#araneapeixes

[hanzajesthanza]

Happy birthday!! Just wanna say while I'm here that you are truly the no.1 Witcher scholar and I love your work, and also I actually find it very moving that even though you are not Polish and don't speak Polish, you treat the books with such respect and deep understanding of the culture and language!! I wish everyone engaged with the works that they love in this way. I'm Polish but I'd since moved away and have a lot of bitterness towards the social environments I grew up in, but the Witcher is the one thing from Poland I truly love and makes me feel connected to my heritage and idk I just love your work sorry for the long message!

oh thank you!! i am so flattered by your words 😅 all i can say is, i try my best, of course! and a short essay response incoming...

the witcher is not only a translated work, but a multilingual and multicultural/national community, fanbase, and the american fanbase from which i'm coming is a relatively new development in the broader fanbase, especially as it relates to the books. it's more complex than how i'll phrase it here, but, essentially when you're in the fandom of the witcher books, you're in a predominantly polish other slavic language speaking space, even if you only speak english, because the books were created in polish and the whole thing has had over 30 years to gain traction and fans in poland and other slavic language speaking countries.

(i think there tends to be a certain level of entitlement from people, alright, americans whose primary language is english, where it is expected that everything be in english - you hear it all the time, stories of tourists going to a different country and demand english be spoken for everything for them. while english is indeed commonly spoken in poland, i think it would be a bit ridiculous, bringing it back to the witcher fandom, to expect every online interaction and material you come across to be in english, and expect to never use polish sources or look at the original text in polish. it may not be something you're skilled in or know about, but it's an opportunity for you to learn and ask questions. just embrace that, strive for understanding, even if you don't have any which you're beginning with. being prepared to be wrong and mistaken, being willing and open to being corrected. so, treating with respect and striving to better understand cultures which one doesn't belong to should be step one, i hope, at least in this community!)

i don't believe that there is such a thing as an english side of the fanbase which stands on its own separate from the original polish (and czech and russian, the first two languages witcher was translated into) fanbase(s), because the english fanbase was seeded and encouraged by these fans, a good portion of whom were bilingual and helped the fanbase grow by posting in english, gaining visibility and encouraging others to join and read the books. so you can't really have the english fandom without the polish fandom, it's like a branch off of a tree. and, with the majority of lifelong, or in other capacity dedicated and passionate, fans, coming from poland, and some of these fans also engaging in english-speaking places online, we're going to share ideas and end up admiring each other and becoming friends! and there's, again as always, a lot you can learn from your friends.

addressing the witcher as a work specifically, its identity is inseparable from its written language. with translations to other slavic languages, there's not an exceptional amount lost, but when it comes to english... well... though the story is there (except for a few glaring errors), there's not only lot of language-specific word choice, wordplay, and jokes that are lost in the english language and especially in the the official translation (which was crafted, i think to be as much of an "easy read" for an english reader as possible, and not to preserve sapkowski's style, character, and vocabulary), but also because a lot of the cultural phenomenon, celebration, element, described in the books, simply doesn't exist for the english reader and is untranslatable without an explanation of the context and history. sapkowski, who speaks italian, has mentioned the saying "traduttore, traditore," (translator, traitor) in interviews.

for just a few examples, torque at the end of the short story "edge of the world" saying "goodnight" being the perfect end to the story, because of the saying where the devil says goodnight. or the saovine tradition of burning straw falka dolls resembling the burning (or drowning) of marzanna effigies. and, also related to saovine, the offerings of honey, groats, and vodka for spirits being a mirror image of dziady. all of this is something that's not common knowledge for the english reader, it's stuff i learned about by looking it up, or having a conversation about, or reading a forum page online, or learned however, but learning about it made my enjoyment of the story a lot richer because i could (in part) go back and appreciate the depth of realism and familiarity woven into the world. and the act of seeking that out, or having that conversation, the act of learning itself was rewarding, to satisfy curiosity and engage my mind and social brain.

also just, a lot of the time, i'm trying to figure out where sapkowski's mind was at when he wrote some of this stuff, or who are these characters and what are these characters feeling, and all we have of them, to understand them, is their words. and the official translation isn't able to translate word for word. so looking at the polish edition and working through the sentence to translate (and looking into the nuances in definitions of words and phrases), i've found, can really help my reading comprehension and interpretation of the scene or character.

of course, sapkowski was taking "paneuropean" inspiration from multiple different cultures, not all of them slavic, a lot of them western european, weaving all these different fantasy and folktale sources together to create something diversely culturally rich. but as an english reader, i was motivated to seek out, "how does that line originally go in polish?" or "what's the original folktale sapkowski is referencing here?" because it just makes it that much more fun! it's part of the fun! of course an english reader could just pick up the books, breeze through them, and get a lot of enjoyment out of that, but without investigating any of the language or culture, it remains surface-level enjoyment. it's so rewarding to be able to exist in a community and friend circles that are positive towards learning and teaching in a casual way, it has made the witcher a lot more than just books for me. and all i'm doing personally is just having fun and learning as i go!

[eliteseven]

SHADOWHEART PLAYLIST YOU SAY... great excuse for me to rec my to picks for Shad:

She's My Religion by Pale Waves

Going Under by Evanescence

Sanctify by Years & Years

Heart Shaped Box by Dead Sara (nirvana cover)

Losing My Religion by Bellsaint (REM cover)

Sensitive by Mothica

I have been listening to music while thinking abt Shadowheart every day since August '23 lmao

Omg more recs, thank you! 😄❤️ I love hearing everyone’s picks!

Ooof Going Under is SO Shadowheart coded!! Ik we joke about Evanescence and Shads being a scene girly but it’s SO FITTING!!

And I hadn’t heard those covers of Losing My Religion and Heart Shaped Box before! I love them! 🥹 I love discovering new artists!

Added to the Shadowheart Playlist tag and the master playlist on Spotify! It’s really coming along now!

[ilikecrocssuckit]

hi hello yes is there a link to the biker karlach fic you mentioned in the comments of a random other post 👀

I just posted a new chapter today. It's a slow build but I hope I'm setting up a really good hate sex payoff in a chapter or 2. It was inspired by this fantastic art by @araneapeixes specifically.

Enjoy!

[olgipolgi]

She should be at the club 🖤

based on the modern AU art by @araneapeixes 💜

[bg3womenswrongs]

✨ Guest Spotlight ✨

Our next guest artist is @araneapeixes! Shadowheart's goth charm has had them enraptured since BG3's early days - an appreciation that is reflected in their artwork.

Tumblr: araneapeixes

Instagram: zajdart

[gaymy-raudenfeld]

I screenshotted this because I thought it was a funny notification but then I clicked on it and it disappeared without bringing me to the post. It looks like steamy Lae'zel/Shadowheart/Karlach fan art and now I cannot find it on my own. All I have is this 100p preview image from the notif screenshot. I feel like Tantalus

EDIT thank you to @hippotooth for identifying and linking the art by @araneapeixes !!!! tumblr's shitty search function will not keep us down

[optiwashere]

This amazing piece of art by @araneapeixes got its claws in my brain, so I had to write this. I might have veered a little bit from the tone of the art, but I love writing Asheera and Shadowheart a very specific way and I'm me, so sweet and fluffy emotions got in the mix.

Also, this is a two-parter! I'm not quite finished editing the second part, but that should be done by next week.

Rating: E for exuberant expressions of intimacy and trust

Category & Ship: F/F, Shadowheart/Trans Fem Tav

Warnings: No Archive Warnings, but there is (non-detailed) needle talk in this fic!

Tags and AO3 Summary under the break.

Tags: Explicit Sexual Content, Fluff and Smut, Intimacy, Trust, Nipple Piercings, Nipple Play, Praise Kink, Gentle Dominance, Dom/sub, Subspace, Aftercare, Trans Female Character, Trans Tav (Baldur's Gate), Half-Orc Tav, Post-Canon, Inspired by Fanart

Summary:

Shadowheart suggests it one day, and she's not sure why. It's something between serious and a flirty joke, but the more she thinks about it, the more she loves the idea. Or: Asheera pierces Shadowheart's nipples.

[githling]

two more sketch prizes! this time for @fluttervee and @araneapeixes <3

[ryttu3k]

Inspired by this post by @araneapeixes, my version of the Greater Faerûnian Polycule!

Ships highlighted in red are my favourites, the rest range between "I 100% believe this canonically happened in the past" (Durgetash, Emperor/Ansur, Shadowheart/Nocturne) to "The involved participants looked at each other and went 'Would 👀'" (most of the Halsin ships) to "ngl it'd be funny" (Raphstarion tbh).

Resist!Durge could go with any of the romancable characters tbh but that's the same for like. Non-Durge Tavs, too, and it was getting a few too many lines. That said, I particularly love them with Astarion, their stories just fit together in a way I find very satisfying, and I wanted to get the Halsin one in for my own Durge <3

Anyway. Greater Faerûnian Polycule!

[smallnico]

some more lunch hour tavs i've been meaning to draw! this time we have molli, who belongs to @beecreeper, ren, who belongs to @araneapeixes, and breoch, who belongs to @bardic-perdita.

[springbeemaya]

Recently I commissioned the incredibly talented @araneapeixes to draw one of my favorite baldur's gate 3 tavs. Look at her!!! I love her soooo much <3

Her name is Summer, and she is an elf sorceress with the dragon origin. She's big, she's broad, and she is a true sunshine. Also she took away Astarion's shirt because it looks better on her :)

New profile picture time!

[lesbianshadowheart]

Alright ill make a pinned post

Hiiiiiii my name is Lux/Jamie and I figured I'd make a pinned post w some info since that's the way we do things now. so

If you've been following me for a while and don't know who I am my url before was vriskalesbian and before that it was rootisgay

my main is an artblog at araneapeixes

any pronouns fine. my feelings on gender are complicated but basically im dyke

undiagnosed autism swag

im soso nice and i love it so much when people send me asks about literally anything<33 all of u are my friend im forming a parasocial relationship right now

This is a sideblog and my main is my artblog at araneapeixes

i love queer i love faggot i love dyke<3

This is a safe space for trans and genderqueer people

I may be an ex-academic but I still love a chat about biology, genetics etc. if I stayed in it id work with RNA. currently i aspire to be a tattoo artist

number one Shadowheart fan. my everything my silly rabbit

Things u can get me going crazy insane autism hot take infodump about: Horizon Zero Dawn, The Witcher Books, BTVS, Janelle Monae discography, Dishonored, the logic of time travel in stories

I like Homestuck

[tief4tief]

got tagged for this game by @psychspark @optiwashere and @moonshine-out-of-shield

rules: make a poll with five of your all-time favourite characters and then tag five people to do the same. see which character is everyone's favourite

(Baru art by the very talented @marceline2174)

I will tag @smallnico @blubebbie @rnanqo @araneapeixes and @spicyraeman if you'd like!! (no pressure obvi)

[wizjonerka]

omg to jeden z najlepszych tagów, jaki dostałam <3

thanku @araneapeixes

[imperatorsapphiosa]

hey i think you’ll enjoy this drawing :)

https://www.tumblr.com/araneapeixes/756899230589829120/how-about-that-hot-girl-summer-pose-credit-to

Hey anon you’re so right thank you for that

[araneapeixes]

HI I'M OFFICIALLY OPENING COMMISSIONS!!

Once u grab a comm from me, I complete it sometime over the next month - I will let you know the estimated timing, and will update you on progress along the way :) I take payment via PayPal and I like to go payment after you see the sketch but it's really whatever u prefer! You have full right to request any changes/corrections etc until the very end, I want you to get the artwork you want!!

I am fully open to NSFW and OCs. In terms of references, give as much as you like, and be as specific or general as you like - I have done both 'this is the exact pose, composition and lighting I want' and 'just do what vibes' <3

Anyways, DM me here or on Discord (araneapeixes). kissies

Some examples and their prices under the cut: