#they them pronouns
Pairing: Loki & Teen!Reader
Warnings: Loki being mean a bit
Requested by: @laurenandloki
Request: Hey! I was wondering, would you be able to do a Mini Giant Loki x they/them teen reader one shot?? (Loki is like around 17 feet tall since he’s a frost giant :D ) The teen can be living at the Avengers Tower as Tony’s prodigy (somewhat like Peter Parker). They’re a really big fan of Loki’s, so when Loki starts living at the Avengers Tower, they can’t help themselves but try and become friends with him. Loki is really cold and distant at first with the teen. He refers to them as “mortal”, glares at them when they try to talk to him, physically picks them up and puts them down in another room that’s far away from him, even yells at them once and while…basically anything rude to get the teenager to stop talking to him. Overtime however, Loki starts to loosen up a bit and doesn’t mind when they come to him to try and start small talk. He loves how nervous they get when they talk to him. Secretly, Loki becomes protective and attached to the teen and absolutely loves how they talk highly of him and his magic to his face. One day they come home from school crying and they don’t say anything to Loki (which never happens). Loki is quick to comfort them. :)
Reader’s pronouns: they/them
Loki’s pronouns: he/him
Summary: Reader is a big fan of Loki and when he starts living in Avengers towers, they are very happy. At first Loki is not interested in getting to know the reader, but after time he actually starts to like the little Midgardian. And when they are sad, he’s willing to do everything to make them smile.
____ is now used as (Name)
Author’s Note:
After getting my shit together, I’ve decided to write this. Also realizing how tall is 17 feet in cm i was like :O Since the reader is a teen, it’s all platonic. Also decided to give the reader power to control the temperature, so it’s gonna be fun. I hope you’re going to enjoy this and sorry for my anxiety ^^’
You’ve been a fan of Loki since you discovered Norse Mythology. When you met Thor, you understood that there must be Loki somewhere out there and the fact that there was a chance that you might meet him one day, was exciting. You’ve been wondering what kind of person he was. Was he like the one in Mythology? Or maybe he was a complete opposite of that?
When Tony told you that your favorite God will be living in the same building as you do, your powers went completely out of control and everyone who was near you felt like they were in a sauna, so they had to calm you down as quickly as possible.
Unfortunately meeting Loki wasn’t as nice as you thought it would be. He was cold to everyone and he was spending most of his time alone. Whenever you wanted to talk to him, he would ignore you or put you into another room, just for you to get back. It was hurting a lot, but you were too motivated to stop trying to be his friend.
“Is it really true that you can shape-shift?” You asked Loki when he was trying to make some hot cocoa in the kitchen. As always he was doing his best to ignore you. Hoping that eventually you would leave him alone. You sighed loudly, making sure he would hear it. “I would tell anyone, I promise!” You begged, making puppy eyes. You held your hands like you were about to start praying. “Please, please, please!”
“Is every mortal as irritating as you are?!” Loki snapped at you, making you change the temperature in the room and hold your breath. It was now pretty cold in the kitchen, but Frost Giant didn’t seem to notice, not realizing that you were unintentionally making his cocoa slowly freeze. He was glaring at you with anger in his eyes and all you wanted to do to disappear.
“S-sorry.” You didn’t dare to look at him and your eyes landed on your hands. You started playing with your fingers to calm down, before you would make the temperature in the kitchen even lower than it already was. You moved out of his way when you felt yourself jumping uncontrollably, meaning he was leaving the room he was in. As soon as he left, you were able to breathe out and calm down a bit.
“Are you okay?” You heard Peter’s voice and saw him entering the kitchen. “I heard angry Loki and watched to see what’s up.”
“He still doesn’t want to talk to me.” You mumbled out, still playing with your fingers.
“As cool as he is, no pun intended,” You chuckled at that. “Maybe befriending him is not a good idea."
"Or should I try harder? I don’t know.”
“I think you should give him some time for him to open up to others. I think that’s what he needs.” Peter suggested, you’ve been quiet for a second, before nodding and realizing it might be a good idea.
So that’s what you did. You decided to give the Frost Giant some space, hoping it would make him open up, Loki eventually stopped acting like your company is bothering him. You still tried talking to him, but this time you felt like he was listening. He wasn’t replying, but him listening was better than nothing.
He once happened to see you in the training facility, doing your best to control power and trying to turn water in the glass into steam. He was quietly watching you through the door, curious what were you doing and what was about to happen. It did work, but since the temperature was really high, you quickly noticed it, lost confidence and steam turned into rime. You cursed to quickly be reminded by Steve Rogers not to use these kinds of words. Loki was amazed by your powers, but decided not to interrupt you and went to the library.
Around an hour later you find yourself in the library as well, sitting at the same couch as Loki was sitting, reading a book. You often were coming to the library to relax. “How was your training?” Loki asked, looking at you and putting the book on his lap. It kind of surprised you to hear him trying to talk to you after doing anything to avoid that. “I happened to see be near the training facility and saw you using your power. Would you like to tell me more about them?” For the first time, Loki sounded friendly and it looked like he wasn’t about to snap while speaking to you.
“Oh um… I happened to be able to manipulate temperature. I still don’t know how to control them, so Avengers are doing their best to help me.” You explained awkwardly, hoping he won’t see you as pathetic.
“I’ve never met someone possessing this kind of ability.” He paused for a second, before giggling and continuing. “That explains why temperature sometimes changes so rapidly.”
“Yeah,” You snorted quietly. “Emotions can control my powers better than I do.” You hoped he would laugh at your joke and he did, which made you feel happy. You finally started talking with Loki!
After that small talk, you and Loki started talking much more and he began to enjoy your company. You still were nervous while talking to him, after being treated badly by him, so he had to reassure you that he won’t yell at you. It made you feel safe in his presence. You once again started asking him about the Norse Mythology and basically wanted to know him better. After some time, Loki started showing you his powers and abilities, which absolutely amazed you and you couldn’t stop telling him how incredible he was. He was glad you liked them. Being your friend made him open up to Avengers more and you were a good influence.
Since you started being his friend, he became protective toward you and if anyone ever decided to hurt you, it wouldn’t end well for them. And when you came back from school crying, he was ready to fight everyone. But he was doing his best to remain calm, because he knew you need comfort more than anything in the world. So he squatted down in front of you. “____, what happened?” He asked you, before using his magic to create a tissue for you and giving it to you.
“I-I don’t know.” You choked out, wiping your tears away. Your voice was so shaky, you weren’t sure if Loki was understanding what you were saying. “People at school started making fun of me for no reason. I just don’t understand why they would do that.” You started crying even more, feeling the temperature going below zero, but you didn’t care, neither did Loki. He hugged you without hesitation. You hugged him back and when you calmed down a bit, Loki asked if you wanted to do something to lighten up your mood and you decided to watch your favorite movie. It helped you a lot, but you ended up falling asleep halfway through, so Loki carried you to your room. Right after that he talked with the Avengers about the whole situation. He wanted to make sure nobody will hurt his best friend ever again.
“I’m a queer high school teacher, and one of my amazing students started using a new name and they/them pronouns at the end of last year. I helped them write a letter to all their teachers explaining this change, and they just confided in me that one of their teachers flat-out ignored the letter and is still using their old name and pronouns. I get the sense that the kid doesn’t want to start a whole THING about it, but it obviously wears on them. What do I do?”
Question Submitted Anonymously
Answered by Aly Massey
Aly Says:
Dear fellow queer high school teacher,
First of all, it sounds like you are a wonderful support for this student to have in school. That they trusted you enough to help them announce this major change to all teachers is a great sign, and it’s great to see you’re still looking out for them!
This is a tough spot to be in. We want to be supportive of our LGBTQ+ students, but balancing that support with maintaining their privacy, sense of safety, and comfort is a fine line to walk. It is incredibly frustrating when our colleagues don’t share that same commitment and may even actively oppose it—I feel for you.
That being said, it sounds like you are looking for a way to address the issue with the least amount of pressure and attention called to the student. With that in mind, I would try to consider some environmental factors before taking your next steps.
Do you know this other teacher well? Is this someone you feel comfortable talking to one-on-one? If so, that may be your best bet to start. This way, you don’t have to put the student under any extra pressure that they’re trying to avoid. While you may be steaming out the ears thinking about a teacher purposefully ignoring a student’s pronouns, it’s best to approach the situation calmly and openly for the sake of the student, and to avoid backlash on you both. Ask the teacher if they’re aware of the issue. Emphasize your concern for the wellbeing of the student as a means to connect with this teacher. Almost all educators care deeply about their students, whatever their personal beliefs are. If you can make this about giving a student the support they need to succeed, you may be able to find common ground. However, this is certainly not the only option. If you are at all uncomfortable with a one-on-one conversation, there are plenty of other ways to communicate.
Do you have other adult allies at the school to support you? Remember that you don’t have to do this alone. The stress of student support around sensitive issues can sometimes be isolating for teachers, but this job can be too much to take on solo. Are there other teachers/staff that you and/or the student trust to work on this issue together? Your guidance counselor(s) and/or social worker(s) can often be helpful in this avenue. Showing unified support amongst teachers to actively use the students’ correct pronouns and name can be a strong way to make this stubborn teacher feel the “peer pressure.”
Do you have support from the administration? Is this a topic you could bring up in a professional development or other meeting (without needing to call out the teacher specifically)? Perhaps you could suggest the idea for a workshop on why it is important to listen and respond positively to the needs of LGBTQ+ students. You could look no further than My Kid Is Gay, or venture out to the Gay, Lesbian & Straight Education Network (GLSEN) for resources on this kind of professional development. Whether or not this teacher becomes a full blue-pink-white flag-toting super ally is questionable, but pressure from administration and school culture can be a powerful tool.
Are there other students who want to participate in supporting this student/general inclusion policies? This could be an opportunity for interested students to take an active role in improving inclusivity in the school. If you have a GSA at your school, that could be a good place to start (and if you don’t, try starting one!). They could, for example, lead sessions in homerooms/advisory classes about the range of gender identities and why non-binary inclusion is important. The regular presence of student AND staff-supported LGBTQ+ learning sessions (including those specifically referencing pronouns) can help shift school culture and create an indirect pressure on this teacher to adjust their behavior. These sessions certainly do not have to mention the student specifically (though if said student would like to share a personal story that is obviously great!).
You can also show students resources for their workshops like those offered at GLSEN, stories of trans histories from the New York City Oral Trans History Project, the Education for Liberation Network, and (of course) Everyone Is Gay. Having a teacher to work as an advisor in this process is key, so be prepared to offer extra assistance if you go this route. This last suggestion is my personal favorite. Honestly I would argue that kids today have a better grasp on LGBTQ+ issues than most of their teachers, and yet their direct voices are one of the most underused resources in schools.
One thing I would note is that this work has to be continuous, it can’t just be a one and done lesson. But the good news is that this repeated involvement of students and staff can reshape norms in your school, pressuring people like this teacher to actually listen to students who make these requests (and hopefully to even create classrooms that don’t assume gender at all).
With that in mind, keep checking in with your student regularly. However this plays out, these insecurities at school can weigh heavily on LGBTQ+ students. Ensure that they have easy access to a supportive guidance counselor, and see if there are any resources outside the school in your area for LGBTQ+ youth (if there are any for non-binary students in particular, that’s even better!). Throughout this, they are the person that needs your support and care most. And remember to take care of yourself. Schools need more teachers like you willing to step into a sometimes awkward or uncomfortable zone to advocate for students.
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