#even though hes not directly in it

[youhavenoideahowmuchihatethis]

I had a thought about the USO girls being protective of Steve and then I wrote this little thing. Enjoy!

...

“Goddam straps came loose during the song.”

The girls pool into the dressing room, laughing and chattering. Betty fiddles with the collar around her neck until it’s open where it connects in the back. She sighs in relief as she frees her breasts and pulls the pins out of her hair to get the ridiculous hat off, shaking out her red curls. The other girls start to undress as well, all eager to get out of their costumes and into their (slightly) more comfortable clothes. 

“Ya almost flashed the whole audience”, giggles Miriam, a pretty blonde who joined the group very recently.

“Please, imagine how many bonds would sell with these bombs” Betty says cheeky and shimmies her boobs to a song only she could hear. That earns her a few wolf whistles and howling laughter.

“Would have given the old bloke in the first row a heart attack” Ruth cackles. Betty knows exactly who she meant and giggles too. The guy’s eyes almost fell out just from seeing that much leg. 

“Forget the grandpa, Rogers would’ve gone up in flames right then and there on the stage.” Martha throws in, strapping a small watch around her wrist. “He always acts like he’s not seen us change a hundred times.”

“Nah, he’s just one of them catholics, they feel guilty about everythin’.”

“Ain’t that true!” yells a voice from the back of the room that Betty recognizes as Irene’s. When she isn't on stage she wears a simple silver cross around her neck. “I still hear the fucking nuns in my head when I start to enjoy myself.”

“Where is he anyways?” Miriam asks, looking around a bit.

Ruth sighs. “Probably being paraded around like a showpony again, poor fella.” 

“Can’t really blame them when he looks like the American dream with a cherry on top”, Martha says as she checks her makeup and hair in one of the many mirrors along the walls.

“And he’s such a gentleman too”, Miriam adds with a sigh. “You think he already has a dame?” Betty snickers internally. Oh, poor sweet girl.

“Rogers? Nah, he looks like a brick shithouse but he’s real delicate on the inside, if ya know what I mean”, Betty says conspiratorially and winks for good measure. She had already peeled herself out of the costume and currently buttons up her blouse.

“Well yeah, he’s a big softy, I noticed. He still could have a girl. I bet he’s a real romantic.”

Betty stops fiddling with the buttons. And she hesitates. Ruth silently meets her eyes. She could feel Martha looking too, as well as a few other girls who had been listening to the conversation. Miriam doesn’t seem to notice the sudden stillness, just rolling up her stockings  and securing them on her garters.

Well, Betty thought. Better to get it out now than Miriam finding out about it under different circumstances. Her eyes briefly wander over to where Alice is zipping up her dress. Sweet, quiet Alice, who writes letters to her ‘roommate’ almost daily and always seals them with a kiss when she thinks no one is watching her.

“No, I mean… He’s… He’s a man’s man, y’know?” Her voice is a lot quieter now than it was before and heavy with implication. Most of the girls already knew, but you can never know who might be walking by. They all like him. They all like Steve. They helped him get over his stage fright and he is a goddam cheat at every card game they’ve played so far. They all like him a lot.

Miriam's eyes widen when she understands. Her mouth opens and closes a few times, like a fish on land. 

“You mean… he’s one of them homos?” The last part came out in a whisper, the news clearly shocking to her.

Betty squares up her shoulders to appear taller than she is. Her expression turns cold. 

“Now you listen here Miriam, I’m sain’ this once ‘cause you’re young and new to the showbiz, but these people are everywhere and you’re a stage dancer, so you’ll meet a lot. And let me tell you Miriam, these are fine people who live their lives just as you do. They too just want a roof over their head, food on their table and this damn war to end. Who cares who they’re foolin’ around with.”

“But he’s-”

“Been nothing but nice to you, has he not? Was he not such a gentleman? So you’re gonna learn to accept him and those people and if you can’t, it’s you who’ll have to leave, got it?” Somewhere during her speech she had crossed her arms over her chest, giving Miriam a hard look.

Miriam looks at her with huge eyes and then nods.

Betty lets her frown melt away and gives Miriam a tiny smile and a nod back. Beside her she hears someone let out a long breath. It was Ruth.

“Well damn Betty, heart of gold and tongue of steel.”

Betty gives Ruth her biggest grin. “And bombs for tits, don’t you forget it.” She shimmies again and that breaks the serious and heavy air around them as they all laugh at her.

Martha leans in closer, a secret smile on her lips and a mischievous glint in her eye. “But do you think he has a fella?”

“Who knows?” She shrugs, but couldn’t hide the smirk.  “If he doesn’t I’m sure it’s no trouble finding one. I for sure wouldn’t have trouble if I had an ass like that.”

Screaming laughter erupts so loud that Betty is sure you could hear it in the audience.

[butchfalin]

the funniest meltdown ive ever had was in college when i got so overstimulated that i could Not speak, including over text. one of my friends was trying to talk me through it but i was solely using emojis because they were easier than trying to come up with words so he started using primarily emojis as well just to make things feel balanced. this was not the Most effective strategy... until. he tried to ask me "you okay?" but the way he chose to do that was by sending "👉🏼👌🏼❓" and i was so shocked by suddenly being asked if i was dtf that i was like WHAT???? WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY TO ME?????????? and thus was verbal again

[egophiliac]

innocently logging in to look at the Twst schedule for May like

[rileyclaw]

sorry im really into this owlcraft thing and i WILL be making more comics about it

[juniemunie]

If we're not giving up, don't give up wherever you are.

That's a promise.

[hychlorions]

i have some Thoughts on apollo's experiences at gavin law offices. mainly that his boss was a pretentious ass bitch

[hyper-revenge-sio]

I made this and thought maybe someone on here would appreciate it <3

[ghostdrinkssoup]

thinking about how the only reason sunny started reconnecting with the world and realising he deserves love is because kel never gave up on him. even though sunny isolated himself from everyone kel still called him and tried to reach out. and it’s so pivotal it’s literally the key choice that determines whether or not you get the good ending. the path to healing and contentment depends on whether or not you take the hand kel offers you. and sunny learns to forgive himself because he keeps making that choice. he opens the door for kel, and therefore chooses reconciliation and personal growth. it’s why he’s able to save basil in the end. because kel is strong and resilient and kind. because kel is lonely and has grieved in silence for years but still looks for sunny everywhere he goes. because they’re both invisible. because everything that sunny needs, kel has.

kel saved sunny’s life

[emblazons]

WARNING: FFVII spoilers + ship talk—scroll if you want to skip, because I am simply commentating my own gaming experience & not trying to start a war in the comments

-

It’s the way I’m DESPERATELY trying to play FFVII with an openness to Cloud and Aerith because I know it means so much to so many people—and yet even when I go to YouTube and watch alt versions of mandatory scenes I cannot fathom how people are missing the subtext of “Aerith knows and acknowledges Tifa is so much more than Cloud’s friend even as she wants his attention because she doesn’t know if he’s really himself, has been extremely lonely since Zack left + knows somewhere she’s going to die for herself” ☠️

Like I am 3000% for FF ships that have a lot of groundwork but aren’t primary canon, because Square is notorious for building true chemistry between people who are not ever canonically romantic (hello Phoenixflare) but…it’s getting kind of absurd to see how many people are denying the subtext of Aerith as secondary to Tifa solely because they love their ship.

Perfect example: the scene where Aerith goes up on the Nebelheim water tower (a place wholly and entirely tied to Cloud and Tifa’s ongoing relatonship) and asks Cloud about his town…only for us to get this:

As someone who just consumes media generally…the whole subtext of the scene is clearly that Aerith trying to 1) pull Cloud’s actual memories up from the mind muck he’s going through (something she and Tifa both do repeatedly) and 2) remind Cloud of the side of him that inherently has always had a whole ass crush on his childhood best friend to help jog his memory.

Sure, it reads as a cute moment between them if you want that…but if you’re paying attention to the purpose of the scene itself and what’s being said (verbally and subtextually)…it’s astronomically clear this is a Cloud x Tifa recognition delivered to the audience through a Cloud/Aerith moment…and this happens repeatedly ☠️

And then…immediately after having her be upset that she doesn’t have someone the way Cloud has Tifa, and asking to be alone? I…I just. Like it’s so hard to be here in the middle of a war about “optional scenes” when shit that happens to everyone happens just like this 😭

[marshmurmurs]

kara can feel the gods magic doing things, sparklez can feel balance shifting

[accidentallyatekneecaps]

Hey friendly reminder that komaeda nagito is in fact chronically ill/terminally ill

Please stop erasing that!

Please stop saying it was a misdiagnosis in fics or something like that

It's not cool

[rawliverandgoronspice]

behold: my second least favorite string of words in the entirety of Tears of the Kingdom.

(it's a little less transparent why this time so I'll explain my thoughts under the cut)

So why do I not like this?

In so many words: because if you remove it, the scene still works, but you lose the moral certainty of what is going on.

This single sentence does so much legwork for the entire game (the kind I dislike), to the point where I'm about 60% sure it's the product of a rework that realized how ambiguous Rauru's position was as the Good Rightful King and needed to nervously reassure the players that Ganondorf Is and Always Was the Invader, Actually.

(no matter that it leaves the gerudos in this awkward in-between state of both invaders and victims, while never dwelling in the specifics of their history and their own agency in the entire thing; brushed off as a sin they have to expiate through loyalty to the winners of that particular strife, but without explicitely blaming them either to avoid the implications of what that would have looked like)

If you remove it, not only do you lose a pretty clunky line that detracts from Ganondorf's intimidating presence (who is he even speaking to? who needs to hear this right now?) that honestly speaks for itself when it comes to his experience with warfare, but also you lose any tension and any mystery regarding why he is attacking in the first place.

You also... kind of rob Ganondorf's motivations of their meaning. "Hyrule will bow down before me" leads to asking... why? What does he want? What does he see in those lands? And what little we get with Rauru and then Link during the final fight begs more questions; why do you prefer hardship to peace? Why do you value strength? What leads you to want to rule a land devoid of survivors, become a king without a kingdom? I don't think we ever get satisfactory answers. If you remove this sentence, on the other hand... Subtextually, it becomes pretty clear that his motivations is that he felt threatened by Rauru's power, which is ripe with subtext and questions about whether this is a legitimate reaction, whether his "no survivor" stance is due to a feeling of betrayal when his own people turned against him post the Demon King shenanigans... I'm not saying it would fix the entire game's writing, far from it, but it would already do *so much more*.

(genuinely, I think he could have stayed completely silent during the Molduga Assault, speaking only in the Show of Fealty before going completely nuts after Sonia's murder, and it would have worked MUCH better in terms of characterization but anyway anyway

EDIT: ALSO!!! that way he wouldn't speak hylian to fellow gerudos, which is weird inherently)

Without this line, the core of the tension between the gerudos and Hyrule comes front in his conversation with Rauru; it allows the cause of his hostility to be Rauru's invitations, that he would have taken as a threat, and would have still made him warlike and domineering without making him cartoonishly flat, because, once again, Rauru is not acting in a particularly more legitimate way when Zelda arrives in Ancient Hyrule; and it would have been... fair to point that out. And make for better characterization for Rauru, and Sonia, and Mineru, and everybody. But the priority was for Hyrule to be pictured as unquestionably holy; always legitimate, always truthful, always beautiful, always just.

Also, and this is more of a nitpick but: why would Ganondorf want Hyrule, specifically, to bow down before him also? Was he at war with the rest of the disparate tribes before, and just carried on his ambitions to the very very newly-founded kingdom as they allied under a new banner? (though it seems to be implies the lands were crawling under monsters in a generic sense, and not Ganondorf's attacks in particular) Why would he even consider Hyrule a legitimate entity worth taking over then, if it is so new, born from the will of a powerful rival, founded by what is basically a stranger to these lands? Why would he covet something so young instead of destroying it and just calling the lands Gerudo Lands II or Grooseland or something?

I don't think any of that was even accounted for, because, beyond everything else: to me, this sentence is so clearly and painfully crammed in here to shield Hyrule from any potential blame and immediately characterize Ganondorf as Bad without having to remove any of the causes that could lead one to side-eye Rauru's little pet project as equally questionable.

Beyond the clumsiness, it is cowardly --and, I think, a little damning.

[skitskatdacat63]

Fernando Alonso × Unconventional Drinking Implements

[razzle-zazzle]

Hello, hello! Your Between AU has given me endless serotonin so I shall offer you the blood of my enemies as tribute to make more /j

But anyway, I wanna ask, how does the Bergens handle Branch being their "Prince"? Like, obviously, they would be kinda pissed at first, I'd wager, since the person who'll be leading their kingdom is someone they eat each year for a holiday that's been discontinued.

Do they actually respect him at all? I mean, even if they didn't, I doubt they'll do anything in order to not piss off their king who's taken a liking to this gray little goober. Maybe there are a few Bergens who's chill with him (like a certain scullery maid maybe winky face?), but I doubt the majority would accept him at first.

Can't wait to see what else you have in store for this AU! :)

Oh, for sure, the announcement caused a stir at first! Branch didn't even get to make a public appearance right away—the initial announcement was done through paper notices and a town crier only.

But... well, there's a reason that the laws concerning the adoption of other species exists. While they are generally grumpy and view Trolls largely as food, it wasn't as hard for Bergentown to accept Branch as you'd think. Add in the fact that Branch is not only legally considered a Bergen, but also a LOT like a Bergen, and by the time the first movie rolls around he's generally pretty well-liked as a Prince. Oh, there are definitely detractors, but Bergen politics aren't so fractured, and the royal house has a lot of sway.

In the castle itself? Gristle and Branch are practically adored by Bergen standards! Hard for the staff to not care about the Prince who they saw grow up into a King and the Prince who's a) very cute and b) takes being Prince very seriously.

In fact, one of Branch's biggest annoyances is not being taken seriously on account of his size. He works as hard as he does largely because, for all that he knows that his big-little brother trusts and believes in him, he still feels insecure about whether he'll ever be taken seriously as a Prince rather than a pet or oddity.

[radiantmists]

if i were ratthi i think i would be developing a specific complex around being put somewhere 'safe' (which is to say, still risky but not where the murders are actually happening currently) when everyone else is going into danger.

[thatgaywizardoverthere]

Merlin doin highly public and suspicious magic to add some spice to his life in Camelot