#script flipped

[ladytauria]

Trick or treat! 🎃

thank you! 🧡

snippet from a new fic for script: flipped, my reverse robins series.

for context: post-to be wanted, bruce takes jason (and steph, and cass, and damian, and jon) to the circus. so! here's jason (and damian)'s first meeting with dick~

The only downfall of the day is, well. Brucie.

At least it isn’t gala Brucie. This version of Brucie is mild��more well-meaning but air-headed devoted parent than outrageous flirt or walking disaster. Jason strays from his side; already done making polite conversation with wealthy people. No one pays him any mind. His fifteen minutes of fame are up, and he really couldn’t be happier for it. He wanders over to where Damian is observing the elephant instead.

“Enjoying yourself?” he asks, and Damian casts him a dark look. Jason just smiles at him, which makes him sigh.

“It’s... not as intolerable as I previously thought it would be,” he says, which is high praise coming from Damian. “And I admit I’m looking forward to seeing the show. The Flying Graysons are world-class acrobats. I’m hoping to pick up a thing or two from observation.”

“That’s not just a gimmick they put on the flier?” Jason asks, leaning against the fence.

“No,” Damian says.“They’ve pulled off many stunts once thought impossible—including the quadruple somersault.”

“Huh.” Jason had performed a triple once, but he’d never actually managed to do it again. He's fuckin’ ace at doubles, though.

Distantly, Jason hears the elephant’s handler announce she’s taking a small break before the show. Only a handful people are left in line, and they part with no small amount of disappointment. Jason watches the elephant for a moment before turning away, scoping out the others in the crowd. Steph’s roped Jon into posing with her behind one of those cut out things while Cass takes a picture. Brucie’s been stopped by yet another couple.

“Man, we can’t take—” He turns his head, only to find his vision of Damian blocked by a thick grey trunk. He starts. “What the—”

The elephant noses him gently. He can feel the warm puffs of her breath in his hair. Then she switches, doing the same to Damian. He finds himself sharing a bewildered look with his brother.

“Aw, Zitka likes you!” a voice chirps, and Jason twists to see a tiny little kid on the other side of the fence. He looks like any other kid running around the circus, dressed in jeans and a t-shirt, with a well worn pair of sneakers on his feet. His hair is a mess of dark curls, face still round with baby fat.

“Um. Are you supposed to be back there?” Jason asks, dumbly.

The kid makes a face at him. “Of course,” he says, like it should be obvious. “I live here.” He gestures to all of the tents. “Zitka is my friend.” He pauses. “And babysitter, sometimes.” He pats one of the elephant’s legs, and she stops nosing Damian to curl her trunk around the boy instead. “My name’s Dick,” he says, cheerily, like this is all completely normal.

Which. For him, maybe it is.

“Uh. I’m Jason.”

“Damian.”

“Nice to meet you!” Dick chirps, with a beaming smile. “Zitka’s real nice, but she doesn’t like just anybody, you know.”

“We’re honored to be among the few, then,” Damian says seriously, and Jason knows he means it. Damian’s never met an animal he didn’t like—as evidenced by the multiple shelters he sponsors in Bludhaven, and the way he almost never turns away a foster animal. Last time Jason visited the penthouse, he and Jon had three other animals; including a little chihuahua on hospice. “You and Zitka are close, then?”

“The closest,” Dick says, bouncing onto his toes. “We hang out together between shows all the time.” He pauses. “Are you guys here to watch the performance tonight?”

“We are,” Damian says. He’s awkward in the way that only Wayne men manage to be. Or, well. Wayne men except Jason.

“That’s great!” he says. “I’ll make sure to do an extra special trick then, just for you guys.” He winks, like a little baby showman. It’s charmingly adorable, and Jason kinda wants to muss his hair.

[allimili]

TRUTHLESS AND Y/N AS ELYSIA GIVES ME APONIA AND ELYSIA VIBE. HEHEH what about smc and y/n as elysia?

and i love how you draw and think, take care of urself beautiful human!

not really what you requested but think about this

[xxplastic-cubexx]

give me some whiskey and ill draw The Most Thing i can come up with

bonus:

[frobby]

mc when they go into a book and fuck shit up: why is the story different!!!

My brother in christ YOU CHANGED THE STORY!!!!!

[biancadoes1]

https://x.com/ashlaay07/status/1879421683440005289?s=46&t=_D7fZV0T1iOtwwqM0INzQA

I’m sorry but wtf was this like seriously luke , LUKE SERIOUSLY .

Everytime I come across it I’m still as baffled as the first time can we discuss again please coz WHAT

The sentence that shook the fandom to its core.

Utterly insane and we thank Luke for his service in keeping the ship alive🫡

[baelonthebrave]

alistair/warden is actually killing me though like it’s so easy to get caught up in the fact that they have the fates of nations on their shoulders. they are the heroes of this story, they’ve lost everything that matters to them and they’ll have to give up even more before this is all over - that’s part of the job description. but then they actually interact with each other and you’re brought crashing back down to the realisation that they are just kids falling in love. like it literally doesn’t matter that they’re fighting armies of darkspawn on the daily, their voices are still going to tremble when they say I love you for the first time. their hearts are still going to be racing when they realise they’re about to lose their virginity together. first date on friday, battle of denerim on saturday - it’s just special writing that you can feel the weight of both of those things at the same time in this story.

[quietwingsinthesky]

the thing is, i don’t disagree that what and how you choose to write about things is a reflection of you, the writer, and cannot be divorced from your beliefs and biases. but to assume that anyone can perfectly pick out your beliefs from a piece of fiction you’ve written is an extremely weird and paranoid thing to claim, especially if you’re positing that the secret truth is that the writer is a dangerous person and they’re “revealing” that through fiction that upsets you, personally. at the end of the day, the artist is not the art, and no matter how upsetting, no matter how much you dislike it, no matter how much it disgusts you, you don’t know the person who made it and you can only guess how who they are shaped what they made.

like, really, is it more likely that the secret “belief” that’s being revealed when you’re reading something that is really upsetting to you is that the author is a secret Bad Person™️ who wants all of this fantasy to happen in real life, or that the author knows it’s a safe and normal thing to create upsetting works of fiction and so did that.

[wittymumbledon]

well that didn't last long - back to bills i guess HJDDHJD (I saw this post on twitter and my mind immediately went to billford so we are here now)

(also - testing out a quicker, simpler colouring style cause that might come in handy fairly soon ✨)

anyway yeah - have some billtlejuice, fellas <3

[wondereads]

Sapphic Book Recs for Pride 2024

The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon

Adult, high fantasy, 4.28 star average (my rating: 5 stars)

Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir

Adult, sci-fantasy, 4.29 star average (my rating: 5 stars)

The Winter Duke by Claire Eliza Bartlett

Young Adult, high fantasy, 3.55 star average (my rating: 5 stars)

Ace of Spades by Faridah Abike-Iyimide

Young Adult, thriller, 4.27 star average (my rating: 5 stars)

Crier's War by Nina Varela

Young Adult, high fantasy, 4.11 star average (my rating: 4.5 stars)

Down Among the Sticks and Bones by Seanan McGuire

New Adult, low fantasy, 4.18 star average (my rating: 4.5 stars)

Seven Devils by L. R. Lam and Elizabeth May

Adult, space opera, 4.03 star average (my rating: 4.5 stars)

Malice by Heather Walter

Adult, fantasy romance, 3.97 star average (my rating: 4.5 stars)

Beguiled by Cyla Panin

Young Adult, high fantasy, 3.48 star average (my rating: 4 stars)

The Jasmine Throne by Tasha Suri

Adult, high fantasy, 4.21 star average (my rating: 3.5 stars)

Ash by Malinda Lo

Young Adult, fantasy romance, 3.57 star average (my rating: 3.5 stars)

We Ate the Dark by Mallory Pearson

New Adult, horror fantasy, 3.04 star average (my rating: 3 stars)

The Chosen and the Beautiful by Nghi Vo

Adult, historical fantasy, 3.66 star average

The Once and Future Witches by Alix E. Harrow

Adult, historical fantasy, 4.13 star average

Flip the Script by Lyla Lee

Young Adult, contemporary romance, 3.64 star average

The Bone Shard Daughter by Andrea Stewart

Adult, high fantasy, 4.07 star average

She Who Became the Sun by Shelley Parker-Chan

Adult, historical fantasy, 4 star average

This Poison Heart by Kalynn Bayron

Young Adult, contemporary fantasy, 4.17 star average

Tink and Wendy by Kelly Ann Jacobson

Young Adult, low fantasy, 3.4 star average

The Tiger's Daughter by K. Arsenault Rivera

Adult, high fantasy, 3.84 star average

Sorrowland by Rivers Solomon

Adult, horror sci-fi, 4.04 star average

Cinderella Is Dead by Kalynn Bayron

Young Adult, high fantasy, 3.65 star average

The Goddess of Nothing at All by Cat Rector

Adult, high fantasy, 4.23 star average

Last Night at the Telegraph Club by Malinda Lo

Young Adult, historical romance, 4.28 star average

Gearbreakers by Zoe Hana Mikuta

Young Adult, dystopian sci-fi, 3.92 star average

The City of Dusk by Tara Sim

Adult, high fantasy, 3.72 star average

Foolish Hearts by Emma Mills

Young Adult, contemporary fiction, 4.25 star average

The Last Tale of the Flower Bride by Roshani Chokshi

Adult, gothic fantasy, 3.83 star average

A Dowry of Blood by S. T. Gibson

Adult, gothic fantasy, 4.12 star average

Seven Faceless Saints by M. K. Lobb

Young Adult, high fantasy, 3.5 star average

Darker by Four by June CL Tan

Young Adult, contemporary fantasy, 4.11 star average

The Coldest Touch by Isabel Sterling

Young Adult, paranormal romance, 3.64 star average

Portrait of a Thief by Grace D. Lin

Adult, mystery thriller, 3.63 star average

Once & Future by Cory McCarthy and A. R. Capetta

Young Adult, sci-fantasy, 3.57 star average

The Traitor Baru Cormorant by Seth Dickinson

Adult, high fantasy, 4.1 star average

Wilder Girls by Rory Power

Young Adult, sci-fi horror, 3.48 star average

Afterworlds by Scott Westerfled

Young Adult, contemporary fiction/low fantasy, 3.69 star average

[reality-detective]

Whatever the 1% says, do the opposite stand together and we will flip the script and it will be ALL the people saying you are wrong. 🤔

[froghwon]

Jaemin & Renjun | Smoothie (240406)

[queermasculine]

so afraid of other butches seeing my flirtation as a sign that i must've mistaken them for someone more feminine than they are. would rather die than make another butch think i'm angling to make myself "the man" out of the two of us

[taamlok]

notice how yesterday taash was so not autistic that everyone who said they are were stupid, media illiterate, and projecting? but the second that trick confirmed that they are and validated everything i and other autistic fans have been gaslit about for MONTHS now they're suddenly too autistic and a big walking stereotype? interesting

[ihavetoomanyocsdealwithit]

Asking Malleus to marry you 

Yuu knows that there are proper channels for fae courting. But Malleus is a dragon first and foremost and unfortunately the courting rituals for dragons have been mostly lost. While both sides of his heritage are important, Yuu also knows his complex feelings over them. Being tied to it is a blessing and a curse, as he cannot be one or the other without being Heir Apparent. He will always be king. How does she show that he loves him before he is King, or Fae or Dragon or his power? How does she show that she loves Malleus?  

There is nothing that she can give him that he cannot craft himself nor buy. She could handcraft plenty, but Malleus isn’t much of a material guy really. He likes the finer things in life, sure, but there is an idea brewing that may mean more to him.  

It starts small. Things only he would notice. She gifts him a nickname only he can use, in privacy of Ramshackle. When they cook together, even if he is only stirring for now, she motions for him to raise the spoon to taste test it from his hand, not hers. She asks him to fill the waters, and accepts the glass from his hand. She thanks him, tentatively once, she thanks him for helping with the laundry.  

That’s the one that makes him look up, eyes bright as sunlit through leaves. He’s finally catching on.  

She has very little, but she can gift him Trust.  

And so it continues, year after year, until Yuu and Malleus have cultivated a relationship that transcends labels. They love each other, and that’s the only real thing that matters at the end of the day. What they do when they are alone is nobody else’s business but theirs. The only real time it becomes a problem is when the council brings up marriages and heirs, Malleus continuing the line, and those are viable concerns for a king. But he will live far longer than most, and he is not realistically expected to take a Queen and a child until well into his centuries.  

One day, when Yuu is older and established in her own self, when she sees him and feels they are both ready, she pulls him into the gardens of Briar Valley. This is where they hide to have their most private conversations, to escape and keep away from Sebek and Silver just to keep them on their toes, and where secrets are carefully cradled.  

When they stop by the rosebush they planted together, roots dug deep and blossoming its first roses, she knows it’s time.  

Malleus’s face goes slack when she kneels on one knee, one hand reaching to pull her up. She takes the hand, looking up at him.  

“Let me be your First Love,” she asks. “Let me continue to love you and cherish you, in whatever way you will have me. Allow me to set the example of those who will come after me, so you may know what it feels to be loved as Malleus and not only King Malleus of Briar Valley. I know what I ask is not easy,” She pauses, “and that I am human. Allow me to love you to the point of frailty, gentleness and dependability. Allow me to live on in your memory and in your heart, not so I may be forgotten but so my name may be spoken in love after I am gone, as I will whisper yours to death when he comes for me.”  

Yuu bows her head, pressing her forehead to his knuckles. “Allow me to be your First Love, so that I may give you one lifetime of happiness.”  

Malleus drops to his knees, pulling Yuu into their lap. His smile could break storm clouds, his laughter loud as he kisses her forehead and cheeks.  

He does not glance at the ring she slips on his finger, it doesn’t matter. Only that Yuu has asked. Only that his dearest friend is devoted and loyal and oh so lovely.  

“You’ve left me in a bind,” he whispers, “The ring I was preparing for you isn’t ready.”  

“Your promise is enough.” she chuckles, feeling his heartbeat thrum vibrantly.  

It takes weeks for her ring to come in, with a slight alteration added that makes Yuu blush  

My First Love, engraved on the inside of both of them.  

Malleus's wedding ring.

[elvisqueso]

"...Will you go home?" — "Well, it's not like I have much of a home to go back to. I've never really...belonged anywhere."

Pocahontas (1995)

[starcurtain]

1/?

I use an automatic translator, I'm terribly sorry in advance for any possible mistakes!First of all, I want to wholeheartedly thank the author for the excellent analytics of phaedei! It's hard to overestimate how useful this turned out to be for me as a person who is also starting to look at peyring, but wants to find this line between queerbating and queercoding, between real chemistry and potential and just a pragmatic desire to attract an audience "at any cost."

I would like to leave comments on the entire text, but it seems that I need time for the material to settle in my head and I can draw objective conclusions. But for now, I can write my thoughts on the thesis that it is "atypical" for Hoyoverse to portray MLM dynamics outside the heteronormative framework, because I don't quite seem to agree with him.

I can't say that ship with characters who don't have a clear imbalance of canonical feminine/masculine traits is something new and unusual for Hoyo games.The desire to reduce one character to a feminine image and the other to a masculine one is often more a product of fandom activity. In the canon, these qualities could be distributed much more heterogeneously and ambiguously.

Ayato and Thoma have an imbalance of power, but not femininity and masculinity, and many, on the contrary, interpret Ayato as more refined and aristocratic, "with delicate marble skin" and all that, and Thoma as a more down-to-earth person accustomed to rough and dirty physical work (he is not only a "housewife", but also a mercenary and a "problem solver").

Aventurine and Ratio have a size difference, which fandom can interpret as a classic "yaoi" pattern, but at the same time, Aventurine is not canonically more feminine, shows many traits associated in society with masculine and even toxically masculine behavior, and Ratio is more sexualized, wears makeup, monitors hygiene, contains in his lore and name, references to goddesses (the words "veritas" and "ratio" themselves are linguistically feminine) and does not show bright masculine features. Even the way the characters sit in the materials with them is an example that they did not try to position Ratio as a "big rude man", but Aventurine as an elegant twink.

Thank you for such a detailed response to the post! I really appreciate you taking the time to share your thoughts, and I read all the parts of the ask you sent in!

Regarding this point, I'm not sure if it was unfortunately lost in the translations, but I did actually mention this in the original post:

"I don't want to say that Hoyo's track record on this front is bad, because honestly it's not. Their male characters often have surprisingly complex expressions of gender identity, with interesting blends of masculine and feminine traits."

But in the long run... I'm just less concerned with how Hoyo conceived of their characters in totality and more concerned with how audiences are encouraged to perceive those characters, as ultimately, the "gain" Hoyo sees from creating queer characters comes from audiences' interest. I believe the developers are very conscious of how players perceive characters and what consumers want to see from male characters. I think no one knows better how audiences will reduce characters (both male and female) to one dimension than the devs themselves lol.

And so, I just don't think it's accidental that a massive majority of Hoyo's MLM ships can be easily crammed into heteronormative patterns by audiences. Hoyo knows what sells and what fandoms love to do with ship-baited characters, and they provide just enough fuel for the fire to achieve the sales they want. Even while developing decent three-dimensional characters of their own, they invoke the fandom tropes on purpose to sell to their specific target audiences.

Characters like Aventurine and Thoma have masculine traits, yes--but then Hoyo deliberately uses feminine traits to market them, so that fans can apply their stereotypical heteronormativity. There's no reason for Thoma to be a housekeeper as well as a mercenary, right? He could just be employed by the Kamisatos as a "problem-solver" alone, but Hoyo added the housekeeper bit for... what reason? He's only a housekeeper because that allows fans to imagine him in a specific heteronormative role. Almost his entire hangout focused on "feminine" aspects (like knitting sweaters, a cleaning challenge, literal housekeeping classes, etc.) intentionally to make him appeal to fans, who Hoyo knew would then feminize him even further. And Aventurine does have masculine traits, I agree, but one of the core traits Hoyo used to sell him is being "in need of rescue," so that the players can feel like white knights for him and generate entire narratives of Aventurine being "healed" by the love of a big strong man (lol), a stereotypical plot that Hoyo deliberately helped along by making Ratio one of his "saviors."

And even though I said Mydei and Phainon was an exception visually, I think they follow the exact same pattern in terms of personality. The reason there's so much bottom!Mydei in fandom is because the devs have intentionally marketed him to take that role. They didn't have to make him a sweet tooth, have characters in-game call him cute for drinking pink milk juice, have him play house, or make him the one who makes food for everyone. Hoyo invoked the trope of the housewife on purpose to sell him (largely to women, but also deliberately to yaoi fans), and the fandom responds by exacerbating that portrayal even further.

I do applaud Hoyo for creating characters that have depth and can play with gender-related concepts in interesting ways, but I'm not willing to say they're oblivious to how fandoms will perceive, adapt, and reduce those characters to stereotypes.

They know exactly what they're doing when they put out another twink next to a big buff man, I promise. 😂