Sometimes I listen to the Old Witch Sleep and the Good Man Grace and as you do I think about Jaskier composing it at Kaer Morhen.
The first part of the song has this really soft, simple-sounding guitar (I dunno shit about music but it sounds like maybe 2-3 chords?) and his voice is quiet, tentative, a little sad. I imagine Jaskier with his new lute; he doesn't know yet if his burnt hands can still play like they used to. Honestly he's afraid to find out.
But he knows he has to sing to help the elves, the witchers, everyone. And he also knows that if he doesn't finish this particular song it's likely to tear him apart. For a while it hurts to strum even the simplest melody, which is only a little better than the numbness and weakness he'd feared. Still, anything more complex is impossible to play.
Yennefer reminds him that even with magic it will take time for his hands to heal (adding that she'll learn to play the damn lute herself if he doesn't fully recover). Ciri shows off her new fencing calluses with pride and that reminds him it will take time to develop his own again, too.
It does get better. Everything does. He sings, he heals, he plays the lute until his confidence returns. He tells the story of the Seven, of course. He tries, in his small way, to make things right.
It takes a long time but when he finally finishes the Old Witch Sleep and the Good Man Grace, a song that's just for him and no one else, it feels like exorcising a spirit from his body.
Geralt--having overheard it because this is a witcher fortress full of witchers--looks at him like he's seeing Jaskier for the very first time.
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"You," Pariah Dark began, pointing at Clockwork. "Have your claimed." Clockwork nodded, staring at the Ghost King as Pariah pointed to himself. "So, I believe it is only fair I get to have one as well."
"I suppose that is true." Clockwork agreed as a knowing smile appeared on his face. Though he isn't going to say anything, yet. "Do you already have one, or are you still looking?"
Pariah silently reached behind his head, pulling out a small boy-who looked confused more than anything- as he held the child up before the Master of Time. "This is Billy. He is my claimed, I found him on the street." Pariah preened, a smug and self-satisfied smile on his face.
Clockwork could barely stop the snicker that threatened to turn into full out laughter. "This is your choice?" He coughed, clearing his throat. "Of all the choices, he is who you choose to claim?"
"Yes." Pariah answered immediately with full, overwhelming certainty.
"Oh my dear, dear king," The Master of Time purred, leaning against his staff as he stared with half lidded eyes. "Can you not see the boy to have already been claimed? I don't believe such a thing could have escaped your notice or," He tilted his head slightly. "Have you chosen to ignore it and act as if it wasn't there in the first place?"
Pariah's silence was very, very telling. To those that had known him well and could decipher it at the very least and Clockwork, being one of those few, knew well that this specific silence was a guilty admittance more than anything else.
He floated over to Pariah's side, resting his arm on the King's shoulder as he looked him in the eye. "Oh, my liege, you haven't changed one bit it seems. Still so stubborn as you always were, even in our ghostling years." He leaned close to the King's ear, dropping his voice to a whisper. "How lucky for you then, that I just so happen to be so entranced with that trait of yours..." He leaned back as quickly as he leaned in, gaze still locked with the king.
Pariah stared back with a very, very pointed gaze, the tips of his hair already igniting in green embers, and, after a few moments, he opened his mouth to speak-
"Can you guys get a room already?" The boy, Billy, interrupted before the King could speak, giving the ancient ghost pause. "I'm still here you know!"
Pariah blinked down at the boy with a face so bewildered, that Clockwork hadn't seen it in eons. Not many had the gall to interrupt him as the boy had done and oh, oh did it fill the Master of Time with such delight to see it.
Billy stared at the king with a face that spoke volumes of how done he was with the situation at hand and, as Pariah's shifted into one as if he had swallowed something sour.
Clockwork cackled.
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Mr CC Mumbo Jumbo I need you to put on your big boy anti thumb shifting wires and win the next life series for me. It’s me and ten other people being actively deranged about C!Mumbo right now and we gotta get some more people in here. I need to see everyone in this house waxing poetic about what celestial body, major arcana card, D&D subclass, element on the periodic table, bodily humour, subway order, etc your gayass little cubito is
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I am very normal about this au.
Bruh new lore drop means new fanart!! I AM SO OBSESSED WITH THIS AU IT ISNT EVEN FUNNY. I am so sorry Rory, I hope I’m not overwhelming you!
Puppeteer AU belongs to @rorydrawsandwrites !
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Kara to M0n El: You come from a long line of people who have done bad things, and there is something of a feud between your people and mine. I immediately think less of you for this and will make you work to earn my trust. Even once you have, if you do something that doesn't fit with my moral code you will have to prove yourself again.
Kara to Lena: You come from a long line of people who have done bad things, and there is something of a feud between your people and mine. I trust you immediately and will work to prove everyone who doubts you wrong because I believe in you so completely. When you do something that doesn't fit with my moral code I will fight harder for you and stand up for you against anyone who questions your goodness, including you.
Kara: Uh... M0n El is totally the one I'm into tho.
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I’m typically not one of the “CX-2 is tech” people who goes through every episode looking for proof, but did anyone else notice that Phee specifically mentions the hidden cavern entrance being the reason she was able to land on Pabu undetected by the empire, meaning it’s by and large a secret about the island (but one that the Bad Batch know about). When CX-2 infiltrated Pabu last week, he also landed his ship in the caverns near the beach. How would he know about the caverns when the empire has never taken interest in Pabu before?
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