Codex Judicium (2017, 2018-current)
The third and final arc of the SHIELD Codex, because my brain wouldn’t leave me alone. Continues the story directly after An Ocean Deep and Cold, however this arc returns to the original arc’s method of building to a central antagonist and finale. These antagonists (The Children of Thanos, or his Generals, interchangeably) were foreshadowed at the end of the original Codex series, back when I had no idea they’d end up in the dang movies.
This arc is, plot-wise, a little self indulgent (OCs, flerkens, and a lot of worldbuilding headcanon I wanted to play with) and revisits a lot of previous Codex events to build up to its planned finish. These connections will be listed in the notes. This is also the arc where we say goodbye to AOS series canon. The Codex fully diverges after the Framework arc of the show, and, annoyingly on my part, the Codex talks about that arc only in past tense.
The Shadows of Asgard
Synopsis:
Trapped by memories of his past and haunting his own present, Loki, the shadow king of Asgard, finds himself hunted by something far more deadly than any ghost. Without allies or any friendly word to help him, he must figure out why he’s not the hunter’s sole target - and what any chance of surviving his stolen throne might have to do with his buried youth.
Notes: On the one hand, it’s a stand-alone story set previous to the Codex and can be read without ever touching another Codex fic. On the other, I’ve built it into Codex canon and made it part of the basis for the final arc. Although this fic is about a brief, almost romantic part of Loki’s life, the resolution of this fic establishes that relationship as distant, conflicted, and probably platonic from here. While a character introduced will become recurring, the Codex will never change its listing from genfic to OC/Loki.
The Sand Knows Its Purity
Synopsis:
As Kamar-Taj's chief librarian, Wong feels love and responsibility for every sacred book in the world. Leaving the rural Chinese province of his childhood on the way towards safety for his latest rediscovered ancient artifact, Wong thinks a little about the past, about being lost, and about how much it all meant to his future.
Notes: A purely Wong-centric vignette themed after Journey To the West. Wong becomes a moderately important supporting character to the arc (I love Benedict Wong, okay?) and this fic introduces a unique character who returns in Turn the Page.
Fresh Ground
Synopsis:
Where everyone knows your name is a fine thing if you're a middle-class drudge looking for a drink, Ted Danson, and a guy named Norm. But when you work in Stark Tower - or worse, are an Avenger - sometimes all you want is a coffeeshop that's going to treat you like a normal person.
Notes: Having never done a coffeeshop AU before, this is a coffeeshop short that accidentally ended up foreshadowing the next Halloween fic and thus became a Codex short.
The Ritual of Chud
Synopsis:
The harvest season always brings with it a sense of ritual to pave the way for the future. It's with this in mind that Doctor Strange and Loki left Wong with a single gentle, but unusual, request: Throw a small Halloween party. Invite a handful of magical guests. Spend the evening telling tales and growing closer together. But why?
Notes: 2018′s Halloween Codex is another story within a story collection with several supporting magical characters (Wanda, Wong, Aggie Harkness, and introducing Pandora Peters of Loki’s WAND division) telling sad or spooky holiday tales. The overall story introduces the first clue to this arc’s set of villains - Ebony Maw.
Offhand
Synopsis:
The season of greetings and merriment has come around - for Asgard, whose princes are still children easily bored by pageantry. But when Loki has to face a pack of bullies without his brother to back him up, he ends up beginning something that will change his life forever. Meanwhile, in the future, an adult Loki takes in some holiday cheer among his friends, and makes an admission he hadn't wanted to just yet.
Notes: The first winter holiday short fic since Bleak Midwinter, Offhand has a nice but standalone flashback to Loki’s troubles with the palace weapons trainer. There is some foreshadowing about what’s to come next.
Escape Velocity
Synopsis:
When news comes to Wakanda of a mysterious cache of vibranium destined to hit the international arms market, King T'Challa realizes his efforts to reach out to the world could complicate his role in trying to stop disaster. Instead, he sends an envoy to SHIELD to help pick up where his warriors left off - and asks a reluctant Agent Everett Ross to assist them on his behalf.
Notes: The synopsis is a swerve. Set up as a standard SHIELD op, it ends with space battles and poor Ross helping to pilot a starship. As of 2020, he’s not the first new character to return from this fic - Captain Tam is introduced, Kara is hinted at, and more suspicions about the Children of Thanos are set up. The Grandmaster is also revealed to have ties here, a plot built up from the original arc’s Darwin’s Dragon.
Cat Dads!
Synopsis:
Minding his own business one spring afternoon, Loki finds himself approached by Nick Fury, who brings with him a most curious situation in need of advice.
It turns out that Goose is carrying a whole, uh, kit and caboodle of trouble inside her.
Notes: Arguably the most popular Codex short whether you read the series or not, Nick Fury as a cat daddy was an irresistible setup. This fic introduces flerkens into the Codex, though, with both Loki and Nebula gaining flerkittens that will become part of later stories.
Turn the Page
Synopsis:
Torn from one nightmare and tossed into another, Loki isn't touched to discover he's Stephen Strange's first choice to run to when magical attacks strike the New York Sanctum. The goal of this assault? Reclaiming the Darkhold, held prisoner by Strange for the last few years.
Notes: The Darkhold has been the focus point of a sub-sub arc throughout the three series, from the very first Codex story, to Season of the Witch, and finally, at damn last, ending here. Aggie Harkness returns, and some old plot threads from The Janus Paradox get tied off in this one. The epilogue also builds on a hint from Escape Velocity and introduces us formally to another member of the Children of Thanos.
The Queen’s Gambit
Synopsis:
Long ago, Odin All-Father buried the secret of his first two children. Baldur, who tragically never left his crib, and Hela, who rose to power under a deadly shadow. Now an exile on the world that gave her its name, Hela hatefully waits for a freedom she suspects will never come - only to find that a visitor has somehow arrived after all.
Notes: 2019′s Halloween fic is themed after Ingmar Bergman’s The Seventh Seal and has Mistress Death swapping tales with Hela, herself a would-be incarnation of mortality. This fic builds on Odin’s tale as told at the end of Ocean Deep and Cold, and will return to importance in an upcoming fic.
The Family We Choose (ongoing 4/20)
Synopsis:
Loki has been contacted by Nebula, working on the fringes of the galaxy as an intelligence broker since the fall of Thanos, and he suspects that what news she has to share won't be anything pretty. But things begin to shift beyond his predictions before he catches up with her, as two human friends latch on for the ride.
Notes:
This is where previous plot threads are starting to pull together. Building on the events of The Shadows of Asgard, Darwin’s Dragon, Escape Velocity, Cat Dads, and the entire theme of Loki trying to rebuild his life as a whole person and not just a loner easily driven to madness, this fic is ongoing.
Upcoming:
All these listings are subject to future whims.
The One About Jotunheim - A civil war will threaten to tear apart the fragile peace Queen Farbauti has forged, while Loki, unmoored by the possible ramifications of that conflict, begins to work on another family alliance of his own. This is a tentative synopsis and may change.
1-2 possible shorts, including one with Captain Tam and Kara on Earth
The One About Kings - Odin prepares to pass on his crown at last, but as usual, there are intense conflicts.
The Children’s Crusade - the final showdown between Loki and the remaining Children of Thanos... and a few awful surprises.
The future light - one more postscript.
