#THOR has recently done more actual proper magic than Loki

[worstloki]

people fr are like "do you expect Loki to always be in armour? 🤨" and I'm here to answer that Yes! Yes I do! In fight situations, at the very least! Take a look at Thor! Take a look at Loki in Thor 1! Or either of them in Avengers 1! Or even - dare I say - Thor 2! Loki's got LOTS of outfits, switching pieces between them and across scenes, even. He goes through the most outfit changes, and they were all cool and detailed and suited to the situations! Even when not armour! So Yes! I either expect him to reflect such bombardment of clothing in the series as well (within bounds of what is reasonable) or armour when he's fighting. Or at the very least for him to be wearing some green.

[jazzythursday]

I’m about to go into another very long Marvel rant/dissertation here— mostly for myself— that I started writing soon after the Loki Series finale so please feel free to just scroll past this, because honestly I think I kinda overdid this one. It’s jaded and overly dramatic even for me. You have been warned:

The last 4 Marvel movies/shows I’ve watched left me feeling so completely depressed and unsatisfied and hopeless about the future of popular entertainment and story telling in general, and I know I’m not the only one. The fact that fans are going into these experiences hoping for a good story and character arcs that make sense with prior characterization, and leaving feeling… empty is a very clear sign that their approach leaves a lot to be desired.

Infinite War had some valid reasons to end the way it did, because by having our heroes fall so much harder than ever before, it built up the tension and high stakes for the next film. But what does that do when Endgame leaves us feeling even worse? I wanted them to triumph and finally come together to be better. I expected there would be losses of course but not enough to negate the wins. Instead the characters were subjugated for plot, characterization was watered down, and we lost all the original Avengers besides Thor and Bruce (who was no longer even Bruce). Peter loses Tony, Thor’s previous loses are permanent, and so many other things that, in spite of loving a lot of the movie, mean I haven’t been able to stop being sad about it for literal years. And the amount of thoughtless destruction that seems to be at an all time high when it comes to character’s lives and disregard for properly exploring emotions just doesn’t leave much to be expected at this point. Far From Home was good. It was. I liked it a lot. The acting was wonderful and there were some really interesting themes they grappled with but I still walked out of the theater feeling like there was still so much detachment surrounding a lot of the decisions, a little too much thoughtlessness (that, and the gaping hole of Tony). I’m not going to talk about WandaVistion but I’ll say that I was invested until the start of episode 8, and finished episode 9 feeling drained and tired and sad.

Then we get to Loki, a show which has plagued far too many of my thoughts since I started watching it, and has crushed my hopes for ever truly being happy with a Marvel project ever again. Loki is a character who’s ostensibly felt alienated and unseen for most of his life, and that’s before finding out about his parentage. His first movie ends with his suicide attempt and subsequent fall into the void. His second takes place a year into working under Thanos and ends with him being taken away in chains (yes I know he’s the villain he’s done bad things etc. etc. but for the purposes of this I’m only focusing on his pov). Then his third involves his solitary imprisonment, his mother’s death, and his near-death (considering the likelihood that he was actually stabbed), although it does end on a lighter note with his acquisition of the throne. Then we get his redemption and reconciliation with Thor in Ragnarok, immediately followed by the utter tragedy that is the first 10 minutes of Infinite War, which I don’t think I need to explain.

So what I suppose I’m saying here (very very inadequately) is that after all of that, I can’t believe the proper story to tell in his first chance at being a main protagonist was one where he’s constantly degraded and beat up, convicted of things he didn’t actually do, given no focus on backstory or implied/established motivations, and labeled as a clown and a narcissist! His powers are weakened, he displays almost no recognizable mannerisms or competence, he’s held to a higher moral standard than every other character, shown no respect, and ultimately loses EVEN MORE. We’ve seen him lose and lose and lose and lose again. We’ve seen him die THREE TIMES, we’ve seen him redeemed TWICE. So who in their right mind thinks that the most compelling story to tell after all of that was to see him LOSE AGAIN?! And not only lose, but lose without any real triumph, dignity, or acknowledgment beforehand. Death to the author aside, reading the utter nonsense the team behind it have spread, it’s so clear that it wasn’t made in good faith. Whether in ignorance or true maliciousness, they just don’t care. They didn’t research. They didn’t try and see things from his point of view. They didn’t truly sympathize with him as a person while writing. They didn’t understand. And they truly, truly wanted him to fail.

I’m tired of feeling hopeless at the end of everything, of leaving the theater or turning off the TV wondering why I even bothered, why I even care when I’m just being strung along with as little consideration as an audience as my favorite characters. I wanted to actively see him strive to be better, not just be told he could be. I wanted to see him triumph over his demons, not forget them. I wanted to see him be the “master of magic” that every other damn movie has alluded to, and to use his powers effectively. I wanted him to be powerful. I wanted him to, if not win, then win on a personal level at least. I wanted to see him take agency in his life and PROVE EVERYONE WRONG! And, though it’s now bafflingly controversial to say, I wanted it to be told by an experienced and competent writing and directing team that knew and understood his character and were passionate about telling his story.

I would ascribe to the notion of “don’t like it, don’t watch” if I could but I care to much to not be affected by this obvious decline in quality and awareness. And I’m a relatively recent fan. I haven’t been waiting for Loki to get his moment in the sun for 10 years. I’M NEW HERE, and my heart breaks so much for fans of the original movies who have lost their love of Marvel or Loki because of the way it’s been handled. No one should fall further than they can climb up from, and I’m tired of watching loss after loss and never getting the release of gaining enough of it back. What’s the point of caring about these characters if the writers won’t? Of investing in a connecting cinematic universe if it lacks continuity? Of looking for clues and foreshadowing when there isn’t any and the only twists are random and pander to shock value? The way these pieces/characters are being created and interpreted is reductive and incompetent, and for once I’d like to watch something that feels crafted, inspiring, and gratifying to see to the end.

If some people like the Loki show we got, I have no argument against that, because my own opinion is just as subjective as theirs. Though, I’d like to think that if what I want is for the show to be better out of love for the same character, then what they enjoyed from the show can coexist in that. If anyone’s actually read up to this point, I have to admit I’ve forgotten mine. Mostly I just wanted to express my frustrations over how unfeeling and stale most entertainment, specifically from Marvel as of late, has been.

TL;DR: I care too much, waaay too much, Marvel cares too little, Disney doesn’t care at all, and I don’t know how to accept that.

[iamnmbr3]

I know you're not happy with the show but making things up is really damaging your reputation. The show is not a failure; it's the biggest launch of any disney+ show so far with the highest ratings. The first trailer has so many views because it's 7 months old, compared to the first episode being out a week and a half. The CGI doesn't look like it was done by a two year old (seriously lmao??). The tesseract looks dull because it powers down once in the TVA. Stop pretending Loki was mind controlled when Marvel confirmed in his character bio that he was emotionally influenced by the scepter. Bucky was mind controlled. Selvig and Hawkeye were mind controlled. Loki was influenced like Banner and the others were by the sceptre when they were around it on the helicarrier. Please consider that care has been taken to make Loki more multifaceted in this show, not OOC - he's just got more emotion and character to him now and feels to me and a lot of others, more like a living, breathing person who is struggling in the immediate aftermath of being shown the most traumatic recap of his life. I'm really sorry you're not happy with him, but his emotional core and inner heartbreak is being treated with love and respect by the show.

Hahahahahahahahhaha oh my god anon this was a funny read. Ngl usually when ppl come clowning in my inbox with incoherent rants I just delete it. But this was some quality clowning. This was just too funny to not share with everyone. So I’m gonna go line by line here.

“I know you're not happy with the show but making things up is really damaging your reputation.”

I’m gonna be real with you anon. This makes me sad because I will never write anything this funny. This made me laugh out loud. My reputation? My reputation?!?! I run a blog on Tumblr dot com. No reputation can recover from that. Also as to making things up? Uh. Where??? Just because you don’t like what I have to say doesn’t mean it’s made up. However with that kind of attitude I think you have a bright future ahead of you working in PR for the GOP. They love people who talk like you.

“The show is not a failure; it's the biggest launch of any disney+ show so far with the highest ratings.”

Ok I literally just talked about that HERE. But let me add a few more points here for your convenience. First of all, Disney+ hasn’t actually been doing that great. In fact Disney’s stock recently fell precisely because Diseny+ has underperformed. It missed growth expectations and none of the shows have attracted that big of an audience. Loki had MASSIVELY more interest than either WandaVision or TFATWS and yet it only drew 890K households for the premier - just barely more than either of those shows got. There haven’t been any numbers released for the episodes after the premier but given how boring and unfunny and uninteresting the premier was, I wouldn’t be surprised if a lot of viewers, especially more casual ones, didn’t come back for more.

“The first trailer has so many views because it's 7 months old, compared to the first episode being out a week and a half.”

Incorrect. Trailers get most of their views in the first week, and the vast majority in the first 2 weeks. Indeed, they get the most engagement in the first DAY usually and then it starts slowing. The early trailer that got 18 million views got most of that very quickly and then has grown extremely slowly ever since. The more recent trailers are not tracking to get anywhere near than engagement. Why? Because interest is dropping. Now maybe people just aren’t as interested in the trailers because they’re just happy to watch the actual show now or because they loved the first trailers so much that they decided to watch the show just based on that and didn't want to spoil themselves watching later trailers. Who knows. I certainly have my theories though.

"The CGI doesn't look like it was done by a two year old (seriously lmao??)."

Actually I said the posters looked like they were done by a 2 year old. Most of the CGI looks like cheap made-for-tv effects done by an underpaid and under qualified adult. But go off I guess. Also don’t even try to defend those badly photoshopped posters to me. I have eyes. I could argue with you but a picture is worth a thousand words. And just. Look at this thing! This is real. It’s so bad but it’s real. Who wants this?

"Stop pretending Loki was mind controlled when Marvel confirmed in his character bio that he was emotionally influenced by the scepter.Bucky was mind controlled. Selvig and Hawkeye were mind controlled. Loki was influenced like Banner and the others were by the sceptre when they were around it on the helicarrier"

That’s mind control lmao. The scepter was magically influencing his mind. Do you think emotions come from our feet or something?! (And that’s not even getting into the torture and conditioning he underwent or the fact that the Other had his claws in Loki’s mind and was hurting and threatening him in addition to the mind control). Also why do you think it’s appropriate to come on my blog like this and make these sorts of demands? This is my fandom blog that I run for fun. I can engage however I want. You need to learn to cope with that. If you enjoy the show that’s great. Go enjoy it. Don’t tell other people what to think. That’s not appropriate, reasonable, or healthy. If you find yourself truly unable to cope with strangers having different opinions from you about a tv show based on a comic book I definitely suggest you seek help from a professional.

"Please consider that care has been taken to make Loki more multifaceted in this show, not OOC - he's just got more emotion and character to him now and feels to me and a lot of others, more like a living, breathing person who is struggling in the immediate aftermath of being shown the most traumatic recap of his life."

I don’t see any evidence at all of care being put into the show. The writing and storytelling is incredibly sloppy. It gets even the most basic things wrong - like Loki’s speaking style or the fact that he wasn’t young in the 70s or that he speaks the Allspeak not English or his skin tone or hair length or the fact that Jotun!Loki should’ve had ridges on his skin. The head writer and story creator also is openly disdainful of Loki and talks about how he’s a “shithead” and “proper and pompous” and how he needs to be put in a situation where he has to stop “blaming” Odin and Thor for all his problems. He shows no understanding of Loki’s character or care for it. Maybe care was put into the show and they just messed up but I don’t see evidence of that. There’s certainly no way you could know that for a fact unless you are involved in the production in which case you are a biased source who has an ulterior motive for silencing critics of the show.

Also TV!Loki doesn’t feel like a real person to me at all. He feels like a caricature. He doesn’t act like Loki or do or say the things he would or even stand like he would. Look how Loki behaved when being interrogated by Natasha or when being berated by Odin. Loki is someone who puts on a performance as a sword and a shield. TV!Loki is a stupid clown.

"I'm really sorry you're not happy with him, but his emotional core and inner heartbreak is being treated with love and respect by the show."

No it’s not. It’s being turned into a punchline. The “humor” in the show derives entirely from invalidating Loki’s feelings and retconning his motivations and humiliating and mocking and denigrating him and turning him into a literal punching bag. The show robs the character of all dignity and seriousness and makes a mockery of him and the fans he meant so much to. And for what? The humor isn’t even funny.

[stanknotstark]

Astral Pt. 15.1 (Loki x Reader)

So like I thought of Loki eating a marshmallow for the first time and planned it out a little bit like a week or a week and a half ago and very recently before i could write anything I saw a tiktok with the same idea and it made me feel scared and happy at the same time 😂 anyways i got my packing done so i had time to write! It was easy since there was no plot! However I hope you guys realize that all the .1s are never planned....like i literally wake up that day, look at a blank post, and think hmm today i shall do this! LOL

It’s one day before you head out to track down Madonna when you finally break. 

Luckily it’s only Loki around to see it but still you’re a little embarrassed. 

“Why is the magic so hard to control!” You scream throwing a big ball of energy into the open space of the training room. When it hits the wall the entire room shakes a bit then it goes silent. Loki doesn’t say anything just watches you and how you’re going to react now. 

You stand there, haggardly breathing, your eyes closed tight, your hands fists at your side. As you rile yourself up more when you think of Madonna and Kang you don’t realize your magic is starting to flow around you in sparks and flares. 

Loki calls out your name but you don’t hear it. What you do notice is Loki’s hands cupping your face. When you open your eyes you see Loki looking down at you but then you see your magic connecting with his body in random intervals. Every time your magic connects with him it leaves the place searing red, hot, and charred. You look up and see Loki wince when the magic reaches his skin. 

You deflate, embarrassed and ashamed, and your magic that was uncontrolled disappears. You drop to your knees, breaking out of Loki’s grasp but Loki follows you down anyways. You sit on your knees, your face hidden in your hands as you try your best not to cry. Loki sits right in front of you on his knees too. He gives you a little time before he pries your hands from your face and makes you look at him. 

“You don’t have to be strong all the time, I want you to know it’s ok to cry.” Loki whispers to you, his eyes filled with nothing but affection. 

You let out a sob, gasp, feel the tears that had welled in your eyes drop down your cheeks. 

Loki pulls you into a hug and just sits there holding you as you let out your frustration all over his, now ruined, hoodie.

When you’ve let out everything you’ve been bottling you sniffle and pull from Loki’s hug. You quickly wipe at your eyes and nose and do nothing more than smear the unwanted liquids across your face. Then, you apologize. 

“Nonsense.” Is all Loki says before magicking a handkerchief for you. You take it with a small thanks and actually clean off your face. 

When you’re presentable Loki brings a hand up and caresses your jawline. “While it saddens me to see you cry, you’re very cute when you do.” 

You let out a wobbly laugh at this statement, bringing a hand up to cover Loki’s hand on your jaw. “Men, I swear.” You smile at Loki as he smiles at you. 

Loki drops his hand to his lap and gives you a questioning look. “Would you like to talk about what made you so...” Loki waves his hands around. 

You look at the ground with a frown. “I just...I’m really frustrated with my magic right now, and it doesn’t help that we visit Madonna....My mother, tomorrow.”

Loki hums but lets you gather your words. 

“I just...When Thor mentioned I might be adopted I had hoped he was right only so I could find my family and maybe they would actually want me, that I would belong somewhere in a family.” You sigh. “Then I found out my real mother is even worse than my fake mother and sent someone to kill me. She couldn’t even do the dirty work herself.” You say with a glare at the floor. 

Loki brings a hand up and tilts your chin up to look at him. He stares deep into your eyes with a frown. “Have you not found a new family that loves and adores you?” 

At this you frown but realize what he means and your face softens. “I didn’t even realize....” You softly say, a little guilty.

Loki gives a small smile. “While they are not blood, they have come to care for you better than any blood family will. It took me some time to realize this too. With Thor I resented him, pushed him out, but I’ve come to realize that while he may not be blood, he cares for me just as much.” 

You nod at Loki who pulls his hand from your face and stands, then holds a hand out to you to help you stand. When you’re standing next to him he pulls you into his side and makes his way to the door with you. 

“I’ve yet to try these so called marshmallows, I think now would be a perfect time.” 

You gasp and look at Loki excited, breakdown completely forgotten. 

“Oh my gosh, there’s so many new flavors, they originally started as vanilla but now you can find some with coconut shavings on them and you can find some in chocolate too!” 

Loki smiles down as you childishly babble on about marshmallows. 

By the time you both make it to the kitchen you and Loki are in a rousing discussion about whether the death penalty should be abolished. Considering the death penalty still applies in Asgard, Loki believes it shouldn’t be abolished. He says he believes it gives more incentive to not do something bad. You rebuke him and tell him that it didn’t stop him from what he did and that shuts Loki up fast. You smirk at having won this debate. 

Loki leans against the counter and waits patiently as you search all the freaking cabinets for the marshmallows. As you search you question if you’ve ever even seen this much food outside of a grocery store. 

Finally, you find a bag of the mega marshmallows and give a little whoop. You turn and throw the bag to Loki who catches it without issue and looks at the bag with something akin to disgust and curiosity. 

“And you think I’m going to like these?” Loki says slowly. 

You giggle. “Jus open it and try them!”

Loki follows your command and uses a dagger to open the bag prim and proper instead of tearing it like a normal mortal might. 

When he reaches a hand in and touches the marshmallows for the first time you get giddy. His face softens and his eyes are like a puppies. 

“They’re so soft...” He whispers. 

You smile at Loki who shakes himself and pulls one out. He places the bag on the counter and then holds the marshmallow in front of him, eye level. He inspects it for a second then brings it to his nose and sniffs it. He lets out a noise of approval and bites into the fluffy thing. 

You closely watch his face and recognize that he truly likes it but his face quickly changes to one of disgust as he chews on the marshmallow. 

“It’s disgusting.” He states.

You smirk as you quickly move to grab the bag behind him on the counter. “Fine, I’ll give them to Thor then.” You turn and start to make your way to the door but Loki grabs your wrist.

“No, don’t you dare!” Loki yells. 

You turn around and smirk at the god. 

“So you like them then?” You ask, shaking the bag of marshmallows out of his reach.

Loki keeps a hold on your wrist but finishes off the rest of the marshmallow he still holds before he says, “I may approve of them, a bit.” Loki says with a look of defiance. 

“Hmm not good enough.” You say giving a tug at Loki’s hold but not enough to break it. 

“Yes. Yes, I like them!” 

You now full on smile at the god and hand him the bag of marshmallows. The god hugs them to his chest like he’s protecting a baby and glares at you. 

“Tell Thor to buy himself another bag, these are mine.” Loki says snootily. 

You laugh but come up with an idea and make your way to the cabinets again. Loki quietly watches you while eating marshmallows. 

When you’ve found a box of graham crackers and some Hershey’s chocolate you give a sound of happiness. Coming back to Loki you manage to steal one of his marshmallows and stick it on a fork. You place the graham crackers and a piece of chocolate on the counter and then look at Loki while holding the marshmallow up. Loki gives you a questionable look as he chews. You light a small ball of fire in your free hand and put it under the marshmallow and Loki looks on with great curiosity as the marshmallow expands a bit and becomes a little charred, melting.

You place the marshmallow on the cracker and chocolate and make it into a smores. Then you hand it to Loki who takes it without hesitation and takes a big bite into it. 

As you look at Loki you feel the butterflies in your stomach act up. Loki stands there hugging a bag of marshmallows to his chest with his right arm. In his left hand is a messy smores dripping down his fingers. His mouth is covered with chocolate and melted marshmallow. You have half a mind to lick it off of him. 

“Good?” Is all you ask. 

Loki stops, looks at the smores, and glances to you. 

“Quite messy but...” You raise a brow as Loki inspects the smores in his hand. “Yes, good.” 

You nod satisfied and see Thor enter the kitchen. 

“Ah, I see you’ve discovered smores!” 

“This is just the food for you Thor, it’s messy, just how you like to eat everything.” Loki says without barbs, more teasing. 

Thor laughs, “Do not forget who left the table with squashed peas in his hair then refused to be bathed.” 

You pique up at the mention of a good story, you’re sure, but the brothers don’t elaborate. Loki just scoffs and rolls his eyes. 

“At any rate, you’re going to have to buy more marshmallows these are mine.”

Thor looks at you with a small smile. “Loki has never been fond of sharing.”

“I share just fine with people I like!” 

Thor purses his lips and squints then shakes his head a little. You laugh and look at Loki. 

“I mean, he has a point, I don’t think I’ve seen you share with anyone but me.” 

“That’s because I like you.” Loki says playfully indignant. At this he gives you his half eaten smores which you take and begin eating, as if trying to prove his point.

“Make sure to get messy, I’d like to lick the excess off your face, darling.”

You nearly choke on the bite you just took with a pitiful glance at Thor who just rolls his eyes and continues on into the kitchen. 

“My brother is insatiable.” Thor says from somewhere behind you. 

You swallow the bite you were choking on and slap Loki’s arm. Loki merely smiles down at you. You giggle a little while looking at Loki’s hoodie arm. He looks down and sees you’ve left smores on his arm when you slapped him. Before Loki can react Thor states, loudly, “No more food fights! Tony said the smell didn’t leave the room for hours even though the room was pristine!” 

You pout and Loki stops the pout with his index finger. Then he leans down and gives you a kiss. As he kisses you you can literally feel the sticky residues mixing. This causes you too pull away with a frown. 

“I can’t do this until we get clean, this is disgusting.” 

“Yes, it is.” Thor supplies from his spot at the oven. 

You laugh at Loki’s glare he sends Thor. 

When you glance behind you at Thor you see he’s making spaghetti. 

“When are you going to cook me something? That’s romantic.” You ask Loki before finishing the smores you have in your hand. 

“Goes both ways, sweetheart.” Loki says. 

You glare at Loki but realize it’s true and shrug. “Fair enough.” You say dropping the matter. 

“I’m going to take a shower, no kisses till your face is clean!” You yell as you walk out of the kitchen and leave Loki there with Thor. 

Pt. 15/Pt. 15.1/?

Tag list: @justfangirlthingies​ @emelieh99​ @high-functioning-lokipath​ @loveableasshole​ @mp0625​ 

[realityhelixcreates]

Lasabrjotr Chapter 53: Cleanup

Chapters: 53/? Fandom: Thor (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe Rating: Teen And Up Warnings: none Relationships: Loki x Reader (Getting There) Characters: Loki (Marvel),  Additional Tags: Post-Endgame: Best Possible Ending (Canon-Divergent), Keep Walkin, Nothing To See Here, 

Aftermath and looking forward. A small confession

The next few days were spent out among the camps, helping to organize their rebuilding. You had to write down who lost their tents to the fires, what belongings needed to be replaced, and who was sharing their tents with whom. The Icelandic authorities had come in force-probably every cop and emergency serviceperson on the island-to oust the militant camp. Large portions of it had been found empty, which was concerning, but those remaining mostly went peacefully. Either they felt they had accomplished what they had come to do, or they realized that they never would.

Whoever owned those empty tents had either escaped into the countryside or the city, or, more worryingly, had slipped in among the other camps, and were hiding there.

There were a total of five bodies that needed to be transported to Akureyri for storage, so that their families could be notified. Three militants, one protester, and one believer. That was not counting the two who had vaporized. Nobody seemed able to identify who they had been.

As you logged everything, you also recorded names, and thus found out about a number of missing persons. Several people from the protester's and believer's camps had fled in the attacks, and not yet returned. Fritjof was still missing and Sofie's friend, Savane, was adamant that he would not have run away from the battle.

The protesters camp was coming apart. Many people just quietly packed up their things and left, much like the unsavory elements of Trolekaerhalla had done months before. Several others had asked to join the believer's camp, and their leaders had convened for a quick Thing to discuss the subject. Eventually, they agreed, with some conditions: while no one absolutely had to worship the gods, they did have to hold a certain respect for them and Asgard. No more angry signs, no more blame. A curiosity about Asgard, and the will to learn was all that was required.

The remainder of the protester's camp consolidated, re-pitching their tents in a tight circle and refusing to discuss anything further with you.

Trolekaerhalla was just itching to get started on their longhouses, each person trying to decide what they could offer to the construction, looking up how to make this and that, getting in touch with people who knew more about how to build such things.

There were going to be six to start with, arranged in rows, with room to move or store things between them. People who preferred their tents could set them up in the alleys the houses created, which would shield the tents from some bad weather, and allow the inhabitants to easily get inside, if things got too harsh outside. There were plans being made to create areas of outdoor worship, little shrines to each god, called hörgr, and a large building for indoor worship as well. Sofie told you that it would be based on a probably mythical temple that was supposed to have existed in Uppsala, Sweden, but now was only remembered in the writings of people who described it after it was destroyed.

She said the grand temple was supposedly wrapped in gold chains, but that they would probably just carve chain patterns out of wood or plaster, and paint them. That all the gods would have their little niches and thrones inside, and that they would plant some trees outside, in remembrance of the sacred grove that grew outside the old temple, but that they wouldn't sacrifice any living things there.

“Our ancestors did it to please the gods, and ensure their prosperity for the coming year.” She said. “But the gods have asked nothing of us, and we are already prosperous, so there's just no need for it anymore. It would just be uncivilized now.”

Though it was weirdly exhausting, just taking notes all day, you were strangely excited about building houses. You wanted to stack stones, you wanted to hammer nails, you wanted to cut thatch. You didn't even know for sure what thatch was, but you wanted to!

You were pretty sure Loki would not want you out here, putting together buildings, but he surprised you by not only saying that expected you to do so, but that he would be aiding in the construction himself! Not just supervising, but actually building, with his own two godly hands.

“It will confer a blessing on the building.” He said. “At least, it will seem to. My blessings are...rather fraught, I'm afraid.”

“I think the bragging rights alone would be worth it to them.” You said. “Sofie told me that some of the pagan groups from elsewhere in Scandinavia are pretty jealous. Some of them are gonna be sending official representatives, if they haven't already. But she also tells me that some of those groups are pretty racist, so I think they are bound for disappointment. Serves them right though. Oh, she wants to know if she has permission to film you next time you go out there. She was too nervous to ask.”

Loki thought about it. “Tell her to ask me herself. Only then, may she know my answer.”

“Tough, but fair.” You said, texting Sofie. “When will we start building?”

“Oh, it will be some weeks yet. We need to measure out foundations, how much we need in the way of materials, where we are getting the materials, and how long it will take them to arrive. This is going to be a mostly human endeavor: our builders and the Bifrost are still tied up in the construction of Asgard.

But there are so many humans out there, from so many different backgrounds, and they have so many connections. Some already know where to get the stone and wood, and some even already have building tools being sent to them from home. They are just as impatient to get started as you are, my dear. My, but humans really do love to build, don't they?”

You had resumed your lessons in magic and knifework, though Loki kept it light and still made you check in with Bjarkhild once a day, to make sure your head was okay. You didn't mind; the check ins never lasted long, and it gave you the chance to speak with the injured humans before they were all released. Most of them marveled at the way the machines had healed their burns and broken bones-much more efficiently, now that there was more human data programmed in.

“Let them get their county established, and maybe soon, these things will be all over the world.” You had said, and that made even the angriest of the protesters think.

You had presented to the scholars the leaf you had taken from your most recent shared dream of Titan, and they had placed it next to a vial, containing a tiny amount of the orange dust that had come through the last time- likely scraped from your blankets for study.

You really wanted to get to the bottom of this. What if this dream travel one day took you some place you couldn't survive? You had been safe so far, the blue light that helped you fly had also protected you from freezing on Jotunheim, but who knew if that would last.

Loki seemed as clueless as you on this subject, even though it never happened without him. All he could say for sure was that magic was involved.

Your magic was becoming more precise, though you still hadn't tried to move anything big again, not since the huldra. That had been far too much. However, your skill at moving small things with increased accuracy was coming along great!

So great, in fact, that when Loki had attempted to prank you at dinner by having hot peppers hidden in your food, you had gotten back at him by teleporting the peppers into his own food, and had the immense satisfaction of watching him go nearly purple in the face and pour sweat in front of Brunnhilde and his brother.

The Valkyrie general had, of course, laughed uncontrollably, and declared you a national treasure, and even Loki had congratulated you, once he could speak again.

It turned out that, while both Thor and Loki had an insatiable sweet tooth, neither of them had any tolerance for spicy food, and that opened up plenty of opportunities for mischief. Loki was one day going to fall prey to hot cinnamon candies, though you would save that one until a time when he needed a proper punishment.

Your knifework was still nothing to write home about, though you knew, with all the exercise you did, both with Loki, and with the Valkyries, that your body was getting stronger. Borgliot still taught you, but she didn't flirt anymore. That was fine. You knew she was a good catch, but she did still intimidate you a bit, while Loki didn't so much anymore. Maybe it was because you had seen more sides of him than you had of her. Still, you hoped she would find a nice lady soon.

You took ever more lessons with Saga, learning Asgardian law and language. Lofn still shot you sly little smiles, either because she thought you weren't looking, or because she wanted you to see. You didn't think she was making fun of you anymore, but you also didn't know what else her game might be.

And Loki grew ever softer with you, as the weeks went by, relying more on your emotional support, and trying to offer you the same. Often you found yourself sitting beside him, in front of his fire, discussing little anecdotes from your childhoods, planning out the next day's activities. There were always things he was withholding from you, which you expected from him, but it also seemed like they were very important things. The kind of things one probably should discuss with one's Seidkona, but also the kind of things that shouldn't be forced. You were not a professional therapist, after all, you didn't know how to deal with everything he might be feeling. You could just barely deal with what you were feeling.

And, oh boy, were you feeling.

You lusted after him, and then felt bad about it. He had no idea what you were thinking and feeling about him, and you had abandoned the idea of just coming out and confessing to him after all the trouble with the huldra. That tinged your secret fantasies with a patina of guilt, made the pleasure you felt in his presence just a little dingy. When all you had to touch yourself to was the vivid memory of that horrid 'kiss'-how it had felt so good, but had been under such bad circumstances-you couldn't help but feel conflicted.

You wanted him to replace that memory. You wanted him to just grab you by the shoulders during one of these thickly romantic evenings in front of the fire and kiss you silly. Steal your breath, hold you too hard, leave your lips bruised from overuse, any release for this emotion.

And he had no clue.

You went to bed every night, charged with desire, while he slept blissfully unaware, just a few yards away. It was driving you nuts.

You would keep it on lockdown though. You were an adult, you could handle this.

You could handle it.

                                                                        *****

Fritjof limped back into camp a week after he had disappeared, bedraggled and shivering, but very alive. He had been welcomed back like a hero, to his very visible shock; his hurts patched up, and his presence celebrated.

Once they'd pried Savane away from him, he'd been brought to the rest of the camp leaders, to explain where he'd been.

“I was kidnapped off the battlefield.” He confirmed. “They tied me up and put me in this small camping trailer, like the ones some tourists use. They drove it to a new place every day. I don't know who they were, but they took things from me. Blood. Hair. Skin. I don't know why. I escaped because one of them was stupid enough to stop for a smoke break too close to the trailer. I had to walk back from Mývatn though. Couldn't use the road.”

Sofie got him another blanket and something hot to eat.

“Frit, once you've rested, you need to present yourself at the gates.” She said. “I believe they want to speak with you.”

He nodded. “Do I have to leave?”

“No, of course not.” She said. “Why would you have to leave?”

“Because,” He called the central fire to his hand, then put it back. “of what I am.”

“Oh, Frit. We don't care what you are. It's who you are that's important.”

“You know that's not true.”

“It is here.” Sofie assured him.

                                                                          *****

“So he's a mutant?”

“Is that what you call human Aesir?” Loki asked. “Seems strangely disrespectful to some of your people's greatest heroes.”

“What are you talking about?” You asked. The jerk from the camp-Fritjof, you remembered-had presented himself for 'processing', and Loki had decided to question him in person. He seemed much less of a jerk now, much more subdued, though he refused to look directly at you, and spoke only Danish the entire time. Loki claimed that he was ashamed of himself, that he could tell a great change had come over the young man. “I thought mutants were new?”

“New according to whom? It's possible the terminology is new. Certainly, your ancestors probably did not call figures such as Herakles 'mutants', if only because they liked their bones where they were. But you know now that mages have existed on your world for thousands of years. Why not mutants? This is one of the planets where Aesir have been found. Many became legends; you would have heard of a few, I'm sure.”

“Wait does that mean that you, and Thor, and Saga are just mutants?”

“...'Just'?” Loki repeated, looking insulted. “Pray, what is 'just' about me? I am Aesir. You know of my greatness. Your 'mutants' are Aesir as well, and if your species had even a fraction of the religious freedom you claim to, you would be worshiping your native Aesir just like you used to do alongside my father!”

“Woah, woah, geez I'm sorry!” You held your hands up in a conciliatory gesture. “I was just trying to understand. I don't mean the word as an insult.”

“It is reductive.” He insisted. “Neither of us needs to like him, but he is Aesir nevertheless, and when you refer to him in such a way, you also refer to me as such...oh.”

“Epiphany?” You asked.

“Perhaps. Though I wonder why you do not seem to think that you are one of these mutants yourself?”

“Well...because I'm not.”

“You think not?” He grasped your wrist, teasing the mark on your hand with a fingertip. “Yet you wield powers that other humans do not. Does that not set you apart?”

“It does, it's just...Magic is something you learn, isn't it? Mutation is something you're born with.”

“We do not yet know from whence your power springs.”

“Wasn't it from you?” You caught his gaze, while he continued tracing the mark. “I wasn't able to do any of this until I met you. Until this rune.”

“Ah, but I did not lay this mark upon you. Something else inflicted it on the both of us. What that was, exactly, remains a mystery to me. Perhaps it was the Norns, weaving our strings together ever more tightly. Perhaps we truly were meant to come together, and just needed added incentive.”

“Yeah, without either of our consent.” You pointed out.

“True. But the Norns, should they exist, do not ask, they simply act. Think of them as vast consciousnesses, far beyond ours, incomprehensible and impartial. Still, if they brought you and I together, I cannot hate them for whatever else they might have done.”

You blinked in surprise, and he released your wrist, looking away.

“Loki...That's very sweet.”

“I see no reason to pretend to austerity here. It should be clear by now that I...care.” He said, slightly flustered, as if he'd revealed something he hadn't meant to.

But of course he cared. You knew that. He defended you, and protected you, and tried to take care of you and make sure you were happy. He was your friend, whatever else he might be.

“I know, Loki. I do too.”

His embrace was tight this time, heart fluttering fast. Yours worked to match it.

[musikat18]

Courters and Kisses: Valentine’s Request! (Skurge x Reader)

Pairing: Skurge x Reader

For: @bsotstory

Summary: As a scribe of Asgard, you don’t have much to do beyond record decrees, and that’s how you kind of prefer it. Around the Thor-instituted “Valentine’s Day,” though, you become an artisan of handmade cards and letters for lovers...and a warrior of Asgard has come to you for help.

Warnings: Tooth-rotting fluff

A/N: Happy Valentine’s Day! I do kind of owe you guys something sweet, so here you go! Enjoy, especially to Ash, who requested this lovely fic~

Truthfully, you’d never given much thought to Prince Thor’s attempts to bring Midgardian traditions to Asgard. You were a scribe and a writer; Midgardian traditions were an interest, but nothing much to fuss over, although you could at least tell that Prince Thor’s Midgardian woman had snapped him out of the recent funk he’d been in over Loki’s grand betrayal of the kingdom.

At the very least, this festival in particular gave you a little more business than usual. Valentine’s Day, the young prince had called it when he explained it to you. Midgardians exchanged gifts and letters with those they held dear, be it a lover or a friend or a family member or simply a random act of kindness.

Most every Asgardian could read and write, but you were known for your scribe services and neat calligraphy. Often, you would record mandates from King Odin or pass on messages for the masses, but for festivals such as this new one, you had become a source of specialized letters and cards, decorated for the occasion.

You didn’t regret the extra work, of course, although sometimes your heart ached seeing all the happy couples while you always went home alone.

(You shuddered at the idea of attending feasts and large parties. The quill was your strong suit-- not social gatherings.)

There was a sturdy knock at your door, and when you opened it, you were almost surprised to see one of the lesser-known warriors of Asgard standing behind it: Skurge.

Like you, he seemed to keep to himself, if only to flirt with the occasional maiden. Ruggedly handsome and broad-shouldered with soft hazel eyes making a lovely contrast to his harsh frame, you understood where the attraction came from, but you didn’t know him well enough to decide for yourself what your opinion of him was.

“Skurge,” you bowed your head for a moment and allowed him in. “How may I assist you?”

“Are you still taking orders for those valentine things?”

You nodded, “I’m nearly booked up, considering the celebration is next week, though I am still taking orders.”

“Alright...I need a letter for...someone,” he said. You settled back at your desk, tilting your head at his strangely tense demeanor.

“Like, a Valentine’s letter? For who?”

“...I’d rather not say, yet,” he shifted his weight to the other side. “I just want to know if you’ll do it.”

“Of course I will,” you said. “I just want to know what you want it to say and what kind of embellishments you want on it.” He pursed his lips and avoided your gaze.

“Well…” he measured his words, “I don’t...know a lot about her.” You furrowed your brow, which seemed to coax an explanation out of him, “She’s not very talkative...keeps to herself a lot. I haven’t quite figured how to win her over, so I was hoping you’d be able to help me write it.”

This was a new request. Usually, people came in with long, gushing odes that needed severe retooling for any reasonable price to be applied, but you’d never been requested to help author one before.

“You do realize I’ve never been courted by anyone,” you said bluntly. “I’m probably the last person who knows how to actually author an entire love letter.”

“I just...think you’ll have the best intuition about her. You two seem awfully similar,” he reasoned, “and I’ll pay handsomely.”

“You really don’t have to pay that much for it,” you offered. “I wouldn’t want to charge you any more than I would for any other work.”

Skurge dropped a heavy bag of gold on your desk, and he turned pleading puppy eyes on you.

“I’d do anything for this person,” he said seriously. “I want to make sure it’ll be perfect.”

Temptation crashed over you like a wave (whether it was from his piercing gaze or the promise of a good profit, you weren’t sure), but you took only the proper proportion of currency from the bag and pushed the rest back at the tall man.

“Gather as much information as you can about your love and come to me tomorrow,” you promised. “I will come prepared to draft something then.”

He gave you a grateful smile that fluttered your insides in an unfamiliar way, bowed his head, and left with the remainder of his money.

-

“You have nothing?” you raised your eyebrows at him when he returned the next day. “Not one scrap of personality or interest?”

“I don’t talk to her on a daily basis,” he grumbled. “It would be hard to broach the matter without giving my intentions away, and I’ve only spoken with her once before today.”

You were more than a little frustrated at the lack of information to go on, but you kept your cool and moved on to the next best question.

“Alright...what about...uhm...what do you know about her, exactly? Anything beyond appearance and being on the reserved side?”

He pulled up a chair and sat in it, crossing his arms over the frame of the back so that he could lean towards you while speaking, “She’s never been courted before...I learned that rather recently.”

“Well, I can at least relate to that,” you said with a dry laugh. “Let’s start there. She likely might not be receptive, if she hasn’t had this kind of experience before. You might have to convince her that your intentions are true.”

He shifted nervously at your comment, so you chewed your lip as you tried to put a positive spin on it.

“I think it should describe what’s drawn you to her...how serious is this letter going to be?”

“...I want her to know just how beautiful and special I think she is,” he gave you those sweetly sincere eyes again. “I just think she might feel overlooked, so I want her to know she hasn’t been...that someone does actually want to get to know her.”

You smiled warmly at him, “Then that’s what we’re going to do. Let me get my drafting paper and we can get started.”

He gave you a confident smile that you had only seen him give maidens of the court before as you pulled out a scroll to begin drafting ideas.

You had to hand it to Skurge; he seemed to be a very attentive admirer, even if it was in secret. You’d never pegged him as the type to notice the shine in a lady’s hair or the kindness in her eyes when she performed a selfless errand or the simple pleasure she seemed to take while sitting alone in a small garden. If she didn’t seem so agreeable, you might have been jealous of the reverence he appeared to hold for her.

When you finished a draft based on his words, you passed him the scroll to look over. A soft smile spread across his face as he scanned the parchment; it was a pleasant expression of his that was much nicer than you might not have expected of him before.

“It’s perfect,” he said.

“I just wrote as if it was for myself,” you shrugged. “There was certainly a lot about this secret woman of yours that I could relate to easily enough to write something.”

“Ah, yes,” he shifted his weight backwards, dipping his head slightly. “I’m...glad that is came to you with such ease. Do you think it will be done by Valentine’s?”

“Certainly,” you nodded. “Return to me the morn of the festival and I’ll make sure you have it in time to deliver it to her. She’s very lucky, you know, to have such a thoughtful suitor.”

You thought you saw a blush on the warrior’s cheeks, “I hope she feels the same when I reveal myself to her.”

Skurge turned and left without much more to say, and you began work on your many projects for the celebration at hand.

Even though it wasn’t you he was seeking to impress, you’d be happy for him nonetheless.

-

You had barely had time to start sorting out the areas of the city to deliver letters and cards to on the morning of the Valentine festivities when there was a knock at your shop’s door; you weren’t as surprised, this time, to find Skurge there, holding a large bouquet of flowers, likely one of the breeds Prince Thor had discovered on Midgard.

“Is it ready?” he asked, stepping inside when you allowed him in. You nodded and sifted through your pile.

“You never gave me a recipient, so I planned on delivering it to you in the barracks if you didn’t come by now.”

It didn’t take you long to find the embellished letter you had written as per Skurge’s request. You had copied it onto a sturdier parchment with a magically gilded black ink, the letters neatly curving along the page in your neat penmanship. You had even sketched a delicate rose along the top of the letter, the rich red paint standing out beautifully on the tastefully yellowed parchment. You passed the letter to Skurge, and he looked positively pleased with how it had turned out.

“It’s perfect,” he said. “I’m sure she’ll love it.”

To your surprise, instead of turning to leave and make his delivery, Skurge held out the flowers and the letter to you with a shy smile.

You, being the creature of social grace that you were, blinked stupidly, “...Pardon?”

His face fell slightly as he took in your confusion, “I...this was meant for you. I...I thought you might have figured it out.”

You continued spilling rather dumb and obvious statements from your mouth, “I...no, I didn’t. I- I just assumed...they’re never for me. I don’t...I’m not...it can’t be for me.”

“No, no, it is,” he insisted, placing his flowers and letter on your desk and looking rather sheepish. “I just...I’m not...words are...not my strong suit. I had absolutely no idea what to say to you...so...I figured...who better to write a letter for you than...you?”

For once, you had absolutely no words.

“We’ve barely ever spoken face-to-face,” you whispered. “I mean, sure, you’ve always been an impressive warrior...I...I’m just not the type to...I’ve never done this before.”

“You...intrigue me,” he admitted quietly, placing a gentle hand on your cheek to bring your eyes to his. “If you don’t see me as a good fit for you, I completely understand...I just had to tell you...all I needed was the words…. I’m sorry if I’ve offended you.”

Little did he know, you were feeling quite the contrary. Your heart was beating loudly against your chest-- you hoped to Bor that he couldn’t hear it-- and you were mesmerized by the delicate blend of green and brown that made his eyes.

“I, um,” you felt just as shy as he seemed to be, “I...wouldn’t be opposed to...perhaps trying. Pursuing a courtship, I mean. I don’t really know where to start, though.”

Skurge’s characteristic roguish confidence seemed to return as he smiled, “I could kiss you, if that’s what you wish.”

“I’ve never been courted. What makes you think I know how to kiss?”

“Then you need a teacher,” he suggested, and when you gave him a tiny nod of approval, he dipped his head down to meet yours, applying a gentle pressure to your lips. The sensation of butterflies overtook your stomach as a wave of bliss wracked your body, and you tentatively placed your hands on his muscled, armored shoulders. He slipped an arm around your waist, bringing you closer, and he tilted his head to deepen the kiss, facial hair scraping softly along your chin. The kiss only lasted a few sweet moments before he pulled away with a lovelorn smile, gazing into your eyes as you suddenly missed the subtle lines of his lips on yours.

“...We can do that again later, right?” you gushed shyly. “After I make my rounds? I’m sorry, I feel like that was horrible.”

“It was perfect,” he assured you, “and if that is what you want, there’s no reason for there to not be more later.”

He kissed your cheek once more and promised to return later, leaving you giddy and alight, running your fingers over your lips before going back to sorting your deliveries for the day.

A first kiss and a surprise admirer? You were beginning to rather like this Midgardian holiday.

Tagging: @lauuerodz @taylorjacksonandtheolympians @bsotstory @annathewitch

[sakyofcker69]

okay soooo i don’t usually make posts but i feel like i need to say things because there’s some stuff that’s bugging me- this is gonna be long as hell though... sorry ;-; 

spoilers ahead: i wouldn’t recommend reading if you haven’t seen infinity war yet 

one of the complaints im seeing about infinity war is that there was a lack of character development in it... and all i can think every time i see such a post is, wtf??? infinity war is the 19th movie in a series of movies. nearly every character in that movie has been introduced and developed previously. a lot of them already have multiple solo films where their characters were developed. and even the characters who haven’t been given solo films have previously been in other films where they have been given character arcs- maybe not big ones like some of the more popular avengers, but there has been at least a little development for everyone at some point. 

as angry as i am at thanos for doing what he did, this was no doubt his movie. he drew the most attention and had the most development and backstory, and rightfully so. because while we have seen him appear in post-credit scenes and briefly in guardians, he has had no real character development up until now. he was suppose to be the main focus and have all the attention as far as im concerned. and he certainly did! he was badass, and cool, and threatening, and easily one of the best characters in the movie even though he did some bad things ;-; 

the other characters have had their time in the spotlight, so it was thanos’ time to shine. you can’t go into a movie that has been built up from 10 years worth of films and expect every character to get a proper introduction and even more development. especially because of the amount of characters in this movie!! what was it, like 24 or something like that? and i think each nearly every one of them had a at least one good, shining moment in this film.

could things have been done differently? sure, but that can be said for just about every single movie ever. could some characters have been treated differently? sure, but i wouldn’t say any of them were particularly mistreated. but let me address some of the concerned people do have with mistreatment of characters just because, why not?

SPOILERS AHEAD - TURN BACK NOW IF YOU HAVEN’T SEEN INFINITY WAR 

so to start off, loki. i’ve seen a couple of posts that say everything he did, and the way he was killed right in the beginning of the movie was a huge mistreatment of his character. however, while i see where those opinions are coming from, i disagree. as much as i love loki and didn’t want to see him die, i think the way he behaved in that scene was very much in line with his character. but it also provided a bit of development for him. first of all, he gave up the tesseract to spare thor’s life, which is something he likely wouldn’t have done in the first thor movie or the original avengers. not only that, but he openly addressed the fact that he is a prince of asgard, the king of jotunheim, and a son of odin. that last one especially stuck out to me because i can’t imagine that he would previously call himself odinson in a serious manner. but he did, and that right there was one of the reasons his character arc was pretty much complete by the time he died. his final act of trying to trick thanos and kill him was something perfectly in line with his character as well. loki is the god of mischief, tricks, and lies - even with all the character development in the world, that’s who he is and who he always will be. so of course his final sentiment would be to trick thanos and kill him, it just makes sense to me. like yes, we all knew that after he stepped out of the shadows he was going to do something we regard as stupid and get himself killed, but would he be loki if he didn’t? loki, while a brilliant character, and one of the most well developed and complex in the mcu, makes stupid mistakes too and this was one of them. it sucks that this one would ultimately lead to his death, but i think it was the perfect beginning to this movie and a perfect way to show just how much of a threat thanos is. yes, loki was a brilliant character who deserved much more, but just like in real life, not everyone gets what they deserve. not everyone can have an incredible death scene with flowers and sad music and whatnot. loki went down swinging, and let’s face it, we all knew he was going to die when we walked into the theater to see this movie.  you can claim he was just “used” to show thanos’ power, but i don’t really think that’s a very valid argument. because yes, his death probably was inserted to give the audience an idea of thanos’ power, but why does that have to be a bad thing? loki went down to one of the most powerful beings in the universe. it’s not like some fucking pansy killed him or anything. he was killed by thanos - and not only that, but loki did try and kill thanos before thanos got him. so it’s not like loki gave up or anything either. we all already know loki can fight, and just how powerful loki is because he was in 4 movies before this. losing to thanos does not make him any less powerful, or diminish his character image at all, to me. once again, this was thanos’ movie, not loki’s. and thanos is the guy who beat up the hulk in like less than two minute- how could anyone possibly expect loki to win that battle? and as much as it sucks that it was the end of loki’s character, it makes sense that he died in the way he did.  okay enough about loki, let’s move onto heimdall. okay so recently i saw a post that said both the asgardians and heimdall should’ve just been left out of the movie all together. and the whole time i was reading it, i was just thinking... wtf?? my argument for heimdall is very similar to my argument for loki. although a powerful, badass character, he was killed by thanos, once again, one of the most powerful beings in the universe. plus, heimdall was clearly injured in that scene because thanos had just blown up their ship. but despite his injury, the destruction all around him, and facing thanos and the black order, heimdall still conjured up some magic sent hulk to earth so he could warn everyone of the coming danger. he risked his life to do that, and evidently got it taken away from him too. he could’ve just sat in silence, but he didn’t. and i think him doing that was perfectly in line with his character. now, obviously his death scene was quick and could possibly be seen as a “throw away” or something like that, so i will once again say, not everyone in life can have a meaningful death scene, even if they deserve it. i know, it’s not fair, and i don’t think it was done because the russos were trying to disrespect heimdall’s character or anything. it was done because thanos, like it or not, is more powerful than heimdall, and what kind of villain would thanos be if he just sat there and let heimdall get away with what he did??  now in this same post, the person who wrote it said that wakanda and everyone in it should’ve been left out of this movie as well. and no, they didn’t mean it in a racist way or anything (as far as i know). i think it was more of a “they didn’t deserve to get hurt” kind of way. of course, they didn’t deserve to get hurt, but to say they shouldn’t have been included in the movie just seems like bullshit to me. first of all, having the battle in this field in wakanda contained the damage of the battle. by drawing thanos and his army there, they undoubtedly saved so many lives and prevented a shit ton of property damage. (yes i know thanos snapped at the end and murdered half the universe, but i’m not talking about that. im talking about the collateral damage the battle would’ve caused had they been in someplace like new york again.) and also i see so many people complain about how many damn battles are in new york so y’all should be grateful that it was actually somewhere else this time. 

the person who made this post also said that steve and his gang should not have gone to wakanda at all. and that steve should’ve just let vision die rather than going to shuri about it. the person also asked the question “how does steve even know vision” and honestly im not sure i have ever rolled my eyes harder. i guess this particular person just completely forgot that steve lived and trained with vision for two years after age of ultron and before civil war?? and to say steve should’ve let vision die is just an absolute disservice to steve’s character. steve may have dropped the mantle of captain america, but that doesn’t mean he should just start sacrificing the lives of his teammates or friends. yes, the whole reason vision was going to sacrifice himself was so half the universe could live, but would the avengers really be heroes if they didn’t at least try and find a solution where everyone got to live? (not only that, but no matter when they destroyed the stone, thanos was going to just turn back time anyways) 

and let’s say for a second that steve and his gang didn’t go to wakanda, i think it’s also absolute bullshit to assume that t’challa wouldn’t have gone to them as soon as he found out the world was in danger. one of the main points in the black panther movie was that wakanda was going to try and help people in the world, rather than just keep themselves hidden and safe. so of course, t’challa would try and help in some way. and it’s an absolute disservice to his character to say he wouldn’t. so no matter what, even if they didn’t go to wakanda, the people of it would’ve been involved in some way or another.  

another thing i saw about wakanda (in this same stupid post) is that the film undervalued the strength of the wakandan army.. i think that’s a crap statement too. the wakandan army came out to fight. they didn’t have to, they could’ve disobeyed if they wanted and ran away from this battle. because honestly, an alien army was attacking so were they really going to get in trouble for committing treason at that moment? no probably not. but they didn’t run away. they came out and stood by their king’s side to defend their nation and the world, despite not knowing what the hell they were even fighting. and even though they are strong and badass, they are just regular people too, with fears and normal strengths and weaknesses. but they dived headfirst into a battle with aliens who were clearly bigger and stronger, and did a good job of it if i remember correctly. really though, they’re an army, their purpose is to protect their nation and their king. not each member of it is going to get character development, nor are they going to win every battle they fight. 

in conclusion, i think infinity war easily accomplished what it set out to do- and that was, have a giant avengers movie with thanos utterly destroying everyone. no, not everyone got character development, nor where the death scenes what the fans thought some characters deserved. but as a whole, infinity war was a great movie. 10/10 would see again. it has it’s flaws, but i loved it. feel free to fight me about it or fan to me about it. 

[intoxicatiing]

KNOWN NAME: Ruby, Daughter of None

OCCUPATION: Courtesan, Spy for Massu Luken

RACE: Aesir

PLACE OF BIRTH: Asgard

AGE: ~680

TIME PERIOD: Flexible

NOTE: This is intended to take place in Asgard of the Thor films, but can be adapted to suit most any mythology.

Overview

Ruby was born Iseult, daughter of Perseval, a soldier in Odin’s army. He neither stood out nor caused trouble, but was respected among his peers all the same. Ruby spent some of her childhood in the palace itself, as her brothers were employed as guards and she was given a tour of the halls. Before she was grown, her family was visiting Vanaheim, where raiders killed her entire family. Only Ruby escaped, though she wonders often if her fate is any better.

She was born with her magic, though it was incredibly weak as a child. Only when she began puberty did it begin to surface properly. Massu Luken, a light elf from Alfheimr, took her in and taught her to hone and weaponize her magic, allowing her to become one of the most revered courtesans in the realm. Legend say that she was the most beautiful woman in the world, though no-one has ever seen her face beyond the masks and veils. Half the people believed the tales. The other half guessed that she was an ugly old hag that seduced men into sleeping with her.

Pre - Ragnarok

Massu has recently come to Asgard proper to serve as an emissary between the king and Aelfheimr. Rumors circulated and excitement grew as the famed Veiled Woman came with him. She is an active member in court life, chatting and socializing with each of the warriors within the palace walls, but stands out in that she has no skill with a sword whatsoever. It’s clear to the keen eye that she knows more about the palace than she ought to, but thus far, Ruby has done nothing to raise any true suspicion. What little free time she has is spent in the library or riding horseback through the forest, but she already has a few contacts and affairs among the palace guards, where she gains information for Massu to collect and potentially use to manipulate Odin – an ambitious goal he has yet to realize is far more than he’ll ever be able to handle.

Post - Ragnarok

If Massu had not yet become an emissary in Asgard, he remains in Aelfheimr, and sends Ruby as a courtier and spy instead. She came to Asgard just after the supposed death of Loki, but kept a low profile, seeing if there was any way to dethrone the royal family from the inside. She took no action, and sent false notes back to Massu, but her orders are clear. She is now to manipulate the new king of Asgard, or one of his council, and gain political power in Massu’s stead.

Additional Notes

Jane was left to die when she was born, approximately forty years ago. However, she was found and taken in by a family of commoners in Asgard, and now lives happily among the people. Being half light elf and half aesir, she knows she doesn’t quite belong, but she has yet to find out who her true mother is.

Ruby’s reputation is that she is either the most beautiful woman in the world, and one look in her eyes would leave you hopelessly in love forever. Alternatively, people say she’s actually the ugliest, and one look at her face would make you go blind altogether. Neither are true, of course, but nobody’s seen her face around Asgard since she was still a child, well over 600 years ago.

Characters may know some of Ruby’s family if they lived in Asgard, to provide a pre-established relationship. Let me know ahead of time if you would like to arrange something, and I can give more information then.

[cubedcoffeecake]

Ævi Dœgr

A few translations to help the story make more sense: ævi dœgr – birthday fjórir – four sjau – seven tíu – ten ellifu – eleven 100 years old – human age of 3-5 468 years old – human age of about 14-15 1300 years old – a young adult, probably about 22 1842 years old – still a young adult, though now closer to 25 2600 years old – a more mature adult, early 30s

He awoke to the sight of golden sun streaming in his window as it rose above the tall stone gates outside.  At first, Loki pulled his covers over his head, mentally whining, "I don't want it to be morning yet!" But then he remembered what day it was. Instantly, Loki’s sheets were tossed to the side, and he was dashing out his bedroom door and down the hall to his brother's bedroom.

"Thor! Thor! Thor! Thoooooor!" Loki yelled, excited. "Get up get up get up!" Thor groaned and rolled over to face away from his brother.

"Come on, Thor! Today is my ævi dœgr!"

When Loki’s words finally registered, the crown prince quickly sat up. "It is! Happy ævi dœgr, brother!" Thor boomed. "How old are you to be..." He gasped. "You are to be 100!" he yelled, even louder than before. Loki nodded enthusiastically.

"Will you come play tricks with me?" Loki asked his brother, who eagerly agreed.  It was the brothers’ tradition to spend the entire day every year on Loki’s ævi dœgr playing tricks. They snuck out of a window together and disappeared into the streets. They were still wearing their nightclothes... But the two princes of Asgard had done stranger.

First, the troublesome duo snuck into their parents’ chambers. “Shall we hide Mother’s slippers once more?” Thor suggested as he peered into the closet.

“No,” Loki whisper-yelled from where he was looking at their mother’s jewelry box. “We did that last year, if I recall correctly. It simply would not do to become repetitive. Repetition breeds predictability. Being predictable would be no joy at all.”

Thor rolled his eyes. “Then what do you advise we do?” he asked Loki.

“Mmm… How much punishment do you believe we shall receive if we ‘misplace’ all of Mother’s golden jewelry?”

“All of Mother’s golden jewelry?” Thor repeated worriedly. “All of Asgard is covered with gold! Mother would be furious if she was made to wear silver without her consent. It… It… It is surely a form of crime, even! To wear silver rather than gold for anything other than a funeral,” Thor said.

Loki huffed and thought for a moment before suggesting instead, “Then why do we not misplace all of her golden jewelry but one set, so she has no choice but to wear that one set?”

Brightening, Thor replied, “That ‘tis a wonderful idea! Let me pick what she wears!”

“No! It’s my ævi dœgr!”

“But it was your idea! You cannot have all of the fun.”

“…Very well. You select the necklace and ear pieces, and I shall select the rings, bangles, and headwear,” Loki acquiesced.

“Alright!” Thor agreed.

Several minutes later, the two princes exited their parents’ room heavily burdened with nearly all of their mother’s jewelry, having left only a large red necklace and ear pieces with stones of a different shade of red, one thin bangle studded with emeralds and diamonds and two rings and a thin ringlet in the place of the queen’s usual crown that were also adorned with the same gemstones.

“Where shall we put these?” Thor asked his little brother.

“I thought that we could put them in Sif’s jewelry cabinet. She does not even wear jewelry, and surely will not notice.”

Thor nodded in agreement. “Brilliant! We can return them this eve, and no one will catch us.”

They stealthily deposited the jewelry in their friend’s jewelry box, and quickly escaped out yet another window. Rather than reentering the palace, this time the brothers left the royal court altogether and entered the marketplace.

“Loki, look! Sweet rolls!” Thor exclaimed, pointing to a shop that had an assortment of pastries displayed in its window.

A mischievous smile slowly grew on young Loki’s face as he leaned over to Thor and whispered, “I have a grand idea.”

Ten hours later, all of the strawberry sweet rolls had mysteriously disappeared from the entire kingdom.

“Why did we only take the strawberry ones?” Thor asked Loki in between bites of sweet roll.

“Because,” Loki replied, not bothering to wait until he’d swallowed the bite he was chewing, “it would have been too much effort to take all of the sweet rolls in Asgard. Strawberry ones are the best, anyway.”

He knew morning had come, even though his drapes were shut and he could not see the light outside, because he awoke every morning at precisely sjau, unlike his brother, who often slept soundly past ellifu. Loki had long since stopped bothering to wake Thor at a proper time.

Loki began to sit up, but paused, furrowing his eyebrows. He was certain he was forgetting something… His eyes lit up. Of course! It was his ævi dœgr! He was to be 468 today. Eagerly, he sprang from his bed and raced through the halls of the palace toward his brother's room.

Thor and Loki’s rooms used to be quite close together. Loki had been waking in tears from nightmares and going to sleep with Thor since an early age, and having the rooms placed close together was most convenient. Recently, however, Loki had been deemed "too old" to be seeking his brother's comfort from bad dreams, and their rooms had been moved to opposite sides of the enormous castle. As he ran, Loki cast a quick spell to change himself out of his nightclothes and into leather pants and a green tunic.

After a while of running, Loki spotted Thor's gold-encrusted door and burst through it. He pounced on top of Thor and jumped. It was very immature behavior for a prince his age, but he didn't care.

Thor was quickly roused by a stream of, "It's my ævi dœgr! It's my ævi dœgr, brother!" He smiled and began to greet his brother when Loki magicked him, too, into his clothes, and nearly dragged Thor out of bed. “Come on! I have the perfect prank, brother!”

“What is it?” Thor asked, still sounding half-asleep.

“We shall catch a water serpent and move it to the women’s bathhouse!”

That woke Thor up the rest of the way.

“Did you say—women’s bathhouse?”

"Loki?" Thor whispered, hoping that his brother was somehow sleeping through this. When he received no response, Thor cautiously backed up, and turned to his friends. Hogun, Fandral, Volstagg and Sif were with him in Loki’s chambers, helping Thor surprise his brother. Sif would rather toss Loki off the Asbru Bridge for what he had done to her hair, and the Warriors Three weren't terribly fond of the younger prince either, but all four were willing to aid Thor in anything—be it a perilous battle against the Frost Giants or pranking Loki.

The five quietly snuck out of the room and back to Thor's, and settled down to wait the half hour until sjau, when Loki would wake up and find the "gift" they had left him.

Sure enough, one half hour later, a very heavy thud was heard, followed by Loki's curses, clearly heard across the entire castle. The five conspirators grinned.

For Loki's 1300th ævi dœgr, Thor had ordered a set of the finest armor in all the Nine Realms to be made for his brother. It was in Loki's colors of green, black, and gold and would be a truly magnificent gift—once Loki managed to get it off of himself. Thor, Sif, Hogun, Fandral, and Volstagg had positioned the armor so that it would fall right on top of Loki the moment he moved.

Thor had the feeling he would be receiving as many of Loki's pranks as he helped to set up this day, no matter how much Loki liked the new armor, and he was correct.

The five warriors had parted to gain a few more hours of sleep now that their task was complete—none of them were accustomed to waking before tíu.

Three and a half hours later, Thor began to wake. He groggily sat up and immediately sensed that something was wrong. He shot out of bed and picked up his nearby sword, preparing to fight off an enemy—but realized as he looked in the mirror that the fiend had already escaped. Loki.

His hair—his luscious, thick golden hair that was the envy of half of the maidens of Asgard—had been braided. Braided. Like a young girl’s. And what was worse; as he attempted to undo the hairstyle, he found that the task was impossible. Loki must have used his magic so that Thor could not undo it.

“LOKI!”

“Yes, brother?”

Spinning around, Thor prepared to strike at his brother with the sword still in his hand… but stopped mid swing when he saw that Loki was wearing his new armor and looked genuinely happy.

“This is truly exquisite. I greatly appreciate your gift,” Loki said brightly, following Thor’s gaze down to his armor. “Now, are you quite ready to go? We do not have all day.”

Laughing, because they actually did have all day, Thor put down the sword. “I am aware that it is usually you who thinks of our pranks, but this year, you have given me an idea,” Thor said.

After blinking at his brother for several moments as if judging whether Thor was insane or not, Loki slowly nodded.

“I do not believe it fair that I should be the only unlucky Asgardian with a poor hair day,” Thor began, causing Loki’s face to slowly break out into a grin as the plan was explained to him.

“Happy ævi dœgr, brother!”

Loki shot up out of his bed, quickly casting a spell to summon a short sword to his hand as he turned to slay the Frost Giant who had infiltrated his room—and found that instead of a Frost Giant, Thor was sitting on the edge of his bed. He was more bouncing than sitting, actually, and it was quite unnerving.

“Thor? What are you doing?” Loki asked incredulously.

“It is your ævi dœgr, and I have thought of a most incredible way to celebrate!”

“You had best be cautious thinking. ‘Tis dangerous, you know.”

Thor rolled his eyes. “Oh, come now! I have it all arranged! We—only the two of us—are going to Midgard!” Loki looked at Thor as if the crown prince had entirely lost his mind.

“Midgard?”

“Yes! Father will not punish us for playing tricks on the mortals like he would if we caused trouble on any of the other Realms,” Thor explained animatedly.

“That’s… That’s actually quite clever.”

Scoffing, Thor teased, “You doubt me?” Loki couldn’t help but grin.

“Always.”

Less than an hour later, the two princes were riding their steeds across the Rainbow Bridge toward the Observatory.

“Greetings, Heimdall!” Thor called out once they were close enough for the Gatekeeper to hear him.

“Greetings, Your Highness. To Midgard, I presume?”

“Aye!” Thor replied cheerfully. “With haste! ‘Twould be a waste to not take full advantage of our day.”

Loki was almost shocked when Heimdall actually opened the bridge and let them through, still half believing that this entire adventure would turn out to either be a hoax or a dream. Perhaps… He had fully expected that by his 1800th ævi dœgr, Thor would have ceased to go adventuring with him simply to celebrate his day of life. Even Thor’s ævi dœgr was no longer recognized. But, perhaps he had been wrong.

His doubts proved useless, and Loki had great fun tormenting the mortals with Thor. He managed to convince a King named Gylfi not only that the mortal was in Asgard—and of all Asgard, Valhalla—but that Gylfi, Loki, and two of Loki’s illusions were three different factions of Odin. Then Loki spent hours spinning absurd tales about the gods, and managing to make the mortal believe them all.

By the time the King had finally left, Loki was in a very pleasant mood, and did not object at all to Thor’s insistence that they hunt for hydras—creatures everyone knew could not be found on Midgard.

Many, many hours later, the two stumbled back across the Bifrost. By the next day, Loki knew he would be a shadow once more; but how he loved having all of the attention on himself, for once.

He smiled to himself as he and Thor watched the various Ambassadors’ reactions to the All-Father's helmet turning into a small dragon. The delegates of the Realms should learn not to hold inter-Realm meetings on his ævi dœgr.

"Come, brother! Let us hurry, so we are not caught!" Thor whispered. Loki rolled his eyes at Thor’s worrying. His illusions were well spun. They would hold.

For his brother’s sake, however, Loki reluctantly turned away from the chaos and slunk down the hallways, Thor following behind him, though not half as stealthily. His frame did not lend itself to hiding in the shadows as his younger brother’s did.

Loki continued this tradition of theirs solely because it was the only day of the entire year when Thor paid attention to him, and not Thor's friends.

Even he found it odd and a bit uncomfortable to still celebrate his ævi dœgrs after 1842 winters, but he welcomed the attention, and went along with Thor’s half-thought-out ideas of pranks and trouble making.

He waited by the statue of Bor until well past the middle meal before deciding that Thor was not coming.

Loki spent his 2300th ævi dœgr alone in his rooms with a text on rune translations, attempting to ignore the stinging in his eyes.

It was early in the morning. Very early. Fjórir, at the latest. Not that he could see the stars to be able to tell. There were not even any moons or planets in sight. None that he was familiar enough with to tell time, at least. No, he knew this information because of the “internal clock” he had thanks to his magick. He had an “internal calendar,” too. That was how he knew what today was. His ævi dœgr.

Today he was to have seen 2600 winters. A fairly significant ævi dœgr.

It had been 2500 years since that day he and Thor stole all the strawberry sweet rolls in Asgard—and ate nearly all of them. 800 since he dropped by Midgard with Thor and they had somehow left their marks on the Midgardian's history books as “gods.”

And now Loki was laying, beaten, bruised, and broken, on a moon so dark, even Heimdall could not see him, at the mercy of a mad Titan. A Jotun monster, not Thor's brother, a failed king, and, in Loki's eyes, disowned by Odin, whom he had spent nearly his entire life trying to please.

He lay there, his wishes not that he would either die or be left be by his torturers, as they usually were, but that he could spend the day by Thor's side as his equal, like he had on his every ævi dœgr for so much of his life.

Later Loki would curse the sentiment he felt in this moment, the level that he lowered himself to. But then he would have Thanos's influence in his mind, so there would be no way of knowing whether or not that thought was actually his.

He lay in the dungeons, long forgotten, eternally alone. His punishment for attacking Midgard had been fair, and the elongated solitude had purified his mind of Thanos's hold, leaving him in self-loathing, despising what he had done, thinking it his fault for being as weak as to allow Thanos into his mind.

At first, he believed it to be his imagination when he heard a heavy metal door open. Believed he was finally going mad. But slowly, ever so slowly, a figure made its way to the door of his cell—his cage—and then opened it. It stepped inside, and left the door open.

Loki wondered if his sentence had been done. He had expected to be left forever, and had not listened closely to his sentence. It was doubtful that he even would have recalled correctly, having been under Thanos's hold at that time, but he had not listened, either way. And because of the spell that had been placed on his prison to make the time that passed inside it a hundred times longer than that that passed outside it, Loki would have had no idea what the date was, even if his magic had not been bound.

He was nearly positive he was dreaming when he heard the voice, but then he felt two strong arms embrace him, and the warm tears fall on his shoulder, and he realized that this was real.

"Happy ævi dœgr, brother."