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#i should make a writing tag shouldn't i?

wren-of-the-woods · 2 years

Text

Geralt pulls over to help a man whose car has broken down and finds that he has accidentally rescued his daughter's favorite musician. A few days later, Ciri gets a wonderful birthday surprise.

Geraskier, 5k. Also on AO3!

Geralt was, as usual, thinking about Ciri.

There was not much else to do as he drove down the highway; the trip to pick his daughter up from her friend's house was long and dull. At the moment, Geralt had an excellent reason to think about Ciri even more than he usually did. Her birthday approaching at a terrifyingly fast pace. It was the first birthday she would have as Geralt's adopted daughter, and he desperately wanted it to be as happy as possible.

Ciri had already lost so much in her short almost-fourteen years of life. Geralt knew she loved him, but he couldn't help but feel that he was not doing enough for her. He did not know if he could ever be an adequate parent for a such bright and lively young girl. He knew, though, that he would do almost anything to make her happy. The realization thrilled him as much as it terrified him.

Ciri often spoke with fond longing of the extravagant birthday celebrations her grandmother had thrown for her, so Geralt wanted her to experience joy like that again. He had to figure out how to give her the best birthday he could.

Geralt thought the best way to achieve this would be to ask what his daughter wanted. Unfortunately, it seemed that his question had been far too open-ended.

“What do you want to do for your birthday?” he had asked.

“Can it be anything?” she said, eyes widening in that way Geralt could never resist.

“Anything.”

“I want to meet Dandelion!” she said with a grin. Geralt suppressed a groan.

Dandelion was her favorite musician. She listened to him constantly, while doing everything from reading to homework to drawing to staring out the window. She asked to play his songs nearly every time she was in the car with Geralt. Hardly a day went by without one of his songs getting stuck in Geralt’s head.

Geralt would go to the ends of the earth for his daughter, but he didn’t think any amount of dedication could get Ciri a private meeting with a quickly-rising pop star.

He tried his very best but had no luck. All of Dandelion’s concert cost so much more than Geralt could afford that it was ridiculous to even contemplate going, in addition to at least being several days’ drive away. Geralt went as far as finding Dandelion’s manager’s Twitter account in the hopes he could somehow ask for the singer to call her briefly, but nothing looked promising. None of Dandleion’s PR team seemed like they would respond to a message from a single father who couldn’t pay them. After a long evening’s research, he was forced to give up the idea.

So now Geralt was here, whiling away the long drive to pick Ciri up from her friend’s house by trying to think of anything he could do for her birthday that might live up to both her hopes and his ideals of parenthood. He was so distracted, in fact, that he nearly didn’t notice the man waving his arms on the side of the road.

The man was standing beside a car that was pulled over. His colorful, once-neat outfit was thoroughly disheveled, and he looked desperate as he shouted something Geralt couldn’t hear.

Geralt slowed, pulled over, and rolled down his window. “What’s wrong?”

“Thank you so much,” the man said the moment Geralt’s window opened. “Nobody else would stop for me. I just fought with my best friend and my phone is dead and my car broke down and I’m running late to an important appointment and I would really, really appreciate it if you could give me a lift? It can just be to the next town, or maybe until my phone is charged if you have something I can use?”

Geralt thought about refusing. It was probably unwise to let a total stranger into his car, and he was already almost late to pick Ciri up. On the other hand, the man looked so desperate and sad and earnest that it seemed cruel to even think about turning him away.

After so many months of raising a thirteen-year-old girl, Geralt should have been immune to the power of enormous, pleading eyes. He was not.

He opened his car door. “Get in.”

The stranger blinked. “Wait, really?”

Geralt huffed. “Do you want me to change my mind?”

“Please don’t!” The man darted back to his own car for a moment to grab a backpack and presumably dead phone from the passengers’ seat.

“Don’t worry,” said Geralt, somewhat amused at the way the colorful man nearly tripped over himself in his haste to get his things. He clambered in next to Geralt and pulled the door shut quickly, as though afraid Geralt might actually change his mind and throw him bodily out of the car.

“Thank you so, so much,” gushed Geralt’s new companion. “I don’t know what I would have done if you hadn’t stopped. This means the world.”

Geralt grunted. The praise made him feel strangely uncomfortable. “It’s fine.”

He pulled back onto the highway and continued driving.

“What’s your name, by the way?” said his passenger. “It’s fine if you’d rather I didn’t know. I understand. I’m just curious about the man who completely saved my day, is all.”

Geralt frowned a little. The man’s voice sounded oddly familiar when he spoke like this. He was sure he’d never seen his face before, though, so Geralt put the thought out of his mind.

“Geralt,” he said after a moment, answering the question.

“Ah, perfect! A wonderfully heroic name for my wonderful hero.” The man was grinning now, looking frankly too happy for someone who was recently stranded on the side of the road. “I’m Jaskier!”

Geralt grunted, unable to figure out how to respond, grunted. He didn’t think he’d ever received so many compliments per minute in his life.

“Where were you going?” he asked, trying to change the subject.

The man — Jaskier — replied with the name of a town. Geralt frowned. Taking Jaskier there would add half an hour to Geralt’s drive, but based on the state Jaskier had managed to end up in earlier, Geralt had a feeling he might somehow get himself killed on the way if Geralt simply left him at a bus station. He sighed. He didn’t particularly want murder on his conscience, nor did he want to worry about this strange man any more than he had to.

"I'll drop you off there," he said before he could change his mind.

Jaskier's grin widened. He looked genuinely delighted. "Oh my god, you really are a superhero in disguise, aren't you?"

"No,” said Geralt, feeling oddly defensive. “Just a decent human being."

"Tell that to all the people who drove right past me without stopping," said Jaskier. "I was there for nearly half an hour."

Geralt didn't know what to say to that. True to form, he therefore said nothing.

“I should call a tow truck for you,” he said after a moment.

“Oh, yes. That would probably be wise.”

Eventually, Geralt arranged everything so that Jaskier’s car would be repaired. He sighed in relief. The two of them sat in silence for a few moments before Jaskier cleared his throat and spoke up.

“So, what is a handsome fellow like you doing out here?”

Geralt held back a sigh. He hated small talk. He couldn’t bring himself to ignore Jaskier after the day he must have had, though, so he forced himself to answer the question.

"I'm going to pick up my daughter. She's at a friend's house."

“Oh god, you have a daughter? I was just thinking you couldn’t get any more perfect. It seems I was wrong. How old is she?”

Geralt was suddenly grateful that he was driving and had an excuse not to meet Jaskier’s eyes. Such enthusiastic praise made him feel wrong-footed.

“Almost fourteen,” he grunted, ignoring the rest of Jaskier’s words.

“Oh, a teenager! What fun. I hope she’s more well-behaved than I was at that age,” Jaskier said with a laugh.

“She’s much better than I was,” said Geralt. He couldn’t help but sound fond; Ciri was the brightest part of his life, after all. “I’m very lucky to have her.”

“I’m sure she thinks the same,” said Jaskier. “You seem like an excellent father.”

“Hmm. Thank you.” Geralt winced internally at his own awkwardness. Why did one person being nice to him throw him so off-balance?

Jaskier seemed to notice something of Geralt’s discomfort, because the car descended into slightly awkward, silence for the next several minutes. Geralt kept his eyes on the road, trying to recenter himself after this whole exchange.

Once again, Jaskier spoke first.

“You’re doing me a huge favor, you know,” he said earnestly. “Let me repay you for this.”

“That won’t be necessary.”

“I insist.”

“No.”

“You just took hours out of your day to help some random stranger you found on the side of the road. The least I can do is give you something in return.”

“I don’t want your money. What else could you give me?”

“I’ll think of something.”

Silence fell again. Jaskier leaned back against the headrest and closed his eyes with a small sigh. When Geralt glanced at him out of the corner of his eye, he looked so tired and worn all of a sudden that Geralt felt a little ache in his chest. He spoke before he had time to think it through.

“You fought with a friend?”

Jaskier’s eyes opened.

“Yeah,” he said, and Geralt discovered that he did not like hearing sadness in this man’s voice.

“Do you… want to talk about it?” Geralt held back a grimace at his own awkwardness.

Jaskier sighed again. For a moment, Geralt thought he was going to ignore the question, but Jaskier took a deep breath and started to speak.

“I thought we were good,” he murmured. “I thought we were close. I thought we would be friends forever. Then he stopped returning my calls unless I happened to try the exact right time, and before I knew it I hadn’t seen him in person for months. I know he’s busy with his own projects, but he could have at least tried to find time for me. I did it for him.” He huffed in frustration. “So I went to his place to try to talk to him, but he didn’t like me showing up with no warning even though he used to do that to me all the time. He yelled at me. Said some things I don’t know if I can forget.”

Geralt, once again, had no idea what to say. He hoped his silence did not feel insulting. Jaskier didn’t seem to mind.

“I hate this,” Jaskier continued. “I put so much effort into that relationship, and he blew me off like it was nothing. I was still trying to collaborate with him. I have projects that I need to figure out how to do without him now. I tried so hard and it didn’t work. I don’t know why. I don’t know what I did.”

Geralt was very out of his depth. He hummed, hoping it at least sounded sympathetic. Jaskier closed his eyes again.

“I feel so small, sometimes. Like nothing I do will ever matter. The world is big and cruel and I’m so insignificant. All I want to do is make someone happy. Is that too much to ask?” Jaskier’s voice was hardly more than a whisper by the end. Then he seemed to realize what he’d said and he blushed. “But you don’t want to hear a stranger ramble about all his problems. I’ll be quiet now. Better stay out of sight.” He chuckled humorlessly, turning to look out the window.

Something the way Jaskier said those last words snagged Geralt’s memory. Better stay out of sight. Geralt recognized the phrase.

He had heard Ciri hum it while she helped him wash the dishes. He’d heard her shouting it from her bedroom, singing so loud that Geralt could hear perfectly well from across the house. He’d heard it played in the car when Ciri asked to listen to her favorite band, sung by a strong voice full of feeling.

No wonder Jaskier sounded familiar.

“You’re Dandelion,” he said. “The singer.”

Jaskier drew in a surprised breath. “Yes, I am. That��s my stage name.”

“Oh, thank fuck,” said Geralt without thinking, caught off guard by the sudden swell of hope rising in his chest.

Jaskier blinked. “What?”

“I think I know a way you can repay me.”

“That was an ominously sudden change of opinion.”

“Come visit my daughter.”

Whatever Jaskeir had been about to say vanished abruptly. He looked at Geralt with wide eyes.

“She’s… a fan of yours,” said Geralt. “She asked to see you. For her birthday. But I can’t afford to take her to a show, so I told her it wouldn’t work. Didn’t think I’d end up rescuing you off the side of the road.”

“Oh! Really? That’s adorable! Of course I’ll come to visit your daughter! I’m always glad to meet a fan.” Jaskier sounded genuinely delighted.

A small smile spread unbidden across Geralt’s face. “Thank you. She’ll be thrilled.”

"Of course! When do you want to meet? I'll have to check my schedule and such but I'm sure I can make time for such a sweet request."

Geralt paused. He could, in theory, suggest bringing Jaskier with him to meet Ciri now, but Jaskier said he had somewhere important to be and Geralt didn't want to make him any later than he already was. Besides, waiting would give him time to warn Ciri ahead of time. That way, she would have time to plan what she wanted to say.

"How about next week?” Ciri’s birthday was in two weeks. Scheduling their meeting for a week before would give Geralt room to plan if anything went wrong.

“Next week is good!” said Jaskier, and that was that.

They arrived at Jaskier’s destination not long afterward, and Jaskier left after a quick exchange of contact information and a promise to text Geralt soon with scheduling details.

Geralt passed the remaining forty-five minutes of the drive feeling happier than he had in days.

~~~

“Really?” Ciri squealed. The volume and pitch that she managed to achieve was, quite frankly, a show of impressive vocal talent.

“Yeah,” said Geralt, grinning at her. “You get to meet Dandelion.”

“I can’t believe this. You found Dandelion on the side of the road? That’s insane!”

“It was very lucky.”

“That’s the understatement of the century.”

Ciri was grinning so hard that Geralt wondered if it was making her cheeks hurt. Her joy was the most beautiful thing he’d seen in months.

“I’m glad you’re excited,” he said genuinely. Ciri tackled him in a hug.

After some texting back and forth with Jaskier (it made Ciri incredibly excited to discover that Geralt had Jaskier’s contact information), the time was set for the coming Saturday. All that remained was to wait.

~~~

“Geralt! Hello!” said Jaskier as soon as Geralt opened the door. He looked almost nervous, rubbing his thumb against his fingers as he shifted his weight on Geralt’s doorstep.

“Come in,” said Geralt, stepping aside to let the musician enter the house. “Thank you again for doing this.”

“You’re more than welcome!” said Jaskier, looking around Geralt’s house curiously. Geralt did his best not to feel embarrassed. He and Ciri worked hard this morning to make the place look presentable (“It has to be perfect, Dad!”) but nothing they did could hide the fact that the place was small, the furniture was rather mismatched, and the shelves were cluttered in an attempt to fit all their belongings into what space there was.

“So, where is the lovely person I’ve come to meet?” asked Jaskier, shaking Geralt out of his thoughts.

“In her room,” said Geralt. “I’ll go get her.”

Geralt fetched Ciri, watched fondly as she jumped up and down a little in nervous excitement, and accompanied her back to their living room. Jaskier visibly perked up at the sight of her.

“Hello, darling!” he said, bounding forward and holding a hand out for her to shake. “You must be Cirilla.”

“Ciri,” she said shyly, taking the offered hand and shaking it.

“Ciri,” Jaskier repeated, looking for all the world like he was trying to commit it to memory. “It’s a beautiful name!”

Ciri’s small smile grew wider. “Thank you!”

“I’ll leave you two alone,” said Geralt with a small smile. He and Ciri had planned this out beforehand — Geralt would wait in the kitchen while they spoke, letting her and Jaskier have privacy while still being able to hear most of the conversation and come back if necessary. “Would anyone like tea or coffee?”

Jaskier declined, but Ciri requested tea, so Geralt went to prepare it.

For a moment, the other room was silent. Then Jaskier spoke up.

“So, I’m told you’ve heard my caterwauling?”

“I love your music. I listen to it all the time.”

“Thank you so much! I’m honored,” said Jaskier. Geralt could hear his grin even without being able to see his face.

“I wanted to thank you, actually,” said Ciri nervously. Geralt listened closer from the other room, prepared to intervene if necessary. Ciri had been wanting to say this to Jaskier ever since she learned she would get to meet him, and if something went wrong there was potential for an emotional disaster.

“Oh? What for?” said Jaskier.

Ciri took a deep breath. “So, um, my grandmother died a little over a year ago. She raised me. It’s been a rough year. Geralt adopted me, and he’s great! I love him, and he loves me, and I’m really glad I get to have him in my life but things have still been hard. I found your music about a month after my grandmother died and it’s helped me a lot. There’s so much life and hope to it, you know? Even when I was having a really bad day, I could listen to it and feel like maybe things might get better. There are so many bad things in the world, but there is also some good, and you helped me remember that. So. That’s why I wanted to meet you. To say thank you for everything.” She shifted awkwardly. “Um. Sorry if that was weird. You don’t know me and that might have been a lot to dump on a stranger.”

“Ciri, darling,” said Jaskier in a voice that sounded choked with emotion. “May I hug you?”

Geralt peeked into the room just in time to see Ciri nod and Jaskier envelop her in a crushing embrace. Ciri made a startled sound before hugging him back. She was hesitant at first, but her confidence grew quickly. Geralt smiled. Ciri gave good hugs.

“That was… possibly the nicest thing anyone has ever said to me,” Jaskiersaid quietly without breaking the embrace. “I’m so glad I could make a difference in your life. I always hope I might, but I’m never sure I manage. It means the world for you to tell me that. Thank you.” He let out a shaky breath. “And I’m truly sorry for your loss. I can’t imagine how you must feel.”

“Thank you,” said Ciri. “It’s… better, now. Time helps. Geralt helps, too.”

“I get the feeling that he’s a wonderful father,” said Jaskier with a smile.

“He really is,” said Ciri, her voice filled with what sounded like pride. Geralt was suddenly glad that no one could see him, because he was sure that whatever expression he was making was unbearably sappy.

Jaskier and Ciri moved on to talking about less serious matters, making jokes and small talk and discussing Jaskier’s music. Geralt delivered tea to Ciri and settled in the kitchen with a book, only half-listening to them now that the most emotionally difficult moments had passed.

After an hour, Jaskier reluctantly informed them that he had to leave. Ciri was disappointed, of course, but handled it gracefully. Geralt watched her say her goodbyes and walked Jaskier to the door.

“You must be proud to have such a wonderful daughter,” Jaskier said to Geralt as he stepped outside, turning back to smile at him.

Geralt smiled. “I am. Always.”

“Good. It was wonderful to meet her,” said Jaskier. “Would you tell her that? I said so earlier, but I’m not sure if she believed me.”

“I will,” said Geralt. He wondered if Jaskier knew that he was digging further into Geralt’s heart with every kindness he showed Ciri. “Thank you.”

“I’m the one who should be thanking you,” said Jaskier with a smile. “I had an excellent time.”

“I’m glad,” said Geralt. They stood in companionable silence for a moment.

“I should probably get going before someone starts calling me,” said Jaskier with a sigh. “Thank you again for inviting me over.”

“Thank you for coming,” Geralt said. “Ciri and I appreciate it.”

Jaskier grinned. “You’re very welcome, dear heart.”

Then, with a wave and a shouted farewell, he was gone.

~~~

Geralt thought that was the last he would see of Jaskier.

For the next several weeks, the only contact he had with Jaskier was through Ciri playing his music. Geralt found himself oddly disappointed by the idea of not seeing Jaskier again, but told himself to stop being ridiculous. The fact that he was funny and kind and genuinely good with Ciri didn’t necessarily mean they could have been friends, even if the up-and-coming pop star had decided to keep in touch with a single father of limited means and even more limited social skills.

His attempts at putting Jaskier out of his mind were not as successful as he would have liked. He hoped that if he ignored this, it would go away eventually.

Then, over a month later, Geralt woke up to a text from a very familiar number.

Jaskier: hi geralt! so i know this is kind of out of nowhere, but i wrote a thing that may or may not be inspired by you and ciri and i was wondering if the two of you could listen to it and tell me if you’re all right with me showing it to anyone else and maybe putting it out there for the public? Jaskier: it’s totally fine if not, of course. i can absolutely keep it between the three of us indefinitely. Jaskier: believe it or not, i am actually capable of shutting up about some things Jaskier: though i’m not giving you very good evidence of that with all this rambling Jaskier: i’m just gonna send the files now

The next two messages were audio files. Geralt fumbled for his earbuds and started the first track.

Thirty seconds into the song, Geralt already liked it. It was in Jaskier’s normal pop-adjacent style, upbeat and energetic, but the lyrics were more poetic than was usual. It was about unexpected kindness, he thought, and he could easily see the connection to their acquaintance despite the lack of direct reference. The idea of having played a part in inspiring someone to write a song — Ciri’s favorite musician, no less — made something startlingly warm blossom in his chest.

He paused the music, stood, and went to find Ciri. She would certainly want to hear this.

Many delighted exclamations later, Geralt and Ciri sat side by side in front of the speaker Geralt had plugged into his phone. Geralt went back to the beginning of the first song and let it play, this time watching the expression on Ciri’s face as she listened. Her glee was contagious, and Geralt found himself enjoying the song even more than the first time. The song continued in a similar vein to what Geralt had already heard, complete with a cheery chorus that was certainly going to get stuck in Geralt’s head.

“Oh my god,” Ciri squealed when the song was done. “He really wrote a song about you. Dandelion wrote a song about you!”

“It’s not about me,” Geralt protested. “It’s just indirectly inspired by something I did.”

Ciri ignored him. “Can we listen to the next one?”

Geralt wordlessly pulled up the next file and pressed play, smiling at the excited noise Ciri made.

Immediately, Geralt could tell this one was different. It started with strumming on a lone guitar, and Jaskier’s voice was tender and full of emotion when he started to sing. The lyrics, as far as Geralt could make out, told of grief. It was unclear who or what the singer had lost, but the sadness in Jaskier’s voice made whatever it was feel all too real. Ciri’s eyes widened in shock, and Geralt had a feeling that his own expression was similar. This was definitely not what he had expected.

The chorus of the song started, and suddenly Geralt could think of nothing but the music. Other instruments joined the guitar as the tone of the song shifted. Jaskier began to sing of hope.

He sang of starlight shining through clouds on dark nights, of flowers growing through cracks in concrete, of song staving off the silence of hopeless midnight. Jaskier’s voice was filled with emotion, with light and dark and fear and hope.

By the time the song was over, Ciri’s cheeks were stained with tears

“That was beautiful,” she whispered. Geralt couldn’t help but agree.

“He wrote a song for you,” Geralt said in disbelief. “After your conversation when he came over, he wrote a song for you.”

“Fuck,” said Ciri emphatically. Geralt couldn’t find it in himself to chastise her for the language.

Geralt was grateful that this had happened on a Saturday. He and Ciri might need all day to process.

~~~

Geralt did not respond to Jaskier until much later that day, after he and Ciri had time to discuss their thoughts on Jaskier’s question. It wasn’t until after dinner that night that Geralt finally felt ready. He settled in on the sofa with Ciri sitting next to him, gathered his courage, and sent a response before he had time to overthink it.

Geralt: They’re beautiful. Geralt: You made Ciri cry, but she says it was in a good way. Geralt: She also says I shouldn’t have said that, because now you might worry about having made her cry. Geralt: She says not to worry. Geralt: She says thank you. She loved them. Geralt: I liked them too. Thank you. Geralt: You can do what you want with them, as long as there’s no personal information shared about Ciri or me.

Jaskier responded within five minutes of Geralt’s last message.

Jaskier: i’d apologize for having made your daughter cry, but i get the feeling she wouldn’t appreciate that Jaskier: i hope she’s all right, though?

Geralt: She will be. It was just more emotional than we expected.

Jaskier: ah. mission accomplished, maybe?

Geralt: Yes.

Jaskier: thank you for your permission!! I’ll keep you up to date on what’s going on, of course. and yes, definitely no personal information will be shared! Jaskier: by the way, have i thanked you yet? i was having a terrible week plus songwriters’ block and you and ciri were absolute lifesavers. Jaskier: you made me remember why I started doing this in the first place.

Geralt: I’m glad. You made our week better, too. Thank you.

Jaskier: you’re very welcome!

Thinking the conversation over, Ciri grinned up at Geralt.

“That went well!” she said.

“Yes. Do you think you can get ready for bed now?” asked Geralt.

Ciri sighed. “Fine.”

She stood and left the room, and so, fortunately for Geralt, missed the ridiculous expression on his face when he glanced at his phone to see another message waiting for him from Jaskier.

Jaskier: oh, and before i chicken out, i have something i want to ask you

Geralt was undeniably curious.

Geralt: What is it?

Jaskier: do you want to meet for dinner sometime?

Geralt drew in a surprised breath. That was unexpected.

Geralt: To talk about the songs?

Jaskier: yeah

The three dots that indicated whether Jaskier was typing appeared, disappeared, then reappeared again. Geralt was about to stop waiting and come up with his own response when, finally, another message appeared.

Jaskier: and maybe more, if you want?

Geralt’s heart stuttered a little. He sent back a reply before he could second-guess himself, nerves afire.

Geralt: Like what?

Jaskier: whatever you want Jaskier: i’d like to get to know you better if that’s all right Jaskier: i know we haven’t talked for very long but i really like you Jaskier: and ciri. she’s an absolute darling, obviously Jaskier: and so are you Jaskier: obviously Jaskier: feel free to tell me to shut up. i ramble a lot.

Geralt looked at his phone with wide eyes. Was Jaskier — his daughter’s favorite musician, and possibly the kindest and happiest man of his recent acquaintance — really interested in talking to him again? It seemed too good to be true.

Geralt: I don’t mind.

Jaskier: oh, good. Jaskier: the rambling, or the dinner?

Geralt: Both. Geralt: Neither Geralt: I mean, you’re good.

Jaskier: great!! Jaskier: maybe sometime next week?

Geralt: Okay. Geralt: My place?

Geralt knew he would feel more confident on his home turf.

Geralt: You haven’t met my dog yet.

Jaskier: aslkdjfalsdfj YOU HAVE A DOG?? Jaskier: I MUST SEE THIS Jaskier: WHY DIDN’T I KNOW ABOUT THIS

Geralt: My brother was taking her for a walk last time you were over. We didn’t want her to get in the way.

Jaskier: YOU HAVE A BROTHER?!? Jaskier: that does it. i most certainly must visit and meet your dog. Jaskier: the brother is optional but embarrassing stories are more than welcome Jaskier: sound good?

Geralt chuckled quietly at his phone screen, somehow unable to stop smiling.

Geralt: Sounds good.

They settled on a time and date. Geralt felt warm. Their acquaintance was no longer so temporary — they were, perhaps, friends. Perhaps, if they were lucky, they could become even more.

The thought made Geralt frown a little. What did Jaskier want from this? Would it be worth asking for clarification? It would likely be best to clear up any potential misunderstandings now things went very far.

Geralt hummed nervously to himself before gathering his courage and sending his next question.

Geralt: By the way, is this a date?

For a moment, there was no response. The dots indicating that Jaskier was typing appeared and stayed there for a very, very long moment.

Jaskier: It can be whatever you want it to be.

Geralt stared at the message for a moment. Jaskier was using proper punctuation and capitalization, for once. It seemed he was serious.

Geralt: First dates don’t usually involve someone’s daughter

Jaskier: eh, “usually” is boring anyway Jaskier: Unless her presence would make you or her uncomfortable, of course

Geralt thought for a few moments, then made up his mind.

Geralt: I think it’s fine. She’ll be more than happy to see you again.

Jaskier: so… it’s a date?

Geralt: Yes.

Jaskier: excellent!! see you then! <3

Geralt stared at the little heart on the screen for a moment with a silly little smile on his face. He was going to see Jaskier again. Jaskier wanted to see him again.

Geralt found himself humming as he went to find Ciri and tell her the good news. After a few moments, he realized that he was humming one of Jaskier’s new songs. His smile widened.

Perhaps that Ciri would not be the only one getting a gift next week.

#geraskier #geralt #jaskier #ciri #the witcher #the witcher fanfiction #modern au #geralt x jaskier #i should make a writing tag shouldn't i?#wren writes #there we go

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xan-from-space · 3 months

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Senshi is probably the most fandomized character in Dungeon Meshi, and while I don't exactly mind it, I do think he has more depth than that. I find all his little quirks and idiosyncrasies to be fascinating; he's very stubborn and set in his ways about things that seemingly don't matter, he thinks about things that other people don't, he has a deeply set value system that informs everything he does. He cares A Lot, like, this man cares So Much. That's the kind of person you have to be to drop everything to help a random group of adventurers save one woman. But because he feels so strongly about things, he can also be surprisingly immature at times (although he's also the character most likely to admit he was wrong about something). I think part of that is because he's lived in the dungeon on his own so long that he's not used to working with other people. He will extend empathy and friendship to almost anyone, but he does things his own way, and he doesn’t always feel the need to explain his way of thinking because again, he's usually on his own. He's both incredibly wise and kind of childish in ways that seem contradictory at first, but make more and more sense the more we learn about him. Major kudos to Ryoko Kui's writing and pacing to make that transition so seamless and have all those details from his backstory click into place perfectly. And on a wider thematic level, Senshi is kind of a perfect counterpart to characters like Thistle (or any other dungeon lord). Senshi understands the dungeon in ways that even its creator doesn't. Although everyone is scrambling to take control of the dungeon, Senshi is the one who actually takes care of it. He's the one who thinks about things like nutrition and proper sleep and the ecosystem, all those things that it's easy to ignore when you get swept up by the grandeur of it all. He's the most important character to have present in a story that explores life and death and hunger. His constant, invisible presence holds everything together.

#I'm not finished it yet so I don't want to make any big sweeping claims about what his story means in the greater context of the manga #but. I really like him so. Senshi thought dump #I really thought this was going to be shorter...idk if I really got what I wanted to say across but once I started writing I couldn't stop #dungeon meshi #dunmeshi #delicious in dungeon #senshi #senshi of izganda #edit: yeah I should probably tag this #dungeon meshi spoilers #shouldn't I

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psychologicalwarclaire · 3 months

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mikey 31?

idk what direction this would go

Mikey + Gun Violence

Mikey had seen plenty of fake guns. Jupiter Jim Ray guns, obnoxious bad buy Lou Jitsu guns, even Donnie's outrageous laser guns.

He'd never seen a real one.

And he'd certainly never had one pointed at his head.

The depths of the barrel were infinitely dark and the metal outsides gleamed like the Shredder's armor.

"You get that away from him," Leo growled at the woman who held it.

The woman nodded at one of the goons that stood at Leo's shoulders. There was a dull crunch and he grunted in pain, sucking in a sharp breath.

"You really are in no position to make demands, here," the woman replied in a perfectly even voice. "You will tell me where the other one is, or the small is going to be more red than orange."

"There is no other one," Mikey managed, his voice shaking. "It's only us two."

She wacked the butt of the gun against Mikey's head and he cried out. Leo made a noise deep in his throat.

"Don't lie to me," she hissed. "I know neither of you are smart enough to hack my company's accounts. There is at least one more. And you are going to tell me where he is."

Click.

The cold cold cold cold metal barrel rested against Mikey's shell.

"...Or we'll see just how bulletproof this freak's shell is."

Mikey's wide eyes met Leo's wider ones. Mikey shook his head a fraction of an inch. Leo's face twisted, mind whirring behind his eyes.

Something warm was trickling down the side of Mikey's face. His skull throbbed where she'd struck him.

"He's-- he's--" panicking, Leo was either struggling to think of a lie, or making himself tell the truth. He squeezed his eyes shut, sagging. "I can take you to him."

"Leo, don't!"

The woman's face twisted in a horrible grin. "Great. Take me to the little thief." Her cold gaze flicked down to Mikey. "But let us lose the... dead weight."

There was one heartbeat--

One singular heartbeat--

And then--

She fired.

It was louder than he'd ever expected. The BANG went through both of his ears like a spike through his brain.

But that was nothing

NOTHING

compared to the immediate, visceral, all-consuming agony that exploded across his shell, into his shell, through his shell, through him.

He couldn't even scream.

He just slumped forward against the asphalt.

Leo's scream, however, ripped through the air, long and drawn out.

As horrible pain ripped through him, Mikey slowly realized that he was not dead. His whole shell and shoulder felt like they'd been blasted to pieces. But he wasn't dead.

Distantly, Leo was still screaming. The lady was saying something. Her foot nudged his shoulder. Icy needles seemed to burn through it.

A small and pitiful sound escaped his mouth. It wouldn't stop.

Leo sobbed in relief.

"See? He's still alive. I don't know for how long, but be assured I was merciful in my aiming." Her voice was fading.

Mikey forced his eyes open. Everything was blurry. He could see a dark stain spreading across the ground. Had she shot his upper shell and the bullet had gone through his shoulder?

The thought was terrifying.

The goons were dragging Leo away. Kicking and screaming, Leo struggled in their grip. Mikey's name fell from his lips like tears from his eyes.

"HOLD ON, MIKEY! JUST HOLD ON!"

And then they were all gone.

No one left to hear the pitiful whimpers of the bleeding boxshell.

#i made it EXTRA painful for you my dearest Smer ;)#i wanna make a part two for this...#maybe I'll expand it into a oneshot #rottmnt #rottmnt fanfic #angst #tw gun #tw gun violence #tw blood #i really should have been tagging the violence the whole time shouldn't I?#oh well #my writing #cookie crumbs #fanfiction #steadily working my way through these #ask game #mikey

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ratsetflummi · 2 years

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dracula dictionary june 17th

"as I was sitting on the edge of my bed cudgelling my brains" cudgel one's brains: To try very hard to comprehend, solve, think of, or remember something

"I heard without a cracking of whips" without: here: outside

"and saw drive into the yard two great leiter-wagons" leiter-wagon: from german Leiterwagen (ladder wagon): a wooden wagon with side walls that resemble ladders

"but just then the "hetman" of the Sz[**]ny came out" hetman: ukranian version of ataman, related to german Hauptmann (leader): the elected chief of a Cossack village or military force sz**ny: a slur for romani people

#if you want to know what the actual slur is that you shouldn't use you're gonna have to look in your email i guess #i have been told that i must never ever write it out even for educational purposes #and if you want to filter that word out... sorry but the person in the replies says that you should get fucked #dracula daily #dracula dictionary #nobody technically asked for this #but i did see some people in the tag wondering what some of these words mean #and there was some confusion about words and phrases in previous entries too #so i might make dracula dictionary a recurring series

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sarah-sandwich-writes · 4 months

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HOLD ON WAIT UP HOLD THE PHONE

I KNOW I WAS GONE FOR A FEW MONTHS THERE BUT HAS BLUE LIKE DON'T FORGET ABOUT ME ALWAYS BEEN A PART OF A SERIES OR IS THAT A NEW DEVELOPMENT???

I FEEL LIKE ITS CHRISTMAS ALL OVER AGAIN FUCK Y E A H

Okay so

I...

have been cooking

by which I mean illusions of grandeur and

schemes

And I have not been forthcoming lol Everyone kind of disappeared all at the same time so I kind of stopped talking about what I'm doing but I have been biding my time, quietly putting mechanisms into motion and plotting and occasionally cackling over my cauldron.

I finished the first draft of Blue like don't forget about me and didn't like it so I cut out all the sci-fi fantasy stuff (bye bye aliens farewell superpowers) and in November wrote a new first draft that's all contemporary romance babeee and I'm so in love with it I'm turning it into a little 3-part (possibly 4 if I can't control myself) series.

The original childhood years have been split off into a prequel novella called Red like my bleeding heart in your hand. Then Blue like don't forget about me will take place 20 years later. Nash works at Cherished Hope Nursing Home

“And what is it you do? At the nursing home, I mean.” I wipe shit off of old people. And Teddy’s a hockey player. What’s Luke, an underwear model? He shouldn’t have come.

Teddy comes back to town for a funeral and

Teddy looks at him for the first time in twenty years and every ounce of warmth leaves his expression. Message received. He should not have come.

OKAY SO AND THEN the next book will be Jo's POV and is called Violet like these delights. and MAYBE there will be a 4th from Luke's POV bc he gets to live this time by the grace of god (me) but it'll depend on how Violet goes (its current state is mostly vibes and a single overarching theme so, stand by).

Red needs a clean-up round of edits to snip out the few little threads that connected it to OG blue. And rewritten blue is basically done. I've done the major revisions and am about to start line edits and after those are done I'm sending it out to beta readers (lmk if you're interested).

There are concise actual summaries in my pinned post btw lol

WHICH REMINDS ME

The series title is Wildflowers of Deliverance. Which I'm extremely proud of. Did you notice did you notice how each title incorporates a wildflower did you did you? and the town they grew up in where Nash and Teddy first met is called Deliverance!!! It's okay I know I'm a genius.

And this brings us to the meal okay? because like I said I've been Cooking™ quietly but steadily for a few months now. ANd what have I been cooking? PLOTS and PLANS

I've decided on a pen name: Sarah B. Elisa

I've created a(nother) side blog for it that will be exclusively centered on my og writing and geared more toward readers rather than writers like this blog is: @sarahbe-writing

I'm going to create a website (as soon as I convince myself to spend money)

and a newsletter (as soon as I convince myself to spend money and do work)

I'm still waffling between trad publishing and DIY. I really like all my hats and it would be a shame to have to share them but oh my god I don't want to do all the marketing but trad pub seems hit or miss on how well they market you so I might get half of my hats taken away and still have to do the marketing bullshit UGH

anyway

OH YEAH and the OG draft I wrote for Blue? I'm going to spin it back to its OG OG roots [parkner, naturally--Return of The childhood friends to estranged almost lovers to super-powered rivals to reluctant allies to friends to lovers finally wip!!! AKA: We Were Gods (we were kids)] and that will fix all the things that went wrong and I didn't like 😌 so it's basically like double Christmas I think

#i have been #a tad reluctant to use the tag list #since because I scrapped the whole plot and genre and started over #feels like a teensie bit of a betrayal?#so idk i think i need to make a post (way fucking shorter than this one) and tag everyone and see who still wants to be tagged in stuff?#or maybe im close enough to the finish line i shouldn't do tag list stuff anymore? I'm kind of wary of oversharing bc #i totally did before #and the word count is smaller now #and there aren't like Plot Twists #it's a romance we all know how this is gonna end #so idk that's mostly why i've been quiet like haha what should i say and to who?#But anyway this weekend I'm going to get my shit together and put up some posts and get the ball rolling again #share some excerpts #get people excited #put out a call for beta and sensitivity readers #you know. work lol #also i missed you and i'm glad you're back <3333 #my notes were sooooo quiet lol #and i don't just mean on my writing stuff i love seeing all of your tags in my activity like Yay that's my friend!! And they're yellin!!!#we love to see it <3 #anyway #:)

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crown-ov-horns · 11 days

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Like I said, I haven't seen Season 2. And, this storyline is far from being uploaded (though, it's my favorite among my Good Omens WIPs).

Still, I'm frustrated, and feel like rewriting a few things (perfect time, I suppose).

I read some comment on Pinterest that Crowley and Beelzebub have sibling energy, and was hooked.

I now want to make them sisters in this one especially. The problem? Beelzebub is supposed to be Crowley's biggest detractor. They despise each other. And, my Antichrist despises Beelzebub, because she's an enemy to her mother. And, I'm very much in the "blood means alliance regardless of feelings" camp.

I mean, the situation could be interesting to explore. They're sisters, and they loathe each other. Beelzebub resents Crowley, for treason, as well as for not appreciating the honour she's endowed with (being the one to first tempt humankind, then becoming the Queen of Hell), and slacking on her duties. They're at a conflict, then reconcile. In truth, they had always loved one another. They'd kill and die protecting one another... Yes, of course, they'll still want to cut each other's throat a lot of the time. 😈

I think, I could add moments of tenderness in the timeline set around the Antichrist's birth, too, just to show they indeed love one another. For example, Beelzebub being by Crowley's side during the key moments, like the birth. Hell... In the later timeline, I had planned a scene where Beelzebub attacks Crowley with a dagger. But, it might as well still happen, then they reconcile. Satan wouldn't even be surprised, he has the same dynamic with Michael. Meanwhile, Maxine would simply be thankful she's the only child (not completely true, but true enough), as siblings in her family are... Yeah.

Beelzebub could get knocked up by Gabriel. Crowley would get incentive to be protective of her sister, like she had been of her. I don't know about this story, but in some story, probably, that'll hapen. It's very beneficial... Politics-wise. I doubt any child would benefit from having these two

as parents...

They (Crowley and Beelzebub) will definitely be siblings in the dream scenario I had talked about (I said I'll put it aside, but I picked at the birth scene already, because I was inspired 🤡). But, siblings with a twist... Think, Crimson Peak AU (this isn't the one, but still). I guess, in this one I can explore actual tenderness between them, far before their relationship takes a turn towards... Well, incest.

All in all, I'll make them siblings in some of my WIPs, but about others, I'm not certain. I guess, it would thicken the fucked up layer in one of them... No, that has nothing to do with incest.

I wanted to put my thoughts into a somewhat coherent form, but, if you stumbled upon this, do tell me... I don't know, what you think. There's so much potential to this dynamic. The sibling one, I mean.

P.S. - Beelzebub is always female in my works, but she's still addressed as "my Lord". Just a random... Headcanon?

#diary pages #i love adding gifs and pictures into these text posts it's like putting stickers into a journal #writing journal #pestilence you shouldn't be writing this... you should be writing your wips and uni papers #but i've noticed what helps me to think is writing things down #if you somehow someway found and read this hi yes there's a lot of things wrong w me #good omens #good omens fandom #good omens fanfiction #good omens crowley #lady crowley #good omens beelzebub #crowley and beelzebub are siblings #crowley is the antichrist's mother #crimson peak au #dream scenario #dream journal #maxine frost #seriously no wonder she's a perfect diplomat she's been playing diplomat in her family since she was like 10 #siblings in the divine world's royal family is synonymous with insanity #i wonder if i should make gabriel satan and michael's brother #i'm serious satan and michael would simply look at beelz attacking crowley then them reconciling like “yeah looks familiar”#i'm developing a habit of putting links to my rants into my other rants so tumblr does not eat them >:(#i've experienced tumblr not finding things i need for a reference through the tags #ffs the dream scenario now that's a tender and emotional one #and the incest comes from genuine affection rather some toxic lust and codependence situation #pestilence why are you making everyone get pregnat even males #listen I've liked doing that in fanfiction ever since i was 11 #it's just such a fascinating trial to put characters through and such an interesting phenomenon to explore #besides i like making ocs

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sally-mun · 23 days

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Since I've been settling back into Tumblr I keep thinking about the fact that this is where I did most of my writing. About all kinds of things.

I haven't really written anything in a couple of years. It started as a bit of burnout but got exponentially worse due to a very bad thing that happened. My therapist has been trying to help me find that piece of myself again. It's been lost for a really long time, and is probably a big part of why I have so much trouble being 'me' anymore, or even knowing what 'me' is. It's really difficult to like 'me' now. On the off-chance I actually do, I feel guilty for having done so, because I still haven't quite shaken the instinct that shouldn't like 'me.' I should be ashamed of 'me.' Maybe that's a big part of why my writing disappeared. I always really liked that about me. Writing would threaten my the paradigm where I can't and shouldn't like myself.

But I mean... I do really miss it.

I hope it comes back.

Maybe being here again will help with that.

#this wasn't intended to be a sad post but ended up being a very sad post #i miss being able to like myself #i miss being able to be proud of myself #i miss being able to feel like i deserve happiness or nice things #writing always made me so happy #and it's like i'm not allowed to have it anymore #it's off-limits now #it's not for a lack of things to write #there's so much i've wanted to do in the last two years #it's just #been gated off #i want it to come back #should i even put this in the 'writer things' tag?#because i'm sure as hell not a writer anymore #no matter how badly i want to be #all i have now are memories of writing #memories of being 'allowed' to write #but if i did that i'd like something about myself again #and if i'm not a good person i shouldn't like anything about me #and knowing all of this doesn't make a difference #it just makes it more frustrating #because i'm very aware of how stupid and self-destructive it is #but i don't know how to stop

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imminent-danger-came · 11 months

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Do you think the Demon Bull Family will enter the plot again? I think a lot of parallels between MK and Red Son have come around this season and it'd be interesting to explore

Oh please share your Red Son and MK related thoughts with me! I'm not quite sure what you're talking about specifically, but of course the DBK - Wukong / Red Son - MK parallel is always fun.

I don't think the Demon Bull Family will ever be shoved out of the plot entirely, at the VERY least we'll get something like how they were integrated in s4, but with Wukong, Macaque, and DBK all being previous members of the brotherhood I hope we get to explore their relationship a bit more!

I hold onto my crumbs, and so I remember Wukong's little "I've honestly missed that guy" from Revenge of the Spider Queen, and maybe deep down I want that to be explored. It seems like we're going to get into why Wukong stayed up on flower fruit mountain for all that time, and part of that might involve why he sealed DBK away/his feelings on that whole situation. And honestly if DBK is involved, then Red Son is involved. Red Son's admiration for his father is very similar to the admiration MK has for Monkey King, so maybe there's something to be explored there!

#god I should get into fic writing #I've started doing a lot of new things in the lmk fandom so maybe I add that to my list!#Like before this year I hadn't ever written a theory post or any form of meta or done gif making or even edited a video #But now I've tried all those things and I'm having fun!#I haven't written a single fanfic in my life but I have done rp. So maybe I give it a shot!#A convo of Red Son sharing his experiences with his father and MK reflecting on his experiences with Monkey King would be.#So spicy like I'm into that #I think anything I'd write would be very different from what the lmk fandom usually sees and a lot more like the fic from the tdp fandom #but that's just this whole blog asfadsf #look someone out there had to catalog all of the insane writing they shove into this stupid lego show. And after all why not?#Why shouldn't I spend way too much of my free-time doing exactly that?#Why shouldn't I throw all of my crack ideas out there?#asks #lmk #lego monkie kid #lmk analysis #lmk speculation #ummm yeah sure #idk what to tag this post

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benevolenterrancy · 2 years

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So about the Hogan's Heroes Dating Sim...how do you even write a story like that? I'm intrigued as to how you turn something that's more of a video game thing into a fic.

Oh yeah, no, if I actually drag this thing to completion it will straight up be a dating sim, like as in a playable game. (Well. "game".) Trying to read it like a fic would be a NIGHTMARE, like the world's suckiest choose-your-own-adventure.

For the moment I'm still writing it, but I do have a website that I think will work for coding the stupid thing into existence, it seems to have a sufficiently simple "Fisher Price My First Coding" style system in place for tech-illiterate people like me.

As for how you write it, so far it's involved a desperate stack of lined paper with a lot of diagrams, colour coded spreadsheets, and the most deranged labelling system known to man in order to keep track of all the threads...

#maybe it shouldn't have been included in an ask meme about fanfiction but it's close enough that i felt it should count #my google doc has gotten to 35 pages and over 20k long god in heaven #i have the whole basic thing plotted out on lined paper but i'm now at the ''flesh it out and make it WORK'' portion which -#you may be shocked to learn - is an ENDEAVOUR #man when i do get back into this i'm going to have to totally reread what i've written and relearn my tagging system...#needing to write a story that has plot flags that can be activated and deactivated is a fascinating mental exercise though #i started this when i was REALLY STRESSED because it's hard to stress about things when you're trying to make sure that the different #story paths meet back up with each other and you aren't accidentally breaking the game by adding this interaction rather than the other in #whoops i got rambling in the tags sorry #thanks for asking about it it holds a special place in my heart and i kills me that i can't post chapters of it like i could with a fic ;^;#bene speaks

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