#basically just a fun story with the obvious lead up to the fact Loki realm walks and will inevitably go back to Thor to ‘rest’

[worstloki]

Heyooo, how're you?

Sending this for the made up fic title i saw you reblog! (It's Loki, because yes).

Where The Realm-walker Rests

Have a great day!

I’m well thank you, how are you?

-> whimsical comedy where Loki goes around causing little bits of informed mischief across the realms

-> the time spent doing so is very very vaguely implied to be longer than the length of a single day. more than two days, or three.

-> that Loki is getting progressively more and more sleepy through this productive ‘day’ is known

-> once he’s satisfied with a productive day well done he realm-walks into the room where Thor is (wherever he is, it’s night, and Thor’s in bed sleeping) and gets in with him like an invasive cat species, cuddling right up to his equally sleepy brother who is now awake enough to recognise Loki is the one sneaking his way in and moving to make them both more comfortable

-> Thor murmurs something asking about where and what he’s been up to and hoping he’s not been scheming around

-> Loki does not answer, making the executive decision to fall asleep right then

-> Thor gives him a forehead kiss and fondly goes back to sleep too

You have a great day too! Thank you for the title prompt !

[shirtlesssammy]

The Story: an analysis of Supernatural 13x20

A story takes at least two people. One to tell the story and the other to listen. This episode features Gabriel telling Sam and Dean a story about his origin, and about his current quest for revenge. There are many layers of stories built into this episode. Let's talk about these, and about Gabriel's role in Supernatural as a Trickster.

Vol I. Kill Bill Fantasy

The skeleton of the episode's plot, plus the inspiration for some of the scenes, are hinged on a simple revenge narrative portrayed in Kill Bill. In Kill Bill, the wronged bride drafts a hit list and seeks revenge with some badass swordplay. On a basic level, we get that from Gabriel: he was betrayed, he suffered, he created a cartoonish kill list, and he's out for revenge (complete with stylish blades). 

This is all very fun both visually and audibly, kicky music covering our heroes as they scheme and fight. It would be easy to just hang out in the realm of light fun and not go any further.

Except...

It's always more fun to go further.

Vol II. The Listener

Gabriel has two primary audience members in this episode: Sam and Dean. Sam's the believer. He can be the bridge, work the deal. Sam backs the revenge plot, and professes to believe Gabriel's vow to help them afterward. Dean plays the role of skeptic. He's unenthused about Gabriel's revenge plot (and offers graceless grunting) and questions his story. “Wait, didn't you say there were porn stars?”

Didn't you say there were porn stars...

I feel ridiculous getting hung up on this line, yet I believe this line is the key to how the story takes on its own life within the mind of the listener. Gabriel tells the story of four friends playing a card game, which suddenly populates with female and male partiers after Dean questions him. Perhaps Gabriel elaborated on his story with the specifics. But we're just as likely to be seeing what's in Dean's head when we see these scenes – particularly with the closeups of Dean clearly lost in his own imagination. (The implications for bisexual Dean do not escape me nor much of Tumblr.) Memory and subjectivity always obfuscate meaning when it comes to stories. Whose vision of the story are we seeing? Gabriel is unreliable. He tricks the Winchesters repeatedly, waving one story in their face while another entirely different one proceeds beneath the surface.

Vol III. Purple Nurples

So memory and subjectivity aren't new issues with Gabriel. Recall, if you will, the Trickster's (Gabriel) first appearance on Supernatural in 2x15 Tall Tales. In that episode Dean and Sam tangle with each other over different versions of what happened. Gabriel succeeds in driving a wedge between the brothers by helping them to construct their own stories about a few loose facts. He's a master manipulator. In this episode he calls back to the apocalypse – which was fueled by a prophecy, a story. This has clear emotional weight for the Winchesters and can draw them in and cause them to empathize just as surely as his simple story of revenge. For the viewers, we're treated to army men standing over a map in the AU which I hope made everyone think of the army man stuck in the Impala, which gets called out specifically in Swan Song. (Or am I the only one who gets emotional about little army man toys now?)

The story Gabriel tells the Winchesters is too obvious to question entirely, but still convoluted enough to seem legit. Meanwhile in the AU, the army men on the map Michael leaves behind tells a story of abandonment and safety to Jack and the other fighters, while another story (Kevin's attack) churns below the surface.

Vol IV. Super Dupes

As audience members we play our part from week to week, filling in scenes with headcanon and interpretation. I'm unsure what story to believe right now. The superficial, straightforward story is that Gabriel got his revenge and now his slate is clean to help the Winchesters. But I'm hung up on the last thing he said to Sam.

“I'm a whole new guy.”

Gabriel says this to Sam in the light of day, outside of the dreamlike realms of the Ophidian hotel or the Winchesters' lusciously grim motel room. This could be taken in a few ways. The primary story layer leads us to conclude that Gabriel has concluded his revenge plot and is ready to help the Winchesters.

Secondary layers are more nebulous, however. I'm looking at earlier lines, which discuss image and identity. Loki said that he gave Gabriel his face, and taught him to “be me.” Elsewhere in the episode, Gabriel insists that he wants his pretty face to be the last thing Loki or his children see. When Gabriel confronts and kills Loki, it looks and feels like he's confronting himself. How fascinating is this?!! If Gabriel is indeed just wearing Loki's face, has he incorporated that into his identity? Or is there something more going on? Is this all a metaphor for defeating his past? Or are there splinters of Loki which live on in Gabriel? Did Loki give Gabe more than just his face and an affinity for suckers? (pun totally intended) Perhaps we’re simply meant to realize that Gabriel is not a “whole new guy” but wounded by his past in a way that revenge can’t heal. 

Vol V. Mountain Caves

We were very taken by the Winchesters' hotel room. It's gorgeous – complicated and dark, a riot of patterns and textures and materials. It's a Loki tribute room, with coins in the dividers and earthy browns set against blacks and metals as cold as mountain stone.

And then we jump to Gabe's story about his hideaway which is bright and beautiful, full of pure white and color.

Later, the hallways of the hotel are grim and grimy, like the tunneled walls of a cave.

But Loki's palatial room is exactly as we imagined it – bright and clean again and somehow more “real” than the overwrought interiors from before. Later they emerge from the Ophidian Hotel (“Ophidian” means snake – which is associated with Loki) and talk in a boring, sunlit parking lot, like they're standing just outside of a dream. This scene by the hotel seems to be the most “real” complete with parking signs and traffic in the background. The visuals alone add weight to the veracity of Gabe's statement: “I'm a whole new guy.” It’s almost as though, by leaving the Winchester’s Loki hotel room behind, and the Loki-heavy Ophidian hotel behind, Gabriel is shedding the last vestiges of Loki from him.

And yet...

And yet...

Stories are tricky and both listeners and storytellers see through filtered lenses. I'm still not sure what to think in the end. Are we all “super dupes” and Gabriel’s morphing into a new shape for his next trick?  Or do we believe Gabe's reformation now (which I think the visual narrative tends to encourage)? What do you think?

Tagging @postmodernmulticoloredcloak @trisscar368 @bluestar86 @amwritingmeta and others?