//Absolutely not. I don’t think Thor consciously realizes it at all, and I doubt he ever will. It can be difficult for the child of abuse in any form to acknowledge as an adult that the parent figure they (and in this case their whole culture) admired (even in this case revered) was toxic. This often leads to misplaced feelings of shame, vulnerability, and guilt. Especially in Asgard, which has a no-tolerance policy for the “weakness” of mental illness (and no modern concept thereof). You literally battle away your feelings there; the lifespans are so long that certain social customs remain antiquated.
When I used to volunteer as a mentor-tutor for underprivileged children, and when I took developmental psychology courses, one of the most striking things I noticed was that children of abuse of varying forms, physical, sexual, or emotional/psychological, are often tremendously DEFENSIVE of the abusing parent. For instance, the children of parents who use corporal punishment are often, as adults, the people who fly into a genuine fury at child advocates who say that spanking is abusive.
For Thor to acknowledge Odin abused him, he must acknowledge that every value and principle for which he stands, that derived from Odin–even parts of Thor’s personality–were faulty. This would mean the exhausting work of reinventing HIMSELF, too.
This, I think, is exactly why Thor still refuses to fully acknowledge that Loki was also abused, and that Odin’s abuse is partially responsible for Loki’s wildly misguided behavior. Even as of Ragnarok, Thor sees Loki’s mistakes as 100% of Loki’s own volition, and while LOKI ALONE is to blame for Loki’s actions, it makes a great deal of difference when you acknowledge that Odin’s messed up parenting originates a lot of Thor and Loki’s misunderstandings, as well as Loki’s desperate attempt to emulate and please their father.
It’s, cognitively and emotionally speaking, easier to blame Loki, because Loki has always been something of a misfit in the family structure. Loki also has less emotional power over Thor as a sibling than Odin has as a father, both personal and cultural. It’s a horrible irony that Odin’s abuse of Loki is perpetuated by Thor’s unwillingness to see that abuse, IN GOOD PART BECAUSE ODIN HAS ALWAYS KEPT THOR SO CLOSELY IN ODIN’S SHADOW, AND DENIED THOR THE OPPORTUNITY TO THINK FOR HIMSELF. One of the best examples of this is in The Dark World, when Odin treats Jane Foster, Thor’s beloved, like a literal animal, and earlier, tells him he should marry Sif instead.
This only changes SLIGHTLY near the end of Ragnarok, with the “what are you, Thor, God of Hammers?” speech.
It’s all very sad. I wish Thor had been able to say, “You know, I loved our father, but he was fucked up, and SOME stuff wasn’t actually your fault” to Loki before Loki died. I thought for sure he would in The Dark World, when Odin literally ordered him KILLED for treason, but Thor remains way more willing to forgive Odin because Odin has Thor in an almost Stockholm Syndrome deadlock, even post-mortem.
Literally the only time Odin ever let Thor do what Thor wanted was when Odin was actually Loki in disguise.
Loki looks up from a particularly complex potion-brewing, holding some highly questionable dried animal limb over the bubbling iron cauldron.
He is already sporting The Smile reserved over the past millennium for Thor at his most taxing.
“ … . YES?”
“I found something I thought you would like,” he says, beaming proudly. When he brings his hand from behind his back, in his palm is a teeeeeeny tiny little green tree frog. He holds it out towards his brother, like a toddler might offer his favourite toy to a cherished friend.
“Ehm, oh, intriguing,” the Trickster chirps, carefully collecting the tiny amphibian onto his palm.
And then he throws it into the cauldron.
And then, just when Thor reacts in what Loki hopes will be outrage and horror, his wickedly amused little brother produces the unharmed frog once more in his other hand. His tongue probes between grinning teeth.
Turns out, yelling “make me!” at the God of Mischief when he demanded silence has results that surprisingly didmake Tony Stark completely and utterly speechless. As well as absolutely flustered as a blush rapidly heats his cheeks, spreading even to his ears as his eyes widen, flailing slightly in the god’s grasp before his brain fully catches up with the situation.
When it clicks… Oh god does it click. Tony melts under Loki’s ministrations, his hands finally finding purchase grasping the other’s arms as he returns the kiss enthusiastically.
When the Trickster starts to pull away, a
faintly distressed whimper escapes him, his grip on his arms tightening as warm brown eyes look up at him pleadingly.
Loki smiles sinuously into the kiss that he presses into full, soft, and usually fast-paced lips. He knows he’s made his mark when every ounce of the guarded, restlessly kinetic Avenger slackens.
When he pulls back from Tony, wide-pupiled jade eyes linger on brown, exploring their depths with shameless entitlement.
“I just wanted to be able to do that at least once,” he purrs.
He peels himself off of Tony completely, smiles wanly over his shoulder, and saunters out.
Tony just stands there gawking as Loki saunters out of the room, dumbfounded as he tries to process what just happened. As soon as the god is out of his sight, Tony’s brain catches up with the rest of him and he calls out, “Wait!Lokes!”
Rushing to catch up with the Trickster, the speechlessness that the unexpected kiss had afforded was gone as he questions, “What the hell was that? I mean, don’t get me wrong – I liked it, a lot. But seriously, what the hell?”
The moment the other’s words fully hit him, his eyes widen as he stares up at Loki with an almost desperate longing. “What do you mean ‘at least once’? Planning on doing that again, Rock of Ages?”
Oh, this is absolutely droll.
Loki had never expected quite such an emphatic response to a simple kiss.
Oh, delightful. He must press on, with this feisty little beaver, always building his elaborate defensive dams over rushing currents. And Loki, well, Loki is as water.
“Why,” he breezes, tilting his head and flicking his wrist, coolly jovial and capricious, “I meant what I said! I had a whim and I indulged it. Twas most excellent, perfect really, and I know not if such perfection can be replicated. So.”
He triplicates himself, and all three forms appear to evaporate, as he beguiles with the closing line,
“Why risk ruining that perfection with a hollow imitation?”
“Well, this is awkward,” Layla mutters to herself as she takes a look around what seems to be someone’s workshop as the portal she had opened through the doorway closes behind her. It wasn’t often that the Trickster found herself in the wrong place, but she had been in a bit of a rush.
It’s then that she notices she’s not alone, and much to her surprise, it’s not a complete stranger that her golden gaze falls upon. Not that she can really say she knows him personally, but more of him. There were few Tricksters who wouldn’t recognize one of the most famous of them.
“Loki…”
Not an ounce of Loki’s long lean-muscled body moves when the Trickster of another pantheon greets him. He senses chaos about her dark-complexed form, but supernatural forces are always a gamble.
“Yes?”
His dagger-slice mouth moves, and it’s smiling, but his statuesqueness, and the vigilance of his gaze, suggest something far from benevolent.
“I trust your intrusion is justified by a remarkably pressing matter.”
Turns out, yelling “make me!” at the God of Mischief when he demanded silence has results that surprisingly didmake Tony Stark completely and utterly speechless. As well as absolutely flustered as a blush rapidly heats his cheeks, spreading even to his ears as his eyes widen, flailing slightly in the god’s grasp before his brain fully catches up with the situation.
When it clicks… Oh god does it click. Tony melts under Loki’s ministrations, his hands finally finding purchase grasping the other’s arms as he returns the kiss enthusiastically.
When the Trickster starts to pull away, a
faintly distressed whimper escapes him, his grip on his arms tightening as warm brown eyes look up at him pleadingly.
Loki smiles sinuously into the kiss that he presses into full, soft, and usually fast-paced lips. He knows he’s made his mark when every ounce of the guarded, restlessly kinetic Avenger slackens.
When he pulls back from Tony, wide-pupiled jade eyes linger on brown, exploring their depths with shameless entitlement.
“I just wanted to be able to do that at least once,” he purrs.
He peels himself off of Tony completely, smiles wanly over his shoulder, and saunters out.