Loki Appreciation 2018

[Shura]

Those are very cute! I´m waiting to get the Jareth one and maybe Sara too, hopefully this week, the one I can´t found is the Disney Infinity Thor and the last time I went to the shop they had mostly Star Wars.

I´m kind of dissapointed with the NYCC comic news, didn´t really expected more Asgardian series, but at least some info about the furure of the series.

[Raye]

I could not find Thor by himself, but i got the Avengers set for like 10 bucks at Toys R Us. They'd marked them all down after the game was announced to be cancelled. And i mean, i like Iron Man and Black Widow too, so hey, why not. But that was a while ago, places i've seen are really starting to run low on them, I've noticed. all the good characters picked over, leaving a bunch of 'meh' on the shelf.

And yeah, not much from Marvel's announcemetns at NYCC interested me much besides the America Chavez book, but that didn't even list the creative team, so... I was hoping they'd announce whatever comes next for Thor Odinson after Unworthy Thor wraps up, hopefully the Thor and Loki book we've been hoping for for ages, but no such luck.

*edited to add - in AVAC though, if you follow Moon Knight's storyline, it looks as though things are pointing towards an Asgard event in probably December. First, the Casket of Ancient Winters has been appearing off and on since the Spider-Man event. The last we saw of it, Loki and Wasp had stolen it back from presumably Malekith, and Wasp had it hidden away, it turns out, in one of Moon Knight's warehouses. Well, Dark Elves have stolen it AGAIN. Then, in the Guardians mini-event, some dialogue with Groot was changed form the first time the quests were in the game in order to make reference to Angela. And in Moon Knight's storyline she is mentioned again, as possibly being an accomplice (presumably less than willing) to Malekith. there has also been a lot of talk about Heimdall. so, Malekith and Angela with the Casket of Ancient Winters? and Heimdall mentioned too? smells like an Asgard themed Christmas event. i am hoping for Warriors Three recruitables, and maybe Sigurd, and maybe they could bring back Sif as a premium.

[Riimi]

Okay, posting because a) I'm impatient and nobody has replied to me in the Thor thread and b) so Raye doesn't have to doublepost again. This is not the most unbiased place to discuss this, but as I posted in the TMT thread, did anyone else notice that Lord High Librarian's profile on that last page? Specifically the eyebrows? I briefly tried to take a pic but the comic reader didn't allow me to right click, and then I gave up (I also tried print screen). Then I got lazy.

[Raye]

Well, this is the only thread on CBR that I subscribe to, I get email when it's posted to. If there is no activity in it, I'm frequently not on CBR at all, so I never saw your post in the Thor thread. And I just had a look at that page, and I think that's just a coincidence.... probably.... I guess as god of stories hanging out at the library of the gods would kinda be fitting.... but there are some problems there. Like how would Loki have known Mjolnir would bring her there right then? And this character has appeared before in God of Thunder during the whole Gorr thing, too.

Also, I know this library has books on every subject, but the future as well? How does it have a book on the War of the Realms (and such a big one!) already otherwise?

All in all, I have to say i was a bit disappointed. I'm not the type that thinks continuity and/or the mythology has to be slavishly adhered to in every detail, I'm ok with some retconning going on, or troublesome details quietly swept aside. But I think past continuity shouldn't be outright ignored, either, particularly for big things. And basically no attempt at all was made to reconcile this cosmic storm origin with any of the other origins that have been shown in either the comics or mythology. And it kind of suggests that Thor's storm powers are not inherent (but enhanced with Mjolnir) but wholly granted by the hammer. (though Jane gets more from it than Thor does, since he was already Asgardian so had the strength, durability etc. naturally) I still like the book as a whole, just... the Mjolnir origins thing has been a letdown.

Not a lot of Loki news recently, huh? He wasn't mentioned in either of the Thor solicits, I hope that's just to avoid spoilers. But the solicit before had him doing the whole villain thing, attacking the League of Realms, so I worry. I still think (or at least strongly hope) he will double cross Malekith eventually, but he is taking his sweet time.

[Shura]

I don´t think Loki has nothing to do with the Librarian, but I would like to see him going to the library.

About Mjolnir´s new origin... I always though that the Marvel version of its creation was a bit bland "Odin and the dwarfs did it" and that´s it, kind of boring, specially compared with the myths version, I would buy the AU version seen in Trials of Loki over the 616 explanation anytime, so I didn´t mind that they added more details and development to the story of the hammer, and even if I think that the idea of the cosmic storm is kind of cool as the reason of Mjolnir lightning powers, the sentient part...not so much it´s a bit weird.

I would prefer the sentient part to be the evolution of the spells because the hammer was used for a very very long time, I mean, given that everything is magic related it wouldn´t be so hard to asume specially given that the worthyness spell has a kind of moral nature that could have evolve, many cultures have the belief that any object can be affected by the energy of the people that use it after many years, see many monsters of the oriental folklore.

I think they went a bit too far, mostly because what Raye has said, specially the part of Thor´s powers granted by the hammer when we have seen that this is not true, It happend in the Tenth realm, didn´t it? and that was co-written by Aaron.

I don´t know what could be Loki´s role in the Shi´ar wars, but I don´t even how that could can tie to the main storyline given how unrelated to the War of the Realms the Shi´ar are, maybe is in part Odinson´s fault, probably the Unworthy Thor series throws some hints about it, given that after that arc he´s going to return to TMT (or so it seems).

Also... yeah, not a lot of news, except for more rumors about Thor and Loki in the Doctor Strange postcredit scene.

[Riimi]

Well, this is the only thread on CBR that I subscribe to, I get email when it's posted to. If there is no activity in it, I'm frequently not on CBR at all, so I never saw your post in the Thor thread. And I just had a look at that page, and I think that's just a coincidence.... probably.... I guess as god of stories hanging out at the library of the gods would kinda be fitting.... but there are some problems there. Like how would Loki have known Mjolnir would bring her there right then? And this character has appeared before in God of Thunder during the whole Gorr thing, too.

Also, I know this library has books on every subject, but the future as well? How does it have a book on the War of the Realms (and such a big one!) already otherwise?

All in all, I have to say i was a bit disappointed. I'm not the type that thinks continuity and/or the mythology has to be slavishly adhered to in every detail, I'm ok with some retconning going on, or troublesome details quietly swept aside. But I think past continuity shouldn't be outright ignored, either, particularly for big things. And basically no attempt at all was made to reconcile this cosmic storm origin with any of the other origins that have been shown in either the comics or mythology. And it kind of suggests that Thor's storm powers are not inherent (but enhanced with Mjolnir) but wholly granted by the hammer. (though Jane gets more from it than Thor does, since he was already Asgardian so had the strength, durability etc. naturally) I still like the book as a whole, just... the Mjolnir origins thing has been a letdown.

Not a lot of Loki news recently, huh? He wasn't mentioned in either of the Thor solicits, I hope that's just to avoid spoilers. But the solicit before had him doing the whole villain thing, attacking the League of Realms, so I worry. I still think (or at least strongly hope) he will double cross Malekith eventually, but he is taking his sweet time.

It wasn't my intention to harp on anyone for not responding to me in the Thor thread. Ok, maybe, like, the universe in general, but posting here was more of a "notice meeeee" (and I thought I might have found something relevant). People are entitled in threads to reply to whom they please (an interesting difference between the internet and face to face convo). It was really my intent to be half joking, but the internet is poor and conveying tone and I didn't make that clear enough.

I'll accept that I might be crazy (obviously caused by severe Loki deprivation) and seeing things that aren't there. About the rest of the issue, I think I'm pretty much in agreement with you. Making the powers inherent to the hammer really removes Thor's agency (both the current one and the previous one, in retrospect). The myth was, I thought, decently executed in and of itself, but the takeaway makes the overall arc seem less about Jane being a goddess and more about her being caught up in things she doesn't understand/can't control.

This is reinforced by the Librarian's comments as well as the book he has on the war of the realms, making the conflict and its outcome appear to be predestined. Hopefully, if that is the case, Jane is able to screw destiny. Yeah, echoing off of AoA, although you could argue that the idea of gods and fate are closely intertwined.

[Raye]

Oh, I didn't mean anything by it, was just explaining why I hadn't posted in the Thor thread.

To be fair, I have thought Jane has been lacking a certain amount of agency from the very beginning. I know some people really like Jane, but I've felt for some time now that she doesn't really understand what's going on, and is just along for the ride. And that adds a certain amount of tragedy to the situation because she's dying for an ideal she doesn't fully understand. She is not entirely lacking in agency, because ultimately she does choose to be Thor rather than continuing with her cancer treatment, and I think that sacrifice is at least partly why Mjolnir deems her worthy. Pretty sure the whole 'worthyness' thing will basically boil down to self sacrifice. At first I thought it would be a willingness to sacrifice your own life in defense of others, but I now think it may actually be a more general 'sacrifice something very important to you' sort of deal, and it's just that it could mean 'your life' in many people's case, though it could mean something different for others. There have been several times, the most overt being the fight with Loki, where Mjolnir won the fight with little to no input from her. The Loki fight, she was flailing at his illusions ineffectively, until she told Mjolnir to 'end this' and it just... did. Zeroed in on the real Loki instantly and pinned him, and that was that. Jane had done nothing to actually win that fight except speak two words to the hammer. and then of course Mjolnir came to her rescue against the Midas bullet. We have also seen that her personality and mode of speaking changes when she becomes Thor, so Mjolnir is probably affecting her mind to some extent. It's really been mostly Mjolnir's story all along, with Jane along for the ride, it's just that it hasn't been all that obvious until now. Mjolnir needs a wielder in order to be anything other than a hunk of metal, though, it is a symbiotic relationship so both are needed. I don't think the 'there always needs to be a Thor' statement way at the beginning was necessarily meant to mean 'the world needs a Thor to protect it' but more that Mjolnir needs a Thor, or it can not act. Or a mix of the two. I think Mjolnir has more influence over Jane than it did over Thor, though.

But. I am kinda hoping now that the enchantment on the Ultimate Mjolnir is different, and it will be one that allows him more agency. And Jane can not last much longer, she will either have to give up being Thor in order to save her own life, or she will die, so then we will have need of a new wielder assuming Odinson is happy with his shiny new hammer, and I hope that in that case, now that we know how much influence Mjolnir has over the wielder, the story involves them fighting to retain more of themselves while in Thor mode. *edited to add - I think that Jane has been less than successful in this aspect may lead to some problems for her down the line, actually. Mjolnir/Jane in Thor mode is very judgemental and jumps to conclusions, sometimes wrong ones. I know it's presented as if she's this perfect paragon of virtue, but she has fucked up, too. She is partly responsible for Laufey being resurrected because she accepted the fake skull presented to her without question. She instantly assumed Loki was the bad guy here, when we know he isn't, and her arresting him like she did hampered his plans to HELP Asgard, and put him in the position where he felt he had to stab Freyja as a plan B. In short, I think it will be revealed sooner or later that some of her actions have not been as good as they first appeared, (even though her intentions are good) just like Loki's actions are not as bad as they appear.

[Raye]

Hey guys, some Marvel Heroes stuff to report from this week's Friday Update:

"This patch is currently scheduled for Thursday, October 27th and will also include some Halloween surprises - tricksters like Loki and Green Goblin will surely be scheming their best tricks this time of year, so for treats we'll be running the Operation Omega event alongside the first phase of Invaders from the Dark Dimension to help you stock up on Omega Points before the release of the Infinity System! In addition, the bonus Omega XP will be doubled to 48% for the entire week!"

I am not entirely sure what is meant by that little tease, but Loki does have a variant costume just waiting to be unleashed on the game which they have never gotten around to, the coatless version of his Agent of Asgard costume. But some people think it may be a Vote Loki costume. Either way, i hope his head and horns are tweaked from the Agent of Asgard model to make him more on model. Older looking, shiny metal, bigger horns. But it is probably a Halloween or Chase costume, maybe a Variant, but either way it means limited time, so gotta log in shortly after the 27th to be sure you get it. They will also be about 1,300 G's. I have had that amount set aside for when Loki's coatless variant finally hits, but if it is Vote Loki i maaaaay go for that since i do already have his regular Agent of Asgard costume...

The post also mentions that the big massive game revamp is being pushed back a bit from hitting the test server, so it will be November before we can see what the changes mean for him in game, and we will have to play with the shiny new costume with the old powers for a little bit longer.

*edit - oh, I should have read past the first page before i posted that. It's definitely Vote Loki https://forums.marvelheroes.com/disc...omment_3882255

[Shura]

Thanks for the advise! I wanted to wait until the update to install the game again, but now I´ll do it earlier.

About Jane, I think that she wanting to help as many people as possible with the power of Thor is enough to keep her doing what she is doing... for now, but yeah, she´s pretty much in "superhero 101" mode, doing what she thinks is the best option and "looks" like the best option, but it´s like she only works with the surface of the things (specially when she´s in Thor mode) there´re so many things happening at the same time, and she´s in the middle without experience regard many of the things that are involved in the war, the next arc with the League of Realms could be a good chance to give her a view of the scene.
Mjolnir is way more independent with Jane than it was with Thor, so I too think Mjolnir has much more influence on her, it´s like Mjolnir has its agenda and if you´re worthy (whatever that actually means, something relate to sacrifice, that seems for sure) and follow its plan a particular way then you can use it, Fury´s whisper could have been something that made Odinson doubt or change his priorities, and the hammer didn´t aproved it and called someone that could fit the "role of Thor" the way it wanted, which I don´t think it´s bad at all, it´s pretty clear that Jane has a good heart and intentions and Mjolnir won´t be with her without that, but it may too strict to allow doubt regard to certain areas.

[Raye]

I have not been playing the game much at all for a few months now, just been keeping tabs on things for when the changes hit. but yeah, I may play during the Strange event for the costume and some Omega points prior ot the changes hitting. I hope the new costume looks good. If not, I will hold out for the coatless Agent of Asgard variant. (and I hope they implement the 'closet' idea mentioned way back, where you can change costumes on the fly from the character screen without digging it out of storage or worrying about the affixes, cus then I will have his original, the Prisoner costume from the achievements, Siege, Agent of Asgard and whichever of variants I choose) The Agent of Asgard one was nice, except they seemed to be working under the impression that he was, like, 16, so he looks WAY too young in the face, and i even had to campaign on the forums for them to increase his height because he was about a foot too short, and the headdress is this weird matte yellow rather than gold, and the horns are too small. I am pretty sure the licensing people gave them this image: http://vignette3.wikia.nocookie.net/...20131114173711 and they just went with it, event though it doesn't actually match what was inside the book all that much (details the wrong colour, coat a bit too large on him, etc.) and the licensing people are probably approving stuff that's 'close enough' and they probably are working with a cursory understanding of what's in some of the books which leads to problems like these with him and a bunch of other costumes that are off model.

Jane, I do think she wants to help, but I also think she is looking for a way to die with some honor, though admittedly this feeling comes more from ANAD Avengers than Thor itself. Not that she is trying to die, exactly, but I think she figures she is dying anyway, and dying as Thor is better than wasting away from cancer. It means she enters into any confrontation completely fearlessly, to the point of recklessness at times. I mean, basically this:



Minus the bit at the very end.

And yeah, either Mjolnir itself has gotten stronger, which opens her up to being led by it more, or she is purposely giving it more free rein because she is inexperienced and Mjolnir can help make up for the thousands of years of experience that regular Thor has which she lacks, or Mjolnir is able to exert more contol than it could over Odinson because she is human, or inexperienced, or something. But no matter the reason, I think that Mjolnir does more for Jane than it did for Thor not because Jane is more skilled with the hammer than he is, it's that Thor, probably not even realizing it, kept Mjolnir on a MUCH tighter leash, and that is probably a good thing for him, because he was able to retain more of himself that way. Jane isn't just sacrificing her life to be Thor, she is sacrificing her identity.

[616MarvelYear is LeapYear]

Lady Loki by June Brigman

1987 - Anatomy of a cover - Alpha Flight #50
by June Brigman and Walt Simonson
http://www.comicsreporter.com/index...._june_brigman/

[616MarvelYear is LeapYear]

Script by Larry Lieber
http://www.comicsreporter.com/index...._larry_lieber/

[Raye]

The Russians have datamined the Vote Loki costume:



Plusses: the headdress is shiny, he looks older, i think the textures on his suit and especially waistcoat and tie look nice
Minuses: they got his hair wrong (it's too short) and the horns are still too small, he may either be a bit too thin (same 'teenager' rig as the Agent of Asgard one maybe?) or his head is too big.

Overall though, I think it's nice. it could have been a lot worse, for sure, have you seent he TV inspired Punisher cosutme? eugh. Loki seems to have been assigned to TheDink, and she does good work. i just think she gets some bad reference and direction sometimes.

[Raye]

aaand it's on the test server now:


http://steamcommunity.com/id/RayeGun...52263523276498


http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfile.../?id=788339713

horns are bigger than the datamined image first made it seem, ovrall I am happy aside from his hair being too short

[Raye]

In more game news, if you want Loki in contest of Champions it is now a painless process as long as you can log in at least once each day starting today, he is the final prize on the November login rewards. you could get away with starting tomorrow, but no later, and that means no missing a day at all. Also, someone in my alliance got Nightcrawler from one of the regular crystals, so we're getting closer to me being able to open nearly a hundred crystals in search of a 4 star Loki, if the one i get from logins is only 3 stars. Maybe 2 months.

Also i got the costume in MH, and it's not limited time, so if you want it and also want to save some g's, you can wait until the next time they do a costume sale or something. there is a costume sale on right now, but because his costume is brand new, it's not included.

ps where is everyone?