Xanthousflame - XanthousFlame

Muddlebud

Since everyone voted for Muddelbud, here it is! Just an idea I wanted to play with. The effects of the Muddlebud is brutal!

Warnings for drugging, implied…. I don’t want to say torture but not good stuff…. And some racism. Rip Rusl he turns out fine.

After a long day of traveling the harsh terrain, the men searching for heroes of Hyrule were relieved to find a town on the way to their destination. It had an inn attached to a tavern, and Leon suggested that they stayed there for rest. None of the others argued—they were absolutely exhausted.

The men gathered around a table large enough to hold seven, and they excitedly ordered food, having eaten nothing but berries and nuts for days. Though much to some of their dismay (mostly Linebeck’s), Leon encouraged them to avoid alcohol.

“We have a long day of traveling tomorrow. Trust me, you don’t want to be hung over,” he said when the sailor complained.

“Oh come on, I won’t drink that much,” Linebeck argued. “I just need a little bit to recover from today!”

“That’s a horrible way to recover,” Leon said flatly. “But I suppose I can’t stop you. Though I promise I will make your life a living hell if you’re hungover tomorrow.”

Linebeck glared at him and stopped pressing the issue. The barmaid came by with water for everyone, and Leon began to talk about what they were going to do next. Despite being a pain to deal with, he was a natural born leader and took charge when no one else would. The men had to give him some respect (though it didn’t stop Benji from teasing him relentlessly). Though the chatter around the table melted into mundane conversations, and it was overall relaxing from the long trek they had to go through before. Throughout the night, however, one of the men began acting strange. They had all eaten their food, drank their waters, and they were simply sitting around the table chatting. But Ammon picked up on Rusl acting fidgety and anxious out of nowhere.

“Rusl, are you ok?” He asked as the man rubbed his eyes aggressively for the hundredth time. He shrugged and let out a breath, sweat dripping down his face.

“I-I don’t know… Something ain’t right,” he said softly, occasionally glancing over his shoulder.

Ammon looked at Leon who was frowning. Even though the men have been pursued by the puppeteer, he didn’t feel like they were in any immediate danger. But Rusl’s anxiety was starting to rub off on him, and the others picked up on it as well.

“Maybe it’s just one of those days?” Benji suggested when Rusl got out of his chair to pace around. Leon got up as well and began to move to the barmaid.

“I’m going to get us a room so we can rest up,” he said before he left, and the group watched Rusl as he picked at his nails. Leon returned and led the men to a room, which was surprisingly small for a bigger group like theirs; it only had one bedroom, and a small common area with nothing except a tub of water.

“Are you kidding me?” Leon yelled, marching to the room with the bed. “I said there were six of us! How will we sleep with only one bed?”

“Uh, together, duh,” Benji teased, and Leon shot a glare at him.

“You better shut your mouth before I do it for you,” he threatened, but Benji only laughed mockingly at him. The two were interrupted by a yelp from Rusl, and the group spun around to see him pressed up against the wall, away from Ammon who looked confused.

“Is everything ok?” Leon asked, walking up to the two, Rusl swallowed and ran a hand through his hair, taking off his headband.

“Y-yeah. Sorry, I was just startled.”

Ammon glanced up at Leon. “I don’t think this is nerves. I think he was drugged.” Rusl would get anxious from time to time, but this was too abnormal for him. Having been drugged before, Ammon could tell that it was some outside force.

“With what?”

“I don’t know.”

Leon looked at Rusl concerned and frowned. “Alright, I’ll find out if they did, and with what. I pray it wasn’t something lethal. Rusl, stay in that room and try to get some rest. We’ll take care of you.”

Rusl nodded and wobbled into the other room with Talon following close by, shutting the door. Leon looked at the others and nodded.

“If something happens, don’t wait for me. Get help.”

“Yes sir,” Linebeck said, and the first knight left, leaving the group of men alone in the small room.

~~~~~~~~~~

Ammon was fidgeting with his prosthetic as the time passed. They had Talon watch over Rusl in case anything happened, and fortunately nothing happened yet. But Leon wasn’t back either. Ammon almost wished he went with Leon to find out who drugged Rusl; if he was attacked because of it, no one would know. The others were anxious as well, with Linebeck occasionally pacing the room. The door to the bedroom opened, and the men shot to their feet, startling Talon.

“Is Rusl ok?” Ammon asked, and Talon nodded.

“He’s tryna sleep right now, I’m just grabbin’ him some water. He’s sweatin’ pretty bad,” he explained, walking to the tub of water with a bowl in his hand. The others simply watched as he did this, staying silent when he returned to the room. Linebeck groaned and got up again, pacing the room.

“Where is Leon?”

“Maybe he got kidnapped again,” Benji muttered, picking at his guitar strings, and Linebeck gave him a look.

“Don’t say that.”

“Why?”

“Because that would mean that we would have to go looking for him! Again. And we’re too busy looking after Rusl!”

“Why don’t you go look for Leon then?” Benji asked, looking rather annoyed. Linebeck huffed and looked away, his arms crossed.

“It’s dark out.”

“Ha! Coward.”

Linebeck frowned. “Ok, fine! I’ll go out and look for him! But you’re coming with me!”

“Heck no I’m not looking for Leon!” Benji fired back, and Linebeck rose an eyebrow.

“Coward.”

“I’m not a coward,” Benji defended, pulling out his guitar. “I’m just lazy. There’s a difference.”

Ammon rolled his eyes and Kass sighed.

“I’ll go looking for him with you, Linebeck,” Kass suggested, and Linebeck opened his mouth to say something, but there was a loud yell followed by a crash from within the bedroom. Ammon shot up and threw the door open, gasping at the sight of Talon on the floor with Rusl on the bed, his hands up defensively.

“Get away from me!” He shouted, grabbing a pillow and throwing it at Talon.

“Rusl!” Ammon ran up to him, jumping in front of Talon. “Rusl calm down! It’s us!”

Rusl’s eyes landed on him, but there was no sign of familiarity. Just fear and hostility. Ammon’s eyes widened as he jumped off the bed and charged at him, barely giving him time to react. Ammon rolled out of the way, but Rusl grabbed onto his leg, pulling him closer to him.

“W-wait, Rusl, it’s me! It’s Ammon!” He pleaded, but he was already on top of him, his hand on his throat. Ammon struggled underneath him; despite only being a human, he was strong, and Ammon found himself unable to throw him off. Black spots started to appear in his vision, but Talon appeared, grabbing Rusl and tearing him off of Ammon. He let in a gasp and started coughing, rubbing his sore throat. He looked up to see Talon with his arms wrapped around Rusl, holding him in place as he struggled against him. Talon’s eye was swollen shut, but he had a determined look as he helped Rusl against him.

“Rusl, it’s us,” Talon started, his voice strained yet gentle. “Calm down!”

“LET GO OF ME!” Rusl yelled, continuing to struggle, but he wasn’t able to move in Talon’s grip, and the farmer was avoiding his thrashing head. He went limp for a moment, panting as if he were about to cry.

“Rusl? We’re not gonna hurt you,” Talon tried again, but he started thrashing again. Ammon walked up to him, his brows pinched together as he watched Rusl. Whatever he was drugged with, he couldn’t tell apart friend from foe. He probably thought he was being held captive or something.

Someone walked up behind Ammon, and he flinched away, only relaxing when he realized it was Leon, who had an intense look in his eyes.

“Leon!” He rasped, rubbing his throat. “What did you find out?”

Leon gave him an angry look, then he looked back down at Rusl. “The barmaid drugged him with something called a muddlebud. It won’t kill him, but he’ll be thinking he’s in danger for a few hours. Considering he’s a human, it might be longer.”

“Why would anyone do such a thing?” Talon asked, his grip remaining tight around Rusl.

“Because he’s a human!” Leon spat. “They wanted to prove that humans are wild and dangerous so they drugged him with it!”

Ammon looked down, anger boiling within him as well. He didn’t know why this Hyrule hated humans, but it was getting harder and harder to see Rusl being treated in such a way. Rusl was a good man—kind, selfless, and strong. He’s taken all the scorn and hatred with grace despite it clearly affecting him, and it was hard to watch. But this was too much.

“What do we do to help him?” Ammon asked, and Leon shrugged.

“All we can do is to let it go through his system. At least that’s what the barmaid told me.”

“Was she lying?”

“She knows better than to lie to me,” Leon growled.

“How did you find all this out?” Talon asked.

“...Persuasion,” Leon answered darkly.

“Well, Talon can’t hold him forever,” Ammon mentioned, and Leon sighed.

“Can we keep him locked in this room until this passes through?” Talon suggested, but Leon shook his head.

“He’ll probably try to escape through the window,” he said, and the group grew silent.

“I have rope,” he heard Linebeck say from behind them. “We can just… tie him up or something.”

“What? We can’t do that!” Talon protested, but Leon gave him a sad look.

“There’s nothing we can do. We can’t leave him in here or else he’ll hurt himself or escape. You can't hold him forever, and we certainly aren’t strong enough to hold him down. We’ll… we’ll have to tie him to the chair.”

Talon looked sad but he nodded. It hurt Ammon as well, tying his friend to a chair, but there was no other option. Rusl had grown exhausted and was limp in Talon’s hold, but he squirmed as he was set on the chair, starting to panic as rope was tied around him.

“No… please…” he begged, occasionally thrashing against the ropes. “Please let me go… please!”

“I’m so sorry, Rusl,” Talon muttered, finally stepping away from him as he was tied down. “I’m so sorry.”

Leon rested his hand on Talon’s shoulder. “He’ll be ok. We just need to let it go through his system.”

Talon nodded glumly and sighed as Rusl started crying, exhaustion starting to get a hold of him.

“I’ll keep an eye on him,” Leon said, “the rest of you should get some rest.”

“I’m fine—“ Talon started, but Leon shook his head.

“No you’re not fine. I’m not sure if you know this, but your eye is swollen shut.”

“Oh please. It’s not a big deal. I’ve been kicked by horses several times! It’s nothin’.”

Leon shook his head again. “No. You and Ammon get some rest, I’ll stay here.” Talon was reluctant, but Leon nudged him towards the door. “He’ll be fine. I promise.”

The farmer sighed and finally left the room. Ammon followed before looking back at the sobbing Rusl, his heart twisting at the sight of his strong friend like that.

“Uli…. Uli please…” he sobbed, and Ammon finally left, shutting the door behind him.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ammon didn’t sleep that night. The group occasionally heard Rusl screaming before he melted into bumbling sobs. It happened for hours, as if on a schedule, and everyone was exhausted from the lack of sleep. Finally, the screams stopped, and it was silent for a long while. The others fell asleep during the silence, but Ammon remained awake, staring intently at the door. He glanced at the clock in the room and noted that it was 5 in the morning, and he sighed. It had been seven hours since they went into the room, and he didn’t know if Rusl was finally normal or not. Talon woke up and he looked around, his one good eye landing on Ammon’s.

“Is Rusl…?”

“I don’t know.”

Talon sighed and stared at the door as well. “I’m worried about him.”

“Me too.”

Talon hummed, a contemplative look in his eye. “Muddlebud… That’s what the barmaid drugged him with… have you ever heard of a muddlebud?”

Ammon frowned. He’s never heard of such a thing, but clearly it was dangerous to anyone who came into contact with it. It could turn any gentle and kind man violent and fearful.

“You think the maid worked alone?” Talon continued to ask, and Ammon shrugged.

“I doubt it. But she was definitely the one who did it,” Ammon looked around, his eyes landing on the window. It was dark out, and nothing could be seen, but he couldn’t help but feel unsafe in the town. Leon cryptically said that he used “persuasion” to get the information, but what type of information? What did he do? And why was he gone for so long? Leon was always a goody-two-shoes who followed the rules. Ammon wondered how far he was willing to go for their protection.

It was both a comforting and unsettling thought.

The door suddenly opened, and Ammon jumped to his feet. Leon walked out, staring at Ammon and Talon, and Rusl came up behind him.

“Rusl!” Ammon exclaimed. His friend looked terrible. His eyes were blood-shot with heavy bags underneath them. His hair was sweaty and matted as it stuck to his forehead, and his arms had red lines circling around them, which made Ammon wince. But his eyes held familiarity in them, and Ammon knew he was back to normal. “Are you alri—“

Rusl buried him in a hug before he was able to say anything. He was shaking as he hugged Ammon, clearly crying.

“I’m so sorry, I’m so sorry,” he said over and over again, and Ammon patted his back.

“It’s alright, you weren’t yourself.”

Rusl pulled back, looking more of a mess now that his face was soaked. He started fidgeting with his hands, looking like he was about to start pacing again.

“I… still don’t feel like myself,” he mumbled, and Leon rested a hand on his shoulder.

“That’s alright, they told me it would take a few hours for the muddlebud to leave your system. It may be longer since you’re a human. You’re probably feeling the after-effects of it.”

Rusl let out a breath and nodded, looking utterly defeated. Ammon went to say something but Rusl glanced up at Talon, his eyes widening at the sight of his swollen face.

“Oh—”

“It’s ok!” Talon quickly said before Rusl could get a word out. “It’s ok! I’m ok!”

“No… no no no…” Rusl started to stagger backwards as Talon stepped closer, his hand covering his eyes.

“I’m ok, Rus’, I’ve been through much worse,” Talon tried to reassure, but Rusl was a sobbing mess again.

“I—I can’t… Spirits I—I hurt you—” He cried, his back up against the wall. Talon got close to him and quickly pulled him into a hug, rubbing his back until he relaxed again.

“I’m ok, I ain’t fragile,” he said more sternly, and Rusl sniffed.

“I-I can’t stop hurtin’ the people I care about,” he whimpered. Leon and Ammon glanced at each other, but didn’t comment.

“It’s ok, like Ammon said, you weren’t yourself,” Leon pressed, his voice soft and gentle.

Movement picked up in Ammon’s peripherals, and he saw the others watching them.

“Rusl’s back to normal,” Linebeck announced, and Kass shot to his feet.

“Oh thank Hylia! I was so worried about you!” He proclaimed, wrapping his wings around Rusl and Talon.

“Yeah, remind me not to get on your bad side,” Linebeck chuckled as he walked up to the group, and Leon hit his ribs with his elbow.

“Not now!” He hissed, and Linebeck gave him a glare. Ammon rolled his eyes and smirked at the two, walking up to Rusl.

“I’m happy you’re back to normal, Rusl. But you should get proper rest now.”

Rusl pulled away and rubbed his wet eyes. “Y-yeah… ok… I’m sorry I can’t stop cryin’ right now.”

“It’s alright,” Leon said with a soft chuckle. “You can’t help it. Get some rest, ok? We won’t be traveling anywhere tomorrow.”

There were sighs of relief from everyone, and Rusl finally smiled genuinely. “Thanks Leon.”

The first knight nodded and led Rusl back into the room. He looked back nervously and Talon walked up to him.

“Don’t worry, I’ll keep ya company.”

Rusl looked relieved and Leon volunteered himself as well. The three entered the room, leaving the rest out in the common area, where it grew uncomfortably silent. Ammon, Kass, and Linebeck all glanced at each other, and before either of them were able to say anything, a loud snore came from Benji, who was still asleep on the couch with his guitar hugged to his chest. Linebeck turned away from the man and rolled his eyes while Kass chuckled.

“That man…”

Ammon snorted and sat down on the floor, leaning against the wall. “We should follow his lead and get some rest, I’m pretty tired myself.”

Kass and Linebeck nodded, both sitting on the ground, and Ammon finally allowed his eyes to fall shut after the intense night.

reminder to:

straighten your back

go pee goddAMN IT STOP HOLDING IT

go take your meds if you need to

drink some water

go get a snack if you havent eaten in a while

maybe wander around the house/stretch a little if you’ve been sat at the computer a while (artists especially: sTRETCH THOSE WRISTS)

reply to that text/message from earlier you’d forgotten about

maybe send a nice lil message to someone having a bad day?

Breakfast Time

My son’s stuck in a time loop again.

He thinks I don’t know, of course. He’s never told me that this happens to him (or that he can do this, possibly; I’m not sure which it is.) Maybe I’m a bad mother, if I haven’t proven myself worthy of that trust. But there is only so many times that one can watch their son trudge through a day with bored impatience, anticipating everything you say just a little too quickly and showing no surprise to even the most surprising event, and then come downstairs the next day disoriented but rejuvenated and with a new zest for life and a tendency to get blindsided by even the most predictable things, before one makes the obvious connection.

I don’t think he’s lived through this day too many times yet, because he’s not frustrated by my good morning joke but not surprised by the monster attack being announced on the news. He eats his toast makes polite conversation that sounds just a little too rote until his sister comes down, and he puts his toast down in that distinctive way that make her eyes widen in sudden realisation, a reaction I never would have noticed if I wasn’t looking for it. He told her about three time loops ago, I think, although it might’ve been earlier and I just never noticed the signal until then. I make sure to keep the smile on my face as I push a plate of toast towards her.

The thing on the news is some kind of flying beast, and my son’s eyes don’t leave the TV screen. I expect that calm, solid determination that I usually see in his expression on days like this, but instead he watches it only with a wary sort of calculation. I suppress a sigh – it looks like I won’t be remembering today, then.

The pair exchange glances and look to me. “Hey, mum, I figured we should go to school early. We’ve both got these big tests coming up and – ”

“Yes, fine, whatever. Go.” I know what you’re thinking – obviously they’re off to do something dangerous, and obviously they’re far too young for this sort of thing, and obviously I shouldn’t enable this, and I’m a terrible parent for letting them run off to maybe get themselves killed someday. But I put this to you:

How, exactly, do you expect me to stop them?

As my son heads for the door, though, I almost stop him. I consider, not for the first time, just telling him what I know, what I’ve figured out, and asking him to explain everything, to say where he’s going and what he plans to do about that thing and if his sister is involved and if they at least have help, to put my mind at ease. I don’t, though. Because, logically… I must have done that before, right? In at least one of the countless days that never happened. I must have gotten worried or angry or just fed up with this ridiculous charade and told him that he wasn’t as good at hiding as he thought he was. He has to know that I know, right? And yet, he still chooses to let it play out like this.

Or, perhaps, he told me once. That must have happened, right? I must have been there to help, to patch his wounds and dry his tears and listen to him confess his fears or his worries or his regrets about this big responsibility, about whatever he’s doing out there. He must have told me, at some point, at least once, in one of those nonexistent days. And afterwards, he chose not to tell the me that stuck around. Meaning that I must have given him some reason to keep this secret.

What did I do to him? What did I say to him? How bad a confidante must I have been, that he chooses instead to keep me in the dark?

They leave, they ‘go to school early’, and I start on the dishes. As I wash my daughter’s breakfast crumbs away, the plate slips from my fingers and shatters on the tiles at my feet. I sigh, and turn to get a broom.

Then stop. Pick up all the other dirty plates. And shatter them, one by one, on the tiles.

Then I leave the mess behind me, pull a full tub of rocky road ice cream out of the freezer, and resolve to spend the day eating junk and watching youtube videos. After all, it’s not like it’s going to matter tomorrow, right?

I used to see this image all the time in December but now literally nobody cares. We as a society have forgotten him. All he wanted was to offer us a nice treat and what did we do? We abandoned him. Hell has taken refuge in our hearts and its fires have burned to ash all warmth and love. We should be ashamed.

I’ve been waiting a year to post this

welcome to late winter/spring in canada my friend in the mornings we wear coats and in the afternoon vests over our sweaters and finally before it cools off too much soak up what bits of sunlight you can in your sweatshirt before its gone

I'm curious:

rb for sample size, you know the drill.

also, please tell me your local stock comments for small talk about the weather.

It's gonna be such a funny mess when Donald Trump dies of a stroke on April 1st, 2024.

Naturally everybody will think it's fake because of the date only to lose their minds (both positively and negatively based on their opinion of trump) when realizing it's real

There will be massive celebrations in the streets and on social media and lots of predictable "don't speak ill of the dead" discourse about those celebrations

Weird evangelicals will pull some weird number trick talking about how Jesus was conceived on April 1st and that makes Trump a sort of messiah and people will make fun of that

The Republicans (after they're done with the faux-sadness and faux-outrage) will stomp over each other to be his successor but none of them will succeed. They'll tear each other apart and have no single nominee for the November elections.

There will be discourse about if Biden and the living former presidents should go to his funeral (they won't, he was a traitor insurrectionist)

The Ukraine-Russia War immediately goes in favor of Ukraine as morale in the Kremlin is reduced. China similarly backs off from its threats on Taiwan.

Ten thousand new memes are made, some sticking around for years to come.

Not a month later a bunch of unofficial biographies of Trump hit the bookshelves, many with new details about just how awful he was.

by Laerte Coutinho

Just about to start playing my first Zelda game

Headcanon: Ballister sleeps with a weighted blanket to help Ambrosius.

Why not Ambrosius himself? He keeps denying one would help with his anxiety. The poor boy has grown up his whole life expecting to be able to cope with the stress and pressure of being a direct descendant of Gloreth. He's not used to taking care of himself, and is being stubborn and adamant that he is very much okay, thank you very much, Ballister.

So, Ballister gets a weighted blanket for himself and sleeps with it. Ambrosius cuddles up to him while sleeping, so Ambrosius sleeps under the blanket as well. It's a lovely weight, a welcome one. He finds he quite enjoys it and that it helps him sleep easier.

As time passes, Ambrosius starts thinking weighted blankets aren't so bad after all. Maybe Bal had a point. Maybe it would help with his anxiety.

So Ambrosius gets a weighted blanket, too.

Turns out, Ambrosius isn't the only one the weighted blankets help--they help Ballister, too. It's a win for both of them.