#inhuman geralt

[geraskierfanficprompts]

Prompt 34

Jaskier is a succubus/incubus (Cause some sources say it's based on the entity's gender, and some say the name is based on the gender of the people they have sex with, so if he's a succubus or if he's an incubus is up to you, darling <3) Jaskier hasn't told Geralt of this, of course. He'd rather not add another thing to Geralt's seemingly endless list of things he hates about Jaskier. Jaskier jumps from bed to bed in towns, because he physically feeds on the passion of his little midnight trysts he has with lonely unsatisfied women in town. He'd go for men too, but doesn't need more mobs chasing him out of town and annoying Geralt. Geralt finally snaps at him one night, fed up with getting chased out of three fucking towns in a row. And the worst part isn't even the fact they keep getting thrown out. It's when Jaskier comes to him, ruffled, kiss-bruised, and reeking of sex he had with someone else. Jaskier, scared of Geralt leaving him behind, promises that he'll volunteer to have a dry-spell. No more cuckolding husbands for Jaskier, no sirree! However, being a succubus/incubus means that the longer he goes without some passion, the more weak he gets, and he starts to fall ill. Geralt grows increasingly worried. One night at camp, Geralt kisses Jaskier's forehead when Jaskier is asleep and he watches as color visibly returns to Jaskier's face, and Geralt's medallion hums. Geralt is now suspicious Jaskier has been cursed. Jaskier returns to looking peaky by the next morning. That is, until Geralt drags him into a hug on a hunch, and sure enough, Jaskier looks better. The more romantic the gesture, the more it seems to help Jaskier. Jaskier finally confesses what he is, bawling and sure that Geralt will banish him at the least and kill him at the most. Geralt is horrified, and hugs his friend close, promising he'd never do either. (BECAUSE THE MOUNTAIN BREAKUP SHOULD'VE NEVER LEFT THE WRITING ROOM) Geralt offers to have sex, wanting Jaskier to be healthy again, but Jaskier doesn't want the only time he gets to sleep with the love of his life to be when Geralt doesn't even love him back. He says as such, and Geralt stumbles his way through confessing that Jaskier's feelings are requited, and Geralt loves him too.

[baejax-the-great]

I don't think Grey Warden eyes should glow when they sense darkspawn. I think their eyes should go completely black and their faces should turn grayish as they feel the call of their kin underground

Glowing eyes would make them easier targets in the dark of the Deep Roads

Black eyes with ghoulish faces would terrify the bedraste* out of any normies unfortunate enough to witness it

*like bejeezus but for Andraste

[whaticannotshowyou]

“Jaskier,”

The bard looked up from the man’s arm, his hands occupied with patching up a gnarly gash running across the lower half. Geralt had come back from a hunt about half an hour ago, sweaty and tired, but alive nonetheless. With a grunt he had disrobed his armour to turn in for the night, only stopped as Jaskier had urged to get a better look at the clearly bleeding wound.

“I’m fine,” the witcher had murmured, turning his body just slightly to make Jaskier’s attempt at grabbing his arm harder. “It will heal just fine, witchers’ bodies do that.”

“I don’t care what your bodies are capable of alone, not when I can help things along.”

After that Geralt had been less of a bastard and allowed his help, though reluctantly so.

Silence had filled the space between them, oppressing and thick unlike the regular silence that followed in the witcher’s wake. He was thinking, his lips parting for but a moment as to speak only for the words to sink back into his lungs just as quickly. His golden eyes studied Jaskier’s movements in more detail - with care and anxiety - much like a sheltered young lady on her first night in town, desperately searching for the rhythm in a conversation to add her own verse. The bard knew this dance and he would leave the man to find his balance, looking up with a gentle face as he took his first steps.

“Yes?”

The immediate regret was evident on the witcher, though for any commoner would be invisible. His eyebrows furrowed just barely, the constant wrinkle digging but microscopically deeper, as the corners of his lips twitched downward so minutely even Jaskier could have missed it had he not been looking. He wanted out, was in too deep and for a few seconds he was treading the water. A few more passed and he evidently decided that drowning was okay.

“What is humanity?”

Jaskier wasn’t as taken aback by the question as he would have assumed himself to be. Geralt was a man of philosophy, though he himself would probably disagree, but rarely the kinds that a poet would conjure. He spoke of morality and politics, but the very essence of the mind and soul not something he bothered himself with. A clear and easy laugh left Jaskier’s lips at the question. Not to mock, but from the heat of familiarity.

“Oh, witcher,” he smiled, looking back down at the task at hand. Even if a witcher could heal all on it’s own, he wanted nothing but to help. And despite the borderline uselessness of his act, Geralt let him. “If we both search, perhaps we would have an easier time finding out.”

[inexplicifics]

What or rather who are the Eldritch Trio? It sounds familiar but I can't place it.

Heh, the eldritch trio are what happens when I go "alright but what if Geralt and Eskel and Gweld got some interesting alterations to their Grasses and ended up a little more inhuman than possibly the mages desired?"

Lambert knows he got a different blend of mutagens than his older brothers did. That’s because everyone got a different blend than they did. Their year, the mages decided to experiment, and even the sort of mages who go in for mutagen research are sane enough that after they saw the results, they decided not to do that ever again. There were only three survivors of that year: Geralt, Eskel, and Gweld. Geralt, the mages gave twice the usual Grasses, and he still came out looking the most human of the three. His hair is white as bone and his eyes are a startling true gold and his teeth are very, very sharp, but he looks mostly normal. Until he moves, with a liquid grace and speed that makes something in even witcher hindbrains shudder and draw back in fear. He’s much, much stronger than a witcher ought to be, and he can move as silently as a shadow, and something in his roughened voice makes terror skitter down a listener’s spine when he is angry. He doesn’t talk much anymore. Gweld got a different mix, and it’s probably a good thing he only got a single dose of it, because it gave him the sort of inhuman beauty only mages and incubi have, the sort that it’s hard to look away from. His eyes are the color of coals, deep burning orange, and if he meets someone’s gaze, it’s like Axii: they melt to his will. Also his hair is made of fire, now, instead of just being fire-colored, and his body temperature is just a little hotter than is truly comfortable to touch. Lambert suspects if Gweld had gotten a double dose of that, he wouldn’t have made it off the table…and also the entire keep might have gone up in unstoppable flames. And Eskel, poor bastard, whatever the mages gave him, it forced his latent connection to Chaos wide open, so that his power spills out around him…into vast, writhing tentacles of black shadow edged with amber light the same shade as his eyes. They’re only solid when he wants them to be, and they’re terrifying to face on the training field, because they’re impervious to pretty much all damage and they’re stronger than an angry chort. And Eskel has absolutely perfect control of them, including being able to cast Signs through his godsdamned tentacles. Most of the time, they look like a strange cloak, shrouding him in shadow-and-amber; and then, at least when he’s comfortably at home in Kaer Morhen, one of them will flick out to grab something off a shelf or pull one of his brothers closer, and Lambert is reminded all over again that his brothers are something that’s not even a little bit human anymore.

[dahliavandare]

Witcher fics I previously read on AO3 and now can’t find to reread:

1) Early on, Jaskier had the tendency to say “I love you” in bed. He meant it as a non-exclusive expression of joy and enthusiasm, but partners tended to interpret that as indicating a commitment to them in particular. To combat the problems this causes, he switched to saying “I’m in heaven” in those situations. Then he and Geralt casually have sex. Jaskier says his usual stuff, but because he is into Geralt specifically he also mouthed “I love you”. Later it comes up that Geralt heard him. Happy ending. I think it came out before season two.

2) Geralt and Jaskier are investigating disappearances in a city where an above average amount of anti-witcher pamphlets are in circulation. They realize the people who disappeared were pro-witcher (prostitutes who were willing to serve them, a bard who played Jaskier’s songs with her band) so Jaskier acts as bait. He’s kidnapped by a mage, held with the missing musician, and then the mage is all “I’ve brought the witcher down to his basest instincts. He’ll rip you apart and prove what a monster he is, unless you make a statement about what an inhuman monster he is, in which case we’ll just burn you at the stake.” And Jaskier goes “Geralt, for sure.”

They put him in the basement with Geralt, who of course is gentle with him and protective and offers him “food” (raw rats he killed, but the sentiment came through). Yenn, Lambert and Eskel free them to take Geralt to Kaer Morhen and fix him. Still feral, Geralt brings Jaskier along. Yenn warned Jaskier that as soon as Geralt feels safe his attentions will turn sexual regardless of what Jaskier wants. While Geralt is protective and possessive and tries to kiss him, he is in fact very attentive to Jaskier’s mood/desires and doesn’t force him.

While they’re trying to cure him, they let Geralt hunt in the surrounding mountains, and he keeps bringing Jaskier monster parts to curry his favor. They cure him, Geralt’s all remorseful and tries to leave, but Jaskier’s like “I’m not even a little mad” and they get together.

[catscraftsandcommentary]

I need Lambert/Milena in a Shrek AU.

Just imagine with me:

Duke de Roggeven insults a powerful wizard (we all know he would - he'd be lucky if it was only ONE) who then curses his daughters. All three of them.

(ETA: he pissed off Yennefer. Probably insulted her mixed elven heritage and/or her inability to have kids, so she went "alright. Let's see how you feel when YOUR daughters are inhuman and infertile monsters.")

By night, each of them transforms into a different non-human humanoid: Marta is a succubus (all her lust for power and a crown turned into a different kind of lust - and we'll pretend that succubi *can* live without sex, but they feel sick and hungry the whole time), Marika is an elf (still elegant and pretty, but inhuman enough to shock everyone - Marika didn't piss off Yennefer), and Milena is a witcher (Yennefer saw her strength and kindness and went "this suits you.")

Marta, of course, spends the entire time being FURIOUS at being some "sex obsessed half goat! I am the daughter of a DUKE! The ELDEST DAUGHTER! How dare she!" Marika isn't happy, per se, but she privately goes "it could be a LOT worse. I'll take it." Milena actually enjoys her new abilities - she's so strong! Her senses are much sharper! - and the eyes are rather pretty.

After being COMPLETELY HORRIFIED that his daughters (well, mostly Marta) are cursed to become non-humans by night, Duke de Roggeven locks them in a castle guarded by a dragon and then pretends that he's sent them abroad to stay with distant relatives.

Meanwhile, Marta is getting on EVERYONE'S last nerve with her constant bitching, Marika is trying to keep their lifestyle as pleasant as possible, and Milena...

Milena befriends the dragon. She thinks Villentretenmerth is fascinating, and when she learns that the three ladies who showed up to help the sisters are also dragons, she wants to learn as much as they can teach her.

(Marta refuses to acknowledge any of them. "I will not consort with beasts," she sniffs hautily, and locks herself in a private bedroom every night before sunset.)

So! Back in Redania, Duke de Roggeven has convinced everyone that Yennefer's line about "whoever breaks the curse will gain a treasure greater than gold or gems" means that they can gain literal treasure (and/or magical treasure) by rescuing and marrying his daughters, and not - to take an example COMPLETELY at random - their true love as a bride.

(Yes, true love is the cure. Of course it is.)

So the asshole king of Kaedwen hears about the supposed princess and holds a huge tournament - and Lambert shows up because "that fucker dumped a bunch of refugees in our mountains, the fucking bastard. Who does that?!"

Jaskier, being one of the refugees - and also a bard who can sense the potential for a good story - insists on coming with him. They 100% do the "Donkey won't stop singing until Shrek snaps at him to shut up - and then he hums" scene.

About five times.

(Geralt and Eskel either stayed home to help Vesemir manage the refugees or hang around the Kaedweni court to remind the king of his promise - and make sure he doesn't get any even WORSE ideas.)

(Lambert REFUSED to stay in Kaer Morhen when Vesemir was being bossy - "I get enough of him riding my damn ass during fucking winter, NO GODSDAMNED WAY." And his brothers very sensibly refused to let him stay in court longer than absolutely necessary because, uh, they've MET Lambert and they know exactly how badly it would go. So he gets rescue duty by default. At least the princess will be happy to get to Ard Carraigh and away from him. They send Jaskier with him to try to temper some of his, uh, Lambert-ness.)

Anyway! Lambert and Jaskier arrive at the tumbledown castle guarded by a dragon, and Jaskier is immediately like "oh how wonderful! How majestic! Look at that wingspan!" And Lambert is like "...remember how we're here to fight the bastard? We have to GET PAST HIM to rescue whatever noble bint got stuck out here."

Jaskier pouts.

Villentretenmerth finds all this terribly amusing, especially since he recognizes a witcher when he sees one. So he sticks his nose in their camp and asks (rumbles) "what makes you think that even a witcher can defeat the greatest and oldest of dragonkind?"

So Jaskier introduces them - as dramatically and fancily as possible - and states that they are here to rescue the princess.

Milena creeps out from Villentretenmerth's wing. "We are the daughters of the Duke de Roggeven, and there are three of us. I hope you will still take us home?"

Villentretenmerth sighs. This girl. Always getting underfoot. "I will let you take the ladies with you - but you must convince them to leave freely. If they refuse - now or later - I will take them back."

"He sent THREE girls to some remote fucking castle? Fucker. Yeah, I'll take you all. Jask, let's find 'em and get out of here."

So Milena leads them up to the tallest tower where her sisters spend their day. I can't decide if I want Marta to do the whole "sleeping beauty waiting for a kiss" thing (assuming that JASKIER is her princely rescuer and Lambert is just there as a guard.) If she does, she'll get a rude surprise when Lambert shakes her awake and tells her to pack anything she's taking with her, they're LEAVING.

So the guys get the ladies and lead them out - pretending to ignore the hissing and squabbling that said ladies are doing behind the men's backs - and are unhappily surprised AGAIN because not only are their rescuer(s) NOT a prince and his retinue, they don't even have HORSES.

The dragons, of course, are watching this with amusement...and no little relief at getting rid of Miss Complainer the Eldest.

I'm gonna say it takes less than two days for Marta and Lambert to have a truly nasty fight. She wants a horse. A private carriage, really, but she'll SETTLE for a horse. Purebred, obviously. And fashionable new dresses, and BATHS, and food cooked in an actual KITCHEN, and a private bedroom from sundown to sunrise, and...

Lambert is just like "look lady, I don't get any reward until I deliver you, I don't have the coin for any of that, and I wouldn't waste on stupid fucking luxuries if I did."

This does not go over well. At all. There are very angry words shouted about his lack of preparation, decorum, breeding, proper dress...the list is endless.

Lambert gives exactly zero shits.

Milena is watching the fight with interest - she finds him FASCINATING - and Marika is mostly trying to stay out of it. She agrees with Marta on most of the points - their tower-castle was reasonably comfortable, certainly more so than this long hike back to civilization - but also, freedom.

If only they were returning home instead of to a strange country...

Which is about when Villentretenmerth - as the human Borsch - walks into their camp, accompanied by the three dragon woman who have been tending to the sisters. "Marchionesses. Wolf. Bard. I warned you I would take the ladies back if they wished to leave your company."

"The TOWER is better than staying with this BARBARIAN," Marta sniffs. "And Father arranged for marriages for Marika and I already!"

(She knows she gets the crown prince - and she knows that Kaedwen's king is a murderous asshole. Being queen doesn't count if she's not alive to enjoy it...and she won't have allies there to help her plot regicide. She's ambitious, not stupid.)

Somehow, it works out that Borsch and his friends take Marta and Marika back while Lambert and Jaskier continue to Kaedwen with Milena. There is ABSOLUTELY a scene where Lambert is out hunting when bandits try to attack the supposedly unguarded noblewoman and bard, and Milena thoroughly kicks their ass.

Lambert runs back just in time to be HELLA aroused impressed at Milena. Jaskier is already composing an ode to her.

They arrive at Ard Carraigh. Stuck up knights send for the king, who pretends he's a decent person long enough to carry Milena off on a fancy horse. Half an hour later, just as Lambert is moping about losing his new friend, his brothers arrive and go "quick, where's the lady? We have to get out her out of here!"

A very confusing but short explanation-argument later, Eskel and Geralt are chasing after Lambert as he storms the royal palace BY HIMSELF, because like hell will he leave Milena to that monster!

The confrontation is absolutely the most dramatic thing Ard Carraigh has seen in decades, with the witchers storming in just after Milena is crowned but before she can kiss her new husband...

...whom Lambert immediately punches in the face. "HOW MANY WOMEN HAVE YOU KILLED?!? HOW MANY, ASSHOLE? Did you even bother to COUNT THEM?"

Everyone gasps. Eskel and Geralt keep the guards back with drawn swords.

"NO MORE! I *WILL NOT* let you murder Milena for your sick fucking games!"

The king tries to splutter something, but Lambert takes his head off before he can get it out.

And then the sun sets.

And Milena...changes.

Scars from her training with the dragons, greater muscles than any noblewoman should have, and her eyes...

She shrieks - not at the king's death or the witchers' violence, but at her own secret coming out. She's hidden it for so long, and so carefully...she'll never survive this. The Kaedweni court will turn her out, if they don't execute her with her (very briefly) husband -

And then Lambert takes her hand.

"Milena? Are you...okay? Did they hurt you? What happened?"

"I'm CURSED! My sisters and I are cursed - for years now!"

He looks at her. "Y'look fine to me. It suits you."

"Really?"

"I wouldn't lie to you. Never have, never will. And I think you look - good. Really good. The dress is kinda silly - "

Milena giggles. She thought the same thing, when her maids were lacing and buttoning her into the massive thing.

"But YOU are gorgeous. Always have been."

"You still like me? Even..."

"As mutated and scarred up as I am? I'd have to be a fool not to. You're the bravest, strongest, most amazing woman I've ever met."

And she kisses him. She has to, can't hold it back.

(Cue the curse breaking - and leaving her as a witcher.)

Obviously there's cleanup, but Milena IS the queen, and is suddenly betrothed to the man who killed the murderous previous king - so it works out.

And then Villentretenmerth comes back.

[littlestsnicket]

jaskier is obsessed with geralt’s hair.

it’s the unnecessary vanity of it, so out of place with the person geralt claims he is. it’s geralt deliberately othering himself, his unnaturally white hair shining as a beacon of inhumanness. it’s so much of geralt, condensed into a singular act of self expression. it’s a lot.

and, as jaskier is a very normal person, all of these feelings manifest as something close to cute aggression, hence the endless mocking.

[paperback-rascal]

I know... I know I'm jumping on the meme redraw bandwagon but when I draw crossover of any series with The Witcher you know I'm in too deep in a hyperfixation.

Also... "Gegege no Kitaro" by Shigeru Mizuki basically reshaped the view on Yokai for Japanese audiences in '60 XX, while "The Witcher" by Andrzej Sapkowski changed the view on slavic folklore for Polish people in '90 XX. so it's inevitable for SOMEONE to put Geralt and Kitaro together in one drawing. It might as well be me.

it might sound far-fetched but... Kitaro and Geralt are more similar than you might think!

They are both considered "outsiders" - Geralt is a witcher, mutated human who's sole purpose is to kill monsters for the right price - he is no longer considered a human being and often considered a monster himself by people who he is suppose to protect. Since he was created to kill monsters, or what humans consider to be monstrous, he is not accepted by any side of the human-non-human conflict. Kitaro is a Yokai (a term used to describe Japanese monsters) who is a human-yokai negotiator. Yokai thinks he is on humanity side, while humans thinks he sides with the monsters.

They are both long-living. Geralt, due to his mutations, is around 100+ in the book series. Kitaro, due to him being a monster, is 50+ but mentally he is a teenager.

They are both considered "ugly". In "The Witcher" books, Geralt's appearance is often described as uncanny thus people are often spooked by his inhuman look (it was later nullified by 3rd "The Witcher" game and, especially, Netflix series - in those he is gruff but good looking). In "Gegege no Kitaro" manga Kitaro is often described as a "creepy kid" and the title of the franchise is sometimes translated to "Spooky Kitaro" or "Kitaro of the graveyard". In newest version of the anime Kitaro doesn't look grotesque but in early manga and in Hakaba anime from 2007, Kitaro ain't the prettiest.

Both Geralt and Kitaro have "magical abilities" and "magical equipment" to deal with monsters.

Geralt has witcher medallion which vibrate when monsters are nearby (I'm sure, Geralt's medallion would activate when in close proximity to Kitaro), Kitaro hair stands up when he is close to a monster activity, warning him about the monsters beforehand.

Geralt has witcher signs (a set of basic magical spells) which can create: fire (Igni), entrapment (Yrden), waves of energy (Aard), energy shield (Quen), calm animals or bend other people's will (Axii) etc. while Kitaro can generate electricity and use his hair as spikes or fingers as a spiritual gun among other abilities.

As every witcher, Geralt have two swords - silver and steel - as well as potions that enhance his abilities. Kitaro have a chanchanko vest made of spiritual hair of his ancestors and wooden getas those are basically multiools during his encounters with monsters.

2018 anime (AKA 6th series) is closer in philosophy to "The Witcher" depiction of morality - in "The Witcher" it's often noted that the most monstrous of being are humans. Their despicable actions often leaving Geralt more and more disgusted with humanity.

The same sentiment can be seen in 2018 anime, but to a lesser extend. The 2018 anime mostly follows the tried and true "monster of the week + moral at the end of the episode" formula. However, sometimes an episode ends with characters not learning their lesson or learning that their behavior is abhorrent but going back to their old ways anyway. Since Kitaro's view on humanity is already very fragile in the 6th series, he is left more and more heartbroken seeing how futile his actions are.

Well... that's the gist of it.

If you're interested either of the series, know that "The Witcher" books are intended for more mature audiences while "GeGeGe No Kitaro" is a shounen manga.

---

see other of my Gegege no Kitaro fanarts -> [HERE] <-

===

Gegege no Kitaro © Shigeru Mizuki/Kodansha/Toei Animation

The witcher saga (books) © Andrzej Sapkowski + The Witcher trilogy (video games) © CDProjektRED

[apileoftrashwriter]

the geralt/eddie parallels haunt my every waking thought

if it wasnt 5 am and i was on my laptop i would type a novel on how geralts self hate regarding the trials, becoming a witcher and his inhumanness and eddies internalized homophobia, being raised catholic with heteronormative familial dynamics, and military trauma parallel so hard....

plus the presence of their children - ciri/chris - and how their dynamics with their fathers act as both objects assisting in geralt/eddie's self acceptance? healing?, and also obstacles in due to how the fathers project those pre-healed traumatic mindsets on them

and i would get into their dynamics with their male besties and how in accepting their love for them they have to combat those unhealthy lines of thinking head on. accepting that geralt isnt an unfeeling monster undeserving or unneeding of love, and eddie is attracted to men and has had a healthy co-parenting dynamic with someone who wasnt a woman. (jaskier-buck parallels is a whole other can of worms)

then dont even get me started on their relationships with women - starting back with geralts feeling of abandonment by his mother and eddie's emotional feeling of abandonment (and later literal abandonment) by shannon (in addition to the implication of his emotionally neglectful mother). and the betrayal the women in their life have committed against their kids - yennefer w ciri, shannon w chris

like theres so much im going insane

i love them both sm they are my cinnamon apples

[geraskierfanficprompts]

Prompt 38

Jaskier has kept a secret for years. The ring with dandelions carved into it that he wears every second of every day is the only thing keeping him from turning into ash. He sleeps with a lovely woman one night, desperately trying to move on from Geralt (it doesn't work, he is still very much in love with his best friend) only to awake in the morning and find- FUCK She stole his ring! That conniving little-! Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! What does he do!? He races to the mirror and it confirms his worst fear. The glamour the ring gives him is gone. He can't see his reflection. He reaches a hand up to his mouth and feels his fangs. No- Nonono! Then his worst fucking nightmare ON TOP of his worst nightmare happens. He hears the stomping footsteps of a witcher approaching their room. Godsdamn it all. He hears the doorknob jiggle and.. Alright, he'll be the first to admit it, he panics. "DON'T COME IN, GERALT" The doorknob jiggling pauses. "Jaskier? Are you alright?" "Y- YES! Perfectly peachy! Don't come in!" Jaskier rushes around the room, pacing in panicked circles like a caged beast. He was a caged beast. He reaches to close the curtains of the only window in the room and like an idiot, he fumbles in place and ends up with his hand in the direct sunlight. He shrieks in pain and holds his hand to his chest. Geralt, scenting agony and hearing Jaskier yell, barges in without another moment of thought. Only to see Jaskier scrambling away from him in fear. In all his years of knowing Jaskier, he has NEVER been afraid of him. It physically pains Geralt to see it now. He doesn't understand why he wasn't allowed in. There's no lover of Jaskier's hiding in a corner embarrassed at being caught, Jaskier isn't indecent or anything, so why-? Then he looks at Jaskier, truly looks at him, and sees his blue eyes are glowing, and his mouth - Parted open as he pants - reveals fangs. Geralt's eyes dart to Jaskier's neck and it's confirmed. The worst part of it all, is the way Jaskier's eyes keep glancing between the door out of the room, and Geralt's silver sword. Geralt is infuriated. Not only did the woman Jaskier take to bed last night turn Jaskier into a vampire, but she also made Jaskier fear Geralt because of it. When Geralt says he isn't going to harm (let alone KILL like Jaskier had feared) Jaskier for the twentieth time, Jaskier finally believes him, and begs him to help him track the woman down. Geralt is intent on killing the vampire that ruined poor young human Jaskier's life. Jaskier is intent on getting his human-glamour, sunlight-immunity-enchantment ring back from this human he slept with, so he can go back to pretending he's human, like he has been doing for the past hundred or so years.

[thedemonofcat]

I have a love-hate relationship with fics where Jaskier isn't human.

On the one hand, I think a lot of those fics undermine the true remarkability of Geralt encountering a human who becomes genuinely, unwaveringly devoted to him. It's something Geralt thought impossible. Humans are afraid of him. They hate him. Only people like him (things at least partially inhuman or unwaveringly powerful) are supposed to be able to tolerate him. Even those people tend to be more allies than friends.

And then there is Jaskier. Someone who's not powerful. Someone who is very human. Someone who likes being around Geralt just because he's Geralt.

But on the other hand, I really like the idea of Jaskier living as long (or close to as long) as Geralt. Also, some people do the nonhuman Jaskier thing very well.

Thoughts? Arguments? List of good fics this reminds you of?

I agree that in the context of the story, Jaskier needs to be fully human. However, fics where Jaskier is non-human are always fun to read. One reason I enjoy writing about Jaskier as something other than human is that he doesn't seem to age. This isn't just a show thing; even in the books, Jaskier is described as looking young. There's even a line about him looking like an elf, suggesting there's something more to him.

Here are some good fics I recommend:

- "Hear what I can't say" by Aalvina, acatbyanyothername

- "Ciri doesn't quite understand" by alwerakoo

- "Sunlit Bard" by ValeWright67

- "Burn Butcher Burn!" by Eternal_writes

I have lots more to recommend if you’re ever interested

[paper--moons]

Regressor!Geralt Headcanons

(with cg!Eskel)

When it comes to witchers and whether or not they experience regression, there is no discriminatory factor based on the School of their training, because it is the commonalities that they share that make regression quite common. These commonalities by and large are some form of trauma—the trauma of being taken from home at a young age, the trauma endured while undergoing the Trial of the Grasses, the trauma of being ostracized from most of society to slay monsters (which, again, slaying monsters isn't exactly a pleasant experience, but rather a matter of survival of the fittest). Whether it be any one of these events or a long life of built up stressors, that burden eventually becomes too much to bear and something has to give. Even for someone that the outside world has labeled a 'mutated freak' at best and 'inhuman' at worst. But witchers are secretive as a means of self-preservation, and while their lifestyle might breed trauma responses like regression they aren't going to key everyone else in on this little fact. Most deal with it alone, though back when there were more of them it wouldn't be uncommon to see glimpses of one helping care for another. That's the only reason Geralt has any sort of inkling about what starts happening to him not long after the Blaviken incident. He hadn't wanted to get involved either way, had tried to dissuade Renfri from her plans but she had been stubborn and he got caught up in a mess like always... Killing was no stranger to him, but he hadn't wanted to kill Renfri. And something about it was the last stone on the scale, creating an imbalance within him that was now tipping down heavily into 'small'.

It's little things at first, things that are easy enough to repress if he catches them—like the urge to chew on the leather ties on his gauntlets, or the urge to play with Roach when they're stopped at a stream. Witchers, perhaps as a result of the mutations combined with their survival instincts, are quite good at denying their regression until they are settled someplace safe for what they expect to be an extended period of time. For Geralt, that place is naturally Kaer Morhen. So when winter finally rolls around and he returns home the dam starts to crack after months of repressing everything small. But the old castle is big, and he thinks he can keep hiding most of any sort of tell just by keeping to himself. Until they convene for supper, that is. Then it becomes a lot harder to hide how clumsily he's gripping his spoon, or stifle the slight whine when he spills some of his rabbit stew down the front of his doublet. Vesemir huffs and mutters something about him being fussy, and Lambert snickers, but Eskel? Eskel looks concerned, having picked up on the fact that this isn't just some off day for Geralt but something else. And that's all it takes, really—Eskel has always been protective of Geralt, the two having been in the same group to go through the Grasses together and being close enough that many people thought they were related by blood. While he figures Vesemir has decided to assess the situation from a distance, Eskel believes he will fare better if he takes a more direct approach. Which is why he decides to rope Geralt into a game of gwent up in his room after dinner. It doesn't take much convincing either, as Geralt is happy for an excuse to head up early and not have a round of drinks with the others. After all, it's far easier to hide what's happening if he's just with one other person, right?

Wrong. He was very, very wrong. He gets proven wrong fairly quickly, too. They barely have their cards out when Geralt finds himself slipping quite a bit, though Eskel is nothing if not patient. He doesn't laugh when he makes mistakes concerning the basic rules of their card game, only gently reminds him of how to play. Nor does he laugh when Geralt starts to find the game too difficult, the cards too hard to read. No, instead he simply guides him to bed once he starts rubbing sleepily at his eyes, saying they can share like old times when Geralt hints that the journey through the halls of Kaer Morhen seems scarier tonight. The suggestion is all too easy to accept with his head starting to feel so fuzzy, and without thinking he burrows himself into Eskel's chest and sighs when he's pulled closer. It's achingly familiar, though they hadn't taken such comforts in each other in decades. Such things had become too childish for them both at some point. But all of those years fall away as Geralt lets himself relax and melt into the reassuring hold his brother has on him. For a moment he had feared that it wouldn't be as comforting as he remembered, but if anything it was better than it had been. There was nothing to fear come morning—none of the trials could hurt them now, none of the harsher older witchers either that Vesemir couldn't always steer them away from. No monsters for them to hunt nor man to hunt them. Knowing that this time was different was soothing in a way he couldn't have anticipated. Not to mention the fact that his senses were much more heightened than before, his ears far more attuned to the steady thrum of Eskel's heartbeat lulling him to sleep.

They don't really have to talk about it come morning—even if Geralt had not woken up regressed, there would still be a silent understanding between them of what had happened. The change in Geralt was plain to see, and with regression being common among witchers, well... Eskel doesn't mind that his little brother is considerably littler now and instead just gets them both ready for the day. It's not that big of a deal considering the kinds of things they regularly go through; if anything this is a nice break for everyone involved. So what if Geralt regresses? All that means is instead of helping Eskel tend to the horses that morning he wound up toddling around the courtyard behind Lil' Bleater, pointing out things with an excited albeit soft noise of delight (apparently, Lil' Bleater attempting to eat a rock was the pinnacle of entertainment for the little wolf). And he would have probably been content to continue to chase after the goat all morning had they not gotten called in for breakfast. Geralt is reluctant to leave the goat, and even more reluctant to see the other two witchers if the way he attempts to hide behind Eskel is any indication. What if they aren't as okay with him being...with Eskel taking care of him? But Vesemir doesn't seem surprised at all, only asking Geralt who he wants to help him with his breakfast so he doesn't make a mess like he had at dinner. Even Lambert seems alright with it, the extent of his teasing beginning and ending at the fact that he can now boast about not being the youngest out of the wolves—at least while Geralt is regressed.

As it turns out though, Geralt stays regressed a whole lot longer than he thought he would. Nearly the entirety of winter he stays small, with the occasional period of middlespacing. Perhaps it's the way his body compensates for having to put it off for so long, but Vesemir assures them all that this is completely normal for witchers. This not only eases any worries (and yes, even Lambert was concerned), but the extended time he spends small gives them all plenty of time to get to know little Geralt. After about a week they feel confident enough to say that Geralt seems to hover somewhere in the toddler years, probably at around four if they had to pick an exact age. They also start to learn a lot more about his preferences—this is not to say that they did not know any of them beforehand, but that Geralt is what some might call a picky kid. He needs his things a certain way, or he gets very upset! Things like having a schedule are important to how he functions, and while big Geralt can usually brush aside any deviations from what is expected of his day with annoyance, little Geralt struggles to deal with any major deviations. Accommodations are made accordingly however! Eskel sits down with Vesemir and Lambert so that the three of them can come up with a schedule that not only keeps Geralt happy, but also one that keeps them happy as as well. Mornings he spends with Eskel, tending to the animals. Afternoons are spent with Vesemir, helping sort Kaer Morhen's bestiaries before taking a nap (along with the older witcher, who also needs a midday nap). Evenings he spends with Lambert, toddling after him as he takes stock of their supplies and preparing things for the following day. But Geralt always goes with Eskel when it's bedtime. He just can't sleep through the night without his big brother there to keep away all the bad dreams and scary monsters!

The normality that his regression brings is perhaps the most unexpected thing about the whole affair. The winters at Kaer Morhen were already something softer than what the rest of their lives often entailed, but Geralt finds that his regression makes the season spent there almost...domestic. Without the usual pressures bearing down on them all, with his regression stripping away the need to tiptoe around certain sentiments, they can exist almost like a normal family if only for a time. And it's nice, to pretend. Pretend that this was what life was always like, that he had had a childhood not filled with training and mutations. Most people might say that childhood is the spring of their lives, but for Geralt it couldn't be any more different. Winter is filled with short days and long nights, which bring the soothing crackle of the wood in the fireplace. The smell of burning pine coiling around him, the ever-present heat it gives off permeating the space and seeping into his body and with it bringing peace along with its warmth. It felt much like his regression did—safe and familiar, soothing in a way that it had been for all of those who seek the "fire's" comfort. But the fire brings other creature comforts too. The long nights aren't lonely, quite the opposite; nights are spent keeping the fire company, filled with story and song, filling stews, the reassurance of curling into his brother's side, and the soothing touch of his father's hand as he smooths back his hair. The fire and his regression were one in the same, keeping the coldness of the world at bay. And Geralt could stay like that forever if only he did not have spring on the horizon.

Leaving in the spring is difficult. As the snow starts to thaw and melt away, so does the soothing haze of regression that has been all-encompassing for many weeks. But Geralt comes back up with a new clarity to his thoughts and with the burdens he shoulders feeling noticeably lighter. Setting out on the Path again is hard for him, but perhaps harder still for Eskel. How can he be expected to let his baby brother go out into the world to hunt monsters when a few nights ago he was afraid there might be one under the bed? But it has to be done. While they are apart and fall back into the witcher lifestyle, there are small indulgences made throughout the year. Eskel, in his travels, manages to acquire what he's certain will become treasured items: two books containing children's stories and a carefully stitched plush horse from a toy maker in Novigrad. It might have cost the entire bounty he was rewarded for slaying a cockatrice, but it will be well-worth the coin the next time he sees his brother. And for his part, Geralt slowly allows himself a few quiet nights where he middlespaces between hunts. His biology might not allow him to regress fully until he's bedded down someplace deemed safe with someone he can trust according to some instinctual part of his brain, but he can at least alleviate some of the need to be small and lessen the stress. It's small things, like allowing himself to spend some of his hard earned coin on any sweets that the inn he's holed up in may have on offer, or actually taking the time to find a warm bath house as opposed to just washing off in a cold river. The coming year may present him with many new challenges and struggles, but Geralt knows that at the end of it all rest awaits him—on the days where his regression threatens to overtake him, he can take comfort in knowing that his family is waiting for him come winter.

[geraskierficrecs]

An Offer You Can’t Refuse Update!

New chapter here.

Teaser:

“Are you hungry?” he asked the wolf in a soft voice, “I can–”

Before he could finish the thought, a door along the hallway slammed open and a man tumbled into sight. Geralt was already moving to place himself between the threat and Jaskier before recognizing the wild eyes and terrified hope of Aiden.

The other wolf looked haggard and exhausted beyond what his enhanced senses could heal. There was blood still staining his shirt along one side and dirt streaking through his hair, but he only seemed to have eyes for the wolf at Geralt’s side. Aiden took a step forward and whined in an inhuman voice when Jaskier took a matching step away.

“Jaskier,” Aiden whispered, uncaring of the tear dripping down one cheek. “I thought…”

[glwstic]

Rec List 9: The Witcher

-  all that I've been taught and every word I've got by sugarybowl

“You know,” the old man says with a knowing smile, “if ever there was a place where you could recite and sing of Kaer Morhen, it is within her walls. Perhaps your stay will bring some lightness to all of us and not only the child and Geralt.”

Jaskier hides the stab of pain at the implication that Geralt might be glad to see him, instead he offers another simple bow and thanks Vesemir for his hospitality before fleeing into the room.

“Oh, you fool,” he whispers to himself as he falls into a nearby seat, “you bloody heartsick fool, you should have run. Why don’t you ever run?”

- - -

After a year of training Ciri in monster-hunting and Chaos, Vesemir and Yennefer agree that her education needs a boost of court politics and wordplay, which means bringing an angry heartbroken master of the seven liberal arts to Kaer Morhen.

9/9 Completed,  12,779 words

-  animal instinct by leodesic

Despite Jaskier's hard work, there are still plenty of people who hate witchers. They think they're monstrous, inhuman, only held back from violence by a thin veneer of control. One mage has a plan to spread his views by capturing a witcher and bewitching them to remove their control. When the Butcher of Blaviken walks into his hideout, he's convinced he's found the perfect candidate - and a convenient way to get rid of the pesky bard that's been singing his praises.

Jaskier is forced to agree witchers are not human, but that doesn't mean they're dangerous. In fact, he's astounded by how many of Geralt's uncontrolled impulses involve touching.

Oneshot,  13,091 words

-  from what i've tasted of desire by asweetepilogue

Jaskier's coat as a hole in it.

Oneshot,  4,727 words

-  Skin Deep by sospes

“What’s that?” Geralt asks.

Jaskier blinks. “It’s a tattoo,” he says. “Have you never seen a tattoo before, Geralt?”

Geralt fights the urge to roll his eyes. “I know it’s a tattoo,” he says. “What’s it a tattoo of?”

Oneshot,  8,135 words

-  I'd Be the Choiceless Hope by lesdemonium (winnerstick)

“Such a nice, beautiful sound,” the fae crooned. “If only he were this way always.”

Julian’s mother stood up. She claimed she was prepared to stop the fae, to protect her baby, but in Julian’s darkest moments he doubted this part of the story. His mother loved him, of that he had no doubt, but she had been young and weary, and even years later, she couldn’t quite get the twinge of exhaustion out of her eyes when she recalled Julian’s infancy. Even if she had been keen on protecting him, the fae was too close, too fast, too set on his plan.

“A gift, for the new mother,” the fae continued. He leaned a hand in to stroke Julian’s cheek. “I give you the gift of obedience.”

As a baby, Jaskier was visited by a fae, who gifted Jaskier's mother with Jaskier's obedience. As Jaskier grew older, the "gift" became more of a curse.

16/16 Completed,  45,188 words

-   Silver and Copper by Heronfem

Geralt is just supposed to pass through the quiet Lettenhove area. He's not anticipating being begged by its people to help save their viscount from a curse that keeps him from daylight. Lord Jaskier, they call him, and he's likely dying.

As Geralt struggles to untangle the ugly web of history that has lead to the increasingly complicated curse, he finds himself spending more and more time with the strange young viscount and wondering just what he might have been before the curse, and who he might be after. But things are not always as they seem, and as the curse tightens its grip on Jaskier, Geralt is forced to face the fear of failing yet another person whose choices were stolen from them.

Or-

Jaskier is kept from becoming a bard. Geralt finds him anyway.

5/5 Completed,  56,263 words

-  The Fairest of Them All by TheArtistFormerlyKnownAsG

On a quiet winter's night, a king and a queen had a child.

Oneshot,  46,256 words

-  the roads we walk are winding by shellybelle

Jaskier doesn’t actually know how much time has passed since the black-cloaked Nilfgaardians grab him after a performance in a shitty tavern in the backcountry of northern Kaedwen. He’d assumed--foolishly, apparently--that he was far enough north that any Nilfgaardian soldiers would be few and far between, likely just scouts or even deserters. It would have been hard to actually get any further north--the little backwater town where he’d been singing was just a day from the mountains. Anymore travel, and he’d find himself skirting the Trail up to Kaer Morhen, the Warlord’s Keep, and, well. He’s brazen, but not that brazen.

(or: a wandering bard bites off more than he can chew with the political ballads, accidentally makes friends with a princess in exile, and finds the Warlord of the North in his debt.)

7/7 Completed,  67,217 words

-  The Flower of the Court by aileenrose

The dream is not, Jaskier thinks, good foreshadowing for his plans tonight. The dream, after all, is about a man who King Emhyr decided had betrayed him, and subsequently had him killed. Killed in front of the court, no less, as a reminder of how quickly their fates could change according to the King’s whims. Tonight, after his performance, Jaskier plans to do just the same. Betray his king.

Jaskier, the so-called "Flower of King Emhyr's court," does not think himself a brave person. Still, he attempts to escape the King's volatile, violent court, and in doing so, stumbles into the Warlord's lands. There, he tries to determine if he is captive, pawn, or something else entirely.

6/? Ongoing, 44,605 words

-  To know you in all the ways that count by dat_carovieh

This year, Geralt doesn’t want to spend winter apart from Jaskier so he invites him to Kaer Morhen. Until he got a letter from Eskel, he did not know his whole family thought him and Jaskier are together. He can’t bring it over himself to disappoint them. They are so happy he finally found someone. So, Jaskier suggest they will pretend to be in a relationship, because there is no ways for that to go wrong.

Oneshot,  6,049 words

[fanby-fckry]

for the archetypes one: characters who are unapologetically themselves…and it may involve a bit of ~grey morality~

#new ask game just dropped whats my certain character archetype

Finally getting around to answering these, lol.

And, you know what, I’ll give you that one – with the caveat that “unapologetically themselves” often also includes the masks they wear.

Alastor’s smile is a mask. It’s also a part of him. It’s a mask he chose, and that he keeps so close to him that it’s become as much his face, as much “him” as whatever is underneath.

Angel Dust’s sexuality, Charlie’s optimism, Husk’s apathy, Jaskier’s theatrics, Geralt’s ‘inhumanity.’

I think it loops back to the fact that I would love to be unapologetically myself. But as someone with a disorder containing the symptom “inconsistent sense of self,” I often find myself unsure of what that would look like.

[kenobihater]

Don't know why tumblr made me miss your post about the ableism in fandom and the Witcher, but I've finally read it, and thank you so much for taking the time to write it! I have a question relating to that one: if one chooses to not make the Cat Witchers have mental illnesses or personality disorders or any sort of "madness", but instead try to explain their behaviour through the system in which they grew up in, could the Witchers still be called "mad" by others in-universe? I think I worded it weird, so an explanation of what I mean:

With the way I see the Cat School, they combine typical Witcher brutality with elven supremacy. While I know that "elven supremacy" in the context of the Witcher is problematic as fuck considering the oppression of the elves, I mean it to explain some of the values that the Cat School holds as a system. Humans are scum-of-the-earth, brutal savages, horrible people from the day they are born because it is human nature to destroy, to discriminate against others, and to hurt each other. It is very much modern anti-humanist nihilism. Elves, on the other hand, are seen as inherently more kind, more wise, more cooperative, gentle, so on and so forth, despite their own history or the fact that some of the worst elves are just as bad as some of the worst humans. It boils down to "elf and proximity to elfness good, human and proximity to humanity bad".

This ideological framework leads to "inhumanity" being a good thing. Human Witchers, while not outright told to, internalize the idea that they must stand in opposition to humanity. Therefore, enacting violence against humans is okay - you're making up for your humanity, you're making the world better by making the scum go away (a very Lambert perspective on things).

In the case of Gaetan, it would mean that reacting in a disproportionate manner after being cheated out of his coin and attacked with the intent to kill, and killing not just the guilty parties but also the unaffiliated bystanders and children, is fine. After all, they are human, and they associate with the worst humans by living in the same village. They might become just like the alderman and the ones that attacked him if given the chance. He only stopped that reaction when he saw his sister in Millie, which activated a mental block. "My sister isn't like other humans" basically being the reason he spared Millie. And while he does say he fucked up big time when talking to Geralt, he doesn't seem to mean it much. "Sure, shouldn't have killed everyone, but it's not that big of a deal" is the vibe I'm getting.

While I don't think this type of slaughter is encouraged, I don't think that the Cats care enough to have any policies against it. And I think that humans would only be able to comprehend this through the Cat Witchers being "mad". Would that...work? Cause I'm really not sure. I feel like the stigma of mental illness is weaponized against anyone and everyone, even when all parties involved are neurotypical.

[You can answer this publicly or privately, don't really mind either way.]

[I want to again note that the "elf supremacy" thing was just to categorize the ideological framework of the Cats, which I built based on Gezras' voice-lines, and am aware it has problematic implications. However, since there are irl groups within minorities that are just terrible on their own (Zionists) or because they internalized the oppressor's ideologies but switched them around a bit, I feel it's not too unrealistic for the Cats to function this way.]

You're very welcome for writing that post, thank you so much for engaging with it! And this is all super interesting! I agree that this reading of the Cat witchers being neurotypical but still getting referred to as "mad" by outsiders to rationalize their disregard for human life stemming from their views on humanity is a plausible one!

Ableism can be aimed against neurotypical people who ableists deem as not fitting the mold for sure, and in a world such as the Continent where mental illness is greatly stigmatized and misunderstood, I imagine it's even more common there than it is in our world to associate mental illness with morally abhorrent behavior like murder. Irl I often see this as a way for people, usually neurotypical or non-psychotic people, to distance themselves from people and behaviors they categorize as bad (e.g. "They killed that person bc there's something inherently wrong with them. I, on the other hand, being someone who is of right mind, would NEVER stoop to murder! I'm different!" and so on and so forth. If you're intrinsically different from someone, you can't make their mistakes, never mind the fact that you're both human and capable of great good and evil).

So yes, in summary, I completely agree that even if you choose to write your Cat witchers as neurotypical but deeply shaped by elf-centric views on the nature of humanity, they could absolutely still be viewed by the general populace and other witchers as "mad"!