My Husband is Awesome - he feeds my Loki addiction :)

I have the best husband in the world. Not only is he generally awesome, but he feeds my Loki addiction with things from eBay.

This is nano-Lego (only he's from China so it isn't really Lego) Loki. He has 180 pieces and the kitkat is in there to show scale :). He arrived this morning through the post and Rob and I put him together over lunch. It was a bit tricky, let me tell you ;).

He has now taken up residence on my desk under my monitor with the three other Loki figures there and I'm pretty sure Heimdal is about to have a nervous breakdown, because he's the only other figure to share the spot!

How to make a Scramble Square (9 piece matching puzzle)

So I made my darling twin a little puzzle for Christmas to take advantage of her new obsession that I managed to pass along to her :). I made her a Loki scramble square as pictured below and I thought I'd share how I did it in case you're all feeling creative too.

If you would like to make the same one you can download the image below, just by clicking on it to see it full size. Otherwise you can use it as a pattern. It's based on the tropical frog Scramble Square pattern and I can promise it's hard to do because we had four people try it yesterday afternoon and no one could do it :).

To Make Your Base Image

Image 1

To make the base image you need 4 images of your chosen theme. I had 4 pictures of Loki, you could use kittens or puppies or Thor or anything else cute that takes your fancy :).

Cut these out in an image program so they have a transparent back ground and then add in guide lines underneath somewhere around the centre of each image (see image 1 - this is to help with placement).

Image 2

As a base you need an image divided up into nine equal parts and I had black lines around the edge and across the centre to mark out the divides and help with the cutting (Image 2). Your edge black should be half the width of the dividing black lines which will be split in half on cutting of the puzzle. You want them to all end up equal so there are no give aways as to what is edge and what is join.

You don't have to have these, you can just make the image slightly bigger and have markers to show where to cut around the edge if you prefer (in this case you would need a precision cutting implement). (I have an Adobe Photoshop file here for those who have the program blank.psd).

Image 3

Next add in guide lines down the centre of each square - this is for image placement (Image 3). If your editing program doesn't have guides, just use a new layer and draw in lines - you can remove them before printing.

Image 4

Now take your first theme image and place it on one of the squares using the guide lines on the image and on the background. The vertical guide line on your theme image must line up with the centre blue guide line and the horizontal guide line should line up with the black line on the edge you are crossing (Image 4).

Make sure your images are above the black lines so that they will meet over the edge of the pieces. Repeat with your first theme image to form the same pattern as on the Loki scramble square above, rotating the image where necessary.

Repeat  this for your other three images as well. Always make sure to use the guidelines or it will be obvious which images line up with which.

Image 5

Go through and edit the individual theme images to remove the guide lines as in image 5 to the left.

You can leave the background blank, but I think it looks much more interesting if you have something behind the images. To do this, create a square of whatever background you would like just big enough to fit on one of the nine pieces. Then place one of each of these backgrounds on each piece underneath all other parts of the image, remembering to rotate it every now and then so there is no particular way up to it. You should end up with something like the complete Loki scramble square shown at the top.

Turn off the blue guidelines.

How to Make the Puzzle

You will need:

• 1 A4 (or local equivalent) print of your base image
• 1 A4 (or local equivalent) piece of black card
• paper glue (photo mount is best - it must be strong and must not cause wrinkles)
• 1 A4 (or local equivalent) laminating pouch
• laminator (my laminator is a hot one, I have no idea if cold laminators adhere in the same way)
• scissors (or accurate guillotine or craft knife and ruler)

How to go about construction:

1. Print out your image with the fit to paper option.
2. Glue your print out onto your card and leave to dry completely (our photo mount suggested 24hr)
3. Place the construct into a laminating pouch and laminate it.
4. Being incredibly careful cut along the dividing lines and around the edges making sure not to leave any obvious imperfections.

Congratulations, your puzzle is complete. Because the laminating pouch adheres to the paper and card you now have a nicely plasticised surface on the top and bottom of your pieces to prevent damage. If your glue is not durable enough your image and your card might come apart at this point, hence the need for good glue.

Now all you have to do is give the puzzle to someone and watch them stare at it for hours or try it yourself :).

Review: Thor The Dark World

Title: Thor The Dark World
Rating: 12A
Cast:
Chris Hemsworth ... Thor
Natalie Portman ... Jane Foster
Tom Hiddleston ... Loki
Anthony Hopkins ... Odin
Christopher Eccleston ... Malekith
Summary:
Faced with an ancient enemy that even Asgard cannot withstand, Thor must reunite with Jane Foster and reconnect with his estranged and imprisoned brother, Loki, to save all nine realms.

First off I will hold my hand up and say I am a huge Marvel movie fan and an even bigger Tom Hiddleston/Loki fan, but I LOVED it.

Where the first Thor movie was lacking (and I loved that too, but I can still see it lacked something that Avengers had) this film did not. It is spectacular and fast paced and it will make you cry, probably at least twice.

My first impression brought to mind a phrase I see on Tumblr a lot, even though it's totally out of context: "Wow that escalated quickly". Normally this is used when a situation goes from one extreme to another, but I thought it when I saw Asgard. Can we say 'bigger budget'? Where as in Thor Asgard was pretty and golden, it felt very stage like, in Thor II is feels real. Just seeing it for the first time I believed it was a place where people lived and where some went about their normal lives rather than running around being heroes all the time.

This film was altogether bigger than it's predecessor: bigger scenery, bigger emotions and bigger action sequences. This is a full on movie from start to finish. It also didn't go quite how I expected either and it was even better than I had hoped. In the poster Jane looks like a damsel, but believe me, she has her part to play as well, much more so than in Thor.

I have seen several reviews that had said Loki steals the show and I partially agree, but I think it has a lot to do with the fact he is the prefect foil for Thor. I have seen interviews where Chris and Tom have said Thor defines Loki and Loki defines Thor and this movie really shows that. Chris Hemsworth is magnificent as Thor; he is brave and true and not at all the bumbling idiot he was at times in Thor. He shines and he is a wonderful, wonderful hero. The we have Tom as Loki, who is sassy, vicious and yet so, so broken. Both Thor and Loki have depth and they are brilliant.

The mortals are also wonderful: Jane, Darcy and Eric are brilliant. Yes, Jane is having a bit of a crisis over Thor, but it doesn't stop her doing what she does best: science. If you put her, Tony Stark and Bruce Banner in a lab together they would take over the world in a matter of days. I loved the scene where the healers are looking at Jane - I won't give it away, but it is a beauty.

Wow, is Odin a hypocritical old bastard. It's easy to see where Loki gets his attitude to mortals and yet Odin can insult Jane, but Loki gets locked up for playing at being a god. No wonder Loki is a basket case. Anthony Hopkins is great as ever.

Then we get to Christopher Eccleston as Malekith. He was a decent baddy, but frankly he could have been anyone. When you stand Malekith next to Loki you lose a dimension. He's evil and powerful and clever, but he just doesn't match up. He has no hesitation, no other motivation than I hate Asgard and I want the universe back my way. He could have been any other big bad with a weapon of mass destruction because there was never any question about what he might do. This doesn't make him a terrible character, he's just no where near as interesting as the rest.

The best bits of the film are undoubtedly when Loki and Thor are on screen together. We get to see the brothers not the enemies and it is brilliant. I adore how it played out and I want more, so much more.

Hogun got a bad lot in this movie, but Fandral, Volstagg and Sif all had great parts to play. The timing when Thor has to ask Loki for help is just brilliant.

So yes, I loved the plot, I loved most of the characters, I loved the acting, I loved the costumes and the sets, I loved the humour. It's a great movie, go see it.

MIGHT BE CONSIDERED A SPOILER - highlight to read

One thing I do want to know is why there are at least three things I have seen in trailers that aren't in the movie.

It's not Loki's Sceptre it's mine ;)

So I made something the other week (with some help from my husband who is very handy with a spray can and an extra set of hands).

I used this youtube vid tutorial as a basis, but did things a little differently in places.


The gem is an emergency light and whistle covered in string, spray painted and then shoved up the backside of two clear halves of an alien egg toy (they were a quid in Range), glued together (I used seriously strong super glue and left to dry for 24hrs rather than hot glue for this), coloured in with a blue sharpie and then Dremeled off at the end.



The rod is a broomstick handle (£2.49 in Range), cut to length and then covered in construction foam (£1 a sheet from Range - only needed one large one) and masking tape just like the video says. I couldn't get 1/4inch construction foam, so I used a bedding roll mat (£3.49 again from Range). I didn't hand paint though like it says in the vid, I used craft spray paint (the most expensive part of the build at £5 a can).



The blade is mostly done the same way as the tutorial using foam board and hot glue, but again I spray painted it. Hence I didn't attach the blade until after everything was painted, rather than painting it in one.
The masking tape you can see on the blade is because I could only get A3 foam board at a reasonable price (on offer from Amazon) so I had to join two pieces together. I did this with cocktail stick stubs, hot glue and a bit of tape to make sure it couldn't come apart.



It was a lot of fun, but  two pairs of hands make it a lot easier some times and it takes a very steady hand for trimming the blade so the edges look sharp, so having someone else to help is really useful.
Please excuse me while I go take over the world ;).

Fanfic: The Loco of Loki (Avengers 2012, Iron Man, Thor) (Tony/Pepper/Loki) NC17/18

Title: The Loco of Loki
Author: Beren (that's me, Tasha, in my fanfic guise :))
Fandom: Avengers 2012, Iron Man, Thor
Pairing: Tony/Pepper/Loki
Rating: NC17/18
Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by Marvel et al. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.
Warnings: SPOILERS for Iron Man 3, vampires
Summary: Tony gets an unexpected visit from Loki when the demi-god is supposed to be safely locked up in Asgard. The thing is he's pretty sure Loki didn't have fangs last time they met.
Author's Notes: I know Marvel has canonical vampires, but I don't read the comics and there haven't been any in the movie-verse so I'm just running with whatever I fancy :). Also, I started writing this before the teaser trailer for Thor 2 came out, so it mostly doesn't gel with that. Thanks to Soph for the beta.
Links to parts: (no login required at any of the sites)
LiveJournal : Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4
or
DreamWidth : Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4
or
at AO3 (Archive of Our Own)

Heroes and Villains Blog Hop

Welcome to my post for the Heroes and Villains Blog Hop, I do hope you enjoy my selection. If you click the link or the image you will be taken to the master post for the hop run by Dani and Jackie.

First the Villain

So I really have to wax lyrical about my favourite villain, but before I do I have to say, I'm not usually into villains. I can appreciate a good one, but they are very rarely my favourite character. This gentlemen is definitely my favourite, hands down, without any competition.

The villain I am talking about is Loki of Asgard, adopted son of Odin and true son of Laufey, of the Avengers movie universe.

We first meet Loki in the film Thor. Now I am not going to lie, the first time I saw Thor I was not impressed, in fact I complained about it on my LJ, but the second time I saw it I realised something fundamental, I had been paying attention to the wrong brother. King of ironic given the overall plot of Thor.

In mythology Loki is the trickster god and he is the trickster in Thor as well. He is the younger brother, the shadow to Thor's heart winning bravado, and the brains of the operation. Thor is not an imbecile by any means, but he is brash, loud, proud and a bit of a tit at the beginning of the movie. Thor ends up banished, Loki finds out he's adopted and a Jotun (Asgard's ancient enemy) and winds up king, because Odin falls into Odinsleep and you can just tell that's not going to end well.

What I love about Loki is how broken he is. In Thor he could have become a laughing lunatic (which if you look at the original script is how he was written), but he doesn't, he just breaks more. He is the lost son trying to prove he is worthy, even if he goes about it in entirely the wrong way. Loki's actions ultimately make Thor a better person and at each point, if one thing had been different, Loki could almost have come out the good guy.

It also helps that he's played by Tom Hiddleston who is one of my favourite two actors ever (check out my Tom Hiddleston label to find out why). Tom's range and love for the character is what makes Loki so engaging to watch. Loki has depth and it's impossible to simply hate him no matter how bad he gets. Tom is also gorgeous, which helps :).

Loki's second outing comes in The Avengers and he's changed a bit by then. We're never shown quite what happened to him as he fell through the void or everything the Chitauri did or did not do to him, but he's more than a little crazy.

Personally I think a lot of the Loki we see in The Avengers is an act. The plan was too complicated and too full of holes to actually be viable and I'm a firm believer he wanted away from the Chitauri and back to Asgard and attacking Midgard was a good way to do it.

That's not to say he's still not more than a little cracked. He kills lots of humans and doesn't seem to give a damn about it. Loki is way over the line and a long way down the path to becoming the creature of chaos he's supposed to be. However, even after all he does he's still my favourite character. He has moments where there is sanity in his eyes, moments when Thor's words almost get to him.

I think Loki is playing the long game and I can only hope the movies continue to build his character in Thor 2: The Dark World, coming in November. Here's a little piece of artwork I did just after The Muppets came out and Tom Hiddleston raved about the movie on Twitter - since Tom's going to be in the next Muppet movie I think it's doubly relevant :).

Now to the Heroes

I can't choose just one for this, so I am going to list a few :).

Thor

I couldn't really have Loki without Thor and I think he's an idiot in the beginning of the movie that bears his name, but then that's the point. The way Thor grows as a character is superb and I love him in his own movies and in The Avengers.

He is loyal and brave and courageous; he loves deeply, will walk through hell for his friends and he's awfully pretty as well. I am very much looking forward to seeing the more mature Thor in The Dark World.

Aragorn

He's my favourite character from the Lord of the Rings movies. He's handsome, brave and downright badass through the whole thing.

What I find amusing is that I don't really fancy him when he's dolled up as king, I prefer the scruffy ranger hands down :). He's also the crossover character, the one who is human, only not quite and I love that about him. I really wish Tolkien hadn't written the appendix about him and Arwen, because they have such a fabulous romance.

Buffy

How could I have a list of heroes without Buffy? She was a revolution and a truly great character. The fact that she is not perfect, she is not the ultimate brain as well as being the ultimate slayer.

I love her for her faults and for her strengths. She's a teenager and she acts like one. Sometimes she sulks and yet at other times she shows more bravery than most people could ever imagine. She is strong yet vulnerable and she is always ready with a one liners.

Black Widow

I'm not totally obsessed with Marvel, promise, but I couldn't leave out Black Widow. This is one woman who can take on gods and win. She is totally awesome and she has no super powers. Her abilities are human and so well honed that she is a master assassin.

In a fight you want this woman to have your back.

Sapphire and Steel

These two are from an British 80s TV show and are an integral part of my childhood. They are agents of an unknown force for good and are elements as their names suggest. Some might say they are not heroes, but if Black Widow counts so do these two. They prevent destruction when time breaks through into the real world causing all sorts of supernatural events. If you have never seen this show and you enjoy sci-fi with a touch of paranormal that will scar you for life, this is the show for you. They keep talking about a remake and I think it would be really good.

Belgarion

This boy is from The Belgariad by David Eddings and I so, so, so love him as a character. He is just a boy dragged into events he cannot understand; in his case, the ongoing war between Light and Dark that has been raging for millennia with gods and wizards and demons and devils. The Belgariad is by far and away one of my favourite book series of all time. When he turns out to be far more than just a orphan farm boy it's not a surprise, but it is perfectly done and still he's more confused than competent. He faces a destiny that would scare the bravest warrior and he really doesn't know how to be a hero.

I could go on, I have so many favourites, but I'll stop here. Thank you very much for reading. I look forward to seeing everyone else's choices in the hop.