#and more of a fic

[fangirleaconmigo]

Oh my god, I’d read and loved both of those fics but somehow never connected the dots and realized you were the author! Soft geskel taking care of each other and being vulnerable with each other in a way they can’t with anyone else is literally my absolute kryptonite, so thank you for reminding me to re-read both of those soon!

I’ve got my tissues and ice cream ready, hit with me with the dark and heartbreaking geskel trials era headcanons 💔

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh. You are so sweet for saying that, thank you.

My Eskel, Geralt, and the Witcher Trials Headcanons

I am actually thrilled that you have asked this. I have spent so many hours over the past year and a half (!) lovingly crafting these headcanons, but have never quite had the guts to share them. 

Sometimes one little push is all it takes. XD

I actually have a whole ass epic Geralt/Eskel fic, from kids to old witchers inside me. So these headcanons are essentially that longfic, some of which I have written out already in fic form on the ol gdrive. (so it is a long post)

So here are my never-shared-before but lovingly-crafted-during-extended-daydreams witcher trial headcanons for Geralt x Eskel. 

CW: The inherent horrors of the witcher trials, but also some healing from trauma.

Arriving at Kaer Morhen

When Eskel first shows up at Kaer Morhen as a kid, the kids tease him for being barefoot, for not being literate, and about the common stereotype of mountain folks and incest. (Here is my post with my Eskel characterizations to explain all that)

Geralt grew up in Kaer Morhen from a baby (using the book canon here) so he already has a handle on things. He defends Eskel, and from that day on, Eskel just quietly and shyly follows him around with hearts in his eyes.

It makes Geralt feel amazing. He sees that helping people can make you valuable and important. It kicks off his desire to be a knight. (Of course he has value even when he isn’t serving people, but he doesn’t understand that yet)

Eskel is the single person who has seen him that way from the beginning. And of course, Eskel is genuine and sweet and straightforward, so Geralt is just as besotted with him.

Geralt takes him under his wing. He teaches him how to read. He is gutsy enough to make dry sarcastic comments to their instructors in Eskel’s defense if they come down on him for being behind.

I think about how when you’re a kid, if you are in a difficult/abusive/unhappy household, the sweet feeling of having crushes at school really do bring you happiness you can look forward to every day. It’s like a shining bright spot in your existence. So that is the way it is for them.

They choose desks that let them see the other. They try to get chosen for exercises that will put them together. They just drift towards each other in every way they can, like sunflowers turning towards the sun. 

Preparing for the Trials

The trials are coming. Someone tells them that the trials will dim their emotional responses. 

Geralt is looking forward to that. He has latched onto being a witcher as something he can use to save people. To have value. To be somebody. It is the only meager crumb of a dream he has, and it allows him to have hope that he can be worthy someday.

Eskel full on panics. Like panic attacks. If he loses his emotions, he will lose the one thing that makes his life worth living, and that is the happiness he feels when he is with Geralt. (I wrote a little ficlet here about it. It is the beginning of the longer fic I’ve been working on)

The Trials

Eskel goes first. It is the most horrible pain he has ever felt in his life. He thinks he is dying. He thinks he is dead. He prays for death. But he survives.

When Eskel wakes up, the first thing he does is vow to himself that Geralt will not go through that alone. Not after everything he has done for him. The one good thing is that this impulse means he has not lost his emotions.

So when it is Geralt’s turn, Eskel finds a crawlspace in the dirt under the laboratories and he hides under the floorboards. Geralt may not be able to see him, but at least Eskel will know Geralt is not alone.

It turns out he was wrong. His trials were not the most excruciating pain he could experience. It is far, far more painful listening to Geralt scream and not being able to help him.  When he hears Geralt call out for him, he comes up through the trapdoor and tries to free Geralt. He is caned and tossed back in his room. By then Geralt was delirious and fully in psychosis, so he could not have possibly seen that Eskel was there.

When Geralt wakes up, he sees Eskel, and the affectionate response in his chest confirms his worst fear. He failed the trials. He will be nobody and nothing and of no use to anyone.

He tries to put distance between him and Eskel, but it doesn’t help.  He is chosen for a second round of trials, which he assumes is happening because he failed. Because everyone can see how he feels when he looks at Eskel. 

Since Geralt is avoiding him, and avoiding smiling at him, Eskel thinks Geralt has lost his emotions. It breaks his heart, mostly because the idea of Geralt losing the things that make him happy, guts him. But he also just misses him.

And when Geralt is taken to his second round of trials, he resolves to be with him again.

They have blocked off the trapdoors, so all he can do is sit on the floor in the shadows outside the laboratories. He is farther away, but he is still there.

When he hears the screams this time, he just quietly cries.

When the door to the laboratory opens, they are not surprised to see Eskel there. They give him a delirious, fevered Geralt to carry back to the dormitory.

There are so many dead boys now, they are down to one dormitory for their year. They have been moved into the same room. Their bunks are right next to each other. 

When Geralt awakes, he confesses to Eskel that he has failed again. He is a failure.

Eskel asks him how he knows.

Geralt confesses it is because of what he feels when he is with him.

Eskel crawls into his bed with him and they huddle together. 

He tells Geralt that it is a good thing that he has his emotions. If Geralt lost his emotions, then Eskel would be alone. He begs him not to leave him alone. He would never leave Geralt alone, ever. He was even there during his first trial.

It occurs to Geralt. Was that psychotic delusion he had, of Eskel bursting out of the trapdoor real? Eskel tells him that yes, it was real.

Geralt finally understands. Eskel matters more than all of the theoretical people out there that he could save. He needs Eskel. Eskel needs him. That is important too. That matters.

They will both pretend they have lost their emotions and no one will send Geralt for more trials. And they will always have each other.

Post trials

For awhile they stay away from each other in public, and only spend time together in private in the dormitories. 

But time passes and little by little, they see secret displays of emotions from other trainees and they realize that everyone still has their emotions. They have simply been trained to hide them better. 

So slowly but surely, they are more open about their affection for each other. They sit next to each other at dinner again. They whittle together on breaks again. They try to be chosen for the same activities.

It is their way of quiet rebellion.

The instructors, hard men that they are, do not begrudge them this one comfort. Not now that they have their medallions.

Lambert

When Lambert is brought to Kaer Morhen, he instantly latches onto them. He starts following them around. Most normal kids (kids who had not been through the trials) might have ditched a younger kid. But they don’t. 

They grow very protective of him. 

They realize with dawning horror that no one is going to warn the younger kids about what the trials will really be like. That most of their friends will be wheeled out dead and blue and buried in a mass grave of tiny bodies. That they will feel the worst pain of their lives.

They try to get Lambert out before the trials. They arrange for him to escape.

When he realizes what they are doing...when they actually offer him the out...he refuses it.

His mother is dead now. He has nowhere else to go. And he couldn’t leave the only two people he has ever trusted in his life. He thinks they must be exaggerating the trials. They think he can’t do it. He can do it.

When he survives, he always sees Geralt and Eskel as the only two people who told him the truth. Who tried to help him. That is why he loves them for the rest of his life, regardless of what he thinks about Kaer Morhen.

Leaving for the Path

It comes time for them to leave for the path. They will be apart for the first time since Eskel came to Kaer Morhen.

Since Eskel spent the first part of his childhood in a normal home, he is the first to make that connection from what they feel to what his parents felt.

He decides to tell Geralt he loves him.

He lies awake the entire week leading up to it, trying to work out the perfect words to say. Trying a thousand different ways of saying it.

He chickens out every time, so he decides to write it down.

He slips the letter into Geralt's saddlebags the night before.

Geralt catches him. He tells him first that he loves him. They go further than they have ever gone that night, because they know the monsters could get either one of them their first year on the path.

They spend the night in each other's arms, and no one in Kaer Morhen has a thing to say about it.

Healing from the Trials

It takes decades. It takes the sacking of Kaer Morhen. It takes years and years for them to fully understand how vicious and cruel it was, what happened to them.

They talk about it sometimes, but don’t quite know how to process it. But one night, Geralt is reminiscing. There was a kid who was kind to him, and who disappeared after the trials. He remembers the kids name and some identifying characteristics. After all these years, he still misses his friend.

The next spring, Eskel asks Geralt to come with him on a job. But it is not a job. Eskel has spent the entire year tirelessly tracking down that witcher boy, that friend that Geralt missed.

In the books, Calanthe talks of the boys who are so injured or disabled or their minds so damaged by the trials that they cannot be witchers. 

What Geralt and Eskel didn’t realize as children, is that they all didn’t leave for mass graves. Some of them survived but were deemed too damaged and were abandoned.

So they sit with that man in his cottage and talk late into the night. They drink tea and learn about how he has survived on his own. He learns about the sacking of Kaer Morhen, how the mages are gone from the place now, and how it now belongs to them, the witchers.

They invite him to come with them and he accepts.

So for the next few decades, they make it their mission, along with Lambert and Vesemir and Coën, to track down any remaining witchers deemed too damaged or disabled to be of use.

The ones that are impoverished or struggling, they invite to live at Kaer Morhen. Some are thriving and just never wanted to think about Kaer Morhen again. Some would never set foot back in the place if you paid them. But most of them are glad to be invited. They have watched everyone around them die of old age and they are glad to be invited back into the fold by their friends, who were also victims.

They build a new Kaer Morhen. It becomes full again with talking, laughter, communal projects, and even game nights.

They have spent their lives feeling the melancholy of people who are the last of their kinds. Suddenly, their world has expanded again. They not only understand how cruel the trials were, but they understand that they have the power to build something better.

When Geralt told Eskel he loved him all those years ago, and they shamelessly stayed together in the same bed for the night, they were the first witchers to openly express their love for each other.

Now they (along with Lambert and Vesemir and Coen) make Kaer Morhen a place of family instead of torture and science experiments. They bring in their first witcher girl, Ciri, and a child is shown love instead of torture.

Having thrown off the yoke of the mages, and having spent many years understanding what happened to them, and what they could do to rebuild, they redefine what it is to live as a witcher.

They also become the first witchers to ever be married to each other.

They get married out on the yard where they used to take their breaks to whittle together.

#the witcher #geralt of rivia #eskel #geskel #geralt x eskel #ok it's less of a list of headcanons #and more of a fic #that i am writing #but #i hope you enjoy

[bamsara]

"youve already written that trope" yesss. i like it a lots. i will be writing it again. 1000 stories of the same trope over and over again for ten million years

#'enemies to lovers' BANGER #'one is bridal carrying the other while theyre injured' BANGER #'sacrifice of something important' BANGER #'drunken chapter that results in at least one fist fight' BANGER #theres more but only me and readers who have read all of my fics througout fandoms will help me find the patterns #sara shush

[cemeterything]

are we still doing this because i have a late submission

#🐉 #this is less about fan content and more about that awful lazy one size fits all #'10 years later theyre happily married with a cute little nuclear family' trope #because ive read some genuinely incredible fics about characters who would Not fucking have kids #ending up with accidental pregnancy scares or child acquisitions that get treated with all the nuance #and thoughtful handling they deserve #but also. i reread one of my favourite fics yesterday and when one character jokingly brought up the idea of children #and the other reacted with genuine visceral disgust and said what hideously awful parents theyd be #i lit up like a fucking christmas tree

[pocket-dragon]

Durge murder aura detected

#Dusk is a smol bean and all i do is put them in situations #these two share a warriors bond #baldur's gate 3 #BG3 #baldurs gate 3 #lae'zel #tav #Durge #the dark urge #resist durge #they are trying their best #dusk #dnd #comic #u can actually read more about them on AO3 #im pintsizeddragon #which is to say you can read karlach/druge fics on my ao3

[ashrayus]

rough night

#jason todd #dick grayson #jason todd fanart #dick grayson fanart #dc comics #dc #cant even lift his arm up fully iykwim #idk man just give me more h/c fics with them i need to read moree #my art

[reineydraws]

jason is a grandpa's boy and u cant take this away from me!!! they cook together, they discuss literature together, and when jay comes back, they clean their guns together haha. ofc they celebrate their birthday together too! 😌

✨️🎂 hbd jay & alfie 🎂✨️

#jason todd #alfred pennyworth #batfamily #batfamily fanart #dc #dc fanart #batman #red hood #dc red hood #they have one of those relationships where jason outright says he loves alfred the most and alfred refuses to say he has a fave grandkid #but it's kind of just concensus that it's jason cuz he's the only one allowed in the kitchen #i am also a heavy believer in the hc that for a while there jason wouldnt meet up with anyone but alfred #and theyd meet for tea and stuff outside the manor #i love those fics #i was gonna draw an in-between angsty one where alf has a picnic by jay's grave with tea and cake for two but i dont have the energy 😅 #i was also gonna draw a red hood and agent A one with the guns they were cleaning but again: no more energy 💀 #mb i'll save that one for later. i still love the idea so much. :')

[magnusbae]

To illustrate this post by @mayahawkse I would like to visualize to you the difference:

A post in 2023:

A post in 2014:

A zoom out of the same post:

This is what a community looks like.

See how in 2023 almost all of the reblogs come from the OP, from their few hours/days in the tag search. Meanwhile in 2014 the % of reblogs from OP is insignificant, because most of the reblogs come from the reblogs within the fandom, within the micro-communities formed there. You didn't need to rely on tags, or search, or being featured. Because the community took care of you, made sure to pass the work between themselves and onto their blog and exposed their followers to it. It kept works alive for years.

It's not JUST the reblog/like ratio that causing this issue, it's the type of interaction people have. They're content with scrolling and liking the search engine, instead of actually having a reblogging relationship with other blogs in their community.

Anyways, if you want to see more content you like, the only true way to make it happen is to reblog it. Likes do not forward content in no way but making OP feel nice. Reblogs on the other hand make content eternal. They make it relevant, they make it exist outside of a fickle tumblr search that hardly works on the best of days.

If you want more of something, reblog it.

#i said i wont ever rant about this bc it's unseemly but HONESTLY. #you simply cannot complain about not having enough of A or B or C and then never reblog / interact with the content you love. #If you LOVE something you cannot just leave a like and silently wait for more to happen #I know countless of content creators that simply stopped doing art/writing fic/making edits #You need to understand that fandom content is made FOR the fandom FOR the engagement FOR the entertainment and fun it makes. #If a content creator does not have fun IN the fandom-- why would they spend the scares free time they have on making this content? #And we're not talking about things that you don't like-- no one expects you to reblog things you don't like. #However I think it's safe to say that when a post has more than 5k it's not some random shitpost with no value. #tumblr issues #tumblr #content creators #buns.txt #something something please don't starve your local clowns

[frownyalfred]

want your favorite author to update but don’t want to be too pushy in their comment section?

here’s 5 things you can do to encourage them:

Reblog their fic link on tumblr (bonus if it’s with tags)

Bookmark the fic with a note about what you’re excited about/love in the fic

Recommend the fic to your friends or local discord channel

Draw art or create other media for the fic (as indicated by the author’s comfort level)

Leave them a comment when re-reading about the parts of the chapter/story that stood out to you the second time

#this isn’t about me #this is just what I think a lot of authors would appreciate #more than the ‘update soon!!!’ comments #fic #fanfic #fanfiction #ao3 #archive of our own #writing things #writing #reading things #reading #tips and tricks

[lazylittledragon]

if i had a nickel for every au spawned from twitter that i SWORE i was going to be normal about

#i'd have like. five. which isn't a lot but IT KEEPS HAPPENING #stranger things #platonic stobin #steddie #steve harrington #robin buckley #eddie munson #here we go again boys #i've had this floating in my head for a Minute and i was like #nah i'm not gonna do it #maybe i'll anonymously write a fic #but no we're mombin posting on main #i think on twt we agreed it's a 'what's the worst that could happen' situation #platonic co parents can be so so so personal #also i have One more stobin wip and then bg3 again i swear #when i have a baby i Will be putting my giant black wings on beforehand #they have to know what kind of family they're coming into #cw pregnancy

[mylittleredgirl]

playing a new game where i talk about fandom using words that belong on corporate powerpoint slides like:

✨ we have to align our headcanons to authentically reflect our strategic mission and meet quarterly margin objectives ✨

sorry to everyone who understood that

#translation: 'everyone should agree with my obviously correct takes so there will be more fic i like in the tag' #add something about the ability to 'quickly pivot in response to changing market trends' if it's a fandom with actively airing canon

[audhd-nightwing]

13 y/o dick grayson, holding 9 y/o jason todd like a stray cat: bruce, i got a little brother!

bruce, doing paperwork for WE, not paying attention: that’s great, chum

. . .

bruce, several hours later: wait, what?!

dick: it’s okay, alfred said we can keep him!

#i need more fics like this PLS #dc comics #batman #batman comics #bruce wayne #dick grayson #jason todd #alfred pennyworth #batfamily

[fox-guardian]

man this sucks (<- likes a niche character that hardly has any fan content)

#ramblings with major #im like half the danny tag blease im suffering #i need more of my guy #happy fun wholesome stokers When #there is some but i need More #especially in fic form

[hattersarts]

a third old man yaoi has hit the lesbian

(acd canon dated, mostly based on granada series)

#sherlock holmes #granada holmes #granada johnlock #john watson #accidently read some acd holmes fic thanks to jooster and then read more #god i havent drawn for like a week and im so disorientated #did you know moving house is very time consuming

[selineram3421]

здраствуйте можно сделать реакцию на ревность аластора

Translated:

Hi, can I get a reaction to Alastor's jealousy?

Yes.

Jealousy Headcanons

Alastor X Reader

Warning! ⚠

⚠ platonic to romantic, violence, all caps in bold italics = SOUND EFFECTS, implied torture/murder, gore? eyeballs, possessive? Alastor wants all of your attention ⚠

Alastor has never felt jealous! How absurd of you to think that! Hahaha! Ha... Who is that demon taking up your attention?

He always had your attention.

You could be talking to the Princess but still focus on him.

Hell, you could be checking in a guest and still keep up with his tale of the day.

But now it was quite odd.

There was a demon coming by the hotel, not to see if they were interested in the cause but to use up his friend's precious time.

Even now the beastly thing walked up to the check in counter and started up a conversation with you.

He watched from the bar.

"Hey! I see its dead as ever in here.", the dragon demon grinned as they leaned on the counter.

"Not true~", you had replied. "I checked in four new guests!"

Yes, you had a knack of persuasion. Able to convince many to do almost anything. Sometimes even him.

"Oh yeah? How many sinners walked in?", the scaled creature leaned close.

Far too close for his liking.

"I just told you how many.", you replied and placed a finger on the dragon's snout, pushing them back as well. "Personal space."

He didn't like this demon.

Everything about them set something off. Their manners, their way of speaking, the way they move-

"Oh come on, I don't bite sugar cake~", the beast took your hand and kissed their way up to your elbow.

The way they t̵̬̥̻͂̿̈́ȏ̴̒͠u̸c̷̈́̊̆́̓͘h̷e̴̖̖͒̓͂͋̎ḑ̴̣̋͜ you.

"Nope!", you yanked your arm away and held it close. "None of that.", you laughed nervously with an uncomfortable smile.

It looked wrong. Your smile should be a happy one.

"I said I don't bite!", they laughed and tried to grab at your arm again. "You know I'm messing! When's your break?", they leaned over the counter, still trying to get at something to pull you closer. "I know a good bar to go to, or we can go to the club! I'd like to see your ass in something a little less-"

"Ew, no.", you rejected and backed away.

"Come on!", they started to climb on the counter. "Its just one time! I'll even help you get in and out of your clothes.", they grabbed onto your sleeve.

That's ENOUGH!

He quickly shadow traveled and snatched the wrist of the dragon.

"I believe they said no."

The beast growled with a sneer before looking at him, freezing up once realizing who had their wrist.

"I was just joking man. Haha..", the dragon looked between him and you. "I understand! I'll back away. The slut is yours."

"Excuse me!?", you said angrily.

His antlers grew, the low static that hummed now raising up in volume.

"₵₳ⱤɆ ₮Ø ⱤɆ₱Ɇ₳₮ ₮Ⱨ₳₮?"

"The slut-"

SNAP

He held the demon's snout shut as they screamed and cried over their broken wrist.

"Now, there is a no killing rule in the hotel.", he said and then grinned menacingly. "But that doesn't apply outside."

His smile widened after seeing the panic in their eyes.

"Dear.", he turned to face you. "Has this guest overstayed their welcome?"

You stared at the beast with such a terrifyingly hateful glare.

"Yes they have.", you replied, crossing your arms. "I'd like to keep a souvenir, for memories."

And then you gave him that lovely smile.

"Alastor, do you think you could get me a dragon eye or two? I hear they make nice details to things."

"I'll make sure to get them.", he released the demon, only for his tendrils to take hold of them. "I won't be long.", he reassured, lifting up your hand to kiss the back of it.

He saw you blush before he 'escorted' the demon outside.

After finishing up (and calling Niffty to clean up), he returned with two freshly picked dragon eyes.

You thanked him with an odd little gleam in your eyes. No doubt your mind jumping idea to idea of what you could create with them.

Now with the pest gone, he would have your attention again.

Just like he wanted

"Thank you Alastor. I'll be able to make something interesting with these."

"I can't wait to see what you make this time."

Perhaps he'll ask you that question sooner than later.

Of course he has to prepare everything to properly court you.

I am using a website to translate requests. Please let me know if I have translated anything wrong.

~Seline, the person.

Taglist@

@willowaudreykeyes @biromanticboba @kiraisastay @pooplyface1423 @ducky-died-inside @scary-noodlesblog @lbcreations-blog @c4rved-pumpk1n @stolas-thebirb @+?

ML for Alastor🎙

#alastor #alastor hazbin hotel #hazbin alastor #x reader #hazbin hotel alastor #alastor the radio demon #gn reader #the radio demon #alastor x reader #headcanons #alastor headcanons #jealousy #implied murder #implied torture #gore? #eyeballs #this turned out more like a fic #he do want all your attention tho

[you-were-meteowrong]

reblog for bigger sample size

#i dont understand bookmarking everything to keep track of progress #like... #i just subscribe and read it IMMEDIATELY when i get an update email #i bookmark fics i'd personally recommend #i like looking at what my readers bookmarked #or what a fave writer bookmarked #gives me more stuff to read! #my thoughts #text #polls #my polls #ao3 #ao3 writer #fanfic #fic #writing

[aitadjcrazytimes]

#lmao #for anyone who's curious the process went: #send ask to aita official #blog blows up #someone realizes its a chexer fic #i follow them bc they seem cool #i join their rvb server #their encouragement pushes me to finish the Actual Fic i was working on #i expand the fic to be more of a whole au after it comes out much better than expected #the next fic in the au that i work on has to do with a character's brain injury #this leads me to do research into brain injuries #''......huh. this sounds. a lot like the neurological symptoms that my doctors have been saying is just part of my anxiety disorder'' #think on that for a while #go to the ER for unrelated reasons #remember my theory #bring it up to the doctor #Doctor Immediate Concern #doctors orders a ct scan #''eeyup! that there's some atrophying and a chiari malformation! y'ever had a head injury'' #(i had had several) #''well! shit! time to refer you to neurosurgery :) see if we cant do somethin about all that memory loss and severe pain and shit'' #and now we are here #it also lead me to research osddid systems for the first fic #and now my therapist is having me tested for osdd because i did not know that those symptoms were not a thing everyone experiences #so like. thanks for helping me meet friends who could encourage me to engage with the things i like + learn more about myself #^ ^ <3 #im actually not gonna say ''ok last update fr this time'' bc idfk maybe something WOULD be funny to post on here