Older Loki and Torunn, Next Avengers

This is just a pen doodle so I may later hide it in scraps. It is mostly a giftart to . I will reupload the color (green Colerase pencil under the pen) image shortly.

To be entirely honest, Next Avengers is not particularly my slice of pie, for many reasons (which, no, do NOT have to do with ships or with the new characters, but rather, the characterizations of the original Avengers). However, Torunn is a golden invention and I am quite fond of her.

I saw a pretty rigorous reblogging discussion on Tumblr (which I did not get involved in, but fully read) that debated how Loki would react to his niece's existence. Would he try to kidnap her for ransom, brainwash her to his side, use her to get to Thor and one-up him? Or would he be reminded of happier days, before he and his brother were torn emotionally asunder, before Thor's accidental obliviousness, and Loki's innate insecurities, and Odin's poor parental decision-making, drove a wedge between them?

The obvious answer is the former, but I see so much more beautiful potential in the latter. So that is what I went with. Loki sees Torunn and it's bittersweet. In the Ragnarok, at least three of his children, two with Angrboda and one with Sigyn, died. The one who died with Sigyn was killed by his own brother involuntarily in the form of a mad wolf, on orders from the Aesir, and his entrails were wrapped around Loki to bind him under a serpent's poisonous dripping venom. Loki also had his mouth sewn shut at some point on orders from Odin and the Aesir. Thor's part in all this is unclear because from the original Norse mythology to the comics, details vary considerably. Nevertheless what is known is that while Thor's daughter is happy and whole, Loki has few children left, each of whom is emotionally broken by being caught up in his war with his former family. Despite this bitterness, Torunn also reminds Loki of a young female version of his big brother, the person who loved him most and whom he also once (and still, on some level) loved most.

I see him as being uncharacteristically gentle, a counselor, to her, a frequent visitor and advisor, and friend. Basically, I see him reverting to his self before the events of "Thor" (2011) that precipitated him over the edge of insanity. Because Torunn, who is like a young Thor, triggers those parts of Loki's personality to come out of hibernation again. Yes, I think it's pretty beautiful.