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cardansriddle · 4 years

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Loki - Emerald Green

Summary: The reader is reading a book about Norse Mythology when she accidentally summons Loki. He is very intrigued by her and demands payment for disturbing him.

Warnings: Making out. Implied sex, but nothing more.

I flipped through the worn-out book my grandfather had given me two days ago for my birthday, my eyes skimming through the words as I greedily absorbed the new information. I skipped through a few pages before I halted my motions as I stumbled upon an illustration of another God, but it wasn’t the picture that intrigued me, it was his title:

Loki, the God of Lies and Mischief.

As a mischievous person who definitely lied a lot, I was intrigued. I started reading about him and for some reason, he stood out from the other Gods. His sole purpose wasn’t to do good or some other heroic bullshit that the others entitled themselves with, no, he was the complete opposite. Deciding that this was my favourite and the least boring God that I read about, I scanned the page and furrowed my eyebrows when I saw a rune at the bottom of the page. It most definitely was not printed on the page and looked like someone drew it there.

I don’t exactly know why I did it, but the urge overcame the sensible part of my brain as I took a pen and drew the exact same rune on a paper. I doodled it a few more times, as I kept reading about him.

Suddenly, there was a hand covering my mouth, muffling my startled scream as I jumped. I turned around only to be met with the sight of a devilishly handsome man (the most attractive man I’ve ever laid my eyes upon if I was being totally honest) who was draped in emerald green robes.

How the hell did he get in here?

“I will remove my hand, do not scream or you will regret it.” He threatened and I nodded numbly. He looked unconvinced but removed his hand nonetheless, and really, I should have screamed, but I did not.

“Who are you?” I asked almost breathless, from what, I did not know.

“Pardon?” He asked surprised.

“Who are you? How did you get in here?” I questioned him once again and quickly scanned my room for a sharp object. Upon finding one, my eyes focused back on the stranger in front of me, my brain scheming for ideas on how to get it.

“Considering you summoned and called me to come here like a madman, I would assume you knew who I was.” His brows furrowed in genuine confusion and only then the realization hit me. But...it just couldn’t be true? I was surely hallucinating?

“You mean to tell me I managed to summon Loki?” I asked bewildered. “You think just because you can sneak into my bedroom in a costume I would believe that you are a God? Oh please. Now get out!” I whisper-yelled, careful not to disturb my parents. If they knew I had a stranger in my bedroom- better yet, a boy, they would probably disown me.

I decided it was now or never as I quickly fled to the other side of the room, towards the shelf which had a souvenir on it that looked sharp enough to cut. I turned around and quickly grabbed him, the object pressing against his throat as his back collided with my chest. “Who the fuck are you? What do you want?” The only reply I got was an amused chuckle. I did not know it, but Loki was intrigued.

In a blink of an eye, the man who claimed to be Loki disappeared, yes, literally disappeared with a green flash, and then...I felt a knife held to my throat.

“I am a God sweetheart. It takes a lot more than a cut on my throat to hurt me.” He said before releasing me and walking around my room, observing everything with careful eyes.

Loki’s stormy eyes flickered towards the bed where my doodle of the runes lay and he smirked. He didn’t say anything for a moment, before approaching me like a predator hunting its prey.

“From what you have read, who has captivated your attention the most?” He leaned down. “Who is, dare I say, your favourite god?” He breathed in my ear and I tried my best not to shudder at the close proximity. I had trouble grasping the idea of a fucking god standing right in front of me, so close, that if I stood on my tippy toes and leaned for a bit, our lips would be brushing against each other.

“Take your guess.” I smiled at him in response and he raised an elegant eyebrow. I trailed my index finger along the traces of gold on his green attire and batted my eyelashes innocently.

“Thor?” He scoffed and I rolled my eyes at the guess.

“Oh please. Everyone adores him but he’s just an arrogant boy who got a throne handed to him even though he did not deserve it.

He inhaled deeply before pulling back. “Interesting.” He muttered and moved so he was standing behind me. I could feel his hot breath on my neck and it took all my willpower not to turn around and crash my lips against his.

“You have brought me here, so you shall pay for the price of my company.” His hands settled on my hips as he pushed his front against my back.

“You think so highly of yourself,” I replied and leaned back against his chest involuntarily.

“I am a god, darling.” His deep chuckle sounded in my ear and that was all it took before I whipped around, grabbed his shirt and pulled him down so our lips would meet. He did not hesitate before kissing me back, equally as hungry and eager. One of his hands trailed up my body before circling around my throat and squeezing it, making me moan. I felt him smirk against my lips and I pulled back, breathing heavily. “I shall visit you every day from now on, my little mortal. Expect me. I will ravish you” His voice came deep and husky making me clench my thighs. His words affected me more than I liked to admit. “I like emerald green.” He whispered and when I opened my eyes, the little shit was gone.

I released a breath I did not know I was holding in just as I pinched myself on the arm to make sure this was not a dream. Sighing heavily, I plopped down on my bed and stared at the page of the book with an illustration of Loki on it, before smiling dazedly.

Time to go shopping for an emerald green lingerie.

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lifeofroos · 3 years

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Masterlist of retellings/fanworks:

This list is seperated by category, with a short summary of each story beneath the title. The older the story, the higher it is listed in the category. So for the newest, probably best stories, look at the very end!

Greek Mythology:

Much too lovely a night for commitment:

Apollo got himself drunk (Or, as he calls it, ‘a little tipsy’). Dionysus decides its time for him to take a break and they end up talking.

I am not necesserialy asking for your blessing (But I'd love to get it):

Artemis' afternoon rest is disrupted by Ariadne, who has something to say. Artemis doesn't necessarily disagree, but...

The Night:

Ariadne wandered far into the forest at night. It makes Dionysus nervous, but she can't help but feel calm and in love.

Vultures:

Vultures, Athena called them. Enyo and Ares take a break from battle in the encampment. They have to kindly disagree with their sister.

Ghost Story:

Ariadne is awoken one night by a ghost girl named Cora. They keep meeting again and again, through different stages in their lives.

The girl who likes dogs:

Hades needs someone to walk his dog a few days per week. He asks Persephone to do it, as she walks more people's dogs. Yet, that might not be the only reason he asked her...

Back:

Dionysus thought it would be impossible to get his beloved Ariadne back. When she is there again, in front of him, he thinks it can't be real. There is no way he can just hold her now, and love her again...

The Queenly Ghost:

Ariadne raises the spirit of Pasiphae, her mother. Although she isn't sure exactly what to say, she knows she has to say something.

I Hope For The Future:

Hades comes to the surface for a moment to have a chat with Demeter. They are still new to their domains and it is unsure who their allies will be. They hope it'll be each other.

The Story Of Tonight:

They should have held back Artemis, Apollo and Hermes before they climbed onto the buffet table. Now that they are already drunkenly singing, it is a little too late, don't you think?

I’ve Got A Proposal:

Usually, Dionysus tends to be quite smooth. Not when asking the woman he finds the best if she wants to marry him, though.

Test Of Courage:

Dionysus and Hephaestus are nearing Olympus, meaning the end of their quest is in sight. Hephaestus wonders whether he'll dare to complete the mission when the time is there. Dionysus tries to show him he probably will.

I Told Him To Try A Little Harder:

Zeus wants Hera as his queen. Hera wants Zeus to prove he really thinks she is worth his efforts, with something big. Something unexpected.

Hide (Just a little longer):

Hera will be the queen of the universe, with her husband Zeus as the king. There is no denying it. Yet, she would like to keep it under the covers for a little longer - until she knows she finds the courage to tell her mother.

Give Me Anything But The Giraffes:

During his meanderings, Dionysus came to Africa, too. Without his army, he trecks further south into the country. A guide helps him over the savanah, where they meet some creatures Dionysus hopes he'll never encounter again.

The Walk:

Aglaia loves Hephaestus and the other way around. Yet, so shortly after Aphrodite left, they don't know what to do about it. Maybe it's better that way. It means they can slowly discover their love instead of crashing into it.

Right Hand Men:

In order to create a destructive power the world has never seen before, Ares and Enyo decide to get married. Right now, at this very moment.

Kiss Me Not (Yet):

Ariadne wants to kiss Dionysus, she really does. Yet when she tries, all she can do is recoil. All Dionysus wants is for her to feel comfortable.

Mind and Matter:

Hephaestus never expected Athena to show up to his forge ever again. When she is there anyway, it takes little for the tears to come out.

For I Am Not A Weapon To Be Wielded:

Phaedra can hardly accept the feelings she got for Hippolytus. She starts to wonder why she has them and soon enough, she decides she doesn't want to be a weapon of the gods anymore. A retelling of Phaedra's story. Because I stuck to the source material, I can only advise viewer discression. Contains themes of suicide.

Mom Isn’t That Angry:

After Dionysus hasn't been seen on Olympus for a long time, Athena is send out to find him. She does, in a sleeping bag somewhere in the middle of nowhere, healing from injury. She decides to sit by and hold his hand until he feels better. Sometimes, it's the wisest thing a person can do.

I wish I could keep him:

Due to the danger on Olympus, Zeus gives Dionysus to Persephone, so she can raise him in secret for some time. When spring comes, he needs to come with her. She can't help but hope that she can keep him, just slightly longer, even though she knows the danger makes her hope idle.

Egyptian Mythology:

Two-faced:

Set killed Osiris. When Isis left to search for him, she left her son Horus drifting down the Nile. How big is the chance that Sets' wife Nephthys finds him? She takes him in, but whenever Sets' with her, she can't tell: Does he know, or not? And what does this mean for the baby, or more importantly, for them?

Riordanverse:

Hotel Walhalla’s weird activities to the death:

We all know of sword-fighting, spear-throwing, and yoga to the death. Yet, what other weird, totally peaceful activities have they managed to make dangerous in hotel Valhalla?

Percy Jackson one-shots:

In this book, I write Percy Jackson one-shots. Most of them were previously uploaded on my FanFiction and Wattpad account, but I decided to transfer them here as well! ! I write romance, random headcannons and ideas, cute stuff and funny ideas (No angst, very bloody stuff or anything like that). The One-shots get better in quality further in the book. The first ones are not amazing, but I added them to be complete. Update: I have decided to stop writig one-shots, but all of these stay right where they are!

At Least He Got The Minotaur:

Percy has just arrived in camp. A camper runs to Chiron and Dionysus to tell them. The camp directors are more than a little surprised at the news that a new, young camper could defeat a minotaur. It couldn't be the prophecy, could it?

There are always reasons:

Percy is in camp to meet with some friends. He seizes a chance to ask Dionysus about why the god released him from the Chrysler building, all those years ago. He gets a more profound answer than expected.

This Might Be Crazy:

Nico has some issues and needs help - even he agrees. He is just not really sure if Dionysus of all people will be able to help him. Or: A fic in which Nico gets therapy from Dionysus, learns to live again and regains control of his life, inspired by what was said in Tower of Nero. Updates every three days! This fic was nominated for the Solangelo awards 2021.

Elevators and Boys keep me awake:

Nico is going through a tough time. Luckily, he has his upstairs neighbour Dionysus to help him. Or: A Nico-gets-therapy-from-Dionysus-story, but in a mortal AU.

The Biters:

Short stories about Clarisse, told via those around her, ranging from when she was a little girl to getting claimed to getting a boyfriend and becoming a hero.

A Question:

Nico figures out Will went to Dionysus a couple of times, with questions about how to make his boyfriend feel more comfortable. Nico finds it adorable, really.

Loki (2021):

Maltesers:

Loki notices Mobius carrying a bag with a sweet scent coming off of it. Perhaps he would like to try some of that, too.

See You later, Alligator:

Loki is bored on Asgard. On a wim, he decided to transform a few things in his room into animals. After all, what can come from that except for some harmless fun?

Bohemian Rhapsody, or: Misschief on ice

Finding out that Loki can figure skate is one. Finding out that he has qualified himself for a world championship is in a whole other ballpark. Still, Mobius and Sylvie support him to the best of their abilities. Even when Loki decides to skate by his own rules.

Whoever you are:

Loki is gender fluid. Before they knew Mobius, they casually slipped in and out of different looks, whatever felt right at the moment. When they began dating, it suddenly felt so weird. Mobius tells them he'll love them, no matter who they are.

Rangers’ Apprentice:

High school could go many ways:

For a group of five orphans, the time for high school has come. Will is determined to get onto a sports team. Yet, is that truly what he wants, or has he been putting up an act for himself?

During all of this I have one question:

Crowley has an idea and plays a prank on Gilan and Halt. They handle the situation quite well, I would say.

KoFi - AO3

#masterlist #writing #writer #lifeofroos

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luthien-t · 4 years

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Resurfaced Memories. Chapter Two.

Loki x Female reader

Summary: Fast forward to current times, you work as a florist with Linda in small shop. Loki and Thor are here in midgard for their weekly visit, will you meet again?

warning: angst-ish

A/N: (Taglists are open) + I am not sure if I want to make this a 15 chapter series or a short series of 5 chapters, but we will see! Happy reading!!

3.1K+ Words

Current Time

Carrying the flowers and plants from the truck, you were helping Linda restock this month. It may be a small local shop, but it is always filled with the same usual costumers. Sometimes they just come in to be surrounded by the nature of this shop to read a book or work. You always told Linda how adding a stay in option for the costumers and making tea or fresh beverages will attract more and the crowd that comes in every time in the morning just adds a nice, subtle, relaxing aura to this flower shop.

Walking in from the back with the new cacti and aloe vera, you stand by Linda. “Sweetheart, just set them back there and i’ll get to it.” Linda says as she sat on the stool next to you. For the past 75 years, you and Linda have been through many obstacles, you sometimes assumed that maybe you were injected with the serum like her, I mean, she always joked about it, considering how you never aged, your strength and body still holding you all together.

“Are you sure you don’t have any of that super-soldier serum in you somewhere, y/n?” She said as she busied her hands with removing the thorns from the roses carefully and you let out a soft laugh, carrying two more boxes in your arms to set them beside her. “75 Years later and I’ll give you the same answer, Lin, I don’t remember, but maybe, I guess.” She chuckled and went back to organising the shop before opening hours.

“Honestly, you look like you haven’t aged a day since 1945, sweetheart.” She smiled at you and you bit the inside of your cheeks, her words ringing in your head.

She has a point, you look the same, your body heals and no matter how much alcohol you consume, you are still the same sober y/n. This isn’t the first time you questioned yourself and your inhumane abilities, it was always a mystery to you and no matter how hard you try, you always end up with the same answers. I don’t remember. For Linda on the other hand, she is just now slowly starting to age, wrinkles were visible and grey hair was starting to peak in her roots, she knows that she still has a long way ahead of her before it is her time. You assumed that signs of ageing will appear to you in a couple more years, considering how much younger you are compared to Linda, or at least that is what the doctors always told you regarding your age.

Through the years, you’ve started taking courses about almost everything, you and Linda traveled to places you can only dream of visiting, you’ve met people from across the world from different cultures and you were absorbing every knowledge from every religion, culture and even mythology.

You’ve grown attached to Norse mythology the most, something about it just sucked you in, you learned about the realms and their people, you’ve taken courses about them and watched documentaries for your entertainment, it attracted you even more when it was proven a reality from the Avengers, Thor the God of Thunder was real, so you can only imagine the other Gods and what they’re up to.

“I’m gonna go grab a cup of coffee, need anything?” You say as you set the last box next to Linda.

“Just be here before we open, sweetheart, the pretty one should be coming today!” She smiled at you. Every Thursday for the past two months, a nice gentleman would come, have small talk with Linda while she prepares him his bouquet, you’ve always been busy with getting things for the shop or just in the back cleaning up so you never got the chance to meet the gentleman she brags about. You kissed her cheek and grabbed your book before walking out. “Be safe!” She yelled before you left and you smiled to yourself, she was like a sister, a mother and a friend all together, you were extremely thankful for her, and maybe even more thankful for that serum. It is the reason she is still around with you, it may feel selfish but you can’t imagine where you’d be if you lived all these years alone.

You loved your morning walks before opening the shop. The streets were filled with busy people trying to get to work or students rushing to school with their friends, you absorb the soft sun hitting your skin and walked towards your favourite cafe, music playing in your ears.

Reaching the coffee shop, you greeted your usual barista, she knew you routine like the back of the hand and had your drink ready before you reached the place. Tipping them after taking your usual order you go to your usual seat by the window. You loved coming here, it was a local coffee shop with freshly brewed coffee and sometimes good tea, but nothing tops the tea Linda makes, smiling to yourself you open your book and start reading, living in your own world and blocking out the noises around you, slowly you start losing track of time as the book grabbed your attention more and more.

“Thor, this is ridiculous. Do we have to leave the tower?” Loki crossed his arms, following Thor through the streets to god knows where. He knew that his brother leaves The Tower every Thursday, but this is his first time tagging along. “I promised Jane that I will see her, I just need one thing- Ah, we’re here!” Thor smiled widely at his favourite flower shop. Loki rolled his eyes at the place, these flowers and plants were nothing compared to the ones they have back in Asgard. “You could’ve brought something better from Asgard, it is free.” Loki mumbled to Thor, walking in behind him into the shop.

“Lady Linda!” Thor beamed, ignoring Lokis comment.

“Thor! I was worried you were ditching the shop today! The usual?” Linda says as she starts preparing his usual bouquet.

“Yes, please! Now how can I ditch this beautiful shop?” He says.

Loki behind him, was growing impatient by the minute. Deciding he had enough of following Thor and not liking the idea of being the spare in Thor and Janes gathering and with that he slowly stepped out of the shop, his gaze roaming around the streets before his legs took the lead, taking him to wherever he wants, as long as it was far from the two lovebirds. Thor has an entirely different life here and Loki barely knows the Avengers back in the tower, he has the right to roam around this boring realm for any source of entertainment.

“Lady Linda, please, meet Loki, my br-“ He turns around, Loki was nowhere to be found and his sighs. “-other.” He finishes his sentence. “I saw him leave, that’s all right, dear. I’ll see him next Thursday?” She smiles at Thor as she wrapped his bouquet and he smiled wide. “You can count on it.” He says as he take the bouquet from Lindas hand before leaving the shop and to Janes place, leaving his brother be. He understands why Loki hates it here, maybe if Loki walked around freely he might find a liking to this place.

Loki was aimlessly walking around the city, disgust written all over his face as he passed the meaningless shops, watching the people interact with each other, he watched every window of every shop before his eyes landing on a particular stranger with her book. Stopping in his tracks, he stares at her. He knows that face anywhere, he has it engraved in the back of his mind.

Is that-? No it can’t be. But There is no other. No.

Unsure of what to do in this situation, all he does is watch her. His mouth was running dry, hands clenching and unclenching trying to stop it from shaking slightly. He must have been staring for too long because she noticed, her eyes averting from the book and slowly up to him, his heart beating faster, now he is sure that it is her. He could never forget those eyes, even if he wanted to. He blinks as he looked at her through the glass, a smile slowly appearing in his face, after all these years. She gently smiles before looking down at her phone and closing her book to get up.

Almost done with your book, you feel a pair of eyes on you, trying to ignore the feeling you slowly look around before you meet the prettiest eyes you have ever seen, a smile slowly appearing on your face at him, his eyes capturing you.

There stood a man on the other side of the window, black hair, almost reaching his shoulder, he was wearing a tight black suit and his skin was pale yet his face was perfectly contoured and he was practically glowing under sun, his eyes never leaving yours, growing nervous at the sudden attention, you close your book and get up after checking the time and cursing under your breath. You’re two hours late, Linda is going to be so mad at me, you bid your farewell to the barista and walk out of the shop, you wished to see the man again but you’re running late so you pray silently to see him another day. Jumping slightly as you walk out the cafe, the man that was by the window is now standing in front of you. You gasp lightly, he is even more alluring up close.

“Sigyn- I thought I’ve lost you, my love.” The stranger says to you, the name echoing in your head and you blink at him. “I’m sorry?” You start and take a small step back, your heart aches for the mans loss but he is mistaken. “Don’t apologise for my fathers doing,” He chuckled gently, a smile appearing in his face and you shake your head, your hands were starting to tremble and this time you take a big step back. His words were sending warning signals to your mind, fathers doing? “You’ve got the wrong girl, sir” You tell him, looking away from him. His smile drops and stares at you.

“Sigyn, my lo-“

“I’m not who you think I am” You turn your head and look at him.

“Then who are you?” His brows furrowed, confused, just when he thought he found you.

“Not Sigyn?” You reply, confused.

“Who are you?” you emphasise your words, repeating his words back to him before glancing quickly at your phone. You know who Sigyn is, she is the second wife to Loki, her love story with him is one you’ve always dreamed of, minus the complications they have in mythology.

“You don’t know who I am?” The man asks you, shock dripping from his words as if you’ve said anything wrong, shaking your head, you start to question if this stranger is worth getting late to work.

“I see..” The man takes a step back and nods, sliding his hands into his pockets. “My apologies, I shouldn’t have bothered you.” He starts to slowly walk away from you. “I hope you find her though!” You say to the tall handsome man before walking quickly away from him and to your work.

Loki watched you leave, your last words glued in his mind, you were always supporting him and hoping his plans work, he lets out a breath he didn’t know he was holding and slowly follows you, he refuses to believe that you’re not the one he loved before. You walked with elegance that the mortals lacked, you smiled at the strangers passing by and his heart clenched, how is it possible that after all the years you simply just deny him? His eyes widened slightly when you walked into the flower shop and ran a hand through his hair. He has to find Thor.

“You won’t believe what just happened?” You say as you walk in the shop, seeing Linda with her arms crossed. “Better be a long two hour story to explain why you’re late” She said and you gave her a small sheepish smile. “Well not exactly but, a man today called me Sigyn? As in Goddess of Victory? As in Lokis wife?” Lindas eyebrows raised in interest and she sat down. “Carry on.” She said and you started working on the Lavender behind the desk, fixing its soil and organising it in the pot. “He said he thought he lost me? But I just said he has the wrong person and came here as fast as I can.” You smiled at her.

“Interesting…” She says and you glance her way, this time your eyebrows were raised. “Anyway, did the nice gentleman come in today?” You ask, changing the subject and she chuckled. “Yes! He was here thirty minutes ago!” You nod and let out a small hum. “You know? I never got the chance to tell you who he is.” She said before walking to the back of the shop. You laugh and nod. “Yes because a man who comes every Thursday for flowers is so important, Lin.” You say and water the plants before cutting any extra leaves you find.

“The God of Thunder, y/n.” She said as she stood behind you and you snort. “Suuure” You giggle and wear your gloves to remove some plants from their soil. “His brother was here too, today, black suit, black hair, barely looks like Thor.” She said, as if she was stating the most obvious facts.

“But he left quickly, before Thor.” You nod at her, not sure what to add to this conversation.

“How can you be smart and stupid at the same time? His name was Loki, y/n.”

Your eyes widen and you set down the watering can. Realising that you just interacted with one of the Avengers and the same person you’ve read stories about.

“Oh my god. And I had the audacity to ask him who he is” You snort then rub your face with your palm.

“I mean, it could be him considering how close that cafe is from here, but who knows” She adds. Your conversation was cut short when the door was open, both Linda and you turn your head towards the door and you swallow at the man standing in front of you.

“You work here?” He asks, his eyes wandering around the shop and you just simply nod, your mouth running dry. Lindas eyes switched between you both before standing up. “Time for my lunch break! Bye.” She said as she quickly walked out of the shop and you flip her off quickly before the man turns back to you.

“you made doubt that it is not you, but, you just keep proving me wrong.” He whispers, a smile appearing on his face and you just stare at him. “You’ve always helped mother in her garden” He chuckled and looked down at his feet before back up at you, you were speechless, unable to form words. You just continued to stare at him.

“Sigyn-“

“No” You interrupt him, as much as his aura was pulling you to him, you just don’t want to pretend. It is not fair, he was confusing you.

“I’m y/n. I have never seen you in my life, Loki.” You say and he smiles at you.

“I missed hearing my name with your voice.” His memories of you never left his mind, the way you feel, your voice, your smile and your touch, all of it was glued in his mind, remembering you every second of the day.

His words caught you off guard and you just stare at him, an eyebrow raised at him.

“Ever since Odin told me what you’ve done, I refused to believe him, you would never leave my side, not like that.” You open your mouth to protest and he raises a finger. “Please” His voice, desperate. “Let me speak” You sit down and look up at him, nodding at him to continue and he smiles softly down at you.

“I have waited for you, everyday. For months, years, even decades pass and still no word of you, I have travelled realms with hopes of seeing you again, how is it that everything we’ve been through and you don’t even want to talk to me? Have I done wrong?” His voice breaks in the end and he kneels down to your level, his face aligned with yours and you shake your head, turning it to the side and your eyes glued to the people passing by, unable to meet his gaze from his strong words and question that you don’t even have the answers to. “What have I done for you to leave without a word? For you to change your identity? To hide? From what?” He raises his hand to your cheek slowly, craving to touch you, to feel you again but you stop him with a hand around his wrist and he closes his eyes. Even when your touch was a warning, he was drinking every bit of it, remembering everything that was before.

“I don’t know you, this is my first interaction with you. I’m sorry, I understand that you’re a god, but if you stay in this shop any longer, I have no option but to call the police” Your voice was stern, his eyes widen and he looks at you. “You don’t remember.” He whispers, lowering his hands and standing up. Shocked at his words, you furrow your eyebrows.

“Excuse me?” You look up at him before standing up and walking towards the door, opening the door for him to leave.

“Si- y/n. How long have you been here? on mid-“ he sighs, hating the different names this place carries. “On earth?” His question startling you open the door wider and look up at him, giving him your silence as your only answer.

Loki was staring at you, trying to find any hint of hidden truth, his mind was contemplating his next moves until he takes a step outside of the shop, looking at you. Your eyes met and something in the back of his mind was telling him to not move, not leave, to just stay here in your presence, Sigyn or not. But your actions next jabbed him in the heart, he watched you as you shut the door and go back to where you stood before he walked in, his eyes never leaving yours while you busied yourself with your work.

Taglist: @jessiejunebug , @hellethil ,

#loki #Loki Laufeyson #loki odinson #loki fanfic #loki fic #loki x reader #loki x you #loki x y/n #loki x female reader #Loki Laufeyson x Reader #loki laufeyson x you #loki layfeyson x reader #loki odinson x reader #loki odinson x you #loki odison x reader

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thelostnymphaeum · 4 years

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I'm with you 'til the end of the line.

Entry: 004

// Cinema //

Marvel Cinematic Universe

MARVEL MANIA

Superhero movies were not my thing. The only superhero movie I have watched as a kid was Spiderman. I am not into sci-fi or superhero movies albeit being a huge fan of cinema. But during this quarantine, I decided to experiment with my taste and try to indulge in a new set of genre – the Marvel Cinematic Universe. These movies were a far cry from films that are to my liking, such as “Brooklyn” and “What’s Eating Gilbert Grape”. I used to find superhero movies corny or cheesy, because they were not based on real people and I fancy movies that tackle the inner spectrum of humanity. Additionally, I used to think that actors who choose to be in these movies are not “real actors” because portraying a superhero does not really seem to me as a role where you have to internalize the character. I was probably the only person in my class who did not cry when someone said “I love you, 3000” after the Endgame came out, and the only one who did not get the “Wakanda forever” reference. That changed because yester night, I finally finished the entire MCU. I came in with a viewing guide from my friends and I came out feeling like I just had a whole cultural experience.

THE AVENGERS

I like all of them. Except maybe the Captains. I don’t like Captain America. I understand that he’s supposed to be the poster boy of “superheroes” where he’s all righteous, courageous, virtuous and kind to everyone – but that does not seem realistic at all. His character just seemed predictable and bland for me. Maybe that’s why I prefer Tony Stark, he is more dimensional. He is someone who is unapologetic, makes mistakes, smart, arrogant; but his heart will always come from a good place. During battles, it’s always Tony Stark who is thinking of ways to end them (like how to diffuse Ultron at Sokovia) so I feel as if it’s him that should be leading them. Captain America only lead them because he was born in 1918 (just kidding, don’t eat me Steve Rogers stans). He also looks way too good. It’s unreal. What a knucklehead (Loki will agree with me on this). Jk. Anyways, he earned plus points from me when he returned the infinity stones successfully. As for Captain Marvel, I don’t think I need to explain why I find her insufferable.

A little piece about Spiderman. I like this reboot of Spiderman, and Tom Holland deserves all the hype he got because he worked so hard for his movies. No one can beat Tobey Maguire of course, but we are all just glad that Tom did not ruin Spiderman for us. The only thing I did not like about his reboot was that he relied too much on Mr. Stark. Tobey’s Spiderman never relied on anyone, he was just his own superhero. But for the sake of integrating him into the MCU, I guess that they have make this fun and fresh Peter Parker juvenile in order to be able to develop his character more. So I think I’ll give it a pass.

I personally like the Thor films the best. Because it was based on Norse mythology. Because of Loki. Because Anthony Hopkins is in it. I dislike the Captain Marvel movie the most.

ENDGAME THOUGHTS. We did not need Captain Marvel. Thor did not deserve to become a drunkard and a greasehead – he’s a freaking Norse God! Why was Pepper Potts at the final battle against Thanos? Thank you, Doctor Strange. Tony was genuinely and undeniably- the heart of the Avengers.

SCORSESE, COPPOLA & PEWDIEPIE

Along with its colossal popularity, the MCU movies have also acquired prominent detractors. Prior to watching the entire MCU, I would have probably agreed with Scorsese, Coppola and Felix (here is his “controversial” video on “I don’t like Marvel movies”).

“Honestly, the closest I can think of them, as well made as they are, with actors doing the best they can under the circumstances, is theme parks. It isn’t the cinema of human beings trying to convey emotional, psychological experiences to another human being.” – Martin Scorsese

"Martin was kind when he said it's not cinema. He didn't say it's despicable, which I just say it is." – Francis Ford Coppola

Parts of it are true, on the basis where the entire plot lines are predictable and it’s not the kind of cinema I learned to love as well. Marvel movies usually follow the same backbone. This is a huge reason why some cinephiles don’t like them, because the mystery is gone and it’s all obvious. After watching all of them in a 3-week streak, I could pretty much sum up the Marvel movie plot line into this:

The protagonist is in a helpless or vulnerable position.

The protagonist meets someone who can help them.

The protagonist works hard to get to his pre-final form and along with it, learns to fight in the name of eradicating the bad guys.

The protagonist finds out that her/his master is not all-good.

Chaos but then they forgive and understand the master.

2-3 battle fights, the last one is usually the peak battle where we see the protagonist in final form.

I like movies that tackle more about realism. I like seeing actors play roles that depict humanity as humans. I’m not a huge fan of special effects or super powers either. When Scorsese said that they are “not cinema”, I understood it because there are no intricacies or space for a different form of expression when you’re doing mega franchise films that are meant to sell to the general public. Which brings me to another point, that MCU is largely a business profit. These movies are made by mega corporations in the film industry, and it might also hinder other smaller filmmakers from showing their films if a titanic franchise is showing on the same week as theirs. Comic book fans are enormous in numbers which is why there is such a huge following for these movies even if they use the same plot lines all throughout. Humans are slaves for nostalgia, and people like to see the characters they have read and admired during their childhood come to life. Because of that, these corporations will try to capitalize on that and make more movies for as long as they can, and in a sense, you can see that they might be doing it only for the sake of money and not of art any longer. This is what the disparagers would say; that there is very little artistic values to these films because they are made to be sold, not appreciated for its artistry.

“Many of our grandfathers thought all gangster movies were the same, often calling them “despicable”. Some of our great grandfathers thought the same of westerns, and believed the films of John Ford, Sam Peckinpah, and Sergio Leone were all exactly the same. I remember a great uncle to whom I was raving about Star Wars. He responded by saying, “I saw that when it was called 2001, and, boy, was it boring!” Superheroes are simply today’s gangsters/cowboys/outer space adventurers. Some superhero films are awful, some are beautiful. Like westerns and gangster movies (and before that, just MOVIES), not everyone will be able to appreciate them, even some geniuses. And that’s okay.” – James Gunn, Guardians of the Galaxy Director

Here’s my two cents on this whole hullabaloo. Art is expressed in different ways. Just because something is popular does not mean that you should hate it or feel as if it lacks creative value. For one, I think that if the Norsemen would see the Thor films, their jaws would drop. Art in these movies is seen through the elaborate special effects and costumes. A lot of people work behind the scenes to make this kind of art form. They are not any less of an artist. The effects are wonderful, amazing and beautiful. Sure, they don’t have meandering plot lines or mysteries that are meant to make you think. But they are able to show art in a way that is along with the times, showing the capabilities of what computer generated imagery could be. It gives us the fantasy that otherwise would not be achievable in real life (for all I care, my favorite scenes are seeing Spiderman glide across the buildings of New York).

These movies are intended for children and teenagers (adults are there for the sake of nostalgia or lighthearted entertainment, I guess?). For kids, it inspires them that they can be anything they want to be. For teenagers, it might be a good footing for their moral compasses. For me, it just inspired me to get fit (hehe). My point is, these movies are made to cater to a particular type of audience, and the others are there just for the spectacle. If all the movies were Scorsese or Coppola, what would the kids watch in the theaters? Kids would not understand “Taxi Driver” nor would be a good foundation for their morals. It was a classic and it deserves the reputation it has, but after only a certain age will you be able to appreciate it, and only if you had a particular knack for appreciating films. MCU movies are made for people who just want to have a good time; you don’t have to like high-brow or art-house movies to understand it, and that’s all there is to it. It’s made for entertainment, what’s so wrong with that?

And the actors – a lot of them played the characters so well which made me realize that taking on a superhero role does not lessen your credibility as an actor. My particular favorites are Tom Hiddleston, Benedict Cumberbatch, Scarlett Johansson, Tom Holland, Mark Ruffalo and Robert Downey Jr. (bonus points for Anthony Hopkins, his range, man, his range). They were able to bring their roles to life in such a distinct way that it would be hard to never associate them as superheroes, which of course, is a double-edged sword. As a starting actor, that could be a bubble that is hard to get out of. For example, Tom Holland as Spiderman; people will always associate him as that, and how many of you has actually seen the movies he has done aside from MCU? It might be hard for him to bridge his career from being a huge franchise film protagonist into doing films to his own preference. MCU movies make the popularity and the money; indie films – not as much.

I don’t think that the existence of MCU is throwing away the spotlight from smaller filmmakers. Because back then, I simply chose not to see MCU movies because I was not interested. People will find ways to support art that they like, and just because MCU existed, it did not hinder me from looking for movies that I like. The cinema is made by individuals who like to create movies. There are different ways to express them. There are different subscribers to different genres. To each their own. But then again, I am not working in the film industry, so I can’t speak for them, I can only say what it’s like for a movie buff like me.

These are the movies that make up people’s childhood. These are characters that gives reason for people to bond together. When Tony died, the entire world felt like they lost a father. If it’s able to touch lives as much as any other film, why should we discriminate against it? Love is love, after all.

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blkholeinfinity · 5 years

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God in Good Omens: Why Her Plan is Ineffable Headcanon

I’m a polytheist so my view on gods/goddesses/deities give me a... different view on Good Omens’ God than those who grew up in Christianity and/or Judaism have (probably)? I try to reconcile it with what little I DO know of the Old and New Testaments, but God in the Good Omens miniseries in particular is a fascinating character to me.

So, time for some Good Omens God headcanon!

Disclaimer: I am unlearned in Christianity and Judaism beyond what pop culture has taught me, and what was forced at me from living in the United States. I’m not trying to offend anyone with this headcanon; I simply see the Good Omens God in the same light I see the gods and goddesses and deities of the religion(s) I follow. I am willing to learn more, but I am also unwilling to go out of my way to learn it because of how much Christianity is forced down my throat on a daily basis (‘Murica). So feel free to comment/reblog to point out inaccuracies or specific things from the mythos to support either your stance or mine, but please understand the knowledge base and personal experience I come from. If I say anything inadvertently offensive, please help me learn by pointing out what I said and why it was problematic and I promise to do better next time. As long as you’re not rude, I won’t be mad.

Tl;dr - I welcome criticism on my headcanon, but please be patient and kind with me about it and I promise I will return the favor. ❤️

This mini-essay is going to be focused on the miniseries as God is more of a character in the show vs. the book.

To start, God has an interesting character development through human history — both in real life and in Good Omens. She started off as an easily angered, violent, and vengeful deity: Satan/Lucifer and the demons rebelled (to varying degrees) and she cast them down; Adam and Eve gave into temptation and she threw them out of Eden; the whole Noah’s Ark thing; and many other (Old Testament, iirc?) examples, I’m sure. But then she chilled out, it looks like, around the time of Jesus and probably because of Jesus.

I think this was when her Armageddon Plan changed. Originally, it was absolutely going to be a war against Heaven and Hell like everyone thought. Then, she decided to make it personal against Satan instead (because she decided he was who she was really mad at, and all of her other grievances stem from his initial rebellion - for better and for worse, but she’s still salty) and started moving the pieces into place to ensure that the Antichrist would rebel against him at the crucial moment.

He needed to feel how she felt when he rebelled, was her reasoning. Because God can be petty. Just because Jesus forgave his enemies didn’t mean she needed to.

Over time, she also grew to love humanity for all our stupidity, goodness, and yes, wickedness, much in the same way as Aziraphale and Crowley albeit as a distant observer. I’ve heard Christians say that she made humans in her image, and she probably started to see that - that all of their flaws are her flaws. And maybe even started to see humans as being even better than herself.

Then she looked at her own angels and realized that they (all but one) were dicks. And at the demons and saw that they (all but one) were also dicks but she was less surprised and disappointed about that.

So before, when she decided not to clue in anyone, not even the Metatron, to her change in plans, it was for the sake of making sure no one interfered with the Antichrist. Once she realized that all the angels and demons were assholes, she decided that they deserved a good trolling, too.

(Okay, maybe she let ONE person know her new plans: one Agnes Nutter. Because God wanted to be mostly hands-off in the affairs of humanity, because she kind of felt bad that when she did get hands on, it was only to punish them, and she was always ruthless in her punishments. She didn’t really trust herself — but also she wanted to test the humans one more time to see if they were really worthy of being saved. More on that in a bit.)

But the centuries are long and she got bored. So the plan was in part a lesson to be taught to all the immortals, in part for the lulz. (Because in my head, God is a trickster. Sort of like a mix of Odin and Loki from Norse mythology. And iirc, there is historical evidence that when Christianity came to the Nordic countries, Odin was kind of rolled into the Christian God in order to more easily convert the masses?)

Which brings us to our favorite angel and demon: Aziraphale and Crowley.

I have a few different mindsets as to why she didn’t punish Aziraphale for giving away the flaming sword. A part of me feels like she might have been particularly fond of him in that “aw look at my cute puppy, I can’t stay mad at that face” sort of way (because, I mean, look at that face). Another part of me feels that she was too exhausted from her anger at Adam and Eve, at Satan and the demons, to care anymore, like “ugh I can’t deal with this right now whatever” and then just never got around to it. I have other thoughts, too, that he was following her Ineffable Plan, but that doesn’t fit with the theory I’m presenting here... or maybe it does? That maybe she felt bad for Adam and Eve, hindsight is 20/20, and she was like, “Well, okay, I don’t feel so guilty anymore. Good job, angel. Not that I’m ever going to admit that to you.”

But outside of that, I don’t think she was paying too much attention to what Aziraphale and Crowley were doing on Earth until after Jesus, and with her now more benevolent attitude towards humans (again see: because of Jesus), she appreciated them a whole lot more and started to work her into the New and Improved Armageddon Plan.

Which is why she didn’t mind that they were, as Aziraphale infuriatingly put it, “fraternizing.” She saw in them a new potential - for humans, for Heaven and Hell, and for herself. And that’s why she let them have Agnes’s prophecy on what they needed to do to survive their respective punishments from the other angels and demons. And also yes because she still wanted to troll the angels and demons because they deserve to be trolled.

(And yes, I do prescribe to the headcanon that God ships it, too, and set the events of Armageddon into motion because she was sick of the slow burn mutual pining of these idiots like the rest of us. But for her, that was more the cherry on top than the true goal. To incorporate the two headcanons, the timing corresponds with “you go too fast for me” because I imagine shortly thereafter was when the American Air Force base near Tadfield was established, so she began moving the chess pieces from that point forward because FFS AZIRAPHALE ARE YOU KIDDING HER. Maybe Armageddon came a little earlier than originally planned, or maybe the timing was Just Right and therefore coincidental, I can get behind both.)

So, for the next Armageddon when it’s all of Heaven and Hell against all of humanity, she’s counting on Aziraphale and Crowley to fight on behalf of humanity. And also that’s why Aziraphale never became a fallen angel and never will become one; unfortunately, Crowley has to remain Fallen, because forgiving him in an official capacity isn’t in the cards for what she’s planning next... right now, anyway.

Because I think the real reason the Ineffable Plan is ineffable is because God keeps changing her mind and therefore the plan. So yeah, this is her plan right now, but give it a century or two. It might change again. And maybe that’s when Crowley would be forgiven in the official capacity because it’s necessary for God’s plan. Or something else entirely, who knows. That’s for fanfic writers to speculate.

But I mentioned about how Armageddon was also to test humanity. And that’s all tied up in Adam the Antichrist.

She wanted him to go to the wrong family. Send him to the most boring, normal family and ensure that he would receive no interference from Heaven or Hell and just... see how he turns out. If he became the prophesied Antichrist, humanity fails, time to start over. If he turned into a normal kid, “Human Incarnate,” then humanity passes. And needless to say, humanity passed the test, because without even knowing what they were doing, they transformed the embodiment of evil into the embodiment of a human child. And that’s what God wanted to see.

That and the Antichrist screaming at Satan, “YOU’RE NOT MY REAL DAD.”

Which, again, was God’s real goal with Armageddon anyway. It was always about getting back at Satan. And now she has. Everything else was a happy bonus.

But there was more to it than that. See: Agnes Nutter and her descendants, and why they were the only ones entrusted with the real Armageddon plan. Now, this makes my headcanon shaky - because if God knew that things were going to go down exactly the way that they did, even for things having little to nothing to do with Armageddon, why even bother testing anything at all? I mean, it does go back to the whole, she’s testing humanity via Adam and Adam was the one Unknown. (Which means that Agnes’ second prophecy book was always meant to be burned, but that’s a whole other theory.)

It could also be that she was going to make sure everything happened exactly the way that they did. If her plan was written out in full in Agnes’s book, maybe it was a checklist of things she intended to happen, and certain things would be left up to interpretation. After all, some prophecies were very specific (these were the ones she was absolutely sure she was going to make sure came true), and others were less so (these were the ones more up to interpretation). Which then begs the question: how much of how things went down did God actually intend? Is she just clever enough to have planned everything to the last detail? Or did she encourage things along a certain way to make sure that they happened exactly according to her plan? (For example, moving the pieces into place so that Shadwell would see Aziraphale talking to the Metatron to be sure that the prophecy “Three shall ride as two” came true.)

Who knows? It’s ineffable, after all.

And Anathema was always meant to lose the book, and Aziraphale was always meant to find it, because this was the exact moment God wanted Aziraphale and Crowley to actually become involved in the Plan. Now that the Antichrist is... well, not all grown up, but at the apparent proper age for Antichristing, now Aziraphale and Crowley can start “interfering” with the Plan. Because they can’t hurt anything anymore. Yeah, they were about to kill Adam, but that was also part of the test for humanity, I think: would Madame Tracy stop them from doing it? And she did.

As for why Agnes’s prophecy forced Anathema and Newt together, idk, I’m going with God was bored and trolling. But honestly, getting into the specifics of plot points wrt God’s Plan is beyond the scope of this essay. Maybe I’ll give my thoughts on it later. Maybe if you actually made it to the end of this essay you’ll give your thoughts?

Seriously though, if you made it to the end of this mini-essay, you win a few dozen gold stars. And thank you so much for sticking with me if you did.

Tl;dr - I think God’s plan is ineffable because she keeps changing her mind about what she wants to do, and she just... fits her new agenda in with the old somehow so she can act like she “planned it like this all along.” And she’s trolling everyone. And testing humanity. And really is fond of Aziraphale and Crowley.

#good omens #god plays games with the universe #this is really long sorry #good omens headcanon

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boredom-writing · 5 years

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Gods and Monsters

Chapter two

Pairing: Loki x reader

Summary: The Avengers decide to take a mini-vacation in Egypt when Peter has to do a project on ancient Egyptian mythology. And you end up being their guide. (This isn’t really a summary, it’s more of a backstory but I stg it’s wayyyy more interesting than this.)

Warnings: swearing, mentions of blood

Word count: .9k

A/N: I’m so so so sorry this took so long. It was supposed to be our next weekend but this time of year always kills me. The next chapter is already in the works though! This is a rewrite of Gods and Monsters by @tarynkauai . I am rewriting this a a series and continuing the story(with their permission ofc) the plot is not mine so don’t get pressed at me.

When I arrived at my apartment I quickly locked the door behind me, making sure it was bolted shut before sitting down on a chair.

“What was that?” I asked myself. It appeared to be blood but that’s impossible. If someone had cut themselves they would have told me. And even if they didn’t how was it so perfectly dripping from the eyes of the bust?

It was 7:15 I had no time for questions like these. I had to get ready for my evening with the Avengers. Sighing I went to the bathroom to grab a quick shower, hoping to rid myself of the feeling of dread that seemed to have followed me home.

As I got ready there were a million questions flying around inside my head. “What was that?” “Why was it there?” “Who’s blood was that?” “How did it get there?” and most importantly, “Why am I feeling like this?”

I should have been freaked out, that was normal. But what was disturbing was the fact that the feeling seemed to have followed me home. It was almost like a tangible mass, suffocating me, trying to drown me in its misery.

I had no time for thoughts like that. I almost ran out the door to my car but I didn’t care. At least whatever that feeling was seemed to have disappeared.

When I entered the hotel I could see the team waiting for me in the lobby. Gods I hope I wasn’t too late. “Hey guys!” I said, pretending that nothing was wrong. “Hey! You’re just on time.” Well at least that’s one thing that went right today.

“Yep. Couldn’t miss a chance to show you guys the wonders of Egypt.” Natasha laughed and said, “Well let’s go! That food isn’t going to eat itself and I don’t know about you guys but I’m starving.” I could already tell this was going to be a good time.

We went to multiple bars and restaurants around the city, trying all the authentic Egyptian cuisine. At the end of the night we were all stuffed, but I still wanted to show them one more place.

“What is this place?” Steve asked. I couldn’t tell if he was amazed or scared. “This is the Temple of Amun. It is the largest religious building in the world, though some claim Angkor Wat in Cambodia is larger, and honors not only Amun but other gods such as Osiris, Montu, Isis, Ptah and the Egyptian rulers who wished to be remembered for their contributions to the site. It was built from around 2040 - 1782 BCE to 323 - 30 BCE, however some argue that construction started around 2613 - 2181 BCE.”

“And how did you manage to get us in here?” Loki asked. “It seems like this is private property.”

“Oh it is. I just happen to work for the right people and managed to get us in. One of the many perks of being me.” I could swear I saw Loki’s eyes shine brighter than usual but that must be the moonlight playing tricks on my eyes. Or another one of those Asgardian things. I couldn’t tell.

As I opened the gate to let us in everyone in the group let out a collective gasp. “Y/N this is amazing!” It was. The temple was huge, filled with rows upon rows of columns and statues, the walls everywhere were lined with hieroglyphs telling stories of ages long forgotten and people who no longer mattered.

“We have free access to the temple as long as none of you blow anything up.”

“Yeah Tony don’t blow anything up.” Sam said with a shit eating grin on his face. “Ok first of all”

“First of all what? You got nothing. Because that’s totally something you would do.” At this point Tony threw his arms up in the air in exasperation. “I’m not going to blow anything up but you Wilson. So shut it.”

“Well that escalated quickly.” Said Wanda with a bemused look. As we walked further into the temple we kept talking about life in general. Apparently life with the Avengers was more normal than you would think. Well as normal as the life of a superhero gets.

“So Y/N what do you do for fun?” It was Loki who asked this particular question. It was usually a harmless one however this time it seemed like there was a hidden meaning, something more to the innocent question than what met the eye.

Or maybe it was just me. “Oh nothing really. I usually do things for the museum or the temples and tombs I do tours of. In my spare time I wander the city but I don’t have a lot of that. All my friends live back in New Mexico and they visit sometimes.”

“And do you enjoy that? Your work I mean.” I thought back to the blood in the tomb. “Usually.”

“What do you mean usually?” I tried to think of a way to not sound crazy. “Well sometimes it gets boring and I miss New Mexico but other than that it’s great.” He didn’t look completely convinced. “I see. Well I hope you don’t home too much. This really is a wonderful city.”

“It is indeed.”

Tag list is open:

@tarynkauai

#loki x reader #loki #loki laufeyson #loki odinson #gods and monsters

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dailyawakening · 5 years

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oh please tell me your thoughts on loki! she's actually a rather interesting character and i dont think intsys could do her justice so i would love to hear your ideas!

this response is so late because A) I’ve been trying to figure out what to draw for it and B) I’ve been trying to figure out how to structure the monster novel that by necessity needs to be attached to anything relating to my Loki thoughts.

As a disclaimer, all of this is entirely my own invention based on the original mythology and what we’ve seen of canon; I’m resigned to the fact that there’s no real chance any of this will become part of Heroes, but this is what makes me happy personally, so I’m going to stick to it as an AU if nothing else. So with that out of the way: let’s talk about Loki.

I decided that the easiest way to go through this would be in the major stages of Loki’s life, with each one showcasing a different appearance (Loki’s a shapeshifter, after all). It’s not always easy to put myths in order, but I have a pretty strong personal plot thread that runs through Loki’s myths, so let’s start at the beginning: with Loki’s early experiences as one of the Aesir.

Loki is not technically a god – not in the way that Odin and Thor are, at least. Loki is a child of jotunn, and more than likely is a jotunn as well, rather than one of the Aesir, so under normal circumstances would not have counted among their number; however, Loki and Odin forged a blood pact and swore an oath to treat one another as brothers, and so Loki was adopted into the Aesir fold by bonds of kinship.

Loki is not truly evil, and never has been. Loki is a mischievous spirit, fiery and wild, fond of trickery and games, and those have a tendency to get out of hand sometimes, which leads to big problems. But Loki’s word is also their bond, and when they swear an oath, they keep it. The myth of Idunn shows this very clearly: when Loki is captured by a jotunn, they swear to give him whatever he asks, and he asks for the goddess Idunn, responsible for keeping the Aesir young and strong. When Loki is released, they do exactly as they swore, and lure Idunn into the jotunn’s clutches; however, when the rest of the Aesir realize what’s happened, they force Loki to promise to get Idunn back, which Loki proceeds to do.

This oath keeping is important. It will come up again.

Now, because of the bond they swore, Loki was often called on by Odin to perform various tasks, many of which sent them wandering across the various realms – of course, Loki also succumbed to wanderlust sometimes when left bored too long, and had been known to wander off. On one of these wanderings for whatever purpose, Loki met the jotunn Angrboda and ended up having a rather extended affair with her – enough that three children came of it: the wolf Fenrir, the serpent Jormungandr, and a daughter named Hel who seemed neither living nor dead.

Loki loved those children. They didn’t care a whit that they were seemingly strange: those were Loki’s babies, and Loki doted on them endlessly. Eventually, though, Odin had need of Loki again and summoned them…and rather than leave the babies behind, Loki decided to bring them back to Asgard. Now, the Aesir were significantly less thrilled about these children than Loki, but when Loki asked the Aesir to look after them in their absence (calling on Odin’s pact when he falters), they relented, and Loki left the three children with the gods.

For a while, things were fine. Unfortunately, Fenrir and Jormungandr in particular grew at an alarming rate, and the Aesir came to fear what monsters they would eventually become – so rather than let them become destroyers wreaking havoc on Asgard, Odin chose instead to deal with them while Loki was absent on a mission: Fenrir was bound with the ribbon Gleipnir (only managed because Tyr, the Aesir he trusted most, agreed to place his hand in Fenrir’s mouth to prove it was no trick – and he lost that hand for his deception), Hel was exiled to the realm of the dishonored dead (those who died of sickness and famine rather than gloriously on the battlefield), and Jormungandr was thrown into the swirling chaos of the Tempest before Odin used his might to quell it.

Loki was…less than pleased when they got back. Vascillating wildly between rage and desolation, they took out their suffering through increasingly malicious pranks on the Aesir (the theft of Brisingamen and the shearing of Sif’s hair), which ultimately ended in Loki paying the heaviest price. Eventually, grief took its toll, and Loki gave in to a listless depression; it was their inability to care at all that made them discount Svadilfari’s strength, and they came to pay for that, too – though the price came in the form of a new child, the eight-legged colt Sleipnir that Loki bore as a mare. Unwilling to see another child suffer the same fate as the first three, Loki gave Sleipnir over to Odin in hopes that leaving him in service to the Aesir would protect him from harm…and, at least, Loki would still be able to see the child.

And it’s here that we reach the first turning point: realizing how unstable Loki had become owing to the loss of their children, Odin decided to take drastic action and try to ground them in the present – by arranging Loki’s marriage to Sigyn. No one actually expected the marriage to be more than lip service, with the two leading separate lives within the same house; however, much to everyone’s surprise, Loki and Sigyn readily came to care for one another, and Loki finally began to heal from the loss of their children. They still mourned, yes, and still worried for Sleipnir, but much of their playfulness returned as they found joy with their new wife. Settling with Sigyn and becoming a more committed member of the Aesir led to the first major shift in Loki’s appearance, as well.

Loki and Sigyn had a child together: a son named Narvi who they both loved dearly. Having a child to raise once more helped to ground Loki still further, and they finally settled comfortably into their role and came to be almost friendly with several of the Aesir. When Thor’s hammer was stolen, Loki helped him first to find it (by using Freya’s cloak of feathers to fly to the realm of the jotunn; he promised to return it and made good on his word) and then retrieve it, and even won a new ally into the fold with their antics. Loki and Thor traveled together as allies for a spell, no less, and had a rather harrowing encounter with a jotunn skilled in illusion (during which Loki lost an eating contest with a wildfire and had an unwitting encounter with Jormungandr, something they mourned once the truth was revealed because they had no idea). And beyond that, Loki even came to the aid of mankind alongside the other gods, helping to save a boy from being devoured by giants when even Odin and Thor could not.

Sadly, this period of happiness was not meant to last. In time, Odin’s second son Baldr began to have terrible nightmares about his own death; fearing deeply for her son’s life, his mother Frigg went to every plant, animal, and other object in the world and begged them to swear to do Baldr no harm, to which they all agreed.

And this is where things get dicey: Odin, wise and well-traveled already, had knowledge of what would come to pass at Ragnarok and after – and because of that, he knew that Baldr would rise from Hel to claim the world after the rest of the gods and men had fallen, inheriting the new and beautiful world that rose from the fire and flood. With Frigg’s frantic attempts to keep her son alive, that prophecy would be endangered. Odin, of course, is known as a good and honorable god…but looking at the myths more closely, it sometimes seems that he’s only ‘good’ and ‘honorable’ because he has others do his dirty work (it was his order that had Loki lure Svadilfari from his work, thus cheating the builder of his prize, after all) or claims that he acts in everyone’s best interests (as he did when he bound or exiled Loki’s first children).

So in order to preserve his son’s ability to inherit the world, Odin went to Loki and asked him to find a way to take Baldr’s life.

Naturally, Loki balked at that. But Odin cited their blood bond, and insisted that it was necessary. In the end, Loki agreed – on the condition that his family be spared from whatever followed, for there could be no doubt that there would be a heavy price to pay for this. Odin swore it, and Loki left, discovering that Frigg had failed to ask the mistletoe for its oath and using it to create an arrow; and while the other Aesir were having a grand time throwing things at Baldr and watching them bounce off him without doing a thing, Loki tricked Baldr’s twin brother Hodr into firing the arrow – which struck Baldr in the heart, killing him instantly.

It took little enough time for the gods to realize that Loki was behind the crime, and they proceeded to shut him out of everything. Wracked with guilt and emotionally unstable, Loki gradually neared a breaking point, which led to the roasting of the other gods at Aegir’s house (which Loki intruded upon by pointedly reminding Odin of the same blood oath he’d cited to make Loki agree to the plot). Realizing that Loki posed a great danger should the truth come out, Odin took drastic action: when the other Aesir, incensed by Loki’s criticisms and sharp words, hunted them down to be punished for Baldr’s death, Odin turned his youngest son Vali into a wolf and had him attack Loki’s son Narvi, viciously murdering the boy; and to make matters worse, the Aesir then used Narvi’s entrails to bind Loki to a stone beneath the earth, transfiguring them into chains before affixing a snake above Loki’s head to drip poison onto them for eternity.

Only one stayed beside Loki through this: their wife Sigyn, who remained by Loki’s side catching the poison in a bowl (though she had to leave to empty it on occasion, and when she did the searing poison made Loki writhe violently enough to cause earthquakes). And it is because of Sigyn that Loki remained passive for so long: her presence kept Loki calm, kept their thirst for revenge from overwhelming them, for she reasoned that if they did slip those bonds and set Ragnarok in motion, then Loki and all of their children all would die, just as Narvi had. At least now the children had life and could have pleasant dreams – and at least now, Loki had Sigyn.

But at some point in the very recent past, something happened: Sigyn vanished. Loki had slept, and when they woke to the searing pain of the snake’s venom, they found that their wife was nowhere to be seen, and no amount of calling and pleading made her reappear. That, truly, was the last straw for Loki: all their grief and despair turned to fury and hate in that instant, and the fireball they became incinerated both their chains and the snake that had so long tormented them. In the aftermath, only one link of the chains remained intact, and Loki kept it close, fashioning it into the buckle of the belt they wear. And without Sigyn by their side, Loki allowed that desire for vengeance to burn through them, which has led to where things stand today.

The shape Loki now assumes is strategic as much as comfortable, meant to distract enemies and give her more openings in combat. Everything she does is self-serving, up to and including her alliance with Surtr – hence her betrayal when he ceased to be useful. What she seeks: her children. Calling on Veronica to secure Naglfar and raise the Tempest, she sought Jormungandr (and still seeks him, as each foray into the Tempest has left her empty-handed); and now that Surtr’s power has been added to Hel’s army, giving her the ability to break the barrier Askr put in place, Loki seeks her lost daughter. And in the end, she intends to make the treacherous Aesir suffer for the pain and misery they caused her and her family for so long.

#ada answers #banyanas #fire emblem: heroes #fanart #loki #headcanon #this turned out about as long as i expected #i tried not to go into overmuch detail #but some of it was just necessary okay #i have feelings about loki and how things went down #and how so much of norse mythology just feels like a self-fulfilling prophecy #if fenrir and jormungandr and hel had been treated better by the aesir #if odin had been up-front about things #or at least kept his word when he gave it #maybe there wouldn't be a ragnarok at all #hard reset

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realityhelixcreates · 5 years

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Lasabrjotr Chapter 12: Not So Great Expectations

Chapters: 12/? Fandom: Thor (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe Rating: Teen And Up Warnings: Mentions of fear of sexual assault, blood, depression Relationships: Loki x Reader (But not yet) Characters: Loki (Marvel), Thor (Marvel), OFC, Andsvarr Additional Tags: Post-Endgame: Best Possible Ending, Reader is Still a Paranoid Conspiracy Theorist, Loki Tries, He Really Does Try Summary: The reality of Readers situation begins to catch up. As isolation and uncertainty begin to prey on Reader’s mind, Loki attempts to mitigate the situation with healthy activities. It doesn’t go as planned.

Days passed into weeks, but you never found your balance. Still being swept along, you attended history lessons, magical training, and regular check-ins. Everything blended into a blur, however, and you found it increasingly difficult to concentrate.

The pranks continued, small and unpredictable. Talking breakfast foods that left little messages from Loki, Andsvarr, or Saldis. Magical alarms playing out of thin air, to wake you in the mornings. Clothes that tickled you without warning. And always, more snakes.

They weren’t malevolent, but they were always unexpected, always startling and stressing you out.

There were still no more new books, so you read and re-read the few you had. The history and astronomy books were useful and educational, helping you understand your lessons, as well as the country you now lived in. The mythology book however, still caused distress and distrust in you, and the book of Shakespeare’s tragedies was even worse on your fraying mind. Nothing but gods and royalty being the worst they could be, as if it were normal.

You should have stopped reading them, but there was nothing else to read. With nothing to do, your thoughts ran in circles, spiraling down into ever darker places.

Both Loki and Brunnhilde became much busier as the weeks passed; your lessons ended up trickling off, leaving you bored and idle. For a while, you tried drawing to keep yourself busy, but the works showed the lack of vitality you now felt, and you eventually gave them up.

It was becoming harder to get out of bed. It wasn’t that you were getting sick again, just that you were sleeping more and more. It began to feel like that was the only way to make time actually move forward. Sometimes entire days went by without you sharing more than a handful of words with another living being. You still weren’t allowed to go outside.

What little time Loki did have for you was filled with exhausting magical lessons, which would have been impersonal and cold, save for his continued, perhaps increased tendency to get touchy-feely without asking.

Maybe he didn’t mean anything by it. Maybe that’s just how he was. Maybe he was just trying to make you feel like you belonged, despite all the stares you got whenever you left your bare, little room.

All it did was make you feel like he was prepping you for something terrible.

Everything around you smelled like him; his soap, his shampoo, whatever it was they washed your clothes with. You hadn’t worn anything that wasn’t green, black, or gold for almost a month.

You couldn’t confide in the Valkyrie; she was far too busy. There were new Valkyries now, and their training was taking up all her time. You couldn’t talk to Saldis or Andsvarr either; they were subjects of the monarchy, and unlikely to take your fears seriously.

So you were left mostly alone, spiraling down, and no one taking notice.

Days and nights passed, but the sun stopped setting, and you could no longer tell them apart. You should have found it amazing, but you only felt numb, with the occasional spike of anxiety.

Even your dreams were mostly empty, save for a pulsing blue light.

It gave you headaches.

*****

“Andsvarr, give me your honest opinion.” Loki said, just outside his quarters. “Do you think something is wrong with _____?”

“Wrong, your Highness?” The young guard asked, looking back at the closed door, as if he could see you behind it. “What kind of wrong? She doesn’t seem ill, but she’s been very…withdrawn? She doesn’t talk much anymore. I used to hear her singing when she was alone in there, but she hasn’t done it in a while. Come to think of it, she hasn’t asked for any food today…”

“Hm. Well we can’t have that. Bjarkhild will have my scalp if I don’t make her eat.”

“I think she is lonely, sire. She hasn’t left here for days, and she has no visitors. Saldis can’t ever stay long, and I can’t leave my post.”

“And I have been far too busy to pay her proper attention, hmm?”

Andsvarr faltered. “I-I would never say-“

“Hush. You’re not wrong. I have been busy. Did you know the builders found a series of subterranean chambers running under the city? They’re left over from lava floes, I’m told. They will be very useful, once fully mapped out and explored, but planning and regulation has been eating up most of my time. I wonder if she would like to see them?”

“She would probably like to do anything at all, my prince.”

“Hm. You are probably right. I’ll be right back with a meal. Our human musn’t be allowed to go hungry, after all.”

He returned with a tray of food, artistically arranged, with little radish and carrot flowers.

“I think this will cheer her up.”

Andsvarr grinned in approval and opened the door.

*****

Loki had returned, after what seemed like an eternity away, just barging right into your room as if he owned the place. Well, he did. It wasn’t yours; he’d told you that on day one. The bed, the books, the clothes, none of this was yours. You had nothing.

He noticed you curled up in bed, though it was late in the day, and set the tray he was carrying down on the desk. You scrambled out of bed, loathe to make it easy for him to overtake you there, if he had finally decided to do so.

“Did I interrupt your nap?” He asked. God, he seemed to fill the room. “My apologies. I hear you may have forgotten lunch, so I have taken care of that.” He gestured at the tray. “Enjoy.”

You stared at him silently, but he did not move. When it became clear he was not going to leave until you had eaten, you slouched over to the chair, and stared out the window, rather than look at him.

It raised the hair on your neck, knowing he was just looming behind you, watching you eat. He had provided you all your favorites, had made the meal beautiful to look at. You briefly wondered if you were supposed to eat the little vegetable flowers, deciding to do it anyway. You were a peasant, after all: food couldn’t go to waste.

You glanced at the window again, to see his reflection, faint against the neverending sunlight. Like a ghost, he stared down at you, hands behind his back, a self-satisfied smirk crossing his face. You looked away again, unsettled.

He leaned on the desk after you finished eating.

“Was it to your liking?” He asked. When his hand caressed your arm, it was so unexpected that you gasped and pulled away.

You hadn’t done that before. He drew his hand back, brows coming together in concern.

“Are you all right? Oh, have I truly neglected you so badly that you have forgotten me?” He joked. “Greetings _____, I am Loki, Crown Prince of Asgard. It is a great pleasure to meet you.”

He took your hand, and brought it to his lips. You yanked it away and turned your back.

“I’m s-sorry.” You stammered. It was horrible how much you had missed him, while still being so afraid of his ultimate intentions. “I’m just…not in the mood?”

Damnit, now you needed to work on your own phrasing.

You heard the door open and close quietly. When you finally turned around, both he and the tray were gone. You sighed in combined relief and regret. The room seemed so much emptier now.

So much safer.

*****

“Thor!” Loki exclaimed, rushing into their favored dining room. “I need to know how to make a Midgardian woman happy!”

Thor jumped up from his seat, a big, goofy grin overtaking his face.

“Brother-“ He began, opening his arms. Loki held up his hands to ward him off.

“Ugh, not like that! It’s _____, something is wrong with her. She seems distressed. I think she’s been forgetting to eat. I just brought her lunch, and she acted like she’d never seen me before! I haven’t been that distant, have I?”

He paced. “I know I’ve been busy these past weeks. Perhaps I should have made time. Well, what would you do?” He entreated his brother. No one else here had experience with human women.

“Making time is a good start.” Thor said, still smiling, but a little more serious.

Good, Loki thought. This is serious.

“She will want to know she hasn’t been forgotten. This is doubly important for someone in her position. Most other people, if you forget or neglect them, they can just leave. _____ is stuck, no matter how we treat her. So it becomes our responsibility to do a little extra for her sake.”

“My responsibility.” Loki said.

“I’m sure we can share. Take a little of the burden off of you.”

“Not necessary. I can handle this.”

“Oh, I see. Well, in that case, I would start setting aside time to spend with her, or time that she can spend with others. Just make sure she isn’t always alone. You and I both know what that can do to a person’s mind. If you want to take care of this all by yourself, then I suggest you take her outside. Show her the countryside, perhaps even take her into a town. If I’m remembering correctly, she is from a small town, yes? Full of farmers?”

“So she says. So you think she requires walking?”

“Loki…”

“Joking. Perhaps she likes horses?”

“That is a good train of thought. Follow that. After all we can’t have her…getting sick again?” He asked, trying to gauge Loki’s investment in your happiness.

“Exactly.” Loki said, just a little too fast. “That would be a disaster. I will make some plans then, try to squeeze in some _____-time between meetings.”

“Perfect. I’m sure she will be appreciative.” The brothers sat down to eat, Loki scheming, Thor still grinning, but not pushing any further. As far as he was concerned, everything was now on the right track.

*****

Over the next few days, the little pranks changed rather drastically in nature. The ephemeral alarms changed from ringing to birdsong. There were no longer snakes in the bath; they had been replaced by water lilies. Perfume rose from your footsteps, and occasionally, flower petals rained down on you. The implications weren’t lost on you, but after reading Titus Andronicus for the tenth time, and revisiting the entries on Zeus’ many ‘conquests’, it only left a hollow little pit in your stomach.

Never be dependent on a man, you had told yourself, over and over. Not after the last time. And yet here you were again. Trapped. Utterly trapped.

Today’s breakfast was beautiful. Eggs on toast. Strawberries, sliced, looking like little hearts. Skyr with lingonberry, which you adored. Little flower-shaped melon slices, and grapes. And the fish oil, of course, but you were getting used to that. The trick was to drink it first, and then follow it immediately with a drink of something else.

Today’s dress was also something special. It was much heavier than normal, a thick, plush wool, all green, sleeves gathered at the elbows, with diagonal pintucks all the way down the forearm, ending in asymmetrical hems at the wrist.

Well, that was Loki all over.

There was a full cloak, also green, with fur trim, and a golden yellow horse embroidered on the back. It had far too many legs, but you had read something about this. Odin’s horse, mentioned in passing in your mythology book, was supposed to have twice the normal number of horse legs.

Upon closer observation you noticed that, yes, this cloak was older than the dress, and had been hemmed to your height. You wondered who it had belonged to previously.

Such warm clothing. You could guess at what that meant, though you hardly dared hope.

Loki actually knocked this time, only entering when you said so. He too, was dressed warmly and finely. He paused a moment to take you in. He seemed pleased with what he saw, and you resisted the urge to back away from him.

“Ah, good. You’re dressed. That suits you very well. You may have surmised by now that we are going on a trip outside. If not; surprise, we are going on a trip outside. Tell me, do you like horses?”

Back home, there had been a woman who ran a farm mostly by herself. It was rumored that she was gay, but you didn’t care. As a child, all that mattered was that she had horses, and she was very nice to all the kids, and she taught you all how to ride the horses. She’d moved away very suddenly, years ago.

You nodded. “Yeah, horses are good. I can ride, if that’s what you mean.”

“Glad to hear it! Come with me. We shall go out riding.”

That sounded very nice; a simple ride through town-or what there was of it. You eagerly followed him, as he retrieved a cloth-wrapped bundle and lead you out of the Main Building. It wasn’t exactly what you would call a castle or palace, but you weren’t sure what to call a city hall that also housed rulers.

On the East side of the building, where you had never yet been, was a very large yard full of tiny flowers, purple and white. Under the undying sun, they flourished. Oh, to be like these flowers again!

To walk among the vast cornfields of home, to be in a garden, to even have just your houseplants again!

After what felt like so long stuck inside, bored, idle, and paranoid, being outside, with the noise, the air, the sun, the colors; it was a little overwhelming, and very exciting.

The stables held a variety of horses, and stablehands, who looked at you warily and gripped their tools a bit tighter. Loki said something to them, sending them all back to their business, and, aside from a few curious stares, they no longer seemed to care that you were there.

Loki’s horse was huge, black, elegant and beautiful, because of course it was. The horse you were introduced to was not exactly beautiful, but she was very cute. Small and stocky, extra fuzzy, with a short, shaggy mane. She was friendly, and accepted you with a placid manner; all the better, since it had been years since you had ridden, and needed to get the feel for it again.

Side by side, though very different in height, you both wandered through the city. People stopped to observe their prince and his strange guest as you passed. You briefly wondered how often Asgardian royalty had to deal with things like rebellions or assassination attempts. Loki had brought no guards with him, not even Andsvarr. He was either very secure in the belief that his people loved him, or very secure in the belief that he could handle anything thrown at him.

He steered you into one of the less finished parts of town; full of skeletal buildings, and empty homes. The further you went, the less developed the land became, just disturbed earth and roads marked with sticks and string. Before you knew it, you were passing the perimeter fence, and meandering into the countryside.

The beauty of the landscape was enthralling. Mountains rose in the distance, the low vegetation bursting with flowers. Before you knew it, the city had disappeared behind you, and the two of you were lost amidst the rugged terrain.

Loki stopped you near a copse of pine trees-the first real trees you had seen since coming here- and helped you dismount. Confused as to why you were stopping, you watched as he dismantled the bundle and laid it out: a blanket, and a basket of food.

A blanket on the ground, near the only trees in the area. Far from the city, where no one could see you or hear you. Where no one could come to your aid. The pit in your stomach opened up again, deeper than ever before.

So this was it, then? This was when he would take you? You sucked in a shuddering breath, fists clenched as he set out plates and little portions of fruits and cheeses. He was even humming softly to himself, not even seeming to notice you trying to steel yourself to the oncoming horrors.

He patted the blanket next to him. What could you do? You couldn’t run. You couldn’t leave. All you could do right now was sit.

He handed you a plate, gazing gently down at you. It chilled your blood. But it seemed he was going to let you eat first. Perhaps you could just eat really, really slowly.

Maybe it would go easier for you if you just focused on his good points? He did have them, after all. He was incredibly beautiful, for one. Of course you had noticed. Graceful and regal, and he always presented himself very well. He kept clean and well-groomed, and he always smelled nice.

Yes, think of that. Think of how clever he was, how much he knew and had seen. How strong he was, how powerful. How easily he could lift you up. Or pin you down.

No, don’t think of that.

Think of his sense of humor, and how softly he touched you. Maybe you could convince him to be gentle?

“Are you cold? You’re shaking. Here, do you need my cloak?” He draped it across your shoulders, placing his arms around you casually. Finally, your temper caught up with your fear.

You reared up on your knees, throwing off the cloak and scattering your plate of fruit and cheese, little fist cocked back.

Oh, he would never be gentle with you now.

Before you could throw the punch, something struck you in the back, sharp like a rock or a hornet. It stung terribly. Were there hornets in Iceland?

You fell into Loki’s arms, pain spreading through your back. Something slid free from your flesh to thump on the ground. Loki drew his hand from your back with a gasp. It was red.

What was going on? What just happened?

Why did you hurt?

A shape broke free of the trees, a person in a camouflaged cloak and hood. It raced past both of you, threw itself on your little horse, and rode the startled animal away at top speed.

Loki shook himself from his shock and flung his hand out at the retreating figure. You saw a flash in the eternal sun-a blade.

No, it might hit the horse!

You threw your own hand up, as if to catch it, though it was much too late for that. Power sizzled through you, out of you, like an extension of your own arm. It grasped the flying blade, and pulled it back to its sender.

“What are you doing?” Loki hissed. “What did you do? They are escaping!”

“H-horsie…” You whispered. The power swirled in your head, leaving you dizzy. It almost seemed to whisper.

Learn me. Learn me. Learn me.

You collapsed entirely in Loki’s grasp.

*****

Damn, damn, damn, damn, damn! This was supposed to be a scenic picnic! This was supposed to make you smile! Now you were bleeding and senseless in his arms, and you had expended your very first act of independent magic on preventing him from bringing justice upon your assailant.

He should have been able to praise you. To show off what you’d done. There was no time. He took the knife, and hefted you in his arms. There was no catching up to the escaping miscreant now; it was far more important to get you to safety.

Imagine! Defying Crown justice for the sake of a horse! At least you understood the value of such a beast.

It was a good thing that mortals were all so light, and his own horse more than strong enough. The ride back seemed to take an excruciating length of time. Why had he chosen a place so far from safety? There were places closer to home that were equally beautiful, what fool would go so far with no escort?

The berating didn’t stop when he returned to the city, nor when he turned you over to Bjarkehild, nor when he explained to person after person what had happened, and especially not when he was finally left alone with his own thoughts.

Who was that cloaked person, and why had he not sensed their presence? Why attack you?

That was a real hang up. You were a mere mortal, absolutely harmless. As far as he understood, you had never given anyone cause to hurt you. Even your occasional explosions of temper were ultimately innoxious, even endearing. That might just be because you were unable to hurt him, no matter how hard you punched, but he couldn’t imagine any person whose face had met your fist would hate you enough for it to hunt you all the way here and try to assassinate you.

What if you were not the target, but him? You had reared up for some reason, very suddenly, right before the knife struck. Had you sensed danger? Had you been just about to tell him? Had you been trying to protect him?

Foolish, little, weak, human idiot! If that was the case, he would lock you away in your room, and only let you out with a full contingent of guards around you at all times. He would keep you safe, no matter what it took. He had given his word, and he meant to keep it this time.

“Your Highness.” Bjarkehild said gently, shattering his spinning thoughts.

“Yes? What? How is she? Let me see her!” He demanded.

“Your highness.” She repeated firmly, holding her hands up to halt him. Her hands were clean, he noticed. That was a good sign.

“She is going to be fine. The knife hit at an angle; whoever threw it was either unlucky, or unskilled. The cut was deep, but it is just that-a cut. The blade did not even clear her ribs. She sleeps only because the combination of sudden injury and magic fatigue hit her hard. She will recover swiftly. As always with her kind, she must simply rest.”

Loki relaxed the slightest bit. You were safe now. Now was time to hunt. Now was time for revenge.

#lasabrjotr #loki x reader #loki (marvel)#thor (marvel)#marvel fanfiction

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mistressdoomm · 6 years

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Dark Reign (Loki/Doctor Doom)

Chapters: 1/? Words: 1,573 Summary: After Loki lost his fight against Thor he decides to visit the infamous Doctor Doom. He wants to cooperate with Doom to finally defeat his brother Thor and take over Asgard. Warnings: none A/N: It’s my first fanfiction. Let me know if you like it. Enjoy!

In this fanfic:

the action takes place after Thor movie

the attack in New York never happened

Loki didn’t have a deal with Chitauri/Thanos.

Latveria, Doomstadt, Castle of Doctor Doom

Doctor Doom was sitting alone in the throne room. He was drowned in his own thoughts when all of the sudden a loud noise returned him to reality. He noticed a large magic portal which appeared in the middle of his throne room. Victor knew something or someone was coming from the other side but he didn't know its intention. He clenched his fists where magic energy appeared around his fists. He got up from the throne ready to attack the intruder.

A quick thought appeared in his mind who would be that stupid to attack Doom

No matter who that would be it'll meet only death from his hand, because someone dared to disturb him. Victor noticed a movement from the portal.

He saw a tall man, who was emerging from the other side of the portal. Mysterious man took a few steps and now he was in his castle. The man had a golden helmet with horns on his head. Although he wore the helmet his black hair was visible, resting on his shoulders. Stranger was wearing golden armor decorated with green and black farbic. Intruder’s green eyes pierced through Victor, emotionless expression focused on him. Seriousness on his face was suddenly replaced with a large smirk.

Despite the fact that Doom never met this man in his entire life he knew who he was. Victor knew him from norse mythology, he read about him, Thor and their home - Asgard. There wasn't anything that he wouldn't know about norse mythology, but Doom never thought he would face Loki the God of Mischief in his own homeland even in his own castle.

Before Loki could say anything Doom's castle defenses aimed at him. Loki raised his hands in a gesture of surrender very amused from the welcome.

“That is how mortals greet a guest?” Loki spoke still amused by the situation.

“No, that's how Doom welcomes intruders who trespasses his land without his permission” Victor answered crossing arms on his chest.

Loki laughed when he heard Doom referring to himself in third person.

He studied Victor in silence for a moment. His green eyes met tall man dressed in a metal suit of armor with green cloth and cape on it. His head was covered with a hood casting a shadow on his face. Loki couldn't see it, because of metal mask covering his features. The only thing Loki could see was Victor's bored brown eyes, which showed no emotions. Doom just watched him carefully from his armor already tired of this man’s presence.

“There is no need for that. I come in peace, but looks like you have no idea mortal, who is standing in front of you” Loki spoke mockingly “so let me introduce myself. I am...” he was interrupted by Doom.

“I know who you are. You are Thor's brother - Loki.” Loki rolled his eyes at the mention of Thor. “..Prince of Asgard. God of mischief. Son of frost giants Laufey and Farbauti. Rightful king of Jotunheim” Victor answered confidently.

Loki couldn't believe what he was hearing. Was he the only one who didn't know about his parentage? Even mortals knew he was a frost giant.

What an irony he thought.

He smiled at Doom. “So my fame precedes me on Midgard” Jotun spoke confident still smiling.

“Not quite” Doom retorted.

Trickster chuckled and raised an eyebrow “How's that? You seem to know me”

“Yes, but most people believe it as a fairy tales. So they don't believe in your existence. Doom read norse mythology that's why Doom's knows you” Victor explained with metalic sound in his voice.

After a moment of consideration king of Latveria came to conclusion that God of Lies was no threat to him. He gave a signal to lower the weapons aimed at Loki as he sat on his throne.

Loki had time to finally look around Doom’s castle.The room they were in was dark with cold stone walls. green curtains covered the windows almost entirely- light barely peeking through them. The atmosphere was eerie and mysterious. A few paintings hanged on the walls depicting portraits of Von Doom. Dictator rested on his throne with red upholstery and golden additions to it. He sighed with impatience, drumming his fingers on armrest of throne waiting for Loki to explain his presence.

Doom doesn’t like his time being wasted

Frost giant eventaually ended admiring his surroundings, turned around and locked his eyes with Victor’s.

Then he finally broke the silence

“Well, I must say I have learned about you too, Victor Von Doom” he spoke proudly.

After lost fight with Thor in Asgard Loki understood that Thor is too powerful for him alone. He can't fight Thor if he's on Asgard but if Thor will be too distracted on Midgard there is a big posibility that he won't quickly return to Asgard. Loki knew how Thor cared for Earth so he decided to use it for his own advantage. He was way smarter than his brother so he will use it aganist him. Trickster sent Amora the Enchantress on Earth to learn more about so-called super villains. Amora told Loki that all villains are imprisoned on Midgard. All except one called Doctor Doom. Laufeyson commanded Enchantress to gain more knowledge about Victor.

Trickster wanted to know more about Doctor Doom before he decided to cooperate with him and that's how they both now met.

Victor raised his brown eyes to look at him. Loki couldn't read his emotions because Victor's face was hidden behind a mask. He couldn't help but wonder what is he feeling right now.

After a while Doom spoke “Oh, really? I feel honored?” he said sarcastically.

Loki chuckled and started slowy walking around Doom's room.

“Oh, I do. Your real name is Victor Von Doom but in Midgard you're known as Doctor Doom. You are son of Werner and Cynthia Von Doom. I heard you're a king of this country called Latveria. You're also a diplomat, a politician, a scientist and the most interesting - he paused and looked directly at Victor - a sorcerer. I didn't think mortals know magic. Impressive as for mortal” Loki finished with a smug smile on his face.

“I do not know if I should treat it as an insult or a compliment” Doom spoke angrily looking at Loki.

“Take that as a compliment” Trickster said with a large smirk.

Of course he knew more about Doom and scars on his face but he didn't want to test his patience and enrage Latverian.

Victor decided that he had heared enough from Loki. He wanted to know why Loki visited him here in Latveria.

“Let's get to the point of this appointment. Why are you here, Loki?” Victor asked without taking his eyes off him. Deep inside he knew the answer. He was sure Loki was planning something aganist his brother or maybe he wanted take over Asgard or maybe both.

That is obvious, predictable Doom thought, but he wanted to hear that from him.

“I came here to make you an offer” God stated.

Doom leaned his elbow aganist the throne still not taking his stern gaze from Loki.

Trickster was sure he caught his attention.

“Does it have to do with your brother, Thor?” Doom asked already knowing the answer.

Loki laughed “Of course, it does. I was looking for suitable partner, but I found out so-called villains with special gifts are in prison for their crimes except you. I figured they can help distract my ‘brother’ from returning to Asgard” Loki said with disguist in his voice when he mentioned Thor.

There was a silence between them two for a while, but Victor broke it.

“What does it have to to do with Doom?” Victor asked.

“I think we can help each other” Loki said smiling “I know you are not interested in wealth or fame but in power. You want to rule Midgard? You can have it. I only want Asgard. My plan is to free all those villains to keep Thor distracted but there is a problem. Without good leader they will be quickly imprisoned again and I think with their help as your slaves you can get what you truly want. Are you interested in my offer?”

Victor listened carefully the whole time while Laufeyson introduced him to his plan. When Loki finished he was considering his offer for a few moments and then he answered.

“Under two conditions” Doom said looking him in the eye.

“Yes?” Loki asked with curiosity

“First- the agreement will become invaild when one of the sides will get in a way of the other. Second- if you try or even think of betraying Doom. I'll kill you” Victor answered threateningly.

Loki looked at him for a while and then laughed not taking threat seriously, maybe he was hoping Doom was joking but he wasn't. He was deadly serious.

Loki noticed Victor didn't laugh instead he was still looking at him. Loki stopped laughing.

“I accept your conditions. So deal?” God asked with a smile and he pulled out his hand in gesture of agreement. Victor hesitated for a long moment. His gaze lowered from his face to his extended hand. He finally pulled out his and shook trickster's hand. Loki could feel his cold and strong embrace.

He smiled to Victor with widening smirk.

"Deal” Doom answered.

#Loki Laufeyson #loki odinson #loki fanfic #marvel #doctor doom #doctor doom fanfic #tom hiddleston #tom hiddleston fanfic #victor von doom #Avengers #Thor Odinson #infinity war #loki x doctor doom

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lovelylonelybrenda · 2 years

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March 2022 Reads

This month I decided to take my reading goals a lot more seriously and this was the result. According to Storygraph I went through 11 books this month.

3 graphic novels, 3 manga and 5 books

Shadow of the Batgirl - Sarah Kuhn w/ Nicole Goux ( illustrator)

Start & End: March 2nd

When I first went to my local library to get a library card, I found this graphic novel displayed and instantly remembered I had been meaning to read it but never got a chance to. I think it was first announced or released during quarantine (when it was at its peak) and a lot of people I followed seemed excited about it. Honestly, I don’t know much about Cassandra Cain so I thought it was a very cute read as well as a simple enough introduction to her character.

I was their American Dream: A Graphic Memoir - Malaka Gharib

Start & End: March 7th

This was a required reading I had for my English class, and when only the first two chapters were assigned, I ended up reading the wholething in one sitting. It's a very quick read, but it's not as light-hearted as it may seem. When you really sit down and read the book, and break it down like I had to do for a paper, you end up with this sad and relatable story of how it feels to grow up as a first-generation American.

The Witch’s Heart - Genevieve Gorichec

Start: February 28th

End: March 13th

I picked up this book when I went book shopping with my friends and I was very hesitant to buy it. I don’t know much about Norse mythology and the story revolves around one of Loki’s wives. But despite that, it wasn’t as hard to follow and the character list at the back of the book helped tremendously. Not very plot-based, more character-based. It did feel long at certain points because there wasn’t too much action. Also liked how Angrboda’s different forms of love shine throughout the novel

Batman: Battle for the Cowl - Tony S. Daniel with Fabian Nicieza, Sandu Florea, Dustin Nguyen, Guillem March, ChrisCross, Jamie McKelvie, Alex Konat, Mark McKenna

Start: March 18th

End: March 20th

I never actually read the storyline but I did know how it was going to end. I love reading the beginnings of Dick and Damian's dynamics. I read it in two sittings. And Jason my beloved! Not the biggest fan of the art style I cannot lie.

Annihilation - Jeff Vandermeer

Start: March 14th

End: March 19th

Ultimately a short book so I thought it was going to be a quick read, but I kept having to pause and really think about the content of the book. Even then I still want to do a deep dive on the book and hopefully be able to check out the other two books in the Southern Reach Trilogy. Maybe even watch the movie.

Jujutsu Kaisen Vol: 0 - Gege Akutami

Start & End: March 18th

I decided to re-read volume 0 after the movie came out to kind of compare the two. MAPPA did very well adapting the manga and even added a little bit of fan service and I guess you could call it little easter eggs. But none of it was unnecessary and I think ultimately tied the movie together. I also am just a general fan of Akutami’s art style.

Circe - Madeline Miller

Start: March 20th

End: March 27th

My friend recommended Circe to me if I enjoyed Millers' writing style in The Song Of Achilles, which I did. I enjoyed reading Circe and even found a new appreciation for it after hearing how it impacted others. Another character-driven read but this one was done so well, I honestly wasn’t bored throughout the book because Circe’s character was so well written and so raw.

Attack on Titan: No Regrets Vol 1&2 - Gan Sunaaku, Hajime Isayama, Hikaru Suruga

Start & End: March 27th

I actually got volume 2 for Christmas but didn’t want to read it until volume 1 was in my possession. I ended up watching the OVA first and then reading the manga, but I can’t complain I don’t think the order ruined the experience for me. But I did see someone say this was a glorified Eruri fanfiction so when I read it, that's all I could think about.

Daredevil and the Punisher: Childs Play - Klaus Janson, Tom DeFalco, Frank Miller

Start & End: March 27th

A very short read, I can’t lie I rushed through this because I wanted to return it to the library the next day. But I did enjoy it, I always love seeing Frank and Matt interact, especially in their earlier days. I also do love how comics used to be colored in, the color palette is just so pleasing to me.

Call Me By Your Name - André Aciman

Start: March 30th

End: March 31st

The same friend who had recommended Circe to me was very insistent I read CMBYN, and he knew I was very hesitant to do so because of the negative (and valid) stigma tied to it. But I will say it was very beautifully written and I think that's why it was so hard for me to put it down. Throughout reading it I kept repeating to myself what the actual fuck.

#books and libraries #booklr #book review #short book #graphic novel #manga #manga review #graphic novel review #monthly reads

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tumblunni · 7 years

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HEYO! oh man now my friend helped me get all inspired again for working on my Cathedral Tower Defense game so WOO lets have another long post of miscellaneous ideasies for storyness! may not be very coherant tho cos i am super tired and ill! but happy!! THANKS SUMMON-DAZE FOR BEING MY ULTRA BESTIE

* Okay now I am super sure that I’m gonna let you choose the gender of the protagonist! And I wanna keep it so that their name is Amity either way, cos that’s kinda stuck in my mind. Surname Amity, player gets to decide the first name, but people will still be calling you Amity a lot at first cos you start off all awkward and formal with everybody. You’re a newcomer to this cathedral town and nobody knows whether to trust you, from their perspective you’re this dangerous person theyre forced to accept just because they need you to help protect them, whether you’re good or bad. They’re all worried what price they might have to pay for this, trying to figure out how to minimize the damage if you turn on them... and its not like they’re bad people for being untrustworthy, they’re just scared people huddling in a church and trying to keep their families safe at any cost. So try and prove your worth to them, and help them learn to protect themselves too, and make this ramshackle settlement into a real home! ....anyway, where was I? Oh yeah, gender selection is a good! And it could be relatively easy to impliment too, cos of the situation. Doesnt even necessarily have to be a menu or anything, it could just be like sir amity/lady amity/master amity. Cos you’re this paladin knighto, itd make sense for them to ask for your title. And it could just be like a shot of protagonist’s badass silhouette in the gateway of the cathedral and then you get the dialogue choice to pick your identity, and its all Super Cool~!

* It also actually gives me more of an idea of what i could do for their design, like I dunno maybe they have some sort of face-concealing helm or headdress or something. I was just thinking of them being dressed like a generic nun or princess but maybe emphasize more on the knight aspect instead of the holy part? So like anyway, maybe they have a very all-concealing outfit and that could be the framing of the first scene instead, its like *pulls off the mask and you’re into the character selection screen* Orrrrrr maybe there doesnt need to be any magical setup for a gender selection and it can just be a menu before the first scene starts XD Or maybe you have a cool face-concealing helmet thing anyway, like all three gender options just have a different one, lol

* More random magical names i got via the cool name generator site summon-daze linked to me! Dunno if I’ll actually use any of these but im writing them down here so i dont forget. Berebath, Betnia, Amurziz, Jetre, Miemahl, Semdach, Batxahl, Sidefarch, Botolohn, Vausach, Thammoch, Droibhal, Lekonach, Zeidhal, Tieloch, Rabrohm, Maesur, Smoiroch, Baelbuhr, Axoth, Jige, Chushou, Hukru, Nejeget, Roucu, Jinah, Aujus, Yekoth, Nugresah, Israfel, Jabriel, Tabris, Douma

* Also I’m remembering Jade Cocoon and how I liked that the different ‘families’ of monsters shared naming traits. Like how all those weird snake/slug cutiepies that i loved best were nushab, rashab, etc etc. And tamatoch and somethingtoch and so on. I think there was at least one where the modifier was a prefix too? I dunno why i’m talking about this, but there you go. I just think if i wanna do full original made up names for demon species then i wanna make em stuff that just... feels like that. I dont actually wanna make like five different elements of each one tho, i wanna have only one per element and then they have like two different higher level finalized forms. Like, the human characters can have two job classes each and the demons can have two specializations within an element. That helps me think about how to limit it down to four or five elements, if we can combine common fantasy elements together! And yeah I was thinking it’d be cool if the demon ‘job classes’ could have their own evolving appearances and new names!

* Thoughts for the ol elemental groupings! The only one I really have finalized is grass + poison = same thing. Florin, why u always the character that gets developed faster than everyone else XD And I’m thinking giving them their own made up names would make it easier! Like how in SMT you have spells being stuff like ‘media’ and ‘agi’ instead of cure and fire. But here (hopefully) it’d be easier to memorize cos its just the element names that’re fantasy words, and the attacks themselves would be a little more self explanatory. i just think it’d work cos like... the idea i had of rock and fire being one single demon type, you could just call that magma. But i mean, what can you call plant + poison? Except.. like.. plant. Cos poison is reasonably often a grass type skill anyway. And i mean, game creators dont often worry about making sense, what with how ‘grass’ is the common element name when thats just one plant in a million. I cant stop thinking about that now I’ve noticed it! I legit thought grass was a synonym for plant when i was a kid, i learned to read from pokemon yellow... ANYWAY IM GETTING OFFTOPIC AGAIN The other idea I had for groupings was fire + non-elemental together? I was just thinking like... aura. Non elemental/physical attack as a ‘magic’ could be fighting spirit! And thematically speaking it tends to be shown as fire effects in anime, i guess XD But then i couldnt put fire with rock and that means I’d have to redesign malachi again. his design ended up looking more firey than rocky :P Another idea is maybe darkness + non-elemental together? like, interpret non-elemental as ‘void’. Or light and dark could be together actually, that could be an interesting way to do it, instead of having them opposing. Like maybe the elements could be colours! Grey element, able to specialize into white or black but neither is any sort of ‘good and evil’. And then the rest could be like green or like.. instead of red maybe fire could be bronze and thats why it has rock skills too? or man, maybe rock and metal could be one element and fire could be grouped with something else. And would water and ice be too ordinary and boring? do they already kinda count as one element? should I throw in something else? GAHHHHHHH

* Ideas for the multiple religious groups aligned with each element! I’m thinking I want one of them to interpret the setting’s absent god as two deities. like, every perspective on this deity is a wildly different character, this one is just even more so! they’d see malahat (tentative name) as two people, but kinda more like a shared soul that can manifest as either a male or female form. But there’d be ambiguity and debates in the mythos over whether this is actually a genderfluid god, or if its ‘twins who were cursed to never exist at the same time’, or various other variations on the story. I wanna make it like real life, where even within (for example) catholocism, there’s different sects and different translations of the same text. And where there’s predjudice against minority groups and people like to twist their faith to ‘justify’ it, even when parts of the original tale could easily justify treating those people with kindness too. So there’d be some followers of the twins religion who are very openminded to LGBTQ people, and historically anyone trans was able to hold a unique position as a priest, being treated as someone blessed by god. But like in norse mythology, this wasnt necessarily a sign that society was 100% okay with LGBTQ people. Its kinda depressing to read about how trans women and gay men were considered the only people able to become a specific kind of witches, but also how you kinda HAD to take this one safety net in society to stop people from making you an outcast. It was like ‘make them fear me so they dont fuckin kill me’. You had to become a medicine person and at least claim to believe in these magic powers, you had to be blessed by the gods to prove you were like.. one of the good ones. Otherwise its like youre saying the gods made a mistake when they made you, or youre choosing to be a deviant against nature. i can only imagine how terrifying it must have been if you believed in that religion and had to like.. be forced to go against it and leave society, or be forced to lie about being chosen by a god for a higher purpose, while believing that any moment you might get struck down for lying. And then I read in other history books about how the concept of homosexuality was far different in that old society too, how male-on-male sex was accepted at sea as long as you were the dominant one and you were forcing something unwanted onto a lesser shipmate as punishment. Like ugh, rape being more socially accepted than consensual LGBTQ relationships! I guess the only solace is that we can never be 100% sure how much of historians’s theories are correct and what might have changed in retellings of history, but honestly I can believe the past is this fucked up when the present is already fucked up in different ways. BUT ANYWAY I wanna explore those themes in my story maybe. And I wanna do more research into the subject to make sure I’m doing it justice, even though its a very sad subject that might be quite stressful. Maaaaan, I remember how I used to obsess about researching norse myth as a kid, it was one of my first Special Interests and I really wanted to see all the different reinterpretations of Loki and write my own fanfic/adaptation/vaguely inspired original story about What If He Stayed A Good Guy. Man I had soooo much sympathy for the poor sod. I mean it depends on the retelling whether he was always evil or whether he was like a comedic neutral ally to the gods who just abruptly becomes evil and gets killed off without remorse in the final story. And gahhh he’s like the biggest LGBTQ bastion in the whole mythos, and how can I not feel sympathetic?? When we get all these stories about him being a literal genderfluid shapeshifter and giving birth to half of his children and just like seriously its like The Story Of the One Trans Man In Homophobic Transphobic Valhalla and he was probably meant to seem Bad and Funny and whatever but im gonna sit here and grumpily cling onto the idea that he was deliberately written as trans, or that if these gods actually do exist out there somewhere then Loki would support me. *pout* I just have a lot of good memories of how this was like the first sign of me realizing my own gender, back when I first learned about Loki in school and then devoured every damn history book about the dude. And got in a million internet pissing matches about how innacurate the marvel version was XD Also it sucks that we like to believe that modern times are always 100% more enlightened in every way, yet its modern adaptations that always censor out the bits about him shifting gender identities and getting pregnant once. ... man this has gone offtopic too much, im really tired but seriously its funny how teenage bunni had NO CLUE they were nonbinary, no clue why they got so obsessed researching gender-defying mythological figures and historians who created gender neutral pronouns in the 1800s. i was so supernaturally oblivious, holy shit...

#cathedral tower defense

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unnursvanablog · 6 years

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The books I have read so far this year.

I have read twenty-two books and it's only July! That is an accomplishment in itself (for me, a person who reads kinda slow). Last year I only read thirty-three. I also tried to challenge myself by trying to read something other than just fantasy.

Hidden Figures - Margot Lee Shetterly: ☆☆☆☆ I sometimes find it difficult to read non-fiction books. There were things like descriptions of wind-tunnels or talks about math or other technical things that were happening at NASA at the time that I just found it hard to get through, but the rest of the story was so interesting and so impactful and rich that I could not stop reading. It made me cry.

The Monkey and the Monk - Wu Cheng: ☆☆☆ This was a abridged version of the famous Chinese tale Journey to the West. And while I found the story interesting, I also found it kinda confusing and the story seemed to lose me at times.

Genuine Fraud - E. Lockhart: ☆☆☆☆ This book was so fast-paced, I loved it! I could not really stop and with every chapter I seemed to learn something new that changed my view of the story and the characters, I never knew where the books was going to take me. Overall I found it really enjoyable, very clever and a very interesting read.

The Gospel of Loki - Joanne M. Harris: ☆☆☆ I often find it difficult to read retellings of Norse mythology, because so often I find that these stories aren't really telling me anything new, or I feel like I have read this before. I know what happens and I get bored. There were chapters in the book where I did feel that way and I just sort of skimmed over them, but elsewhere I found myself just enjoying Loki's point of view of all these events from Norse mythology. And I think it was just because it was written in a very cleaver, dark-humored tone that I quite enjoyed.

Crazy Rich Asians - Kevin Kwan: ☆☆☆☆ I stumbled onto this book at the library and I knew the movie was coming out this year, so I just decided to give it a go. And it proved to be just a very fun chick-lit. Something that I don't read a lot off. It was very easy to read and it was often quite entertaining and funny, although maybe a bit shallow. But I found the main character to be a lot of fun and a lot of these absurd situations that she found herself in a very amusing. Some of the plot felt like it was right out of a kdrama (which I'm say as a compliment), and yes, I just really enjoyed myself while reading. I could see myself pick up the next books, if I find them at the library.

The Uncommon Reader - Alan Bennett: ☆☆ Read in Icelandic Thank the gods this book was short, because it bored me so much. I just found it very dull.

I Kill Giants - Joe Kelly: ☆☆☆ I remember finding it interesting that here was another story where the serious illness of a parent manifests or appears in the form of a monster that the kids needed to face in one way or another. I found that very interesting.

Fingersmith - Sarah Waters: ☆☆☆ There was a special screening of The Handmaiden at a local cinema and I wanted to go see it, so I decided to try reading the book that the movie was based on beforehand. The movie might have been bit too much in my head as read the book, since I was constantly doing some comparisons to the two plots. I found the start of the book really promising, I liked the Victorian setting, but the second part of the book wasn't as compelling. I did not enjoy the book as much as I had hoped and I honestly preferred the plot in The Handmaiden a lot more.

Homegoing - Yaa Gyasi: ☆☆☆☆ Read in Icelandic

Unlike anything I've read before, that is for sure. I often find stories that jump from one perspective to another a bit frustrating but surprisingly it kinda didn't bother me all that much in this one. Although the story goes from one generation to the next, there was certain cohesion in the text that really did it for me. Very impressive read and it really makes you think.

The Nightingale - Kristin Hannah: ☆☆☆☆ Over the years, I've realized that I'm a little bit fond of stories that take place in World War II, or have some links to it, for some reason. I had heard very good things about this book and I was glad to find that (to me) it was as good as people had told me it was. It's always a bit of a relief when that happens. Very interesting story. I wept a little.

Simon vs. The Homo Sapiens Agenda - Becky Albertalli: ☆☆☆☆ I felt like I blew through this book very quickly since I found her really fun, easy-to-read youth book and that is always a nice feeling - and a rarity for me, since I read so slow. The character were interesting and mostly likeable, the story managed to add some mystery and tension without becoming too cliché or too dramatic. Just a very fun, easy-read YA book that put a smile on my face.

Human Acts - Han Kang: ☆☆☆ Stories that talk about the same events from many different angles can be interesting, but they have a tendency to not do it for me for some reason. Human Acts was good, but I found it hard sometimes to focus on the story. I felt a bit confused or bewildered at times. Perhaps it was because the events that were unfolding in front of the eyes of the characters were confusing and sort of chaotic and the text was supposed to reflect that. Maybe it was just the translation. I don't know.

Down Among the Sticks and Bones - Seanan McGuire: ☆☆☆ I thought I would not find this book to enjoyable as I felt I like I knew the plot because I read the first book where we were sort told this back story. However, I was quite surprised to find that this story was a very fun read for me. It was short but sweet.

The Terror - Dan Simmons: ☆☆ I really needed to force myself through a good chunk of this book. Even if I found the idea and the location of the story so interesting the story itself never actually managed to hooked me so I never really felt myself in the mood to read it as I was reading it.

A Wrinkle in Time - Madeleine L'Engle: ☆☆☆ I liked this story well enough, but I feel like I was expecting more. And it's mostly just because I felt like a good chunk of the story just felt rushed in a way or the main conflict was resolved too fast as soon as they got into the other dimensions and in a way I was just kinda expecting something grander.

Little Women - Louisa May Alcott: ☆☆☆ Without realizing I found an abridged version this book at the library and decided to read it after watching the BBC adaptation. And thank god I did watch that show because that abridged version rushed through the plot so fast that if I had not watched the BBC episodes and loved them then I would definitely not have enjoyed this book at all.

Sólhvörf - Emil Hjörvar Petersen: ☆☆☆ Read in Icelandic I found myself enjoying the first half of the books a lot more than the second half, even if almost all of the action took place in that half of the book. I found the mystery rather interesting, but the solution did not do much for me. But I still feel Petersen has done an excellent job in expanding and adding to this world that he has created and I think this mix of fantasy and nordic crime thriller works kinda well.

A State of Sorrow - Melinda Salisbury: ☆☆☆ I was surprised with how much I enjoyed the politics and that whole plot of the book, since I often do not like aspect that in YA books. I also liked Sorrow as a character, I found her and most of the characters that appeared in the book interesting or at least intriguing. The story was not free of all the clichés of other YA books and some of the story elements and mysteries I could see happening before they happened. But I liked it.

Paper Girls # 1 & # 2 - Brian K. Vaughan: ☆☆☆, ☆☆☆. Although I find the story and the style of this comic rather interesting and fun, I have to say that this story does not have the same hook as Saga does (written by the same author) so I don't feel this need to keep reading.

Space Opera - Catherynne M. Valente: ☆☆ I'm a huge Eurovision fan, so when I found a book that mixes science fiction and Eurovision I was so excited. But even with all these nods to Eurovision and some cleaver writing here and there the story never won me over. I found the main character annoying and I felt like there was spent a lot of time on world building or telling us about the galaxy and not enough time spent on the actual story.

Beyond a Darkened Shore - Jessica Leake: ☆☆☆ Despite grabbing my interest with some mix of Norse and Celtic mythology in the story did not do too much for me. I just felt like those mythology elements could have been used in a more interesting way but at the same time I found that to be the most interesting part of the story. As the story went on the main conflict seemed to have less impact on me and parts of the story felt maybe a bit simplistic.

#book review #books

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