#they're so different in every other aspect but so alike in the ends they would go to save (or avenge) each other

[boltlightning]

🚨this is a weatherby swann respect zone, if you don't respect weatherby swann get the fuck off this world wide web page 🚨

[eveindtub]

i know we're tired by now, but i have one take on only friends characters that i think we might be overlooking because of our own personal attachments (to them AND the actors).

you might have heard before of mirror/parallel characters (if you haven't, i'd recommend the read about it because it's very interesting) and whether it's the writers' purpose or not, i think we have these in the main six.

"Parallel characters, also known as mirror characters, are characters who share many similarities with each other. These similarities can be related to the characters' personalities, backgrounds, or motivations. By having so much in common, they are then able to highlight the differences between their decisions. The characters complement each other while revealing truths about each other that would otherwise have been difficult to spot."

my two cents on who is mirroring who in only friends is:

top - ray

mew - sand

boston - nick

if you leave favouritism at the door and pay real attention to these characters' background and personalities you'll see they're actually very similar, but they're moving on different directions because of, obviously, their different realities, surroundings, etc. what makes us, us.

top and ray are both rich kids with a sad past, and apparently problems with their parents, who ended up turning to drugs as a coping mechanism; both used to getting what they want, when they want and not taking a no for an answer. and funnily enough, maybe that's why they both despise each other (and fell for mew). i think these two are the most obvious mirror and it's what makes funnier to watch how different are the fandom's reactions for their actions every week. they're pretty much the same font, in different notebooks.

mew and sand are also easy to notice: quiet guys that are mostly worried about doing their own things and not messing with anyone's business; both very vocal about their needs and intentions and the only ones who seem to know how to draw and not to cross a line. the fact they end up getting involved with top and ray draws another interesting mirror: we can see two pairs with people that are pretty similar, but with very different routes.

it's almost like saying: hey, look at a&b and now look at c&d - this is what a&b could've been, under these circumstances - with different choices.

for boston and nick, i feel like it's more of a reach, but you can see they also have their similarities or they wouldn't have hit from the start (like let's be for real, that was insanity). i see them as the only ones that could understand each other, to the point that boston might not even think nick bugging his car was creepy (just be pissed bc it was behind his back). but then again, boston wears his insanity proudly while nick is more reserved: still, deep down they're very alike (in nick's own words, he's also nasty).

on another note, we have the public view on all of this: you just don't see them reacting with the same fervor about the similarities of the characters. for example, top has been painted as a red flag for doing things ray has as well - but ray is a lonely guy who needs love and care; not top. meanwhile, sand have been clapped as the most unproblematic character, but mew is definitely plotting something behind his good guy act. on boston and nick, there's just not much discourse even tho boston is pretty much the drama, so i'll leave it at that, but i think we took longer to judge nick for his actions, since he is quieter.

there's a quote that says:

"It is funny how different mirrors reveal different aspects, it must be like people you meet, you get to prefer the ones who show an image of you that you like." — Alain Bremond-Torrent

which i see like: even though these characters are very much alike, people keep picking this or that side because of their own perspectives on life, which don't necessarily means this or that character is in the wrong or is better than the other, but some interpretations have been muddled because of their own traits (or preferences?).

back to my first point, i don't know if the writers intended to make them like this on purpose, but the weekly discourse is showing how the reactions on very sensitive topics are just not the same if you just switch the character (or may i say, the actor?), to what i believe is one of the reasons behind writing mirror characters.

but the conclusion is, none of these characters are blank pages and they all have their wrongs. it doesn't make them villains or protagonists - they're all just parallel lines going through this mess and i wish we, as viewers, could be more impartial when judging those actions. when something is wrong, it is, no matter the one behind it. so let's stop witch-hunting some while patting the head of others.

[ch1llyic3y]

Jily + Everlark

Explaining how their relationships and their characters are similar yet the polar opposite. (Very long)

I'm not a swiftie but Taylor swift references are used to help explain my concept!

It was about time I mixed my favorite ships because honestly, they're so alike, yet so different. And I'd like to share my insight on it.

With the ships themselves, it's hard to even explain the way I feel. It's so complex, they're so complex. Yet so damn simple. It's like loving a flower but it being poisonous. So, it's a shame that you can't have something so breathtaking.

Everlark is often known as star crossed lovers. But I think their trope is truly he fell first, she fell harder. "The star-crossed lovers of district twelve" Two kids. Two teenagers put in a terrible situation with the thought of one outcome. When they thought they had so little time. They took those moments and cherished them to where they felt like an eternity. Because that's what they were told. That's what they thought. They thought the minute they blinked destruction would hit. They were meant for destruction and tragedy. But they got creation and beauty. Something they were not expecting. They were prepared for death. But they got something much worse. Yet much better. They got their happy ending. With a price of no return. That's something not everyone can have. So, they accept it knowing its better than nothing.

Jily is the harry potter ship. Underrated now but it doesn't change the effect they have. They're know with the trope; he fell first, she fell harder. When their true trope is star crossed lovers. Cause even though they were in each other's face with all the time in the world. All this time to make memories. All this time for happiness before their soon destruction. They don't reach for it. They don't grasp it until it's too late because they didn't know. How could they know? They weren't lucky enough for a warning. So, they spent three years avoiding each other. One year of one-sided pursuits. Two years in a friendship, one side yearning for more. And five years unknowingly taking every second for granted. They had so much time but at the same time so little. It felt so small. They wanted a happy ending, but it would've come with the price of losing their child. And as far as prices go that's one that cannot be accepted.

Peeta and James are so similar, yet so very different in the romantic aspect. These boys loved one girl. Their entire life. Never another. There may have been people they dated or looked at or crushed on. But it always came back to that one girl. A girl who wouldn't give them the time of day. In James case he pursued. He tried until he got the answer he wanted, or she pushed him away. Because though he loved her and may never stop. Her respected her wishes and her boundaries. In Peeta's case he loved from the sidelines. He watched and he memorized. He gave her space, because he knew, or well he thought he'd never in a million years cross her mind. And it turned out each of their cases were different. (fanon/headcanon) Lily approached James and asked him out. Right about the time he had given up. Because he felt as he was annoying her. And wasting his time. Peeta went out on live television and (didn't even tell her) flat out said he loved her. Now let's be a little honest. Katniss could've possibly won the hunger games, by herself. Without him. Or (possibly) sponsors. That was Peeta being selfish and James being selfless. Very different for their characters, yet so in character for them.

Katniss and Lily are so different, yet so very similar. Neither of them had love on their mind. They needed no boy except for their best friend who let them down in the long run. Lily knew of James's love for her, and she kept rejecting him until she felt as she should give him a shot, when he was nearly moved on. And that was an act of selfishness. Katniss knew nothing of Peeta's love for her and when she did, she could not reciprocate given the situation they were in. And when she finally was able too. They were looking death in the eye, and she made the choice to sacrifice herself for him. And that was selfless. And to her fandom Lily's selfishness overweighs her many many selfless acts. And Katniss selfless act is ignored and all anyone sees is the girl who selfishly led Peeta on, for her safety. And hating him for a 'situation she put him in.' These two women may not share the situations, but they share similar problems of being treated as supporting roles in their own stories. Simply because their male counterpart is hot. Or wanted in a queer ship. Therefore, fans needing to make them a villain or overlook them.

Taylor references incoming. Get tissues!

Katniss and James are so damn similar it's scary. And pretty damn crazy because she came from nothing, and he came from everything. Now this is where the Taylor swift references come in. They are the archers. Let that sink in, throw your phone, scream in your pillow, play the song on replay and cry. But realize it. Let that shit sink in then let me pay for your therapy. Katniss and James have both been in situations where they have been the 'problem' or they'd caused pain for someone else. But they have also been victims. Overlooked victims. Katniss lost her home, lost her sister, her best friend, her mother, her father, EVERYTHING. But all people can talk about is everlark and how cute they are. This girl is traumatized and you're talking about a relationship right now? James is someone who is seen as a thirst trap and a therapist friend. AND ONLY THAT. They're the therapist friend who jumps to help everyone whilst they suffer in silence. James and Katniss are two people with this fear of abandonment yet lose everyone and everything they love no matter how hard they try to keep it. They're so self-aware. They're so panicky. It's just that Katniss is openly aware, and James is not. Katniss and James are so alone in their own mind that they tell themselves, they have nothing. But they do have something. They have someone. And crazy enough that person they have, that person who sees them. TRULY. Is a person they accidentally overlook.

Lily and Peeta are mirrorballs. It's okay to cry. It's true. It's a sad realization but it is true. These are two characters who work hard for what they earn but are looked at as it was handed to them. Gale and even Katniss at one point looks at Peeta as though he is lucky for the life of a merchant. Though is silently being abused. Lily's sister looks at her as a perfect princess who was handed the life of a witch. Not knowing her sister is suffering. She is hated just for being a muggleborn. So they try. And they try to please people they search for this validation. Peeta joined the wrestling team, but I doubt that's something he wanted to pursue. He was preparing to find a merchant wife though he loved a seam woman. All so his mother wouldn't hate him. Lily searches for academic validation because she feels as though she has something to prove. She has to show not only her parents but her sister and her peers that she earned her spot at Hogwarts, and it was not handed to her. They can easily be forgot in the background. No one talked about Peeta, no one looked for Peeta. Until those interviews came out but even then, no one tried until he did something for them. Lily is rarely in marauders fic even though she is actually canonically their friends and one of their love interests. And she is not talked about unless she's dating James. Peeta and Lily are constantly putting others before themselves and the minute they do something even remotely selfish they're back smacked. You thought Katniss and James were bad? Lily and Peeta suffering and they don't even know it.

[sunfoxfic]

Fixing Sideblogs on Tumblr

As someone who primarily uses sideblogs on Tumblr, I have a lot of feelings about how to fix sideblogs on Tumblr. Mostly I'm making this post because I see a lot of people making suggestions for how to improve the functionality of sideblogs, and in the end I know that doing that would end with a lot of people getting harassed, hurt, or just generally diminishing the function of sideblogs in general. So, without further ado:

Blocking.

Blocking with sideblogs is so bad.

If I want to block someone on my sideblog, I need to go to Tumblr web (NOT mobile, you cannot block from sideblogs on mobile) and manually type the URL into the blocking page. The one exception is that if I block someone who sent an ask to my sideblog (in which case a thing pops up that says "would you like to block them from your main blog too?").

In the end, most of the people I block don't get blocked from my sideblog unless they're actively causing issues by reblogging posts on my sideblog. But I would love to block people from my sideblog automatically.

On the flipside, if you block a user and you end up blocking their sideblog, they can still access your blog from their main (and reblog onto any of their other sideblogs). The potentiality for harassment is way higher for this.

I would start with fixing the block functions. On non-group sideblogs, make it possible to sync your main's blocklist with this blog. And, since Tumblr tracks what mainblogs make what posts on group and non-group sideblogs alike, make it so that User A can't interact with a post made by User B if User B has blocked User A.

Asks and Replies

I do not think you should straight-up be able to send asks or replies from a sideblog. Knowing the state of Tumblr, and specifically how cryptoTERFs operate, that would make harassment a lot easier. What you should be able to do is use your sideblog as "mask" for your main when sending asks and replies. The OP of the post/the person you're asking can see your main, but to anyone else you appear as your sideblog. This may also need to be tweaked, specifically because I can see replies being used to harass people other than the OP of every post, but at least I think it should be implementable into asks.

Liking and Following

As opposed to some people, I... don't think likes need to change at all? They're just bookmarks, and if you really want all the functionality of a mainblog, you probably just need a second main. There's not really anything a like can do that would specifically need to be communicated under a certain blog.

I also don't think following should be done under a second blog, though I do think an AKA option should be added to blogs - you can choose to list other sideblogs (nongroup) that belong to you. Since I use sideblogs as a way to maintain different fandom identities, I may attach my mainblog to my sideblogs but not my sideblogs to my mainblog, if that makes sense. I stress that I think this should be optional - people use sideblogs as a way to keep themselves anonymous/not reveal personal information, and while there needs to be limits to that in order to prevent harassment, that also needs to be respected in order to maintain privacy.

Anyway, TL;DR: Completely disattaching any sideblog from the mainblog that owns it is dangerous and will get people harassed, especially if you can do that with asks and replies. However, people should also be able to use sideblogs more for explicitly social aspects of the website.

[c-rowlesdraws]

Sweet Pea is so nice, how did she get so nice?? Are her parents nice too? Does she have any siblings? Are THEY nice?!? How big is the family and how nice are every one of them please

Why is Sweet Pea so nice? She just is! It's her personality. Her whole clan is pretty chill, overall. They're self-sufficient and live in a nice valley with plenty of natural resources and good hunting, so they don't need to aggressively compete with each other or anyone else. There have been violent conflicts with humans and other outsiders in the past, of course, but none in recent memory.

As for her family... I’ve thought up some aspects of her family and background so far, but let’s see what more I can pull together.

Her clan is made up of about a dozen somewhat-interrelated family groups, so technically her extended family is very large. The gnoll language has a lot of different words for family members, specifying things like birth order and gender, all the way into cousins-of-cousins. But for her immediate family…

Sweet Pea’s dad, Vetch, immigrated into the clan from his own, a common custom for young gnoll men. He naturally entered the social hierarchy at the bottom, but made friends easily, including a well-respected hunter named Red Thorn who fell in love with him and took him for a mate. His birth clan was one of the rare ones with regular peaceful (or, at least, tense but neutral) contact with a human town, and he spoke fluent Common; the couple agreed that teaching their children the language would be useful, so Sweet Pea and her siblings were raised bilingual (with some idiosyncrasies that come with being taught by a non-native speaker).

Sweet Pea has two siblings. Her twin sister, Sweet Thorn, was always the more forceful personality, and bullied her mercilessly as a cub (something gnolls consider healthy for siblings), but as they grew up they became very close. She’s loud and bold and an excellent hunter, and already has cubs of her own; Sweet Pea is thrilled to be an aunt and often helps look after them. Sweet Pea’s younger brother, Clover, is softspoken and thoughtful and apprenticed to the clan storyteller, and the family is very proud of him.

Another notable relative is Sweet Pea’s maternal grandmother. She's the chief elder of the clan, and she’s actually pretty scary—you don’t become a gnoll matriarch by being gentle and polite—but she’s a fair leader to her people. Currently, a human settlement (or something like that— those furless humanoids all look fairly alike) is being built uncomfortably close to the borders of the clan’s territory, but rather than risk lives trying to drive them off, she’s cautiously trying to make some kind of mutually-agreeable trade relationship happen. Most of the clan already speaks at least a little Common, partly thanks to that one weird son-in-law of hers, and times are changing… but she still misses the old days when you could just bite someone’s face off and have that be the end of it.

[becausethathappens]

Will you please write a super angsty fic where Link is freaking out because he thinks the wedding vows he has written aren't good enough and Rhett helps him go over them and make corrections and says they're perfect but also, just says the vows he would say for Link if it was them like it should've been because he's heartbroken and Link can tell but their hands are tied and they don't know what to do so they soldier on without saying a word, but wordlessly communicating lifelong love and misery and everything, maybe comfort as well?

i'm really really sad and i can't shake it off and i really want some good angst and hurt/comfort and i really love you, maura, you're awesome

I don't do unhappy endings, anon. I'm confident you don't either. In fiction or otherwise. So, pardon this if it’s not what you expected.

Please enjoy? This was done a little hastily to share it with you (and I should be writing other things per usual) but I've had a rough week and I want to hopefully make someone smile. (I have way angstier stuff in the drafts and I will be sure to get those out eventually, too.) You’ll feel better soon.  🤞  Thank you! 💞

-———————-

now or forever

4k - Rhett writes Link vows.

If you were my boy, Blue

I’d bathe you in honeys (sp?)

I’d sing write you a love song

I’d shoot you a star**

If you were my boy, Blue

There ain’t nothing in this life I wouldn’t give

From my heart, to my toes, to my fingers, my nose (**)

Whatever it takes just to watch you live 

continue to ‘ ’ grow with you like a vine ‘round a rose 

If you were my boy, Bue

I wouldn’t want you all for myself

There’s no star bright enough to match your lightin’

In sickness, blue, so certainly while we have health

Hand in hand, no longer fightin’

What’s destiny (**)

You and & me

If you were my boy, Blue

I'd marry you

&

Thank God for Rhett. Giving him, delivering him, blessing him with Rhett.

Link is in the middle of a spiral (what he’ll later recognize as a panic attack) when Rhett arrives, the eve of his wedding. Bailing him out of this with pen, paper, and a smile.

Link has always been good at improv.

Though Rhett tended to find the words to start. These were his own vows and Link has been putting time to sit and start them off for weeks. Now that he has to, he’s dumbfounded, despite being deeply in love.

Amidst all the planning and chaos, writing his vows was such a given that Link left it as priority sixty-seven on a list of many more.

Unfortunately, even as busy as they’ve been, that list was shredded with the “who gifted what” tracking sheet (both literally, accidentally, and figuratively) back around the bridal shower and it’s been anarchy ever since.

So he thanks God for Rhett, who’s here, to stop another needless disaster from happening.

That same generous God, however, watches him plagued with thoughts of utter devotion at Rhett’s willingness to drop everything on a weeknight and rush over to help Link find his words.

His lyrics, really, is what Link has in mind. Since they used to write songs together and this felt much the same. He’s been floundering all night and now that Rhett’s here, he knows he’ll at least get what he needs done. Even if it’s not all he wants, right now.

That same God seeks judgment on his every decision or flinch against His will, for any reason, to spite him.

For this reason.

He wants to smush Rhett’s face and kiss him. Deeply. He doesn’t.

Even if there were sometime in the past that he could get away with a platonic smooch, now he can’t. He simply could not prevent that from escalating.

So, he merely tightens his grip on the wrinkled scrap paper in his hand and scrunches his eyes.

“Why can’t it be you up there…” Link bemoans, loudly, in his frustration.

Rhett’s eyes widen, in horror, and Link slams his other hand at his mouth, rolling his eyes. “Not like - I mean - why can’t you go say my lines for me. You’re so much better at this kinda thing.”

“Let me read what you’ve got,” Rhett says.

After some review, Rhett sighs, not unkindly and sits down next to Link. “Let’s just talk through what you’re trying to say because, yeah, this reads like liturgy.”

“Ain’t is supposed to? It’s in a chapel!”

“What do you like about her?” Rhett asks, ignoring his nitpicking. “Christy?” Rhett stares at him, waiting, too upset for Link to chastise but clearly wanting to.

“She’s patient,” Link says, reminded by the similar. Rhett folds over the book to an open page and clicks the pen in his hand, writing that down. “A-And she’s kind. Like considerate, ‘specially with babies and little animals. Sh-She does this thing where she immediately drops to their eye-level to make sure they don’t feel unheard or seen. Probably ‘cause she’s always been so tall…”

Rhett’s still writing.

“Then when I’m sick, she forces me to rest. You know I hate that,” Link says, voice rising a little, at the memory. “But you know I need that. You won’t be the last to make me stop and smell the roses or take a break, once in a while.”

“Her hair, write, her hair - the way it looks in the sunshine. Like warm caramel with flecks of gold. She’s a vision, an angel. Especially when she’s wearing all white, like,” Link says, pausing to point to Rhett’s undershirt and pale grey sweats. “Makes blondes look ethereal-like, always has.”

“Oh, and her voice. Sometimes, the way her accent catches, well, you know she don’t like to sing like us, never has, but when she says certain things, asks a question the right way - it’s music. The way it harmonizes with my answer, reminds me of singing, reminds me of us.”

Rhett keeps writing, quiet, and focused.

After a short time, Link can’t stop and wants to crane over to see what he’s come up with. Rhett hands it over after crossing a final “t” somewhere on the page.

“Those’re good, Link, but I think you need to keep closer to what I wrote, leave out the stuff about me.”

“Stuff about you?” Link asks, having spoken in a stream-of-conscious style, Link forgets most of what he even said

Rhett looks away, shakes his head.

Distracted by the desire to read the rest, Link abandons the lingering questions he has about Rhett’s suggestion and response.

“These are great, man, thanks,” Links says, pushing a soft hand into Rhett’s side.

His eyes scan to the bottom where Rhett’s added a few lines about the journey, the marriage, all the ceremonial aspects of the day for him to close with, but then something more.

Something about him.

Rhett catches him catch it and looks further away. “I know Christy pretty well, too, y’know. Y’all are just alike, in that way. She might need some back-up vows, to have and hold.”

Link reads them.

“You know, just in case.”

Link looks up and tries to laugh.

He doesn’t laugh.

He goes back to reading them.

Rhett shifts uncomfortably, touches the back of his neck, and shuts his eyes.

“Rhett, these ’re…”

“I know, bo, you can forget ‘em,” Rhett excuses, still not meeting Link’s gaze. “You want me to… I can rewrite the others on a different - I can turn the page and write ‘em there so you can just…”

“Hey, hey,” Link interrupts him, mad at Rhett putting down his best friend, and eager to explain his actual thoughts. “Rhett, these are perfect. These are… I’m sad I can’t say anything as nice in return to you.”

Rhett finally looks up to acknowledge that and their gaze heats and lingers.

“Not that I…” Link stutters to clarify. “Y-You’d have to be a - if that’s something that was gonna - you know - if that was gonna work…”

His mind does it’s usual jump to a visual for the worst case scenario depicting the implication he stumbled across. Him out eight grand on the wedding. Not to mention a wife, a family, a future, a faith -

a friend -

Link gulps, pushing that back away, pushing them both forward, in his estimation.

It’s too much to bear to think about for another second. When he glances at Rhett, he can’t get a read on his face what he thinks about it, and that’s scary enough for him to want to abandon the concept altogether.

“Christy’s gonna love them.”

It’s enough, saying his fiancée's name, to ground him again. Enough to make it okay for him to grab Rhett’s palm and squeeze it in thanks, between them.

Rhett’s made his choice to give up on film school.

Link’s made his choice to give up on whatever schoolboy obsession he has with monopolizing all of Rhett’s days and nights. 

He’ll stick to the days or every other weekend, however they can still fit time together, is fine by him. This ceremony, tomorrow, feels as much about his graduation from friend to husband, and all that that entails.

They’re adults.

They both know there’s a lot of sacrifices to be made and this feels like the first time he’s really acknowledging how hard they’re going to be to make. He hopes they’ll still see each other.

He hopes their kids will get along.

He has a lot of hopes.

All of them involve Rhett.

There’s a lot he should write down for when Rhett finds his own bride to wed.

Link notices, suddenly, that Rhett is crying. The same part of him that's nearly broken the headwind of these conflicting emotions turns back to comfort him.

“Hey, don’t cry,” Link soothes, realizing he’s also still holding Rhett’s hand.

“‘M sorry,” Rhett intones, the words bubble up and out of him simultaneously, sounding like water draining in a filled sink. “And the night before your wedding, good Heavens.”

“Hey, I’ve been crying all week,” Link says, waving a hand at the stress that planning a wedding has kept put on him. “Nothing I haven’t seen in the mirror.”

Rhett laughs, rubbing a thumb over his own thigh in a way that brushes upwards against the place Link’s clasping his hand. Link nearly pulls his hand back, thinking Rhett’s trying to get him to sense his want for space, but when he meets his eye it’s clear he’d like nothing less.

“I think I’m just -” Rhett starts to say, trailing off. The light from the lamp on the far coffee table is the only thing on in the room. Link drops his gaze a few inches to try and see more of Rhett’s downturned eyes as he hems and haws. He squeezes their hands together, again, this time clasping it more firmly, still pressing Rhett’s large palm down from above. “I think I’m just a li’l jealous, is all.”

It’s the quietest admission he’s heard from Rhett since he told him he failed their chemistry mid-term in eleventh grade.

Link is also so lost at the innocence of the admission that he can only think of follow-up questions. “Of me?”

Rhett looks at him for a long, long minute and finally, when Link’s gaze remains confused for the whole length of the pause, he shakes his head, no.

Then he waits. 

He waits for Link to realize what he means.

But he’s still waiting when Link, oblivious, moves onward trying to comfort Rhett, instead of understanding him fully.

The tension in the room is palpable as Link talks, but only to Rhett, it seems. Only Rhett pictures air bags being deployed in a car safety video as metal hits cinder block. Only Rhett moves his hand, though it’s all it takes to dislodge them from each other completely.

“I know you’re gonna make an amazing husband some day.” Link is saying.

Rhett’s hand aches where cool air now surrounds it.

“I know your wife is gonna get to hear you say such wonderful things about her.”

Rhett wipes his hand of the misunderstanding on the cotton of his pants.

“I know she’s gonna say the same kind of things about you, when it’s your turn up there.”

Rhett mourns the idea that this would ever be requited.

“I know she’s gonna love you, just as much as I do, so she’ll have plenty to say.”

Rhett looks away, wiping the last of his tears from his eyes. 

 “I’ll make sure she has plenty of ideas where to start.”

Rhett pats Link’s leg, in camaraderie, and nods.

And that’s it. They shoot the shit, they make a plan to meet up at a donut place for the groomsmen’s breakfast to thank them for their help, before the ceremony, and they’ll talk things through if Link’s feeling jittery still. Then Rhett’s gone.

It’s not until the next day at eleven on the dot (everyone has an agenda to follow and every moment is accounted for) that Link understands Rhett’s pain.

His mother straightens his tie and flattens the edges of his suit. “You’ll wanna know I heard Christy looks like an angel in her dress, from the girls upstairs.”

“Those actual angels you been talkin’ to, Sue?” Rhett jokes, where he’s twisting his cummerbund around every so often, bored.

“Very funny, honey,” Sue ribs back. “From the cousins, Beth and Hailee Sue. Remember they’re friends with the hairstylist you got to do the curls for Christy’s hair, today? She was over last night getting Christy ready for bed with how to wash and dry it a special kind of way. They were there, too.”

Link starts to tune her out, since there’s a lot on his mind, but then she says more.

“She says the hairstylist was talking about how jealous she was of Christy, all night, getting to marry you,” Sue relays.

“Oh, mama, please,” Link dismisses. The compliments he’s been getting have felt faker than the toupee on his uncle Bruce. That girl has never even met him. “I’m the only person here people should be jealous of, who would be jealous of Christy,” he says, trailing off, muttering his reasoning as he did. “Marrying a trainwreck like me.”

Link looks up in the mirror where some of his friends continue to mingle in various states of undress. Rhett is already dressed, however, and staring straight at Link like he’s been caught with a hand in a cookie jar.

Link’s about to ask what’s wrong when he remembers his words. Then looks again over the planes of Rhett’s face.

Last night’s words slam back into his mind and Link’s mouth drops open.

The church organ belts out an opening flurry of notes before Canon in D begins playing loudly through the sound system built into the rafters above them. Link looks up to see one of the church staff at the door instructing them to join the bridal party to line-up.

Link’s mom dashes off to where she’s paired with her nephew, Link’s favorite cousin, to be escorted down the aisle.

Rhett sees Link’s face rushing through a wash of emotions from a distance, he nods to the staffer in silent understanding that he’ll handle it, and then they’re alone.

He walks up to Link and takes his hand. He squeezes it.

“Hey, you gotta go. We gotta go. It’s showtime,” Rhett insists.

Link looks around like a bomb went off, since in some ways it did, and he doesn’t know what to do.

Rhett seems to pick up on that. He squeezes Link’s hand again.

“I’ll get over it, Link, it’s okay,” Rhett whispers, on the verge of desperation.

That confirmation is enough to fully shatter Link.

Only for a moment. 

The music continues and Rhett keeps his hand hold.

They are adults. They are in love. They have to marry. 

None of these things can be helped.

“I’m gonna be so jealous of Her, too,” Link whispers back. He squeezes Rhett’s hand one last time, as they part.

They leave.

They walk straight.

They part again.

Until later.

They move houses and cities and states.

They move mountains, inside and out.

They move together.

Much later.

They join again.

They run crooked.

They return.

To one another.

Link has spent years worrying a ring that means too much to too few people.

In the beginning, when he cries himself to sleep at what he thinks has been the mistake of a lifetime, it’s His talisman. It reminds him of the expectations upon this life he’s made.

As the years pass, however, the adherence to the bogeymen of their childhood’s rules wears thin. It starts to strictly represent love and patience.

Sacrifice.

It begins to feel like a burden. A representation of what’s been lost, not what’s been found.

He contemplates taking it off, but believes that to be a betrayal of all that it stands for to the people he stands for. 

Then, one day, (surely mid-spin) he hears Rhett tell a story about wanting to change his ring.

He watches the silver twirl as Rhett explains.

He believes he was rushed into a certain type of marriage and a certain type of life by a certain type of person.

It’s a life that he’s grown to love but the ring represents a union forced by custom and not one that’s grown through devotion. 

His ring reminds him of that too often to be good for him.

Link twists his again at the admission.

So, Rhett’s thinking about replacing the ring.

Link returns home that night in a stupor. He’s sure he said one too many things to Rhett to emphasize how wild it felt to hear him talk about changing rings.

Any memories of that day, their wedding, bring up a rush of emotions that he’s never been good at sorting through.

Today’s admission makes him feel the same spur to make use of idle, betrothed hands he feels when he cleans the fridge.

He wants to clean the slate.

He finds an old DVD copy of their wedding ceremony that he paid to have converted from miniDV some years ago. Now he struggles to find a place to watch that DVD. How quickly time has flown by.

Eventually, he ends up in his son’s room - no one’s home for the remainder of the night but he and Christy - now, he’s sitting on a bean bag, squinting at the game console’s controller trying to get the joysticks to move to “play” on screen.

The ceremony bursts to life and, like it was yesterday, Link’s nerves fizzle awake.

About halfway through the video, Christy finds him like that and sits down next to him in a thwump absorbed mostly by the stuffing of the chair.

They watch themselves smile happily at each other and Christy takes his hand.

“Should I be happy or scared to find you alone watching this on a Saturday night?” she asks, wryly, squeezing his palm.

Link doesn’t know what to say. He’s caught up in Rhett’s bygone script being spoken on screen. Words about Christy and about Link that were not their own, declared loudly in front of the congregation.

“I don’t know,” Link admits, shrugging. He doesn’t. He squeezes her hand back.

“You wanna tell me what’s eating you?”

Link hesitates, but relents. He wants that clean slate, after all. “Rhett’s getting his wedding ring replaced.”

“Replaced?” Christy asks, balking.

“Replaced, yeah,” Link responds, sure he didn’t misspeak.

“With what?” she asks.

“Oh, some new one. Fancy thing, very cool, made of trees or something. Honestly he wears the other one, the slick black one more than his wedding band half the time. He says it feels like the old one? It’s the kind of ring you get in a bauble at a vending machine crank. So, he wants a new one.”

“Jeesh,” Christy says, making a face at the screen. The camera catches Rhett stealing glances at the couple, then at the crowd, beaming at all with unbridled pride.

“Wouldn’t you be mad if I did that?” Link inquires, still baffled at the idea.

“Well, no, but don’t you love your ring? Heirloom and all that,” she says.

Link cringes. “Yeah, yeah. Honestly, I do.”

“So?”

“So, I still kind of want to and I’m not sure what that means.”

They watch the screen together.

“Do you wanna stay married?” she asks, in a small voice.

“Yes,” he breathes out.

There’s a long pause.

“To me?” she asks, her voice even smaller.

“Yes,” he breathes in.

She squeezes his hand, her confidence built back up. She begs him to join her.

“And him?” Christy whispers.

They both look the screen, the lens centered on the two of them, but their gaze is mutually torn to where Rhett stands wiping a tear from his eye at Christy reciting the last of the vows that he wrote her. Wrote him. Wrote them both.

She squeezes his hand again.

“Yes,” he breathes out.

She leans her head on his shoulder.

“You should probably get another ring, then,” she jests. “We shouldn’t have to share everything.”

The slate is clean.

There’s a lot he wants to say to Rhett about it, but just as before, he’s relied on Rhett to give him the right words to say. So, instead of words, he starts wearing Rhett’s ring.

Then, a new one, when he realizes he can match him separate from the other, all told. Have something of Rhett’s, all to himself.

In his unspoken push towards something more, their hands now match along with their steps, as they walk forward.

On the last week in July, they get ice cream at the fifth place that month to mistake them for husbands, but the first one he hears Link crow an affirmative in response.

Rhett waits for him while he triple-tips the cashier (for the guess) and pays for their cones.

“Bad joke,” Rhett says, softly, but firm.

“Who’s kidding?” Link parries back, a smirk dancing it’s way across his lips.

Rhett watches him with a wistful look of disbelief.

“Link, we’re married,” Rhett warns him.

Link shrugs. “I know. I’m just waiting for you to figure that out and minding my ice cream here, all right?”

He’s got a mouthful of vanilla bean and extra cookie crumble, the next second, so his vow ends there.

Later, at home, Rhett startles Jessie awake when he fully realizes Link’s words.

He shakes her awake. He shakes them both awake.

“I’m in love with Link,” he says, like it’s a confession.

She kisses him because so is she. So are most people.

“What’s wrong?” she asks.

Rhett repeats himself.

So does she.

They stare at each other under the cover of silk and moonlight.

“We’re married,” Rhett whispers, touching his hand to hers. Their rings clink, new and shiny.

“Yeah, and so are we,” she whispers back.

They fall asleep smiling.

The next day, Rhett sneaks up behind Link while he’s working and causes him to spill his cup of coffee. He gets the stink eye for only a minute because it’s the same length of time he can stand Link’s grumpy mug before he has to swoop down and kiss him on the lips.

“You figured it out,” Link says, grinning.

“I did,” Rhett chirps as he kisses Link more.

They take a car to their house. It’s filled with their love and the history of it; before, during, and after.

“What’s this?” Link asks, dazed in their post-sex glow, naked and alive.

He spots an old chord book of theirs from last time they wrote music.

“Oh,” Rhett says, bashful. “I came looking for you here this morning, hoping you slept over again, but, uh,” Rhett stalls, looks away and tries to take the songbook from Link’s hand. Link pulls it far enough he can’t reach. “You were already at the job.”

“And?” Link asks, using his spry, sinewy body as an advantage to slink away from the bed out of Rhett’s grip. He still has the book in hand.

“Those are your vows,” Rhett explains.

Link looks down and squints, confused. These aren’t the vows that Christy read at their wedding. He’s seen that video only a few months back and is sure of it.

“Our vows,” Rhett whispers, explaining further, at Link’s puzzled look.

“It’s a love song,” Link notes, marveling at the gesture. What it means to a young version of himself that once felt like they had surely cut out and mourned the possibility of this - all of this - ever happening. To have that thought coexist with the image of a nude, hulking tree trunk of a husband laid before him smiling up adoringly felt panoptic.

“So are you.”

Link begins to cry.

“Play it for me.”

Rhett wipes his cheek.

“Get my guitar.”

They sing twice more that night, always in harmony (not always in lyric), then spend the rest of their lives together doing much the same.

[lunannex]

Character Design of Latinos 

by a Latina who is tired of y'all not doing your research.

—————

First of all, please keep in mind that I don't speak for anyone but myself. You should never stop at just one source of information, and I would honestly really advise you to listen to other Latinos —especially other Latinos of color— to hear their thoughts and perspectives as well. And second, please remember that Latino is not a race! I can't believe I even have to say this, but the term refers to anyone who is from Latin American or who has Latin American heritage or descent and should never be referenced as a race. Alright, now that that's out of the way, let's dive right into it!

—————

People don't seem to realize that Latinos can come in all shapes, colors and sizes. People like Sofia Vergara and Michael Peña shouldn't be your only source of reference when trying to figure out what you want your character to look like. As I mentioned here, Latinos are diverse not just in our cultures but also in our appearances and, contrary to popular belief, we're not a monolith of people that all look alike. Latin Americans, just like every other ethnic group, have an incredible amount of genetic diversity.

Don't believe me? Just look at all these people:

Now, what do they have in common? They're all Latinos. See how they all have different skin tones, facial structures, hair textures and body types? Yeah, they don't look the same to me.

A character's design can reflect their personality and give the audience a good idea of who they are as people. And just as whatever languages a Latino does or doesn't know shouldn't invalidate their identity, neither should their appearance.

The thing about character design when it comes to marginalized groups is that it goes hand-in-hand with all the stereotypes that are constantly perpetuated. 

Why are Afro-Latinos only portrayed as maids, nannies or drug dealers? Why are the Latinos that look like Michael Peña portrayed as violent or lazy? Why are they always the comedic relief, immigrants or people with a lower-class status? Why are the Latinas that look like Sofia Vergara and JLo portrayed as spicy and exotic mistresses? I mean, we obviously know why, but I'm just saying, if that's what you think all Latinos are like then you are in desperate need of a wake up call.

There's this huge misunderstanding of the Latino identity. The misconception that we all have the same tanned skin tone, the same facial structures, body types, hair textures, personalities, etc. when that's...really not the case. Society has taught a lot of people that if our appearances don't fit in with this unrealistic ideal they have of us, our identities are therefore invalidated. And this misconception causes Black, Indigenous and Mixed Latinos to be underrepresented or entirely dismissed in media and society in general more often than not. 

I want to add that while white Latinos' identities do get invalidated from time to time as well —I say this because one of my best friends is a white Latino but since he's, well, white, some people don't seem to believe him and just seem to think that he's joking—, it's not nearly to the same extent as the types of Latinos that I mentioned beforehand do. White Latinos still hold a lot of privilege in society despite this.

Also just an important note that you should keep in mind and take into consideration: just because a Latino is white doesn't mean that they don't or can't have features that are more frequently associated with their ethnicity.

It's alright to portray light-skinned Latinos. Like I said, we're very diverse. But you have to question your reason for making the character have that skin color. Remember, you are the creator. You're the one in control of all these decisions and if all of your characters are portrayed as light-skinned people then you really have to take a step back and reevaluate your decisions because that right there sounds a lot like colorism. 

When you say you want more Latino representation, you should be referring to all kinds of Latinos. You shouldn't just mean the ones that you and the rest of society consider acceptable. And no, it's not exactly your responsibility to create diverse characters, but if you're preaching about diversity and sitting on your high horse then I sure do hope that you're willing to actually do something about it. Performative activism is harmful and, at the end of the day, does absolutely nothing if you're not willing to put the work into it.

Additionally, don't be afraid of implementing aspects of their culture into their design. Let them be proud of their culture, let them engage in it. However! Please don't take this as an excuse to center their entire personality around their culture. You may think you're doing something when, really, you aren't. You're just feeding into all the harmful stereotypes and not making any actual effort to add real depth to your character (looking at all the people that make celebrating Día de los Muertos, eating tacos, and liking "Gasolina" and "Despacito" their character's only defining personality traits).

Personally, I would love to see more of the following:

• A thin-lipped and curly-haired Latina.

• A Latino with freckles. This one may seem strange but most of the time I just see Latinos with moles, not that there's anything wrong with that (I have a lot of them myself), but it'd be nice to see some variation.

• For a Latina to be considered beautiful without being fetishized and objectified.

• A Latino who doesn't fit the "sexy macho" stereotype to be considered desirable.

• More LGBTQ+ Latinos, especially ones who are POC.

• Black, Indigenous, Asian and Mixed Latinos.

• Disabled Latinos.

• Jewish Latinos.

• Muslim Latinos.

• Latinos with different body types.

• Soft-spoken Latinos.

• Successful Latinos who are well-off.

• Latinos who are allowed to be emotionally vulnerable.

• Latinos with complex storylines and realistic flaws.

• Latinos at the center of the story instead of just existing in the background for the sake of "diversity".

• Just more positive and diverse representation overall.

There's not enough positive portrayals out there of us, and it's exhausting having to sit back and watch as my people get portrayed so negatively. Am I saying that there's no good representation out there for us? No, there absolutely is good representation (ex. In The Heights, On My Block, One Day at a Time, Coco, Miles Morales, Luz Noceda from The Owl House, the Molina family from Julie and the Phantoms, etc.), but that doesn't take away from the fact that a lot of the representation that we have throughout all types of media is, for a lack of better word, bad.

And you can't just say, "Oh, but at least you have representation, can't you be at least a little grateful? Why are you complaining so much?" because you don't get to decide what people are and aren't allowed to be upset about. Despite the positive representation that exists out there, it tends to be overshadowed seeing as a lot of people still view us through this negative lense that they've consistently been told to believe is true when it's really not.

All types of Latinos deserve to be represented in a positive light. So make sure the character you're portraying feels like an actual person as opposed to an offensive one-dimensional caricature because sometimes having bad representation is worse than having no representation at all.

[punkscowardschampions]

Ava & Grace

Ava: Hey Grace: 👋 Ava: How'd it go with gym boy? Grace: 🤞 he's got the hint 👻 Ava: That good, huh Ava: how about the rest, you know, not boys? Grace: we so aren't here to talk about me Ava: Come on Ava: Give me some normal conversation right now Grace: !!!!!!!!! Grace: 100% not gonna be that bitch, talk to ME about what's going on in your oh so dramatic life! Grace: are you okay? Ava: Okay, okay Ava: I'll just come out with it Ava: no sugarcoating Grace: Duh 🚫🍫🍬🍭 Grace: it's not a cheat day Ava: 🤫🤫🤫 Ava: You wanna hear this hot, hot tea or nah Grace: obvs Ava: You'll be the least surprised so there's that Grace: 🚫😱😱😱 Ava: You know when you came here and then married guy couldn't come and then everything fizzled out? Ava: well, it actually did, for nearly a month Ava: but then he came back Grace: OMG Grace: it's literally the MOST 💖📽🎞 like FORGET before Ava: It really was Ava: remember when I got hit by that cyclist? Grace: that was so wild! OH was he the 🚴??? Ava: 😂 Ava: Imagine Grace: your otp Ava: But no, my parents were out of town Ava: and he came to the hospital, to make sure I was okay Ava: and he took me home and looked after me Grace: I'm like about to cry???!!! that's so Grace: 😍😍 Ava: Me too Ava: and of course, I had to go on Holiday like immediately after so that was shit but since then we've been talking and Ava: he's divorcing his wife Grace: I TOLD YOU HE WAS PURE Ava: I know Ava: and I'm sorry I had to kinda lie to you Ava: but I accidentally let slip I had talked to you and he freaked and that's why he first left so Grace: Oh please, if I filmed a storytime about this ALL the comments would be calling me out as #fake Grace: I get it Ava: It does sound pretty unbelievable Ava: even more so if I actually tell you who he is Grace: are you GOING TO???!! 😱😱😱 Ava: May as well, I've had to tell Nancy Ava: Parents and Buster to go Grace: Ugh! so sorry babes Ava: I couldn't tell you before 'cos they kinda know him Ava: knew him Ava: he was one of Buster's friends from School Ava: and his crazy wife is the main girl who bullied Nancy so Ava: that was fun Grace: Really?! wtf Grace: Chelsea is like Grace: so weirdly small Ava: That's why we call 'em villages, even though you're in a big city, the actual communities are ridiculously close-knit, for better and worse Ava: oh and Ava: make it weirder still Ava: you remember that boy from my party, Teddy? Grace: UM obvs I never forget a 💋 Ava: Well, that's his brother Grace: !!!!!!!!!!!!! Grace: do they look alike cos 🧸 is 😍😍 like 🙏🙏 Ava: Kinda Ava: [sends a cute photo he would've been able to send to the fake profile] Grace: oh Grace: my Grace: god Ava: I know Ava: 😩😍 Grace: did he edit his 👀??! I'm so shook 💙 Ava: No, I've seen them up close Ava: they're actually that unreal Grace: I can't even Ava: Guess what Grace: ?? Ava: He said he loves me Grace: NO WAY Grace: 😭😭😭😭 Ava: I know, I know Ava: I can't even Grace: so are you like a thing™ now? Ava: Yeah Ava: that's why I'm telling everyone Grace: Your parents are gonna be so Ava: Ugh Ava: it's going to be a whole thing Ava: with all of them Grace: mhhmmm Grace: like I feel like I know the answer but how did Nancy take it?? Ava: She just Ava: does my head in at the best of times and this was no exception, sadly Grace: at least Buster can't be telling ANYONE how to live their lives Grace: especially 😍💖 Ava: Watch him try though Ava: I'm expecting it though, they'll have to get over it on their own time Grace: 🙄 Grace: I feel that, Ri always thinks she can tell me something Ava: It's so Grace: IKR Grace: full offense babes I'm gonna listen to Janis before you & like no Ava: It's gonna be hellish but they can't do anything about it Grace: 🙏💜🤞 Ava: unless they do in which case bye and feel free to go through my wardrobe 🤷 Grace: duh Grace: but watch me also take your man Ava: 😏 cheek Grace: my crazy would look 😇 next to his ex's Grace: love that for me Ava: 'Til I haunt you crazier Grace: so scared obvs Ava: 😒 Ava: I only just got him, you can't be stealing him Grace: so sorry but like gotta get the full set on that fam now Ava: You better 🙏 my parents take it that personal Grace: 😇🙏💜 Grace: Jesus is totally my bae so Ava: and God's favourite son Ava: leave mine alone 😉 Grace: 😂😂 Ava: So you're not mad at me now, yeah? Grace: lowkey 💔 but not mad Ava: awh please Grace: ILY bitch you know it Ava: ily too 💙 Grace: & now I don't have to 👻💔 his brother so Grace: no way he'll be hitting me up after this Ava: Oh yeah, you're welcome for doing your dirtywork Grace: 💜😂💜 Ava: Has he hit you up then? 👀 Grace: 🤐🤐🤐 Ava: After I just poured my heart out? Ava: Rudeness Grace: you're in a 📽🎞💖 I'm in a 📽🎞😱 starring my crazy Ava: Girl, please Grace: I'm so serious Grace: & so over it Ava: You're not crazy Grace: I'm not not Grace: ask gym boy, but like don't Ava: I'm not gonna sleuth on you, don't worry Grace: if you had you'd see 🧸 on my pics hitting the 💜 Ava: Cute Ava: he must like you or he'd air you Ava: it's not unheard of Grace: like I said, thanks for putting that work in for me babes Ava: 😒 why not talk to him Ava: you don't have to see him 24/7 Grace: well duh I'm not about to move in with you Grace: but that's not why I can't Ava: ? Grace: he's like Grace: & I'm like Grace: It's not gonna be a thing Ava: You can't be friends? Grace: 😂😂 no Grace: that's as terrifying OMG Ava: 🙄 he is NOT scary Ava: though he is gonna hate me now probably so loyalties Grace: UM yeah he is Grace: he's nice & so I'm scared of him Grace: @ gym boy too Ava: 🤔 Grace: ugh whatever Ava: You're a nice person, you should hang with other nice people Grace: 🙄🙄 Grace: I've got friends he doesn't need to be one Ava: Okay Ava: not my otp, not gonna push that hard Grace: or ours its fine Grace: he won't be 😭😭😭 Ava: 'Course Ava: gonna have bigger problems to deal with, lbr Ava: 😬 Grace: yeah exactly Grace: maybe we can bond when the wife murders you but like Grace: black isn't my fave tbh can't 🤞 I'll serve my best look Ava: Funny 😏 Ava: she's actually 'out of the country' rn so you should probably watch your back 🔪🔪 Grace: you're so not gonna come visit me now you're 😍😍😍 are you? Grace: are you even doing holiday 2? Ava: time is getting away from us Ava: summer holiday standard Ava: it lowkey has not been organized so god knows now, I wouldn't be mad if it didn't but I wouldn't not go, I guess Grace: depends how they take your homewrecker status Ava: Yep, cheers 👍 Grace: people are shady Ava: Sure Ava: but my actual friend friends will know what's up Ava: everyone else chats about us anyway Grace: true Grace: shoutout to the fam for that one Ava: at least this one is something I actually did so Ava: oh well Grace: anyone who has a clue about his ex will know it's not even you Grace: like sorry hun you killed that 💍 yourself Ava: I'm not too fussed, it's my last year 💁 Grace: #priorities Ava: Exactly Grace: still so triggered by the idea of going back though thanks Grace: school is the WORST Ava: tell me about it Ava: won't miss that place Ava: Chelsea in general moreso but it isn't like I'll be a million miles away Grace: unlike me always a ✈ away Ava: Do you reckon you'll stay in Dublin? Grace: I guess Grace: where else would I go? Ava: You aren't going to make like Billie and Nancy and bounce then? Grace: being a or sleeping with models isn't very likely for me, babes Ava: Models are usually weird looking anyways Ava: oops accidental shade at your sister 🙊 Ava: don't tell Grace: thanks? I think Grace: shade her all you want, I'm about it Ava: How many times have you seen her kid? Grace: Like none Grace: we might get christmas but Ava: this family is messy Ava: watch me get lectured like it ain't Grace: preach Grace: maybe I shouldn't stay here Ava: you could stay or go wherever Ava: everywhere needs beauticians Grace: not Chelsea though, I'd run into your boyfriend's wife Grace: obvs can't escape anyone there Ava: 😂 truly Ava: I don't wanna be far away from the fam Ava: cracked as they are Ava: but that's just me Ava: I guess it isn't automatically selfish to move yourself halfway 'cross the globe hmm Grace: same though, I even miss Junie & like ?? why Grace: never saw him when we lived in the same house Ava: yeah Ava: that whole situation still fucks me off I Ava: idk Ava: I know it's not the kid's fault but I can barely even look at pictures of her Grace: Ri never should've done it Grace: like he didn't need a kid that bad Grace: obvs he didn't actually need one at all but nobody NEEDS one Ava: If they'd been together any amount of time Ava: Junior wasn't 20 fucking years old Ava: it was really stupid Ava: Buster said but oh well Grace: Demi is so Grace: I can't Ava: This family can't seem to help but add more fucked up people into its sphere Ava: like Ro hadn't just brought Drew back, AGAIN Grace: Getting pregnant by accident is one thing, like it's stupid but okay Grace: they planned that Ava: This family has way too many baby hangups dating back to nan Ava: can't blame her for all of this but break the cycle, someone, damn Grace: literally had my contraception on 🔒 since I was 13 thank you Ava: 'Accident' is some bullshit 9/10 times tbh Ava: you knew it was a matter of time, even if you don't know you knew it Grace: @ my mum & dad so hard Ava: and mine, they say the twins were an accident but they probably would've broke up if they hadn't have had them at that time so Grace: mhmmm Ava: ugh Ava: I'm just heated knowing how hard I'm gonna have to defend this Ava: like I've got myself pregnant Grace: don't even joke, she trapped that poor boy so hard like Ava: seriously, he probably never wants kids again Ava: not that I've asked because it's been like a month or so and I'm not psychotic, thanks Grace: do you? not now obvs Ava: I don't know Ava: like, don't tell my mother but I don't actually meticulously plan every aspect of my life Ava: if I ended up at a place and time in my life where it felt right, I could see it Ava: but if I ended up living a different life where they wouldn't fit, I wouldn't and I wouldn't be 💔 about that Grace: 😂🤐 Ava: Do you? Grace: girl, I'm too freaked out to let a boy date me, I don't think it's gonna happen Ava: you won't be 16 forever Ava: and if Ro can manage it Ava: your mum and Drew are probably the only people to see her vaguely undressed in her life Grace: idk sometimes it's all I want & sometimes it's the WORST thing I could think of Ava: I get that Ava: I don't think its a thing you can overthink, 'cos it's not usually right or wrong Ava: so people just do it and have to deal, better or worse Grace: Yeah Grace: maybe I'll get like that with dating Grace: or you know, get so lonely that I won't care that people always leave Ava: 😔 Ava: You'll get there, whether there is living your best life with or without Ava: I'm defs getting left after this fiasco so I'll come 😭 to you in a few no doubt Ava: we're walking Frank rn, so gonna enjoy this whilst it lasts 👌🥰 Grace: UM no! He LOVES you remember, you'll come at me with your 😍 more like Ava: 🤞🤞 Grace: 🙏💜

[twitchesandstitches]

When it comes to this "thicc crossover AU", will the girls from Monster Musume be there too? What about digimon since they're interdimentional beings (and in a scrapped script for Adventure02 they were supposed to arrive from space) or maybe humanized version of the Godzilla kaijus? (Ghidorah, Gigan, Megalon, SpaceGodzilla and many others either comes from space or have been in space.) Or what about Rayman, Warcraft or Skyrim?

The answer to all of these is a BIG RESOUNDING YES.The first relevant detail is that in the thicc crossover AU, ya gotta be sure whether it refers to membership in the MILF fleet or not; they’re a large group, but they don’t comprise every group in everything, ever, that i personally happen to like! They may be part of other factions, antagonist or otherwise, or be people they meet along the way, or groups with their own agendas, doing their own thing.

Additionally, I lean towards some things where I don’t much care for groups in general or know much abou the canon, but i find species really interesting, and in which case, those species form large amounts of background characters; different factions might have a lot of monster girls, orks, or elves or Digimon somewhere in the background. So even if specific characters aren’t mentioned, the species certainly are there somewhere.

Monster Musume - In this case, the monster people of Monster Musume are explicitly the same kind of beings as the monsters of Undertale, and are either a seperate sub-group tha tsplit off from an analogue to the kingdom of Asgore a long time ago, or have attempted to coexist with humans, possibly in various dangerous environments where they protect humans in exchange for the humans being their lovers to reproduce the monster girls. I have an AU of Monster Musume with a MILF vibe, where the monster gals of canon are notably older than Kimihito and protect him, and the idea of a polyamorous relationship is set up from the beginning. They’re also much bigger than in canon, with even Papi dwarfing a human (and being a major shortstack, to boot), and far more monstrous and inhuman in appearance, leaning more towards the ‘monster’ part of the equation.

As Undertale-style monsters, these gals are effectively masses of living magic, perhaps being species that in the AU taken on a form that has some weight in the collective consciousness; hence, monster girls adopting forms similar to human mythological concepts. They are thus vulnerable to raw hatred, but are enormously powerful, not to mention curvaceous. But that goes without saying in this AU. Assume that the monsters in general are huge, towering over humans by several times.

My interest in the series is limited to mostly liking the fan art, that slice of life monster girl series that preceded it, reading a few chapters, and liking minor character like Cathyl and Tionishia. Consequently, most of the characters of significance are not part of the MILF fleet, though they may be part of associated groups that could merge with them over time or are considered cousin fleets. They’d likely be allies, but not part of the core group? Tionishia would be an exception, and definitely part of the main group. If you like, I can go into more detail about how the monster girls differ from canon, in their size and monstery looks.

Digimon: an interesting case! Digimon was one of my biggest and first true fandoms (alongside Transformers, Gargoyles and similar series, which may explain why i love nonhuman protags so much), so of course they gotta be in here somewhere. In this case, I’m drawing a bit on the old notion of Cyberspace that was used a lot in Digimon, and while I’ve mentioned this before, it bears repeating.

The Digital World here is effectively the old concept of cyberspace as its own realm; all data and information takes on a life of its own, and the Digimon are self-aware emanations of this realm, effectively AIs with inherent power that may or may not be magic-ish in nature. Mostly the tone is inspired by the original Digimon world, with aspects from the first two seasons and Tamers: Digimon are effectively immortal, having a symbiotic relationship with the mortal planes; cyberspace is basically born in individual servers, and may take on its own life if those servers ceased to function, but it would be a chaotic and distressed life.

All Digimon that are canon, and plenty that aren’t, can be in the AU as background characters, with a few rules. Firstly, Digimon normally do not enter into the physical world on their own, existing mostly within the realms of cyberspace. They can slot into mechanical bodies or upload themselves into robots and operate them, but they don’t have any special powers; however, they do have access to a lot of computing power, and serve as the dedicated AI networks of the fleet’s ships, maintaining things for everyone, regarding it as diving into a strange and alien world.

Digievolution levels might be based on an individual Digimon’s complexity, and most spend their time in Rookie or Champion levels, stabilizing there; they can digivolve into stronger forms, but this doesn’t often last long, and as they weaken, they will enter weaker forms until they hit Baby and In-Training, and then must recuperate. ADditionally, they are becoming less complex as they devolve, and find the experience unpleasant, like losing bits of your mind for a while. (if you’re familiar with eclipse phase, they are basically infomorphs.)

Some Digimon can assume hyper curvy monster girl forms, if it pleases their aesthetics. Rarely, they can directly materailize into the physical realm, though this often requires a partner to help them, and its often a revolving set of different people they happen to be friends with. Common Digimon include Guilmon and Tentomon, and canon characters, including Digimon, are present throughout the AU in the different factions, though fairly different from canon; Digi-Destined is not a relevant thing here. They might be technicians working closely with the Digimon or explorers into the data realms, though.

Godzilla: I’m also including Gamera here. And yes, it’s very possible! In this AU, the kaiju of Godzilla and similar series are all canon, and are explicitly divine entities that embody concepts predating humanity. They are god-like figures that don’t hate humans, and at worst are indifferent to them, perhaps embodying the need to achieve symbiosis with the world rather than attempting to dominate it (and the hubris to follow). The ‘Good Kaiju’, such as Godzilla and their followers, may regard humans with vague interest, such as one might give to ants that spell out your name, and don’t mean them harm. They are likely worshiped across the cosmos, and have no direct link to the fleet; Godzilla or GAmera might have some connection to the fleet, but it may be as incredibly potent summons they might put enormous effort into calling forth… and since this involves being pregnant with the being in question before they are ready to materialize, this is a heavy duty. The kaiju might then take on some of the summoner’s characteristics, and take a shine to them.

The malicious monsetrs, such as Ghidorah, are spare-faring agents of raw destruction, gods of annihilation that wipe away all they see, perhaps as primordial architects of the mysterious cataclysm… or involved in it in some way, in the same way that the ocean is involved in the sinking of Atlantis. It didn’t cause it, but it certainly ended the continent all the same. They can also be hyper curvaceous and giantesses, as that seems to be an aspect of enough magic power in this AU? The villains might pregnancy-summon them in a fashion. Possibly the Cobalts have a kaiju or two in their repertoire, but it would have to be one that is sufficiently mild. Or it might be something like Destroyah, a hyper curvy monster girl in their hands, that has been tamed and soothed by their attention. She’s something like their kraken now, or even toes their flagship while slumbering, awakening only when they want something to feed her bloodlust?

Rayman: I can see Rayman being it’s own world/demiplane within the realms of magic, Rayman himself as a kind of protector golem (which is sorta canon) and the fairies as magical lords over their world, with the world itself as their domain. Of these, Edith Up is likely to be the most relevant because have you seen her, she is ADORABLE. The Razorbeard Pirates can certainly make suitable space pirate antagonists, perhaps as part of a criminal organization that tends towards more malicious deeds than suits the like of the Cobalts.

Warcraft: The Blizzard franchises are all looped together here, Warcraft, Overwatch, Diablo and the other Heroes of The Storm games are part of a complicated network of alliances, rivalries and foes right by a particuarlly nasty magic rift where all kinds of power leaks from across the planes. Celetials and fiends can emerge here, embodiments of justice and evil alike, and have orchestrated terrible wars and conflict, and so the events of Warcraft may have happened in such a fashion; orcs (or orks) were manipulated by demons that are efffectively the Burning Legion but with a more Diablo aspect into war against the Alliance (a faction of humans, human relations, eldar, and others, all tightly tied to magic more than other spacefaring human societies) in a desperate hunt for a new homeland. Thrall emerged as per canon, rising up and uniting the dispossed into a true Horde looking out for each other, and is heading a tentative alliance between the various good-ish forces against the literal demons from Hell, including the Starcraft, Overwatch and other Blizzard properties.

Name a Horde race, and it likely has denizens aboard the fleet, as well as the other factions present. Something similar would apply for the other factions throughout. Named characters are trickier, since I don’t know much about them in general; the united group of Heroes of the Storm are likely their own entity, and big enough to serve as a proper sci fi fleet that can stop demons and monsters from escaping that area of space, and may regard it as their duty to protect the rest of the multiverse from letting those things get loose. Alextrasza, however, is an exception; I’ve read about her and cool badass dragon mom who is kind to all beings and once swallowed a bad guy whole, WHY DID NO ONE TELL ME ABOUT HER SOONER. She is definitely on the fleet, but in what capacity I’m not sure.

Skyrim: The Elder Scrolls setting is likely a lage expanse of space, heavily influenced with raw magical energy, but considering the weirdness of the original setting, it might also do as a demi-plane within the magical realms. In any case, the gods and daedra are likely to be worshiped throughout the multiverse. Malacath might have some vague approval of the milf fleet, while Molog Baal is a major antagonist because he FUCKING DESERVES IT THE ASSHOLE. Possibly some of the mightiest fleet moms are plotting to devour him and take his power for their own, or the goddesses associated with the fleet are deliberately scheming to do just that. Sanguine, in contrast, is probably backing the Cobalts for the fun of it.

The races in the Elder Scrolls can make up a wide variety of background characters throughout the cosmos; in general, assume that if you’re talking about actual elf ethnic background, think in terms of Elder Scrolls, with different elf types as more cultural or faction-themed. Dunmer are very common, and make up most of the eldar on the MILF fleet, for instance. The orsimer are orks,with a greater emphasis on martial honor and ferocity, and may be magically altered by a connection to Malacath specifically; perhaps descended from orks thatt revered him and took his essence into themselves. The Cobalts might have Snow Elves and Aldmer as a lot of the elves on their group due to them moving in the areas where those elves have settled over the eons. Argonians are also pretty common in the fleet!

The Empire is known as the Cyrodillic Imperium, and has way more influences from the real life inspirations of the different cultures in the Elder Scrolls to fit a more diverse, old society like a proper space opera should have, and the Aldmeri Dominion is probably the asshole elves you expect.

I’m not sure how to handle the specific characters, but some examples: update the Skyrim Civil War o be a cosmic battle, with the Stormcloaks as a rebel fleet with Ulfric as a somewhat sympathetic warlord. He might be an antagonist, but not one with morals opposed to the fleet; he’s just a human-centric ruler with little interest for others that aren’t ‘his people’. The dragons in general, especially Alduin, would be way more eldritch horror here, with optional hyper busty monster girl forms. With an element of kaiju; they’re probably big enough to wreck starships and can exist in space.