Lils

Me: *Looks into the imaginary camera.*

Because they're two men.

If Loki was a woman, the concept of the ship wouldn't be a fraction of wanted. I remember the episode where Mobius had Loki beaten and people were gushing that Mobius was "jealous". As in people where excited over the concept, treating as shipping fuel. Again, if Loki was a woman people would be constantly talking about what a creep Mobius was, how controlling and unfair the relationship.

Because it is two men when people read attraction, people don't bother looking critically at the dynamics in the relationship. Do you think anyone would be so excited ship Natasha with a guy had a collar around her neck, mocked her about loved one's death and had her beaten? Even if it was someone johansson had really good chemistry with I don't see that happen.

I would really like to connect with fellow Loki fans who want to rant about/analyze Loki and Thor's psychology, family dynamics, Asgardian society, Jotunheim, magic/seiðr, and the Nine Realms. Ideas/thoughts that aren't canon-compliant with the MCU are more than welcome!

Here are some fics with these types of themes that I have thoroughly enjoyed and been inspired by:

Ásgarðrian Galdr by Valerie_Vancollie

Bargaining by proantagonist ( @proantagonista ) [thank you SO MUCH for the rec @alwida10!]

Frostbite by Maiden_of_Asgard

Once More With Empathy by Kairyn ( @bfaymiller )

A Fairytale Beginning by the_lady_amphitrite ( @the-lady-amphitrite )

Let me set the scene:

For the past year and a half, I've been working on developing a longfic featuring a Thor 2011 Loki and an OC Sigyn. Honestly, I don't think that I'll get around to posting it anytime soon (there's still so much work to be done on it), but it's constantly on my mind. It's sort of a hybrid concept of the MCU, Norse Mythology, my own ideas, OCs, and magic systems. It has an epic scope with multiple arcs and characters from most of the Nine Realms. Do you like characters with wings? I got you covered. An imminent threat to the Nine Realms? Check. An in-depth analysis of Ásgarðr and Jǫtunheimr's history uncovered during Loki's identity crisis? A Jǫtunn OC? A Laufey that never wanted to lose his child? Check, check, and check.

I've found it hard to talk to people about all this because it involves a LOT of worldbuilding. Epic fantasy definitely isn't for everyone and this will not be a "light" read. Some non-fanfic stories that have inspired me along the way include the Roots of Chaos series by Samantha Shannon (The Priory of the Orange Tree and A Day of Fallen Night) and Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien. So if you like those types of stories, you might like the ideas I come up with.

If you relate to anything I've said, I also want to mention that I would love to hear about your ideas as well! If you feel trapped inside your own head and feel hesitant to "info-dump" on people, I am the person for you. And hey, maybe we can inspire each other :) Fanfiction is not about gatekeeping, and I have been unabashedly inspired by so many different takes on Loki that I've read along the way.

Frigga, Loki and Dying to Save Your Family

Want to get it out of the way first - I am largely pro Frigga but while I will always advocate that her bond with Loki was very real, I can't stand it when people deify her and try to push everything onto Odin. Odin was by far the worst parent when it comes to Loki, at least Frigga tried to include him etc. But you don't get excused forever because of that when you don't, idk, try to defend your (secretly adopted) son in front of your husband a bit more. There's a whole tangent I could go off on about how people are REALLY weird about "a mother's love'" but I worry I'd go careening off the cliff away from the topic at hand.

My agreement with the original statement does largely stem from The Dark World. Frigga appears at Loki's trial yes, but in canon we don't really see anything other than she showed up to see him again, had a bit of tragic reunion dialogue with him and then was dismissed by Odin. Odin then tells Loki that Frigga bargained him down from execution to rotting until death in a cell.

Sidenote: no I did not expect Loki to turn up at Asgard and be instantly forgiven and everything goes back to normal, as I know that's often thrown in the faces of Loki fans that they think he shouldn't have been punished. Nope, not what I think, what I do think is that all this is another Odinfam Fail of epic proportions.

My question is always: did Frigga not think to delve a bit more into why Loki acted the way he did? Did she even care to find out? Of course she knows the events prior to his fall from the Bifrost were due to him finding out the truth and reacting poorly but was she curious AT ALL as to why he shows up on Midgard completely feral and if anything even worse than prior to his fall?

Say I accept that she knows about Thanos, either by asking or using her powers of deduction as a witch (that she mentions to Thor in Endgame "I see with more than eyes" - that seems pretty handy hmm) then wouldn't her love for Loki mean that she'd argue throwing him in the dungeon for up to five millennia is a bit like kicking a man when he's down at his absolute lowest? Does Asgard not do rehabilitation?

She wants mother points for making Loki comfortable and sneaking around without Odin knowing she visits him, because of course part of Loki's punishment was that he couldn't see his mother (or his brother) ever again. I don't know, it seems to me that if she's willing to do that she may as well go the whole way and try to sneak him out into exile or something. What's Odin going to do, throw his wife in prison instead? I'm starting to feel like Frigga's word only holds so much sway but also like maybe she didn't want to try harder to advocate for Loki. If Odin HAD suddenly changed his mind and swung the axe, would she just accept it even if it was done behind her back? Probably.

I know people are going to disagree with me and say that she's bound by the command of her husband and king but canon and fandom likes to draw parallels and suggest Loki is sneaky because he got it from his mother, including being a talented mage. I feel like that's ripe for her trying a bit harder than leaving Loki to his books and soup and turning up in illusion form to scold him every couple of months.

All this is just a round about way for me to get to the point that yes, we've seen how willing Loki is to die for his family. He died to avenge his mother and although I am stubbornly refusing to acknowledge Infinity War in my personal canon he dies for Thor as well.

Frigga on the other hand, I'm not so sure how powerful her love for Loki would be when it's a choice between him and anything that represents the proper order when it comes to the throne of Asgard. She won't go against Odin explicitly and we know that despite the fact she loves Loki as her own son, she does occasionally favour Thor. I'm thinking of rushing straight to a Thor who has returned to Asgard while Loki is in the middle of a mental breakdown (and is convinced that Thor is going to kill him, yeah you didn't pick up on that either did you Frigga?) I'm thinking that Thor caused chaos in the realms prior to Loki doing the Asgardian equivalent of crashing an additional five cars into an existing pile-up. Because of that, Thor is forgiven more easily and it does make you think that there's no punishment that Loki could endure that would be good enough, if his actions on Midgard had led to his death instead of capture of course Frigga would mourn - but would she ultimately believe his life was suitable payment for "the lives [you] took on Earth,"?

I also think that there's an element of Frigga treating Loki like he's the wise-head, the one who can handle himself better. This is probably pure speculation on my part but I feel a bit like if Loki was in a life threatening situation Frigga would expect him to be able to get himself out of it. She's so determined to let him have his bit of sun to a fault; she puts too much pressure on him to be the model second prince and son, while at the same time making it clear that he's never going to be above Thor in the pecking order. Because Thor is the heir. She gives the the throne to Loki when Odin falls into the Odinsleep and Thor is on Midgard but the implication is always that as soon as Thor is back, as soon as Odin is awake, everything reverts back. By the time Loki kills Laufey he's not doing it to show he's a worthy king, he's doing it to be a model son. The son who would kill to protect the throne because that's what his family wants.

We see how Loki reacts to Frigga's death, it's not a stretch to believe that had he been in the room he would've killed or been killed without hesitation to protect her. It's a question that haunts me as well how Loki would react if Thor died instead of him because I feel like a vengeful Loki is worse than a vengeful Thor, Frigga's death was a mere preview of that.

Tl;dr Frigga loves Loki but she also kinda sucks, she regularly prioritises the crown over her son and that may extend to his life. Loki only seems to know how to earn back his family's love and forgiveness by essentially being suicidal.

Because people are probably going to mention Thanos when I speak of Frigga jailbreaking Loki:

Thanos didn't seem too bothered about or capable of finding Loki until Loki basically landed right in front of him.

'Did Frigga not think to delve a bit more into why Loki acted the way he did?'

To paraphrase Craig Kyle from the TDW concept book's commentary, Frigga puts herself in the position of the glue of that family. From my own observation, that often means she does defend the person who is not currently present to maintain an illusion of peace in that family. She might have doubted Odin and questioned his decisions but she wouldn't speak up, especially not with others present. After the "trial" took place, she had little means of finding out about Loki's motivation unless she'd ask Odin (which she wouldn't + she knew he didn't know because he sentenced Loki without a proper trial) or ask Loki (about whom she knew would definitely not tell her). So she left it be and probably hoped Odin would lessen Loki's sentence as years went on or simply tried to bury her grief in silence, finding comfort in Thor's success.

'Frigga on the other hand, I'm not so sure how powerful her love for Loki would be when it's a choice between him and anything that represents the proper order when it comes to the throne of Asgard.'

You hit the nail on the head with that one because that's what's been shown. She defends him but only within what is still considered acceptable by Asgard and its laws which are basically just Odin's word. After all, she did choose to keep the family's secret because it was Odin's great plan for the future of Asgard, even if deep down, she must have known it was hurting Loki/might hurt him once he'd found out.

'and we know that despite the fact she loves Loki as her own son, she does occasionally favour Thor.'

I've got a feeling this might have been Odin's influence. The crown prince, and someone presented as the kingdom's future and their pride, would be favoured regardless of whom she favoured most of the time.

'I also think that there's an element of Frigga treating Loki like he's the wise-head, the one who can handle himself better. .... I feel a bit like if Loki was in a life threatening situation Frigga would expect him to be able to get himself out of it.'

We kinda know this is true because she reminded Odin that Loki would be there to give Thor counsel if needed when he doubted Thor before his coronation. She also thought of Loki as the preceptive one (even if that sentence was used as manipulation ... it had to have her truth in it). To quote Tom Hiddleston's TDW commentary: "-we always talked about this special bond that Loki and Frigga had, especially when Thor and Loki were children, that Thor was a chip off the old block. He was the quarterback. He was the son that Odin understood. And Loki was the student, an artist, someone who was more sensetive, more delicate."

'Loki only seems to know how to earn back his family's love and forgiveness by essentially being suicidal.'

In the first part of meta the arrogance of Thor and Loki and how it shows itself in different ways was analyzed. In this part I want to focus on Loki's arrogance and his humility arc in the series.

The og post that inspired this meta, and many fans, believe that Loki didn't need a humility arc and I originally agreed with them. Sure Loki was arrogant sometimes but it wasn't that bad for him to need to become humble. @geehollow 's meta and the study about arrogance changed my mind though. There were certain aspects I had overlooked or underestimated their importance.

As it was explained, the first movie puts Loki's strength, his intelligence in contrast to Thor's physical strength. Thor's arrogance is easily recognizable because of Thor's extrovert boastful attitude. Loki's not so much. That doesn't mean Loki can't be just as arrogant. Unawareness of one's intellectual limits spans components 2 through 5 of arrogance.

An overconfidence in one’s own knowledge and ability (Component 2) is tied together with an underconfidence in the knowledge or ability of others, producing a feeling of intellectual superiority (Component 5). The intermediate components (3, resisting new information about oneself, and 4, not taking the perspectives of others) appear to be bridges between Components 2 and 5. For example, individuals low in honesty-humility (presumably high in arrogance) are also less likely than others to make cooperative decisions (Zettler, Hilbig, & Heydasch, 2013).

These two paragraphs perfectly describe Loki's reasoning and planing through the first movie and later during Avengers. In avengers from the very first moment he tries to gather enough knowledge of his opponents and neutralize their threats. But the little seemingly unimportant details that he misses and an overestimation of his abilities result in his defeat.

In the series, most notably in the finale he does it again. Perhaps if he can fix the mistakes, the uncounted incidents, consider every possible outcome that things can go wrong, he can save the people he cares about. What if he spend centuries learning knowledge? What if he tries to stop Sylvie in every way he can think of? But none of his plans work. The loom was designed in a way to counter every possible outcome that results in new branches.

And it all comes down to the question how to decide who lives and who dies? With all the knowledge, abilities and experiences Loki has gained through his constant time slipping, he can't answer this question. And that humbles him. It's a question he can't answer and a burden he can't accept. But he can give the chance of free will and freedom to people to write their own stories.

When Loki makes his decision, it is not resulted from a desire to prove himself to someone, or a desperation for control or a sense of superiority. It is a decision born out of love, selflessness and believing in himself with full awareness of the limits of his knowledge and abilities. This intellectual humility shows itself in the wonder and wisdom in his expression when he tries to power a thread of time for the first time. And his decision is in complete contrast to HWR's selfishness and arrogance. In the end Loki has all the knowledge of multiverse at his fingers but without a shred of arrogance for it and I think it's a beautiful arc.

Source: Foundations of Arrogance: A Broad Survey and Framework for Research

But was Loki happy then? No. He just didn’t say it, he hid it, he didn’t lash out, he didn’t ask for attention, he was kind of… there. Waiting for his family to ask something of him, waiting to be of service, and they took and took from him and that’s how they wanted it to be.

But Loki rebelled, he lashed out, and now everything is wrong. Not because he’s unhappy, not that they’re willing to listen to him and change their ways, no. Now he’s different. Now he’s changed. And they don’t want that so Thor asks him to return, to be the brother he used to be where the rest of the family was happy - and I don’t think Thor realizes that what he’s saying here can basically be summed up in two words “conditional love”: we will love you as long as you are what we want you to be, as long as you fill the role we’ve chosen for you. And if you curve away and stop following the road we paved for you we will blame you instead of looking at ourselves in the mirror and kicking ourselves for building the road in the first place.

While the book leaves a lot to be desired, especially the longer it goes on, here are two heartbreaking moments from the Phase One: Thor novel that underscore this thought process:

you’ve also got to consider if he takes into account the circumstances around either event or just the one… in theory even if he excuses trying to destroy Jotunhiem there’s no one else who would see it as heroic since Thor/Odin didn’t like it and he himself wouldn’t have done it otherwise. Does he feel he has to see it as heroic (and is he really convinced?) or would that make it a pointless attempt to gain something he didn’t that served no purpose and he was just an idiot for falling apart. 

The same could apply to succumbing to torture or the mind stone because would he blame himself for being weak and not resisting as much as he could’ve or would he tell himself anything done on his part to prevent things was for himself and the Midgardian lives were of little worth anyway (and would he believe it?)

His calmer demeanour can be relief at being in full control of his mind again. Or it can be explained simply by the fact that the mind stone is no longer amplifying his negative emotions (thus also eliminating any genuine desire he did have to rule over anyone) and/or relief at no longer being under constant surveillance via his open mental telephone line with The Other (which, even if it was being facilitated by the mind stone—and I’m not entirely clear on whether it was or not—is a separate issue from his thoughts and/or emotions having been altered). To my eyes, he seems calmer than he has in a long time but still anxious. That could be because he’s anticipating facing his family again (denoting both a fear of punishment and a fear of the inherent vulnerability of returning to the place where his life fell apart). Or it could be because he’s internally working through what’s happened over the last few days (or perhaps even longer because I don’t think we know for sure just how long he’s had the sceptre in his possession. The impression I got was that it was given to him shortly before being sent to Earth, but that’s suppositious): taking inventory of the damage he’s caused, coming to the realization of having had his mind played with even beyond his ongoing mental link with The Other, etc.

GOD LOKI - TV SERIES / SEASON 2 | FAN ART | (2024)

💚 #Loki

TOM HIDDLESTON as LOKI LAUFEYSON

Let's talk about that perfect ending with its beautiful scenes and epic soundtrack, shall we? Here's all the reasons why I loved it:

The ending answered the question "what makes a Loki, Loki?"

"Authority, independence, style". Sure, but that's not all of it. And it's not the real answer.

So who is Loki? A villain? A loser? What defines Loki?

There are many characteristics that define Loki but one of the main ones that truly sets him apart imo is that he is a catalyst for change. Loki when faced with options he doesn't like, or a problem that looks like doesn't have a solution, makes a new way, creates a new solution, chooses an option that didn't exist before.

He has the power to destroy, like the mythological tale of Ragnarok.

And to give life. Like how the Ragnarok he brings, means the beginning of a new cycle in Norse mythology.

-"Yeah it was the best character development. Loki went from wanting a throne to..."

Let me stop you there.

Loki went from not wanting a throne but thinking he must have it to be considered worthy and an equal to Thor, to taking a throne despite not wanting it, because it was the right thing to do.

The fact that Loki sacrificed himself once again for the people he loved and cared about, wasn't a new character development. In the movies Loki risks and sacrifices himself every time when it matters. For Thor, for Asgard, for the world. The only development here was that this time he sacrificed himself for every universe there is.

And his sacrifice wasn't treated as sth he deserved by the narrative because of every terrible things he'd done. On the contrary the narrative acknowledges that this is the last thing Loki deserves. That he is paying for others' mistakes and wrongs. He spends centuries to save the timelines. He spends a long time trying to stop Sylvie without harming her. And when everything seems lost, he makes a decision to save everyone but himself, he creates a different path. He faces his deepest fear, to not hurt the people he loves.

If there is any character development, it's for the narrative and the audience that finally recognized who Loki actually is.

The Symbolism

I have to say my first reaction to the new Loki costume was:" This is the worst Loki costume ever :))))" also me two days later: "I'm gonna set it as my wallpaper." But I loved the symbolism. The biggest horns Loki's ever worn to show the weight of the crown. His cape that was connected to timelines, to show the burden of a throne. The simplicity in his clothes in contrast with his other outfits. Because this wasn't about the recognition Loki always wanted and deserved. This was about the responsibility Loki decided to literally put on his shoulders and feeling the gravity of it.

His shoes though :)))) I mean

Either let him be bare footed or give him boots you cowards :D

The Parallels

The fact that how the ending parallels the first Thor movie and everything came back full circle.

How Thor and Loki destroyed sth at the cost of themselves losing the people they cared about.

Loki doing sth not because of a desperation for acceptance, not because he thought it was sth someone else wanted.

Knowing if he chose the easier way, no one could have fault him for it because it seemed there was no other way.

He did it because he knew it was the right thing to do, because he knew who he wanted to be.

Loki not giving up, not letting go, not falling down from a broken bridge, but ascending, holding on as he fixes what's broken.

He holds and carries the whole universe on his back. It's not only a beautiful Atlassian tragedy, but also parallels Norse mythology in more than one way. Yggdrasil, the tree of life in Norse mythology, the one that Loki holds in his hands in the finale, wasn't the only parallel in the ending.

There's a subtle and beautiful nod to Norse mythology. The tale of Loki being bound till Ragnarok. The myth that says when Loki gets freed, the end of the world begins.

What a marvelous tragedy. And what a glorious culmination.

It's not all tragic though

Loki now is literally the most powerful and heroic character in MCU. He's holding the universe in his hands and keeping it alive. You can't top that.

And it makes his portrayal in the recent movies in which he was unfairly underpowered, even more ridiculous than before and that makes me happy :D

There is also a possibility to see Loki again and I'm not talking about the other variants. Marvel now has the best dues ex machina through Loki. He might be able to appear in any universe as an illusion to warn about dangers or help the characters. He might figure out a way to keep the tree alive without being there himself. That way he can find Thor in the sacred timeline. Or maybe the Loki who survived Thanos and is still in the sacred timeline finds Thor. Maybe there's still hope for a good reconciliation and a good story for Asgardian siblings.

//This is a touuuugh question! I really don’t believe Loki’s pathology is innate. Meaning, I don’t think he was “born evil.”  I believe he was born with the capability to be deceitful and manipulative, but even those traits could be used in the service of good or to innocuous ends.  In other words, I don’t think that, without the trauma of learning of his true heritage, having his father go into a coma, and having his brother exiled, leaving him in the unfit position of king during the eve of war, Loki would have ever spiraled down a series of increasingly desperate actions including keeping Thor exiled and eventually trying to commit fratricide.  Certainly he would not have even known to kill Laufey or had the nervous breakdown that gave him the idea that killing all the Frost Giants would somehow ritualistically cleanse his blood and make him a “true” Son of Odin. 

The caveat here, though, is that Loki is too clever to remain ignorant of his true parentage forever. Sooner or later, he would have to have faced the reality of his adoption.  Here is where I heavily blame Odin.  First off, we can argue till the cows come home about the extent to which Odin always wanted to use his younger son as a political tool.  I would argue that this was always in the cards for Odin, and his love for Loki, or anyone really, is conditional upon them always deferring to his will—and when Loki unexpectedly shed his passivity and defied Odin directly, it was necessary for Odin to turn Loki into a “villain” and “Other” in the eyes of Asgard, blowing his acts on Earth way out of proportion at least by the standards of an Asgardian war king (propaganda and ideological tyranny at its best, but I digress).  Odin wanted Loki to be his puppet King of Jotunheim when Loki came of age, to maintain treaties with Jotunheim after the war in 965 A.D.  When that became unnecessary, I fully believe Odin never had any intention to tell Loki that he was a (supposedly) rejected Frost Giant prince. Best to keep the now unneeded artifact of an enemy culture suppressed and pacified.  Best to keep him forever in the shadow of the Crown Prince, forever his  negative mirrored counterpart.

If Odin had only informed Loki in a timely and sensitive manner of his heritage, I genuinely believe that, while Loki would have taken it hard, he would not have interpreted Odin’s will as the snubbing of the dirty Jotun orphan, would not have felt such a desperation to please and belong, would not have had cosmically magnified daddy issues and self-loathing projected outward onto Thor (because Thor would not represent all the things Odin loved and Loki could not be) and all that Thor loved and protected (like Midgard).  Loki would certainly never have been a saint, but it’s quite possible that he would never have become a vindictive antagonist of this magnitude.  

The problem with all of this is that Odin’s intentions were never genuinely selfless, fatherly, or benevolent, not toward Loki. Not, I argue honestly, toward anyone but Odin, because is there anyone that Odin loves who defies him on a regular basis? No one. Not Frigga, certainly not Thor, whom Odin sanctioned to DIE (“stop them by ANY MEANS NECESSARY”) when Thor simply tried to escape Asgard to retrieve the Ether and save Jane Foster’s life without sending half of the Einherjar like lambs to the slaughter in the process (like Odin would).  Since Odin, like his father Bor before him, is genuinely a tyrant, and this tyranny extends into his personal relationships at the very least in the form of gaslighting and psychological abuse, we can never know what Loki would have done, because there IS NO SCENARIO in which Odin would have done the right thing by his adopted son.  

I am convinced that, while he didn’t necessarily WANT Loki to die, Odin also on some level felt it a lifted weight when Loki fell off the Bifrost into a wormhole.  And when Loki was alive again, it was FRIGGA who pushed for his rescue and THOR who went to find him, as the official film comics show us, NOT Odin. And I KNOW Odin saw Loki’s botched attempt to overtake Earth (the motives of which are a whole controversy in their own right) as as an opportunity to slap chains on him and exile him to rot in a dungeon.  The logistical mistake forgotten, written off as a scapegoat, a “screw up son,” “oh we tried SO HARD to love him but his greed for a throne was too great” (I call BULLSHIT Odin, remember when your son said to his brother “I NEVER WANTED THE THRONE, I ONLY EVER WANTED TO BE YOUR EQUAL”????).  

People always say Loki is a case of self-fulfilled prophecy. I used to honestly be one such person, despite still seeing him in an empathetic light.  Well, now I say yes and no.  Yes, Loki is still his own worst enemy.  Yes, Loki has what cognitive psychology terms a “hostile attribution bias,” meaning he does see slights and wrongdoings where they might not exist. BUT. But. Loki’s not “just evil and crazy” LIKE SOME PEOPLE WANT HIM TO THINK.  Odin and the culture that Odin has sewn and reaped with his position of uncontested socio-military authority has very carefully cultivated a society in which people like Loki could never thrive, no matter how much they try to do the right thing. Because the right thing is inevitably rigged to favor big masculine physically strong violent hotheads, not  little feminine weak calculating scholars who practice traditionally female arts (such as witchcraft/Seidr).  And we can never know exactly what Loki would do if Odin hadn’t fucked up telling him about Laufey being his father, because the Odin who would fuck up is the same Odin who would spend Loki’s childhood making him a device to compete with and groom Thor.  The Odin who would break the truth to Loki at an inopportune interval is the same Odin who would raise Loki to be the insecure person he is today.  

For Loki to act differently than he did, in short, ODIN would have to be a FUNDAMENTALLY DIFFERENT CHARACTER.  

We can’t really say how Loki would have cleaned up Thor’s mess, because there’d be no mess to clean up if Odin had raised his sons  differently. Loki wouldn’t be the insecure sneaky prick who staged a prank Jotun party-crashing to ruin Thor’s coronation.  And Thor would not be a pompous entitled prick who would go storming into Jotunheim as a result to start the war. Loki would never see his hand turning blue, and Thor would never be exiled leaving no buffer between Loki and the stress of rule.  Frankly, it’s likely that if Odin had been a good father, he would have told Loki with Frigga’s coaching when Loki was far younger about Laufey and Farbauti.  He would not feel like his heritage was some dirty unspeakable taboo from which he should be “protected” (Odin’s actual word choice).  

I completely agree that Odin’s sub-par parenting skills has left a negative ripple effect upon the whole family. It’s an argument you, I, and a good many others will stand by until Phase 3 has come and gone. He’s still not as bad as comic!Odin, but I’m not about to sing him any praises any time soon. Frigga is particularly interesting (and tragic) if we accept, per mythology, that she’s capable of seeing the future. Perhaps this is why she appealed for Odin to tell Loki the truth sooner? Who knows, it’s all conjecture. I’m hoping that post-Thor 2, Thor has realized some of his father’s glaring flaws. Unfortunately, Loki let Thor leave with a positive note, and who knows who he’ll react to finding out Loki killed Odin, if online articles about Odin’s fate are to believed. I, for one, hope this won’t turn out to be true. I’m more likely to believe that Loki has Odin trapped somewhere in the guise of a prisoner and is forced to watch Loki’s antics as king.

I was playing around in my head how Loki would respond to the whole impending war with Jotenheim had everything played out exactly the same way it had in the movie except his discovery of his heritage. I think he’d still feel the pressure to prove to Odin that he’s perfectly capable, but at the same time won’t feel the same level of panic and compulsive need to expunge an entire race.

My husband complained that this was more Shakespeare than Eddas, and I challenged him to do better.

Solen sken, skönt gyllene

Dagen Tor föddes

På trottoaren, vid Taco Bell

Där låg Loke

—KJN

My translation:

The sun shone, sweet golden

The day of Tor’s birth

On the tarmac, by Taco Bell

There lay Loki

ay yo show ur husband 

Solen skinnede, skøn og gylden

På dagen for Tors fødsel

På asfalten ved Taco Bell

Dér lå Loke

“LEV MERE (LIVE MAS)”

He hair shine brite

A very very

Magical site

But then I see

A bab from hell

I pik up loki

“Jane, these are yours,” he said, his voice rough.  "They were gifts, not part of the crown jewels.“

She looked down at the box as well, unable to meet his eye.  "Your people need the money you could get for these more than I need jewelry… and I need to move on.”

“I am humbled by your generosity yet again,” Thor said softly, opening the jewelry box and removing a small necklace from the pile of glittering jewels.

 "But if you won’t keep them as a token of my love, please keep this one as the thanks of a man you guided when he was lost.“  

Jane looked at the fine chain where it dangled between his fingers, a tiny crystal star glittering where it swayed between them, before daring to look up and meet that bright blue eye.

"Please,” Thor whispered.

Hey gang! 

I rarely write meta anymore but I got so riled up after Infinity War that I rambled on and on in a Google doc after my 2nd viewing. So here, I thought I’d share it with my dash bc some have said they’re curious. sorry

I have 3 major issues with Infinity War, but lots of articles are touching on two of them, so I decided to cover the one left. I admit, this is honestly my biggest problem with the movie and it has to do with Captain America, so if you are a Cap fan and don’t like constructive, text-based criticism about him, you should probably not read this. I swear there is no hate present. I’m not trying to be a dick about anything but I’m sure to many, it’ll seem that way. 

Below are about 4 straight pages about why “We don’t trade lives” is a sham and why/how it causes all kinds of problems for a multitude of reasons in Infinity War. Cut for spoilers! 

But yeah Cap thoughtlessly trading (or at the very least gambling) tons of innocent people’s lives just to save one or two of his friends’ lives is legitimately an established character trait for him now.

In The First Avenger, he led a team of non-serumed-up soldiers back into Red Skull’s labs to save Bucky (there was a whole unit there but let’s be real, he was there for Bucky), in Age of Ultron he risked Ultron murdering his team and every other human on the planet just to take a chance on then-homicidal-nazis Wanda & Pietro (because he saw himself in them volunteering for superhero experiments), in Civil War he wanted to risk the safety of every civilian in the world just so his friend Wanda didn’t have to be held accountable for murder, in that same movie he once again risked the safety of the general public just to protect his best friend (who, as far as cap knew at the time, had just bombed the UN), and in Infinity War he risked all of Wakanda plus 50% of the universe for Vision. It’s pretty much the one thing he can be counted on to do (that and give dramatic self righteous speeches).

And I’m sure some people would say that level of personal loyalty makes him a great friend, and sure it does! But it also makes him a shitty person. They’d probably also say it makes him relatable because most of us would couldn’t sacrifice our loved ones in those situations either, and to that I say you’re right! That’s why we should never be superheroes.

It’s the same as when people respond to cops shooting folks with “well can you imagine how much pressure they’re under? How much anxiety they must have in those scenarios? I’d probably be trigger happy too!” Yes…. that’s why you shouldn’t be a cop. You do not choose a job that has extremely high emotional/moral requirements with life or death stakes if you aren’t absolutely sure you can meet those requirements. If cap knew he’d let everyone else burn to save his own loved ones, he should’ve hung up the shield right then and there. But he didn’t. Because why should he? He makes the calls. And if he wants to gamble lives all day long, he can do it and no one’s gonna stop him. And that’s ultimately why he was so offended by the Accords.

Also, I would have lots of sympathy for Wanda’s decision in Infinity War- despite it being selfish- if it weren’t for the fact that every single other decision she’s made in her entire mcu run has also been selfish.

She volunteered to be experimented on by nazis in hopes that she’d get superpowers to murder Tony Stark with. She mind raped all the avengers when most of them hadn’t done anything to her, just to further the plan her genocidal ally concocted. She set the Hulk loose on a city full of innocent people just to further that same plan. She only abandoned Ultron & came to the good side when she realised he wanted to kill all humans, including her. She accidentally murdered people in Lagos just because she’d chosen to run around playing hero when she couldn’t even fully control her powers and then she refused to sign the accords, attacked her boyfriend, and tried to kill her teammates just so she wouldn’t be held accountable for said incident. Then she refused to kill her boyfriend to save wakandan lives and trillions of others. Then she held a city hostage to live in a suburban family fantasy and refused accountability get again when she finally relented and let them go. She read the Darkhold even though she knew it would corrupt her because she wanted power to kidnap children from her variants instead of just grieving like trillions of other mothers who’ve lost kids. She even tried to murder a child in order to further this plan. And then when she finally gave up and destroyed the Darkhold, it wasn’t because she saw the error of her ways or felt bad about hurting someone… it was because her kids rejected her.

Hey gang! 

I rarely write meta anymore but I got so riled up after Infinity War that I rambled on and on in a Google doc after my 2nd viewing. So here, I thought I’d share it with my dash bc some have said they’re curious. sorry

I have 3 major issues with Infinity War, but lots of articles are touching on two of them, so I decided to cover the one left. I admit, this is honestly my biggest problem with the movie and it has to do with Captain America, so if you are a Cap fan and don’t like constructive, text-based criticism about him, you should probably not read this. I swear there is no hate present. I’m not trying to be a dick about anything but I’m sure to many, it’ll seem that way. 

Below are about 4 straight pages about why “We don’t trade lives” is a sham and why/how it causes all kinds of problems for a multitude of reasons in Infinity War. Cut for spoilers! 

Not that Thor hasn’t grown and matured and been hardened by trauma etc, but Loki literally lived centuries just trying to solve one problem by himself, he’s lived an undefined infinity as the new He Who Remains (because time doesn’t work the same at the Citadel). He has the responsibility of the multiverse solely on his shoulders, he alone is in charge of the 616 timeline. His existential awareness transcends past the universal plane- on an incorporeal level, he has surpassed his family. In terms of cosmic authority and relevance, he far outranks Thor now. And in terms of power, he’s far stronger so I can easily see him having to come to his brother’s rescue in certain situations. Plus the fact that he’s gained so much wisdom from all of this, I feel like he would be the voice of reason in their dynamic now.

He’s the one who’d be giving moral lectures now, he’s the one who Thor would have to report to if he had any cosmic issues, he’s the one Thor would have to call for help, he’s the one who’d be giving Thor orders in the event of a multiversal war.