Feb 17, 2024
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New linocuts on my page!!
Do you genuinely believe that the witchers are written as a trans allegory on purpose? Like don't get me wrong, I love those books to bits. But it wouldn't be the first nor the last time a queer allegory is written by accident, and I love that interpretation. Isn't it giving Sapkowski a bit too much credit to assume it's done on purpose? Idk, I just don't want to get excited over something (it being deliberate) that isn't true, you know?
No, I don't think it's on purpose, and purposefulness is required to an allegory. I find that unlikely. It's certainly possible, but I doubt it. Sapkowski does use language that can be found in queer theory and does write queer characters on purpose which does include Ciri who is bisexual, so it's always a possibility that there was meant to be a trans reading within the subtext, but as you say, that is giving a bit too much credit to Sapkowski.
However, that doesn't change that the witchers are an undeniable analogy towards transgender men. Which is to say that through a queer perspective or reading of the works, there is little to no possible way to not acknowledge the resemblance or equivalence between trans masculinity and the witchers.
Queering of text and the trans-codding (or queer-codding in general) does not have to be intentional to be very much real and present. So while I wouldn't hold your breath for it being deliberate, it's nonetheless a reading that can't be ignored in the text, and you can certainly find that exciting and thought-provoking.
oh man your fics are always so amazing i’m excited for the follower celebration!! as far as fic prompt i was thinking qpr jaskier/eskel fluff with summer, heartfelt, and braiding as the words
hng. 🥺 i melt. thank you so much, i don’t know what to say other than i hope you like what i came up with. i was so happy and excited to see a jaskel prompt 💛
thank you @seidenbros for the vibe check, and also hi @karolincki i love you a lot 🥰
wc: 800 | tags: jaskel, summer, wine, gentle boys in platonic love, modern au, trans eskel
Eskel takes a deep breath, warm summer air filling his lungs, leaving him with hints of wild flowers, grass and the bottle of too-sweet wine that Jaskier loves so much. All of it accompanied by the gentle music coming quietly from the speaker, another indie artist Jaskier always plays. A smile tugs on Eskel’s lips and his heart swells in his chest as he is hit with a wave of contentment so strong he has to breathe out a happy sigh.
“What?” Jaskier asks halfway to lifting the bottle of wine to his lips again.
“Nothing,” Eskel says with a smile and leans into Jaskier’s space, bumping their shoulders together.
“Liar,” he mumbles, taking a swig, though there’s no heat behind it as he chuckles into the bottle.
Eskel watches him before he casts his eyes away again, away from Jaskier and over to the other people in the park, sharing their own alcohol, playing their own music, cuddling, laughing, dancing.
Summertime. Where everyone is alive in a way they can’t be the rest of the year.
Eskel used to hate the summer. He was always too hot in his baggy sweaters and hoodies because summer is no time to wear a binder comfortably — though there was no comfort in summer at all back then.
And now? Now he can sit here in a short-sleeved button-up shirt and share a bottle of wine with his best friend, his confidant, his most important person, while the sun sets and sheds everything in a low purple light.
He’s happy.
A smile on his lips, there to stay the night, and a lightness in his heart that makes breathing so much easier than it used to be.
“You make me happy,” he tells Jaskier then, tries to make it sound casual, though the tiny little gasp only makes him smile wider.
Jaskier looks at him for a moment before leaning in and throwing his arms around Eskel’s neck, a little clumsy because wine always makes him tipsy quicker than anything else. Eskel has him, though, makes sure that he won’t topple over. He always has him.
“You’re soft,” Jaskier declares. “And so am I. Because you make me happy, too, Esk. A lot.”
He doesn’t know what to say to that, never really does when it comes to Jaskier because the man just has all the words and all the bravery to say them. So he just bumps their shoulders together again and reaches for the bottle, now half empty.
They sit in silence, though once it is clear that Eskel won’t return the bottle again, finding comfort in the smooth feeling of the glass, cool to the touch, ready to ground him, Jaskier huffs and scoots back a bit, only to lie down and rest his head in Eskel’s lap.
The music has switched to a familiar song, something by The Cure, and the sun is almost gone completely. And Eskel smiles, because that lightness is still there, still in his chest, still making him feel so very right.
“You fit,” he says then, still keeping his eyes on the neck of the bottle, but his free hand lands in Jaskier’s hair. “In my life, I mean. You just fit. And I knew that, of course, but it just hit me again. And I don’t tell you enough. But you know what’s more?”
Jaskier hums in question, and Eskel chuckles.
“What’s more is that you make me fit, too. Into my own life. It’s crazy, isn’t it? It’s my life, I should fit in there somewhere. But I never really did until you came along and just… Yeah. And in forty years time, I have a feeling that you’ll still fit.”
Jaskier is silent for a moment, which makes Eskel look down and meet his eyes. His teary eyes, glistening with a wavering smile.
“In forty years time,” he begins, his voice shaking with emotion, and Eskel brushes his hair away from his eyes. It’s longer now than it used to be, but they both like it like that. “Damn, that’s a long while. How long do you reckon my hair will be then?”
A heartfelt laugh bubbles out of him then, and he takes another drink, finishing the bottle. “Down to your feet at least,” he grins. “And you’ll complain about it so much. Until I’m braiding it for you while telling you off.”
Something flickers in his eyes then, and the jest is gone, replaced only by genuine emotion. “You would?”
Eskel smiles. “I would.”
And it’s a promise. In forty years, old men that they will be, they’ll still be right here. They’ll still have it all. Summer, wine, and each other. A few more complaints here and there, but ultimately it will be perfect. As always.
~
tagging: @toboldlynerd @bendedwillow (bc of your ask) @horsedadgeralt @theshapeofcool @wherethewordsare
written for @thewitchertransweek
Day 5: Found Familly
Ship: Background Geraskier and Lambden
Rating: T
Summary: Ciri learns about the wider variety of gender at Kaer Morhen
_
Ciri had always expected to live her life in Cintra, after all she was the heir to the throne, the Lioncub of Cintra. At the very least she’d assumed that she might move to Skellige, with Eist’s ties to the Isles, and her grandmother’s dedication to the union between the two kingdoms, Ciri was sure she was bound to end up betrothed to one of the Jarl’s children.
Nilfgaard had changed everything.
Even with the rumours about her Destiny, and murmurs of the White Wolf. Ciri had never expected to find her new family in a ruined keep in the Blue Mountains during the dead of winter, but Destiny was a mysterious force that worked in equally mysterious ways. She still mourned her blood, but the family she had found in the witcher’s keep was invaluable, more than she could have ever asked for. Not only could they give her the skills to defend herself and survive in the cruel war-torn land they now lived in, they were also the most peculiar ragtag group of people Ciri had ever met.
When she’d first seen Geralt bathing on the way up to Kaer Morhen, she hadn’t questioned the uniform scars on his chest. He was a witcher and witchers had scars, that was just a fact, but when Eskel had pulled his shirt up one day to reveal matching scars… she began to get suspicious and the questions had started. She had been shocked to learn that both witchers had been born girls… or something like that. She was still trying to understand the language they used, assigned female, if she remembered correctly.
Jaskier had been absolutely thrilled when he’d learned Ciri was asking questions about gender, perking up from his favourite spot in Geralt’s lap to announce that he didn’t give a shit about gender or pronouns and people could refer to him however they felt most comfortable. Ciri tended to use ‘he’ out of habit, but she’d heard Geralt and the others refer to Jaskier as ‘they’ or ‘she’ at times as well.
And then there was Aiden, Lambert’s partner, who was very much neither a man nor a woman. They often used make-up to change the shape of their face, almost like magic, looking more masculine or feminine depending on their mood. It was incredible…
And Ciri wanted it.
She’d always hated being treated like a girl, being seen as less because she was a girl. She enjoyed wearing boy clothes just as much as her pretty dresses, sometimes even more, but she’d just assumed that all girls felt like that. Most of her friends at the castle had been boys after all.
But… Did that mean she was a they?
Could she be not a girl and still refer to herself as ‘she’?
It was all very confusing and it was giving her a headache.
“Alright, cub?” Aiden asked, leaning against the doorframe to the library. Their long dark hair loose for a change, damp and curly as it rested on the towel slung around their shoulders.
“Just thinking,” Ciri hummed, pressing her fingers to her forehead in the way she had often seen Geralt do when he was exasperated with Jaskier.
“About?”
“What if I’m not a girl?” she whined, falling backward onto the wolfskin rug in front of the hearth, staring up at the ceiling with a heavy sigh. “I didn’t even realise that was possible until coming here.”
“And now you’re not sure?” Aiden pressed, coming to sit next to her, pulling her head into their lap so they could card their fingers through her hair.
“No,” she pouted.
“Well, that’s alright. We’re older than we look, you know. It’s taken us years to work it out, and you’re just a kid,” Aiden reassured her, a low purr started to rumble in their chest, “and if you never figure it out, that’s alright too.”
“What if I change my mind?”
“Little lion cub, nothing in life is constant, change is inevitable,” Aiden laughed, pressing a kiss to her forehead. “Lambert is still trying to figure out whether he’s a man who likes dresses or something else, and he’s old enough to be your grandfather.”
Ciri giggled and snuggled up closer to the cat witcher. Geralt might be her Destiny, but these people were all her family, and she couldn’t be more content.
_
Trans Rep Witcher Fics
If you’re coming to this list from a reblog, please click through to the original post as it’s likely been updated with more content!
Please note I haven’t read everything on these lists, so I can’t speak to all they contain, ya dig? Mind the tags etc. <3
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General/Teen:
Jaskier gets diagnosed with ADHD - trans Geralt - Established Geraskier, Geralt brings Jaskier to his appointment - by @jaskierswolf
Nurse Jaskier - trans Geralt & trans Jaskier - Geralt gets hip surgery, Jaskier is his nurse - by @feraljaskier
Jaskier starts following Geralt - trans Jaskier - Jaskier starts following Geralt on the path and the Witcher is 100% supportive and respectful - by @persony-pepper
Just Jaskier - trans Jaskier - Jaskier comes out to supportive, gruff as ever Geralt - by @brasskier
Glory Be - trans Ciri (they/them) - Ciri growing up and settling into their identity as they go, ends pointing towards Ciri/Cerys - by @childoffantasy
❧ Much more under the cut!
The Little Witcher
Rated: T
Status: WIP
Trans Boy Ciri transitioning at Kaer Morhen
Question: before season 2 even started, when we saw what Eskel was going to look like, did anyone else think he was trans? Like idk if it's just me looking for more rep but I looked at him and thought he was trans.....(too bad we won't be able to explore that possibility because well...) like please tell me I'm not the only one (now I want trans Netflix Eskel fanart 😭)
the old hen (she cackled)
AO3 | written for Quick Fic #2
Rating: Mature
Archive Warning: No Archive Warnings Apply
Fandoms: Wiedźmin | The Witcher - All Media Types, Wiedźmin | The Witcher (Video Game)
Characters: Eskel (The Witcher), Vesemir (The Witcher), Original Characters
Additional Tags: Parent Death, Trans Eskel (The Witcher), Murder, Noonwraiths (The Witcher), Investigations, The Inherent Tragedy of Witchers, The Law of Surprise (The Witcher), Whump, Angst, Graphic Description of Corpses, I don't think it's too graphic but tagging just in case, implied racism, the racism is against fantasy lineages to be clear
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Early in the season, a young Eskel stops in one of the mountain villages not far from Kaer Morhen. The alderman listed a short, detail-light request for a Witcher - monsters were plaguing the ruins of the old town square. When the alderman explains that a noonwraith had been seen by farmers on the edge of town, Eskel starts a hunt that will strike at the core of his childhood memories and the innocence he lost so very long ago.