#written pre-ragnarok

[whencyclopedia]

Ragnarök

Ragnarök is the cataclysmic battle between the forces of chaos and those of order in Norse mythology, ending the world and killing most of the gods and their adversaries, leading to the birth of a new world. It has been claimed, however, that in pre-Christian Norse belief there was no rebirth after the fall of the gods.

Ragnarök ("Fate of the Gods") is also given as Ragnarokkr ("Twilight of the Gods") and is the pivotal event that ends the mythic cycle beginning with the birth of the gods of Asgard (the Aesir) and the creation of the Nine Realms of Norse cosmology. The gods established order and restrained the forces of chaos, but at Ragnarök, these forces break free, and even though the gods know they are doomed, they march to battle to save the world they have created.

The gods fail and most are killed, including Odin, Thor, Tyr, and Heimdall, but order is preserved, and a new world emerges from the destruction of the old. Traditionally, since the 13th century, Ragnarök has been understood as the end of the Nine Realms through dramatic climate changes, the breakdown of traditional values, and a final battle which destroys the present cycle of existence to birth a new one. After Ragnarök, the surviving gods return to the place where their city once stood, and the last surviving human couple repopulates the earth for a new age.

This vision of Ragnarök is almost certainly influenced by Christianity, and it is possible that an earlier understanding of the event ended with complete destruction without resurrection. This claim is challenged, however, as the Norse myths were passed down orally prior to the advent of Christianity in the region and there is no written record of how Ragnarök may have once been understood. In the present day, the event is best known through popular media including a film, video game, and a TV series all suggesting rebirth after death.

Origin & Sources

The story of Ragnarök is suggested through runestones dated to between the 10th-11th centuries – notably the Gosforth Cross in England, Thorwald’s Cross on the Isle of Man, and the Ledberg Stone in Sweden – and is only attested to in writing from the 13th century CE in the Poetic Edda and Prose Edda. The Poetic Edda is a collection of earlier Norse poems while the Prose Edda was composed by the Icelandic mythographer Snorri Sturluson (l. 1179-1241) from older sources and oral tradition.

Prior to the acceptance of Christianity in the region c. 1000, myths, legends, and histories were transmitted orally. Runes were used for memorial stones and brief messages, not for longer works, and so all extant Norse mythology was recorded through a Christian lens. Scholar John Lindow comments:

Scandinavian mythology was, with virtually no exceptions, written down by Christians…At least some of the monks were literate and they composed both Latin and Icelandic texts. Some lay persons of higher status were also apparently literate, at least in Icelandic, but all writing, whether in the international language of the church or in the vernacular, was the result of the conversion to Christianity, which brought with it the technology of manuscript writing. (10)

Even the poems from the compilation known as the Codex Regius ("King’s Book", written c. 1270), some dating to the 10th century and included in the Poetic Edda, were therefore written down either by Christians or scribes influenced by the Christian vision. Among these is the Völuspá ("The Witch’s Prophecy", c. 10th century) in which Odin summons a völva (seeress) who tells of the creation of the world, predicts Ragnarök, and describes its aftermath, including the rebirth of creation after the end of the present cycle.

Other works in the Poetic Edda, such as Baldrs Draumar ("Baldur’s Dreams"), Vafþrúðnismál ("The Lay of Valthrudnir"), and the Völuspá hin skamma ("Short Voluspa") also touch on or describe Ragnarök. These works, and others, were drawn on by Sturluson for his Prose Edda in which Ragnarök receives its fullest treatment in the section Gylfaginning, describing in detail the fall of the gods and the Nine Realms.

Continue reading...

[anthurak]

The Surprising Similarities of Little Red and Odin

So this was originally going to be another ‘how Ruby could be an Odin allusion’ post, but in the process of brainstorming, I ended up landing on what feels like a more fun broader topic:

Namely the very interesting similarities in the stories of Little Red Riding Hood and Odin, and the fun potential overlap these two folkloric figures could have when writing fantasy stories.

First off, there are a lot of surprising similarities between the two.

Little Red Riding Hood is a girl known for wearing a hooded cloak (a ‘riding hood’) who wanders through the woods to visit her grandmother, and is menaced and potentially eaten by a monstrous wolf.

And funny enough, basically all of these traits can be found in Odin in one way or another:

For one, Odin has a well-known penchant for wandering Midgard in disguise, as a mysterious hooded figure. Indeed, a hooded cloak is one of Odin’s most well-known visual traits. And just like Little Red, Odin is ALSO menaced by a monstrous wolf in the form of Fenrir, who likewise devours Odin during Ragnarok.

Even Red Riding Hood being a girl has some surprising overlap.

See, we often think of Odin as being this wise, old bearded patriarch of the norse gods, but in reality a lot of that image is the result of more modern depictions attaching elements of Zeus and the christian God to Odin, who doesn’t have nearly as much of those elements as many modern depictions would have you believe. For example, Odin is way more of a loner and trickster archetype who’s often off questing for knowledge.

Fun fact actually; basically our only pre-christian written source we have on Norse mythology comes to us courtesy of the Romans and the contact they had with the Scandinavians via trade routes. Specifically one General Tacitus, who wrote an ethnography in about 98 CE of the Germanic peoples Rome was trading with, which includes some descriptions of the gods they worshiped, which is again pretty much our earliest written source on the Norse pantheon.

Now the thing to remember here is that in these accounts, the Norse gods are referred to as various Roman gods. This was a thing the Romans did with basically every other culture they encountered as a means of cultural assimilation; conflating that cultures’ gods with whichever of their own gods the Romans thought were similar enough, basically saying ‘your gods are our gods’. For example, the accounts seems to refer to Tyr as Mars (aka Ares), likely due to both being war gods, and Thor as Hercules, probably due to both being super strong and giant slayers.

What’s interesting is that the account seem to refer to Odin, the leader of the pantheon, not as Jupiter/Zeus, but rather as Mercury, aka HERMES. A tricksy traveler who among other things, shepherds the dead to the afterlife. I mean if that doesn’t tell you that comparing Odin to Zeus is pretty far off the mark, I don’t know what does.

So with that tangent out of the way, most interestingly for the purposes of this discussion, Odin has a surprising number of feminine traits. Odin seeks and takes the council of women (in particular the Nornir, from whom he learns the prophecies of Ragnarok), something noted to set him apart from the other male gods. And he even learns and practices the art of witchcraft, something practiced specifically by women in Norse mythology. There is at least one instance of Odin even being specifically called a witch, or at least a ‘male witch’, again a specifically feminine term. Plus there’s the fact that Odin is often noted as not being as much of burly fighter like most of the Norse gods, and is instead much more of a crafty schemer.

So taken all together, I think we can really start to see the similarities.

In fact, I think it’s not so hard to believe that the original folktale of Little Red Riding Hood could have some folkloric connection to Odin. As in, if we followed the tellings and retellings of Little Red Riding Hood back through the generations far enough, we might arrive at, among other places, people telling stories of Odin and Fenrir.

BUT, this post is not about making conspiracy theories about folklore, mythology and European oral history.

It’s about pitching fun and interesting ideas about the potential of blending together Odin and Little Red Riding Hood.

Obviously I’ve already talked a fair bit about the fun allusions and parallels Ruby Rose has and could have to Odin; cool and mysterious hooded cloak, use of a spear-like weapon, a character journey with a major emphasis on a pursuit of knowledge and answers, defiant refusal to accept any kind of ‘fate’ of the world (see her contrast with Oz), death symbolism, and of course the possibility of getting a sick eye-patch in the future.

But even outside of RWBY, I think there’s so much fun potential for more general fantasy stories with twists on fairy tales:

I mean everyone’s always re-imagining Little Red as some huntress or ranger with an affinity for or some other connection to wolves.

But just picture a take on Little Red Riding Hood who, in addition to the red hood, penchant for wandering the woods and a complicated relationship with canines, also happens to be a nerdy, goth trans girl who practices witchcraft and has a sick eyepatch and a pair of pet ravens and uses a walking stick that turns into a badass magic spear and she’s also a crafty schemer and a bit of troll and also might sometimes be plotting a war crime or two.

I mean if you ask me that sounds pretty sick. :D

And finally, if you happen to the kind of LOTR fan who remembers that Odin was one of the main inspirations for Gandalf, then yes this means there IS in fact at least a bit of mythological precedent for Big Naturals Gandalf XD

[leviackermanstoes]

The decline and fall of two wolverines

Logan howlett x reader

-

DEADPOOL AND WOLVERINE SPOILERS!!!

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Warnings: idk yet. The brain emoji represents when a flashback is starting.

-

🧠

I tried to murder Jean Grey.

I say tried because nothing can happen in the mansion without Xavier poking around in your brain.

'Are you sure that's what you want to do?'

'You know you can't turn back after this'

'Your better than this, you know that'

His voice echoed painfully through my head. I held my dagger tightly as tears streamed from my eyes.

'Come to me, child'

The pain grew deeper. Invading each cavity of my skull and destroying my senses completely. It was unbearable, and I thought I might explode within seconds if I didn't get out of here soon.

'STOP. FOR GODSAKE STOP IT!'

And this is when I learnt that I could talk back.

-----

The mission to destroy Cassandra Nova was not going to be easy. Despite Wade's excitement to, and i quote verbatim 'absolutely shred some fucking skulls' it turns out I would end up siding with Logan, who also felt strongly that this was a horrible idea.

"You are going to get killed." I put my head in my hands.

"It's worth it, we'd rather die doing this than die here like cowards" Elektra scoffed.

I glared at her and stood up. The floorboards beneath me creaked eerily as I strode toward elektra with a slit eyes.

''Are you calling me a coward?"

I watched the woman gulp. "No, I called him a coward. He's the one forcing you to stay here," she pointed at Logan, who furrowed his brows and expelled his long silver claws from both hands.

A coward?

A fucking coward?

I held up my hand, and within an instant, it began to transform into a long knife. From my wrist to the top of my head was a silver blade.

I wish I could say I had a cool name for it. But I don't. I'm just a human katana.

"I'm sure your a great person, but unless you want to start drinking through a fucking straw I suggest you apologize"

The room was silent. I felt as if i had ruined their moment, but I didn't care.

"Sorry, you're not a coward." she rolled her eyes and walked off.

I retracted my hand blade, but Logan still held his own out, the shining metal claws protruding ominously as he stood in the light of the window.

I turned around and looked at everyone.

"Motherfucker that was scary as shit. I almost cut off my own dick to stop you doing it with that fucking thing"

Even Wade's joke couldn't stop my anger. I wasn't going with them. They were all going to die anyways. I'd rather hear of it than be there to watch it.

-

🧠

I'm not sure that there's anyone left on earth who understands what loss means.

Yes, it's death. Yes, it's watching life drain from a person. But it can be the loss of your life together too and the loss of their love and their voice, how their breathing sounds and how they laugh.

Hell what the fuck do I know. After all what have I truly lost?

God fucking damn it.

The years at the TVA were not as smooth going as I had initially hoped. Each day was something new, another disaster. I had even written a list of the reoccurring people, the ones that we could basically never get rid of.

Monday: always scarlet witch. Always so tattered and torn, shivering with heartbreak and anger of grief.

Tuesday: Loki's. Loki's of every kind. Ragnarok Loki's, TVA Loki's, jotun Loki's even.

Wednesday: Perhaps the most shattering of all, we would get iron man variants quite often. Sometimes, a zombie sometimes just before the blip. Most times, it was before he built the iron Man suit at all.

Thursdays: Captain America. Now, these were tough ones. Their were a fucking lot of these. Zombie ones, soldier ones, ones still frozen somehow. Pre serum ones. Ones where he works for HYDRA. Those are the scariest ones, the red skull Steve Rogers is not for the faint hearted.

Fridays: Fridays were... well Friday.

-

I sat outside the hut as the others geared up for their mission. Logan had come with me, but he didn't say much. My Logan talked way too much, so it was awkward hearing him be so silent.

"Your not going?" I spoke.

"Nah. I don't have the fucking patience for it"

A small moment of silence ensued before Logan spoke again.

"That hand thing you can do," he started. "Is it all over you?"

I scratched my neck and yawned. "To be honest, I've never thought of it"

I looked at my legs and stretched them out. "If I could have knife legs it would sure make walking interesting" I laughed

Logan beside me chuckled. God, he even laughs like him.

"I thought I was the only one who had this kind of power," he said as he brought out one of his claws.

"I thought I used to be as well. Your claws are made of adamantium aren't they? Well your entire skeleton is isn't it?"

He replied with a hum. "So what's yours then? Stainless steel?" He joked

I laughed at his words. "No. Actually, it's Vibranium"

"Vibranium, huh? What's that like a vibrating metal?"

It occurred to me then and there that this Logan doesn't know about the multiverse.

"No, it's uh, one of the earths strongest metals. like from wakanda?" I smiled nervously.

Apparently, something in him ticked off as I said that. He grew out the rest of his claws on his hand and pushed me against the tree behind me with one swift move. I was crushed between adamantium spikes and a rough tree.

He scowled at me.

"You will never be my wife." He spat

Venom laced the air around us. Encasing me in a bubble of fear.

"You might look like her and talk like her, hell you even fucking smell like her, that stupid fucking flower scent. Follows you around like a lost puppy"

The hate in his eyes grew each word. "You are not my fucking wife and I don't give a single fuck about what happened in your universe, whether you saved my life or not, I hope in every single one of them, you fucking die"

[mischief-and-tea-by-the-sea]

Get to Know Your Author

Get to know your author

Tagged by @kleenexwoman

1 How many works on AO3?

171

2 Total AO3 word count?

984,743

3 Top 5 fics by kudos?

Far away you were made in a sea just like me Pt 1 of Hemispheres. This was supposed to be a Loki/Tony one-shot, and haha fooled me, it's turned into a long WIP that I will eventually finish when my brain is willing to cooperate.

Supernaut Part 1 of Light a candle, light a motive. This, too, was supposed to be a one-shot and somehow turned into a WIP of individual fics that are connected by universe but not necessarily being written in order. This is Loki/Tony with a side character of Nebula. The other ships include Bucky/Steve, Thor/Darcy, Bruce/Jane, Clint/Nat. Yes, it's pre and post-Endgame, yes it is a fix-it. It even has Morgan, but uh. She's not Tony and Pepper's. She's still Tony's...just not Pepper's.

(Mis)Understanding and a No-Good Woman One of my first fics posted up to AO3. Scott Summers/Logan. Logan doesn't understand personal space in the bathroom of a bar.

Hey Jealousy Takes place during Thor Ragnarok. It's an exchange between Loki and Bruce involving Bruce wearing Tony's way too tight jeans and Loki's not happy reaction to Bruce being in Tony's pants. It always surprises me that this one is as popular as it is.

A spirit with a vision (Is a dream with a mission) Part 2 of Hemispheres.

4 What fandoms do you write for?

Marvel - not just MCU but kind of all of Marvel. Comic'verse, Fox X-Men 'verse, MCU. Kind of all over the place. I have dabbled in Stranger Things and will want to eventually do more Steddie for that - I have some more planned, just not written yet. I've done one tiny Hannibal drabble, but as much as I love the series, I don't see me writing more for it. I'd love to eventually try my hand at some other series or movies I love (Peaky Blinders? Maybe? American Gods, perhaps. Versailles? That would be a challenge but fun. Velvet Goldmine - I still have an idea for that that I've had since Livejournal days, but I just have never written it).

5 Do you respond to comments?

Always.

6 Fic with the angstiest ending?

This is going to be a toss-up between:

Got a telephone call from Istanbul Tony + Rhodey, a variety of telephone conversations between them, and the last time Rhodey's on the phone talking to Tony.

and

You are the ghost behind my eyes Steve/Tony, post-Endgame, Steve returning to the past and finding out just why he shouldn't have done that.

and

Sunset Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., during the Framework episodes, this is Framework Grant Ward, Framework Antoine Triplett, and Framework Holden Radcliffe in the last moments on the beach before the Framework is completely erased.

and

Time After Time Fox X-Men'verse, Scott Summers/Logan, meshing together X-Men 3 and The Wolverine (the second one, not the Origin movie).

7 Fic with the happiest ending?

I write almost exclusively happy endings, so I'm not really sure which I could consider my happiest ending. Perhaps my readers should chime in and tell me what they think my happiest ending is.

8 Do you get hate?

I did once on a fic - it's a Steve/Loki fic that also has a side order of Winteriron, and I was told by stuckygirl that she hoped I was raped and that I should kill myself. Then on the first chapter of Part 3 Hemispheres, I was told that clearly I'd abandoned the fic (by some other random person who'd been praising all the other parts of this series) and that was "too bad." Even though I'd already told this reader that I was still working on the fic but slowly. Not really hate, but the bitch still annoyed me with that.

9 Do you write smut?

I do. Not a ton of it most of the time, but I do write it, but I imagine it's not overly popular smut because I don't write BDSM or fetishes or omegaverse or any of that stuff. 10 Have you ever co-written a fic?

Actually I've co-written a couple of fics with @scottxlogan. We even have two we're in the middle of co-writing (but I need to do my part on both of them, I think - or at least one of them, but my brain has been so muddy lately for writing that I'm behind on writing as well as reading all the fics I want to read, and I hate that).

Falling in love as the world falls down Scott/Logan, a Secret Santa gift for @cerylid Mission gone wrong, Emma (and others) save the day.

The course of true love never did run smooth Scott/Logan, Loki/Tony, only it doesn't start out that way. Two couples on the outs who think to make each other jealous. Once again, Emma comes in and saves the day. Sort of. This one is a personal favorite, especially with all the Midsummer Night's Dream quotes as chapter titles.

The two we're working on very slowly - one is a Bucky/Loki Veterinarian AU, Alpine features heavily. The other is huge, Pride-themed, Scott/Logan, Loki/Emma, Tony/Steve/Bucky...and so many other characters involved. We'll definitely have to break this one into chapters, but it's fun.

11 All time favorite ship?

No. I have too many favorite ships, and I multi-ship, so I can't really pick a favorite.

12 WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

All American Barbecue. It's a reactive piece to Bendis' Avengers vs. X-Men. Sort of...AvX Meets Wicker Man and it's not going to have a happy ending for Steve Rogers.

13 Writing strengths?

Humor, Fluff, Descriptions, and Easter Eggs.

14 Writing weaknesses?

Finishing shit in a timely fashion due to lack of brain juice.

Tagging @scottxlogan, @soliloquent-stark, @fohatic, @stormxpadme, @loni4ever, @darsynia, @chaoticgardenbread, @meidui, @gold-from-straw and anyone else who wants to play!

[bedlamsbard]

Could you talk about how you come up with the Asgardian rituals in your MCU fic? I'm thinking particularly about the coronation one, which stands out the most in my memory, but in general, too.

Some of it is cannibalized directly from other sources -- for example, the "there beyond them do I see my father" ritual language in the coronation is based on the Viking prayer in The Thirteenth Warrior (itself based on Michael Crichton's novel Eaters of the Dead, loosely based on Ahmad ibn Fadlan's account of his travels); Thor: Ragnarok also borrows that same one. There's a healthy dose of S.M. Stirling's Emberverse thrown into both Yonderverse and Morning. Some comes from Norse mythology, heavily filtered; I've talked before about how I conceptualize both Norse mythology and historical/literary/archaeological background as functioning within a world where Asgard and the Asgardians (and the rest of the Nine) are real. It's why there are a lot of very deliberate differences between Asgardian cosmology and Norse mythology. I suspect there's also a lot of sci-fi/fantasy influence that's swimming around in the back of my head that I'm not super-consciously aware of. Some of the rituals are also coming directly from canon! Altverse Loki's coronation is a pretty close mirror to Thor's in Thor, though with some added ritual around Gram.

I did a DVD commentary of the coronation a while back. With that one, part of it is establishing that Asgard is an elective monarchy (MY AGENDA), so Loki has to be acknowledged by the Aesir in a lot of different ways, which includes establishing himself. This is a legal rite as well as a religious one, but it's also very much a religious rite. One thing I think about with the rituals is what's going to be possible for an Asgardian that isn't going to be possible for a human -- thus Loki getting his throat cut. (I regret is not making this a visible scar, but that's partially just Yonder being written first.)

Something else I really wanted to do with the rituals is to make it clear that these matter. It's left deliberately vague in the coronation if Loki actually sees into Valhalla or if he's just having drug-induced hallucinations (there's a Yonderverse fic coming up that makes it clear that he did), but they matter -- because Loki believes, because the Asgardians believe; because there are actual real world legal repercussions -- but there are also actual real world magical repercussions, too. They also echo each other -- Loki's and Sif's pre-battle rites echo Loki formally giving Thanos over to death echo Loki's coronation. They matter; but they're also existing within the same universe. (Morning's rituals are flashier: they're for public consumption, not Asgard-only.)

[jasminewalkerauthor]

Deep dives into folklore: Norse mythology

Norse mythology is a rich and complex tapestry of tales, gods, and creatures that originated from the pre-Christian belief systems of the Norse people, who lived in what is now Scandinavia. These myths have been preserved primarily in two major sources: the Prose Edda, written by Snorri Sturluson in the 13th century, and the Poetic Edda, a collection of anonymous poems from earlier centuries. Together, they provide a fascinating glimpse into the worldview, cosmology, and cultural values of the ancient Norse people.

Cosmology: The Nine Worlds

Norse mythology describes a cosmology that is divided into nine interconnected worlds, held together by the World Tree, Yggdrasil. These worlds are:

Asgard: The realm of the Aesir gods, including Odin, Thor, and Frigg. Asgard is often associated with the sky and serves as the dwelling place of the divine.

Midgard: The realm of humans, representing the Earth. Midgard is connected to Asgard by the Bifrost, a rainbow bridge.

Vanaheim: Home to the Vanir gods, a group of deities associated with fertility, prosperity, and nature. The Aesir and Vanir fought a war in the past but eventually established a truce.

Jotunheim: Inhabited by the Jotnar, or giants, who are often portrayed as antagonists to the Aesir. Not all giants are malevolent, and some even form alliances with the gods.

Alfheim: The realm of the Light Elves, benevolent and ethereal beings associated with light and beauty.

Svartalfheim: Home to the Dwarves, skilled craftsmen and blacksmiths who create powerful artifacts for the gods.

Nidavellir: Another realm associated with Dwarves, specifically known for its connection to the creation of the legendary hammer Mjolnir, wielded by Thor.

Helheim: The realm of the dead, ruled by the goddess Hel. It is a realm for those who did not die in battle and is often described as a cold and dreary place.

Muspelheim: A realm of fire and heat, inhabited by fire giants and ruled by the fire giant Surtr. Muspelheim is associated with chaos and destruction.

The Pantheon of Gods

The Norse pantheon is composed of a diverse array of deities, each with distinct personalities, domains, and roles. Some of the key gods include:

Odin: The Allfather and chief of the Aesir. Odin is associated with wisdom, war, poetry, and magic. He sacrificed an eye at Mímir's well to gain knowledge.

Thor: The thunder god, known for his incredible strength and his powerful hammer, Mjolnir. Thor is a defender of Asgard and Midgard.

Frigg: Odin's wife and queen of the Aesir. She is associated with fertility, motherhood, and wisdom.

Loki: A trickster god and shape-shifter, often causing mischief among the gods. Despite being a Jotunn, he forms complicated alliances with the Aesir.

Balder: The god of beauty, light, and joy. Balder's death becomes a significant event in Norse mythology, leading to Ragnarok.

Freya: A goddess associated with love, beauty, and fertility. She is also skilled in magic and has a connection to the Valkyries.

Ragnarok: The End of the World

Norse mythology predicts a cataclysmic event known as Ragnarok, signaling the end of the world and the rebirth of a new cycle. During Ragnarok, a series of events unfold, leading to the downfall of many gods, the destruction of Yggdrasil, and the submersion of the world in water. The surviving gods and two human survivors will then emerge to repopulate the world and begin a new era.

Norse mythology provides a rich and multifaceted view of the world, blending elements of creation, destruction, fate, and free will. The stories and characters within this mythology continue to captivate readers and have left a lasting impact on popular culture, influencing literature, art, and entertainment for centuries. The intricate web of relationships among gods, giants, elves, and humans creates a narrative tapestry that reflects the complexities of the human experience and the forces that shape the world.

Taglist (reply/reblog to be added): @axl-ul @crow-flower @thoughts-fromthevoid @alderwoodbooks @harleyacoincidence @tuberosumtater @sonic-spade @theonlygardenia @holymzogynybatman @nulliel-tres @w0rkah0licz @sylvanthorn @tigertaurus22 @profiterole-reads @mathias-musings

[lokiinmediasideblog]

Weird Facts about Thor comics

-Thor and Loki were created for then Timely Comic's comic book Venus. It was a brief forage into the marketability of comic books "for girls", where Venus was the titular character, Loki the antagonist (and very Satan-like and Hades-like, even going by "Satan"). Thor was introduced as a heroic minor character.

-Jack Kirby created the New Gods of DC comics. The New Gods were intended to replace the Norse pantheon in Marvel after Ragnarok happened and they all died off, but some legal battles ensued between Jack Kirby and Marvel. So he went off to DC to pitch in his idea.

-There is a mashup DC and Marvel universe called the Amalgam universe. Predictably Thor and Loki were meshed with the New Gods Thor + Orion= Thorion, Loki + Desaad =L'ok D'saad. One of the variants from the Loki series looks like this.

-Sometimes I wonder if I'm reading too much into pre-AoA Loki being a queer-coded villain, but then I remember that the first two comic runs were Loki is sympathetic in some way rather than "pure evil" (Loki (2004) and Loki (2010)) were written by openly gay men (one being Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa, who went on to write the Riverdale TV show lol). If you're wondering how I know this, I wanted to see what else they had written on Wikipedia lol.

-Angela was originally from the Spawn comics. Marvel bought the character from Neil Gaiman, who had been involved in legal battles with Todd McFarlane over the character. She became Thor and Loki's secret older sister (and the MCU replaced her with Hela).

[emeraldspiral]

I feel like the ending of Loki is definitely bittersweet, but also recognize that the Loki we saw in the show isn’t even the same one most of us initially fell in love with. That Loki died in Infinity War, and the one from the series isn’t him, anymore than President Loki or Aligator Loki or Sylvie. He never experienced the events of TDW or Ragnarok but spun off on a completely different path immediately post Avengers 2012. Series Loki is just as lovable, but him getting a happy ending wouldn’t change film Loki’s ultimate fate. But I think there’s something comforting in the idea that thanks to Series Loki, every other Loki has been freed from the constraints of their pre-ordained fates. All those Loki variants who were lamenting not being allowed to better themselves because it didn’t fit into HWR’s master plan can now be whoever they want and write their own stories. Every Loki variant was doomed to an unhappy ending by default before, and it’s because of Series Loki that any of them have a chance at a happy ending now. Even the original’s fate is no longer written in stone. It’s just like Sylvie said, the Sacred Timeline had plenty wrong with it before, now there’s a chance it can turn into something better. Now there’s a chance for the original Loki to have a better ending.

[beardedmrbean]

So apparently there is a thing called a Heavenly Llama.

It's a creature in Aymara Mythology.

Tennesseans have a similar thing, but they borrowed from Tibetan Buddhism for naming theirs, there's a great land where they all meet to praise and sing songs to their local mystical being who resides within that land, in her own little world.

I saw the opening and I had to take it and I will not apologize for that.

_____________________

Did not recognize the name Aymara, Pre-Inca folks that the Inca subjugated. Still around too, very cool.

Both Quechua and Aymara women in Peru and Bolivia took up the style of wearing bowler hats in the 1920s. According to legend, a shipment of bowler hats was sent from Europe to Bolivia via Peru for use by Europeans working on railroad construction. When the hats were found to be too small, they were given to the indigenous peoples.

I'm gonna go ahead and not even consider questioning that.

It might be good that the lads at Film Cow never learned about this one, sounds loads better than Ragnarok though.

I've had this bookmarked forever meant to pull out some of the stuff from it for Llama Day 2023, but blanked on it that day, all kinds of neat stuff in there too.

The Heavenly Llama 

The history behind the heavenly llama is steeped in mystery because there are no written records to go by. However, it is believed that llamas were first thought of as heavenly animals when the Incas saw them silhouetted against the sky at night!

Llamas also had other connections with stars and constellations throughout their history like how people used to think that llama hair showed the dark spots of constellations.

People also believed that llamas were placed in the sky by Viracocha – creator god- to symbolize his creation! The Milky Way was thought to be a path made by these heavenly animals so they could cross into heaven, which is why there are many myths about how it came to be.

In one myth, a llama was tired of carrying its load and stopped to rest on the Milky Way. Viracocha saw this as an opportunity to test his creation by seeing if they could get past without having the animal move! When he found out that people were trying to make it easier for them, he became angry with them and sent down a llama to earth as punishment!

Another myth says that two children were playing by the Milky Way when their ball fell into it. They tried to get it back but couldn’t, so they asked Viracocha for help because he was known for being helpful in these kinds of situations. He told them that if they got a llama to cross the Milky Way then he would give them their ball back. They did, and once they got it back Viracocha turned all three of them into stars! ____________________

I'm continually amazed at how much crossover there is in stories like this between cultures that had zero chance to ever encounter each other.

Plenty of crossover between Rome and Greece, Rome got that sex thing confused and the men started having it with women but close enough, but seeing where these line up with other stories from that area and other places round the world too.

Flood stories pop up everywhere too.

This was a neat rabbit hole you tossed a laughing cow cheese thingy down for me to chase, I'm probably gonna be continuing the journey into it later on.

[aquadestinyswriting]

The Edict

Note: This is being written about two years after the end of the campaign, you can decide whether this was written by a student or an early journalist

Taglist: @druidx, @sparrow-orion-writes, @warriorbookworm, @mariahwritesstuff, @ashirisu, @thesorcerersapprentice, @philosophika, @the-down-upside-finch

The Edict was a legal document that was drafted during the rebuilding of Toreguarde and finally ratified into law upon the very first Council Session. The intention of The Edict was to prevent Adventurers from bringing calamity back to the newly built city by dint of their own misdeeds. The people of Old Toreguarde were weary of the continuous calamities that befell them whenever the enemies of the Heroes of Toreguarde grew strong enough to retaliate against them. The Demon War and the fall of Old Toreguarde into the Pit was the final straw to break the proverbial camel’s back, and so it was decided that an Edict against Adventuring would be drafted to prevent such disaster from ever striking the city again. 

In order to prevent Adventurers from creating any further strife or chaos, a definition of what constituted an ‘Adventurer’ was required. This took many, many months and quite a few arguments between the various groups involved in the Edict’s conception. Eventually the following definition was agreed upon:

Adventurers are individuals who travel the continent/world seeking opportunities to seek some sort of treasure, to gain notoriety and fame, for the thrill of seeking out dangerous encounters, or in order to attempt to rid the world of some sort of ‘Evil’ outwith the typical societal structures imposed by the local governing body/bodies.

Those Heroes of Toreguarde who elected to remain in the city when the idea of the Edict was initially announced asked to assist in writing the initial drafts of the Edict once a definition of ‘Adventurer’ was agreed upon. They were eventually permitted to make suggestions to amend or veto certain clauses or subsections that they felt might prove detrimental to the continued safety of Toreguarde. The initial drafts of the Edict were set to apply to any and all Adventurers who happened to stay in Toreguarde for any length of time, however Grand Magus Frigidwake and Abouna Shiverstaff successfully petitioned for an amendment that stated that the restrictions of the Edict should apply only to the citizens of Toreguarde. After all, both ex-adventurers argued, those adventurers who came to Toreguarde from elsewhere, would surely end up taking whatever trouble dogged their heels back to their own lands of origin.

While the initial conception of the Edict and its restrictions were noble in intent, the reality was that those Heroes who yet remained in Toreguarde still had many enemies that wished them and their burgeoning city harm. In an attempt to mitigate any backlash against the three should those enemies make an attempt to retaliate against them in the future, several contingencies were put in place to allow those remaining Heroes to participate in any defensive actions against said enemies. These contingencies, however, did not include any pre-emptive actions to be taken by said Heroes to prevent their enemies from attacking Toreguarde in the first place. It has been argued in the years following the Ragnarok Event that this ‘oversight’ was an active detriment to Toreguarde’s safety, especially as the Seal over the Hellmouth beneath the Wizard’s Tower proved to be an impermanent solution a mere decade after the Demon War’s conclusion.

While the Edict did apply to any and all citizens of Toreguarde, its primary purpose ended up being used as a tool to control the motivations and actions of the three Heroes who remained within Toreguarde’s walls, with the Grand Magus being particularly restricted given her prominent position as a member of the Triumverate. All three Heroes were required to obtain permission from the Council, or the Emissary, before departing Toreguarde for any reason, even if said departure was as part of their duties. This restriction, intended as a brake against the Heroes setting off to deal with their enemies pre-emptively without the Council’s knowledge or consent, also ended up preventing the Heroes from gaining any intelligence about the movements of said enemies. One can only imagine the devastation that might have been prevented over the last three years had the Grand Magus or the Abouna been able to at least keep tabs on the Cabal and other such organisations that sought to do harm to Toreguarde and her citizens. 

It should be noted that while the Edict did restrict Toreguarde’s citizens as a whole from Adventuring, there was one prominent exception written into the document from the outset; citizens could be hired by either the Council, the Triumverate by consensus, or by Drakemar’s Emissary(on behalf of lord Drakemar himself) to travel and deal with threats to Toreguarde’s safety directly. Despite this exception being made explicit in the final draft, attempts were still made by the Council to restrict any and all Adventuring by the citizens of Toreguarde. The Council also commonly disregarded the fact that the Edict was meant to apply only to citizens of Toreguarde, which led to the attempted arrest and imprisonment of several non-citizens over the decade in which the Edict was in full effect. The most egregious example of this flouting of the intent of the Edict was the attempted Exile of Lady O’Toreguarde and her companions following their success at permanently closing the Hellmouth beneath the Wizard’s Tower. While the official documents of the Council Session state that Lady O’Toreguarde and her companions were wanted criminals due to an incident involving the murder of several people, eye witness statements from several Council members and an official statement made by both the Grand Magus and the General confirm that Lord Chancellor Schreiber and many other members of the Council made an attempt to have the group arrested for Adventuring without the Council’s permission. This was despite the fact that Lady O’Toreguarde and at least two other members of her party were hired by the Emissary –and later, Lord Drakemar himself – explicitly to deal with the ongoing crises that afflicted Toreguarde at the time. It is unknown why Lord Schreiber was permitted to keep his position following this session, as such an egregious disregard for the rule of Law – in a member of the Triumverate, no less – is a matter of great public concern. One hopes that Lord Schreiber’s replacement following his untimely demise, Lord Thatcher, will prove to be less corrupt. 

Regardless of the initial intent of the Edict, it is clear, with hindsight, that it was an incredibly flawed document. While it is still currently written into Toreguarde law, it is currently not being enforced while the Council and Triumverate debate whether to re-write the document to be less restrictive or to scrap it altogether. Again, while the intent behind the Edict is a noble one, this author wonders whether such restrictions are warranted given the recent Ragnarok Event. It is clear that, while there is no longer a leyline nexus directly under the city to draw extra unwanted attention, Toreguarde remains a target merely by dint of the existence of those who strove, and still strive, to protect her people and those that would oppose them.

[seaofolives]

20 Questions For Fic Writers

@ofdemonsandangels tagged me! I don't get on this site much anymore so idk if this has gone around at all but if you're a writer who's reading this and you have time to burn, pls feel free to answer these questions for yourself!

also i didn't bother linking any stories so just uh here's the link to my portfolio

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

232 but I need to note that at least 31 of those are drabbles (that I couldn't put into one multi-chapter bc of the varied ships)

2. What's your total AO3 wordcount?

2,002,567 (what the fuck) but I also need to note that several of these are stories in at least two languages and that some of these are not written with the Latin alphabet system so the word count would be different in those

3. What fandoms do you write for?

g witch is my homebase rn! but I'd love to be able to write at least one ffxv fic again next year which is the biggest collection of fics in my ao3 rn. briefly I was also active in sk8 and even more briefly in hadesgame (but that's not counting the pre-pandemic years)

4. What are your top five fics by kudos?

HUH my ffxv fics have been completely nudged out of place! :ooo this is a surprise but hygge remains unbeatable since I published it uhhhhh 2017? it's a 30-day fic challenge where the brodinsons settle into earth following the events of ragnarok so that's why it's so popular I guess. the next fics are (from most to least) お持て成し omotenashi, weather report (the only hadesgame fic, the others are sk8), 浮世 ukiyo and save the date.

5. Do you respond to comments?

absolutely! they took the time to let me know their thoughts, I need to honor their generosity. THO I did delete some anon hate once bc my friends told me it's not worth it to engage and my friends are much smarter than me so

6. What's the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

HUH man idk. like I define angst so differently than others (most people: liv why is this so angsty??? me: it's not???) but off the top of my head, the meeting on the turret stairs? mostly bc it's unresolved forbidden love gladnis and I really upped the ante there…i don't remember if it's to match the tone of the original artwork or if it was a client decision

7. What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

there's a lot!!!! I'm not just all bittersweet stuff, I can tell other stories, I swear, but most of them are probably gladnis stuff but uh…if you filter my portfolio to just the fluff category, it's probably all of those there

8. Do you get hate on your fics?

HAHA oh man. so that anon hate, right? it was that time I posted my first guesulemio fic (forget me nots is the title) and I woke up to like 5-7 anon comments who got upset that I tagged it as sulemio (never mind that I also tagged it as polyamory but ehh there's a certain type of ao3 readers, right? we all know this) and like, 1 other anon baby later on in the day when I refused to remove the sulemio tag bc it was a fic where guel, suletta and miorine weren't a closed triad yet. to be fair, that was a fairly educational experience! I read up on some reddit stuff about tagging ot3 fics and while some people don't mind if the all-encompassing ot3 tag was used indiscriminately, other people, especially in the cases of open triads or where one corner of the triangle is missing, would love to know what subship of the ot3 they're going to expect going in. anyway that was the first and only fic I locked away from public bc lord do the anon babies have a lot of time in their hands (not a lot of reading capacity tho)

surprisingly the one before this—not hate, just disappointment—was a fic where gladio married that rando woman (we're talking about ffxv now) he mentioned in the hammerhead camp prior to the insomnia chapter. that's the woman that only exists in the English localization. the ending was that they got married in spite of gladio and ignis' committed relationship so there's basically three of them now. and people apparently hated that even tho one of the points I wanted to make with that fic was how gladio and ignis would always be together no matter what happens 🤷🏻‍♀️

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

what do you mean what kind isn't smut is smut is smut???? I mean yes I do write smut but damn if I know what kind of smut???? it's just smut?????

10. Do you write crossovers? What's the craziest one you've written?

YES I love crossovers!!! of the ones posted on ao3, I think it might be joche in ffxv? mostly bc I couldn't fuse a lot of the lores together (kaoru was a lucian locked out of insomnia when Regis put up the wall, Kojiro was an altissian, that's it) but I do have one fic that I deleted from ao3 which is basically suikoden characters and events in the lore of pacific rim. and it's not on ao3 rn bc you could really tell I was just pulling shit out of my ass, it was all so bad and jarring 😂😂😂

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

MAN idk like i highly doubt it but I also don't take the time to find out you know?

12. Have you ever had a fic translated

ooh yes, two yeses in fact! mog (and ulan??) have translated some of my filipino fics to english but there was also a stranger who asked if they could translate one of my hadesgame!patrochilles ficlets (patience) into russian! that was very thrilling. and then just recently, I joined a guesule advent calendar project in Japan and the friend who invited me told me to give them a machine translation of my ficlet and they would go over it and clean it up to make it more readable to the jp audience. that ficlet isn't up on ao3 yet (it's on pixiv) but man I gotta remember to ask the project organizer if they would mind if I uploaded it there

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

YEAHHHH we never finished it tho!! it was a friend I made on some final fantasy rpg yahoo group and it was going to be a retelling of ff7 or smth? I don't remember much else, this was during ff.net's heydays.

14. What's your all-time favorite ship?

clerith. which i have barely written for (I mean i used to write them a lot back when I was still some 13yo anti-cloti lmao) but if we're talking about like based on recent fic counts and productivity and stuff, gladnis.

15. What's a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

oh man, I got this zares reincarnation au going that I got distracted from with ghost of tsushima and then now g witch (it's the "I'll get back to this after xyz" kinda thing) and I'd LOVE to finish it! I know I will, I have a 99% wip-finishing rate, but I'll need to replay hadesgame to get some voices and inspo back, you know?

16. What are your writing strengths?

I have the brain of a project manager, hence the 99% wip-finishing rate.

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

I can hardly write or even translate if i hear sounds! whether it's the TV or the radio or if it's someone talking to me, I can't do it bc I can't hear my own words

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in a fic?

IF IT MAKES SENSE ABSOLUTELY I was soooo happy when I got guel and lauda to speak in my hokkien bc they're Chinese in the Manila au I have but also like, since the pov is guel (or miorine, who's also Chinese in that au), it makes sense to me for him to hear and understand the dialogue in the language. but if it's say like suletta who's filipino through and through? I would just write it like "meanwhile, Guel and Miorine are speaking in Chinese and, though Suletta doesn't understand a word, she can tell from the tension on their jaws that no one is happy". and also like, yes, especially for us multilinguals, I say we should flex our knowledge, but these dialogues need to get translated in the common language, too. if it's just purely flexing without understanding, then it makes no sense to even use a different language in the first place

19. First fandom you wrote for?

it was rpf 💪🏽

20. Favorite fic you've written?

lol pls I have the memory of a goldfish when it comes to my fics. as soon as it's done (and optionally up on ao3), I forget about it as I'm writing a new story. but like…I don't finish or share a story that I made that I don't like. every one of those that I declared finished is bc I was satisfied with them and wouldn't change a thing about them

[aurorawest]

EWhat do u characterize as og loki. Because im legit lost on the wank ive read by peeps who feel a certain way abt the thor movies

Me personally? I look at the Loki we see in Thor 1, Avengers 1, TDW, Ragnarok, and Infinity War and reconcile the differences in characterization that are inherent when every movie is directed and written by different people. Ragnarok is my favorite of the Thor movies (probably obvious if you've followed me for any length of time), and to me his character arc and story in that movie are the keys to threading together his characterization through the Infinity Saga.

My opinions on Loki's characterization were pretty nailed down pre-Loki series, but I felt like season 1 really validated how I understand his character, haha.

However, the reason you're lost on the wank is because it makes no sense and is based on such a warped fanon interpretation of the character that Loki is unrecognizable.

[gildatheplant]

I'm not sure when this was written, but based on nothing mentioned post-Ragnarok, I'm guessing this was pre-Endgame. A bit of defense for my girl Frigga, as she is often portrayed in fandom as favouring Loki at the expense of Thor, which isn't the case. In Endgame, she has a pretty touching conversation with Thor, where she not only does her best to boost his spirits when it's clear he's at his lowest point, but she also explains why she taught Loki magic. She could see that Loki was at a disadvantage compared to his father and brother, and she wanted to give him something that could help him keep up. It's the difference between equality and equity- if you treat a sick child and a healthy child equally, the sick child will do worse. If you treat them with equity, it means providing the sick child with the support necessary so that both children do well. I'm not saying she was super excellent at it, but I do think she genuinely tried. I'd also point out that as Odin's queen, Frigga was NOT considered politically or personally his equal, regardless of her feelings on certain matters, so if he decreed something, she HAD to obey him.

Lastly, I think the movie strongly implies that Frigga is NOT Hela's mother. In the fresco depicting Odin and Hela's escapades, Frigga is nowhere present, while she has a prominent place next to Odin in the fresco with Thor and Loki. There's also the fact Hela never mentions her mother, and places all blame solely on Odin. Frigga being Odin's second marriage would also go a long way toward explaining his change of heart away from violence to peace- a new marriage, new potential children, a desire to raise that family in a better, gentler world. Hela, likely centuries old by this point, would never be able to see Odin's new wife as anything other than a threat to her position and certainly not a mother figure. (It would also be a nod to the comics and myths, as Frigga isn't the birth mother of any of these 3 characters, though she did raise Thor in both myths and comics and raised Loki in the comics).

Odin is definitely a prick though.

Loki had no right to envy thor and praise the ground frigga walked on when odin was a shitty dad to all three of his kids

Alright! Time to talk about something that is not discussed enough: jealousy between siblings that grew up in parental abuse/neglectful situations.

As someone who grew up in an abusive/neglectful environment and has siblings, + knows many people who have the same set of parameters, jealousy between siblings is sort of natural byproduct because guess what!

Parents never, never, never abuse/neglect every kid in their family in exactly the same way.

My parents were awful to my siblings in ways they weren't to me, but I'm jealous of the good things they did to for them because they didn't do that with me (i.g. when I was looking for a job last year, i got yelled at every time I failed; when my sister was looking for a job, my parents were very present for her emotionally and assured her she was doing the best she could when she didn't get the job. Their patience was absurd to me) Stuff like that + bigger things. If we were neglected/abused in exactly the same way, my sister would have gotten yelled at, too, or I would have gotten support, but it didn't happen like that because parents don't DO that, even in healthy environments, parents are never the same parents to their kids.

Likewise in ways they were awful to my siblings, they were LESS awful to me, so my siblings are jealous of that. when you're raised in an environment where you have to fight for love and scraps of affection when your parents are in a parenting mood, you are always jealous when someone manages to get the scrap. Like yes, your siblings (often) become your closest friends and confidants in that situation because there's no one else who understands it like they do, but because the abuse/neglect is so different for everyone, it causes resentment.

So here's the thing: Thor, Hela, and Loki were not abused in the same way. Loki can have an amazing, healthy relationship with Frigga (he does not, but we can pretend for a moment) and Thor is fighting for scraps of love from her. (Parents and their parenting moods are weird) and Thor can resent Loki for that because he needs a mom too. Thor can get all the attention from Odin and have a healthier (it is not healthy) relationship with Odin, and Loki can resent him for that, even though he has a "good" relationship with Frigga, because he still needs a dad. Hela can have been banished and raised as Odin's sword and have NO good or even good-ish relationships with Frigga and Odin and she resents Thor and Loki for that because she needed parents.

But is all their trauma valid even though the WAY they were traumatized is different? Yes. Can we look at them and objectively choose the "worst" victim between the three of them? No. We can't. Because different things traumatize people differently. And why should we? it's not a competition. Even though parental abuse/neglect has a tendency to pit siblings against each other despite (usually) said siblings best efforts otherwise, it is NOT A COMPETITION.

Loki has every right to be angry with Odin over what he did to him even though Odin was terrible to all his children because IT! IS! NOT! A! COMPETETION! ABOUT WHO WAS ABUSED MORE! The most suffering victim doesn't "earn" the right to be traumatized. everyone was traumatized. Everyone gets therapy. They're just going to talk about different things in therapy and THEY ARE ALL STILL TRAUMATIZED.

I guarantee to you that if they were real people, Thor would absolutely be jealous of Loki and Hela. Loki would be jealous of Hela and Thor. Hela would be jealous of Thor and Loki, EVEN THOUGH all of them are being abused, it's just the fact they're not being abused in the same way.

And this is WHY I am always in awe of their relationship in canon because it is one of the best written sibling relationships under abuse I have ever seen because it is REAL. (The Umbrella Academy s1 did this spectacularly, also, btw) Sibling relationships under abuse are so so so messy because everyone is in survival mode and it causes SO MANY issues.

and guess what! Everyone IS jealous of each other

^ Thor's resentment that he wasn't taught anything by Frigga (listen to the way he says this, he is very jealous and bitter, i WISH they had poked this more)

^ hela jealous odin replaced her with Thor

^ loki jealous that Thor got more attention than he did from their parents + people in general (all this attention wasn't a good thing) (funnily enough, for someone who is said to be SUPER jealous, this is the only time in canon I can think of Loki actually admitting that he is)

so anyway, sibling resentment HAPPENS but everyone is still abused/neglected and it all sucks and EVERYONE deserves therapy. And hey, if Frigga decided to actually be a parent to one of her kids (she didn't) then I am HAPPY because at least SOMEONE got a parent, even though Thor deserved a mom just as much as Loki did.

[godofthundersblog]

⛈ Mun Info ⚡︎ Basics: Zavion or Zay, he/him. ⚡︎ Mdni: 21+ only. ⚡︎ Favorite: Thor, Ragnarok era and Thor movies. ⚡︎ Blocking: ageless, empty blogging, drama, godmodding. ⚡︎ Favorite quotes:

⛈ Notes ⚡︎ Tracking: godofthundersblog ⚡︎ # of rps: 0 ⚡︎ This is my main page.

⛈ Roleplay Info ⚡︎ Basics: Thor Ragnorok era + mythology; prefers to be descriptive, use paragraphs & 1st person perspective (prefer tumblr). ⚡︎ open to: OCs, female gender/any orientation, dead dove, NSFW, non-con (discuss first, don't assume: heavier stuff will be moved to discord). ⚡︎ will not do: Vore, urine/scat, pedophilia, and/or OCs related to MCU character (s) (some exceptions apply depending on the plotline), NSFW with anons (because I can't guarantee you're 18+, no exceptions). ⚡︎ ships: based on chemistry; open to multiple of the same characters, but I have one particular person for each slot that best fits my thor (see below)

My Thor's... ⚡︎ Jane: ⚡︎ Loki: @lowkey-lokid ⚡︎ Heimdall: ⚡︎ Hela: ⚡︎ Hulk: ⚡︎ Valkyrie: ⚡︎ Odin:

⛈ Directory ⚡︎ Updates - OOC Updates ⚡︎ OOC Posts - Misc OOC Posts ⚡︎ Tag Directory - [work in progress!] ⚡︎ Thor's File - About my thor [work in progress!] ⚡︎ Starters - Roleplay starters & asks ⚡︎ Resources - Gifs, headers, icons, etc. ⚡︎ Closed Roleplays - in progress roleplays ⚡︎ Open Roleplays - Pre-written starters. [coming soon!] ⚡︎ My Brothers Adopted - things loki does/probably does (according to my thor) ⚡︎ Asks - All of my asks (general) ⚡︎ Roleplay Asks - All of my RP asks ⚡︎ OOC Asks - Out of character asks

⛈ Profile Icon - Unknown Source ⛈ Header & Blog BG - WallpaperCave ⛈ Layout copied from @lowkey-lokid with permission

[bear-do-well]

Also I've been playing God of War Ragnarok and here's my thoughts:

Story looks like it will be epic

I did 2 boss fights so far and they feel a bit pre-written, as if what you do doesn't matter. I am on story-mode difficulty tho, so it could be because of that

I'm liking the game play so far

I really got spoiled by having witcher senses in witcher 3 tho

I already have 2 achievements!!

fun!

[toniwilder]

Narrative Family Therapy in Thor

The following is an essay written regarding the application of family therapy techniques in a fictional setting:

In Marvel Studio’s 2011 film, Thor, the fantasy and super hero aspects of the film surround worth. While we hear the mantra, “Whosoever holds this hammer, if he be worthy, shall possess the power of Thor,” regarding the physical action of the film (respectively in relation to Thor’s legendary weapon Mjolnir), we also hear testaments from both our protagonist, Thor, and his brother-antagonist, Loki, of expressing a desire to be worthy in different, more abstract ways. The film follows their journeys to become worthy as heirs to their fathers’ throne, but, more importantly, worthy as sons.

The film splits equal time between Thor and Loki’s origins, along with their relationship with their father. On the day of Thor’s coronation, the enemies of his kingdom of Asgard break into a highly secure weapons vault. Later, it is revealed that Loki allowed the spies to enter the vault as a cunning and underhanded way to express to his father that Thor is not ready to rule the kingdom in his father Odin’s stead. Just as Loki expected, Thor’s temper gets the best of him. As a warrior, Thor has been taught and congratulated for being violent and brash. Odin chastises Thor for trying to instigate a war onto the rival kingdom, Jotunheim, and postpones the coronation temporarily.

The flame of Thor’s temper is further fanned when Thor decides to take his comrades of warriors to Jotunheim to threaten the rival king. Loki humors him lightly and expects Thor to get caught once again making brash plans, but not to actually conduct any true damage. Loki’s schemes to frame his brother in a poor light, though, are knocked aside when they arrive at Jotunheim before Odin can stop them. Thor attacks the kingdom and kills citizens in the false name of nationalism. The most important thing to gain from this fight, aside from Thor’s temper, is that, during the battle, Loki is grabbed by a Jotun frost giant. The Jotuns are a race of monsters to the Asgardians and a touch from one should have given Loki immediate frost bite. However, Loki’s skin turns Jotun frost giant blue instead. Loki, it turns out, is not Thor’s brother after all. He not only adopted, he is a Jotun.

There are various moments throughout the film that build up a clear picture of the negative implications associated with being a Jotun. To name only one example: The very opening prologue of the film is Odin telling young Thor and Loki a story of the Jotun. The first words spoken in the film are, “From the cold and darkness came the Frost Giants.” Odin describes Asgard as a “beacon of hope” in comparison to the monsters that they protected every realm from. A young Thor, maybe nine years old, exclaims, “When I'm king, I'll hunt the monsters down and slay them all! Just as you did, father.”

Just by this prologue, we understand many instrumental aspects of the Asgardian culture. Jotun frost giants are not only less than Asgardians—they are feared, hated, and inhuman. They’re referred to as monsters more-so than their true designation. It’s deep-rooted racism that Odin implanted into both of his sons, and, even though he tells both Thor and Loki that they are both meant to be kings, he gets teary-eyed when faced with the pride he feels for Thor at his coronation and he constantly accents that Thor is first-born, along with being worthy. Now, taking this into consideration and layering Thor’s blatant inexperience as a ruler with the insistence that he must rule on top of Loki’s discovery that he is a monster, it is no wonder that Loki takes to his heritage in an extremely volatile and dangerous way.

Thor, Loki, and Thor’s friends are dragged back to Asgard by Odin before any more peace treaties can be ruined. Thor is then stripped of his power and title and banished to Earth with the task of becoming worthy so he can reclaim what Odin has taken from him. Odin does not explain what dictates worth, only that Thor is “unworthy of these realms [sic] unworthy of [his] title” and “unworthy of the loved ones [he has] betrayed.” It is with this cryptic and vague mission that he sends Thor to an unfamiliar world and turns him into a human. It’s also important to note that an human lifespan in relation to an Asgardian lifespan is minute and humans are incredibly weak in comparison. Odin could very well have sent Thor to his death in his show of temper that is comparable only to Thor’s temper while attacking the Jotun giants.

Odin’s inarticulate parenting only gets more volatile when Loki confronts him about his heritage. Loki’s first thought is that he might be cursed, because the thought of Odin housing a frost giant from infancy is so foreign to him. Loki goes on to describe himself in a multitude of self-deprecating ways (“I am the monster parents tell their children about at night.”) and Odin admits that he took Loki from a Jotun battle for future political leverage. When confronted with Odin using him, Loki lashes out and asks why Odin never told him. As a final nail in Loki’s identity coffin, Odin claims he wanted to “protect” Loki from the truth. It’s one of the last things Odin says before entering a coma, and solidifies the racism throughout the entire first portion of the film that being Jotun is something to be ashamed of and an identity that makes Loki unworthy of holding the throne of Asgard.

Ironically, Odin’s coma and Thor’s banishment now allow Loki to reign over the kingdom in their absence. It is in place of power that Loki schemes so that he can kill his birth father (which he succeeds in doing) and the rest of the Jotun race while keeping Thor banished. His hopes are resolutely defined in the final battle between Thor and Loki when Loki explains that his actions of genocide against the “race of monsters” will show Odin that he is the worthy son and true heir to the throne.

Thor’s worth is found when he protects his friends from Loki’s wrath and it is then that Thor is able to truly fight his adopted brother. Odin arrives at the end of the fight and saves the brothers from toppling over a cliff-face. It is in Loki’s final moments that he is rejected by his father for his attempt to make him proud. When Odin says Loki has not made him proud, Loki jumps over the side to kill himself.

Odin’s obsession with worth and his inability to explain to his sons the reasoning behind ruling, diplomacy, and what actually dictates that worth are what set this film in motion. It seems natural then that the therapeutic technique used for this family, minus the mother who is mostly absent from the main conflict, would be narrative therapy. So many of the problems within the family do surround worth, but semantically it’s no different if the word worth was replaced with the word character. By constantly undermining the character of Thor and Loki, Odin places the weight of every mistake they make onto them as people. It’s not temper that controls Thor, it’s Thor’s temper that ruined the entirety of the political atmosphere. It’s not heritage that Loki discovers, it’s that Loki discovers he, personally, is a manifestation of a monster that exists within the scope of that heritage. The two sons are unable to separate what aspects make up who they are from their actual, whole identity. It’s because of this that narrative therapy is the best fit for the conflicts shown in the film.

The first step in using narrative therapy with the family would be to start externalizing the problems. Already, the relationships among and surrounding this unit of three is extremely based in scape-goat tactics. Odin actually explaining himself would go a long way to giving both sons enough information to actually make decisions that are not based in unsure hopes of making their father proud. Loki explaining his lack of self-worth paired with Thor not understanding why Loki suddenly snaps, thus alleviating the blame that Loki places on Thor (since Loki believes that Thor knows Loki is unwell and does not care) would also help in clearing up a large amount of the misconceptions within the family dynamic. With all three perspectives now articulated, a motion can be made to interlink the three stories into the most objective story possible.

After removing blame and guilt from the equation, the situation can be assessed in an unbiased way while maintaining a path to achieve all the assumed goals. Odin can gain “worthy” sons by allowing Thor and Loki the autonomy to not be owned by their emotions and impulsivities. Thor and Loki also gain by achieving that autonomy and independence away from what their father deems as “worthy”. This technique allows Thor and Loki the freedom to exist as themselves, which is especially important given Loki’s new, learned origin.

Now that there is distance between identity and the problems within the family unit, the externalization can be viewed in various social, cultural, and political ways. The three can explore why Loki varies so much from the more violent Asgardian culture and what that means for him as a functioning individual within the unit. It’s important to understand the demonization and black and white thinking that Odin has imprinted onto his sons, especially in relation to other races. (Odin uses Earth as a punishment, and talks down to everyone who does not adhere to the strict societal expectations of the Asgardian culture.) This will call into account the racism associated with the Jotun and how Loki may or may not differ from these ideas that Odin has upheld. It requires a re-examination of past, less-problematic moments. By having the three look into the more positive aspects of Loki’s character, they can readdress the racism and temper relating to the Jotun held by all three, but especially by Thor. The negativity has now been changed into more meaningful and accepting ways (a drastic contrast to the constant affirmation seeking that code the relationships until this point).

From here, Odin, Thor, and Loki can explore futures utilizing more positive aspects of what they previously considered negative. Maybe Odin’s idea of using Loki to create a bridge between Asgard and Jotun is explored in a more culturally sensitive way and, instead of using Loki as leverage, it’s frame as being a learning experience that shows the race as being multi-faceted, thus allowing Loki to be multi-faceted as well. Loki no longer becomes Odin’s pawn, and the contentment in his role can connect to his ability to rule in Odin’s place should he ever need to. His worth is no longer connected to being on the throne, but to the skills that would make him a prospective ruler. Thor’s temper and warrior tendencies can also be examined in this same way as, instead of being volatile, as being a passionate jumpstarting position for Thor as a political figure. By turning his anger into passion and placing him in a position that truly focuses on doing what would be best for Asgard as a kingdom, Thor can also develop his skills as a ruler.

With future orientation in mind, it would be the hope that establishing connection through narrative therapy for the three would allow Loki the comfort to stay with his family instead of attempting to take his own life at the end of the film and that Asgard could be ruled without grand assumptions on the character of its throne’s heirs.

FOR MORE ON NARRATIVE THEORY, SEE THE POST A Look Into Narrative Theory