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[rehandle]

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OurPowers contact available at: Dr. Stephen Strange (public/business)
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Implant contact available at: stephen.strange (meadowlark craus only)

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[thecoolerloki]

[That is... satisfactory, but he’s not going to say it outright. Instead,]

What do you think of Loki? Myself, the one of your Earth, and my older self.

[rehandle]

I don't know you. I met the Loki of my Earth for a grand total of thirty seconds. And what I think of your older self is none of your business.

If you're asking if I have any Loki-related prejudice, my universe's Loki did some significant damage in my world and has since shown great capacity for change. I've been given few reasons to think ill of you since and plenty of reasons to think better.

[thecoolerloki]

LOL do you have a crush on my older self?

[rehandle]

Wow, you got me. So astute.

[ Why are you both like this. ]

[thecoolerloki]

The other option is that you genuinely dislike him as a person, not as a Loki, and you didn't wish to share this with me.

Crush seems more likely TBH

[rehandle]

You're welcome to your conclusions.

[thecoolerloki]

Last test, I promise.

Has he told you he murdered me? :)

[rehandle]

No. Though that might explain why he didn't think legal guardianship was a good idea.

[thecoolerloki]

Personally I thought it was the least he owed me upon stealing my body and pretending to be me.

[rehandle]

Maybe he decided he owed you more than the least. That's not your call.

[thecoolerloki]

What do you think of him now, knowing this?

[rehandle]

Last test, wasn't it?

[thecoolerloki]

Some questions require multiple-part answers.

[rehandle]

Some answers require all the information.

[thecoolerloki]

Feel free to ask then. I won't lie. I'll do my best to keep any personal bias to a minimum as well.

[rehandle]

[ This isn't the information he's offering, really, but - ]

Why do you want to know?

[thecoolerloki]

Because I don't mind the story that I am simply his younger self, as it would be easier for the both of us if that were true.

However, I would've thought he'd at least tell you the truth. If he's trusting you to take care of me, it begs the question of why he wouldn't trust you with that knowledge.

I'm not trying to turn you against him for the record, but it's better for all of us if we don't keep secrets.

[rehandle]

Alright. Discuss it with him, and the three of us can have a conversation.

[thecoolerloki]

We've discussed it plenty. I want to have this conversation with you, Stephen.

[rehandle]

Then tell me what you think I should know. I'm not going to quiz you on it.

1/?? i'm sorry

[thecoolerloki]

Try to keep up then.

(A/N: I will be referring to my older self as "Ikol" to avoid any confusion, but only I am allowed to call him by this name.)

PROLOGUE

As in most universes, Loki was born the son of Laufey but adopted by Odin and raised along Thor. The two grew up together and there were many stories of their adventures. Thor became a superhero on Midgard, with Loki as his greatest villain. The God of Mischief found he was now the God of Evil, playing out his role in repetition, always scheming and always losing.

Seemingly breaking free of this pattern, Loki sacrificed himself during the Siege of Asgard, saving everyone. Yay! But this was very unlike Loki and many doubted he was actually dead. He'd come back from certain death before, why not now? Thor thought so too, so he scoured the Earth looking for some sign of his brother. Despite everything, he loved him, for Thor was an immense and utter fool.

The God of Thunder stumbled upon a young boy in Paris by the name of Serrure, a picture perfect street rat orphan who scammed others out of their money in order to survive. Thor recognized his brother in an instant and told the boy of his true identity, restoring his memories. Thus Serrure became Loki, and here I am before you now.

(A/N: Serrure means Lock in French! Get it?)

This new Loki was young and innocent and had much to catch up on. Midgard had advanced significantly, his brother was HUGE and OLD, and everyone in all the Nine Realms hated him! His early adventures were mostly Thor convincing people not to kill him and protecting him from other Asgardians, such as their mother and father and Thor's BFFs. Loki eventually settled into this brave new world after acquiring a Starkphone and learning of the wonders of social media.

[thecoolerloki]

CALL TO ADVENTURE

Some stories are subtle in their beginnings, ours is not one of those stories. Instead one day Loki is greeted by a magpie that sets him upon a quest and then explodes. We'll skip the details of the quest for now, they're more easily told in sequential images. The quest leads him to the Library of Asgard where he finds a book detailing recent events. As you see, gods do not have history, they have story. And this was the story of the Siege of Asgard. This was the story of how Loki died.

The young Loki devoured the tale quickly, but when he came to the end, there was none. Only a question. Why did Loki sacrifice himself? Why did Loki die? Why?

?

Loki found himself in a strange place within his own mind, a place beyond stories. There he was greeted by what he believed to be the ghost of his past self.

(A/N: The "believed" is important!)

Loki asked himself why he had died, realizing by now that Loki had to die or else he wouldn't have. The elder Loki told him of his plight, of his plan to break free from the story as it was written and to change. The only person Loki would sacrifice himself for is Loki. The elder Loki left a small part of himself behind, the echo of a dying scream. He asked the young Loki what it is that he wanted. Loki responded,

"I want to be Loki."

And so he was. Loki decided he had little need of the past, and turned the echo into Ikol, a mere magpie. His opposite and his pet, who would only offer his wisdom if Loki wished for him to.

Loki and Ikol had many adventures together, often with Leah of Hel. But now is not the time for those stories, nor are those stories necessarily finished.

[thecoolerloki]

? ? ?

This story is out of order, and it has yet to be written. This is because there are things our hero could not have known, but now our hero has been taken out of his story. As such:

SPOILER WARNING!!!

What Loki did not know, was that Ikol had never been his past self to begin with.

(A/N: Remember the part about "believed"!)

Ikol was an echo, nothing more. The old man died and left a sword behind. A sword has history, but it does not have heart. It remembers who it has slain, but it cannot say why it did this. Nor does it care. This sword, this Ikol, this Loki, was the last piece of the old man's plan. And someday, he will hit his mark.

And someday, he already has. The bird killed the child and took his place, his body, his name, his story. This is how Loki died again, and how Ikol became Loki.

Ikol claims he had no choice in the matter, that he was unthinking until the deed was done. Both authors have many conflicting feelings on this subject and have argued it time and time again. Probably best to leave it at that and not get into the discourse!

There are two Lokis here now and the story doesn't know what to do with them. Perhaps the Doctor Strange team-up will help sort things out???

TO BE CONTINUED...

DONE

[thecoolerloki]

TL;DR,
- I'm the reincarnation of the original Loki, Ikol's an echo of him that acted like a puppet for a while
- Ikol killed me and took my body, that's how he's Loki now
- We ARE both Loki, but we're different people
- If I grew up, I wouldn't grow up into Ikol
- TFW I literally got betrayed by myself

[rehandle]

[ Well - he asked, and there was no holding back on the details. Stephen reads it all through a couple of times, taking in the nuance, making note of the biases in the context of the author's own acknowledgement of them. Even taking that into account, the tale does a good job of laying down the story.

Loki stuff, hard to explain. Not so hard, it turns out, from a literary perspective. But he can understand now how it would be hard in other ways, for a particular author. ]

Thank you.

How do you feel about him now?