100 Days of Enemy Recs: 18. Loki

[melannen]

Loki! There are so many great enemyships with Loki. MCU gave us Loki/Tony and Loki/Thor and many others; the Loki TV show has just given us a new surge of Loki fandom.

But the big Loki ships lost their shine for me after I met the best Loki (and I have not seen the TV show; I seem to be interested in it mostly to see how well it knows the real Loki). The current comics Loki, the Loki of Young Avengers Vol 3, and of Loki: Agent of Asgard; the sharp-tongued, genderqueer, self-created chaotic good(?) trickster, the Sin That Cannot Be Forgiven, Moon-Queen and Wanderer, Tamer of Monsters, Mother of Gods, They Who Created A Terrible Slash Upon The Internet, Agent of the Allmother, Odinschild-who-is-both-son-and-daughter, a little bit One Direction-a little bit Daft Punk, Who Can Change Into Anything As Long As It's Them, Cat Thor's #1 Fan, the Deity of Stories Stolen and Remade.

I missed posting yesterday because I spent my posting/rec'cing time re-reading all of Agent of Asgard and I don't regret it a bit - those comics are so good, they are even better than I remembered! If you have any interest in Loki and haven't read them, you should - there are only three trades (if you have access to Hoopla through your local library they're probably on there) and they work hard to stand alone even if you don't know Marvel comics or Loki's earlier continuity, even the inevitable intrusive crossover events are worked into the ongoing story smoothly enough so that you don't feel like you've been interrupted, but do feel like you're visiting a larger world. (Okay, the Agents of AXIS interlude was annoying as fuck but at least you got the distinct impression that both the writers and the characters agreed with you there - and it's made up for by the fact that one of Loki's new powers at the end is explicitly the ability to just skip any crossover event they find boring.)

(If I have a pantheon of patron deities it includes, in no particular order, the Lone Power as the Hesper as K't'l'k; Anoia, Goddess of Things Left In Drawers; and Loki, deity of Transformative Works. And the White Rat.)

So here are some recs for AoA Loki, Loki of the Stories:

• Bedroom Hymns (18651 words) by ginger_mosaic
  Fandom: Loki: Agent of Asgard, Marvel 616, Marvel (Comics)
  Rating: Mature
  Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
  Relationships: Loki (Agent of Asgard)/Sigurd, Loki (Agent of Asgard) & Verity Willis, Loki (Agent of Asgard)/Lorelei/Sigurd
  Characters: Loki (Agent of Asgard), Sigurd (Marvel), Verity Willis, Lorelei (Marvel)
  Additional Tags: dubcon, Hate Sex, Rough Sex, Bad Romance, Genderfluid Loki, Bisexual Character, Self-Love, Self-Acceptance, journey to self-love, Mostly Canon Compliant, some canon divergence, hella the princess bride references, rated T for Tears before bedtime and all times in between, but actually rated M for maturity or at least attempts to reach it, spoilers for all of Agent of Asgard
  
  Look man, Loki/Sigurd is a bad, bad idea, and they know as well as anyone, but it's still always compelling as hell.



• Operation: Stop My Mom From Asking About My Love Life Ever Again (21693 words) by carrionkid
  Chapters: 6/6
  Fandom: Loki: Agent of Asgard, Marvel (Comics)
  Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
  Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
  Relationships: Loki (Agent of Asgard)/Verity Willis
  Characters: Loki (Agent of Asgard), Verity Willis, Eloise Willis, Lorelei (Marvel)
  Additional Tags: Fake/Pretend Relationship, Genderfluid Character, Genderfluid Loki (Marvel), Hijinks & Shenanigans, Emotionally Stunted Losers Play Affection Chicken, Fluff and Humor, Slow Burn, (probably not actually slow burn i'm just bad at romantic shit), Sharing a Bed, Angst and Feels
  
  How better to convince your mom to stop the matchmaking than to introduce the former God of Evil as your new romantic partner?



• Be Careful Making Wishes in the Dark (25241 words) by Norickayer
  Chapters: 11/11
  Fandom: Young Avengers, Loki: Agent of Asgard
  Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
  Warnings: Major Character Death
  Relationships: Teddy Altman/Billy Kaplan, Billy Kaplan/Loki, Teddy Altman/Loki, Teddy Altman/Billy Kaplan/Loki
  Characters: Teddy Altman, Billy Kaplan, Loki (Agent of Asgard)
  Additional Tags: Temporary Character Death, Suicidal Thoughts, Time Loop, Slow Build, Polyamory, Genderqueer Character, Loki is sometimes a girl and never ever a guy, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, stealth crossover with MCU but not enough to tag, David and Tommy don't appear sorry guys, Billy gets panic attacks, and no one can blame him, Circa- volume 2, Loki Redemption
  Series: Part 1 of The One with BLT
  
  Timeloop AU! (This one draws heavily on Young Avengers canon, but if you trust the timeloop you can probably get through. But also you should read Young Avengers Vol 3, which is also really really good and almost entirely standalone.)

Comments

[samjohnsson]

I am confused?

the Lone Power as the Hesper as K't'l'k

I don't recognize the middle reference at all, but unless I missed a book somewhere (probable, I'm way behind), isn't the Lone Power from Wizard on the opposite end of the morality spectrum from K't'lk - assuming you're thinking the one from The Wounded Sky? Or am I getting referents wrong?

[melannen]

Hesper is from Wizards at War! They are an Unfallen Lone Power - the first one we've met.

K't'lk is presented by the canon as a good guy, sure! But the entire plot of that book is "K't'lk introduces entropy to a new universe without thinking through the consequences, and then helps the new life in that universe Choose Death." It's a Lone Power story put through inversion. She even more or less is exiled from Timeheart for it, though with her consent. I don't know if DD had worked through the implications of Young Wizards cosmology that far by then - Wounded Sky and SYWTBAW released in the same year - but if K't'lk is not some kind of avatar of the Hesper I will eat my hat.

[samjohnsson]

Ah, yeah - I looked and I uh. I'm farther behind on the Wizards than I thought I was.

That's an interesting view on K't'lk - I remember it reading as a positive. I might have to "suffer" through a reread.

[melannen]

Wizards at War and A Wizard of Mars were very good! Games Wizards Play I was a bit more ambivalent about, but also I was at a weird place when I read it, because 2016, so it may be more me than it. (I haven't read most of the shorts that have come out lately, though, I need to catch up on those.)

You should definitely reread Wounded Sky while assuming at least 10% of the characters are wizards though, I recommend the experience!

[cuddyclothes]

Damn, that is a LOT of titles!

[melannen]

Well, they've spent most of the last ten years reinventing themselves repeatedly and finding new names as they go!

[primeideal]

I'm not really a comics person but even I have managed to osmose the time when Loki created a terrible slash upon the internet! :D

[melannen]

I actually find it hard to believe Loki created a terrible slash upon the internet! Unless it was a Lord King Bad Fic. They could do an amazing Lord King Bad Fic, I'm sure. (Lord King Bad Fic is probably one of their titles at this point.)