#Anséis

[jawanaka]

Sin's of Fathers snippet

Another day, another quote. Smallish one this time:

Prince Anséis of Lyria and Rivia, Duke of Gradobor - Second and youngest son of queen Meve of Lyria and Rivia and her husband Reginald of Lyria. Taken as a hostage during the Nilfgaardian occupation during the second war. Recorded as winner of a tourney in Meribor in 1276. Prominent figure in the Toussaint incident of 1278… - Effenberg and Talbot, Encyclopaedia Maxima Mundi, Volume II

[queenmevesknickers]

Omg yes Dad Reynard! Adjusting to essentially parenting emo phase no-one-understands-me Villem to fratboi Anseis! Since he is a mini Reginald it will be interesting now that Reynard can go from saying "yes, Sire" to Reginald back in the day to say "Anseis, no!" to his offspring (who would go "Anseis, YES!" in response). Haha and Gascon returns! Poor Reynard...

YEAH ABSOLUTELY CORRECT YOU GET IT.

Fortunately for Reynard, he now also has the very effective threat of “your mother will be hearing about this” at his disposal, which tends to take the wind out of Anséis’ sails rather quickly (Meve’s anger is probably the only thing that Anséis is actually scared of…for good reason).

Gascon begins to think maybe he didn’t miss out on all that much not getting the education of a rich kid because it doesn’t seem to have done Anséis any favours - his new favourite pastime is seeing how much bullshit he can feed him before either Anséis catches on or Reynard calls him out and tells him to give it a rest. So far, it’s always been the latter…

[teutonixx]

⚜️⚜️⚜️

[on-a-lucky-tide]

The Witcher King

Part gift for/part collaboration with @cylin-aka-ankamo.

1238 - Geralt is born out of wedlock to the King of Rivia and the sorceress Visenna. A raven-haired sorceress curses Geralt in revenge for the king's murder of her lover (and his queen), Kalis.

1248 - Meve, aged 16, marries Reginald. (Geralt is 10).

1249 - Reginald the Courageous becomes King of Rivia and Lyria. (Geralt is 11).

1251 - Villem and Anséis are born. (Geralt is 13).

1254 - Banquet of Cintra and Geralt claims the Law of Surprise. (Geralt is 16)

1256 - Geralt becomes known as the Butcher of Blaviken. (Geralt is 18); Eskel ascends the throne of Kovir and Poviss.

1257 - Eskel reunifies Kovir, Poviss and surrounding principalities.

1258 - Eskel conquers Kaedwen.

1259 - Reginald dies; Geralt marries Eskel. (Geralt is 21)

From his death bed, Reginald the Courageous mapped out the future of his kingdom. His sons were still too young—too weak—to take the throne, so he left his beloved wife, Meve, as regent. There were rumblings from the south of Nilfgaard’s mobilisation—a war economy gaining momentum, training grounds flooded with new soldiers, an emperor hungry for expansion and the power that came with it—and the Witcher King had subjugated Kaedwen in the north. Lyria and Rivia were in desperate need of allies lest they become another footnote in the history of the Continent.

Nilfgaard demanded too much and would use any foothold it gained to further its own power, but there were rumours that the Witcher King had no interest in conquest unless he was first threatened. Henselt had grown arrogant and tried to use the frailty caused by the Secession of Poviss to expand his borders, only to fall foul of the Witcher King’s might. Yet, when Djikstra of Redania went calling for funds, the Witcher King honoured the neutrality of his forebears and sent the spymaster away empty-handed. His apparent lack of ambition for personal gain married with his formidable military acumen made him the perfect ally. For this reason, Reginald decreed that his brother-in-law, Geralt of Rivia, should be sent to become his consort.

And so it begins...

[bard-llama]

Conflict by (K)night

@thirteenthesia​ I am DELIGHTED that you asked, because this one has a weird place in my heart lol. I know where it’s going, but I also really, really don’t longterm, so it’s interesting lmao

Okay, so this fic has 6 main plot threads:

Tournament

This plan is a little vague, but there’s basically gonna be an internal tourney, where we’re gonna have some Reynard & Anséis and Anséis & Villem bonding, ‘cause Anséis competes (possibly in disguise??? Haven’t figured that out yet). 

Then of course there’s the participants of the actual tourney arriving and the tournament itself

And then the victory dinner where Meve has to pretend she needs a knight to escort her and she is not wild about that and then the next morning when Reynard clobbers them in a final match with the Queen’s Champion lol

Criminal Justice Reform

This has been fun to develop lol I went down a rabbit hole. So basically, Gascon & Villem are Socialist Bros who decide to partner on policy reforms to make life better for all Lyrians. This is their very first attempt, and it needs to be approved by Meve and her council in order to actually happen. 

The reform bill itself is to introduce Informed Sentencing, which is basically the idea of having judges to determine punishment on a case by case basis instead of applying the sentence without looking at the circumstances of the people involved.

So basically, throughout the fic, Villem and Gascon have to fight to get their message across, while facing opposition from most of the other councilors and seeming neutrality from Meve and Reynard that they don’t know how to interpret. But Gascon isn’t willing to actually TALK about his issues with their neutrality or the whole rest of everything about their relationship at the moment. Yet.

Meve/Reynard

As of the beginning of the fic, Meve and Reynard have been together for about a year, but the relationship is still really timid and in the early courting stage and it’s definitely a source of frustration for Meve, who doesn’t understand why they’re not moving further, Reynard, who doesn’t want to overstep and fuck things up, and Gascon, who worries and frets and wants his friends to be happy even if he thinks it’ll never be with him.

Meve/Reynard/Gascon

Obviously Gascon is WRONG, but he genuinely thinks that he can’t have them. He’s aware of his feelings for them, but he’s certain that they’re too old and experienced to want to bother with someone like him. Meanwhile Meve isn’t sure what she feels for Gascon, but she hates the way he keeps running off and ducking out of conversations when it’s just the three of them so that she and Reynard can have ‘alone time’. Reynard, on the other hand, is mostly just really, really scared of overstepping and losing everything that he never believed it was possible for him to be worthy of. Naturally, we get them to figure their shit out.

Gascon & Villem

I love these Socialist Bros so much lmao

I have nothing to add, but basically, their friendship is a strength/bedrock/support for each of them throughout the fic

Anséis

Our baby knight is actually one of four winners in the internal tourney! So he gets to join the main tournament! He gets to prove himself and everyone is very proud of him, but also, he gets to grow a little bit out of his mother’s shadow. 

I’m realizing this doesn’t actually tell you much about the future of the fic, which bodes well for me in writing it lol. But honestly, a lot of this fic has developed itself, so we’ll see what happens 🤞🤞🤞

Between a Wall and a Hard Thigh

So, theoretically, we are close to the end!! What comes next is loving, worshipful sex and then post-coital cuddling and because Gascon is actually comfortable this time, he talks. And Meve and Reynard are kinda awed at the difference/at the fact that Gascon is comfortable with them now. 

After that, I don’t actually know whose POV will end the fic, but I know that they wake up in the morning in a panic thinking it was all a dream, but the others are still there, so they’re able to go back to sleep with a smile on their face. And, maybe for the first time in his life, Reynard sleeps in past dawn lmao

Send me a title and I’ll tell you where the fic/series is going next!

[cerbin-aen-feainn]

Witcher blorbos

ok here we go, this gonna be a mix of books and games characters

blorbo (favorite character, character I think about the most): Iorweth, Meve, Ciri

scrunkly (my “baby”, character that gives me cuteness aggression, character that is So Shaped): Ciri before trauma

scrimblo bimblo (underrated/underappreciated fave): Eldain, Anséis, Villem, Reynard, Shani, i'd say Geralt's hansa in general?

glup shitto (obscure fave, character that can appear in the background for 0.2 seconds and I won’t shut up about it for a week): Caranthir :)

poor little meow meow (“problematic”/unpopular/controversial/otherwise pathetic fave): specifically book!Geralt, Nithral

horse plinko (character I would torment for fun, for whatever reason): :)))

eeby deeby (character I would send to superhell): hm let's see, Emhyr, Vilgefortz, Rience, Leo Bonhart, Avallac'h, Eredin, there's a whole list

[sparrow-in-boots]

for the ask thingie: the witcher (and you cant list OCs <3*) ((*you can over discord lmao))

okiee, this is the vanilla list uwu

blorbo: Regis, cus i mean

scrunkly: Eskel [heart eyes]

scrimblo bimblo: Eldain, also Anséis and Villem

glup shitto: Caranthir. duhh.

poor little meow meow: Nithral u3u

horse plinko: yes. <3

eeby deeby: Eredin and Avallac'h uwu

[thirstyforred]

✦ (58/∞) Prince Anséis

“ En garde! A duel, to a duel I challenge thee! “

[upperaedirn]

I also want a verse where Saskia agrees to marry someone for political and alliances reasons but I just?? Don't know who it would be because:

Stennis-- he's the most obvious choice but Saskia hates his guts after he helped poison her and she would quite literally die than have to pretend she harbors anything more than utter disgust for him

Radovid or Henselt-- she wouldn't even make it past the wedding ceremonies without pulling a sword on either

Jan Natalis?? Idk much about him but Saskia might actually like him

Aryan La Valette-- Saskia's first choice but he'd have more to gain out of this potential marriage than her

Anséis or Villem?? Either could work I guess?

[demi-lancer]

Prince Anséis

(art by Bryan Sola)

[queenmevesknickers]

First stop on the angst train for @badthingshappenbingo​ !

Fandom - Thronebreaker: The Witcher Tales

Trope - Big Brother Instinct

[teutonixx]

[queenmevesknickers]

One-shots

All my Thronebreaker and The Witcher one-shots

Meve/Reynard

Still Waters

Summary: Even Reynard has a breaking point. What if Gascon went a little too far with his teasing at the Hel'ays revels in Angren? Perhaps Meve might have learnt a little more than just what her second in command thinks of the new ballista…

My very first TB fic :) (2.8k, Meve/Reynard)

Run Deep

Summary: Meve and Reynard have agreed on one night of happiness together - and they intend to make the most of it. Because, sometimes, when there's a war going on and you're in the middle of monster-infested swamps, you need to remind yourself what you're fighting for in the first place.

A follow up to Still Waters - (adult content/sex scene, 3.6k, Meve/Reynard)

An Act of Faith

Summary: There were half a dozen occasions that Reynard could recall in the last few years, when he could have kissed her: late at night after finally resolving a particularly complicated dispute between some of the Rivian nobles, a breathless moment after a dance at a ball at Lyria Castle. There’d even been times when he thought that maybe she’d wanted him to. But every single time, he’d held back. Worried he’d mistaken the look in her eyes, fearful of losing their friendship, reluctant to risk the respect and trust which he treasured so dearly. But now, seeing her so close to despair, he wondered if he could be brave enough to show her just how extraordinary she was, in his eyes at least.

Meve has a moment of doubt; Reynard does what he can to help (2.8k, Meve/Reynard)

Translated into Russian by Agent_Casper here.

For Queen and Country

Summary: This is how it ends. Alone, surrounded by your fallen men, a Nilfgaardian spear buried in your chest. But thank the gods, at least you did your duty.

Reynard’s final moments, from his POV (major character death, 600 words)

Translated into Russian by Agent_Casper here.

The Flint and the Flame

“Reynard,” she says softly, not quite able to take her eyes off his mouth. “What I want to ask of you now – it goes far beyond what I could ever expect out of mere duty. This is not something I wish to command of you; I ask it not as your queen, but as…as a woman…as a friend. Please don’t think that you can’t refuse me, if this is not something you desire.”

“I am yours, Your Majesty. Whatever you would take of me, I will gladly give.”

Meve asks Reynard to brush her hair.

Explicit/borderline PWP (but with so many FEELINGS) (Meve/Reynard, 4k)

The World’s End

Summary: It did not sit well with him; he cursed the fear that had paralysed him, that had prevented him from being the one to see to her safety, from being the one to pull her behind the shelter of the rocky outcrop. But there was nothing that could be done now except to feel gratitude that she had suffered no lasting harm, and to do his utmost to prevent such a thing from happening again.

It has always been Reynard's instinct to throw himself between his queen and danger; he had never dreamed the favour might one day be returned.

(Meve/Reynard, pining, self-sacrifice, 2k)

Sweet Surrender

Summary: That he is as eager to please her in bed as he is in every other way could hardly be a cause for complaint, but she sees how he watches her constantly, his strategic mind always planning his next move; even when he is finally content to give himself over to his own pleasure, it is never with abandon. She has begun to wonder just what it would take to force him to surrender his control for once, to let himself be ruled by nothing but desire.

Meve tries to get out of doing paperwork. She is successful.

(Meve/Reynard, shameless PWP, 3.4k)

The River

He stares resolutely at the dark patch on the canvas before him, determined not to allow his imagination to fan the ever-smouldering embers of his longing into flame. Five onagers, he thinks desperately, casting his mind to the inventory of their catapults, three in good condition, two in need of repairs. Six ballistae, all in excellent condition, but short three men trained to work them. It works well enough, though he loathes the fact that he is required to stoop to such tactics merely to maintain his composure before her. Pull yourself together, man.

(Reynard gets a bit hot and bothered, one-sided Meve/Reynard, 2.3k, pining)

Meve/Reynard/Gascon - OT3

The Messenger

Summary:

“Reynard.” She fought to keep the frustration from her voice. “Are you unwell?”

“Of course not –” The lie was interrupted by a coughing fit, much longer and distinctly wetter-sounding than those before; she realised suddenly he must have been trying to hold it back. “It’s nothing,” he continued, once he’d caught his breath. “Just – just something caught in my throat, Your Grace –”

“That didn’t sound like nothing,” remarked Gascon. “Reynard, you look like a walking corpse.”

Reynard would do anything to win his queen's trust back. When he takes it too far, all three are left to work out where they stand with each other.

Prompt fill for the Bad Things Happen Bingo - ‘worked themselves to exhaustion’ (pre-relationship, light angst, hurt/comfort, 3.8k)

Ciri/Cerys

Sparrowhawk and Swallow

Love is never easy, when witchers are involved - and being a queen certainly doesn't make it any easier, either.

A little slice-of-life/domestic fluff one-shot featuring the Queen of Skellige and her favourite witcher, set immediately before Of Time and Tides - though this story can be read stand-alone (Ciri/Cerys, 2.4k)

Gen

Some Nights

Summary: The Duke of Dogs had no love for royalty, nor loyalty to any cause but his own. But now - he's not so sure.

A particularly bitter night in Mahakam forces Meve, Reynard and Gascon a little closer - literally (Gen/platonic, 2.8k)

A Guide to Courteous Thievery

Summary: A Guide to Courteous Thievery: The Bandit’s Codex - by the Duke of Dogs, Earl of Mutts, High King of Huckleberries, His Trampy Highness, His Sparky Lordship, etc, etc

Gascon Brossard is the most ambitious bandit Lyria’s ever seen - after all, he’s no common cutthroat.

A little peek at what Gascon got up to before his run in with Her Majesty (Gen, 1.6k)

High Stakes

“Hey ho, Reynard. Don’t mind me, I’d hate to interrupt what is no doubt another stimulating evening of staring into your drink like it holds the secrets of th’ universe.”

He glared. “Can I help you?”

“If you’re prepared to cease hostilities – at least for th’ moment – then perhaps, yes...thought I’d see if I could tempt you with a spot of gwent.”

Summary: Her Majesty’s seconds-in-command begin to bond over a game of cards - with unforeseen consequences... (Gascon & Reynard, Gen, 2.5k)

Brother Mine

Summary: "There are times when we must do things which are hard, things which frighten us; sometimes we must find it in ourselves to be brave, even when we don’t feel it – because it is our duty, because it is the right thing to do."Forgive me, brother mine - I hope one day, you understand.

King Villem the First has had to make many difficult decisions in his short reign; decisions that have cost him dearly, that have caused much pain and regret. This may be the hardest yet.

Written for the Bad Things Happen Bingo - Big Brother Instinct prompt.

(Gen, angst, self-sacrifice 2k)

Beneath the Unchanging Sky

Summary: Seasons change, the world turns; battles and wars are won and lost. But stars are constant, the sky ever-present, watching over us as years pass, as surely as the sun rises and sets.

The night sky shine above Meve, Reynard and Gascon at significant points in their lives.

(Gen, one-sided Meve/Reynard, 3.1k, pining)

Fair is Foul, Foul is Fair

There was a palpable tension in the air each day at court until it could be seen what kind of a mood the king was in today; his advisors had taken to withholding intelligence or deferring certain proposals until it was certain that Reginald was in a favourable mood to receive them. Meve would not have raised the subject with him without purpose, and this sort of talk could only lead one way – and Reynard was not sure if he was prepared to let his mind wander that far.

Written for the Bad Things Happen Bingo. Prompt - betrayal. (one-sided Meve/Reynard, angst, regicide, conspiracies, 2.2k)

[queenmevesknickers]

the plot bunnies continue to multiply and curse me with shiny new fic ideas when I’m already drowning in WIPs but anyway. I swear I’m gonna write this one at some point but god knows when that will be so I’m gonna talk about it now, because Reynard trying to be a good stepdad to actual menace Anséis is my new favourite dynamic. 

Once Anséis decides he wants to be a knight, Reynard takes him on as his squire; partly out of a sense of duty, but mostly out of love for Meve, because having Anséis hanging around 24/7 is huge pain. But Reynard always does his best and is far, far more patient with him than Meve or anyone else ever is and secretly Anséis adores him.

At some point during the Third Northern War the queen and her general have to take a divide and conquer approach - Meve and Villem commanding the force at one front, and Reynard and Anséis holding the fort at another. Now not only is poor long-suffering Reynard enduring a prolonged separation from the love of his life, when there’s another bloody war going on and all he wants is to be at Meve’s right hand, following her into battle - but he is stuck trying to keep her slightly-too-brave-and-definitely-too-dumb-for-his-own-good son alive and in one piece and Anséis does not make his job easy. The prince is constantly leaping head first into battle without thinking, narrowly avoiding being killed by sheer dumb luck, and to Reynard’s great consternation, trying to sneak off to brothels with the other soldiers. 

Sometimes Reynard’s life flashes before his eyes and he thinks some god out there is having a good laugh at his expense because somehow, twenty years down the track, he is stuck trying to keep Reginald’s equally dumb and horny teenage son out of the exact same trouble he used have to try and get Reginald himself out of back in the day; he's sure it’s taken five years off his life at least. 

Fortunately, just as Reynard begins to think he doesn’t need to worry about being killed by Nilfgaardians because Anséis is definitely going to give him a heart attack first, some surprise reinforcements arrive in the shape of an infamous mercenary band, led by an unexpected, but very welcome ally...

[queenmevesknickers]

alright apparently I’m just in my Anséis feels tonight.

He’s a rebellious son. An annoying younger brother. A huge pain in the arse. He insists on doing things he’s not good at, but is too stubborn to admit it when he’s wrong. Meve clashes with him constantly as he shirks responsibility to chase dreams of knightly glory (again). Reynard grimaces as he patiently tries to correct his form (again), and Anséis still insists his way is better. Villem rolls his eyes when Anséis announces he’s met the love of his life (again) and this time, it’s definitely the real thing.

Anséis was too young to remember when his father died, not that he paid his younger son much attention anyway. Meve has tried her best, but being tender and affectionate doesn’t come naturally to her, and with two kingdoms to run, she hardly has the time. Villem played with his little brother, but left him behind for the world of politics and got annoyed when Anséis didn’t bother to keep up, dreaming instead of facing the world with sword in hand, one dragon at a time.

It was lonely, being a little prince.

[bard-llama]

I actually had time to write today!

So have a snip!

“What are you doing!?” The high pitched voice cracked halfway through the last word and Villem pressed his lips together, determined not to laugh at his little brother. He remembered trying to pretend to be more important than he was when he was sixteen too.

Of course, he’d actually been king, even if only briefly. Anséis’ claim to fame was… well, he didn’t actually have one. That was probably part of the problem.

Shorter even than Gascon, the blond head of Villem’s little brother stomped up to them, frowning heavily enough to look like he was pouting.

“Excuse me?” Gascon arched an eyebrow.

“This is the royal shooting range. You should not be here.” Anséis sniffed haughtily, attempting unsuccessfully to look down his nose at Gascon.

Villem rolled his eyes. “Plenty of people that aren’t the royal family are allowed to shoot here,” he said reasonably. “Gascon is one of them.”

“Reynard practices here all the time,” Gascon added.

“People who are practically part of the royal family are allowed,” Anséis said snidely. “Unless you two have neglected to announce a marriage, then he is not.”

Gascon flinched back as if burned and Villem could see the way Anséis’ lips quirked with a malicious kind of pleasure. Unacceptable.

Stepping forward and grabbing Anséis’ right ear between thumb and forefinger, he pinched his fingers together hard and hissed, “yes, he is. We wouldn’t even have a home here without him and Mother herself considers him family. If you have something to say about that, go tell her!”

The moment he released Anséis, the brat turned to fight him, so he shoved Anséis roughly towards the castle. “Go away,” he snapped. “No one wants you around if you’re going to be a fucking dick.”

Anséis blinked, perhaps shocked at hearing him actually swear – or at being called a dick – and actually walked off, looking dazed. Villem stared after him in silence for long minutes, and then Gascon snorted loudly.

“Damn, Villem, that was actually impressive!”

Flushing, he coughed, feeling his ears growing hot. “Sorry he’s such a brat.”

“Eh, little brothers always are from what I hear,” Gascon shrugged, but his smile didn’t quite reach his eyes. “But seriously, that was awesome! You were like a mix of an angry mom and a furious king.”

“Uh… thank you?”

“It works for you for sure,” he laughed, and this time, his eyes creased with real joy. Villem’s shoulders released tension he hadn’t even realized they’d been carrying.

“Thanks, I think.” He licked his lips, then said softly, “he’s wrong, by the way. Anséis. You’re family. Mother thinks so too.”

Gascon looked down at the ground, smile falling as he swallowed hard. “Yeah. I’m sure she does.”

“She does,” Villem insisted, half-wishing he’d said nothing at all, if only to have kept Gascon’s exuberance.

Gascon just nodded, biting his lip and not saying anything.

Wishing he knew what else to say, Villem instead gave Gascon a distraction.