Squee! Oh my heart, this is so sweet! Thanks for writing!

Awww, this is so cute. I love Norse mythology and its nice to see Loki as a humanized pain in the butt with a lot of good sides, and not the ultimate villain.

Loki is a great father. You know, from his kids point of view... Still love him though.

Super cute :)

Oh my God, this is so cute! I'm only in the sixth paragraph and I've already squealed out loud at least three or four times. So this is going to be one of those reviews that I write as I go along reading the story.

I love how Loki managed not to sidetrack himself with the bird's nest. That's so adorable and it really shows his flickering, distractable personality. And it's so sweet seeing him actually make himself pass it by. Right there, a chance encounter for maybe a few seconds, and you've already wonderfully set the tone for who Loki is.

The children are beautiful. I'm fascinated by the interplay of their parents' characteristics I can see in them. There's a certain forcefulness, especially in Vali, that clearly comes from their mother. Nari's wild artistic flair and mischievous unrepentance, with his charcoal drawings (hehe!), though, is pure Loki. Isn't it interesting how creative thinking and rebel independence so often go together?

Speaking of their mother, I like the much more than a hint of steel you've put behind her character. This is no sweet, soft, biddable goddess! Kind and loving she may be, and surely is despite her fierceness, but she is no pushover. This is a woman I can see defying her society and the gods' judgement, as she did in the myths, to stand by her husband in his deepest need.

Now to the point at which I decided to go ahead and start writing this review.

"And for heaven's sake, don't teach him to do anything bad." What a fine balance of Sigyn's controlling attitude (no offense intended, Lady! -warily eyes that ladle-), her understanding of Loki's tendencies, and her own inclination to goodness. And running through it, her trust for Loki. This says to me that she believes he really can be counted on, despite his habitual waywardness, to NOT influence Nari toward evil or an overly excessive amount of mischief.

Oh, I lied. THIS is the part that had me squeeing so hard I almost fell off my sofa. The bit of narration where Loki is 'giving her his best charmingly innocent smile, and for once actually meaning it.' That is sheer Loki fanservice at its very best! Nuff said!

Now I'm laughing out loud at Loki's carefulness to escape without being saddled with a second wild child to watch! Truly, two small children are almost too much of a handful for even our wildly energetic trickster god! And then considering that they are HIS children and take after him... No wonder he wanted to escape! :)

'...a prank that was not particularly well-received." Ah, so many things come to mind that could fall under that category! And that's just how he would see them. Gotta hand it to you for a nice turn of phrase. And even in a seemingly casual piece of narration like this, you show your definite understanding of Loki and your ability to get inside the perspective and experience of a character. The very casualness, almost offhandedness, of the feeling here is just perfect. This is the kind of writing that lets me FEEL what it is to be the person I'm reading about.

Again, as Loki and Nari are exloring the woods, I just love how you've shown the resemblance between them. They're both just so darn cute! And smart! And fast, in both mind and body! And SMART! Always, one of the things I loved most about Loki was his mind. Of course he would pass that alert intellect to his son.

Loki's caution about the chance encounter with the snake sent a little tiny chill icicle into my heart, knowing what his fate was in the myths. I don't know if you even meant that as a deliberate foreshadowing or anything, or if it was truly just chance. But either way. Ouch.

And right back to humor! "A little pest." ... "A BIG pest!" LOL! And Loki's reaction! Hmmm... I also have to wonder if the Mischief God's son is truly as ignorant as he appears. Looking guileless and seeming innocent are kind of warning signs in that family...

Oh, now I'm just really awesome-ified at watching Nari and Loki's prank battle in the making! Your narration here, again, is perfect. 'A smirk spread across Loki's face. Nari was definitely his father's son. However, he was still only his father's son. And no one, not even the son, bested the god of Mischief.'

I'm totally loving the next part of it, too, watching Loki size up the 'advantages and disadvantages' as you put it. He is SO cool! And - GOTCHA! Loki for the win! XD

Another great moment, when you show Nari getting upset as he doesn't manage to catch the fish. He's five years old, after all, and you show that with your usual understanding of people's experience. What it's like to be young, and excited, and just not have the skills yet to bring it together into the success you pictured.

Yet another awesome quote from Loki: "Well, wouldn't you run away if someone was trying to catch you for dinner? You stand there and watch the god of nimble hands and light feet show you how it's done." This is so interesting. In his first sentence, I discover that Loki shares your ability to understand and empathize with someone else's perspective. Even that of a fish. Which, come to think of it, would be a natural skill for a shapechanger like himself to have. Then in the next sentence, you see his flair and charisma as his pride just operates on autopilot! And at the same time, there's a certain coldness as he so quickly dismisses the very empathy and understanding he felt for the fish earlier in that same breath. This is a very telling insight into Loki's character. He's capable of great understanding and sympathy, but it doesn't always stick long enough to influence him away from the thrill of his pranks in the moment, or from practical considerations like dinner or self-preservation. I'm remined of the myth of Idun's stolen apples, where at first he refused to endanger her, but then gave in for the sake of his own safety.

Oooh. Loki's compassion for the little fish after he catches it is breaking my heart. I can't help thinking of how he didn't receive the same compassion in that myth where he was in the same situation. Of course, the circumstances were different, but, well... bite me. I feel what I feel.

And call me a hopeless fangirl (if you do, you'll be calling me by name), but I can't help it. The snake, the chasing of fish, even Loki catching a splash of something as innocent as river water in his eyes - it all sends a shiver right through me. Because I know what happens to him in the myths. I've felt possessive and protective toward Loki for 19 years now, which is more than half my life. Anything that even abstractly reminds me of him being hurt gets to me fast.

The scenelet with tired little Nari snuggling up against Loki is beautiful. It's so sweet to see them having such a genuinely loving father-and-son moment.

Once again, you caught me off-guard with a single phrase. That simple mention of the scars at Loki's lips had me drawing in a sharp breath as I read it. It took me a fraction of a second to place what you meant, since I haven't read the myths in way too long. But ouch. I think the phrase I want here is, "you've done your homework." Your use of background details, and the uncanny sense you have for where and how to place them, are very effective. A nice, quiet, cozy scene like this, Loki himself not even thinking about that experience, no doubt, and you bring it to mind for the reader with such a wonderful, sharp contrast. You're freakin' brilliant. And don't say this stuff is unintentional so it doesn't count, because writing on instinct is a wild talent too.

'He felt peaceful though and comfortable, and his usual urge to move was absent.' This line caught my attention too. It's so calm and quiet, yet descriptive of Loki's trademark wildness for that very reason. So sweet! And again, I just love the family cuteness. Especially when you bring in Sigyn at the end. She really loves them, doesn't she? Silly question. Of course she does.

The "pest" theme running through this story is just utterly, absolutely cute. I love it. I love how you carry it through, and how perfectly you wrap it up at the end with what Loki and Nari say to each other.

And with that, I must thank you for a wonderful read. This story is incredible. As I know to expect from you. I may have read much more into it than you intended, but maybe not. Either way, you've left me some wonderful reviews on some of my stories lately and I hope this one brings you some of the same joy your reviews have brought me. Well, thanks a million for posting this! Getting to read a story by you, about Loki, is very, very awesome.

It's been a while since I put a story in Favorites. This one is going there right away.

Now to my fellow readers of this story: Go read the rest of Sauron Gorthaur's work! All of it is amazing!

-Lysana