#like i get that Geralt's trying his best with Ciri but their dynamic is like. kind of lacking something idk

[thelostgirl21]

Alright, so this is a reply to @my-jokes-are-my-armour brilliant additions to my post, because the original one was getting insanely long, and apparently I had lots of feels about this, but asfoljasdfklsf;asldkfas;flkjasdlkjffslksjdf;s...

That "maybe"...

There are so many possible "layers" to that "maybe"!

And that's definitely one the places where Jaskier and Radovid's respective situations massively differ in that scene, too, IMHO.

Like you've said, Jaskier has a found family that he's spent about 20+ years investing in.

So, obviously, it would make absolutely no sense for him to sacrifice the ties he's already built with Geralt, Yennefer, and Ciri, for a relationship that does have great potential, but is still in its infancy; whereas Radovid has made no such personal commitments in his life.

I don't know if you're familiar with the YouTube channel "Cinema Therapy" (basically, a psychologist and filmmaker analysing various movie relationships, characters psychology, etc. I highly recommend it!), but they've occasionally spoken about the notion of "shelving your agenda".

Essentially, "shelving your agenda" relates to a person's ability to "temporarily delay one's own needs to meet those of another".

And, in this particular situation, the only one of them that can afford to shelve his own agenda for the other is Radovid.

Because, at that moment, Jaskier is facing the possibility of devastating potential losses within his family system that greatly threaten his emotional and psychological well-being.

Radovid can (or at least could, while Vizimir was the one still wearing that crown) afford to be the one providing him with emotional, physical and financial support to give Jaskier his best chance at being reunited with those he loves.

But Jaskier can't really promise or offer Radovid anything in return for the time being.

And sadly, he doesn't know how bad things are for Radovid at court, either.

He doesn't know that Philippa and Dijkstra orchestrated Queen Hedwig's murder, right under King Vizimir's nose, with such confidence in their ability to get away with it that they openly told the Crown Prince of Redania about it!

He doesn't know about Radovid's relationship dynamic with his brother, and the fact that being the King's little brother is no longer enough to keep Radovid safe in that castle.

And I don't think Jaskier fully grasps just how much being in his presence is already offering Radovid something that's rather essential for his own emotional and psychological well-being, too, that he has never been able to find anywhere else.

Jaskier: "You don't understand. [This is not me trying to walk away from a relationship with you.] The war brewing outside is nothing compared to what Geralt will unleash on this Continent to find his daughter. [I'm pretty much planning to go throw myself headfirst into some desperate suicide mission with a stubborn, insanely protective Witcher dad!] I don't know what happens next. [I've no idea what will happen to me. Out there, none of us will be safe!]"

Radovid: [Oh boy! Where do I even start?] "Just let me be there with you." [Trust me, as terrible as you are trying to make it sound, joining you on a suicide mission following an angry overprotective Witcher around is actually my safest, least bad option.] "Prove that I'm more than a mask." [I belong with you and your family out there, not stuck at court playing games!]

Basically, I've a feeling that Jaskier might be operating under the belief that the safest place for the Crown Prince of Redania to be, in times of war with Nilfgaard, is behind the well guarded walls of a castle; not running around the Continent helping him and Geralt go rescue a Princess!

If he returns to Tretogor and stay there, Radovid will have an entire army standing between him and Nilfgaard!

Which, you know, is pretty much the reason that had convinced him that Ciri might be better off in Redania rather than anywhere else...

If he comes with him, well, Radovid is probably one of the last people you'd want anyone loyal to Nilfgaard to get their hands on.

The King's brother - and sole current living heir to the throne (at the time) - is very much someone that Redania's enemies would want to capture so they can use as leverage against the King.

And Jaskier's pretty much planning on being Geralt's ride or die companion on his quest to find Ciri.

So, I'm not sure how comfortable Jaskier is with the possibility of Radovid getting himself captured by enemies or killed trying to help them out there; or, even worse, winding up sacrificing his life to save Jaskier's.

Because Radovid has already proven that he values Jaskier's safety and freedom above his own, when he ditched his whole (now very dead) royal security detail to go see him and Ciri at the cabin.

Radovid is willing to make Jaskier his #1 priority, in a situation where Jaskier needs to make Geralt, Yennefer and Ciri his own #1 priority.

Jaskier is planning to "shelve his agenda" for his family, to the point of being willing to risk sacrificing his life for them…

…while Radovid is talking about "shelving his agenda" for Jaskier, while being willing to risk sacrificing his life for him, and - by extension - Jaskier's family, too.

It's likely a lot for Jaskier to take in.

And, perhaps, knowing that Radovid - at least - would be safe back in his castle, would give Jaskier some peace of mind, and even something for him to fight to come back to, should he somehow succeed in helping Geralt get Ciri back without managing to get himself killed in the process!

So, Jaskier's "maybe" is likely the most sincere answer Jaskier can give him at the moment, since Jaskier genuinely doesn't know what happens next, and he probably doesn't want Radovid to make the decision to take such a huge risk for himself and his family based on the promise of things that he might never be given the chance to offer him.

Had Jaskier known that the greatest threat Radovid was facing could be found within his castle's well guarded walls, his response to Radovid's desire to be there with him might have been different.

Perhaps he might have said something along the lines of "Forget about the money, and if you really want to come with me, come with me now! We'll think of a way to let your brother know you're relatively safe, and haven't been killed or kidnapped while we're on the road!", or something.

And then, hope his own family would understand why he chose to take Radovid with him, and for them hopefully to not be upset that he's just managed to make their whole situation even more complicated than it already was.

[Poor Geralt though…

Geralt: Let me get this straight… Of all the people on the Continent you could have romantically fallen for, you somehow managed to pick the Crown Prince of Redania? And now, the prince - who comes from a bad home that has been mistreating him - has been following you outside his castle, and you're asking if we can adopt and keep him?

Jaskier: *Smiles sheepishly and attempts to look adorable.* Yes?

Geralt: *Mumbling to himself.* Why does Destiny fucking hate me so much? How many princes and princesses am I supposed to be looking after? I'm a Witcher, for fuck's sake! I'm supposed to be killing monsters! Not opening a royal rescue shelter…

Radovid: *Concerned.* Ah, is your Witcher okay?

Jaskier: Just give him a moment to have a mental breakdown, and he'll be fine!]

But Jaskier doesn't know how bad things are for Radovid back at Tretogor.

Actually, even Radovid himself doesn't fully know!

As far as Radovid is concerned, Dijkstra briefly perceived him as a threat - or at least a nuisance - with regards to the complete and absolute influence he has on King Vizimir, and threatened to have him killed if he gets in their way.

So, by leaving, he'd technically be doing him a favor! No more "baby prince brother" royalsitting for Dijkstra and Philippa! They can go back to the way they've always preferred doing things, without having Radovid to deal with!

But Radovid doesn't know his brother has decided to let Philippa take the fall for Thanedd, and that the best solution the sorceress came up with, to deal with the issue, is "Yup! Imma get rid of Vizimir and put that spare on the throne!"

On a scale of 0 to "the spymasters are so confident they can get away with regicide that they feel totally comfortable making the guy they gleefully confessed Queen Hedwig's murder to King", just how fucking screwed are you?

I don't think Radovid had fully realised he'd reached that very last stage yet.

But yeah, Jaskier answering "maybe" made much more sense, to me, than him going "yes please, come with me, where I'll almost certainly manage to get you and/or myself killed in a desperate attempt to keep my family safe!"

And I love how long he hesitates before giving that answer, and the way his thoughts really appear to be racing, even after he says "maybe", because it is an incredibly complex and multi-factorial situation for him to deal with.

Whereas Radovid has essentially two choices:

Return to a loveless, toxic, dangerous place where he's totally disconnected from himself, and isolated from healthy human interactions.

Be out there in the world, risking his life for something - someone - that's worth taking those risks for, thus acting in accordance with who he is, and what matters to him the most.

So, Radovid basically saying "I'm all in! Let's go!", while Jaskier is saying "maybe", to me, might have more to do with how well they are both ready to handle and accept the potential consequences of Radovid choosing to go with Jaskier at that moment; than it has to do with how much they both desire to have the chance to potentially be together, or even Jaskier struggling with forgiving him.

Of course, there's also Jaskier's own personal fears (of abandonment, of falling back into unhealthy codependent patterns, etc.) that may play a role in him hesitating to treat his feelings for Radovid as a full-fledged partnership right away, and being comfortable with the idea of trusting Radovid enough to rely on him for support, too (trust and forgiveness are not quite the same thing).

That "maybe" is filled with so much potential delicious meanings, I'm telling you!

And, given that being told "maybe" didn't deter Radovid from wanting to go to Jaskier, I've a feeling that Radovid knew that Jaskier's "maybe" was also filled with a lot of hope and yearning, and as close to a "yes" as Jaskier could afford to offer him.

After all, he'd already told Radovid that his plans [of breaking things off between them] had changed.

When Radovid said "I don't get it", Jaskier could have answered him with: "it's the right thing to do", or "I may no longer want to see you, that doesn't mean I wish you to get hurt, Radovid", or "I owe you for having ditched - and now lost - your guards when you came to see me. This is me doing what I can do to pay back the favor."

But Jaskier said "plans change", with some of the most cautiously hopeful and vulnerable puppy dog eyes I've ever seen him throw at anyone.

To me, there was a sense of forgiveness and a bit of an apology, even, in Jaskier's expression at that moment…

Because the fact remains that Jaskier didn't offer Radovid his help, the night before, when he told him he was scared; resulting in Jaskier having allowed Radovid to back himself into that corner where people might say and do stupid things.

It would be a bit unfair for Jaskier to be upset with Radovid for not having trusted him with everything he knew when he came to see him and Ciri, when Jaskier himself was so scared to trust Radovid that he didn't call him out for having avoided to directly answer his question, and instead chose to test what he'd do with the information that the forcefield only lasted 'til dawn.

He's accusing Radovid of not fully trusting him and having kept his full intentions from him, when Jaskier himself literally set up a trap for him, because he was too scared to trust him…

And Radovid had the honesty of saying "I'm scared, Jaskier", at the very least. Whereas Jaskier kept his own fears to himself, and chose to play games and test him.

Granted, Radovid could have pretended to be scared to get Jaskier to lower his defenses, and manipulate him. I'm not saying that Jaskier didn't have very valid reasons for choosing to test him, rather than opting for a direct confrontation.

Trust eventually does become essential in a relationship, but it would be unrealistic to expect it to "magically be there" until both sides have experienced how the other responds in a variety of situations - including their ability to make each other still feel safe while they handle conflicts and mistakes.

So, I'm not pointing out Jaskier's own contribution to this whole mess while trying to determine who is to blame, who was wrong, or who hurt the other the most.

Just hoping that, maybe, Jaskier is allowing himself to recognize that they are both very flawed, complex and human individuals that never meant to hurt each other at that moment.

That part of the reasons why he sits down and looks at Radovid with such a sad, defeated expression, is that he's realizing that they were simply dealing and coping with their own respective fears and doubts as best they could back at the cabin, and got both a good, strong bite in the arse as a result!

When Radovid ran away from the cabin earlier, Jaskier made a little move as if instinctively wanting to run after him.

I think that, maybe, in all of the ways Jaskier might have expected their confrontation to go when "catching Radovid in the act" that morning, he might have imagined facing more outrage from Radovid, more fight…

He might have expected for him to start blaming him in return, etc.

Because, had Radovid indeed been a "knife" and wearing a mask with Jaskier, he might have played "meek" and attempted to "reason with" Jaskier in the beginning in a desperate last ditch attempt to hold onto his mask, sure!

But, when he'd realised it didn't work - and Jaskier would not be so easily fooled - the mask would eventually have had to come off!

Radovid could easily have pretended that he had only wanted to test if Jaskier was being sincere with him.

He could have claimed that he'd realised, the night before, that Jaskier had only let him know about when the forcefield would come down, because he'd never truly cared about him, nor trusted him!

And low and behold! He was right!

Radovid could have accused Jaskier of having been dishonest and manipulative with him, of only having ever pretended to care for him, so he could use him because of his wealth and position at court.

He could have mocked Jaskier for having claimed that "he had no desire" to be playing games with him through his song, only to then go on scheming against him, and setting up traps for him at the first opportunity he got!

A skilled "knife", caught in a lie, will not admit to any wrongdoing, and will make it sound like you're the villain, they're the victim, and the problem lies with you, not them.

But Radovid's response was being truthful in his answers, internalize Jaskier's blame, look like he'd just been kicked, utter a pitiful "I'm so sorry," and run away!

Unless you are someone that enjoy dominating other people and bringing them down (something I do not believe Jaskier does), there's no sense of triumph, or even validation to be derived from Radovid's response!

There's no sense of relief from "having escaped being fooled by such a manipulative and dangerous individual" to be found!

Radovid just took all the blame on himself, brokenly apologized for having managed to hurt and disappoint Jaskier, and ran away thinking he'd forever lost him.

Had Jaskier's priority not been to ensure Ciri's safety, I think he might have followed his impulse and gone after Radovid to attempt to get to the bottom of what was actually happening.

And, even should he have suspected that Radovid's behavior was yet another manipulation attempt - that Radovid would be patient enough to hold onto his mask a while longer while faking taking responsibility for his mistakes and hurting Jaskier…

There's absolutely no way Radovid could have predicted that Jaskier was going to come investigate the room he'd huddled himself into a dark corner to cry.

So, I like to think that Jaskier did regret his harsh words, the way he'd jumped to conclusions back at the cabin, and how he'd cut short Radovid's attempt to explain, as soon as he'd mentioned that he'd be out from under Dijkstra's thumb.

I like to think that Jaskier was sorry for the way he'd hurt Radovid, too, and that he realised that he'd let his own fears and issues get the best of him.

Now, it's up to them to decide if they'll allow their respective fears and issues to win; or instead let that deep, beautiful and delicate connection that they've been experiencing together come out on top.

So, since "the plan" was for Radovid to have seen the last of Jaskier…

I tend to interpret Jaskier saying "plans change" as a way of telling Radovid "I don't want this to be the last you see of me. If you'll still have me, when this is over, I'd like to come back to you."

With Radovid's immediate response being "Come with me, then."

Because Radovid does very much still want Jaskier.

Except Jaskier has a family he needs to go help first, before he can be free to go back to Radovid and continue to explore and deepen that relationship.

And OMFG, yes! Found families are a theme that I absolutely adore in virtually any form of media (perhaps because I had to leave my own family of origin behind to go find "my own tribe")…

By the way, do you have that season 3 review link nearby? I'm not sure if I had the chance to read it yet, or if it somehow managed to pass me by… But I'd be interested to have a first or second read at it!

Otherwise, I pretty much found myself just nodding along while reading your comments.

I definitely think that, the first time Radovid meets Jaskier, he's deeply intrigued by him and how he personally connects with his songs, but still a bit in a "playing games" mindframe, because that's just the way his world is, and has always been, and how people communicate.

And now, I'm amazed, because you've just made me realise that, when Jaskier came to see Radovid wanting to share intel with him, it could very much have made it look like he only cared about Radovid's position, wealth, and resources; rather than about Radovid himself!

In many ways, Jaskier is 100% aware that the Crown Prince of Redania "fancies him", and I think that, under normal circumstances, he wouldn't be above taking advantage of that attraction to help protect his family.

To be clear, I don't think Jaskier would ever look to manipulate the emotions of anyone that would be having sincere, non-entitled, and reciprocal feelings for him.

But a royal that would be looking to own, use, or control him? I think he'd be feeling perfectly justified using his own charms to get what he wants from them.

He tells Vespula "you can't play a player", therefore very much perceiving himself as "a player", in a sense.

And, given that nobles often have an inflated ego and sense of self-importance, "playing them" is typically not that hard to do.

But Radovid does not.

He is far from immune to Jaskier's charms, but he does not perceive him as a some type of potential "trophy lover" or conquest. He's genuinely curious about him, and wishes to better get to know and understand him.

In such a context, trust should normally go both ways.

Jaskier tells Philippa and Radovid that, if they get rid of Rience, they will have earned Ciri's, Geralt's, and his own trust (and he talks about winning his own trust while pointedly looking at Radovid)…

But what is Jaskier willing to do to earn Radovid's trust in return?

You've just made me realise that, while I often tend to remind myself that there is lot that the audience knows about Radovid that Jaskier himself doesn't…

Well, there is also a lot that the audience knows about Jaskier that Radovid himself simply doesn't, too.

Sure, Jaskier's initial response towards learning that Radovid was the Crown Prince of Redania was rather flattering and amusing, especially since it brought a certain balance to the way Radovid himself was slightly starstruck by Jaskier.

Rockstar meets royalty, basically… and forgets to let his hand go, much to royalty's delight!

But, once that initial moment has passed, does Jaskier still only sees Radovid as a prince - with all the privileges tied to his position that he could use for his own gain - or a person that's worth knowing, too?

We all assume that Jaskier's motives are honorable, because we know him, but Radovid only knows about Jaskier's songs and what little he's been able to pick up from him during two rather short encounters.

In that context, Jaskier showing up all "So, I hear you've got money! Maybe you could use it to get the two detectives to talk, and help Geralt and I find out who Rience is working for?" could actually be… borderline insulting?

Technically, it wouldn't, if Radovid was into such things as power and influence, wanted to find Ciri for himself rather than to please his brother, and Jaskier's suggestion was helping him get closer to something he really wished to get closer to besides the man standing right before him.

Again, Jaskier doesn't know that; so, there's a bit of an ongoing comedy of errors happening between these two this season.

And he doesn't know that Radovid doesn't actually have that much money "ready to be handed out" like that, either.

That Radovid would have to first sell some of his own belongings to pay for that intel.

Jaskier's basically prancing right into the palace while making a bunch of (albeit flirtatious) assumptions about Radovid - most of them kinda wrong / only half right - and it's really no wonder Radovid himself would be unwilling to "collaborate" with him so easily, admit to what he knows, and instead choose to initially continue to play dumb/drunk!

To be fair, most nobles would likely love to be reminded of their wealth, status and power, and go "Oh yeah, I've got money and I'm so important, uwu!"

They would likely welcome any opportunity to put it on display and use it to further seduce Jaskier! Normally, a prince should have favorably responded to Jaskier's innuendos...

Whereas Radovid's pretty much "Yes, yes, very interesting… Now, enough about me, let's talk about you! Here's your lute, may I humbly ask you to sing about what you prefer singing the most? Please?Maybe your white-haired Witcher? I really want to get to know you…"

And look, the fact that Jaskier got his crush to agree to help him because he was moved by his singing, cares about him, and has made it his personal mission in life to learn to better understand what makes him so special, must be so much more satisfying to Jaskier’s than it being because Radovid likes to display his wealth and feel influential and important!

I mean, look at that face...

He's just so pleased with the unexpected way things turned out...

[pukner]

✨masterpost of my works✨

posted to my ao3

[this post is subject to editing in the future]

Since I intend on using Tumblr a bit more now, and because I like neat lists, I thought it'd be prudent do make a little list of what I have out on ao3 right now!

My name's Looth, and I am ENTIRELY at the whims of my hyperfixations. I'm on twitter and pillowfort by the same handles, but I rarely use the latter.

fandoms: Stranger Things, Our Flag Means Death, The Witcher (Netflix) and Good Omens

[list under the cut!]

fanfiction

Good Omens:

A Nanny? In MY Summoning Circle?

A twoshot wherein Warlock Dowling meets his Nanny again, via the very normal uni student past time of trying to summon a demon with a book you found in a dodgy bookshop. Very fluffy, genderqueer Warlock.

[Complete] 2/2, 10.5k

The Witcher (Netflix):

The Viscount

[geraskefer endgame]

A 5+1 that works on the premise that "I'm from Lettenhove" is a sort of codeword in the royal class for children that have fallen out of grace with their court/family? And the higher your rank in Lettenhove, the worse the thing you have done is? Lots of Jaskier shenanigans, aggressive found family and genderfluid Jaskier.

Based on a post by @artistsfuneral.

[WIP] 3/?, 1.3k

build me up, buttercup [rated M]

[geraskefer endgame]

A longfic I've been chipping away at since 2020, dear God. Features Jaskier and Yen being fake married and co-parenting Ciri, Geralt getting adopted, the found family inherent to bards and the city of Oxenfurt, ftm Jaskier and Ciri having a well-deserved identity crisis. Also, ocs galore, gratuitous academia, and also Valdo Marx is immortal and Jaskier's annoying best friend.

Geraskefer endgame. My baby, who I will return to as soon as I am able.

[WIP] 15/?, 64k

Our Flag Means Death:

the inertia series [rated E]

a three-part series following Israel Hands as he attempts to move on from the things keeping him trapped in amber, unable to grow.

[steddyhands endgame]

[Complete] 62.9k

1. love like a dog on a leash

Izzy Hands encounters an old friend in the form of Sam Bellamy, Ed starts a barfight, and Stede learns some backstory.

All of these men are haunted in some way.

1/1, 5.5k

2. open season

Izzy Hands finds himself inexplicably being courted by various pirates to be their first mate. No one has addressed that fact that he isn't looking for a new Captain; he already has two. Steddyhands endgame, features some Jackhands.

A long look at the dynamics between Ed and Izzy, and now Stede, and the older dynamics of Ed, Izzy, Calico Jack Rackham and Sam Bellamy. Actually, it's a look at Izzy himself, and his various traumas and the way he's transitioning from being in a Black Sails type dark genre to this weird muppet land everyone else on this ship seems to live in.

7/7, 44.5k

3. red sky at morning

An epilogue, wherein the boys all contend with the future on the horizon; the good and the bad of it.

1/1, 11.9k

stranger things

[my current hyperfixation send help]

Eddie Munson and the Dreamboy

[steddie]

Wherein Eddie and El traverse the inside of Steve's mind, and encounter various Steves at different points in his life trying to find where he's hidden himself to escape Vecna's final curse.

A 5+1, featuring Steve's Scoops Ahoy flirting, a little baby Steve, and El's hair.

[Complete] 1/1, 8k.

Dustin Henderson and the Lovebirds

[steddie]

Five times Dustin Henderson was subjected to Eddie Munson being gross and sappy and in love with Steve Harrington, and one time Steve didn't even have to be there.

Features Steve being serenaded, Eddie Munson's Roger Rabbit Impression, Steve's Tiny Gym Shorts, and a good old fashioned worm conversation. Also, gay dnd.

[Complete] 1/1, 9.7k

always burning, world keeps turning

a two-part series set in a soft post-apocalyptic Hawkins, where community and family keep everyone going. And Steve and Eddie kiss about it.

[steddie]

[WIP]

1. took you for a working boy

In a post-apocalypse, mildly nightvale-flavoured Hawkins, Steve and Eddie are the only ones who aren't aware they're dating. Steve does not have a gender crisis but does have a lot of difficulty finding the words for it all, Eddie is oblivious but earnest (and running a radio show, Dr. Death Defying or Cecil Palmer style), Steve and Robin are ACTUALLY soulmates, and everyone's doing their best.

I cannot stress how much everyone thinks they're already dating. Featuring genderqueer Steve, disaster gay Eddie, scheming younger teens, and lots of stobin fluff.

[complete] 6/6, 43.8k

2. hometown blues

The sequel to working boy, wherein Gareth, Vickie and Steve's mom encounter how fucking weird Hawkins has got in their absence, and take it with varying degrees of grace.

[WIP] 3/? 17k

off-script

Wherein Steve Harrington has his sexuality all figured out, Eddie's in comically heavy denial, and everything rapidly snowballs from there.

[steddie]

1. off the beaten path

Wherein Steve figures out he's bi before Eddie figures out he's gay, but Eddie STILL manages to fall first.

Features Steve talking himself though discovering his sexuality in approximately five minutes while on the phone with a baffled Jonathan, and him aggressively flirting with the local metalhead. He's also very good at being an unreliable narrator.

It ALSO features said local metalhead (who thinks himself straight) accidentally flagging, calling Steve Harrington princess in a totally straight way, and doing the ttrpg equivalent of doodling your crush's name on a notebook over and over. Also, somehow he's convinced himself he just hates Steve.

This won't end badly for anyone, I'm sure.

[Complete] 6/6, 34.2k

2. no boys allowed

Robin Buckley has her very first Girls' Day. She gets her hair braided, consoles her heartbroken best friend, and everyone muddies the water a bit on the exact definition of what a Girl is.

Steve Harrington has a good cry about Eddie Munson.

[Complete] 1/1, 7.5k

3. here be dragons

Eddie Munson has kissed a boy, and now he has to handle the fallout. He's got to grapple with the fact that he likes boys, likes a boy, and the harrowing fact that he may have inadvertently broken said boy's heart.

Or, a rapidly snowballing fic that's become a series of character studies by accident. Features Mike Wheeler kicking Eddie's ass into gear, ruminations on being a fashion-assigned dom, Steve Harrington's Various Abandonment Issues, and a surprise Tommy Hagan.

[WIP] 6/?, 38.9k

original works:

court of law

A mildly unhinged second person pov piece about a person going to college and finding that he's trapped in a bizarre dreamscape with no memories. And a new body. He accidentally steals a cute boy's name.

Lots of shenanigans, lots of gender and bad jokes.

[WIP] 6/?, 13k

[colorfulandblack]

In honour of getting though Witcher season 3 I would like to share with you my thought process while watching this show, not that anyone asked. Can you tell Jaskier is my fav?

Season 1

Me, seeing Jaskier for the first time: a baby! Must protect, already fave.

Me throughout the season: How are you still alive? And how are you not aging?

Me still at season one going through social media: oh, so you don't like Jaskier, huh? Square up bitch cos I'm coming for your ass. Also why the hell is he called Dandelion? Jaskier is a buttercup not a dandelion? Dandelion would be so fucking funny though [image of Sid and last dandelion of season vivid in my mind]

Me still on season one: ok I know we NEED to normalise closeness between two male friends but that's definitely gay, right? Like Jaskier just readies such dumbass bisexual energy and he so clearly is in love with Geralt

Me, during the mountain scene: Bitch, bitch, bitch how dare you [actually insert the Jaskier HOW DARE YOU picture] actually stops watching the show for like a week

Season 2

Me, immediately at the beginning: where's Jaskier? Where's my man? My child? Where's that idiot?

Me, after I see Jaskier: what have they DONE to you? But the songs absolutely slaps (talking about the whore song that was so funny)

The apology scene: Nope, nope, sir that's the most half assed apology I've ever seen

Overall season two: yes, yes serious matters and Jaskier is a comic relief but could you just try to give him some more screen time like bitch he's trying his best, he risks his life, he does some good, he loves Ciri and Geralt just fucking appreciate him! I know it ain't about him but for being Geralts friend for so fucking long I think he deserves some appreciation for his accomplishments from others characters, even a little

Season 3

Sees trailer: "Dear friend.." ahaha that's for Jaskier for sure! [Sees a blur of him] oh thank god he's in here!

Me, after seeing Jaskier: oh, god oh no. Why, why, WHY?! WHO they fuck took the game design?! Put it back I say PUT IT BACK!!!

Me seeing Radowid: *squints as he praises Jaskier, clearly flirts with him and actually appreciates him UNLIKE SOME PEOPLE* I want to trust you but that would be a mistake

Me, throughout the season: ah, so you finally admit that Jaskier is in love with Geralt who somewhat patched things up with Yen so you give Jaskier a new love interest, who is a man [icarly interesting image]

(listen I loved them this season but it felt like a weird sudden jump in their relationship and idk, by this season rocked I just wished they included Jaskier more and if canonicaly were not getting Graskier then fucking give him some screen time as a part of a family! He's great with Ciri!)

Also that Valdo scene was fucking HILARIOUS

Me when, suprise, suprise Radowid did a backflip: I knew it, why am I surprised, I knew it. Jaskier why do you have a TYPE?!

Final thoughts: Jaskier fits perfectly into their witcher family dynamics just give him more screen time! Please! also very curious about Radowid redemption arc although I'm not ready to let go yet, and also may I add the music, fantastic, don't care if it's periodic or not Joey my man you killed it.

It's clear that Jaskier has a type for like unrequited/getting hurt type of love or the writers just love whumping him which like fine but then make it fucking seen like by others? It takes a fucking plot device character in SEASON 3 to see it? like give me some fucking comfort as well you assholes.

Also super weird that they went with the game design and gradually changed it simultaneously ageing Jaskier. I mean why now? He hasn't aged in like a decade and then he suddenly did? Just keep him immortal will you?

Idk it's chaotic lads cos I just finished it and I think I've seen season 1 most times and the rest kinda blurs together so

[moonchild-in-blue]

Okay, so I'm finally caught up with The Witcher 3 and as expected, most of the discourse here is about our favourite bard Jaskier and his hot lover. And while I LOVE him and Radovid, I really wanna see more discussion about the rest of show. So here's some of my favourite points/moments/whatever before vol. 2 comes out:

Yennefer genuinely trying to make amends with everyone, and becoming a better person. Her letters to Geralt?? Love them.

Ciri being not very great at magic - very refreshing to see a Chosen One™ teenage girl actually struggling and being clumsy and imperfect, and seeing her abilities improve realistically. Very tired of seeing the "trains for one week and instantly becomes a master at magic/whatever skill" trope.

On that same note, I really love that she gets to be a badass fighter, dirty and scruffy, but also still enjoys her pretty dresses and other traditionally feminine things. Girls are both, one doesn't excuse the other, and I just find that very neat.

Domestic Geralt and Yen. The dinners, the anniversary celebration, co-parenting Ciri. Hella cute 🥺

VERY interesting to see Nilfgaard seeking yet another truce with Francesca and the elves. Literally one of my favourite plot points of season 2 - Nilfgaard are the supposed "evil" ones, and yet so far are the only ones actively helping out the elves, even if with an agenda.

Emhyr burning his portraits and Pavetta's, erasing his past as Dunny. I'm very interested to see how the father dynamic parallels between him, Geralt and Ciri will play out.

Cahir, my skrunkly boy. ✨Him✨ Is he evil? Is he kinda okay? Is he actually disgusted with himself for murdering his elf boyfriend, and thus securing his position in the Nilfgaardian court, knowing that he's simply sinking deeper into Emhyr's grasp as merely a pawn, or is he just a cold-blooded army blorbo, and truly believes that the White Flame is the answer? Who knows!

Fringilla?? Living her best life as a free woman, dancing and drinking the trauma away? We love to see. Her hair looked AMAZING in the tavern scene. But please, someone give her something to do, girlie was NOT made for the streets.

Yarpen (his that his name?) is such a sweetheart, I love him 🥺

RIP Fern and her husband (am bad at names), and all that Library of Alexandria worth of knowledge and literature.

Love love love the gay uncle/rebel teenager relationship between Jaskier and Ciri. They're so funny together. Them spying on Geralt and Yen?? Fabulous.

YEN FINALLY BECAME A MOTHER. Listen, I almost teared up when Tissaia said that because, ugh. I love their friendship. And Tissaia is one of the very few people who really knows Yennefer, and how much having a child meant for her. And now she is, and she gets to be a parent with Geralt. And she's so awesome. I love that she, unlike Triss, isn't always kind and gentle with Ciri. She knows how much Ciri is struggling for control, she gets it. And she allows herself to be vulnerable and truthful with her - something that even Geralt struggles to do at times [with Ciri].

Geralt learning that his mother has died, and genuinely crying, less because of her passing, but more because he never understood why she abandoned him, and how much that hurt. Especially now that he's a father himself, and knows what true love and care and fear for a child means. Because he could never, ever hurt or endanger Ciri the way Visenna hurt him. Because there's always another way, it has to be. Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't this like the first time we see him cry? I don't remember if he actually shed any tears after Sodden, or when Roach died. Crazy to think he's been alive for so many decades, and yet still carries so much hurt and saddens towards his mother.

Jaskier having a crush is so cute hahaha. But also, I love the way he talks about his love for Geralt. Because sure, he's a slut (affectionately), and sure, him and Radovid? Their chemistry and connection is off the charts. But Geralt? His love for Geralt is so genuine, it runs so much deeper than people realise. It's unfair to say it's purely platonic or romantic or whatever because how can you even label a love that profound? "Family goat", AS IF BURN BUTCHER BURN ISN'T THE MOST HEART-WRENCHING, ANSTY BREAKUP SONG EVER, like okay, we all know how you really feel about Mr. Grumpy Pants. Honestly, big thank you Joey Batey, he really brings that romantic artist energy to life.

Philippa and Djikstra being in a bdsm relationship was NOT on my bingo cards. We love a dominatrix witch.

Tissaia's hair. She looks superb.

In comparison, someone please give my girl Triss some hair conditioner. Why did they let her walk around like that like, bestie, define your curls, please I'm begging you.

Vengefortz being the Big Bad - I did have a suspicion but didn't really want to believe it. What he did to those girls was atrocious and messed up, I was legitimately horrified. But also, bravo, whatever his purpose is, he pulled it off quite well.

Istred with that hair and eyeliner. Weirdly hot. Kinda wanted to see more of him.

Jaskier x Valdo Marx beef was EVERYTHING. I cackled when his trope appeared on the boat like fucking glee club. Their song on the conclave was extremely annoying tho, I did not love the constant replay of scenes.

GERALT SAID I LOVE YOU. Geralt said I love you. To Yennefer. Out loud. In public nonetheless. Gasping, clutching my pearls, screaming, crying, throwing up. I love them so much.

Yennefer serving looks 24/7 like the total boss babe she is.

Also, side note but, have you noticed that this season (so far) has had much less ~spicy~ scenes, or just generally less hyper-sexualised content, especially when it came to Yen/Geralt? Even the others, all of the sex scenes felt a lot more "plot relevant", and less "fan-servicey" than in previous seasons, which I for one really appreciate. I feel like before, especially s1, every other scene was an opportunity to show Yen's boobs or Geralt shirtless. Now it feels more, respectful? reigned in? Not that there's anything wrong with it - I'll never say no to a nice titty shot of Henry Cavill - but it can definitely take away the focus from the story, which is a shame because the plot is so rich and there's so much happening.

[supercupcakecollector-love]

Changes/ things in season 3 that I disliked 

the positive season 3 post I made  if you would like to read that as well or instead I will be adding both to that post and this one when part 2 comes out  

no im not going to talk about the goddamn costumes, everybody has, I agree and im sick of seeing it  they look cheap and  bad, they need more color they need to look somewhat period appropriate, moving on 

We got alot of amazing bonding moments with Ciri and Yennefer but I wish they would have kept the scene where she saved Ciri from the Wild Hunt.  We already got lots of Geralt Ciri bonding moments, we needed as much stuff with Yen being Ciri`s mother as we could possibly get and that was one of the best scenes, 

(side note of the stuff we did get while I appreciated and “ my ugly one” scene it felt very random and out of place  especially with how dolled up they made Freya look, she didnt need to have any makeup on I would have liked to see her more tomboyish look from the books)

TWN usually knocks casting out of the park but Robbie Amell  as Gallatin felt so out of place with his acting and trying to hide his accent, and much like the problem with blood origin looks nothing like the other elves and his scar is barley noticeable 

I knew he was going to die from when I heard they were going to use an original character instead of  Isengrim or   Iorweth they really did learn from the  Eskel incident. while I didn't like his character his death leads to some amazing character stuff with  Cahir, grappling with his sense of self and loyalty to Emhyr  since they need to have another reason why he changes sides later because of the age gap between him an Ciri in this version

Dijkstra here just doesn't feel like Dijkstra  

normally I don't really care if a character doesn't look  exactly like their book counterpart, but    Dijkstra being a huge imposing pigish man is part of his character,   Graham McTavish isn't doing a bad job, there are a few good scenes and he has good chemistry with Cassie`s Philippa but he just doesn't have the right sarcasm,  snark and attitude for the character, even their dynamic is off they’re equally stubborn, arrogant, conniving, and equally think they’re the one dominating the other , book and game  Dijkstra stole every scene he was in and was one of my favorite characters this version is mostly boring 

( sidenote but I didnt mind the whipping scene it was clearly not meant to be sexual or that they are in a sexual bdsm  relationship but that Dijkstra is a   Flagellant and that its a stress coping mechanism they engage in as they must trust each other in the underground world)

Tissaia and  Vilgefortz being lovers and  Tissaia`s seemingly ooc behavior

now to be fair with the intrigue aspect of this season I think they might do a bait and switch with this either  Tissaia Is acting this way to lead him on and try to stop him, or  Vilgefortz has control over Tissaia in some way ( he is arguabley the most powerful mage in the world even if she also is)  

either that or they put them together so it makes more sense for her to side with him/ Nilfgaardian since they established her as much more an active in this version and not just someone wanting to remain “neutral” like in the books

I just hope that her “ending” has as much impact as it should considering what an important character they made her 

Episode 5 is a mixed bag

while there were definitely things that I loved about this episode like the tender  yenralt moments and the use of dialog from the book, as well as the concept of the framing device from the book, but it got way too repetitive in parts, the Valdo song was fun but it overstays its welcome 

this episode reminds me of the Leverage episode  “ The Rashomon Job“ while that episode changed things things up every time it went back and told the story from another characters point of view this one doesn't do anything all that creative with it, and your stuck watching a bit of the same exact  scenes over and over again with slightly more information 

I imagine this episode will work better when the full season out and we see what its all building up to 

and I said I wouldn't  mention the costumes but, the ball was the one time the consumes had to be really stunning, where is all the color, its so dull looking, why do they look like they are doing a red carpet event in the 90s 

and I didn't  think it was possible to make Anya look anything less than stunning but this is by far Yennefer’s worst look, it bothered me more than any other visual in the season, nothing works about it, shes supposed to be in a gown with her hair down but she look like a cross between a taky 70s Cher impersonator and a low budget bollywood star 

( can some one please draw the TWN actresses in what they are described as wearing in the book like Keira in the green tulle top, Sabrina in the black chiffon blouse and a crimson skirt or Philippa dress lined with diamonds and ermine fur, I will commission you  ) 

the  casting of  Margarita Laux-Antille completely backfires due to how they wrote her character 

 Casting a plus sized black woman as a character that is described as white, and extremally conventionally attractive, to spite the gamer dudebros, is a move I like to be clear I love the diversity this show has given us  incredible actresses like Anya and  Anna and Mimi that in past years would have been looked over 

 but unfortunately they make her character conform to the “ angry black woman stereotype” and hit Ciri despite her character in the books who could be described  as “sweet” and “the cool teacher”   hopefully we will see her  character more like the books with the lodge in the second half of the season 

and just general “sins of the father” stuff that is from the books but isn't given proper context for show only fans to understand 

 like the discussion about aelirenn leaving out that older elves are infertile, or    many things about Aplegatt and his role in the story, the “ my ugly one” line feeling really out of place im sure there is more but thats all I can remember for now,  

[djosephqueery]

Art block's still really really bad so I'm not comfortable posting anything I've doodled recently. Instead I'm gonna ramble at whoever will listen about my witcher au headcanons. This is really long, and mostly just word vomit. Sorry not sorry.

Obviously, I've made Steve analogous with Geralt and Eddie Jaskier. I've seen a couple different interpretations on who would be who, but this is what feels most natural to me.

In my head Nancy is closest paralleled by Yen; they share quite a few narrative themes and are both women I am equal parts in love with and terrified of.

I think Robin most closely fits Triss, except in my version of the story she's the one turning down the prospect of a relationship with Steve. She'd also play a much larger role in his life than Triss did in the show (I've only played a little of the games and haven't read the books, so most of my knowledge is show-based).

And then obviously, because this is a Steddie (and ronance, I'm making it happen) au, it has to diverge from the witcher canon at some point because I don't want endgame stancy. Because I do love a healthy amount of angst though, I am going to keep mostly to canon up through the whole debacle on the mountain. Nancy finds out about the djinn wish and leaves Steve, Steve still gets (unrightfully) pissed at Eddie and leaves him there, everyone's in pain it's great.

But Steve and Nancy don't get back together after that. That's the end of their romantic involvement with each other.

Then the romance with Eddie kicks off after steve breaks the bard out of prison. In the time between the mountain and the prison break Steve's had all his realizations about Eddie (and he's a Witcher, so like it's all tinged with this feeling like he shouldn't get involved, would be better for eddie if he wasn't around, etc etc, which is why he stays away for so long). I'm not, however, making Eddie his bi awakening. Steve's not a teenager/young adult in this au. He's been around. He's known this about himself for a long time, but it's just as inconsequential to him as his attraction to women. It's a fact he knows, but doesn't really matter because he's not destined (in his eyes) for that kind of relationship.

I am torn on how to approach the Child Surprise. Part of me wants to scrap that arc completely and come up with something New.

If I do keep it, then I'm torn on Which kid from the show fits Ciri best. El seems like the obvious choice as far as narrative parallels go- powers she doesn't really understand, her whole life being suddenly upturned and there being insane forces at play that want her for some unknown reason- it's all there. But because we don't get any Steve/El interactions in st it's hard for me to fit her into the Geralt/Ciri dynamic.

Dynamic-wise I think the child should be Max. We see Steve take care of her in the show, and they bicker a little but she trusts him and (ultimately) listens to him. He feels responsible for her in a way that we don't see him feel towards El.

So I'm still undecided on that as of yet.

Robin and Nancy getting together is a lot more amorphous due to the minimal Yen/Triss interactions we get onscreen. But there's plenty of opportunity for that while they're both at Aretuza after Sodden. Nancy having lost her powers, Robin dealing with her own wounds that won't heal, tons of opportunity for bonding over shared trauma and finding a way Forward.

Does Nancy still get tangled up with the Deathless Mother trying to get her magic back? in this au with Robin there with her, would she help? Would this create a divide between Steve and Robin (for a time only, it would Resolve. I'm a stobin lover first and foremost)? So many unanswered questions.

[kuwdoravids]

Year End Vid Review: 2022

Year-end round-up/meme: 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022

March Memory Leak (tumblr) (The Matrix Resurrections, Neo, Neo/Trinity)

June Come Back For You (tumblr) (The Witcher, Istredd) Wild Green Yonder (tumblr) (Shrek/Witcher, Shrek/Fiona/Donkey, Geralt/Yen/Jaskier)

August Control (tumblr) (The Witcher, Ciri)

November Brother (tumblr) (The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt. Geralt, Eskel, Lambert, Vesemir)

Read the meme questions beneath the cut!

Random process notes:

I actually made 4 vids this year. "Brother" I made in 2021 and just didn’t post until 2022. But I gotta have Brother show up somewhere in one of my vid review lists so here it is.

4 vids in one year is the fewest vid I made since 2022 and 2018 but that’s mostly because I’ve had like, four mental breakdowns and have been hyper fixating on writing Witcher fic so I did not finish as many vids as I usually do. I didn’t even start that many new vids either.

Overall thoughts:

All of the vids except one are Witcher related. The non-witcher vid is Matrix Resurrections which was more of a soul statement vid that I got to make about the themes of the movie and mental illness.

My Witcher hyperfixation remains strong. I’m very pleased with all the vids I finished and started this year. They’re all quite different, musically and different characters, too. It was a good vidding year even if I didn’t finish a few other projects before December closed out.

Favorite Vid:

Come Back For You. I fucking adore Istredd and Royce Pierreson’s face is so lovely. This vid is all about the vibes for me, but I really enjoyed playing with the visual cues in this—Istredd sitting/transitioned into the monolith, the shadow puppets/Yen and Istredd, so on and so forth. It was a delight to cram all my Yen/Istredd and Geralt/Istredd feelings in here while also managing to touch upon the scholarly aspect of his character since we got a few great scenes with him in season 2.

Hardest to make:

Memory Leak. I had the bulk of this made in about a week in January but I got stalled out in the last 25% of the vid because I couldn’t figure out the flow. But I took some time away from the vid and was able to come back with fresh eyes and manage to finish it in time for VidUKon.

Most successful:

Memory Leak. I was able to accomplish everything I wanted to do with this vid- touch upon the visual narrative of the past/present/reality, showcase Neo’s yearning for love and surviving through the psychological torture he’s been under for decades. And I was able to do that with a very specific song choice—Albert Salt’s cover of Blink182’s “Adam Song” remains one of my most favorite covers I’ve worked with. It does wonders for this vid. I’m so proud of it. And I had a blast watching folks lose their minds while watching the vid at the convention, too! So much joy.

My best vid:

Wild Green Yonder. Aka the Shrek/Witcher crossover that people have gif’ed but I watched all 4 Shrek films and was delighted to discover even more parallels. Everything about this vid is everything I wanted—the joy, the squee, the parallels. The surprises. It really is my best this year.

Most fun vid:

Wild Green Yonder. Not only is using Joey Batey’s music from The Amazing Devil great but the very specific fantasy tropes that happen in both Shrek and Witcher is just so goddamn fun to play with. Especially when it came to Geralt fishing the djinn out of the water for his wish and Shrek trying to also get his wish for everything to go back to normal. I adored playing with the internal motion and eyeline of the characters so that it appeared Shrek was looking at Jaskier and Fiona was smiling at Geralt in bed.

I just wanted to escalate my squee because I really enjoy this trio dynamic a lot and it is my happy place. And I am sure that anyone who watches this can feel the fun!

Also it’s my hope that everyone who watches comes away shipping Fiona/Donkey because the Yen/Jaskier parallels were SO FUN.

Things I learned in 2022:

The more that I write, the less that I spend time vidding. Simple as that. I had a few other vids I wanted to finish in 2022 but my brain meltdowns and anxiety made it hard to follow through.

That being said, I also learned that it is a lot of fun to keep chasing my Witcher joy.

In 2023:

I want to finish my Moonhaven vid and probably start my season 2 Witcher vid and probably a Witcher Blood Origin thing that all of 13 people will watch but it’s what I want to make so that’s how it’ll be. I have a few ideas here and there that I might tackle but it really is a matter of how much anxiety brain I can stifle to focus long enough for clipping again.

I also keep meaning to archive the rest of my catalog on AO3 and Tumblr, so that’s something I am going to attempt to do over the coming year. Over 200 vids to go…

[qilingxiong]

Halfway through Season 2 now, and so far my only incentives I've found to continue are Yennefer, Jaskier, and in an unexpected turn of events, Cahir

[hanzajesthanza]

i am 100% biased give me calanthe uwu

omg i got bingo again

"they are so cool looking": iconic emeralds look. i can't see an emerald green dress, an emerald tiara, emerald rings without thinking... it doesn't matter if it's a modern look or a setting-appropriate one, she has a trademark on that shade of green...

"they're deeper than they seem" + "didn't get enough screen time": i think the loss of pavetta is really overlooked by the fandom, but especially in how it affected calanthe. i think her depth is right there on the page, but it just gets overshadowed by the ciri as geralt's destiny and violent deaths and razing of cintra which take up all of the attention. and i think it's important to remember the vision geralt has in the sword of destiny of calanthe, battered and with arrows

a scene i would have liked to see is something like the razing of cintra written out, but in the last memoirs of calanthe before she leaps, in the same kind of manner that tissaia's last words were written in her letter in time of contempt. emhyr's recounting of what happened those years ago made it seem both emotionally distant and chronologically distant, and i think a flashback to calanthe in lady of the lake could contrast the account emhyr gives in ch 9, and remind the reader of the context...

"they work better as part of a dynamic": calanthe losing her mind over trying to protect pavetta is everything, and calanthe fiercely protecting little ciri... the order of events of calanthe immersing herself in research specifically to protect pavetta from the law of surprise, only to lose her because she didn't spend enough time with her and duny had an opportunity to work his way into her life and groom her, and from there having to live with this evil in her home, trying to save her, but she's already been lost... that shit is insane and i think it parallels geralt and ciri so much in terms of 'losing a daughter but she's already been lost to you for a while but it's your own fault but you didn't intend that' ...

and i dislike emhyr but i think calanthe is the contrast to him in so many ways, i enjoy the dynamic of her not allowing him to take an inch, re: what i said in the "didn't get enough screen time" portion, she's fiery (like ciri!) and loving, whereas emhyr is cold and calculating, almost detached. so it's good to see them interact for this reason

"they've never done anything wrong in their life": best queen. without her, we can see in blood of elves how all the other monarchs were lost. cintra was a beautiful place because of her work put into its economy and social relations. and in her personal relations, i think it's actually insane that some (coughs n*tflix) try to paint her as the bad guy for wanting to have duny executed. he was a creep show from the beginning...

here's where i would put, not "they were done dirty by the fans," but "they were done dirty by the author" because whenever i've read a question of price i think it's a big plot hole that geralt doesn't kick duny's ass... but we have to have our dramatic reveal at stygga i suppose so... but like... essentially... how can you read a question of price and not just yell at the book "she's RIGHT"...

i understand sapkowski leaves it for readers to make our own judgements but considering that it takes seven books to get an answer, i feel like the narrative should hate duny as much as is appropriate. at least this can be achieved in the audiodramas' portrayals of the characters

send me character opinion bingo now that i'm off hiatus (bingo post)

[jxthics]

Hiiiiiii I just finished up working my way through witchers 1-3 and I'm 4 books in to the series, do you perchance have any good blog recommendations for non-Netflix witcher content? Also I absolutely love your art, you've got such a distinctive style that genuinely makes me want to stop and look and zoom in on all the details

oh man, not looking at the books on my shelf rn i'm pretty sure #4 chronologically is baptism of fire, good LUCK!! that is my favorite book in the series but it is so so heartbreaking :') and thank you!! i genuinely don't know how my works look to others if i'm totally honest, it's really nice to hear

so full disclosure i'm largely not involved in fandom spaces and i don't follow a lot of people, this list is very short because of that. (uh, if anyone has any recs for *me,* come tell me?) here's some people who's works i just adore though:

- calyxestra: AMAZING artist with a bunch of injokes about the games, really charming comics and finished pieces that just blow me away. i am trying so so hard to keep myself from just babbling about this artist because ahhhh!!! the aesthetic the line quality the brushstrokes the color choices the posing the character dynamics.. it's all so so good.... whenever i go to draw regis i usually just open this person's blog up and stare at their art for a really long time in hopes to like..... absorb wtf magic they have to draw him like that

- chocochipclaire: another artist with charming comics about regis and geralt. the way she draws character interaction makes me go !!!!..... did a thing about the last lines of every hansa member that made me bawlll too. go check their works out

- nohtora: artist who draws a lot of book eskel, really warm and lovely style with an incredible eye for detail. this wolf brothers piece in particular is so so warm i adore it

- mejev: ough ough very very good character artist who draws things that are so warm looking, i have a charm from this artist (two of the same one actually whoops) because their regis is so... heart eyes heart eyes.... i love the way they draw clothing in particular its so nicelookin

- toussaintred: so so warm this is another artist that makes me go insane... also does amazing rdr2 art. very illustrative artist who draws a wonderful wonderful dandelion you should look at it his color choices make me very warm and i love the way he sets up characters together

- purple-soika: another very very warm illustrative artist with a very like.. ephemeral/whimsical look in their rendering its very nice and full of life and energy always. even drawings of laying down and chilling are full of energy its wonderful :] there’s grace in everything i adore their works

- hehearse: another amazing illustrator.. i love their yennefer/geralt works it’s very very nice it’s always full of warmth and color and everything is like a big scene you can bury yourself in i really adore it. very early 1900s setups in their works if that makes sense, like its lounging in a way ive only seen in works from the 20s.. i love love love 

- astrolunos: UGH what is there for me to say that i'm sure has already been said this artist deserves the whole entire world. i have i think three prints from this artist and if i had the space i'd get more it's all just so so warm and nice looking,, reminds me of comic books i used to read as a kid, genuinely just very lovely character interactions and expressions :') yennifer geralt ciri monochrome family ahhhhhhh

- avotuli: big tw3 artist whose work blows me away, especially the more recent background pieces.. very distinct environments makes me feel like i'm walking into a scene every time it knocks my socks off

honestly i could just gush for days about everybody's drawings on this list but for the sake of my embarrassment i will not haha. you're probably best off looking through the wiedzmin tag and specific character tags of people you like and just blocking twn/the witcher netflix and picking out things as you go!

[commander-minkowski]

watched the first three episodes of netflix witcher and it’s uhhhhhhhh not good

tonally and visually, it’s clearly trying to be the next game of thrones. I shouldn’t have to explain why that sucks. tv needs to catch up to the fact that not every fantasy is grimdark and full of sexual assault. the witcher saga is, despite the dark things that happen, ultimately a lighthearted, witty, and hopeful series, and the worldbuilding is largely tongue-in-cheek pastiche and/or political allegory. that doesn’t come through in the show at all.

literally all of the ciri-related character choices are ones I disagree with. first of all, aging her up to late teens/mid-20s at series start completely butchers ciri, geralt, and yennefer’s book dynamic because ciri is a literal child and geralt and yennefer are her surrogate parents. and this is the emotional core of the entire series!!! if they meet when she’s 20 what’s even the point.

that aside, the way ciri’s arc is framed and paced does a huge disservice to her character. in the books, we’re invested in the ordeals she goes through during the war BECAUSE we already care about her as a character, not the other way around. it’s important to see her as a cheerful, rebellious child before shit hits the fan -- otherwise she’s just a wall to throw misery spaghetti onto and hope some character development sticks!!

finally, freya allan is a beautiful young woman and was thus severely miscast. where is my ugly little BABY

Yennefer’s arc kind of suffers from the same pacing and framing issues, though not as severely. When we meet her in the books for the first time she is already a confident, powerful sorceress, but in the show, she, like ciri, is constantly downtrodden and miserable. I get that starting from square zero is supposed to be #girlpower or whatever, but taken with ciri’s arc, renfri’s arc, and calanthe’s death, it kinda just seems like the women on this show are here to look pretty and suffer

Henry cavill .... how do I put this tactfully. His resting face doesn’t convey enough emotion to pull off geralt? Like, for a very taciturn and buttoned up, but nonetheless sensitive character, the actor needs to show that somehow. When cavill stares off into space I just get a feeling of blankness. like all that’s behind geralt’s tough mask is elevator music lol

Geralt comes off as just rude and cruel to jaskier .... grumpy banter and insults are, in the books, an established-friend-of-many-years thing, not a we-met-today thing. And even then it’s clear that no matter how much he grouses, geralt really loves dandelion. I don’t get this from the show at all -- jaskier sticks to geralt like a tick and geralt does his best to shake him off. also like. where’s the bed sharing and the wound bandaging and the tenderly carrying off the battlefield. I didn’t see the episodes where that would conceivably be but I know it would have been giffed to hell and back!

no slavic flavor. like none whatsoever. less than shadow and bone even. subzero levels of slavic flavor. I mean .... maybe it’s for the better that they didn’t even try because I can’t rmr a single western portrayal of fantasy eastern europe that isn’t cringe? (yes, even shadow and bone!!) but idk. I NEVER would have guessed the source material was Polish from the show alone and that feels wrong.

I concede that adapting the witcher saga is hard bc the story collections and novels are different beasts, and the novels imo really take a while to hit their stride; getting the two formats to mesh tone and pacing-wise must be difficult. surely netflix could have done better than this, though

a few things that I did like:

juxtaposing the striga fight with yennefer’s hysterectomy worked for me. something something the monstrosity of womanhood in a misogynistic society. edit: a gender critical adjacent person was in the notes of this so I’ll clarify -- I don’t mean to say that having a uterus/getting a hysterectomy have a one-to-one correlation with “the monstrosity of womanhood in a misogynistic society.” rather, I meant that in a misogynistic society, any actions women take and any choices they make can and will be framed as violent and ugly by the people who set the dominant narrative, even (and especially) if those actions were taken in self-determination and self-preservation. I include trans women in my definition of “women” here. In fact, for the books, I think a trans woman Yennefer reading is 100% uncontradicted and it’s also my preferred reading of the character. I apologize to anyone who saw this and thought I was doing some weak gender essentialist take!

some of the casting was on point. the actors for jaskier, renfri, yennefer, and calanthe were all great; triss and fringilla weren’t half bad either.

more racial diversity is good.

geralt’s dynamic with roach is nice I guess ...... geralt IS a sentimental horse girl.......

that’s all I can say, I think. keep in mind, again, I could only get through half of the season.

[brasskier]

I have seen lots of nonsexual daddy Geralt/little Jaskier, and Hailie's wonderful daddy Jask/little Geralt (@hailhailsatan - everyone should go read her work, it's absolutely wonderful and so well-written). But my simple yennskier heart wants mommy Yen/little Jask. Because think of the duality of it at first, that drive to want to be maternal, to get to care for someone, paired with the begrudging annoyance that it's not a child but Geralt's annoying bard.

Maybe she refuses to lean into it, to accept it, until after ~Nilfgaardian prison~, when she realizes it eases the nightmares and the fear. Or maybe he totally hides and evades it with her until after that, until in his panic he can't repress it as a coping mechanism any longer. But she slowly starts allowing it, starts learning what helps him when he's in that space. And there's this innate trust that comes with letting someone see you so intimately, both for Jask letting her see him in littlespace, and for Yen letting him see her be soft and kind.

And then imagine Geralt's confusion, upon seeing this dynamic for the first time; they're still just as snarky as they used to be most of the time, jumping at every opportunity to get a jab in at the other. But then Jask is upset over something, and instead of slinking away to sulk on his own like he used to, he crawls into Yen's lap, speaks with the vocabulary of a young boy, and she sings to him of all things. And no one explains this to Geralt at first, so he's just entirely confused. And even after they explain it to him, it's still strange and he still can't quite wrap his head around it, but it's clear whatever bond it is they've formed is not one he cares to get in the way of.

And at the end of the day, Yen gets to feel like a mother, to Jaskier and to Ciri. Geralt gets his lover, and his best friend, and his surrogate daughter. Jaskier, too, gets his best friend back, plus a deeper relationship with Yen than he would've ever expected, and an almost older-brotherly bond with Ciri. They have their found family, no matter how strange it may be.

Idk, is this something anyone else wants to read? Because I imagine I'll have to be the one to write it lol. If you want to see this lmk, because if there's enough interest I'll try to throw something together between bthb prompts.

[itsclydebitches]

it's so funny to me bc the way you talk about show!witcher makes me not want to play the game bc. i love the way jaskier and geralt are in the show and i dont want THAT ruined for me by whatever the game does with them. which is probably weird but it just goes to show everyone has their own tastes i guess slkjfhgdskfjhgkjh

aksdjflaksj oh no! lol Honestly though, if you like the Netflix dynamic you may still like the game dynamic, if only because so many of the criticisms against Netflix — that Geralt is too cruel to Jaskier, Jaskier is too much of a caricature, they don't start out as the close friends they're meant to be, etc. — exists for TW3 as well. So for someone who does like their dynamic as opposed to being critical of it, the game and show might somewhat go hand-in-hand? Or at least that’s a theory of mine. Though TW3 takes place post-canon and thus the two have settled into a solid relationship (we've already gone through the development the Netflix boys will presumably get), there's still this undercurrent of Dandelion as this... grudgingly loved annoyance, I guess. Which, if you've read any of the books, feels totally off base, whereas if this is your first/only Witcher experience it can feel like a whole ocean of potential. We know Geralt does like Jaskier, so what does it mean if he doesn't always act like it? The whole "I pretend like I hate you, but deep down I'd totally die for you. Now what tragedy will make me finally  admit how much I care?" characterization can be GREAT. Great enough that I've got a 37,000 word fic derived from the Netflix dynamic going, despite my own complaints! (I am a contradiction) So yeah, I both like aspects of their relationship even as I'm frustrated by them, and more importantly, I can see many of those same characteristics in TW3. Which might make it more palatable for you, anon, than previously assumed.

It's the books where Dandelion truly differs and, as an adaptation — not just that, but an adaptation where the creators said time and again they were going to be faithful to the books — where Netflix fails to my mind. There's plenty of great Dandelion-Geralt moments to discuss, but you know Netflix's initial meeting? Jaskier begging for any acknowledgement of his work, Geralt dismissing his song as untrue, the whole man with bread in his pants? Compare that to the scene that exchange was likely taken from:

“Geralt,” said Dandilion, standing in the stirrups to pick a fine apple from a branch which stretched over the orchard fence, “all the way you've been complaining about it being harder and harder to find work. Yet from what I just heard, it looks as if you could work here without break until winter. You'd make a penny or two, and I’d have some beautiful subjects for my ballads. So explain why we're riding on.”

“I wouldn't make a penny, Dandilion.”

“Why?”

“Because there wasn't a word of truth in what they said.”

“I beg your pardon?”

“None of the creatures they mentioned exist.”

“You're joking!” Dandilion spat out a pip and threw the apple core at a patched mongrel. “No, it's impossible. I was watching them carefully, and I know people. They weren't lying.”

“No,” the witcher agreed. “They weren't lying. They firmly believed it all. Which doesn't change the facts.”

The poet was silent for a while.

“None of those monsters…None? It can't be. Something of what they listed must be here. At least one! Admit it.”

“All right. I admit it. One does exist for sure.”

“Ha! What?”

“A bat.”

They rode out beyond the last fences, on to a highway between beds yellow with oilseed and cornfields rolling in the wind. Loaded carts traveled past them in the opposite direction. The bard pulled his leg over the saddlebow, rested his lute on his knee and strummed nostalgic tunes, waving from time to time at the giggling, scantily clad girls wandering along the sides of the road carrying rakes on their robust shoulders.

“Geralt,” he said suddenly, “but monsters do exist. Maybe not as many as before, maybe they don't lurk behind every tree in the forest, but they are there. They exist. So how do you account for people inventing ones, then? What's more, believing in what they invent? Eh, famous witcher? Haven't you wondered why?”

“I have, famous poet. And I know why.”

“I’m curious.”

“People”—Geralt turned his head—“like to invent monsters and monstrosities. Then they seem less monstrous themselves."

The casual intimacy of traveling together, grabbing a snack, and chatting to pass the time. Dandelion waves at "scantily glad girls," but it's just a single line, not his defining trait. He plays a little music without Geralt insulting him (because Geralt likes his music and has always been willing to admit it). Here, when Dandelion is wrong about what kind of monsters exist, he's not made to feel lesser for that belief, or to have it presented as a means of coning people out of their coin (note that Geralt doesn't take exception to the suggestion of staying and getting "some beautiful subjects for my ballads”). Geralt kindly explains the villagers' ignorance — an ignorance Dandelion is a part of, even if the text simultaneously points out that he can read people well and he wasn’t wrong to pick up on the fact that the villagers think this is all true — before they share a moment of humor together: "Ha! What?" / "A bat." A few minutes later though Dandelion challenges things a bit, leading to a philosophical discussion about the nature of monstrosity. Dandelion is intelligent! Geralt welcomes his insights! They jokingly call one another “famous witcher” and “famous poet”! It’s a totally different feel from the grudging acceptance to outright hostility shown in the Netflix show, or even the general annoyance that can permeate their interactions in the game. The books are the one place where I believed, without a shadow of a doubt, that Dandelion is Geralt’s best and truest friend  — and not just because no one else will put up with the Butcher of Blaviken. 

So you might still like them in the games! Even if you don’t, I’d recommend not letting that stop you. Obviously I have some criticisms there, but TW3 remains one of my favorite games ever. At the end of the day, the Dandelion-Geralt interactions are an incredibly short part of the tale compared to the whole. For those who aren’t happy with that relationship, aren’t happy with Yen, don’t like playing Ciri, can’t stand Triss, even don’t like this major arc... everything is just one small piece of a truly massive game. So I’d definitely still recommend giving it a try sometime. If you don’t like their interactions, go watch some Netflix clips on youtube after the Dandelion scenes to wash away the bad :D

[danwhobrowses]

Okay I've kinda had my fill of reviews between One Piece and Spider-Man so quickfire Witcher S2 review

Spoilers below of course

Bearing in mind that I know next to nothing about the Witcher story and just a little bit more than next to nothing about the games, it was decent. I didn't quite like our main antagonist and although there were stakes it never really felt like our major characters were in any danger - I mean Yennefer slit her wrists and still survived - aside from poor Roach.

I feel like the one who hired melty face is Stregebor, dude needs to bite it in a satisfying way. I liked the Nilfgaard subplot all the way until the infanticide, I felt that was a little excessive for the sake of being Game of Thronesy given how they've calmed down on the sex and nudity - which I can't fault too much.

I will say I did enjoy the character dynamics; Geralt and Ciri, Yennefer and Cahir, Fringilla and Francesca, Vesemir and Ciri, Jaskier's dynamic with Yennefer was probably the best for me, could easily have gone on more misadventures between the frenemies. I feel though that we kinda cut the legs from under Triss, she was getting along well as the Witchers' go-to mage and being protective of Ciri but then when it was time to insert Yennefer into the role she was filling they kinda violently cast her aside. The brotherhood's politics didn't interest me, only the alarm that baldy and his owl are gonna blackmail Jaskier somehow, I also found myself uninterested in Dara's next to nonexistent spying, Yen's mage ex whose name eludes me threatens to be interesting, but for the most part he's just exposition right now, we'll have to wait and see.

The beasts were great, I kinda feel like they were trying to serve Ciri rather than harm her, but I am confused why former hedgehog face, Ciri's dad, is the White Flame. I mean there's not liking your mother-in-law and there's sacking an entire nation to try and kidnap your daughter without explanation. Ciri's Witcher training was cool though, had hoped to see more of that and trying to learn magic with Triss and Yennefer but the episode numbers were few.

So overall, pretty solid, but nothing fully blew me away, I guess a lot of things may've flown over my head but I would certainly watch a Season 3.

[lesdemonium]

My Heart

Rating: E Words: 9,118 Summary:

Things were different after the mountain.

For one thing, when Jaskier met up with Geralt again, it was with a refugee princess in tow. Somehow this wasn’t surprising, given the way Geralt’s life often went, but it did create a different dynamic.

Beyond that, though, Geralt was different. Softer, somehow. Like he was actively trying to smooth away his hard edges, and his face often constricted with the pain of it.

Jaskier didn’t quite know what to do with it.

read on ao3

Things were different after the mountain.

For one thing, when Jaskier met up with Geralt again, it was with a refugee princess in tow. Somehow this wasn’t surprising, given the way Geralt’s life often went, but it did create a different dynamic.

Beyond that, though, Geralt was different. Softer, somehow. Like he was actively trying to smooth away his hard edges, and his face often constricted with the pain of it.

Jaskier didn’t quite know what to do with it.

--

Jaskier had broken a string on his lute. 

This wasn’t entirely unheard of. After all, with use, strings tended to break every so often. One spectacular time, Jaskier had stumbled while tuning his lute, and the string and snapped so suddenly that it whipped his face, splitting the skin of his cheek. The scar wasn’t truly visible anymore, but Jaskier still noticed it, and more importantly, Geralt still noticed it. Though the event happened years ago, it could still startle Geralt into the witcher’s version of giggles. At those times, Jaskier found himself both indignant over Geralt laughing at what had really been Quite painful, honestly, Geralt, and warm over the fact that Geralt of Rivia was actually brought to laughter over a memory involving Jaskier.

A string broke again, and luckily this time it happened without maiming his face, though poor Ciri was nearly a casualty. This time, however, Jaskier was dismayed to find that he had no replacements. He hadn’t had enough coin to afford more strings the last time he stocked up on materials and he had only replaced them recently, so surely they would last. They had, it just had been a very long time since the thought had crossed his mind.

Jaskier wasn’t pouting. Despite Ciri’s teasing, he was definitely not pouting, he was just a little… off, without the ability to play his lute. He didn’t know what to do with his hands, and they hadn’t planned on any stops in towns until they made it to Posada, where Geralt said Vesemir had sent him a note, which was still days away. Jaskier was a grown man, he could handle a few days of disappointment until they made it to Posada.

His mood was definitely soured, though.

Without his lute to play, he was quite a bit more observant. They should have turned right at that fork, but Geralt had led them to the left. Ciri hadn’t noticed, but of course she wouldn’t, she was still learning. Surely, though, Geralt knew that they had turned the wrong way.

“Geralt?” Jaskier asked. Geralt grunted in return. “Shouldn’t we have gone the other way at that cross section? We’re moving away from the river. You aren’t losing your sense of direction in your old age, are you? Oh, what a way to perish.”

Ciri giggled at Jaskier’s dramatics and Jaskier was sure Geralt had rolled his eyes. But even a minute later, he still hadn’t answered the question.

“Geralt?” Jaskier prodded.

“We have business in Lyria,” Geralt answered, finally. “We’ll stay the night there, then continue on to Posada as planned.”

Jaskier’s brow furrowed, but he didn’t press further. Geralt was taciturn at best and frequently elusive, but if Geralt wanted to tell them what their business was, he likely would have already told them. They weren’t far from Lyria, at least, so soon Jaskier would know what, exactly, was so pressing to make Geralt of Rivia change their plans without so much as a warning. So Jaskier bit his tongue and they continued on silently.

Jaskier found himself without words when Geralt pointed him toward the very same shop Jaskier had replaced his strings at all those years ago. There wasn’t a hint of humor on Geralt’s face, though Jaskier did notice his eyes glide over Jaskier’s cheek.

--

Finding themselves in Posada again was strange. It wasn’t the first time they had been back since their meeting, but every time held a strange edge. Posada felt both familiar, and like a brand new world to Jaskier every time, though the town itself rarely changed.

Vesemir’s note turned out to be inconsequential; it was merely a reply to Geralt’s announcement that Geralt would be bringing company with him to Kaer Morhen this winter. When Jaskier read it, he almost scoffed--that was what they had rushed here for?--but one look at Geralt’s face silenced him. Geralt had been tense the past few days traveling, leading Jaskier to believe this message was more important. Life or death, even. Now, however, the lines on Geralt’s face had finally smoothed away, and his shoulders dipped. Geralt was relieved. This wasn’t just an acknowledgement, this was permission.

Jaskier supposed it made sense. If they didn’t have Kaer Morhen, then Geralt had nowhere safe to take Ciri. And if the fort was as secretive as Geralt had led Jaskier to believe, then Geralt must have been legitimately concerned that Vesemir would deny them. Then what would they do? Hole up in a court for the winter with Jaskier? That seemed recklessly dangerous, what with Ciri being a wanted young lady.

“Well!” Jaskier said, handing the letter back to Geralt. “Wonderful news! I, for one, think we should celebrate by sleeping in a bed, don’t you?” He turned to Ciri, who nodded vigorously, as if she had never heard a more devine suggestion in her life. “And as we are rather low on coin, it sounds as if it’s time for me to earn my keep!”

And with that, he stood up, lute in hand, to grace the fine people of this establishment with his craft.

The concert went well for a long while. Jaskier hadn’t been counting, exactly--it was hard to sing, play an instrument, keep eyes and charm on the room, and do math in his head all at once--but it seemed as if there was enough coin in his hat to pay for not one, but two rooms. Poor Ciri could finally have a moment to herself, rather than constantly having either Jaskier or Geralt as her babysitter.

Jaskier’s audience was a beautiful one. As the wine and ale flowed, they danced with his jigs, they sang along with some of his more colorful tunes, and some of the women (and a couple men) grew a little teary eyed at his more maudlin ballads. They clearly had chosen a good tavern to set up in, because every so often patrons, heavy with drink from other locations, made their way inside and joined in the festivities.

He was about to call it a night and take his coin to the inn-keeper, when he decided to end on his claim to fame. This wasn’t the first time he had played the song that night--in fact, it was the only one he knew how many times he had played it, because all four times he had sent a wink to Geralt’s scowling face. This time, however, Geralt wasn’t paying attention. Instead, he was talking to some man, and the way they were bowed low together convinced Jaskier that this must be about some monster. It was disappointing, but Jaskier brushed it off quickly. It was easy to, when he had caught Geralt staring at him all night, looking less surly and more… captivated. No, surely, captivated was the wrong word. Geralt had hardly expressed any interest in Jaskier’s music before, aside from correcting Jaskier’s creative licenses. But there was something in his look that made Jaskier feel seen. Every time, he had quickly broken the eye contact, but he was living off the high it gave him.

That particular line of thought had Jaskier neglecting his duties to the room. His playing didn’t falter--he could play this song in his sleep without a single mistake, thank you very much--but he had definitely lost the crowd for a moment. When he came back with a cheeky grin and a wink at one of the women, he was too late to attend to the fist that hit him a moment later.

To say he was caught off guard would be putting it lightly. He stumbled, his cheek blooming in heat and pain, and nearly dropped his lute. Luckily, he caught the beautiful thing with a jarring twang of the strings, and for a moment there was complete silence before it felt like everyone started yelling.

“Shut the fuck up, witcher whore!” was the only piece Jaskier picked up as he attempted to catch up with his shocked, sluggish brain, before he was assaulted again; this time the fist went for his gut.

Jaskier was quicker this time in disengaging--the punch turned into more of a light tap as Jaskier nimbly stepped away from the angry drunkard. His moves were as slurred as his words, but still he pursued Jaskier with intent to hit him again. Jaskier wasn’t much of a fighter, especially not when he had nowhere safe to put his beloved instrument, but he was quick and lithe, especially when confronted with a man who had likely had drunk Jaskier’s bodyweight in ale. He only had to evade him long enough for the man to get tired or for someone else to step in and escort the brute out, and Jaskier had faced far more frightening foes than this.

Unfortunately, his space was extremely limited, what with the patrons scurrying around like they had been victims of the onslaught and their deserted furniture clogging up Jaskier’s path. So when the drunkard was yanked away from a very near second assault on Jaskier’s face, Jaskier’s breath came out in a cheered rush. It wasn’t surprising to see the witcher as his savior, and it was extremely satisfying to see the brute tossed out on his arse outside the door.

What was surprising, was Geralt immediately returning to Jaskier once the man was taken care of. His hands on Jaskier’s face had Jaskier gasping, and Geralt hesitated, moving fingertips away from the bruise. But it hadn’t been pain that caused Jaskier to gasp, rather it was the soft, gentle way Geralt was touching him.

“Are you alright?” Geralt asked, turning Jaskier’s face with a soft press of fingers on his jaw.

“I’m just fine,” Jaskier breathed, and he wanted to ask Geralt what he was doing, but he didn’t want to break the moment. Geralt’s fingers ghosted over Jaskier’s cheekbone, and Jaskier was sure he would have a bruise there tomorrow, but all he could feel now was the white-hot heat Geralt’s fingers were leaving behind.

They were there for hours, Jaskier was sure, as he catalogued the way Geralt’s eyebrows knit together in concern for him, but when the spell finally broke and they returned to the world, not even a minute had gone by.

Their rooms were lovely, and Ciri’s had been on the house, as an apology for the brawl.

--

Jaskier’s favorite thing to do, now that the three of them were together, was to watch Geralt teach Ciri.

There was a new lesson every night they camped. Whenever they stayed in inns, Ciri received a helpful reprieve of privacy, after that first night when she was in a much better mood the entire next week after having some time to herself. Turned out thirteen year old girls needed some alone time. Who knew? But when they made camp for the night, Geralt took the opportunity to give her at least one new skill.

Sometimes it’s survival related: which berries are safe to eat, how to pick the best firewood, how to set a trap for rabbits. Sometimes they sparred, and though Ciri never won, Jaskier could see her getting closer, the way her arms and legs were thickening with muscle, and how her hold on her wooden sword became surer every time. Tonight, the subject was apothecary related. Geralt spent the past half hour pointing out the plants around their campsite and the medicinal benefits of each one, both for humans and witchers.

Teaching seemed to come naturally for Geralt.. It was the most patient Jaskier had ever seen him, and usually Ciri listened with rapt attention. Every so often, she would interrupt to ask questions, and Geralt would stop, listen to her, and answer the question without any trace of annoyance. He always answered carefully and thoroughly, making sure she understood before he continued on with whatever he was saying.

Jaskier found himself playing and composing quietly, just so he could hear the two of them as they worked. It was the most peaceful Jaskier had ever felt. He was so peaceful, he almost didn’t notice the cold settling in around him, despite the fire. He didn’t notice he was shivering until Geralt abruptly stood up, peeled off his cloak, and draped it around Jaskier’s shoulders without so much as a word, before going back to Cirilla.

It happened so quickly, Jaskier didn’t have time to protest, only react. Even that he found difficult. He froze, glancing after Geralt, who just continued on his lesson as if nothing had happened. Jaskier waited a moment, trying to figure out if this was real, before he tugged the cloak closer with a small, private smile.

There was something particularly comforting about being surrounded by Geralt’s scent.

--

Sex hadn’t changed much. Over the years, being intimate with Geralt had been so varied based on the circumstances that there wasn’t really much of a “normal” to speak of. The main difference now that Ciri was here was that it was rare for Geralt to touch Jaskier under the stars. The only time they found release with each other was when they stayed at an inn, which only happened every now and then, since they were trying to make their coin stretch farther while Geralt was taking less contracts.

The way Geralt held him afterward, however, that was new. It wasn’t that Geralt had been cold or distant after they had lain together, he had accepted any tenderness Jaskier had initiated. Now, though, Geralt seemed to seek it out.

Once, Jaskier had gotten up immediately after they were finished to grab a cloth to clean them up, and Geralt’s eyes had seemed… wounded, almost. Geralt was completely rigid against Jaskier’s body as he pressed against Geralt’s side, and only relaxed when Jaskier pressed soft kisses along Geralt’s shoulder. After that, Jaskier made a point to prepare a cloth and some water before they engaged physically, so he never had to leave the bed. It was a little uncomfortable, wiping them down with water that was now cold--especially after sessions that lasted hours--but it was worth it for the way Geralt stayed pliant and open against him.

Tonight, Geralt had been particularly thorough. He had teased Jaskier for hours, drawing sounds from his lips that Jaskier didn’t even know he could make. Jaskier wasn’t as young as he had been when they started this, but Geralt had been singular in bringing Jaskier just to the brink of his breaking point. Now that they were finished, Jaskier was too worn out even to clean the spend from his chest. His arms and legs were boneless, and all he could do was catch his breath.

Geralt looked downright smug as he took over the task, though cleaning Jaskier’s body seemed to come second to mapping the planes of Jaskier’s skin with his mouth.

“I hope you’re not trying to start something again,” Jaskier mumbled fondly. “I have nothing left to give. You’ve finished me. I fear you and Ciri shall have to leave me behind.”

If the sharp burst of air from Geralt’s nose was anything to go by, he at least found this amusing, but he didn’t stop. His lips trailed their way along Jaskier’s body, pressing soft, intent-less kisses, mostly on marks Geralt had left behind, but on bare expanses of skin as well. Jaskier sighed into the action, feeling almost close to tears, and wouldn’t that be embarrassing if Geralt looked up only to see Jaskier crying? But he couldn’t help it. It was moments like these when Jaskier wanted so, so badly to tell Geralt he loved him, but knew he couldn’t.

But then Geralt was face to face with Jaskier again, pulling Jaskier close, allowing Jaskier to press his face into Geralt’s neck, and running his fingers up and down Jaskier’s bare back, and Geralt had to know. He had to know how affection bloomed in Jaskier’s chest, how every kiss he pressed to Geralt’s skin was a declaration of love.

I love you. I have always loved you. I always will love you, he kissed.

--

This wasn’t the first time Geralt had gotten hurt.

But Geralt was gasping for breath and Ciri’s eyes were wide as saucers with her barely concealed fear and Jaskier knew things were going south quickly.

The one respite was that both the drowners and the kikimore were dead. What wasn’t good was that Geralt hadn’t been expecting the kikimore, and witcher healing be damned, Geralt was hurt from the strike it landed on him before Geralt could kill it. Geralt had barely been able to pull his sword from the beast before he passed out into the swamp, and thank god Jaskier and Ciri had been there to pull him out of the water, or he would have drowned.

Now, though, he was going to die simply because Jaskier couldn’t find the right freaking potion.

Geralt was going to be annoyed when he came to and his bag was disorganized, but Jaskier could deal with that later, because right now he just needed to find that blasted vial of swallow. And then Geralt was going to get an earful about needing to pack the important potions closer to the top or, and here was a novel idea, in their own compartment.

It was after he pulled out probably the third vial of fucking bindweed that Jaskier finally, finally found what he was looking for, and he tipped its contents into Geralt’s mouth without even making a triumphant noise--that was how scared he was. Already, color was coming back to Geralt’s face and Jaskier breathed a sigh of relief before he could finally tend to the gaping wound in Geralt’s chest.

“He’ll be okay,” he had the presence of mind to say to Ciri, who immediately sat back and let out the breath she had been holding.

He and Ciri struggled to pull the dead-weight of the witcher, water-logged armor and all, to a nearby clearing, and Ciri set to work building a fire (thank you, Geralt, for making her so self-sufficient) while Jaskier tended to Geralt’s wounds. Taking off his armor and shirt wasn’t easy, but he managed it well enough. If Geralt complained of a headache when he woke up, Jaskier would insist that was due to the battle, rather than when Jaskier dropped his head on a log. He stitched up the gaping wound from where the kikimore had pierced him, and despite how badly his hands were shaking, he had to admit that his stitches looked fine. Not expert, by any means, and not even the best he had ever done, but Jaskier was at least convinced that they would do their job.

He was washing the blood off Geralt’s chest when Geralt came to, though Jaskier didn’t notice until the witcher’s hands wrapped around Jaskier’s. He looked up and let out a relieved, just shy of manic, laugh to see Geralt’s amber eyes looking up at him.

“Jaskier-” Geralt started, only to be interrupted by Jaskier.

“We are going to have words, Geralt of Rivia, about where you keep your fucking potions. I could have lost you just because it took me so fucking long to find the right one. You may have superhuman healing abilities, but you’re not impervious and you can’t just walk away from a kikimore trying to rip your heart out, you great, big-”

This time Jaskier was cut off by Geralt pulling him down into a soft kiss. It was effective, Jaskier had to admit. As soon as Geralt’s lips were against his, Jaskier stopped his tirade and just melted. Well, melted as much as he could without putting any weight on Geralt, who was still very much not healed. It didn’t last for long--they both found themselves short of breath quicker than usual, probably due to the physical exertion and Geralt’s injuries. But instead of pulling away, Jaskier rested his forehead against Geralt’s.

“I’m glad you’re okay,” Jaskier whispered.

He took a moment to breathe before pulling away and getting back to work on cleaning Geralt up. Ciri rejoined them and dutifully asked questions about the kikimore, and Jaskier smiled as he worked. It was kind of her to let Geralt go back to a teaching mode, lest he be uncomfortable with Jaskier’s fussing.

It took hours for Jaskier to realize that was their first kiss outside of sex.

--

Jaskier was not sick. He couldn’t be. Jaskier didn’t get sick.

This was a stance he clung to the entire walk that day. Even though he was definitely slower than usual--Geralt often had to slow Roach so Jaskier could catch up--and Ciri looked at him pityingly every time he let out a nasty cough--but that was just the dirt from the road irritating his lungs. Every time he insisted that he wasn’t sick, that it was just allergies, or he didn’t sleep well the night before, Geralt rolled his eyes, but didn’t argue. 

By the end of the day, though, it was getting harder and harder to cling to this assertion. When they made camp, Jaskier dropped heavily to the ground, unable to even fathom helping with camp, but Ciri and Geralt had it under control anyway. His body ached all over. He felt like he would never be warm again, shaking as he sweat with such intensity he was sure he had sat right inside the fire.

“Come on,” Geralt finally urged him, helping Jaskier up--despite Jaskier’s protests that, Really, Geralt, I’m fine right here--and into the river.

The water felt like ice, and his entire body tensed as he wrapped his arms around himself to try to stave off some of the chill. Geralt was not far behind; he’d had to help Jaskier out of his clothes, and didn’t even laugh at a single one of Jaskier’s very witty sexual jokes. Once he was naked, too, he joined Jaskier in the river, and hardly even reacted to how cold the water was, the mutant. But Jaskier had to admit, the way Geralt washed him felt divine. It was completely unnecessary, as Jaskier reiterated to him every chance he got, but every time Geralt just hummed or shushed him, then went back to washing Jaskier’s hair. Eventually, Jaskier gave into it. He leaned into Geralt’s body and allowed himself to be taken care of; he even managed to doze a little against Geralt’s chest. 

Leaving the water wasn’t very nice, but the way Geralt led him with a hand on the small of his back was.

The potion, solution, stew, whatever it was, that Ciri made didn’t taste nice, but the way Geralt smiled at her and told her “You made it perfectly,” made Jaskier feel the warmest he had all day.

Soon, his body felt so heavy and his mind felt so cloudy that all he could do was lean into Geralt’s side. The witcher held him like it was the most natural thing in the world, like they had always done this, and carried on testing Ciri on the uses of various herbs and roots. Jaskier barely noticed drifting off.

When he woke--hours later, judging by how the fire had died down--he was on a bedroll, tucked tightly against Geralt’s body. Jaskier lifted his arm and draped it around Geralt’s middle, managing to press a kiss against Geralt’s temple before the clutches of sleep took him again.

--

Geralt was drunk and Jaskier was delighted.

It didn’t happen often. Geralt didn’t drink to excess unless he felt safe enough to do so, which was rare, especially since gaining Cirilla. But something about this town had, apparently, made him feel secure enough to let loose, because when Jaskier had come back from his performance, Geralt’s eyes were unfocused and he had a lazy smile on his face.

“Ciri, I thought I left you in charge,” Jaskier teased.

“And I did exactly what you taught me to do--arrange the situation to my advantage,” Ciri smirked back, and, ah, she did look a little hazy eyed as well. Sneaking drinks was much easier when Geralt was also drinking, Jaskier assumed.

He had to admit, though, he was very proud of her mischief. But now he had a very, very inebriated witcher on his hands.

“Well, I think the party is officially over. Let’s go upstairs,” he said, standing up.

Geralt’s gaze was lazy and fond, and it never left Jaskier. Although he also did not seem to be listening to Jaskier, because it took several tugs to get the witcher to stand up. Jaskier was relieved that Cirilla at least seemed to be more sober than his White Wolf, but that still meant that her steps were meandering as she, more or less, led the way upstairs.

“I don’t have to bar your door, do I?” Jaskier asked, turning a stern gaze on Cirilla, though he was pretty sure the impact of it wavered some due to the way Geralt was leaning on him and petting Jaskier’s cheek.

“The innkeeper stopped serving me about an hour ago anyway,” Ciri huffed. “And everyone fun already left. I’ll stay in, I promise.”

Jaskier narrowed his eyes at her a moment longer, as Ciri made a cross over her heart, then grinned toothily and slipped into her own room. Jaskier sighed fondly, before opening their door, which really would have been easier without Geralt nipping at his neck and earlobe the entire time.

“Geralt, honestly. You do make this difficult,” Jaskier whined, but he finally opened the door and all-but dragged the witcher through the threshold.

He barely got the door closed before Geralt was pressing him back into it. Jaskier huffed a laugh as he curled his fingers into Geralt’s gorgeous white locks, keeping Geralt’s head exactly where it was: sucking and nipping a mark into Jaskier’s neck.

“Not a very subtle location, darling,” Jaskier mumbled.

“Good,” Geralt answered. His leg shifted and his thigh pressed against Jaskier’s hardening length so deliciously, eliciting a gasp from Jaskier’s lips. “Then they’ll know you’re mine.”

A flush crept across Jaskier’s face. “Yours, hm?” Geralt hummed his affirmative. “It’s a pity you heal so fast. I can’t leave anything on you.”

“They know,” Geralt answered, pulling back to admire his handiwork. The grin he gave was downright wolfish, just moments before he leaned back into Jaskier’s space to kiss him so hard that Jaskier was sure his lips would be kiss-bruised tomorrow, too. He couldn’t find any will to complain. Especially not when, minutes later, Geralt continued, “Don’t need marks for everyone to know I’m yours.”

--

They were getting closer to Kaer Morhen.

Although Jaskier knew that was always the destination, and that Ciri and Geralt had to get there soon, he still wanted, more than anything, to stall them. Soon they would have to part, and Jaskier would have to find some way to grow used to sleeping alone again. He didn’t even know if he’d see Geralt again in the spring, like usual. Maybe he and Ciri would stay in Kaer Morhen for protection. The idea of a season without Geralt was enough to inspire Jaskier into a mournful ballad. The threat of longer had him feeling too empty to even pick up his lute.

He didn’t want to ask, but he had to. And it was easier at night, when it was harder to see Geralt’s face. Wrapped up as they were, he knew Geralt could still see his, so Jaskier only spoke once his nose was buried in Geralt’s neck. It was going to be hard enough to harden his body language--Jaskier didn’t think he’d be able to keep his face neutral.

“We’re very far north,” Jaskier began.

Geralt hummed. His fingers played with Jaskier’s hair at the nape of his neck, and it would have been so easy to just pause there, end the conversation, and let Geralt be tender with him. Only for Jaskier to continue to feel on edge as they got closer and closer to Kaer Morhen.

“We’ll be at Kaer Morhen soon.” 

Geralt only hummed his agreement again. Was he really going to make Jaskier ask? Jaskier waited a moment, but Geralt did not continue. Apparently he was. 

“Do I have another week? A few days?”

Geralt’s hand stilled. “Jaskier?” he asked, and he sounded so confused.

“Until we part?” Jaskier just barely whispered it. He didn’t want to will this into reality, but he had to know. He had to know how long he had left with Geralt and Ciri, until he had to make his own way.

Geralt was silent for a long time. When he finally spoke, he sounded pained. “You’re not coming to Kaer Morhen?”

A wave of ice rolled over Jaskier. He pulled back, suddenly very, very frustrated that he had waited until nightfall to have this discussion. He couldn’t see Geralt’s face, only his eyes that just barely shone through the darkness. Well, if he couldn’t see Geralt’s face anyway, then he might as well have the reaction his nerves felt like they needed. Jaskier sat up, looking incredulously at Geralt as he tried to puzzle this out.

“I didn’t--you never--” Jaskier sputtered, turning around to face Geralt. So much for schooling his expression. Jaskier was bewildered. He tried a few more times to speak, his mouth opening and closing over and over until Jaskier was sure he looked quite like a fish. When he finally found his voice, he sounded quite hysterical to his own ears. “I thought it was only you and Ciri going!”

Geralt slowly sat up, too. His hand was hesitant as he reached for Jaskier, but even with the hesitancy, Jaskier startled some when Geralt touched his hip. Geralt continued on anyway, tugging Jaskier closer.

“I thought you were coming, too,” he said, and his voice sounded as hesitant as his hand had been.

Jaskier stared at this man, this bewildering, reticent man before him, his mouth agape. “Geralt, you didn’t-” he started, then paused. Gods, his voice sounded wrecked. Jaskier knew he wanted to go, but he didn’t know just how much he wanted it until now. He tried again. “You didn’t ask me to. I-I thought. I thought I couldn’t.”

Geralt hummed, but instead of answering, he laid back down. After a moment, he hauled Jaskier down with him, pulling their hips flush and smoothing away Jaskier’s surprised squack with his lips. Jaskier melted into the kiss--he hadn’t found some way to mess this up. Though he still didn’t know where this left them.

“Geralt,” Jaskier insisted, finally pushing Geralt away with a hand on his chest.

Geralt hummed, tried to kiss him again, then let out a soft, breathy laugh when Jaskier’s hand stayed firm.

“Jaskier, come to Kaer Morhen with me,” he whispered, and a shiver went through Jaskier’s body. He was pretty sure nothing Geralt had ever said to him sounded quite as seductive as that, and he wasn’t even trying to seduce Jaskier now. “I want you there.”

Jaskier grinned, and leaned in for a kiss, but Geralt pulled back. Jaskier raised an eyebrow, confused, until Geralt nudged his hip against Jaskiers.

“Oh, you great, big--yes, darling. Of course. Of course I’ll come to Kaer Morhen.”

This time, when he surged forward to kiss Geralt, Geralt didn’t pull away. In fact, he wrapped his arms around Jaskier and tugged him on top of his body. Jaskier’s legs bracketed Geralt’s hips and his arms haloed his head as they kissed. He didn’t need to breathe anymore; Geralt had more than filled him.

“Can you please go to sleep?” Ciri asked after a while, and Jaskier had to laugh at how annoyed she sounded. “Gross.”

--

Jaskier was being good. Honestly, he was. If being good meant sulking in the corner of a tavern while Geralt and Yennefer discussed “very important matters” at the other end of it, then he was being a saint.

Geralt had only told them this morning that they needed to stop in Gelibol. Jaskier was excited; he was ready to have an actual bed to sleep rather than the cold, hard ground. Not to mention, Ciri was just as ready as Geralt and Jaskier were to get some time away. What Geralt had failed to mention was the fact that Yennefer was the reason they were in Gelibol, not because he was so overcome with lust for Jaskier that he just had to fuck and be fucked by him until they were both sated enough to finish the hard journey to Kaer Morhen.

Jaskier had stopped dead in his tracks when he saw the sorceress; Cirilla only just barely managed to stop in time to avoid a collision. Then he turned on his heel, leveling Geralt with a glare that Geralt, the absolute demon, shrugged off.

“She has information on Nilfgaard, Jaskier,” he said, stepping ahead of Ciri and leading Jaskier into the tavern with a hand on the small of his back. He brought Jaskier to a table and all but pushed him into the chair. Jaskier glared up at him, but allowed the manhandling. Damn him. “The more we know the better.”

“Can I talk to her, too?” Ciri asked, though Jaskier saw the hurt flash across her face for the briefest of moments.

Geralt must have seen it, too, because he shook his head. “Not yet. Watch Jaskier. Don’t let him do anything stupid,” he said, then paused a moment. “Or drink himself to death.”

Jaskier scowled at Geralt as he turned to the sorceress, and just barely managed to resist the temptation to mock him. He did, however, immediately order copious amounts of ale from the barkeep.

“You don’t like her very much, do you?” Ciri said, sitting down next to Jaskier so that she, too, could watch the conversation.

“Now, what gave you that idea?” Jaskier asked, before downing half his ale in one go, and immediately motioning for another.

The conversation between Geralt and Yennefer went on long enough that by the time Geralt returned to the table, Jaskier was well and truly drunk. And moody. But he had been moody before Geralt had left, so that wasn’t much of a change.

Geralt’s steps were wary as he approached the table. “I thought I asked you not to let him drink himself to death,” he said, looking reproachfully at Ciri.

“He’s still alive,” Ciri answered with a shrug. “And, really, what did you expect me to do when he’s like this? Scream at him?”

Jaskier snorted, but Geralt only pinched the bridge of his nose. “Yennefer wants to talk to you. I already bought our rooms. I’m going to take him upstairs.”

Geralt reached for Jaskier, but Jaskier threw up his hands. “I can walk myself, thank you,” he said, though he grimaced a little at how his words slurred together. Okay, maybe drinking as much as he had in such a short period of time wasn’t the best idea. But Jaskier was emboldened with righteous fury. And maybe a little jealous. And hurt. Mostly the emboldened with righteous fury part, though.

He slammed his hands on the table, loud enough that a few nearby heads turned, and pushed his chair out. Jaskier took a deep breath and stood up, swaying enough that Geralt took a step forward, but Jaskier waved him off. He wasn’t about to be carried out of here in front of Yennefer of Vengerberg. Even if, really, he probably needed it.

Jaskier managed to make it to the stairwell without too many issues, aside from nearly knocking over a stool as he rounded the corner of the bar. Yennefer hadn’t even said anything, except for whatever she had scoffed into her drink as he passed, but Jaskier hadn’t heard it and was too afraid if he wheeled to face her that he would eat the floor. He wanted to maintain some shred of dignity, thank you.

These stairs, however, were not happening. Jaskier stared at them hopelessly for a moment, then stepped up the first one, only to immediately stumble back down. His hands clenched into fists as he tried again, and this time he got four steps up, before he swayed dangerously back and had to be caught by Geralt.

“Geddoff,” Jaskier grumbled, pushing half-heartedly at Geralt. 

He pressed his hand against the wall and tried again. This time he got only one step and was attempting a second when Geralt sighed behind him and swept him up into a bridal-style hold.

“I can do it,” Jaskier insisted, feeling hot shame wash over him.

“Maybe by next week, but we don’t have that kind of time,” Geralt replied, and Jaskier sighed and allowed it--not that he really had much of a choice. The only thing fighting against Geralt would do now is land him very painfully on the floor, and Jaskier had zero intention of causing that kind of drama.

So Geralt carried him to their room, through the doorway, and dropped him unceremoniously on the bed. Jaskier groused to himself and rolled over onto his side, curling his body up on what could generously be called a mattress as he heard Geralt undress.

“S’where are you sleeping?” Jaskier asked. God, he sounded miserable. This wasn’t a good look, and he knew it, but he was far past being able to help it now. “Didn’t Yennefer get a room?”

“Stop it, Jaskier,” Geralt sighed.

Jaskier did stop. He didn’t say a word or move as Geralt’s boots landed heavily on the floor. The mattress dipped a bit as Geralt sat on the other side, and Jaskier could just barely feel the heat from Geralt’s body.

“What’d’you learn?” Jaskier asked.

“Nilfgaard is much farther south. They took a big hit a few months ago. They’re rebuilding and seem to have no idea where Ciri is. Yen thinks they’ll start looking again soon, but we have time until then. She didn’t have more information on Ciri’s powers, but she’s going to look into it, see if anyone can help her. She had some suggestions on how to help her harness it, though.”

Jaskier harrumphed. He was, somehow, more bitter at the fact that talking to Yennefer was useful. Of course it would be, though. The sorceress was brilliant. And had far more ability to do information digging than anyone in their party could. Honestly, Jaskier was surprised Geralt didn’t meet up with her sooner, and yet--

“Why didn’t you tell me?” He sounded petulant. He knew he did. He couldn’t help it.

“Is that what this is about?” Geralt sighed again. “I had a feeling you’d react poorly. Clearly I was wrong.”

Jaskier finally turned just enough to scowl at Geralt, then rolled back over. He grunted a reply back.

“Damn it, Jaskier. What’s the matter with you?” Geralt snarled, finally standing up.

Ah, there they were. It hurt, but a masochistic part of him wanted this. It was easier if Geralt at least had a reason to yell at him. Then Jaskier could control this.

“Nothing, Geralt,” he mumbled.

Geralt rounded the bed, kneeling to look at Jaskier’s face. Jaskier reared back and rolled away onto his stomach so he could turn his face to the other side, ignoring Geralt’s frustrated huff.

“You don’t wear jealousy well, Jaskier.”

Jaskier pushed himself up on his hands, turning his glare back on Geralt. “I’m not jealous, Geralt,” he exploded. He was, but that wasn’t what this was about. Jaskier would always be jealous of Yennefer, for having a piece of Geralt that Jaskier couldn’t have, for being the one Geralt chose over him, but that wasn’t what this was. “You didn’t talk to me. You didn’t tell me the real reason why we were here. Instead you hid it from me and-and-and-”

He didn’t know what else he wanted to say. He didn’t know what the and was. He pushed himself up fully, sitting on his calves, and pressed the heel of his hands into his eyes. 

“Is this it? Where you... Take back my invitation? She can offer more for Ciri, so now it’s time to yell at me and push me away? Because I’m jealous?”

“You pushed me away tonight.”

“Oh, so for once it’s me! Great! I’ll go tell Yen that this time it was me that drove you to her, at least this time I will have had warning before you go off--”

“Jaskier,” Geralt cut him off, and something about his tone made Jaskier quiet. Geralt scrubbed a hand over his stubble, and the room was suddenly so quiet that the sound was loud. “You’re drunk. And you’re spiralling. And you need to stop. You’re being an asshole, and still, I’m here. Not with Yennefer. With you. So will you shut up and stop this?”

Geralt had barely finished speaking before Jaskier was launching himself into Geralt’s arms. Bless witcher reflexes, honestly, because anyone else would have dropped Jaskier. Jaskier hugged Geralt tightly, pressing his face into Geralt’s shoulder. Half of him believed that if he didn’t throw his entire strength into it, then Geralt would still extract himself from Jaskier and leave the room. No matter how much a self-hating part of him had wanted that before, he desperately didn’t want that now.

“Are you going to tell me why you’re acting like this, then?” Geralt asked minutes later, climbing onto the bed when Jaskier showed no sign of letting go.

“I’m sorry,” Jaskier almost sobbed into Geralt’s shirt. Another reason why it was good Geralt was a witcher, with strengthened witcher hearing. Jaskier was barely understandable. Even if he had extracted himself from Geralt’s shoulder, he was weepy from the drink. “Last time-last time you went to her over me every time. And you sent me away. And you didn’t tell me she would be here. And I didn’t want you to go. But. But if you did, I wanted it to be my fault.”

Geralt sighed, his grip tightening on Jaskier’s back as he slowly rocked them back and forth, like Jaskier really was a child. He felt like it, now, just barely holding back tears from his tantrum. He wished he had stopped two tankards ago, so he could have had this conversation like an adult. There was little he could do about it now, though.

“I’m not going anywhere, you drunk fool,” Geralt said. “I should have told you. And you should have talked to me. What, you get a little insecure, and all of your bardic talents for endless speech fly out the window?”

He was teasing him, and Jaskier huffed out a relieved laugh. He hadn’t ruined things, no matter how much he had tried to. 

They stayed there for a long time, just holding each other as Jaskier calmed down. His face remained flush the whole time, though at this point, Jaskier wasn’t sure if that was from the drink or from the shame of his actions. The door to the room beside them opened and closed, and the footsteps must have been familiar, because he felt Geralt relax just slightly against him.

It was a slow process, but eventually they ended up laying in the bed, Jaskier’s body draped over Geralt’s, his arms looped under Geralt’s shoulders and Geralt’s arms drawing idly on Jaskier’s back. Jaskier was slowly drifting off to sleep when he finally spoke again.

“Why don’t I have a nickname?” Jaskier mumbled, but the words held no bite.

Geralt gave him a breathy laugh. “Jaskier is a nickname.”

“That doesn’t count, darling, you know it doesn’t.”

Geralt hummed, but if he replied, Jaskier didn’t hear him, because he was already asleep.

--

After Jaskier had ruined their stay in a town, it took a lot of needling to convince Geralt to make another stop before their ascent to Kaer Morhen.

“Please, Geralt? It will be so nice and cozy in a bed. And you’ll be able to have a bath. In something other than a frigid river. I could wash your hair.”

Geralt hummed. “We could have had a bath in Gelibol.”

Jaskier sighed. “I apologized a hundred times, Geralt. When will you stop punishing me for what I did?”

Geralt smirked, leaning in close to Jaskier’s ear to whisper, “It’s too bad. I had planned to have you on your hands and knees. I would have used my mouth to open you up until you begged me to fuck you. We had a whole night without contracts. Just you, and me, and complete privacy.”

Jaskier shuddered, then glowered at Geralt. “You punish me, Geralt.”

“Maybe in Yspaden,” Geralt answered, shrugging as he pulled away. “If you’re good.”

Jaskier recognized the offering for what it was--a chance for Jaskier to truly make up for his behavior in Gelibol. Though Geralt had insisted he wasn’t mad, Jaskier knew his witcher was as disappointed as Jaskier was that Jaskier had squandered a perfectly good night in an inn. And for all Geralt grumbled, he knew as well as Ciri and Jaskier did that they would need a final night in comfort before they stumbled their way in the frigid cold to Kaer Morhen. Yspaden was their last stop before facing the other witchers, assuming they also returned. 

The relief was evident on Ciri’s face, too. Surely she had dealt with quite enough of Geralt and Jaskier’s bickering after leaving Gelibol. Having such a disappointing, largely unresolved night had set both men on edge, and as such most things set them off into petty squabbles these days. Really, it was for the good of all of them that they stop in Yspaden for a night.

When they entered the town, it was like a spell had been cast over all three of them. Everyone’s shoulders relaxed and they found themselves drawn to an inn as if it was calling to them. They didn’t have much coin left, but there was enough for two rooms for two nights--the unspoken agreement being that they’d spend the following day replenishing their purse--and hot meals all around. They ate their food in silence, just barely managing to nod at each other before they retired to their rooms for the night.

The bath was still hot and steamy when Geralt and Jaskier entered the room, and Jaskier took Geralt’s belongings from his hands, urgently casting his eyes toward the tub before Jaskier set about staging the room exactly as Geralt always did. Swords close and easily accessible, but everything more or less hidden away.

By the time Jaskier turned back, Geralt had shed himself of his clothes and had climbed into the bath, and Jaskier lept to join him. Geralt’s clothes had been discarded in a somewhat organized fashion--they were at least all in one pile--but Jaskier’s garments trailed their way to the bath.

Geralt breathed out a laugh as Jaskier slid into the tub, straddling Geralt’s thighs.

“Who invited you?” he asked, his eyes lighting up with mirth.

“You did. It was written across your face,” Jaskier answered. 

He began washing Geralt, but in a lazy, slow way. Really, his attention was more on feeling Geralt’s body than strictly getting him clean, but judging by the way Geralt sighed and leaned into Jaskier’s hands, he didn’t seem to mind. Jaskier had only just barely started to move on to actual soap when Geralt’s hands started to roam.

“I’m meant to be washing you, Geralt,” Jaskier admonished as Geralt’s fingers trailed intently up Jaskier’s thighs. He gasped as, in response, Geralt pressed his thumbs into Jaskier’s inner thighs, dragging them deliciously toward Jaskier’s groin, only to pull away at the last second.

“So wash me,” Geralt answered, his grin so big his sharp canines showed.

It was difficult to wash Geralt when he was so insistent on being a menace but, somehow, Jaskier prevailed with as little stuttering as he could. It became more difficult, though, as Geralt’s insistent hands looped around Jaskier’s body, rubbing determined circles into the swell of Jaskier’s ass until he finally moved close enough to spread him open. 

Jaskier groaned, his hands stilling over Geralt’s chest as he doused Geralt’s flesh with water, trying to dispel the soap. Geralt’s eyebrow raised, and Jaskier had to resist hard not to kiss that smug look off his face.

“Problem?” Geralt asked, just as a finger began rubbing light circles over Jaskier’s hole.

Jaskier moaned, but shook his head. “N-no, no problem here,” he answered, though his lips remained parted and his breath grew more ragged. He was determined to finish his task, however, no matter how much Geralt wanted to tease him. And if he spilled a little too much water over Geralt’s face as he attempted to wet the witcher’s hair, well, that was only an occupational hazard.

“Dick,” Geralt growled, though the sound held considerably less bite as Jaskier heard a bottle of oil open behind him. 

Jaskier’s thighs tensed in anticipation as he massaged Geralt’s scalp. Geralt’s first finger was insistent upon him, pressing inside with very little resistance, as Jaskier threaded his fingers through Geralt’s hair, spreading the lather. As Geralt continued to fuck Jaskier slowly, thoroughly, every drag of his finger against him pressing deeper, Jaskier leaned forward, until he was supporting himself by his forearms pressed against Geralt’s shoulders. Still he washed Geralt’s hair, being perhaps a bit more exhaustive to the task than strictly necessary, but if it bothered Geralt, he did not speak it, only added more fingers, opening Jaskier up more for him.

Jaskier’s breath was coming out in noisy little puffs, just barely more substantial than whimpers, and he pressed his open mouth against Geralt’s shoulder.

“I thought you were washing my hair?” the smug bastard chided, and Jaskier could hear his smile.

Jaskier’s hands went back to work, now he carded his fingers through Geralt’s hair in the water. “I’m trying. You need to--ah--t-tilt your head back.”

Geralt obeyed him, and Jaskier set to work. He whined as Geralt removed his fingers from inside him, but then Geralt was pressing him forward with firm hands behind his thighs, and the way their hard cocks slid together briefly had Jaskier’s head falling forward, a moan wracking through his body. His job was forgotten, momentarily, as Geralt’s cock pressed against his entrance, and Jaskier pressed into it before the hand Geralt had kept on his thigh pressed him back up.

“You have a task, lark,” Geralt said, and Jaskier’s answering whine was breathy and weak.

Geralt didn’t move until Jaskier lifted his hands and returned to washing the soap out of Geralt’s hair. Even then, the pace he set was torturously slow, almost as if he wanted Jaskier to feel every inch, filling him up. And, Gods, wasn’t that a thought that had his breaths punching out of him.

By the time Jaskier was fully seated on Geralt’s cock, Geralt’s hair was clean. Still, he carded his fingers through Geralt’s hair, but now it was appreciative, loving, rather than filled with purpose. He pressed his mouth into Geralt’s shoulder, babbling at him, talking too fast for either one of them to really understand it, but likely some recognition would make its way through his hazy brain hours later.

When Geralt finally started to move, to fuck up into Jaskier, Jaskier was already overwhelmed in the best of ways. He lifted his head to speak into Geralt’s ear, though most of what came out of his mouth was “Geralt” and “please” and “more” and “yes” rather than actual coherent sentences. If Geralt minded, he didn’t say anything, only let his breath warm Jaskier’s shoulder as he sunk his teeth just over the bone.

His climax came to him slowly, and then all at once. Jaskier jumped straight from digging his nails into Geralt’s chest to desperately grabbing at Geralt’s hair just to have something to hold onto. Jaskier lifted his hips and pressed down in tandem with Geralt’s thrusts, taking him deeper each time, until Geralt was fucking hard against that spot inside Jaskier every time. He went from breathy whimpers and soft begging to loud, passionate moans, begging Geralt, though what he was begging for, neither one of them truly knew.

Geralt’s fingers dug into the back of Jaskier’s thigh, helping Jaskier keep the pace, and his free hand tugged on Jaskier’s cock, pulling him once, twice, three times, until Jaskier finished with Geralt’s name on his tongue and Geralt, biting hard enough to leave a bruise, came inside him only a few thrusts later.

Geralt’s hips slowed, but he didn’t stop fucking into Jaskier until Jaskier’s body fell limp against Geralt’s. Jaskier’s fingers threaded their way through Geralt’s hair again, reveling in the soft, silky locks just as much as he was reveling in his witcher.

They didn’t move again until the water had gone cold, and even then, it was only because Jaskier started shivering. Geralt tried to bundle Jaskier up, concern knitting his eyebrows, but Jaskier waved him off, instead toweling off the witcher, much to Geralt’s chagrin. Jaskier would not be fussed over, not now, not when it was so clearly Geralt’s turn. Jaskier didn’t let Geralt bundle Jaskier into his arms until they were warmly tucked into bed, the fire in the hearth letting off a faint light that illuminated Geralt beautifully.

“Lark?” Jaskier questioned, a playful smile at his lips.

Geralt laughed into Jaskier’s neck, his shoulders lifting abashedly. “You wanted a nickname, didn’t you?”

Jaskier hummed, considering this. “Technically, I believe it’s more like a pet name, darling.” Geralt let out a breath and Jaskier held back a laugh. “I love it.”

Geralt pulled away from Jaskier, lifting himself up on one arm and considering Jaskier. “It suits you,” he said, trailing the back of his fingers along Jaskier’s cheekbone. “My lark.”

Jaskier let his eyes flutter closed as Geralt caressed him. “My heart,” he mumbled in return.

And it was only fitting, only fair. Because Jaskier had given Geralt his own a long, long time ago.

[clintbartonswife]

inundated with the fated thought of you

Pairings: Geralt of Rivia x Jaskier, Yennefer x Triss Summary: the group travels to Kaer Morhen, Ciri finally understands the meaning of ‘chosen family’ and Jaskier sings once again Notes: mentions of injury, recovery, confessions. thank you @kazeetease​ for beta reading this chapter <3 masterlist  ||  one  ||  two  ||  three  ||  four  ||  five  || six  || 

“Ciri! Geralt wants you outside!” 

The princess turned away from Jaskier, the bard leaning against the wall for stability, fixing Yennefer with a curious look, “Now?”

“Yes now, he wants to teach you how to properly tack a horse, especially now that we have the extra one.”

Jaskier perked up at this, smile widening, “A new horse? Who would that be for?”

“You - you’re in no state to walk far distances and we can’t exactly leave you behind.” Yen replied, fixing Jaskier with a mock glare. 

The bard smiled sagely, relaxing into the familiar banter, “You should know by now that I’m too hard to shake, witch.”

“A tragedy, really.”

Triss scoffed from her seat at the table, packing away potion ingredients with care, “You’d both be lost without each other, just admit it. You wouldn't know what to do if you didn't have someone to lovingly insult everyday.”

Jaskier and Yennefer looked at each other with fake disgust, lasting a few seconds before erupting into laughter. 

“I guess you’re not so bad.” Yen huffed, nudging him gently with her shoulder.

“Same has to be said for you,” Jaskier grumbled mockingly, “I guess you did save my life twice now.”

“And you’d be smart not to forget it.”

Jaskier shook his head fondly, watching as she all-but strutted away, averting his eyes back to Ciri who had been watching with obvious amusement.

“You’d better go see what our Witcher wants, princess.”

Ciri just smiled, running outside, calling for Geralt as she went, her light footsteps receding. As soon as she was out of earshot, he slumped further against the wall, a pained sigh escaping his mouth.

“You know,” Triss said from the kitchen, voice surprising Jaskier, “You shouldn't keep pushing yourself so much.”

“I can assure you, my dear, I’m not pushing myself too hard,” Jaskier smiled, shifting into a slightly more upright position, wincing as a sharp pain shot up his spine, “You healed me excellently.”

The sorceress laughed, “Flattery will get you nowhere, bard. I know I’m still drained,” she stood from her seat, bags all packed, “I can only apologise I couldn't get rid of the lasting pain.”

“In pain and alive is better than dead.” 

“That it is.”

The two of them exchanged smiles, Triss offering her arm in aid.

“I should be alright to walk to the horses,” Jaskier replied good naturedly, “Besides, I’ve got to get used to walking unaided if we’re to be travelling to Kaer Morhen”

“Sing us a song, Jask. Please?” Cirilla asked, walking beside the horse (recently named ‘Pegasus’ - much to Geralt’s chagrin) and gazing up at the bard hopefully.

Jaskier spared a glance at Geralt, only to be met with another hopeful look, a warm feeling of happiness building in his chest at the Witcher’s acceptance, “Alas, I am without my lute little one. I’m afraid it won’t be my best performance.”

“Your lute?” Geralt repeated, “Oh Jask I’m so sorry - I must’ve forgotten to give it to you.”

Tears sprung to Jaskier’s eyes almost immediately as Geralt removed his instrument from one of his packs, passing it to Jaskier with a tentative smile, “Yennefer went back for it when we rescued you.”

The bard hugged the lute to his chest, the familiar weight of the instrument settling something within himself that he hadn't noticed was there.

“I can’t tell you how much this means to me,” he whispered, hands trailing over the markings, “Thank you, truly.”

“No need to thank us bard, just play us a song,” Yennefer smirked, walking ahead of the two horses hand in hand with Triss.

“Okay,” Jaskier nodded, a smile firmly set on his face, “I - this is one I was working on before... everything happened.”

Ciri grinned at him encouragingly, eyes shining with barely restrained glee.

Clearing his throat, shuffling slightly in the saddle, Jaskier began to sing.

“The wrinkles and bricks that we’re left with at last

And drink will fix all those questions unasked

Who died and made you king of it all.”

Geralt frowned slightly, reading into the lyrics, frown deepening as he continued through to the chorus.

“Cause these plates they smash like waves

And the wine stains hide the tears

But that

Breathing you hear don't mistake it for sighs

Don't you realise? They’re just battle cries dear.”

“Jask-”

Ciri cut Geralt off with a sharp glare, “Shh, let him sing.”

Jaskier snorted a laugh, pausing to reach down and ruffle the princess’ hair before readjusting his seating and re-starting his strumming, making direct eye contact with Geralt as he sang the last few lines.

“And these lines aren’t wrinkles, dear heart

They’re just dollops of paint on a new work of art

And as I

Walk away, I know I’ve been through the wars

But that creaking you hear in my bones is not pain, it’s applause.“

He set his lute down across his laps with a smile, hands aching slightly at the sudden use, “That’s as far I’ve got so far.”

“It was beautiful,” Triss said, her soft voice breaking the awed silence that had fallen over the group, Yennefer nodding in agreement.

“I loved it!” Ciri breathed, watching him with newfound curiosity, “Could you teach me to play?”

Jaskier felt himself smile at her enthusiasm, “I’m sure we could find some time in between your other lessons once we get to Kaer Morhen?”

He aimed the question at Geralt, hunching himself inwards slightly, as if anticipating a less than enthusiastic response. Instead, he was met with the softest expression he had ever seen on his friend’s (lover’s? he wasn't quite sure what they were) face, “We’ll find time”

At that, Ciri cheered, walk changing to a skip, “I can’t wait to learn as much as I can - ooh! ooh! You’ll have to teach me to play Toss A Coin so I can annoy Geralt. Then we’ll -”

Ciri’s excited babbling faded into the background as Jaskier focused on Geralt’s face, the seemingly bottomless affection reflected in his eyes shocking him. The soft smile, barely noticeable to those who didn't know the Witcher well, speaking volumes.

“Do you have another you could play?” Geralt asked, “Perhaps the one about the Selkie?”

Jaskier burst into a grin and, ignoring the slight aches in his hands, picked his lute back up, “Of course, dearheart.”

By the time dusk had set, Geralt slid off Roach, directing the group to a small clearing in the woods.

“We can rest here for tonight,” he announced, moving to assist Jaskier off of Pegasus, “We’re far away enough from the road and there’s a stream just a few miles north from here”

Ciri nodded, already moving to collect some twigs and fallen branches for kindling, hiding a smile as she watched her pseudo-father all but lift Jaskier from the saddle and place him gently down on the forest floor.

“Seems as good a place as any,” Yennefer agreed, surveying the area with a neutral expression, “It’s warm enough to use our bedrolls - we can save the tents until we get nearer to winter.”

Jaskier watched as the four of them worked in tandem to set up the temporary camp, only Triss’ slight lagging behind showing that she was newer to the dynamic.

Trying not to feel so useless, Jaskier untacked the horses, stroking over Roach’s muzzle with a smile. He had missed the horse almost as much as Geralt himself, the amount of times the two had waited together for Geralt to come back from a hunt creating an almost unbreakable bond that Jaskier had never experienced with an animal before.

Roach, sensing that he had begun to get lost in his thoughts, nudged his chest gently.

“Ah, thank you girl,” he smiled, slipping a sugar cube from one of the saddle bags and offering it to her, “It’s nice to be back.”

By the time he had finished tending to the horses, the camp had been set up, Geralt waving him over with soft eyes, an empty space between him and Triss by the fire.

“- just need to get to the summit and then we can portal to Kaedwen, leaving only a trace that should dissipate before Nilfgaard can track it,” Yen said, “Then it should only be a two days ride to the valley.”

Geralt nodded, absentmindedly pulling Jaskier to rest against his chest, relieving the tension of the bard’s body, “From then it should only be a few days to make it up the pass. We should be safe there.”

Jaskier hummed in acknowledgement, his aching body relaxing into the warmth of the Witcher’s embrace, eyes fighting to stay open as the conversation faded into background noise, lulling him to sleep.

Geralt watched Jaskier fall asleep with a soft smile, slightly tightening his arms to ensure he didn't slip out of his grip, current conversation forgotten as he made sure the bard was comfortable.

“-alt. Geralt.”

The Witcher looked up at the sound of his name being called, eyes refocusing onto the two sorceresses.

“We lost you for a moment there,” Triss teased lightly, nodding at Jaskier in his arms, “Did you hear the plan?”

“Portalling to Kaedwen tomorrow,” Geralt grunted, ignoring the heat that rose to his cheeks at the realisation that he had zoned out of the conversation just from watching his bard, “Then a two days ride through to the Blue Mountains.”

“Yennefer asked you how long it takes to get up the pass,” turning his head to look at Ciri, he was met with a cheeky smile from the young girl, “you were just staring at Jaskier and didn't answer.”

Cheeks now blazing, Geralt cleared his throat, avoiding eye contact with all three of the women, “The pass generally takes me two days to clear, with all of our gear and you four it will probably take us three to four days.”

“And you’re sure we can’t just portal to the top?” Yennefer sighed, distaste clear in her expression.

“You’d trigger the wards placed around the mountain, it’s better to just walk.”

Yen sighed, nodding sharply before standing up, offering her hand to Triss, “Well if you don't mind we better be getting to bed. We’ll need our strength for the portal.”

Geralt hummed in acknowledgment, watching as the two women laid their bedrolls next to each other, Yennefer holding Triss protectively against her chest.

“You should be going to sleep as well, Ciri.” 

“I’m not tired yet,” she groaned, a yawn ruining her pretence. 

The Witcher raised an eyebrow, an unimpressed look on his face. The princess sighed dramatically, standing up from her seat by the fire and walking over to her bedroll, placed in between Yennefer and Geralt’s.

As her breathing levelled out, Gerat allowed his attention to once again return to the delicate bard in his arms, the position becoming familiar. A warmth in his chest spread across his body as he finally allowed himself to embrace the feeling of love, compassion and protection that Jaskier inspired within him, the blind show of trust something that no one other than Ciri had ever shown him.

The fire spat as the embers began to die, but Geralt didn't want to move in case he woke the bard. Eventually, as the light began to fade, Geralt braced himself to stand, slowly moving so as not to disturb his sleep.

The Witcher moved across the clearing to the bedrolls, kneeling down and placing Jaskier gently onto the mat. He knelt there for a second, waiting for any negative reaction to the change of scenery, before pulling away, going back to reignite the fire.

“Geralt...”

The voice was quiet, almost inaudible even to his enhanced ears. Turning away from the now burning fire, he locked eyes with a sleepy Jaskier, arms outstretched towards him.

He was moving within seconds, eyes searching for any distress. Sensing this, Jaskier shook his head with a tired smile, hands pulling Geralt into the bedroll and into an embrace. The Witcher stiffened in surprise, before slowly relaxing into the bard’s body heat.

“Sleep better with you.”

The hushed confession caused Geralt’s heart to skip a beat, the older man turning around to face Jaskier.

“I don't know how to do this.”

Jaskier frowned, his sleep-addled brain not fully comprehending Geralt’s confession, instead moving to place his head on his chest with a low hum, “Just hold me, dearest.”

Evened-out breaths indicated that the bard had fallen back to sleep, the affection welling in Geralt’s chest almost overwhelming the man. He knew he would panic about that later, but for now he was content to hold his bard and sleep.

It was early morning when Jaskier finally awoke, the birds’ chirping a welcomed sound to his ears that still rang with the aftermath of his nightmare. Realising he was the first awake, the bard slipped out of Geralt’s arms, restarting the fire and setting off to collect some river water to boil.

“I can be useful,” he assured himself, ignoring the strain on his legs as he walked down the bank, copper pot in his hand, “Just as useful as I was before.”

Dipping the pot into the water, he caught sight of his reflection, the morning sun illuminating the angry red scar with alarming clarity. Wincing, the bard avoided his reflection, standing up and quickly making his way back to camp, desperately banishing the whispers of his torturer that tried to once again assault his mind.

Stumbling back into the clearing, he came face to face with a frantic Witcher, amber eyes searching him wildly.

“Geralt-?”

“Where were you? I woke up and you were gone! I-”

Stomach dropping, Jaskier quickly placed the pot of water down before cupping Geralt’s cheeks, pressing their foreheads together, “I’m sorry, I’m sorry dearheart but you were asleep and I didn't want to wake you. I just went to the stream to get some water.”

Geralt exhaled, shoulders drooping, “Jask.”

“I know, I won’t do it again. I didn't think what it would look like.”

Despite the panic at seeing his Witcher distressed, a twisted part of him revelled in seeing the Witcher so worried over him. Choosing to ignore the confusing feelings for the moment, Jaskier instead focused on calming Geralt down, moving his forehead away slightly before placing a quick but firm kiss on his lips.

The action, no matter how hesitant Jaskier was in making it, seemed to relax the taller man, so he leaned in again. This time as their lips connected, Geralt moved his hands to rest on Jaskier’s hips, the hold gentle.

Pulling back with a smile, Geralt ducked his head, “Do we... do we need to talk about this?”

Jaskier breathed out shakily, hands still cupping the Witcher’s cheeks, “I don't think there’s much to talk about.”

Before Geralt’s expression could fall, Jaskier took a deep breath and released the confession that he had been holding within himself for just over two decades, “I am in love with you after all, I’ll take whatever I can get.”

Amber eyes met blue, both equally shocked.

“You love me?”

“Aye, have for ... well going on twenty two years now.”

A wounded noise escaped Geralt as he recaptured Jaskier’s lips in another kiss, this time more desperate than the last.

“I love you too” he breathed, words uttered against his lips like a prayer, “Jask-”

It was only as Geralt wiped his face that Jaskier realised he was crying, the happy tears leaking from his eyes outshone by the massive smile on his lips. 

“You don't know how long I’ve waited to hear you say those words to me, my love,” he laughed, voice thick with emotion.

“Too long.”

“Just kiss me again you oaf.”

The journey through the Blue Mountains was about as pleasant as one could expect a hike to be.

Ever since the night of confessions, the three women had been teasing the new couple almost non-stop, Ciri seeming especially happy with the new situation.

On the first night travelling up the pass to Kaer Morhen, Ciri sat in between Jaskier and Geralt with a thoughtful smile, “Does this mean I have two dads now?”

Jaskier, who had been drinking some water at the time, promptly choked, spluttering in surprise as Geralt shifted uncomfortably in his seat. Yennefer and Triss, sitting opposite them behind the fire, began to laugh uncontrollably at their reactions, Ciri looking slightly confused but proud at making the normally stern woman laugh.

“Pardon me darling girl?” Jaskier wheezed, “but did I hear that right?”

“Yes. Do I call you papa now that you’re dating my dad?”

Geralt, being bombarded with emotions - not only being referred to as ‘dad’ as the first time, but also finally accepting the idea of Jaskier as his partner - went to speak, but instead only made a strangled noise which made the two sorceresses laugh even harder.

“I think you’ve broken him, dear girl,” Yennefer smirked, clearly enjoying his struggle.

“Do you - do you not want me to call you dad?”

Ciri’s voice came out quiet and shuttered, her eyes dropping to the floor.

“Ciri - no, of course I would - the fact that you think -” Geralt fumbled for the right words, desperate not to upset the girl. Eventually, he gave up, opening his arms for a hug, “I think of you as my daughter.”

The princess released a happy giggle, leaping into his arms with a large grin, “So I can call you dad? and Jaskier papa?”

The bard cleared his throat, dislodging the lump that had formed from holding back tears, and offered the girl a soft smile as she looked at him over Geralt’s shoulder, “I would be honoured.”

The girl returned to her seat, the moment seemingly passed, when Jaskier spoke up from her side, “Does that mean you see Yennefer and Triss as your crazy aunts?”

The atmosphere lightened with everybody’s laughter, Triss looking delighted - Yennefer hiding her smile behind a tactical sip of water - as Cirilla declared that she indeed saw them as family as well.

Geralt met Jaskier’s eyes over Ciri’s head, an unspoken promise passing between them. They were all a family now, and they would protect the little girl until their last breath.

______________________________________________________________

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