Tony and Loki

Let’s talk Tony, and Loki, and parallels. Because there are a LOT.

Because for fuck’s sake, there’s even a little bit of physical resemblance, in that both are dark haired (if we’re talking MCU). Comics-side, they’re even roughly the same height/body type.

They are also both:

1) Frighteningly intelligent

2) Charismatic

3) Charming

4) Masters of masks and obfuscation

5) Ten leagues ahead of everybody else in their specialties (magic and tech) (no, Wakanda doesn’t count. If Tony’d had access to Vibranium from the start, he’d be ahead of them too.)

6) Extremely powerful and influential figures, for both good and ill.

Unfortunately, they both also: 

7) Have utterly craptastic fathers.

8) Labor under the shadow of a bigger, better, brighter ‘son’

9) Have to clean up said ‘better’ sons’ messes

10) Get ALL the blame for said ‘better’ sons’ fuckups.

11) Shoulder a disproportionate amount of the burden of protecting their world/realm/the entirety of existence from psychotic assholes.

12) Have repeatedly been lied to, manipulated, and betrayed.

13) Never get ANY credit at all for #’s 8 & 10

The biggest difference between them comes down to one thing.

Backup they can trust.

Tony? Had Edwin Jarvis, then Dum-E, JARVIS, Rhodey, Pepper, and Happy. Maybe not the longest list, but they were there. The humans on the list fucked up sometimes, but Tony has always known they have his back.

Loki?

Had, and has, literally NO ONE.

Odin, he rightfully wouldn’t trust even if the Norns themselves guaranteed he was trustworthy. Frigga … well, that was … sticky. Loki loved - and still loves - her, but she was complicit in Odin’s crimes against Loki so his ability to trust her was nonexistent … and now she’s dead. Sif and the Three? Don’t make me laugh. Ditto Heimdall.

Of everyone on or associated with Asgard, Thor is the one Loki can even begin to trust *some of the time*. Because Thor does love his brother, and has backed him up in the past. But Thor is also … gullible, easily led, convinced Odin is right in all things, and completely fucking blind to the truth that Loki lived on Asgard 9 times out of 10.

And that is why, when their respective worlds came crashing down around their ears, Tony cracked and wobbled but ultimately kept his feet under him.

And Loki SHATTERED.