In this episode of why the Loki series sucks, please come with me through a short trip through the artbook.(I'm sorry, but trying to go through this bs was making me angry).
So we're mostly going to focus on Mobius and Sylvie.
To start off with, let's take a look at this little passage with Mobius.
Take note of the fact that they explicitly state "who's manipulating who."
"I don't want to judge you, and I believe in you."
Now, if you recall, this is the same man who shamed Loki for his choices in the interrogation.
The same man who trapped Loki in a time loop of getting kicked in the balls because he "betrayed" him.
The same man who supported the organization that literally kidnapped Loki and dehumanize him (which is the 3rd time this has happened. How does on person get kidnapped by fascist assholes three times?)
Third of all: they were never friends. Loki escapes from him the first chance he gets.
They are abuser and victim.
Tell me, does everyone in the MCU now have wool over their eyes???
And now, to some of the most egregious parts of production for this.
Character designs for Sylvie.
Now, we actually started off pretty well.
As you will notice in the text included with the book, you will see that the concept artists...knew nothing except the fact that the character was a mix of characters.
That is not a good thing.
The reasons a TV series or movie works is precisely because everyone knows what the fuck they're doing. Especially when it comes to character design. The entire point of designing a character for a series or a movie is for what the character is wearing, or how they're designed, matches with their role in the story.
An excellent example? Into/Across the Spiderverse.
Every characters in these movies is designed in such a way that they are not only recognizable, but they each have their own little quirks while still being able to be recognized as a version of Spiderman.
Of course, we have Peter B Parker in the most recognizable Spider Suit:
Then we have Spider Gwen:
And of course, Spider-Ham:
Now, although all these characters are distinctly different, you can still tell that they're Spider man.
Thunk about it, they all have either the webbing design, the spider itself, or more specifically, the eye shapes of the mask that tell you they are Spiderman. Now, you could argue that Peni doesn't look like Spiderman, but she does look like a school girl in a Spider Man suit mech, and that. Is. The. Point. All of their designs serve a purpose in telling their character story. Spider Noir is in black and white because he's from one of those movies from the 1930s. Peni has a more anime like design because theres correlation between Japan and futuristic tech (especially in anime). Spider Ham's character design changes the Spider Man suit enough where the nose of his costume moves like his eyes. Peter B is designed to be an older, hobo looking Spiderman to contrast with the younger, "perfect" Spider Man from Miles' world. The addition of the ballet shoes to Spider Gwen's outfits is meant to represent her background as a dancer.
Even in Across the Spiderverse:
They all have some sort of spider motif to go with being Spiderman, which is how we're able to see what variation of character we're watching....
Which is why these specific designs for a "Loki variant" are so messed up.
Take a good, longgg look at them.
First of all, the designer herself said that she wanted it to be practical. And that she wanted it to look like a girl on the run. And yet, both feature incredibly bright colors that practically scream, look at me. On top of that, they knew they were designing for a "different Loki" yet somehow got so caught up in it that they abandoned Loki's color scheme! Now, I know they used a more "Loki like" look in the series for Sylvie, but the fact that these were considerations in the first place is what gets me. There was no need for them. Also, the flared bottoms wouldn't even be practical to run in either. And the problem is, without the horns (which is a defining part of Loki's silhouette) you wouldn't be able to tell that it's supposed to be a variation of Loki. The entire point of character design is to ensure the character's stories get across in the design. And sure, they changed it later, but be honest, if Sylvie didn't have the horns, would you even know she was supposed to be a Loki variant? It's not just the fact that she's blonde, it's the fact that she's so blonde, in hand with they changed the character so much, that makes her backstory as Loki so unconvincing. Also, even in the series itself, we're told she suffered, but never saw her actually suffering.
Also, that last part in the picture about the horns....That also pissed me tf off.
Because it's not just a look "from the comics" it's a specific headpiece worn by AoA Loki because it represents the trust in him from Thor and everyone he worked so hard for being broken, as well as Loki trying to find his own way. And you could say that was represented as Sylvie is trying to be different from Loki, but as you can see, there was no thought put behind it. It was just there for "aesthetics" I guess.
Oh, and there's also the fact that in the book itself, Loki was supposed to be surprised that Sylvie was a she-
I'm sorry, I thought they were being "representational?"
I do not care what anyone else says, they clearly did not go into this series thinking about actually making Loki genderfluid if they put this much thought into making a female Loki so surprising.
@glorioustidalwavedefendor
(I'd put in more pics, but I reached the limit)
Edit: more pictures in my reblog
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