Side-blog to share stuff on Norse mythology and anything that vibes with my WIP, "Those Horrid, Horrid Things." Book in banner by @joaniejustwokeup, pfp by @artbyeloquent. Main account is afoolandathief. Here be wolves, snakes, & polyamory
What do you do when your kids include a giant wolf, a sea serpent, and a half-dead girl?
You know the stories, the myths. Loki is a trickster god, shapeshifter, and sometimes morally-gray villain. But they love their weird, monstrous children. So when a prophecy reveals their existence to Odin, she has no choice but to hide them in a time and place nearly forgotten by the gods: A quaint and horrifically-ordinary suburban town.
But this new world is different, with its PTO bake sales and angry soccer parents. Loki's children have to make some big changes to remain undetected, and the Father of Monsters and Mother of Evil might be in a little over his head.
Because the gods are out there searching, and they'll stop at nothing to lock those horrid, horrid things away.
So I once made a joke on Tumblr about the Loki of Norse mythology raising their three monster children in some suburban town. It turned into a side project and now, almost a year later, I have the first draft written. It's got queer rep (including a genderfluid main character written by a genderfluid person), neurodivergent characters, and allusions to and retellings of the original Norse myths.
Status: The first draft is complete and you can read it on Wattpad! I'll be taking a break from this for a bit and returning to revise it. Eventually I'm going to need betas as well (particularly transfemme folks, blind or low-vis readers, and those with chronic illnesses).
Genre: Fantasy, Norse mythology; not exactly a retelling as much it is yet another modern take on mythology
Setting: Any modern-day, North American, suburban town you can think of. Technically I decided it was Connecticut, but it's mainly based off the Upstate New York exburb I grew up in.
Who might like this? I don't know, man. Those who enjoy slice of life stories with characters who could easily kill you; people who were disappointed by Disney's idea of a "genderfluid" Loki; kids who grew up reading those little picture books of Norse myths and thought "God, I wish I could change my gender like that"; people obsessively reading the Thrymskvida or Lokasenna who have no one to talk with about how batshit wild those are; people who want polyamorous love stories not born out of jealousy or a love triangle; people okay with some of my dumbass rude humor mixed with some really deep, heartwrenching moments, maybe?
If you do like this: Like I said, you can read it on Wattpad; I'm not really sure what commenting or voting does but if you want to do that, go ahead. I'll be revising this soon and at some point I'll be needing alpha and beta readers, so feedback is appreciated. Also feel free to buy me a coffee, if you like.
Read THHT online here
Follow the THHT sideblog here
Listen to the THHT playlist here
Characters and more info below the cut ↓
Meet the Ragnarok fam:
*Picrews are from hunbloom
Loki
AKA: Leigh Lucas
Gender: genderfluid, nonbinary
Pronouns: They/he/she/it; ask what combination they're using that day — maybe she'll tell you, maybe he won't
Age: 34-35
Has built a reputation as a clever trickster god who was once an ally of the Aesir. Now just trying to keep their three kids in line and the gods and monsters off their back. Indulgent, temperamental, and not above a little homicide if it means keeping their family safe.
Fenrir
AKA: Finn Lucas
Gender: male
Pronouns: he/him
Age: 14-15
While normally appearing as a massive wolf who struck fear in the hearts of the Aesir (except his childhood friend Tyr), Fenrir is forced to stay in the form of an anxiety-ridden teenager as he navigates this new realm. Misses his mom and is often at odds with his dad as he prefers following some form of rules over Loki's usual chaos. Trying to grow a mustache, constantly chewing on his stim necklace.
Jormungandr
AKA: Jory (pronounced "Yor-ee") Lucas
Gender: nonbinary, snakeboy
Pronouns: he/him
Age: 11-12
Once a snake big enough to swallow whales and giant squid whole, Jory is now uncomfortably trapped in the lanky body of a kid on the cusp of puberty. Likes toilet humor, video games, swimming, and eating (especially if it's fish).
Hel
AKA: Helga Lucas
Gender: female
Pronouns: she/her
Age: 8-9
Daddy's little princess has inherited much of Loki's charm, but she's not Queen of the Dead just yet. For now, she's a girl with a half-living, half-dead body shapeshifted to appear as a kid with a weird dye job. Likes talking to her "friends" (i.e. the spirits of dead people and monsters she summons straight from Niflheimr).
Other characters (in order of appearance):
Sidney: Middleville Jr./Sr. High's gym teacher and Loki's new neighbor. Involved in just about everything, including the PTO and teachers union. Seems to have a thing for redheads who cause problems on purpose.
Tyr: Became a friend of Fenrir's in Asgard after being the only one brave enough to approach the wolf. Close in age to Fenrir and used to have fun wrestling and play-fighting with him.
Heimdallr: In disguise as the school's vice principal. Will always have his eye on you.
Freyja: In disguise as a neighbor with some influence on the PTO and other groups. Hosts a mean tupperware party, just don't ask about the crockpot.
Skadi: Shows up to hunt some monsters. Gets mistaken for the babysitter.
Odin: Loki's longtime friend and now their enemy after discovering Loki's children in a vision and demanding their capture.
Baldr: Odin's perfect son who was gifted invulnerablity by his mother, which is totally not something Loki sees as a challenge.
Thor: Disguised as a mall cop with a suspiciously sparky stun gun.
Angrboda: Loki's first wife. Pretty pissed off Loki whisked away her babies without telling her. Good with an ax, maybe too good, for Loki's sake.
Sigyn: Loki's second wife they abandoned in Asgard. Is also pretty pissed off at them and unfortunately fairly adept with a broadsword.
Frigg: Wife of Odin and mother of Baldr. Would do anything to help her son and just wants these monsters put away so the chaos can end.
Sleipnir: An eight-legged horse and Loki's daughter who they gave birth to while shapeshifted into a mare (long story, involves a wall, a scam artist, and his magnificent stallion). Now estranged from Loki, she'll need some help getting used to her new family.
Taglist
I'm not sure if there will be any updates soon, but feel free to ask to be added or removed from the taglist for this!
Taglist (ask to be +/-): @authortango, @creepypyromancer, @drippingmoon, @fearofahumanplanet, @joaniejustwokeup, @thegreatobsesso, @thelaughingstag, @writing-is-a-martial-art
Chapter directory
Those Horrid, Horrid Things
Chapter 1: The House
Chapter 2: The School
Chapter 3: The New Pet
Chapter 4: The Vice Principal
Chapter 5: The Tupperware Party
Chapter 6: The Babysitter
Chapter 7: The Parent-Teacher Conference
Chapter 8: The Mall
Chapter 9: The Soccer Game
Chapter 10: The Night Out
Chapter 11: The Family Reunion
Chapter 12: The Endless Paperwork
Chapter 13: The School Play
Chapter 14: The Smartphone
Chapter 15: The Day Off
Chapter 16: The School Dance
Chapter 17: The Kitchen Table
Chapter 18: The Old Friend
Chapter 19: The House Guests
Chapter 20: The Rowboat
Chapter 21: The Snake
Chapter 22: The Family Recipe
Chapter 23: The Swimming Lesson
Chapter 24: The Nightlight
Chapter 25: The Go Bag
Chapter 26: The Family Vacation
Chapter 27: The Motel
Chapter 28: The Bit of Hope
Epilogue
*technically a re-intro; the original intro can be found here
Image descriptions since alt text has failed me
Image 1: A black outline of a door on a beige background. Coming out from beyond the outline of the door are a gray silhouette of a wolf's head, a green silhouette of a snake, and behind them an orange outline of flames.
Image 2: A corkboard on a tan background with eight Polaroid images of characters in a cartoon-style taped or thumb-tacked to the board. From top left, the first is a person with long red hair, green eyes and pale skin wearing a green hoodie with bisexual and genderfluid pins; the second is a boy with wild black hair, brown eyes, and pale skin wearing a black shirt and a brown jacket with a bisexual pin; the third is a child with pale skin, short light-blond hair, green eyes and a striped shirt; the fourth is a girl with pale skin, gray eyes, and hair that is half-white and half-black with two pigtail-like buns, wearing overalls and a black shirt with a white heart on it; the fifth is a girl with pale freckled skin, gray eyes, and long light-blonde hair, wearing a white shirt with a transgender pin; the sixth is a woman with short ash-blonde hair in pigtails, fair skin, blue eyes and a black hoodie surrounded by constellations; the seventh is a woman with pale skin, long black hair in a ponytail, and brown eyes wearing a black jacket and brown shirt with a bisexual pin; the eighth is a woman with olive skin and freckles, brown, almond-shaped eyes, and long brown hair in pigtails, wearing a white shirt with a bisexual pin. In the bottom left is a white post-it note reading: "Pictured from top left: Loki, Fenrir, Jormungandr, Hel, Sleipnir, Skadi, Angrboda, Sidney."
Welp, it's done. Story has been unpublished on Wattpad. I still have to see if I'll put up a couple revised chapter previews, but hopefully I'll have a draft two Writeblr update soon!
THHT Taglist (ask to be +/-):@authortango, @creepypyromancer, @drippingmoon, @fearofahumanplanet, @joaniejustwokeup, @thegreatobsesso, @thelaughingstag, @writing-is-a-martial-art
Officials say that 12-16 pups have survived their first few months.
The critically endangered red wolf population in North Carolina welcomed four new litters this year. Researchers estimate that 12-16 pups have survived their first few months, which is a very big deal for a species with only 22 adults remaining in the wild.
Budget for additional wildlife crossings in the wolf's habitat offers additional hope for the species, since road strikes are currently one of their greatest threats.
Thanks to @calliopechild for submitting this story!
another thing we really need to appreciate about the flyting scene in the lokasenna is how njord says it was honorable of him to drink the piss of his generous and beautiful hosts(/captors) also he fully supports his thot daughter and it hurts no one if a woman has, like, a ton of extramarital sex. the real freak shit that needs to be addressed here, loki, is your insatiable breeding kink,
[ID: "The Ideal Woman" above a picture of a wolf calmly sitting on her haunches. Around it are descriptions of both: "> good at killing" ">is nice to you" "> Loves you" "> can dig" "> shares food".]
