#LokiBookClub

[lokiinmediasideblog]

Poll

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Partially and it was awful. It's a shame because Runemarks and Runelight are wonderful. Also, Joanne Harris should research topics before writing about them. The way she portrayed eating disorders was AWFUL. And Jumps was fucking annoying.

vote yes if you have finished the entire book. vote no if you have not finished the entire book.

(faq · submit a book)

[lokiinmediasideblog]

Tournament of Lokis 2024: Round 1

May the Lokiest Loki win!

[lokiinmediasideblog]

Can you recommend me Loki books? (as in novels, not norse mythology textbooks)

I am not sure if I rated these correctly in terms of audience maturity. But I tried lol.

Comics:

Valhalla comics-Peter Madsen

Fun slap-stick re-tellings of the Norse myths. Children oriented?

Loki (2004) aka "Blood Brothers" by Robert Rodi & Esad Ribic

It's my favorite Marvel!Loki comic of all time. It altered my brain chemistry. You can read it for free on the links in my pinned post.

The graphic novel version of Norse Mythology by Neil Gaiman.

There's also this webcomic I found as a teen that's ongoing to this day and I need to go back to following:

Kids:

Loki: A Bad God's Guide to Being Good by Louie Stowell

Diary of a Wimpy Kid but with Norse mythology! What's not to love about that?!

Eight Days of Luke-Dianna Wynne Jones

The book that inspired "American Gods."

Odd and the Frost Giants-Neil Gaiman

A boy named Odd encounters Odin, Thor, and Loki who have been turned into animals.

Teens:

Runemarks duology-Joanne Harris

Just keep to the first two books. You'll hate the rest. Let's just say it dealt horribly with Eating Disorders and Harris should have done research on heavy topics before writing about them. Her Loki in the first two books is very enjoyable and he rules over goblins for a while, among other things. I also thought the way rune birthmarks worked in here was fun.

Norse Mythology-Neil Gaiman

It's an entertaining overview of the myths. If you're unfamiliar with them it's a good place to start.

Adult:

Black Wolf: The Binding of Loki-Una Verdandi

I don't recommend if you want a soft!Loki or one that remains a decent person. Loki is interesting and feels like a force of nature. But let's just say he's like the Joker with all that implies. But I thought it was a worthwhile read (very long). It has probably the best Sigyn depiction I've encountered. She feels like a real person! I go more in detail here. I'd pay attention to the things I warn about in case they're deal-breakers or triggers. My review is not spoiler free but contains warnings.

American Gods-Neil Gaiman

Has very interesting premise and a multiple pantheons existing at the same time. It's fun how the deities adapt to the USA and modern times.

The Goddess of Nothing at All-Cat Rector

This book is basically a Norse myth whump fic. I would avoid if that's not your thing because I can see how someone else might hate it. I know I like it because making fictional characters suffer is my guilty pleasure. You won't be laughing at the mythology-based Loki memes. I don't think it's perfect. For example, I dislike that they have to make Loki's every action "justified", such as cutting Sif's hair because Sif called him fantasy racism slurs. Let him be a bit of an asshole just because. The disproportionate punishment makes it difficult not to sympathize with Loki either way. I don't know how I feel about her Sygin. It's the 2nd best Sygin I've seen yet in books. She has a personality, is likeable, and is not a doormat, but something about her and this Loki feels sanitized to me. Like the author was checking boxes for Sygin and Loki. I don't know how to explain it.

Father of Monsters-A. B. Frost

Short read. Loki is a loveable little shit that gets the Aesir into trouble and takes one for the team to get them out of it. I really liked this characterization and it had cute illustrations of Loki, Angrboda, and Jormungandr.

The Nine Worlds Rising Series-Lyra Wolf

They're not perfect. I think her Loki is very funny and likable but too sanitized. And Sigyn has no flaws other than caring too much for her no-good brother while the other goddesses are evil witches. But the author has a very comedic writing voice that is highly enjoyable and keeps the stakes high so that you want to keep on reading. I also like how one of the books starts with a very vengeful Loki and draws comparisons to Lucifer. Thought that was cool. Also, some reactions to some reveals didn't land the impact as well as they should. They do tease the Odin/Loki abusive relationship, but not with the toxicity I wanted, and Odin goes on a redemption path a bit too soon for my liking (while making all the goddesses evil witches...). There's also a lot of anachronistic language in here, such as Loki mentioning a Chihuahua.

Books I haven't read but I know of their existence:

Loki-Melvin Burgess (I saw a Sigyn stan complain about it, but I am not sure how seriously to take her complaints because she said shipping myth!Loki with say Balder or Thor or Odin was "incestuous" because Loki is Odin's "blood brother" despite Loki being unrelated to everyone but Narfi and Nari on Asgard). My standards for Loki don't require that Loki be a paragon of morality, unlike hers. UPDATE: A mutual told me it's horribly transphobic and has rape apologia.

Harbinger of the End-Nicki Chapelway (I've seen praise from Logyn shippers for this one)

Loki: Nine Naughty Tales of the Trickster by Mike Vasich

I saw an excerpt with a rather humorous joke, but the one other Mike Vasich Loki book I read bored the hell out of me. So I haven't given it a chance for that reason.

The Blackwell Pages by Kelley Armstrong and Melissa Marr

It's a children's book series where the descendants of Thor and Loki are the protagonists.

I might have some revies in "LokiBookClub" tag.

[lokiinmediasideblog]

besides immortal thor are there any other comic depiction of loki you despise?

You mean "Ultimate Thor"? I went on a huge rant on that comic run.

I generally despise "Evil from Birth" narratives. Or the "we were right to torture you" kind of punitive justice. So that would be most of the Thor comics.The thing is, I don't think I hate comics!Loki, I like comics!Loki out of spite. Because the writers didn't want me to like him, but the narrative gave me bad vibes.

CW: Transphobic dogwhistles

I'm torn on Lady Loki because I find Loki interesting during that run (I love the interactions with Dr. Doom) and therefore don't hate them, but I FUCKING HATE that they wrote Loki stealing Sif's body. I hate how it's "justified" by dudebros and pseudo-feminists with "it's an allegory for rape" as if there hadn't been any rape in Thor comics before. The whole body thief thing is actually a transphobic dogwhistle in the same way that Silence of the Lamb's Buffalo Bill was: "A man wearing a woman's body/skin to seduce and manipulate other men." Can we get that retconned into Loki just shapeshifting rather than stealing Sif's body?

NVM, I KNOW WHICH RUN/DEPICTION I FUCKING HATE AS MUCH AS ULTIMATE THOR! It's Thor: Son of Asgard!!

CW: Sexual assault, magical roofies, Karnilla being a pedo, Loki being a creep, Amora and Sif also being creeps

I hate when Loki's written as "the creepy nerd lusting over the popular hot girl" (comics!Sif) or abusive/rapey husband (comics!Sigyn). Which is a bunch of comic runs. Like so:

I think the writing on "Son of Asgard" is terrible/cheesy(they have a chapter called "The Warriors Teen" *eyeroll*) and it's full of rapey plots. Loki is rapey (with Sif and colludes with Amora). Amora is rapey (with Thor). Karnilla is rapey (with Loki). Even Sif is rapey! (with Thor).

The plot is stupid. They go on some mindless quests as glorified poachers because Odin told them to do so, and relish in torturing and killing a poor dragon that was just minding its own business, among other things. Sif and Balder whine about Thor not giving them a say on agreeing to the quest despite following him over there. Fucking jackasses. Meanwhile Loki is doing stupid magic bullshit to impede on their quest from afar, justifying Sif's suspicions and hatred of Loki that would otherwise seem unjustified and ridiculous. IDK I hate when they justify over-the-top suspicion of "Loki told the dragon where we were" rather than "We were actively seeking the dragon for its scales because we're poachers." It's also used to justify over-the-top punishments for Loki with evil monologues and thought bubbles or lazily written magic bullshit. It also makes Asgard seem incredibly incompetent and stupid.

My thoughts exactly, Thor:

I also dislike how Sif is written. She's "masculine" but in the ways cishet men would find "hot". A scantily clad warrior with the supermodel physique constantly contorting in weird ways. Her personality revolves around her obsession with Thor and her suspicion/hatred of Loki. It's a crime to write a warrior woman so heterosexually. They made her go off about how she wishes to be gifted with a JEWEL from the shitty sand place. So, they all get swallowed by the sand (and Loki too because he was a dumbass and materialized in the location). They escape by not feeling anything because there's weird baby crystal things that seek emotions. Loki is captured by Karnilla restrained by a bunch of creepy hands in creepy places, and Karnilla kisses a teenage Loki. Loki absorbs her magic through the kiss and escapes.

Loki refuses to help Karnilla out of love for Odin. I'll admit this is kinda cute and can't believe they actually gave him a redeemable trait:

Thor just won't give up on those damned quests. It's ridiculous! Priorities!

Ridiculously, Karnilla antagonizes Thor by turning a whole lake into sand. An adult woman beefing with a bunch of teen poachers. He takes some sand from the lake and goes back to Asgard to find it under attack. Thor and co save the day, only for Thor to be shot with an arrow by Karnilla. Karnilla and Odin fight. Odin takes pity on her and spares her. Thor is saved by "the power of love" aka Sif's tears.

Karnilla takes Loki hostage:

Balder tries to sacrifice himself for Loki. Karnilla is conveniently weirded out by such a selfless act and vanishes. Odin makes a sword out of the shit they got from the quests, and hands it over to Balder for his brave sacrifice.

Frigga damn... "only son"...

Volstagg is sexist to Sif and Sif is fatphobic to Volstagg... damn these comics have a fatphobia problem among other things...

Sif beats his ass. Then challenges Thor who pulls her by the hair and wins (for a warrior, Sif is dressed in very inconvenient ways). Everyone is like "yes Thor, you beat the ONE GIRL" and Sif gets angry and broods.

We cut to Loki's schemes and hate of Sif:

My thoughts exactly, Amora. The cishet writers fumbled on writing these two (Sif and Loki). They should have been GNC queer besties.

When people tell me Loki was not queer-coded before the whole bodytheft subplot:

Amora and Loki plot against Sif because Amora wants Thor for herself and Loki wants Thor out of the way. Thor attempts to console Sif. They're about to kiss when Amora interrupts them, calls Sif a slut, and Sif bitchslaps her.

Thor breaks up the fight and tells Sif there was no need to bitchslap Amora. Sif gets angry and leaves. The next day, there's a new female student in the warrior training class, Brunhilde. Sif remarks that "She had to be blonde." Lol.

They show Sif's backstory as a former blonde. Loki cut her hair out of jealousy that she was in love with Thor. He regretted it and got her replacement hair. However, the hair turned from blonde to black and "marred" her beauty.. Thanks, I hate it and it makes me uncomfortable... Sif is insecure of her black hair and jealous of the other blonde girls at schools.

Brunhilde wonders if Thor has his own special weapon because Balder got one in the previous issue. Thor says not yet, but one day he will when he's worthy. Sif takes offense because she's jealous of Brunhilde and bitchslaps her like she did Amora. A very male-gazey fight ensues, and Sif gets yanked by the hair once again. Sif just cut your damn hair. Sif gets in trouble for starting shit and gets told to use the facilities at the sorcery school to keep them from fighting again. Amora shows up and plays with Sif's insecurities, but seriously, she has a point in Sif resorting to violence way too often and easily. And I am being made uncomfortable by "dark hair and deeper tan on a woman=masculine" in this comic.

Sif and Loki conspire to magically roofie Thor with a magic mirror.

Sif gets the mirror.

Amora petrifies Sif (so that she watches), and steals the magic mirror from her, using it to make Thor fall in love with her. Loki very creepily frees Sif from her spell and confesses she wanted to see Sif's heart broken because he hates how Sif can "See through him." I thought he was going to do much worse because it looks bad, the way he holds Sif, when I first read this.

Sif goes straight to attacking Amora in a male gazey fight again, and Thor breaks up the fight and shames her for starting shit so often. Brunhilde finds the bag that held the mirror, and asks Sif about it. Sif confesses she wanted to use the mirror on Thor because she was jealous of Brumhilde.

Loki and Amora can't return the mirror without the pouch. Loki is about to be like "Lol nothing ties me to this crime." But Brunhilde and Sif catch them and tell them they have the bag. They say they'll give them the bag if they revert the spell. Brunhilde breaks the mirror, Thor is no longer under the spell and is hurt because he expected that from Amora but not from Sif. Frigga tells Sif that the mirror doesn't count and Thor still has his kiss virginity intact. Sif apologizes to Thor and they kiss.

Then Thor's trying to lift Mjolnir, and lifts it a little off the ground. Thor goes see the Norns to see what stands between his faith. I don't get it. Comes back to Asgard under attack and Sif being kidnapped by Storm Giants. Thor lifts the hammer with the power of love and goes to rescue Sif.

The cover for the next issue makes Thor look like an anime boy:

Thor collapses a bridge some giants were on, and they fall. He yeets himself with the hammer into the castle.

Thor kills a bunch of giants, and the comic makes a callback to Sif's introduction where Thor saves her from Hela. Here, the giant struck a bargain with Hela to gain immortality, exchanging Sif for it.

He finds Hela, who is pissed Thor's escaped from her grasp before.

This reminds me of Thor Ragnarok:

Hela may not be Odin's daughter here, but this has Thor Ragnarok vibes:

This echoes Sif's first appearance where Thor offers his own life in exchange for hers.

Hela warns Thor that they'll meet again. Sif and Thor kiss and fly away.

Lol. I am such a hater I ended up prioritizing this ask over other posts.

[lokiinmediasideblog]

My thoughts exactly. I don't get how this book gets so much praise. And have often been like "How dare you make Angrboda so bland and boring!"

Adult fantasy Norse mythology retelling

Focused on Angrboda, the ogre-witch wife of Loki

After being burned by Odin for her knowledge of magic, Angrboda flees into a remote forest to recover and meets the trickster god, Loki

Over the years, Angrboda bears Loki three unusual children and raises them out of sight of Odin–but her visions of the future are dark and apocalyptic

Bisexual main character

[lokiinmediasideblog]

In the book I am reading, Balder tries to get Thor to hurt him to showcase his newfound invulnerability, by saying that Loki was right about Thor having fat tits.

[lokiinmediasideblog]

The Louie Stowell's "A Bad God's Guide" Loki series is very cute, hilarious, and endearing.

[lokiinmediasideblog]

What Norse myth books have you read already? I need new recs x

I don't think any of these are particularly new. Trying to make a list of all I've read. And granted, my attention span has gotten worse over the years.

The first book featuring the norse pantheon in any form I read was Neil Gaiman's "American Gods".

There's Diana Wynne Jones' "Eight Days of Luke" which served as inspiration for "American Gods", according to Neil Gaiman. Children's book.

There's also "Odd and the Frost Giants" by Neil Gaiman and his "Norse Mythology" retelling. Children's book.

I LOVED Louie Stowell's Loki: A Bad God's Guide to Being Good, if you have children or trouble getting through books, get this! It's hilarious and smart. I enjoyed it as an adult. Diary of a Wimpy Kid meets Norse mythology.

I enjoyed the first two books by Joanne Harris as a teen, "Runemarks" and "Runelight." The first two (esp. the first) are fun and I love the Bart Simpson-esque portrayal of Loki. Unfortunately, the quality of later books focusing on Loki is terrible.

I unfortunately read Joanne Harris' "The Testament of Loki", first chapter is interesting, but he's unwillingly sharing a body with an annoying teen girl, and the way Harris deals with eating disorders is really bad. It's awful. Don't recommend.

I think Lyra Wolf's The Nine Worlds rising series are an easy read. I think she has a great comedic voice and the books are worth reading just for that, and I like the toxic Odin/Loki relationship. I do have complaints about them, such as the anachronistic language (e.g. Loki knowing what a Chihuahua is), and that Sigyn doesn't have flaws other than caring too much for her no-good brother. She also has the women are either saints or evil witches dichotomy going on in terms of portrayals of goddesses. I think the stakes are good in these books so that you keep reading them.

I enjoyed Cat Rector's "The Goddess of Nothing at All" A LOT. While it doesn't have my ideal morally gray portrayal of Sigyn yet, it did make Sigyn more complex than others have. I also like this book mainly because I am a sadist and I love whump and there's a lot of suffering on it. It's so sad you won't be laughing at the myth!Loki memes. I would avoid this book if you don't like whump. I do have criticisms about it, such as her Loki was a bit too nice for my taste and could have been worse (making him justified for cutting Sif's hair feels forced; he can still be a loveable and tragic asshole, you know?). But my tragedy-loving self loves this!

I was looking forward to Genevieve Gornichec's "The Witch's Heart", it has a cute start of Loki giving Angrboda her burnt heart, but she criminally made Angrboda and Loki boring as fuck. Angrboda conveniently doesn't remember anything and just fumbles her way inside a cave for a large portion of the book. And she is the POV we're following. WE ARE STUCK IN A CAVE SHE WON'T LEAVE. Loki's portrayal in this is one of the most cisheteronormative I've seen yet, and it's surprising the author managed this in a story where Loki's myth hijinks ensue and wears a dress (he impatiently yanks off because he felt emasculated). The author thinks having a lean build and no beard=queer. Loki only shows interest in women and feels emasculated while wearing a dress. I also happen to hate Skadi and her weird castration fetish in this book. Bitch wouldn't shut up about it. The good thing about this book is that there's no anachronisms, and I liked Hel's portrayal.

So confession, I had Kindle Unlimited trial briefly, and I read a bunch of Loki books, such as Lyra Wolf's.

I think(?) I read A.B. Frost's "Father of Monsters". It was quite short, but has nice illustrations, and Loki's endearing, even if a little shit. That both takes one for the team and also endangers the team.

I read (partially) some book about Loki escaping his punishment early and rejoining the Aesir, but it was criminally boring (it never described how Loki got out of situations and the prose was incredibly VAGUE) and seemed geared towards Norse pagans(Which I AM NOT). Had a spiritual conflict-avoiding vibe. It was called "Loki" but forgot the author's name and I accessed for free by Kindle Unlimited. I also didn't like that it referred to cops as "Tyr's warriors". FUCK COPS.

I have not finished reading Mike Vasich's "Loki". I think the man thinks MCU Loki is accurate to Norse mythology, because that's the only Loki I could picture (and he was adopted by Odin). And man spent way too long describing sensing "power levels" that I ended up getting bored and stopped reading. I've also seen some amusing excerpt from another of his books I have not read. But, if you're an author, don't spend a lot of time describing power levels, FFS! You'll bore the fuck out of your readers.

[lokiinmediasideblog]

I loathed that book. The way it dealt (didn't finish it because it was so BAD) with Eating Disorders (just eat some cake ) was terrible. And Jumps was just very annoying.

I loved "Runemarks" and "Runelight" (the Loki is quite fun), but I fucking hated "The Testament of Loki." Why the hell would you bring the Norse Gods to our world in such a boring way and then not do any research on serious topics you chose to present?

Not to diss the author (Joanne Harris) but if she thinks that every 17 year old teen is an emo with eating disorder and self harm then idk anymore. Like i understand the author is 59 and her understanding of teen is old by now (even I wouldn't dare to create a character like this and I'm 27 and i can still remember when i was 17), but like why she didn't research better or just idk have a character that ISN'T a teen... It really kills the vibe of the book to me tbh. Especially that i can relate to Loki more and I'm not a teen so it all feels cringy to me.

[lokiinmediasideblog]

Book Review: "Black Wolf: The Binding of Loki" by Una Verdandi

I liked a lot of things about this book (4/5). I think it's a worthwhile read despite me disliking some decisions and aspects. I would only avoid if some of the topics are triggering or if some of the things I mention in the "Cons" list are deal-breakers for you. My main complaint is how LONG this book is. 900+ pages! I would not recommend to people who prefer softer depictions of Loki. He spirals into something akin to the Joker in this one, still a very compelling depiction regardless and I enjoyed it (I do like the Joker as a character).

Loki is not soft or silly in this book. He terrifies pretty much everyone (to the point where they don't taunt him much despite them disapproving of his lifestyle and choices, and I'd argue Thor gets taunted more over being unmanly over his beard being burnt off by Loki). What softness he had gets lost in the end. And he is impossible to humiliate because he just doesn't give a fuck about anything or how he's perceived. With the exception of Sleipnir ( it wasn't rape in this book, he spends a lot of time as an animal and wanted a child), the myths that made Loki seem like a silly fuck-up (such as the goat CBT) were omitted. He's an unnerving and unpredictable force in this re-telling.

Warnings: There's physical abuse, period-typical queerphobia, referenced miscarriages, child abuse, rape, domestic violence, lots of murder, referenced genocide, and questionable use of binding oaths. There's referenced/implied underage sexual activity, implied CSA. The morality is rather "period-typical."

Pros:

It has probably the best Sigyn characterization I've ever encountered in a book. She feels realistic and complicated. She's pragmatic and very strong and independent, and also has a history of being an abuse victim, and she takes no shit. This is coming from the blog that constantly trashes a lot of her characterizations.

I also liked Sif's characterization, and the way her relationship with Loki is interpreted here is very interesting and ends up driving a lot of the plot. Frigg's characterization is also compelling. She did everything to prevent the death of her son. This book wrote women rather well and that's very unusual.

I liked how Loki's shapeshifter powers work here. He basically has to make himself again back from scratch (he can heal himself in that way), and this book also plays with body horror (looking at his transformations is very disturbing and it's painful for him). Loki is shown to have a very high pain tolerance for this reason.

I think this book's messy dynamics and portrayals are compelling and interesting. Odin manipulates his sons and destroys their relationships in doing so while trying to avoid the Prophecy of Ragnarok.

Loki was not boring. He's compelling despite being VERY awful. The Aesir killed off his people ( a clan of Jotnar that are referred to as "Nomads") and "adopted" him, thinking they would avoid the Prophecy of Ragnarok in doing so. He's very much aware of his history and rightfully resents the Aesir for it. He spends a lot of time in animal form, and this is something Jotnar are known to do and how most of his children came to be. Loki reads like a domesticated force of nature more than anything.

I liked the Cain and Abel dynamic established between Balder and Loki. And Balder being a dumb-ass indestructible child taunting Thor into hitting him by telling him that Loki was right about Thor "having fat tits" was hilarious and got me to read the damn long-ass book.

I liked the idea of the Gods navigating modern day post-apocalyptic Midgard trying to catch Loki, and criticizing the lack of housing casually (because Rules of Hospitality).

The Jotnar are portrayed in a sympathetic light rather than evil monsters that must be vanquished.

Cons:

I liked the Logyn in this book a lot and was disappointed to see Loki evolve into a VERY abusive asshole to his wife and children. The one time I thought it plausible and found Logyn compelling this happened! Basically, Loki's marriage to Sigyn was arranged by Odin to avoid intrafamilial conflict. Sigyn gained Loki's respect with her wit and pragmatism. Loki gained Sigyn's with his parental love towards Sleipnir. They bonded over Sleipnir, and I thought that was beautiful. But in the end, it went to shit...

I know this will turn a lot of people away from this book, which is why I mention it here. I admit I would not mind as much it if I wasn't annoyed by the overall Jokerification of Loki commonly seen in media depictions. I was expecting Loki to be a very shitty husband like Thor was depicted here, but not to the extent of marital rape and physically abusive to Sigyn, Vali, and Narfi. After his downfall being caused by the loss of some of his children and establishing Loki as very parental and protective of his children earlier in the narrative, the way he treated his less unusual children due to a "spiral into madness" makes for a loss of payoff. And the one thing that really annoyed me is that they implied he raped underage Roskva because "he went mad". This is not in the myths. And IDK, the Jokerification thing bugs me. The Roskva thing felt like it was just for shock value rather than to establish more plot points (which is why I am a bit more forgiving of the "Loki is an abusive husband/father" thing in here since it has relevance to Vali's characterization).

Keep in mind the book is mostly from the POV of characters on the Aesir's side. They do reference Odin's myth-accurate rape of Rindr, but it's focused less than with Loki's retelling-only ones. There's not as much focus on the Aesir's actions of similar weight to Loki's cruel misdeeds. It's just mentioned Thor kills Jotnar women very casually, and a Jotnar in cahoots with Loki refers to putting an end to the constant "raping of Jotnar women" by the Aesir.

[lokiinmediasideblog]

Reading two books for LokiBookClub. Hope I actually finish them because me starting books imultaneously makes me take FOREVER.

One is a recommendation from someone that didn't like it much but thought was worth discussing and doesn't have a lot of mythology, only more towards the end. I am wary of a white author portraying Inuit culture though. Still on the beginning though. I don't dislike it yet, and the prose is good so far. I like the MC's backstory and that it's made me go into rabbit holes such as "What language does the word "parka" come from?" I learned it's Nenet. Fair warning, I was warned by the person recommending there's rape in this book.

Another book reads like a much more myth-accurate version of Marvel and has been enjoyable so far. It also made me realize that the lip-sewing from the lips has some rape imagery. The way the needle piercing lips and flesh was described made me see that. Maybe I am just making it up, but whatevs. I see violent imagery in a lot of things.

[lokiinmediasideblog]

These are wonderful! I love them so much!! I've been trying to get my hands on the second installment. Highly recommend! Everyone should read them.

I have found Trials of Apollo but it’s Loki

Book summary:

“After one trick too many, Loki is banished to live on Earth as a "normal" school boy. Forbidden from using his AWESOME godly powers, Loki must show moral improvement. As he records his lies THE TRUTH in his magical (judgemental) diary”

And the opening line:

“My name is Loki and I am a god.”

In all honesty it seems to be a mix of ToA, Norse mythology and Tom Gates so my hopes are high.

[lokiinmediasideblog]

Ok let's do the reverse: what are your *favorite* Loki runs? The ones that make you go "this writer Gets It"?

I constantly fawn over Blood Brothers, which can be found as "Loki (2004)" on the website on my pinned post. I'll be honest and say I am WAY more likely to woobify this bastard old man than MCU!Loki (and I love to make MCU!Loki cry). BB!Loki, he's so tragic! He's my babygirl!

I think my favorite Loki outside of that run is when he's written by Kieron Gillen, either as original adult, kid!Loki, or Ikol. Read Siege:Loki, Journey into Mystery, and Young Avengers featuring kid!Loki. And FUN FACT: Tom Hiddleston felt like Kieron Gillen "Got it" and informed his performance with those comic book runs. Even sent him a letter. Journey into Mystery was the ongoing series back when the first Thor movie came out.

I am quite fond of the old-timey Thor comic where Loki turns into a pigeon.

I like the whole "fighting against destiny" aspect from AoA. I admit I haven't kept up much with recent runs after that. I've read the Dan Watters run, some of Immortal Thor, War of the Realms I've only read some parts (Laufey eating Loki) because crossover events tire me. I have vague ideas of plot points because I see comic panels sometimes. And IDK I feel like Jason Aaron just throws random shit at you in his Thor comics, and it gets overwhelming and makes it hard to care.

I guess I like "Trials of Loki" too, though I'm a bit eh on some parts of it. It references mythology more than the usual myth (do you all want to see Loki's Wager angst? I FUCKING LOVE LOKI's WAGER ANGST!!). And there's the feeling of Loki being gaslighted by everyone, even the narrative.

[lokiinmediasideblog]

go on a rant about ultimate thor

CW: Nazi mention

I shall! This took a while to gather.

So it starts out with runes and a bunch of Nazi symbols ON THE VERY FIRST PAGE. This comic reinforces the incorrect notion that the Black Sun symbol is a Pagan symbol when IT IS NOT.

I do actually like the whole "People think it's all on Thor's head" aspect, but the rest of the writing is just convoluted and incoherent. I also find this factoid thrown around in an exchange a cool explanation of how Mjolnir works.

Dr.Donald Blake makes an appearance and he's not Thor's mortal alter ego created through Odin's magic to teach Thor humility.

We are shown interactions between a masked Nazi, "Baron Zemo" and the Nazis at Wewelsburg castle. Zemo shows them this little stones with runes, and they go on about how the Sacred texts of the "Poetic Edda" show how to use them. *facepalm* I just find this very lazy concept-wise.

Then we see flashbacks to "eons ago" in Asgard. Where Balder is fighting giants only to receive help from Loki and Thor. At some point Loki saves Thor from a Frost giant and warns him about watching his back, a rather heavy-handed foreshadowing. Loki also keeps going off about how Ragnarok is real and WILL HAPPEN. Balder mocks him for being grin and throws a snowball at him. Loki is worried about the constant war and attacks from Jotunheim. Balder reveals he knows Odin is building a secret weapon, Mjolnir, that he commissioned to the troll Ulik. It seems like Loki didn't get his lips sewn shut in this.

Then we're sent back to Nazi Germany and are bombarded by magic mumbo-jumbo that I can't bring myself to care for. Something about opening a gate. The most unrealistic aspect is that the Nazis want to fight the Gods of Asgard despite the existence of white supremacist Norse pagan circles such as the Asatru and Odinists (unless it's Loki because they usually hate them).

Then, apparently they've allied with the Frost Giants, whom will be revealed to be under a peace treaty with Asgard that has harsh stipulations.

I actually liked how they use MRI to reveal Thor is actually a God.

So, the war with Jotunheim ends. I have trouble understanding the throne picture regarding "Who's who?" I think Farbauti is in the Moon throne with the Jotuns. I wonder if the other woman is Frigga/Freyja? Because unlike most comic book runs, Loki is actually biologically related to Thor as a half-brother. Odin (most likely through some threat) made Farbauti have Loki and had him reside in Asgard to "ensure peace". Which screams hostage situation. By the time the story takes place, Farbauti, Loki, and Loki's fully Frost giant brother are stuck in Asgard. Jotunheim's fall made Farbauti despondent and so Loki has mommy issues here and is driven by them to get Asgard to fall and earn his despondent mother's love. Also, for some reason Farbauti looks like an Asgardian with black hair. It's never explained WHY. Is this magic? Did Odin do this to her?

Also, Asgardians like to fight very scantily clad. I find it funny how Balder and Loki have color-coordinated underwear. And I think Thor was given the same as the W3 to show how "down-to-Earth" he is. LMAO. There's very bad and heavy-handed foreshadowing of Loki's betrayal again, when Loki decides to turn against Thor in the game, and Loki continues to warn in a ridiculously ominous manner about change and such (It gets so tiring...). Balder goes on a fatphobic rant towards Volstagg during the fighting games because the writer thought that was funny. I am surprised Balder won instead of Thor. But Balder proceeds to go off about how Thor is the only one that can lift Mjolnir in the typical praiseworthy fashion of these comics.

We go back to the Nazis and the alliance of the Jotuns with them. MORE MAGICAL BULLSHIT JARGON I HAVE TROUBLE CARING ABOUT.

Thor asks Odin about Mjolnir's power. I gotta say I REALLY hate Odin's design in this. And he spends a lot of time shirtless. In a break from tradition, Thor is already "the humble one" rather than an arrogant proud and violent prince that needs to learn humility. And that makes this even worse and feel preachy. Thor's appeal is that he doesn't start as a good guy.

The Nazis and Frost Giants open the bifrost gate. Heimdall appears and attacks them. Baron Zemo shoots an arrow through Heimdall's skull (seriously he's very good with arrows).

This is how the Odinson brothers are drawn in this series. Guess which one they made into a Nazi ? (a) Is it the brown-haired white dude that's not a "peace offering" and also a heir to Asgard's empire? (left) (b) What about the guy that fits the exact "Aryan ideal" , is not a "peace offering", and is the preferred heir to Asgard?(right) OR (c) Is it the one that's constantly referred as a "half-breed", was drawn with suspiciously Native American facial features, and who was born to his Jotun mother as a "peace offering"? (middle)

If you picked C, you're unfortunately correct. And Ta-Da! The twist we all saw coming from a mile away they tried to disguise by having Loki change his eye color to brown (odd choice for allying with Nazis)!

Then the Nazis, the half-breed Loki, and Frost giants partake in an antisemitic trope of blood-drinking the whitest mfs around to gain the superior Asgardian strength. And IDK this is the worst way to show you hate Nazis...

The art seems to be deteriorating. The Frost Giants and Nazis start Ragnarok, Odin comments that Loki's back from banishment. There's a flashback to Balder catching Loki looking at the stupid stones and Loki kills him. Balder for some reason is Odin's "all-seeing eye" has a weird connection to Odin.

The purpose of the facility Thor is being studied is eugenics.... and they're not the villains...

Thor goes off about his memories of the Asgardian Black sun and I need people to stop fomenting the myth that it's a pagan symbol. We go back to Asgard being attacked. Odin sends Loki to "a room with no doors." Loki is unrepentant for the evulz.

Odin is killed by an Ice Wolf who is in turn killed by Thor. And we have this sappy shit.

Then in another very badly executed twist and against comic tradition, it turns out tha Dr. Donald Blake was actually BALDER ALL ALONG.

Apparently Odin plans to remake Asgard. They go back to the lab and this guy trips me up because he looks like a beardless Thor in a lab coat. ¡Que cientifico tan mamadisimo!

They are studying Thor's harness and such. Trying to reverse engineer it and add more features. Only Thor can use it so that's why he's kept around. Then Thor asks them to make him a hammer. Then Thor goes around being a white savior, and gets offers from the US military because he's special enough to help in the army.

Oh and there's the masked Nazi again (Loki) and some other one fucking around with the stones again. Magic bs happens.

Loki makes the Hulk go apeshit and unites the Avengers in the typical fashion of the comics. Thor saves the day. Bleh bleh. THE END.

[lokiinmediasideblog]

Past halfway through the very long 900+ page Norse myth re-telling book. I actually am liking it a lot, the author does a great job at giving even minor characters (and women! ) complexity. Everyone's complex. After I am done with it, I'll give a review and resume TWitW because I think I should do more research to evaluate that one.