No harm ever came from reading a book

Have you guys seen that clip

i call this "grace and rocky versus archive of our own"

bonus featuring adrian:

It absolutely wasn’t all in Loki’s head! I think it’s pretty clear that Odin would’ve never been eligible for a “parent of the year” award. From childhood, Loki and Thor were raised in opposition:

I’m going to quote Alan Taylor and say “their father so completely screwed up their childhood. You don’t tell two boys that their both meant to be king but only one will do it.” And I’ll add: you definitely don’t tell two boys they’re meant to be king knowing full well that their fates were predetermined. Loki never stood a chance because a) he was second-born  b) he was not Asgardian. 

But we all know honesty was not Odin’s strong-suit. 

I wonder how long it took for this little boy to learn that he was always going to play second fiddle to his brother…

But moving on to the end of Thor, where Loki thinks that destroying the Jotunheim (and finishing the war that Odin started) will prove to his father that he is just as strong and formidable as Thor. 

“I only ever wanted to be your equal” well doesn’t that line just sum up Loki’s character perfectly? He only wanted to be given the same treatment as his brother; to make his dad proud. His entire arc in the first Thor film is centered around trying to gain Odin’s affection, and Odin refuses to give it to him.

This is a piece of the script, which also helps elaborate: 

And there’s an awesome post here about this gif, below, which describes the semiotics of the shot much better than I ever could.

Let’s talk Avengers. There’s a throw away line in there where Thor tries to remind Loki that they were raised as brothers (they played together, fought together, etc.) and Loki responds:

And this isn’t the only time this “shadow” is referenced. Frigga mentions it in a scene that they savagely deleted from Thor: The Dark World.

I love this interview of Tom from D23, where he talks about Loki and Frigga’s relationship in comparison to Loki and Odin’s relationship.  

One has to wonder if Loki’s mischievous ways started as an effort to gain his father’s attention? Of course it was. 

This scene is so hard to watch because Odin is so unnecessarily cruel when he yells “your birthright was to die!” Ugh I hate it. 

“I really don’t see what all of the fuss is about” and why would he when he follows his father’s example. “I went down to Midgard to rule the people of earth as a benevolent god, just like you.” And here he points out the hypocrisy— a king can conquer and destroy and he’s lauded as a hero. 

Exhibit A & B:

“All this because Loki desires a throne” This is the best display of Odin’s ignorance, because as we all know, Loki never wanted a throne. Odin never understood what Loki truly desired… actually, he never understood Loki period.Loki and Thor are two sides of the same coin. It’s the reason why he couldn’t be the parent Loki needed and why he bonded with Thor better. I would assume that training Thor to be the next king took precedence over any relationship he could’ve had with his second-son. 

But on the bright side there’s always Loki and Frigga’s beautiful relationship! Because he may have had a shit father, but Frigga was always there for him. She always strived to understand him and make him feel worthy and loved :,) 

(…Okay I’m done because I’m gonna cry)

My only nitpick (which isn’t really a nitpick with this post specifically but more with the Loki fandom as a whole) is the bit about Frigga always being there for Loki. Because I see this all the time. This fandom has a tendency to treat Frigga like a damn saint just because she was the only person who paid any attention to Loki. But that’s a really low bar.

Yes, Loki was close to Frigga. Yes, she gave him the attention he didn’t get from his so-called father. Yes, I think she genuinely loved him. But I can’t stand seeing her held up on a pedestal. The way she treated Loki when he was in prison in TDW—the emotional manipulation, the gaslighting—was downright abusive. And I hate how rarely I see anyone talk about that.

When she catches him casting illusions to make himself feel better, she criticizes his attempts to avoid reality rather than reassuring him that he doesn’t need to be Thor, that he’s already worthy just as he is. She tells him, “a true king admits his faults” while she’s married to (and defending) Odin, who is massively hypocritical and more than happy to scapegoat and manipulate anyone in his way. She acts as though Loki’s complaints are irrational and unjustified. She lets him know in no uncertain terms that he doesn’t have the right feel betrayed, even though he was betrayed.

After three weeks of back-and-forth and a bit of confusion at the local print shop, I'm pleased to announce that June postcards for Postcard of the Month Club over on Patreon have gone out!