#bi loki is cool and good and to be celebrated. but. so are other readings. and we shld make space for them too

[tyrannuspitch]

thinking about the specifics of loki's sexuality for the first time in aaages and like... while i am personally not too fussed and tend to go with the flow here. i've decided i think it's fair to argue that the loki show is so far removed from the original character that you don't have to accept what it says on the subject.

obviously SOME people will be doing that maliciously, especially (but by no means exclusively) if their alternative is that he's cishet. it's def worth watching out for (and reflecting on a little in yourself.)

but at the same time - there are genuinely zero datapoints on mcu loki's orientation while he has his original characterisation. he's never visibly attracted to anyone, and he never expresses any personal feelings on sex or romance. (i mean, overtly. you can read anything into anything if you go looking for it, but nothing is canon.) loki is queercoded, but his queercoding in the first three films is entirely about gender presentation. so, if you accept that this era of canon is separable from the rest, then by the same logic it follows that loki's actual orientation is a blank slate.

so yeah. obviously if you like seeing loki as bi that's great, vive la bisexualité. but also. if you see loki as gay or aroace or whatever else, especially if you've been doing so since the 2010s, who are any of us to tell you you're wrong.

[flying-elliska]

salut ellie! someone once asked you about your writing and you recommended falling in love with language and finding ways of writing you love. i was wondering, what books and/or writing styles are you in love with? it's just so interesting to know what somehow had an impact on the way you're writing bc i honestly adore your style

wow do you remember that ? that is such a flattering question oh my god. well, i’m still working on it. some of my favorites are (i’m very eclectic lmao) : 

- His Dark Materials (it���s a fantasy book series ‘for kids’ but it’s actually insanely deep and philosophic) is pretty much the first book series that made me fall in love with stories, and made me want to write. I think I found it when I was 10, and it completely shaped me. It’s so ambitious and clever, it never talks down to the reader, brings up those amazing worlds and philosophical concepts and is still accessible to kids. Most of all it is so committed to atmosphere, to making it vivid, to really make you go through what the characters are. I’m thinking of it and I can remember exactly certain passages in an almost sensory way : the witch Serafina Pekkala describing what it feels like to feel the Aurora Borealis on her bare skin as she is flying through the arctic. The polar bear Iorek giving Lyra frozen moss to help bandage his wounds after a battle. The grilled poppy heads that the Jordan College scholars at Oxford eat during a meeting. The little Gallivespians on their dragonflies and the way the sun reflects off their poisonous spurs. That’s how you make a story stick ; that’s how you can put in deep stuff without ever making it boring. I am so excited they’re making a tv series because that shit deserves some recognition. And I mean the whole plot about the importance of stories, free will, the horror of religious fundamentalism....always relevant. Philip Pullman’s stuff is great in general, I love his Sally Lockhart series, which is more adult and adventure focused, and is a great deal of fun. And of course, the sequel to HDM he’s been putting out recently. 

- I spent a lot of my teen years reading either crime novels or historical novels. (When I think of some of the stuff I read when I was 13 I’m like oh my god what were my parents doing lmao some of that was really horrible.) And I think it gave me a good feeling for suspense and setting, and how important tension is. One of my all time faves is Andrea Japp. She is a French writer who does mostly crime, involving complex/monstrous woman characters and a very sensory, poetic approach to language, often involving food, plants and poisons. My favorite by her is the “Season of the Beast”/Agnès de Souarcy chronicles, which is a crime series set in medieval times, with a cool independent lady at its core, crimes in a monastery, and this very gloomy end of times vibe that I love. I also read a lot of Scandi Noir stuff, I love the kind of ...laconic approach to life. And again : vibe. Vibe is so important. And Sherlock Holmes stories. I love the Mary Russell series that take place in that universe and are basically a big Mary Sue self insert guilty pleasure but are just. So much fun. 

- I like poetry a lot - not stuff that is too wordy, but something short, sharp and vivid. i think reading poetry is essential to feeding your inner ‘metaphor culture’. I love Mary Oliver. Rimbaud, too, that I read at 17 and rocked my world. One of my underrated faves is  Hồ Xuân Hương, a Vietnamese poet from the 18th century who was adept at using nature metaphors to hide both erotic stuff, irreverent jokes, and political criticism, and correspond with all the great scholars of her time under a pseudonym. Badass.  Recently I bought ‘Soft Science’ by Franny Choi, which is about cyborgs, having a female body, emotions and politics and it’s absolutely brilliant. 

- I love reading fairy tales, too. Currently reading (i always read a lot of books at once lol) Angela Carter’s Book of Fairy Tales, basically fairy tales for grown ups, collected from folklore all over the world, with an amazing kind of gruesome humor and wisdom. Norse mythology is also so damn funny. That one bit with Thor dressing up as a bride or Loki’s shenanigans...amazing. And I like fantasy, I find it very soothing to read for some reason, my fave has to be Robin Hobb and her Realm of the Elderlings series. And Terry Pratchett, especially the series with Death or the Witches. Just brilliant. Neil Gaiman too. 

- I tend to be very impatient when it comes to literary fiction, I find a lot of it is self-indulgent, dreary. I’m a genre reader through and through, I need to be amazed. I loved ‘the Elegance of the Hedgehog’ by Muriel Barbery though. Some stuff by Amélie Nothomb, Virginie Despentes occasionally (they’re French writers with a very dark, wry approach to life, tho the first is more polished acid and the second very punk rock). And ‘Special Topics in Calamity Physics’ by Marisha Pessl is pretentious as hell but a lot of fun, if you like dark academia. Salman Rushdie has a way with language that is amazing. 

- I read a lot of non-fiction. At the moment : the Cabaret of Plants (about the symbolic/socio historical meaning of plants and how they shaped history) by Richard Mabey and ‘Feminist Fight Club’ by Jessica Bennett. One I absolutely love is ‘the Botany of Desire’ by Michael Pollan in which he traces the history of four plant species (apple, potato, cannabis, tulip) and how they impacted us as much as we impacted them. I was obsessed with plants for most of my life as you can see lol (my mother is a herbalist and I wanted to become a botanist for quite a while.). Also philosophy/anthropology in little bits. I love Tim Ingold. Things about witches. Anything by Rebecca Solnit is incredible. 

- I’ve been reading a lot of YA recently, because it’s fun and quick and keeps me reading, and has a lot of good female characters. Big fave recently : Jane Unlimited by Kristin Cashore. It’s about a young bisexual woman who’s grieving and comes to this weird house full of doors, each of which leads to a different path in life, and we follow her through each choice she can potentially make, each of one becomes a different genre of story : creepy ghost story, spy story, sci-fi, cute romance, etc. It’s so innovative and it’s a story that is also bisexual culture at its core. Also I absolutely love love love love love (etc forever) the Raven Cycle series by Maggie Stiefvater. What she does with language is just so cool, because she stays simple and efficient but uses her metaphors in such a fulgurant, vivid way. Some of her lines are just. bam! genius. #goals. Also Ronan Lynch is probably THE character that helped me the most with my coming out. He’s one of my forever faves.  Of course Harry Potter, lmao, I was of the generation that pretty much grew up with him, the last book came out when I was 17. JK Rowling really should just stop rn. But I learned so much from those, about the importance of making your story feel like home, and having a clear emotional journey. And Harry is such a sarcastic little shit, I love him. And I love a Series of Unfortunate Events too, the darkly funny tone of it, the celebration of knowledge and resilience. 

- I think in terms of the classics (I had to read in school lmao), I do like Victor Hugo a lot even though some of his stuff just doesn’t fucking stop. I also like Balzac and his Comédie Humaine, he’s very observant, mean and funny when it comes to people (even though it’s depressing.) Colette is my grandma’s fave writer and she is a rockstar, I love her (also hella bi culture). Jane Austen is great, I read Pride and Prejudice in one night straight, I was so hooked. Love Jane Eyre too. I read On the Road by Jack Kerouac while hopped up on opioid pain killers and that’s probably the only way to appreciate it, but it did mark me.  

- But to be completely fucking candid, I probably read the most fanfic nowadays still. Esp since I got to college, I need to unwind when I read, and having characters you already know can be so comforting. Now, of course, there’s a lot of fanfic that is just fluff (nothing wrong with that) but I honestly really believe in the literary value of fanfic. Because some of that shit simply just really slaps and is well written. But also as a genre on its own : you just simply don’t get so much emotional nuance, and depth in most other things. Because these are characters we already know and the writers are not afraid to be self-indulgent and plot is secondary, we see shades of things that we never see anywhere else, we see relationships developping in the small things and wow that shit is breathtaking, bro, sometimes. The art of infinite variation on a theme. Even though a lot of fic writers could use a bit of stricter editing, and do stuff a bit too many unnecessary details in here, so does Victor Hugo soooooooo....

lol i could go on forever. i love book soooo much. uni kinda killed my reading appetite, I used to read several books a week when I was in middle school. hope i can get back there (although maybe not as much bc i have a life now lol.) but thinking about everything i have yet to read makes me sooooo happy. I want to get more into sci-fi, English lit classics. Basically I like stuff that’s witty, dark, political, hedonistic, with dry humor, but a warm heart. Stories that celebrate knowledge, curiosity and human weirdness. And that gets to the point. When I get bored by a book, I put it down, because I just don’t have the time. I also hate writers where you can tell that they think they’re better than other people. Misanthropy is boring. Thank you for this question anon I had a blast

[omegaqueencas]

tagged by @srk1o3 (love you darling♥)

rules: 1. always post the rules. 2. answer the questions given by the person who tagged you. 3. write 11 questions of your own. 4. tag 11 people (or however many you want)

1.) What’s ur fave time of year +why 

I love July. My birthday is on the 30th, it’s winter, it’s cold, it’s vacation (from school and work when I used to teach lol). It’s just a beautiful month and I’ve always loved it.

2.) Weirdest dream you ever had +ur reaction when u woke up 

Man all my dreams are weird but I don’t remember one that is the weirdest. My last dreams I’ve had were very draining. One I was very mad by someone who I didn’t even know and the other my brother was making me very upset and I was very depressed. I woke up relieved that they were dreams, but I still have no idea why I had these dreams.

3.) Which fictional character would u trade places with?+why 

Damn. All my faves die or suffer a lot and I don’t want that hahahah (or want to kill everyone y’know, i’m looking at your loki) I’m going to choose Rapunzel from Tangled because she has a happy ending (even though Eugene ‘dies’ on her for a minute or so), she has a m a z i n g hair and can do random things with it, not to mention it has healing qualities! Awesome! She can draw and cook and do everything tbh she’s great. And she leaves her home, even against mother Gothel and follows her dream. ♥

4.) If you could be any fruit, what would you be +why.. 

Damn. Idk. I love bananas and I believe most people like too, so it would be nice to be something everyone loved, but it’s also very cheap and idk. Strawberries are cool, tho. They are a bit sour, but to people who like it (like I do), they taste amazing! And I think that’s a better representation of me. :)

5.) What is your dream job!!!+why 

Become a writer!!!! Because even though writing can be very hard and draining, I’d be able to work from home which is good because 1) my anxiety and 2) when I have children I could be a stay at home mom who also works at home, y’know. Not to mention that I love to write???

6.) What’s ur family heritage like? 

Okay, so from my mom’s side I know I have Italian, African (not sure from what part tho) and maybe Spanish? From my father’s side I think I have Portuguese, Spanish, Italian (and maaaybe African?).

7.) You’re in a gang. What’s the name of the gang? What’s ur gang name/symbol? What’s your ranking in the gang? how did u get involved in this gang? what were you even thinking.. 

I??? Don’t think gangs are a thing in Brazil so I don’t even know if my answer will be nice, but well. The name of the gang is roaring kittens. My gang name is unicorn kitten and my symbol is a kitten with a horn like a unicorn. I’m the leader of the gang. I created this gang because kittens, unicorns and gay. I was thinking about kittens, unicorns and gay.

8.) If you could travel to any time period, which would it be? 

Around 1895 so I could meet Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. <3 Or around 1920 so I could meet JRR Tolkien. Priorities. 

9.) A movie that reminds you of your childhood?+why 

So many lol. Titanic because I would watch it ALL the time and I would ask everyone tall enough to change the VHS because it was divided in two parts and I couldn’t reach it. The Fox and the Hound, legit my fave movie when I was little and I still cry watching it. Saint Seiya (yes, the movies). My brother had like two or three movies and I would watch non stop as well. I even named our car Ikki when I was little XD

10.) When u were a kid what did u think u would be when u grew up? 

I think everyone thinks to be a teacher at some point, and I know I did, but then I also wanted to be an architect, or wanted to study history or writer or biologist. Anyway, I tried teaching and hated it. I lasted two years, then the depression got the best of me. Now I solely want to write. Hope it works out.

11.) What was your favorite class that you have EVER taken, ever?+teacher description  

I obviously loved British/American Literature when I took it in College. I was extremely good (dare I say I was the best of my class? ;) maybe) even though we didn’t study any of it in school. And I’ve always loved British literature so I was very pumped. My professor was very funny. She was an old, soft woman who thought everything was ‘perfect, it’s perfection!’. It was very uplifting. With one exceptions. We were doing a project about Bliss (from Katherine Mansfield) and I pointed out that one of the symbolism could mean that the main character was bisexual (something EVERYONE IN MY CLASS AGREED WITH) and she didn’t accept it. Like, bitch, stop being homophobic and biphobic and accept that everyone was gay or bi back in the day.

My questions:

If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be and why?

What’s your favourite character of all time (or the type you have for favourite characters)? What do they say about you and your personality? (as in, why do you like/identify with them)

Recommend me a book and give me a brief (without spoilers!) summary of it.

If you could have ANY animal for a pet, which would it be and why?

If you could be anywhere in the world right now, where would you be and why?

Who is/are your celebrity crush? (show me a pic, maybe? ;)

What’s your comfort fandom/ship and why? (As in, when you’re feeling stressed and need to relax, which fandom/ship you like to read/see things about?)

What’s a dream you wish you could achieve in the next three years? How close to achieving it are you?

What do you usually do to relax?

What’s your favourite book genre? And for fics, is it the same? What tropes you like best for books and/or fics?

Who is someone you’d love to meet in real life (actors, writers, online friends, Obama, etc) and why?

I tag:

@snowhites @littleredofhearts @doctor--idiot @wellcometothedarkside @marrieddorks @sweet-sammy-kisses @everymanwillbeaking @random-fireworks @toboldlynerd @soy-em @practically-pidge