Geek. Fangirl. A place for stuff and nonsense.
At the moment, expect to see a lot of Dragon Age and Avengers, mixed with a little Vampire Diaries, Doctor Who, and Game of Thrones/ASoIaF. And musicians, always musicians.
Catching Elephant is a theme by Andy Taylor
Okay, y’all. Possible unpopular fannish opinion ahoy? Because much as I think Loki is a fantastic character, the ongoing “IT’S ALL ODIN’S FAULT” memes and analysis sorta make me crazy.
… so I’m getting it all out now. Rather than yelling at the cats any more. :)
This is a great post. I really do agree. I especially think your point about Thor and Loki as the equivalent of Asgardian adolescents at this point is a good one, because … they really are. We kind of see both of them grow into adults—Thor into a good man, more tempered and responsible, and Loki slide down a poisonous path of self-obsession and jealousy, but both change and mature out of the last vestiges of childhood. Because I also think your point that Loki was always mean-spirited and amoral, however he felt about his home and family, is a really good one. He has a nasty streak, from the very beginning, and that’s something I personally find hard to ignore, however much his character might fascinate me (and it does).
And, I mean, I do think that Odin is a terrible father. But I also think he does care for both of his children (and does, in fact, totally see Loki as his son). I definitely agree with your reading of his behavior and lines in all the scenes you dissect above. I think he handles both Thor and Loki really badly (actually, I think his behavior with Thor is more egregious—sure, just let him get more and more aggressive and full of himself and out of control, and then discipline him in the harshest, most hurtful way you can think of; that’s great parenting, sir), and that Thor mostly turned out all right for largely unconnected reasons, but it’s not because he doesn’t care or isn’t trying. That family really does love each other, and the great thing about that film is that I think it comes through.
Anyway, I really just agree with the rest of it, and I think your reading of Loki’s character here is pretty much spot on.
I agree entirely that Odin’s treatment of Thor is worse - you know your son is vain and aggressive, and yet you think it’s a good idea to let him become king and have ultimate power over Asgard? Why don’t you let him grow up for a couple more years; or better, why didn’t you start to figuratively beat it out of him years ago? Because while I believe Odin has a blind spot where both of his sons are concerned, I don’t believe he’s that short-sighted, to not know how immature Thor was at the beginning of that movie.
Honestly, I think his original plan, at the beginning of Thor, was to let Thor take over as the public face of the realm - he’s the big hero, obviously a magnetic leader, if not the brightest. But I think Odin probably intended that Loki, who to that point was always by his brother’s side, would provide a more intelligent outlook behind the scenes. His blind spot - and his own stubbornness - allowed him to miss both his sons’ egotistical ambitions, which sets the whole movie into motion.
That doesn’t mean it’s enough, every day, or even most days. I still get frustrated. I still get into the funk of but what if I’m just delusional and arrogant? I still worry that people would far rather I shut up and go away, because who cares about these women NPCs I’m writing about, especially when I pair them with more popular characters?
I worry that people resent me, or that they think I’m writing self-insert fanfiction using an NPC as a mask. I worry that I’ll disappoint the small but dedicated audience I’ve been fortunate enough to accumulate.
I worry that if I write too much, people will hate me, and that if I write too little, everybody will leave.
<33333333
This is another tangential point to the whole thing - the fact that a good many of us worry about all of these things when we’re writing for a fannish audience. I think it’s largely due to the fact that there are a whole lot of us who suffer from depression or some other kind of mental issue, because these are the kinds of thoughts that can pervade someone’s (my) entire life if I’m not careful.
In other words - you’re not alone, bb. These kinds of thoughts can suck all the life out of you. I wish there was an easy way around them, but I certainly haven’t found one yet. All we can do is keep pushing back against them, because there are moments when everything clicks and none of it matters any more. And those are the moments I live for. <3
(Source: minorearth)
Rambling today, because I’ve been thinking about this sort of thing all week.
There’s always some kind of discussion/vague argument going around about writing/creating for yourself versus creating for an audience. There are those who say “you should always create for yourself! If you’re not, you’re doing it totally wrong!” And there are those who say “When you’re an artist, of course you’re creating for an audience, it’s a human urge to want acknowledgement for the things you create!” As with pretty much every argument everywhere, my feelings about this have come to lie somewhere in the middle of these two. (It’s the eternal curse of being a Libra: always occupying the middle ground, never getting the pleasure of feeling righteous about one side or another. Heh.)
