Slave Loki (Recommended Fics)

Definition (Christopher Booker)

A classical Tragedy, according to Christopher Booker's The Seven Basic Plots, is the flip side of the general story, because we see things from the point of view of the villain spiraling down to a bad end.

The Rebirth tale is of the villain nearly meeting a bad end, but somehow recovering in time. Barely, and generally with the help of others (most notably a positive female character (Anima)).

But the way that Booker lays out the plots, they have a general idea of some dark force making everything go wrong, and only once the dark force is dealt with and overcome do you get back to a positive, healthy kingdom.

The dark force is generally separate from the Hero -- a Villain to be redeemed or overcome -- but some of the most compelling tales have the dark force originate within the Hero, who must overcome his own darker nature.

The original Thor film had a pretty strong parallel structure: Thor, the Hero, being forced to overcome his own darker nature, while Loki, the Villain, started with a more positive role and succumbed to a mixture of horrible circumstances and his own character flaws.

It's not quite that simple (I could write whole essays about some of the problems with the narrative and execution of the idea), but it's still a pretty powerful double structure, and a good first outing for the franchise.

Tragic Tales

If an MCU fic (mostly Loki-centric, perhaps some others) is complete, powerful/cathartic, and comes to a tragic end, it belongs on this page.

Major Character Death

Fics that end with death. Bear in mind, when it comes to tragedy, these might actually be the more merciful endings.

Silvertongue by Epiphanyx7

Loki is bound and determined to get Thor to hate him enough to finally kill him. This is Loki as his most crafty, for a specific purpose, and desperate that no one figure out what's really going on.

Fate Worse Than Death

Fics that don't end in death -- but where death would have been a mercy.

Horror

Body Horror

To the Depths We Fall by JaggedCliffs (2347 words)

Loki's been sent to Midgard as the portal by which the invasion will arrive. He is disoriented and has trouble convincing people that something bad is about to arrive through him. It's short and doesn't end well.

The Heavens will run red with blood by JaggedCliffs (612 words)

Loki is brutally reformed by Death and handed over to a much worse master. His eventual fate is left chillingly vague.

Psychological Horror

Fics where the tragedy comes not from character death, or fates worse than death, but from mental illness (depression, suicidal ideation, etc.) or from other mental/psychological issues, or just general angsty situations.

Pleas to the Stars by JaggedCliffs (10,000+)

No one told Loki that Frigga died, so he just keeps trying to write messages to her, thinking she's mad at him.

The Tragedies of Loki