I cried a little, reading this. Frigga's thoughts and emotions come through so strongly, and they contrast and compare to Loki's brilliantly. Such a raw, emotional, wonderful story. Awesome job!

This was awesome. It's a shame I can't copy and paste the parts I loved most but I'll just mention her dying thoughts to Jane about her sons. Just - great. Fantastically in-character and great writing. Thanks for sharing this.

Oh excellently well done! Very moving.

Amazing. Incredibly powerful. You perfectly caught the tragedy of mother and son. I even teared up a little bit.

wow, this was amazing!

;_;

As they say on tumblr, 'Ow, my feels!'

The person who recc'd this to me warned me it was super sad, but... damn. ;_; That was definitely painful. Poor Loki. Odin is awful and unfortunately Frigga is complicit because she went along with the deception. Just once I'd like to see an AU where they tell Loki about his heritage early on, because it would be such a better situation for him.

Very well done.

No Frigga, don't dieeee!

Opp, I can't believe I forgot to mention the very ending, the flashback, when Loki is talking to Frigga about others thinking he's a coward. Just such an amazing scene. When Loki says he thinks there's something wrong with him, just, damn, and Frigga then taking his hand and telling him there is NOTHING wrong with him, and she tells him he's amazing, and gifted, and unique. And how her heart aches for how nobody understand that, how nobody sees how AMAZING Loki is, and she sees the consequences of their blindness on Loki himself. How he doesn't see those qualities in himself, and is actually starting to believe there's something not right with him. Oh, it must have destroyed her inside to see that.

And his last line, when he says to her, if only he could believe in himself half as much as she believe in him, just, fudge, so damned heavy and beautiful. Because it wraps up this entire story and the message behind it. Frigga ALWAYS believed in Loki, even when he didn't believe in himself. She was his one, true support. And then he loses her and just... damn. Okay, I better stop now before I lose it again.

Just a brilliant piece of writing.

Oh Vahalla I loved this. The part where Thor tells Loki "After mother's funeral" about killed me. I can totally see that happening. Gah. My feels.

I really would like to write more, but my head is empty and i am trying really hard not to burst out in tears.
simply beautiful.

Beautiful.

Okay, excuse me a moment while I go over in the corner and kill myself. Oh man, oh man, man, man, I can't... I swear, my heart is just a pile of shattered pieces on the floor right now. It really, truly is. And if this actually HAPPENS in Thor 2, I think I'll run out of the theater crying, lol. I'm so serious.

But god damn, if this wasn't a brilliant, BRILLIANT piece of writing. I'm just... totally blown away here.

First off, just from a technical structure point of view, your set up here was astounding. The way you shifted between the past and present, and how things of the past informed the present, and the characters reactions to everything. And the journey you take us on, in showing us glimpses of the relationship between Loki and Frigga over the years of their lives together, gah, it just makes the ending about a million times more impactful and heart wrenching. I swear, there were just so many moment during this entire thing which left my chest literally constricted in pain.

Just your exploration of Frigga's own guilt and her condemnation of her past actions towards Loki, and how devastated she is by it, and the way you brought us through each moment in which these mistakes are made, it was just pure genius.

Like how you start out with Loki asking the simple question "Are there Jotuns in Asgard?", and from that one, singular moment, a web of lies begins to spread, and take root, which will be the downfall of Loki and his relationship with his family. And just seeing that in perspective, knowing what we do in the present, it just leaves you devastated. That scene between Frigga and Loki, when he asks her if Odin was lying to him, and she denies it all, and tells him no, and then tells him if there were any Jotun's in Asgard, she would slay them for him herself, and that family never lies to family, God man, just... damn, I can feel tears in my eyes now, just thinking about it. Because at that point, the situation was already out of control, it was already too late to tell Loki the truth, and yet still, Frigga knew how wrong it was to lie to him, even with no other choice. Just as she knew the consequences of what that lie would be. It was horrible just to watch her and him in this moment, with him so innocent and trusting, and her so helpless.

And Jesus, the scene in the Great Hall, when they rip Loki's magic from him, and Frigga's reaction, her absolute devastation at it, that was so intense, and so terrible to watch. And I think it's brilliant how you came back around to this scene at the end, when we see how Loki was punished for cutting Sif's hair off so she could become a warrior, and Frigga could only stand b y while his lips were so unjustly sewn shut. We see in that context just WHY she freaked out so hard when he was pushed to his knees and had his magic taken from him. Because she'd promised herself she would never stand by and watch her boy forced to kneel ever again, and yet there was nothing she could do, no way she could stop it. I think what makes this so incredibly heartbreaking is just how much and how clearly it is Frigga LOVES Loki. Oh man, she loves him with all her heart, and you can feel her incomprehensible agony at seeing him suffer.

And by contrast, Odin here is just such a blind fool. He doesn't see Loki, as Frigga keeps thinking, he doesn't KNOW Loki, doesn't understand how viciously he's hurt his own son. Doesn't see how his own actions have driven Loki to become what he did.

I also just found it amazing, and beautiful, and so believable, that Frigga would be the one over the years to encourage Loki, to embrace his strengths and dismiss what others said about him, what others criticized him over. Like when she's talking to Loki about his weapons training, and he tells her there's no point, because he's no good with any of the weapons and he's not going to sweat and bleed just to come in last place, and she just outright tells Loki he won't come in last place, and then outright just tells him to cheat. There was just something so incredibly beautiful and poignant about this. Where everyone else derides and rejects and ridicules Loki for how he is, using mind and wit over physical strength, his Mother encourages it and supports him in it. And of course, her giving him the daggers was just brilliantly symbolic, and again, tied into the ending here just gorgeously.

Really, one of the most devastating scenes in this entire story though is when Frigga finally is able to visit Loki in his cell, and everything that transpires there. I swear, I just felt my heart shattering while reading this. The way Frigga grabs onto him, and tells him she loves him, and that no matter what, he'll always be her son, and how she notices his physical state, what Odin's done to him by taking his magic, by taking the essence of him away, it's just so painful. But then Loki's reaction, the way he has such a massive melt down and just starts screaming that they all lied to him, and asks her how much of a fool do they think he is, if they think he's going to just keep falling for the same lies over and over, that moment was just almost nauseatingly painful to read. Because you see here Loki truly doesn't believe anymore in Frigga's words. He doesn't believe she loves him. He thinks it's all just another lie, another way to hurt him, and Christ, there's nothing worse. He pushes her away because he doesn't trust her anymore, and you see the devastating affect this has on Frigga herself. Because she realizes she's lost her sons trust, and his belief in her. And with the context of the end here, Loki's last words to her, completely tragic. Just utterly, utterly tragic.

And of course, when you show us just what happened with Sif and her hair, and how Loki came to have his lips sewn shut, that was just another moment of utter despair. What I love about your characterization of Loki always is that you really capture the incredible charm and wit of him. The entire scene, with him being deemed a warrior, and Odin asking him what he desires, the way Loki plays to the crowd and makes them laugh, it just makes the present all the more hard to see, because you can see just what a bright light Loki actually was. Just how much he had to give. And yet, as the scene unfolds, we see part of the tragedy of his character, that in an attempt to save Sif from an unwanted, unsuited life, and give her what she was made for, in trying to do GOOD, his own efforts are used so viciously against him, and he's made to suffer for them. This of course plays into Loki is Norse myth, always being the scapegoat. But the way Sif's mother uses Loki's gift to Sif to punish him, God damn it, I just felt myself winding with rage and grief reading it. And Loki seemed so young and innocent at that time too, so full of hope even.

You see then why it had such a profound affect on Frigga. Not just having to watch such horror befall her son, but having to see the fallout from it, how it changed him. How he wouldn't smile as much in the aftermath, how he was more withdrawn with his joy. And then there's her guilt again, because she knew that it was her who more or less encouraged him to be the way he was, and with Sif, suggested that he find a way around her being a "Lady". To then see Loki so severely punished for it would, I imagine, destroy Frigga inside.

But of course, the end here is the real kicker, and I swear, I was barely able to finish it, it left me so broken up inside. When Frigga is dying, and Jane is kneeling over her, begging her to hold on, and damn, Frigga gives her the dagger and tells her to give it to Loki, that he'll know what to do with it, I really don't know how much my heart can take. And as she's dying, how she's thinking of all the things she wants to say, what she wants to tell Jane about her sons, just... fudge, it's killing me inside, just thinking about it. And how she repeats in her mind, like a mantra, over and over, that you don't lie to Loki. Don't EVER do that, the whole thing is just beyond devastating. Because Frigga dies here with the knowledge in her heart that she's lost her son, that he doesn't believe she loves him anymore, that he doesn't trust her anymore, and that she lost all of that through her lies. What's so tragic is, of course, is that it's not true. On either end. Loki DOES love Frigga still, and that's obvious I think in his reactions to her in that scene in his cell. And he realizes himself, at the end, when Jane gives him the dagger, that Frigga truly did love him. I mean, this is some Shakespearian level tragedy here. How neither of them can ever tell the other again that they love each other, and have it received as the truth. Gah, I just can't...

Like I said, if this happens in the film, I think I'm gonna die in my seat. I know that's the rumor, and you have to think, what else would spur Loki on to helping Thor and Asgard, but the loss of the one person he truly still loves and who never did anything to him, not like Odin. Of course, a grief stricken Loki is someone I wouldn't want to encounter. He's dangerous enough on his own, but with the grief of the loss of his mother in his heart, I don't think anyone would stand a chance before him. That might make a good sequel to this, if ever you feel inclined to write one, haha.

But seriously, this was just pure genius, and so heartbreaking and beautiful and sincere. I continue to be enthralled and amazed by your massive talent, and once more, a huge, HUGE thank you for sharing.

I am always a fan of your beautiful, poetic work, and this story takes the cake. Absolutely heart-wrenching and wonderful to read. I'm always glad to see a new story from you.

Wow...that one word pretty much describes it. Frigga and Loki are amazing here - she understands him most (besides Sif, who is also amazing), but she is forced to lie, knowing that one day it will all fall apart.

The lie about there being no Jotuns in Asgard, and if there were, Frigga would slay them for Loki, broke my heart.

You had an interesting take on the lip-sewing punishment - I loved that Loki and Sif planned it together. And Odin was still ruthless enough to carry out the punishment anyway.

There was no happy ending for Frigga and Loki, but giving him her dagger was an interesting twist. I hope they explore that in Thor 2.