Archived fic rec - The Threads That Bind

[sakura_no_miko]

Title: The Threads That Bind

Author: yersifanel

Fandom: Avengers / MCU / Thor

Rating: R

Pairing: Howard/Loki

Warnings: some mind breaking and torture, references to warfare and mass death, some sexuality

Other notes: kink meme fill, alternate universe, genderswap, secret identity, family, marriage, (m)preg, fate, religion, mythology, historical

Length: 15k

Summary: Loki’s fall through the Void ripped his connection with existence, and Fate made of him one of her agents as result. After this, he lands on Earth in 1945 and is found by Howard Stark alongside the Tesserac. Howard, determinate to protect the fallen god, saves Loki in more ways than he expected and changes both their lives as history rewrites itself and yet prevails with the events that Fate has already established that will come to be.

 

I must admit, the pairing on this one threw me for a loop. I’ve seen a handful of “Loki is x Avenger’s parent,” but most of those tend to focus more on the Avenger finding out. I actually don’t see as much interaction with Loki and the other parent.

This is really not a pairing I would have considered, but it works here. Howard is a bit nicer than some portrayals, and I admit I’m a sucker for Loki-recovery. That Tony shows up as an adorable kid is a bonus, and him being a technopath–a power I’d really love to read more of–is the icing on the cake. (Technopathy and psychometry–both really awesome powers.)

But what amazes me in this fic is the depiction of Fate–the threads woven into life, the goddesses and gatekeepers of the threads, and how Loki comes to join them. I’m enthralled every time Loki goes off to talk to them.  The use of imagery here is amazing. The spindle scene, in particular–the one that finally weaves a little gold-and-red thread. That’s an incredibly sweet scene.

I was so into this fic I didn’t even notice the author was ESL. On the second read, I did notice some interesting speech patterns, but I’m always amazed when I read ESL fics and the author is so self-depreciating of their English. If I could write fic in any of the languages I studied half this well I’d be proud.

 

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Originally posted on tumblr on 12/29/12