#that's good keep thinking that

[rainbowsandwhumperflies]

The Winged Servant - 4

cws: emotional state that's verging on a panic attack, emotional manipulation, discussion of whumpee's death, whumpee trying to stop himself from having any type of preferences, let me know if I missed anything!

masterlist

Everyone here had their own set of rules. Some were easier to follow than others. Her Majesty the Queen was particular about me being graceful, while no one else really cared how I walked. Prince Ryan made sure that I knew every task I was given was for me to finish completely and perfectly, while Prince Cardan found it entertaining to give me two tasks I clearly couldn’t complete at the same time. The separate rules could be confusing sometimes, but generally, they weren’t too hard to figure out.

Jayden’s rules were hard to figure out. Maybe because of the lack of them.

Jayden was the only other servant here. Still higher ranking than me, because he was human, but closer than anyone else. Higher ranking enough that he could’ve treated me like everyone else did—like all I was useful for was servitude. It would only have been fair.

He didn’t treat me like that. He smiled when he saw me and gave me leniency when I made mistakes. Good servants didn’t have likes and dislikes, so of course I didn’t like working with Jayden more than I liked any of my other tasks, but I was incredibly grateful when I did work with him.

Jayden was in charge of making meals for everyone, and I helped with dinner every night. It was my last task before eating dinner and getting any punishment I’d earned during the day. Maybe making dinner wasn’t a difficult job, or maybe Jayden tended to give me the easy parts of it, but either way it was usually the least eventful part of my day.

“Hey, Onyx! Good to see you. Can you start some rice?”

“Yes, sir.” Rice was easy. Rice was put two ingredients in the same pot easy. Rice was I don’t want you doing difficult tasks easy.

Jayden gave me easy tasks and treated me like a human.

Of course, it was better than I deserved, and I really shouldn’t have accepted such kind treatment, but it was… nice.

“Once that’s cooking, start on the dishes, yeah?”

I nodded. Dishes were easy, too, just more time consuming. Jayden didn’t like doing dishes—said that his hands were wrinkled enough from age that he didn’t need them wrinkling more from getting soaked in water all the time. He wasn’t that old—his sixties, I thought—but I liked his wrinkles regardless. His hands were softer than anyone else’s when he patted my shoulder or squeezed my hands. Or maybe his hands were just kinder than anyone else’s.

Dishes were also easy to get lost in. It was a routine—rinse, soap, scrub, rinse, dry, repeat. It was easy for me to do, and easy for me to zone out while doing, because of the repetitive nature of it. Jayden didn’t usually mind when I zoned out, though. He would tap my shoulder if he needed my attention. It was kindness that I was taking advantage of, I was almost certain, but it was nice regardless.

He tapped me on the shoulder today, and I turned, but he wasn’t the one standing behind me.

“Good afternoon, Your Highness,” I mumbled, dropping to my knees and bowing. I was supposed to bow when royalty entered a room, which meant that I was late right now, but Prince Ryan wasn’t supposed to be here. That’s not how the schedule worked. I swallowed around a lump in my throat. “May I assist you with something?”

“Sorry to interrupt. Jayden, you’re finishing dinner on your own, but Onyx will be back to serve it like usual. Onyx, we’re doing your punishments from this morning. C’mon.”

Punishments were supposed to be after dinner. They were always after dinner. I made mistakes throughout the day, and then I was punished for them after dinner, before bed, so that I’d have the opportunity to rest in between punishment and the chores of the next day. Punishments were never-

But Prince Ryan was standing in the kitchen right now, and he had just told me that I was being punished, and I was always supposed to do what the royal family told me to. That rule trumped the others—do what you’re told.

I scrambled to my feet as he walked into the hall, following him to the office. It had hardwood floors, which were easier to get blood off of than the carpeted ones in the bedrooms. If I had to serve dinner while bleeding, I would probably make more mistakes. Prince Ryan knew that. That’s why my schedule was the way it was.

He glanced back at me as we entered the room. “Sit down somewhere. I have a little bit of paperwork to finish filling out, and then we’ll get started.”

Prince Ryan had an entire filing cabinet dedicated to me. Most of it was papers documenting my mistakes and punishments. I’d known that already, but usually he didn’t do it with me here. He said I was more useful doing almost anything besides watching him write things down.

I sat down on the floor next to his chair, trying to keep my posture perfect. He didn’t ever fill out paperwork with me, and he didn’t ever punish me before dinner, and of course I wasn’t supposed to question anything the royal family did but I didn’t understand why everything was so different today. Jayden had been weird too, and Prince Cardan had said that thing about how tonight I was going to-

“Fuck, Onyx, are you crying? I haven’t even touched you yet.”

“My apologies, Your Highness.” I hadn’t realized I was crying, too focused on the discrepancies of the day, but I rubbed at my cheeks immediately, trying to get myself to stop. I wasn’t supposed to cry around other people. It made me look pathetic and attention-seeking. Her Majesty hated it. Prince Ryan tolerated it occasionally, but I still shouldn’t be doing it, especially when he hadn’t even touched me.

“What’s wrong? You’re not usually this…” He looked me up and down. “This pitiful.”

“My apologies.”

“That doesn’t really answer my question. Is it because I’m doing punishments before dinner today?”

“No, I just, I don’t want-” That wasn’t right. Good servants didn’t have wants besides wanting to serve the crown. “Um. I would be, I’d be very grateful to live, Your Highness. Are you killing me tonight?”

He blinked. “No. What?”

“The punishment time was wrong, and, and His Highness Prince Cardan said that I would die tonight.”

Prince Ryan exhaled through his nose, and I flinched at his frustration. “Yeah. He did, you’re right, I forgot about that. Okay. Listen, you understand that you’re supposed to trust the things we say to you, right?”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

“That’s good. I’m glad. You believed him because that’s what you’re supposed to do, and I appreciate that, but the thing about Prince Cardan is that he entertains himself by making my life as difficult as he can. The reason I’m punishing you early tonight is because we have other places to be after dinner, which you weren’t told about because servants like you don’t get to know about these things in advance. Cardan said what he did because he thinks you’ll die, which he’s wrong about. He also thinks it’s funny to watch you worry about things. You're not dying.”

“Thank you for your kindness, Your Highness,” I sniffled.

“Yeah. But you’re not supposed to let this type of thing get under your skin and affect your performance, and this is definitely affecting your performance.”

He was right. He was always right. I was a servant. I needed to focus on completing my duties as a servant, and trust that the royal family had my best interests in mind. Letting myself get stuck on these things would only negatively affect my behavior. “My apologies, Your Highness.”

He stared at me for another moment. “You need to stop crying.”

“I know. My apologies.”

“My mom is- the queen is going to have my head if you’re all sniffly and jumpy like this after dinner. You get the rest of the time it takes me to fill this out, maybe three minutes, and then you need to be able to keep yourself composed.”

“Yes, Your Highness. Thank you.” Three minutes. I breathed as deeply and quietly as I could manage. Three minutes was enough. It would have to be.

~

Taglist: @kaleidoscope-of-thoughts @toyybox

ps: sorry I swear I was going to punish onyx in this chapter but ryan thinks he gets to monologue every time I write him. BUT next chapter's first draft is done, I've just gotta edit it, so onyx will for sure be hurt soon.

[antennatoheaven]

[frankierotwinkdeath]

Y’all want Taylor Swift to be gay so bad but you won’t even write femslash about her

[evercelle]

it was all so simple then

[tawnysoup]

"You never know, you could surprise us all in time. Who’ll ever know if it was you that caused the crime?"

(video lyrics under the cut)

"I heard a word that they paint mirrors on their face And soon forget that they reflect but don’t create.

I suggest that you address your appetite For to be seen to cast your beam across the night."

[bluegiragi]

pervin' on the colonel ❤️

early access + nsfw on patreon

[andstuffsketches]

girl who lives in a cave

[soapbbox]

In regards to the cog-less megs comic: im sure op would be sooo normal and well adjusted if he found out abt that happening/saw him without his cog

I was actually working on another (angst) version of this but you get the funny haha version first :3 Bee and Elita are giving Optimus a 10 minute window before they intervene (they’ve seen OP moping around and are hoping this will help him get some it out of his system. They’ll have to step in at some point or else he probably won’t let go).

Why he’s small here and here

[laughingcatwrites]

As a reminder that good exists out there, a coworker recently confessed to me that he found out his child is questioning their identity (kid's gender redacted for this post). The kid is keeping it from him, so he can't say anything to them or show that he knows, but he's doing his best to get mentally prepared and educated so that he'll be ready whenever his kid does feel comfortable enough come to him.

For context, this guy is a big, bulky middle aged dude who loves sports and typical outdoor "manly" activities. As his coworker and friend, I know he's a kind and sweet teddy bear of a person, but his kid probably views him as a stern, authoritarian figure, the way most teenagers view their parents. His family lives in a conservative area, so I'm sure between that, their dad's looks and interests, and the fact that their dad is a Figure of Authority, the kid is worried that they won't be accepted.

But you know what? When he found out about his kid, the first thing he did was reach out to his closest queer friend and ask for resources for parents of questioning children. His biggest fears are that his kid will be bullied or discriminated against and won't feel comfortable enough to be themself. His second action was to find himself a mentor in another parent who went the same situation (kid coming out in a conservative town). The other person is preparing him for some of the struggles his kid may face and the fights he may need to take on as a parent to make sure his kid is safe and treated well.

Something I want to emphasize for people focused on language as the primary method of allyship is that when we spoke, he used some outdated terms and thoughts about gender and sexuality. That does not make him bad. These were the terms and thinking used about questioning teenagers when he was growing up and he never needed to learn more current ones. But now that he does have that need, he's throwing himself in head first because that's his kid and he's darn well going to make sure that his kid feels welcomed and has a safe place to be themselves even if they never come out to him.

[chloesimaginationthings]

I love the FNAF movie vanny concept so much,,

[mroddmod]

everyone be quiet i'm manifesting

[bean-spring]

Hot take and not to be a killjoy or the shipping police but people treating Viktor or Jinx's aroace headcanons as if they were canon is not the revolutionary take people think it is.

Headcanons are always all right but we have to acknowledge that they are somehow damaging when they apply to stereotypes. It might not be the case for everyone but most of the time people unconsciously assume that disability/mental illness=asexuality. These headcanons erase the freedom of attraction from people who are already seen as unable to have sexual/romantic experiences/desires, when it's completely untrue and harmful.

You can headcanon Viktor and Jinx as aroace, but I have seen people changing their minds once Viktor is no longer disabled (s2 with all of his other forms) and Jinx is no longer as mentally ill (alternate universe Powder). And it speaks wonders of how people see these characters.

"I never thought about Jinx being able to feel romantic/sexual attraction until s2!" To believe she's actually only capable of that when she's not "damaged" is incredibly disturbing. Especially since Jinx has always had a bit of a flirty personality too.

"I've always seen Viktor as asexual, I don't know why!" That's fine. You can headcanon him as ace. But I believe there is a reason behind it, most of the time, if for some inexplicable reason the "vibes" of the disabled character are making you think he's ace.

I say all of this being aroaspec myself, by the way. Headcanon all you want but going to people's posts commenting how "it's weird for you that they have romantic/sexual plots when they're clearly aroace" is not a win at all. It's a headcanon, after all, and it should be treated as such, and that's fine. But it also is damaging to spread stereotypes like these.

Of course the disabled character is asexual. Of course the mentally ill character is aromantic. It's not as revolutionary as you might think, tbh.

Fandom is not activism and it's all right to have any headcanons you want BUT some of them are filled with damaging stuff and perhaps we should look into ourselves more before treating these assumptions as something canon.

[arkangelo-7]

Things Bruce Wayne does at Justice League meetings that 100% confirm the fact that he is a Dad.

Makes attempts at referencing pop culture to try and relate to the younger members. The most memorable instance is when he told Flash to “keep running up that hill.” (Dick laughs for an hour when Wally tells him about it.)

Does the iconic groan/grunt whenever he sits down in his chair. It’s hilarious, but no one is dumb enough to laugh at the Batman.

Ensures that the background music exclusively plays Matchbox 20 and Nirvana. Diana is the only one who enjoys this.

Actively complain about how everyone is “ruining his floor” whenever they push back their chairs.

On that note, he also complains about crumbs getting everywhere whenever someone is snacking.

Will (covertly) ask Clark for grilling tips during breaks. Oliver overhears this once and has to go lay down out of shock, because Batman? Grilling?

Declines requests for new equipment/tools/etc. because they “have that at the Watchtower.” This inevitably leads to complaining from the entire JL.

Always, without fail, will ask Hal if he’s changed the oil in the spacecraft recently. Hal doesn’t know whether to be offended or not.

Randomly interrogates members on if they’ve messed with the Hall of Justice’s thermostat. They have not, in fact, touched the thermostat.

Someone needs to stop me because I literally cannot get the image of Bruce being the Typical Dad (tm) of the Justice League.

[eydilily]

D1 of Hermit a Day May - Impulse! (no glasses ver under the cut)

-`♡´- remember to check out their raffle and fundraiser!

yayy my first hermit a day may! and yes i did go overboard for impulse,,, the next couple ones will be a lot more simple i promise 🙏 hopefully i get through the month!!!

[biggest-gaudiest-patronuses]

i will never understand why more people in their 80s don't commit felonies. you reach that age and surely there's something illegal you always wanted to do but didn't bc Consequences

dammit, GO FORTH GRANNIES!!! rob an armored car! hold up that bank! tunnel your way into fort knox! what are they gonna do, sentence you to 20 years? good fuckin luck with that

[egophiliac]

Final manifestations for Book 7?

I'm trying REALLY hard not to build up any solid expectations, because I wanna go in ~fresh~! they're already so far away from anything I thought would happen (not in a bad way, I'm just accepting that I'm on Miss Yana's Wild Ride at this point and we're seeing this thing through 'til the end, by gum). so it's nothing too major, but:

they've been handing new crying expressions out like candy lately, I want to see some delicious Malleus tears.

honestly I want everyone to cry buckets. their tears sustain me. the more Silver angst specifically I get the happier I am.

SILVER!!!! 👏 VANROUGE!!!! 👏

just let him have this. the poor boy's been through so much. let him have his big "I'm proud of you, son" moment with Lilia.

I'm 100% expecting Grim's arc (and probably whatever's going on with Crowley) to be its own episode, but a nice hook to leave us hanging on would be good!

a nice hook though, please, I don't think I can take another "Grim is attacking us! now wait eight months to find out what happens :)" cliffhanger...

some Meleanor? as a treat? just a little bit, a tiny quick flashback or something, please Twst I just, I just want to see her again. let her have a little ghost cameo like Dawnathan Knight got. Lilia and his kids are all having their big group hug or whatever and she can gently fade in to be all like

(turning asks off until I'm done playing, SEE YOU ON THE OTHER SIDE Y'ALL)