Loki

[szuo.livejournal.com]

I've had Loki filtered out of my Ao3 results since basically forever because of the large ratio of questionable quality. However, having re-read the excellent Underground recently, I am craving more.

I'm looking for:
- plotty, well-written fics
- featuring either morally ambiguous Loki or Loki whose path to 'good guy' status is long and gradual

Fine with:
- Loki as a supporting character
- Fics set in Asgard or Midgard, pre-canon or post
- Gen, het or slash

I'm NOT interested in:
- Super dark Loki (e.g. gratuitous torture, rape)
- Loki apologetics (i.e. 'Loki is a misunderstood woobie who was abused as a child'.)
- Loki/Thor (as someone with an adopted sibling, 'they're not technically related!' is not a compelling argument to me...)
- Loki/OFC-from-Earth unless the fic is actualfacts the best thing to ever exist in the history of storytelling

Thanks in advance!

Comments

[yyzeff.livejournal.com]

Barkour has a great pre-canon piece along these lines, A Small Thing Worn Thin (http://archiveofourown.org/works/198522). And for post-canon non-misunderstood-woobie redemption/moral ambiguity, Yggdrasil Dreaming (http://archiveofourown.org/works/259357/chapters/405262) is one of the better pre-Avengers/post-Thor (2011) Loki (/Sif) fics that doesn't shy away from the various issues.

There's also hariboo's various Loki-containing (some /Sif) fics, which also tend to handle any redemption in a gradual manner. The two I like the most are:
The Salt Skin (http://archiveofourown.org/works/260182/chapters/406942)
Stars Are Indifferent to Astronomy (http://archiveofourown.org/works/615137)

And if you're down with self-recs, I've only done pre-canon Loki, in the vein of Young Loki and Thor Are Up To No Good (http://archiveofourown.org/series/105653).

[szuo.livejournal.com]

I am absolutely down with self-recs :)

Thanks for those, I will give them all a look! Sif is an especially welcome bonus.

[janne-d.livejournal.com]

Well, I agree with all the things you aren't interested in (and that finding Loki fics to meet the criteria is difficult). I've mostly read Steve/Loki, and I liked:

Remember This Cold (http://archiveofourown.org/series/28656) by Lise - a series currently at 190000 words (and to my delight she's added 2 more parts since the last time I checked, hoorah), author summary "The series where Loki and Steve Rogers start orbiting each other, and it gradually turns into a thing, and then into another kind of thing. Or, the author's long and complicated method of making Steve/Loki make sense as a pairing, and then exploring how it would work. Spoiler alert: a lot of the time, it doesn't."

Per Aspera Ad Astra (http://archiveofourown.org/series/28656) by FelicityGS, also a series, author summary "an exploration of Steve getting to know Loki and Loki starting to trust someone for the first time in a while".

The lines, here are written (http://archiveofourown.org/works/542622/chapters/964614) by dfotw, a one-shot, "In a world where everyone has their soulmate's name written on their wrists, Steve Rogers has quite a lot more... and Loki, a lot less. (follows canon faithfully except for, y'know, the trope.)"

Hope some of those are along the lines of what you are looking for.

[szuo.livejournal.com]

Loki/Steve as a pairing had honestly never occurred to me before, but those recs look really interesting, thanks :D

[tinabinna666.livejournal.com]

I highly recommend the Tricks of the Trade Series ( http://archiveofourown.org/series/19850)

Never Cease to Fly (http://archiveofourown.org/series/33108)

And the still WIP Power Ballad Series (http://archiveofourown.org/series/27967)

[szuo.livejournal.com]

Thanks for those :)

[lynnenne]

Extremely Hot and Currently Female by Copperbadge. Gender-bending and HILARIOUS.

I've been devouring Tony/Loki fics on AO3 and have bookmarked my favourites: http://archiveofourown.org/users/lynnenne/bookmarks Not all of them are multi-chapter but they all have chapter and word counts, so you can scroll through and pick the ones that look interesting.

[szuo.livejournal.com]

Thanks for those :) Giving people Ao3 bookmarks to browse seems like a pretty good way of passing on recs actually, I might have to put my own set together.

[syl2sy.livejournal.com]

Wow, your request is quite a challenge and I'm not sure if all the following fics meet with your criteria...

- A Place to Put My Heartache (Across Six Christmases) (http://archiveofourown.org/works/777680/chapters/1463473) by BigSciencyBrain
Post-Avengers, Loki/Steve. Loki doesn't start looking for redemption by himself.
Summary: Steve's still trying to find his place in this world. Accidentally saving Loki's life doesn't help. But maybe there's a place for both of them, together.

- The Nam-Shub of Loki (http://archiveofourown.org/works/510565) by cerebel
Post-Avengers, Loki/Clint. Warning: M-preg. Loki has his own agenda.
Summary: There's a cult catching on like wildfire and a virus breaking down the human mind, person by person. Loki has a plan to fight it, but his reasons, and his interests, remain his own.

- An Eye for an Eye (http://archiveofourown.org/works/574472) by Mikkeneko
Post-Avengers, Clint-centric. It isn't about Loki, it's about Clint.
Summary: After the events of Avengers, Clint Barton just wants to get back to his old life. But he finds he can't get Loki out of his mind -- or his dreams.

- In The Realm of Ungrateful Cockroaches (http://archiveofourown.org/works/1029103) by BigSciencyBrain
Time loop during Avengers, Steve/Loki. Loki is hell bent on succeding in his plans (at least in the beginning).
Summary: Instead of returning to Asgard after the battle of New York, Loki finds himself in a time loop, repeating the events of the Avengers over and over again.

- Tony's New Assistant (http://archiveofourown.org/works/411457/chapters/682796) by MarbleGlove
Thor/Avengers canon divergence AU, Gen.
Summary: A trickster god does not go about acquiring power by brute force. AKA, the one where, instead of becoming a supervillain when he fell to Earth, Loki somehow ended up as Tony Stark's personal assistant.

- Meltwater (http://archiveofourown.org/works/508935) by llassah, artwork by Korilian.
Thor/Avengers canon divergence AU, Gen.
Summary: Loki Laufeyson slips between the worlds unnoticed, unmissed, curious as a child. Small and weak, he was left in the temple to perish, but survived the night. His only desire is for the freedom to pass through worlds unseen, but when the Jotnar invade Midgard and he is caught up in events beyond his control, he finds himself both having and needing more.

- The Many Doors of Níu Heimar (http://archiveofourown.org/works/425136/chapters/713257) by Nixajane
Thor/Avengers canon divergence AU, Steve/Loki.
Summary: In the weeks before Thor's coronation, Loki almost dies, not once, but twice. (An AU in which events conspire to keep Loki from the choices he made in Thor, a war is on the horizon and the chosen battlefield is Earth, and the Avengers assemble with an extra teammate and one less villain to fight).

- Shaduw Wereld (http://archiveofourown.org/works/741016/chapters/1379765) by Theta2Serpentis
Thor canon divergence AU, Gen.
Summary: Written for a Norsekink prompt. AU. When no one comes to their rescue on Jötunheimr, Loki is forced to lead Thor, Sif, Hogun, Volstagg and Fandral through his secret paths between worlds. To the surprise of his friends: it's a lot more dangerous than they ever suspected. Loki's either very brave or very crazy to travel the Underworld and the Dreamlands. Crossover with the Cthulhu mythos (specifically, Lovecraft's Dream Cycle).

[szuo.livejournal.com]

Ha, sorry yeah I'm pretty picky lol. Thanks for your recs, I'll give them a look.

[summerholt.livejournal.com]

Love the fics from BigSciencyBrain! The two mentioned here are pretty mellow and another one of hers, "Solace", has some dark scenes but not dark!Loki.

[vedensolina.livejournal.com]

I agree that it's not very easy to find high quality fanfics that portray Loki very well, but I think that these fics are all well worth reading.

This first one is probably the best pre-canon Loki fic that I ever have read, Loki and Thor's characterizations are great. It's a gen adventure fic, the kind there were more of. It's unfortunately not finished, but the writer has reassured me that the sory hasn't been abandoned.

https://www.fanfiction.net/s/9484860/1/Veil-of-Smoke

This is another amazingly good gen fic. Although the writer has categorized it as hurt/comfort, and it's a post-Avengers Loki-redemption fic, it doesn't woobifie Loki at all, and it feels completely beliveable.

https://www.fanfiction.net/s/8275978/1/from-the-heart-in-exile

This one has Loki/Tony pairing, and actually made me love this pairing! This fic is very silly at the beginning, but it turns more serious as the story progresses, and it balances humor with drama very well. The writer also does a great job with writing Loki and you can never actually be quite sure what his motivations are. It also has a sequal, which has also been excellent so far.

http://archiveofourown.org/works/701250/chapters/1292559

And the sequal:

http://archiveofourown.org/works/1017410/chapters/2022643

[szuo.livejournal.com]

Thanks for those, gen adventure fics are always especially welcome!

[johnnypenn.livejournal.com]

I GOT THIS AMAZING FIC FOR YOU!!!! It is super long with 92 chapters. I started reading it since 70-something and it's totally worth it. :) it starts out with a bit of rape, BUT it gets better and it's NOT IGNORED....though....ah.....it takes a while for them to talk about it.

Loki/Tony, DOMINATE Loki like all of the time but they negotiate and the sex scenes are awesome. So many kinks. It's beautiful. There is also plot(s) seriously, this thing is riddle with them and well done as well.

It's called Lessons from a God.
Link -http://archiveofourown.org/works/932240/chapters/1814158

Please give it a chance. It's well written, not shitty writing at all (I have a thing about that as well but then again I think my own writing is good so to each their own I guess. Well, let's look at it differently.....it's not written by a thirteen year old who doesn't know how to write.) :)

[szuo.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the rec. I'll certainly give it a look, though the Dark!Loki and Non-con tags make me suspect it's not exactly the sort of thing I'm looking for.