#duality of witchers

[camouflagedpath]

So basically it’s been confirmed that whenever we see Tissaia with her hair down, it’s because something unspeakably awful is going to happen seconds later.

[hanzajesthanza]

nooo like reading maria janion's such comprehensive overview of vampires and what defines a vampire and how the myth changes through times and authors, as entirely expected, has contributed to my regis brainrot.

because though it's obvious how many tropes regis subverts as he literally talks about himself, it's more overwhelming when they're all summarized focused on examples from across history and the literature canon, and pretty much hitting none of them or fucking with all of them. because it's not that he just doesn't fit in within his own fantasy universe, but that he doesn't fit in within the broader canonical definition...

"my personal vision of fantasy (...) he is not the typical vampire bloodsucker, according to the dictates of the canon" ... uggghhhh sapkowski, in his witcher, by challenging all genre expectations and tropes, creates all of these characters that don't fit in anywhere, neither in their universe or in the broader canon. and thus, can only find fraternity with each other

i was just reading like 'so... so he doesn't fit in *anywhere*... 🥺'. regis in baptism of fire explaining how he doesn't conform to either vampiric expectations of vampires (socially, for his personal principles) nor of human expectations of vampires (biologically, for his literal existence). but it even goes farther when you look beyond the witcher and to the broader literary and mythological canon. in practically every understanding of a vampire he would not be recognized as one of them... and does he even want to.

[skirtsarenice]

Video game geralt looks like a goddamn puppy. I don’t know how anyone could be scared of this sweet, earnest little man, his eyes go all soft and comforting when he talks. Idk I just get mine therapy dog vibes from him. The fact that I play him as getting distracted by every flower I come across doesn’t help lol.

[theoldgaylion]

Me looking at book!Geralt: i want to be him

Me looking at games!Geralt: i want to fuck him

[deacf-coffee-is-a-sin]

more of you witcher girlies need to get on elric of melniboné

[twistedappletree]

give me the answer to one thing—

tell me, can you hear me?

tell me, can you hear us now?

[zoeysdamn]

||The Witcher tarot | Justice | Radovid V||

[Other cards of the Witcher tarot can be found here and on my Instagram art account]

[DO NOT REPOST OR REUSE WITHOUT LEGAL AND EXPLICIT AUTHORIZATION]

It was pretty obvious to me to put Radovid on this card. Although I’ve settled the rule to only draw characters from the book series and that he’s technically still a child in those, I couldn’t resist. To me, he’s fed with a deep, gut-wrenching thirst for justice; not because he wants to be morally good, but because he felt like he was deeply betrayed by Philippa Eilhart and the Northern kingdoms. This obsession with bringing himself justice takes a very wrong turn with his witch hunts, but he’s not a completely blood-thirsted tyrant either (I mean, pretty much every ruler in The Witcher Universe is a prick, so he’s not as bad as one another). 

For his clothes, I tried to mix his game’s outfit with some typical 15th-ish century polish noble fashion; I think I failed, I’m by no means a specialist in that field lmao. The fur collar and sleeves are a symbol of his high social status, but also a parallel and opposition to the feathers on Philippa’s outfit (because we do love rival duality). 

[flowercrown-bard]

My headcanons for which Witcher would like doing which hobby (aka. me projecting my own hobbies onto them)

Geralt - whittling: it's just practical. He's probably already carrying a knife and there's plenty of wood to be found in the forests. For whittling, you can do rough cuts or you can add details and be gentle with the wood. You can either get lost in repetitive motions and sounds or you can make yourself concentrate really hard. I think the duality of it is perfect for mr "i don't choose sides"

Eskel - knitting: out or all the wolves, he's the one who looks the most frightening but also the kindest and most polite one (If i remember correctly, in the books Ciri was afraid of him when she saw him, but he's really polite to Triss and asks her for help). I think he wouldn't go with a craft like whittling, because he doesn't want people to see him handle something as dangerous as knives for fun. Knitting is about the least intimidating craft. It's associated with grandmas and once he's done, he has something soft and warm, just how he would like to be perceived. Also he's from the hillfolk and i headcanon that his family used to make wool themselves so he working with wool reminds him of his childhood

Lambert - drawing: people don't expect him to have the patience for drawing or the appreciation for beautiful things. So learning how to draw started out as a big fuck you to anyone who dared assume they knew anything about Lambert. Yes, he's full of anger and can be aggressive. But much of his anger is directed at the people who made him a witcher. He hates being a witcher and everything that's associated with that, so for him, picking up an artform like drawing is an act of rebellion. Secretly, it also has a different use: Lambert lost so people. His family, Volthere. Maybe Lambert is afraid of one day forgetting what those people looked like, so he makes sure to drae a picture of everyone he likes, so he can have something to remember them by if they die before him

Vesemir - cooking: his family deserves nice warm meals when they come home. And in a strange way experimenting with herbs is a way for him to cope with the experiments he used to do on the trainees before. It's learning to take this curiosity and ability to combine things and using them for something good and happiness-inducing instead of using it to mutate children

Bonus: Aiden - Embroidery: being able to use needle and thread to fix things is just very useful and with embroidery you get to stab something a thousand times

[haldenlith]

I still love Witcher-AU Astarion in my head. As I've rambled before, he comes out quite good in this universe. Exceptionally hard to kill, immune to sunlight, immune to 'holy water' and water in general, doesn't need an invitation, superior strength, can go invisible...

And he's not even a Higher Vampire. He's a mid-grade Mula (they're not used in the game, but they seem to be basically the male counterpart to Bruxa).

I like that he's got the duality of man-vs-beast going on.

Rambling below the cut:

While he can't quite hide all the hallmarks of his original form (the red eyes, the white/silver hair, the ears... the fangs, though they're not nearly as big), he can still be a pretty boy and leave most people none-the-wiser with a well-placed tale of woe ("I was cursed with red eyes and sharp teeth by a witch, boo hoo!").

He normally keeps everything well hidden, even carrying a sword to use when trouble arises in the public eye (even though his claws are just as sharp). He is willing to let the guise drop under certain circumstances, generally away from prying eyes... or when he knows he can just generally get away with it. (Astarion does so love terrorizing bandits. Nivh tends to call it "playing with his food.")

Usually, Astarion behaves, keeping his jaws off the common folk (when in towns). That's not to say that he keeps his hands to himself. Even in the grim-dark Witcher universe, he's still a hedonist. And this Astarion can taste booze properly. If Nivh can't drag him along on a job, he usually returns to the vampire being neck deep in wine, finery, and women (and/or men), and generally pissing their coin away.

That's not to say he's a total drag on his favorite witcher. He does have a silver tongue when haggling, and generally gets the both of them better opportunities than when Nivh is left to do the talking.

His morals are still very questionable. The only reason Astarion suggests helping anyone is only because there's a potential profit of coin to be made. Money speaks louder than violence in cities, and is power in its own right.

He's still on the run from Cazador, but as long as he stays away from Nilfgard, he's largely free to enjoy the benefits and fun of traveling with an ornery elf-witcher.

[highlordofkrypton]

Clark ☺️

I-- U REALLY WANNA SEE ME EMBARRASS MYSELF ON MY HUH

How I feel about this character

My love, my life, my entire sunshine. Clark is a character that has been with me for a long time. I grew up watching him with my family and I don't have a great relationship w/ my parents, but Smallville and the OG Superman movies with Christopher Reeve are the only times we would get together and be normal. I actually don't have many other good memories of my childhood. The rest is absence or trauma!

Also, the irony of my love of Superman is when people tell me I should be nicer and absolutely good because I like him. I will poo poo on any man that tells me that, BUT I do believe in being the change I wanna see in the world which is why I choose to act with kindness first, etc. People forget Superman can be firm too.

I just think Clark Kent is such a positive and human character with great empathy. What a beautiful duality, an alien with godly powers who reflects the most wonderful parts of humanity. I know a lot of people think he's boring, too, but I think he goes through so much.

This character is my peace.

ANYWAY, I LOVE HIM SO MUCH!!!! MY LIL SUNSHINE ABSORBER!!!

Random story that had me wheezing in a high tea shop that you might find funny @tamlindair bc you'd know who this actor is, I have a Superman tattoo and he is not based on any real person (I specifically asked the tattoo artist who IS NOT BROWN BTW to not model him after any actor), and one of the hostesses who was brown asked me "OMG IS THAT SHAH RUKH KHAN AS SUPERMAN?" I cried I'm ITS NOT BUT LIKE HOW RANDOM 😂 (me when this happened: 🥲😭 )

All the people I ship romantically with this character

Everyone. Literally everyone. You give me a character and I will make it work. Who I've written him with so far (not all of them worked out): Lois Lane, Bruce Wayne, Barry Allen, Orm Marius, Gojo Satoru, Lambert (Witcher series), Thomas Wayne, Diana Prince, uh... that's who I can think of for now!

My non-romantic OTP for this character

BARRY ALLEN!!!!!!!!!! OH MY GOOOOOD DON'T GET ME STARTED ON THEIR MIDWESTERN BESTFRIENDSHIP I LOVE THEM SO MUCH. It also helps that my writing partner's main muse is Barry, so they have been up to soooo many shenanigans and supportive of each other.

My unpopular opinion about this character

I like seeing the weight on Clark's shoulders when it comes to saving the world, it's one of the things I appreciated with the Zack Snyder series, if nothing else. I wish it wasn't the only thing showcased in that version because there's something to be said about the loneliness of hearing all the world's pain and still choosing to smile. I don't see many people diving into the loneliness/depression, but that could also be me projecting in my writing who knows! Either way, no matter how heavy things get, there's a reason he's called the Man of Tomorrow. (At least, that's how I like to see it 😊

One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon.

Oh my god, there's SO MUCH that happens in canon that I can't keep up. I'm not up to date with current comics, especially Supersons, but I really wish that there was more nuance to the choice of Clark having a child with Lois. I always imagined Lois to be hyper career driven, and I really like the idea of house-husband Clark. I wish we would see more of that; I know they both would support each other and prioritize their careers, but I'm really fond of Clark being a stay-at-home dad doing domestic things and helping Jon with silly school things. Love those lighthearted moments.

OH and I will ALWAYS take more of Clark with his nephews and nieces in the batfam (AND MORE FLASHFAM LOVE FROM CLARK TOO!!!) Barry and Clark deserve more screentime and adventures together, it would be SO wholesome!!

[rotisseries]

ASKING U ABT CIRI WITCHERS BOOKS? TELL ME MORE

OK SO. the fun thing about the witcher books is that they were written by a Man In The 80s. so you have moments where it's like. oh how unexpectedly progressive of you!!! (very cool pro choice scene) and other moments where it was very much Written By A Man In The 80s. so. miss cirilla fiona elen riannon is actually a PERFECT example of this duality because she is fundamentally a joint main protag like this series is just as much about her journey as it is about geralt's and she's a teenage girl written with a lot of depth and care and compassion. and also sometimes it's just fucking weird. like this series encompasses a large span of time so while she starts the series at like. 12. a large portion of her story happens at like. the 15 to 16 range. so there's like. the occasional weird shit and then there's generally too many. threats of sexual violence against her like I cannot overstate that. a main plot point is that elves want to impregnate her because she has special elven heritage or something idfk I need to reread. BUT. MOST MEMORABLE OFFENSE IN MY MIND. IS THE FACT SHE'S CANONICALLY SAPPHIC (yay) AND IT'S WRITTEN FUCKING WEIRD (nooo) SO. there's an arc where she gets separated from geralt for awhile and he's trying to find her (with a fun little found family btw. while she's like. having the greatest suffering of her fucking life and she's ALREADY lost her grandmother to war and fire atp) and it's the first time she's truly been on her own. she's 15 she's been hanging with him since she was 12 he's been her gruff dad for several years now. so this ends up as kind of a very dark point in her life she first has to survive through this desert and then she gets attacked by bandits??? I think??? older men though which is the main threat. and she's captured and scared and then!! she gets rescued by this teenaged bandit group and this is where it's a dark point in her life bc they are a very toxic friend group for her it's not good these aren't really like. moral bandits like overall her time with them isn't great for her BUT. the first night she stays with them one of the boys in the group tries to assualt her. gently of course. 🙄 but the other girl in the group, (I REMEMBER THIS BITCH'S NAME. FUCKING MISTLE) runs him off but then she ALSO makes sexual advances on ciri SHE LITERALLY DOES THE SAME THING THE BOY DID and CIRI GOES WITH IT BUT IT'S LIKE. THERE'S NO ENTHUSIASTIC CONSENT HERE OR ANYTHING SHE'S UNCOMFORTABLE SHE'S NOT READY I THINK SHE CRIES HANG ON IT'S REALLY BAD LEMME SEE IF I CAN FIND IT LIKE I CAN'T OVERSTATE THIS ENOUGH IT'S TEXTUALLY SEXUAL ASSAULT

look at this shit.

"but rori," you may say, "this is awful, but why point to this as canon sapphicness? rape is not representation" and you are RIGHT. SO TRUEEE. unfortunately. ciri continues to date this bitch. they have an extended romantic relationship for months. or longer. while ciri rides around with them harassing random villages. SO. CIRI'S ONLY CANONICAL SAPPHIC RELATIONSHIP. WHICH IS MEANT TO BE HER BEING SAPPHIC BTW BC THE AUTHOR SAID SOME SHIT IN AN INTERVIEW OR SMTH ABOUT WANTING TO GO AGAINST STEREOTYPES OR WHATEVER WHERE THE PRINCESS ALWAYS ENDS UP WITH SOME MAN. KEEP THAT IN MIND BTW IT'LL BE RELEVANT AGAIN. BUT ANYWAY. ONLY CANONICAL SAPPHIC RELATIONSHIP AND CANONICAL EVIDENCE OF CIRI BEING SAPPHIC AND IT'S. IT'S FUCKING. IT FUCKING STARTS WITH A RAPE. ANDRZEJ SAPOWSKI I WILL KILL YOU

and then. AND THEN. even better. actually objectively a better situation than this one but it sours it further to me. so she's like? technically bisexual I think? in the sense that she has a female "love interest" and later a male one. but it's just. it's not anything specific but the way it's written is just like. it feels more like he wrote her as a lesbian and then just changed his mind at the last book. because the final book is her telling this man she meets about the shit she went through (this is well after mistle btw like I think it's been a few years) and then they like. leave somewhere together at the end of the book? and it's not really romantic but it simultaneously reads like maybe it's supposed to be (AND OH HEY REMEMBER THAT BIT ABOUT NOT WANTING THE TROPEY ENDING FOR THE PRINCESS WHERE SHE ENDS UP WITH A MAN??) and if yes then it's weird as bisexuality rep because it actually just reads like he wrote her as a lesbian during the worst time in her life and then after she got better and got through it her happy ending is with a man. so. bit weird bit odd. and then the game witcher 3 gives you the option to say she's not in to guys. but also the option to romance a guy. so who even knows. ciri's possible lesbianism/bisexuality is the sexuality schroedingers cat. lmao

[rakocysus]

#60

BORUTA story resolves on the loss of the loved one;

Background on Boruta in Slavic neopaganism - Leshy (in Western Slavs name) or Boruta (Eastern Slavs name) is a "demon" who protects the forest. Despite being called "demons", Slavic demons are more akin to Japanese "Kami" - some may be helpful, some maybe spiteful. Boruta (I chose Eastern name, bc I believe would be more readable for French and English audiences as opposed to Leshy) is the neutral spirit of Slavic demonology - meaning, as long as you respect the forest, he'll help you, but if you don't, he won't let you out of the forest. He's still commonly referred in the cautionary tells- since Polish people here love to go to the forest to pick mushrooms.

Boruta design wise

He was shown in The Witcher 3 as a sort of antagonistic force, usually in the form of a half-naked man with a deer skull instead of a head - though Mythos describes him as an old man who has mushrooms on his head and looks kinda like Shrek (maybe smells like too) I wanted to change the perception of Boruta a bit; which I mean, not present him as the man; but focus on the subject that's most likely to appear in the Central European forest landscape one of the native Polish animals; Lynx (could go with Bison, BUT Lynx being wild cats has the advantage of audience associating duality - cats are either fluffballs or meanies to society + would be funnier and more flexible to animate than stiff Bison) Pola & Grandma

Character designs; Pola, Baba and Leshy/Boruta digital; Photoshop

Character and style experiment; Pola digital; iPad, Procreate

Pola; Character Poses, pencil on paper

The story process;

Pola loses her beloved grandma. She and Pola used to be very tied to the forest often foraging forest plants and mushrooms for their village, once Grandma went to the forest on her own and disappeared (died), Pola desperate to find her enters forest, where she chases after Boruta who leads her to her Grandma's headscarf - grieving; he leads her back to the village and Grandma's spirit becomes one with the birds who leave to the south.* (spirits of deceased being carried by the birds leaving for the South pre-winter is one of folk beliefs)

Pola chasing Boruta; Photoshop

Pola walk test sketch; TVPAINT

Backgrounds/Settings;

Pola and grandma's house; gouache

[on-a-lucky-tide]

💕 self-love time! talk about which ones of YOUR creations (edits, artworks, fanfics) you like the most then send to other creators to do the same 💕

Ooh, Berry. This one's a toughie.

If These Scars Could Speak

There are a lot of raw feelings in this. It isn't perfect, but I've given each of the characters a unique approach to trauma and grief. Eskel, particularly, was very close to home. A lot of people helped me with this work, either talking to me about their own trauma or assisting in my research.

Duality of Witchers

I liked how Lambert came out in this. His voice and his relationship with Dandelion feels the most organic that I've ever managed to create it. The 10k word limit made me use dialogue and time skips creatively too.

At The Emperor's Feet

I enjoyed writing Emhyr and Letho in this. Their relationship intrigues me and the capacity for power play and sexual tension? Off the chart.

[blog-of-mine-mind]

My likely identities of this day:

My name is Eelis Jesper Soininen. I was born on the first of december 2005, 14:45 in Finland, Varkaus. I am 17-years old as of now and live in Finland, Helsinki.

Man ≈ gender

Pomosexual

ENFP ≈ CPT (Cognitive Personality Theory)

4w3 sp/sx 478

Phlegmatic-Sanguine ≈ temperament

EVLF ≈ attitudinal psyche

Sagittarius ≈ western astrology

Rooster ≈ chinese astrology

Swordfish ≈ primal astrology

Ash tree ≈ druid astrology

Numerologically my life path number is 11.

Expression number is 6.

Soul urge number is 4.

Personality number is 2.

In chaldean numerology, my whole name number is 73.

My favourite colors are deep dark magenta, white, bright red, purple and burgundy.

My favourite song is Sympathy For The Devil by The Rolling Stones.

I like movies that are raw, brutal and very thought-provoking. Psychological thrillers seem to belong to my favourites. My favourite movies are Fight Club, Iron Giant, Mulholland Drive and Smile.

My favourite games are Cyberpunk 2077, Destiny and GTA V. I used to play games a lot and I was addicted, nowdays I don't play so much at all anymore.

I like to dance. I like to enjoy life.

Wise, perceptive.

Self-loving and embracing.

I love being naked, I love my body.

My favourite characters are Venom Snake from MGSV and Olgierd Von Everec from Witcher 3 and Lucifer. I love the robe and style of Olgierd and the snake-likedness and alluringness in them. The embracement of dualities, mastery.

These seem to be my values. Perhaps even core-values. Authenticity, vulnerability, sincerity, transformation, connection, rawness, brutality, carefree, embracement, freedom.

Updated in summer of 2023.

[vesemirsexual]

they bond over their scrunkly kids (lambert & gaetan), they divorce over how to raise them, truely the duality of witcher

the most emotionally repressed witchers vs the most emotionally volatile witchers arguing about how to parent (the true secret is not mutating them horribly but you’re not allowed to say that apparently)

[thebookishmum]

✨REVIEW✨

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

As a fantasy reader one of the main things that can make or break a book is the world building and this book did not disappoint. Yalma is teaming with life and the differences between how the mortals perceive the Gods and how they perceive themselves is palpable. I enjoyed seeing both sides with the mortals believing that all the other Gods are dead and yet we as a reader see the truth from the Gods perspectives.

One of the things done really well in this book is the way in which the Gods feel so removed emotionally and morally from the lives of mortals and yet as they begin to face the reality of their own mortality, and begin to loose their “godliness” they begin to show more mortal tendencies and become a little more human chapter by chapter. The progress is slow for Thrughfur because of his nature but by the end of the book I am fully routing for him.

All of the characters have a duality to them, neither truly good or truly evil. Even the main antagonist of the book has moments that made me feel so sorry for her, and slightly understand where she is coming from.

There are stories within this story that truly show the thought and imagination that has gone into the creation of ‘When all the gods are dead’.

This is the first book in a series and I’m really looking forward to being able to one day read the sequel and find out what happens to Thrughfur and Dewne.

I recommend this book if you enjoy epic high fantasy, it is less than 400 pages and a very enjoyable read. I think if you enjoy books like ‘The Witcher’ and Godkiller then this book is for you.

There is so much more I wish I could say but honestly I don’t want to give spoilers.

#fantasybooks #whenallthegodsaredead #talesofyalma #dwamavin #bookstagram #bookstagramuk #epicfantasy #highfantasy #fantasybookseries #fantasybookrecs #5starbooks #fantasyfollow #fantasyworld #bookishbrits #indieauthor #indiebook #supportindieauthors #beautifulbooks #bookreview #paperbackbooks