#what's going on in here idk

[limerental]

ficletvember 2023 - day 17

ciri & geralt canon divergence, ft. vampire yennefer

When Geralt fails to make their Beltane rendezvous, witcher Ciri takes on the contract he failed to return from. this one is truly all over the place lmao

Pausing to stroke a placating hand down the mane of her antsy mount, Ciri cursed the thorny gnarl of undergrowth that had proven impossible to navigate on horseback. Though she was loathe to leave Kelpie alone in the midnight forest, there was no way forward but to dismount and press on.

Her destination at least was clear.

A full moon brimmed above the dark spires of the looming manor house, looking almost spectral in the wash of pale light. Its description matched the details of the contract perfectly, and she dreaded learning how accurate the rest was.

She whispered to Kelpie, securing her stirrups and unclasping her reins to ensure nothing caught when set loose. The mare snorted and wasted little time in turning tail and leaving at speed, heels kicking out to express her true thoughts about the place. Ciri supposed she'd find her in the morning returned to the stables at the inn, having charmed the stableboys into a thorough groom and a bucket of hot bran mash. 

She could forgive Kelpie her unease.

The villagers said this forest was cursed, that any human who entered would never leave again, but Ciri was a Witcher. She doubted the existence of the curse and had escaped from worse circumstances than some spooky forest.

She was only here because Geralt had not appeared at their rendezvous several days past.

Each year, they met for Beltane just outside Maribor and joined the celebrations there. Though she was as scarred and hardened as he was now, she always felt like a little girl again on those nights around the bonfires, wine-drunk and swapping tall tales of their travels.

This year, hoping he had only been briefly delayed, Ciri had joined the revelry around the fires with less girlish joy. She'd done her best to enjoy herself, knowing it was a witcher's lot to be uncertain of every reunion. The baker's wife had consoled her long through the night, so it hadn't been the worst Beltane celebration. 

In the morning, she'd fled the baker's foul curses and chosen to seek out Geralt rather than wait around.

She had found his trail without much trouble.

From what intelligence she could gather from the scattered gossip of villagers, it was not some feral monster or cursed being but likely a higher vampire that lived here on the forested estate. Such creatures were unpredictable. Most had mastered their animal instincts but were all the more likely to be sadistic and deviant and enjoy inflicting suffering.

The moon had risen high by the time she pressed through the thicket and clambered over the vine-heavy fence that circled the manor's courtyard. The house appeared to be in horrible disrepair but a closer look revealed the dilapidation to be superficial. 

Warm light glowed here and there behind the shuttered windows. 

Ciri felt for the pommel of her sword as she slunk through the courtyard. Dangerous monsters tended not to light candles, but she knew very well that there were worse things than monsters in the world.

Finding a side door unlatched, she stole as silently as she could down a darkened hallway. 

Very few could creep more silently than Ciri did, but even so, the pair who sat together at the candlelit dining table did not seem surprised to see her enter. 

The dark-haired woman smiled with a glint of dangerous fangs, and Geralt swayed in his chair beside her, heavy-lidded eyes uncomprehending.

“You've interrupted dinner,” said the vampire, dabbing blood from the corner of her mouth with a scarlet napkin. The curved sharp of her claws trailed along the pale column of Geralt's wounded throat. 

Punctured neatly but not torn. Ciri desperately envied a true witcher's sharp hearing, wishing to be certain that the heart still beat strongly in Geralt's breast, that she had not drained him nearly dry.

Her sword rasped slowly free of its sheath, wary that an abrupt movement could quicken the vampire's claws.

“I always thought Witcher's blood wasn't palatable to vampires,” said Ciri as she squared her feet into a fighting stance. She didn’t have much of a plan beyond fighting her way to Geralt, but she hoped it wouldn't come to that. A freshly-fed higher vampire would far outmatch her. 

Worse, if Geralt were in her thrall, the vampire would not need to bother with fighting. To fight him off would be hard enough without worrying about injuring him.

“Oh it's awful,” said the vampire, her nose wrinkling. She wore a black and white dress that hugged her slender figure as she leaned provocatively in her chair, the black waves of her hair falling over an exposed shoulder. “I wouldn't bother at all, but he likes it so very much when I feed from him. It's a hard temptation to resist.”

“Release him,” Ciri ordered, not allowing her outheld sword to quiver. 

“And who are you then?” The vampire's eyes were strange and violet, looking her over in slow and disdainful contemplation. 

“I'm his–” 

Ciri didn't quite have words for what she was to Geralt. 

Orphaned by war and stumbling by chance into his care, she had spent her childhood hidden away in the mountains, raised by witchers and trained to fight. Though the process that would have made her a true mutant had been lost to time, a specific diet of peculiar herbs and mushrooms had left her as broad and strong as any man, if not a witcher. 

Though witchers could have no biological children, Ciri was as close as it came to a daughter. She had never said so aloud. It seemed like too big a sentiment to give voice to.

“Did you think no one would come for him?” Ciri asked. “That you could take your time in killing him because of course no one would miss a Witcher? Well, you'd be wrong. He was meant to meet me three days past, and he's never blown me off before and never will.”

The vampire sat suddenly straighter, her eyes widening.

“Oh,” she said, her voice changed. “You're his–”

The vampire lay a hand on Geralt's cheek, and Ciri flinched, expecting to watch his throat cut before her eyes. Instead the hand only patted gently, enough to rouse the white-haired Witcher. His eyes fluttered and he grumbled something. 

“Wake up, you lazy creature,” the vampire hissed. “I didn't drink all that much, and I've released the thrall. This is no time for a nap.”

“Yen,” Geralt whined in obvious displeasure, blinking into awareness at last. “Yen, what d'you– oh. Ciri.”

“Geralt, dear, remind me of the date,” said the vampire, her clawed fingers still caressing Geralt's cheek. 

To her surprise and confusion, Ciri would almost describe her changed voice as affectionate. 

Meanwhile, as Geralt processed the situation, he began to look sheepish and uncomfortable, something close to guilty.

“It’s lmost Beltane,” Geralt said, words somewhat slurred.

“Past Beltane,” Ciri corrected. “Three days past.”

“Huh,” he grunted. 

“Geralt, love,” said the vampire, “I fear you've forgotten your daughter's birthday. And created quite the awkward situation for us both.”

[icewindandboringhorror]

(also feel free in the tags to clarify Why you made the choice you made!! :0c)

[ayilings]

it’s always been her

[daisywords]

One of my biggest nitpicks in fiction concerns the feeding of babies. Mothers dying during/shortly after childbirth or the baby being separated form the mother shortly after birth is pretty common in fiction. It is/was also common enough in real life, which is why I think a lot of writers/readers don't think too hard about this. however. Historically, the only reason the vast majority of babies survived being separated from their mother was because there was at least one other woman around to breastfeed them. Before modern formula, yes, people did use other substitutes, but they were rarely, if ever, nutritionally sufficient.

Newborns can't eat adult food. They can't really survive on animal milk. If your story takes place in a world before/without formula, a baby separated from its mother is going to either be nursed by someone else, or starve.

It doesn't have to be a huge plot point, but idk at least don't explicitly describe the situation as excluding the possibility of a wetnurse. "The father or the great grandmother or the neighbor man or the older sibling took and raised the baby completely alone in a cave for a year." Nope. That baby is dead I'm sorry. "The baby was kidnapped shortly after birth by a wizard and hidden away in a secret tower" um quick question was the wizard lactating? "The mother refused to see or touch her child after birth so the baby was left to the care of the ailing grandfather" the grandfather who made the necessary arrangements with women in the neighborhood, right? right? OR THAT GREAT OFFENDER "A newborn baby was left on the doorstep and they brought it in and took care of it no issues" What Are You Going to Feed That Baby. Hello?

Like. It's not impossible, but arrangements are going to have to be made. There are some logistics.

[hinamie]

together, we do the same thing again //

[mochasucculent]

Was looking at refs and since Viktor has two different leg braces I was wondering, do we think he wears them simultaneously?? The refs don't perfectly line up perspective-wise so it's hard to tell but parts of the one he wears during the Hexcore scenes look like they could maybe line up with the brace that he wears over his clothes, but also some parts really don't and look like they'd be super uncomfy. Also HOW does he take these on and off. Experts weigh in

[elysian-edu]

rich husbands who make their whole life about taking care of you.

oh, that necklace you glanced at while at the mall? now you're there trying several other ones on because "they all look perfect on you."

the dress you looked at through that shop window? bought. plus anything else you even remotely wanted.

that snack you crave almost all the time? he almost buys the whole business for you just to have them as often as you'd like. (in moderation of course!)

rich husbands who don't understand why you want to work, and every time you tell them why they simply say:

"i can provide more than enough for the both of us, but go ahead."

rich husbands the second they see you all stressed and tired from that job, call in and quit for you.

and when you try to get up the next morning to go to said job, he ushers you back to bed, lays you down and tells you to "not worry about that pesky job again."

rich husbands who like to make it known to everyone that you're married to him.

buys you the biggest rock you've ever seen adorned on your finger to propose to you, and makes it his routine to see if you have his ring on. (which you always do.)

indirectly flaunts it to passersby's by holding your hand, occasionally picking your hand up to inspect it, and trying not to crack a smile as he hears women gasp, and whisper, "she's one lucky woman."

rich husbands who tell everyone they know about you, whether that be coworkers, family, or random people, he'll always somehow flip the conversation to being about you.

"oh that? my wife is quite fond of it, yes."

"that reminds me of my wife, she quite likes those things. often calling them "cute.""

rich husbands <33

[soranker]

98 lovemail doodles >_<

[toomanypotatos]

was any of it real?

…

AAA A ACTUALLY DIGITAL ART WORK WOW

Bear with me guys this one was rough and I was low key just like eh it’s good enough I haven’t drawn anything digital since like February so I’m a wee bit rusty

I think tumblr killed the quality so that sucks

[chiquilines]

Okay small confession to make. Im obsessed with rarijack

[randomfandomss]

[ex0skeletal-undead]

I’ll Reach You by ionomycinart on Instagram

[mothmothwoth]

Anyone want stupid niigo and WxS art I drew on my phone

(The “he would not say that thing” is from this Danny phantom comic)

[egophiliac]

I loved your drawing(and I love your style in general) with Leia in your recent post! If/when you have time can we see more of her in your style? I get so happy whenever I actually see people mention/talk about her and she’s not just forgotten because we didn’t get to see much of her. 😭

thank you! 💙💙💙 Leia/Leah/Lea/whatever is fascinating to me. she is the ultimate unknown. what was she like? how involved (or even aware of any details of the invasion) was she? Silver's basically a physical carbon copy of his biodad, so what did he get from her? like, I understand why the two of them kind of have to stay as these super vague and mysterious figures -- the whole point of them is that their story ended 400+ years ago and they're not really relevant anymore (and. well. the more that gets explained about them, the less that can just kinda be handwaved as "oh the politics were Very Messy") (we can sit here and theorize all day but let us acknowledge that, ultimately, canon gave us almost nothing about them post-Meleanor and we'd just be making things up). I do still wonder about her though! RIP Lea, we never knew you and we probably never will.

actually you know what, as long as we're here, I think I WILL go ahead and just make some stuff up about what Silver might've inherited from her instead.

[crunchchute]

duude