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otterskin · 3 years

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Father's Day - Thoughts on Odin, All-Father, but especially Father of Thor, Loki and Hela

Part Two Here

I hope Father’s Day finds you all well.

I know families are complicated. I do not know what your relationship with your parents is. Maybe it’s good, maybe frayed, maybe healing, maybe completely disconnected. Maybe you’ve lost one or both or more of them. Maybe you have more than one father or mother, or maybe you have people that you think of as a parent. Maybe you never got to meet them at all.

I myself have recently lost my mother, to breast cancer. My father, stricken by grief, accidentally fell down the stairs and struck his head, resulting in severe trauma that has…deeply changed our relationship. I am grateful that I can still talk to him, but he cannot speak so clearly to me. I’ve always been very close with both my parents, but my father was always someone I loved to hear speak to me.

I want to talk about Odin. Specifically, who he is as a father, and how we as a fandom talk about him. Be warned - this is a monster of a post. I felt the need to be thorough.

Mythological Odin

Odin is the patriarch of the Norse Pantheon. He certainly looks the part with his big white beard and intimidating one-eyed glare - at first glance, he doesn’t look dissimilar from Zeus, Jupiter, or Yahweh. And yet - he is unusual. He is not much at all like other Western Patriarchal Deities.

Academic speculation is that Odin may have replaced Tyr, God of War, as arch-deity at some point in time. There is also evidence that in some places, Thor was overtaking Odin in popularity in the same way and some sects were positioning him as the patriarch. Tyr and Thor were very popular with the Vikings, and it’s easy to see why. They’re virile, masculine, tough, large and commanding. They match well with Jupiter/Zeus, Ares, Ba’al - Gods of War and Thunder. Not only that, but in-universe, Thor and Baldur are the most popular of the gods within the Court itself, while Odin is distrusted and disliked.

So why is Odin the Trickster in charge? And not even a trickster hero like an Odysseus or Robin Hood or Askeladd - Odin doesn’t always punch up. He often punches down. He can be cruel, cold, manipulative. Thor is sometimes named the ‘blue-collar god’, beloved by common people, while Odin was associated with nobility, and therefore kept his distance from others. While Thor used might and masculine strength to achieve his goals, Odin used guile, ferocity in ugly battle, and seidr.

The seidr is of particular note. Odin was called God of Magic, and along with Frigga, was considered the most powerful user of the craft. To practice seidr was to abandon the male gender role, and required the user to take up feminine tasks like weaving. Because of this, Odin is heaped with scorn for his abilities throughout the sagas.

“By his stage-tricks and his assumption of a woman’s work he had brought the foulest scandal on the name of the gods.” - Saxo Grammaticus

That quote's inference is that by using seidr, Odin was allowing himself to be ‘impregnated’ by it. A metaphor that implies shame as well as queerness. By practicing magic, Odin was seen as untrustworthy, unmanly, unnatural, even more so than Loki, who, as a nature spirit and a giant, was supposed to be like that anyway. But Odin was not only an Ás, he was King of the Æsir. Supposedly, the best of them. And yet he was despised in his own court for not conforming to their ideals.

No wonder he took to donning the disguise of an old man and wandering Midgard for ages at a time. No wonder he found friendship with Loki, another outsider, and even declared him his blood-brother with a place always at his side, despite giants being unwelcome in Asgard.

For all of this, Odin is seen as the God Without Honour, but also the god charged with keeping it. He is anti-authority and yet is the highest authority in the land. He craves solitude, but instead must convene with the other gods to keep them in line. He is the god of poetry and song, but also of berserkers and war. He is the god of the sky, but often prefers to wander Midgard in lowly garb, mistaken for an old man of no repute. He is All-Father, and yet is considered womanly.

I bring up all of this mythological trivia to make a point - Odin is a WEIRDO. He is as full of contradictions as Loki is, maybe even more so.

This is why I’m so fond of the OG Odin. He’s an outsider and unloved, despite being King. He is the lonely god, rejected by his people and yet still bound to them, despite his occasional, futile attempts to escape. He gives Norse Mythology a ton of depth and is sadly often misunderstood in the modern day. Too often I see Odin celebrated by people who completely misrepresent him, and would despise his queerness, and that brings me great sorrow. Worse, I see people condemn and despise him by doing the same, ignoring the qualities they praise in other figures because they mistake him for a symbol of something he never was.

Odin is not a hateful character.

Mythological Odin as a Father

Thor faces Harbard in a flyting exchange, W.G. Collingwood, from The Elder or Poetic Edda (trans. Olive Bray), London: Viking Society, 1908.

One of my favourite Odin stories is a flyting poem that involves him getting fed up with the big head Thor is growing, thanks to all praise and adulation his son regularly received. So, Odin disguises himself as a ferryman to take Thor across a swollen river. When they are too far from shore for Thor to escape, the ferryman tells Thor that there are vicious rumours circulating about him - his wife is cheating on him, people think he’s an idiot and bad in bed, that sort of thing. He moves on to dressing Thor down, telling him that he has no sense of fashion, is bad at flyting, and lacks a nobility of spirit. And then he goes on to brag about how he, ‘Harbard’, is super amazing at wooing giantesses (Odin is, much like Loki, someone who both disdains the masculine culture they find themselves within, and at the same time seeks to put themselves at the top of it), while Thor is stuck with the pretty but uninteresting Sif.

Finally, he declares that Thor would never be as awesome as ‘Harbard' because Thor was too uncreative and straightforward, lacking the moral ambiguity that allowed ‘Harbard’ to make the tough calls as a leader.

Harbard means grey-beard, of course, giving away Odin’s game a bit. I always found it interesting that Odin would disguise himself before giving Thor a tongue-lashing like this, as well as engaging in some base ‘masculinity measuring’. Clearly he values his distant, cold persona enough to not want to risk it when venting his emotions. It's not just this story, either - whenever he thinks Thor needs a good head-deflating, Odin tends to use disguises or set up traps that will humiliate Thor and teach him better manners, rather than personally confront him.

Now, the MCU

At first, Our Odin appears much more like the typical benevolent bearded god we’d associate with Yahweh or modern, more flattering depictions of Zeus. He is outwardly a warrior, and introduces both Asgard and himself as heroes who keep the peace with honourable might. This is also the story that he uses to present himself to his two sons, Thor and Loki.

Yet there is much of the mythological character in this depiction, hiding in plain sight. Keep in mind Odin's designation as Trickster King, and all the contradictions that implies, as we interpret his actions in the films.

ODIN’S PARENTING 101

THOR (2011)

The main vice of THOR (2011) is Pride. Pride is what causes Thor to start a war with Jotunheim, Pride is what convinces Heimdall to disobey his orders and open the Bifrost to let Thor through in the first place, and Loki loses Pride in himself and seeks to recapture it with violent means. It is a sin everyone in Asgard falls prey too, and only Thor partially learns how to check it by showing humility.

Odin’s pride is less obvious than the other examples. It comes not from one clear example, but numerous small ones - little moments that add up to big mistakes. Pride for him, similar to how it is for Loki, is pride in how he is perceived, in the image he crafts for himself.

All of THOR (2011), and really, most of the Thor Trilogy, revolves around how Thor and Loki perceive their father, how he tries to be perceived by them, and the miscommunication and tragedy that arises as a result.

Odin’s larger struggle, most apparent when looking at his arc over the whole MCU, is having an authentic self recognized beyond what he projects or what others project onto him. Despite his need to be perceived a certain way, there's a frustration when his weaknesses aren't acknowledged, when his other facets aren't noted, and he must perform only within the superlative expectations of his roles as King, All-Father, and Father.

Thor

Thor wants to live up to the Warrior version of Odin he has in his head, constructed from the childhood story we see at the start. He sees the current Odin as having grown foolish and weak, and thinks that he as the new king needs to be the warrior Odin once was. Even so, he still considers his father a great warrior, one who will side with him when conflict in inevitable - when Odin shows up on horseback to save them in Jotunheim, Thor assumes they will ‘finish them together!’

He assumes wrongly.

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Odin instead strips Thor of his powers and his heritage. He literally takes away his name and that of Bor from Thor and casts him out amongst mortal men. In a deleted scene (which of course is of dubious canon, but I see nothing to contradict it in the film and we have few enough scenes with Odin), Frigga rails against this, seeing it as cruel to deny Thor his family. Odin asks “What would you have done?”

Frigga replies only with what she would not have done - and that she didn’t have the heart to do as Odin has.

Odin then declares “That is why I am King.”

He admits that he grieves the loss of Thor, but that there are "things even he cannot undo" - and that "(Thor’s) fate is in his own hands now.”

This establishes a few things about Odin as a father to Thor. He is the disciplinarian out of him and Frigga, with Frigga actively avoiding making any suggestion of punishment or correction. She sees herself as the peacemaker, the ally of her children. That leaves Odin with the sole responsibility for managing his harsh lesson - and that lesson is this:

Thor cannot have his family at this time. He cannot have his mother, he cannot have his brother, he cannot even have the name of his grandfather or Odin’s name. Odin could end Thor’s banishment, but he cannot undo the mindset Thor has - that he is special because of his lineage, because of his powers, and because of the story he thinks he is owed. All this, likely because Thor is trying to live up to/surpass his ideal image of Odin.

(I personally imagine it as analogous to a trust fund kid getting kicked off Dad's teat and having to see how it is to be a blue-collar worker, subject to the whims of the powerful).

And say what you will about this tactic and whether it worked as intended - but it did work. It took longer than the three days THOR (2011) originally afforded the lesson, but Thor did eventually learn not to define himself by his father’s name and his ideal image of his father. He learned to be kind to those less powerful than he. This was Thor’s first experience with loss, and it would not be his last, but it put him on the path to empathy and humility. Losing the context of Asgard and his family opened Thor's eyes to a wider world and to a different interpretation of himself.

Later, he would also need the reassurances of Frigga (see End Game) to grasp an deeper meaning to this lesson than Odin likely intended - that he could be his own person and man outside of the responsibility he had then come to define himself by.

I’m struck also by the final scene of Thor and Odin in this film. Some time after Loki’s Fall, Thor seeks out his father, who has separated himself from the revelry inside and is gazing out at the Bifröst. Odin tells his son, in a higher voice than usual:

“You’ll be a wise king.”

It is a note of affirmation, one given while Odin is looking towards the place Loki died after failing to receive the affirmation he asked for.

Thor replies “There will never be a wiser king than you. Or a better father.”

The camera rests on Odin for a beat, still staring out at the Bifrost. Then he looks down, leans to one side, and struggles to say something. He almost does, but can’t quite get it out. It is a striking contrast to the booming, shouting Odin we have at the start of the picture. It reminds me most of the Odin from the Vault scene with Loki.

Thor continues, saying that he has much to learn and that someday he hopes to make Odin proud. Throughout, Odin appears pensive, eyes flickering to and fro, all the while still facing the broken Bifrost. Upon hearing that Thor thinks Odin is not proud of him, Odin turns and grasps his son’s shoulders, assuring Thor that he has already made him proud. This touch mirrors two previous scenes - where Odin originally stripped Thor of his titles and armour, and when Odin reached out to Loki but could not grasp him before falling unconscious.

After this touch, Odin leaves Thor alone, retreating again.

I love the acting in this scene. While Thor and Loki have the most obvious character arcs, Odin himself experiences a terrible lesson in his own right, one he is still dwelling on come the end of the film. When Thor calls him the wisest king and the best father, Odin appears visibly destabilized, unsure, and pensive. To me, the meaning of that hesitation, that clearly expressed doubt, is obvious.

Odin does not think he is worthy of those titles.

He extends his love and pride to Thor, openly and warmly, trying to convey to his elder son what he could not to his youngest. But he does not linger. He leaves Thor to grieve Loki alone, and I mean that in both senses of the dangling participle. Odin clearly blames himself for what happened to Loki, but cannot bring himself to share that grief or guilt. He closes himself off, as is his habit. He tends to do this a lot, leaving a place after any large emotion is expressed, as if he can’t bear to be in the room with it once it’s there in the open.

Odin’s sons striving to match what they perceive as their father’s ideal is what causes much of their inner conflict. Odin recognizes that - and he seems at a loss for how to address it. For Thor, he thought the answer was to move away, to help Thor become his own man outside of Odin’s shadow. For Loki, he thought the answer was to reassure, to offer support. Now with Loki gone, Odin seems transfixed between the two - and does both, reaching out to Thor before again distancing himself.

Loki

For all that this film pitches itself as a story about Thor and Odin’s relationship, it devotes far more to the relationship between Odin and Loki. Loki is even the first to speak after Odin finishes the introduction, asking whether the Frost Giants still live, before Thor comes in with that all too infamous line about ’slaying them all’.

Odin doesn’t tell Thor off for his promise of future genocide. Instead, he utters the platitude “A Wise King does not seek out war, but must always be ready for one.”

Some might decry this seeming callousness, that Odin does not immediately tell Thor off for such thing, especially with Loki right there. It seems that Odin does not care for direct messaging like that, instead using a saying that essentially means “Be ready to defend, but do not aggress.” Some might think that nowhere near far enough, but it is a surprisingly pacifist concept, especially for a warrior like Odin. He does not tell his son off sharply, but attempts to plant the seed of non-aggression.

You may think it not enough - clearly, the plot of the movie indicates it did not work as Odin had hoped - but it would seem he wanted to encourage Thor while discouraging that particular idea.

Still, it is easy to wish that Odin had implored Thor to think of the giants as people with lives worth preserving, that he had done more to humanize the giants in his war stories that served to mostly paint Asgard and himself in a glorious light. It seems like a cruel oversight that Odin inflicts on Loki here. It is hard to reconcile that with the man who so warmly takes Loki’s hand moments later, linking him to Thor. It is the first of many instances of Odin being pictured as both the connection between Thor and Loki, as well as the divider.

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In reflection, I think Odin prefers to teach through example, not words. He does not shout down Thor because he’d rather encourage a change in Thor’s mindset, rather than implanting it. He deliberately puts Loki and Thor side by side, refers to them equally (Yes, ‘You are both born to be kings’ is seen as a major flashpoint for conflict later, but in the moment, it is an expression of their equal status). This is not a man pitting his children against each other, but one attempting to put them on an equal playing field. Loki may accuse Odin of favouring Thor, but in the time we see Odin with his children (in this scene, and later in the Vault after the Frost Giant attack), they are conspicuously lined up shoulder to shoulder, with Odin equidistant from both of them. So while Odin may not say ‘giants are people too, Thor’, he probably thinks that by his actions, he has - even if Thor and Loki are actually unaware of the situation.

Which brings us to…

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The Vault Confession scene. Will I ever get tired of talking about this? I hope not. It’s still my favourite scene in anything Thor related ever.

Odin strikes me as fascinatingly polarized from the one we saw only a scene ago with Thor. With Thor, Odin was raging, but also heartbroken, teaching a harsh lesson using harsh words. He breaks Thor down because he sees Thor as someone who needs to downsize his big head, not unlike that little Grey-Beard story we covered before. There is, however, a genuine grief in that scene as he tries to drive home how disappointing he finds Thor, and he seems to be attempting to punish himself as much as he punishes Thor.

A certain shot even implies that when Odin says ’the loved ones you have betrayed’, Odin means Loki. Does that mean that Odin is angry that Thor has brought on war with Frost Giants because that betrays Loki? Or is there another interpretation? In any case, it is notable that the final and most emphasized transgression Thor has committed in Odin's eyes is the betrayal of loved ones - indicating that to Odin, loyalty to family is incredibly important. The camera choosing to rest on Loki in that scene as Odin turns slightly towards him would seem to indicate that that's who Odin is referencing specifically. I struggle to think who else it could be.

Despite Loki seemingly being secretly referenced, Odin does not address him at all in this scene outside of flicking away Loki’s attempt to help Thor. (That would be the famous ‘Hrrgh!’) He spends none of his rage on his second son at all.

Loki goes to the Vault to see if the Casket will affect him like the touch of the Frost Giant earlier did. Mere moments later, Odin appears, commanding Loki to ’STOP!’ - rather too late. And yet his quick appearance, so soon after Loki arrived in the Vault, would seem to indicate that he had a suspicion Loki would go there.

Loki confronts Odin, speaking quietly and calmly at first. He asks ‘What am I?’

At once, Odin replies with “You’re my son.”

Odin’s first instinct is to reaffirm Loki’s place in the family. He knows Loki well enough to know that this is what Loki needs to hear most.

Loki asks “What more than that?”

Loki does not refute Odin. He does not deny being Odin’s son. He asks what he is in addition to being Odin’s son.

Odin does not answer at first. He appears weary, unwilling to speak.

Loki: “The Casket wasn’t the only thing you took from Jotunheim that day, was it?”

Odin meets Loki’s eyes and says "No. In the aftermath of the battle, I went into the Temple, and I found a baby. Small for a giant's offspring - abandoned, suffering, left to die. Laufey's son.”

He tells the truth as he knows it, but tries to shade it with kindness. Loki rejects it, attempting to push Odin to say something crueler, to get him to confess to favouring Thor, to using Loki as a political tool. Odin replies that he had hoped to bring about peace with Loki, though we do not know how he meant to do so - and then states those plans no longer matter. This is a misstep, as Loki hears this as ‘I no longer have a purpose for you, you’re just a back-up plan’ or maybe ‘because of Thor’s warmongering, you no longer have a purpose’. Loki rejects the idea of being a tool, but he craves purpose and direction, something he was likely already fretting over when Thor was to be made king and his position felt less clear.

I suspect Odin’s intended meaning was ‘Yes, I did, at one point, hope to bring about a closer alliance and understanding through you - but I changed my mind, because I realized what it might do to you, and I only wanted to keep you safe.” I don’t know that that would have made Loki feel much better, but it is an indication that Odin made the call to prioritize Loki’s happiness over any political utility Odin had initially hoped for.

The only time Odin raises his voice in this conversation was to protest Loki ’twisting his words’ - indicating that Odin does consider himself to be telling the truth. He’s upset that in the moment he sees himself as being truly genuine, Loki rejects his sincerity. It is a small showing of his pride, a note of hurt even as Loki is completely subsumed by it. Just as Loki has been ‘unmasked’ in this scene, so too is Odin, in part.

Loki doesn't stop there, accusing Odin’s love itself of being fake - “No matter how much you claim to love me -“ and sees this knowledge kept from him as evidence of sabotage “-you could never have a Frost Giant sitting on the throne of Asgard.” Loki feels that love is expressed not through words, but Odin’s actions, which he sees as setting him up for failure and disappointment - to expect better than he was ever owed.

Loki is so overwhelmed by his emotions that he does not even notice how ill Odin is becoming until Odin has collapsed at his feet. Odin’s final motion before losing consciousness is to reach out to Loki, to continue attempting to reach him even as he loses his capacity for speech.

As soon as he becomes aware, Loki drops down to Odin and hesitates before taking his hand, as if afraid he will burn him.

It is worth noting how difficult Odin found expressing physical touch and affection. Whenever he reaches out to touch his sons, it is considered and rare. Even when he is dying, and Thor reaches out to steady him as he sits, Odin does not return any sort of physical gesture. Even when his children are children, they run to him and grab his hands - which he accepts gladly. But it is still an acceptance of touch, not an instigation.

He reminds me very much of Loki in that regard. Loki, too, seems to avoid physical touch or contact. It is often on Thor to instigate it, and while Loki accepts it and seems glad of it, he is somewhat passive as it occurs. That’s a big reason why the Vault Confession scene is so moving to me. Odin does try to make that physical contact, and though at first Loki is hesitant to take Odin’s hand - perhaps afraid he will burn him or hurt him further - Loki does take it. It is the only act of Loki initiating contact with someone else that I can recall, in over five films and now two episodes of a series. (Wait - he did pat Thor's back after finding out he broke up with Jane. That was nice. And very short. But aside from that.)

I’ve written this scene out like this to bring attention to Odin’s part, which is much quieter than Loki’s and often forgotten. With Thor, Odin was commanding, standing above his son and clearly in control of the situation even with both shouting. Here, Odin intially stands above Loki but eventually falls down. He speaks quietly, reiterating his love and desire to protect Loki multiple times. He never shouts over Loki or interrupts him, and he does not say any of the terrible things Loki wants him to say. Even as Loki rejects him and his love, Odin affirms it over and over again until he is on the floor and holding Loki’s leg.

Too often I hear people head-canon this scene into something it is not. Odin does not browbeat Loki, he does not lie to him, he does not speak of Thor or demand Loki respect him, and most importantly, he does not treat Loki the same as he treats Thor. He recognizes the differences between his sons and applies two different approaches. He immediately knows what will be the source of Loki’s alienation and reiterates multiple times that Loki is his son. He states that he decided to ‘protect Loki from the truth’, meaning he was aware that this would cause his son suffering and he worked to prevent it. This is not something a callous or inattentive father would do. Everything in this scene points towards an Odin who is very, very aware of what makes Loki tick, to borrow from Möbius.

Odin did not fail as a compassionate father in this scene. The one area I think he might’ve lapsed in was on focusing on defining Loki as his son, and not praising what makes him Loki - by affirming his pride in other aspects of Loki as a person, to make sure that Loki did not define himself by lineage alone. But perhaps Odin would have, if he’d had the time before collapsing. In Ragnarok, he does precisely this, complimenting Loki’s magic abilities and the pride of his mother as well.

Odin did not fall into a ‘convenient Odinsleep’ to escape Loki. I realize that may have started as a joke, but I’ve seen the sentiment expressed seriously too often now. It’s reiterated throughout the film that he’s been at the end of his rope for a long time and under immense strain, and that this was the most devastating event in his day. And it was quite a day. A war started, a coronation interrupted, his eldest son banished at his hand - but what pushed Odin over the edge was Loki’s anguish and rejection. This is not a man blind to his younger son, or his struggles. This is not a man who ran away from the expression of Loki’s pain - he went to the Vault only moments after Loki did.

Trapped in the Odinsleep, Odin is unable to do anything except cry when his sons come to blows, though he eventually manages to wake up early and attempt to save their lives (apparently the little bugger can run like the wind when he needs to).

For the final scene, the contention is thus - why, when Loki calls out to Odin “I could have done it, Father! For you! For all of us!” does Odin reply “No, Loki.”

I see many people interpret this as a rejection of Loki. Certainly Loki takes it that way, or at least it isn’t the response he was looking for. But I don’t think for a second, based on Odin as we’ve seen him in this film, this was intended as a rejection of Loki at all. It might be a rejection of his actions - or maybe it’s a rejection of Loki thinking that he needed to take action to prove himself at all, an affirmation hidden in a ’No’.

It’s something said in a shocking moment, quickly, a reaction in the midst of a tense moment surrounded by destruction caused by Loki’s instability. Maybe it’s just a groggy, shell-shocked reaction to that - disbelief that Loki has done this.

Clearly it was the wrong thing to say - but it was not meant as Loki heard it. After all, Odin says 'No' again when Loki falls - clearly that wasn't the result he wanted.

Odin takes Loki's death very hard, isolating himself from his family and Asgard. He remains king, increasing his stress despite not finishing the Odinsleep - an Odinsleep described by Frigga as 'different' and potentially un-wake-up-able-from.

Avengers

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Short entry, as Odin does not appear, although he sends his two ravens, Huginn and Muninn, to watch over Thor. They can be briefly seen during the ’talk’ Loki and Thor have in the woods. Odin is present through them, and would assumably know of this entire conversation.

It was Odin who mustered the dark energy to send Thor to Midgard after the destruction of the Bifrost. It is notable that he elects to send Thor rather than go himself or send Frigga. He likely sees Thor as potentially succeeding where he has failed, or perhaps as a more neutral but still familial figure, since he likely and correctly guesses that both he and Frigga are too complicit in lying to Loki for him to take their pleas kindly. (And also because Frigga or Odin is unlikely to join the Avengers and wouldn't sell as many toys).

Thor affirms that Odin mourned Loki, and it is here that Loki first rejects Odin as his father by correcting Thor from ‘Our father’ to ‘Your father’.

In a moment that greatly disappointed me, we learn that Thor has indeed been told about Loki’s origins off-screen (goddammit I wanted to see that). When Thor tries to remind them of a shared childhood, Loki replies that he always felt overshadowed by Thor.

For all that Loki rejects Odin and Thor in this film, he spends a lot of time imitating his concept of both. He refuses to take Jotunheim, but he will happily accept Midgard as a planet to rule over, to match Odin and Thor’s Asgard. This is in contrast to THOR (2011), where Loki did not desire the throne and came into it accidentally. No longer expressly seeking Odin’s approval, he’s begun down the road to trying to become his own version of Odin and trying to find self-esteem in that - something that will become rather literal in -

Thor : The Dark World

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Loki

Ah, the movie everyone points to when they say that Odin is the worst.

It never bothered me. It is a very logical continuation of what we see in THOR (2011).

The opening scene has many direct call-backs to the Vault scene of THOR, even recreating certain angles. It is meant to contrast with it. While the Confrontation in the Vault was meant to be a moment where Odin and Loki are being sincere to each other, this scene is all about posturing. Loki is putting on a show of insouciance, arrogance, and impenitence. He even speaks cruelly to his mother, rebuffing her attempts to help him.

Odin would seem to be doing just the same - putting on a show of cold-heartedness and cruelty to match, although one, like Loki’s, that does allow him to express his anger. This is a change in tactics from Odin here, going from his attempts to reassure Loki in THOR (which failed) to something more similar to how he treated Thor before banishing him. This is Odin deliberately pushing Loki away, and attempting to divest him of his arrogance and ’titles’. He refers to Loki as the ‘prisoner’, emphasizing his wrong-doing in much the same way he referred to Thor as a 'greedy, cruel boy'. He says ‘Wherever you go, there is war, ruin and death", comparable to how he tells Thor before banishing him that ’through his arrogance and stupidity, you have opened these realms and innocent lives to the horror and desolation of war!’

Loki replies “I went down to Earth to rule the people as a benevolent god. Just like you.”

It seems likely to me that, like with Thor, Odin sees himself as a bad influence. He is not unaware that Thor and Loki’s actions are attempts to imitate him - both say as much. By separating himself from them, and even setting himself against them, he hopes to encourage rebellion - that they will attempt to be better than Odin, and see him as a flawed man rather than the god-warrior-conqueror he is in their minds.

Now for the shouty bits.

“Your birthright-uh! Was TO DIE! As a child! Cast out onto a frozen rock! If I had not taken you in, you would not be here now to hate me.”

This is similar to Odin stripping Thor of his titles in an attempt to divest Thor of feeling like he is owed his power. This sounds harsh, and certainly it is, especially to a Loki who was so recently made aware of his origins. But it is an attempt to remind Loki that he was once vulnerable, that the world owes him nothing. It is an attempt to shock Loki out of his arrogance and entitlement. But it also reveals something more personal to Odin.

Despite many fanfic having Loki shout “I hate you!” at Odin, this has never actually happened in the canon. Loki has disowned Odin, he’s yelled at him, he’s criticized him - but never has he ever said that he hated him.

It is Odin who says that Loki hates Odin, not Loki. Here in particular, he decries Loki’s ingratitude as evidence of that hate -

To quote the titular character of King Lear, one of the main Shakespeare inspirations for the series :

If she must teem,

Create her child of spleen, that it may live

And be a thwart disnatur'd torment to her!

Let it stamp wrinkles in her brow of youth,

With cadent tears fret channels in her cheeks,

Turn all her mother's pains and benefits

To laughter and contempt, that she may feel

How sharper than a serpent's tooth it is

To have a thankless child!

Of course, King Lear is hardly a paragon of fatherhood himself. The point of that whole quote was Lear wishing he could take all the pain inflicted upon him by his daughter and turn it back on her, so that she can know what it feels like to be scorned and hated by someone she nurtured.

Additionally, Odin views his action in saving Loki's life as a 'good thing', one that he even defines himself by. When Loki rejects it and does terrible things with the aim to be more like Odin, it subverts how Odin views that action, and by extension, how he views himself. Before, Odin decried Loki 'twisting his words'. It would seem now he decries Loki 'twisting his actions'.

Loki replies by rejecting Odin’s ’sparing of his life’, saying "If I am for the axe, then for mercy’s sake, swing it."

Loki rejects Odin’s idea of mercy, saying he’d rather Odin just kill him than crow about saving his life. Loki does not want to be grateful for something that he once took for granted - the thing any child should be able to take for granted. He may say “I want a throne”, but what that means to him is “treatment as a legitimate heir of Odin, as any blood-related child should expect.” Or, failing that, the throne his blood-relation to Jotunheim assures him, even if he doesn’t want that particular icy chair. After having his sense of identity and pride shattered, Loki needs to cling to anything that gives him dignity - he will not throw himself on Odin’s mercy or define himself as ‘lucky to have been saved by someone as great as Odin’.

Odin’s attempts at humbling Loki, to try and find the little boy Odin rescued and loved, run directly against Loki’s need to project strength and find pride despite being something that Asgard sees as worth less than what he previously thought he was. It is, to put it lightly, a bit of a mustercluck of competing egos, each struggling to make the other see them as they want to be seen, rather than being honest about what they need.

Loki ends their conversation, saying he doesn’t care for ’their little talks’, tying this scene back to the Vault scene in THOR in dialogue as well as visuals and framing. Odin sends Loki to the dungeons ‘for the rest of his days' after mentioning that he’d considered execution - an execution stayed by Frigga.

This also parallels his banishment of Thor. For all Thor knew, he was also banished for the rest of his days to Earth. Some would argue that unlike Thor, Loki is given no Mjölnir, no symbol of hope to strive for, thrown immediately after him. I would disagree - that hope comes in the form of Frigga.

But! Odin says Loki is forbidden from seeing her! Ever again!

...C’mon, mates.

Odin sets himself up as the antagonist, goads Loki, and then forbids him from seeing Frigga, knowing perfectly well that Frigga can project herself to Loki’s cell, and he makes no attempt to prevent this?

Don’t forget that Loki initially plays his little charade with Frigga too, asking ‘Are you proud?’ and rejecting her love. After Odin forbids seeing her, Loki breaks character. He reveals that he does care very much about Frigga and living free, thank you very much!

Odin succeeds in getting Loki, for a moment, out of his illusions and expressing his real feelings - something important to Loki's growth, and which is the focus of his arc in Ragnarok.

The very next time we see Loki, he’s talking to Frigga about his feelings. So much for ’never see her again’. Much like Mjölnir is within Thor’s reach, so, too, is Frigga within reach of Loki.

To touch again on the deleted scene from THOR, Odin is perfectly capable of refuting Frigga. When Frigga wanted Thor’s banishment ended, he refused, adamantly. When Frigga berated his choice of punishment, he stood emphatically against her. If Odin truly wanted to execute Loki, Frigga could not have stopped him. Frigga also demanded that Thor not be separated from communication with his family, and Odin insisted upon it. But here? He not only gets Loki to open up to Frigga and talk to her more honestly, he practically ensures that Frigga is in contact with Loki. Much like before, Odin has set himself up as the bad guy, the enforcer, and allowed Frigga to inhabit the role of ally to her children, who loves easily and can be loved easily. Before he did this, Loki was angry with her, too. Afterwards? He is more than willing to vent about Odin to her.

You can’t say there isn’t a twisty brilliance to his. Whether it is healthy that Odin always casts himself as the villain to Frigga’s gallant and innocent of blame heroine is perhaps a problematic approach worth criticizing, but you can see the psychology behind it. It’s also worth noting that Frigga did accept this strategy, even relied on it to the point of being flawed herself - in THOR, she abdicated total responsibility to the decision to keep Loki’s origins a secret onto Odin, even with Odin asleep. She is the good cop to his bad cop. Although it is also worth mentioning that she still ties herself to Odin as a package deal, meaning that if Loki wants to call her his mother, then Odin is his father. Despite their roles as good cop-bad cop, they are united.

It’s also worth mentioning that this scene does not take place in the privacy of the Vault, but in the throne room. Loki has done some very public bad things, and as King, it is Odin’s duty to prove he is not biased or weak - even though he is, in truth, in very poor health, often seen leaning on his spear and walking slowly, clearly in pain, throughout the film. So very often, Odin does not have the luxury of being a father first - he is All-Father, responsible for everyone on Asgard and the Nine Realms. He cannot allow himself to be swayed by nepotism, and likely balks at the accusation. But he does allow Frigga to be completely free of that duty, free to be a mother first and Queen a distant second.

I do not think that was an easy decision. I think, if he were free of the crown, Odin would happily be very biased towards Loki, and forgive him everything if he thought that would help him. He does do that in Ragnarok, once he’s free (and Loki is not performing the ol’ arrogant conquering villain routine, and in response Odin is not performing 'angry powerful god-king').

When Loki ‘dies' in Svartalfheim, he declares that this time, he didn’t do it for Odin - implying that he did it for Thor, of course, and rejecting Odin once more. And yet...

The film ends with Loki returning in disguise as an Einherji, to see Odin in the throne room. When he informs Odin that there was a body, we see Odin react by saying “Loki.” It is left ambiguous whether he is asking if the body was Loki, or if he realizes the true identity of the man before him. After that, Loki successfully overpowers his sickly father and banishes him to Earth before taking his place and image, literally becoming Odin.

That final scene between the disguised Loki and Odin parallels the opening scene. Once again, both are in character. Much like how Odin broke through Loki’s façade by declaring Frigga off-limits, Loki probes Odin’s posturing by informing Odin of Loki’s death. My guess? Upon hearing of Loki’s second death, especially after the death of Frigga, Odin was struck with grief - giving Loki the opening he needed to overpower him. That is my interpretation, but in any case, Loki ends the film inhabiting the very image of his father, and having to perform as Odin for the next few years - a very interesting place for his arc to take him.

Thor

Thanks to all the stuff, Odin is still king, and he’s realllllly tired, guys. He barely got a three day nap when he probably needed a minimum year in bed. He is, in fact, dying, and has known it for awhile. He’s also been through a lot emotionally, what with Loki being dead for a year and then not-dead but acting like an entitled villain who disdains their relationship. This is not helping the whole ‘dying from stress’ thing.

The first thing Odin does with Thor is disapprove of his hang-up on Jane. He suggests Lady Sif as a better romantic interest, indicating that Jane simply won’t live very long - something that Loki points out as as well. It might seem cruel, but - Odin kinda has a point. Couples are supposed to grow together, and Thor will remain much the same while Jane goes through the stages of age alone. Of course, Odin also likens Jane to a goat at a banquet hall (real nice attitude to someone who helped reform your son), so maybe he’s not super worried about Jane’s well-being - more likely, it is Thor’s, and the grief Thor will experience when Jane dies prematurely in comparison.

Ironically for Odin, this is the film where Frigga dies an early death. Absent his other half, the half he’d relied upon to be the more nurturing parent, Odin becomes almost a parody of the man we meet in THOR. He is focused on revenge, on evacuating his grief and rage and frustration on the enemy, no matter the cost to Asgard.

Sound familiar? Yeah, Odin sounds a lot like Thor in THOR, as well as Loki in THOR. This time, when Thor rebels against his father, he is the voice of reason and compassion. It’s a great parallel to Thor's arc in his first film. Once more, Thor conscripts his friends for aid in freeing Loki and shanghaiing Jane to Svartalfheim. You could say that he has learned the lesson Odin taught him a little too well - he can now see the flaws of Odin, react to them and define himself against them, and act against Odin for the purposes of preserving life. This was what Odin wanted, even when it goes against his currently stated wishes. He never wanted his children to imitate him - he wanted them to surpass him. That’s why he was silent when Thor told Odin there’d ’never be a better father or king’ in the previous THOR film.

I also believe it’s worth noting that Frigga dies after Odin has pushed all his chips for hope of reconciliation with Loki onto Frigga. With Frigga dead, he’s lost not only his wife, but potentially Loki as well.

Much hay as been made of Loki not being allowed to attend Frigga’s funeral, or of Odin or Thor even showing up in person to tell him about her death. This is something that was pretty terrible on behalf of both Thor and Odin, but I would point to THOR again to show how this is a personal trait of Odin’s, and not a deliberate exclusion. Odin retreats when he is in grief, preferring solitude. Thor is not in prison, but Odin does not speak much with him about Frigga’s passing either. Thor also fails to communicate with Loki, too. There’s just a lot of communication failures in the family, probably because Frigga was the one relied upon as the peacemaker, the one who would normally deliver the news and try to ensure harmony (even if she sometimes was a little underhanded in how she did it, love that lady). Losing Frigga has upset their roles and no-one is prepared to step up and take her place just yet. And speaking as someone who recently lost a mother, a mother not unlike Frigga (she ran just about everything) - sometimes it is hard to even know what you should be doing, who you should be calling, what you should say. Especially when you are consumed with grief yourself. We actually did rely on a family friend to tell most people what had happened, and then deal with their grief. So I can’t say I’m blameless when it comes to sending a proxy rather than go myself.

Still, it is wrong that Loki was left to hear this from a guard. It is wrong that Thor didn’t have his father at his side after the loss of his mother. It is wrong that Odin governed so recklessly rather than take the space and time to process Frigga’s death. But grief is…a strange, terrible thing, and it rarely makes people act the best versions of themselves. I can speak to that. And considering everything that happened between Thor, Odin, and Loki, I understand why they might've wanted to avoid that volatile cocktail of emotions when they were reeling from such a devastating blow. Better than I did before.

As for Loki not being at the funeral - perhaps Odin couldn’t bear to have Loki in chains in public, especially knowing how it would make Frigga feel. Indeed, this may be an example of him covering up what he doesn’t know how to address.

…which takes us to….

Ragnarok

Hela

We never see Odin and Hela interact. All we have to go on for their relationship is what they say about each other, and the art in the throne room.

Hela is Odin’s secret firstborn. It’s kind of brilliant to make Hela his daughter - after all, OG Mythological Odin is God of the Gallows and Executions, as well as Death. That he’d have a daughter who was also Goddess of Death makes too much sense. Speaking of Executions, Hela claims that she was Odin’s Executioner - the one who saw that his will was done, and that will was bloody conquest - until he suddenly decided Nine Realms was enough, and she disagreed.

Hela seems disgusted with the man Odin has become, and with her siblings who came after. She is always herself, no airs, no deceits, no hiding, while Odin, in her words, covered up how he got it.

Hela is glad to hear that the ‘weak’ Odin is dead, but she sure does spend a lot of the film talking about him. She mocks his fake artifacts, is angry that he’s buried bodies in a crypt rather than put them on display. She restores his war-like image to her palace and for all intents and purposes appears to want to keep it up. She compares Loki's conciliatory way of speaking to Odin's as an insult, indicating further disdain for his diplomacy, and goes so far as to injure Thor in the same way Odin was injured and showing further disgust, likely at Odin's physical weakness. She brags about being his Executioner, remembers his quote about war, and feels very strongly about being his rightful heir.

Methinks the lady doth protest too much.

Hela is…kinda obsessed with Odin. Or more accurately - her Odin. That painting she reveals and revels over? It depicts Odin wearing a golden version of her dead-spider-looking-helm - or rather, reveals that her helm is likely recreated in Odin’s helm’s image.

Also to note, although Odin takes the main stage of the mural, where he and Hela are depicted together, they appear in the rest of the mural as equals, standing side-by-side. It would seem that, while they were united, they were very close. Hela's bitterness and constant mentioning of Odin makes sense once you realize that they were once the most important people in each other's lives.

No wife, no friends, no-one else is depicted at Odin's side but her - which also explains why Hela has no use for brothers when she returns. They are lesser versions of a lesser Odin, while she sees herself as the legitimate partner of Odin at his peak - before he started to 'sound like Loki' - i.e. prefer diplomacy to violent conquest, soft power to hard power.

Much like Thor, Hela defines herself against Odin, seeing herself as capable where he proved incapable. But like Loki, she also spends a lot of time trying to be exactly like her idealized concept of him and begruding his betrayal. Which makes her a great final villain for the brothers to face together.

As for what Odin says about Hela - well, he 'doesn’t have much time', but he covers a fair bit of ground. Odin confesses that he has failed his sons, and informs them that Ragnarok is near. His life was all that held Hela back, but now his time has come. He names Hela as the Goddess of Death, his firstborn - and Thor’s sister. He gives her her title, her birthright, and her relationship to the rest of the family. It is respectful, but also a little emotional, with his small pauses and moments of quiet. He does not insult her or degrade her, does not assure Thor that ‘he’s the real heir’, and does not detail how he feels about her personally much at all, positive or negative.

"Her violent appetites grew beyond my control. I couldn’t stop her, so I imprisoned her. Locked her away." - Odin

It is interesting that Odin apparently had the energy to imprison her - and, according to Taika Waititi, carry her around like a weight upon wherever he went - but could not bring himself to kill her. Also, Hela knows about Odin’s missing eyeball, even though he lost it in battle with Laufey, long after Hela was initially imprisoned. She’s also aware that she has brothers, though she is unaware that Loki is adopted or that Asgard has forgotten her.

This implies that Odin has been visiting her and talking to her, despite her hatred for him. It would seem that Odin maybe never really gave up on Hela, despite everything. Kinda harsh to stick his other kids with her disposal, but it is interesting that he could never bring himself to kill her or leave her in eternal solitude.

Some angrily demand “Why was Odin allowed to change, but Hela was given no opportunity to grow?” Unfortunately, we don’t know the whole situation. After all, Odin DID provide both Thor and Loki with the means to escape their imprisonments. Are we so sure Hela was given nothing? At the very least, she still had Odin. He never totally abandoned her. He quite literally kept her around him, even as it caused him to tire and sapped his life force. And that’s a metaphor if ever there was one.

Loki

The first Odin we see in Ragnarok (2017) is not the true one, but Loki disguised as his father. And what does he do with this power? Well, he does rebuild Asgard, but then he erects a (in comparison to most of the others, rather modestly sized) golden statue of himself in front of an amphitheater dedicated to performances of ’The Tragedy of Loki’, a cheesy play that’s Loki’s re-imagining of reality. It serves as a good recap, not only of events in previous films, but of Loki’s motivations, hopes and dreams. In it, Thor is understanding and kind to him and Loki is a tragic hero, celebrated by Asgard. Matt Damon utters the now-iconic line ‘I didn’t do it for him’ and dies dramatically.

But then who closes out the play but Sam Neill playing Odin, narrating the end of Loki’s story much like he did Loki’s origin story in the Vault (not to mention narrating the Thor films themselves)? It also mirrors how in The Dark World Loki’s story closes on himself playing Odin, as well as opens with Odin's narration in the prologue of THOR. It is Odin who decides the context and meaning of Loki's life, even in this fiction of Loki's life directed by Loki himself.

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A little boy painted blue climbs a rock behind Actor-Odin, and Odin claims him as ‘my boy’. Actor-Odin recreates Odin’s discovery of Loki in Jotunheim and frames it as purely loving - that Odin’s ‘old fool heart’ was melted by this ‘little blue baby icicle’ whom he didn’t suspect would one day be Asgard’s saviour. Matt Damon might declare that he ‘didn’t do it for him’, but the play ending on Odin’s admiring speech implies that Loki hasn’t actually let his desire for Odin’s approval go in the slightest, and it continues to frame Loki's story in the context of his father.

This is pretty crazy meta stuff here. We have Loki, in disguise as Odin, directing a play in which an actor also playing Odin speaks words written by Loki to a play-version of Loki as a child, as well as to the play’s director, Loki-disguised-as-Odin. Make no mistake, though this is intended as something of a propaganda piece for Asgard, its chief audience is Loki himself. The play allows Loki to reframe his story and control an Odin outside of the one he himself is already inhabiting. With this play, he can watch his puppet-Odin declare his love for the little blue boy on the rock. This is an Odin who sees Loki as a saviour of Asgard, a beloved child who changes Odin for the better and is loved and treasured, not in spite of being a Frost Giant, but in part because of it.

There is no accusation of Odin using Loki as a political tool, no insulting costume or dialogue, and in fact, no recrimination of Odin at all. This is a very flattering Odin, the Odin of Loki’s dreams. And yet, despite its cartoonish nature, what actor-Odin says is not that far off what Odin previously said to Loki in the Vault. Read into that what you will - Loki reframing what Odin said to make it more palatable, even humourous, or maybe Loki processing what Odin said and even finding it acceptable once he'd had time to think on it - with an addition. In this version of the story, the 'saving' is mutual. Loki is framed as Odin's saviour as much as Odin is framed as his, with Loki on the rock literally eye-to-eye with Odin, on the same level. Loki's purpose is not to bridge Jotunheim and Asgard, but to be specifically Asgard's saviour, which fits in with his isolationist policies as king. Loki has moved beyond making Odin proud to making him a better person - "Melting the old fool's heart". In this way, being a vulnerable child is made empowering, and the concept of Loki being something to take pity on is balanced with what good he can bring out in others.

Thor dispels the illusion, breaking Loki out of Odin and dragging him to Earth to find Odin. Fast-forward through Doctor Strange and we get to -

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Gosh, I love how this scene is staged. It mirrors how THOR composed shots of Thor, Odin and Loki. Loki and Thor are placed side by side in their search for Odin. Upon finding him, they sit at either side of him, and the framing highlights their equality. No more does Odin loom larger than both in frame, or stand over them as he did in the Vault or the Throne Room. He sits side by side with them as equals.

Odin’s final conversation with Loki is brief, and unlike their two previous confrontations, Odin actually does all of the talking. Loki is conspicuously quiet during the whole thing, likely ashamed of his actions in banishing Odin and nervous for what Odin will say to him. Considering their last conversation in the throne room, that’s understandable, but there’s a major difference here.

Odin isn’t king anymore. He isn’t in his finery, he isn’t in charge of Asgard’s well-being, and he isn’t attempting any trickery on Loki by setting himself up as the villain to Frigga's hero. As for Loki, he’s also not wearing the guise of an Einherji or his façade of villainous non-chalance. Loki is, all too rarely, just himself in these scene, and for the first time since the Vault Confrontation, Odin is also himself.

Thor goes up to Odin straightaway, while Loki drags his feet. Odin waits until Loki and Thor are by his side before he speaks to both of them simultaneously, addressing them as ‘My Sons’.

Everything Odin does, he does for a reason, right? And almost everything Odin says is either directed at both of them or at Loki exclusively.

Loki expects Odin to be angry with him, to reject him. And instead, Odin welcomes Loki in the same breath as Thor, as one of his sons. When Thor brings up the spell Loki used to confuse and banish Odin, Odin laughs it off and turns it into a compliment for Loki’s abilities. He even tells him that Frigga would have been proud. (And for all those who are like ‘Loki’s on his blind side! It’s deliberate and represents how he is blind to Loki!’- Odin deliberately turns towards Loki and makes eye contact with him while telling him this, something he doesn’t even do with Thor). (@woodelf68 also makes the great point that this can also be interpreted as showing Loki great trust, since you wouldn't put someone on your blindside unless you believed they would never harm you. Considering the thrust of the scene is Odin indicating to Thor that he holds nothing against Loki, I think there's far more evidence for that interpretation than the other one.)

While Thor is focused on by the camera as Odin gives his exposition about Hela, Odin doesn't specifically face Thor or look at him directly, instead staring directly ahead at the ocean. His words are equally directed at both brothers. The ‘yous’ are meant to be read as plural. When he tells Thor and Loki that they must face Hela alone, he means face her without him, but not without each other.

Easily forgiving Loki, focusing on addressing Thor and Loki as a whole, and ending with another ‘I love you, my sons’ and a suggestion to remember a place as ‘home’ is a deliberate message to Thor - 'Thor, I forgive Loki, my death isn’t his fault. I don’t consider what he did to be serious. He is equally my son, and equally loved.' By ending on a thought to make this area into a ‘home’ after that, he also solidifies Loki as instrumental to creating ‘home’ - an equal partner to Thor.

Of course, Thor doesn’t immediately get this. After Odin’s death, he immediately blames Loki and seeks to avenge his rage and grief upon Loki before Hela makes a timely entrance. But, as the film goes on, Thor does get past his initial anger and grows to understand Loki better, eventually forgiving him himself and making a place for Loki at his side. I don’t know that he would have been capable of that without what Odin said and how Odin said it.

(I know this fandom loves to imagine Thor as a cuddly golden retriever who forgives Loki everything, but that’s just not the case in canon. Thor has been pretty darn resentful of Loki and the trouble he causes, demeans him on several occasions, distances himself from Loki to his friends, and has never actually forgiven Loki for anything until the end of this film. Odin emphasizing their familial bond in this scene is a major catalyst for turning Thor around, as is Odin dropping a bombshell of info on Thor that helps him understand Loki's feelings.)

It is notable that Odin is skewing towards Loki more than Thor in this scene. Thor gets Odin’s full attention later, in the short visions he receives after Odin’s death (side note, I love that Thor got Frigga’s powers of foretelling and dreams, he’s a bit witchy himself. Of course, in Norse Mythology, Odin is famous for being tormented with visions of Ragnarok, and that is likely what's beign referenced). But aside from the Hela exposition dump, every comment not directed at both is directed towards Loki.

Basically, Loki’s fantasy of Odin and Real-Odin aren’t really that different. Odin truly does love Loki, he does see him as a part of Asgard and her future, and he does love him equal to Thor but still in a unique way - and he does say it. Multiple times. Again.

Then - Odin dies.

Loki’s grief takes on interesting forms in the rest of the film. He throws himself into the mad world of Sakaar and ladder climbs his way to the Grandmaster’s side, regaling Sakaarian elites with a humourous retelling of ‘letting go’ of Odin’s spear from THOR - turning his first death into a pithy anecdote. It is emblematic of how Loki deals with trauma, busying himself with a new project and dismissing his pain as ridiculous.

Then, even though he knows Thor is furious to the point of homicidal towards him, he joins Thor for Odin’s funeral in the cells beneath Sakaar. When the two are escaping Sakaar together, Loki declares that since it was Odin who brought them together, losing him would naturally split them apart. It’s true that throughout the THOR films, Thor and Loki’s relationship has been framed as through Odin. His first appearance has him holding their hands and joining them together. His death really does present the risk of them forever going their separate ways.

But they don’t. They do reconcile.

At the end of the day, Loki gets some of what he wanted from Odin in this film. Loki worried that his blood made him too inherently monstrous for Odin to truly love, and in that fear, acted monstrously, saying and doing cruel things to the world and also to Odin personally. And Odin didn’t change a single word of what he said. He still claimed Loki as his son, still loved him, still believed him equal to Thor.

Odin passed the test. Odin was telling the truth in the Vault all along. And now Loki can accept it.

Thor

Thor is really thrown for a loop in this one. While in THOR, he’s given a tough lesson by Odin, and in TDW, he learns how to rebel against Odin for the greater good, it is this film that truly destabilizes his concept of Odin and his relationship to him. This scene is his ‘Vault Confession’, putting him through some of the paces Loki went through previously (something Loki himself notes).

In responding to “Goddess of Death. My firstborn. Your Sister”, Thor goes - “Your what?”

It’s not the Goddess of freakin’ death that gets his attention, or even the ‘you have a sister’. It’s ‘My firstborn’.

Thor has always defined himself as Odin’s eldest child, the one saddled with the most responsibility and expectation. To discover that he’s Odin second attempt at a ‘firstborn' changes his concept of self and his understanding of what his relationship with Odin was.

With the revelation of Loki’s biological parentage, Thor’s response was one of denial. He refused to change how he thought things ought to be, and tried to push Loki back into his former place. When Loki doesn't get back in line, Thor stops talking to him, unable to digest this change in their relationship. In his mind, Loki was the one out of place, while it was Thor, Odin and Frigga who suffered for Loki’s rebellion.

Now it’s his turn to have his place and his identity spun around on him. Thor has usurped the place of another. Everything he took for granted was in fact never truly his.

Despite the events of TDW, Thor still trusts Odin, still sees him as a source of protection meant to keep out the bad guys, still sees him as the rightful king over himself. This is the first time Thor feels truly betrayed by Odin, and on top of that, foisted with the additional duty of killing Hela before he can take the throne he still doesn’t really want. This is where Odin finally just comes out and says what he’s been trying to teach Thor since Movie #1.

“I’m not as strong as you.”

“No. You’re stronger.”

Odin wants his children to be better than he was. He reminds Thor that he’s not the God of Hammers. The Hammer was a gift from Odin, but also, apparently, a hand-me-down from Hela. It was never as much a symbol of Thor’s power and unique connection to Odin as Thor thought it was. Hela really did him a favour by destroying it, allowing Thor to find his own abilities, free from his father’s control and opinion of 'worthiness'. Odin sees Thor as capable of doing the things he couldn’t, once he’s let go of trying to live up to Odin.

Thor defeats Hela, using not might, but trickery and sacrifice - which is very Odin-esque, but with his own Thor flair. He depends on others to help get the job done, and extends to them his friendship and belief. This is something Odin could not do. Odin ruled alone, with not even Frigga on entirely equal footing with him. Thor closes out the film with his throne surrounded by an eclectic group of people, who helped save the Asgardians and will presumably help them rebuild. It is a moment of hope, and one that spotlights the difference between Odin and Thor even as Thor’s eyepatch makes him resemble Odin more than ever.

But then...

Infinity War

Thor

Thor has fulfilled his father’s wishes by becoming king, sailing for Norway to make a new home, and welcoming Loki to his side as an equal. And then -

Thanos, destroyer of catharsis and completed character arcs, arrives.

The Asgardians are massacred again. Loki is killed. Thor is separated from his people.

Following his father’s wishes kinda ended poorly. Thor backtracks, seeking out a new weapon in Stormbreaker and returning to his revenge-obsessed ways, now far more passionate and inflamed than the boyish rebelliousness of THOR.

This does not work out well for him. Thanos lives to kill half the universe. Thor does get to behead him eventually. Then he still goes to pieces.

Luckily, a little time travel allows him a moment with his mother. Frigga is able to provide another lesson that Odin could not - the idea of not trying to surpass Odin, but bypass him. She tells Thor to find his own path, even if that means not being king. She gives him emotional support that, while Odin did try to supply, comes to her more easily. She hugs Thor, holds his shoulder, makes a ton of contact that Odin mostly stayed away from.

Loki

Our time with Loki in Infinity War is brief, but very important. Loki has brought down Thanos upon the Ark, and Thanos has done what he do and killed half of everyone who was on it - men, women, children. Loki had become the saviour of Asgard, but now he's responsible for its second apocalypse. His father’s faith in him, his insistence in including Loki, has led to this - death and ruin.

And yet, even in the midst of all this darkness, Loki finally reclaims the name ‘Odinson’. He does it as pledge of loyalty to Thor, but also for himself. Even after bringing down this terrible thing, Loki does not doubt that Odin would still want him to have his name. He no longer doubts Odin’s love for him, or his place in the family.

He dies after telling Thanos “You will never be a god.” Meaning, of course, that Loki has embraced his own godhood and place in Asgard.

ODIN HIMSELF

Odin as Image

Odin in paintings, new and old. Odin as played by Sam Neill in Loki’s play. Odin as portrayed by Loki in disguise. Odin in a vision. Odin in the imagination of his children as he tells them a story. There’s a ton of false-Odins and Odin iconography throughout the series. It is symbolic of how Odin is symbolic. It’s worth mentioning that we’ve never had a scene of Odin alone, something afforded Thor and Loki often. We see Odin only from their perspective, and never what he’s like when he doesn’t have to perform for anyone. Odin doesn’t get to be just himself - he is always shown in the context of what he means to others. This is Odin’s struggle in the series - he is caught between being Odin the Icon and Odin the person. He plays many roles for many people - father, husband, king, warrior, politician. But who is Odin outside of these things? I think Odin’s most vulnerable moments are when he attempts to break through someone’s conception of him, but is rebuffed in preference for the ‘Conceptual Odin’. Sometimes this is his own fault - like when he tells the stories to Thor and Loki and paints a certain image of himself for them, or when he reconstructs his own history - and sometimes it is simply the nature of his position or what people want or assume him to be, positive or negative. Three pieces of dialogue illustrate this.

“Why do you twist my words?” - THOR The only time Odin pushes back on Loki in their conversation in the Vault is when Loki accuses of Odin of keeping Loki as ‘another stolen relic, locked up here until you might have use of me.’ Odin is trying to be gentle with Loki, and the one time he slips from that and expresses frustration is when he tries to reveal himself and the truth - and is called a liar who only 'claims to love (Loki)' as part of a cold-hearted scheme for power and control. Loki defines Odin not in Odin's own terms as a kind-hearted man wishing to show mercy, but as a ruthless king seeking to use people as pawns.

Being a calculating king is an aspect of Odin, but it is not all of him. When he is forcibly defined as only that, and otherwise 'pretending' to be a father in order to serve the goals of a politician, Odin loses his composure - though he does recover it enough to put his hurt feelings aside and continue to try and convince Loki of his genuine affection.

“….” - THOR When Thor tells Odin "There will never be a wiser king than you. Or a better father”, Odin slumps, as if a great weight has been put upon him. He doesn’t stand like a dignified king, nor a proud father eager that his son now appreciates him. He tries to speak and fails to get the words out. It’s as if he means to disagree, but can’t bear to shatter Thor’s image of him. “Your birthright-uh! Was TO DIE! As a child! Cast out onto a frozen rock! If I had not taken you in, you would not be here now to hate me.” - TDW Odin’s decision to make Loki his son is one he’s incorporated as an important part of his self-image. It seems like he considered it one of the best things he ever did, and when it leads to Loki’s ruinous and angry actions, it rocks him. He goes from seeing himself as Loki’s saviour to Loki’s villain - and he plays that part, just as Loki wants him to. It is worth noting that for the rest of TDW, Odin isn’t just an arse to Loki, but to everyone around him. His relationship with Loki becoming antagonistic has made him more antagonistic to the world entire, sharpened his persona and making him a crueler person. The loss of that ‘good memory’ has, perhaps, reverted him to a more war-like version of himself. Loki represented his hopes for peace, and his own inner hope for redemption - losing Loki, and Loki’s perceived love, makes Odin swerve hard in the other direction, seeing himself as beyond redemption. If Loki doesn’t believe in Odin’s love, then Odin must be better at anger, and that anger comes out in all aspects of his life. Losing Frigga on top of that accelerates it further, as it was through her that Odin often enacted his softer sides.

Propaganda

The mural in the throne room is seen by Hela as a lie - Odin covering up the 'truth' of his conquest and relationship to her for 'peace treaties and garden parties'. But it is also true that Odin did only cover up that older mural, not destroy it - he created a new layer, one that re-invented himself as a peace-maker, who stood side by side with the king of Asgard's ancestral enemies upholding a written promise of non-aggression, as well as one that showed Odin alongside family. And at the center of this new mural was not Odin, as the older one had it, but Asgard and the Bifrost Bridge alone, the connection to the other realms.

Is one painting really any more legitimate than the other? Both are propaganda, and, much like Loki's play, undoubtedly some or even most of that propaganda is intended for the author. Yet this new painting undeniably has a better message, if still a nationalistic one. It is Odin's attempt to reinvent himself into a better king and person, with better, more harmonic values at the center of his priorities - once again, similar to Loki's play. Of course, it is just an image, and not necessarily the truth. We know Laufey did not think so kindly of the peace treaty, that Thor, depicted here as hanging out with friends, was not always so peaceable, and Loki, shown with his family in his TDW appearance, was not nearly so content or available to stand with the family at that time (which does bring up the question of just when this was painted - Thor, too, has his Thor 2 look, so probably during Loki's year imprisonment? Does he just keep updating it, like a family photo book?)

It is an ideal, something Odin wants to be true for himself and others, and perhaps revealing his own insecurities (really, this and the play are functionally the exact same things, adding another layer of meta to that beautiful, hilarious theatre). This mural is stripped away, much like how when Loki and Thor see Odin for the last time, Odin is stripped of everything that contextualized him previously in the series. He is not a king, not in Asgard, not in armour, and not angry. He exists in one form and function - as a father. Including to Hela. He speaks without dramatic airs, lays out things as straightforwardly as he can, and doesn’t try to defend his own ego at all. He puts his efforts solely into preparing Thor for what’s to come and reassuring Loki. Yet even though Odin has been stripped down for that scene, we still don’t quite see him as Odin only. He is Odin, Thor-Loki-Hela-Father, but still not Odin the person. He simply puts the needs of his children to be recognized and actualized above his own and passes peacefully, never having been truly seen as a whole person beyond his various functions. Odin wants to be loved, but Odin as a concept is so many things to so many people that it is often the Icon or the Imaginary Odin that receives this love, and not the flawed person who inhabits it. Whether it is his children, his people, or even the audience of the films themselves, Odin is seen as the role he plays, even to himself. The occasions he seems most vulnerable and emotional are also those in which he feels misunderstood. Odin is a fragmented person, lost behind layers of re-invention, much of it tied to how others see him, in particular his children, all of whom have have tried to emulate or rebel against that image. They all have their idea of what an 'ideal' Odin is supposed to be, and they all try to become like that ideal, even if that means rejecting the real, actual, breathing Odin.

Even Odin pushes back on the idea of Odin. In fact, the actions he seems to most proudly define himself by are those that contradict what is presumed of him.

Odin adopting Loki is a bizarre move, entirely incongruous with Asgard as know it to operate and think. Odin banishing Thor as punishment for starting a war - even though Thor expected Odin to fight it with him. Odin being banished by Loki - and accepting it, having no anger at all about the situation, and not seeking to return to power. Odin forgiving Loki when Loki expected retribution. Odin turning away from conquering and towards peace-craft, despite Hela's protests.

Even the smaller moments - Odin speaking quietly when expected to shout and rage, Odin raging when expected to be wise, Odin being loving when expected to be conniving, Odin praising when expected to chastise, and Odin reaching out when expected to draw away - show a man unwilling to be put in a box, even one of his making.

It is a journey not dissimilar to Loki's in the MCU - but while Loki is able to find reinvention and the ability to be truly present and accepted as he is, Odin never quite does. He dies performing one role, the role of Father, rather than the multiple he's had to inhabit throughout the series, but our glimpses of Odin the individual appear only in the cracks of his personas.

It is a fitting portrayal, entirely in line with the mythological Odin, who also exists uneasily amidst expectations that suit him ill even as they define him. Like mythological Odin, there's a streak of the trickster rebel, unafraid to be underhanded, to go against the grain, to befriend what is considered monstrous or find strength in what others consider weakness. There's also the pride, the fear of acting openly, the mysteriousness, the desire to teach rather than command, the propensity towards isolation, and the unspoken need to be understood. All there, in bits and pieces.

It is this odd and conflicting nature that allows Odin to create the circumstances of our story, as well as much of its depth. A more typical Asgardian might've killed Loki, praised Thor's aggression, or discouraged Hela for being a woman. Odin's actions with all three were unusual and unique, and unlikely to have been undertaken by anyone else without his collection of weirdo traits.

Perhaps an even better man would have nipped Thor's aggression in the bud as a child more effectively, channeled Hela's ambition into better, healthier things, and not adopted Loki at all, but sent him far away.

Perhaps. But then we wouldn't have a good story.

...

And now I want to talk about how the fandom talks about Odin. And whether or not Odin is a good or bad father. Oh boy. In PART TWO.

#odin #loki #thor #meta #thor meta #odin appreciation #loki analysis #ragnarok #the dark world #thor 2011 #thor 2 #father's day special #father #odin meta #loki meta #Youtube

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ketilsfarm · 3 years

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vincest fic masterlist

masterlist of vincest fics since i foolishly started posting them anonymously instead of making a new ao3, and can’t put them in a series without revealing my username :3c

My goal is to make it possible to avoid my content if you don’t want to see it, so I try to keep the summaries very short since incest is a common trigger. Please block this account if my posts are showing up in searches and you don’t want them there!

general notes:

Torgrim/Atli = Guriato, Thorgil/Olmar = Giruoru

The older brothers will probably always be topping unless it’s a modern AU, since Viking culture saw the penetrated partner as playing the submissive or “woman’s” role.

Most of these works will contain allusions to rape, as it would have been a fact of life for these characters. According to sources, rape was used as a means of humiliating captives or defeated warriors, so generally within the ‘canon’ of these fics, Atli has been raped during his time as a captive and Thorgil has committed rape. There’s less detail about it in the Guriato fics, but yeah them too.)

Most of the Giruoru fics will be dubcon at the very least due to the nature of their relationship.

I can’t do lolishota~ Olmar will always be 16 minimum in the Giruoru and I’ve only done one short dark thing with regressed-Torgrim

Torgrim/Atli:

fics where they’re involved previously:

the holy men may speak of paradise - M, 401 words, hurt/no comfort, mentioned rape. Atli being kept captive by the Jomsvikings. I thought this would be a one-off but it started me down the vincest path.

from the fury of the northmen, o lord: - M, 1241 words, third party pov, vignette set during their raiding days. Contains threats of rape. (I’m not that fond of this one honestly but I was still getting into the series atmosphere here)

because the night - T, 357 words, fluff, anija being emotionally delicate and needy. (Japanese tl here)

deerly beloved - E, 2900 words, pre-series smut. Atli taking an antler dildo up the butt, that’s all. Meant to be their pre-timeskip designs from the anime.

vanadís - T, 1350 words. Magical mpreg, humor. Atli gets pregnant and is significantly less excited about it than Torgrim.

if on a winter’s night - T, 1000 words. Another member of the band sees them in the middle of some drunk roleplay.

trouble the waters - T, 8400 words. AU using daemons from the His Dark Materials series. Here I wove them into Norse mythology a little and changed them up so it would be easier to write (please, don’t make me create two more OCs!) Despite how different this universe is from canon, it ended up being pretty much the fic I wanted to write about Atli heading home with his new brother-son after parting with Askeladd.

under the skin - M, 1600 words. Atli gets a minor injury in battle, and he and Torgrim bicker over what it means.

ototoxic environment - M, 1,894 words. For once, they have to face the fact that Ear probably knows they’re fuckin. Luckily, he doesn’t have much to gain by sharing it.

direction. - M, 1,764 words. Torgrim reassures his brother that he’s much more important than gold. Probably.

come the spring, come the fall - M, 963 words. It’s winter, they’re in their parents’ house, and Torgrim’s horny.

Open Within - E, 4,237 words. Threesome with Atli’s wife. (Atli on bottom both ways.) Torgrim believes ardently that twins are conceived by two men ejaculating inside a woman in quick succession, and he wants his brother to have the best heirs possible.

once and again - M, 569 words. Atli’s back in that goddamn tent again! He sure spends a lot of time there.

once before - E, 1,674 words. Their first time as mentioned in once and again. Mostly wordless, heavy petting after getting overly excited and kissing after a battle.

The Hand That Holds the Leash - M, modern AU animal play. (Like full-on bestiality roleplay.) Torgrim’s topping but on the leash, both literally and figuratively.

fics about their first time together after not being involved previously:

set during their raiding days:

payment in kin(d) - E, 4,752 words. During their raiding days, Torgrim covers a payment for Atli, and after much thought, Atli settles on a blowjob as the only possible way to break even.

The Shadows of Strangers That Stick to Your Skin - M, 3,389 words. Guess who got crabs in England! It’s both of them, and they’re very out of sorts. Contains wrestling.

A Serpent That Straddles the Sky - M, 2,932 words. Sequel to the above fic. Drunk intercrural in a haystack and it gets kinda d/s.

the otouto pussy indulgence series:

indulgence - E, 3800 words. Atli acquires a vagina thanks to magic, and then Torgrim does as well. There’s sex pollen too.

Teasing - E, 1,739 words. Fingering. Torgrim deals with a little aftermath from the sex pollen and is accidentally very rude to his brother.

Becoming - E, 3,112 words. Sequel/midquel to indulgence. Torgrim eating otouto pussy. That’s it.

Unbecoming - E, 2,935 words. Sequel to Becoming. After reassuring Atli that there’s no need to worry about periods, Torgrim winds up the one who gets his period, and he’s a bad patient. Atli reassures him and gets his red wings.

set after Atli’s return home after being held captive:

not right - T, 600 words. They get together after their return home, thanks to intense guilt and unhealthy ways of dealing with PTSD.

in order. - M, 1,964 words. Torgrim’s living with his brother’s family. He can’t work much, and doesn’t have much to offer a woman. Atli offers himself up and makes a confession.

canon-adjacent fix-it series, in chronological order; involves Atli being married with children, and Torgrim “waking up” from the dissociative state but continuing to live with his brother’s family:

somewhere back when we were young - M, 1410 words. Looking at how a “mutual” relationship could have started back at the onset of puberty. Implied underage sexual content.

together, alone - M, 1800 words. Torgrim convinces his brother it’s time for them to leave home. Implied underage sexual content.

captive audience - M, 1110 words. Sort of a reworked version of holy men, meant to fit more closely into this particular series. Onscreen rape in this one, and flashbacks to (non-graphic) consensual sex in early puberty.

don’t forget the nights + (you can’t forget the nights) - T, both 944 words. Atli returning home and the brothers slipping back into their old relationship.

always been and are - T, 3000 words. The brothers cuddle for the first time in a while, talk about the past, and experience some friction when they talk about the future.

the other side of paradise - T, 2200 words. Atli’s wife overhears them having a very emotional conversation and finds out about their relationship.

things surpassing strange - T, 2150 words. Atli’s wife deals with some jealousy from her brother-in-law, and sets a few conditions with her husband for their ongoing arrangement.

stillness & in(ter)twined - T, 649 words and M, 1,287 words respectively; Torgrim’s new method of taking care of his brother (it involves sex), and reflecting on what life is like now.

Before and Between & In Between and After - E, 2,944 words and E, 3,375 words respectively. Torgrim is very fond of his brother’s face, in their younger days (first fic) and their older (second).

history chimes - M, 1,077 words. Torgrim disassociates sometimes and wants sex; Atli’s not sure what else to do, so they have sex.

silver, gold - T, 1400 words. The brothers exchange wedding rings and Torgrim has a brief flash of insight into the reality of their relationship.

nothing compares - E, 2125 words. Belly worship over the years. Plus Atli nursing for comfort and freaking Torgrim out.

little niceties - T, 2900 words. Atli’s young daughter sees them cuddling in a very un-brotherly way. Fortunately, she’s too young to understand it, and Torgrim's explanation of why she should keep it to herself covers a few other matters that have been unsettling the household.

watchful eyes - T, 2310 words. Atli’s son listens in. I probably gave him too many young kids, honestly.

the years that pass - E, 3024 words. They finally escape the shackles of toxic masculinity and admit that Torgrim gets off on having a brotherwife. By this point, Atli gets off on it too.

part to meet again - T, 1900 words. Atli dies of old age, Torgrim takes it poorly and dies soon after. From the perspective of Atli’s daughter, an OC introduced in previous fics.

the leather culture 1980s AU:

give to me your - M, 2700 words. 1980s AU, themed around leather culture. Torgrim gets protective in the wake of an assault, while Atli prefers not to talk about it at all.

hell for - M, 4226 words. Prequel. Atli’s in a bratty mood as Torgrim arranges their entry into the leather scene. (Takes place before the assault, so no warnings for this fic.)

Threefer Leather - M, 3428 words. Atli likes getting tied up now, and Torgrim’s trying to understand the psychology of it all.

Fourth Time the Charm - E, 4,700 words. Torgim’s still worried about the implications of Atli’s new interests, and he sees the chance to get some honest answers after sex while Atli’s still spaced out. Atli doesn’t appreciate it.

From The Other Side - E, 1,069 words. Outsider POV from a member of the leather club where they have sex sometimes. (Who doesn’t know they’re actually brothers.)

Dragonriders of Pern AU:

Dragonfuck - E, 5295 words. Pern AU. Brownrider Torgrim inciting his greenrider brother to top him (!!!!!!!!) so he doesn’t have to worry about him becoming one of those greenriders. The one where I finally gave up on lapslock titles ([Yzma voice] And you want to know something else? I never liked lapslock titles! Never!!!)

Dragonfall - M, 3779 words. Something happens to Torgrim’s dragon, and Atli knows they have to run.

Nightwatch - M, 6229 words: Regressed Torgrim makes friends with a feral watchwher (nobody fucks a dragon in this one, I feel like the rating/tags make that unclear)

others:

sommer sturm und drang (M, 3896 words) & heads turning (M, 5,030 words). We don’t respect JKR in this house but I did start two HP/omegaverse fusions before the big blowup. First is school-age omegaverse-typical dubcon at Durmstrang (as consensual as possible, but you know... omegaverse). Second one is set years later; Atli’s living with his brother, dealing with still not being pregnant despite their best and constant efforts... and then something happens during one of his brother’s jobs.

all to the best - E, 4154. I don’t actually remember writing this but apparently I did! Midquel to the other ones from the HPomegaverse. Atli feels bad about not stepping in to stop another omega from being abused, but Torgrim reassures him it’s totally fine, because nothing like that will ever happen to him, and also it’s time to have sex. So it’s fine.

Kyoudai oshi photo essay - T, unknown word count. Pushing the agenda with screencaps.

Atli: Dumb bottom? Yes. Coward? No! - Essay defending Atli’s honor as a mere dumbass.

Question: What Happened to Torgrim? (and Atli) T, 1800 words. Canon-compliant essay explaining what happened to the brothers.

Every Other Man's Lousy Luck - T, playlist. Roughly canon compliant except it’s implied they’re fuckin’.

the fucked up ones:

question ➡️ answer (M, 1,348 words) & answer ➡️ apologetics (E, 2,793 words) - They get horny for each other after making a habit of raping women together. Rape and snuff of an unnamed woman in the first one; fully consensual between the two of them.

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

Thorgil/Olmar:

the “wolf” trilogy, not actually related but similar in themes:

hungry like the - M, 2044 words, dubcon. Thorgil manipulating Olmar into sex as a lesson. (my second vincest fic; I was getting used to dialogue in this setting and trying to disguise my writing so it’s lower-quality, in my opinion)

kill the wolf someday - E, 3467 words, extreme dubcon (sex pollen plus manipulation). The sex pollen fic. That’s it.

big & bad (bred in the bone) - M, 1260 words, hurt/no comfort, noncon. Set ten years after Thorgil’s departure. Deals with the ship as past CSA with realistically traumatic effects, with another assault during the fic. Kind of about that trauma feeling of wanting the familiar back no matter how much it hurt you. (sequel: out in the flesh)

Take Me, Shake Me:

(Modern AU. The gentler of the two, with the relationship initiated by 18 y/o Olmar; Thorgil is more of an adrenaline junkie in this one but remains a very bad dom.)

from the many-venomed earth - M, 1100 words. A series of 11 drabbles.

tornerose - E, 2100 words. Another drabble series. Consensual drugging/somnophilia.

up up in the air - M, 3,259 words. Dubcon handjob in a Ferris wheel.

Make Me, Break Me:

(Darker modern AU, with a dom/sub relationship predicated on a lot of grooming and gaslighting from Thorgil.)

developed dependence - E, 6173 words. The process of Thorgil getting things started and using Olmar’s need for approval/attention to convince him that this is fine, actually.

sweetest taste is never gonna leave you - M, 3380 words. Puppy play and pee, Olmar getting broken down a bit more.

others:

all of my favorite scars - E, 2421 words. I wrote this in one day after finding out that Olmar calls Thorgil niichan and not aniki as I’d assumed. Scar worship, wall-fucking, gratuitous use of “niichan”.

ear necklace in your cup - T, 1565 words. Humor, based on the infamous Folgers “Home For The Holidays” commercial.

out in the flesh - T, 1418 words. Sequel to big & bad (bred in the bone), the realistic CSA one. Olmar returns home to his wife (the girlfriend we see him with in canon), and doesn’t feel good about himself. Thorgil doesn’t appear onscreen in this one.

in dreams - M, 1,803 words. Ten years later; a drunk first time after a chance meeting.

raw meat = blood drool - M, 1,782 words. Noncon knee job in the days Ketil’s farm spends preparing for the war.

nightswimming, lightsdimming - E, 5,409 words. Modern AU. Drugged rich boy birthday sex in a penthouse, plus threesome with their unnamed sister.

the vines of tall trees - T, 4,288 words. Revisiting the fylgjur/daemon setting from my earlier Guriato fics. Nonconsensual daemon touching... or rather, Olmar says yes, but his daemon doesn’t.

A Black-Eyed Trust - T, audio playlist. Roughly canon compliant but with incest.

You're in My Blood, You're in My Bones (Can't Get to Your Heart) - NSFW audio. Modern AU playlist that Olmar cries over at 1AM instead of breaking up with his psychopath brother.

platonic Olmar & Thorgil fics:

kept at bay - T, 1560 words. Thorgil is brought back to the farm 15 years later with disabling injuries and Olmar tries to take care of him. (Thorgil dies at the end)

cracking wood made my little heart tremble - T, 1,573 words, cruelty to animals and children. A young Thorgil tries to get a younger Olmar to toughen up. (written before I got my hands on the guidebook with ages; they’re 6 years apart in this one and not 8 as they actually are in canon)

little boys got a lot to remember - T, 4,190 words. Olmar & Thorgil & their unnamed sister, growing up. (Again, incorrect 6 year age difference, and I put the sister right in the middle, 3 years older and 3 years younger.)

OLMAR PHOTO ESSAY - T, unknown word count. Olmar photo essay?!?! Still contains brocon.

OTHERS:

Gunnar/Ragnar:

certain strange finalities - T, 521 words. I wrote this to prove I could, because the main problem with this third sibling set is that the most decent and religious man in the whole manga probably isn’t gonna be boinking his snake little brother. So I had to work with his one failing, which is being overly indulgent to the ones he loves.

Sweyn/Canvte:

Midnight Sun - M, noncon, 347 words. Sweyn’s ghostly head molesting King Canvte... or maybe just dreams?

Dem*n Sl@yer: GyuDaki/GyuUme/GyuuDaki / whatever you wanna call it:

What You Will - M, 1,659. After their rebirth, they slip into sex, and into each other. (Not that it matters much anymore.) All relevant warnings for their backstory. Written before the fanbook revealed the even more incestuous reason Dak1 stabbed that guy.

K*rra: Amonlok with the Lieutenant as proxy

Fathom Five - M, 1,964 words. Proxy noncon with some kali sticks going in Tarrl0k’s mouth. (Not the good sticks! Extras.)

#long posts #fic masterlist

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