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Oh boy, there are already so many summaries I’m desperate to see snippets for!

For the ask game thingie: 🦮

“The black-clad soldiers of Nilfgaard troop upward on the narrow, winding path to Gorthur Gvaed, implacable as the horde of ants they are so often called.

Ivar stands alone above the gate, watching, one hand resting on the hilt of his steel sword, and thinks, wearily, that he has underestimated the Usurper of Nilfgaard.

On the other hand, the Usurper has definitely underestimated him, in turn.”

Well, the ask game did what I was hoping it would, and gave some fuel to the bunnies, so here under the cut or on AO3 is the entire ficlet of Ruthlessness!

When Kolgrim brought the news that a battalion of soldiers was on its way to Gorthur Gvaed - close enough that Kolgrim had had to take the back way up to the fortress, narrowly escaping being captured - Ivar had let himself have a single, bitter moment of fury at his own folly.

He should have known the Usurper would not take refusal lightly. A man who will betray his emperor and dare to demand fealty of witchers is not a man who likes hearing the word ‘no’. But Ivar has gotten complacent - the very thing he warns his Vipers so fervently against. He assumed that no sensible man would dare assault a stronghold of Vipers. That the Usurper, like Fergus before him, would understand that witchers are too valuable as monster-hunters to be rooted out and destroyed.

And now his folly has come home to roost. There isn’t time to empty the keep properly. The alchemical ingredients, the storerooms of furs and leather and weapons, the library, all of Ivar’s centuries of research into the Wild Hunt - if the soldiers are already at the base of the path up to the fortress, there isn’t time to bear all of that away. There is just barely time to evacuate the people, the Vipers who have come to winter in their stronghold and the trainees who are not yet old enough to walk the Path. They’ll have to go down the back way, and that is a hard route even for a full witcher with his wits about him. It takes time. And even once they have made it to the base of the mountains, they’ll need to scatter, to escape north or east where Nilfgaard’s legions do not yet dare to venture.

They need time, more time than it will take for the battalion to reach the fortress and sack it and go down again -

Unless there is someone left behind to keep the soldiers busy. Someone who is worth the time and effort to capture or kill, even when the rest of the School has fled.

And there is only one Viper who is worth the entire School’s safety.

Ivar is known to be a ruthless man, cold as ice and hard as stone. He has betrayed friends and enemies alike, has slain monsters and men without hesitation, has lied and cheated and stolen, all in the pursuit of his visions. He has made himself a monster in the effort to hunt greater monsters by far. But he is not quite monstrous enough to sacrifice his School, the witchers who have stood by him through thick and thin, who he has trained and transformed and berated and mourned. His little serpents, vicious and deadly. His legacy.

So he gave them the last order he will ever give, and they have obeyed.

They are gone now, his Vipers, down the hidden escape trail with their youngest brothers on their backs or in their arms, carrying the best of the weapons and the food, the book of recipes for the Grasses and a few of the priceless treasures which have found their way to Gorthur Gvaed over the years, and three journals of Ivar’s own notes about the Wild Hunt’s ways and patterns. They left behind a keep full of traps, every nasty trick they could install in the scant time they had -

And Ivar, standing on the battlements above the gate, waiting.

Let it never be said that he is less ruthless with his own life than those of his Vipers or his victims.

The first black-clad soldiers come marching into sight, and Ivar smiles, a grim mirthless baring of his teeth. His hand tightens on the hilt of his sword. Beneath his feet, the barrels of black powder are waiting for a spark. Behind him, the halls of his fortress are a maze of traps. The Nilfgaardians will catch him eventually, Ivar is sure. But they will pay dearly for every inch of ground.

And he will die knowing that his Vipers live, and his life’s work may yet be done.

So be it. Let them come.

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fan from Holland ! <3

Hello in Holland! You're on the map!

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AWAU fanmap, Lismore Australia!

Hello in Lismore! You're on the map!

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(As someone who also has dealt w brain problems i wish you luck getting better! Hold strong!)

For the ask game:

#kaer morons #jaskier #feral bards #smacking witchers in the face with the healing hammer

Jaskier is, in his defense, very drunk when he comes up with the plan. So are Essi and Priscilla. But that doesn't actually explain why they decide to go through with it even after they sober up.

Kaer Morhen's not going to know what hit it.

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My dear Inex

I just want to thank you again (and again and again and again)

I've been going through a rough time and I had to move and for the first time live on my own.

When I was renovating the new place and as I'm sorting my things I've been relistening to the AWAU (to the podfic by AceOfTigers and via screenreader)

This sounds stupid but it was important to choose the right fic cause I will associate it with being in the new flat, when I look at the wall where I painted etc etc

And now these rooms are like my own Kaer Morhen, they're filled with Geralt and Jaskier and Eskel and Aiden and Lambert and Milena and and and

They're filled with comfort and hope, both things I'm in desperate need of

I can not thank you enough for this

There aren't many things bringing me joy right now and even fewer hope, but the AWAU def does give me both

And just on a side note...if you -or anybody really- can tell me where I can find my very own Aiden, please show me the way to him 😂

(Your Aiden has become SUCH a comfort character to me)

Anyway, the only downside to your FIC is that I can't watch it 😅

But yeah, just, from the bottom of my heart, thank you for sharing this world and these wonderful characters with us!

All my love to you!

I am so glad that my fics have brought you joy and comfort, and helped you make your new home feel welcoming and hopeful. I wish you the best of luck with this new adventure - and the best of luck with finding an Aiden of your own! (I'm afraid I haven't any advice on the matter - I found my own Darling Husband quite by accident.)

Thank you so much for your kind words, and may your future be bright and full of hope and comfort!

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AWAU fanmap: Montreal, Canada :)

Hello in Montreal! You're on the map!

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I appreciated how Jan wants to age and die naturally as a human, but I keep seeing how all the Witchers adore Marlene's cooking and how she made Clovis cry, and I'm sure they'd offer to help her stay around a few centuries too. Does she have any friends with benefits among the Witchers, or a rotation of the many, many Witchers who worship her cooking to give her a pleasurable day off every two weeks, or a more sedate relationship that flies under the radar compared to Roland and Julita?

Marlene either has a number of very happy friends-with-benefits or some lingering effects from being a wight. Either way, she'll be around as long as she pleases.

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If you're still accepting asks for the fake fic game, how about the tags:

Julita Kellner, Tussaint, POV Outsider, Temporary De-Aging, Knife Fighting

If the infamously dangerous Warlord of the North finds out that Anna Henrietta has allowed someone to curse his steward's daughter, Anna Henrietta does not think her reign over Toussaint - or, for that matter, her life - will last much longer.

Which means she needs to make sure to get the matter fixed before anyone can send word North. Somehow.

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Hi! I just have a question about Livi’s family.

Fair warning: relatively minor spoilers for the books and games I think, but here’s your warning in case…

I know you said they probably weren’t evil or uncaring, just unable to protect her, but I don’t know if you ever mentioned if she’s actually related to the others from Denesle that Geralt knows from the books and games? Like are her parents Sir Eyck and Sophia? Is Siegfried her brother? Like that would certainly imply some different drama if you kept Eyck’s personality the same and his relationship dynamics considering how Siegfried says in TW1 iirc that he became estranged with his father due to Eyck’s insistence to continue refusing coin even when his wife was severely ill and in need of expensive treatment, essentially citing Eyck’s firm beliefs and stubborn rigidity as the reason Sophia died. Are you just going to take their names and manipulate their personalities? Make them distant relatives? Not include them at all? I found Eyck annoying as hell in both the Sword of Destiny (I think that’s the one with the dragon hunt?) and the Thronebreaker game, and I kind of alternated between fondness and annoyance with a fair helping of respect for Siegfried, so I don’t actually know why I’m so desperately curious about this, but if you had the time and had already decided on the answer, I would love to know your thoughts on it! Thanks!

I didn't actually know about the canon characters from Denesle when I wrote Livi, so I don't know if she's related to them, I'm afraid! I'll have to do some more research.

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🐑 #baby horse #several baby horses even #otp: geralt/happiness

It turns out when the father of the Empress of the North and South expresses his desire to have a horse farm, horses just sort of...appear.

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If you're still doing the ask game, I present the following tags for your consideration: #modern au no magic #pride festival #geraskier #mohren brothers #first meeting #Jaskier's unhealthy obsession with glitter

Hope you're having oodles of fun with this (I know we all are) and that it helps pull you out of your funk!

"What the fuck happened to you?" Lambert blurts.

Geralt runs a hand through his hair with a sigh, brushing a cloud of glitter onto everything around him. "I think I got a date?"

(It is a lot of fun! Still low on Brain and energy but improving daily.)

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🐑 cahir, found family, aard the cat

hope u feel better!!!!!

Explaining Kaer Morhen to his family has some interesting challenges, Cahir discovers. Oh, it's easy enough to describe the deep friendships he has formed with the young Witchers, and possible if complicated to outline the startling honor of the Warlord -

No, the problem truly arises when he tries to explain Aard the Cat.

(Thank you!)

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🐝dive under the waves (to hide from the rain)?

I hope you feel better soon! sending good vibes and metaphorical chicken soup!

It is possible that going south into Nilfgaard is a slightly irrational reaction to being hunted by Nilfgaardian soldiers.

But consider: they'll never expect it. And Jaskier is a master of the unexpected.

(Thank you! I appreciate the good wishes!)

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Whatever the reader equivalent of bunnies is, I’m getting them from your prompt answers I love them all

#accidentalbabyaquisition #m’laiden

The three Milena, Aiden, Lambert I can’t remember if that’s the ship name

(That's the ship name!)

"Lambert," Milena says warily, "what have you got in your tunic?"

Lambert gives her a very sheepish look. "So - uh - y'know how we've talked about being clan-parents someday...?"

Aiden, behind him, looks plaintive and hopeful.

Milena closes her eyes for a moment. "Lambert. Beloved. Do you have a baby?"

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oooh what about #kitten shenanigans #fluff #music for 🐑?

Yes, alright, the box-that-is-not-for-sleeping is, as the name suggests, not for sleeping in.

But it looks so comfortable.

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🐝 Where The Darkness Emerges

(I've just read through all the ones from this game you've posted and they're SO GOOD)

Every witcher keeps a tally of the number of times they've gone down into the Chasm to fight back the monsters who ooze through the cracks at the bottom. By the time they're getting close to their century-marks, the witchers who have survived usually have a dozen tallies - fifteen at the outside.

Geralt, who is barely eighty, has twenty tallies marked upon his wall.

(Thank you! I'm enjoying the challenge.)

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Less an entry for the fake fic game and more a comment on it - all these ideas sound so amazing I’m so sad they’re FAKE fics lol

If you ever decide to write any of them into real fics I’m going to eat them with a shovel lol

I hope at least a few of them will end up being real! They're definitely getting the bunnies moving, though the amount of Brain available at the moment is...regrettably small.