OOC:
Name: Yume
Personal DW: memorylikeasieve
Email: yumegari_2@yahoo.com (but I rarely ever look at it)
Timezone: CST
AIM/Plurk: AIM: IIMDYinker / PLURK: memorylikeasieve

IC:
Character name: Loki Laufeyson
Character Journal(s): hates_thunder
Canon: MCU
Point of Origin: Some time after the events of the Avengers film. He's gone through some kind of Asgardian answer to detox, wherein the bizarre and corrupting energies of the Tesseract and the Chitauri sceptre have leached from him, leaving him marginally less evil but by no means good.

Appearance: 6'2", weighs maybe 160, thin and lanky, pale and sharp-faced, with large, expressive eyes and clever hands and a smile almost always hovering about his features. Favours black and green and stays completely covered despite a very low heat tolerance. If exposed to extreme cold will gradually become bright cobalt blue with red eyes.

Background:MCU and a wee bit of the original mythology.

Personality: (*cracks knuckles* Right, I'm going to try to succeed where a string of Norse Mythology scholars have failed--I'm going to try to intelligibly explain Loki Laufeyson in less than 100,000 words. Granted, I have the Marvel continuities to make things a little more--oh, who am I kidding, Marvel simply went and made it WORSE. Still, wish me luck! As always, the bits in square brackets are headcanon/speculation.)

The one and single descriptor that everyone can agree on regarding Loki's personality is 'complex.' Possibly 'mercurial,' if one really wants to get circular about it (Let's describe a trickster god by comparing him to another trickster god! How about we add 'puckish' and 'coyote-like' to the list while we're at it?!). I can't say his moral compass swings wildly because, in all honesty, he hasn't got one. If he were an RPG character it would be physically impossible for his alignment to be anything other than True Neutral. Loki does what he does for three reasons--because it sounded like fun at the time, to ensure his own survival, or to somehow prove himself to his father.

Let's tackle them in order.

Loki has a slightly twisted sense of humour. The phrase has been overused to the point where it almost doesn't mean anything any more, but there is no other way to describe it--it is literally askew from anything even approaching the norm. Leaving aside his obviously overdeveloped sense of schadhenfreude, [the man's brain has gone crosswired and his funnybone has ended up in his pleasure centre. He's like an addict, or the most infuriating case of OCD ever, in that he literally goes antsy and twitchy and strung-out if he doesn't make a fool out of someone or cause some kind of chaos or misfortune somewhere, often to comedic extremes.]

This dovetails somewhat into the second point--survival. To say he thrives on chaos and misfortune is a bit of an understatement and likely also a bit disingenuous. Mischeif in all its forms and connotations is an aspect of his very existence. Apart from that, he has ended up historically doing a lot of things because he's been threatened with death if he did not. [major speculation alert--I am including this aspect from the mythology because the Cinematic Universe has given no other explanation for the presence of Sleipnir.]

The fact that some of these threats have come from Odin himself leads to the third point. Loki has grown up in the shadow of his older brother Thor and has tried in vain for as long as he can remember to prove to the others, and especially to his father, Odin, that he is worthy of respect, title, and inheritance. These plans often go catastrophically awry but it doesn't stop him from trying. Odin is a demanding ruler and is fair in that he demands just as much of his family as he does the rest of his subjects, and Loki feels that he is forever falling behind in meeting these demands, further galled by the fact that such things come so easily to Thor.

As so often happens with Marvel villains (though, to be fair, a similar outcome is seen in the mythology) these factors, coupled with an already unstable mind and a shocking revelation (here being that he is not Odin's son at all but a foundling rescued from Jötunheim and actually Laufey's abandoned son, taken in by Odin for political reasons), send him into madness. His measures to prove himself become more and more desperate and destructive and, at a final confrontation on the bridge between worlds (the Bifrøst), a last rejection from Odin snaps his resolve and he allows himself to be sucked into the void between worlds [The Ginnungagap?].

When he returns he is more unstable, more amoral, scarred by the time spent in the void and corrupted psionically by the alien energies of the Tesseract and the Chitauri power sceptre. He appears to, at least a couple times, realise what he is doing and the impact it has, but is in too far over his head to back out at this point. When he is defeated and these alien energies taken from him, [he is effectively detoxed as their effects leach out of his mind.]

All of this contributes to the being he is, now, at this point in canon. He is still mercurial, still crosswired, and still feeling shadowed by his brother. He is much less evil, now, however, what was once malice having now faded back into that keen sense of schadhenfreude. He is clever, almost terrifyingly intelligent, charismatic, and extremely observant. He's regained a lot of his good looks and is acutely aware of this fact, [not above using an attractive smile, a smouldering gaze, a seductive touch, or a bedroom voice to get what he wants. Whether he follows through on any of this rakish behaviour depends entirely on his mood--more often than not he finds it more fun to get a person flustered and then leave than to actually seduce someone.]

However, for all this charisma his psyche is still a bit fractured. He is jumpy, has a tendency to leap to conclusions, and has a very short fuse. This short fuse leads to an emotional explosion that lasts for all of maybe five minutes, after which he attempts a return to normalcy. He is jealous, suspicious of the motives of others, [and is, frankly, completely done with being threatened into acting as someone else's tool and will vociferously object to doing anyone a favour unless he'll be suitably rewarded or doing so will amuse him, or they at least ask nicely. He cannot, however, outright refuse. It is not in his nature to do so. Never has been, never will be. The Trickster provides and that is an unalterable fact of nature. He hides behind humour and practical jokes and elabourate schemes that are, to be honest, funny as hell... until they happen to you, unless you have a similar sense of humour.]

All in all he gives the impression of a desperately jolly God of Mischeif. A Norse Pagliachi of sorts, hiding pain behind laughter.

Skills/Powers: Loki's powers, with one exception, seem almost psionic or perception-based in nature--he can cast illusions and glamours, effect subconscious (ie low-grade) mind control that essentially acts like hypnotism, and mask his presence from others no matter how preternaturally eagle-eyed they happen to be (he can hide from Heimdahl, after all). His other powers appear to involve very small-scale spatial hopping, as he can teleport himself or objects a MAXIMUM of about twenty feet. He is also stronger, more durable, and has faster reflexes than a human but nothing like superhero calibre.

These powers will be damped significantly save for the durability, strength, and reflexes, which are entirely biological. His magical abilities will be severely curtailed and this will have a somewhat adverse affect on his physical condition. Using his magic will tire him easily and teleporting will succeed but leave him unconscious.

His skills include preternaturally fast learning, sleight of hand, extensive knowledge of the arcane arts, wilderness survival, and familiarity with melée combat.

Gear: For once, Loki carries nothing with him beyond the clothes on his back and a few small daggers and throwing knives.

Why do you want to play this character in this particular setting? I love horror and post-apocalyptic settings fascinate me. Also, the sheer amount of horror present in this setting is something I want to pit this constant insolence of his against. He seems to come out the other end of all manner of torment with nothing more than resentment and a collection of psychological issues born of emotional pain. I want to see what would actually break him. I want to see where the story leads me and whether he'll either start to trust other people or simply go completely off the deep end into gibbering insanity. Either one would be a satisfying challenge to play with. Since he isn't human the tininess of humanity won't bother him--unless it easily translates to the tininess of the individual or of all sapient life.

Writing Samples:

It's raining again.

That, in itself, isn't the problem. The problem is that the rain is making the ruined pavement slick and muddy and nearly impossible to run across. Loki's feet slip for the nth time and he nearly falls, catching himself against the remains of a fence that borders what used to be a bistro in another lifetime. He spares the broken glass and rotted furnishings a second's worth of a glance as he hauls himself to his feet and sees movement reflected there. Something flashes toward him from behind and he throws himself to one side, rolling across the broken concrete and scrabbling to his feet again. The rasping of his own breath is drowned out by the scream of tortured metal as the insectile beast pulls its head and beak out of the fence. It lunges and he throws himself aside again.

Crouched on all fours he can see that the beast had wrenched free one of the long metal spikes that comprised the fence. If I can just get that piece of metal.... He takes several breaths as the thing regains its bearings and then he lunges for the fence, rolling over the pole and snatching up the improvised weapon. Its teeth snap shut an inch from his foot. He doesn't regain his feet as gracefully as he would liked to have done and ends up skittering away from it as it advances. It lunges again and he swings the wrought-iron spike in a desperate uppercut that slams into its lower jaw with a satisfying crack. He tries for a backswing and the spike smacks against the creature's head and then flies from his hand.

There's a pause as the thing shakes its head then tilts it in the manner of a bird, blinking its mismatched eyes at Loki. He stares back at it for a beat, breath puffing in the cold air and rain running down his face. He lifts a hand to wipe the water from his eyes. The thing emits a squawk like tearing sheet metal and lunges. He throws himself forward, tumbling under its head and between its many pairs of legs and runs.

When it turns it sees its prey stumble and it lunges again only to pass completely through what looked like its target and slam its face into the concrete. It drags itself up again, hissing.

Around a corner, Loki has his back pressed to a wall, breath wheezing, now. The thing jerks and staggers past him in a manner it had been using this entire time, like a skipping film, and he screws his eyes shut. He hopes it won't see him. Hopes it hunts by sensing movement. All he can hear now is his wheezing and the rain. He cracks open an eye.

Its beak is mere inches from his head and he freezes as it snuffles, then emits a sound like a power drill cranked up to twenty before turning....

...And slamming its head into the building, beak driving into Loki's shoulder and pinning him to the bricks. He tries not to scream as pain lances through him, tearing fire and cracking and the sickening release of blood and tissue and he's pulled away from the wall and slammed against the other one with a bone-jarring impact that scrambles his nerves and leaves his heart stammering. He aims a kick at the thing's neck and even though it connects solidly with more force than a human could muster it does nothing more than jar him loose for a beat.

That one beat is all he needs as he mentally grabs hold of what little magic he has left and yanks himself out of that place, vanishing with a quiet foomp sound and a shimmer of disturbed air.

He reappears as far away as he can manage, on the second floor of a ruined building, and staggers toward a wall, blackness closing in on his vision, one hand clutching his shoulder. He hits the wall and slides down, leaving a trail of blood, and before he reaches the floor his last thought is a vaguely hopeful one. At least I'm inside....

Then he sees no more for quite some time.

---

Testrun_box shenanigans--life with a Trickster God.

If these are a bit too light I can provide more writing upon request.

User Name/Nick: Yume
User DW: none
AIM/IM: AIM:IIMDYinker YIM:yumegari_2 PLURK:memorylikeasieve
E-mail: yumegari_2@yahoo.com
Other Characters: None here

Character Name: Loki Laufeyson
Series: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Age: No idea. Over a thousand?
From When?: After the events of the Avengers film.

Inmate/Warden: Inmate. Many of Loki's ways are deeply ingrained, but the darkness he's acquired, that's caused him to start wars and attempt conquest or destruction of other realms, is recent. That darkness needs to be purged if he's even going to think clearly again. Once he does start to think clearly again, his past and the things he's done can be addressed and he can progress toward a more productive future. He probably will not return home even if he is redeemed, though.

Item: N/A

Abilities/Powers: CANON POWERS: In addition to possessing strength, reflexes, endurance, and durability beyond that of a human, Loki is a versatile sorcerer. He's at least capable of creating illusions, teleportation, and low-grade mind control. He is not, however, one bit telepathic. He can influence the minds of others but not read them.

IN-GAME POWERS: If coming to the Barge doesn't strip him of almost everything, rest assured that Odin will have done. The only thing the Allfather will leave him is his innate durability. He can take more punishment and injury than a human and will heal faster than a human (this does not mean he won't suffer Death Toll like anybody else, though). His magic cannot even be accessed unconsciously, and he is no stronger or faster than a human.

ABILITIES: Loki is well-versed in combat and is a terrifyingly fast learner. Hand him a 2000-page book and he'll have read it in maybe ten minutes. Hand him an alien device and he'll have figured the thing out in just about as much time, if not less. (This may need to be damped down, as well, which I'm willing to do.)

Personality: Loki is very much a product of the past and the present, to the detriment of the future. No matter one's heritage, abilities, or psyche, one can only take so much rejection and unappreciation before it takes its toll on one, and Loki has lived with such treatment for centuries. He has been mistrusted, undervalued, and taken for granted at every turn, no matter what he might do for the good of Asgard.

It's not without reason, though. Loki is a pathological liar--nearly everything he says is untrue, which makes it difficult if not impossible to tell when he is lying and when he is not. It's much easier to assume that he is lying. While physically attractive and not without a kind of saturnine charm, a seductive turn of phrase, and a wicked sense of humour, he is nearly universally disliked because he is amoral and borderline sociopathic--the kind of attitudes prevalent among Asgardians simply does not occur to him. He cannot comprehend their sensibilities and scorns them, preferring to do things his own way. That they get the job done is secondary in the minds of his peers--they concern themselves only with how repugnant they find his modus operandi to be. He is clever instead of brave, intelligent rather than strong, and complex where the others are transparent.

Still, his willingness to continually attempt to do what he can says something for some of his core motivation--he loves Asgard and wishes to keep it safe. But it is an abstract kind of love. It is Asgard itself, the realm as a whole, that he works to the benefit of. The population at large. His vision of home is wide and blurred and does not include those in closest proximity to him. He is shadowed by Thor, unappreciated by Odin, and mocked by the Aesir.

He is hurt and bitter.

But more than that, he is compulsive in his need to put others on edge, to make them uneasy and less likely to underestimate him. His pranks and practical jokes and lies and endless schemes satisfy a terrific need to keep others discomfited, and this serves to ease his own discomfort. No-one knows why their presence frays his nerves so, but it does. Perhaps he always knew, on some subconscious level, that he was not one of them.

Loki is driven to construct elabourate plans and schemes for every outcome--to assert dominance, to ensure his own safety, or to demonstrate his ability to resolve trouble. In a desperate bid to prove himself worthy of the throne, he would concoct more and more schemes and they became more and more elabourate and precarious. He would lose control of them, fail in his objective, and then try again, desperation driving him to some truly shocking measures. And yet always he would say he did what he did for the good of the realm.

This was his past. His present is fraught with anger, despair, hopelessness, and paranoia. He knew full well how unnatural his dizzying rise to power was, and the subsequent fall left him mentally scoured, feeling betrayed, fearful, and angry. His mind and body have taken too much punishment and his sanity wavers. Darkness closes in on his soul and he dreads it even as he welcomes it, hoping for a respite from caring what others think of him.

Barge Reactions: It's no Nephelheim or Helheim, so he'll doubt whether or not he's dead. Considering the sheer number of humans around him, he'll eventually come to the conclusion that he was somehow sent to a strange part of Midgard which, in his estimation, is punishment enough, regardless of whatever else the Asgardians may have done to him beforehand. He's met a few Midgardians and thinks he's got the measure of humans. Thus anyone who doesn't act like a 21st century American will throw him, people from Japanese source material doubly so. Many of their ways will simply make no sense to him.

He will try to curry favour with those whom he feels might gain him some sort of an advantage or who might be able to get him out of there or, failing that, who might be able to make his existence on the Barge more comfortable--his Warden, obviously, and anyone with any kind of power or influence. He will flatter, wheedle, amuse, seduce, and lie through his teeth. If something catches the eye of someone in power, he'll steal it for them. He'll make things miserable for the enemies of any ally in power.

And if he regains his lighter aspect, no-one on that Barge will be safe from elabourate practical jokes.

As to things like floods and such, he will look out for himself first, and anyone who might bring him an advantage. That is not to say he is without compassion, but he is not the self-sacrificing type, having learnt the hard way that self-sacrifice is rarely rewarded favourably, and never for him. He may learn otherwise, though. Who knows?

Path to Redemption: Loki is capable of redemption on some level, if not completely. His past, his jealousy of Thor, his mistrust of Odin, his bitterness at the treatment he's received from most of Asgard are all factors in his recent mindset, as is the time he spent falling through the void outside the Bifrost. The energy from the Tesseract and the Chitauri sceptre gave him dizzying, intoxicating power, as well. It could easily be extrapolated that he was, like so many other beings, Thanos' pawn.

Asgardians (And, by extention, Jotunar) have psyches, like any other being. There are reasons why they do what they do. Psychology could be used to get through to him (This doesn't mean one has to put him on a couch and ask him questions about his mother. Or about his father, for that matter), but that will be a difficult route. He is clever and insightful and will pick to pieces any attempt at psychoanalysis. Behaviour modification could be used, but it would have to be pretty extreme to get through his stubbornness and would do nothing to get at the root of the problem. Hypnotherapy would not work at all. Telepathy is a possible tactic, as he is about as telepathic as a stunned brick and would have no idea someone was in his mind unless some physical clue tipped him off.

Drugs might work.

Don't even think about 'the power of love,' at least not in the usual manner. While a truly accepting friend or two might do him some good, any attempts to surround him with sweetness and light and kitteny snuggles will backfire horribly.

This isn't to say that he needs the darkness and venom beaten out of him. Most likely a combination of such things as psychology or behaviour modification or drugs would be the most likely to work.

First and foremost, being accepted and/or forgiven will help to break through rather a lot of mental barriers. Anything he did for the good of Asgard was unappreciated. People showing even a shred of patience with him will go a long way, as well. He won't understand why they'd do such a thing but he'll gradually get used to it. This won't be the magic key that unlocks his better nature, though. He'll need to be dissuaded from doing unacceptable things. If an appeal to his humanity doesn't work (as it most likely won't,) then he'll have to be trained.

Loki has one easily accessible soft spot--his love for his children, Sleipnir, Fenrir, Jormungandr, Hela, Narvi and Vali.

I'm aware this isn't a psychiatric facility, but all of his troubles are psychiatric in nature, save for possibly any sort of corrupting influence the Tesseract or the Chitauri sceptre might have had on him.

In-game events may change what has to be done to redeem Loki, but in general, I will try to engineer as many chances as I can get for him to demonstrate that he is capable of good and then hope that it's received better than in Asgard...

History: Loki was born in Jotunheim, the son of the Frost Giant King, Laufey. Due to his small size he was kept hidden and all but ignored. After a terrible battle between the Aesir and the Jotunar, Odin found this infant and took him back to Asgard with him, adopting him and giving him the surname Odinson. One touch of Odin's hand was enough to change the infant's appearance, until he exactly resembled an Asgardian and there the enchantment stayed.

Loki grew up with Odin's other son Thor, and as they got older, he realised he was nothing like his brother or, really, anyone else in Asgard. Still, he was a prince and did great things in his time, for as Thor grew stronger until none was his equal, Loki grew cleverer until there was none who could match his cunning brain. An inveterate schemer and plotter, his plans got the others into no end of trouble, but also got them out of it. [Around this time, after the war between the Aesir and the Vanir and the destruction of the great wall around Asgard, the giant who would repair the wall came and made his demands of the Asgardians, which Loki convinced Odin to accept, changing the terms so that the builder would never finish the wall. He got too close to finishing it, however, and Loki's distraction had to be used. All because no other explanation for Sleipnir's presence was given.] As time passed, however, Loki grew more and more malcontent and more and more desperate to prove himself as good as, if not better, than Thor. Time and again he engineered the entry of enemies into Asgard, intending to double-cross them and slay them himself, which resulted in failure or unappreciated success. The last time resulted in Thor journeying to Jotunheim, Loki discovering his true heritage, and Thor being banished for starting another war with the Jotunar through his own hotheadedness.

When he finally learnt of his true heritage, he demanded of Odin the reason why the Allfather would do such a thing and then keep the knowledge from him for so long. Apparently for an answer, Odin collapsed and fell into a phenomenon known as the Odinsleep. With Odin comatose and Thor banished, rule of Asgard passed to Loki. Such was his bitterness toward Thor that he refused to rescind the banishment and further told his exiled brother that Odin had died and later sent a powerful entity called the Destroyer to kill him. However, his desire to prove himself a worthy heir was still powerful and, one last time, he lured the enemy into Asgard to double-cross and kill them.

However, Thor achieved his own redemption and was able to return to Asgard. Desperate, Loki attempted to use the Bifrost to destroy Jotunheim altogether, thus ridding Asgard of its enemy entirely. Thor, however, destroyed the Bifrost, saving Jotunheim and effectively cutting Asgard off from the rest of the realms. It was there that Loki would suffer rejection no longer--rather than be saved by Thor and Odin, he let himself fall into the void between realms [the Ginnunangap?].

An unspecified amount of time passes and Loki returns, half aided and half controlled by an army of alien creatures, their shadowy leader the Other, and his even more inscrutable master, Thanos. He seeks the Tesseract, an object of immense power, and precipitates a massive battle which he ultimately loses.

Shackled and muzzled so that he can use neither his magic nor his words, he is returned to Asgard to await their justice.

Sample Journal Entry:

Day 3

They think I should be grateful that I can speak again, as though croaking out a few inconsequential sentences were some sort of an achievement. They know nothing of the kind of spell I used to weave with my voice and my words in the past. Instead they pat me on the back and hand me a drink and say You're doing so well, Loki, and Isn't that wonderful, Loki?

Soft, the lot of them. Soft and ridiculous and pointless.

Yes, they think I should be grateful. I won't give them the satisfaction of knowing the sheer relief I felt, simply to fashion words. They cannot know. Those in power might find out. Now that I have my voice again, I won't let it be taken a second time so easily.


Sample RP:

The abovedecks area has a regular visitor. Like clockwork, every day, at a very specific time but never the same time, a tall figure emerges from the ladder, and silently walks past the gardens. He doesn't stop until he reaches the railing. And there he finds a place to stand or sit and gaze at the vastness of space.

He doesn't bring anything with him and he always comes alone. He never says anything and he doesn't stay for long. He simply stares out into space, looking for something. His eyes sharply scan the heavens. Time passes.

Eventually he seems to find what he's looking for, as his expression will go from intent to something unreadable, but not before a flicker of emotion crosses it. Sometimes there is a brief moment of sadness or irritation or relief. But always his sharp features settle into something blank and weary and ancient, lidded eyes staring into thought instead of space.

And then, just like that, the moment is over. He stands or detaches himself from the railing, and retraces his steps, returning just as silently through the gardens to the ladder, disappearing belowdecks again.

Maybe someday someone will ask him why he does this every day.

Special Notes:
Unless otherwise instructed, he'll arrive in pretty bad shape, already having been punished by the Asgardians, still muzzled. It can be easily removed, it just has to be removed by someone other than Loki.