#gamer!jaskier

[dapandapod]

Particular with nicknames

Why hello there! This was written last september (2023) and has since been sitting in my draft, making me rewatch streams because no pathetic reasons at all i swear. Anyway, here is Jaskier having a Moment TM when Geralt uses a very specific nickname. Thank you @ahh-fxck for helping me beta read <3 much appreciated! Please enjoy streamer!Geralt and Pathetic!Jaskier! <3 On Ao3 here

For all the love Jaskier has of words and language, he is strangely picky with nicknames.

It’s not that he dislikes them, he is just strangely neutral. Alright, that’s not true.

His famously ill-advised and stormy relationship with Valdo came to mind. Jaskier had fallen promptly out of love with him when he was called ‘Snugglebutt’ in front of all of their friends. They were together for another month or so past that, because Jaskier thought himself cruel and wanted it to work.

Well, it did not.

Nowadays he shares a flat with his long time best friend Geralt, one of the few constants in his life and the one who just might own about two thirds of his heart.

It’s not a big flat, but they have a room each, a small kitchen, and a shared living room. That is also where Geralt has his small streaming corner set up, back against the wall and facing the room.

Easier that way to keep it clean if he streams with the camera on, no accidental flashing unsuspecting viewers that way. Something learned by trial and error, as Jaskier tends to run warm and just forgo pants. And shirts. And socks.

They also share their flat with a terrible little cat named Roach, who has never quite warmed up to Jaskier. Took to Geralt the instant she saw him, however, and the two are inseparable whenever Geralt is home.

All of this in itself is not an issue. Oh no, all of this is more than fine.

Watching Geralt be sweet with the terrible little furball makes Jaskier’s heart ache pleasantly, listen to him coo about her fur being so shiny and smooth, what a good girl she is, wow look at that yawn!

No, the problem came up the first time as Geralt was lazily watching TV on the couch, back to their little kitchen where Jaskier had just served her royal highness some very expensive cat food.

Roach does as she always does when Jaskier is involved, and simply walks out. It’s routine by now, and the food is usually gone by morning. It’s more about Jaskier knowing his place at the bottom of the list than not liking the food.

But as she returns to the living room with Jaskier trailing after, considering plopping down on the couch too instead of working on his doctoral thesis, Jaskier finds himself fundamentally changed.

“Hi baby.” Geralt says, voice all sweet and dark and gravelly, and fuck.

It is very much aimed at Roach, who is being a cutie, begging pets from under the table. But Jaskier’s insides do a kickflip, his brain short circuits.

Flushing deeply, Jaskier can’t control the little HRK sound escaping his throat.

He is frozen in his tracks, tongue tied and feeling absolutely pathetic. Geralt turns around to look at him with a questioning frown.

“You ok there?” he asks, Roach climbing the couch and up to the backrest, demanding attention.

“Just peachy,” Jaskier squeaks out, and then flees to his room.

Holy fucking shit and mother of turds.

Baby?? Of all the nicknames in the entire world, that is the one Jaskier is going to have a meltdown about?

Just, the lazy way Geralt said it, Jaskier feels like an old maid, clutching his pearls.

It’s fine. He will be fine.

It was meant for Roach, of course, it’s fine.

It is not fine.

Geralt is streaming, talking with some other players. He is not a big name, but he does have a following, and sometimes gets invited to other streams if it's a multiplayer game.

Jaskier is moving around the living room, untangling the nest that their couch has become recently, blankets and hoodies and socks thrown everywhere. He is also holding a banana, somewhat forgotten in his new mission to make the couch sittable.

Part of his distraction comes from listening to Geralt talking, there is a lilt to his voice when he is on stream. It is unclear if Geralt is aware of doing it, but Jaskier can listen to it forever.

While in the process of moving one blanket over to the footrest, Geralt laughs at something said in his headphones.

“Oh baby, I didn’t know you cared!”

Jaskier drops the banana.

Feeling like a deer caught in headlight, Jaskier is unable to do anything but staring, feeling heat climbing his neck, up to his cheek.

Then Geralt’s eyes meet his over his screen, his face is neutral but his eyes are knowing.

Fuck fuck fuck he is in so much trouble.

Maybe it’s fine to have that many blankets. Perfect for hiding, perfect for pretending the way Geralt says ‘Baby’ doesn’t go on loop in his head, and will be for days.

Jaskier is in a constant state of fear.

Ever since the Stream Incident, as he has come to call it, there is this new tension whenever they are in a room together. Where Geralt will look at him consideringly, where Jaskier will pretend everything is as per usual.

He has gotten better at not freezing, but a thrill runs through him every time Geralt uses That Word, making very unsubtle eye contact as he does.

How is his poor heart to cope?

Sometimes, late at night, when Jaskier is unable to sleep and he knows Geralt is still streaming, Jaskier joins in to watch. It is uncertain if Geralt has figured out it’s him or not yet, he has sneakily named his account to Bardelicious, and doesn’t usually join the chat.

Tonight, Geralt is playing a fantasy game. A monster hunter and his bard, fittingly enough, and he makes light commentary about things in the game.

Until there is a scene where the bard does something noble, stupid and somewhat foolish.

“Oh, baby.” Geralt says sadly, shaking his head.

The chat goes absolutely wild, more than one asking him to say it again, to call them baby, which is a little weird and also absolutely fucking valid.

“Why are people so weird about that?” Geralt says, chuckling. The replies roll in, and his eyebrows climb up his forehead. Jaskier’s heart is beating hard, because this could either be really good or really bad.

“Sexy? Doubt that.”

Jaskier regrets it as soon as he presses send, and by then it’s too late.

‘It is when you say it.’ was all he wrote, but it was the first thing he had written in there. Geralt doesn’t know it’s him.

It should be fine. He is fine.

Some more responses follow, but Geralt is strangely quiet. The game scene plays out, the monster hunter and his bard having a nice bonding moment.

It’s soothing to watch, to hear Geralt’s commentary every now and then. He falls asleep with his phone in his hand, earbuds still in.

The next morning, Jaskier is woken up by the scent of coffee and a hungry Roach yowling in the kitchen. She only does that when Geralt is around, so it is safe to assume he is up.

Which is a little odd, because Jaskier fell asleep before the stream was over, and he feels like death warmed over.

His jaw cracks when he yawns. Lured by the scent of coffee, he manages to get out of bed.

Geralt is indeed up and about, Roach winding affectionately around his legs as he prepares her breakfast.

“Morn,” Jaskier rasps, scratching his stomach and giving another yawn.

Roach doesn’t even look at him, fully focused on her man and her meal. The bowl is placed on the floor for the queen herself, and like the gremlin she is, she eats it without a fuss. Little bastard.

Jaskier joins Geralt at the bench, seeking coffee like a flower seeks the sun. He can stop when he wants, coffee is not an addiction, it is a way of life.

“Were you up all night? Hand me a cup, will you?” he says, reaching for the fruit bowl that Geralt for some reason keeps religiously stocked.

In reply, he gets one of the typical hums, which could mean absolutely anything, and two cups. Jaskier pours for them both and Geralt adds the usual unholy amount of sugar to Jaskier’s, which makes him smile.

“Any plans for today? I really should be working on my thesis, but I can’t be arsed.”Jaskier leans back against the counter and sips at his coffee, which is still a little too hot.

Geralt is watching him over the rim of his mug, sipping on the steaming coffee.

“I have a thing I thought to try,” he says, voice gravelly, eyes locked on him.

It makes Jaskier’s stomach flip, and he takes a too big sip, the drink burning his tongue and all the way down his throat unpleasantly.

“Yeah? Anything you want help with?” Jaskier asks nervously, realizing he is still holding his chosen fruit without eating it, so he puts it down on the counter.

The corner of Geralt’s mouth ticks up into a crooked smile, and yeah, Jaskier is in danger. It is way too early in the morning for Geralt to be such an absolute heart throb.

“If you are willing.” Geralt says, and Jaskier finds himself nodding despite himself. If Geralt asks him if he is willing, the answer will probably always be yes.

“Sure! Uh… What is it?”

Geralt takes a step towards him and puts his cup on the side of the counter. Then he grabs Jaskier’s cup out of his hand and puts that down too.

His heart is beating so hard he can feel it in his throat, his hands now clammy and gripping the counter behind him.

Geralt inches forward, the space between them shrinking fast. He stops just shy of touching him, and tilts his head, white hair falling over his shoulder.

“So I was streaming last night,” Geralt begins, and oh dear, oh no. “And there were some interesting comments that I couldn’t get out of my head.”

“Uh… Oh?” Jaskier says dumbly, and Geralt huffs a soft laugh, breath hitting Jaskier’s face.

“You're particular with nicknames, right? I mean, you are still mad at Valdo.”

With growing worry, Jaskier is starting to realize where this is going.

“He called me snugglebutt. In front of people. That’s embarrassing!” Jaskier defends himself faintly. Geralt leans in an inch more, leaning against the countertop and crowding Jaskier against it. Fuck.

“But that’s not what you think when I say ‘Baby’, is it?” Geralt’s eyes are trained on him, and smiles when he notices Jaskier’s flustered little sound, the way heat climbs up his cheeks.

In a weak attempt to save face, Jaskier looks down, anywhere but meeting the intensity of Geralt’s gaze.

It has the unfortunate effect of noticing how close they are, how Geralt’s t-shirt rides down just enough to reveal collarbones, how his hands flex against the counter.

“Tell me if I’m reading this wrong, Jaskier,” Geralt mumbles, leaning close enough for his nose to drag against Jaskier’s cheekbone.

Jaskier pulls in a breath, tilting his head in a way he hopes is invitingly.

“You’re not.” Jaskier whispers, and is rewarded with Geralt putting a hand on his hip, letting his nose drag along Jaskier’s neck. “You really, really not.”

“Is it the nickname? You look so startled whenever you hear me say it.” Geralt asks, one finger finding skin under the hem of Jaskier’s t-shirt.

“Just you. Pretty sure you could call me snugglebutt and I’d thank you.” Jaskier confesses, blurts really, when the rest of Geralt’s hand sneaks under his shirt to find his lower back, playing with the soft hairs there.

“Good to know,” Geralt smiles against his skin and Jaskier braves turning his head, their cheeks brushing together.

“Are you going to kiss me anytime soon, or are you gonna let me keep suffering?” Jaskier breathes, his hands finding Geralt’s and tracing them up his arms slowly.

“Hmm,” Geralt says, considering with a cheeky grin, the absolute bastard, so Jaskier takes matters into his own hands. Quite literally.

Geralt’s face is warm, rough stubble and barely visible scars and imperfections brush against his fingers. Geralt must have turned into it, because their lips slide together, coffee and morning breath mingling as Jaskier finds himself now properly pressed against the bench and Geralt’s body.

Then he is being kissed harder, deeper, and Geralt hoists Jaskier up on the counter, using Jaskier’s thighs to pull him closer, closer still, and presses open mouthed kisses against his neck. With a gasp, Jaskier scrambles to find a grip, to get some control of himself, but it is very, very hard to focus.

“Do you have any idea what you’re doing to me, baby?” Geralt murmurs against his skin, and Jaskier full body shivers. “I can feel you watching me, you are even in my streams.”

“You knew about that?” Jaskier asks breathlessly, stealing a kiss when Geralt shifts to look at him.

“If you wanted to be discreet, maybe you should have chosen something else than ‘Bardelicious’.” Geralt smiles, and Jaskier pouts and pinches his side in revenge.

“Why didn’t you say anything then?”

“Why didn’t you?” Geralt counters, and well, this won’t go anywhere.

“I like listening to you. I like listening to your voice as I go to sleep,” Jaskier says quietly, and Geralt hides his face in the crook of Jaskier's neck.

“Did you get any sleep at all last night?” Jaskier asks when Geralt stays there, melting into his body.

He doesn’t get anything but a muttering grumble in reply, and Jaskier smiles and strokes his hair.

“I need to find a nickname for you too. I refuse to be the only one being absolutely useless as soon as you open your mouth.” Jaskier murmurs into Geralt’s hair.

“Gmmrmgmg.”

“What’s that?”

“I said, ‘like it when you say my name.” Geralt says, and Jaskier is melting all over again.

“Well then, Geralt,” Jaskier purrs. “Let me finish my coffee, and then we’ll take a nap.”

Reaching for coffee without really letting go turns out to be hard, and when Jaskier with some struggle finally gets a hold of his cup, the coffee is still unreasonably hot.

They nap in Jaskier’s bed, both of them crawling in under the blankets and curling up together. Jaskier’s chin resting on top of Geralt’s head, Geralt’s arm slung over Jaskier’s chest.

When Geralt wakes up and press Jaskier into the mattress, it doesn’t take long for Geralt to discover exactly how to fluster Jaskier enough to splutter broken syllables.

It’s alright.

When Jaskier has recovered from being melted goo, he will return the favor.

[lipstickontheglass1985]

the evil forces r at play again </3 (put on the n*tflix toss a coin to yr witcher song by my own free will)

[perseruna]

heyyyy do you have any details/sources for the ca*ill being a jackass thing? ngl i watch twn for yen and jaskier so i was already planning on continuing to season 4 but i'd love some reasons to be actively excited for the actor switch. but i haven't kept up on the behind-the-scenes stuff so i'm kinda lost on that front if you're up for sharing any of what you know!

okay guys buckle up this is THE anti henry cavill megathread xoxo

First of all him dating a teenager as a 33 year old fully grown man literally gross and disgusting.

Also as this quote implies they started dating a year prior and only went public when she was 19 so they supposedly started dating when she was 18.

His entire dating history is a MESS. Sure the women he dated are not him, but he chose to date them, I wouldn't even associate myself with people like these let alone be in a relationship with them. He dated the infamous transphobic TERF Gina Carano, albeit before her loud controversy, but I doubt her harmful views were any different back then. His current gf has a history of doing black face.

His "Me Too" comments.

His comments on the Me Too movement are literally so vile. If you don’t want to be called a rapist, just don’t rape women, it’s literally as simple as that. They’re even more foul because they’re promoting the idea that women lie about their abusive for fame, promoting that harmful rhetoric especially in our times is incredibly dangerous.

Now onto his on set behavior.

We can't talk about his set behavior without mentioning the deuxmoi set leak. Here's the transcript of it:

[Transcript:

There’s something I really really wanted to read to you guys--it has to do with why Henry Cavill left The Witcher. I know that was something that you guys were super interested in when it happened, and I just recently got this message. Somebody was like “Hey, do you want to know what really went down?” And I was like “Sure!” So let me just read it. It says:

“At the beginning of the show, Henry was good to work with. A lot of difficult demands that made people feel like he wasn’t a team player, but that’s not unusual for a really big star. Though in TV it truly usually doesn’t happen until the second season. But in season two and three something shifted and he became really impossible for women to work with, which is always a big problem, but even worse here because the showrunner is a woman. He would try to overrule her and try to get changes made last minute across the board without her knowledge, which, if you know anything about showrunning, is completely fucked. The showrunner has to sign off on every miniscule detail down to the buttons on a costume. Female writers and directors were suddenly being completely ignored on set, unable to do their jobs. Every department head was complaining. He started making comments—it wasn’t a sexual thing, he wasn’t grabbing anyone or being lewd, but it was disrespectful and toxic all the same.

“He is deeply addicted to video games, to the point where it was like working with any other addict. He was distracted, he was late, he was obsessive, and a lot of people think the misogyny came from gamer world. Video game bro language is not how you talk to coworkers, and he wouldn’t stop. Someone on the show compared it to watching someone get brainwashed by QAnon, like his whole personality shifted. Eventually his disrespect escalated. He would rewrite scenes without even alerting the other actors in the scenes until it was time to shoot. He decided that he didn’t want any romantic scenes at all—no kissing scenes, no shirtless scenes, et cetera. He wanted complete control of storylines but really had no idea of the limitations of TV, structure, budget, et cetera. He formed a weird alliance with one writer who was also a gamer, who eventually got fired after multiple HR complaints were made and after that writer left, Henry did anything he could to hold up production and cause problems.

“Eventually top brass at Netflix was tired of him costing them money with delays and HR investigations and the showrunner was asked to construct a potential exit for him. Netflix reached out to him personally and he was given one final warning, and violated that warning with an email he sent to the entire writing staff right after that meeting. That was it. It’s very disappointing.”

End transcript.]

Now believe me or not, but I know from a really good source that the leak was indeed real.

There's a lot of patterned behavior that tracks with what we know of him and his past controversies.

After that leak came out, there was a lot of people from different places coming to comment that ‘yes’ they’ve heard a very similar story adding a little bit more details of their own.

this quickly deleted tweet from one of the writers/producers:

there were rumors about him being an asshole to Anya specifically.

He went on record that he doesn't "understand" sex scenes. Which I know the sex discourse is rampant nowadays and each to their own, but he specifically signed up for a role that requires those scenes and then refused to do them and was allegedly nasty to Anya about it and with the way he talks about women...

Also it’s important to touch upon the “writer he had a weird alliance with” that man in question is Beau DeMayo of the recent fame of getting fired by Marvel from X-Men ‘97. He was previously allegedly fired from The Witcher for being emotionally and physically abusive. And he allegedly got fired from X-Men for being abusive as well. One of The Witcher writers tweeted this after Beau smeared them for “disliking the books” Beau was literally the first person to start that narrative.

The fact that it was HIS idea not to say lines of his dialogue in S1 and instead grunt. To the point that Joey had to take Henry’s lines and make it his own, so the plot would make sense, he talks about it in this interview: https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=Oyh0t117t0U&, and then once S2 press arrived Henry was talking about how he was trying to fight the big bad writers to give him more lines. Ridiculous.

Everyone is already pointing out that the cast looks so much happier without him, and it’s very true. Henry was never present on close to any BTS pics from filming the previous seasons, or on any cast dinners or birthdays. He wouldn't even do any shared interviews with the other three mains but only had solo interviews which to me was giving disrespectful like you're an ensemble you’re not the only lead here. It felt like he was above them to sit down and answer questions with them. When they were doing press junkets in Brazil and Poland Anya, Joey and Freya would always arrive together and leave together with that man leaving all the events early and by himself. And like people who post quotes from the cast about him being perfect from press junkets as “proof” are insane to me like Obviously they’re going to say nice things about him, not only they're newcomers, and he's an established industry name, but they’re doing PRESS for a show that he’s a STAR of (well, was lmao)

The fact that he never defended Anya from the racist trolls, even though most of them were HIS fans. Like she had to go through so much and that man couldn’t make a single comment about it as a leading man BUT he could make a whole IG post because people were being mean to his gf and calling her out for doing blackface.

And sure people might say that a lot of these are unverified sources, and I’d get it if it was a singular case, but there are a ton of these accounts that all match each other. Where there’s smoke, there’s fire.

[livebloggingmydescentintomadness]

You know, like, 90% of my ships are directly your fault lol You just make them so damn compelling! Like the witcher, i've seen the 1st season and i'm trying to watch the 2nd one, but honestly i just find it kind of... ok? There are good things, but it just feels so... a man's show about a manly man made for MEN. and those to me are usually just, like, meh. But damn if I'm not reading geraskier fics becase of you lol

Ohhh I just sent you an ask yesterday about the witcher, I hope it didn't come off as me badmouthing the show! I was thinking about it and got worried about how I said it. I know you like it and I wouldn't do that, promise. I just meant it in the sense of how it's funny to read fics about characters without necessarily having seen the show they're on, just based on posts about how good their chemistry is

no worries, i wasn't offended at all! twn season 2 is... well... let's say that it's flawed. some parts of it are impeccable, such as geralt and ciri's relationship and jaskier's songs, but they turned eskel into a tree for fuck's sake. they killed roach. for that alone i would throw hands.

the fandom has strong feelings about s2 and most of them aren't great. and yes, there's a certain "this show was made for gamer bros" vibe to some parts, but it's far from entirely like that. i haven't watched vol II of season three yet due to being in a good omens haze, but vol I was wonderful, character-wise. from a technical standpoint it was also quite flawed, but if you're there for the characters it was delightful.

and while geralt is definitely a Tough Manly Man with Repressed Emotions, he's never one of those guys. he risks his life to save people, he's grumpy but kind, he regards rape as a serious crime and treats women with respect, he's endlessly gentle and supportive with his daughter, he refuses to kill except to protect others... and he does it all while being a grumpy, sarcastic bitch. i love him SO much.

and of coure i love jaskier, who joey put his entire pussy into portraying as a queer poly man who falls in love with everyone he lays eyes on, who's a prissy little brat but also endlessly kind and giving. i love how he's never scared of or intimidated by geralt no matter how the bastard growls, and i love that he's the only one who ever asks geralt what he wants.

ugh, they fuck me up so bad. i'm glad to have infected you. wish i had a blog badge for that lmao. since you're reading fic, have you read the accidental warlord series by @inexplicifics? it's like, the geraskier fic for me lol, i've read it like a dozen times or so by now.

[thelostgirl21]

Definitely missed that poll too!

Yeah, I'm kind of really sad about it, because I'm the one that had asked for a version of the poll specifying if it was for the TV show or the videogame character, back in September.

Since then, I had periodically been checking on the @foundfamilyadoptionagency blog to see when submissions would reopen, so I could submit Radovid with a picture and description of the character, specifically from the TV show this time, and was planning to rally other fans (especially those that I know have a large number of Radovid/Radskier fans followers) of the character to reblog the poll so fans of the TV show and the character would hopefully see it.

I'm thinking of one person, in particular, that tends to make the notes on my own Radovid posts soar whenever she reblogs them.

But Destiny apparently had other plans, I completely missed it (therefore didn't vote, nor did I get the chance to increase its visibility among fans of the TV show and the TV show character) and, at some point, it would be ridiculous to just keep insisting for it to be reposted again and again, expecting a different result.

That being said, I was extremely surprised and very touched that they'd remembered it, though!

I was not expecting they'd be doing a second version without a reminder, or someone giving a proper submission, so a part of me went "OMFG! They're so sweet!", while at the same time face-palming that most fans I know seemed to have missed it.

I have a feeling that a lot of Radovid (show version) fans tend to check out the Radskier (Jaskier/Radovid ship) tag more often, too, since that allows us to avoid posts about the videogame character (and most Radovid posts are also connected to Jaskier and their relationship anyway).

Or they simply follow the few main blogs that keep creating and reblogging content about Radovid and Radskier directly to get their fix.

But yeah, given said main blogs did not appear to notice or repost the poll, I'm actually not at all surprised by the results.

Because "The Witcher" 's fandom is a bit of an eclectic mess of clashing ideologies, values, and extremes.

Including hardcore videogame fans that were expecting the TV show to religiously follow the narrative of the games, rather than create their own adaptation of the books.

So, while you will get people disliking Radovid for the usual (and perfectly valid, BTW) fandom reasons, such as:

They simply fail to emotionally connect or relate to him,

They feel like the show had been building a romance between Geralt and Jaskier for the first 2 seasons, only to instead pair him up with another newly introduced character in season 3.

You also have some videogame fans that are having a hard time treating these two characters as two completely different persons, and will even readily admit that they have an irrational dislike of Radovid based on his videogame counterpart.

Again, a fairly reasonable thing to happen that does affect the character's overall popularity, but usually those fans are pretty laid back about it and don't mind that people that only read the books and never played the games, or have only been watching the TV show, fell in love with the show's version of the character.

Videogame Radovid and TV show Radovid, are essentially two very different original characters that were created to serve very different purposes, that were vaguely inspired by a few lines from the books.

One is a villain people love to hate.

The other basically Netflix's version of a Disney Prince.

But then, you also have a very passionate and extremely vocal group of gamers (type "The Witcher" on YouTube, and get ready to enter incel territory!), that will be losing their shit over the fact that they made Radovid a super gentle and sensitive gay prince that admits to being scared, huddles and weeps in a corner when he finds out his guards have all been slaughtered, has a romance with Jaskier on the show, and is ready to leave his life at court behind to go chase after love; instead of the cruel, paranoid badass hypermasculine dictator king that was written for the 3rd videogame.

And then, there's also the argument that: "Jaskier is straight in the books and videogames! How dare they make Jaskier queer by having Radovid be written as Vizimir's adult younger brother instead of being his 12 y.o. son? They aged up a character just to make the show more woke and gay! It's so wrong! " we keep getting from queerphobic audiences.

Basically, TV show Radovid has been getting a large amount of hate from toxic subgroups of the gaming community ever since Jaskier was announced as being in a M/M relationship with him.

It's not even an issue they have with Radovid specifically, but the show in general.

There are entire YouTube channels devoted to hating on the show, it's creators, and everything they deem to be wrong with it, such as the way it focuses too much on Yennefer and Ciri when it's supposed to be called "The Witcher" (not "The Sorceress" or "The Child of Surprise"), having chosen to cast women with healthy and diverse body types (and ethnicities) to portray sorceresses that are described as the most beautiful women on the Continent in the books (when the videogames gave them more "conventionally attractive looking", and often white, in animated form), etc.

And that sort of general resentment towards the show for wishing to explore its own themes, being more inclusive, and taking their adaptation in a different direction than the games (and the books, at times, like most TV show and movie adaptations will do), means they'll take any opportunity they have to express their discontent.

I remember a poll, at some point where the "Radovid's character was screwed over on the Netflix show" option was winning, until the fan I'm talking about earlier reblogged it, and then the "He was treated just fine!" option won (I think the "he was screwed over" ended up with only 15% votes after it was reblogged by fans of the TV show).

So, you have gamers that hate everything about the show and the way it's different from the games... that are sharing the same space/tags as people that love the show, and either have no interest in the games, or are able to appreciate each as two very different takes on the same shared source material.

Of course they positively hate the way the TV show ignored the King Radovid from the 3rd game and created their own character. So they'll wish to "ditch" that version.

And, of course they hate videogame King Radovid, given he's meant to be hated on! He's an awful human being!

Radovid might stand a chance in a context where the fans of the TV show and of the new romance with Jaskier are given a chance to mobilize on their voting.

Otherwise, the fact that he got close to half the votes without help from any Radovid/Radskier centric blogs is actually... rather impressive!

He's actually more popular and beloved than I thought! 😆

So, don't worry too much about it. It's already extremely nice and considerate that you (the poll creator) were willing to give his TV show version a chance, so that it was clearer which one of the two characters we were voting on.

But yeah, "The Witcher" 's fandom itself is a very strange and sometimes scary place to navigate.

[dadralt]

First of all, I don't get what so great about jaskier either, there are far better and more fascinating characters, especially in games and books, and lots of them. So my question is: is this only in the show bc I'm not sure if dandelion is popular among the book fans or the gamers. I think characters like Regis, Eskel, Lambert are far more popular and of course Yen and Triss and Ciri are again way more popular and the lodge too.

ooh interesting question!

if you look at ao3 before december 20th, 2019 (air date of s1) there were 586 fics with the witcher book tag, and 1,480 fics with the witcher video games tag.

for comparison, the witcher tv show tag has a whopping 22,144 fics, to this day.

it should also be noted that tw3 was what made the witcher gain popularity worldwide. if you check ao3 stats before the third game, there were only 11 works (and only 3 of those are in english).

the most popular pairings: book - games

even if you check jaskier's character tag you see there are fics, but not a lot (his character tag has been used 73 times vs geralt's 377 in the books tag)

the fan wars let's be honest, at that point, were yen vs triss (because of the games)

then you compare it to the most written pairings now:

see how he's involved in practically every pairing? (with of course the very stark difference between geralt/jaskier and yen/geralt, that's more than 18k of fics!!!!)

he's the second most written about character, after geralt!!! (notice how ciri - the actual main character of the books - is only 6th)

so i would say, yes. the popularity of jaskier is entirely to blame on the netflix show ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[whatspastisprologue-blr]

I'm not, and never have been, a fan of Henry Cavill. It's nothing against him, more just a lack of interest on my part; there's other actors who have just really impressed me. Am I still sad he's leaving Netflix's Witcher, though?

Yeah. Over the almost-year that I've been a Witcher fan, I saw how much he loves the story and I learned how hard he fought to get the role. I respected him for fighting as much as he could to keep the show faithful to the books (and I'm not saying a show adaptation has to be 100% 1:1 faithful to the books; Lord of the Rings, Good Omens, and The Sandman are all adaptations I love). I know he said that he'd stay as long as the show was respectful of the books.

And now he's leaving. That's why I'm disappointed. To have someone who fought so hard for a project, and fought for it to be good, walk away because at least some of the Powers That Be hated the source material they were adapting? That's harsh, if it's indeed true (I'm skeptical of the scheduling conflict claim).

I'm also concerned what this means about the quality of S3 and S4. How bad will they be that Henry decided to jump ship? (Again, of that's the real reason he left, which seems possible.)

But I'm still grateful for the show. I hadn't heard of The Witcher until after S2 dropped and it felt like almost every post on my Tumblr dashboard was about this show (and, often, about Geralt/Jaskier, tbh). Sometime in January 2022, I caved and decided to binge the first two seasons.

Knowing nothing about the source material, I liked it, even if S1 was a bit confusing and it did at times feel like a Generic Fantasy Show designed to be the next Game of Thrones.

At some point, I heard of the games and the books. I'm not really a gamer but I might try them eventually. I was curious about the books, though, but I wasn't sure if I wanted to read them because I'd heard they could be a bit misogynistic and there were racist fans who were upset over casting people of color.

Eventually, I gave the books a shot and I was hooked almost immediately. It was a struggle to put the books down once I started reading and I think I finished each one in about a weekend. It's not that I don't have issues with the books (so glad Jaskier respects women in the show!) but I loved the characters, how they're more than their appearances might suggest, found family, the themes in general, the deconstruction of fantasy tropes, and the humor. The books reignited my love of reading in a way that nothing had since I first read Good Omens, just before the first season aired.

Before I began reading the books, though, when I was browsing Tumblr re: The Witcher, I kept hearing about this band, The Amazing Devil. Slightly more accurately, I kept seeing parts of their lyrics as fic titles on AO3, usually credited but sometimes not (maybe taken for granted that readers would know). It got to the point that I could guess the title was from a TAD song without having heard them because there was something unique about their lyrics. I kept seeing the band be recommended, that it was just so good. I gave the band a try and fell in love.

So, even if the show spontaneously combusts and ends in a burning wreck, I'll still be grateful for it, because it introduced me to this universe and to The Amazing Devil. I'll still have the books, I might eventually play the games, and I'll listen to whatever TAD graces the world with. And I'll be even more grateful for adaptations that actually care about the source material (which broadly refers to Lord of the Rings and the Neil Gaiman Cinematic Universe).

[fulgursmediaanalysisdrama]

Netlixes Witcher writers being publicly outed to hate the books is good, very good actually. Because nothing matches except some aesthetics (at least for season 2. Season 2 sucks)

Finally found someone who brought that up in a convo, I was stoked and wanted to join in, but his very next sentence he complained about how there were black people in the show when Witcher played in a fantasy medieval Europe. And then I didn't want to talk anymore

Bitch wasn't even white himself, well white turk ig idk but that isn't white supremacists white just normal racism, but still bro. Black people existed back then, I promise. Their history of colonialization and general trade and travel is also different, everything is different, only languages and places got loosely kept. Who cares? Like few of the characters are described by skin color, we know there are people from far away lands that aren't secluded from the "medieval europe setting" so even if I accepted your hogwash as good faith it'd be wrong.

This shit makes me so mad, that there is this real thing happening in the netflix behind the scenes where they ruin the story and message in favor of fascist esque opinions or meaninglessness. And then critique of the writers that becomes popular is one by racists because they point our attention to a different unrelated fact and combine it with the "the writers hate the witcher" tidbit that only reveals they themselves don't know Sapkowskis writings or their themes.

But because their audiences read as little or at least as poorly as them and with no curiosity of their own they get away with it.

Probably "the quartering" or someone is his source. Should've asked, didn't want to.

I also have no respect for the witcher games because tbh they breed exactly that. I don't know whether they actually support any of these views but from what I know witcher 1 is a terrible game and 2 only playable. And that from the books misunderstandings like that never arrived, while those who played the games and then read the books (or never did) believe a ton of bad shit about racism and the elves. Now this could also be a (male) gamer problem just maybe (since the games are heavily made to appeal to male power fantasies, something that is the exact opposite of the books imo) but it seems that if the games has the potential to endorse said gamer problems and opinions then it should've made a better job of not doing that.

My criticism isn't that a nude sexy Geralt is shown in the games, it is that in those moments he has too much agency and power in those situations to force the reflection we got in the books, where he is sexualized all over the place and is pretty unhappy most of the time even tho he enjoys both sex and the general company of women. Meanwhile in the games he can just fuck anyone as if it's mass effect 3 and the relationships are about as shallow and bad as they can be

Like another of my roommates, who has played the games but didn't read the books, complained that he didn't like show Yennefer. Neither do I so I thought this could be a cool starting point for a conversation.

My criticism was that she's a big piece of shit but shown as worthy of our understanding and sympathy, and that the way she acts and the way the framing wants us to feel about her and Tissaia are just complete opposites of each other. Unlike book Yen show Yen is one of the worst people I've ever seen. And the character development and time spend on self reflection is nil but suddenly at the end everything is fine and good again.

Jaskier is different, the Witchers themselves are different, the show ends as a celebration of the masculinity that is criticized in the books.

Yeah his criticism was that Yen isn't at all like in the games to him, that she's a different person he doesn't appreciate. She isn't hot

Fuck the games, fuck the show (sorry cd project red, make a better games next time and think about themes more)

[my-jokes-are-my-armour]

I will simply but that here :

From some gamers I appreciated, one is the perfect face for Jaskier and the other is ugly and like a little girl (understand by that not manly).

Putting them side to side, I see a sudden bridge toward the game version, btw...

Of course the perfect one is taking great care of his ** cough ** flat ** cough ** respectful blond and curly hair.

[carrottheluvmachine]

hello would it be weird to join the witcher chub club if I haven't read the books yet (they are top priority after I finish watching supernatural with my dad [we have 5 episodes left]), miiiight watch a playthrough or two of the games, and have no interest in watching twn? I've been interested in getting into the witcher because one of my mutuals loves the books/games and one of the reasons why I'm not watching twn is because they're jacked but no softness so what's the point!!!

Oh no, it wouldn't be weird at all to join if you're only just getting into the fandom. We accept everyone, of course!

I have no experience with the books either. And my experience with the games isn't that great either, but I love TW3. I'm just not much of a gamer so I only get to watch others play every one in a while.

I do recommend watching the series even if you aren't into jacked people as it helps you get to know the characters, but that's just me. I enjoyed season 1 and even season 2. Jaskier is honestly just so precious, I feel it's worth watching the series JUST for him.

Even if you don't feel like watching the netflix show, you're more than welcome to come and join us! Anyone who is into weight gain, chubby bellies, feedism, or just softness in general is! We highly encourage people to come and join.

Here's a link just in case the others expired: https://discord.gg/k93v85qjkY

We look forward to meeting you!

[laughingbriar]

Just Write Music: The Amazing Devil

Fun fact: This band features Joey Batey better know as Jaskier (aka Dandelion for you gamers) from the Witcher

[septembermonologues]

idk if i have an audience for any thoughts i have re the witcher show and books (i am not a gamer) here but i'm starting the books after watching the show and geralt being openly fond of jaskier is everything to me.

[gayraltofrivia]

i know there’s a bajillion of these out there, but i’d like to submit for your critiques my very own,

WITCHER STREAMER AU

• jaskier is a fairly successful streamer, for his looks and voice as much as for the wide variety of games he plays

• and, of course, fans can’t get enough of his livestreams and video blogs, usually on the topic of his next set of songs, or his latest heartbreak

• eventually, jaskier meets two very attractive sounding brothers online, and begins frequently gaming with them

• eskel and lambert prefer first-person shooters, but they’re more than happy to play raft, among us, or whatever is to jaskier’s taste

• one day, muffled through the microphone, jaskier hears just about the most gorgeous voice he’s ever heard from eskel’s end

• “uh…that was my brother. he says…hi.”

• jaskier eventually coaxes the details out of eskel and lambert—they have a middle brother, geralt, who mostly keeps to himself, and doesn’t like playing games with other people

• “well, darlings, he’s never played a game with me before.”

• with some coaxing from all three of them, geralt eventually takes the mic one night, after making jaskier swear he’s not recording

• despite geralt not saying much, jaskier is enamored with him, and talks to him for hours

• over the following few months, geralt occasionally joins in playing games with his brothers and jaskier. it’s few and far between, with geralt only staying for less than an hour each time, but jaskier cherishes it anyways

• (he only learns later that geralt has ptsd from his time in the service, as well as being a bit sensitive to the lights and sounds of most games)

• even though he can’t bring himself to spend time with jaskier all the time, geralt devours all of his videos and blogs

• he especially likes the horror games jaskier plays—or does he just like those adorable little squeaks jaskier makes when he’s scared?

• “wolf,” eskel says more than once, “you’ve been watching his videos all day.”

stay tuned for more!

[top-notch-swords]

not me actually getting separation anxiety from Dandelion when going to a different part of the continent :(

[spielzeugkaiser]

Yes, Jaskier is a teddy bear, but if you hurt his family... (for all of you who asked for bamf-bear!jaskier - I see you. This is maybe a year or two after their first winter in kaer morhen? He still hates fighting and doesn’t really do it, but he keeps training with Geralt, so even if he can’t kill those monsters, he can certainly distract them and it’s enough to protect his family.)

... Geralt is still the mother hen.

[jbcrochetwizard]

More photo angles of my Dandelion/Jaskier amigurumi design!  😊