#this is specifically in regard to loki but also just always | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

percheduphere · 5 months

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people saying, oh it wasn't intended from the beginning so it wasn't intentional thus has to stay fanfiction bug me. like, shows can develop organically based on chemistry. they can surprise you and take you in a direction that wasn't planned but now just works. like, fucking, chandler and monica wasn't planned from the beginning! but the actors had chemistry and the writers tried it out and it became iconic. you don't throw something away just because it surprised you instead of being pre-planned; you cultivate whatever gold you find!

With Hollywood entertainment in particular, I think there is a lot of ignorance regarding how the creative process, production process, post-production process, and business all work. It is readily apparent that in Hollywood, there are many hands in the kitchen when it comes to creating a movie, documentary, or show. The "Original Intent" argument is weakest when it comes to Hollywood art, and in fact fails to be a viable argument in multiple areas. I will discuss how the "Original Intent" argument fails in Hollywood in more depth under the read more, using what I know from having worked in the industry myself as a writer. And to be honest, the fact I have to pull my private professional history out online, just to prove I'm not being delulu when it comes to the importance of queer subtext in film, pisses me the fuck off.

To be clear, since this whole discourse mess on my Tumblr is likely the result of someone thinking I'm an anti-sylki: I AM NOT AN ANTI. I have an extensive analysis on Sylvie as an integral character to the Loki series, Sylki in canon, and her relationship with Mobius here.

I agree with you: a lot of amazing art deviates from the original intention, especially writing. If deviating from original intent in the writing process did not exist, we would not have DRAFT REVISIONS, we would not have IMPROV, we would not have EDITORS (whose entire job hinges on giving the writer not only grammar corrections, but feedback on how to IMPROVE character, plot, and pacing, which inherently means making changes from the original intent!). This is to say nothing of the thousands, if not tens or hundreds of thousands, of media scholars--with actual PhDs--who spend years of their lives performing meta-analysis to write academic papers on subject matters like this. Papers that become formal publications and contribute to how queer history is taught in universities! This is no different than academic scholars analyzing women and race representation and resistance in film. Why should analyzing queer representation and resistance in film be treated any less?

LET'S TALK ABOUT ORIGINAL CREATIVE INTENT VS POWER HIEARCHY & POLITICS IN HOLLYWOOD

For context with respect to this ask, a different Tumblr user critiqued against queer subtext in one of my posts using the "original intent" argument for the Loki series and Lokius specifically. By this logic, if original intent is always honored, then the original script for Loki's S2E5 (written by Eric Martin) would not have been NUKED by the executive powers that be at Marvel. [source] But no, the original intent was not honored, it was rejected. So how does one square the primacy of original intent with original intent being rejected by people who are not the artist but the people who manage Disney's finances?

In television, "Executive Producer" (i.e. Tom Hiddleston, Michael Waldron, Eric Martin, etc.) is a title that can be given to a writer or actor who has more creative say in the execution of a story than a regular staff writer or actor on crew. It also indicates that the writer or actor is in a much higher salary range compared to their professional peers. It does NOT mean the same thing as a CORPORATE "Producer" of Kevin Feige's level, who ultimately has the FINAL SAY on what does NOT end up on the cutting room floor. The corporate Producer must take into account the wishes of corporate's shareholders and board of directors, who are often multi-million if not multi-billion global investors who need the distribution of the product to succeed internationally in countries like China, which is very anti-LGBTQAI+. This is how a script like Eric Martin's S2E5 can be nuked and the writer can be contractually gagged from talking about its specific contents by Disney, lest they be SUED TO HELL for breaking their non-disclosure agreements (NDAs).

This doesn't even take into account politics.

In 2020, Ike Perlmutter, Chair of Marvel, "gave $575,000 to Trump For Victory, $35,500 to the Republican National Committee in April, $5600 for Texans For Ronny Jackson in February. 2019 saw him donate $248,000 to the Republican National Committee, $466,100 to Trump For Victory, $5,600 to Donald Trump For President." His wife, Laura, mirrored those donations. "In late 2016, he also gave $5,000,000 to the Great America PAC." [source] Ike was only recently laid off from his position in March 2023 [source]. Perlmutter was in a power-struggle at Marvel with Kevin Feige for years. Feige was promoted to Chief Creative Officer in 2019, which brought the power struggle to a head, ultimately contributing to Perlmutter's departure.

There is also Bob Iger, CEO of Disney, who was famously quoted during the Writers Guild of America strike for saying, “It’s very disturbing to me. We’ve talked about disruptive forces on this business and all the challenges we’re facing, the recovery from COVID which is ongoing, it’s not completely back. This is the worst time in the world to add to that disruption”

This is the worst time in the world to negotiate to pay your writers, YOUR CREATIVE LABOR FORCE, who entertained millions of people while they were stuck in their homes for 2 years, fairly?

And these are just two men in executive power at Marvel and Disney. We're not even talking about all the other board members and shareholders. You think Tom Hiddleston, Michael Waldron, and Eric Martin have any real power compared to these guys? They do not. They are peons by comparison. And these artists (despite their "Executive Producer" title) are always at odds with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP), who are ultimately not artists but FINANCIERS.

Here's another quote from a studio executive that occurred during the writer's strike:

"Receiving positive feedback from Wall Street since the WGA went on strike May 2, Warner Bros Discovery, Apple, Netflix, Amazon, Disney, Paramount and others have become determined to “break the WGA,” as one studio exec blatantly put it.

To do so, the studios and the AMPTP believe that by October most writers will be running out of money after five months on the picket lines and no work.

“The endgame is to allow things to drag on until union members start losing their apartments and losing their houses,” a studio executive told Deadline. Acknowledging the cold-as-ice approach, several other sources reiterated the statement. One insider called it “a cruel but necessary evil.”" [source 1] [source 2]

Fortunately, this negative press and the WGA members' solidarity led to the WGA getting everything they demanded. I still have friends in the industry, specifically in the WGA and MPEG. A lot of them were indeed starved out. My friend who's a film editor is still unemployed because pre-production has only recently started to ramp up again and her profession is all in post. She has to wait for production to catch-up and finish in order to get work.

If the AMPTP is willing to use clearly unethical tactics to underpay their writers and actors (don't forget the SAG-AFTRA strike that joined later), do we really think members of the AMPTP (the studio execs) are willing to honor artists' original intent if the original intent may be "offensive to some viewers" and therefore can potentially cut into their financial bottom line?

We're not naive. We know the answer to this.

OUR FLAG MEANS DEATH, KILLING EVE, AND GOOD OMENS

But what about OFMD, KE, and GO? These shows are on MAX, BBC, and Amazon Prime respectively. These corporations have a different branding image than Disney. Disney touts itself as "family friendly"; (read: on-screen LGBTQAI+ affection between two lead characters is "not family friendly"). MAX and BBC's branding type also affords them the luxury of creating content for niche audiences. Disney, on the other hand, makes additional revenue through using their plethora of licenses to make toys, additions to their theme parks, and other merch. If a parent is offended that a canonically queer character like Loki has romantic love not just for Sylvie but also for Mobius (a same-sex relationship), what are the odds of parents like them not buying Disney's merchandise? We can apply this same question to Star Wars, Pixar, and any of Disney-branded animation or live action movies. How deeply can audience offense potentially cut into Disney's bottom line? If there were no discrimination taking place, we would have LGBTQAI+ representation through a lead character in any one of their licenses already. We do not, and that is a huge red flag.

In addition, these entertainment corporations (who do not tout themselves as "family friendly") generate other sources of revenue elsewhere. Netflix generates international revenue through the production of international programming like "Squid Game" and other K-dramas such as "The Glory" or Mexican shows including, "The Surrogacy" and "Haunted: Latin America". MAX is struggling. They were bought out for that reason. With AppleTV and Hulu, their target audiences are more diverse, they offer a variety of media product, and their business strategy is ultimately different from Disney. All of this grants them more freedom in what kind of characters they choose to represent, including LGBTQAI+ characters.

Remember House and Wilson from House M.D.? That show was on FOX. We know the political alignment of FOX. Dean and Castiel from Supernatural? WB Television. Both shows came out before streaming became dominant, and thus, these shows had to cater to anyone who might happen to land on their channels. When the market demands that you cater to the widest possible audience in order to generate the largest revenue, the creatives are forced to create relatively conservative artistic product. Hence, creative censorship and our long history of queer subtext.

At Nickelodeon, the artists actually had the support of corporate to move forward with Korrasami because the final season Legend of Korra was only available online. It did not air on their channel. If that had not been the case, corporate would not have approved Korrasami. However, that approval was contingent upon the artists being subtle subtle about Korra and Asami's relationship. Even in this canon ship, the animators relied on subtext for queer romance.

Not helping Disney's case is the cancellation of "The Owl House". Why was "The Owl House" canceled? It didn't fit Disney's "brand". [source]

THE FAILURES OF THE "ORIGINAL INTENT" ARGUMENT IN HOLLYWOOD

The "Original Intent" argument fails when it comes to art in Hollywood because:

Original Intent can change, and often does change, during the creative process. This applies to all forms of art, not just Hollywood.

Multiple artists are involved in pre-production, production, and post-production. At any point in this 3-part process of filmmaking, original intent can be changed for a variety of reasons.

Studio Executives, Boards of Directors, and Corporate Shareholders have more power than the artists in Hollywood. If they think a product will not make money, they will order changes accordingly.

Disney specifically touts itself as "family friendly". Its lack of a lead character (in ANY of its live-action licenses) being in an openly queer relationship with someone who presents as the same sex, is the direct result of not wanting to lose conservative audiences.

Non-Disclosure Agreements (NDAs) are common in Hollywood and prevent artists from providing specifics regarding original intent. This is done not only to safeguard corporate's intellectual property (IP), but to also safeguard their public relations image.

THE ORIGINAL INTENT ARGUMENT WEAPONIZED

The "original intent" mindset can be either very naive or very cynical, depending on the thinker's motives for choosing this belief. Naive, in that thinking creative purity actually exists (it does not) or that oppression does not still occur in Hollywood (it does). Cynical, in that either the thinker doesn't believe in artists intentionally finding ways around mass produced arts' media censorship, which has in turn created our rich history of queer subtext in film, OR the thinker wants the "original intent" argument to invalidate a change they do not like.

The last motive is the same strategy used by fans who reject Miles Morales as being a real Spider-Man. The same strategy fans use to deny that Shuri is indeed the new Black Panther. Both are tactics used to mask racism and sexism beneath the veneer of "creative purity". Fans who have internalized racism, sexism, or queer-phobia may also use this tactic at a subconscious level to protect themselves emotionally from disappointment. Finally, there are fans who use this argument to invalidate another ship, usually a queer ship that cannot be formally canonized because of corporate studio power.

Regardless of the reasoning, using this argument is frequently insidious because it perpetuates straight white male dominance in media representation.

PERSONAL LIVED EXPERIENCE

I'm an old poc queer and have worked in Hollywood long enough to know that the writers' original vision rarely ever--IF EVER--pans out as originally intended. If you ever sit through a movie and wonder why the story feels so weird in certain parts, I can guarantee you that about 2/5ths of the time, a corporate producer stepped in and messed with the original story in post-production (usually in an poor, over-worked editor's dark editing bay) and ordered reshoots the director may not have agreed with.

I've also worked in the industry long enough to know that it is an absolutely toxic work environment in which women, people of color, and queer people still struggle to get a creative foothold anywhere. My first experience pitching a script to a prospective agent involved being asked to meet at a hotel for drinks. We didn't talk about my writing at all. What I thought would be a pitch meeting was actually the writer's version of the "Hollywood casting couch". Yes, I was propositioned. No, nothing happened to me. I walked out. This happened to me in June 2008. It was not my last experience. The "Me Too" movement that came years later in 2017 was in response to situations I have encountered like this.

Those of us who succeed are very rare, and 97% of the time, the executive staff is very, very white and male. There is absolutely oppression and exploitation of all sorts still happening in Hollywood. I fucking lived it and continue to have nightmares about it.

QUEER SUBTEXT STILL EXISTS

Thus, to deny queer subtext's validity as an art form and to only accept the words of those who are either in power or limited in what they can say because of those in power, undermines not only the artists' efforts to tell the story they want to tell but cannot tell explicitly, it also undermines queer joy and queer resistance in cinema. And yes, sometimes those artists are cis straight white male allies who want to tell these stories because they simply make sense for the characters. These people are the artists, not the financiers.

It's more mature to embrace, or at least leave alone, the loud joy others experience from shipping and performing meta-analysis instead of publicly pissing on them with the profoundly weak and ignorant argument of "original intent". Don't mess with me on this. The number of scripts I have worked on that completely warped from what I wanted, and then to have my writing credit removed or stolen, still makes me sick. Yes, I'm bitter, but I'm also glad I left.

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lokiinmediasideblog · 8 months

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I Intentionally Start Shit in the Loki Tag

If you complain about Sylvie being "harmful queer rep" BUT want "Lady Loki" in the MCU, which was Loki possessing Sif's body just to torment Sif, I need you to sit down and shut up. a. Genderfluid people don't go by "Lady " when they're femme or women. b. If you don't see the transphobic dogwhistles in the comics possession subplot, I don't know what to tell you... But let's say that hag that wrote those crappy books would love it. c. If you weren't aware about this, maybe you should read the wiki at least before giving uninformed opinions.

I definitely agree that they should not have led people on with the promise of genderfluid rep during the promotion of the series. But get mad at Disney/Marvel for that. Not at the writers or Sophia Di Martino that had to cave in to Feige's demands. That's literally what they have to do.

I really don't give a damn about the "autogynephilia" allegations, which again, is ALSO PRESENT IN CIS WOMEN. Like why the fuck should I care about someone finding themselves hot? There's fascists out there. AGP even if it was a trans-specific thing harms no one. The only harm said to come from it is DUE TO FASCISM because it plays into RESPECTABILITY POLITICS.

If you use AI to create a "proper" Lady Loki or love interest for Loki, you can't complain about the blatant product placement in S2. I am not a fan of product placement either and won't defend it, but those are the rules. Show some integrity. And before you ask, I have not given a cent to Disney since they pissed me off with attempts to trademark Dia de los Muertos for Coco.

If you complain about how being a "Loki" is not a role (unlike Spiderman) and how it should have been all 100% Tom Hiddleston, you don't get to call it selfcest as a gotcha, because you're already differentiating between the variants with different DNA. Like do y'all hate selfcest or not? Make up your mind. The series treats a Loki as an archetype of sorts, so it can be a role. Also, having the same name does not make you related because we don't know what Sylvie's parents are? And we don't even know if Sylvie is also a Jotun, a prop claims she isn't.

If you say you want Sylvie dead but claim to not be misogynistic, because you'd love if a specific love interest from the comics or mythology replaced her, STFU. You only like those because you can project whatever the fuck you want onto them.

If you claim Sylvie is a misogynistic depiction of women but salivate over characters written by cishet white men in the 1960s-1980s that made wanting to fuck Thor or being in a monogamous marriage with Loki their entire personality (there's so MANY OF THESE), STFU. Do you hear yourself? And no, it's not misogynistic of me, a woman, to criticize offensive depictions of women by cishet white men. They're not real.

Our MCU!Loki is not the young adult Ikol reincarnation currently. Of course 20-something Verity is not going to be there! The Loki show should be praise for having multiple female cast members around the same age as the protagonist and pragmatic clothing choices that allowed SdM to nurse her baby.

Selfcest isn't real and I cry tears of boredom whenever someone clutches their pearls over it.

The comics aren't perfect. As much as I loved the recent Dan Watters run (and German Peralta's art), the comics art has some very questionable tendencies, especially regarding Loki's nose when she's femme. It's associated with how some kinds of facial features are considered masculine or feminine (and racialized). Noses have no gender, ffs! Women with nose bumps exist! For some reason Loki always has a tiny button nose when she's a woman or femme. There's also the BLATANT physiognomy that has ALWAYS PLAGUED Thor comics since their inception, and Loki's facial features as they've become more "grey" and less evil is an interesting study. Peralta's far from being the only artist with this problem, and is far from being the most problematic. For comparison from Loki (2023) run:

Loki from ye olden days:

#selfcest #mcu!loki #comics!loki #mcu!sylvie #marvel comics #loki series #physiognomy #queer rep #istartshit #hot takes

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godsofhumanity · 8 months

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any Tyr and fenrir hcs?

YEAHH TYR ONE OF MY FAVE GUYS EVERRRR AND FENRIR THE BEST DOG OUT THEREEEE (sorry cerberus fans)

ok. i feel like you can't talk about Loki's children without talking about the father himself. so let's start there. note: everything i'm about to write is pre-Baldr's death by a LOT.

i don't believe that any specific lore is given regarding Angrboda besides her role as Hel, Jormungandr and Fenrir's mother, so in my invention of events, i hc that Angrboda lived in a camp of giants that, while not overtly hostile, was encroaching on Asgardian territory and Odin, not willing to provoke all out war but not ready to risk being suddenly overrun with giants, sent out his favourite "diplomat" Loki as his eyes and ears in this giant camp to make sure everyone was keeping to themselves.

but Loki's mind works in... mischievous ways. he meets Angrboda in this camp and, obviously, they develop a relationship... a relationship that detains Loki in the camp for much longer than Odin originally sent him out for.

it's pretty known that Loki comes and goes as he pleases, but i think Loki's absence worries Odin and so eventually Odin goes out to this camp himself in the guise of a crow, and he discovers why Loki has been absent for so long; there are three children there, Loki's-- Hel, Jormungandr, and Fenrir.

a war unwittingly breaks out, and i think the Asgardians lay waste to the small camp of the giants, and while i don't think Angrboda is killed, she is badly injured and too weak to put up a fight for her children.

now, i don't think Loki actually truly cares for his children. at least, he's not in the running for Father of the Year. i think he's just a manipulator and schemer, and so he asks Odin to spare the children because they are his own and they're only infants. i think Hel is just a young girl,, maybe 8 or 9 yrs in mortal terms, Jormungandr is slightly younger, and Fenrir is just a pup... a tiny little thing, still wrapped in swaddling like a baby.

so Odin relents, and he brings them back with him to Asgard. Odin has some prophetic abilities, but not clear or detailed... i think he glimpses the destruction that the children can cause and so he elects to divide the children from each other and allocates them to be certain gods' responsibilities... i won't go into details about this since you only asked for Fenrir and Tyr, but naturally, Odin asks Tyr to watch over Fenrir.

i hc Fenrir to be the youngest of Loki's monster brood. he has no recollection of his mother, no relation with his father, and though his siblings have always been "siblings" in every sense of the term, while he was with Tyr, i think he didn't remember much of Jormungandr or Hel.. these relationships only developed properly after Tyr's "betrayal".

this is important to me because i think it establishes that Tyr really was Fenrir's only family. despite Tyr, like many other Asgardians, not really liking Loki, i do not think he grudged Fenrir.

Odin did not intend for their relationship to be sweet or friendly or familial, but Tyr does not raise Tyr with contempt. he treats him with respect and kindness. they become equals.

i'm not quite sure how to categorise Tyr and Fenrir's relationship-- Fenrir wasn't Tyr's pet. nor was he really a son or a brother. he simply came to be a friend. like a best friend. someone you could count on no matter what.

i think Fenrir, while he was still "reasonably sized" would have accompanied Tyr in battles. they would fight back to back.

i also have a hc of Fenrir always finding his way into Tyr's bed, like dogs do... and that was ok while he was a cute little pup, but the bigger Fenrir gets, the less room there is.

Tyr i think, becomes closer to Fenrir than he thought he would be. Fenrir is the only one of his siblings to live in Asgard, since Tyr lives in Asgard, therefore, i think Fenrir would have seen Loki. and i hc that Tyr would get frustrated and protective of Fenrir when Loki would make comments about Fenrir or mock him as having become a "pet".

but, not everyone shares Tyr's sentiments. for many Asgardians, Fenrir is and always will be known as Loki's son. and people don't like Loki.

i hc that Odin has a dream, which of course, he interprets as a revelation-- in it, a giant wolf attacks Asgard.. a premonition of Ragnarok to come. seeing how large Fenrir has grown, Odin decides that Fenrir must be leashed for the protection of everyone.

i think Tyr protests this... he knows that Fenrir has a good soul, and he's actually nothing like Loki. but i think there's a majority vote to use a leash and chain him.

thus, Tyr is forced to participate in the scheme.. only, Tyr believes that the chain will simply hold Fenrir fast... he doesn't know it's really a muzzle, and a chain so short that Fenrir will never be able to move from that spot or open his mouth. this is something only Odin knows, and he keeps this a secret from Tyr because he knows his son will fight it.

so, as the myth goes, Tyr assures Fenrir that he can trust him, that it's only a precaution. i think Fenrir would have been very confused about it all, but he loves and trusts Tyr, so when Tyr gives him his word, he agrees to lay still while they bind him. Tyr even places his arm in Fenrir's mouth as a gesture of trust.

except... the chains are heavier than they thought... and they burn. they singe Fenrir's fur, and in pain and anger, Fenrir closes his mouth on Tyr's arm, and everyone's freaking out because there's blood everywhere and there's a giant wolf wreaking havoc... and Tyr realises Odin's true intentions, but he's wrenched away from the scene far too quickly.

and by the time he's recovered and goes back to see Fenrir, the wolf is long gone... chained up somewhere else, in a dark, lonely cave, far away from Tyr, thinking forever that Tyr knew about the chains and betrayed him.

thus the relationship crumbles into fine dust.

curiously, Fenrir is not the one to kill Tyr in Ragnarok. canonically, it is Hel's wolf, Garmr who kills and is killed by Tyr... but Fenrir does kill Odin. i don't think it contributes anything by swapping these kills around and saying that Fenrir kills Tyr and Garmr kills Odin just to add a little poetic justice... so instead, i think that maybe Hel is the one who delivers justice for her brother and slays Tyr (i do think that Hel genuinely loves her siblings, and fights for them. i think they respect her too and fight on Loki's side during Ragnarok at her say so... but i won't expand on that here hehe). and perhaps, i wonder whether Tyr truly fights back...

i do hc that the guilt of betraying Fenrir is something that weighs deeply on Tyr's conscience, and i don't really think he's the same guy after that. he's darker, and more serious, and he laughs just a little bit less.

and Fenrir's not the same either. hatred and wrath consume him... he is no longer the fun, sweet pup that ran through fields under blue skies, but a cynical, blood-thirsting wolf. he doesn't trust anyone besides Jormungandr and Hel after that.

#ah yeah.#anon #anonymous #asks #hc #tyr #fenrir

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thenightling · 1 year

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My favorite bard characters

The new Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves movie and The Witcher has popularized the fantasy character class of bard. A bard, in fantasy settings and historically, was usually a storyteller, or a minstrel who would tell stories in song. In fantasy settings they are usually minstrels. In Nordic culture a skald was the term for a storyteller (usually a highly creative and very prized slave).

Here is a top ten list of my favorite fictional bards.

13. Bonus: Loki: I'll start with number 11. Bonus: Loki. There is a viking skald in Loki: Agent of Asgard that is revealed to be Loki in disguise. So Marvel's Loki goes on this list. Loki is believed in by Asatru people so this entry is specifically in regard to Marvel's Loki. He also gained the title "God of Stories."

12. Morpheus AKA Dream of The Endless AKA The Sandman. Morpheus is The Lord of Dreams in Roman mythology and in Neil Gaiman's the Sandman . In The Sandman he is also known as The Prince of Stories.

11. Lucien The Librarian and Cain and Abel from The Sandman by Neil Gaiman. Lucien was changed to Lucienne for The Sandman Netflix series but they're pretty much the same character. Lucien is the keeper of the largest library in the multiverse and was also the host of the horror anthology comics Tales of Ghost Castle. I'm sort of cheating a little here by mentioning Lucien and Cain and Abel since they're not actually bards but I love horror hosts. Cain, Abel, Lucien, Eve (Raven Woman), Destiny (Destiny of The Endless), The Hecate (The Three Witches), and The Mad Mod Witch (The Fashion Thing) all started as horror hosts for DC's horror anthology comics. I'm reserving this spot for Lucien, Cain, and Abel. Hosts of Tales of Ghost Castle (which only ran for three issues), The House of Mystery (DC's oldest comic), and The House of Secrets (Spin-off of The House of Mystery and comic where we first get introduced to the concept of Swamp Thing).

Before Neil Gaiman used these characters in The Sandman they told scary stories in DC's horror anthology comics which were DC's answer to EC's Horror anthology comics which brings us to... 10. The Crypt Keeper, Vault Keeper, and Old Witch. The Crypt Keeper hosted the Horror anthology comics Tales from the Crypt. The Vault keeper hosted Vault of Horror. And the Old Witch also told scary stories for EC comics. The Crypt Keeper hosted HBO's Tales From the Crypt TV series as well as Tales from the Cryptkeeper animated series. Season 2 of Tales from the Cryptkeeper was co-hosted by The Cryptkeeper, Vault Keeper, and Old Witch. They also collaborated as hosts for the joke book called Jokes from the Crypt. Again, I admit I am sort of cheating here by listing horror anthology hosts instead of actual bard characters so this is the last Horror anthology hosts for the list.

9. Peter Vincent in the 1985 film Fright Night, the 1988 film Fright Night: Part 2 and the Fright Night comic books. In Fright Night Peter Vincent is a has-been horror movie actor who now hosts a late night TV show where he shows his old movies.

Peter Vincent meets a teenage boy whose neighbor turns out to be a real vampire and Peter overcomes his own cowardice to become the hero he always pretended to be. Though Peter Vincent was originally just a stage name the character eventually embraces it to become a hero and protector of the innocent.

In the comic books Peter Vincent continued to host his late night horror movie TV series while working in secret to help Charley thwart the forces of evil. I consider Peter Vincent to be a contemporary bard character.

I would put Peter further on the list at number 3 perhaps but I left him at number 9 because he is an unconventional addition to this list.

8. Evyn AKA Shadow from the novel The King's Shadow.

Evyn wanted to be a bard but was mutilated in a brutal attack His tongue was cut out and he was left mute. His own uncle sold him into slavery. But thanks to fate's benign intervention Evyn was able to learn to read and write so he was able to become a storyteller as a scribe and eventually became an adopted son of the king.

7. Gabrielle from Xena: Warrior Princess. Gabrielle was Xena's travel companion and very likely love interest (Lucy Lawless, the actress who played Xena) believed they were practically married in the end. Xena: warrior Princess was the spin-off of Hercules the Legendary Journeys. I have often described The Witcher as being a gender inverted Xena: Warrior Princess. Gabrielle was a novice bard who wanted to write about Xena's adventures and to eventually go on those adventures, herself.

Just as I sort of perfer Jaskier with longer hair, I actually liked when Gabrielle's hair was cut short later on in Xena.

6. Essi Daven. I'm a little confused to if Priscilla (Callonetta) from the Witcher video games and Essi Daven from The Witcher novels are supposed to be the same character or not. Essi was from The Witcher novels. I suspect they are the same character but I've seen arguments that they are different enough that they count as separate characters. But I have also seen people try to claim that Jaskier and Dandelion are different enough to count as different characters as well and Jaskier definitely is Dandelion. Dandelion was just what he was called in the English translations of the novels and in the English language video games. Essi is a woman bard from The Witcher who was very much in love with Geralt though Dandelion (Jaskier) had feelings for her. Sadly she eventually died of smallpox. The burden of living in a medieval-esque society.

Dandelion was in love with her.

5. Priscilla AKA Callonetta is a woman bard from The Witcher video games. A rival and romantic interest to Dandelion (Jaskier). Possibly the same character as Essi Daven but some Witcher fans have argued that they are not the same character so I am listing them separately.

4. Edgin. Edgin is a character from Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among thieves. In fact he is the main protagonist. He is a "Harper" that has fallen from grace. A Harper is a spy that poses as a bard to gain info and to stop criminals. So he is a bard but he used his status as a bard to work as a spy, hence the term "Harper." Later he got a little greedy and it cost him dearly but he and his band of misfits set out on a quest to set things right.

3. Fflewddur Fflam. I hate the character's name but love the character. The version in the Disney film The Black Cauldron is very different from the book character, including being much older, but I still found him to be an enjoyable character. He is a classic bard with a bit of a mysterious past.

In the books he's actually a king of a small kingdom but prefers life as a wandering bard. It makes him sound a bit like a role playing game character.

2. The Storyteller. This character's name is not actually given but he was a mysterious (possibly not entirely human) traveling storyteller, with a talking dog that appeared every week on Jim Henson's The Storyteller. He was portrayed by John Hurt and the dog was voiced by Brian Henson (Son of Jim Henson). There was a spin-off called The Storyteller: Greek Myths. John Hurt's portrayal of The Storyteller may have been why he was chosen to voice Morpheus AKA Dream of The Endless AKA The Sandman for a scrapped episode of Batman The Animated series.

Currently Neil Gaiman is involved with a revival of The Storyteller in development by the Henson company where he hopes to explore The Storyteller's own mysterious backstory.

1. Jaskier (Translates from Polish to Buttercup) / Dandelion. Jaskier is the bard companion of Geralt of Rivia AKA The Witcher (Monster Hunter) from The Witcher novels, short stories, comics, Netflix series, and video games. In the English language versions of The Witcher novels and The Witcher video games he was known as Dandelion. But in The Witcher Netflix series and in the original Polish he was known as Jaskier which directly translates to Buttercup.

Whatever you call him, Jaskier is a great character. He is the companion of Geralt of Rivia in The Witcher and he is also his own well-developed character. By season 2 Jaskier had evolved from the slightly-conceited rock musician-esque bard into a compassionate freedom fighter who smuggled people to safety.

I absolutely love Joey Batey's portrayal of Jaskier as well as his incredible singing voice as the character.

And though there has been some criticism over his look in season 2, I actually think he looks better with longer hair.

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veliseraptor · 1 year

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Top 5 fucked up siblings

worried that i always answer this one with the same five, because i'm p sure i've answered this before. but oh well here goes

1. Richard & Lymond (Lymond Chronicles). Somebody just posted an excerpt about them on my dash recently and got me thinking about them again. I love how pretty much every book has Lymond dragging Richard on a rollercoaster of emotion but The Game of Kings remains prime territory in that regard. Just Lymond inflicting emotional terrorism on his older brother. They're not quite as codependent as pretty much everyone else on this list (but that's a high bar); still fucked up. Lymond running away from Richard for a solid few years because a prophecy convinced him that their reuniting would kill Richard is another highlight.

2. Felix & Mildmay (Doctrine of Labyrinths). Speaking of codependent! I feel like the fact that I also put these two on the "fucked up but soft" list speaks for itself here, and also I feel like one could somewhat reasonably pitch Doctrine of Labyrinths as "fucked up siblings in secondary world fantasy: the series." it wouldn't be very informative but it would be accurate.

3. Jiang Cheng & Jiang Yanli & Wei Wuxian (MDZS/The Untamed). And I say again: speaking of codependent! I know Wei Wuxian is not actually "sibling" yes but the weird in-between role he takes is also part of what makes this dynamic so good. And what I love about these three is that you look at them together and you're like "awww they're so cute it's so tragic how they fall apart" and then you scratch a little and you're like "oh no. oh dear. you guys are a mess and your relationship dynamics are a disaster that ain't good" and then you scratch a little more and go "awww. they're so cute in their incredibly messed up codependence triangle" again. they're so tangled up in each other in this messy cobbled together structure, and none of them can walk away from each other, not really. not outside of death, certainly, and not really even then.

love that for them.

4. Ianthe & Coronabeth. Hope we get more of these two in Alecto. I support women's wrongs. Can't wait to see what happens here because I suspect it will be (a) not good and (b) fun to watch.

5. Shi Qingxuan & Shi Wudu. I wavered for a while on this one, thought about going for my old Thor and Loki standby, but decided since I feel like I've talked less about these two...I just find their relationship fascinating. Shi Wudu's overbearing paternalistic attitude toward Shi Qingxuan, particularly toward her favor of her female form but also just in general his...base assumption that he knows what's best for her and is just making sure she's taken care of. All the way down to stealing and swapping fates, which he specifically, deliberately, keeps Shi Qingxuan from knowing about. Which makes sense! because when Shi Qingxuan - fair-minded Shi Qingxuan who was so adamant about Pei Su getting a trial and not getting off lightly just because he's Pei Ming's protege - finds out what happened, she immediately rejects it. She's desperate to throw away her godhood, actively fighting her brother's attempts to "help." She's disgusted by the knowledge of how she ascended.

I figure Shi Wudu would've had some sense of how Shi Qingxuan would feel about it, but he needed to save his baby brother's life and he overturned the world to do so. Which would be sweet and touching in a world where it didn't come so horribly at the expense of someone else's life - but of course it had to.

And at the same time, for all Shi Qingxuan rolls her eyes and expresses exasperation and frustration with her brother and his behavior, she also doesn't hesitate to go to him when he's in need. Or, well, she does hesitate, but ultimately she can't stand back. For all her anger with him for what he's done, and in her name, she still loves him so much, and tries so, so hard to save him, to save them both.

And the fact, too, that Shi Wudu actively provokes He Xuan into ripping his head off rather than choose an option that will cause Shi Qingxuan inevitable suffering (though what he thought would happen afterward, I don't know)...yikes, dude, but also I'm kinda impressed.

I would not necessarily say that I like Shi Wudu most of the time. But I do find him, and the way he interacts with Shi Qingxuan in particular, very interesting. And I love thinking about how Shi Qingxuan wrestles with his death post-canon. (I wonder if Shi Qingxuan feels like she's responsible for both Scholar He's death and her brother's.)

#conversating #anonymous #top five meme #doctrine of labyrinths #the sad queer cultivators show #lymond chronicles #dysfunctional gods and ghost kinks

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alwida10 · 2 years

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If you're going to say Sophia got the role because of nepotism (it isn't btw, it's cronyism when you're not blood relation), then Tom Hiddleston also got his role in Thor through "nepotism" via his connection with K. Branaugh. Keep it straight.

A) thank you. I did not know the word “cronyism” before, but it is always good to expand one's vocabulary. Wikipedia however says that nepotism includes both family and friends.

B) yes, tom worked with Branagh before and most likely got a hint or recommendation because of this. So, where is the line between recommending someone who you know to be qualified and nepotism? I would say it’s Nepotism when your friendship or kinship is your only or at least the most important qualification. I would say Tom was more than qualified to play Loki. In fact, his performance was so outstanding he recruited one of the biggest and most loyal fandoms and even outshined the heroes! Additionally, he didn’t get the role he wanted (Thor) but the “villain”.

Now regarding SDM. She said many interesting things in various interviews on the matter. For example, Kate specifically asked for her making an application.

She was heavily pregnant (third trimester) and therefore unable to apply like the other people who wanted the role. Instead of an in-person demonstration, she just sent a tape. The scene which the applicants have to do is chosen by the director, and in most times there is a certain variation included, to check if the applicants can portray the whole spectrum convincingly. in Marvel this includes the emotional parts and the action scenes. We know Tom did one with Mjolnir (there is a video on this. I won’t link it because it gives me the creeps) and some scenes he had to read together with Hemsworth. Sophia, being in the third trimester, would have been unable to do action. Luckily for her, the scene chosen was the train scene.

Now, normally the casting process is quite detailed, and those projects are high-profile, meaning a lot of people would apply and there would be a lot of competition. If you aren’t even physically there, your chances aren’t exactly stellar. So, her chances for the job must have been moderate, to say the least. Both she and her agent openly admit how much “luck” there must have been involved.

Now, make from this what you want.

Sources: x, x, and x

#Loki series negativity #anti Sophia Di Martino #anti sylvie

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corviiids · 1 year

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is it your birthday? happy birthday! i hope this isn't weird or out of the line, since we're essentially strangers and i'm sending this about a fandom i'm not sure you're still in, but i wanted to thank you for writing your p5 fics, specifically "into the sea" and "as you like it". when i read your writings, they always feel like they have this raw honesty and sincerity that's integral to them, and all of the story beats always feel so anchored and grounded - your fics always feel equally realistic and comforting. most of all i really adore how you wrote goro in "into the sea" and how you went into details regarding his dynamic with others; it was such an in-depth and empathetic look into his character that i also felt understood in turn, even as just a reader. i apologize if my words don't make sense, i hope the point still gets across...

again i just want to thank you for being a great, sincere, empathetic writer, and for bringing your fics to life and sharing them with the world - i hope that you'll do well in all of your endeavors, and i hope that you have a nice birthday week!

hey man this isn't weird or out of line at all. sorry it took me a couple of days to reply to this message i had to gaze happily at it for like 48 hours first and send it to everyone i know. this means a lot to me.

im still into p5, just less active in fandom. none of those fics are officially... abandoned... as a matter of interest i had the next chapter of "into the sea" fully drafted but never posted it because i got hit with a bout of insecurity and just never wanted to move forward. but maybe one day i'll post it.

"as you like it" is lying dormant but was a passion project so dear to me for so long that i would be pretty miserable if i never got to at least share my thinking for the rest of it, even if i never finished it. this is a bit embarrassing to admit but the fact that it never got quite the level of enthusiastic reaction as "into the sea" (although still a great reaction that im very touched by) made me less motivated to keep churning the chapters out. (so thank you for telling me you liked it!)

i actually have about 70% of the next chapter drafted and only didn't finish it because there was another heavy battle sequence in it that i got tired of writing. but there are some parts of it that i'm honestly still really proud of. actually, here's part of it if you're interested. this is one of my favourite bits of writing i've ever done.

i'd be pretty sad if i never got to share this so hopefully i finish the chapter sometime. :]

(here's loki, and here's some dazzle camouflage.)

anyway thank you so much for your message. it's very kind of you and i appreciate it very much.

#is for me #:)#asks #rookposting #p5

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norcalbruja · 4 months

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Synchronization musings from January 16:

So while I was browsing Tumblr and stumbled on a Loki fan theory about how Odin has canonically rewritten Asgard’s history to make himself look better, and he’s naturally going to be REALLY biased about like… anything regarding Loki’s birth/status as son of the Jotunheim king, someone wondered if Odin actually just kidnapped infant/child-Loki after the war and raised him against his real father’s wishes.

I went “ohhhhhh shit, fostering was a big thing in ancient and medieval Europe--what if Odin was just supposed to FOSTER Loki as a ward to repair the Asgard-Jotunheim relationship, but he got too attached and just didn’t give Loki back? That’s NOT gonna go over well with other gods and nobles.”

And then I sighed and started writing a subplot for my fanfiction “The Lightning Axe.”

Because I also read about the Season 2 finale of the Loki show and as I said on my (new) writing blog, it just leaves a bad taste in my mouth that Loki is actively KEPT from redeeming himself.

Like, I binged on Red Dead REDEMPTION at the height of the pandemic, not Red Dead You-Are-A-Tool-For-Everyone-Else's-Character-Development.

I don't mind plot bunnies and fleshing out characters, but I'm not getting paid for a fanfic, brain! I don't need to be doing political stuff and "this is exactly how you do NOT adopt a child and raise them to know nothing of their birth culture or family."

So, in the spirit of "I don't like this part of canon and death isn't always permanent in comic-books anyway," I decided to have an Alternate-Universe Loki from the VERY first "Thor" movie (after his failed suicide-attempt, specifically) drop into the journey to rescue Ramonda. He will work through his many, many issues about being a subordinate species who got adopted by the conquering species, find out non-propaganda about Jotunheim, and earn the right to get back to the world of the living.

Mythical/Regular-Loki was laughing his ass off.

He was just going "LOLLLLLLL GIRL, YOU ARE DOING MARVEL-ME A SOLID RIGHT THERE!!!"

And I was like "well yeah, it's not hard at all to draw parallels to how Odin and Frigga are a white couple who adopted a kid from a colonized culture, raised him to know WORSE than nothing of his birth family or heritage ("I'm the monster that comes in the night", anyone???), actively kept the information from him because they didn't want him to feeeeeeeellll badddddd, and they are somehow surprised that finding out all this as an adult (and in a really shitty way, too) fucks him up BIG TIME."

Meanwhile, around the 18th:

A MOTHERFUCKING CROW-MAGNET just appeared in the kitchen, around the time I started frantically scribbling down my Loki subplot musings. Which of the Norse spirits is about to play a joke on me???

If some dude with an eye patch decides to go bowling one day, I’m gonna scream.

Alternately if some dude with a glasgow grin decides to go bowling, I’m going to fight someone.

#personal gnosis #unverified personal gnosis #pop culture paganism #fanfiction

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dragongutsixofficial · 1 year

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You mentioned that you tend to work through a Nobody Dies lens. Does that apply to Dimitri, and what is his relationship with the Hresvelg siblings?

Thanks for the ask !! ^^ It took quite some time for me to make up my mind about this specific thing and yes, that lens does apply to Dimitri. There's a few reasons to this decision, which I need to recontextualize a bit in regards to the Hresvelg siblings:

I'll start by this: Aline and Adel do not consider Dimitri as their sibling at all. This isn't due to the fact that they are not related by blood (they both have different mothers than Patricia), but rather because they have basically never met before the Academy nor developed a meaningful relationship during their time there. Both of them always had in mind that they would end up betraying and declaring war on everyone in Garreg Mach, and that Dimitri would end up being one of their fiercest enemies as King. Moreover, Adel has never liked him because they are both faced with very similar mental health issues and he has some internalized trauma that he doesn't like to see reflected in someone else. As such, if it had only been for the two of them and Edelgard, Dimitri's death, although incredibly sad and unfortunate, could have been a logical conclusion to his arc in Crimson Flower.

The real issue here is Loki. For some context (although I just linked his character sheet), he is Patricia and Lambert's kid and since their couple was already Going To Shit™ by the time he was a toddler, he mostly stuck to his older brother's side. However, during the events of the tragedy of Duscur, during which he travelled with his mother, TWSTID decided to abduct him rather than kill him, and raise him to be a puppet with a legitimate claim to rule Fodlan in case Edelgard ever decided to rebel against them. And although he got brainwashed by his uncle Thales/Arundel, he never forgot about Dimitri and deeply wished to reunite with him; this also means that when he first got to meet with and learn about the existence of the rest of the Hresvelg siblings thanks to Kronya (I'll go over this in a later post) as a young teenager, his whole world was completely shattered. Long story short, that led him to join the Hresvelg siblings and get to be part of a family again. However, Loki never once forgets about Dimitri, on the contrary: realizing that Edelgard and him are on their merry way to fight each other to the death only amplifies his wish to see him again after all those years and convince him to make peace with her, because he just wants to have his whole family back and alive. As such, seeing any of his siblings die would absolutely destroy him.

That means that Dimitri could survive in Crimson Flower. and if he doesn't Loki might never recover. But then, how so ?

Sadly, it is in my own opinion unlikely that Edelgard and Dimitri could ever see eye-to-eye and become allies, even with Loki as a middle ground. Especially since Loki doesn't care for the Kingdom per see and feels a lot closer to his Agarthan culture of adoption and his focus is on bringing TWSTID down. Any attempt at discussion would just end up being a repeat of their Azure Moon talk at best, because their world visions are just too different.

This entails that any of Loki's attempts at convincing Dimitri to make peace with his sister would be unfruitful. First, because Dimitri would've thought Loki had died a long time ago, and finding out his little brother is alive would be a pretty big blow: but you know what would be an even bigger blow ? Finding out that he was raised by and thus, helped TWSTID, the same people who are responsible for the genocide of Duscur and their parents' death. And that he is still technically helping them by standing at Edelgard's side, the very person who betrayed all of them. The only way they could rebuild a stronger relationship would be if Loki decided to join his side, something that he is unwilling to do since A) he has three siblings on the imperial side and B) all four of them are planning to take down TWSTID. Unfortunately, this means that all of Loki and Dimitri's interactions post-timeskip end up in disaster- although none of them ever physically hurts the other in battle. This depresses Loki quite a bit, and enrages Adel, but he eventually accepts that he cannot take responsibility for his older siblings' actions and settles on one goal: keeping them from beating each other to death.

However, Loki brings something new to the table regarding Edelgard and Dimitri's relationships: memories. At his contact, El makes the connection and remembers the time she spent in Faerghus with the prince, which does make her take a step back. Although that is definitely not enough to make her negociate, it is to make her consider sparing him in battle- a bit like how in-game, Claude can be spared. Her unwillingness to back down from her ideals, though, makes it absolutely necessary that Dimitri is removed from any position of authority, else he could always rally support against the Empire. The Kingdom of Faerghus as a geopolitical entity may survive, but the Blaiddyd monarchy needs to go.

So... Where does that lead us ? To a rather bleak solution which is far from perfect, but has to make-do in their complicated circumstances where both sides can't meet in the middle. Edelgard agrees to spare Dimitri in the battle of Tailtean, and lets him go- letting Loki take the lead on this one. This means that Loki has to accept that he might never see him again, and that he might never forgive him. This can turn one of two ways:

I do believe that if Dedue survives and hasn't turned into a demonic beast yet, he can convince Dimitri to go without pulling a stunt similar to the one Edelgard pulls with the dagger in Azure Moon in a last desperate attempt to kill the Empress, because he still has him to cling to.

Otherwise, Dimitri truly loses everything and everyone: in which case convincing him to seize the opportunity to stay alive would be pointless. In that eventuality, Loki forces his hand and just teleports him out- making it impossible for him to make it back to the battlefield before all is lost. Which... is an even bleaker alternative.

In any case, that means that the Hresvelg siblings and Dimitri have to cut contact, at least for a good number of years. Maybe someday, when Fodlan (and especially Faerghus) is rebuilt, they might get in contact again- once both Loki and him can have some time to heal. Maybe slowly rebuild a semblance of a relationship, who knows ?

... Well damn. That was a BUMMER and incredibly angsty. Sadly, not all things can have the best ending for everyone involved. =(

=D Thankfully, Claude and Edelgard's relationship would be a lot better- no fucking thanks to Aline !

#fe3h #dimitri alexandre blaiddyd #edelgard von hresvelg #hresvelg siblings #loki blaiddyd von hresvelg #aline von hresvelg #adel von hresvelg #crimson flower #AAAANGST SO MUCH ANGST #ask #thanks so much !!!

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valerie · 7 months

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TWITL - week 42 - back to the grind

I almost called this entry "earthquake weather" because we had a 4.2 magnitude earthquake on Wednesday and it was a JOLTER. According to the USGS page for this one, the quake's epicenter was 5 km SW of Isleton. We felt it here in Brentwood because we're pretty close. Chatting with my cousins, they didn't feel it. I definitely felt it. My work station moved. Maybe the whole building moved. It was short but WILD. I think my nerves were a little frayed afterwards but it really wasn't that bad. https://flic.kr/p/2pa9Ajx the alert that came right after the earthquake ended... The emergency alert sounded on my phones right after the earthquake ended. If the earthquake had been longer, then the alert would have probably happened during rather than after. For me, it was like, "Yeah, no kidding," but I'm sure the rest of the Bay Area was like, "What? I don't feel anything." :P https://flic.kr/p/2paSFhE farmers market yummy - corn in a cup We checked out the farmers market yesterday and it was cool enough (in the shady breeze) to wear a sweatshirt (albeit with shorts). So lovely! I was able to get my corn in a cup and we sat in the patio of our favorite bar and people watched. I love our moments at farmers market because it seems like such an ordinary kind of moment yet it's perfect in its simple contentment. https://flic.kr/p/2paQRQV After our time downtown, we headed to Tailgaters for lunch. The bar was a bit quiet with college football playing on all the tv screens. A few people came in while we were there. I had yummy fish and chips with my Angry Orchard cider. https://flic.kr/p/2paQSgz TV Silo - We binged watched this show and it was good! Super interesting and very well done. I'm glad to see that there will be a second season because I want to know more! I might want to read the books. We'll see. Loki - Another good episode, finally bringing us to the end credit scene from Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania. I'm enjoying the second season episodes so far and I'm always ready to watch the next one. https://flic.kr/p/2paTgu3 RUGBY WORLD CUP - The All Blacks will be facing the Springboks in the Rugby World Cup final next Saturday!!! I was obviously cheering for the All Blacks in their match against Argentina (even though I had cheered for Los Pumas last week in their match against Wales). So happy the All Blacks won! And then it was South Africa against England and I was of course cheering for the reigning world champs. But now that it's New Zealand vs South Africa, my alliance goes to the All Blacks. I'm excited! It's like a super sized Rugby Championship! (IYKYK) https://flic.kr/p/2paLhLn WRITING I don't know how ready I am for National Novel Writing Month. I really need to figure out what my female character does for a living! I know she works in an office and maybe I'm floating the idea of her being a copy editor or something? I'm still not sure and it's stressing me out a little bit. And now I just thought, maybe I should totally switch what they do and make HER the photographer and him the one who works in the office. Why do I do this to myself?! :P I should probably sit down after I post this and get my characters situated in their work lives even though their work lives are secondary to the story. It's a romance, after all. Yes, a romance. They're easiest for me to write and get to that 50k words goal. https://flic.kr/p/2paQRJ7 Sometimes I wish I didn't have this need to self-censor myself in regards to things that might be going on around me. I worry too much that someone might read what I post (do people even read this) and they might realize I'm talking about them, even if I don't mention them by name. Yet if I'm compelled to share with my friends IRL, then why don't I write about it to this place, which should be my safe space? The consequences aren't worth the risk. Also, I'm not clever enough to take away the specifics and make it vague and general. Ah well, better this way, I suppose. Random thoughts: - Don't be a creeper. Just DON'T. - Our union ratified the latest contract. Good for us! - I dreamt about taking photos of a backyard and Jack Whitehall was there. Why Jack? - I told my favorite tech YouTuber (via a comment to a Threads post) that the husband calls me "Captain 2 Phones" and he replied that it's a proud nickname to wear it well. Will do OG Captain2Phones! - I need to stop shopping, even just window shopping. https://flic.kr/p/2paSiTX Social handles: - Threads - @kiari - Spoutible - @valerie - Bluesky - @kiari You know, if you're curious... Read the full article

#allblacks #nanowrimo #rugby #techfreakchick #writing

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valkyrieandstrangeridingaragorn · 1 year

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Alright can we just talk about shipping culture nowadays because honestly it is very much starting to get on my nerves.

So i guess shipping for me had always been part of my fandom experience not in every fandom tho, i get invested in some ships sometimes and last years others i may just get them but not actually ship them and others i ship for a while but they may not be intriguing enough for me.

the point is shipping had always partially been about considering different interactions for certain characters sometimes by keeping said character as they are and sometimes by shifting certain aspects in how they behave or how they are to fit them in said ship and that's honestly fine everyone has there own way of enjoying the fandom

however it is the change in shipping that is absolutely horrible nowadays , it is just not about the characters anymore , it is just tropes I don't know ,has it always been like this ?

Like discussing ships used to be writing a whole analysis about how these characters would fit together and maybe even creating a little background for the characters or just a sufficient 'idk i just like them together'

But now it is just 'well enemies to lovers , guy fell first , redeemed villian what's not to like ' and worse anybody who doesn't agree with said interpretation seems to have no part of the fandom anymore.some characters in canon just can't fit together in a romantic relationship so if shippers want them to fit they are going to have to change their personality entirely and again that is fine but i don't want a whole long ass essay about how YOUR interpretation YOUR own take on the character is how this character actually is in canon so you can ship your characters together and diss on everybody who doesn't agree with you.

This is in both the loki fandom where i don't think anybody talks about anything regarding the show other than loki and sylvie's "chemistry" or loki and mobius , loki is being reduced to this narcissist how needs someone to teach him a lesson or to humiliate him in order to be better , in order to do so most shippers twist sylvie and mobius into these loving caring people they are definitely not to fit this troupe in their heads of " love made the villian turn into a hero", same in the star wars fandom specifically the new triology , it is all about shipping rey and kylo together which i used to enjoy in just for fun really but i don't even want to start talking about how the majority of the shippers were in this fandom 🙄 (also rey deserves better anyways), fandom has been narrowed down to ships , and ones the hype is over most of these fandoms collapse , cause they are just built on liking troupes and imaging the character infront of you regardless of how they actually are to fit this troupe , so if another Show/movie/book series does the troupe better or has a hype right now you look for these troupes and move on from said fandom.Fandoms collapse so fast right now and i believe a huge part as to why is this new shipping culture , shipping is becoming a must in every fandom right now you can't enjoy a fandom otherwise .

This is just my theory really i have been in many fandoms for a long time and weither this is actually what's happening or not, something has definitely changed about how fandoms are right now.

*Phew* sorry about the long rant

Hey, for what it's worth I enjoyed your rant 😉

I have never been a shipper myself so I don't have much insight into this, I'm afraid. I'm glad people have fun with their ships, as long as it's in good faith and they respect those who don't like their pairings or see them in a different light.

The only thing I have seen as of late (as in, the last few years) is that it would seem some people label certain ships as 'morally right' or 'morally wrong' and judge the shippers accordingly. It sucks because the way I see it, shipping is supposed to be good fun for those engaging in it and it shouldn't require a full-on disclaimer from a fan stating they're a good person to justify their favourite ship.

I see what you mean about fandoms collapsing pretty quickly and being narrowed down to shipping. Perhaps a part of that is the fact that many series have their entire seasons released at once, and we have such a huge pool to choose from (and a rather weird idea that we have to consume as much as we can to be in the loop with other people) that folks go from one to another like maniacs, which leaves us with the most basic engagement of shipping a few characters, too little meta and eventually nothing at all.

I definitely agree that in the SW fandom, the Reylo craze was a little too much to handle - and Rey deserved so much better (I say that as a big Kylo fan, by the way), and in Loki's case I think it's funny because they switch the roles: in the series, Loki is good and caring, and Sylvie/Mobius are selfish criminals who only care about themselves. But when it comes to shipping a lot of people switch them and pretend Loki is the selfish criminal and Sylvie/Mobius are the loving and caring ones.

It is one thing to do that if you're writing something canon divergent or you're retconning them for some reason, but to claim that characterization is canon is just wrong.

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shipcestuous · 11 months

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The bit about Loki accusing Freyr and Freya of incest comes from Lokasenna, one of the poems in the Poetic Edda:

"Loki spake: 32. "Be silent, Freyja! | thou foulest witch, And steeped full sore in sin; In the arms of thy brother | the bright gods caught thee When Freyja her wind set free."

Njorth spake: 33. "Small ill does it work | though a woman may have A lord or a lover or both; But a wonder it is | that this womanish god Comes hither, though babes he has borne.""

(https://www.sacred-texts.com/neu/poe/poe10.htm)

Lokasenna is a poem in the "senna" genre, essentially an exchange of insults in poetic form, where Loki gets drunk and insults all the other gods, one by one, at a feast before being driven away by Thor. It has indeed been questioned how much of what Loki says in it was accepted as part of this or that mythical tradition, or if all if his accusations are made-up wholesome as part of a satirical poetic exercise. However, it's also been read as an expression of Loki as an ambiguous figure (as a jotun who was welcomed among the gods as Odin's blood-brother and friend but may act either for or against the gods and bringing positive or negative changes to their world depending on the myth) able to weave in and out of the gods' in-group, knowing it intimately but also offering an outsider's perspective on it at the same time, thus being able to bring up and expose uncomfortable and harsh truths, and highlighting what can be read as the hypocrisy of the gods, who are held as shining, dignified authorities in certain contexts but have plenty of flaws and make plenty of mistakes in others.

Also, we know for sure that at least SOME things Loki are true, which does cast some level of doubt *on* the doubt we might cast on the others: he accuses Odin of being unmanly (we know that's true because we know he is associated with a type of magic that's always regarded as "womanly" or "unmanly") and Frigg of having slept with both of Odin's brothers (an idea also reported elsewhere, together with the idea of her generally being an adulterer), mocks Tyr for having had his hand bitten off by Fenrir (that's the most important Tyr myth that survived after the Viking Age) and Freyr for giving up his sword (and the advantage it would have given him during Ragnarok) to gain Gerd as a bride (also an attested myth) then Heimdall for his unlucky position as the eternally-watchful sentinel of the gods (his main role in the myths), and claims to have slept with Sif (not *technically* attested, but fits well with Harbardsljod, another senna-type poem, where Thor is told in no uncertain terms that his wife has a lover that she has fun with while he's away from home, and also with Sif having a son, Ullr, who's on record as a *stepson* to Thor). He even admits to killing Balder (true... at the least in the version of the events the poem references) and foretells his own binding.

Then, there's also the fact that, for as many insults as Loki shoots at the gods, the gods fire just as many back, and the majority of those are also true: he's accused of being unmanly (true in many different ways), of having given birth (just look at the myth of the building of the wall of Asgard and how Odin got his horse Sleipnir), and of being unpleasant and sowing discord (... hard to argue with that, especially in context).

A point that should also be considered is that we do know from at least two pieces of writing that the Vanir gods (unlike the Aesir, who forbid it) practice incestuous relationships and even marriages. Specifically, brother/sister ones.

Again from the Lokasenna:

"Njorth spake: 35. "Great was my gain, | though long was I gone, To the gods as a hostage given; The son did I have | whom no man hates, And foremost of gods is found."

Loki spake: 36. "Give heed now, Njorth, | nor boast too high, No longer I hold it hid; With thy sister hadst thou | so fair a son, Thus hadst thou no worse a hope.""

From the Ynglinga Saga, in the context of an euhemerized account of the gods as kings and heroes of old:

"While Njord was with the Vanaland people he had taken his own sister in marriage, for that was allowed by their law; and their children were Frey and Freya. But among the Asaland people it was forbidden to intermarry with such near relations."

(https://www.sacred-texts.com/neu/heim/02ynglga.htm)

Personally, I tend not to give too much credit to people who look at the Norse gods doing weird/uncomfortable/gross/very sexual/kinky things and say "oh, but SURELY that must be a satire! A later invention that could NEVER be referencing some older tradition! A slanderous invention! The Christians putting their grubby little hands all over the myths to make the heathen gods look bad, even in the case of authors we know were just trying to preserve their people's history as they knew it or their traditional poetry and were actually more likely to try and ennoble or at least normalize them!" It's true that Germanic people did hold their gods in high regard and pray and sacrifice to them like any other culture, but that doesn't mean they thought of them as perfect, or were never wary of them, or never told stories about them doing things that they themselves wouldn't do.

There is a chance that Freyr and Freya weren't actually thought of as incestuous, and there is a chance they weren't even born out of an incestuous relationship (not only but chiefly due to wonky timelines/topics not being presented in the order we'd normally expect in a certain section of the Prose Edda ... which was written by Snorri Sturluson, the same guy who wrote the Ynglinga Saga, but make of that what you will), but honestly, I just don't see enough evidence to dismiss the material presented in the Lokasenna. Freya is also known as a very proud and headstrong character as well as overly lustful (like in the Hyndluljod poem, where she's accused of having allowed plenty of men under her skirts, or in the late Sorla thattr story, where she agrees to spend one night with each of the four dwarves working on a necklace for her, or in her association with love poetry, which was actually considered so powerful and dangerous, it was sometimes outlawed) so following her desires without caring for a law that's not even really her own doesn't strike me as particularly weird of her.

That's just my opinion, of course! Although, I would argue that, taken at face value and without digging into whatever mythological and literary nuances we might theorize, they ARE canon.

Please forgive the rant, I've always been really into Norse mythology and I actually had a lot of fun doing this little write-up! ^^

[x]

Thank you so much for this! It was wonderful to get a description of the facts from someone who is clearly very knowledgeable on the topic. I think we're all very inclined to agree with your conclusions.

I didn't realize that Loki's accusation against Freya was part of a series of accusations, at least some of which are "confirmed", so to speak. That's very promising indeed.

I only did a tiny bit of research but I did find at least a couple of sources that seemed very biased against Vanir incest, straining to disprove and such. A more open-minded approach might see Frey/Freya considered canon more often.

#asks #anonymous #norse mythology #frey and freya #mythology #r: brosis #commentary #noiv #nr

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the-lady-amphitrite · 2 years

Text

— A FAIRYTALE BEGINNING | chapter 4

of love and traitors

pairing: Loki / f!half-Asgardian!Reader

word count: 6,687

summary: history is full of traitors, liars, and wronged lovers

in this chapter: some series lore in the form of a classroom history lesson, marvel/mcu norse lore replaced by real norse lore and my own canon for this series (specifically in regards to Laufey and Fárbauti), cliffhanger ending

author notes: welcome to the chapter wherein i begin to discard marvel/mcu canon that i dislike and replace it with norse myth references and/or my own headcanons! there's a lot of worldbuilding in this chapter, but don't worry too much about remembering it all. when some of this comes up again it'll be explained.

also, if you like arithmetic (physics mathematics specifically), for funny story purposes Reader in this chapter doesn't.

( previous chapter | read on ao3 | series masterlist )

The next day, your lessons manage to throw you off-kilter multiple times throughout the day.

As with every weekday, you begin your lessons by attending your seiðr lessons with Loki and Frigga.

You’d been expecting to see Loki in her usual form, waiting for you on the divan closest to the balcony as usual while she practises crafting a few illusions. They’re something she’s shown incredible proficiency in over the years, besting even Frigga’s illusions when it comes to smaller figures and rivalling them on almost any other scale. Only the grandest and most intricate ones are the ones she continues to struggle with.

However, when you step into the room you’re greeted with something else entirely.

Loki in the same form as the day before, seated in his usual spot. The only real difference in what he’s wearing from yesterday seems to be the addition of a long leather vest that hangs down nearly to his knees. The long-sleeved tunic, breeches, and knee-high boots seem to be almost the same as the ones from yesterday.

You pause in the doorway, almost thinking for a moment that you’ve walked into the wrong room somehow. But when he looks up from his holotablet you recognise his face. A second later, that half-smile he’s so fond of making appears, one that you see multiple times a day. For whatever reason though, this morning the sight of it makes every thought in your brain filter out. You can feel something fluttering around in your chest, batting against your ribs like it’s trying to escape.

You blink, then return his smile and join him on the divan, keeping a little distance between you — you’re not really sure why, it just feels… right for you to have those extra inches after whatever happened yesterday.

Talk between the two of you is just as easy as ever. It makes you wonder why the brief one-on-one you’d had with him yesterday had been so… strange. You’re not entirely sure what was happening before Thor appeared. You’re not even sure that whatever it was is something you dislike. You certainly hadn’t minded in the moment from what you remember.

You’ve always thought Loki was really pretty, especially as the two of you have grown closer and grown older. In recent months, Thor and Baldr have teased you when they’ve caught you staring at her, but this is different.

Isn’t it?

When Frigga comes in from the garden a few minutes later part of you expects her to say something to Loki. Instead, she just calls the two of you over to the plants for today’s lesson. Even after the lesson on today’s plant (a flower often used in blood spells from Álfheimr’s valley kingdom, Andlàngr) she simply returns to teaching about the blood spells unit that she’d begun a week ago.

It occurs to you right then that this isn’t the first time he’s done this.

Loki’s a natural-born shapeshifter after all, and you remember a near-forgotten conversation where your best friend had mentioned he sometimes shifts his form to match his gender. Not every time, but you have seen him vary the length of his hair while in his feminine form a few times.

Shorter, and they had preferred neutral pronouns those months. Longer had usually (but not always) meant that she had preferred feminine ones. Sometimes it had been a mix of both feminine and neutral.

You recall that Odin’s lineage has had several natural-born shapeshifters — some of whom did the same as Loki — and you think you remember a mention from your history lessons that one of Odin’s siblings had been one too. Neither of Loki’s parents must have been all that surprised when he first started shifting forms.

With that line of thought closed, your focus on the lesson increases, and you begin to engage more than you had while your thoughts were occupied.

After your seiðr lesson, the two of you headed up to one of the giant public pavilions for your aerial lesson, rather than your family’s pavilion like you had those first few lessons.

You and Loki banter back and forth with one another most of the way up. The teasing remarks launched back and forth leave you both with wide smiles, aching cheeks, and shining eyes.

Today’s aerial lesson is… vastly different from what you’re used to as well.

The most normal part of it is how you and Loki are greeted by Thor and Baldr when you arrive.

Ásta and Gauti — Baldr and Thor’s respective companions for these lessons — have yet to arrive. It’s uncommon for neither of them to be here before you and Loki, especially since they fly here from the city rather than navigate the palace’s various hallways, staircases, and lifts. It isn’t until the doors to the pavilion open once more that you understand why they hadn’t been out here.

Your parents stride in ahead of your uncle, Ásta, and Gauti. Followed closely by the other seven Drekasál that call Asgard home.

There’s a sudden — and rather innate — wariness that seeps into you as you watch all of them approach. With your mother and uncle, there’s never been a sense of fear when they approach. Their presence is more soothing when you sense them.

The wariness from when you met Lady Bjǫrnsdóttir — Ásta — and her son Gauti has long since faded thanks to familiarity. But seven strange dragons approaching is (frankly) alarming to your senses. Not even your mother and uncle having their backs to them provides a balm to you.

Loki slips his hand in yours, squeezing it behind his back where you’ve half-hidden yourself.

Thor is on Loki’s other side, and while he looks relaxed, you know that he’s aware of your own worries by the tight grip on the haft of his battle-axe, Járnbjǫrn.

Baldr is on your other side, a step and a half in front of the three of you and the only one of your group who seems unbothered by the Drekasál approaching. If you were as tall and as strong-looking as he is, you might not have been worried by so many approaching dragons either.

But you’re young. A mere dragonling only months past her fourteenth birthday. The sight of so many powerful drekakona and drekamaðr before you is terrifying.

It’s almost comical how your parents leave a gap between the four of you and the party they’ve brought in. While your father bows his head and greets each of the princes, Kára only has eyes for you. There’s an obvious tightness to her frame as she looks at you, her shoulder pressed against Sveinn’s while her hand is intertwined with Tyr’s.

She tells you, “Sveinn and I have decided you’re overdue on learning to fly with a conflagration. Normally a teaching conflagration is made up of dragonlings of similar ages under an instructor, but with only you and Gauti on Asgard we hope having us make up the rest of the conflagration will do. Twelve is a bit large for one, but it will come in handy having all of us.”

Your eyes flicker from her, to the other Drekasál behind her, and then back to her. With a shaky, quiet breath, you step out from behind the Odinson’s, sliding your hand out of Loki’s as you cautiously walk into the open space between.

For a brief second, they just stare. Then, as one, they bow their heads at you.

“Lady Kárudóttir,” they say in unison.

It’s almost eerie how they do that, but you manage to reply with an even, “Lords, Ladies.”

What follows is a flurry of introductions from them. You recognise only one of them. And though you recognise her face among the faces of strangers, it’s her name that holds more meaning to you.

Lady Katla Rúnudóttir.

Your history tutor Lord Alfarr has spoken of her only briefly, with a promise to speak more about her when your class begins its section on Vanaheimr’s Drekasál.

Everyone knows that her mother Thyra was once a member of Vanaheimr’s Thrírkvenna — the three Vanir women who rule the realm. You also know that she grew up with Frigga on Vanaheimr and that she serves as one of the handmaidens that Frigga brought with her to Asgard after her betrothal to Odin. It’s where you see her most often, accompanying Frigga as she does whatever it is she does as the All-Mother.

You even suspect that Lady Rúnudóttir also protects the Queen, though you know Frigga can wield an assortment of weapons herself.

Once introductions are over, your mother is quick to organise the Drekasál as they shift. It isn’t long until you’re situated at the very back with Gauti, Thor on his back and Loki on yours. As the two largest dragons, Sveinn and Lady Rúnudóttir lead the conflagration.

Seconds later, you’re all diving off the side of the palace as one.

The next two hours are filled with challenges that test not only your own skills, but the trust you’ve placed in Loki and he in you. Learning how to fly with a conflagration doesn’t come naturally or easily. Even your mind-link with Loki comes with its own disadvantages (more for him than you) when you’re wound so tight.

Once it’s all finally over, you and Loki are quick to break away to take your routine after-lesson flight around the city. Thor and Gauti usually join you, but after how you bit Gauti’s tail during the lesson, the boys choose to just return to the palace with the others instead.

(And to be honest, you hadn’t bit Gauti that hard. He’d even snapped back at you. While his teeth hadn’t made contact — more a threat than an action — it had made the other Drekasál intervene.

They hadn’t kept you apart for the rest of the lesson though. Once that little spat was broken up, they acted as if it had never happened. You know that it’s considered a typical behaviour of dragons to snap at other beings. You also know that it’s apparently, exceedingly, normal for dragonlings to snap at and outright bite one another.

That doesn’t mean you enjoy knowing either of those things.

Perhaps that discomfort is a marker of your Æsir heritage. They’re gods of war, not gods of petty disagreements.)

Today, even the calm gliding around the city is exhausting. You end up taking the two of you to the far side of the sea, landing below one of the bridges that leads to one of the larger villages outside the city.

The water here is shallow and cold, almost reaching your elbows as you stand and nearly covering your back once you lay down with your feet tucked beneath you. Perfect for you to stretch out your dragon form in, wings open wide.

Loki lounges on his back atop the wide platform around the pile you landed beside.

Your head is in his lap, your eyes closed and breaths slowing down as you listen to him read aloud from some book of legends that he found in the royal library. All that you can hear down here besides him are the birds and the waves gently knocking against the platform.

You’re sure you at least half-doze in this calm, letting the legend Loki’s reciting (something to do with an ancient fire god) roll over you while the sea waves gently rock you.

All too soon though, the two of you hear the alarm on his holotablet announce that it’s time for you to return to the palace for lunch before your afternoon lessons.

The two of you take your lunch in the dining halls on the ground floor. Down here it’s less rowdy than the main dining hall several floors up where most of the court gathers for meals. There’s still plenty of chatter from the several einherjar, valkyrjur, seiðkonur, and the single seiðberandi who are also here enjoying their meals.

While your time below the bridge was filled only by the sounds of Loki reading, the two of you have scattered conversations about what the rest of today’s lessons might be like as you eat.

Today’s lessons are linguistics, arithmetic, and history.

You adore your linguistics lessons; learning about the different languages that All-Speak cannot translate for you has been fun for you and the younger sons of Odin. While there are half a dozen languages that you’re required to learn for diplomacy reasons, you know afterwards there’s an entire quarter of a galaxy’s worth of languages that you can learn if you wish. Not every language can be spoken by Æsir or Drekasál vocal cords, but for those that can, there are tutors willing to teach.

Arithmetic you would rather not have, but it’s a required course even for a (potential) war goddess like you. There are some parts of the course you like, but you certainly could do without all the formulae that come with it.

History though, that one is your favourite. You’re not certain what came first: your fascination with the myths and legends that come from all of Yggdrasil’s branches, or your adoration for history.

Some days they feel like they sprung up from the same patch of your soul to twine their roots into your very being.

Your class will also be moving on to a new section starting today, something that excites you each time you remember that this section will also have guest lecturers for some of the lessons. You’re not sure what the section will be, but you have no doubt that it’s going to be something you won’t soon forget.

◦ ◦ ◦ ◦ ◦ ◦ ◦ ◦ ◦ ◦ ◦ ◦ ◦

After lunch, linguistics seems to streak by like an asteroid.

One moment you, Loki, and the other Asgardians in your class are filing into the spacious room, ready to listen to the Kree woman who’s taken up the mantle of teaching you her language. The next she’s leaving and being replaced by your arithmetic tutor.

Arithmetic on the other hand seems to drag on today.

Not that that’s any different from most days you’re in this lesson. Thor — seated at the table directly next to the one you and Loki occupy — seems for all intents and purposes like he’s not paying any attention at all to the lesson.

Everyone knows better than that though; Thor understands this class better than Loki does. It’s like his brain is wired for understanding it, even if he usually plays off just how smart he is.

Beside Thor sits your cousin in all his long, curly-haired boredom, looking like he’s about to fall asleep. Volstagg is just as bored by this class as you are, one of the things the two of you joke show’s that yes, you are related despite everything else that makes you different (though several people have confused your cousin for a younger version of your father because of their apparent visual similarities).

You and Volstagg are thankful Thor and Loki understand whatever is coming out of your tutor’s mouth (something about gravity and velocity, you think) so that way you don’t really need to listen.

After arithmetic, there’s a short break before history begins for the day. You perch yourself on the edge of your table, making sure not to sit on the interface screen part of it and letting out a weary sigh as you try to recuperate from the lesson.

“You looked as if you were falling asleep at the end.” Loki leans against the table next to you, a smile on his face.

You roll your eyes at his teasing, unable to hide your own slight grin. “Really? I can’t imagine why I would be. Arithmetic is so fascinating.”

“As I recall, you said it’s ‘droll and completely unnecessary’.”

“Because it is!” You turn to him, waving both of your hands without much purpose as you say, “When will I need to know the velocity of a thrown spear on Ria compared to Vanaheimr because of their different gravity’s? If I’m throwing it, it’s piercing whoever or whatever I threw it at in either realm.”

“Are you sure about that?” Loki quirks an eyebrow at you. You narrow your eyes, recognising the shimmer of mischief there that you know so well.

“As long as someone doesn’t telekinetically change my spear’s path, then yes. Perks of being a war goddess, my prince,” you say sweetly, fluttering your lashes at him.

“You only assume you’re a war goddess because your father is a war god, darling,” Loki replies, leaning closer. “What if you’re a weather goddess?”

“You know I have no natural affinity for the weather elements, Loki,” you reply, leaning forward on your hands. “Not that I’ve shown much of an affinity for really anything specific just yet.”

“For what it’s worth, I believe you’ll make a wonderful war goddess.”

“We don’t even know what kind of war goddess I might be. For all we know my domain might just be war tactics.”

Loki’s smile is soft and warm, and you watch his eyes flick down for a brief moment before rising back up to look you right in the eye. “As I said, a wonderful war goddess.”

Something akin to a ball of air lodges in your throat at the sentiment, and what feels like your heart flutters at his words. He knows exactly what to say to reassure you whenever you worry about this. The action never fails to soften a bit of your heart that he alone seems to touch.

You open your mouth to speak when Thor appears with your cousin.

“Not making plans to skip out on history without us, are you?” Volstagg asks, planting himself on your other side and throwing a heavy arm over your shoulder as he pulls you against him.

“If we were you would be the last one to know, cousin.”

“Can’t even have a part in your breakout, for shame. My own beloved cousin would leave me to the war wolves without even a goodbye!” Volstagg laments. You laugh and pat his arm a few times before removing it from your shoulder. “Look, Thor! She doesn’t even deny it!”

“I fear I am in no better standing, my friend,” Thor says with a chuckle. “Once she threw me into the river out back from thirty floors up. Wasn’t even ashamed of it when I finally made it back to land.”

“That,” you start, pointing a stern finger at him, “was a dream that you told your brothers and I about. It didn’t actually happen.”

Thor puts a hand over his heart, a shocked expression on his face. “Now she calls me a liar. Have you no shame, Firefly?”

Loki makes a quiet tsk, and smirks at his brother. “Are you insinuating our esteemed Firefly is a liar, dear brother?”

“I fear he is my friend. I may have to fight him to regain my honour. Who’s up for watching the princeling eat a bit of dirt again after class?” You ask, unable to hold back your full-blown grin at the middle prince.

Thor raises his hands, a sheepish grin on his face. “I meant no offence, dear lady. However I will not turn down a chance to spar with you later if it’s your wish.”

“Two-on-two? You and Loki against me and Volstagg,” you offer. You hear the door to the room open. You glance over at the door, spotting your history tutor as he makes his way in.

“You have a deal.” There’s an excited gleam in Thor’s eye. The thunder godling loves a good sparring session, especially against you.

Even with just a heightened affinity for weapons and no apparent weaponry-specific domain, your skills with them seem to have given everyone the impression that you’re definitely a war goddess. It’s at least made for thrilling sparring between the two of you, neither of you holding back even when using your magical skills (his weather affinity against your budding seiðr skills) to up the ante of winning a match when something is being bartered.

“Good afternoon, everyone,” your history tutor, Lord Alfarr, says. All around the classroom conversations cease, and heads turn towards your history tutor as he sets his large holotablet on the desk your tutors all share.

You twist around and smile at your tutor, greeting him warmly with, “Good afternoon, Lord Alfarr. How fares your husband?”

“He is feeling much better, Lady Kárudóttir, thank you.” There’s a crinkle to his eyes that gives away the warm smile beneath his heavy, dark beard that is nearly indistinguishable from his dark skin to your eyes. “I hope no one had too much fun in arithmetic, because I have an exciting section for us starting today: the history of the Drekasál and their influence upon the Nine Realms.”

The sudden burst of chatter at this is accompanied by the other kids in class looking your way. The sudden rush of attention flusters you. You’re used to being stared at because you’re friends with the princes, which has meant the attention has never really been on you.

But this is different. This is about you and what you are.

In a bid to get away from the prying eyes of the others in the room you slide off the table and sink into your chair, head down. Here you’re hidden by both of the princes at least. Thor is now leaning against the table with his back to you, saying something you can’t quite catch to the others.

Norns, you hope whatever he’s saying isn’t about them staring at you. Perhaps luckily, Lord Alfarr speaks up again.

“We also have two Drekasál guests from other realms.” He’s looking down at his holotablet, typing something onto the screen. “If you will please take your seats, they will be here in a few short moments.”

There’s another burst of chatter as everyone moves to their seats, Loki taking his seat at the table you share while Thor and Volstagg go back to theirs.

Volstagg puts a hand on your shoulder as he passes, a silent affirmation that he has your back. You love your cousin for those moments. He’s grown so much closer to you over the years as he’s befriended Thor in your classes. He’s turned down learning to ride a dragon thus far, but you’re certain that at some point he’s going to take up the offer you and the princes keep extending him.

Quietly and without attracting any fuss from the others, Loki slips his hand in yours and squeezes. The effect is immediate. A sun blooms where your hands' touch, and the warmth spreads up your arm. The warmth comes with a tingle that you don’t remember from yesterday. Even with this, the tenseness that you’d been holding melts from you at the unspoken I’m here he’s given.

You look up at him, and though he’s not looking at you there’s the barest curl of a smile that you see from his side profile. You squeeze his hand back, an unspoken Thank you.

The door to the room opens again just as Hallr takes his seat next to his twin brother Steinarr.

Two men walk in, both wearing dark-coloured cloaks over what you assume to be their normal daywear. Both are light-skinned, but the taller one has black hair and a short but thick-looking beard, while the shorter one has cool grey hair that spills onto his cape but no beard. As Lord Alfarr greets them both, Loki leans over and begins whispering to you.

“The taller one on the right has a black beard and hair. His cloak is a dark blue, lighter than your scales. All of his armour is a dark brown and silver, a mixture of leather and uru. The other has red hair, like fire embers. His cloak is a dark purple, darker than the purple on your clothes.” A pause. “Why are you wearing purple today?”

You blink, confused at the question. “Loki, I don’t even know what colour I normally wear.”

“A really dark blue that almost looks black. It’s a colour that matches your scales. What you’re wearing today is a bit darker than your mother’s scales,” he tells you without hesitation. You let out a soft hmm, wondering what other colours you’ve worn without realising it.

“Prince Loki, Lady Kárudóttir,” Lord Alfarr drawls, drawing attention to the hushed conversation between you and the prince. Warmth begins to creep up the back of your neck. “Might I inquire as to what the two of you are speaking about.”

“Just informing the lady about our guests, Lord Alfarr. She asked about what they were wearing since, as you know, she’s still under the effects of the monochromacy spell,” Loki tells your tutor as he sits back up.

Lord Alfarr looks at you and you dip your head to confirm this, telling him “My apologies, my lord, if we were causing a disturbance.”

“You are the daughter of Lady Kára Leifsdóttir?” The dark-haired Drekasál asks, cutting off whatever Lord Alfarr might have said.

“Yes?” You look between both of the Drekasál, your grip on Loki’s hand tightening as you tense up.

“I am Hrafn Njálsson, Eldgardian, and King of the Drekasál,” he says, placing his hand over his heart as he dips his head at you. He gestures to his companion. “This is Vragi Kötluson, Gymirsgardian and Seljasund city’s jarl.”

You’re rocked by the fact that these are not just two random Drekasál. This is the king of your people and one of the nine jarls of Gymirsgard, one of two realms that your people claim as home.

You bow your head low, practically touching the desk with your forehead. You think maybe you’re supposed to also stand up as well, but you can’t remember so you stay seated. “King Njálsson, Jarl Kötluson. It’s an honour to meet you both.”

“The honour is ours, Lady Kárudóttir,” King Njálsson says, a smile on his face as his eyes shift to the dark-haired prince at your side. The Drekasál king is quiet as he looks around the room at everyone. “I must confess, I mean no disrespect to the Asgardian princes, nor to any other lord or lady by greeting Lady Kárudóttir. By custom my people greet one another first, before we greet others. By law she is one of my subjects as well, even though she was born here on this realm and is considered Asgardian by you all. She is a Drekasál first and foremost in my eyes, and so I am her king. It would have been wrong of me to treat her in any other regard.”

“No disrespect was taken, King Njálsson,” Loki says with a charming smile, nodding at the dark-haired king. “Lady Leifsdóttir informed both myself and Prince Thor of this custom when we asked some time ago why the other Drekasál of Asgard greeted Lady Kárudóttir before they greeted us.”

“We will have to thank her for that when we see her and her heartmate later. Thank you, Prince Loki.” King Njálsson nods at your friend and then turns his attention back to Lord Alfarr. “I understand that you asked for our presence so that we might help your students understand the history of my people. Please, lead the discussion and we will lend information where we can to fill in the gaps.”

“Thank you, your majesty.” Lord Alfarr turns to his desk, turning on the interface screen and then picking his holotablet off the desk as a holoimage of a Drekasál’s human and dragon form spring up out of the desk. He taps his tablet a few times and then folds his arms behind his back as he begins speaking.

“Today we begin the section on Asgard’s staunchest allies across history, the Drekasál. Who here can tell me when the Æsir first encountered the Drekasál?”

“No one, my lord,” Loki replies. “The known history of the Æsir and the Drekasál stretches back farther than our records go. The earliest records we still have that mention them are around twenty thousand years old and even those texts indicate that our two species had an already long history together.”

“Correct, Your Highness.” Lord Alfarr looks to the two Drekasál who have taken seats on one of the free desks.

Even though you aren’t looking at them, you get the distinct impression that King Njálsson is keeping an eye on you. You’re not really sure why he would, aside from perhaps he has some strange worries about Asgardian education. Maybe you’ll be able to ask him later.

“Our people first met some thirty-four thousand years ago. We were a young species at the time, with no inclination to journey among the stars. Your Æsir ancestors found us on our homeworld, which has long since been destroyed. They called it Drekaheimr,” there’s a twitch of a smile from the king. You’re amused too by how on the nose it is, dragon home. “We called it Dálhem, valley home. According to stories passed down, the name was very apt. It was a realm of many valleys that our ancestors flew.”

“If you know this, then why don’t we?” Hallr asks. He’s a fledgling war god, you recall. His godnaming has to do with bows, meaning that if he chooses to join the Einherjar someday he would be one of the ulfheðnar — a scout or ranger of Asgard’s mighty army. It would be an honourable position for him.

King Njálsson shrugs. “I do not know. I had assumed Asgard retained records of our ancestors’ encounters. Perhaps even maps or drawings of the land we once called home.”

Everyone in the room looks to Lord Alfarr who shakes his head sadly. “We have scattered mentions of valleys deep enough to hide a dragon, and forests open enough for your ancestors to traverse as dragons but no maps or drawings of the realm remain within our archives.”

There’s a strange sense of melancholy that settles into your bones over a home you’ve never known. It was the origin of your ancestors, and once the seat of power for your people as well.

Now your people only have Eldgard and Gymirsgard left. Who truly knows for how much longer you’ll have them either. In the future, Ragnarǫk is prophesied to rip across the realms; those few that remain after will be left broken and ruined.

“Was the soulmate bond always something your people had?” one of your classmates asks. You look over at the sister goddesses who sit a few tables up, unsure which of them had spoken. Amora (the white-haired sister) looks like she might be doodling on her holotablet; her sister Lorelei (the sister with cool-grey hair) is staring at both the king and the jarl.

“No.” Jarl Kötluson looks from her to King Njálsson, and when the Drekasál king nods the jarl carries on. “While we know the moment they first appeared we are not… entirely certain why the soulmate bonds began. Over the millennia since the spell was cast we have attempted several times to undo it. When those efforts failed, we searched for who might have cast it. Such attempts to uncover or locate the being responsible has led only to dead ends.”

“When did they first appear?” This one comes from Steinnar, Hallr’s younger twin brother. He hasn’t received his godnaming yet, but his skills point to another bow god of some kind.

The Drekasál king seems to ponder the question for a moment, collecting what he knows to share with your class. His eyes roam across the class, settling on the corner you and your friends occupy. He’s looking at you again, but why?

“I believe it was during the time of King Bjǫrn, All-Father Buri’s father,” King Njálsson says, turning his eyes away and letting them fall on another member of your class as he continues to speak. “It would have been the second millennium of King Bjǫrn’s reign, not long after he married Queen Auðumbla, the Aesir goddess of bovines. There were… unseemly rumours that Queen Auðumbla’s elder sister — the High Lady Auðhild — was the one who had cast the spell as retaliation for her Drekasál lover rejecting her marriage proposal and leaving her.”

“High Lady Auðhild was a land goddess,” Loki objects, brows furrowing. “She had no seiðr skills beyond those useful to know any terrain she stepped on.”

You know Loki is telling the truth; Frigga had said the same about the High Lady when she had taught the two of you about land seiðr, including many of the gods here and gone who have been granted the ability to wield it.

King Njálsson’s eyes are trained on your corner again. “It’s why King Ingikársson dismissed them as rumours. Despite the public fallout between the High Lady and her lover, she lacked any skill in seiðr to do such an extensive spell herself.”

“There was nothing to point to her having acquired outside help to do such a spell either,” Jarl Kötluson adds, his eyes darting up to his king before they return to the other members of the class. “The High Lady also married King Ingikársson’s soulmate, some thousand years after that.”

“Do either of you have a soulmate?” you ask suddenly, curious. Both of them smile and then point at one another. You blink, surprised.

Now that you’re actively watching the way the two of them interact, you can see that the two of them seem to gravitate around one another, the same as your mother and uncle, or Lady Rúnudóttir and her brother Lord Tórbjǫrn Rúnuson. It’s something you’re so used to that you hadn’t really noticed it until now.

You can’t help yourself when you ask, “How does that work? You’re so far apart with one of you in Eldgard and one on Gymirsgard. My mother and uncle never leave the realm, and rarely do one of them leave the city without the other.”

“It was a conversation Hrafn and I had after we bonded,” the jarl begins. The way he leans against his soulmate, shoulder pressed against shoulder, is one you’ve seen your mother do when she’s seeking strength from your uncle. “We had our own duties already, Hrafn as the Burning Crown and I as the jarl of Seljasund. After a long discussion we worked out a schedule for seeing each other, and we speak each day as well. It’s a bit unconventional, but we’ve made it work.”

You nod, your eyes dropping to what’s displayed on the interface table as you absorb this for consideration about your own future; the beginning of the timeline Lord Alfarr has uploaded for the history of your kind. There’s a new segment added to the beginning, the bit of history that your people’s king had imparted that your tutor hadn’t had access to before. It’s cited as information from King Njálsson himself.

“Does anyone have more questions about soulmates for our guests?” Lord Alfarr asks his class.

With a low series of murmurs, the class begins to speak up and ask various other questions to the king and the jarl.

You pay far less attention than you had been, your thoughts occupied by the questions you now have about your mother and uncle. Questioning the many assumptions you’ve made about soulmates because they are the only bonded Drekasál you’ve ever consistently been around before today.

The brush of Loki’s thumb over the back of your hand draws you back to the lesson. You’re glad for it too, as you realise someone had asked about Odin’s late sister and her Drekasál soulmate.

The Drekasál king’s face is pinched, as if he’s thinking hard about how to answer before he does.

“Princess Laufey Borsdóttir and Lady Dagmær Ignadóttir. I remember them both.” He goes quiet again, and the entire room quiets at his words. There’s a sense of anticipation, an underlying curiosity about the late princess who died near the end of the recent war with Jǫtunheimr.

The dark-haired king leans back against Lord Alfarr’s desk with a heavy sigh, crossing his arms as he does so. “I met Dagmær some seven centuries ago, not long before she and Laufey became soulmates. As you all know, that was the first time a Drekasál had bonded to a member of Asgard’s royal family. The two of them were well respected and well loved by those of us who knew them. Their loss to Jǫtunheimr and their deaths in the subsequent war were taken very hard among my people, especially since the late princess became considered one of our own over time.”

“Lord Alfarr told us that Asgard didn’t immediately retaliate when Princess Borsdóttir was taken, and that was in part due to our people,” you say, looking between them. There’s an uncomfortable look passed between the two Drekasál before King Njálsson speaks again.

“That has some truth in it. Our people have no control over who we bond to, and at the time there were several Drekasál who were bonded to Frost Giants and Jǫtnar living on Jǫtunheimr. My grandfather sought a path of resolving it without conflict in an attempt to spare lives.”

“The attempt was unsuccessful. Many died on both sides in the eventual war while the safety of Midgard and Eldgard were threatened by King Fárbauti’s invasion with the Casket of Ancient Winters.” You look at Loki, not really surprised by his words — you’ve all heard the stories about the Frost Giants and the King of Jǫtunheimr and the horrors they tried to unleash after kidnapping Princess Borsdóttir. No, what surprises you is how he continues.

“Wouldn’t it have been better for everyone if the late King Randvísson had ordered the Drekasál of Jǫtunheimr to return my late aunt and her soulmate? As King of the Drekasál he had that power.”

The way King Njálsson stiffens at Loki’s words catches you by surprise. He cuts a look between the Asgardian prince, you, and his soulmate. You don’t understand it, and something about this action feels… off. You’re not really sure why either.

The jarl is the one who answers Loki’s question.

“None of us are sure why he didn’t, Your Highness. He had the power, yes, but as best we can guess he was seeking to avoid all conflict, including conflict from the late Drekasál who had soulmates on Jǫtunheimr. Even a few angry Drekasál are dangerous, which I suspect you have possibly learnt from being around Lady Kárudóttir.”

You and Loki glance at each other, neither of you willing to divulge just how different you are from other Drekasál usually. Your eyes also flicker over to Thor and Volstagg, both of whom are looking at you with concern etched on their face by the Gymirsgardian jarl’s words. You see Thor open his mouth, but when Volstagg nudges him with an elbow, the prince’s mouth quickly shuts as he shoots a questioning look at your cousin.

“Isn’t it true that there were Drekasál who betrayed Asgard to side with Jǫtunheimr in the war?” The bored-sounding question comes from Amora, her doodling paused as she leans back in her seat to stare straight at Jarl Kötluson.

“If that is how you wish to view it. Many of the Drekasál on Jǫtunheimr’s side of the war had Frost Giant or Jǫtnar soulmates. Some of those Drekasál had been living on Asgard for a time leading up to the war.”

“But what about the ones who fought for Jǫtunheimr without the incentive of a soulmate on the other side of the war?” Amora cocks an eyebrow. Something in you twists as King Njálsson slowly nods his head.

“There were a few. Dagmær died defending her soulmate from all according to every account. None who approached the late princess were safe. The others who fought for Jǫtunheimr made their own choice.”

Amora leans forward, propping her head up on her hand, an expression of innocent curiosity on her face. You catch her throwing a quick glance at you before she says, “Like Lord Sveinn Einarsson choosing to side with them and fight his soulmate, Lady Kára Leifsdóttir?”

( next chapter )

Find the lore notes for this chapter here!

#loki x reader #loki x you #loki x y/n #loki imagine #loki laufeyson x reader #loki laufeyson x you #loki laufeyson x y/n #a fairytale beginning #the prince and his dragon #of fire and of ice #amphi writes

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