#tldr: geralt tries to ask jaskier out

[jaskiersvalley]

Feral jaskier and himbo geralt are always lovely!!! “So many questions and not enough brain cells” was absolutely MAGNIFICENT

Nonnie, I am so happy you liked that line. It gave me a chuckle to write it too. Feral Jaskier and himbo Geralt are such a delight, I now feel the need to write a little more for you. Movie stars, stunt doubles and idiots ahoy!

Incidentally, this also seems to fit my @sugar-and-spice-witcher-bingo square ‘sharing a brain cell’.

Prompt: Sharing a brain cell Relationships (romantic/platonic/etc): Geralt/Jaskier, Lambert/Eskel/Cahir/Aiden Rating: T Content Warnings: None Summary: Geralt is the star of a TV series with Jaskier as his on screen arch nemesis. Thankfully that rivalry doesn’t carry into real life.  

The set was like a second home by that point. Geralt spent a good nine months of the year there, the crew feeling like family. It was their fifth season of filming, Geralt couldn’t quite get tired of the monster of the week format though. He loved it, loved how cheesy it was and the fact that it was a production that didn’t bait or bury their characters. The natural chemistry he’d had with Jaskier made it so much easier too. They had kissed on screen enough times that he was intimately familiar with the shape of Jaskier’s lips and the taste of the lip balm he wore. That had started three seasons ago and Geralt had been quietly wishing they could kiss away from the cameras too. So he had been planning, even seeking out the advice of those he trusted - namely Eskel and Lambert.

That had been a surprise friendship that Geralt had discovered. Eskel was brought in as he stunt double for more tricky shots. Usually, Geralt liked to do his own stunts but falling off a horse at a gallop was a little beyond him. As was surviving Jaskier’s rather flamboyant fighting style. Just for a laugh Geralt had sat in on a few of Jaskier’s training session and he was so very torn between laughing his arse off and feeling sorry for Cahir who was doing his best to help them train for their fight scenes. For all his patience and expertise, Jaskier seemed determined to add his own flair. The number of times Jaskier accidentally smacked Geralt, Eskel and Cahir during training and on takes was truly staggering. It could have been a blooper reel all on its own.

Thankfully it was a short day, something about a number of the crew requesting the evening off. As it was towards the end of filming, they were within the time budget, it had been declared that they could all have the evening off.

“Just make him a home cooked meal,” Eskel advised. “Guys love that, trust me.”

“It work for you?” Geralt was a little sullen and sceptic. He didn’t think a home cooked meal was what Jaskier would want. On screen they were enemies with a terrible habit of falling into bed. The reality probably wasn’t so far off either. Though, at least, they had become friends after a rocky start.

“Would I be celebrating my fifth anniversary this evening if it didn’t?” There was no small amount of entertainment in Eskel’s face. “It’s not like my looks are what draw anyone in.”

That had been an unfortunate accident from before Geralt’s time. Some pyrotechnic stunt had gone horribly wrong and left Eskel with the scars. If it hadn’t been for those and the different coloured hair, Geralt was sure they could have been mistaken for brothers, if not twins. Still, now Eskel only worked on sets where Lambert was the one in charge of anything fire related. Which was just as well because Geralt liked Lambert, enjoyed trading barbs with him whenever their paths crossed. As Geralt’s fame climbed, he got to ask for more and more things in contracts and, as he was fond of Eskel, he asked for him as a stunt double whenever he could and then asked for Lambert if the set called for it. It was nice to have so much power and be able to work with those he liked. Interestingly, Cahir was fast becoming another person who Geralt got on with quite well. That wasn’t to say Geralt wasn’t scared shitless of him at the start. Nobody should know so much about fighting with so many weapons without having a very colourful past - one that Cahir refused to talk about. Still, the guy was good at his job and Geralt could talk to him, so his advice was sought out too.

“Just tell him. Bring him something you know he will like. Show an interest in him and his life outside of set.”

For the first time ever, Geralt felt that Cahir was in a rush. He wasn’t quite as patient and measured as usual.

“Excited for the evening off?” he asked, trying to be friendly. And maybe he was practicing Cahir’s advice on him so he could be sure it worked when he talked to Jaskier.

A soft, shy smile crossed Cahir’s face, making him look younger and much less severe. “That obvious? It’s my anniversary today. I want to make it special.”

“Maybe bring them a gift that they’ll like?” Geralt offered with an amused smile. “I have it on good authority that it works.”

Laughing, Cahir clapped Geralt on the shoulder. “Best of luck. Now go get your man.”

Finding Jaskier wasn’t an issue, Geralt just had to follow the sound of laughter and singing. Unsurprisingly, Jaskier was sat with a gigantic sparkler while Lambert was packing away. Those two were a dangerous combination at the best of times and Geralt knew Jaskier had, on more than one occasion, dropped by the writers’ room to posit new ideas that centred around more pyrotechnics. The ideas had obviously come from Lambert but they were mostly good so got used surprisingly frequently.

“Aha! My companion for the evening has arrived!” Jaskier hopped off the box he had been swinging his legs off and approached Geralt. “What say you? Dinner. You and me. We enjoy this rare evening off with some good company and good food.”

“Sounds good,” Geralt agreed readily, it saved him having to ask Jaskier.

Turning back, Jaskier waved at Lambert. “Enjoy your anniversary this evening! Make sure you can walk properly tomorrow though!”

Another anniversary. While Geralt had been feeling quite confident about asking Jaskier out, the news that it was yet another person’s anniversary somewhat ruined the idea. Geralt knew Jaskier liked to be unique, adored being different to everyone else. To ask him out now and share an anniversary with three people they knew, it felt a little less special. Mood taking a bit of a dive, Geralt slouched next to Jaskier as they walked towards the cars.

“Why the glum face?” Typically, nothing went over Jaskier’s head. “Would you prefer a night of solitude?”

Shaking his head, Geralt resigned himself to the knowledge that Jaskier would wheedle until he got the truth out of him. So he saved them both a lot of time and agony. “It’s stupid.”

“Nothing’s ever stupid, just needs to be valued correctly.”

“I wanted to ask you something. But make it special. It’s not special though, not today. Maybe I’ll try tomorrow.”

That made not a lick of sense to Jaskier and he frowned, bumping his shoulder against Geralt’s. “Just ask.”

“But it won’t be special. Three other couples we know have an anniversary today.”

A soft laugh from Jaskier pulled him from his grumblings. “So many people have their anniversaries every day. It’s not like one single day can be declared as only one couple’s.”

For someone so smart, Jaskier sure wasn’t putting the pieces together to solve just what Geralt was trying to say.

“But would you really want an anniversary when Lambert, Eskel and Cahir each have theirs too?” It was actually a little odd, now that Geralt thought of it. Three good friends all sharing an anniversary.

There was a moment of silence before Jaskier was rounding on Geralt, hands on his shoulders to stop him mid-walk.

“Dear heart, please tell me I’m hearing this wrong. Firstly, if I was so lucky as to have an anniversary, I wouldn’t care who I shared it with. I would love to simply have one, especially if you’re offering to have one with me. Secondly, please tell me you know why those three all have their anniversary date today.”

Mind whirring, Geralt tried to process everything Jaskier had just said. He picked the easier bit to reply to first. “They were on a night out together and met their partners at the same time? Bit like how people date within the same friendship groups or even date siblings?”

Face falling, Jaskier cursed under his breath. “And I thought I wasn’t being obvious enough. Oh dear. Geralt, those three, it’s their anniversary together. As in they’re all dating each other. And Aiden is at home, waiting for them. He got the day off today too.”

Geralt’s jaw fell slack. He couldn’t quite believe it. “They-they’re together?!”

“And they’ve not been subtle at all about it!” Jaskier was laughing. “I love you but you are so dumb, I swear.”

That forced Geralt back into the moment and he smiled. “I love you too.”

He didn’t expect an enthusiastic kiss out in the open but he really didn’t mind it at all. With a huff of a laugh Geralt returned it, arms wrapping around Jaskier’s waist.

“Come on then,” Jaskier finally said as he broke away. I believe we have our zero-th anniversary to have and make a solid start on new traditions. I think we should order takeaway as a treat for our anniversaries from now on.”

Laughing, Geralt linked their hands. He liked the idea of anniversary traditions. Jaskier most definitely had the best ideas.

[kalinara]

I have to admit, I’m also starting to get annoyed with the fans who like to post endlessly about how “unhealthy” or “toxic” the Geralt/Yennefer relationship is, and how it’s that, and their “lack of chemistry” (which is a totally subjective measure used to dismiss any canon couple they don’t like) that makes them ship Geralt/Jaskier instead.

Please note, I’m not judging people who just like the ship.

But I’m side-eying people who keep going on and on about how toxic Geralt and Yen are without applying the same critical eye to Geralt and Jaskier.

Disclaimer: this is about the Netflix series, not the novels or games.  (Those are debates for another day.)

Now, I’ve defended Geralt before against those ridiculous accusations that he’s somehow abusive to Jaskier or that Jaskier is a doormat.  I stand by that.  But I think what a lot of these fans aren’t noticing is that in the show, Jaskier is NOT the doormat.  Geralt kind of is.

I mean, take their meeting:

Jaskier goes up to Geralt in a bar.  Geralt is visibly uncomfortable and expresses disinterest in talking.  Jaskier identifies Geralt, which leads to Geralt being offered a job as he’s WALKING AWAY.

Somehow, this leads to Jaskier tagging along.  And because Geralt isn’t willing to engage in actual violence against a mostly innocent person (except one punch when the guy, admittedly accidently, hit on a raw wound), he sticks around.

After their abduction, during which Geralt expresses deep sympathy toward their captors and their situation, Jaskier writes his first tune about Geralt, declaring his intent to salvage Geralt’s reputation.  Geralt is vocally uncomfortable with the way that the song casts the elves, who he sympathizes with, as the villains.  He asks “what happened to your newfound respect.”  Jaskier doesn’t care.

Now, granted, Geralt is getting a boon out of this.  We see later on that Jaskier’s songs are having a beneficial effect on his reputation.  But it’s not something he ever asked for.  And the most famous song is not something he wanted.

In episode four, we have Jaskier basically badgering Geralt to protect him in Cintra, free of charge.  To the point of accosting the man in the bath.  He dresses him in clothes that he’s not comfortable with.  Geralt goes along with all of this with only mild complaint.  

In episode five, we have Jaskier coming across Geralt in the woods when the man is clearly stressed and very busy.  Geralt asks him to leave multiple times.  He does not.  He keeps at him until Geralt confesses his inability to sleep.  He wants an honest opinion about his singing and takes offense at the one Geralt gives him.  (To be fair, it may not have been an honest opinion.  He may have just wanted Jaskier to go away.)  He fights over the djinn bottle because he wants Geralt to take his words back.  He makes wishes that amount to murdering someone and MAYBE creating a dubious consent situation with someone else (depending on how literally the djinn would have taken the wish, I suppose).  Later, when he thinks Geralt is dead, he seems genuinely mournful.  But also adds “he always liked my singing”.

In episode six, he tries to push Geralt into taking the job because of his attraction to Tea and Vea.  He takes verbal potshots at Yennefer, to Geralt’s discomfort.  Otherwise, he’s mostly inoffensive.  

So basically, we have here a pattern in which Jaskier ignores or outright contradicts Geralt’s expressed wishes, and acts with blatant indifference to the man’s obvious discomfort.

I am not making this post to genuinely argue that Jaskier and Geralt are an abusive or unhealthy relationship.  

(though now I do want to make a serious meta post about Geralt’s general passivity and inability to say no and keep to it.)

I’m making this post to show how easy it is to take a complicated relationship and accentuate specific parts to paint it as unhealthy or toxic.  Everything I’ve listed here happened on screen.  

MAYBE we should stop searching for reasons to attack certain ships that we don’t like.  MAYBE we should recognize that certain characters (like Triss in the books or Dandelion in the games) might have their own biases and we shouldn’t necessarily take their word for how someone else’s relationship works.  MAYBE we can accept that fictional relationships generally have a give and take, and as long as the characters are consenting adults, it’s probably fine.

I’m not saying someone can’t post “I don’t like Yen and Geralt’s relationship, because I don’t like how she yells at him.”  That’s fine.  But you don’t need to convince anyone else that the ship you dislike is toxic or terrible and that you’re the moral and righteous one for shipping something else.

tldr: I’m not sure Geralt’s capable of a healthy relationship with anyone, so as long as the ship involves consenting adults (...or is a darkship with the appropriate warnings and labels), I feel like it’s probably as good as we’re going to get..

[marvelousmaize]

4 (in this life), 15, 21 :D

Hi ilu!! <3

4. Did you have any ideas that didn’t make the final cut of [in this life]?

Oh boy. I had to actually go back and consult my outline to answer this. In this life is weird because it’s the first fic that I tried to properly outline because I knew it was going to be Long and I needed it all to Make Sense, and usually my writing process is writing a whole bunch of little scenes that come to me in frantic spurts and then trying my damndest to tie them all together with prose. 

Anyway, I initially planned on having Jaskier meet Ciri in modern verse and having him invite her and Geralt to his show where Geralt finally Remembers all their lives together. The crux of the scene stayed, but I swapped out Ciri for Renfri, Yennefer, Lambert, and Eskel instead. We don’t meet Ciri in modern verse, and I decided that would work better for my eventual Ciri and Yennefer, mother-daughter sequel whenever that happens. 

There was a scene where Jaskier says what his favorite thing about Geralt is and Geralt is surprised that anyone would see him that way. I cut that because I for the life of me could not come up with what that favorite could be ;__;

And this snippet that I thing was one of the scenes I wrote in a frantic burst and then I realized after outlining that it didn’t make sense because I wanted Geralt not to remember the past lives:

“Will you love me in the next one too?” Jaskier murmurs. His fingers curl in the damp blades of grass. In the moonlight, his eyes look almost silver.

“I’ll always love you,” says Geralt with conviction. He turns on his side. Like this, they’re pressed up against each other from chest to ankle. He feels Jaskier’s heart thrumming deep and steady and just a tad too quickly.

Jaskier hums, “Always is a long time.”

15. What is the fanfic you’ve written that you’re most proud of? 

It’s gotta be in this life hands down because it took legitimately months to plan and write, and it was hard and awful and painful and wonderful all at once. I’d never really written anything like that before, where I could clearly trace a character arc, and track growth, and do a sort of character study all at the same time. I poured more love into that fic than I thought I could possibly have for fic writing, and I’m so proud of it. 

21. Is there an idea you’ve always wanted to write, but haven’t yet?

Aaaah so many! If only ideas could spring from the brain and onto the page into neat and tidy and perfectly done stories amirite?

There are tons of things I want to do, particularly within the Witcher because there’s such a wealth of potential and wonderful characters, and also because there’s a ridiculously long time before we get to see any sort of second season, and that just means endless opportunity to play out all sorts of different scenarios. 

I really want to focus more on Yennefer, because I love her truly, and although all my stories have predominantly focused on Jaskier (i love that ridiculous disaster with my whole heart) I want to write some Yen-centric fics really badly. I’d love to write something exploring Yen and Tissaia’s sort of mother-daughter relationship, because their dynamic is endlessly fascinating to me. 

I’ve been playing with the idea of a Modern College AU where Jaskier and Yennefer are friends first and the only rule they’ve ever had between them is they go after the same person. And then they separately meet Geralt and like some fun shenanigans ensue. 

I would love to write a Fake Dating fic because it’s one of my favorite tropes of all time and I’ve never written it. I want to set it in the Witcher era, and it would probably either be Yennskier or Geraskier or Yennskier leading up to Geraskefer, if I wrap it into a post-ep 6 fix-it. 

Wow, well to make a long answer short, I think the tldr is: Yennefer, Yennefer, Yennefer haha. 

Ask me questions about my fics!