant' I've ever seen.

Finding out Coulson was coming back for real fueled the fire more. Agents of SHIELD started in 2013... but Coulson fans weren't that wild about him on that show. Interest started to wane pretty quickly. People who liked the show mostly liked it for other things.

But the phenomenon was big, and it was so fanon-y and compartmentalized that it was easy to go play without knowing much about the comics or about the increasingly vast MCU. That kept it chugging along longer than some fads. Ships tend to be semi-self sustaining after a certain point because the back catalogue of fic itself attracts people and forms the canon in a sense.

I think a lot of people who lack this taste for secret badasses look at Coulson and assume he was picked for adjacency to Clint, but it's actually that fandom took one look at Coulson and went "RAW ME, DADDY!"

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agentxthirteen · 3 years

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Marvel Studios’ (and employees’) treatment of Emily VanCamp & Sharon Carter:

Going back from 2011: Hayley Atwell’s comments about playing Sharon herself. Comments become distinctly more negative when Sharon is announced as returning in Civil War and increased/continued until she filmed her Endgame scenes. (source, with plenty of details, though it’s incomplete)

Chris Evans treatment went from this in 2013 to this afterward.

The Russos lack of respect/appreciation for the character didn’t help Sharon become more popular. Though Markus & McFeely talked her up more, they, too, ultimately let her down (and made things worse for her by having Steve go back to Peggy, fueling the Uncle Steve jokes, despite in 2016 talking down the Steggy ship and saying “They kissed once on a moving car, with Tommy Lee Jones in the car. Not the sexiest situation you can have.”).

2016- Things escalated significantly after the kiss in Civil War, and the hatred was noticed to the point that an article came out addressing it and noting how the fans and the actress had received hatred. Sharon-positive events held by fans online were targeted by Sharon Carter hate blogs.

2017- The 10th Anniversary photo is taken. Emily VanCamp is the only actor there not currently in a Marvel project. They might have just had her there to have another face in the crowd. It’s significant that The Russos, Markus, McFeely, Kevin Feige, Chris Evans, and Hayley Atwell were all in attendance. All of them knew what was going to happen, or at least had a good idea. Maybe they just had her there to add another person to the crowd, but as time would go by, it would feel more and more like they only had her there to mock her.

2018- Even in 2018, shipping was a critical part of the hatred Sharon and Emily received.

2019- Endgame premieres on April 24. Emily leaves the country May 6 after canceling an appearance to promote her show The Resident at a festival. She says in a later interview that she and her husband turned the trip into an impromptu honeymoon. The catch? She only went out of the country with her husband because he was already leaving the country - to film a movie. Which means she spent a chunk of her honeymoon alone.

In August, she’s announced as returning as Sharon Carter in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier - Kevin Feige first claims that Peggy Carter is returning before correcting himself. Though clearly only a slip, given how badly Sharon and Emily had been treated previously, a bit more effort would have been appreciated. Especially since it would not be the only time someone with Marvel got Sharon or Emily’s name wrong.

2021 - Piecing together interviews for F&WS, it appears they gave her the script to episode 3, used that to convince her Sharon would finally be treated better, and only told her about the Power Broker twist once she’d officially signed on. Malcolm Spellman told her he was excited to show her what they had in store for Sharon; she thought he meant the fight scenes. Zoie Nagelhout said that Sharon “was too weak to survive with her morality intact.” Kari Skogland said Sharon had “the face an angel and the heart of a devil.” This was particularly jarring since it 1) went against comic book canon for 50+ years and 2) Emily VanCamp spent the bulk of her time doing press in 2016 defending the kiss and talking about how much she loves Sharon’s integrity and strong moral compass.

In September, Marvel’s What If: Zombies episode premiered. Sharon got some good material, though there were complaints about how she was little more than a plot device. She was also killed gruesomely (both times) in ways that caused Sharon fans some concerns. First, she’s attacked and turned by Steve, then Hope shrinks and flies inside of her, growing to full size and blowing Sharon up from the inside. CBR actually called it the most brutal kill. A couple days later, the head writer, AC Bradley gave an interview where she talked about writer Matthew Chauncey’s original idea - having Steve bite Sharon’s lips off and spit them out. When Bradley expressed concern, she said Chauncey told her that Steve belonged to Peggy and nobody likes Sharon anyway. Bradley ultimately decided to downplay the violence because “Emily Vandercamp” is very sweet. Chauncey responded to a comment on his Insta saying that though he is a Steve/Peggy shipper, he loves Sharon. He has not yet responded to people who shared what AC Bradley said he said.

Where they went right: 1) Anthony Mackie is the only member in the cast prior to 2021 who said anything nice about Sharon without being prompted. There are reports RDJ and Don Cheadle were also kind to her on the Civil War press tour. 2) Fans got upset with Emily touching Lola, Coulson’s car, when she hosted Marvel: From Pulp to Pop in 2015. Clark Gregg, who plays Coulson, said she had clearance to do so; the anger quickly died down.

#sharon carter #will add things if I can think of more!

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reaction2whatever · 2 years

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Agents of SHIELD S3E12-S3E14 reaction

So I'm already in the latter half of the season. Can't believe how fast I binged this show lol. I'm obsessed.

Agents of SHIELD S3E12

-Ok. This alien warm thingy can possess people, get access to their memories, and is immune to inhuman powers

-Just Splendid. upgraded evil Ward is even more creepy.

-Hunter calling Daisy and Lincoln "shake n bake" will forever be funny to me lololol

-I'm very proud of Daisy awwww she went from "I'm a monster and everyone's at risk" to "Terrigenesis made me who I was supposed to be"

-She's come a long way in terms of self-acceptance

-Creel?? Isn't he dead? He died after touching the obelisk didn't he???

-I don't like Talbot...he's just...a whole mixed bag of sexism and racism and condescending with that "clothes from another culture is a dress and I don't wear dresses" comment...just overall ignorant and annoying. Maybe it's supposed to be a comedic moment but nah I don't accept that

-Had to admit tho, this spar between Daisy and Lincoln Sexy AF.

-Lincoln is a lucky man to be pinned by Daisy smh

-I love Hunter. He's a smart man for bringing weapons lol

-This fight between Lincoln and Daisy is mmmm

-I mean I can understand both sides honestly. Both Lincoln and Daisy have valid points so I'm neutral.

-But the way Lincoln said"I wasn't hacking my way through life" is pretty hurtful, especially to Daisy who only learned hacking to find her parents and worked really hard to become a competent agent before getting her powers.

-It's perfectly okay to have a disagreement on something but mmm... maybe i'm overthinking this lol

-I never get tired of seeing Bobbi beat up a man lol

-waiiiiittt excuse meeeee Daisy did not just took off her clothes like that omg she's way too gorgeous and way too hot to do that I CANNOT handle it

-Lincoln you lucky lucky man

-Also why do I feel like Daisy is the dominant one in this relationship since she kissed lincoln and she pinned him and she took off her own clothes....just a thought lol

-ughhh just when I thought Ward couldn't get grosser and creepier. He just did. yuck

-Where are Hunter and Bobbi going??

Agents of SHIELD S3E13

-wtf why is Bobbi former shield and captured what just happened

-Lol the way she ordered a burger while being interrogated

-Is this gonna be a Bobbi and Hunter centered episode? ahhh I'm thrilled.

-Hunter is captured too lol and talking about mushrooms. This is gonna be a rescue mission episode huh

-awww Bobbi and Hunter never went on a vacation together?

-I like the dynamic between them. They are both just such fun characters

-Thinking about Daisy saying dirty talk in Russian and that's oddly hot

-Hunter's first name is Amadeus? lol did not expect that

-"Your weakness is each other" awww I know they're in trouble but still. I think Bobbi and Hunter might be my favorite couple on this show

-"Come on Daisy you can hack the Pentagon and shake the earth. You are gonna let a few backwards letters trip you up?"

-I love Bobbi

-I also ship Daisy and Bobbi lol

-Inhuman politician and a coup in Russia...This won't end well

-I love the conversation between May and Hunter. It's very in character

-Love hacker Daisy she so cute ughh

-I have a thing for smart ladies lol

-The way two Russians are having a meeting but speaking English to each other. just does not make any sense lolol

-Oh I love Daisy fighting alongside Bobbi way too much

-ohhhhh fuckkkk so Hunter saved the president and he still got arrested?

-and Bobbi is also arrested for killing the Inhuman Russian general...

-But yeah Coulson is gonna save them right?

-Oh no what's going on why won't they escape

-This theme is going too somber to save them

-Holy fuck nooooo are they leaving the show?????

-I mean I'm glad that they get to walk free but...

-"It's the Spy's goodbye"

-oh no they are really leaving

-The way I got so emotional

-But they are such good characters???!!!

-Whyyyyyy

-ugghhhh crying rn

Agents of SHIELD S3E14

-I'm still not over Bobbi and Hunter leaving.

-LOL the way Daisy cannot follow the sciency talk between Fitz and Mack and call them the nerd herd

-Her Skye humor is still there and I love that

-Seeing Simmons blames herself for the Inhumans Andrew killed is nice

-Not that she should lame herself, but that it's nice to see that the previous events have effects on the characters and that they were given the time and attention to react. Makes these characters more human

-omfg how cool and badass is Daisy when she just stopped a whole car

-just LOOK AT HER and THAT SMILE

-Daisy Johnson Ma'am you are gorgeous and please step on me

-I can feel Fitz judging Daisy's actions and frankly I don't really feel bad for the guy

-Also I don't think Fitz gets to criticize Daisy for breaking two windows when he helped open a portal to let the body jumping super creepy monster warm that looks like Ward got to earth lol

-Also two windows are nothing compared to a whole ass building

-I miss Fitz's little drones. Feels like they appear a lot less recently

-Oh no Fitz can't die of this sticky bomb thing right???? Is Fitz gonna get a cool scar on his neck?

-Oh no they thought Mack was an Inhuman. I worry for his brother lol

-There is no way they are gonna kill off Mack but his brother is a minor role and in real danger right now

-That shotgun axe is pretty cool

-I still miss Bobbi and Hunter. Are they really not coming back?

#agents of s.h.i.e.l.d.#agents of shield

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9worldstales · 3 years

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MCU Loki: Why I fear they failed to deliver what they promised

At this point I’m kind of confused by who the “Loki” series is trying to reach or which is the goal/message they’re trying to pass along.

They had tried to intrigue assorted audience but, if you ask me, the series has often failed to deliver what it seemed to promise.

Of course I might be wrong. Or maybe I'm not seeing another type of audience the series aimed and managed to reach.

When the series started I wanted to keep a positive mentality and hope whatever seemed not to work would be fixed along the way or have a reason for existing that I just wasn't seeing because I hadn't seen the full story yet.

However, after 5 episodes I'm starting to lose hope the series will make a genuine effort to reach the fans at whom it seemed to aim.

PART 1 – “LOKI” IS NOT FOR THE OLD FANS WHO PRODUCED META SHOWING HOW HIS TRAUMA DAMAGED HIM

"I think it's the struggle with identity, who you are, who you want to be. I'm really drawn to characters who are fighting for control. Certainly you see that with Loki over the first 10 years of movies, he's out of control at pivotal parts of his life, he was adopted and everything and that manifest itself through anger and spite towards his family." [Loki's Struggle With His Identity Confirmed To Be A Focus Of His Disney+ Series]

What was it about Loki as a character that attracted you? He’s just fun, for one. He has a very playful sense of humor about him. I like how he never quite lets you know what he’s thinking. Beyond that, what I connect to about him is the same thing the legions of fans do, which is his humanity and his vulnerability. This is a guy who—yes, on the one hand, he was the prince of Asgard, seems like a nice life—but his father, in fact, killed his actual birth father, adopted him, lied to him about his heritage and parentage his entire life, he was forced to live in the shadow of his oafish older brother who was born to be king. He’s experienced a lot of trauma, and I think that what he’s looking for is just a little bit of control over his life. Which he feels like maybe he’s never quite had. That’s something I think we can all relate with. [From Loki to Doctor Strange and Star Wars, Michael Waldron Is the New Franchise Whisperer]

Let’s be honest, the audience for the “Loki” series is not really meant to be Marvel movies old time fans who enjoyed “Thor” and “The Avengers”, made countless Meta analyzing Loki’s behaviour and who wanted answers about what happened to Loki prior to “The Avengers” or wanted to see Loki’s family terrible dynamics be discussed, or at least to see explored the wrong dynamics of Loki’s interracial adoption (he’s taken away from his planet, the truth is hidden from him, his look is changed to disguise him as an Asgardian, nothing is done against the racial hate for the Jotuns at which Loki is exposed, even witnessing it from his brother) or talk how much in control of himself Loki was during “The Avengers” (okay, the web said the sceptre manipulated Loki, but what about acknowledging that in his own series? It doesn’t have to come from Loki who had no idea he was manipulated but someone could mention ‘think yourself lucky here the stones don’t work, they’ve the nasty tendency to manipulate people’).

The series has avoided digging into all that as much as they could.

Even when Loki talks with Sylvie, the most we get is a small big about how Frigga was awesome in his eyes and taught him magic, but this isn’t meant to explain any of the issues Loki had with his family, it just make Sylvie feel bad because she can’t remember her adoptive mother, as for the D.B. Cooper born out of a bet with Thor, yeah, fun but completely random. What’s meant to be the message about family dynamics here, that it was the bets between Thor and Loki that caused Loki to decide to conquer Earth? Or what about the Sif loop? Is it there to push on Loki the blame of his poor relation with Sif?

No, clearly not.

In regard to Loki the Frigga flashback is there to remark he had a loving and supportive family while the other two are there to have Loki admit he is ‘a mischievous scamp’, ‘a horrible person’ and ‘a narcissist’.

To put it in Classic Loki’s words: ‘Damn it! Animals, animals! We lie and we cheat, we cut the throat of every person who trusts us, and for what? Power. Glorious power. Glorious purpose! We cannot change. We're broken, every version of us. Forever. And whenever one of us dares try to fix themselves, they're sent here to die.’

In short it’s all Loki’s fault if he does bad, nothing happened to him that could have messed him up, he’s just a horrible person… however…

PART 2 – “LOKI” IS NOT FOR THE OLD AND NEW FANS WHO BELIEVED LOKI TO BE A DANGEROUS, EVIL, PSYCHOPATH VILLAIN EITHER

"Loki is an a**, and that makes my life as a writer, easy." ... "Due to the trauma in Loki’s life, I would even [accept a story] in which he is committed to being all bad." [Michael Waldron on Loki: He’s an a**. That makes things easy]

Considering the series is trying to pin SOLELY on Loki his wrongdoing, completely skipping the toxic way in which he was raised you might think they want to paint him as an evil, psychopath who was just born bad.

But no, that’s not the intention, we see it from the start.

Loki is given a quick briefing on how his beloved family loved him despite him hurting them, a briefing that contains false information which would work if we accept the briefing as manipulative but, at this point I’m not so sure that was the author’s intent. The Doylist purpose of the briefing is clearly to show the audience how Loki cares for his family, how he still has feelings, feels pain at the idea Frigga and Odin died and wish to make up with his brother.

It’s not just they loved him and did nothing wrong toward him, it’s also he who loved them and didn’t mean to harm them. That’s why we’re fed that damn discourse about Loki sending the Dark Elves to kill Frigga, because the series wants to remark that no, Loki didn’t want to kill his family, he loved them.

Tom Hiddleston used to say what Loki is came from a place of pain but the series didn’t explore that place of pain… it just gave him more pain and not just in episode 1. Episode 2 has him discovering Asgard is destroyed, episode 3 has him remembering Frigga, episode 4 shows him believing Sylvie die and watching Mobius being pruned. He doesn’t cry in Ep 5, episode 5 wants us to truly feel bad for Sylvie, not for him, but there’s a lot of bitterness from Classic Loki who commits a heroic suicide so you might say we get a sad Loki anyway.

And this also works as a shock to make him change his mind about his ‘glorious purposes’. Sorta, with Thor reminding us he’s not so bad and Loki explaining his behaviour as “I don't enjoy hurting people. I... I don't enjoy it. I do it because I have to, because I've had to. Because it's part of the illusion. It's the cruel, elaborate trick conjured by the weak to inspire fear.”

Plot-wise, this is completely useless.

The show will prove Sylvie is not Loki and has completely different motivations and Mobius, being an expert in Variants, should know.

What’s more why would Mobius care if Loki enjoys hurting people or not?

His goal is to capture Sylvie with Loki’s help. The most he should care about is how to keep Loki loyal to him, not if Loki has fun hurting people or not which, in fact, is a knowledge that won’t be used in his investigation.

No, this is here for the viewers, to tell them Loki isn’t a sadistic, evil villain, he’s someone weak who tries to scare others so as not to look weak. As Mobius will put in ‘a scared little boy, shivering in the cold’ who has an ‘insecure need for validation’.

What’s more?

The show will try his hardest to establish he’s not even competent.

Let’s talk of him as a fighter.

In the movies Loki is a competent fighter and side material establish he’s pretty strong, definitely much more than a human.

In “The Avengers” we see Captain America needs Iron Man’s help to beat him and, anyway, Loki’s plan was to be captured. Loki manages to walk away on his feet when Coulson hits him with that superspecial weapon and it’ll take him to be Hulk smashed after a fight with Thor and a meeting with an explosive arrow of Hawkeye before he can’t fight any longer.

This doesn’t happen in the “Loki” series.

Loki gets beaten up by various people in 4 episodes, preferably women (B-15, the people possessed by Sylvie, the guards on the train, Sif). You might say in episode 5 he’s not but actually Classic Loki is the one who gets swallowed by Alioth and our Loki instead survives because he has Sylvie supporting him as, on his own he couldn’t even distract Alioth.

Let’s talk of him as a wizard.

He can use magic, impressive magic but… it serves him mostly nothing. In the TVA his magic doesn’t work. Outside of it is mostly useless. It doesn’t help win fights. The Tempad he caused to disappear gets broken. To beat Alioth they needs enchantment, not his own magic. What’s more, when they’ve to go on the train his disguise wouldn’t have worked without Sylvie’s enchantment and, if this wasn’t enough, he got drunk, removed the disguise and wasn’t even able to make tickets appear.

Classic Loki too, with his impressive illusions is ultimately a distraction. Alioth tears easily through his illusions which aren’t even solid.

Let’s talk of him as a planner.

All Loki will accomplish is to escape from the Time theatre for a brief period in episode 1 and figure out Sylvie hides in apocalypses in episode 2. The rest of his plans fails or are not plan or are mocked over and not even put into practice.

Let’s talk about him as a manipulator with a silver tongue.

He can’t even persuade Mobius when he’s telling him the truth, Mobius dismisses it as a lie due to ‘cockroach's survival mechanism’.

And psychologically?

He’s just someone who crave attention because he’s a narcissist scared of being alone. Not a psychopath.

Loki is not meant to be a dangerous, evil, psychopath villain in this series, he’s a not serious man, a clown, a scared little boy in need of attention, a narcissist who needs to be loved.

Welcome to cartoon villain Loki, this Loki isn’t the Variant of “The Avengers” Loki, he’s the Variant of “Avengers Assemble”Loki… only he’s even less competent than him.

PART 3 – “LOKI” IS NOT EVEN HERE FOR GENERAL MARVEL MOVIE FANS

"That's a lot of Infinity Stones. That's true but they are useless there in the TVA, so I don't know. Is that gun loaded or not? We'll see..." [Loki Writer Comments On Whether TVA’s Infinity Stones Will Return In MCU]

“We had to create an insane institutional knowledge of how time travel would work within the TVA so the audience never has to think about it again. It was a lot of drawings of squiggly timelines.” Marvel already made its case for how time travel works in Avengers: Endgame, but that, Waldron points out, “is the way the Avengers understand it.” With a TV show it’s a little different. “I was always very acutely aware of the fact that there’s a week between each of our episodes and these fans are going to do exactly what I would do, which is pick this apart. We wanted to create a time-travel logic that was so airtight it could sustain over six hours. There’s some time-travel sci-fi concepts here that I’m eager for my Rick and Morty colleagues to see.” [How the Man Behind LokiIs Shaping Marvel’s Phase 4 and Beyond]

BC: The TVA is there to clean everybody up? MW: Yeah, Avengers: Endgame… that's how The Avengers understand time travel. 'Loki,' episode one, is how the TVA explains time travel to Loki and we're certainly building on what's come before us. [Loki: Michael Waldron On Gender Fluidity, Mephisto, Time Travel & More]

It’s true “Loki” is focusing on a new corner of the MCU but it interconnects very poorly with the movies before it.

Although Loki escaped with the Tesseract... it just dismisses completely the Infinity Stones.

Despite talking a lot about timelines and creating branching realities it waved away the whole plot of "Avengers: Endgame" as apparently supposed to happen even though it should have created branching realities.

We see Renslayer wave away how the Avengers went in the past causing the Tesseract to end up in Loki’s hands... and all the other things the Avengers did that affected the past goes unmentioned.

Bruce meeting the Ancient, Thor meeting his mother and taking away Thor’s hammer, Rocket being seen as he steals the reality stone from Jane, Tony stealing a suitcase and damaging the place in which the Tesseract was kept then meeting Howard Stark, 4 flacons of Pyn particles missing, an alarm given to the military bases, how Steve managed to bring back the sceptre if that timeline was pruned, how a timeline handled being without Thanos and Co as they went in the future or how they clearly didn’t bring the orb back the second they took it as Nebula remained unconscious there and nobody came and when she woke up Thanos could get her. It didn’t even explain why Steve remaining with Peggy didn’t change anything.

It's not that the audience has all explained... it's that they were told to dismiss it as 'meant to happen' and that was it.

What's more, the TVA apparently didn't list a finger to stop 2014 Thanos from going in the future and causing Tony Stark's death.

As if this wasn't enough, “Loki” just skips any possible connection with the movies, even hands Loki false information about them (he lead the Dark Elves to his mother when Loki had no idea the Kurse was a Dark Elf and they would have found her anyway as they were searching for the Aether which Malekith could sense, he’s born solely to cause pain and suffering and death, overlooks how he saved Jane twice or helped the Asgardian escape Hela) and never discusses them again.

Even with Classic Loki, who’s a Variant of “Avengers: Infinity War” Loki, they don’t talk about what happened after Loki’s supposed dead, apparently hinting it was better if he died, nor explain how Loki knew Thor survived.

PART 4 – “LOKI” IS NOT REALLY OFFERING A GOOD REPRESENTATION FOR FEMALES EVEN THOUGH IT CLEARLY AIMS AT FEMALE AUDIENCE

Let’s make a quick experiment.

Everyone, let’s name all the characters we remember which appeared in more than 1 episode of “Loki” for more than one minute.

We’ve, of course, Loki, Mobius, B-15, Renslayer, Sylvie, C-20 and Miss Minute.

5 females versus 2 males.

What’s more, females are not sexualized, they remains completely dressed, they’re clearly not there to attract male gazes, they’re represented as strong, dangerous, in control, something archived often by showing them beating males either physically or intellectually or in rank.

It seems promising. At first.

Is there someone who’s sexualized?

The “Loki” series takes care to offer us Tom Hiddleston naked.

So since there’s an abundance of females in the cast and Tom Hiddleston is shown naked is it aiming at a female audience?

Very, very likely but… but how’s then handled all this?

When Loki is seen undressed he’s not in a situation of power, like Thor who’s twice shows half naked in his movies but because he’s changing/washing and perfectly comfortable in showing his body and once in a situation which could be a male forbidden fantasy, to have many women massage your naked body, no, he’s shown as he’s powerless while being stripped by a machine. Clearly not a male power fantasy, more like a male nightmare.

And, in a totally not surprising way, pictures of this scene were spread by many female fans because it was aimed at them… though a part of them, was also honestly appalled at seeing this scene in contest, finding the forced stripping humiliating and degrading.

Sure, a naked Tom Hiddleston makes a nice eye-candy but this wasn’t how Loki’s many fans wanted to see Loki naked.

But let’s talk of female representation here, since the show seems to be interested in female audience… only who even though this was the representation women wanted doesn’t understand much of women representation in the first place.

Why?

For start because women here are all the same type of woman.

Strong fighters who’re in control and confident, with no real characterization beyond this to speak of despite the large amount of screen time.

Renslayer is an ex-hunter who can fight one on one against Sylvie and who clearly has the position of power she has because she was good as a hunter and shows her abilities in fighting after that Sylvie had beaten 2 guards at the same time. B-15 is introduced by beating Loki and is the commander of a squad. C-20 is another commander and, albeit possessed, can dispose of a part of her squad members.

Do I need to spend words on how Sylvie is depicted as this awesome fighter who has learnt to fight by herself, can keep at bay more than 1 Minuteman, can use a sword, has learnt enchantment on her own and is feared by all the TVA? Do I?

And it’s awesome to have women who are strong fighters in positions of command/power/control… but why women has to be represented as just that?

Even when they add a female as an one episode cameo, it's Sif, beating the hell out of Loki. And what about the Lady in Lamentis 1 who was too old to be strong but managed to blast away both Loki and Sylvie seeing through their deceptions?

Even the harmless Miss Minute can avoid being hit by Loki and gets she has to pretend to do researches to stall Sylvie and save Renslayer.

Women kick asses here… but that’s all they’re good for.

And so we get to Sylvie, who is the superior Loki Variant… because she’s female.

Kid Loki: You're different. Why? Loki: No, I'm not, you see? I'm the same, really. I'm the same as all of you. Have any of you met a woman Variant of us? Classic Loki: Sounds terrifying. Loki: Oh, she is. But that's kind of what's great about her. She's different. She's not trying to take over the TVA, she's trying to take it down. And she needs me. Now, you said Alioth is what keeps us here. You said it's a living thing. You said it's a shark. Well, if it lives, it dies. So I'm gonna kill the shark. I'm gonna kill Alioth, and I could use all the help I can get.

That’s what Loki preaches to his fellow Lokis who think a woman Loki would be terrific.

I mean, they’ve an alligator Loki, a POC Loki, but the one who has to be different is the female Loki. Because being female is a character trait.

Mobius: Okay. I feel like I'm always looking up to you. I like it. It's appropriate. [Ep 1]

Basically females in the “Loki” series are all representation of the Action girl trope and aren’t even different representation of said trope. I mean, “The Avengers” have 5 actions boy who’re clearly as different as they could be. Girls can be represented as different too, if they really aim at young audience they can take good old “Sailor Moon” as an example. 5 action girls who are strong and determinate AND DIFFERENT, more than just someone who kicks the adversary away.

And it’s not like they don’t know how to characterize people in a different way.

Mobius is an analyst who shows sympathetic traits toward the Variants and a certain level or intelligence. U-92 and D-90 are hunters who are shown to held Variants in little regard (U-92 wanted to attack the boy they found in the church, D-90 mistreated the scared people in the shelter). Casey is an harmless and naïve guy who had never seen a fish. The guy who made Loki sign the papers about what he said seemed emotionless but he clearly loved cats as not only he had one but on his cup there was also the image of a cat. Martin is clearly a bossy daddy’s son, who think too high of himself to the point he can’t respect rules. The boy in the church, despite thinking Sylvie was a demon, accepted and ate food she gave him and remained in the place despite the crime. He’s clearly more brave than he looked like but he’s also naïve as he easily trusted ‘the demon’ and Mobius.

What’s C-20 character trait when she gets described by Sylvie?

Sylvie: Yeah. She was just a regular person on Earth. Loki: A regular person? Sylvie: Loved margaritas.

She’s a regular person who loves margaritas. Liking a drink is not a character trait!

There’s a more diverse female representation in “Thor” than in “Loki”.

In “Thor” we’ve Frigga, queen of Asgard, loving mother and wife who’s powerless to erase Thor’s banishment. We’ve Sif, a dangerous and loyal warrior. We’ve Jane, the amazing scientist with a lot of enthusiasm. We’ve Darcy, who’s funny and who seems focused mostly on herself but who, when the city is attacked, worried to save all the animals at the pet store.

But maybe the one who gets the worst treatment is the supposed heroine, Sylvie, because the poor girl is turned into a Mary Sue.

In case someone isn’t familiar with the term:

“The prototypical Mary Sue is an original female character in a fanfic who obviously serves as an idealized version of the author mainly for the purpose of Wish Fulfillment. She's exotically beautiful, often having an unusual hair or eye colour, and has a similarly cool and exotic name. She's exceptionally talented in an implausibly wide variety of areas, and may possess skills that are rare or nonexistent in the canon setting. She also lacks any realistic, or at least story-relevant, character flaws — either that or her "flaws" are obviously meant to be endearing. She has an unusual and dramatic Back Story. The canon protagonists are all overwhelmed with admiration for her beauty, wit, courage and other virtues, and are quick to adopt her as one of their True Companions, even characters who are usually antisocial and untrusting; if any character doesn't love her, that character gets an extremely unsympathetic portrayal. She has some sort of especially close relationship to the author's favourite canon character — their love interest, illegitimate child, never-before-mentioned sister, etc. Other than that, the canon characters are quickly reduced to awestruck cheerleaders, watching from the sidelines as Mary Sue outstrips them in their areas of expertise and solves problems that have stymied them for the entire series.” [tvtropes.org]

So let’s see how she fits this checklist:

1) She's exotically beautiful, often having an unusual hair or eye colour: Sylvie painted her hair blonde even though the Lokis are supposed to be black haired

2) has a similarly cool and exotic name: She is the only Loki Variant who has changed her name from Loki to Sylvie.

3) She's exceptionally talented in an implausibly wide variety of areas, and may possess skills that are rare or nonexistent in the canon setting: Awesome at fighting she can enchant people, an ability the Lokis don’t posses, that she magically learnt on her own and that is necessary in the story. Also she figured out how a Tempad worked BEFOREseeing it in action.

4) She also lacks any realistic, or at least story-relevant, character flaws — either that or her "flaws" are obviously meant to be endearing: No flaws, all her plans involve fighting and brute force is no substitute for diplomacy and guile, which could be a flaw… if it wasn’t for the fact that the series will prove Sylvie can plan just fine without using fighting and brute strength and also be successful at it.

5) She has an unusual and dramatic Back Story: She was taken by the TVA when she was younger than Kid Loki but managed to escape them and had to live alone and on the run till then.

6) The canon protagonists are all overwhelmed with admiration for her beauty, wit, courage and other virtues, and are quick to adopt her as one of their True Companions, even characters who are usually antisocial and untrusting: Loki, who has never loved anyone, falls for her, Mobius saves her and apologizes to her, B-15, who used to look down at Variants, basically asks her what should they do and is shown admiring her, the Lokis don’t criticize her plan, Classic Loki dies to save her, everyone views her as the superior Loki Variant.

7) if any character doesn't love her, that character gets an extremely unsympathetic portrayal: Renslayer, the hunter who has arrested her, is currently playing the part of the antagonist who’s fascist and believes in a murderous, lying cult.

8) She has some sort of especially close relationship to the author's favourite canon character — their love interest, illegitimate child, never-before-mentioned sister, etc.: She’s the Variant and love interest of the titular character.

9) Other than that, the canon characters are quickly reduced to awestruck cheerleaders, watching from the sidelines as Mary Sue outstrips them in their areas of expertise and solves problems that have stymied them for the entire series: Loki, the title character, has conveniently been turned into someone who’s a weak fighter and incapable of planning which Sylvie has to save by enchanting guards or giving him her sword or pruning herself or teaching him how to enchant and coming up with all the plans.

Now all she needs in order to be a perfect Mary Sue is to know how to sing well as Mary Sue usually do this as well, though I’m sure she can do it because Loki could so she surely can.

Sylvie is amazing, Loki himself said so:

Loki: No. We may lose. Sometimes painfully. But we don't die. We survive. I mean, you did. You were just a child when the TVA took you, but you nearly took down the organization that claims to govern the order of time. You did it on your own. You ran rings around them. You're amazing!

There’s nothing inherently wrong in having a new female character who’s competent, for whom the hero falls and who changes him… if all this is built around a solid plot.

Think at “Iron Man”.

Tony Stark is, to quote Tony Stark himself a “genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist”.

It’s amazing, isn’t it? But the movie shows us why he’s that.

It spends time setting up his pedigree, how he inherited the money and intelligence from his father, how he was supported as he grew and studied becoming always a greater genius. Tony shows himself to be charming before seducing his first woman onscreen so that when he does it makes sense. His philanthropic activities are, at first, just mentioned but seems rooted in how his father was a hero who helped fighting Nazi and then they became his mission. He felt guilty he was a merchant of death and tried to make up for it.

Sylvie too could have a solid plot behind herself.

Instead than magically knowing what a TemPad does and how it works and managing to escape with it, she could have escaped with, let’s say, a hunter that discovered the truth and decided to rebel to the TVA or just had pity of her. Maybe another Mobius Variant who used to work at the TVA prior to Mobius and that, instead than an analyst was a hunter. She might have learnt fighting from him and then he too died and she was left alone.

Enchantment might have been an ability she might have learnt coming in contact with a mind stone. It could have been an occasion also to talk how mind stones can influence people negatively. Or it could have been taught to her by Frigga who, with a female daughter, decided to teach her a different type of magic than Loki.

Her past could have been explored more instead than being tragic for the sake of tragic. We might have seen her fall in love and either be betrayed or have to say goodbye to her loved one because that reality got pruned. We might have seen her being interested in males and females alike as she’s supposed to be interested in both.

She could have had discussions with Loki that weren’t just about Frigga or about how the TVA kidnapped her from Asgard, she escaped and from that point on she was always on the run, or about how love didn’t feel real, but more about how they were, how they felt, what hurt them and what made them happy, what they liked and what they disliked, their ideals and their fears, things that can built up a relation.

Loki basically fall for her because she’s on a mission for revenge instead than power and seems confident. That’s his reasoning.

She falls for Loki… because apparently he’s the person who spend time with her who praised her. That’s not a solid love story, that’s desperation.

SYlvie could have flaws, she could have learnt diplomacy or persuasion from Loki or could have something she lacks and Loki has so that they would complete each other.

And since the purpose was to have Sylvie and Loki fall for each other… they could have let Loki have characteristics that can motivate the exceptional heroine to fall in love for him PRIOR to him falling in love for her. He might be shown good at something, instead than just a clown.

Even if we say the real purpose of this series was to turn Sylvie into the protagonist, the heroine, a good Loki character was still needed to explain why this awesome girl would fall for him.

So okay, there will surely still be women who can see themselves in Sylvie and imagine they got Loki… and it’s not bad really… but I think we deserved more.

Long story short, yes, “Loki” has many females in its cast and this is meant to draw the female audience… but the representation is poor as almost all of the females have no character traits and Sylvie is just a Mary Sue with no realistic characterization.

A good female representation is diverse and solid. Women don't need to be born irrealistically perfect out of nothing to be good, they can inherith and grow and learn to be as such like any human being.

Last but not least…

PART 5 – DOES “LOKI” REALLY OFFERS REPRESENTATION TO THE LGBT COMMUNITY?

BC: There is a lot of talk on social media about Loki being gender fluid. Wouldn't that actually be a natural fit for the character? MW: Yeah, I guess as, with all questions pertaining to that stuff, I think those answers, truly, are best experienced in the watching of the show, as opposed to me trying to answer them. Because it's just watching it and the way that's addressed and everything will just be more fulfilling. BC: Why do you think it's important that Loki is gender fluid? MW: I think that Loki is a character that a lot of fans see representation in. People that haven't felt represented before, and they see themselves in Loki and everything. So we want to do justice to the character, to who the character is in the comics and in Norse mythology as well. And you also … you know you want folks to feel represented, and everything. That's why it's important. It always has been. It comes from everybody on the creative team. [Loki: Michael Waldron On Gender Fluidity, Mephisto, Time Travel & More]

The series hugely spread the info that this Loki would be fluid and Bisexual. The news were welcomed with delight and it’s awesome how the series didn’t hesitate to put it on paper.

Loki being fluid was written for everyone to see, and Loki having male and female interests was spelled out for everyone to hear.

IT’S A GREAT THING!

However…

It’s all we got.

It had no relevance into the plot whatsoever, it’s just a random info we’re given.

Him being fluid was on a paper along with his other data like eye colour and birth planet.

Him being interested in males and females seems to be put there just to imply he tried a large amount of people before deciding love didn’t feel real.

Assuming the other Lokis too were fluid, they actually found terrific the idea of a woman Loki in a not positive way. They weren’t interested or asking for clarifications about what Loki meant.

Loki’s bisexuality doesn’t even get a side story, them sending Fandral to beat Loki instead than Sif because Loki cheated on him or something. I’m not upset Loki ended up with a female, this is one of the possibilities of a Bisexual person. I’m upset that this was used merely to attract the audience but then wasn’t explored. They could have said Asgard was open minded with it, or disapproved it so Loki had to keep it hidden, or it could have been Sylvie who discussed some experience in that regard.

We were told over and over it was a show about identity. We expected it to be explored instead we were just told ‘ah, by the way, Loki is bisexual, let’s move on.’ And that was all.

Having representation from an important Marvel character is always important, especially considering the shortage of representation. But honestly I expected more.

PART 7 – TO SUM IT UP

Many of the people who worked in “Loki” are fantastic actors. They worked hard for this series, I can see they tried their best.

The premises for the “Loki” series are interesting.

We get a Loki who hadn’t experienced most of what happened in the movies yet, we make him confront with someone who knows his life, the one he lived and the one he was meant to live and we also make him confront with Variations of himself.

Loki has the Tesseract and the TVA has plenty of infinity stones, we could explore them.

The TVA itself have a fascist organization that dictates people’s lives and murders whoever tries to do differently, that goes so far as to brainwash the people working in it, which mistreats and belittle the Variants and establish a manipulative cult around the Time-Keeper with elements of police brutality which could be very actual.

Time travelling was the plot of "Avengers: Endgame" they could have tied the movie to the series, esplore the why some time travels were allowed and some weren't or their effects.

There were references to plenty of awesome comics they could take inspiration from.

But unless it redeems itself with the last episode… well, so far it’s failing to deliver what it promised due to a really poor plot which doesn’t give the characters a chance to be themselves or to be characterized as they’ve no real story nor real differences to speak of.

They’re given more time than a movie as they’re a series… but that’s no good excuse for wasting said time.

I’m still hoping the last episode will be spectacular, that it’ll manage to erase the messes of the other 5… but, as of now I’m disappointed.

I’ll just keep my fingers crossed and hope they’ll surprise me.

#mcu loki #loki #loki laufeyson #loki odinson #9 worlds study

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iamanartichoke · 3 years

Text

[please blacklist spoiler tags: #loki tv series spoilers, #loki series spoilers, #loki spoilers]

I need to talk about the Avengers.

I just want to express how much I hate that the Avengers aren’t on the hook for all their time travel nonsense bc they were “supposed to” do it and Loki is on the hook bc he wasn’t.

I mean, I am glad that they addressed it right away - that Loki was inadvertantly caught up in the Avengers' time meddling, and that apparently they were doing what they were supposed to and that's why none of them were on trial, but - there are two things going on here that I have issue with. One is, of course, the scapegoating of Loki once a-fucking-gain, but the other is that there's a legitimate problem inherent in framing the Avengers' deeds as The Right Thing So There Are No Consequences, especially because it directly leads to Loki (and only Loki) being scapegoated since, apparently, someone's got to answer for all of this.

Why Were The Avengers Supposed to Undo the Snap??

Of all the possible options they could have gone with (such as reversing time back to just before the Snap happened), going back through time to gather the stones and use them to undo things five years later is, like, one of the worst?? Best case scenario, it implies that the TVA is ridiculously incompetent in managing the sacred timeline and worst case scenario, it implies that the TVA is ridiculously adept in managing the sacred timeline, if their goal is to have it be the worst possible timeline anyone could end up in.

The Avengers may have done an arguably good thing in undoing the Snap - I don't disagree that those people should've lived - but they also royally fucked over a lot of things in the process and left Earth (and presumably many many other worlds) in total post-Snap chaos while fucking off to die be with their families and/or start new lives.

This goes back to the plan itself. One of my many issues with Endgame is that not only is the plan convoluted and, frankly, stupid, but also I have a real problem with the concept of the Avengers just saving the world as they see fit, regardless of whether or not that's actually the best thing to do. (If the Russos hadn't done such a shit job with explaining what the Accords were actually supposed to do, then maybe this could have been addressed somehow - like, okay, together we may have the brains and resources to carry off this plan but does that mean we're the ultimate authority on whether or not we should? Maybe we should check with, like, the UN or something about this? [and it’s entirely possible the UN was mentioned and I have forgotten it bc I’ll be honest, I watched Endgame once and have bitched about it ever since.] I digress.)

The narrative in Endgame and into the MCU beyond plays like the Avengers only care about saving the world when they stand to personally gain from it (they want their friends and family back, they want to feel like they didn't fail, they have unilaterally decided that what they want is the Best Thing for everyone) and once the Good Deed is done and the smoke clears from the battlefield, there's no concern with saving the mess of the world they created.

TFatWS addressed so many of the problems with the post-reverse-Snap, which implies that the MCU (both in-universe and out) is aware that things are fucked up now. People's lives were literally ruined by what the Avengers did. Refugees are displaced. Humans are coming back to a world where they've been dead for five years and their loved ones have moved on and their homes have been sold and their bank accounts have been closed and they have no jobs. And that’s just on Earth. Yet no one (again, both in-universe and out) feels the need to hold the Avengers accountable for any of this.

Plus, what about the people who died as a result of the Snap but not from the Snap directly? What about the planes that fell from the sky when the pilots turned to dust? The cars that crashed and collided when the drivers poofed? Etc. Like, fuck all of those people I guess?

And who, exactly, is "supposed to" clean up the Avengers' mess now that the actual Avengers are either dead, old and living on the moon, or retired? Is it on Sam's shoulders alone (or, rather, Sam and Bucky's)? Is Peter Parker (yknow, the 15 year old Nick Fury went and recruited bc there was no one else) supposed to be fixing things?

The TVA takes responsibility for none of this. They sit back in their nightmare DMV-esque office and claim that all is as it should be but my question remains: please explain to me how the outcome of the post-Snap universe is ultimately satisfactory to anyone besides the Avengers?

There's also the fact that Loki figures out right away that the Avengers were engaging in some time travel shenanigans ("the cologne of two Tony Starks is hard to miss” lmfao Loki you snarky shit). Loki recognizes that there's been an opportunity created of which he can take advantage, but he isn't responsible for creating it. The Avengers messed up and created that opportunity so, even if they were supposed to be doing what they were doing, there are still no consequences for the fact that they made a mistake that allowed Loki to then branch off and create a new timeline.

Let's also say that we accept that the Avengers were supposed to undo the Snap exactly as they did. Okay, sure. BUT:

- Was Steve, then, also supposed to decide to fuck back off to the 1940s and marry Peggy (which created two Steves, right? The one who was married to Peggy all along and the one who was in the ice?? The TVA is just okay with two Steves?)?

- What is the actual point of Stephen Strange having the time stone and using the time stone both to gain the advantage over Darmammushumuuyourmom (I’m sorry, I can’t remember his real name) and to look at all the possible timelines to figure out how to defeat Thanos?

- How is it possible that there are 14 million potential timelines in which the Avengers failed if the TVA’s entire thing is that there can only be one true ring timeline to rule them all? The fact that Stephen can look ahead and determine so many outcomes based on the choices they're making would mean that people do have free will and that their actions aren't automatically dictated by what's “supposed to” happen. They had to make the right choices in order to get to the one timeline in which Thanos failed.

- What’s the point of Stephen having to protect the time stone, anyway, if there are presumably a few others in Casey’s drawer?

- On that note, if there are a lot of infinity stones hanging around in the TVA’s desk drawers, what makes the original six the specific, correct ones that Thanos had to collect in order to pull off the Snap and why is it then those specific six the ones that the Avengers had permission to go back through time to get in order to undo the Snap as the Timekeepers intended?

- And actually, in fact, if there’s only one sacred timeline and anyone who fucks it up without permission gets “reset” (aka made nonexistent, along with their timeline branch) then, again, why does Stephen have to protect the time stone? Either anyone who steals it was supposed to, or their timeline gets eliminated and the theft ceases to matter.

- Less significant but also still kinda significant is how Agents of SHIELD figures into all of this. The TVA knows that Loki killed Coulson but they don't know (or don't care?) that Coulson was brought back to life and proceeded, with his team, to go on and get heavily involved in time travel and going back and forth and bringing people from the past into the present? So the TVA is okay with Daniel Sousa leaving his timeline but not with Loki leaving his?

... I have literally confused myself with all of this, so if anyone followed my train of thought here, congratulations and maybe you can explain it to me lmao.

But here's my ultimate point: the sacred timeline that the TVA is tasked with maintaining is not sensical or linear. It's full of gaps and holes and people taking matters into their own hands to determine both their own fates and the fates of others. As a result, a lot of people suffer kinda needlessly based on the events in said timeline, and apparently it's perfectly fine for all of this nonsense to occur so that everyone else has some element of control -

- but Loki is literally the only one who is told uh, actually, no, you are supposed to live a shitty life and die a pointless death and there's not a goddamn thing you can do about it bc it's supposed to happen.

What in the actual fuck kind of logic is that???

Thus, either the TVA (and the Timekeepers) are grossly incompetent, or else they're extremely competent and also really fucking shitty beings who just enjoy the needless suffering of others.

And somehow this is all Loki's fault!!

And then Mobius has the fucking audacity to say, to Loki's face, “you only exist to prop up everyone else and you, Loki Odinsonson Laufeyson mischief god and king of space lol, do not have any inherent worth or value as your own person. You were born to be a scapegoat and you will die a scapegoat and there's no getting around that, if we have anything to say about it.”

To quote Loki, in a very twisted way - yes, it's funny. It's absurd.

Does, uh, does this make sense? At some point I crossed over from meta-writing into straight up ranting and so, well, here we are.

#loki tv series spoilers #loki series spoilers #loki spoilers #loki series: glass half empty #loki series: glass half full #loki pokey artichokey #loki series meta #so. many. tags. ugh #i no longer know what my point was #i'm sorry #so it begins #the rambly nonsensical meta lmao #some of you tell me sometimes that you enjoy my meta and my takes and i just #i love you but srsly who is paying you bc #*waves helplessly at the above word vomit*#loki series negativity #not really negativity so much as criticism (that i think is valid) but yknow fandom #also i recognize all of this as issues that i - if no one else - have a problem with #but i still liked the show????#i am not hating at all #i am just acknowledging that this whole premise is fucked up and i'm not sure if it's supposed to be #or if the writers just don't realize all of the implications in their decisions #to be fair i'm sure that they're working with what they had - ie the original nonsensical endgame events #but is this really the *best* they could do? cause i beg to differ that they were written into this small of a corner #ANYWAY #i gotta go do some actual work now #tag rambles

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pla-teau · 3 years

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WHAT IF...? EPISODE THREE THOUGHTS

GIF CREDIT @lankybrunettepartdeux EPISODE 03: WHAT IF...EARTH LOST ITS MIGHTIEST HEROES? SPOILERS AHEAD! i didn't think phil coulson and i would have the same taste in men.

i’ve missed natasha and fury talking. i didn’t realize how much until the opening scenes of them in the car. love how natasha’s over with fury’s speech about the avengers, i think it hones in that it is a really corny speech. also really loved nat’s animation in this episode like ma’am, please marry me.

seeing tony in the donut again was also awesome. glad we got a little tony before killing him off five minutes later. didn’t think this episode would quickly go dark but it did. and i’m happy it did because i am all for marvel going dark and not having everything be a possible double meaning to something darker. i wanna see that gray areas and the gory stuff every once and a while.

for a second i really thought pierce was going to be the main bad guy due to fury suggesting someone tampered with the antidote. again, completely love nat’s fight sequence in the car. really wish brumlow said fuck cause i would too if i was in his shoes.

phil coulson my beloved. i love love love how we all have collectively agreed that he’s a got a thing for buff blonds with blue eyes. same phil same. thor is gorgeous with or without that long hair but they really made it shine this episode even if it was brief. i think you can actually see the crisis coulson was having upon realizing that the man is basically steve rogers but with long hair and he’s simping. again, phil my dear - same. i’m a simp for steve and thor.

nearly sobbed seeing thor being killed by clint because i’m never gonna be prepared for thor dying on us. i actually can’t fathom it since i love him so much. from promo clips, i figured this would be its own episode like “what if…clint killed thor?” but i’m kind of happy we got to see it in this episode as it makes you believe for a split second barton was the one killing the avengers off one by one.

betty ross? okay, didn’t think we’d ever ever see that woman again especially in the mcu. also, banner? i didn’t know what i thought bruce would look like in this show but it wasn’t like that. don’t get me wrong, i like the animation style of banner, i guess i pictures something closer to looking like mark. either way, was really hoping hulk would be the exception to the plot here since yeah, he really can’t die but boy were we proven dead wrong once more.

loki in this episode was basically if he had no character development and actually got his way with earth under the premise of avenging thor. which i think loki did want. i believe he was hurting that thor was killed but despite this being loki that was still hellbent on being king, he used it as a cover to then actually take over earth. not me thinking he’d change and actually be in the avengers. really thought we were going that route with him as it would’ve been cool to see loki finding purpose being in the avengers in thor’s place and doing a sort of 180 on his whole glorious purpose shtick.

hank pym being revealed as the man behind the killings of all the avengers did take me for a loop because i was wondering who would want to do this. i was going through a whole rolodex of people in the mcu as to who it could possibly be. the fact that hope was working for S.H.I.E.L.D. made me wonder if had she not died, she would be a part of the original avengers lineup like in the comics. also, saw a lot of people pointing to the fact that bucky is the one who killed hope in that mission. odessa, ukraine is the same place natasha said was shot by the winter soldier in captain america: the winter soldier. so this must also mean that nat probably came to work for fury later on in this timeline since she’s usually his go-to agent. anyways, back to hank being the villain. he’s also clearly wearing the yellow jacket armor as he did in the comics. hank has always had disdain for S.H.I.E.L.D. as he didn’t trust them with his pym particles which would be correct to assume since we also know HYDRA is already masking as S.H.I.E.L.D. during this time. i just wonder if HYDRA did influence hank in this timeline to push him to kill everyone.

coulson being the absolute fanboy he is for steve rogers with that password is a mood. like phil my beloved, we’ve all probably had a similar password dedicated to america’s ass one way or another. knowing that HYDRA is posing as S.H.I.E.L.D. by this time, i’m wondering how they still didn’t get to steve or if fury had found him on his own- hence why he’s alone when he wipes some ice from the shield. maybe this was something between fury and a few other trusted agents as maybe he did have an idea that HYDRA was already infiltrating the agency. either way, was pretty happy to see captain marvel appear too when he said “welcome back, captain.” as to say it to both captain america and captain marvel since they’re gonna be co-captains for this new team to take down loki.

overall, i liked this episode and really shocked that they went pretty dark for this third episode. i hope that they have more episodes like this in the season. i figure the dr. strange episode will have a similar tone but i hope there’s more episodes than just these two for darker themes and darker animation.

i know i slipped with the second episode but that was because i got too emotional watching it and was sobbing by the end of the episode. i did love episode two and i think in terms of the fun, adventurous tone, it’s the best episode so far (and i think it really should’ve been the premiere episode instead). looking back on the first episode, it really wasn’t anything spectacular in terms of a new storyline or anything rather creative. it’s just replacing steve with peggy in the first avenger movie. as for the second and third episode, there was a lot changed in storylines and consequences of those changes. ie: thanos being talked out of mass genocide by t’challa and so he joins the ravangers and doesn’t torture nebula to the point of making her fully cybernetic. the most we got from the first episode was that peggy came through the tesseract portal not loki so there’s implications of that but we’re not shown much else. while with this episode and t’challa’s star lord episode, there’s a hell of a lot more changes to the storyline that we’re shown rather than left to guess and it was refreshing to see that.

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sk1fanfiction · 3 years

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the many faces of tom riddle, part 2

-you dislike frank dillane’s portrayal of tom riddle only because you don’t think he’s attractive-

FULL DISCLAIMER THAT THIS IS JUST MY OPINION OF A CHARACTER WHO DOESN’T HAVE THE STRONGEST CANON CHARACTERIZATION, AND THUS ALL THIS IS BASED ON MY CONCEPTUALIZATION (and this time, featuring a bit of armchair child psych from a student).

Wait, don’t clutch your pearls just yet. Compose yourself.

I am about to explain why it’s not actually that bad, and Dillane’s portrayal is vastly underappreciated.

I definitely agree that his portrayal comes off as ‘creepier’. It’s not helped by the stylistic decisions in the scene -- the smeary, green filter gives the scene a sinister quality.

Even Slughorn looks suspect here, which is somewhat appropriate, given that he is complicit in this crime.

Again, this scene is very much intended to be slightly off.

You’ll notice (and I’ll discuss this again when I talk about Coulson’s portrayal) that Dillane is almost always shot from at least slightly below, which makes the lower third of his face look bigger (and thus more menacing). The lighting also makes his eyes glow in a really unnatural way. There’s an echo-y effect to make his voice (and not Slughorn’s) sound unnerving.

People talk about how Coulson would have looked in this scene, and if he was filmed in the same way (monotone, smeary/shadowy filter, and always from below), he’d look a bit creepy, too.

But all of this, imo, is for a pretty good reason. Slughorn isn’t the POV character. Harry is. Harry is learning about how a young Lord Voldemort wheedled the secret of Horcruxes out of an unsuspecting teacher. Unlike in COS, he expects Riddle to be evil. And, so, Harry’s new perception of Tom Riddle literally colors how we perceive him.

Take this shot, for example: he does that head-tilt thing that Coulson does, and it’s actually... kind of... cute???

Imagine Dillane filmed from slightly above, like Coulson usually is, and it looks even more innocent. (I mean, come on, he does not look like he’s killed four people, does he?) It’s not hard to imagine teachers being taken in by this kind of act.

Even that little smirk he does when the camera (aka, Harry’s gaze) pans in, is for Harry’s benefit. No one else noticed that.

However, I still fail to find this creepy, like, at all. Yes, it’s a fake smile, but he’s portraying a different side of Tom Riddle to Coulson. Whereas, in COS, he’s in his vindictive, murderous element, where he’s free to express himself, in this scene, Tom Riddle is doing what he does best -- manipulating and managing appearances.

This entire scene is an act. And because Harry knows it’s an act, it should look a bit stilted.

From the Hepzibah Smith scene in the books: Voldemort smiled mechanically and Hepzibah simpered.

So, Harry is pretty adept at parsing Tom’s fake expressions.

But just look at the expressiveness in his face: he goes from brooding, he blinks, and his entire face changes to this charming (fake) smile.

At the risk of sounding elitist, I’m a bit tired of seeing the word ‘psychopath’, which is not an actual medical diagnosis recognised by any psychological or psychiatric institution, being tossed about, especially with reference to Tom Riddle (and from a neuroscience perspective, it’s doubly annoying). There’s no such thing as ‘insanity’ or ‘psychopathy’ or being ‘crazy.’

-although I use it too a shorthand in conversation to distinguish ‘canon’ Tom from his ‘softer’ OOC counterparts, I really shouldn’t-

Unfortunately, I’ve seen the ‘psychopath’ comment used time-and-time again as an excuse or a full explanation of ‘why Tom Riddle went evil’ (JKR in fact, has made a weird comment in an interview, basically saying that ‘psychopaths can’t be redeemed or learn adaptive coping skills’ or whatever), which really just goes to show the lack of understanding and compassion when personality disorders, especially, are concerned.

But what I like most about the opening of this scene, actually, is that first, listless expression. And this is where we get slightly into headcanon, but Tom Riddle is the opposite of a happy, mentally healthy teenager. By Dumbledore’s own admission, he has no real friends. He has no parental figures, no real attachments. Yes, he might derive some pride or enjoyment from being good at magic and top of his class and all that, but I really don’t think even Tom finds that truly fulfilling. There is nothing that makes him happy.

In fact, although some might perceive it as ‘creepy’, I think that listless expression is an accurate window into Tom’s psyche.

I know people aren’t big on Freud, but I think that he does make some interesting points (also, cut the guy some slack for being relatively open-minded for the Victorian Era, and inventing psychoanalysis and while yes he did say some sexist stuff, good luck finding a field of science that isn’t male-focused and makes crazy generalizations about women, especially back in the day) about the possible origins of thanatophobia, the fear of death.

According to Freud, thanatophobia is a disguise for a deeper source of concern -- he did not believe that people were capable of conceptualizing their own death to that extent. Instead, he believed that this phobia was caused by unresolved childhood conflicts that the sufferer cannot come to terms with or express emotion towards.

Now, I know Freud almost always attributes mental distress to childhood experiences, but I think in this case, it really has some merit.

According to attachment theory, the basis of how we form attachments in adulthood is dictated by learning it from experiences with caregivers in the first two years of life. We know Tom was born in an orphanage, and that he didn’t cry much as a baby, and subsequently, probably received very little attention. Compounded with possible genetic factors and his caregivers being afraid or wary of his magical abilities, he later struggled to form attachments because of this -- I would actually go so far as to say that by the time Dumbledore meets him, Tom Riddle is severely depressed.

And that flat affect and anhedonia, I think, comes over very well in Dillane’s portrayal. There’s kind of this resignation -- a very deep sadness and loneliness to his character.

Of course, he doesn’t derive any comfort or fulfillment from human interaction, because (to borrow the description from the Wikipedia article on ‘Reactive attachment disorder’, which Tom meets all the criteria for) he has a “grossly disturbed internal working model of relationships.” In other words, he is unresponsive to all offers of attachment because of this unacknowledged trauma.

(You could arguably class Tom as having an avoidant attachment style, but I think in his case the trauma and its effect on him are severe enough to call it disordered.)

RAD isn’t particularly well-characterized (especially neurologically) and quite new in the literature, but here are some links if anyone is interested in doing a bit of digging: Link 1 | Link 2 | Paper 1 | Paper 2

And, instead of trying to resolve this conflict in a healthy way, or at least recognize that this is why he can’t be happy and try to learn how to cope from there, he (a) represses the desire for human attachment and (b) funnels that negative emotion into being the fault of Death, the Grim Reaper (again, to borrow Freudian terms).

And we all know how that turned out...

(And now, this should go without saying, but psychoanalyzing fictional characters has nothing to do with assigning a morality to mental disorders. Mental illness is neither a cause nor an excuse for criminal behavior -- in the same way that the cycle of violence is a phenomenon, not an excuse. Tom Riddle did not become a genocidal murderer because, in common parlance, he was a ‘psychopath’ -- he was not necessarily ‘predisposed’ to evil and could just as easily chosen to not follow the path that he did -- instead, he willingly made poor choices. This is a descriptive analysis, not a justification -- a ‘how’, not a ‘why’)

Here’s a Carl Jung quote that articulates it better:

“I am not what happened to me, I am what I choose to become.”

Yes, he’s a bit stiff (and a lot more formal than in COS during his *conversation* with Harry). But, and here comes the controversial bit, this is appropriate for a portrayal of a schoolboy in the 1940s. The upright posture is accurate -- respectful, polite -- everything Tom Riddle would have been expected to be (and even Coulson, in that scene with Dumbledore in COS, is quite stiff). Even the way he looks at Slughorn and maintains eye contact is very *respectful.*

And, Dillane (I think he’s seventeen or eighteen here) actually looks like a believable sixteen-year-old. I’m sorry, I love Coulson’s portrayal as well, but he looks around nineteen in COS; so in HBP, he probably would have looked at least twenty-two or so. (Sorry, not sorry).

This may be influenced by my own interpretation of the character (because I imagine Tom always looks young for his age, and Dillane fits that archetype, but I don’t think that’s very popular), but I think young Tom Riddle is supposed to be *cute* and a bit stiff/shy/awkward (being charming and awkward is very much possible), if you consider the way Dippet and Slughorn treat him.

To support this, he says very few words to Hepzibah Smith (in the book, that scene’s not in the movie), and is very... bashful and coy during the whole interaction? I think yes, he’s charismatic, but he’s not loud, suave, openly flirtatious or particularly verbose. Tom Riddle should have a quiet magnetism, and to me, that came across in Dillane’s portrayal.

"I'd be glad to see anything Miss Hepzibah shows me," said Voldemort quietly, and Hepzibah gave another girlish giggle.

...

"Are you all right, dear?"

"Oh yes," said Voldemort quietly. "Yes, I'm very well. ..."

Even the ‘ugly, greedy look’ described in the books, when Slughorn starts spilling his secrets, is there. This is how he’s supposed to look! Slughorn glimpses it, but doesn’t understand its significance. Harry does.

“Slughorn looked deeply troubled now: He was gazing at Riddle as though he had never seen him plainly before, and Harry could tell that he was regretting entering into the conversation at all.”

Remember the context of this moment, as well: He’s just discovered how to create multiple Horcruxes. Excuse him for looking a bit creepy (if not now, then when?).

Here’s two direct quotes of Harry’s impression of Tom Riddle in that scene:

“But Riddle's hunger was now apparent; his expression was greedy, he could no longer hide his longing.”

“Harry had glimpsed his face, which was full of that same wild happiness it had worn when he had first found out that he was a wizard, the sort of happiness that did not enhance his handsome features, but made them, somehow, less human. . . .”

Tom Riddle’s Horcruxes are a direct metaphor for his refusal to allow himself to heal from his trauma -- instead, he continues to inflict destruction on himself and others.

His desire to continue creating more Horcruxes sort of resounds with the fact that self-harm can also become a compulsion.

I’d also like to digress a bit to discuss the Gaunt Ring, while we’re at it. While we’ve talked about his attachment issues in general, this discussion is particularly pertinent to father figures. And while Tom’s attachment issues are extensive, I think there’s ample evidence that as a child, he craved acknowledgement and acceptance from a father figure -- the man who gave him the only thing Tom truly owned -- his name. He would have had a vaguely defined mother figure in Mrs. Cole, perhaps.

"You see that house upon the hillside, Potter? My father lived there. My mother, a witch who lived here in this village, fell in love with him. But he abandoned her when she told him what she was.... He didn’t like magic, my father ... He left her and returned to his Muggle parents before I was even born, Potter, and she died giving birth to me, leaving me to be raised in a Muggle orphanage ... but I vowed to find him ... I revenged myself upon him, that fool who gave me his name ... Tom Riddle. ..."

We know that by June of 1943 (COS flashback) Tom has already uncovered the truth of his parentage; he knows he is the Heir of Slytherin via the Gaunt line, and he describes himself to Dippet as ‘Half-blood, sir. Witch mother, Muggle father.’

In Part 1, I discussed the high probability that as a presumed ‘Mudblood’, Tom Riddle was treated rather poorly in Slytherin House. But by this scene in the fall of 1943, he is surrounded by a group of adoring hangers-on. Why?

In my opinion; the Gaunt Ring. We know that Tom stopped wearing it after school, so its sentimental value couldn’t have been that great. We know he likes to collect objects (which I believe stems from his attachment issues -- he seeks comfort in things instead of other people).

Signet rings (such as the one belonging to Tutankhamun seen above) were used to stamp legal documents and such, in order to certify someone’s identify -- like an e-certificate, if you will. Like Tutankhamun’s ring, the Gaunt Ring bears an identifying symbol -- Marvolo Gaunt tells us proudly that it bears the Peverell family crest.

By the Middle Ages, anyone of influence, including the nobility, wore a signet ring. Rings in antiquity were auspicious -- they signified power, legitimacy, and authority. And so, I believe that all the Sacred Twenty-Eight families would have worn these, too.

And so, bearing the Gaunt Ring would have established Tom Riddle, symbolically and in the eyes of the Sacred Twenty-Eight (his future supporters and followers), as the legitimate heir to the House of Gaunt. This is why, I believe, Tom coveted the ring as soon as he saw it -- not just because it was a family heirloom, and not just because he thought it was a pretty toy for his collection.

(He curses it so that no one else but him can wear the Gaunt Ring safely.)

This is why, to make the legitimization literal as well as symbolic, Tom murders his father and grandparents. It’s not just an act of vindictive, murderous rage due to his perception of being rejected by his father (although it is that, too). And so, Tom, abandoning his search for a father figure (and possibly also giving up on the possibility to allow himself to heal from his own personal trauma rather than continue to inflict it on others), ‘cleanses’ his bloodline, to make himself truly legitimate. It’s rather telling that instead of affirming his legitimacy as a Riddle, which would have put him in line for a nice inheritance, and hey -- money is money -- (thus accepting his half-blood status), he simply kills them all. He has done all the murdering he needs to become immortal (and he hasn’t had the discussion about multiple Horcruxes yet); but yet, he does it again. Frightening stuff.

(Just look how the others look at Tom. All but the one to his left -- possibly Nott, Rosier, or Mulciber -- have their torsos turned towards him. Their attention is on him, while he knowingly regards the viewer/Harry. Tom seems a little uncomfortable with the attention.).

“And there were the half-dozen teenage boys sitting around Slughorn with Tom Riddle in the midst of them, Marvolo's gold-and-black ring gleaming on his finger.”

...

“Riddle smiled; the other boys laughed and cast him admiring looks.”

...

“Tom Riddle merely smiled as the others laughed again. Harry noticed that he was by no means the eldest of the group of boys, but that they all seemed to look to him as their leader.”

The ‘gang’ are true hangers-on; Tom doesn’t seem to pay them much attention.

So, if not via careful flattery or charisma, the attraction must be status.

And perhaps yet more telling...

"I don't know that politics would suit me, sir," he said when the laughter had died away. "I don't have the right kind of background, for one thing." “A couple of the boys around him smirked at each other. Harry was sure they were enjoying a private joke, undoubtedly about what they knew, or suspected, regarding their gang leader's famous ancestor.”

That, in my opinion, is as good as we’re going to get as proof that Tom’s shiny new signet ring (and by extension, his new status) made a big impression on his fellow students.

So, when he returns to Hogwarts, he is ‘pureblood’. He is cleansed of his Muggle roots, and becomes the legitimate heir of the House of Gaunt, now well on his way to becoming Lord Voldemort...

Watch the scene again, with a critical eye, and imagine Slughorn’s perspective, instead of Harry’s. There’s nothing creepy about Tom Riddle... unless you know what he is...

Strip away all the effects of Harry’s gaze (and notice, here he’s still looking at Harry), and he’s quite the charmer, actually.

(I will concede that I don’t like the promotional images where they have him looking like he’s up to no good. And I do wish he blinked once in a while.)

My challenge to you: Rewatch the scene with an open mind, and let me know if you agree that Dillane’s portrayal comes off as depressive rather than ‘creepy.’ And if not, why do you dislike his portrayal?

#tom riddle #character analysis #character study #the many faces of #tom marvolo riddle #frank dillane #i literally could not find any pictures other than these #literal crumbs i swear #i know this is unpopular #people really dislike him i guess #watch the scene again with an open mind i promise you'll like it #i seriously do think he did a good job #tw: mention of child abuse #tw: mention of self-harm #i'm not trying to oversimplify things but you can't deny that maybe if tom was hugged as a child it would have helped #say it with me: psychopathy is not an actual medical diagnosis #it's actual more of a legal/criminal justice term #and people just use it as a synonym for 'evil' at this point so the original meaning is pretty much obscured #and personality disorders should not be moralized #people with personality disorders are not 'evil'

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moonlit-imagines · 4 years

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Headcanons for being Natasha Romanoff’s child

Natasha Romanoff x child!reader

warnings:

a/n:

prompt: anonymous: “Hi! Can I request a HC for being Natasha's daughter? I think you haven't done it ^^ In love with your work btw ;)”

natasha saved you from a terribly cruel family that worked alongside HYDRA, they didn’t care much for you

she decided to take you in since she knew you couldn’t have a normal life after all that you’d already been through at such a young age

“think it’d be okay if you came home with me, sweetheart?”

you were happy to have a nice person in your life

she took off work for a while to help you settle in

natasha wished that she had a loving family growing up, or just anyone to support her

so this was how she was going to make it up

“do you want to talk about anything?”

“when dad was alive he hurt people. i didn’t like the sound of it”

her heart broke hearing such a young child have to be affected by something like that

she made sure you knew how much she loved you

you called her “miss nat” for a while

take your child to work day!!!!

she took you to SHIELD HQ

you LOVED IT you wandered off and watched other ppl work

“agent romanoff, why is your child on agent coulson’s shoulders” -fury

“my child loves to feel like their flying”

“alright, you make a fair point”

nick called you “litte agent” which sparked your inspiration to become a spy like natasha

“miss nat, i wanna be a spy when i grow up!”

“you do? well, you can do that if it’s what you really want”

you suddenly switched from “miss nat” to “momma nat” and she had to backtrack for a minute

“what did you call me?” she was BEAMING omg

“...momma”

she gave u momma bear kisses

over the years, you taught yourself the ways of an agent and a spy, asking momma nat for a few pointers here and there

also uncle clint offered to give you some help

“yeah, kid, just point and shoot”

“clint, i said ‘self defense’ classes, not ‘the most effective ways to murder someone’ classes”

“they go hand in hand, nat, you know this”

“what if i was wanting to teach them myself?”

“well, do you?”

*pulls him aside* “as a birthday present”

you really did well during any sort of training

guess you just take after your mom

when you were old enough, you applied to SHIELD (under y/n l/n instead of y/n romanoff) and passed every test that was thrown your way

“you’re a natural, l/n”

“thanks, i learned from the best”

you wanted to earn respect on your own, so you didn’t tell anyone your relationship with nat

and anyone who did know you before knew not to say anything about it

it was also a good move bc it put a target on your backs if any of your enemies discovered you were family, you’d rather not share bad guys

✨the avengers thought you were awesome✨

“y/n, you are so much cooler than your mom”

“say it again and i’ll dislocate your shoulder!” :)

clint is so entertained by you

tony just loves messing w you

“baby spider in the house!”

“spider? where? shall i kill it?” -thor

“no, thor, we’re just teasing y/n”

“do not joke about spiders, stark. one day, i may not answer your cries because i’ll figure you’re just joking”

“that got serious fast”

nat forgets youre grown sometimes

so she gets all protective of you and then goes 😳 when you kick someones ass for yourself

that’s her kiddo!!

getting thrown into the midst of a few avenger battles

but handling yourself pretty well if i do say so myself

nat hugged you a lot when you were a kid and she still does now

only longer bc she doesn’t like letting go often

“mom? you okay?”

“i just wanted a hug is all”

“oh, okay”

when u hug her back she remembers exactly why she chose to become a mother

she wanted to show you that love still exists in this world, even if you’re not shown it immediately

become sort of a role model/mentor to newer, younger avengers

i mean, wanda was about your age, so she asked you often what it was like to be so young and work as an avenger

you told her that when you’re given a life like this, your age doesn’t matter out in the field. it’s your choices that matter. once you begin to learn the ways of a team like this and you gain each other’s respect, that’s all there is to it

“your mother is the black widow?”

“that she is, mom first, widow second”

PETER PETER PETER

he fanboyed over you so hard when he met you and he had so many questions it never ended

“okay, so first: how do you do it? be so cool as a kid?”

“you take a deep breath and kick some ass”

“better advice than anything mr. stark has ever said to me—don’t tell him i said that please!”

you swore to secrecy

mother/daughter spy missions bc that’s AWESOME

choosing steve’s side in CW and honestly making her very proud of you

going on the run w her and team cap

which made for some very interesting memories

“mom, sam hid the tv remote from me”

“take the widow’s bite and give him a little shock so that he’ll budge”

“thanks! love you!”

big runaway family <3

“i like the new look, mom”

“yeah, i thought blonde might be pushing it but i guess it all worked out in the end”

rogue avengers -> avengers once more

well, those of you who were left

after most of your friends passed in the snap, you and your mom were more attached than ever, she felt like she would die if the two of you separated

sooner or later, it was time to fix past mistakes and go back in time

“i’ll see you in a minute, y/n, be careful” *forehead kiss*

“i will.”

and that was the last time you ever saw her

you ran into clints arms and sobbed

“i’m so sorry, y/n. i tried to stop her. she told me to tell you she loved you and she’s so proud of you”

if that wasn’t bad enough, you were attacked by another thanos and you fought with all your might

“is y/n okay?”

“just let them fight, they need this”

finally, the fighting was over and the avengers were triumphant, but at what cost?

tony’s funeral was held before nat’s

but natasha’s was bittersweet

and every week you bring flowers to her memorial site

the world wont forget her name

taglist: @alwaysananglophile // @rorybutnotgilmore // @locke-writes // @sweetheartliz07 // @queen-destenie // @natasha-danvers // @lokihiddles // @frostedgiant // @emygirl // @lotsoffandomrecs // @johnmurphyisbisexual // @teenwaywardasgardian // @pappydaddy // @captainshazamerica // @freya-xo // @ravenmoore14 // @purpleskiesstorm //

#natasha romanoff x reader #natasha romanoff imagine #natasha romanoff x child!reader #nathasha romanoff x daughter!reader #black widow #black widow x reader #black widow imagine #marvel #marvel x reader #marvel imagine #avengers #avengers x reader #avengers imagine

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loveroflokiforpoeticjustice · 3 years

Text

ScreenRant Misinterpreting and Not Understanding Loki as a Character.

Disclaimer: I really do not like ScreenRant. This just happened to catch my eye. If you like ScreenRant skip this.

10/10

"Unrealistic Survival"

During the final moments of Thor: The Dark World, Loki became impaled and passed away in the strong arms of loving brother Thor. Dead? Not really. He was back in Thor: Ragnarok. Apparently, that was just one of Loki's holograms and the villain himself was very much okay. However, recent history in the MCU proves that he holograms cannot be touched. In Thor: Ragnarok, Thor even failed in his attempt to throw a rock at Loki’s hologram. But in the death scene, Thor just happens to be holding him comfortably. And given that rocks go right through a hologram, then any other hologram shouldn't have been stabbed either.

"Loki became impaled and passed away in the strong arms of loving brother Thor." I threw up in my mouth. I am going to repeat myself. Thor is not loving. Please stop calling him this. (Post regarding this)

They are not "holograms" they're illusions. A hologram is technology; Loki is not using technology he is using magic.

Why do they only reference Thor: Ragnarok? Loki has used illusions in Thor 1, Avengers 1 and this movie!

"Comfortably"? That's how they describe the scene? They're on the ground, and Loki is bleeding from his chest! How is that comfortable?

On another note, this is correct. How Loki survived does not make sense. I am not suggesting he faked it. This is just an example of Marvel skipping over important information.

9/10

"Poor Attempt At Trying To Kill Thanos"

Before he was made to look incompetent by Thanos, Loki was a very intelligent villain. Catching and defeating him wasn't easy, and this was all thanks (ScreenRant Typo: takes) to his ability to create illusions at will. He used this trick very many times and it always worked. But when Loki is trying to kill Thanos in Infinity War, the only trick up his sleeve is pretending to pledge loyalty to the Mad Titan with secret intentions of stabbing him with a blade. Of course, Thanos stopped him and killed him. Why didn't Loki use a smarter trick? More importantly, why didn't he use his tried and tested illusion trick?

Now they call them illusions.

Please do not completely villain code Loki. He is more than that.

"Before he was made to look incompetent by Thanos" Yes, this scene made Loki look incompetent.

This is a great point. Why did Loki do that? Loki has tons of abilities even outside casting illusions. His IQ is 265, and he pulls this move?! Why?! This not redemption and this not a honorable death. What happened?

8/10

"His Evolution Into A God"

According to the MCU, Loki's parents are the Frost Giants Farbauti and Laufey. Despite his parents not being gods, Loki evolves into the “God of Mischief.” How is this possible, given that he was only adopted by Asgardian parents who were gods, but he himself had no god lineage?

I had to look into this because Frigga is a terrible mother. This is actually something the MCU got wrong. Laufey in Norse Mythology is actually Loki's mother, and Farbauti is Loki's father. Laufey (mother) also goes by the name Nál. Nál was actually considered as goddess of youth and playfulness who also really enjoyed nature. It also says that she was a frost giant, so she could have possibly been a shapeshifter. Her bio is kind of all over the place, and though I have read Norse Mythology, I am no expert. BUT this is something that the MCU should work to clear up. Not me a fan.

7/10

"Blue Hue"

As the son of a Frost Giant, Loki was born with a blue skin tone. When Odin adopted him, he cast a spell that changed his tone from blue to white. However, Loki never seems to have an idea about his true skin color. Given his history of mischief, he has never attempted to change back either. After, Odin’s spell to keep Hela far from Asgard ended in Thor: Ragnarok, his spell on Loki ought to have ended too. Or perhaps Loki has always been aware that he is blue. If so, then the confusion ought to be cleared up.

"Given his history of mischief" What history? Someone explain. If they are talking about the snake story I'm suing. And that doesn't even count since it technically did not happen.

"Or perhaps Loki has always been aware that he is blue." Clearly who ever wrote this did not watch Thor 1. If they did I hope they have a good explanation for this comment.

This also goes along with 8/10 that Loki could possibly be at least 50% Æsir (Asgardian).

6/10

"Mind-Controlling Hawkeye Instead Of Fury"

Loki found himself in the S.H.I.E.L.D. base after using the Tesseract’s portal to transport himself. One of his first tasks involves mind-controlling Hawkeye so that he can use him as security. He also mind-controls Dr. Selvig to make him create the Chitauri portal. But it's strange that he doesn't mind-control the boss ,Nick Fury. If he had done that, everything he wanted would have been achieved more easily. Fury would have been his puppet and he could have used him to make the Avengers make regrettable decisions.

Although minor this is a good point. My only explanation is that Loki may not have been thinking clearly. Especially since judging by the way he looks in the scene, he's evidently sick.

5/10

Thanos Was Too Lenient Towards Him

Long before they became enemies. Loki and Thanos were associated. One of the instructions that Thanos gave Loki was to get the Tesseract as soon as possible, or else. Yes, there were stipulations from Thanos outlined to Loki by The Other. Loki was promised a kind of pain he'd never known before. However, Loki wasn't able to deliver the Tesseract for more than six years, and nothing really happened to him. Given how ruthless the Mad Titan is, it's a mystery why he was so lenient towards Loki.

"Long before they became enemies. Loki and Thanos were associated." When was this? If by "associated" you mean tortured for a year than...sure. I am also confused for why they say "associated", and then talk about him being tortured later in the same paragraph.

Just going by the MCU, Thanos was also looking for the other infinity stones, so he probably figured he would get Loki later.

4/10

Stopping Agent Coulson

During Loki's invasion of Earth in Avengers, he trapped Thor in a cage, and while he was talking to his brother, Agent Coulson tried to stage a surprise attack. Not so fast Coulson. It appears the God Of Mischief is also the God Of Anticipating. Coulson ended up shooting a hologram instead of the real Loki. But how exactly was Loki able to anticipate Coulson's arrival? Can he see the near future? If such is the case, why didn't he see the attack from Hulk coming? Why didn't he use a hologram during the beatdown that left him in a pretty bad state either?

Again with the "holograms"? Seriously!

This is also minor, but all I have to say is that it is difficult so sneak up on, or scare Loki. In the scene prior Natasha did it, and he didn't really react. He may have used a clone as a protection method, since he probably suspected that someone would come once everyone was alerted he had escaped.

3/10

"Hatred For Thor"

Thor has always cared about Loki, but Loki has always wanted to end his brother. During the events of Thor: Ragnarok, a flashback scene showed Thor and Loki during their childhood days. Apparently, Loki did plenty of bad things to Thor. He once transformed Thor into a frog, while he also transformed himself into a snake to fool Thor into picking him up. Thor loved snakes, so when he tried to pick the reptile, Loki transformed back to himself and stabbed Thor. Why was there so much hatred? According to the first movie, Loki used to love Thor. He only started hating his brother when he found out that Thor was going to be the Asgardian king.

This argument is so poor I shed tears. I have a whole essay of why this all of this wrong here. But I'll give you a summary.

"Thor has always cared about Loki" This is not true. The only time Thor has expressed care for Loki is when he is gaslighting him and for 5 minutes after he "dies". "During the events of Thor: Ragnarok, a flashback scene showed Thor and Loki during their childhood days. Apparently, Loki did plenty of bad things to Thor. He once transformed Thor into a frog, while he also transformed himself into a snake to fool Thor into picking him up. Thor loved snakes, so when he tried to pick the reptile, Loki transformed back to himself and stabbed Thor." Plenty? This is two. Like I said prior, and at the beginning if the post I linked, the snake story logically did not happen. This scene is also improvised.

"According to the first movie, Loki used to love Thor. He only started hating his brother when he found out that Thor was going to be the Asgardian king." Loki has never hated Thor. (I really do not understand why though.) When Loki found out Thor was going to be king, he was the only person (even though everyone knew it was a bad idea, and I mean everyone) willing to stop Thor. Thor was not ready. This was not an act hatred but of love, acknowledgement, and honest will. Again, whomever wrote this evidently did not watch Thor 1.

2/10

Takeover Plan

Still, in the first film, Loki began scheming after finding out that he was adopted and he'd never become king. The God of Mischief assisted the Frost Giants in gaining entry to Asgard so that he could destroy the Frost Giant King Laufey before he could kill Odin. Sounds good, but then Thor tried to feud with the Frost Giants too, and this didn't turn out so well for him. In fact, Thor was banished and dispatched to Earth because of this. It is thus strange that Loki thought Odin would like him for doing what Thor had done. Loki also waited for Odin to sleep first before trying to destroy Laufey. Wouldn't it have been better for him to try and do this while Odin was awake?

Wow. This person did not watch the movie. They couldn't have.

"It is thus strange that Loki thought Odin would like him for doing what Thor had done." Loki did not do what Thor did. This is what Thor did. His coronation was interrupted, so he went to Jotunheim to "learn why" the Jotuns had attacked. They reach Jotunheim after everyone around Thor tells him it is a bad idea (note, this after Odin his father told him no), effectively committing treason. Laufey calls Thor princess, and Thor loses it. This breaks the "peace treaty" and starts a war. Asgard nor Odin are in a good state for war. By doing this, Thor has put all of Asgard in danger. Now what Loki did. Loki let Laufey into Asgard as a trick to kill him. Why this is different. The war had already started. Thor's "banishment" (and Frigga's terrible parenting) left Loki to stop the war. Loki kills Laufey and as a result the Jotuns no longer have a leader. The rest of the plan is to wipe out Jotunheim to ensure the Jotuns didn't invade, take over, and possibly destroy Asgard.

"Wouldn't it have been better for him to try and do this while Odin was awake?" No it would not. We see later in the franchise that if you are Loki, you can follow the Asgardian way and get severely punished for it. (*cough* Thor: Dark World *cough*) Odin does wake up at the end of the movie, and he just ends up being Loki's tipping point, causing Loki to attempt to kill himself.

1/10

Not Teaming Up With Hela

Loki and Odin’s abandoned daughter Hela had the same goals, but strangely enough, they didn't team up to make everything go smoothly. Given the kind of unity Loki had seen from the Avengers, he'd have been smarter enough to value teamwork more. When Hela arrived to take the throne and get revenge, Loki ought to have been the first person on her side. Her plan was basically a newer, small-scale version of his own plan in Avengers. Given his nature, it could have been more logical for him to team up with her then destroy her.

If you...do not...know anything...about Loki...DO NOT MAKE POSTS ABOUT HIM, PLEASE. What the heck is this?! I see why who ever wrote this has a job under ScreenRant. I really do. This is irrelevant.

"Loki and Odin’s abandoned daughter Hela had the same goals" What "goals" were those. Loki's goal was to impress Odin. Hela was trying to basically return Asgard back to "normal". "Normal" is explained later as being a consistent state of war and conquering .

"When Hela arrived to take the throne and get revenge, Loki ought to have been the first person on her side." Why?

"Her plan was basically a newer, small-scale version of his own plan in Avengers." Loki was being mind controlled, had been previously tortured, and was fresh out of a cult he had been in for a year! That doesn't count! Hela, who also has valid reasoning, is upset that her biological father cast her out (like Thor) for being too much like him.

"Given his nature, it could have been more logical for him to team up with her then destroy her." This person doesn't know Loki's nature evidently, since they are skipping over the fact that Loki kept Asgard safe from war for 4 years. So, no he would not team up with her since their views for Asgard are completely different.

Gosh, I hate ScreenRant.

#I hate ScreenRant #People do not know Loki's character #thor ragnarok #thor the dark world #thor 1 #avengers #frigga's b+ parenting #odin's a+ parenting #Thor's a terrible sibling #Loki #MCU

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giveamadeuschohisownmovie · 3 years

Text

Hypothetical TV shows: “Agent Jimmy Woo”

Spin-off series centered on Marvel’s lovable FBI agent, Jimmy Woo (Randall Park). Plot breakdown:

Episode 1

This is mainly an introduction to Jimmy Woo. We learn that he’s a lonely man, living by himself, doesn’t really have that many friends, and is not close to his family. The closest friend he has is Darcy Lewis, continuing their friendship from “WandaVision”. Throughout the episode, Jimmy gets these weird flashbacks that we have no context for. The flashbacks are to establish that Jimmy has some sort of dark past that we haven’t seen.

Most of the episode is “normal”, until Jimmy receives a strange letter to his office. When Jimmy opens the letter, he sees that it’s a picture of a dead man, with the words, “REMEMBER ME, JIM?” smeared in blood in the background. Jimmy immediately realizes who did this and flees the building. As he’s running, he bumps into Darcy, who is here because they were supposed to go out for coffee. Jimmy tries to come up with an excuse, until he sees a couple of shady people approaching him. This leads to a thrilling, John Wick-style fight scene, in which Jimmy takes down all the assassins sent after him.

The episode ends with Darcy staring at him in shock, wondering who is this man standing before her.

Episode 2

This episode picks up right after the end of the previous episode. Jimmy and Darcy are on the run, fighting their way through hordes of assassins sent to kill Jimmy. We get a close-quarters combat fight scene, a gunfight, and a car chase, all in the first half of the episode. Eventually, Jimmy and Darcy reach this mysterious location, where they meet a woman who seems to recognize Jimmy. The woman introduces herself as Monica Chang (played by Yunjin Kim), a former S.H.I.E.L.D. agent and Nick Fury’s ex-wife.

Jimmy says he needs to get out of the country since “Golden Claw” has somehow come back from the dead and is out to get him. Monica then arranges a transport to Madagascar for both Jimmy and Darcy. This is where we get the big reveal; Jimmy Woo is a former S.H.I.E.L.D. agent who went underground after the events of “Captain America: The Winter Soldier”. Golden Claw was Jimmy’s arch-nemesis who he thought he killed years ago.

As Jimmy and Darcy make their way to Madagascar, Darcy asks Jimmy for the full story. Jimmy figures he has nothing left to lose and starts to recount his past, leading to the next episode.

Episode 3

Flashback episode, set before the events of “The Avengers”. Jimmy Woo is a high-ranking S.H.I.E.L.D. agent who is close friends with Phil Coulson and Monica Chang. We learn that Jimmy is hunting down Plan Chu, the Golden Claw (played by Joe Taslim). Golden Claw is considered the “Kingpin of Asia” and rules over all the crime syndicates in the continent, from the Yakuza to the Triads to Madripoor. To emphasize this point, although Sharon Carter/Power Broker rules Madripoor, she answers to Golden Claw since he’s the one who helped her take control of the nation.

Due to how powerful and dangerous Golden Claw is, S.H.I.E.L.D. began targeting him, with Jimmy leading the charge. In this episode, we see the end of Jimmy’s operation; S.H.I.E.L.D. leads an assault on Golden Claw’s mansion, which eventually leads to Jimmy facing off against Golden Claw one-on-one. The two men fight, which ends with Jimmy tossing Golden Claw off a cliff. Claw is presumed dead since his body is never found.

Cut to several years later, Jimmy goes underground due to Steve Rogers exposing HYDRA’s existence in S.H.I.E.L.D.. With Nick Fury’s help, he scrubs away his past and takes on a new job as a FBI agent. The episode ends with Jimmy meeting with Scott Lang in “Ant-Man and the Wasp”.

Post-credits scene: After being tossed off the cliff, Golden Claw is found by Sharon Carter, who was part of the S.H.I.E.L.D. assault. She decides to nurse him back to health, indicating that even before she became the Power Broker, she was a double agent working for the Golden Claw.

Episode 4

Golden Claw-centric episode, focused on his origin story. We learn Plan Chu was actually born during the First Opium War (1839). He grew up poor and angry at the British for their attacks on China. Eventually, he ends up becoming an apprentice to a mystic/alchemist and learns how to develop elixirs that can grant him special powers. One elixir in particular prolongs his lifespan, explaining how he’s still alive in the modern day. Plan Chu’s master eventually dies from old age. Using the skills he learned, Plan Chu creates his criminal empire and earns the nickname “Golden Claw”.

In the modern day, Golden Claw, who has fully recovered from his battle with Jimmy Woo, starts targeting all the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents who were part of the operation to kill him. Sharon Carter provides him the names, leading to a sequence where multiple former S.H.I.E.L.D. agents are killed by Golden Claw’s mercenaries. Although Jimmy Woo manages to get away, Golden Claw moves on to the next step of his revenge; finding out who ratted him out to S.H.I.E.L.D. in the first place, leading to the assault on his mansion.

Golden Claw learns that the one who betrayed him was Suwan (played by Ali Wong), his grandniece and a leading member of the Triads. Although that’s his family, Golden Claw puts a bounty on Suwan’s head.

In the B-story, Jimmy and Darcy arrive in Madagascar, where they meet Derek Khanata (played by Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje), A former Wakandan special forces operative, a S.H.I.E.L.D. ally, and a friend of Jimmy Woo.

Episode 5

In Madagascar, Derek takes Jimmy and Darcy to a hideout in order to discuss battle plans. Derek tells Jimmy that Golden Claw has already killed most of the original S.H.I.E.L.D. team that was sent after him, which enrages Jimmy. Wanting revenge, Jimmy asks if they have any leads on Golden Claw’s whereabouts. Although he’s reluctant to go after Claw, Derek suggests going after M’Demwe (played by Barkhad Abdi), a ruthless warlord who has ties to the Golden Claw.

Most of this episode is focused on Jimmy, Darcy, and Derek hunting down M’Demwe while avoiding the authorities and Golden Claw mercenaries that are in the area. Eventually, the trio manages to capture M’Demwe, leading to a thrilling car chase. After the chase, M’Demwe says he has no idea where Golden Claw is...but that they can get Golden Claw to come to them. When Darcy asks what does that mean, M’Demwe says that Claw put a bounty on his grandniece’s head. If they get to Suwan first, that could force Golden Claw to come out of hiding.

Jimmy realizes this is about Suwan, indicating that they had a prior relationship. Jimmy asks M’Demwe where Suwan is and M’Demwe reveals that she’s in Montenegro on vacation. He then has Derek arrange a flight to Montenegro.

In the B-story, Suwan is seen gambling at a fancy casino in Montenegro. Suwan’s bodyguard tells her about the bounty placed on her head, which she waves off. She then says something ominous, that no one can touch her on her property.

Episode 6

Jimmy, Darcy, and Derek arrive in Montenegro. Golden Claw arrives around the same time. This is mostly a character development episode, in preparation for the final showdown. The following interactions occur:

1) Golden Claw meets with Suwan and tells him that he knows she betrayed him. Suwan demands to know why Golden Claw won’t just kill her himself, which Claw can’t answer. Suwan then confirms to herself that Claw can’t bring himself to kill her since he still loves her and that the bounty was his way of pushing the guilt onto someone else. Golden Claw doesn’t say it but he sees Suwan as one of his daughters, which is why he can’t just kill her himself.

2) More Jimmy and Darcy bonding. We learn more about Darcy’s family life and that she hung out with Jimmy for the same reason he hung out with her; she doesn’t have many friends outside of work.

3) Jimmy meets up with Suwan and reconnects with her. Jimmy says he’s here to protect her but Suwan says he’s here to use her to reach Golden Claw. We learn that in the past, Suwan was sent by Golden Claw to kill Jimmy but ended up falling in love with him. That’s also part of the reason why Suwan betrayed Golden Claw.

4) Golden Claw meets with Darcy, who doesn’t recognize him, and the two bond over a game of Texas hold’em. This scene is meant to humanize Golden Claw, that he’s not just a power-hungry criminal mastermind.

5) Suwan and Darcy bonding. This is mainly played for laughs, with Darcy being curious about what this incredibly dangerous Triad boss saw in Jimmy. Suwan interprets Darcy’s interest in her past romance with Jimmy as jealousy, leading to a hilarious misunderstanding.

Episode ends with Jimmy, Darcy, and Derek’s covers being blown, leading to everything going south. Golden Claw and his troops corner the main trio, forcing Suwan to have her guards confront Golden Claw’s mercenaries. With everyone pointing guns at each other, the episode ends on a massive cliffhanger.

Episode 7

Picking up right after the previous episode, the Mexican standoff between Suwan, Jimmy, and Golden Claw turns into a massive shootout, resulting in several casualties on all sides. Golden Claw’s army is forced to retreat, giving Suwan and Jimmy time to recover. This is the episode where we reach peak John Wick since right after Golden Claw’s retreat, Suwan takes Jimmy into her office in order to prepare for the second wave. Jimmy arms himself to the teeth, leading into the next attack.

Most of this episode is the battle between Suwan’s side and Golden Claw’s side. The battle is seen from these perspectives:

1) Jimmy and Derek at the forefront, fighting against the highly trained Golden Claw mercenaries

2) Darcy going off on her own in order to contact the Montenegro authorities (there’s a subplot where Darcy learns that Golden Claw managed to move the Montenegro police away from the area)

3) Suwan directing everyone from her office and coming up with the battle plans.

The big fight in this episode is between Jimmy Woo and Golden Claw’s top mercenary, Harold Kenkoy (played by Michael Bisping). Harold is the series’ secondary antagonist, with his role being similar to Brock Rumlow in “CA: The Winter Soldier”. Jimmy kills Harold after a brutal, one-on-one fight.

The battle ends when Darcy comes through with her mission to contact the Montenegro authorities. Unfortunately, Golden Claw manages to flee and retreats back to Madripoor. Not wanting to go through this again, Jimmy, Darcy, Derek, and Suwan decide to follow him.

Episode 8 - season finale

As the big finale of the series, Jimmy and friends reconnect with Monica Chang, who brings a team of other former S.H.I.E.L.D. agents to assist. On the other side, Golden Claw meets with Sharon Carter and tells her that he’ll be taking over Madripoor while he regroups from his previous loss. Sharon angrily states that he can’t just take her throne, leading to a “betrayal” scene. However, just when you think Sharon has the upper hand, Golden Claw reverses the situation when Sharon’s mercenaries turn against her. Claw says that he’s the one who gave her power and that he could easily take it away.

Sharon fights through her former mercenaries and joins up with Jimmy Woo. They form a temporary truce when Jimmy tells her that he’s only in Madripoor to stop the Golden Claw once and for all. With Sharon’s help, Jimmy’s side forms a plan to trap Golden Claw.

Of course, the plan goes awry, leading to Golden Claw closing down the whole country in order to trap Jimmy’s team. With nowhere to go and all the criminals in Madripoor gunning for them, Jimmy goes off on his own to corner Golden Claw. In the midst of all this chaos, Darcy is captured and taken to Claw. Darcy, having bonded with Claw earlier, tries to appeal to his humanity and convince him to give up his revenge quest. Claw refuses and says that he’s justified since S.H.I.E.L.D. was the one who instigated this whole situation.

After a series of incidents, Jimmy Woo eventually confronts Golden Claw. The two fight, mirroring their fight from years ago. Jimmy wins after managing to fatally shoot Claw in the chest. As Claw dies, the two acknowledge each other, with Claw glad to have been killed by a worthy opponent. Sharon takes back control of Madripoor and, to thank Jimmy for stopping Claw, allows everyone to leave. She also rescinds all the bounties that Golden Claw set up. With that, everyone goes home.

The rest of the episode is just wrapping up the story. Suwan goes back to Montenegro, Derek goes back to Madagascar, and Monica tells Jimmy that she’s founding a new spy agency to fill in the space left by S.H.I.E.L.D. This ends up being the Atlas Foundation, which we’ll see in a future series. Jimmy says he’ll consider joining but for now, he’s going back to his job at the FBI. Season ends with Jimmy and Darcy getting coffee.

POST-CREDITS SCENE: Jimmy Woo is with Darcy at the coffee shop when he’s approached by a messenger. The messenger tells Jimmy that he was named the sole heir of Golden Claw’s empire. Jimmy says that can’t be true but the messenger confirms this by showing him a copy of Claw’s will. Jimmy stares at the will in shock as he realizes that he’s become the new Kingpin of Asia.

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