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You started answering asks which include AWAU ones of course which made me want to reread a couple of those fics. I just read the one where Marika gives birth and in it lambert asks Milena if she wants kids and he starts thinking about how he might go about it. I was wondering what those ways might be? Random man that looks like Lambert or maybe Jaskier or Sasha for someone trusted

Any bunnies?

There is a fleeting hint of a bunny, off in the very distant bushes, in which Milena and Sasha have a child and said child has four doting parents.

Thus far it is mostly a hint of fluffy fur over yonder.

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Now I am imaging a lord trying to make small talk with geralt over how much money he budgets for himself (mayhaps even with the undertones of “how much money do you use for bribes etc?”) and geralt just goes “what budget?!? I don't have one. Hm (you weirdo)!”

Geralt: I don't handle money.

What Geralt means: Oh thank fuck Livi and Jan deal with the budget these days, I don't actually know what things should cost because I always got the Witcher upcharge when I was on the Path and I never did learn about things like investments and bulk pricing because it never came up, I was basically living paycheck to paycheck and sometimes not even that.

What the noble hears: The Warlord is far too mighty and powerful to even think of such minor affairs as budgeting. His slightest whim is law, his merest fleeting desire brought to him at once. I am a fool. How can I possibly recover from this faux pas?

The noble, tentatively: Much of my own poor budget goes towards the upkeep of my horses...?

Geralt: Hm!

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I just read Left Unsupervised and am now imagining Milena joining a group of bards (to escape from a Velen wedding or just to see the world).

... what? She's almost pocket-sized! Aiden and Lambert will be delighted!

*delighted giggling*

Aiden: Look! I found one! She's tiny! Very kidnappable! Please? *pleading kitty eyes*

Lambert: Why the fuck do I gotta be the sensible one? Sorry, miss, uh, you can go if you want, really you can...

Milena: I think I should rather like to be kidnapped, actually.

Lambert: o.O

Aiden: O.O

Lambert: Really?

Aiden: Victory is mine!

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First of all, thank you, from the bottom of my heart, for being willing to share your writing with us. I discovered your stories in 2022 and your whole _library_ instantly went on to my 'Reread at least one a year' (It's actually more of a 'Read at least once every other season...).

And for the map? Valrico, Florida!

Hello in Valrico! I am flattered that my work has gained such a valued place in your collection!

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Ahhh so I’ve been watching Mythbusters again and I just keep seeing these grown adults just getting so giddy about 💥explosions💣 and going out of their way to find the most contrived methods specifically so that they can blow stuff up and all I can think is that in a Modern AU, the Cranes would definitely be their universes version of Mythbusters. Just the whole school having a TV show and/or posting YouTube videos of the same crazy crap the Mythbusters do here!😆

The most recent episode I watched had them testing what happens when a car hits a moose. You know they’d be ringing up a certain Bear to ask if they can come over to take measurements for science.

In a modern AU, the Cranes would absolutely have a YouTube channel that's mostly explosions. It would probably be very educational! Just a lot of what you'd be learning would be "how to not get blown up while doing Mad Science".

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Hey Inex,

No question, just something I thought might make you happy: my partner asked me to try out a handicraft in order to put the phone down during board gaming. So, I'm going to try embroidery bc I know what I can DO with it from reading MBTTs and the AWAU.

Thank you so much for all the wonderful fics!

This delights me wholeheartedly. If you feel like it, send pictures of what you make!

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The “No-Longer-Quite-As-Accidental Warlord” doesn’t really have the same ring to it… 😂

Geralt: “It started out with a king, how did it end up like this??”

Though on a more serious note, thank you for bringing us along in this universe. And for showing that making sure people have rights and safety and making the world a better place for everyone is hard work that never stops, and that your characters know it is easier to walk away or look the other way and just look out for themselves, but choose to do the harder right thing with no promise of reward. ❤️

NLQAAWAU is indeed a bit of a mouthful, yes. Poor bewildered Geralt!

Thank you for continuing to read, and to send such lovely messages. Making the world a little better is hard work and never stops, but - well - we gotta keep trying, right?

May tomorrow be a little brighter than today.

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I can’t remember if I signed up for the fan map for AWAU already - Truro, Nova Scotia, Canada 🦞 🇨🇦

Hello in Truro! You're on the map!

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I’m also a writer, of both fanfics and works I hope to publish someday, and I was wondering if I could ask your advice. I have a number of larger projects that I want to undertake, but thinking about how long it’s going to take to finish them makes me anxious and then I won’t even start. You’re an incredible writer and you have so many finished works; how do you do it? What would you recommend for someone who feels incredibly daunted by the lengthy and disheartening process that is writing a novel or series?

Also thank you for your Accidental Warlord series; it brings me inexpressible joy every time I read it

Oooh okay this is a complicated one. Let's see.

First off, and this is hard: don't compare your output to other authors. I have what my friends affectionately refer to as Wordy Bitch Disease. I write a lot, I write fast, and I write clean enough copy that Rose isn't doing copyedits, she's doing plot and characterization fixes. I start a new WIP...pretty near daily some weeks, and they do not all get done. My WIPs list is frankly fucking terrifying. But it's important to note that I have been writing pretty consistently for twenty years at least, and I was not as fast, coherent, or skilled when I started. For that matter, when I'm tired or stressed or just feeling blah, sometimes the words don't come, and it's important not to beat yourself up about it when that happens.

Second bit of advice: start smaller. I really, really like flash fic challenges and themed prompt lists and tumblr ask memes, because they make me limit my story to what can be told in a few thousand words. That lets me improve my craft without getting bogged down in enormous plotlines. (Yes, sometimes the story still grows a plot. But it's less frequent.)

Third bit of advice: take little bites, and accept that it's going to take a long time and possibly several drafts. When I started MBTT, I genuinely thought it would be 50K. (I am bad at estimating finished lengths of stories.) But I still took it one chapter at a time, and tried to have each chapter be a coherent whole, a chunk of story that needed to be told. When I'm working on the AWAU, if I think about the whole overarching storyline too much, I get overwhelmed and have to go stick my head under a proverbial rock for a while. But one story is doable, most of the time. I've had to restart drafts for some stories two, three, four times to get the voice and style and plot to cooperate. Be willing to say, That's not working, and try something else, even if you're really fond of what you've written so far.

Fourth bit of advice: learn what style of planning works for you. Some people like to outline in great detail. Some people like a sketchy outline. Some people, like me, can't outline - it kills the story for me. The WIP I started this morning has a notes section for important characterization details and the single plot point "Bandits?" Anything more than that, and I won't write it, because in some sense I've already written it so why bother doing it again?

Fifth and final bit of advice, because this is getting long: if you can find a cheer-reader, cherish them. Having someone in the doc leaving comments or emoticons helps immensely with knowing how my readers will react and with keeping my own enthusiasm for a story stoked high, which vastly increases the likelihood of it getting finished.

Good luck! Be brave! Thank you for the compliments!

I hope to read your stories someday!

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I love how the new fic is set in the middle of Movran’s visit, which means that as Geralt is teaching Movran about leadership, he is also self-reflecting that this is something that he now needs to fully commit to, for himself and his people

Yep! Everyone is learning things! And Geralt didn't even go up mountain! We're all very proud of him.

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I've got to admit, I'm not quite sure what the threat of the marbles is or why it's even moderately effective? Couldn't Lambert just flip over his shoes? Please explain, it's somehow distracting me from the rest of the glorious chapter. I'm just imagining a bunch of the marbles used for games/to fill vases poured into his boots. Like maybe it would be slippery and weird to feel when sliding in a foot but it's not a full-force inpact onto unexpected legos?!?!

"We are not scaring the sweet kitten,” Aiden hisses, glaring at his lover. “If you freak her out enough that I can’t get my mouth between her pretty thighs I will put marbles in your boots, I swear to every god.”

Lambert glares back. Voltehre sighs. “May I carry you to bed, sweetheart?” he asks, nuzzling at the nape of her neck.

She giggles. “Please. Let us spare Lambert from marbles.”

- Threading the Warp ch 10

I think you put just a few marbles in and then they're uncomfortable and hard to get out. It's not meant to be a horribly serious threat, to be fair.

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as usual, i’ve come across a little detail i never gave much thought to before on my most recent reread, so i’ve come to ask you about it as is tradition.

morvran gifts ciri a hide from a spotted desert cat- does she have a cheetah pelt now??? i never actually considered what animal that might be before

It is absolutely a cheetah pelt, yes. I don't condone this in the real world - cheetahs have enough problems without being hunted for pelts - but in the Witcher world perhaps they are slightly less endangered.

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I just had an excellent idea for Mouse in Wolfblood (since I was rereading MBTT). Milena thinks that a Griffin should attend Baron Filip's son's wedding, right? And in AWAU that was Orn and Roland who attended and then picked up Mouse. So the idea goes as such: Roland approaches Milena as they return and goes "don't be mad, but the bridegroom's younger sister was SO MISERABLE while her mom was trying to matchmake that I told them you were looking for a lady-in-waiting." (part 1 MouseBTT)

And behind him Mouse is just poking her head out like "oh she's so pretty and elegant, I really hope she's nice." So Milena just shakes her head and says, "Well, I suppose I have a lady-in-waiting now." And then said lady-in-waiting proves herself to be a much better spy and eats more often with the Cats and her great-uncle than with her nominal lady. (part 2 MouseBTT)

Awww, that would work surprisingly well! And Mouse would be delighted to run all over Kaer Morhen and ferret out its secrets, and Milena would get a friend. And Kiyan would get a Mousie to follow about.

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so I just finished one of my regular rereads of the AWAU series (if ao3 allowed repeat kudos, you'd be getting them on all the fics a couple times a year. it's by far one of my favorite stories) and I just thought of how stressful it must be for nobles outside the Wolflands, having to let Witchers into their lands to hunt monsters now. sure, they used to come through all the time anyways when they were just wandering monster hunters, but now they're the personal troops of the Warlord! just.. casually going about their business in what is now a foreign ruler's lands? shock! horror!

Honestly, yeah, it's probably Very Stressful for a lot of nobles outside the Wolflands, especially depending on whether they believe the general propaganda about the Warlord or whether they actually talked to a Witcher about what's going on and believed them. Which, to be fair, would be difficult - everything about Geralt's rise to power is frankly ridiculous by noble standards.

But you've gotta have Witchers, or your peasants get eaten by monsters, and sometimes your nobles, too. Maybe even your royal self. Not a great choice, really.

I think Gwidon of Aedirn is fine with it, though. He knows Geralt would have conquered him if he'd wanted to, and didn't, and is therefore unlikely to change his mind unless Gwidon does something stupid.

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https://www.tumblr.com/unnameablethings/786659612055273472/knight-who-is-constantly-searching-for-a-good-and

VERY accidental warlord

Somewhere out there in the multiverse, AWAU!Geralt feels very Seen and isn't quite sure why.

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i know aubry wasn’t assigned as jaskier’s bodyguard until the agata incident, which was well after he joined the council and moved to sit by eskel at meals, but i like to imagine that he was the first pick because even though he’d never complain, no one could stand aubry smelling sad and kind of lonely now that he didn’t have his dinnertime buddy anymore

I like this theory. Eskel looked at his calm, quiet big brother who has gotten bizarrely and unexpectedly Attached to the loud, brightly colored, ever-chattering bard and went, Y'know what? I can kill two birds with one stone here.

And now Aubry gets all the Bard Time he wants, and smells so happy.

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PFFFF thinkin bout jaskier sittin there having a Moment after eskel finishes eating and goes off the day he moves up the table, having Thoughts and Revalations about how bad he wants to be ~marked and claimed~ by geralt, an poor lambert’s just sittin there like jesus fuck man i wish u would fuckin remember that i’m here 😫 this ain’t my business, go do this in ur room like a normal person, that’s my big brother 😖😖😖

Poor Lambert, the bard has very smelly emotions!