Poem: "Pointing Toward Power"
Apr. 3rd, 2018 04:20 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ysabetwordsmithHere is today's freebie, inspired by Starbit. It also fills the "intense" square in my 4-1-18 card for the Spring Fest bingo. It belongs to the series Love Is For Children, and skips ahead in the timeline.
"Pointing Toward Power"
"I didn't know you were a mage."
Tony jerks upright at the sound
of Loki's voice, whacking his head
on the underside of the car hood.
"OW! Fuck!" Tony says,
disentangling himself from
the collapsed hood that
is trying to eat him.
Then he rounds on Loki.
"I am not a freaking wizard.
I do science, or in this case,
vintage vehicle restoration."
Loki just stares at his chest like
Tony is posing for the kind of movie
that he doesn't make anymore.
Tony crosses his arms
over the arc reactor.
"The light of your power
is there for everyone to see,"
Loki says in a smooth tone.
"Yeah, yeah, I know, I'm
Tony the Human Flashlight,"
he grumbles. "That's not magic.
It's called an arc reactor, and if
you try to touch it I will have
Hulk tear your arm off."
"I would never -- well.
Not of my own volition,"
Loki says, looking away.
"Whatever," Tony says,
and turns back to his car.
"I may owe you an apology."
Tony hits his head on the hood again.
"Fuck! Go away and stop bothering me."
"It is not right between us," Loki insists.
"I would make it right, before this discord
starts to interfere with our spellcasting."
Tony pulls out of the car and says,
"No shit, Sherlock. It's not right,
because you broke into my Tower,
attacked me, and dropped an army
on New York. It is never going
to be right between us."
"I am unwilling to risk
the magical consequences
of that," Loki says. "Did not
your master warn you of such?"
Tony flashes on a memory of
Master Tom warning him about
the grave reasons why blacksmiths
shouldn't get into fights with each other,
but that had involved dire descriptions
of broken bones from muscular folks
brawling, especially in a workshop.
"I don't know why you're so stuck
on this," Tony says. "I hate magic.
Why would you even think
that it's something I do?"
"I had my suspicions,
but it was not until I saw
your horseshoe hanging
points down that I became
certain of it," Loki says.
Tony's horseshoe is hanging
over his anvil in the secret workshop
where Loki better not have gone.
"How do you know that?" Tony snarls.
Loki shrugs and tosses a soap bubble
of light in the direction of the workshop.
It spatters into glowing lines that
outline every stud in the framework,
and inside that strange, radiant cage
the horseshoe and the anvil
shine like an arc reactor.
"Magic," he says simply.
"Only a blacksmith hangs
his horseshoe points down,
to pour the energy over an anvil,
when everyone else hangs theirs
points up to catch the dew of Yggdrasil.
It's always pointing toward power."
Tony had never heard any of
that nonsense before. He had
just set up his anvil the same way
that Master Tom had his. They
had never talked much about it.
"It's just a decoration," he said.
"You know, like a tradition."
"Traditions have power," Loki said.
Then one corner of his mouth quirks up.
"It was only after the fact that I also
discovered you to be a seiðmaðr."
"A what?" Tony asks, baffled.
"A man who makes magic by
taking another man into his body,"
Loki says, looking a bit nervous.
"On Asgard, few men would dare
admit to sex magic of that type.
I am nearly alone in my perversion.
But then I saw your recordings on
YouTube, and they are magnificent.
I may attempt some of your techniques,
if you do not feel it would infringe on them."
"I haven't made any Stark Naked movies
in years," Tony says. "Glad you liked them,
though. And look, if you're queer, that's
no big deal on Earth. Midgard."
"A fact I may come to appreciate,"
Loki says. "It makes me glad
that the invasion failed."
Tony snorts. "You sound
like a cat trying to convince
everyone that he meant
to get stuck in the blinds."
"One saves face however
one can," Loki says blandly.
"In any case, I wished you
to know that, as a fellow mage,
I would prefer to make some kind
of peace with you, if possible --
perhaps even work together
should our interests coincide."
If nothing else, they share
an interest in keeping Thor
in one piece, which is
not easy since Thor has
even less self-preservation
than Captain America does.
How is that even possible.
Another point, that Tony
didn't want to examine
too closely, is that Loki is
intense, much the same way
that Tony himself is, which
means that not everyone
will put up with them.
Tony has Bruce for
a lab partner and Bucky
to work on the car with,
but nobody else really gets
the higher math like he does.
Loki, on the other hand,
seemed perfectly comfortable
with controlling a wormhole.
"I'll think about it," Tony says.
Loki gives that weird bow
which is little more than
a tip of chin and shoulders,
then lets himself out.
Tony wonders what he
has just gotten himself into.
* * *
Notes:
There are many legends about horseshoes and how to hang them. One is that blacksmiths hang them points-down over the anvil to pour magic over their workspace, and everyone else should hang them points-up to avoid spilling out all the luck. In essence, mastery over iron allows the blacksmith to channel the power in motion; everyone else just benefits from the ambient effect of pooling it.
Seiðr is a type of magic, which may be practiced by people of any sex/gender, but is traditionally used by women. A female practitioner is called a seiðkona. A male practitioner is called a seiðmaðr. This also ties in with the deadly insult ergi, which means effeminate and implies taking the receptive role in homosexual activity. Seiðr is often considered a type of sex magic, even though it entails other skills such as dancing and chanting as well.
My headcanon is that Tony Stark is a sexual adventurer and enjoyed a wide variety of activities and partners. After the arc reactor, however, he is much less comfortable around other people or situations with any vulnerability at all. This has substantially curtailed his sex life.
"Pointing Toward Power"
"I didn't know you were a mage."
Tony jerks upright at the sound
of Loki's voice, whacking his head
on the underside of the car hood.
"OW! Fuck!" Tony says,
disentangling himself from
the collapsed hood that
is trying to eat him.
Then he rounds on Loki.
"I am not a freaking wizard.
I do science, or in this case,
vintage vehicle restoration."
Loki just stares at his chest like
Tony is posing for the kind of movie
that he doesn't make anymore.
Tony crosses his arms
over the arc reactor.
"The light of your power
is there for everyone to see,"
Loki says in a smooth tone.
"Yeah, yeah, I know, I'm
Tony the Human Flashlight,"
he grumbles. "That's not magic.
It's called an arc reactor, and if
you try to touch it I will have
Hulk tear your arm off."
"I would never -- well.
Not of my own volition,"
Loki says, looking away.
"Whatever," Tony says,
and turns back to his car.
"I may owe you an apology."
Tony hits his head on the hood again.
"Fuck! Go away and stop bothering me."
"It is not right between us," Loki insists.
"I would make it right, before this discord
starts to interfere with our spellcasting."
Tony pulls out of the car and says,
"No shit, Sherlock. It's not right,
because you broke into my Tower,
attacked me, and dropped an army
on New York. It is never going
to be right between us."
"I am unwilling to risk
the magical consequences
of that," Loki says. "Did not
your master warn you of such?"
Tony flashes on a memory of
Master Tom warning him about
the grave reasons why blacksmiths
shouldn't get into fights with each other,
but that had involved dire descriptions
of broken bones from muscular folks
brawling, especially in a workshop.
"I don't know why you're so stuck
on this," Tony says. "I hate magic.
Why would you even think
that it's something I do?"
"I had my suspicions,
but it was not until I saw
your horseshoe hanging
points down that I became
certain of it," Loki says.
Tony's horseshoe is hanging
over his anvil in the secret workshop
where Loki better not have gone.
"How do you know that?" Tony snarls.
Loki shrugs and tosses a soap bubble
of light in the direction of the workshop.
It spatters into glowing lines that
outline every stud in the framework,
and inside that strange, radiant cage
the horseshoe and the anvil
shine like an arc reactor.
"Magic," he says simply.
"Only a blacksmith hangs
his horseshoe points down,
to pour the energy over an anvil,
when everyone else hangs theirs
points up to catch the dew of Yggdrasil.
It's always pointing toward power."
Tony had never heard any of
that nonsense before. He had
just set up his anvil the same way
that Master Tom had his. They
had never talked much about it.
"It's just a decoration," he said.
"You know, like a tradition."
"Traditions have power," Loki said.
Then one corner of his mouth quirks up.
"It was only after the fact that I also
discovered you to be a seiðmaðr."
"A what?" Tony asks, baffled.
"A man who makes magic by
taking another man into his body,"
Loki says, looking a bit nervous.
"On Asgard, few men would dare
admit to sex magic of that type.
I am nearly alone in my perversion.
But then I saw your recordings on
YouTube, and they are magnificent.
I may attempt some of your techniques,
if you do not feel it would infringe on them."
"I haven't made any Stark Naked movies
in years," Tony says. "Glad you liked them,
though. And look, if you're queer, that's
no big deal on Earth. Midgard."
"A fact I may come to appreciate,"
Loki says. "It makes me glad
that the invasion failed."
Tony snorts. "You sound
like a cat trying to convince
everyone that he meant
to get stuck in the blinds."
"One saves face however
one can," Loki says blandly.
"In any case, I wished you
to know that, as a fellow mage,
I would prefer to make some kind
of peace with you, if possible --
perhaps even work together
should our interests coincide."
If nothing else, they share
an interest in keeping Thor
in one piece, which is
not easy since Thor has
even less self-preservation
than Captain America does.
How is that even possible.
Another point, that Tony
didn't want to examine
too closely, is that Loki is
intense, much the same way
that Tony himself is, which
means that not everyone
will put up with them.
Tony has Bruce for
a lab partner and Bucky
to work on the car with,
but nobody else really gets
the higher math like he does.
Loki, on the other hand,
seemed perfectly comfortable
with controlling a wormhole.
"I'll think about it," Tony says.
Loki gives that weird bow
which is little more than
a tip of chin and shoulders,
then lets himself out.
Tony wonders what he
has just gotten himself into.
* * *
Notes:
There are many legends about horseshoes and how to hang them. One is that blacksmiths hang them points-down over the anvil to pour magic over their workspace, and everyone else should hang them points-up to avoid spilling out all the luck. In essence, mastery over iron allows the blacksmith to channel the power in motion; everyone else just benefits from the ambient effect of pooling it.
Seiðr is a type of magic, which may be practiced by people of any sex/gender, but is traditionally used by women. A female practitioner is called a seiðkona. A male practitioner is called a seiðmaðr. This also ties in with the deadly insult ergi, which means effeminate and implies taking the receptive role in homosexual activity. Seiðr is often considered a type of sex magic, even though it entails other skills such as dancing and chanting as well.
My headcanon is that Tony Stark is a sexual adventurer and enjoyed a wide variety of activities and partners. After the arc reactor, however, he is much less comfortable around other people or situations with any vulnerability at all. This has substantially curtailed his sex life.
(no subject)
Date: 2018-04-03 11:49 pm (UTC)>> they share
an interest in keeping Thor
in once peace<<
I think you mean "one piece"
(no subject)
Date: 2018-04-04 12:53 am (UTC)I don't follow the MMU, or the MCU in many years for that matter, and I'm just blown away to see Loki be polite, considerate, and seeking peace, especially with a former opponent. Of course Loki is the faker par excellence in Norse mythology, but we're in fanfic here -- maybe fanfic squared, if we call Marvel's take fanfic on the original.
(no subject)
Date: 2018-04-04 11:56 am (UTC)There was more than one reason he was known as Loki the Fair, or Loki Silver Tongue.
He was always more the quiet, nerdy bookish sort in a Frat house full of muscle-headed jocks.
(no subject)
Date: 2018-04-04 08:48 pm (UTC)Thoughts
Date: 2018-04-05 04:40 am (UTC)Well, I do favor the original canon over subsequent fanfic, even if the MCU version is charming in its own way. ;)
>> There was more than one reason he was known as Loki the Fair, or Loki Silver Tongue. <<
Exactly. Though I must admit, that scene in Thor where Loki manipulated his brother into invading Jotunheim was a masterful example of his style.
>> He was always more the quiet, nerdy bookish sort in a Frat house full of muscle-headed jocks.<<
:D I do in fact write Thor as a jock.
(no subject)
Date: 2018-04-30 03:58 am (UTC)Earlier today I read a delightful American Gods take on the MCU cast, starring multiple Lokis. *flappyhands* (I'll add a link if I find it...)
Also a short piece starring teddy bear versions of MCU characters having a very serious and yet completely PG-13 conversation about self care, abuse recovery, and kink. *headtilt*
https://archiveofourown.org/works/3145085 (As a cautionary note, the author's other works feature some intense and possibly disturbing/trigger-laden kinks.)
And then you think about how many times those sagas were retold in the first place...
(no subject)
Date: 2018-04-04 01:07 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2018-04-04 01:26 am (UTC)Stark Naked Productions might even have made a video version of the Kama Sutra.
Victorian MEN had quite the collection of "Oriental pillow books" that were acceptable as art and not considered pornography like directions on birth control and spacing births pamphlets for women. (A very twisted expression on my face)
Thoughts
Date: 2018-04-04 01:35 am (UTC)Likely so, but then, it's Tony. You show him a new sex manual and he'll want to try something from it.
Bruce sighs and goes to check the first aid kit.
>> Stark Naked Productions might even have made a video version of the Kama Sutra. <<
I suspect that's why Tony's copy of the Kama Sutra is so heavily annotated. Lines of force, rhythm speed, camera angle, duration of orgasm, etc.
>> Victorian MEN had quite the collection of "Oriental pillow books" that were acceptable as art and not considered pornography like directions on birth control and spacing births pamphlets for women. (A very twisted expression on my face) <<
Yes, well, Victorian women had some of the world's most magnificent lathe-turned wooden dildos stashed in secret compartments in walls and floors. I suspect that in many cases, their husbands made neither the dildos nor the compartments. Can't you just see some lady sneaking out of her petticoats to make dildos, make secret storage areas, and then have it all cleaned up by the time her husband gets home? ;)
Re: Thoughts
Date: 2018-04-04 12:00 pm (UTC)Some of them were a dab hand at cryptography too, if the V&A exhibition was anything to go by.. but the museum curators should've checked what was on the pages of the exhibit more carefully! Especially if they have the cypher key as part of the display.
Re: Thoughts
Date: 2018-04-04 07:14 pm (UTC)Well ...
Date: 2018-04-04 01:29 am (UTC)Re: Well ...
Date: 2018-04-04 08:23 pm (UTC)Re: Well ...
Date: 2018-04-05 06:33 am (UTC)thanks
Date: 2018-04-04 02:10 am (UTC)-starbit
Re: thanks
Date: 2018-04-04 02:45 am (UTC)Well, who else would notice that Tony is doing magic?
Except Dr. Strange, and they're ... kind of not on speaking terms.
Re: thanks
Date: 2018-04-05 11:58 pm (UTC)https://archiveofourown.org/works/561559
(no subject)
Date: 2018-04-04 03:50 am (UTC)Horseshoe points towards the anvil, eh? Hmmmmmmmm. Someday when I can have a horseshoe, I think I shall put it up over my CPU... after all, if you are a wordsmith, I must be a bitsmith. And the keyboard *is* our anvil. Do we not pound on it incessantly?
Thoughts
Date: 2018-04-04 03:52 am (UTC)LOL yes.
>> Horseshoe points towards the anvil, eh? Hmmmmmmmm. Someday when I can have a horseshoe, I think I shall put it up over my CPU... after all, if you are a wordsmith, I must be a bitsmith. And the keyboard *is* our anvil. Do we not pound on it incessantly?<<
Go for it. Though in my observation,
bismuth crystals exceed iron in their usefulness for technomancy.
Re: Thoughts
Date: 2018-04-04 02:55 pm (UTC)Thanks for reminding me.
Re: Thoughts
Date: 2018-04-04 07:28 pm (UTC)Re: Thoughts
Date: 2018-04-04 08:56 pm (UTC)(Merriam-Webster)
Definition of whitesmith
1 : tinsmith
2 : a worker in iron who finishes or polishes the work
Re: Thoughts
Date: 2018-04-30 12:40 am (UTC)I need to get to a gem-and-mineral show. I haven't been to one in more than ten years, and there was one at a large exposition hall not far from me that I was going to go to. Except the morning of the day it started, I got hit by the kidney stone :-(
Oh, and I have always hung my horseshoes points-down, even before I knew why.
(no subject)
Date: 2018-04-04 08:21 pm (UTC)I love seeing this Loki, proud but it looks like he didn't attack on his own accord, seeing value but seeing things His way, magic instead of the science of it, a very cultural understanding of things.
Though he goes on YouTube!!!!
And Tony, not deflecting, considering Loki and seeing things like his intensity and loneliness and protectiveness of Thor....while not giving up his boundary of workspace.
I can't wait to see how Clint interacts with Loki or how Loki deals w hulk and Natasha - both beat him.
And him and Bucky should be interesting. Both have horrible histories, regrets. Though I'm curious as to how much your Loki will have done on his own vs bc of mind control. Your earlier characterization - bid for attn - was so interesting.
Anyway, I'm so glad you posted this!
(no subject)
Date: 2018-04-06 03:24 pm (UTC)Thoughts
Date: 2018-04-06 06:07 pm (UTC):D People have been requesting him for years, so I hope this helps. I try to keep the series more-or-less chronological, but the poetry prompts sometimes jump ahead.
>> I didn't know about the points-down bit of blacksmithing knowledge. Cool! -kellyc <<
It's something that I learned from blacksmiths at fairs and other events. They're fun to talk with. Some would just mention the custom, but others brought their horseshoe along, and then lots of people would ask why it was "upside down."
(no subject)
Date: 2018-04-07 06:41 pm (UTC)This is very interesting, and well done and I love it.
Thank you so much for sharing your words with us.
(no subject)
Date: 2018-04-30 03:36 am (UTC)>> Tony snorts. "You sound
like a cat trying to convince
everyone that he meant
to get stuck in the blinds." <<
Yup that seems v v plausible for this Loki.
Interesting to have this glimpse ahead in timeline. I very much see why it is not something that is happening much now, but I do hope someday to see more of the main narrative of LIFC.
(no subject)
Date: 2018-11-17 01:48 am (UTC)You're welcome!
Date: 2018-11-17 03:36 am (UTC)