#between giants and asgardians which is the whole point

[gremlin-girly]

Kinktober Day 7

Title: The Perfect Jotunn Bride

Kink: Macrophilia

Pairing: Frost Giant! Loki x f!Asgardian!Reader,

Tags/ Warnings: SMUT, macrophilia, temperature play (Frost Giant skin), descriptions of violence (not toward reader), arranged/forced marriage, dubcon, mean!Loki (he should just be a warning anyway), knife play (brief), corset, struggling to breathe (bc of the corset), nipple/breast play, thigh riding, teasing, biting/marking, pet names (see below author's note), squirting, vaginal fingering

No beta - and we're ignoring that I posted this 1 minute past midnight xoxo

Word Count: 3.1k

Summary: Your Husband, the Frost Giant Prince Loki, has come back from battle and expects to see his bride.

As always I do not give permission for my work to be reposted, translated or copied. My warnings are non-exhaustive (even though I do try to capture everything) but please read at your own risk. I am not responsible for your content consumption.

I hope you enjoy; likes, comments and reblogs are always appreciated!

A/N: I had to edit this fic more than once to cut and splice things from it. I expect I'll have a part 2 (and 3) soon... I don't even wanna talk about how many words this was YEESH. I gotta learn to make a one shot and not stay up to early hours with a 6k storyline. Again, this was supposed to be LONGER 💀

I found this website here that helped with Old Norse translations (but they may be wrong!) I'll link it once I get the chance - Love, Grem x

smăr einn = little one

Part 2

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You had just barely managed to avoid the advances of your husband for the last few weeks. Too busy with the politics between realms to fully focus on you; and you were grateful for it. Your husband was ruthless, cruel and cold. That last adjective quote literally. The prince of Jotunheim was not to be trifled with; as your brother and father had found out rather perilously. Your father had sought to trick Loki and whilst his back was figuratively turned, your brother  was sent to kill him.  

Loki returned your brother’s mangled corpse back to your home, with a letter promising war unless your father’s prized possession – you – was given as penalty. Marriage with the prince of Jotunheim meant two realms were unified, which was far more prosperous  than war.  However, that meant being ripped away from your home, your family, your friends, your fiancé and everything you had ever known and being thrust into the cold, unforgiving hands of a barbaric frost giant.  You had begged, cried and pleaded with your father but nothing had changed his mind. It was set in stone.

Your new husband took joy in tormenting you on your wedding say, reminding you time and time again that you were lucky to be a negotiation prize rather than one of his spoils of war. The thought had made you shudder with terror and, thankfully, his attentions were lured away to another realm, another battle, another day spent far away from you.

You quickly learned that many of the female frost giants were unimpressed with you as a tiny little thing in comparison to their race as a whole. Your body almost entirely unequipped for Jotunheim weather. Your ladies-in-waiting were no different.  They had spoken in their native tongue in front of you, clearly, discussing you and how you probably didnt meet their standards nor their prince’s. You’d stayed quiet and fiddled with your hands, unsure of how to approach them or speak to them. Everything you knew about frost giants was from your culture; which labelled them as blood-thirsty barbarians. Though, the ice fortress you resided in was immaculate and strictly designed – different from your home in Asgard yet no less civilised.  That was a good starting point.

over the course of the week’s your husband’s absence, you focused on befriending your ladies-in-waiting. You asked about their culture, their lives and the language they spoke. If you were going to be here until the end of your days, you may as well know what is being said behind your back and, well, to your face.

You picked up words quickly, studying in the silence of the enormous bed chamber. You had borrowed a few children’s books from the library, and one or two on the flora and fauna of Jotunheim, though you could only appreciate the pictures thus far.

The bed chamber was far too big   for you, perfect size for your husband, you supposed. Large wooden bookcases adorned the far wall, and there was a small (well small for a giant) fireplace adorned with a fur rug from a creature you couldn’t name, but it was soft. The bed itself was so huge you practically drowned in the covers. It was cosy but you agreed with yourself it was probably cosy because your husband was not there with you.

Yet.

One morning, after waking up  relatively late, your ladies-in-waiting were busying about the bedroom.  

“What’s going on?” you ask nervously, already anticipating the answer.

Gertrud, the more social of the two giantess’, gave you a smile as she paused her dusting of the bookshelf. “Prince Loki is returning from battle today.”

You suppress a shiver and try to smile, but you’re not confident you look entirely happy. “Wonderful.”

Gertrud continues regardless, her face contorting to an excited, doe eyed look.  “He’s sent you a gift ahead of his arrival, my lady.”

“Oh,” you say, trying to sound chipper. In the very short time you had spent in Jotunheim, Loki had only ever taunted you, albeit briefly. A gift was... new. And you didn’t like it one bit.  “How thoughtful of him.”

“He left instruction for you to wear it on his return.” Gertrud says wistfully, as if it’s the most romantic thing she could dream of.

“Wear?” You speak before you can process what’s been said, the shock in your tone evident. Your mouth goes dry and heat burns its way to your cheeks. You weren’t stupid. Wearing something for his return only meant one thing. Your stomach becomes a pit and you have to scream at yourself internally to stop from swaying.

Gertrud mistakes the your shock and flushed face as a sign of excitement, not of worry and fear.  “I must say the garment – whatever it is – is not from Jotunheim. Your husband  must have acquired it for you, my lady.” Gertrud pauses to smile over at you. “I think our prince is quite taken with his bride.”

You flush a deeper shade of pink and clear your throat. “So it would seem.” You murmur carefully. “Where is the garment? What is it?”

Gertrud places the duster down and heads to a dresser on the otherside of the room, picking up a package and handing it over to you. You delicately take the package from her, shivering at the coolness of her skin, and begin to unwrap it. To your surprise, and utter embarrassment, it’s a corset with matching underwear. Gertrud’s eyebrows raise and she gives you a knowing smirk. You bury your face in your hands.

“I do not need to know what that thing is to know it’s intent,” She says smugly. “As I said, our prince is taken with his bride.”

You peek out from your fingers, eyeing the corset.  It’s blue – frost giant blue to be exact – with white lace detail across the bust and back, and white ribbon zigzagging up the back. If this was your husband’s idea of a sick joke, it worked. You still couldn’t decide if you were going to vomit from nervousness.

Gertrud pats your shoulder gently, again misreading your embarassment as bashfulness.

“I will run your bath, my lady. I do not know how to help you into that... thing.” She eyed the corset suspiciously. “But I will ensure that you are ready for your husband’s return.”

You only nod, anxiety twisting your stomach into knots. You should have known this would be inevitable.

You pace fretfully around the large bedroom. You’d wrapped yourself in a robe, hiding your corset and matching underwear, feeling too exposed even for the man who was your husband. You’d attempted to study again, books and notes strewn across the fur rug in front of the crackling fireplace, but the nervousness of your first night with your husband had you too worried to think.

You’d shooed Gertrud away as quickly as you could, after being bathed in the nicest oils and scents imaginable, softening your skin to butter. You’d fiddled with your corset, tightening it possibly too tight, and after one look in the mirror making heat rise where it definitely shouldn’t you’d throat on your robe.

You’d been pacing for an hour, or thereabouts. Word of Loki’s return to Jotunheim had spread like wildfire  within the fortress, yet  he still hadn’t come to see you. Any other time you would have been grateful but you knew that he was tormenting you; keeping you on edge until he decided to visit. You even contemplated running and hiding but you knew the risk; Loki had whispered as much to you at your wedding banquet, reminding you that if you ran away all out war would ensue. Starting with your father’s head on a spike.  You also knew that hiding would only deny the inevitable; you would eventually have to share a bed with your husband and as a wife, you were expected to bear his children. You shuddered again.

The door to the chambers opened. Your head whipped up, hands clutching at your robe tightly without thought, as you watched Loki enter.  He towered above you, easily twelve feet high maybe more, but he must have came from one of the bathrooms because his blue skin trickled with water droplets from his long raven’s wing hair, and he held a towel around his waist.  You averted your gaze to the fire, face flushing. Despite it all, he was still attractive.

Loki’s chuckle echoes throughout the chamber and the door shuts behind him.

“What? No welcome for your husband?”  He sneers. You don’t have to look to know his lips are curled into that cruel smile you’ve grown accustomed to. “And I see you’re not wearing your gift.”

You look over at him as he approaches, too scared to move. “I-I am.” You  murmur, regretting the words as they leave your mouth.

Loki sits on the rug in front of you, on leg up the other flush against the rug, the towel leaving little to the imagination. His red eyes stay on you as he smirks, eyebrows rising in surprise.

“Well,” He gestures at your robe. “Let your husband see.”

Your face burns, your palms are sweaty against your robe, and you pause. You look at your feet, clearing your throat.

“a-aren’t you going to tell me about your battle?” your attempt for stalling is dismissed immediately.

“Later. Show me. Before I remove it for you.”

You nod quickly and with a shaky breath, you untie your robe and let the garment pool at your feet. You would attempt to cover yourself but you aren’t even naked, which somehow makes it worse as you feel Loki’s crimson eyes rake over you.  Your chest his flushed and heaves  in the corset, ribbon straining with each breath. Your breasts look like they might spill over at any given moment and   You feel a little light headed from the entire situation. 

“Come closer, wife.” Loki curls a finger at you and you take a few tentative steps closer until you’re stood between his knees, still staring at your feet. His finger tilts your chin up to look at him. The coolness of his finger makes you shiver but when you meet his eyes, there’s a softness you don’t expect to see. “You look beautiful.”

You don’t quite gasp, but your mouth makes a small ‘o’ in shock. You hadn’t expected something so sincere, let alone nice and it makes heat surge between your thighs.

“Thank you, Loki.” You say softly. Loki shifts his legs, eyes not leaving yours as his lips twitch upwards into a smirk. His gaze flits behind you to your notes and his smirk widens into a grin.

“Ah, my wife has been busy whilst I’ve been gone.” He comments, gaze flicking back to you.  “Come into my arms and tell me what you’re working on, smár einn.”

The foreign words tickle at your memory but you can only recognise the word one. You take another few steps forward, squeaking with surprise when Loki’s cold forearm  wraps around your waist, guiding you to straddle a large, muscular thigh. The icyness of his skin against the warmth between your thighs makes you audibly gasp, and Loki chuckles.  

“Happy I’m home?” He teases, your back meeting his torso as he cages you in around his thigh. Wisps of his hair tickle at your shoulders, and a cool kiss is placed at your nape makes you startle. “Because I’m happy to be back. I thought you wouldn’t wear this for me.”

Your blushing isn’t missed by Loki nor is the throb of your cunt on his thigh. When you don’t answer, Loki’s nose runs along your nape, making you shiver again. You’re breathing harder, your breasts bobbing with each breath, as you try to get as much air into your lungs as possible. You feel like you’re suffocating, even though Loki’s grip loose on your waist.

Loki doesn’t seem to notice, or perhaps he doesn’t care, he’s too busy being smug about your excitement for him, and continues to tease you about your corset; how you look like the perfect Jotun bride now. You mumble thanks at his teases, trying not to look at him and trying not to think of anything, but Loki start to trail icy kisses up your neck that burn your skin in their wake. You mewl quietly and shift your legs causing more friction against your cunt which in turn makes you squeeze your thighs around his gigantic thigh and you notice that the same raised lines on the tough blue skin of his arms and face are on his legs too. Loki nips gently at you shoulder, eliciting a strangled yelp from you.

“That’s it, warm me up, smăr einn.” He taunts, licking the skin he’d bitten with a luke-warm tongue. “Rutting against me like a bitch in heat, no instruction needed.”

Shame floods you at his taunt but so does a throb of excitement. Loki kisses at your neck a little more hungrily in response, earning another few short gasps from you.

“Go on,” He urges in a low, mocking tone. “You want to – I can feel that you want to.”

You whimper pathetically, rolling your hips forward for more friction. Your lip quivers and you bit down – hard – you’ll be dammed if you let him think he wins by seeing you cry. But your giant husband only sneers down at you. Your clit brushes against one of the raised ridges of his skin; electricity crashing through you as you gasp loudly, falling forward onto your palms. Your nails dig into his tough skin when you hear him chuckle, face flushing with anger as you glare in his direction. Loki only mocks you further, holding a hand up in faux-surrender.

“I’m sorry, wife.” He says smugly, watching your reaction. “Please, continue fucking yourself on my thigh.”

You fluster again, but the light-headedness you felt earlier returns. This time, though, instead of struggling to breathe you feel faint and you sway and swoon atop Loki’s thigh. Loki raises an eyebrow, vexed at your actions, before realising that you aren’t faking. Something akin to concern crosses his face and he gets to his feet, holding you close as he takes you to his large bed.

He places you down somewhat gently, your breathing laboured, the constriction from the corset aching at your ribs. You can’t seem to get enough air into your lungs at they scream at your for it. When you look at your husband you wonder briefly if he’ll leave you to die like this and when he pulls a knife from his bedside table, you think he will be the one to take your life instead. The blade is cold against the heat of your skin. Loki doesn’t rush. He trails the tip of the blade down your sternum, between your breasts, to the lacy frill of your corset.

“I can remove this if you so wish,” he says coolly, pressing the blade into your skin, but not hard enough to draw blood. “But I need to hear you beg.”

You want to kick him for the heat that pools between your legs. He knows you’re struggling to breathe with this God forsaken corset on and somehow he manages to find a way to please himself.

“Please.” You huff, but Loki clicks his tongue.

“No, no.” He chides. “Properly.”

His eyes meet yours, and you can feel the challenge emanating from them. You grit your teeth and take a small breath, trying to avoid crushing your ribs. In a small voice you beg him in the way he’s requested.

“Please, husband.” You mumble. “Please, help me.”

The ripping of the ribbons are swift. Your beautiful but bone-crushingly tight corset falls away and you inhale a deep breath that transforms into a gasp when Loki’s mouth finds your nipples and sucks them almost lovingly. Your hands root into his thick black hair, mind drawing a blank, as a cold hand tweaks the nipple he isn’t paying attention to with his mouth. You couldn’t push him away even if you wanted to, not with a giant’s strength. However at this moment in time, you didn’t want him far from you.

Your gasps and moans fill the chamber and Loki smirks up at you from where he’s latched to your breast. Peppering kisses to every inch of skin he can manage, Loki finally finds a supple piece of skin above your left breast that he deems the perfect space for a mark. A mark to show the world that you are his. Only his.

He bites down onto the skin, feeling the vessels burst between his teeth and growls at you when you tug at his hair with a pained yell. You writhe beneath him as he sucks and kisses the spot he marked, the gesture is almost sweet, loving, but you’re too busy feeling too turned on to care. His hands large hands move down to remove what’s left of your underwear, a long, cool finger teasing at your folds.

“Loki,” you say his name with no air left in your lungs, your body trembling under his touch. You’re no longer fighting the desire you feel, which stirs something within Loki’s icy chest. He looks down at you, head tilted faux-curiously, unable to resist teasing you.

“That’s the first time you’ve used my name.” He comments, watching your face contort in pleasure as his index finger breaches your dripping core. “I believe you deserve a reward for being such a good wife.”

His digit pumps you at a vicious pace that, after the assault on your sensitive breasts, sends you careening over the edge of ecstasy quickly. You coat his finger with your cum, chanting his name desperately, strangling his finger with your pussy as he helps you ride out your high. Your legs twitch as you watch him with half lidded gaze as he remove his finger from you with a smirk. He towers over you and before you can say a word, he’s peppering you with soft, cold kisses.

“My smăr einn,” he says softly. “You did well tonight. I look forward to seeing what tomorrow will bring.”

You don’t think about what he could mean, your brain is too foggy and you feel too wonderful to want to dampen the wonderful elation you’re feeling; something you haven’t felt in weeks. You don’t even complain when Loki curls over you, allowing him to wrap himself around you under the sheets of your bed. Nor do you move away when Loki kisses your head and wishes you goodnight; something he’s never done before.

As you drift to sleep, anxiety of the day and the high provided by your orgasm taking its toll, you wonder if maybe your relationship with Loki could be better than you had expected.

[agentoffangirling]

Not the same anon, but Sylvie was not taken in by the TVA for being a girl Loki. To me, it seems like she was taken because she would have grown up in a loving, stable home. She was actually told of her adoption, and unlike Loki, it doesn't bother which either indicates that she was not made to hate the Jotuns, or that she isn't one.

For one, I don't believe anon indicated that Sylvie was taken by the TVA for being born a woman; it is heavily implied and accepted by a majority of the fandom that she was taken for wanting to be a hero (we can see kid her play with toy Valkyries in the series). But technically we'll never know the real reason

And to quickly address your last point first, Sylvie is fully Jotun. Her surname is Laufeydottir: daughter of Laufey, which we all know is the king of the Frost Giants. I wanted to include a shot of her file for proof, but for some reason they all list "Asgardian" as her race. Which. Is very much incorrect, Sylvie herself states she was adopted and unless Laufey is Asgardian in this universe, this makes no sense

(Also the prop they used for her arrest record is generally wrong in several places. Not just the Asgardian thing, but also with her name they list "Laufeyson". This is incorrect according to Old Norse naming conventions, also the wiki lists her surname as Laufeydottir. Her place of birth is listed as "unknown" when it should be Jotunheim. This whole prop kinda proves how little the creators paid attention to Loki's story lol)

But the rest could potentially correct. It's implied that Frigga did not care as much in her reality, as she never learned magic from her, so the idea of a perfectly happy life is sorta up in the air. They generally don't speak much of Sylvie's life in Asgard, probably so the relationship between her and Loki wouldn't seem as weird. Still, there might be some truth to your theory

[gloriousburden]

Anon who wrote the soulmate snippet here — SORRY I TOOK A BIT TO GET TO YOU. BUT THANK YOU FOR THE KIND WORDS!! I'M GLAD YOU LIKED IT. I was smiling the whole time I read your answer lol. Got me pumped up. I'm also very picky with how Loki is written and his dialogue is an important part I always take in consideration. Well, in general, it's with all Asgardians, but he's always a little more complex. SO I'M REALLY GLAD YOU LIKE IT!!

I don't have a blog atm since most of the things I've wrote are unfinished 💯 If I do post them I'll tell you then (no need for shares or anything though really) Also I listened to Neon Moon and 😭😭😭 IT FITS SO MUCH. That hit the spot. Added it in my playlist, gives large amount of fuel. Thanks for your kind words again. I love you too 😭😭❤️

In the meantime... I wanna hear your thoughts on some stuff!! Disclaimer, none of it backed up by canon, so ... Just having fun thinking and brainstorming, lol. Sorry if it's all so messy by the way.

I keep thinking of. Little parallels while living w the bby!! (spoiler I divulged in other things) Like maybe in summer he's more. Susceptible to everything. The heat gets to him and while I'm sure he could do something about it with his magic (he's a master sorcerer afterall,, how I wish we had scenes with him showing off), he's still grumpy. Everything is so warm but him. Oof. Idk how deep I could go with this because he's still a God and a Frost Giant he's incredibly resistant and resilient but. Yeah I think the heat can get to him.

Anddd in winter he's normal and all, def feels better, and your warmth isn't so dreadful to him any more. It's balanced and can. Calm him maybe (ur getting frozen) :))) Idnedidjwi I want to hug Hi :)))) (btw I read that post with the FNAF balloon boy soynd I wasw cryicn)

And about him being rather chilly to the touch. I don't think Asgardians are that cool, so ... wouldn't that distinguish him from them quickly? Nobody is ever going to be that cold, so he's just. The only one that way. And he might've despised it even before he found out about being a Jötunn. Maybe he tried masking it as he got more familiar with magic, and he refrained himself from touching anyone. Maybe they've pointed that out so many times that he grew conscious of it. Perhaps he slowly began changing his ways as some of his partners mentioned it too as a simple comment, but of course, it was anything but simple to him. And the more he restrained himself, the more he missed the lingering caresses and the slight warmth they offered. And now he grew a little colder within, too, more reserved. But of course I don't think he's reserved only because of his insecurities, but also because he's got outstanding intellect and he reads people easily, so obviously he's more guarded and doesn't let anyone know his motives (which well that is also shown in the movies) — and he's a prince and a God, not someone anyone can talk to everyday.

Buuut to "balance" out those insecurities I vision him being more confident in his looks, shifting between sexes and being very comfortable with that aspect, boosting himself a bit. Like, external worth, he believes he's great and holds himself up too, he's royalty — while in terms of inner worth he's... a mess. Do you see the vision pt 2,,

If I have more I'll get to you 🕺 Sending good vibes your way! And of course, if you have any theories yourself, do tell.

WAIT HI MY BELOVED ANON I was on a break from posting and didn’t see this!!! ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️ glad to hear from you again

Yeah your writing for him is really good !! It feels like Loki, and I love that. I sometimes hate reading Loki fics because he starts talking like a modern quirked up little English lad or a like… disgustingly American daddy dom™️ rather than the Shakespearean-esque creature he is and I have to change the dialogue in my mind and I do not have the vocabulary for that… I appreciate your vocabulary and awareness of his complexity 😞❤️

Wait no I always think of that… I live in a disgustingly warm climate and I know he would fucking hate it here. Loki and warmth… I imagine him subconsciously preferring colder/more room temperature water when bathing/showering. He’s taken hot baths before but is like… Is it supposed to burn like that? So he doesn’t do it often. Also he has a low tolerance to spicy food not because he’s sort of White/Scandinavian and not really used to it as it’s not popular in the cuisine he eats but because… Frost Giant… it burns! It’s not his fault 😞

I like to keep in mind the fact that heat SHOULD be one of his weaknesses. Loki is strong and has high endurance, but he’s also a Frost Giant. (You saw what happened to Laufey LOL)

It’s something that he cannot stand and also cannot endure for long. And of course there’s the whole “Thanos tortured Loki with heat and Loki was showing symptoms of heat exhaustion in Avengers” thing. I feel heat is VERY overwhelming for him. He becomes lightheaded and suddenly feels like he has a hundred layers of clothes on that he cannot take off. It’s suffocating. He does not like to sit by the fire he doesn’t have a high tolerance!!

If you want to weaken Loki… heat is your best friend.

@ Loki series writers he would not take hot baths nor would he feel a chill from a nonexistent breeze. I don’t give a fuck if it was just him flirting with Sylvie.

Ok I’ve never said this on here but I have this headcanon that Loki as a child would play pretend with Thor (maybe with some of their friends at the time as well) and Loki was always getting the Frost Giant role because he’s cold to the touch (and also because kids are evil sometimes LOL) 😞😞😞😞😞😞 which annoyed him because Frost Giant = bad!! But then the realization that comes many years later… 😞😞😞😞😞😞

Thor’s obsession with hunting the monsters down and slaying them all… maybe Loki wanted a chance to play the warrior/hero role as well, but NO he was always the Frost Giant!! Foreshadowing… 😛💅🏻

Wait I’ve thought about that too… the partner thing… he reaches out to touch them, and they’re all like “eesh!!” and flinch in surprise at how cold he is against their warmer skin, and Loki’s just like… Oh. Oh okay. And it just makes him feel dangerous even if obviously no one was harmed. Like people can’t melt into his touch because he’s so cold!! And people flinch at him!! And like you said, he becomes more cold and reserved GAHHHHHHHH

People always say he’s cold to the touch, but he doesn’t feel cold himself… and like ew why is everyone else so warm… is he perhaps ill? Then Thor 2011 happens. The realization™️ happens.

I do have a lot of.. thoughts about him touching a partner and his hands being so cold compared to their warm skin (which is especially warm due to the heat of the moment and all the excitement) but.. 😞 TOO SELF INDULGENT IT WILL BE A VERY OBVIOUSLY SELF INSERT FANFIC!!! Loki cold hands… GAHHHHHH

No exactly! So many people forget that Loki isn’t only reserved due to his insecurities, but also because he’s smart af and calculating and just better than everyone else idk… for some reason, those things cannot coexist... It’s either Loki hates himself and he’s super insecure and fragile and is just an innocent baby or it’s Loki is a narcissist and hates everyone around him and he’s a diva (💅🏻) and he’s a hedonistic asshole no in between🤦🏻‍♀️

I SEE THE VISION I HEAR EVERYTHING YOURE SAYING!!! THERES A BALANCE!! I do truly think Loki is self conscious about certain things but he’s also… confident about a lot. I don’t understand why people don’t get that. It’s so obvious. He’s not a narcissist, but he’s also not ENTIRELY self loathing. Like he canonically knows he’s highly intelligent and he uses that to his advantage lol. Everything he’s been “gifted” with, he uses. Even when he found out he was Jotun, which obviously he hated, he used his newfound abilities to his advantage.

AHHH finally someone who gets me LOL THE FNAF BALLOON BOY EXACTLY 😭😭😭😭😭

No because Loki is so Hi

Had to go through my camera roll for this LOL

Anon I love you keep your head held high and don’t forget to tell me if you ever start posting 💯

Forgive me for getting to this so late I did not get a notif and I was chilling for a bit I appreciate you as always! ALSO I READ THE SOULMATE THING ALMOST EVERYDAY 😞 WHENEVER YOU HAVE ANYTHING COME TO MY ASKS!!

[softquietsteadylove]

Hi! I know it's been a while, I've got this li'l request? If it's okay? So I remember this Odin scene in Eternals where Gil said Odin taught him some drink or whatever bartending skills Odin taught him😂

I was thinking of Odin and his fighters/people resting on Gil and Thena's place and Odin offering Gil to live in Asgard as a thanks for helping them in the battle of Tonsberg or whatever that is 'cuz I totally forgot😭. And then one of Odin's knights/fighters saw Thena having an episode and of course Gil was quick to calm Thena down and Odin thinks/saw the threat Thena brought on Gil's life so he reminded him of is offer again, Gil said he would ask Thena about it and that's when Odin said that he couldn't bring Thena with him in Asgard because of the threat she posed (uhh yes, we slander Odin). And Gil immediately asked Odin to leave their place, because Gil would never let anyone disrespect Thena!!!!!!!!

Thena heard the whole thing and when they were having dinner, she asked Gil why didn't he accepted because he always told her about Asgard and actually considered living there.

You decide what happens next, so yeah this is kinda angsty request jsjshs. Thank you so much, not just for this but for everything...

"I have not tasted this since the great battle of Jotunheim."

It would be more apt to call it the battle of Earth, the war between the Frost Giants and Asgardians - with the Eternals to assist - taking place here on the planet.

But the Allfather was visiting for the sake of old times, he said. Supposedly he was doing his due-diligence of checking on one of his many realms of protection by dropping in on Earth.

Thena quite thought they had the planet under control.

Odin had even brought his young ones to inspect the planet tethered to their very own Asgard. Two boys, although the Warrior Eternal had distinct memory of whispers about Odin's 'fiercest child'. Surely the child making snakes out of rope and the boy trailing at her brothers' ankles were not the holder of that title.

She could remember being in Asgard, after the battle. It was beautiful there, the people under Odin's rule were peaceful and happy. Everyone kept addressing her as Valkyrie, which was odd, but she was unfortunately quite used to being called things by mistake at that point in time.

In many ways it happened a whole lifetime ago, and yet was less than a thousand years ago as well. His young ones had yet to become great warriors, as the old god was hoping and pushing for ceaselessly.

"I've tweaked the recipe--just a little," Gilgamesh smiled and laughed with the old god, the two sitting across their humble table like drinking buddies instead of two of the galaxy's fiercest defenders.

"You have altered my recipe?!" Odin thundered, and yet dissolved into laughter in the same breath. The lines in his face bent and accommodated the patch over his eye. "I could have you tried and exiled for such a thing!"

The two laughed with force enough to crack the bifrost.

Too loudly for the Warrior Eternal. Although she did smile as she rose from her seat. Odin observed as she trailed her hand from one of Gilgamesh's shoulders to the other, leaving with his mug to refill it from the larger vessel of brew outside the house.

Gilgamesh watched with soft eyes.

Odin cleared his throat and leaned forward, "and yet in exile I seem to find you."

Usually one to say exactly what he thought and felt at all times, the Strongest Eternal was silent. He took another sip, "you think?"

The old god looked around him, regarding the homemade - very literally hand crafted - house surrounding him, a far cry from the glittering opulence of Asgard's finest. "Is it...?"

Odin knew of Mahd Wy'ry. He had once stated that he could sense for more behind the Warrior Eternal's eyes than even a being of their life expectancy should have.

Gilgamesh looked around the home, candles flickering and casting long shadows around them. "We came here to be alone, together."

The old god made a face he might make at one of his sons. "Is that truly all you have to say, Gilgamesh?"

He shrugged.

Odin set his drink down more firmly, the way a ruler did when demanding attention. He leaned back and tipped his chin up, his white hair catching on the adorned shoulders of gold he wore. "My offer still stands."

After the battle of Jotunheim, Odin had extended the offer to Gilgamesh to come and stay on Asgard. His skill and strength was beyond renown and he had claimed that they would be honoured to welcome a warrior as fine as he.

Gilgamesh had said thanks but no thanks--he was happy on Earth.

Gil looked at the old god now, not even shrugging so much as rolling his shoulders, "my answer's the same."

"Your mission is done," Odin declared needlessly. "If you are truly not to return to Olympia then tell me why you would not agree to joining the echelon of the galaxy's strongest?"

Gil swirled around the suds in the bottom of his cup. "I'd have to ask Thena what-"

"No."

The air sat heavy. Gil inhaled, also setting cup down hard. "No?"

Odin straightened in his chair. "The offer is for you alone, Gilgamesh. The Warrior Eternal-"

"Thena."

The old god paused. "What?"

"She has a name," Gil reiterated, pressing his palms to the table as he pushed his chair back. "You've called her a valiant warrior, you fought alongside her, called her an ally of Asgard. But I've never heard you address her by her name. It's only ever Warrior Eternal."

"That is what she is," Odin snarled in the face of Gilgamesh's argument.

"And who she is," Gilgamesh growled right back at him, "is Thena."

The air began to fold and bend around the two forces of power in the room. Odin leaned on his elbow, fist on the table, "she is not sound, Gilgamesh. I will not bring a danger into my walls."

"But you would sit across from her in our home?"

"She is a liability to you!" Odin stood, forcing his chair back and his mug to roll and shatter on the ground.

Gilgamesh was quiet and steady. "Keep your voice down."

"Are you ordering a god?"

"I'm asking an old friend," Gilgamesh pressed harder on the table, letting the wood moan under his touch. "To not disrespect the woman I love."

Odin's face did not change. He was not happy to be ordered nor asked to do anything, whether by an old ally and friend or an enemy. "She is unstable, and I would hate to see a great warrior such as yourself fall victim to something as fragile as the heart!"

"Maybe yours is fragile," Gilgamesh scoffed, moving the table out of his way as if kicking a pebble out of his path. It toppled over. "It's time for you to go."

"Think about this, Gilgamesh," Odin far from pleaded but perhaps seethed at him. "Do you truly wish to make an enemy of the Nine Realms?"

The Strongest Eternal met the old god eye to eye. "Anyone who has a problem with Thena isn't welcome at my table."

Odin gave his old ally one last look of disdain, letting his disgust in the developments of the night drip off of him like mud. "It is always a shame to see a great warrior succumb."

"Thena has always been a better warrior than me."

Thena turned her head away as Odin took off in a thunderstorm of an exit. She sighed, "you just fixed the roof."

Gil shrugged, also looking up at the sky as the old god and once-ally made quite a dramatic exit. He bumped his shoulder against hers, "I can fix it again."

Thena looked at him, her eyes searching for answers he didn't offer to their guest. "Why didn't you?"

He had no need to clarify what she meant. He shrugged again, leaning over to pick up the table and then reaching for the broom. "It was never an option."

Thena let him put himself between her and the pile of shattered ceramic on the floor. She padded back to her chair in her bare feet. "It could be."

He ignored her.

"Gilgamesh," she attempted, but he swept the ceramic under his foot and then, with a glow of gold, ground it into dust. Then he swept it up to toss out the window properly. "Gilgamesh!"

"I didn't consider it then and I'm certainly not now," he grumbled, pulling the shutters closed against the evening breeze.

Of course he hadn't. Even after Jotunheim, even if they weren't still bound to their mission, he would never have considered it. Gil loved earth too much. There was too much to rebuild, too much healing to do. Their family was here.

Now their family was scattered around the planet.

He tossed the broom back to its place and slumped down in his chair again. He looked at her, "without you?"

Thena tried not to let her lip tremble as she whispered, "you could."

Gilgamesh did not indulge her misery, waving his hand through the air with a light 'peh'. She tilted her head, but he looked at her, shaking his head, eyes brimming with emotion. "How could I ever be without you?"

Thena blinked away tears of her own. Her other half raised her hand off the table in front of them and kissed it so gently it was like a whisper. "Perhaps you would be better off."

"Nah," Gil dismissed much more lightly again. He chuckled, "you think I wanna be anywhere but our little paradise here?"

Gilgamesh, the mighty and brave, champion of Athens and hero of Jotunheim and the strongest Eternal, much preferred his modest and hand built little shack. He had no need for Asgardian palaces or promises of Valhalla.

"I have everything I could ever need right here in front of me."

Thena smiled, almost laughing under her breath. She hadn't spoken a word since Odin's arrival. She leaned her head onto Gil's shoulder, "perhaps you are right."

"I am."

"You are far too soft for Asgardian warfare."

Gilgamesh laughed softly, running his fingers through her hair, "yeah, maybe. You seem to love me just fine, though."

[kinnoth]

Ok so I don't think I'll be able to fully implement this bc I think it might be TOO SPICY but--

You know how languages (eg norse) have "masculine, feminine, and neuter" nouns

You know also how in many places, babies are referred to as "it" as in "it's time for baby's nap! Here's how to put it down"

You know how on Asgard, the most cutting insult is to desex someone and turn them into an "it" i.e. "take that out of my sight, it is a disgrace"

The thing I want (and have always wanted) is that the Asgardian convention for gender to be children are genderless and are then given gender as they "come of age". All children are "it" until they're either breeched and become "he/him" boys or have their hair bound and become "she/her" girls.

(this has been in the back of my mind as I have produced meta regarding Thor not fully understanding gender as a child i.e. "I wanted to be a Valkyrie" and also in explaining the whole thing where loki forcibly changes his sex and how he got away with keeping that a secret)

ANYWAY so the neuter is for children who are not fully people yet and therefore to linguistically neuter someone in an insult is grave offense and removes them from their personhood

THAT'S WHY there is a suspicion that is linguistically inherited and is always lurking on the edges of every interaction between the giants and the aesir. The giants have a single gender and therefore their language only supplies a single pronoun "they/them". This does not translate to Asgardian however, in which the only neuter pronoun in use is "it" -- for children and the desexed. When a giant talks about an aesir, it sounds like an insult; maybe if these two cultures had had more relations between them, this sort of thing could be smoothed over and cleared up, but unfortunately, the aesir were too busy with their wars and the giants were too defensively isolationist to allow for much commingling.

Anyway so Asgardian translates jotnir "they/them" into "it" but allspeech defaults all of jotnir's neuters into the masculine, so ironically if the aesir had had access to allspeech earlier in their history, the two cultures might have had an easier relation.

(here I could insert an aside about whether or not it's possible for allspeech to be politically neutral when it is a) a weapon of the colonizer and b) actually, for real, Odin's magic, a tool which he created for the use of the gods -- but that's for later)

Regardless, here's how I think loki finds out about the giants being all one gender:

Gertha, wife of frey, comes to visit loki in the jotnar settlement on vanaheim.

She genuflects to skrymir who receives her, like "hello grandfather, it has been a long while. I've come for the prince shaper, and to see how he fares" and everybody is very excited, all "Lord grith" this and "Lord grith" that

And Loki, who does not speak jotnir at this point and has been getting by with allspeech and vanir, asks angrboda as an affronted aside like "why are they calling gertha lord, she is princess consort to the king of vanaheim, she is a woman" and angrboda is just like "what's a woman?"

Loki is flabbergasted. "A woman??" And struggles to explain this basic concept and settles on "you know, like a maiden, a mother. Not a man"

Angrboda: "I said, what's that?"

Loki: stuttering, incoherent

Angrboda: "🙄you're just making up words. It's always something with you isn't it?"

Loki: "how do you not know what men and women are???"

Angroda: sighing deeply. "Ok, say those words again."

Loki, enunciating: "man." looking for a glimmer of comprehension from angrboda. "woman." Nothing, he just looks bored and annoyed. "Man."

Angrboda, looking at him: "you're just saying. The same. Word. Over. And. Over." Muttering to himself, "so fucking weird"

Loki, sotto, hissing, extremely embarrassed: "a man has a penis. A woman has a vagina"

Angrboda rolls his eyes with his entire body: "we all have a penis and a vagina, what are you talking about?"

Loki: 🤯

Angrboda: "what?"

Loki: "what???"

Angrboda, who usually doesn't give a shit about any social niceties, suddenly very condescending: "my lord, I don't think this is the appropriate setting for this sort of discussion"

Loki shuts up. Visits with gertha, who doesn't have very much to say to him, but is distantly kind. She asks if she can bring him anything from outside. Loki asks for paper, pen, and ink. She promises to deliver him some.

On the way home through the woods, Loki does not drop the subject: "I've seen you naked, in the baths, you have a penis"

Angrboda, losing patience: "this again? Listen, I know you don't have the best opinion of me, but I'm not some sort of savage. I know how to clean myself!"

Loki: "explain what that means"

Angrboda, blowing up: "what the fuck is there to explain!"

Loki, in the middle of a full on gender panic, he can feel his skin splitting again beneath his clothes: "what do you mean we all have both??"

Angrboda, not really understanding what is happening, just sensing that Loki is upset, bends down and starts drawing in the dirt: "when you need it for something, like to wash it, you pull it out. When you do don't need it for anything, like when you're walking around, you put it back in. Every child knows this--"

Loki, still gender panicking, feeling sick now: "so it's all one organ. and you use it to procreate?"

Angrboda, slowly, not sure where this is going: "yes"

Loki: "and how do you decide who will become the woman?"

Angrboda, just baffled: "what?"

Loki, loudly: "how do you decide who carries the baby?"

Angrboda, kind of scared now, doesn't like it when Loki shouts: "I don't know! You just work it out between the two of you? Is that not how the aesir decide?" A beat. "Are you ok? Are you bleeding??"

Loki, definitely bleeding: "no" just starts walking away really really fast. Angrboda thankfully does not follow him.

[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.

[otterskin]

Thanks for engaging! I really appreciate it!

...Is it bad form to say 'I've talked about all of this in a massive, monster post that addressed every single talking point in detail, would you mind spending half an hour reading it and then getting back to me?'

....because I did do that.

Twice.

I can do the Cliff Notes here, but I'd love to hear your thoughts on that monster post if you're inclined!

1. Kidnapped a kid for political reasons and literally changed his skintone.

It's more complicated than that. But even if it weren't (which it was), this does fit into what I said about the difference between a moral choice, the right choice, and the choice that benefits the most people. This action is deeply complex, so complex that it took me two entire long, long posts to tease apart. It's even a choice that Odin goes back on as he continues to puzzle what the correct course of action should be. He's not sure how to handle the whole thing, because it is so complex. But if we are to talk barebones morality, the moral and correct thing for him to have done would have been to kill Loki then and there, as most kings would do, or to take him publicly hostage (maybe ineffective if Loki really was abandoned).

But Odin instead chose to go against what would be the right thing for an Asgardian King to do. In his society, his actions would be considered deeply immoral for not killing a baby, who would surely pose a threat in the future for a variety of reasons. Asgardians would spit on Odin if they knew.

Odin did it anyway.

I could get carried away into a deeper conversation about morality here. But I won't bore you with that beyond saying that what a society considers right, moral, correct, etc. is not what another may think is so, and may not be what an individual thinks is so.

Odin in mythology is infamous for being an incorrigible thinker, sometimes even paralyzed into inaction by the immense weight of consequences he considers. Other times, he acts impulsively to avoid that paralyzation. In the case of taking Loki, I think it was a mix of both. I think it was an impulsive, emotional act that he later justified with logic, and then he went back on that logic because of his emotions. In other areas, Odin is logical, but around his children, he switches to emotional logic, which causes a lot of problems for him. It is easier to justify logic-logic than emotional logic, and I don't think Asgard really gave him the tools to do so.

Even so, his actions show how he has worked to transcend Asgardian history and behaviour. He is forward-thinking, but had no-one to really learn from or any example to follow but his own. I find that particularly interesting in the superhero genre, where heroes are meant to inspire others by their example. But Odin has to subvert his heroes, literally the icons of his culture and his own father. What we might consider to be good actions from him are considered beyond despicable in his actual culture.

But if you could potentially save millions of lives by taking in a baby and trying to end a blood feud of millenia...wouldn't you try?

2. Built his kingdom on blood.

We don't know the full story, of course, but I'm fascinated with the little we do know.

It's a deleted scene and storyline from Thor: TDW, but I'm inclined to still incorporate it into my understanding given Ragnarok backs it up. The reason the Dark Elves wear those masks is because they're gas masks - the reason the Dark World is so cruddy is because it was gassed. By Bor, Son of Buri. And Bor is considered a hero for it.

In Ragnarok, the revealed ceiling fresco shows that Bor built Asgard out of stolen gold. Previous, unused concept art shows him using slave-labour of giants to do it.

Hela says Odin built Asgard out of stolen gold, but the evidence is that Odin continued construction, continued what his ancestors had begun. But then he stopped. Reconsidered. Decided that was shameful and changed. The new ceiling painting celebrated peace and even depicted his enemy flatteringly and as an equal.

Was it a perfect 180? No, but what figure in human history ever managed such a feat?

And how did he manage it? Oh, the possibilities...I like a lot of the theories put forward, whether that's memory magic, simply out-living everyone, propaganda, etc. But whatever he did, clearly he couldn't or didn't mind-control Asgard and plenty of ill-sentiment remains. He can't literally change their hearts, but he did try to change a little of what the culture celebrated - not that that always worked, see exhibit A, Thor.

3. Raised his daughter as a weapon and then got rid of her when he didn't need her anymore.

More complicated than that. Man, please read my monster post, ha ha...short answer, no, he didn't, and no, he didn't. He raised her as an equal, which is why she still loved him so much (see Hela's obsession with how great he was and the paintings depicting them as partners, and he quite literally kept her with him throughout his life, which was likely why he was even dying (word of director in interviews).

4. Was totally fine with his people and his own son being racist towards jotuns to the point when it's a totally normal thing for them to swear to commit genocide of this species, while knowing his other son is jotun. (Oh, poor Odin, what could he do with it? He is only a father and a king of this realm).

I think you misunderstood his teaching style. Odin didn't like to tell people what to think or how to think it. He provided means to learn lessons, but he knew very well that telling someone how to be didn't really work. You may disagree with his methods and reasoning, but I can see why the character believes that experience is a better teacher than a lecture from a figure that will eventually be rebelled against, as is natural. We can't know his life's story, but based on this, I'd bet that experience was his teacher, too. (Being God of Wisdom, that would also track.)

6. Literally compared Jane to an animal and refused to heal her because she's midgardian RIGHT after giving Loki a speech about how humans are equal to them.

Ha ha, yep. Classic Odin. There are two wolves at war inside of you, Odin! And their names are Freki and Geri.

7. Had this "Your birthright was to die" speech that was really abusive and disgusting.

Ah...this is a major part of that post. Hard to sum up here. So I'll just say...rewatch the scene. And keep in mind that you're watching two tricksters attempting to front with each other. And one trickster cracks and reveals his true feelings, while the other, more experienced trickster god, succeeds in making that happen while keeping his own face hidden (for now). And how he does this hinges on Frigga, his wife and fellow trickster goddess, whom he neatly sets up as the good cop to his bad cop. Loki goes from being snide and rude to his mother to opening up to her at once thanks to this.

Odin left Thor in banishment with Mjölnir. He left Loki in prison with Frigga. Always a way out, but he won't give you directions.

Set and match.

8. Was going to doom Asgard because Malekith killed Frigga.

Gee, reminds me of someone(s).

9. Was an open and proud male magician and nobody said a word while Loki was humiliated and frowned upon for this his entire life (so the take of pressure of "expectation of masculinity" doesn't actually look believable tbh).

Was he open and proud about it? His most impressive magical feats are done in secrecy. The biggest public one I can think of is freeing the souls of the dead in the funeral scene, which I don't know was entirely explained as his magic or if it was something else. Anyway, if Marvel was going with Norse Mythology on this, magic is typically taught by mothers to their children (usually to daughters but sometimes sons), but men are forbidden from magic. Ergi is a whole other realm of discussion, but it should be noted that in mythology, Odin is despised and constantly made fun of for being a man of magic. He is called the 'womanly man' and disdained by both the gods of Asgard and even humans for it.

No idea if they'll depict it as such in the MCU at any point, but I'd say that Odin wouldn't want to step on Frigga's toes and probably sees it as an opportunity for them to bond over.

10. Literally used/planned to use ALL of his kids for his own needs (Hela to conquer the realms, Thor to deal with rebellions/be a perfect heir who cannot be with a mortal because "she's not their equal" (once again a hypocrite-), kidnapped Loki to use for peace with Jotunheim and then in the script it was mentioned him and Frigga wanted Thor on the throne to be practically babysitted by Loki because they both thought Thor wouldn't be a good king), and got rid of them when they disobeyed.

Is it kidnapping if no-one wanted him, ha ha? Joking, but really, you do use the most unkind interpretation possible of everything, which isn't going to work well with a character such as this. Anyway, read linked post for more details, yadda yadda, but no, didn't, and no, he didn't.

And I cannot remember anything good he did no matter for selfish reasons or not, except for probably stopping committing genocides, which is kinda a low bar.

On what planet is that a low bar? I find that kinda insane. Not jaywalking for a day is a low bar. Stopping generational genocide, challenging a deeply entrenched culture of warfare and death, overcoming prejudice and setting up a future of co-operation rather than continuing the cycles of violence otherwise destined for all eternity? In a way, putting a stop to Ragnarok despite the belief that it was inevitable and escape impossible? That is something I'd call 'pretty impressive, actually.'

Sure, it didn't quite go smoothly. A lot of bad things happened because often Odin hid things away rather than deal with them, but as someone procrastinating as we speak by writing this very post, and you, too, probably, when you reply, can we really throw stones? He created many problems, but so was he handed many problems by his ancestors. He at least tried to break the chain, but of course he couldn't do it alone.

He's the one who says he's not a god, pretty much the only Asgardian to say so despite objectively having the most claim to such a title. He understands that he's an animal like any other. Perhaps his biggest flaw is in how he tried to bring about such changes all by himself with just an assist from Frigga - but even he understands this sucks, which is why he tried to set up Thor and Loki as equals and partners.

Anyway, thanks for your reply! I enjoyed replying. I know my references to that other post were very annoying, and I did my best to still give worthwhile answers here, but I did my best to be thorough in it and you might get a kick out of it - or want to kick me, but in any case, cheers, mate!

Does you actllty like odin because I thought everyone hated him.

...Why would people hate him? I struggle to understand that, even now. I have my theories, which I've spoken off in other places.

I think, and I don't like to say this, because there are certainly takes that aren't, but in general, that opinion is very juvenile. There's a desire to want to 'defend and protect' people from him, which betrays a lack of understanding of the dynamics in the films, and a tendency to side with children over adults, even grown children, and to see older people as symbolic of institutional power, as well as parental power, over them, and therefore a yoke that needs throwing off. There's a childish 'shut up, DAD!' to the criticism. More seriously, the desire to paint him as abusive reminds me of the problem of people confusing conflict for abuse, something that's a major issue in online spaces and real life. Outrage and extremism are rewarded and sought after, so everything is heightened. In that lens, a father who tried to do right by his children but who was in a unique circumstance because of his desire to challenge the status quo and fated enmity of two warrring peoples, a king who can't put the needs of his children over the suffering of his people and risk to his kingdom, now becomes a monster who delights in playing favourites and abusing them for kicks. It's disheartening.

There's precious little sympathy for characters like him, especially in this genre. Superhero fare is pretty black and white, and even characters like Loki rest pretty firmly in the 'good' side of that. But Odin is that rare character who not only doesn't play by that simple dichotomy, he doesn't get to live in a world so neatly divided. It's part of his isolation from the others. So usually, people see the gray and decide he must not be 'good', and if he's not 'good', he must be 'bad'.

The films have little time to explore him or his motivations or how he chooses to navigate his murky situation, and it's all the worse because he's a secretive person who actively disguises his motivations and goals. He's a minor character in screen time, but looms large over the plot and other characters' motivations, so most of what we see of him is what other people tell us he is. Most of which is, of course, untrue. That's the Odin that lives in their heads, and not the actual man, who is the rare character in the MCU you actually have to watch and pay attention to to understand. In universe, no-one bothers to do that - they are content with the version they've created to hate. So the audience thinks that version is also the real one, because it's easier to understand and categorize.

I love Odin, in mythology, and in the MCU. He's a much kinder person in the MCU for sure! But I'm glad that, even in a fairly straightforward world, they gave Odin no clear answers. He remains contradictory and deeply flawed, a thoroughly miserable person but with something compelling him to try and change the destined end of the world. How could I not love someone like that? How could people who say they like Loki not like a character who is so similar?

I get depressed when I encounter Odin haters. I feel like they've completely misunderstood and missed out on a fundamental part of the story, and I worry that if their sentiments infect the actual MCU, it will besmirch the efforts of those who came before and the humane story I fell in love with. Odin was not intended to be a bad parent or a bad person, and I don't think he is. He is intended to be someone that people IN UNIVERSE see as a full villain or as a full hero, but he is neither. He is a person who was faced with difficult choices, and he chose to do some radical things that many others of his kind would never do. He paved the way for a better future and better choices for others by defying the prejudices and traditions of his people, but because he was a trailblazer, he did not have the benefit of learning from others' examples, like Thor and Loki have because of him.

Comparing him to Thanos or other actually abusive parents is repellant. Never once have I seen anyone who claims to hate him actually engage with the character as depicted, nor how they would cut through the Gordian Knot of compromises the character had to contend with. They handwave away the moral questions as 'actually super easy to solve', which is something I abhor in fiction (it's also why I deeply dislike Spider-Man: NWH, which handwaves away the motivations and tragedies of villains from previous series). No, nothing was easy to solve about the choices presented to Odin, and I think the character had both logical and emotional rationale for his choices. He actually made pretty bold and forward-thinking plans, they just all tend to suffer from his fatal flaw - he thinks about them as logical, but they're really motivated by emotion that he keeps at arm's length, which leads to him showing vulnerability and being punished for it.

This is something that goes by so fast in the films, but I loved it because it is such a fundamentally male experience. Odin is someone being crushed under pretty much every expectation of masculinity, from man to warrior to father to husband to king, and whenever he tries to show regret, fallibility or vulnerability, the other characters find it disturbing and swiftly reject him, forcing him back into the performance and the misery that comes with it.

Odin may ponder what is the correct decision, but does not mistake that for what is the most moral decision. He is someone who is both logical and emotional but who hasn't integrated those two halves of himself together very well.

If you hate the character, I'd be happy to talk about it. It is okay to just not like characters! Including gray ones. But for me, I can really think about Odin, and I like that he can't be easily written up for a bland Fandom page that requires everything be spelled out or it 'doesn't count'. He exists in the between spaces of the story, and it is a very sad and lonely tale.

TL;DR : He's a complicated man in a simple story. In the Squid Game of Sugar Cookie, he got the Umbrella. I am sad that such a fundamental character to the foundation of the THOR franchise's quality and themes is so misunderstood and unappreciated by this fandom. I don't think you can love this franchise and not have some care for Odin.

[odisn]

𝐅𝐎𝐑𝐄𝐓𝐎𝐋𝐃  𝐅𝐈𝐕𝐄  𝐓𝐀𝐒𝐊𝐒  𝐓𝐇𝐄  Æ𝐒𝐈𝐑  𝐊𝐍𝐄𝐖  𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐘  𝐖𝐎𝐔𝐋𝐃  𝐅𝐀𝐈𝐋 .

(      Thor Odinson’s undoing ,  Thor Odinson’s sacrifice .      )    

many will argue for years to come about Thor’s decision   -------------------   on the one hand ,  he should have ignored the history between Jötunheimr and Ásgarðr ,  removed arrogant thoughts from his mind ,  and led as a strategist instead of a warrior .    and on the other hand ,  the five doomed tasks were foretold ,  a closing chapter in Thor’s life as prince ,  king ,  or even leader of the realm .    without fulfilling that destiny ,  the nine realms would never be free of war and conflict . 

𝐖𝐇𝐄𝐍 :  five years after Ragnarøkr .     Thor and the Asgardians have settled a few miles from Grundarfjörður ,  Iceland ,  Earth ,  and have successfully rebuilt their realm ,  with Thor leading as the King of this new Ásgarðr .

𝐖𝐇𝐄𝐑𝐄 :     the conflict takes place in the depths of Jötunheimr .

𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐔𝐍𝐃𝐎𝐈𝐍𝐆 :     Útgarða-Loki ,  also known as Skrýmir ,  by which he will be referred to in the remaining text .

a giant's giant ,  a truly vast creature ,  the ruler of all of Jötunheimr ,  though legend has it he wasn't born on that icy realm ,  but came straight from Ginnungagap   ;   born of a point where mist ,  ice ,  and ash meet in those dark ,  gaping jaws .   he has and always will be Thor's greatest adversary ,  one that Thor hasn't been able to defeat ,  and likely never will .   the last time they fought ,  Skrýmir referred to Thor's mighty force ,  with the indefatigable Mjölnir ,  as a mere sensation of something falling from a tree ,  and landing on his body .

𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐏𝐀𝐒𝐓 :    Skrýmir is one of many creatures Odin   ---   through Thor   ---   wronged ,  hundreds of years ago .    a battle that was only initiated because of the Æsir’s long - standing hatred towards the giants ,  and one that seemed to escalate unnecessarily ,  leaving many Jötnar dead .    Thor’s battle with Skrýmir ended with Skrýmir shamed ,  throneless ,  and exiled for his remaining lifetime ,  until he found himself a chance at redemption .

Skrýmir learned of the death of Odin , and decided to take this opportunity to exact his revenge on Ásgarðr ,  but principally ,  Thor .      revenge not as a means to kill   ;  for killing the one who not so long ago saved so many realms from Ragnarøkr could initiate a war detrimental to the Jötnar .   but instead ,  revenge as a means to strip away title ,  a home ,  a people .

Thor has a dream in which Skrýmir summons him to Jötunheimr    ---   and initial deliberation confirms that this could be the setting for the fateful five tasks ,  the ones that may see Thor in ruins .    the king of Ásgarðr argues that not heeding to Skrýmir’s demands may be detrimental in and of itself ,  as it could lead to another war when Ásgarðr least expects it .     plus ,  on Midgardian soil ,  the humans could be the ones to pay the price .       he makes the decision to leave at first light for Jötunheimr ,  setting off with Loki ,  and two other warriors ,  Þjálfi and Röskva .    he fully expects to fight ,   as is the nature of the dynamic between the Jötnar and the Æsir .

at Skrýmir’s castle ,  Thor ,  Loki and the others walk through the vast halls   -------------------   and end up barricaded in by legions of Jötnar and monsters ,  essentially trapped in this room ,  to listen to Skrýmir's request .

𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐃𝐄𝐌𝐀𝐍𝐃 :   I wish to regain my title at Jötunheimr's throne . I cannot do this while you ,  Thor ,  Son of Odin ,  remain King of Ásgarðr   ---   you are my undoing ,  my fall from power ,  as I intend to be yours .  

so here is my demand :  four challenges ,  of your choosing ,  in whichever feat you believe you can defeat either myself or a warrior of my choice .     if I win all of these challenges ,  I regain my rightful place on the throne of Jötunheimr ,  and you lose your place in Ásgarðr .    you're exiled from your lands until your dying breath .     if I lose but even a single one ,  you remain king ,  and i'll concede .

choose not to participate ,  and I will kill you all ,  and send my armies straight for your new Asgardian home .

relieved at the mention of four ,  not five ,  challenges   ---   and with conditions that seemed too easy ,  Thor agrees ,  and they swear an unbreakable oath ,  on Odin’s name ,  to the terms in this demand .

𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐋𝐋𝐄𝐍𝐆𝐄𝐒 .

𝟎𝟏 .         Loki ,  understanding that these challenges could revolve around anything ,  challenges Skrýmir to ,  essentially ,  an eating contest  :    Skrýmir agrees ,  choosing a being named Logi to compete against the trickster god .   given meat to consume ,  Loki uses their sorcery to double the quantity on their opponent’s table ,  thus slowing Logi down ,  but to no avail .    unbeknownst to Loki or the other Æsir ,  Logi is not a normal being ,  but a physical manifestation of  FIRE ,  specifically of Múspellsheimr   -------------------   the very fire that ravaged the realm of  Ásgarðr during their doomsday .  and this fire cannot be stopped ,  cannot be slowed .   Logi defeats Loki with ease .

𝟎𝟐 .        Þjálfi decides on a race of speed ,  attempting to run a race against anyone Skrýmir chooses .     a being named Hugi competes against Þjálfi ,  and across three races ,  Hugi wins every time   -------------------   running so fast that he meets his opponent several times in the overlap .    again ,  beyond the awareness of the Æsir ,  Skrýmir cheated and chose an opponent that represented  THOUGHT ,  a manifestation of memory and idea ,  which no - one could possibly outrun .

𝟎𝟑 .         Thor opts for a drinking contest ,  claiming he can deplete any vessel within minutes ,  regardless of volume .   two horns are filled with water ,  but Thor finds himself exhausted after only three ,  massive gulps .    again ,  the giant cheated ,  having filled his horn adequately but connecting Thor’s vessel to the oceans of Miðgarðr ,  which kept the horn full no matter how much Thor drank .

𝟎𝟒 .         angered by his loss ,  Thor picks another challenge ,  spotting a small ,  cat - like creature in the corner of the room .    the challenge he opts for ,  strategically simple :   if he can lift the creature ,  he wins .    Skrýmir ,  amused ,  agrees   -------------------   but try as he might ,  Thor only succeeds in lifting a single paw ,  the pet surprisingly heavy ,  immovable .    under the guise of a cat ,  this creature was actually the serpent Jörmungandr ,  which had unlocked itself from its coil around Miðgarðr moments prior to Ragnarøkr ,  and now wandered free along the world tree ,  finding itself in the land of the giants at this moment .

it should’ve ended there ,  but the prophecy dictated five trials ,  one way or another   ---   and Thor ,  enraged ,  was eager to redeem himself and win back his title to the throne .   they only needed to win a single task to bring Skrýmir down ,  after all .      unanimous decision for a final trial seals their fate .

𝟎𝟓 .         Thor picks a challenge around his best trait  :   his strength .    he demands a fight with a giant in the hallway   ---   and is jeered in response by all ,  implying Thor’s too weak for such a serious battle .   he persists ,  threatens ,  and in the end ,  Skrýmir concedes ,  mockingly finding Thor the oldest ,  frailest giant in the castle .     it should be a clear victory   ;   but Thor finds himself struggling to best the opponent ,  and eventually falls to his knees ,  defeated .    it’s at this point Skrýmir reveals his tricks ,  and speaks about how Thor wasn’t fighting a giant ,  but instead a manifestation of  OLD AGE ,  which no soul in the nine can evade .

it’s with this bright flash of light the Asgardians are sent back to Earth ,  the immediate disappearance of a castle ,  of armies ,  and of Skrýmir ,  replaced instead with a feeling of loss ,  of dread ,  of defeat .     Skrýmir’s damning final words linger in the skies ,  the atmosphere around them  :

“  now ,  for your sake and for ours ,  leave Jötunheimr ,  leave Ásgarðr ,  and never come back .   ”

𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐏𝐑𝐄𝐒𝐄𝐍𝐓 :     having sworn an oath on Odin ,  Thor knows what he must do .   instead of returning home ,  he sets out across Earth   -------------------   but not before holding a council with Loki and their companions .   together ,  they decide to leave Ásgarðr in the hands of Brunnhilde .   (         verse dep.   this would be Sif’s rule ,  given she is the rightful queen of Ásgarðr        )         Loki will ensure the realm’s safety .

and Thor instead ,  loses title ,  and his right to the realm ,  and becomes instead a protector of Miðgarðr   -------------------   living in seclusion in a cabin in the forest ,  somewhere across the world ,  his location unknown to all but one or two people . 

initial stages of reaction are difficult to control  :   Thor finds himself perpetually enraged ,  saddened ,  and full of regret at his loss .   there’s talk of storms that blanket entire countries ,  deluges of rainfall bringing talks of the apocalypse .   he drinks more than he should ,  gains weight ,  and refuses to speak to others .

but over time ,  Thor grows to accept his fate ,  relieved at the fact that the prophecy cost no lives on either side ,  aware of the part he played in ensuring peace ,  even if it was at a cost to him .    he grows more attuned to nature around him ,  emerging into civilisation only to meet friends ,  keep the Earth safe ,  or to feel connected with the new home he’s made for himself .

[iamnmbr3]

I just watched Thor and I have so many questions. Like what was Loki's main motivation into doing the things he did? Did he want the throne or not? Why did he lie to Thor about Odin being dead? Did he hate Thor being king that much that he let the frost giants in? (I want to know what was going on in Loki's mind during the whole movie) I'm sorry for asking so many questions but I'd be super grateful if you answered these.

hi! it’s such a fun movie isn’t it? Wish I could watch it for the first time. Loki’s motivation changes throughout the movie due to some of the events and revelations. But basically his initial motivation was to demonstrate to Odin that Thor was too reckless and warlike to take the throne and to get Odin to delay the coronation. It’s basically exactly what he tells Sif & the Warriors 3 when he raises his concerns about Thor (which they dismiss). He lets the frost giants in hoping that Odin will see from Thor’s reaction that Thor isn’t ready to be king yet. 

Loki’s plans go wrong though because rather than preventing a war between Jotunheim and Asgard, a war gets precipitated when Heimdall lets them pass (which Loki didn’t expect) and the servant Loki sent to warn Odin (as a backup plan) gets delayed and then Loki isn’t able to defuse the situation between Thor and Laufey’s soldiers. 

We know it’s true that Loki didn’t expect Thor to be banished because he seems quite shocked at Odin’s reaction and even tries to intercede (but gets silenced). Also if his plans had gone right Thor would never have actually had a confrontation with any of the Jotnar. Since he never planned for Thor to be banished or for Odin to fall into the Odinsleep we know that he’s telling the truth when he says in the end that he never wanted the throne. Loki’s key motivation is his desire for love, acceptance and validation from those around him. 

Things also go off the rails even more when Loki gets touched by a Jotun and discovers his true heritage. Since he’s been indoctrinated since birth with bigoted imperialist Asgardian ideas that frost giants are inferior evil monsters this obviously is an extremely upsetting realization for him. Especially since he already feels that he is unfairly looked down on and disliked and not favored (and of course this also partly explains why he never got the validation from Odin that he always craved). This leads to his suicidal mental breakdown at the end of the movie.

He lies to Thor for 3 reasons. 1)  he’s feeling hurt and angry because his whole world has collapsed at that point and he basically wants Thor to feel what Loki is feeling. Thor is not the one who is unloved by his family and who everyone has turned against. Loki is. So he basically projects that outwards. 2) Loki assumes that since Thor wanted to kill all frost giants that Thor would not accept him and thus cannot tell him the truth. 3) even if he kept the frost giant thing a secret he assumes that Thor like everyone else would not accept his rule. That’s actually not true as we see later in the conversation. Ironically if Thor had returned he would’ve supported Loki and that would’ve probably prevented everyone else turning against him so quickly. Tragically Loki doesn’t discover this till after he's already lied to Thor and is thus stuck. 

[tokoyamisstuff]

Scandal Ch. 1 - Loki x Reader

Summary: After your child is born a Frost Giant, your husband accuses you of infidelitiy, unaware about his own heritage...

Warnings: Pregnancy, Childbirth, Angst, Mild Cussing

Noteable: Takes place before Thor 1, Asgardian Fem! Reader

Words: ~1800

I Story Masterlist I General Masterlist I

It was as if your anchestors wanted to deliver a warning, for Asgard had never faced a storm matching this fateful afternoon.

The thunder swallowed all of your screams and cries, every curse you spoke with each contraction as the baby made it’s way into this world. All this time, your precious husband would never leave your side, letting you squeeze his hand as much as you needed.

“Only a little bit more, my Lady!” the midwife shoutet from between your legs, her tone calm yet cheerful. “I can already see the head!”

“I’m right here. You’re doing wonderful, my petal.” Loki was softly petting your hair, pressing a wet kiss into your forehead. “You are incredibly strong, Y/N. And I love you so much!”

Remaining collected was using up all of his energy at that very moment, you knew that much. Yet not even the God of Lies could hide all the helplessness and excitement stirring in his head at that very moment.

Being with the Prince of Asgard was just like in a dream.

Once you get to know him, that troublesome arrogant lone wolf turned into a smart, caring - and especially charming - prince. And hel, Loki treated you like a Queen.

All this pain you were experiencing right now would ultimately lead to the greatest bliss imagineable - just like it was with Loki.

Oh, how dearly you had fought, suffered, yearned for him, only to be rewarded with heartbreak and frustration. In between his feverishly chase for the throne and his rivalry with Thor, there was just no room for a loving relationship to grow.

The crushing weight of thinking himself unworthy for affection had made him cold and bitter over the millenias, telling himself the comforting lie that he was above all, born for a glorious purpose.

For the God of Mischief, whose kinsmen had always made him feel out of place or under-appreciated, the process of trusting had always been one step forward, three steps back.

But through your compassion, and with a great deal of patience and understanding, you slowly but steadily melted the ice around the prince’s heart.

Because deep inside, you always knew that it was worth it.

And today would be the peak of your romance: Your child would forever remind the Odinson that he belonged somewhere - right here, with you.

“It’s a boy!”

“A heir?!” Loki exclaimed, smothering your face in kisses. “Well done!”

You smiled weakly at his excitement, in between choked sobs. All that your exhausted self was able to process was the fact that your child is born - and you already loved him beyond reason.

“Where is he?!” you whimpered, unable to realize how the air in the room had shifted - for when the midwife touched the infant, she began to scream in agony.

“What’s wrong?!” Loki’s eyes were narrowing at the midwife that almost dropped his newborn, detecting some sort of burn wound on her palm. Quickly, she had covered the boy in a towel, aware that if any harm came over that baby, she was to die at the God of Mischief’s hands.

A flash of lightning was brightening the whole room, which had only been flooded by dim candle light until now.

Another one of the midwife’s screeched in terror, almost stumbling as she frantically erscaped your bedchamber. The adrenaline from birth and worry about your child sharpened your senses, yet concentration was almost impossible.

Still, the words she was yelling as she ran down the hall send a shiver down your spine:

“It’s a monster.”

Your head was spinning as you rushed into an upright position, with two nurses pressing you onto the bed again. “Milady, you need to rest! It’s still too early!”

“What is wrong with my child?!?” you desperately screamed, kicking with your legs to free yourself from their hold. “Give it to me!”

Their expressions were too much to bear. Your head was spinning, seeing pity mixing up with disgust and anger in their eyes.

“Enough!” Loki finally broke his own silence, his mind having been occupied with all the horror scenarios one could think about.

Walking up to the midwife carrying the infant, he demanded seeing it. “Your highness, don’t-” yet the midwife’s beg was for naught.

Yes, everything will be alright. Loki will take care of it, like he always does. After all, he’s your savior, your hero, the love of your life...

Gently and insecure, your husband cradled the newborn in his arms - a sight to behold. And the baby’s strong cries assured you that it was at least alive.

However, as soon as he dared to unwrap the towel, revealing it’s face, Loki’s heartbeat completely stopped for a second. His trembling lip began to shake, mouth widely agape as he took in the child’s form.

For a brief moment, his mind was completely blank. All emotion dropped from his face before taking in a complete different demeanour.

“Wha-” you wouldn’t dare ending that sentence when your husband’s furious eyes met yours.

The air was so thick, you thought not even Thor’s hammer could break it. Clearly ritten on Loki’s usual unreadable face were so many emotions at once:

Aversion, fury, incredible sorrow...all directed towards you? The child?

Impossible.

Loki Odinson loved you more than anything in this world, this was the only thing you had always been sure he wasn’t lying about.

“From all the people I expected to betray me...” His voice was hoarse, as if the ache in his heart was wrapping around his throat. “Why did it have to be you?”

You could feel the horrendous aura, a wave of sadness and despair coming from your husband. Seeing him like this was like torture.

“What- what do you mean, darling-”

“Don’t fucking call me that, you harlot!” That was surely not the first time your lover had raised your voice against you - he could be a bit difficult at times, obviously.

But this time was different somehow. It sounded so...ultimate.

And the Loki you knew would never use such harsh words against you!

“Please, I beg of you...just let me see my baby!” Everything was just too much for you, almost to the point of passing out. 

And the man did as you pleaded, almost shoving the child into your arms. “There, have your bastard! And make sure to never show your filthy faces to me ever again!”

With that, he stormed out of the room, leaving you with those strange nurses looking at you like you’ve just commited an unforgiveable crime.

There was no use in overthinking this. He’ll come back like he always did. You can work this out, whatever it is - even if you are gonna be mad for a very long time, making such a fuss and then disappearing instead of taking care of you, the mother of his child.

Out of a whim, you decided to finally observe the little being you’ve been waiting for all those months.

A loud gasp escaped your mouth as you realized just why everyone was so worked up about that little boy. Yet the sound you made was solely surprised - not a hint of fear or rejection laced your voice.

It was a beautiful baby boy, little fists balled to the air as if he was searching for the warmth of his parents - though his skin was in the shade of a dark blue. When you dared running your hand over the deep lines and ridges on his body, the stinging pain of frostbite immediately stung your fingertips. His eyes snapped open, looking at you with black irises through red scleras.

You knew the meaning of this, even though you didn’t understand how this was possible: This child was a biological Frost Giant. A small one, but nonetheless.

A curse? Was someone trying to play your family dirty? No. If that was the case, the child wouldn’t also have actual powers together with the appearance.

Just how long have those tears been running down your cheeks in thick streams already? You wouldn’t know.

Only one thing came as clear as daylight to you: You loved this baby, more than anything in this world. And no matter the hardships that came along with it - you would protect him, no matter what!

“He’s magnificent...” you sniffled, pecking some quick kisses onto his small body before the cold could hurt you. “I love you so, so much...!”

Not minding the judging looks of the nurses, let alone wondering about the consequences, resolve was starting to give you new strenght.

The boy got a grasp on your finger, and instead of your skin freezing off as expected, your magic allowed him to the boy to finally disguise itself as one of you. How was this even possible? Well, this is probably the first time something like this ever happened, so no one could prepare you for what to expect with this child.

They all say that birth was an impactful event - but nothing could’ve prepared you for everything that you had to endure on this day.

Yet nothing could’ve stopped you from believing that this child was the greatest blessing that ever came over you.

Now you only had to convince your husband of that very fact...

“Y/N Y/L/N!” the guard wouldn’t even bother adressing you with your full title as his harsh voice woke you up. When had you drifted away into slumber anyway? You were probably way more worn out than you wanted to admit...

Your eyes immediately snapped open, heart skipping a beat until you saw that your son was still sleeping soundly right next to you. Stroking his cheek as he smiled up to you, it almost made you forget about that burdensome situation.

“Hey!” Protectingly, you were holding onto your child for dear life as the guard approached both of you. “I have an important message to deliver!”

You scowled, almost like an animal mother protecting their offsprings with baring teeth, even though you knew in that state you would be completely and utterly helpless. “Why now? What could be more important than the well-being of my child?”

The answer let your blood run cold:

“I am here to announce that Lady Y/N Y/L/N has to face a trial in front of the Allfather. The following crimes she is being accused of: Infidelity, collaboration with the enemy and trying to sneak one of them into our glorious kingdom.”

[godsofhumanity]

i'm not "ignoring the truth because i don't like it". i've already said previously that i acknowledge the essential role Loki plays as a trickster in the myths. i love reading myths, i know why tricksters are there, i get it. i did not, and have not said anywhere that Loki is the great big bad, i simply said that he's, in general, not a very nice guy (you can disagree with me if you want, it's just an opinion).

your first point feels strange to me because yes, while the gods did agree to the bet with the builder to begin with, it was Loki himself who advised that the builder should be allowed to have his horse Svadilfari help him:

...(the builder) asked that they would give him leave to have the help of his stallion, which was called Svadilfari; and Loki advised it, so that the wright's petition was granted. (Gylfaginning)

naturally, since Loki was the one who advocated for Svadilfari to aid the builder, it fell onto Loki's shoulders to do what he should in order to make the sure the gods won the bet and not the builder. so, was Loki "trying to help the gods with the problems they made"? yes, kind of, but i feel like that's not the whole truth... furthermore, we know Loki could transform himself into just about anything, anytime.. so my personal question is- why didn't Loki just transform back?

about Loki's children. true, Hel, Jormungandr and Fenrir were thrown out of Asgard. to us, people of the modern world who understand that the sins of the father are not the sins of the child, it seems like a terrible and cruel thing to do. but for Odin, king of the gods, he had a responsibility to protect his subjects and his land, and given the nature of Loki's children, the track record of Loki himself, and the fact that there were prophecies clearly stating that these kids would be bad news for Asgard, wouldn't you also have been just slightly suspicious/cautious about inviting these giant children into your home? even so, for what it's worth, though Jormungandr was immediately cast out, Odin still gave Hel an entire domain to rule over, and in the beginning, the gods, particularly Tyr, did their best to raise Fenrir. of course, the paranoia of prophecy eventually got the better of everyone and thus, the relations between Loki's children and the gods naturally fell apart. i'm not going to make a comment on whether what Odin did was right or wrong, but i honestly don't think the options available to him were that black and white.

about Sleipnir. i've heard it been said many many times that Loki offered Sleipnir to Odin as a gift, though, admittedly, i've had a hard time finding texts that explain exactly how Sleipnir came to be Odin's steed. still, i couldn't find evidence to support that Odin might've "robbed" Loki of Sleipnir either, so i guess this one's up to personal interpretation.

now, about Vali. i've said before that the death of Vali is one of the most awful and terrible things to happen in any myth ever. i'm with you on this one- no matter the things Loki had done, i don't believe anyone deserved something so graphic. yet, ignoring the question of morality, i do feel it's important to remember that this scene only takes place during the binding of Loki- i.e., it takes place after eons of Loki hanging around Asgard and pulling stupid pranks and murders... it's the final straw, the accumulation of eons of pain and betrayal that the Asgardians would've felt as a result of Loki's shenanigans. it was Baldr's death that pushed the Asgardians to do this.. you spoke of the Asgardians taking Loki's children, but Loki took Asgard's child as well. Baldr was the most beloved of all the gods, and still Loki killed him... the Asgardians, at the very least, had reasons for casting out Loki's kids. what reason did Loki have for killing Baldr? i'm sure that that must've been one of the darkest days in Asgard. not to mention the indirect deaths Loki caused with Baldr's- Nanna (his wife) dies, and Hodr (filled with regret) is also killed as punishment. in a world where an "eye for an eye" is the way, it's pretty easy to understand why Loki had to suffer so terribly. it wasn't unjustified.

Sigyn is an interesting character, but so little of her is actually recorded. we have no idea how she felt about Loki, how they got married, what she thought about the Asgardians. she might've stayed with Loki because she was his wife, and that was her duty. it doesn't mean that she loved him. it doesn't mean that she supported him. the only thing we can truly confidently conclude from Sigyn staying by Loki's side is that she had respect for the sanctity of marriage and was committed to her role as a wife.

as for the adultery committed by Thor and Odin. i don't think it's fair to say that Loki's murdering and lying is alright because he's just conforming to his role as a trickster in myth, but Thor and Odin's extramarital relations are not alright even though they're also just conforming to the standards of the society at the time. for most Norse societies, adultery wasn't considered that bad if a man did it- it was terrible if a woman did though (i feel that this is part of the reason why half of Loki's insults towards the goddesses in the Lokasenna are accusations of adultery). even with a marriage, a woman's consent wasn't usually required for marriage. we consider these things to be "horrible shit" now, sure, but we're looking at it from a modern lens.

now Freyr. Freyr never threatened Gerdr into marrying him, though i do acknowledge that Freyr's servant, Skirnir, resolves to threatening Gerdr. this could be perceived as Freyr being the one to make the threats, but in the Lokasenna, Tyr praises Freyr as one who does not threaten women, and it makes me question whether Freyr knew or would have approved of the way Skirnir spoke to the woman he loves so deeply:

Of the heroes brave | is Freyr the best

Here in the home of the gods;

He harms not maids | nor the wives of men,

And the bound from their fetters he frees. (Lokasenna)

i suppose the credibility of Tyr's testimony all comes down to whether you think Tyr, and indeed the rest of the gods, are reliable narrators or not. personally, i choose to think that they are "decently" reliable narrators.. they don't have a reason to lie, whereas Loki is obviously in a situation where he's purposefully trying to antagonise everyone and cause discord (his first move upon coming into the hall in the Lokasenna is quite literally to kill one of the servants), so there is reason for him to lie and be unreliable.

anyhow, i am by no means trying to say that Asgard is perfect and Loki's pure evil. this is mythology- nobody's perfect, everyone has their shitty moments. i'm not trying at all to make Loki look like the "worst of the worst". the original question was "Do you HATE every version of Loki tho?" and i was just explaining why i dislike him. it wasn't really a targeted attack or anything, but i guess that's the cool thing about mythology- that so many different people can have so many different takes and understandings of the same story.

so yeah. hope that explained my take on this a bit better and sorry to have written so much ahahahahah i got caught up in it.

Do you hate EVERY version of Loki tho?

wdym every "version"? i dont like his general actions in myth

[lokiondisneyplus]

A review of “Journey Into Mystery,” the penultimate Loki Season One episode on Disney+, coming up just as soon as I paper cut a giant cloud to death…

Journey Into Mystery was the title of the first Marvel comic to feature either Thor or Loki. It began as an anthology series featuring monsters and aliens, but Jack Kirby, Stan Lee, and Larry Lieber were so smitten with their adaptation of the characters of Norse myth that the Asgardians gradually took over the whole book, which was renamed after its hammer-wielding hero(*).

(*) The early Journey Into Mystery stories treated Thor’s alter ego, disabled Dr. Donald Blake, as the “real” character, while Thor was just someone Blake could magically transform into, while retaining his memories and personality. It wasn’t even clear whether Asgard itself was meant to exist at first, until Loki turned up on Earth in an early issue, caused trouble, and Blake/Thor somehow knew exactly how to get to Asgard to drop him off. Soon, the lines between Thor and Blake began to blur, and eventually Thor became the real guy, and Blake a fiction invented by Odin to humble his arrogant son. It’s a mark of just how instantly charismatic Loki was that the entire title quickly steered towards him and the other gods.

But once upon a time, anything was possible in Journey Into Mystery, which makes it an apt moniker for an absolutely wonderful episode of Loki where the same holds true. Our title characters are trapped in the Void, a place at the end of time where the TVA’s victims are banished to be devoured by a cloud monster named Alioth. And mostly they are surrounded by the wreckage of many dead timelines. Classic Loki insists that his group’s only goal is survival, and any kind of planning and scheming is doomed to kill the Loki who tries. But this ruined, hopeless world instead feels bursting with imagination and possibility.

There are the many Loki variants we see, with President Loki, among others, joining Classic, Kid, Boastful, and Alligator Loki. There are the metric ton of Easter Eggs just waiting to be screencapped by Marvel obsessives (I discuss a few of them down below), but which still suggest a much larger and weirder MCU even if you don’t immediately scream out “Is that… THROG?!?!?” at the appropriate moment. And all of that stuff is tons of fun, to be sure. But what makes this episode — and, increasingly, this series — feel so special is the way that it explores the untapped potential of Loki himself, in his many, many variations.

This is an episode that owes more than a small stylistic and thematic debt to Lost. It’s not just that Alioth looks and sounds so much like the Smoke Monster(*), that it makes a shared Wizard of Oz reference to “the man behind the curtain” (also the title of one of the very best Lost episodes), or even that the core group of Lokis are hiding in a bunker accessible via a hatch and a ladder that’s filled with recreational equipment (in this case, bowling alley lanes). It’s also that Loki, Sylvie, their counterparts, and Mobius have all been transported to a strange place that has disturbing echoes from their own lives, that operates according to strange new rules they have to learn while fleeing danger, and their presence there allows them to reflect on the many mistakes of their past and consider whether they want to, or can, transcend them.

(*) Yes, Alioth technically predates Smokey by a decade (see the notes below for more), but his look has been tweaked a bit here to seem more like smoke than a cloud, and the sounds he makes when he roars sound a lot like Smokey’s telltale taxi cab meter clicks. Given the other Lost hat tips in the episode, I have to believe Alioth was chosen specifically to evoke Smokey.

Classic Loki is aptly named. He wears the Sixties Jack Kirby costume, and he is a far more powerful magician than either Sylvie or our Loki have allowed themselves to be. He calls our Loki’s knives worthless compared to his sorcery, which feels like the show acknowledging that the movies depowered Loki a fair amount to make him seem cooler. But if Classic Loki can conjure up illusions bigger and more potent than his younger peers, he is a fundamentally weak and defeated man, convinced, like the others, that the only way to win the game into which he was born is not to play. “We cannot change,” he insists. “We’re broken. Every version of ourselves. Forever.” It is not only his sentiment — Kid Loki adds that any Loki who tries to improve inevitably winds up in the Void for their troubles — but it seems to have weighed on him longer and harder than most.

But Classic Loki takes inspiration from Loki and Sylvie to stand and fight rather than turn and run, magicking up a vision of their homeland to distract Alioth at a crucial moment in Sylvie’s plan, and getting eaten for his trouble. He was wrong: Lokis can change. (Though Kid Loki might once again argue that Classic Loki’s death is more evidence that the universe has no interest in any of them doing so.) And both Loki and Sylvie have been changing throughout their time together. Like most Lokis, they seem cursed to a life of loneliness. Sylvie learned as a child that a higher power believed she should not exist, and has spent a lifetime hiding out in places where any friends she might make will soon die in an apocalypse. Our Loki’s past isn’t quite so stark, but the knowledge that his birth father abandoned him, while his adoptive father never much liked him, have left permanent scars that govern a lot of his behavior. The defining element of Classic Loki’s backstory is that he spent a long time alone on a planet, and only got busted by the TVA when he attempted to reconnect with his brother and anyone else he once knew. This is a hard existence, for all of them. And while it does not forgive them their many sins(*), it helps contextualize them, and give them the knowledge to try to be better versions of themselves.

(*) Loki at one point even acknowledges that, for him, it’s probably only been a few days since he led an alien invasion of New York that left many dead, though due to TVA shenanigans, far more time may have passed.

For that matter, Mobius is not the stainless hero he once thought of himself as. While he and Sylvie are tooling around the Void in a pizza delivery car (because of course they are), he admits that he committed a lot of sins by believing that the ends justified the means, and was wrong. He doesn’t know who he is before the TVA stole and factory rebooted him, but he knows that he wants something better for himself and the universe, and takes the stolen TemPad to open up a portal to his own workplace in hopes of tearing down the TVA once and for all. Before he goes, though, he and Loki share a hug that feels a lot more poignant than it should, given that these characters have only spent parts of four episodes of TV together. It’s a testament to Hiddleston, Wilson, Waldron, and company (Tom Kauffman wrote this week’s script) that their friendship felt so alive and important in such a short amount of time.

The same can be said for Loki and Sylvie’s relationship, however we’re choosing to define it. Though they briefly cuddle together under a blanket that Loki conjures, they move no closer to romance than they were already. If anything, Mobius’ accusations of narcissism in last week’s episode seem to have made both of them pull back a bit from where they seemed to be heading back on Lamentis. But the connection between them is real, whatever exactly it is. And their ability to take down Alioth — to tap into the magic that Classic Loki always had, and to fulfill Loki’s belief that “I think we’re stronger than we realize” — by working together is inspiring and joyful. Without all this nuanced and engaging character work, Loki would still be an entertaining ride, but it’s the marriage of wild ideas with the human element that’s made it so great.

Of course, now comes the hard part. Endings have rarely been an MCU strength, give or take something like the climax of Endgame, and the finales of the two previous Disney+ shows were easily their weakest episodes. The strange, glorious, beautiful machine that Waldron and Herron have built doesn’t seem like it’s heading for another generic hero/villain slugfest, but then, neither did WandaVision before we got exactly that. This one feels different so far, though. The command of the story, the characters, and the tone are incredibly strong right now. There is a mystery to be solved about who is in the big castle beyond the Void (another Loki makes the most narrative and thematic sense to me, but we’ll see), and a lot to be resolved about what happens to the TVA and our heroes. And maybe there’s some heavy lifting that has to be done in service to the upcoming Dr. Strange or Ant-Man films.

It’s complicated, but on a show that has handled complexity well. Though even if the finale winds up keeping things simpler, that might work. As Loki notes while discussing his initial plan to take down Alioth, “Just because it’s not complicated doesn’t mean it’s bad.” Though as Kid Loki retorts, “It also doesn’t mean it’s good.”

Please be good, Loki finale. Everything up to this point deserves that.

Some other thoughts:

* Most of this week’s most interesting material happens in the Void. But the scenes back at the TVA clarify a few things. First, Ravonna is not the mastermind of all this, and she was very much suckered in by the Time-Keeper robots. But unlike Mobius or Hunter B-15, she’s so conditioned to the mission that even knowing it’s a lie hasn’t really swayed her from her mission. She has Miss Minutes (who herself is much craftier this week) looking into files about the creation of the TVA, but for the most part comes across as someone very happy with a status quo where she gets to be special and pass judgment on the rest of the multiverse.

* Alioth first appeared in 1993’s Avengers: The Terminatrix Objective, a miniseries (written by Mobius inspiration Mark Gruenwald, and with some extremely kewl Nineties art full of shoulder pads, studded collars, and the like) involving Ravonna, Kang, and the off-brand versions of Captain America, Iron Man, and Thor (aka U.S. Agent, War Machine, and Thunderstrike, the latter of whom has yet to appear in the MCU). It’s a sequel to a Nineties crossover event called Citizen Kang. And no, I still don’t buy that Kang will be the one pulling the strings here, if only because it’s really bad storytelling for the big bad of the season to have never appeared or even been mentioned prior to the finale.

* Rather than try to identify every Easter egg visible in the Void’s terrain, I’ll instead highlight three of the most interesting. Right before the Lokis arrive at the hatch, we see a helicopter with Thanos’ name on it. This is a hat tip to an infamous — and often memed — out-of-continuity story where Thanos flies this chopper while trying to steal the Cosmic Cube (aka the Tesseract) from Hellcat. (A little kid gets his hands on it instead and, of course, uses the Cube to conjure up free ice cream.) James Gunn has been agitating for years for the Thanos Copter to be in the MCU. He finally got his wish.

* The other funny one: When the camera pans down the tunnel into Kid Loki’s headquarters, we see Mjolnir buried in the ground, and right below it is a jar containing a very annoyed frog in a Thor costume. This is either Thor himself — whom Loki cursed into amphibianhood in a memorable Walt Simonson storyline — or another character named Simon Walterston (note the backwards tribute to Walt) who later assumed the tiny mantle.

* Also, in one scene you can spot Yellowjacket’s helmet littering the landscape. This might support the theory that the TVA, the Void, etc., all exist in the Quantum Realm, since that’s where the MCU version of Yellowjacket probably went when his suit shorted out and he was crushed to subatomic size. Or it might be more trolling of the fanbase from the company that had WandaVision fans convinced that Mephisto, the X-Men, and/or Reed Richards would be appearing by the season finale.

* Honestly, I would have watched an entire episode that was just Loki, Mobius, and the others arguing about whether Alligator Loki was actually a Loki, or just a gator who ended up with the crown, presumably after eating a real Loki. The suggestion that the gator might be lying — and that this actually supports, rather than undermines, the case for him being a Loki — was just delightful. And hey, if Throg exists in the MCU now, why not Alligator Loki?

* Finally, the MCU films in general are not exactly known for their visual flair, though a few directors like Taika Waititi and Ryan Coogler have been able to craft distinctive images within the franchise’s usual template. Loki, though, is so often wonderful to look at, and particularly when our heroes are stuck in strange environments like Lamentis or the Void. Director Kate Herron and the VFX team work very well together to create dynamic and weird imagery like Sylvie running from Alioth, or the chaotic Loki battle in the bowling alley. Between this show and WandaVision, it appears the Disney+ corner of the MCU has a bit more room to expand its palette. (Falcon and the Winter Soldier, much less so.)

[fanficmemes]

Hi CB! Sorry for the last minute submission, but I forgot it was today CAS, for some reason I thought it was still Friday???? Anyway, as anticipated in the discord server, this week Loki fic explore one of my most well guarder kinks, albeit in the form of crack fic. Don't worry, even if crack is still cursed by normal standard! Let's dive in.

Is a prettt short one-shot of only 1256 words and the title sum it up perfectly: "Party Thor: The pussy cave explorer!". As is easly guesses by the title this fic in placed in an alternative reality based on the last "What if...?" episode for marvel, for anyone that had thankfully no idea about what I'm talking about: Thor is a only child frat boy and Loki is a frost giant (emphasis on giant), they are not brothers. Btw, this time is all consensual!!

The fic open with a script-like dialogue between Thor and Loki that goes as follow:

"thor: BIG PUSSY

thor: wait, thor, control yourself

thor: gentle sir, might I climb inside your pussy

thor: please

loki: ...

loki: Go on, get in there

loki: bring a jacket, it's chilly"

At which point Thor, already hard, wear a jacket and approach the giant pussy. He start stroking it but because his hands are small Loki lament that is like tickling and he needs to "put your back into it". So Thor "threw his body against the pussy lips, stroking and caressing with all his limbs, doing an erotic dance of pleasure pressed against the chilly meat wall." finally managing to bring some pleasure to Loki that is now wet. Then start pounding his arms into Loki's pussy at which point Thor notice a swelling above his head, quoting, "his ministrations were having such a strong effect on the ice giant, that his normally shy dickclit had popped out of its hiding place! [···] few Asgardians, if any, could say that they had seen an ice giant's dickclit with their own eyes, let alone lived to tell the tale.". He start stroking it and the contractions almost broke his arms and lauch him in the air. After some more foreplay Thor decide that enough is enough so he lube himself up, jacket and all, and slide inside.

Just to be clear: Thor didn't put his dick inside, he himself went in, his whole body, he crawled into Loki's pussy, y'know, because he is a giant.

Returning to the fic: Thor start wriggling around until he find Loki's G spot and start wriggling even more wildly against it until Loki come clamping down on him and almost suffocating Thor that think he is going to die and I have to share Thor's thought in his final moments:

" "Ah well," thought Thor, "It was worth it to die, if this is how I go out. Deep in the cool pussy of the sexiest giant I have ever seen in my life, even if I never did get to wrap my arms and legs around his cock and ride it like a mechanical bull." "

Anyway, Loki save him by grabbing Thor's feet and pulling him out then offer to reciprocate. Thor is like "Sir. Your a giant." and Loki is like "Oh, right!" so shapeshift into an Asgardian and Thor is very happy because now that he know Loki can shapeshift there is a lot more things they can try.

Loki suck Thor's dick.

The end.

Now, this is the link. If you (like me) click on it because is your kink I'm sorry, but is not that good; if you click on it for the crack than good ride because is funny as hell and comedic like few things I've read:

https://archiveofourown.org/works/34055059

I don't expect a very high score, but I needed to share because I'm curious about what you think.

- Loki Anon

What the fuck. And by what the fuck I mean why was that so entertaining. That’s the funniest shit I’ve ever read. I cackled. 2/10 great stuff truly

[avengershumanresources]

blood 7 - Strange/Stark!Reader

Relationship: Dr. Strange/Princess!Stark!Reader

Rating: M

Warnings: Adult Themes, eventual smut, adult language, implied sexual violence, general violence

Synopsis: Reader is the daughter of the legendary King Anthony Stark, Uniter of Lands, The Iron Defender, and leader of the realm. When the king disappears during battle, hope is lost and he is presumed dead.

When the late king’s uncle, Obadiah, takes the throne until your brother Peter is of age, he quickly arranges a marriage for you with a wicked king in a neighboring kingdom.

With the realms politics in question, and rumors of an upcoming siege to overthrow Peter’s rule before it starts, you quickly learn who is loyal to the crown and who is not.

part 6 - part 8 (coming April 13th)

Masterlist

Chapter Playlist

CHAPTER WARNING: Yee-har, thar be smut afoot in this here chapter. 18+

7- a king

Anthony Stark hadn’t expected all of this to come of his death. He foresaw of some of it.  

Of Obadiah’s imminent betrayal and Brock’s general ambition, but when Wanda had approached him with her vision all those years ago, he couldn’t have understood what it all meant. 

Now, however, he realized the violence that was soon to arrive at his kingdom’s doorstep. It was an uneasy feeling; the responsibility bestowed upon him to put men’s lives at risk. To make widows and orphans because of inter family squabbles. 

But Tony knew that Obadiah and Brock both presented far larger threats in the long term. 

A king who is hungry for power will never stop to consider the least fortunate in his rule. 

It was a mantra Tony had created for himself after his father had let entire villages fall to win back some petty golden toy during the War of the Giants. In the end, the lives lost had been worthless and the giants returned to their mountains with more spoils than they’d started. 

It had made him sick. 

That was the moment Tony decided to be a better man. A better king. He took pride in his unselfish rule and lack of war among those who shared the boundary with his kingdom. By a miracle he’d gotten Brock into line, but Obadiah had gotten a taste of power from his position in the Giant’s War and wanted more.

Rumors turned to plots, and all at once Tony knew his family and legacy was in danger. He had a troubled relationship with the Wakandans after one of his own barons killed their king in a quest for vengeance after the Giant’s War. Steve had volunteered as ambassador with the shadowy James Barnes (who’d long had a positive relationship with T’Challa) and they’d managed to broker a deal benefiting both nations. 

And Asgard. 

That was a whole other bag of complications. 

Odin had long been distrustful of Tony’s first wife, the late Queen Alexandra due to her Vanir lineage. The Asgardians had fought for centuries trying to eradicate what they’d seen as a dangerous race of uncontrollable magic users. 

Odin had been a step in the right direction, after replacing his late father, but the prejudices still remained and Tony’s marriage to one of the few remaining Vanir royals had soured what little relations they’d had. 

Still, in the end, they’d protected you when he so desperately needed help the Asgardians could only provide. To that, he’d offered her hand to the princes, and Odin took the offer into consideration, only backing off when an agreement was made between the two boys and yourself that affections lay elsewhere.

Which brought him to his latest challenge. Your engagement to the monster king, Brock Rumlow. 

The popular story was that he’d had his late wife killed when she hadn’t produced a male heir. Every female baby prior had been fed to the dogs and at last, when her fifth pregnancy had yielded yet another female, she fell mysteriously ill and died a few nights later. Some say a villager found the baby’s water logged corpse shortly after. 

From a strategic perspective, it made sense. You hadn’t been called upon by any serious suitors, often running around the kingdom with a begrudging Stephen on your coattails, and you were still young enough to bare a child or two. 

Brock needed a means of securing trust in the kingdom, and marrying one of its beloved daughters was the way to do it. Not to mention, Obadiah got his army, Peter would be overthrown when he attempted to take his birthright, and both men would share in the mutual benefits of being involved in one of the strongest economies in history. 

It was a clear cut plan for control of the kingdom, and it would have been more than enough for Tony to take action.

Except for one small caveat.

You. 

You’d been born of the same Vanir blood as your mother and even as a days old infant, you had shown the Master Sorceress at the time an insurmountable measure of power. 

It was an old and finicky magic, the woman had warned before your mother’s body had even cooled in bed. You would need trining, but there was no one left to provide. 

The Asgardians had been thorough in destroying the ancient texts and any remaining Vanir had long fallen into hiding, often using enchanted amulets and trinkets to conceal their seidr from those with wicked intentions. 

Your mother had been a victim of such vicious greed. She’d been open with her abilities, sharing a close bond with Orin’s own wife and his young son, Loki. The pair had conspired to learn all the forbidden secrets of the Vanir, and she’d begun to accumulate quite the library of resources from old temples and Asgardian burial tombs. 

Frigga helped her translate and in turn, the relationship with the royal families had warmed considerably until a few days before your birth. 

Things had fallen apart so quickly. The Northern Kree empire had infiltrated the castle after hearing rumors of the queen’s power. Someone had once written that a single drop of Vanir blood was worth thousands in gold pieces. A bandit had gotten through the gates while she labored, he had ambushed her in the birthing chambers and despite putting up an admirable fight- died with a dagger stabbed through her heart. 

The beast had tried to cut it free in front of the midwives. 

The Master Sorceress had only stepped from the room a moment to freshen up her herbal remedies. By the time anyone had made it to her side, she had died, and you’d been cut free of her with that same knife. 

“Your majesty?” Wanda inquired, approaching where he sat by the fire of the rebellion campsite.

“Yes?” He blinked up, returning to the present at hand. The men who were preparing for battle around him. The women sharpening weapons and sewing leather.  

The people he had asked to rise up for the betterment of the kingdom. The people who were prepared to die by his side for a secure future. 

“Master Strange is to meet at my cottage in the hour,” she explained. 

“And what would you advise Master Sorceress?” he asked, an amused expression on his face. “Shall we let him in on our secret?” 

“With less than seven days to the wedding, it might be wise,” she reasoned sardonically. “Natalia has her own mission in securing the support from within. Master Strange is working with Peter and Loki on securing the vulnerable.” 

“Do you think he told him?” Tony looked down at the fire pensively. 

“Who?” 

“Loki,” he clarified. “He and Master Mordo were among the few who knew. They had to have mentioned something to him. He’s- well- I’m not entirely sure what he is to her now, but he’s certainly one of the closest lines of protection to her.”

“Assuming the rune hasn’t already faded, I would think he either told him or Stephen found out for himself, my liege,” Wanda sat down on the log next to time, her gaze following his into the flames. “Her power is what Amora desires. It needs to be concealed until the princess is in safe hands.”

“Then he knows,” Tony decided, nodding to himself. “Amora would have done something stupid if the seidr had broken through completely. Someone is keeping it under control.”

“I’ll find out,” Wanda promised. “Would you like to speak to him?”

Tony made a disgruntled noise at the thought of approaching the sorcerer. House Strange had long served under the Stark banner, proudly riding at the front of the line when called upon for battle. When they sent their oldest to train at Kamar-Taj, Tony had been surprised.

The boy had a knack for strategy and was sharp as a needle point. Tony could have seen the young man easily rise in leadership in the house, ruling his own militiamen and managing the family affairs. 

But apparently he had no interest in it, and in an unorthodox fashion, the assets had been passed to their eldest daughter. 

Granted, in the end, none of that mattered- as the entire family estate had been stricken by a particularly nasty plague. The sole survivor was Stephen, who’d been away at Kamar-Taj when he’d gotten the news. 

He’d rushed home, and in the process gotten sick himself, but with the help of his fellow sorcerers, recovered with the only remnants of the illness remaining in his hands. He often told others it had been a riding accident. Only a select few knew the truth and devastation of his loss. 

Tony had met with the young man on his sickbed, assuring him the assets would remain in the family. That the castle would maintain the property while he fulfilled his obligations to Kamar-Taj. After all, there was no greater calling than to a life of service and compassion. It was the least Tony could do. 

Well, until you had scared off every Master to cross the castle threshold and he’d gotten desperate and asked the boy for a favor.

He should have known better. You were close in age. Equally as ambitious and cunning. For years you’d been sneaking through passages and around the villages at night, often with Natalia at your side. 

Stephen just made it easier, and helped Tony rest a little easier knowing the man would give his life for you, if need be. 

Tony wasn’t dumb. He’d seen it the first night the you had met. 

The sneaking smiles, the conspiratorial whispers in the corners of the ballroom, and when Peter’s cat turned into a lion almost identical to the Stark sigil, Tony knew that one day he might allow that young man to break the oaths he’d made for a single exception. 

“Your highness?” Wanda pried gently for a clearer answer. 

“Yes, I’ll speak to him,” he pinched the bridge of his nose. About a great many things.

(—)

“I somehow don’t believe you just found out about this,” you stated, sitting cross legged on one of the strewn about cushions, a teapot floating delicately from the palm of your hand. 

“I’ve learned a number of thing recently,” he replied dryly. “Like Mordo is alive, and Brock wants to kill Obadiah once you’re wed.”

You lost your focus and the cup shattered on the ground. 

“He what?” you gaped at Stephen while he repaired the ceramic cup with a wave of his hand. 

“It ties into the whole secret magic thing, but it really isn’t an ideal situation,” he explained, setting the cup aside and dropping to the cushion across from you. 

“I guess it’s good I’ve pestered you for your books over the years,” you mused, flexing your fingers in the air in front of you.

“It isn’t the same,” he sighed, watching while you lifted a few other stray objects and paused them between the two of you. “Seidr is... there isn’t documentation. The books were destroyed. Kamar-Taj had a few tomes but the Vanir language is nearly impossible to translate at this point.”

“What about Loki? Or Frigga?” you asked, moving both your hands at once and dropping a feather into his lap with a grin. 

“Believe it or not, I’ve been focused on other issues,” he muttered dryly. “We’re going to have to seal this before you leave.”

“But you said it’s what preventing Amora from taking over my head,” you reminded him pointedly, summoning a small flame from an incantation you’d studied the day before. Extinguishing it between your palms, you looked up at him for a better excuse. 

“But it is also the reason Brock is forcing you into a marriage and so she can control you, and in turn, your power better than you can,” he explained tersely. “She can’t know you’ve gotten partial control over it. Let her underestimate you, but until you can learn to conceal the energy yourself, you can’t risk exposure.”

“So am I being sealed or not?” you asked impatiently, floating a candle from you to him. He took it with an amused half-smile, extinguishing the light with a quick puff of air. “Can you do a... half seal? Hide the energy, keep some of the good parts?”

“Gods, I don’t know,” he groaned, shaking his head while he seat the canclde aside. “This is entirely new territory that I was not trained for.”

“That must mean you’re a terrible Sorcerer Supreme. What fool put you in charge?” you teased, reaching forward and tapping the top of his nose playfully. 

“It’s not my fault you’re a freakish anomaly that’s supposed to be extinct,” he mumbled, pulling a frown while you laughed. “Give me your wrist.”

“Fine, but when this over I demand you help me train properly,” you stated and though he  continued grumbling under his breath about being too old for your games, he agreed. “And Loki helps too.”

“Not part of the deal,” Stephen scowled. 

“Fine, I’ll marry him then,” you smirked back at him. “You still haven’t asked, so I guess when my wedding tragically falls through, I’ll have to find respite with him.”

He pulled you forward, a glint in his eyes that sent a shiver through your entire body. 

“I’m not going to chase after a betrothed woman, it’s bad taste,” he hummed, fingers crawling up your wrist and intertwining with your fingers. “I have a reputation to uphold, even if you feel comfortable hiding away with strange men in dark places.”

“Is that supposed to be a joke?” you whispered, sitting up on your knees and tilting your head.

“Do you not think I’m funny?” he murmured, reaching with his free head and tilting back your chin. A smile played on the corners of your mouth, both of you sizing the other up and daring the other to make the first move. 

“I can think of many things you are,” you lifted his hand and pressed a tender kiss to his palm. “But funny?”

“You laugh at all of my clever wit, don’t try to deceive me princess, I know the truth,” Stephen sharply pulled your hand forward, forcing you to fall into his chest. He held your lower back, gazing down at you adoringly. “You’re trying to hide it, but I see it in your eyes.”

“Do you know what I see in your eyes?” your voice cracked ever so slightly, your hand cradling his cheek, your thumb lightly tracing the sharp features. 

“What do you see?” 

“Strength,” you murmured, transfixed by his opalescent gaze. All at once, it was like you were seeing him for the first time. You could feel the energy radiating off of him, seeing the waves of magic as they ripples through his body. “Devotion to... Stephen you’re beautiful.”

“Or so the stars whisper to the earth below,” his voice was soft, gentle, while his hand guided itself up your arm to your cheek. “But, what the stars do not see is their own radiance, their own ethereal light shimmering across the velvet heavens above. The stars do not know how the Earth worships the very flicker of their existence, tells stories of their magnificence and beauty. The do not know how the Earth finds its meaning in what little time it steals away to them in the night.”

It all happened very quickly after that. 

You peeled at his robes, he worked at your corset, a frenzy of hands and mouths tasting one another in a way neither had ever imagined. 

Discarding the corset, he worked his hands up your blouse, fingers lightly teasing the tip of your nipple until you let out a satisfied moan. Robes loose, you pushed him back against a nearby pile of cushions, climbing between his legs and peppering hungry kisses up and down his neck until he growled, clawing at your hips. 

“If you’re-,” he tired protesting while you pulled away more clothing, pressing his leg between yours and letting out a whimper of pleasure when he shifted in just the right way. 

That seemed to set something off in him. 

He was over you, flipping you to the ground and pulling what little clothing remained between you, your naked bodies now flush. Stephen moved down to your breast, drawing a nipple between his teeth and watching you squirm under him at the incredible sensation. 

“Please,” you mewed, an absolute wreck under him. 

He took his time, moving to the other nipple and repeating his actions until you were begging for any kind of release. 

“Needy are we?” he murmured in your ear, his voice low and so controlled, you couldn’t understand how he could stand it. Goosebumps erupted over your body, and he just smirked, continuing his exploration.  

Teasing a finger at your entrance, he looked to you for final approval before easing the digit into you. 

“Gods,” he hissed, moving the finger at an agonizingly slow speed. “You’re the most beautiful thing I’ve ever laid eyes upon.”

He caught you in a kiss, speeding up his hand below, his thumb searching for the sensitive nub of nerves. When he grazed over the tender area, you nearly shot out of yourself, the sensation feeling downright sinful. 

Pulling his finger out, you let out another whimper, this one of protest at the emptiness inside of you. 

“Are you certain-?” he asked again, eyes scanning your face for any sign of hesitation or doubt. 

“I’ve never been more certain of anything,” you replied honestly. It wasn’t an exaggeration. You’d been a make up to this point, untouched and with no interest in engaging in such outrageous behavior.

Yet with him, you wished you could give more. Your body. Your soul. Your love. What did it matter anymore? He was yours, sitting before you and showing you through his loving car assess and sensations you’d never known before this moment. 

He eased himself in, giving you time to adjust to his length, the member much larger than his single finger. But Gods, did he feel incredible. 

You’d never thought so much emotion and pleasure could occur in a single moment. For this tiny hidden corner of the universe, you felt like your souls had collided and merged. 

It was a far cry from how Nat had told you it was. 

This was- you anticipated each of his movements, raising your hips to meet his as he crashed inside of you. Your brain couldn’t form coherent thoughts and when he started to coax something feral from within your core, you let him lead you through it. 

Pumping in time with strokes to your clit, you clenched your walls around him, pulling a hissed curse from the sorcerer. 

A few more pumps and a final circle around the sensitive area and you felt your orgasm crash over you. 

At first, you thought you’d done something wrong. Did you break something? How did this feel so incredible and overwhelming all at once? 

While you rode out your bliss, you felt his hips tighten, finishing with a final grunt.

You both stated at one another, eyes wide, trying to catch your breath. 

“Have you-,” you started but paused. “Like that before-?” 

It was no secret Stephen wasn’t exactly a virgin. He had his vows but they were against attachment, not sex, and sometimes, as he put it, the spirit needed to be revitalized. 

You’d called him a creep and moved on, but Gods did you understand now. 

“I don’t know what happened,” he blinked, looking thoroughly bewildered. “That’s... I’ve never- my gods, you’re incredible.”

He pulled out, dropping to the ground next to you with a huff. 

“I have a potion,” he muttered, pointing to the table above them. “Prevents pregnancy.”

“And here I thought you were devoted to me,” you poked him in the rib and he just laughed. 

“I am,” he insisted. “However, I’m not devoted enough to end up in the gallows for deflowering a princess who is betrothed to a ruthless king. My apologies, my grace.”

“Hm, I’m sure I can find someone willing to make that sacrifice for me,” you hummed. 

“And a fool he will be,” he leaned up on his elbow. “I still win the day. He would be hanged and I still get my princess.”

“Your princess?” 

“Has it been any other way?” he asked, quirking a brow. “Truly, if I’m mistaken, tell me. I don’t want to sound too over ambitious.”

You considered it briefly. Had it? 

No, you knew from the moment you spied those eyes at the ball welcoming him to the castle that he was your future. You just hadn’t realized what that meant at the time. 

There was no world, no life, where you could live without him by your side. 

The thought sobered you quickly, your upcoming nuptials springing to mind, the spell locking you in your private world, now lifted. 

“Would you have asked my father?” you asked. 

“In another life, we would have been married by now,” he answered earnestly. “I’m a fool for having hesitated and nearly missed my chance at an eternity by your side.” 

“And Brock?” you asked, the name leaving a sour taste in your mouth. Stephen’s expression darkened at mention of the man. 

“I’ll kill him before he touches you,” he vowed. “I will not yield your heart to such a monster, and I will stop this. I cannot risk you leaving my side. Not again, my love.”

You leaned forward and kissed him, soft, intimate, and gentle. Stephen wasn’t a fighter. 

Certainly he could fight, but you knew him well enough to know that violence was a last option after all other options had been tried. And here he was preparing to declare a one man war on your betrothed. 

Truly, the heavens were smiling upon you in this life.

(—)

Later that evening, when Stephen had returned you safely to your quarters, he met with Wanda at her cottage at the edge of the woods to discuss the next steps in the plan. 

When she caught sight of him, her expression shifted from confused to elated to-

“What is it?” he asked, knowing she’d gotten a read of what he’d been up to previously. 

“Do well to conceal your thoughts,” she warned, leading him inside. 

“Conceal what-?” he asked after her, stopping in his tracks when he saw Anthony sitting at her table, sipping at a large horn of water. 

Tony stood up, giving the man a once over, brows raised as he took him in. 

“You couldn’t wait until the wedding night?” he grumbled, dropping back down in his chair with a long sigh. 

(—)

8- a secret

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[9worldstales]

MCU “Thor: Ragnarok” - The elevator scene

So I’ve heard that Tom Hiddleston’s interview “Tom Hiddleston Looks Back at 10 Years of Loki | Entertainment Weekly” has sparked some discussion…

…because, when talking of the elevator scene Tom said Thor had been honest in it, sparking the joy of who enjoyed that scene which is one of the few emotional moments of the movie between the two in which Thor says something ‘nice’ to Loki (I think that scene is actually one of the most well known and popular about the movie) and the disagreement of who remembered that Thor used that moment to place an obedience disk on Loki’s back, an obedience disk that basically tortures who wear it once it’s activated… and Thor later activated it when Loki attempted to betray him, and left it activated, abandoning him in that hangar where the grandmaster, which he knows has no qualms to melt people who disappoint him, could find Loki. The fact that Korg finds Loki first and free him from that torture is mere luck on Loki and on Thor’s part as Loki will then bring Asgard a ship large enough to save all the Asgardians.

Long story short, a part of the fandom felt that Thor said such words to cause Loki to lower his guard so that he could place the obedience disk.

So I wanted to share my two cents about it.

But first let’s look at the full script for it.

Thor: Hey, so listen, we should talk. Loki: I disagree. Open communication was never our family's forte. Thor: You have no idea. I've had quite the revelation since we spoke last. [The door opens, revealing a bunch of guards. Thor and Loki heft up two Sakaarian guns.] Thor: Hello! Loki: Hi! [Thor and Loki BLAST all the guards, moving to another door.] Loki: Odin brought us together, it's almost poetic that his death should split us apart. We might as well be strangers now. "Two sons of the crown" set adrift. [A guard tries to ambush Loki through the door. Thor TAKES OUT the guard.] Thor: Thought you didn't want to talk about it? Loki: Here's the thing.

[ELEVATOR. Thor and Loki are going up.] Loki: I'm probably better off staying here on Sakaar. Thor: That's exactly what I was thinking. Loki: ...Did you just agree with me? Thor: This place is perfect for you. It's savage, chaotic, lawless. Brother, you're going to do GREAT here. Loki: Do you truly think so little of me? [Thor pauses, considers his brother. Then:] Thor: Loki, I thought the world of you. I thought we were gonna fight side by side forever. But, at the end of the day, you're you, I'm me... I don't know, maybe there's still good in you, but let's be honest, our paths diverged a long time ago. [Loki is wounded by Thor's willingness to discard him. Masks his feelings with:] Loki: It's probably for the best that we never see one another again. [Beat. Thor pats Loki affectionately on the shoulder. Hold on Loki. Did Thor just get through to him?] Thor: That's what you always wanted.

Yeah, I included the bit prior to it because it kind of introduced the scene. And as the obedience disk scene is also part of the discussion, let’s look at it as well.

Loki: I know I've betrayed you many times before, but this time it's truly nothing personal. The reward for your capture will set me up nicely. He triggers the alarm. Thor: Never one for sentiment, were you? Loki: Easier to let it burn. [But then Loki sees Thor holding up a fob device. Loki realizes that Thor affixed an Obedience Disk on him in that heart-to-heart moment.] Thor: I agree. [BZZZT! Thor ZAPS Loki and HOLDS DOWN the button. Loki HITS the ground, WRITHING in pain. Thor approaches. Pause.] Thor: Oh brother, you're becoming predictable. I trust you, you betray me. Round and round in circles we go. [Thor continues to "think about it" for a beat while Loki convulses in agony on the floor. Finally, Thor kneels down:] Thor: See, Loki, life is about, it's about growth. It's about change. But you seem to just wanna stay the same. I guess what I'm trying to say is that you'll always be the God of Mischief, but you could be more. I'll just put this over here for you. [Thor places the fob on top of the security panel, so close but so far from Loki's paralyzed reach.] Thor: Anyway, I got places to be so good luck.

Okay, now with these scenes in mind, let’s go and see how Tom comments the elevator scene.

The elevator scene, in “Ragnarok.” The dialogue was… was scattered across these different… places as they were trying to escape and find their way through. Taika said: “Guys, do you know the rest of the scene?” and we both said: “Yeah.” He said: “Maybe we should just do... do one where we just do all of the dialogue here in the elevator and you haven't really had a chance to catch up and maybe you should just talk to each other,” and Thor… is quite honest with him. And I think it really affects Loki, he thinks ‘oh actually maybe… maybe I got this wrong, maybe I did have a place in that family. Maybe… maybe this guy is my brother,’ but it was a really enjoyable scene because it was just a very quiet moment with Chris in a very calm space in a big colourful spectacular film. [“Tom Hiddleston Looks Back at 10 Years of Loki | Entertainment Weekly”]

So… is Thor being sincere? Or just being manipulative?

When one look at Thor’s sentence there’s a thing that hit me:

Thor: Loki, I thought the world of you. I thought we were gonna fight side by side forever. But, at the end of the day, you're you, I'm me... I don't know, maybe there's still good in you, but let's be honest, our paths diverged a long time ago.

At Loki’s question ‘Do you truly think so little of me?’ Thor doesn’t say ‘No, I think the world of you.’ He says he THOUGHT the world of him. As in previously he thought the world of him and we can speculate this previously refers to before he stopped considering him a ‘brother’ something that happened likely in “The Avengers” according to “Thor: The Dark World”, probably when Thor told him they could stop the Chitauri together and Loki stabbed him.

Thor: I don't. Mother did. You should know that when we fought each other in the past, I did so with a glimmer of hope that my brother was still in there somewhere. That hope no longer exists to protect you. You betray me and I will kill you.

And I can believe Thor used to love Loki before all that, so he’s sincere in saying that, back then, he thought the world of him.

Now, I know there’s people who think Thor didn’t properly appreciate Loki in “Thor”, especially when he used the pretty unlucky sentence ‘Know your place, Brother’ but also when, in a cut scene, he waved away Loki’s contribute to the victory saying ‘Some do battle, others just do tricks’ but this is exactly the point.

Thor’s ‘sin’ in that moment is his vanity, his arc in the movie centred on him learning humility.

Thor loved Loki, same as Kevin Lomax, in “The Devil’s Advocate” loved Mary Ann. There’s quite a good quote in that movie.

John Milton: I rest my case. Vanity is definitely my favorite sin. Self-love, the all-natural opiate. It's not like you didn't care for Mary Ann, Kevin. You were just a little more involved with someone else: yourself.

Thor also in the first half of the movie was more involved in himself than he was in his brother. Or his friends. Let’s remember Fandral got hurt and it was Loki and Volstagg which helped him, while the Thor is described by the script as busy fighting the Frost Giants, his bloodlust rising, with Loki and Sif both telling Thor they’ve to leave instead.

Loki: Thor, we must go! [Thor, still without his hammer, fights his Jotun foes mercilessly, a man consumed by blood lust. Loki sees the look on his brother's face -- the savage thrill of the heat of battle.] Thor: Then go! Sif: There are too many of them! Thor: I can stop them! [The others hesitate. Jotuns break up through the ice all around them.] Sif: Thor! [But Thor ignores his comrades, continues fighting.]

When they’ll be back to Asgard it’ll be Odin who’ll say Fandral has to be taken to the healing room, not Thor, something that the movie will technically address when it’ll show that Thor, once back to Asgard after he learnt humility on Midgard, will be the one to tell his friends to bring Heimdall to the healing room.

in “Thor”, Thor had to be a bad brother due to his vanity… but this doesn’t mean he was an unloving one, just one who might have thought the world about Loki… but thought the whole universe about himself and thought more about himself than he ever did at Loki… because he was vain.

Sadly although most of the second half of the movie is set up to prove Thor is the opposite of how he was before, they never quite manage to prove he would have an opposite dynamic with Loki. He tries to save him twice, and clearly didn’t want him to let go, he tells his brother not to let go, he’s the one who screams when Loki does anyway, while Odin merely says a quiet no which wasn’t even in the original old script, but, unless we consider the fact he accepted Loki to be the king to exist to be the opposite of ‘Know your place, Brother’, this is maybe the only aspect in which the movie doesn’t prove Thor now has a reverse mentality (I’ve listed all the scenes the movie had or was meant to have that proved how Thor made a 180° turn in another meta if someone is interested).

But whatever, Thor’s ‘Loki, I thought the world of you’ was clearly meant to be the truth, Thor used to think so of Loki, the movie is just skipping on the part he wasn’t so good at showing it because in “Thor” Thor was a vain boy.

And it’s likely also the truth how Thor said ‘I thought we were gonna fight side by side forever.’

In “The Avengers” Thor not only insisted for Loki to come back home but also for them to fight together against the Chitauri.

Thor: Look at this! Look around you! You think this madness will end with your rule? Loki: (tries to look away) It's too late. It's too late to stop it. Thor: No. We can. Together.

And the fact they used to fight together is implied in the already mentioned cut scene of “Thor” as well as again, in “The Avengers”.

Thor: We were raised together, we played together, we fought together. Do you remember none of that?

So yes, Thor for a while thought they were gonna fight side by side forever, then things in “The Avengers” went downhill and by the time “Thor: The Dark World” comes around he refuses to acknowledge Loki as his brother… even though he still needs him.

There’s no lies in Thor’s words, he said something he thought before Loki’s fall, that he and Loki would always fight together, on the same side and, all considered, he had no reason to think otherwise. He had no idea things would take a turn for worse so of course he would think Loki would continue to fight at his side. The old script and the novel implied the original plan prior to the coronation was for Thor to rule and for Loki to be at his side, offering him counsel.

Odin: Do you think he's ready? Frigga: He thinks he is. He has his father's confidence. Odin: He'll need his father's wisdom. Frigga: And his humility? [Odin reacts.] Frigga: (cont’d) Thor won't be alone. Loki will be at his side to give him counsel. Have faith in your sons. Odin: Yes, but Thor's still a boy. He could be a great King...

So yes, in this too Thor is sincere. He assumed Loki would stay at his side. He had no reason to think otherwise.

The last bit though, ‘But, at the end of the day, you're you, I'm me... I don't know, maybe there's still good in you, but let's be honest, our paths diverged a long time ago’ is just Thor basically letting go of Loki. Loki is not him, maybe there’s good in Loki, maybe he’s just evil but anyway he isn’t going to be a hero like Thor. As he said before, for Thor, place like Saakar, savage, chaotic, lawless, is perfect for someone like Loki.

Is he being manipulative here? He’s rejecting Loki knowing Loki actually needs Thor to tell him he needs him?

Well this is what Hemsworth said Thor was thinking about Loki:

One of the more fascinating parts of the franchise has been the relationship between Thor and Loki… How do you continue that relationship without repeating what you’ve already done before? Hemsworth: Without giving too much away, I didn't want to repeat that relationship either. And Tom felt the same. All of us were like, ‘What can we do again here?’ There’s a bit of reversal as far as... In the first films, a lot of the time you’re seeing Thor going, 'Come back Loki, and da-da-da-da.' [But now] there’s a feeling from Thor that’s just like, 'You know what, kid? Do what you want. You’re a screw up. So whatever. Do your thing.' [Chris Hemsworth ‘Thor Ragnarok’, Embracing the Comedy, the Thor-Loki Relationship and More]

Loki is a ‘screw up’. He’s no more someone he thought the world of. He doesn’t think anymore they would keep on fighting together. He doesn’t care.

And this is what Waititi said.

Hewitt: For Loki, he might actually be the most emotionally independent of the movie, and I love that the big emotional epiphany comes when one brother is essentially electrocuting the other? Ah- Waititi: *chuckles* Hewitt: *chuckling* Yeah. But there’s a speech to Loki that Thor gives about change and about how you should change, that’s the first time I think Loki’s ever really listened. Waititi: Mm-hmm. Hewitt: From what we’ve seen, you know, there are moments in this movie where, you know, the betrayal takes place as you might expect, and then you begin to move it on beyond that and the character actually begins to change. Ah, can you talk about... progressing Loki, I guess, as a character? Waititi: Yeah. Yeah, well I feel like we were- You know, we didn’t want to change him too much because he was so popular and the fans love that version of him. We wanted to keep- we needed to retain who he is, because when you start changing all of the characters and just doing it for the sake of change, you know, people can’t handle that and definitely fans can’t handle that. So you know he was one of the few characters that we, you know, that we changed and so I made sure that- *pause* -that the main changes that were gonna happen there were to do with the brothers, and to do with their relationship, because I think people wanted to see that arc end on a satisfying way and culmination of all these films and all of the events being that Thor and Loki finally found some sort of way of co-existing without Thor always saying, “Loki, stop this madness! Come hooome! Oh, you can do better!” Instead of pleading with him, just, you know, I feel that’s the most mature version of these guys, you know, is to say to him, “Man, it’s cool. You keep doing what you’re doing, I’m- You know, I don’t need to change you. I’ve all the other stuff to concentrate on, that change thing is up to you, I’m not gonna- I’m sick of, like, pleading with you to, you know, to change your ways.” And I feel like giving that decision to Loki and letting him make that decision for himself was actually the most satisfying version of those have been. [“Empire Podcast Spoiler Special Thor Ragnarok with Taika Waititi”]

To be honest most of the discussion more than about the elevator scene is about the electrocution scene and the first part is Hewitt’s interpretation but Waititi does not disagree. Anyway the root of the discussion is that, according to Waititi, Thor isn’t trying to get Loki to change his mind, Thor is just done with Loki, which fits not just with the electrocution scene but also with the elevator scene. It’s not a very loving message.

If I were to question Hiddleston’s interpretation, I wouldn’t disagree on Thor being honest, I would just find weird that Loki had reacted to such words thinking ‘oh actually maybe… maybe I got this wrong, maybe I did have a place in that family. Maybe… maybe this guy is my brother,’ for two good reasons. One is that Thor spoke not in present simple but in past simple, so maybe that guy WAS his brother, now he doesn’t care about him anymore. As he said in “Thor: The Dark World” Thor has again renounced him. The second is… the electrocution scene, which starts with Loki betraying Thor.

Yeah, I know there are fans who interpret it as Loki not wanting Thor to die fighting Hela which I TRULY love because sometimes fans have better interpretations than the authors on why the character do what they do, but, skipping that the idea of handing him to the Grandmaster who could very well melt him wasn’t that bright (but whatever, Loki could still think he’ll manage to persuade the Grandmaster to let him alive and use him to replace the Hulk), this clearly wasn’t Waititi’s intent.

Waititi didn’t correct Hewitt when he talks about the scene and how that’s the first time Loki’s ever really listened. In Waititi’s intent the elevator’s scene is just an addition, something in which Thor and Loki talk to each other because they hadn’t had the chance to catch up before the electrocution scene that would remark how Loki is again betraying Thor but how Thor this time has grown and can predict Loki’s betrayal and be ready to strike back and even give him the speech that will cause Loki’s change of heart. Long story short, the elevator scene was an afterthought, what was meant to be included was the electrocution scene because on that scene was supposed to be rooted the idea Loki would change.

And of course this is a HUGE problem, because if you, up until a moment before, were willing to sell your brother to someone like the Grandmaster for money, the fact that he electrocute you and leave you writhing in pain on the floor, KNOWING if the Grandmaster finds you empty handed he will melt you… well, this normally wouldn’t inspire you to have brotherly feelings, speech about having the potential for being more or not.

Long story short, the idea that Loki would go to save Thor and the Asgardians DESPITE that, merely due to Thor’s pretty speech, doesn’t really feel that logic at all, never mentioning that something that gives you enough pain to cause you to crumble on the floor and be unable to move might not help you to be an attentive listener.

I’m not even sure why there’s this idea that Thor was always ‘come back, brother’ since in “Thor: The Dark World” Thor definitely wasn’t asking him to come back, he was actually giving up on him in an even more drastic way than he did in “Thor: Ragnarok”…

Loki: You must be truly desperate to come to me for help. What makes you think you can trust me? Thor: I don't. Mother did. You should know that when we fought each other in the past, I did so with a glimmer of hope that my brother was still in there somewhere. That hope no longer exists to protect you. You betray me and I will kill you. [Loki smiles]

It’s not said solely in the script, this is what Hiddleston said about Loki in “Thor: The Dark World” as well:

…and in a way reverse the arc of the character. Because he’s always defined himself in opposition. Thor has always been offering an olive branch. ‘Come back. We forgive you. Come back.’ And it’s Loki’s kind of arrogant privilege to say ‘No. I still hate you.’ And…in this film I think…nobody’s offering the olive branch. He’s in prison, condemned to be written out of history, forgotten, unseen, unheard, and haunted by his demons. You have to change at that point. So that surprised me. How far further down does he go before he hits rock bottom? Is there one for him? And…could he come back up? [“Nov 2013 Hiddleston Interview: Commentary on the Commentary (and much more)“]

…and yet, in “Thor: The Dark World”, despite his brother saying he previously held back when fighting because he hoped his brother was still there (a clear hint he loved such brother) and that now he no longer believes in such hope, Loki didn’t sell him to the Dark Elves and even stopped the Kurse from killing him, which lead him to be stabbed… and mind you, originally the wound was meant to be fatal… but whatever, this is a discussion for another post.

Anyway basically what Thor told him back then… is more or less the same he told him in the elevator scene so Tom Hiddleston’s explanation about how this would AGAIN affect Loki would make sense if it wasn’t for the electrocution scene that gets in the way.

On another note the Junior novel is apparently based on an older script for “Thor: Ragnarok” and in it things work a lot more better.

There’s no elevator scene or electrocution scene. The two brother had a talk in which Thor bares his soul to Loki and encourages him to change as well.

“You’ll help us free Asgard from Hela’s grip when we arrive? I can count on you?” Thor asked. “Of course. After all, I’m sure you blame me for her resurgence. It’s at least I can do.” Loki appeared contrite. “Although, I am curious, why the sudden change of heart to become Odinson and assume the throne?” “It is what is needed to defeat Hela. Therefore it is my duty,” Thor said plainly. He let out a small sigh, his voice almost apologetic. “In the past I demanded the throne when I hadn’t earned it, and then refused the throne when Asgard needed me most. You stole it. Twice.” “Yet you are always forgiven,” Loki said, trying not to sneer. “My point is that our self-centered conflict over Asgard has ruined our kingdom. We have been so focused on fighting for the top we’ve forgotten there’s a middle and a bottom. If I’m to be king, then I want to be a custodian, not a conqueror.” “Why the sudden baring of your soul to me?” Loki asked. Thor turned to his brother. “Because I want to change. I want to be better. And I think you can, too. Helping us escape has shown you can take strides toward that.” He looked at Loki earnestly. “Make a fresh start, brother. It’s time.” [“Thor: Ragnarok - The Junior Novel”]

While this bit is clearly not perfect (especially since there are some canon mistakes) it contains the same idea that Loki should change and be more that is also in the electrocution speech, but it’s way more love inspiring than having your brother leaving you wriggling in pain on the floor.

Thor doesn’t try to pass himself for a perfect hero but admits his faults as well as the wish to be better. This dialogue continues with the theme of “Thor” in which Thor tries to be worthy and, in opening his heart to Loki and saying they can both improve could have reminded him again they used to be brothers who loved each other and their own country.

But, okay, I’m digressing.

On another note… it’s clear they expected Tom Hiddleston to say something nice about “Thor: Ragnarok”. I know there’s a huge part of the fandom who would just love if it were to respectfully disrespected but, for start, I don’t think that’s Hiddleson’s style and, anyway, he wouldn’t be allowed to do so. Not only “Thor: Ragnarok” was successful but Waititi is now directing “Thor: Love and Thunder”. Marvel clearly counts on it to ride the success of “Thor: Ragnarok” and be successful as well so it’s not like they’ll want us to forget it or allow Hiddleston to speak poorly of it.

Still there are some interesting things to point out.

The first is that Hiddleston spoke about the other movies a lot more than about this one. It’s around 1 minute commenting versus the 1 minute and a half of the other 3 movies and he mentions just that one scene while in the others we see more than 1 (I’m obviously skipping “Avengers: Infinity War” and “Avengers: Endgame” because Loki’s role in the was way too small to discuss it at length).

Long story short, while Hiddleston doesn’t say anything against “Thor: Ragnarok” he clearly didn’t have much he wanted to say. He focused on what to the audience felt a nice moment about Thor and Loki and then moved on.

The second scene is that in the montage of the video they cut part of Thor’s sentence so that all the viewers hear is “I thought we were gonna fight side by side forever. But, at the end of the day, you're you, I'm me... I don't know, maybe there's still good in you, but let's be honest, our paths diverged a long time ago.”

Basically they left out the “Loki, I thought the world of you.”

Maybe it’s a coincidence but still it’s interesting they didn’t realize they were cutting the most emotional line of that bit.

Whatever, it happens.

Anyway, for what’s worth, those are my two cents on the whole thing.

[ancientwastedlores]

Undone by “Darling”

REQUEST (from @november-solarstorms​): Celebrating another year of this earth being braced by Tom Hiddleston's presence! Lol. Might I make a prompt request? I feel as though it would be interesting to read from Loki's POV to explore the dynamics between him and a human female who is just as intelligent as he. She has a sharp wit and even sharper tongue. Her sarcastic and clever nature enable her to out-banter Tony Stark, the king of snark himself (may he rest in peace). But she is also just as flirtatious and salacious. She never blushes, never falters, and is incredibly clever. You can decide the nature of their encounter. Really im just in it for a good game of cat and mouse.

A/N: Okay, I had SO MUCH FUN writing this!! And yeah, this will run a bit longer than my usual fics lol. Also, there IS a Loki POV, just keep reading thaaanks <3

WARNINGS: none. 

WORD COUNT: 1,932

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Undone by “Darling” 

17 hours and 6 white chocolate mochas later, it was finally ready - an upgraded version of Corvus Glaive’s glaive, this one spec-ed out to your fancies and requirements. It was a beast, and definitely not something Nick Fury would ever let you play around with, even if you made it. 

Satisfied with your work, you remove your safety goggles and grin at Stark, who is working on his own weapon he scavenged from the Black Order. 

‘I’m done!’ you say triumphantly, causing him to look up and groan.  ‘How did you finish before me!?’ he lowers his glasses and looks at your weapon.  ‘I’m smarter’ you say.   ‘I went to MIT’  ‘And I didn’t, yet here we are, both in the same lab’. 

He shakes his head, not unlike a petulant child, causing you to laugh. 

‘How far along are you?’ you ask.  ‘Still running diagnostics’.  ‘Still!?’  ‘Have you seen the size of his hammer?’ he gestures to Cull Obsidian’s chain hammer on his work table, but the innuendo doesn’t escape you and you grin at him. He facepalms. ‘Y/n, for god’s sake...’  ‘You’re just tired, or you’d appreciate the joke too’. 

You stretch your weary body and let out a deep breath. You’d test the weapon out tomorrow, but for now, you need a nap. 

‘Take a load off, Stark. Hammer’ll be there tomorrow’.  ‘Oh, you’d like that wouldn’t you...’ he puts his goggles back on and get to work. 

xx

Loki’s POV: 

Humans are surprising, but I always knew that. I never thought them boring, even if my brother says I do. Humans are of so little power but such incredible resilience that it’s frankly astonishing. I am inclined to believe that sometimes resilience is just stupidity... in most cases, I am right. But that’s not to say I haven’t come across some truly brave people. 

Take the Avengers Tower, for example. 

Just in here, you have Y/n, a brave soldier with the mind of an intergalactic scavenger, and I do mean that as a compliment. She’s awfully clever, she can build better than Stark, and has a track record of finishing every mission to perfection and before time. And then you have the Super Soldier Steve Rogers, a big muscled, big hearted idiot who often mistakes challenging our enemies for bravery and morality. 

The two couldn’t be more different, but they get along like siblings. Not siblings like Thor and I... better adjusted, perhaps. 

They sit in front of me, talking about some mission while they play Chess. Her moves are quick but calculated, his take more time because he’s more interested in telling his story than playing the game. 

‘...so there I am, no weapons, no shield, bang in the middle of the Serpent Citadel...’ 

He’s a good storyteller, I’ll give him that. But not as good as Y/n. She paints quite a picture, full of delicious gory details and horribly dark jokes. 

‘Steve, you have to pay attention, you’re losing’ she says.  ‘Yeah, I don’t actually know how to play chess, I just wanted you to listen to my story’. 

She looks up at him, almost offended. ‘STEVE...’  ‘Cool, I’m gonna go wrap Stark into a game of Battleships and tell him about my fight with Copperhead’. 

She laughs as he leaves the room, and she puts the chess pieces away. 

‘We could play?’ I ask her.  ‘Is the God in a mood to lose?’  ‘Over confidence isn’t attractive in anybody’. ‘Oh darling, neither is telling someone what is and isn’t attractive’. 

She’s never called me that before, and in the context it should seem cutting, but it isn’t. ‘Darling?’  ‘Problem?’  ‘It’s quite a term of endearment to set someone straight’. 

She says nothing. 

‘Cat got your tongue?’ I tease her. She only smiles and continues putting the pieces away neatly. Stark’s chess set is gold and black, all individually carved pieces. The pawns are all Iron Man suits, but that’s to be expected. She handles them with the care Stark would. 

‘I mean...’ I continue, ‘honestly, if someone heard, they’d never let you live it down’. 

And she carries on, unbothered. 

‘Y/n!’  ‘Oh dear, look at you come completely undone with just one term of endearment’ she comments, shutting the chess set. ‘Whatever would happen if I held your hand?’ 

The very thought of it seemed to drain my brain of blood. I unwillingly glanced at her hands, working the lock mechanism of the box, her blue veins prominent. 

‘Cat got your tongue?’ she asked. 

I stood up, the human emotion of embarrassment becoming too familiar for me. ‘I’ll have to see you at lunch’.  ‘Sure, darling’. 

Oh, I hate how she’s enjoying this. 

----------

The next day, Y/n booked a training room to test out the Glaive, and Stark had a rusty but working chain hammer. Steve insists on trying it out anyway, and now our breakfast is being spent on discouraging him from doing that. 

‘Guys... if nothing else, I’ll still have my shield. Let me test it out!’  ‘Y/n’s glaive cuts through Vibranium, you know that, right?’ Stark says.  ‘Y/n wouldn’t do that’. ‘Oh yes she would’ Y/n says nonchalantly as she sinks her teeth into a bacon and egg sandwich. 

As she does, the yolk runs down her fingers. She makes a sound at the inconvenience and sets the sandwich down, then grabs a napkin. I’m hardly ever crude, but the energy it took not to take her hand and lick off the yolk myself could burn every star in the galaxy. 

Captain America scrunches his nose at her remark, severely offended. 

‘In any case, that shield barely covers your giant body. It will force Stark to make you a new one’.  ‘What do you care about his giant body’ Stark says.  ‘It’s America’s ass, Tony’ she takes a sip of her iced coffee. Steve blushes, and Tony rolls his eyes. 

----------

The training facility is magic, of course, somewhere between a mirror dimension and Wanda’s reality powers creating a safe cocoon inside the building so no one can be harmed. Y/n hardly trusted anybody to fight with her except Thor, but given the nature of Corvus’ Glaive, she knew magic would be required. 

And so she called me. 

After getting into my battle armour, I stepped into the facility, equipped with my sceptre and the teachings of the witches of Asgard. 

She whistles as I walk in. ‘Trying to distract me from killing you?’  ‘Are you?’ I ask. She’s dressed in a black bodysuit, details of purple in her belt and weapon harnesses.  ‘Why yes, I am. Glad you noticed’. 

The glaive is on the floor, and she stomps her foot on one part of it so it swivels up and neatly places itself in her hand. She smiles. 

‘Try to keep up. I’m not just looking for eye candy in a training partner, darling’ she says, getting into battle stance. 

With nothing left to say for the second time this week, I aim the sceptre at her and the stone at the end glows. 

She charges and I shoot at her, but she spins the glaive and creates a shield which absorbs the energy. 

She continues to charge at me. I shoot again, and again the glaive takes the hit. Not a scratch on her. 

Once she comes closer, she simply places the flat end of the weapon against my chest, sending me hurtling back into a wall. 

She spins the glaive and laughs. 

‘Compliments of Wakanda. It absorbs any hits and charges up with kinetic energy’. 

I get up on my feet. This is far from over. I create multiple illusions to surround her, all of them brandishing knives, Chitauri tech, and sceptres. 

‘Damn, suddenly my whole evening has opened up’ she says, looking around.

Even my clones look around at each other puzzled. 

‘Come on then, who’s up?’ she spins the glaive around. ‘One at a time or all at once, baby’. 

They charge at her, and I expected her to fight them off at once... instead she plants the staff on the ground and ducks, and a semi-circle shell grows from the top of the staff, down to the floor... like a mini fortress, completely impenetrable. It could, no doubt, continue to take hits and build up kinetic energy, so I call off the clones. 

She gets up and retracts the shell. ‘Nanotech’ she grins at me. ‘The whole shell sits in a disk. It can withstand bombs and even a moon’.  ‘Is there any tech you haven’t adopted?’  ‘I’m an intergalactic scavenger, aren’t I?’ 

I stare at her, horrified. Can she read minds? 

‘Maybe I can. Or maybe I heard you tell Stark when he was complaining about me finishing my weapon first’. 

Silence. 

‘Also, darling, you’re awfully predictable in your fighting’. 

She picks up every trick and tech she sees, so beating her is less about weapons and more about cunning. 

No problem. Cunning is my specialty. 

‘Ready now?’ she asks.  ‘Mhm’. 

She takes a deep breath to ready herself, her eyes shutting slightly. Once they open back up, she stares in shock. 

In my Jotun form, I give her my most menacing smile.

She cocks her head to the side, studying my icy blue skin. 

The illusion I cast of myself approaches behind her, dagger in hand. Once it’s close enough and I can almost taste my victory, she raises the glaive and in one swift motion, sticks it into its abdomen. 

The illusion disappears into green light. 

‘Cute’ she remarks. She points the glaive at me. ‘What else you got for me?’  I shift back to my Asgardian form and sigh. ‘You win’. 

Y/n laughs and lowers her weapon. ‘Oh darling, I won the second you walked in wearing all that leather’. She winks at me, then walks out of the facility. I feel a blush creep to my face, much against my will. 

-------------

‘Maybe you should stick to your guns, Tony’ Y/n says, ‘Fancy suits is it for you, chain hammers may be overshooting it’.  ‘Is that what they taught you in the back alley you learnt ironmongery from?’  ‘Yes! Do you want their number, I’m sure they’ll have a spot on the waiting list for you’. 

Ah. Y/n’s relationship with Stark seemed more like mine with Thor. While they banter, Steve and Natasha tear up from laughing. I wouldn’t go so far as to call this domestic, but it certainly is comfortable. 

‘Come on, the glaive can’t be that good, right Loki?’ Stark asks. 

The company looks at me expectantly. ‘To say her weapon isn’t good enough means to insult your own tech, Stark. Everything about it is founded on your theories’. 

‘So technically, it’s my brain that made the glaive so cool’ he tells Y/n.  ‘Yeah, you could say that. The glaive comes from the same mind that manufactured Captain America’s dinner plate’. 

Steve doesn’t find that one funny, but Natasha does, sending her into peals of laughter. 

‘Oh whatever’ Tony huffs. ‘I’m going back to the lab’. 

He stands up and Y/n grabs his arm. ‘Aww Tony, I’m just kidding!’ she pats his hand, ‘Look, you’re a brilliant inventor, we all have our slow days’. 

He sighs and nods, and holds her hand. ‘Thanks... I guess I’m just not in my element, you know?’  ‘Yeah...’ she keeps patting his hand. 

And the feeling of domesticity creeps in. We really are all a family. Y/n smiles encouragingly at Tony, and Tony seems more relaxed. 

‘So, you want me to get you the number of that ironmongery, or...?’  ‘OH FOR...’ he snatches his arm away and storms out of the room, with Steve and Nat losing it all over again. 

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Ah this was so fun!!!!!!!! I hope you guys liked it <3 

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