I like to write. And what I like most about writing is characterization. I have recently — bizarrely — become completely obsessed with the characters from the movie Thor, especially Loki. Imagine my delight to find there are others out there similarly intrigued! And as I watched Thor for, oh, around the 10th time in a span of 2-3 weeks and decided I’d like to watch it while taking notes (!), I thought, well, it would be fun to share those notes. Now, mind you, I don’t think any of my friends have seen Thor even once, much less approaching a dozen. So who am I to share it with? And suddenly a blog seemed like a good idea. I hope fellow Thor enthusiasts will find this and enjoy it and hopefully leave some comments (PG only, please). I will also hopefully getting around to posting links to favorite interviews and such.
I didn’t want to name this blog after Loki, or Thor — who after all already have their own Facebook pages and such! — because although I know it doesn’t seem so, ultimately this isn’t really about those characters, per se. It’s about characters and characterization more broadly. Eventually, maybe, I’ll be onto a new character obsession and that will go here too. Then again, maybe not. I’m not bored watching Thor yet.
In Depth 
[ALERT: TDW SPOILERS] Hi! I have been thoroughly enjoying your fanfic for months now as Beneath has progressed. I read your comments on Thor TDW and enjoyed them a great deal as well. Many of the scenes you found most touching were the scenes that I also enjoyed the most (of course, I enjoyed any scene Loki was in), and I too was struck by the scene where he pushes Jane out of the way of the “Thing” because it was such an instinctive action. Not calculated, no time to decide what was in his own best interest (and of course, that certainly was not, as he risked his own life to protect hers). It totally belies the idea that he is inherently evil, and it demonstrates his continued love – despite himself or not – for his brother.
I agree with you, btw, about thinking the ending was changed, despite the public comments about which scenes were added. Indeed, if you think about it, they said that the bridge scene was added, but that doesn’t mean they didn’t change the final scene as well. I agree with you the dialogue sounds like Odin (in one of his rare good moods), rather than what Loki would say while pretending to be Odin, to say nothing of the bit you pointed out about the “wiser king” (and how would Loki know about that). Furthermore, unlike you, I was hunting spoilers all along because I was afraid they were going to kill Loki off (and I’m glad I was spoiled because otherwise, I know I would have been pulled right out of the movie the way you were and just sitting in a state of shock (it’s happened to me before, in other movies where I’ve felt sandbagged)). Way back in late summer, someone who sounded very much in the know claimed that in fact, they DID change the ending. (I still have the post bookmarked.) It sounded like s/he had seen a rough cut or something, and yes, Loki did not return at the end. Maybe they would have brought him back next movie; maybe not. But in any case, s/he claims that the ending was changed soon after ComicCon, and that the reshoots involving TH and AH included that. It makes sense to me that Marvel (and its actors) would dance around this issue and not speak of it directly, esp at this time when the movie is just coming out. So I personally remain convinced that they did change it.
[ALERT: TDW SPOILERS] Oh, marvelous, marvelous! Thanks so much for sharing your thoughts on Loki pushing Jane out of the way. I was so struck by the “falling” parallel aspect (and picking up heart shreds from that) that I had really not thought about it in those terms yet (instinctive — just this word made me pause, think, nod — no calculation of self-interest, proof of non-evilness, love for Thor). Oh yes. Can’t wait to be able to watch it on frame-by-frame.
And re the end, hm! Just taking the film at face value, I figure there are three options (1) Loki has somehow read Odin’s mind or stolen his thoughts to come up with those lines. (2) Really bad writing (I can call it nothing else if they didn’t *at least* realize that Loki couldn’t know about that Odin/Thor exchange — oh wait, and you’re telling me Hiddleston, who can still quote the “Thor” script verbatim, didn’t read that and go, “guys, Loki wasn’t there, he wouldn’t know that” when he read Hopkins’s lines that come right before his or (3) The scene was changed late.
So that is *fascinating* what you said about the claimed change, and I agree that they might be under instruction not to fess up to that. I think it’s quite clear that Marvel etc. really didn’t realize how popular Loki was until after that, so this all makes perfect sense to me too. But here’s a monkey in the wrench — if they had Hopkins back too, for that opening scene, why wouldn’t they also adjust his dialogue at the end? They could have done it in a way that didn’t change Hemsworth’s lines. Maybe it was done so hastily they didn’t think about it. Anyway thanks so much for sharing this! (And for reading “Beneath.” 😉 )