There’s something very attractive about the outsider character. Being rejected and having to strike out alone feels quite romantic.
The main things to remember when developing this sort of character is to show how happy everyone inside the group is (even if they’re just kidding themselves), and to demonstrate clearly that the character is not welcome.
Humans, as a whole, crave belonging. We want to be accepted into the group, to obtain status and be listened to.
People who reject the mainstream and become Goths or nerds or B-boys are still looking for a gang to call their own. We form societies both in small, familial group, and large metropolises.
And each of these has its rules and hierarchies and cliques, even the ones that claim they don’t.
It hits deep when membership to any sort of club is either rejected or revoked.
And when one is rejected from the super special fringe-god-club because your views are from a different perspective (and quite possibly historically accurate) it hurts too…
As a new Lokean, but long-standing Heathen, I’ve got this to say:
Man, is it any wonder that Loki has followers? I can’t speak for everyone, but here’s how I see it.
Anyone who has ever been cast out for speaking their mind because their opinion was unpopular can connect to Loki.
Anyone who has ever been bullied into doing something they didn’t want to do or forced to clean up someone else’s mess (or their own, really) can connect to Loki.
Anyone who has ever been the sad receiver of the news “Yeah, really, no one actually likes you.” at the hands of cruel schoolmates can connect to Loki.
Anyone who has ever been sold as the scapegoat can connect to Loki.
Anyone who has ever lost a child can connect. To. Loki.
For anyone who has ever found Odin or Freyr’s reception to be impersonal, or their demands too formal. For anyone who would rather dance in the rain than carry a damned umbrella. There is Loki.
And if that doesn’t make sense to someone, then that’s fine. We don’t want them anyway if they don’t know how to find the insanity in the moonlight or the laughter in falling snow.
“…in Anne’s case all of the magic came from within her own self; she knew who she was and where she was going, and she worked her own transformation, no fairy godmother needed.
And this brings me back to what we, as the spouses and beloveds of our various gods, can take away from Anne’s story. Few of us come from wealthy or privileged families, most of us are not descended from royalty in any immediate or traceable way, only a handful have advanced degrees or high-powered careers, and although many of us are attractive or even beautiful (especially to our divine partners), I have yet to see any supermodel or movie star godspouses; the vast majority of us are fairly ordinary-looking–pretty like the real-life Mary Boleyn, perhaps, but not like Scarlett Johannson. Fortunately for us though, this is all besides the point, because each of us has our own special magic, our own “something” that we were born with, or endowed with by our gods, or otherwise chosen to carry forth into the world. Anne’s lesson is that anyone can think themselves ordinary and rise up to become someone extraordinary; anyone can defy the expectations of the world around them and win the heart of a king–or a god. But as Anne herself discovered, in order to reach our fullest potential, we can’t rely on the judgments of others, can’t rely on our mundane acquaintances or co-religionists to weigh our relative merits and dictate our path. We each carry our own special magic, but in order for that to really work for us we have to heed it, and heed the Word of our Beloved gods, rather than allowing ourselves to become distracted by the chorus of voices (including our own) that are always ready and waiting to put us back in our place.
Who the hell do we think we are? Like Anne, each of us needs to be ready with an answer to that question. And it had better be a cheeky, upstart sort of answer, because when you have the love of a king–or a god–the reply that seems to come too readily to so many of us (“nobody special”) is at best a cop-out, and at worst a blasphemy.”
Now that Beth has said all the things in a serious way, I’ll post this:
Loki’s reaction whenever I’ve done the, “I’m just a girl” thing: “Saying shit like that reeks of impressing other people with your pious humility. It has fuckall to do with you and Me.”
Now, here’s what I find to be sticky sometimes – there are people who think that if you’re okay with your position (hubby, wife, consort, whatever) that you’ll somehow lose your sense of awe and respect for Them. I would politely disagree. Being comfortable and self-assured in your relationship status, whatever it may be will allow you to take the focus off of yourself (me me me omgs i feel so self-conscious! why am i here!) when you’re in Their presence and let you do the Work of the relationship.
A battlefield, bodies fall, fly, torn to pieces around us. So much blood, I recognize the faces of friends, writhing on the ground in pain. They call out to me as I run, ducking from the hail of bullets and canon fire; I can’t look back, I can’t help them.
Was so fed up with things I finally just said to Loki…
“Fine. since you want to be all mysterious and shit… talk to me in my dreams instead. SHOW me what you are trying to say.”
What do I get?
A dream where there are tons of tiny snakes everywhere and they keep clamping onto my throat and body and I have to literally rip them off while trying to stomp out and save everyone else from them too. (including some female who had them coming out of her mouth)
…
May 09
Loki tag amuses me. This person really feels like all of us are incapable of liking both or that we can’t find alternate tags to chat in.
Please don’t feel offended on our behalf. We know who among us does not like Marvel depictions and who doesn’t mind at all.
It seems like when Im browsing the pagan tag so many people are working/work with loki (I dont its just what I noticed.)
Loki is, at this point, one of the most influential Pagan deities. Without a doubt, the Trickster is mobilizing an army of Wives. Perhaps he plans on using them as a way to escape his imprisonment and bring about Ragnarok…again…because it is a cycle…on multiple macro and micro levels.
Because everyone knows that it’s the wives who are to be truly feared. :)
Loki to me is the kind of deity that will make you spill coffee on yourself, then forget your cellphone at home, then blow a tire on the highway only to have your soulmate stop and let you borrow their cellphone and then give you their number after they give you a lift.
fact.
Pretty much.
Or another example: one morning, opening a tea bag and when pulling the bag away from the tab the bag rips and tea goes everywhere; then forgetting important notes for class, and then when trying to leave the parking lot someone in a beat up 1970s station wagon flies around the corner and slams into your left fender. But then while checking the damage a classmate who had already left and saw the accident in his rearview, makes an illegal u-turn on a curve to come back to see if you are okay.
It’s been a wonderful ride since—20 years and two kids later.
<3
Or break your leg in a freak accident only to shove himself in your face while you are stuck in bed… and cause a fundamental shift in your religion and faith…
