Codex ‘Verse Masterpost (completed/updated, plus additional non-arc fics 2016-2018)
The ‘Verse series is a completed second set of stories based around the theme of rebuilding a family. Still lightly AU, canon-flavor. Like its forerunner, it also predicts or predates a lot of current MCU and will absolutely contain spoilers. There are characters from the comics that are introduced MCU-style and do not require comic knowledge to understand. The ‘Verse fics are written to not contradict the Postscript of the original Codex and continue the story after When the Man Comes Around, because these bastards wouldn’t stop talking to me.
The ‘Verse:
The Lion in Spring
Synopsis:
Recent events have left each Agent of SHIELD in emotional disarray, and Daisy Johnson most of all. So when Coulson asks Loki to reach out and help her, he accepts... but in his own way. A storyteller first and foremost, Loki reveals a story of old Asgard - the embattled start of love between Odin and Frigga.
Notes: Will spoil the end of Season 3 AoS. Is 90% a flashback tale.
Season of the Witch
Synopsis:
When horror engulfs a small Pennsylvanian town at the edge of abandoned Centralia, the Agents of SHIELD are called to investigate. But when their strangest ally and agent, Loki, fast realizes he knows more about what's going on than he ever wanted to admit, the investigation takes a dark turn into understanding not only the history of the cursed region, but the birth of Chaos itself.
Notes: This is the Oct 2016 Codex Halloween fic, but also ended up paralleling AoS’s season 4 events in very strong and strange ways. Bookends with the original Codex fic, A Clear and Present Loki. Aggie Harkness becomes a recurring character and member of WAND, a magical division of SHIELD currently run by Loki.
Generation of Animals
Synopsis:
A phone call from an unexpected source puts Phil Coulson (along with his unlikeliest friend) on the hunt for a resurrected ghost straight out of the worst nightmares of world history - and on the way, Coulson must remember how to uphold the beliefs of his greatest hero, the currently exiled Captain America.
By punching Nazis.
Lots of Nazis.
Really hard.
Notes: I didn’t handle the 2016 US election very well, and honestly, come 2020, CAN YOU BLAME ME. This was one method of coping. Fortunately, it’s also a pretty rollickin’ story where Loki beats on an awful lot of awful people. The theme of making peace with himself and his place in Asgard and Jotunheim continues on from this story.
Riders on the Storm
Synopsis:
Loki and Doctor Strange are forced to work together to hunt what they discover is a cannibal - and maybe a killer. To pass the time, they share a couple of similarly horrible stories from their pasts, from a bleak ER encounter to Loki's first real battle with the demons and the flames of Muspelheim.
Notes: 2017′s Halloween fic is a longer work that contains substories, similar to We Lived in Castles. Strange and Loki’s aggressive frienemy-ship continues to build.
The Liminoid Space has a Self-Checkout Lane
Synopsis:
Loki's having a day. The sort of day that makes him long for an era where sacrifices to the Gods were still a thing. Instead, he's in a big box store buying cheap shirts and animal crackers and crappy coffee, and he's none too happy about it.
Notes: Like some vignettes in the original arc, this one doesn’t connect to anything. It does have a nice but short flashback to Loki being a dumb kid too smart for his own good.
An Ocean Deep and Cold
Synopsis:
Having uncovered the trail of even more buried family secrets, Thor turns to his brother to help him puzzle out what he believes may be a secret of his own lineage - but Loki's weariness with Odin's faults means he is at first unwilling to help.
When he does give in, the brothers together must face what the Realms have to offer them for all-new struggles, from Earth's intrigue to Alfheim's bureaucracy... and they must also share the weight of their own fraught relationship.
Notes: The finale of the shorter ‘Verse arc, Loki finds himself finally making a kind of real and lasting peace not only with his brother, and with Odin’s bizarre way of parenting, but also with his heritage. Farbauti has a strong role here that will come back up in the next arc, and this fic lays out where Hela is in the Codex continuity.
Additional Works:
All Our Dawns
Synopsis:
Young Thor has a problem, a suddenly sickly and withdrawn Loki who won't confide what's troubling him. With nothing else to do but turn to their mother for help, it's up to Frigga to find a way to help Loki walk out of the dark - not only for the sake of his childhood, but his future.
Notes: This short predates Generation of Animals and was part of the same coping mechanism - looking for hope in darker times.
Run, Black Rabbit
Synopsis:
A quiet tribute from a trickster to a storyteller.
Notes: A very short fic written on the day I learned author Richard Adams died. Watership Down has an important but understated role in some of the Codex stories, as Loki gradually recognizes both the fragility and strength of littler creatures - and also his own parallels with El-ahrairah, the Prince with a Thousand Enemies.
Black Spot on the Sun
Synopsis:
When Thor and Loki are sent ahead of a war party to warn a village of a coming attack, the young princes discover they're too late and need a new plan. Loki's wits and Thor's steel have to find a way to defend the people long enough for them to survive - but is Loki's solution Asgard's way?
Notes: Another short fic and something of a trial run for the next one. Written in bursts over the course of a long and difficult month, I was proud to be able to finish it on the day the first Thor: Ragnarok trailer dropped.
Let Me Tell You About the Time I...
Synopsis:
Loki has been here before.
Enough that not only does he have opinions on what he's going through, but plans.
Notes: A non-canon and non-Codex musing on what might’ve gone through Loki’s mind after the start of Infinity War.