The Viscount de Fucking Lettenhove, Chapter 20: The Rules
Warning: canon-typical violence, childhood sexual abuse mention, forced pregnancy mention
Do not speak of the potion.
Do not leave the manor without permission.
Do not leave the estate without permission from a parent.
Do not kill your siblings.
Do not tell anyone you're afraid to go home.
Do not kill yourself.
"So what do we do?" Jaskier asks. They're loitering in the kitchen despite Ilvini's admonitions, whispering amongst themselves while their armed guards wait on the other side of the room. Geralt can feel the weight of Ilvini's gaze on the back of his neck. "Do we… arrest her? Send her to the dungeons?"
"No, I want to be certain." He's not sure what the process will be to find whoever he accuses guilty, and he doesn't want any doubt that he's accusing the right person. It would be too easy to get someone innocent executed for the crime.
"I wonder if she'd give herself up if we gave her the chance to cut Adrian's dick off anyway." He's not sure what his face does in response to that, but Jaskier says, "What? He's awful to her. She deserves to cut his dick off."
"I thought you told Megane you would try to save him?"
"No, I said I'd appreciate it if she'd help convince Adrian not to send me to my room. Oh!" His eyes light up in a way Geralt finds a little concerning as another idea strikes. "Stake out her room at night, follow her around, catch her looking like me."
That's not a terrible plan. He still wishes they had a solid theory as to how the killer was faking his appearance, but he supposes they'll find out if they catch them. It is, he realizes, the same basic plan they had for saving Symon.
Their scheming is interrupted by a bit of a commotion at the door to the kitchens. Oyvim waves them over to where an irritated looking Vestrad is talking to a servant. Geralt looks at Jaskier, who shrugs, and they both cross the kitchen. The whole group spills over into the hallway before they can be chased out by Ilvini.
"What is it?"
The servant clams up, frightened. Vestrad answers, "They found a body."
Read more on AO3
5 notes
·
View notes
Dude, I fuckin' did it. I did a solo-trip up to Chicago to see Chelsea Wolfe (beloved). And Divide and Dissolve (beloved) opened for her. Incredible from beginning to end.
Now I want to travel more. 😶💧
70 notes
·
View notes
i feel like i haven’t posted a good pic of my ass in a bit 🤔
171 notes
·
View notes
Field Guide to encounters with The Glow, Part One: Type 1 infected, AKA Growlers.
Growlers are intensely aggressive, so much so that they are just as violent towards other infected as anything else that moves. While blind, the Growlers are equipped with keen hearing and smell, and can locate a potential meal from far distances. Constantly on the hunt, these unfortunate beasts' diet of choice ultimately leaves them unsatisfied and starving. Stage 3 Type 1 infected usually die within weeks, but some have survived up to two months.
To Distract a Growler: Find some way to create noise in the opposite direction that you are located. Make sure it is loud, and lasts long enough for you to run. Flying is a viable method of escape if you possess wings, as stage 2 and 3 Growlers are incapable of flight. Stage 2 due to the weakening of their flight muscles- and stage 3 due to the loss of feathers.
How to avoid detection: Mask your scent. Try to remain as neutral-smelling as possible. This can be hard to do, but do your best and you will avoid being sniffed out by a late stage Growler. Avoiding detection by a stage 2 is simply a matter of staying out of sight and keeping noise to a whisper. Additionally, avoid making noise when near a stage 3 Growler. If you cannot be detected through smell, your best bet with a stage 3 is to hold completely still, breath slowly (quietly), and wait for them to leave line of sight- then you can make a run for it. Stage 3 Growlers are strong but slow-moving. Outrunning them in a large enough space is possible.
Special Notes: Growlers at stage 3 cannot be reasoned with and have the minds of starving, cornered predators. However, due to stage 2 Growlers being still rather cognizant, you can communicate with them- it is recommended to do so with some form of barrier however, due to their overwhelming instinct to bite and infect everything they see. When things were still relatively stable and infected were being appropriately contained, Princess Twilight Sparkle had frequent verbal contact with multiple stage 2 Growlers in her care. They were reluctantly polite, expressing a clear desire to attack the princess, but understood their situation well enough to be compliant at the time. All these stage 2s eventually progressed into stage 3, and were either put down, escaped, or kept for further study.
27 notes
·
View notes
idk it just really gets on my nerves that anxiety is infantilized in the way it is not only because that's extremely derogatory towards people whose anxiety does make them quiet/shy/nonconfrontational or a people-pleaser etc but it means that people whose anxiety manifests as outward bitchiness or aggression are just seen as assholes and. like yes i understand it's on the person with anxiety to handle it accordingly and not use it as a way to victimize themself if they hurt someone, but on the other hand, like. it's still anxiety. it's still a known part of the disorder. but since people with anxiety must inherently be smol beans who need protection then the people who have random often visibly frantic or stress-induced outbursts aren't clocked as someone who is anxious, i.e. feeling threatened, and they don't get the help they need. a lot of the time if someone lashes out it probably means they just want to get out of the room/situation they're in. it's fight-or-flight. it just bothers me man.
24 notes
·
View notes
hey! i am once again requesting because i genuinely love your writing. is it cool if you write skittles with an s/o who has severe anxiety and often gets anxiety attacks? i completely understand if not!
-💾
Hey there! Thank you, that's very kind of you! I hope I was able to do this request justice as well! I'm not really sure Skittles would know how to deal with someone like that in the best way possible, but he tries!
Skittles with an S/O with Severe Anxiety
He knows Nevada is a place where just about anything and everyone tries to kill you, but he never let that get to him. Still, he can see why you’d be anxious all the time about just about anything there is. Skittles is a rather relaxed kind of grunt, so he could usually be your voice of reason when your anxiety is telling you something bad again. Sure, things usually are bad in Nevada, but it helps to hear that not everything is going to be the worst case scenario. Sometimes you need a different outlook in life, and Skittles certainly has that. He’s well aware you always worry about him getting killed, or worse, but he can assure you that he’ll always come back to you. He has died a few times indeed, but he’s been brought back to life every time, so he sort of just assumes everything is going to be alright. If you’re too anxious about something, then he can do it either for you or with you, it really depends on what it is you need to do. If you ever pass out from fear, then he’ll stay by your side until you wake up again, draping a blanket over you so you don’t get cold. He doesn’t really know what to do with you, in all honesty, since grunts usually aren’t as severely anxious in Nevada, but he’ll stay by your side until you feel better. It’s the thought that counts. Even if you tell him to fuck off, chances are he’ll stay with you to make sure nothing even worse happens. You being irritated doesn’t bother him, he’s used to being insulted and around grunts who want him dead. However, as mentioned before, he will try to be your voice of reason. Sure, his views of the world aren’t as realistic either since he’s ever the optimist, but sometimes it’s just nice to hear someone’s voice. If you’re slowly starting to hyperventilate he’ll try to talk you out of it by telling you a story or two in order to distract you. It doesn’t eliminate the problem, he knows that, but if he can get your mind off of what’s bothering you for a second he can deal with the problem more easily.
Once he sees you freeze up entirely for a prolonged amount of time before storming off to somewhere where no one will see you, he knows something more severe than the usual is up. It’s during those few times, when he sees you act strangely, that his smile fades as well as he’s just that concerned. Skittles will give you a few moments by yourself before he ditches whoever he was with at the moment and seeks you out. Once he finds you, he’ll get you to a calm and quiet place where the both of you are alone. Skittles will ask you what’s wrong. He won’t judge you, even if you don’t know why you suddenly got an anxiety attack, all he knows is that you need help. He rarely ever sees anyone cry, so seeing you do such really does break his heart. Again, he’ll try to calm you down by calmly talking to you. Might put a hand on your back, but won’t repeat doing such if you flinch away from him. He’ll let you talk about whatever it is you need to get off your chest, or, if you can’t speak, then he’ll tell you about the butterflies he saw near a flower field and promises you to take you there someday. He’s well aware that you likely just need someone with you at that moment, even if he doesn’t know what to do. He hopes that him staying with you, distracting you, would be enough. However, he will shoo away any new grunts that might come along. This would be one of the few times where he might be rougher with them as well so they’ll go away. He won’t raise his voice, but he’ll make it known that you and him need to be alone right now. Will do anything to keep your mind off of what’s bothering you and get you away from any and all triggers you had in that moment. Since this seems to be a persistent problem for you, he’ll encourage you to seek out a medical professional. He knows someone, even if he might not be sure that person is actually a doctor, who might be able to help you. Since he can imagine living with anxiety all the time being very rough, he would not be opposed to having you be medicated for it. Will even go to all of your appointments with you if you need it.
10 notes
·
View notes