We could never trust each other...

Amorki: a shipping manifesto

Welcome to my page dedicated to the ship between Amora and Loki from Marvel's Thor comics!

they’re besties they’re worsties their relationship is undefinable they’re coworkers they’re lying to each other they’re gay in love they have 1038430 mental illnesses and are banned from most timelines (source)

Canonical information

Ever since Amora's introduction, the question of a possible relationship between her and Loki has been brought up. The two of them reflected on it, concluding that they're too alike, and it could never work between them because they could never trust each other in that way. Nevertheless, they often worked together on schemes, sometimes against each other, due to their common obsession with Thor which lasted for a good part of the comic's history. Even when they were children, Amora was Loki's only friend aside from Thor. As Amora moved on from Thor, Amora and Loki's relationship became more dependent on their respective current interests, but they often found enjoyment in spending time with each other, and the mutual respect they have for each other never faded. This continued after Loki's rebirth: Amora's children refer to Loki as "uncle", which implies a closeness between them. They did date while they had their morality switched during Axis, while some of their instincts and values were inverted, which I believe makes sense still: when it comes to romance, Amora chases partners who can offer her safety and a devotion she doesn't have to return. Free from this mindset, their relationship was allowed to briefly flourish.

Non-616 material also references a relationship between Amora and Loki: the novel Loki: Where Mischief Lies features an explicit love triangle with Loki in the middle and Amora and Theo, an original character, on the ends; the movie Thor: Tales of Asgard has a few brief scenes of Loki and Amora almost kissing while she tutors him in magic.

It seems to be implied that the way they - especially Amora - see the concept of romantic relationships is what creates the tragedy: she doesn't mind being Loki's friend and ally, and trusts him with looking after her kids, but an official romance scares her. I would infer that it's because she (and Loki as well, in their classic incarnation) sees romantic partnership as very transactional and instrumental, as evidenced by the various introspective sequences she gets; anyone she gets into a relationship is someone who has the role of protecting her and someone she must be able to control. Friendship, on the other hand, is not as formulaic. I believe she finds freedom and comfort in her friendship with Loki for this reason, and as such even if this friendship pushed the limits of what's considered platonic she would insist on not considering it romance.

Why and how?

I am often drawn to ships that are either tragic or can't be neatly sorted into "purely romantic" or "purely platonic". I don't believe that Amora and Loki are the great, passionate, wholesome romantic love of each other's lives; I believe, however, that they like each other very much as friends and might occasionally dabble in kissing or more with each other, because they are attracted to each other. I like art (official or not) where they hang out and have fun! I think it might include kissing! I think Amora might find it comforting to get intimacy from someone without everything that a serious official romantic relationship implies.
I also like it when they rely on each other (that "uncle" thing makes me melt every time). I like that they have a history together and that it can get so messy. Also, as I said before, a friendship that turns into romance but both parties deny it to keep things simple and comfortable is very interesting to me.

On the other hand, I'm a sucker for tragedy. I like thinking of what might actually happen if they got together in a serious way, how that has them worried. They would surely angst about it for ages, knowing that their dynamic is in a delicate balance and changing it could be disastrous. Then, how enmeshed would they get? How would they betray each other? How long would it take the other to forgive them? I'm hooked!

This potential for various types of dynamics, all alluded to in canon, is very neat to me. Then, of course, it's fun that they're so alike in strategy and magic, and from a visual perspective there are a lot of really fun options too (Team Rocket vibes for classic Amorki; apparent age gap, in which Amora looks older, post-rebirth and pre-ego death; messy girl and stylish girl in general; etc etc).

Extra thoughts

I like Amora being the more "dominant" one, even in a non strictly sexual sense. She takes the lead in most situations, and Loki would be willing to give it to her, as long as he's not losing control. Just look at this Marvel Champions art, they get it.