Pls I Need More Boops

neil gaiman? what are you doing in this tumblr post?!

glad that im not popular enough to have an evil shadow version of my blog that exists just to make contradictions on my posts

genuinely fucked up that if i want to interact with someone online i have to say words and have a conversation instead of just mashing my face against them like a cat

Have been thinking about the Loki&Natasha scene in A1 for years now, and I kinda think that them misunderstanding each other had a lot to do with what "kind" of manipulation they used on each other, or rather where their manipulative skills came from.

Let me explain:

Natasha was taught to professionally manipulate people: she reads the body language, looks for context clues, makes a conclusion, goes through a "toolbox" in her head, chooses a "tool" to apply. Example: the bad guy is monologuing, she reads his body language, reads context clues, comes to conclusion that the guy is overly arrogant and crazy and not well-collected, chooses a behavior that will make him tell her his plan. It's a purely professionally learned skill.

Loki's manipulation skills come from a place of empathy. Yes, you didn't misread this statement: empathy is an ability to understand on a deep level what other people feel, relate to this feeling. It is a pretty neutral thing on its own. Loki looks at someone, especially if he knows something about their background (which isn't necessary, but it makes it easier) and knows how they must feel. He looks at Natasha and knows of her deepest insecurities and fears because he understands emotions and feelings exactly. This is why in all of the movies he is capable of always finding a way to encourage people/enrage them/get into their trust etc. It's not a learned skill. Well, at least not in the same way - I guess living with a brother with anger issues who's capable of risking getting everyone killed over being called a "princess" does make you more aware of the emotional state of people around you.

And you can see this difference in the scene itself: she's playing by the book and her tactics are precise, with the goal of getting to know his plan. He's trying to get under her skin, to make her feel a certain way. We don't really know what his exact goal was but I suspect with all of this camera showing her through a glass in which we see his reflection while he's speaking thing - he wanted her to realize. "I know you, because I am you. You're a puppet in the hands of people exploiting your skills and forcing their will, and so am I. I know how it hurts, hear what I'm saying. You brought the monster here, and he's coming for more if you don't stop him". Loki is leaving a bunch of clues to other avengers as well, but I feel like he really put his money on Natasha, which... makes sense tbh.

And in the end both of them failed, because they came with different goals and worked from different perspectives: she worked with classic body language&context clues, he worked from a place of empathy, he gave her a poem she didn't know how to read.

And this skill difference is also present in their interactions with other characters: when Natasha tries to encourage Tony and he reacts in unexpected way, she's frustrated - the "toolbox" failed, and she genuinely doesn't know how to deal with this. Same with Loki: when he cannot understand someone's feelings, it's harder for him to work with that.

And it's even reflected in the words they choose: Natasha's "thank you for your cooperation" and Loki's "you will never be a god", for example.

Xx_r0w3n-d0wn-th3-str3am_xX

1. change all the e’s in your url to “3” 2. change all the o’s in your url to “0” 3. change all the i’s in your url to “1” 4. add some dashes everywhere 5. put “Xx_” and “_xX” at the beginning and end 6. your new emo chat forum url

NOT what might reasonably happen in the dark, such as getting mugged or whatever, but like. the dark itself. the dark of your house

it still counts as a fear of the dark if it makes you afraid of something that doesn’t exist (ghost/demons/whatever), or if you are just generally more fearful when it’s dark

I bet your nouns aren't pro >:)

My nouns are fucking your mother what are your nouns doing

almighty potato of luck, please dont fuck us over. amen

Farewell, Wanderlust is such a perfect song for the character

3, 43, and 50 for whichever version of Loki is your favorite?

I'm not shy about Blood Brothers Loki being my fave Marvel!Loki (and only second to my idea of myth!Loki), but as my last ask was very thorough on old comics!Loki and included Blood Brothers, I'll pick another one.

Also, is it Marvel!Loki or any? I'll pick two that were formative to me and aren't as conceptual as "my idea of myth!Loki": MCU!Loki and Alan Cumming's Loki in Son of the Mask. They're not necessarily the best or accurate to the myths, but they were formative to me. I don't know how to explain it but they do have a similar vibe despite the different tones of their movies. Their characterizations are not mutually exclusive.

3. What first drew you to this character?

SOTM!Loki: He was the first Loki I ever encountered and introduced my monotheistic Catholic child brain to the idea of an imperfect deity. I'm an Atheist, but in a way, he helped me. I was always freaking out over going to hell for thoughts I had, or lies I told, or things I broke by accident. To find out there was a god of pranks and lies was very neat to me. The idea a deity out there wouldn't condemn me over lies and was as imperfect as me was appealing and interesting to a child that broke everything.

It was a new concept to me, because I only knew a god to be a perfect being. And Christian-influenced portrayals of patriarch deities such as Disney's Hercules, tended to code Zeus as "good" and Hades as some sort of Devil figure in a sort of hellish underworld. So they didn't challenge my idea of a god (i.e. the idea that Hades was also a god did not register to me; plus the plot kinda went over my head cus I didn't have a good grasp of language yet). Also, he dresses like a 2000s mall goth!!!

MCU!Loki: His paranoia in Thor (2011). I am a very paranoid person who has a bunch of unhealthy habits such as eavesdropping because I want to have a plan, if someone's going to act against me. I also associate him with someone I was infatuated with that I consider my first real friend.

My version of myth!Loki is more of a concept that lives in my head rent-free because I found Loki hilarious in the mythology.

43. What type of weather makes you think of this character?

MCU!Loki: A cold winter night.

SOTM!Loki: A hot Summer day.

My version of myth!Loki: Windy day. People sleep on the wind association too much for my taste. And I know they're not a wind deity. But the eating contest between Loki and Logi is about the association of the air that keeps the hearth burning. The windy weather also applies to the current iteration comics!Loki/Ikol, as they've tried getting closer to the myths. I think talking about my interest in the current comics!Loki wouldn't be very interesting because I got into Loki a few years before they existed. So if I know them know it was due to four other pre-existing Lokis (i.e. SOTM, MCU, OG Marvel Loki, and myth!Loki)

50. Link your fav song, playlist, aesthetic board, fan-fiction, reference pile, personal artwork, analysis post, meme, headcanon, or quote for this character. Whichever one (s) you are most comfortable with!

MCU!Loki: You and Not Me-Devour the Day from my MCU!Loki playlist.

My version of myth!Loki: The Jester-Badflower also from my MCU!Loki playlist.

SOTM!Loki: Slept So Long by Korn because he's this ancient being invoked into action by his mask falling into mortal hands at Odin's behest. It's also such a 2000s mall goth edgelord song and he's such a mall goth.

Also I'll give some songs for stories deity comics!Loki/Skald!Loki because I have those at hand and I like recommending songs:

Farewell, Wanderlust-The Amazing Devil

New Low-Middle Class Rut

Trust Me from The Devil's Carnival (fun musical) fits a lot of Lokis. I'm surprised I haven't seen many edits to this song lol.

i agree as well, although i'm on the fresher side for tumblr. i only joined in 2021/2022 times for fanart and stuff, and i started branching out into other things like the queer community on here, or the political side of tumblr. of course, on other sites there are the same communities, but i think the lack of an algorithm makes it easier for me to seek those communites out instead of waiting for them to come on come generate for you page.

i find myself lurking more often and getting updates from my moots notifications. I think it's more so because i came from platforms like tiktok and instagram, where likes are liek currency, and i'm a lurker on those sites as well so im not surprised with that being how i act on here as well.

Figuring Tumblr out makes me feel like an old woman. Guess that’s the perk of being new. 🤷🏻‍♀️

is there a show you’re still salty about its cancellation?