bakerstreet | ( what you can never have )

( what you can never have )

When two people come together in a relationship, it's a beautiful thing. What can be wrong with love, right? Right? Except when the union is completely and totally wrong, for whatever reason. Then things can get a little messy.

How To Play

1. Comment with your character, listing their name, canon, etc, along with any preferences.
2. Comment around to others, using the RNG to determine the scenario. It doesn't have to be a lovey-dovey relationship, obviously. There can be hate, sorrow, lust, whatever.
3. Thread! Have fun! Do things!

Scenarios

1. Warring Factions: You belong to rival organizations, armies, clubs, etc. Whatever it is, you're not on the same team.

2. Soldiers on the Battlefield: Or maybe you are on the same side, but this is the wrong time and the wrong place. Plus, attachments cause distractions.

3. Bodyguard and the Guarded: Just like the movie with Kevin Costner! One of you has been hired to protect the other for some reason, and feelings are starting to grow. Are you a professional and cut things off, or do you give in?

4. Prince/ss and Knight: Similar to the above, but with a whole 'nother level of wrong...one of you is royal. Courtly love is okay; still, don't forget your place.

5. Enemies: This vendetta is personal, and you totally hate this person! Don't you? Perhaps you're maybe just rivals, or something as serious as superhero and villain.

6. Family: The ultimate taboo. This person is related to you, so there's no way you should indulge this desire, even if it's the most pure love there ever was.

7. Age Difference: The years between you should keep you both at bay, but it's easier said than done.

8. Teacher/Student: Teachers and students have a unique bond, and to corrupt it is a dangerous thing. Will you dare to act on emotions that could put you both in a destructive place?

9. Already Spoken For: One or both of you are already involved with someone else, but the heart wants what the heart wants. Just know that you can't have your cake and eat it, too.

10. Not Compatible: Your personalities or jobs make it so it's hard for you to be together.

11. Not Compatible...in Another Way: You're both different species, which means you're either afraid to take your relationship to a physical level or you can't because of differences in biologies.

12. Not Ready for Love: You took a vow (or celibacy, of chastity, of dedication), you're married to your work, or you just don't want to be involved with anyone. Too bad!

13. Rich and Poor: One of you has the money while the other is from more modest means. Can the 1% and the 99% ever be bedfellows, literally?

14. Hurt Before: Your heart has been broken, and maybe there's been no time to heal. But here you are.

15. WILDCARD

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[ Canonically he does have a wife. So even number 9 can be arranged. Open to any suggestions though. ]

( what i can never have is apparently this goddamn ot3!!!😩

but anyway. no 5 or 8. new cr welcome. he's pretty easy to ship with. )

[ ota. ]

[ kos/row-era preferred, ota. ]

[Just no to the family prompt.]

[Caleb has many reasons he can't have things, just pick one.]

Edited 2023-06-30 01:03 (UTC)

[ Generally OTA for shipping, preferably around her age (16-21, depending on canon point). 1, 2, 3, & 14 are most likely, but I’m willing to discuss anything but 5 & 7. ]

[ no to 6, i think 7 would be a poor match unless midnight was the younger person in the relationship. open to everything else! ]

[Interested in playing the rank and social class variations (Theseus is a king), and also Enemies.]

[this peter is in college so teacher/student? enemies to lovers? queens/brooklyn? open to it all]

[What started as a career transition for easy money has quickly become a lifestyle change. Geralt's previous career paid well, but it was dangerous and the work was hard. He's not opposed to hard work, but he's opposed to turning down opportunities for good money.

He thought being a bodyguard for a singer would be fairly easy. It's not like he's subject to many lethal attacks, right? Sometimes, Geralt isn't sure. Jaskier's fans have claws and they shriek and writhe. Hundreds of frantic bodies moving as one horrible monolith, and Jaskier just smiled and laughed while Geralt looked on in horror.

But he got used to it. He learned the pattens and paces of his work, learned what to look out for, got used to being around people all day. He got ear plugs.

And his "boss", for lack of a better word, isn't so bad. He's friendlier than Geralt thought he'd be. He assumed he'd be nothing but imposing furniture to someone spoiled by fame. He'd never describe Jaskier as down to earth, but his heart is good. He's kind. Probably a little too kind and absolutely too flirtatious, which makes Geralt's job challenging.

It's nights like tonight, when the concert ended hours ago and he's still there touching hands and signing tits, that Geralt becomes less like an amicable piece of furniture and more like an imposing, oppressive wall that's trying to block out the sun and get Jaskier in the goddamn car. It's not his place to dictate Jaskier's schedule, but on some level he supposes his job is to protect him, and he doesn't like the way the crowds are closing in.]

Should be going.

[He murmurs between autographs.]

[Sometimes, Jaskier thinks there must be a black hole inside of him.

At first, he was just hungry for a little positive feedback. He rode a month long high when his first ever dedicated fans started showing up at all of his performances, and his heart sung with every sign they held and lyric they screamed. It's not like he ever stopped loving those crowds, but eventually the dinghy basement bars and tiny fire hazard stages weren't enough.

And so Jaskier cajoled and sweet talked his way into a bigger venue, hired an agent after realising that he never fucking wanted to do that again, and that dark, empty shape in him ate up every sold out show, every photoshoot and every radio hit.

So many people love him now, from the other side of a screen or from behind barricades, and always without piercing the layers Jaskier has crafted over the years. It's amazing, it's unbelievable, he's so so grateful, and completely god damn miserable.

The problem is this: the people who love him most don't know him, and the people who know him- well, they're paid to.

Like Geralt. Although, he's seen the pathetic, tender-hearted truth of Jaskier, and he's still kind. Still fun. Still absolutely killing his vibe, oh my god- Jaskier gives him a look and pats him arm, then promptly goes back to signing the shirtless photo spread someone is shoving in his face.]

And was that with two L's or one, sweetheart?

[Geralt fully expects to be rebuffed. Some nights he feels like he should wait in the car with the window cracked like a dog, but that's not his job. His job is to stand here, deafened by screams until the witching hours when Jaskier starts to visibly nod off and he can simply hoist him up and end the after-after-show.

He wonders if Jaskier plans on going to a party, as he often does, because if Jaskier is going to a party then Geralt is also going to a party. Then maybe he'll sit in his car while Jaskier shags someone and maybe then he can sleep. Or maybe he'll have to peel him off a couch and send him home himself.

Easy job. Eat his ass.

Geralt's eyes fall onto the picture Jaskier is signing, murmuring "Two Ds" under his breath and ignoring any withering look. It's at that moment, distracted as he is, that everything goes to shit.

There's a girl slinking forward in the crowd. She's wearing a baggy hoodie, it covers most of her face and the messy hair under it does the rest. She's restless and agitated as they all are, but when she makes her way to the front she's suddenly moving with some superhuman drug-fuelled speed and slashing wildly at Jaskier.

Geralt is quick to move in, barrelling at her and disarming her. He feels frenzied for a moment, because taking her down is easy but stopping there is hard. The knife is out of her hand but Geralt still has her pinned for what feels like eternity before the event security rush in and take over.

He stares at her and the scene for a long moment, the sense of fight or flight in him is completely unresolved by this but he buries it and backs himself toward Jaskier to push him back from the crowd dispersing around them. He has an arm crossed over him protectively and he mutters:]

We're leaving. Now.

[He starts to back them toward the emergency exit. He sees the knife. It has blood on it and he's not sure who it belongs to until he glances back at Jaskier.]

You're bleeding.

[Geralt sounds furious.]

{{He's a badly scarred mutant with a job that means he's rarely in one place for very long. Not really the sort destined for relationships. Here for 3,4,7(only characters 21+ though; he's nearly a century old himself but you'd never guess), 9(specifically thinking of Geralt's partners here-- sorry buddy-- but given the setting could also extend to like, noblewoman (or men) promised to others,12. I also have a sort of headcanon where witchers are permitted flings with the other guys in their cohort (novices all roughly the same age/ability levels who are doing through the same stage of witcher training/trials) because, well, that's a cloistered environment for you, but once you've been out on the Path a season, the unspoken expectation is that you'll discover and then stick with women (and preferably the sort you hire and don't commit to) so I wouldn't at all mind the taboo of Eskel occasionally getting nostalgic to go to bed with a guy even though he almost entirely prefers women ~~No YOU spend a lot of time reading about situational homosexuality and homosocial environments prior to the 20th century.~~}}