#but it's like oh you silly goose they have valid reasons to not trust you

[the-journey-was-the-point]

"Blood Cookie"

(Title is a play on the term "blood money")

My second fic with underworld Linnéa, and a sort of counterpart to the previous one! If that one was more serious, this one is more lighthearted in tone. Linnéa is always so stoic when I write her, so it was nice to let her be cheeky here!

I would also like to thank fantasy name generator for helping me come up with Ranger names on the fly XD

Summary: POV you're a Ranger-in-training and you meet a nice lady at the apothecary whom your senior doesn't like for some reason. Relationships: Linnéa & Rangers (this time with names!)

Nellriel met up with a senior member of the Dúnedain just outside of Combe. Calethor, whom she was tasked to shadow for the day, gave her the briefing as they entered the town gates. 

“We’re going to be around some dangerous folk,” he said with a surly countenance. “So don’t touch anything. Let me do the talking. And don’t take anything from anyone. Even if it’s offered.”

Nellriel took in his advice and steeled herself to deal with danger. She clenched her fists and put on her game face as they turned the corner and entered an… apothecary? 

She was expecting a smoky bar full of dart-throwing ruffians, not a neat and organized shop that sold medicine. Her eyes scanned the rows of glass bottles on the shelf. There were poultices and syrups and the air was fragrant with the smell of herbs.

“Stay here.” Calethor instructed, breaking Nellriel out of her distracted thoughts. She watched as the older Ranger brusquely followed a gruff-looking man into a back room. She was left alone with an old man, and a younger woman with blonde hair and blood-red lips, both of whom were quietly at work.

To Nellriel’s credit, she stood at attention for the first five or so minutes. After a while, her mind began to wander. 

“You're new,” said a voice. Nellriel looked to the one who had spoken: the woman, who was now balancing dried herbs on a weighing scale.

Though Nellriel was told not to speak to anyone, she felt she didn’t want to be rude. “Beg your pardon?”

“You're a new Ranger,” the woman repeated. “I haven't seen your face before.” 

“Yes. I mean-- I'm still in-training. I hope to become a full-fledged member soon.”

The woman transferred the herbs to a dish and muttered something to the old man about fevers and colds. “And they sent you out here today?” she asked Nellriel, addressing her once more. 

The Ranger-in-training bristled. “Yes. Why?”

“Nothing. You just seem a little young.”

Nellriel felt her cheeks heat up. “I turned seventeen last month.”

“Seventeen!” exclaimed the woman. “You are young. What are those Rangers doing, sending out children?”

To Nellriel’s embarrassment, the old man chuckled. “Now, madam!” he said, speaking for the first time. “I’m sure Miss Trainee has done a good amount of feats to her credit.”

The woman’s lips curled into a small smile, and Nellriel felt she had witnessed something rare. “Perhaps you’re right, Mister Taproot. I shouldn’t be so quick to write her off if the Rangers saw fit to bring her along.”

Nellriel puffed out her chest. “Last week, I snuck into the camp of the Daybreak Bandits and retrieved all of their stolen loot.” The Daybreak Bandits were a small group of independent petty thieves that had taken to jumping people along the Greenway. Nellriel had helped put them in jail.

“So that was you,” said the woman. “Impressive.” And though her ego was sufficiently stroked, Nellriel had to wonder why she felt a chill. 

“Someone's got to keep the peace, ma'am.” Nellriel clasped her arms behind her back and held her chin high, feeling very important.

“Very true. I certainly hope you were rewarded for your efforts. We have a good poultice here that helps to stop the bleeding.” She turned to the old man, who quirked an eyebrow. “A small jar,” she clarified, to which he nodded his assent, “and perhaps a cookie?”

Nellriel perked up as the woman produced a tin. The scent of vanilla wafted into the air when she opened it, and Nellriel had just picked a sugar-dusted treat for herself when Calethor barged out.

“Up-up-up! Put the cookie down, Nellriel! That’s blood cookie!”

She did as she was told, ashamed at having been caught in such a weak moment. Wasn’t she just instructed not to take anything? She cursed at herself. Calethor, meanwhile, gripped a newly-acquired scroll in one hand and used his other to waggle a finger at the woman. 

“What do you think you’re doing?”, he demanded. “A bribe? You’re not going to corrupt one of ours so early in her training! We’ll take the poultice, though.” 

“It’s only a sugary treat, Calethor.” Though the woman rolled her eyes, an amused smile played on her red lips. “A little reward for a heroic act.” 

“One that’s a little too sweet coming from you.” He took the jar the old man offered him. “Come, Nellriel. We’re leaving.” 

Not wanting to make any more blunders, Nellriel hurriedly followed without speaking any more to the woman or her companions.

“Good luck on your quest, Calethor,” the woman called out as they left. “And Nellriel, I’m sure you’ll make a fine Ranger someday.” 

“Definitely an odd encounter,” thought Nellriel. She’d have to ask Calethor about that woman later.

[pbstarot]

I'm so sorry you had to went through all that. Take all the time you need. I know how you feel to be honest, but know that your voice/thoughts and even your ramble matters ALOT. Even if nobody interacts with it. I silently read your rambles and i was in awe of how smart and relatable you were. I still do. Your feelings are valid and it's good to take a break if you're going through such a hard time while making pacs on tumblr. Please do take a break, as long as you need. I'm not very good at giving advices but I'll say that you can talk to trusted friends/ family members, do something you like doing ( besides tarot ) or you don't if it feels too draining to do anything, take a long, deep rest, which is what you'll do like you said yourself. And hey, you're not alone okay, you can always come and share what you're feeling, if you want to ofc.

This ask sort of kind of made me tear up a little (especially the whole you're not alone part, cause I'm am a very lonely person, who would have thought) and I would have cried if I didn't remember that real men don't cry (crisis averted, right? But then I remembered I'm a woman. Oh No).

...Ok, I'm just being a silly billy, a silly goose, and I read in a fanfic that "not everything needs to be a joke" recently, and that really struck a cord with me, so... All of this is to say thank you for taking time to type this. It has been really hard. And I really just hope that I can rest without feeling guilty that I'm not Doing Anything With My Life™ etc, all the perils of being 20 and lost. I really didn't think that people read what I wrote when it was lengthier than 2 paragraphs (and distinctively Not a PAC), so it was sort of shocking to wake up today with 9 notes on that 8 paragraph ask I answered last night (and 9 notes is the equivalent of like 1000 likes on an Instagram post in Tumblr numbers, right? Yes. I am correct about this) so maybe people do read it. It's wild. And you think I'm smart, even, so that's gotta count for something.

The thing is, the lack of interaction on personal posts is another of the reasons for this break, apart from panic attacks stemming from tarot cards. I wanna do something that I'm proud of, and although I am proud of the blog in a way (I mean it's really cool), I don't feel like I'm communicating things I wanna talk about often enough. And a lot of the "content" on this blog surrounds other people, really. All that is mine is the way I communicate the messages I get (and I get drained and tired and there's only so many ways to answer who people's future spouses are until it gets sort of tiresome, even if I'm not against fs readings).

I mean this isn't goodbye or anything. I might come back after two months. Or three months. I also might never come back. I still have to contend with the fact that this blog is the only source of income I have at the moment. Still, I'm gonna turn down a request I got cause I simply can't do it... And it's not the person's fault or anyone's, I just can't even look at the stuff anymore (listening to 21 Guns by Green Day while writing this is NOT HELPING). Still, later I might be like "Yeah I wanna do tarot again, I feel healed now," who knows? Ok, I also might be like "I never ever ever ever wanna see another tarot request in my life, even if I have to live under a bridge somewhere" (Ok I'm lying. If I were living under a bridge I think I probably would take up a future spouse reading. 20 dollars is 20 dollars).

So, yeah. Again, thanks for taking the time to type this out. It really helps to know someone out there has taken the time to read my ramblings (or, like, several of you, which is cool). I have no idea how to end this other than to say I am grateful for the time I spent here, cause I did learn a lot, regardless of my final choice. And that people like you made me happy.

:)

[7-oh-ta1]

I don't, don't worry! I didn't rb your post specifically because I didn't want an ugly argument instead of a discussion and I felt like you may not have wanted that either but you never know online. Oh! Also, I said "at the end of the day it's a viddy game" meaning I don't want to aimlessly argue or attack someone's blog or character over a viddy game.

It actually does make your original points more clear so I appreciate the patience explaining! I was under the misimpression that you were saying that because Rauru is poc-coded and Sonia is poc, that it canceled out the content itself. I understand now that's not what you were saying

Personally I did not have to dig deep to have reasonable but unanswered questions about Rauru. I understand he is the good guy, I understand I am meant to root for him, I understand that his actions are not to be questioned, I can see exactly what Nintendo intended. I just don't see how what they intended could be true without answering certain questions hence him being questionable.

On the imperialism topic, which I'm not a type of authority on I'm just a guy and other people articulate it better and I'm sure you've already read their posts, but on this specifically I don't feel like Rauru & Sonia were an attempt at inclusivity and even if they were, Rauru only further cements the "divine right to rule" that is an immediate red flag on this topic and is patted on the back for forceful unification. With the implications of the Zonaite masks on the original Sages, Yunobo as well, the fruitful Zonaite mines beneath the Gerudo Desert, and his trove of secret stones that we are meant to just trust that he will not misuse that he only gives to his trusted friends as long as they swear complete and utter fealty to him, (who know how many he has, also the giving of gifts with the intent to collect them later through Link is again an implication here) I certainly think that there is plenty of perhaps unintended imperialistic themes that it's fair for people to question and explore what is here.

Personally I don't believe totk was meant to be imperialistic propaganda, but I do see many valid points and valid frustration. I admit I found it silly to be so bothered by other people's thoughtful and well cited posts, but you know, the truth is that it was also silly for me to post this. Turns out we are all just silly gooses :p

I know I did not just see someone imply that bec Rauru is Zonai and bec Sonia is poc that Hyrule can't be imperialistic fhfhghh guys do we remember which country this game series is made in? Do we know the history of that country? Are the ppl of that country poc

[wisherbysharlight]

My God if I could only say, I'm holding every breath for you

Description: Patton Hart has been pining for his best friend's twin brother and his boyfriends for as long as he can remember. Word Count: 3067 Ships: Patton/Remus/Janus/Virgil, background Logince, established Remus/Janus/Virgil Warnings: Remus being Remus, twins squabbling AO3 This is a gift fic for @sunshineandteddybears​ for the @sanderssidesgiftxchange​. The “summer romance” piece kinda got away from me, but this is definitely found family! I hope you enjoy!

Patton was wiping down the counters, about 15 minutes after closing, sunset shining through the windows as he hummed along to the radio, a sense of peace radiating through the store. 

Of course, that’s when chaos erupted.

“Pattycakes, you gotta save me!” Remus cried as he threw the door open so roughly the windchimes actually smacked against the window above the door before falling back down and jingling merrily to announce his presence. He ran behind the counter with no hesitation, gripping onto Patton’s waist. (Patton only shivered because of the burst of adrenaline. That was the only reason. No other possibilities. Nope.) Remus angled them both towards the doorway just as Roman came bursting in with the same amount of urgency, fire in his eyes and shirt dripping wet and seemingly tinted a particularly garish shade of greenish-brown.

“Remus, you can’t hide behind Patton forever, you bastard!” he seethed, and Logan, Janus, and Virgil came through the door behind him, much more calm, almost to the point where Patton would call them bemused. Logan took a seat at one of the small tables along the wall, pulling out his phone with a very evident intention to simply wait the whole debacle out, while Janus and Virgil both leaned up against the glass case in front of Patton. “Get out here and face me, you coward!” Roman bellowed again, clearly not giving up anytime soon.

Patton grabbed an empty paper towel roll from next to him and turned at the waist to whack Remus in the head with it, “Remus you cannot use me as a human shield, go answer for your crimes.” “Kinky. I’d much rather have you issue my punishment,” Remus joked with an eyebrow wiggle, then cackled when Patton made a strangled noise and shoved him back to the other side of the counter. However, as soon as he was in range, Roman grabbed hold of him and pulled him into a headlock and his laughter turned swiftly into a shriek of “Oh shit!”

They were 12 years old, tearing through the woods in a dual-friend-group game of manhunt the summer before 7th grade. Virgil was hot on everyone’s heels and adrenaline was coursing through their veins. Patton leapt over a log and turned a corner, hunting for a good place to hide. 

He heard a curse of “Oh shit!” echo through the woods before the sound of three branches breaking in succession, a huge crash, and a subsequent groan. He quickly pivoted and went sprinting back towards the house, and the sound, easily finding Remus splayed across the forest floor even in the dim light of the moon.

“Why would you climb a tree, silly goose? Don’t you know the branches are weak that high? Scared me half to death!” he chided as he fell to his knees beside him, already pulling band-aids out of his wallet in his pocket.

Remus grinned impishly up at him, and Patton felt his breath catch in his throat, fumbling with the wallet briefly in a way he prayed the other boy didn’t notice. “What’s a lil fear in the face of a bunch of excitement, Patty?” he crooned, and Patton shoved a handful of band-aids at him with little delicacy in his haste to move past the tease. “Besides, I have the best nurse in the world to patch me up when my fun does go south, apparently.”

Patton flushed and turned away, positive Remus could tell even in the weak light, but he couldn’t keep the earnestness out of his voice, “I’ll always patch you up, Ree. Promise.”

Remus didn’t get a chance to respond before Virgil burst through the bushes and tapped them both on the shoulder to get them out and a loud, extended debate began about the validity of the “injury time out”.

Janus leaned on the counter in front of Patton, jolting him out of his reverie. He pointed at the menu, with three shiny new additions at the bottom, “You finally manage to find a flavor sweeter than you, sugar?”

Virgil shoved him out of the way with an eye roll and a fond grin, thankfully distracting from how Patton felt his cheeks would melt the freezers. “He can’t stop flirting even for two seconds, I swear.”

Janus gasped dramatically, swooning against the counter and batting his eyes at Virgil like a starlet in an old black and white, “Maybe if you and Remus gave me the attention I deserve I wouldn’t need to hunt it down in beautiful, endearing ice cream shop owners.”

Remus snorted despite the way he was currently trying to claw his way out of his brother’s hold while being noogied like they were still teenagers and not fully grown and employed adults, “We could give you all the attention in the world, Janny, it would never stop you from flirting with Patton.”

Janus sniffed derisively at them, then cocked his head to the side as the song changed and smiled softly, “Hey, I know this song.”

Patton smiled brightly back, “Yeah of course, have it on all the playlists for the shop!”

“Simp!” Remus called over just as brightly, and Patton glared back at him, assuming it was aimed at him.

 “Ok, you look miserable,” Janus said, making Patton jump from where he was staring down at his water glass watching the liquid swirl around the glass as he moved it in little circles and maybe lamenting his singledom a little bit in the face of a dance floor full of sappy teenagers in fancy clothes enjoying the crisp June night and each other as their last hurrah before graduation.

Patton plastered on a smile, “Oh Jan, I am perfectly hap-”

Janus arched a brow at him, tsking lightly and just loud enough for Patton to hear and stop speaking. “Don’t try to lie to me, I know what you look like when you are actually happy, Patton. And also you’re a god-awful liar.”

“...yeah ok. I’m a little bit lonely, maybe, with Ro and Lo gettin their dance on for the romantic stuff. But I’m not mad, they’re in love, and I told them to go hang on their own. We’ll hang out at the beach house after!” He couldn’t help but glance at the dance floor, where Logan was leading Roman in a waltz that was perfectly on time with the music, lost in their own little world.

“Well Ree and V bailed for the beach early. Not exactly their style of music or dancing, or my vibe to make them do something they don’t enjoy just to get my feet stepped on. Why don’t we be miserable together?” The song changed, to a song with a more Latin-inspired beat that Patton knew only one of every 10 words to, and Janus smirked, “Maybe you and I can even make the most of it and I can score a salsa partner.” Janus ended his proposition with an exaggerated wink and bow, and Patton took his offered hand with a genuine grin.

Janus didn’t miss a beat, switching eye contact to Roman on a dime, “Hey, did you know Remus was the one who’s been screwing with your guitar’s tuning?”

“NONONO HE’S LYING,” Remus cried as Roman tightened his hold and doubled down on his attack, this time poking at his ribs and making Remus shriek in laughter.

As Janus watched Roman wrestle Remus down to the floor of the shop, clearly satisfied with the reaction he managed to get, Virgil nudged him over with his hip to take his place leaning across the counter and whisper conspiratorially, “I bet it was actually Logan. Bastard can get away with murder, I just know it.”

Patton couldn’t help but giggle, with Virgil’s playful smile and dancing eyes across from him, so open and trusting in a way he never was unless it was just the group of them. He smirked a bit, nibbled at his lip in consideration, then leaned in to say in an equally conspiratorial style, “Logan’s only involved to see how long it’ll be before anyone catches on. My record stands.”

“You are a trickster Patton Hart,” Virgil gasped in mock-scandal. He wagged his finger with his hand on his hip in a not-half-bad impression of Patton during a lecture, though he was unable to match his Patton-ted Disappointed Frown while he was grinning, “I’d never expect my partner in crime to be doing something like this without telling me, shame on you. You know I always have your back.”

 It was their last weekend of freedom before they started high school, and as per usual both twins had both their friends sleeping over. Patton woke before Logan and Roman, also as per usual, and snuck out of Roman’s room down to the kitchen, only to jolt as he found the light already on and Virgil sitting on the kitchen counter.

“Whatcha doin?” Virgil asked, legs kicking in the air in front of the cabinets lazily.

“Gonna try to make pancakes! I’m positive I won’t burn them this time, I just know it,” Patton enthused, then squinted suspiciously at Virgil, “What’re you doing?”

“Oh just hanging around, keeping an eye out in case anyone tries to burn the house down again so I can help out. Figured they might need a partner in arson crime, ya know, and I could let them know I’ve got their back,” Virgil teased, nudging Patton’s leg with a sock clad foot. He looked so precious with his sleep mussed hair and eyeliner from the night before smudged under his eyes that Patton couldn’t even bring himself to argue that he really didn’t need a babysitter. Honestly, he couldn’t even begin to pretend he didn’t want the excuse to spend more time with him.

 The twins’ argument grew more heated, finally managing to distract Patton from where he was a bit lost in the way Virgil’s eyes lit up when he was amused.

“You fucked up one of my favorite shirts!” Roman screeched as he attempted to give his brother a wet willy.

“You put red koolaid in my shampoo two weeks ago, you baby!” Remus cried back, shoving at his shoulder to try to get him off, and succeeding rolling them only for Roman to roll them straight back.

“I know you were the one who put my script out of order,” Roman fired back.

“You should have been off book anyway! And you broke bro code and told Virgil I was the one who deleted his X-Files off the DVR. You are just as bad as me.”

“You gave mom’s computer a porn virus and blamed it on me!” Roman protested, and everyone else seemed to simultaneously sigh as they descended into their usual back and forth of dredged-up pettiness.

“Oh you're still - you squashed my bug collection.”

“You left me stranded in the yard after Remy’s homecoming party senior year.”

“That was absolutely justified, you made me listen to you wax poetic about Logan’s fucking lips for 3 hours.”

“You made me listen to you wax poetic about Patton’s EVERYTHING for 13 YEARS”

Everyone in the shop simultaneously went silent in a blink of an eye. Virgil went white as a sheet and swung to look at the twins with wide eyes, Janus gripped the counter white-knuckled and looked at Patton with a similarly stunned expression, and Remus turned nearly as red as the sash on Roman’s favorite Prince Charming costume. He shoved Roman off of him for real, a more severe growl to his voice as he seemed to realize there was no way to play it cool, “You are such a fucking dick!”

Roman stammered for a moment, clearly trying to digest the change in tone and the weight of what he’d said, before waving his arms above his head in apparent bafflement, “It’s not like he didn’t know you all were into him!” 

“Roman,” Logan spoke up suddenly, gesturing at Patton and what Patton knew had to be a completely shell-shocked expression.

Roman looked up and went just as wide-eyed as the others, “Pat… did... did you not know?”

“...all of you?” Patton asked, then winced as his voice cracked in shock. He watched Virgil flinch and seem to retreat into his hoodie out of the corner of his eye, and Janus’ face smoothed over into a perfect mask of calm in the blink of an eye. He felt his heart break just a little bit at the disappointment in both of their eyes at what he was sure they saw as a rejection.

Logan grabbed Roman’s arm and yanked him away roughly, though Roman followed easily, “You all clearly need to communicate. I will handle this one.”

“Don’t wanna know about you handling my brother, poindexter,” Remus joked hollowly, sounding almost like it was a reflex with none of his usual cackle behind it.

Logan rolled eyes and headed out the door, tugging behind him a Roman who was fervently whispering, just barely audibly, “He didn't know, how did he not know,” to himself over and over again.

There’s silence in the shop for a while, just the sound of the radio faintly playing over the loudspeakers echoing off the walls as they all just stare at each other, not knowing how to start. Then Janus took a deep breath and spoke first, “Patton, I refuse to speak for these two clowns, but I will absolutely tell you that I, at the very least, have had feelings for you for many years, feelings which i was unaware I was not making perfectly clear, or that there was a chance of any sort of reciprocation.”

“Around 7 years for me, give or take. That first morning we made pancakes together,” Virgil added quietly, fiddling with the zipper on his sleeve.

Remus averted his gaze, looking nervous in the way Patton had only seen the day before he confessed to Virgil and Janus in high school, and admitted in the quietest voice Patton’d ever heard him use, “I don’t know exactly when, Pattycakes. You’ve always been there and as far as I’m concerned I’ve loved you just as long. And-and I just assumed it wasn’t returned.”

Patton swallowed thickly, trying to push back tears because he knew these boys and knew they would take them for disappointment rather than the joy they were. He dove at Remus first, vaulting the counter the way he always scolded Roman against and sliding to his knees next to the other man on the floor before crushing him in a hug. He flailed back at Janus and Virgil with one hand to pull them in as well, “Come here, all of you, we’ve lost so much valuable cuddle time!”

Patton was pretty sure Janus broke the sound barrier with how quickly he was plastered to his side and burying his face in his hair, and Virgil wasn’t far behind, wrapping an arm around his waist and burying his face in the crease of his neck and shoulder. Patton took that moment to be a bit daring himself and press a kiss to the corner of Remus’ lips, then giggled brightly when Remus grabbed hold of his cardigan and used it to pull him back in to kiss him full on the mouth with just as much passion and impulsiveness and laughter as Patton had always imagined. His mustache tickled Patton’s nose a bit but he leaned into it, humming happily in the back of his throat and feeling like a puzzle piece clicked into place.

Virgil only gave them a minute before he untucked his face from Patton’s neck and grouched that he wanted a turn. Remus let Patton go with a very put-upon sigh that didn’t match his playful grin, flicking Virgil on the nose lightly. “You gotta give him his kisses or he’ll never shut the fuck up,” he fake-whispered.

Patton grinned and turned readily to Virgil, and his lips met Patton’s in a much gentler dance. His kiss was no less deep or passionate for its caution, and his hands cupped his face like he feared Patton would float away if he didn’t hold tight. His fingers curled and twitched upwards like they wanted to bury themselves in his hair but didn’t want to overstep, so Patton took the initiative to grip the back of his neck and tilt his own head to encourage Virgil to do what he wished.

Janus was more patient, waiting for them to part for breath a few minutes later before taking hold of Patton’s chin from Virgil without a word and gently but firmly turning Patton towards him. Janus’ kiss could only be described as a caress, light and teasing and peppered with soft nips to his bottom lip before building up to something more solid. His warm hands rubbed calmingly up and down Patton’s spine and over his shoulders like he couldn’t figure out where he wanted to touch first.

Remus soon demanded he get another shot, then Virgil wanted another, then Janus again, leaving Patton so beyond cloud 9 he could barely think any more. They spent at least 20 minutes there on the floor, lost in each other, rotating kisses that were long overdue, letting their actions make the confessions their words hid from for years, not daring to move and break the spell of the moment.

Then a camera shutter sounded, paired with a bright flash of light that made them all jolt and look up in surprise.

“I said communicate you know, not make out on the floor,” Logan sighed, digging through his wallet to pull a 20 out to hand to Roman, who was grinning victoriously.

“I’m sorry for being a dick, but I had to do something and I told Logan the “accidental slip” would work,” Roman said as he pressed a triumphant kiss to Logan’s cheek and pocketed the 20, “But you have to admit it was a pretty great performance on my part.”

“Can’t believe I was betrayed by my best friends, I don’t know whether I owe you a scolding or a fruit basket,” Patton lamented playfully, cheeks hurting from how wide he was smiling. Janus ruined what little remained of the facade even more as he shifted slightly and pulled him into his lap and Patton clung tight to Virgil and Remus’ hands, with no intention of disconnecting any time soon.