Shatter (Thor story)

Fanfiction
Title:	Shatter
Author(s):	Aria
Date(s):	June 20, 2011
Length:	32,209 words
Genre:	Canon Divergent AU, Slash
Fandom:	Thor Movieverse, MCU
External Links:	AO3
cover art for the podifc, by unknown artist
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Shatter by Aria is a canon divergent AU, Thorki fic in the MCU's Thor fandom. In which Loki is banished to Migard instead of Thor. As of August 2021, the story has over 232,000 hits, 11,300 kudos, 275 comments and 2500 bookmarks on Archive of Our Own.

Synopsis

Summary

"Loki," Odin says, heavy with disappointment and regret for all he has to raise his voice, "Odinson. I cast you out."

Author's Notes

Credit where credit is due: Amiel for hand-holding, cheerleading, feeding me lines, hanging around for hours multiple nights in a row to yell about all the Loki feelings -- in short, this fic would not exist without them. Wyn for saying smart, necessary things, and for making sure that my love for Loki didn't mean I was too nice to him. Olivia, as always, for forcing my structure to be better and for making the finished thing actually look good.

Warnings/enticements: pseudo-incest; weird and violent situations cribbed from Norse mythology; bits of dialogue taken straight from both the film and the shooting script; reasonable scientific concepts (mis)used for nefarious magical purposes.

I'm so delighted that people are still reading and reccing this! Many years later, I'm still very happy with it (and I stand by all of it except for That Bit With The Dry Ice, which I have been informed by more chemistry-minded people is not how dry ice behaves); if I don't manage to get around to replying to comments, know that I still see them all, and love that you're here with baby's first Thorki fic <3

Podfic and Translation

A podfic was created by cyranothe2nd, and the fic was translated into Chinese by Coralhime.

Reactions and Reviews

This is one of my favourite fics across fandoms, because it is written so masterfully, capturing the characters perfectly as if they’d walked off the screen and giving new insight to Loki in particular. Written from his perspective, it tells the beginning of the first Thor movie, diverging when Odin banishes Loki and strips him of his magic instead of casting out Thor. Just really lovely character study and development, and Loki’s relationships with Jane and Darcy and Eric, and of course the gorgeous Thorki.

The premise is simple : what if Loki had been the one to get banished on Midgard without his power? The execution is breathtaking. The writing, characterisation and storytelling are superb, and frequently heartbreaking.

This was the first Thorki I read and, boy, was it ever a life-ruining first choice of gateway drug. It is absolutely fantastic in every way: The beautiful writing, the characters’ personalization, the poignant way the brother’s relationship struggles and unfolds… By the time I was done, Thor/Loki were my sworn OTP and I knew I was in deep

Very in-character. One of very few stories in the Thor film fandom that manages a perfect balance between Loki's jealousy and loneliness. I actually don't like this pairing, but the author manages to write it in a very believable and convincing way. Definitely worth reading.

So, in one scenario, Loki might not be able to talk Odin out of banishing someone, and he might, as a result, end up banished instead of Thor - which has been done in one of my favorite Thorki fics, “Shatter,” and I can’t think of any resulting series of events that would be better than what Aria has come up with there.

Interesting AU with Thor originally banished to earth instead of Thor and how that might have changed things. Really excellent characterization of Loki in this fic, and his relationship with Thor was wonderfully portrayed.