Forsooth, Yes

[found unattributed at The Meta Picture]

"Good to be Bad"

In the February 2014 issue of British GQ, there is a great interview with director Tom Hooper and actor Sir Ben Kingsley about Jaguar's Superbowl ad ("Good to be Bad") featuring notable British villains (including Tom Hiddleston, of course). Some very interesting observations are made about British actors and the Shakespearean legacy:

Can you explain the appeal of the movie villain?
Tom Hooper: There's something about being cerebral, intellectual, and yet emotionally repressed. If you think someone's doing this [bad] stuff and they're in complete control, that's more scary than if they're out of control.

You're satirising Hollywood's predilection for casting British actors in villainous roles. Sir Ben why does the movie industry do this?
Sir Ben Kingsley: Because of Shakespeare. His villains were so extraordinary. Macbeth, Iago, Richard III . . . They're so richly layered that a British actor would find it almost impossible to create a two-dimensional villain, if he's explored in his early years or continues to explore his Shakespearean heritage. You can almost not judge them, if they're played really well. I've seen Richard III seduce an audience. But in order to inhabit a villain, you mustn't care what the audience thinks of you. That's not why you are there. You mustn't care for a second whether the audience likes you or dislikes you. Your villain has to be way beyond that.

Are villains more fun to play?
Sir Ben Kingsley: If it's a really well written villain, he probably has more layers than the archetypal good person. So that would be very attractive to an actor. No one chooses to be a villain; it's usually a reaction to something else. So if I can find that layer or uncover the thing he's reacting to, it makes for a very thrilling journey.

Depression and Loss

Every day a letter of love I would write to you

. . . When will you write back to me?

. . . When will you return to me?

[art and words by westishere]

Dedicated to Rob and David. Heart's ease, my friend.

Portraits of Thor

Thor can leave a lot of blood in his wake too.

[by Pulvis]

I like this Thor's kinda savage look.

[by Hung-wen Chang found at Fuck Yeah Thor/Loki]

Yes, Thor is a golden god alright.

[by Kris Anka]

This poster has such amazing composition and artistry. Love it!

[by Scott Woolston]

More Courtly Love

Oh yes, hand kissing. Very nice.

[by Godless-Night]

But kneeling? Even better.

[by stitchedwrists]

Evangelizing Thor

[by doodleigh]

Hahahahahahahaha, love it! Wait, what? Thor needs reading glasses?

Happy Thor's Day!

Let's celebrate with cake!

Loki will probably have a piece too.

Late Afternoon Sun

[by coldslough]

The artist has entitled this "Happier Times." It's a very beautiful depiction of shadow and light, as well as hot sex. I especially like how the dappled sun highlights Thor's hair. The quality and colour of the light makes me think it's late afternoon.

Eternal Archetypes

[by catmeff]

At the mythological level, Thor and Loki are eternal archetypes of duality and wholeness. Each brother is the direct opposite of the other. Thor represents order, control and reason. Loki embodies chaos, unpredictability and unmediated emotion.

They are each other's shadows, as Jung used that term. They live out each other's repressed characteristics. In every heroic Thor, there lurks a destructive Loki. In every troubled Loki, the potential exists for a wise and caring Thor.

[by black-nata]

As individuals, Thor and Loki are incomplete personalities. But together, they embody wholeness. Until that integration is understood and accomplished, however, they will be locked in their eternal love/hate relationship, wreaking havoc across the Nine Realms.

Jotun Loki and Asgardian Thor

Oh oh! Someone's been captured.

["The Prisoner" by kain-was-here]

I suspect Loki's hands are kinda cold. Thor doesn't seem to mind though.

[by LeopardXCrow]

Nice scratch marks down Thor's back! Apparently, the reversed futhark rune tattoo signifies "slave." When upright, this rune means "god" or "one of the Aesir."

[by marty-mc]

Playtime is over! Time to go back to real life. Hugs!

[by Mooching-Leech]

Valentines Day on Asgard

by DeerAzeen

A Short Introduction to Shipping, Slash and Fan-Fiction

On the off-chance that anyone is not exactly sure what the hell kind of weird shit is going on here, it's worth an investment of 5 minutes of your time to watch this hilarious video by danisnotonfire.

 

Just for the record, my own motivation is "binoculars." As a lesbian, I'm not physically attracted to either of my male OTP characters individually. But put them together in a gay sex setting and HELLO! So hot!

And isn't danisnotonfire just too cute and funny for words? Gawd I love witty, fey young gayboys like him. It gives me such joy to see them fearlessly and freely being their own fabulous selves. He reminds me a lot of a kid I knew about 25 years ago who died much, much too young of AIDS. Michael, I'm thinking of you today. ♥

My Personal Line in the Sand

Okay, so I've rationalized the whole brotherly incest thing, at least to my own satisfaction. But I do have one line to draw. Anything I post here is going to be predicated on the assumption that it occurs between two consenting adults. There will be no art or other representations of sexual activity between young Thor and Loki either as children or adolescents to the extent that they are depicted as being obviously underage. There is no justification for sexualizing kids. Case closed.

Rationalizations, Part 2

Divine sibling marriage is a common feature found in the pantheons of virtually all ancient mythologies. Egyptian, Greek, Roman -- all of them were rife with it. Personally, I think divine sibling marriage was a mythopoetic device used to demonstrate equality of status between Gods and Goddesses at a time when women were treated as inferior to men.

In Norse mythology, there are two striking examples of divine sibling marriage. The deities Frey ("Lord") and Freya ("Lady") were twins whose coupling ensured the fertility of all things -- at least while they were members of the original Vanir pantheon. When they were brought forward into the newer Aesir pantheon, they continued to be twins but were provided with other spouses. Odin frowned on the old tradition of incestuous marriage among deities.

However, two of Odin's own many semi-divine children became sexually entangled in the Völsunga Saga -- Sigmund and his twin sister Signy. They subsequently reappeared (renamed Siegmund and Sieglinde) as central characters in Wagner's opera The Valkyrie. Betrayed by Odin (who was being a crappy father as usual), Siegmund and Sieglinde together produced a son, the hero Siegfried.

So the modern phenomenon of Thorki can be placed squarely in this tradition of Norse mythology. And quite frankly, that's good enough for me. I can live with the mythologically-based rationalization!

Besides, if Richard Bloody Wagner can feature incestuous Norse siblings in his Ring Cycle (one of opera's greatest artistic masterpieces) and nobody blinks a goddamn eye, then why the hell can't people ship Thorki today?

Precisely.

[by belladonna]

Rationalizations, Part 1

But aren't Thor and Loki BROTHERS? Gay sex is one thing, but INCEST? Sonovabitch, that's too creepy and abusive for words.

[gifs created by unknown person from

YouTube video featuring danisnotonfire]

So the main rationalization why Thorki may not be as creepy as it first appears is that Thor and Loki are not actually related to each other by blood. They aren't biological brothers. In fact, they aren't even really the same species since Thor is an Asgardian and Loki is a Jotun (Frost Giant).

But they were raised together in the same family and were misled until adulthood to believe that they were actually blood brothers. So yes, Thorki is still plenty creepy on that level, I think. There's no point trying to get around it.

However, on another level -- the mythological level -- there is an ancient tradition of divine sibling marriage and it is this tradition into which Thorki fits. More on that tomorrow.

Now Give Us a Kiss

I've always wondered if this line was scripted or just ad-libbed?

Very accomplished pen-and-ink portrait. But hey, where exactly is Loki's left hand anyway?

[by Jiajia_X aka kakachan]

Beautiful watercolour technique. The tunics are a nice change from the usual uniforms too.

[by DeerAzeen]

I like how their hair tumbles down.

[by villainyforbeginners]

I Will Never Let You Go, Brother

Nice job on the hair and likeness!

[by frankthe2nd]

A bit of a meaner look for Thor than is usual, but I like it.

[by setsuna1111]

Great anime/manga style.

[by Florbe]

One of my all-time faves! Fabulously done.

[by BBQfish]

Courtly Love

Oh, that Thor. He's such a gentleman!

[by logosles]

"My Own Private Asgard"

I love the old Norse myths about Thor and Loki, along with today's expansive reinterpretation by the Marvel Thor and Avengers movies. And I have also come to love all things Thorki, Thunderfrost and Hiddlesworth! Hawt, hawt, HAWT! But apart from that, I believe that reimagining Thor and Loki as lovers really does add a new and profound layer to the significance of these myths. It makes the stories alive and relevant to our modern times. Or at least to me, LOL!

Thanks to the internet, there is a veritable ocean of images, videos and fan fiction to peruse and so that's where this blog comes in. I will post my faves here, the best of the best, IMHO, along with any random thoughts or observations I may have about them. I'll always try to attribute the content to its original authors or artists, if possible, with a link to their pages. I'm very much in awe of all the talented artists who work in this area!

This blog is essentially "My Own Private Asgard" to keep everything in one handy spot. I'm not much for Tumblr or Pinterest so I've gone the old-fashioned blog route that I know and understand. But other people are more than welcome to read this blog if they want.