*Chanting* ESKEL! ESKEL! ESKEL! ESKEL! ESKEL!

*Chanting* ESKEL! ESKEL! ESKEL! ESKEL! ESKEL!

someone get him out of there

Okay but, am I the only one who like the idea of The Witcher (Netflix) being like the Netflix show “Castlevania” ?

Just a small warning for people who either haven’t seen The Witcher or Castlevania, there will be spoilers and such, and I heavily suggest giving both a good watch, trust me it’ll be worth your time.

I love the idea of Geralt being a Witcher and Jaskier being the oh so attractive bard, but I also can’t help myself placing them in the world and setting of Castlevania. Hear me out, hear me out—

Geralt being a Belmont? Not the last, having Lambert, Eskel and Vesemir (along with other Witchers if I’m forgetting some) being the only Belmont’s left alive after the purging of them. Geralt just, y’know, likes to be alone is all. Well, that was until coming upon a small village for coin so he can settle. Upon being there, hunting for jobs and asking around, I do full on expect him to come across Speakers.

Now, in Castlevania, The Speakers are a group of nomad scholars who maintain oral stories and traditions. They are persecuted by the Church, who see them as sorcerers and responsible for Dracula's wrath (this small paragraph is from the Castlevania wiki explaining Speakers). I would like to think that, yes, in this mixed world, Dracula is indeed taking over the world from it killing his wife, and I will explain more of that later. But for now, the speakers I’m thinking about are more.... of singers? Not all of them, but young ones. Geralt does stumble upon them, hearing about a speaker who sings gets his attention and then he meets Jaskier.

Julian (who goes by Jaskier) is the youngest of the Speakers, and he is very bright in this dark little world. Going with Geralt after a long fight with creatures, Geralt learns that not only does this Bard like Speaker only carry information from village to village, he can cast spells and is excellent in helping Geralt heal. At first, Geralt doesn’t like the non-stop talking of the speaker, but by the next village, he does learn how smart the Speaker is. He puts in good word for the Belmont’s, sings of them, and Geralt is secretly thankful.

Now, back to Dracula. We can’t keep Ciri out of the mix, being a Child surprise and all, so I would like to think that instead of Alucard, there is Ciri. I know of the games and have heard of the books of The Witcher, but I don’t know a lot about either of them enough to know what Ciri is like in each, so I’ll stick with the nextflic version. Instead of grown up Ciri, I’ll stick with tiny Ciri, escaping the war broken out with Dracula and the world, and searching for the ‘hero’ Belmont who hunts vampires (and more). When she does come across him, she’s also happy to see a speaker who is more than happy to calm her with a song or two.

This is no time to be posting but I couldn’t resist!

This is exchange (and sick jaskier) is from arliadevi’s amazing fic Companionship. Please go read it, it’s very good, very sweet, and from Ciri’s perspective.

Hope you like it <3

I love modern au for The Witcher. I love everything about it, I love all the ideas, headcanons that are made, the fanfics sigh I’m begging for more. I want to share a little something too, just dipping my toes in really.

Everyone knows our spooky boys, Shane and Ryan from their adventures with Buzzfeed Unsolved, bless them. Just to let you all know, for this, I’ll be going off of their supernatural season!

I know people have already connected the two with The Witcher characters, Geralt as Shane, not so scared, doesn’t really believe such stuff and Jaskier as Ryan who is obsessed with such stuff and does believe, but I’d like to give the idea of them actually being the opposite?

This could already be out there, but hear me out. Geralt is a monster nerd in the books, games, and Netflix series, he has to be in order to be prepared to fight said beasts, so it would make sense that he would know a lot about the supernatural side if in a modern setting, obsessed with it in a healthy way (I hope).

Jaskier, who is only but a bard in The Witcher univierse, doesn’t really.... well, know a lot about the monsters of the outside world, so in a modern au, I would believe that he doesn’t really know either.

Basically what I’m saying is that I want Geralt absolutely believing in the paranormal, ghosts and demons and all Cryptids, while Jaskier is totally unaffected by it, he doesn’t believe in them. I want Geralt getting all jittery when they visit places (old n abandoned) to see if ghosts are really there and Jaskier to yell and provoke the spirits, of there is any.

Geralt: we’re turning on this spirit box, so you can communicate through it to us, can you tell us your name?

Spirit box: hotdogs

Jaskier: wow, they seem really hungry, hey how about we go out and get some, me and you spirit!

Geralt: maybe it was a bad idea taking you with me.

(The gif is not mine, it belongs to the rightful owners)

May you give some tips on how to write about the whole castles, royalty, peasants, knights type of story? Hehe thankies!

How to Write About Medieval Europe

The Medieval times play a huge role in many forms of media today, from TV shows to books to movies. It’s often romanticized and glamorized to make for a good plot, and sifting through what’s real and what’s fake can be a daunting task. 

Not to mention that the way of life in the Medieval times is vastly different from our lifestyles now! There was a lot more rules, a lot more pomp and circumstance, and a lot more death!

In this post, I’ll mostly be covering a time period around the 1400s to 1600s, with all of the classic knights, nobles, and kings and queens that everyone has come to know and love!

So how exactly do you write about medieval times?

1.Know the People

The Medieval times attached a lot more importance to titles and wealth than we do today. The number of names and titles can get a bit confusing at times, so please try to bear with me.

All of these are ordered from lowest rank to highest rank. 

Category One- Lower/Middle Classes (Could be collectively called Peasants)

1. Slave

Slaves are bought and sold, usually owned by nobles but sometimes purchased by some of the wealthier peasants to help out with farm work. 

They are seen as property and nothing more, and their masters can do with them as they please. 

There is rarely a penalty for killing or harming one’s own slave, but one may be punished for destruction of property if they killed or harmed a slave that wasn’t theirs.

2. Serf

Not a slave, but not free, either. 

They live on the property of a noble’s manor and are bound by the feudal system to pay rent in shares of their crops. 

They must ask the nobles permission to marry and to leave, but are overall left to their own devices. 

Their lives were still hard, however, and often they starved or fell to sickness. 

They remained serfs, however, mostly because they needed the protection of the nobles’ knights from barbarian invaders.

 If the manor of the noble was sold, the serfs came along with it.

3. Peasant

Peasants may be poor, but they are completely free. 

They often live in villages together and made their livings as masons, blacksmiths, tailors, shoemakers, farriers, carpenters, and much more. 

If they were particularly good at their craft, they may just earn enough money to be considered a noble; social mobility is not as rigid for peasants as it is for serfs and slaves.

Category 2- Knights

Knights are  in an entirely different category from the peasants and the nobility, though they are more closely associated with the nobles and garner just as much/if not more respect as them.

1. Squire

Essentially a knight in training. 

They accompany a knight on their travels and serve as their attendant, learning from the knight’s ways while polishing their armor and being their cupbearer.

2. Knight

Addressed as “Sir (Firstname)” for a man or “Dame(Firstame)” for a woman. 

Knights were hired to protect and are sworn to the code of chivalry, which is a set of rules that dictates behavior on and off the battlefield. 

For instance, knights weren’t permitted to fight an unarmed man or to kill someone whose back was turned. If an enemy was disarmed during a fight, the knight is supposed to wait for them to retrieve their weapon before resuming.

 Knights were required to be expert swordsman and bowman, as well as good riders. They also needed to be good at supporting their super-heavy armor

Category 3- Nobility

All of the nobility classes can have overlapping jobs; their titles vary on account of how much land they own. 

These nobles are given a fief, or a plot of land, by the King/Queen. They are then expected to pay taxes to the ruler and provide soldiers when needed.

1. Lord/Lady

Addressed as “My Lord/My Lady.”

2. Baron/Baroness

Addressed as “My Lord/My Lady.” 

Usually the spouse of a baron/baroness does not share the title and is simply referred to “My Lord/My Lady” unless they’re a baron/baroness in their own right.

3. Viscount/Viscountess

Addressed as “My Lord/My Lady”

4. Earl(Also known as Count)/Countess

Addressed as “Earl of (Place name)/Countess of (Place name)”

5. Marquis/Marquise

Addressed as “Marquis/Marquise of (Place name).

6. Duke/Duchess

Addressed as “Your Grace.”

Owns the most land out of any of the other nobles

Princes and Princesses can be granted titles of Duke and Duchess.

Category 4- Royalty

1. Princes/Princesses

Addressed as “Your Highness.” 

In traditional medieval Europe, the heir to the crown was usually the firstborn son. In the absence of a son, the crown will be given to the firstborn daughter.

They can also be granted other titles such as Duke and Duchess if their parents/siblings who come into power offer them land

A lot of squabbles/dramas caused by heirs; some killed by siblings in order to assume the throne

2. King/Queen

Addressed as “Your Majesty” or “Your Grace.” 

These rulers own all of the land in the kingdom and simply “rent out” property to the nobles, which can be revoked at any time. 

They levy taxes and have their own personal army to protect and wage war against other kingdoms. 

The nomenclature of Kings and Queens can be quite difficult, especially when marriage becomes involved, so I’m going to try my best to help:

When a King inherits the throne: If he marries a woman, she becomes Queen. If he marries a man, that man becomes a Prince.

When a Queen inherits the throne: If she marries a man, he becomes Prince. If she marries a woman, that woman becomes Princess.

2. Do Some Research If You’re Unsure

If you need help figuring out all of the dynamics and certain duties of all of these people, it can help to surf the web! Researching kingdoms such as England, France, and the Holy Roman Empire might help, though be careful; France had emperors and empresses at one point! 

There are very specific differences between different kingdoms, and you have to make sure you take those into account, especially if you’re writing historical fiction!

 3. Some Recommendations that May Be Helpful

Lucky for you, there are a TON of other books, movies, and TV shows that you’ll be able to draw inspiration from! Here are some things that I recommend!

Just a note, many of these aren’t necessarily medieval or focus a lot on fantasy, too, so I’m sorry if some of them aren’t exactly what you’re looking for!

The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer

Game of Thrones on HBO

The Crown on Netflix

The Witcher on Netflix

Reign on Netflix

Victoria on Amazon Prime

The Other Boleyn Girl (2008)

Elizabeth (1998) and Elizabeth: The Golden Age (2007)

Mary Queen of Scots (2018)

Hope this helped, and happy writing!

i had the pleasure of drawing eskel getting some much needed rest for the lovely @theashenphoenix ! proud of how this came out and that i had the patience to pimp out all the tiny details - which turns out is something i really enjoy (•̀ᴗ•́)و

commission info here!