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xiaq · 4 years

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👀 Fic title: "Moonlight"

I mean. Obviously, there need to be wolves. So I’m thinking a Witcher fic. Except, the whole “Geralt gets turned into a white wolf” thing has been done. I think I’d subvert that trope a bit and have Jaskier, after coming down from the mountain, encounter an angry sorceress (why is she angry? does she need an excuse?). She either has beef with him or with Geralt and, despite Jaskier assuring her that he and Geralt have permanently parted ways, she curses him: to take the form of a white wolf. Only in full moonlight will he be able to regain his human form and--oh dear--it’s the full moon tonight so it looks like you’ll be stuck as a wolf for the next month before you have the ability to tell anyone you’ve been cursed, how sad.

So Jaskier is now a heartbroken wolf. He’s gangly and awkward and hungry and four legs are difficult, ok? And he can’t even sing about it (the heartache or the four-leg issue). Worst day ever. He wanders for a bit and had a very trying experience first catching and then attempting to eat a rabbit and after a week he’s pretty much submitted himself to dying of hunger when he encounters Roach. Alone. Which isn’t good. He tracks down a badly injured Geralt by the corpse of something icky shortly afterward and manages to drag Geralt's bag to him and nudge him awake enough to take some potions.

Geralt, once he gets his senses back and stumbles back to camp, is pretty confused. He knows the wolf isn’t a normal wolf, but he owes his life to it...whatever the creature is. He offers the wolf dinner and it clearly understands that invitation. So after a few days of recuperation and sharing meals, when he sets off and the wolf follows him, he...doesn’t dissuade the animal. It’s nice to have company again, actually. He doesn’t think about why that might be.

Jaskier, meanwhile, decides that he’ll stay with Geralt until the next full moon. Then he can explain the situation, and Geralt can call his BFF Yennefer and they can fix him, because Geralt owes him, okay? And then they can part ways again. Permanently, this time. It’ll be fine.

Except, Jaskier realizes, a little belatedly, that Geralt has his lute. It’s hung on Roach’s saddlebags, wrapped in some sort of tanned skin to keep it safe. Hit lute! Taking up valuable space! On Geralt’s horse! Jaskier is baffled. One, because the last time he saw his lute when the Angry Magic Lady turned him furry and he had no choice but to leave it, and the rest of his things, at his campsite near the base of the mountain. Two, because that means that Geralt must have come upon his campsite and…elected to take the lute. Which doesn’t make sense. He has questions. Which he will ask in 3 weeks when he has the ability to ask questions again.

I’m sure there are some hijinks re The White Wolf traveling with a white wolf; maybe they run into Eskel or Lambert and Geralt gets a solid ribbing for acquiring his namesake as a pet and Jaskier comes to his defense which only makes them laugh more. Except then Eskel, we’ll say it’s Eskel, asks him about his bard and he admits that they fought and by the time he got over his pride and went back to look for Jaskier, all he found was an empty campsite full of Jaskier’s things—but no Jaskier. He waited for two days before packing up the most important items like his lute and the two doublets that he knew Jaskier preferred, and now he’s on his way to find Yennefer to see if she can locate him because clearly disaster has befallen him because he wouldn’t just leave his lute.

Anyway. I’m sure you can guess what happens next because I am a sucker for the standard “usually quiet/stoic one ends up inadvertently spilling their guts about how regretful they are and the One They Have Hurt overhears their heartfelt confession/angst” trope (that’s a trope, right?). Geralt starts talking to the wolf. Telling him about Jaskier. About how he mistreated him. About how he misses him. And Jaskier all but crawls into his lap and Geralt is like, what an empathetic creature. Hm. And Jaskier is like: eye roll.

Anyway.

Either the reveal is calm and sweet: Geralt is cuddling with the wolf as the moon rises and then suddenly he’s cuddling with Jaskier who explains everything and they take full advantage of the few hours Jaskier has in human-form. Then they find Yennefer and she gets rid of the curse and they live happily ever after.

Or the reveal is Fraught With Peril: Jaskier ends up injured (by some sort of terrible beastie) just as he changes back into his human shape and they only get a few short moments to speak before he passes out. And then The White Wolf shows up to the nearest town the next morning holding an actual white wolf in his arms snarling about locating a healer who can treat the animal. And the townsfolk are completely befuddled and a little charmed to see a Big Scary Witcher (the Butcher, even!) spend the last of his coin to rent a room for a wolf and buy hearty stew for a wolf and pay a healer to come daily for a week to treat a wolf. And by the end of the week, half the town is in love with Geralt who cares so, obviously, deeply for the poor animal, and the half that isn’t in love with Geralt is in love with Jaskier because Geralt carries him to lay in front of the fire in the inn’s common room every evening and, regardless of his form, Jaskier makes friends easily.

And a bard passing through (not Valdo, thank goodness), makes a song about the bond between the White Wolf and his White Wolf that Jaskier, rather grudgingly, admits is quite good.

Eventually, he heals enough to travel and they track down Yennefer who removes the curse and Geralt uses his words like an adult to apologize propperly and they all live happily ever after. And Jaskier sometimes sings the song to Geralt because, even though it’s not one of his own, it is rather sweet.

#witcher fic #geralt/dandelion #geralt/jaskier #myfic #fic title game #rockmarina

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gayregis · 4 years

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Question. Part 1. Hi. I like your blog and your analytical analysis of books, which is always very accurate and insightful, so I couldn't find anyone better to ask a question to. I am haunted by the scene where Regis announced to the male part of Hansa that Milva is pregnant. Then there is a dialogue, at the end of which Regis asks Geralt to do something... I felt connected to Jaskier as a character for the first time because I also don't understand what it is about. ->

P2. I asked my friends who had read the books, and their opinions were divided. Some believe that Regis asks Geralt to dissuade Milva from having an abortion, while others, on the contrary, believe that Geralt should persuade her to do it. Or maybe that's not the point at all? Further, my reflections, which may not be relevant to the question... Maybe I'm the only one who noticed a lot of "c*nservative" ideas in books.

P3. We cannot ignore the fact that they were written quite a long time ago and many ideological and cultural aspects of Poland (see the law banning abortion in 2020) that could influence them. It was the 'poll' at the beginning of this scene that made me think of this. Why do men decide whether to give Milva medicament or not? Secondly, Geralt insistently refuses to call it "medicament" but prefers the word "agent."

P4. Secondly, Geralt insistently refuses to call it "medicament" but prefers the word "agent." He also demands that Jaskier shut up when he supports Cahir that "only a woman decides." Pro-life vibes, or is it just me? We also can't ignore the fact that Geralt is very concerned about his infertility.

P5. In general, continuing the theme: very many sorceresses also lament the lack of ability to have children, and all of them, even if they had relationships with women, were always looking for the ONE AND ONLY man. Moreover, the same-sex relationships in the book are only female/female shown, but never male/male (a quick and disdainful mention in "Season of Storms"). But even f / f relationships are presented as some not-serious-play; remember how Ciri called it all "fun," talking with Mistle.

P6. Here again, I see a toxic-masculine culture that sexualizes lesbians and completely denies gays. (This also reminds me of Poland's situation, where the majority of the population is very religious and homophobic.) I was too disappointed by the stereotypical representation of women: hatred because of the same outfits/jewelry, thin waists and small portions (remember how Yen and Fringilla eat), eternal gossip, and so on. I mean, women aren't like that, man.

P7. The toxicity of the presented heterosexual relationships has been said a thousand times before me. In general, I am always a little upset when I see that someone calls Sapkowski such a tolerant writer. According to my observations, toxic masculinity, "conservative" ideas, and strengthening stereotypes about LGBT people, women, etc., often slip into his books. I may be wrong, so I apologize in advance. I would like to hear your opinion. Thanks.

Finally. The scene I was talking about, maybe you need it. ‘What’s this all about then? Unanimity? Total agreement? Is that what you’re expecting?’‘You know very well what it’s about. But since you ask, I shall tell you. Yes, Geralt, that’s precisely what it’s about. And no, it’s no me that's expecting it.’ ‘Could you be clearer?’ ‘No, Dandelion,’ the vampire snapped. ‘I can’t be any clearer. Particularly since there is no need. Right, Geralt?’ ‘Right,’ the Witcher said...

p. s. From the same Anon with a 7-part question. English is not my first language, so I apologize for any mistakes. I tried to ask questions as respectfully as possible, but I often confuse English pronouns/times/etc. Please note that it was completely unintentional if I made an offensive mistake, and I deeply apologize. I will correct myself if you point this out to me in your answer. Thanks again.

omg i love this and i’m gonna divide it into different segments to be easier to read. also don’t worry your english is great thank you!!

1) “I asked my friends who had read the books, and their opinions were divided. Some believe that Regis asks Geralt to dissuade Milva from having an abortion, while others, on the contrary, believe that Geralt should persuade her to do it.”

yes, this is a confusing scene. when i first read it i was TOTALLY relating to dandelion, completely confused on what the message was and what the in-universe conversation was about. i had just felt proud of myself for understanding everything regis said in the previous scenes, and now here he was saying something and i didn’t know how the fuck to decipher it.

but after re-reading and also reading others’ analysis on r/wiedzmin, i found what i think to be the answer. in my opinion, the scene is not about actually either dissuading or persuading milva to have an abortion. rather, it’s about supporting her emotionally so that she can make the right choice for herself.

regis, as a doctor, wants his patient to make choices with a level head and for her own self, not under pressure to make the strategic choice that would benefit the company the most. this is my interpretation but since regis mentions milva has been a little feisty in consultation (she wouldn’t give him the date of her last period... lol), i feel like he could sense that she was really stressed out about this and although she initially made the choice to have an abortion, she may not have been thinking for her own self, rather letting the priorities of the company come first before her own wants.

in this moment, geralt realizes exactly why she has come on the journey, he mentions how she was willing to sacrifice her own child for his, etc. so, geralt needs to talk to her in that moment to tell her that he doesn’t expect her to do anything just so she can be more of an “asset” to the company, to tell her that she is his friend first and comrade-in-arms second, because milva is very loyal and also headstrong and would have done anything for geralt and the company. milva in general also wants to be “useful” because she has internalized misogyny from how she was raised, she doesn’t want to be “useless” like she was taught women are ‘supposed’ to be, as is shown in their conversation.

so geralt talks to her and she makes the choice not to have an abortion after all, because after talking to geralt, she doesn’t feel like she has to prioritize geralt’s needs and the company’s needs over what she wants.

2) “Maybe I'm the only one who noticed a lot of "c*nservative" ideas in books. We cannot ignore the fact that they were written quite a long time ago and many ideological and cultural aspects of Poland (see the law banning abortion in 2020) that could influence them.

It was the 'poll' at the beginning of this scene that made me think of this. Why do men decide whether to give Milva medicament or not?

Secondly, Geralt insistently refuses to call it "medicament" but prefers the word "agent."”

He also demands that Jaskier shut up when he supports Cahir that "only a woman decides." Pro-life vibes, or is it just me?

We also can't ignore the fact that Geralt is very concerned about his infertility.

in my opinion i think the author-intention was to set up a conversation in which a rhetorical question is asked, which will 100% be answered with a resounding positive, a “yes” all around. regis asks the company, because he’s a character so he can be poised as the author wants to propose a question like, “what are your thoughts on abortion,” which allows the rest of the characters to respond “it’s a woman’s right to choose for herself!” in this way, i think that it is very pro-choice... i will agree later on about what you say in other parts of your message, about the conservatism and also centrism in the books, but when it comes to abortion sapkowski imo in the witcher series espoused some pretty pro-choice views. this scene, compounded with the fact that yennefer, the leading female character, performs abortions as part of her job, and also the scene in season of storms with coral and the king of kerack in which he makes a fool of himself in front of her because she assists women with abortions... it’s a topic that’s come up a few times, and all of the times it has been a pro-choice perspective. (again, this is not to say everything in the witcher series is progressive, haha)

in-universe, i suppose you could think of it as that regis was just being coy and asking a rhetorical question also in-universe... such that he was going to give milva the decoction no matter what the men of the company chose, but he just wanted to “ask their opinions” (i.e., tell them what is happening with milva, because it’s a serious subject that needs to be addressed by the company) before, so he could introduce the subject to them (sparing milva of the difficulty of telling them all) and gain their assistance in supporting milva during this time. (random sidenote, but i like how regis acts as a middleground between milva and the rest of the company in this. there are three genders: woman, man, and medical professional. lol).

so yes, i don’t think that the men of the company actually “get to decide” if milva would have an abortion or not - their opinion’s don’t matter. out-of-universem sapkowski probably just wanted to set up a conversation between his characters where they could espouse explicitly pro-choice opinions (dandelion and cahir practically start arguing over if the northern kingdoms or nilfgaardian empire are more pro-choice). in-universe, this was probably more of a way to bring the subject up rather than actually asking for opinions.

i think it may look like there are some pro-life opinions shown by geralt in this conversation at first glance, but there might be something deeper. when he tells dandelion to be quiet when he begins to hound him that “only a woman decides,” i think it’s not because he disagrees with that - rather, that he agrees, but that that isn’t the issue here that he needs to deal with. it IS milva’s decision, everyone is in agreement about that - and that’s precisely the problem, because milva is in a vulnerable emotional state and also a precarious physical environment, and these factors could influence her to go through with the abortion, while in “regular circumstance,” if everything were fine and everyone was safe and they weren’t on a quest to save ciri, she might go through with the pregnancy. so, geralt gets annoyed that dandelion tells him this, because he agrees, he already knows! it’s useless to tell him that, because he already agrees with him, what he really needs to do now is move forward with having an emotional talk with milva, which is difficult for him.

i think the “medicament” / “agent” thing is still a little confusing to me, because i don’t know which one has a negative connotation. to me, it’s a medicament, or a medicine, whic is something that cures an ailment, that has a negative connotation, because it kind of refers to the state of being pregnant as a sickness or illness that needs to be cured? an agent is more like a substance that causes a reaction, i think of that of enzymes that speed up chemical reactions in cells, it causes a certain result to happen - which seems more appropriate in my opinion. but yeah i’m not sure which is the “worse word” to use, or if either are “bad words” to use when it comes to this

3) In general, continuing the theme:

Very many sorceresses also lament the lack of ability to have children, and all of them, even if they had relationships with women, were always looking for the ONE AND ONLY man.

I was too disappointed by the stereotypical representation of women: hatred because of the same outfits/jewelry, thin waists and small portions (remember how Yen and Fringilla eat), eternal gossip, and so on. I mean, women aren't like that, man.

The toxicity of the presented heterosexual relationships has been said a thousand times before me.

Moreover, the same-sex relationships in the book are only female/female shown, but never male/male (a quick and disdainful mention in "Season of Storms"). But even f / f relationships are presented as some not-serious-play; remember how Ciri called it all "fun," talking with Mistle. I see a toxic-masculine culture that sexualizes lesbians and completely denies gays. (This also reminds me of Poland's situation, where the majority of the population is very religious and homophobic.)

In general, I am always a little upset when I see that someone calls Sapkowski such a tolerant writer. According to my observations, toxic masculinity, "conservative" ideas, and strengthening stereotypes about LGBT people, women, etc., often slip into his books. I may be wrong, so I apologize in advance. I would like to hear your opinion. Thanks.

very much agree with all of this. in some circumstances, i think the author-intention was to break stereotypes and tropes - such as fringilla and yennefer speaking about oysters in relation to their ‘diets’ ... but then, they are actually talking about oysters in the context of having to teleport from the castle, they are actually speaking about high-intrigue political alliances, not something as silly as diets... but the effect, to me, is lost, because they led into it acting vapid and speaking about diets anyways, and if they used sarcasm in their voices, it wasn’t strong enough coming through the text in my opinion.

similarly, i think he tried to do some of this trope-breaking with the sorceresses overall, how they are all vapid and obsessed with appearance, but actually are the political masterminds behind everything. although he achieved the latter, he did not manage to have the latter negate the former... the intelligent political talks did nothing to “cancel out” the previously-demonstrated vapidness and obsession with femininity, and the way he describes women overall is something to roll the eyes (and the stomach) at. (“triss’ waist measured ‘22′,” oh give me a break lmfao...)

i also agree that although there are technically gay and lesbian characters in the books, none of them are “good representation” - the only ones i can think of are philippa, mistle, and degerlund (season of storms, which you are right in describing as “disdainful”) - all of these characters are violent, none of them ever are shown having a healthy relationship, and their “love” either ‘corrupts others’ (i use that term semi-lightly) or is part of some political manuever. ciri’s time with mistle is that of a ‘youthful violence,’ it is part of her time with the rats, her time reaching into her worst most hateful depths as a person, and it’s presented as something to “heal from.” and we haven’t even mentioned how mistle assaults her in the beginning of it all. this is largely a post for another time, but it’s not a good situation by any means.

i also get super annoyed for this reason when i see people applauding sapkowski for being a “progressive writer.” in my mind, he is not progressive at all, although he has his character espouse some pro-choice views here and there, that is not nearly enough to make up for the fantasy racism/antisemitism, use of antisemitic caricatures to do trope-reversal on, misogyny to do trope-reversal on, and blatantly just Not Good gay and lesbian characters.

in my mind, it’s inappropriate to label him as “progressive,” because he was not writing with diversity and representation in mind. i think a lot of people get confused, because they assume, “oh he included women, so he must have been wanting more representation for women!” ... when he was pretty much just writing for writing’s sake... of his own worldview and biases, nothing special when it comes to representation. and i agree that a lot of conservative ideas slip their way into the books, from my perspective he tries to make some centrist milquetoast statements at times (”don’t be neutral in the face of evil” for example) but wraps it up in literally a fantasy pogrom - which is not something imo for a goyische author to put into their stories. his inspirations at times are clear, and he uses them in manners which can come off as blunt and disrespectful.

#anon #ask #long post /#also apologies its 6:30 am and i didnt sleep so if theres any spelling errors or weird syntax or trains of thought...

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kingmakings · 3 years

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re: your yennefer gifset; wouldnt air manipulation & motion manipulation be aerokinesis & telekinesis?

Yeah, air manipulation is aerokinesis. Telekinesis is the movement of objects with the mind (which she also is able to do, but I only included a few of her abilities). Her ability to manipulate the motion of other beings is similar to, but not quite telekinesis.

#anonymous #asks

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calamity-bean · 5 years

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oh miss calamity, my beautiful queen. i was wondering (if you haven’t already!) if you could write a meta about why yen wants her womb/a baby so bad? personally i think it’s because she “wants everything” and that ability is something she doesn’t have, not that she necessarily wants to be a mother, and she has lived so long and that’s something she hasn’t done yet? but i love your mind and would love to hear your perspective! thank you ☺️

Thanks for the ask! It’s an interesting topic, and a potentially very complicated one, I think, because Yennefer herself seems to me to have a lot of complicated and sometimes contradictory drives.

I should start by saying I haven’t read the books yet (*re-re-rechecks my place in the library’s request queue*) or played the games. While I gather that Yen’s infertility also features in the novels, I don’t know how their treatment of the topic compares to the show’s, so I’m coming at this purely in the context of the Netflix series. Apologies to book/game fans who undoubtedly have a more comprehensive understanding of her character than I do.

With that said, I agree with you that Yennefer’s desire to have a child is about more than just, y’know… having a child. Beyond motherhood per se, I think it reflects a more general sense of longing that she’s hoping to satisfy by achieving this one specific thing. I think part of it is indeed that it’s something she doesn’t have (and has been told she can’t have), not because a child would be a novelty but simply because Yen likes, in general, to demonstrate agency over her own life and choices; but on a deeper level, I wonder if what she’s really longing for — the core desire she’s trying to fulfill here — might be connection. A departure from the isolation that she has, to some extent, purposely imposed on herself, and a relationship that is based on loving and being loved as a person rather than as an object of beauty or provider of power.

I don’t fault Yen’s self-isolation, or her ambitious nature in general. When we meet Yen in 1.02, she is abused, unloved, poor, perceived as ugly — and utterly without control over her own circumstances, leaving her dependent on the very man who mistreats and then sells her. Is it any wonder that she wants so fiercely to be powerful, to be beautiful, “to be seen and adored with everyone watching” (episode 1.03)? I don’t think this comes down to vanity; I think it reflects a desire to not need to be dependent on anyone else ever again. Look at the way she rejects Istredd’s domestic fantasies about their future together; the way she rejects Tissaia “throwing her a lifeline” in 1.05; the way she rejects Geralt’s help with the djinn! “You heroic protector, noble dog, permitting my success so long as you command it yourself!” We often talk about wanting power like it’s a negative thing; it connotes greed, vanity, a destructive, immoral acquisitiveness. But Yen prizes power over herself and her surroundings because she knows too well what it is to be powerless. Everything she does, she wants to be able to do by herself.

And on the surface, she succeeds. She makes herself into the sort of person who stands apart from all others; who can get pretty much anything or anyone she wants and need depend on no one else in turn…

Yennefer, 1.07: “And it was fun to be wanted. The object of desire. After where I came from, I lapped it up. But they all loved the power that came with my position at court. Not my power.”

…But by 1.04, Yen’s found that — as is often the case in life — the things she thought would make her happy have not. Her work as a court mage is desperately unfulfilling, and I think Istredd had a point when he said that “no amount of power or beauty will ever make [her] feel worthy of either” (1.03), because Yen feels that the “love” her beauty and power earn her is shallow and misplaced — i.e., that “love” is not really for her. People love what she can give them … but what about her, as a person? Do they even see her as a person at all? Or do they see only the impressive persona she constructed in order to become who she thought she wanted to be?

And then Queen Kalis shoves a baby into her arms.

“To this baby, I am the whole world,” Kalis says (1.04), and despite Kalis’s own dissatisfaction with motherhood, I think Yen is struck by the idea of being so important to someone in such an all-encompassing way — not as a useful, desirable sorceress, but simply as an ordinary person in an ordinary familial relationship. Though she initially seems a little alarmed to be asked to hold a baby, her willingness to ultimately risk her life for the child contrasts sharply with Kalis’s willingness to sacrifice it for herself. For all her talk of how harsh the world is, Yen is not as callous as she might act. Tough, yes, and sometimes a tad cruel, but nowhere near heartless. I think of the way she interacts with the girls at Aretuza in 1.07 — how she teaches them and tries to warn them from making the same mistakes she feels she did — and I see in Yen someone who does want to care for someone other than herself.

There’s definitely a reactionary element at work here too. Yen knowingly gave up her womb in order to get the things she thought would fulfill her. They failed to live up to her expectations, so now she resents having been asked to pay that price. So to some extent, this is rebellion — a stubborn desire to spite Aretuza for demanding that price and to prove that she can, as you say, have everything. “They took my choice,” she tells Geralt in 1.06; “I want it back.” This definitely fits with her need for independence and control over her own life, but I think the desire for genuine connection — and to choose with whom she is connected — is still a big factor. I think this relates to why she’s so devastated to learn that Geralt may have bound them together magically through the djinn: in her eyes, the magic removes all of her agency from the equation, making her feel that this relationship she thought was based on choice and genuine connection, rather than in any kind of obligation or transaction, was “not because of anything real or true.” And when she warns the girls at Aretuza about infertility, isolation is the primary consequence she describes:

Yennefer, 1.07: “The ability to create life, real life? They take that from you. And then send you out so the only family, the only loyalty you have is to them.”

Yen is proudly self-sufficient — but feels isolated. She doesn’t want to need anyone — but she wants to be needed, and not merely in a way that means being admired as a useful object rather than truly seen as a person, nor in a way that requires her to compromise her own independence or personhood in order to suit the wishes of others. And like anyone, she wants to feel that her life has had a purpose, that she’s done something meaningful with her time. She once “believed that it would all be worth it” — that her work as a court mage would be her “legacy.” Would motherhood — or, more broadly, family; or, more broadly still, meaningful personal connection — fulfill her the way magic has not?

…I don’t know.

It’s interesting — I’ve seen some posts on this aspect of Yennefer’s characterization, but much of what I’ve seen has come at it from an out-of-universe standpoint: i.e., “How do we, the audience, feel about the fact that this character was written with this motivation?” I think good points have been made about how centering a female character’s arc around motherhood plays into stale, gendered tropes, and about how Yen’s infertility (and other aspects of her arc) potentially reflect misogyny and ableism, etc. And I think those issues are worth discussing, though I’m not really going to get into them here, given that I’m clearly long-winded enough as it is.

But even from a purely in-universe perspective, there’s irony here, right, in that this whole theme is all still wrapped up in the idea of women as vessels: vessels of children, vessels of sexual desire, vessels of power. “And even when we’re told we’re special, as I was, as you would’ve been, we’re still just vessels for them to take and take until we’re empty and alone” (1.04). Yennefer resents her role in life and feels she’s only loved because she’s useful/desirable to others — yet Kalis, too, resents her own role and feels that it’s Yennefer who is looked at “for who you are, not for what you can give them.” Yen is not Kalis, and not every woman — not every person — wants or needs the same things … But in such a patriarchal setting, is a woman’s choice basically limited to what kind of vessel she wants to be perceived as, rather than whether she wants to be a vessel at all? And is the desire for a child merely another reflection of how much Yennefer craves external validation — to be seen and adored — despite how much she also wishes to be self-sufficient? Is the critical idea here not that Yen would be the child’s whole world (as Kalis put it), but the child would be Yennefer’s whole world — a meaningful vessel into which to pour her heart?

I don’t know! There’s a lot going on here thematically, and a lot going on in Yen’s motivations. All I can really say in conclusion is that I hope I made a lick of sense in trying to untangle it and that I haven’t completely missed the mark.

#i dont know if this is right but there sure is 1500 words of it #the witcher #yennefer #anya cholatra #witcher netflix #meta #my meta #asks #op #Anonymous

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fantasticallyfoolishidea · 5 years

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Hi! I really enjoy your Witcher metas :D Chiming in, I had a few thoughts re. the bath scenes comparison.

Full disclosure, I haven’t actually seen all of the show (no Netflix, so it goes), but on the other hand, relatively clean slate! And just to be technical (shelving the shipping goggles!), I do think the blocking tells us a lot about the two sets of characters as well.

First up, Jaskier is a gadfly. He’s confident in speech, but crossing back and forth like that speaks to anxiety. He’s afraid of the upcoming event. But he’s absolutely not afraid of Geralt; see: throwing salt(?) at him, pulling the mug away from his face, shaking his shoulder, + the baseline intimacy of carrying on while someone’s taking a bath. Geralt’s stillness, then, is the point on which Jaskier can turn. There must be a metaphor in there, too.

Actually, Geralt’s not the only one he’s orbiting, because the majority of shots are from approximately Geralt’s eyeline, even when pulled out - we the audience look up at Jaskier with him. Imo, the angle adds to Jaskier’s flightyness. We’re synchronized with Geralt, more than him. It also emphasises the connection when they finally come to the same eye level; when they unite, we the audience are part of it, instead of a more removed point of view from above, or pulled out again.

There’s even the light falling over Jaskier’s shoulder and into Geralt’s face, following Jaskier’s gaze at him*, and that panel on the wall driving home their eye contact, for extra subtlety </sarcasam> (if I was sketching that moment, it would divide almost perfectly into the rule of three. Perfectly balanced image, yet seperated subjects.)

(*here’s another metaphor - Jaskier’s gaze illuminating Geralt just as his songs illustrate the White Wolf?)

And Yennefer! Now again, without the proper context, I don’t properly follow their exchange. But like you say, Yennefer moves around much less than Jaskier did. She actually seems much more on Geralt’s wavelength by conversation and disposition, but they still don’t share the scene in quite the heightened way that would come from that synchronization. In-character, of course it makes sense for Yennefer to move the mirror. But unless it was featured earlier in the scene somehow, the purpose it serves here is to actively deny a sightline or connection between the characters. She has a lot more confidence, in settling down with so much more intention. They’re being set up as equals, and so when they fall into step, the camera has to be the mobile factor and do the work to keep the audience in the loop. (I personally think the shots could be unified a bit more across the whole show, but the number of short takes really stands out all the more when the subjects are so still. It actually pulls me out of a moment, instead of letting the actors carry the scene, but this is just personal preference now, and I come from theater, so I’m biased. But it really feels like the camera is telling us that it’s a unified moment, instead of letting the scene stand on its own.) (for a contrast that’s also a bath scene, I love the composition in OSF’s Macbeth last year, pulling the audience’s eyes up to the crowned child)

It’s funny, but Yennefer and Geralt’s scene is very much blocked for film. The conversation as delivered depends on the camerawork to give the audience each character, or else if it was on stage, we would only basically get two profiles with a bit of splashing and bad acoustics. Park And Bark scenes on stage happen facing the audience, not the wings. OTOH, Jaskier insists on filling the space, showman that he is. He’s upstage of his partner, but a) that doesn’t kill a conversation on film like it would hamper stage (particularly when Jaskier’s doing most of the talking anyway), and b) he uses it to cheat out and maintain the camera’s ability to join his and Geralt’s moment.

I gotta say, one more thought to throw into the ring is how the scenes treat Geralt’s scars, and by extension his whole body. He’s still a bit grody in the hair in the Jaskier scene, but apart from that reminder of his job, there’s no real emphasis put directly on his scars. They’re discussed, but not highlighted. Jaskier even casually jostles the shoulder that Yennefer points out as scarred later on. Yennefer’s scene makes a point of the nudity in a very different way - again, that mirror turns it into something sexual, even while denying the opportunity. I’m not quite sure where I’m going with this one either, but the metaphor’s in there somewhere. (Something about how the scene partners see him? Jaskier taking ‘Geralt who has scars and that’s just how life is’ as complete vs Geralt and Yennefer sharing 'scars are things that have happened to you’? idk)

Honestly I don’t have any conclusion here either, it’s just late and I wanna chime in on the good points you made and hope I’m making sense. What you said about the favors - Geralt doing one for Jaskier, and then Yennefer doing one for Geralt - reminded me of an anecdote from psychology. I am no psychologist so if I’m wrong forget this, but isn’t there something about how doing someone a favor will make the actor more well-inclined towards the person they did the favor for? I think it’s something about sunk cost fallacy. But that might be another element to the relationship-building work that each scene does; the Jaskier scene might end up contributing to Geralt’s positive thoughts on him, and the Yennefer scene add to her opinion of Geralt. Or maybe they don’t because I haven’t seen the episodes. But one way or another, neither of these scenes Needed to happen in the bath, so that choice alone points to some sort of intimacy being underscored or developed in each dynamic. Hard to say what it all 'really’ means, but the setting absolutely opens the doors to comparisons! Hope I’m making some sense, I totes dig your thoughts on this show!!

–

Aw, hell yeah! I was hoping someone with a background in theatre would weigh in on the bath post. Thank you so much! I’m with you pretty much every step of the line.

#submission tag #the witcher #witcher meta #submission

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kelpiemomma · 5 years

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a little more geraskier beauty and the beast i guess??

this got long so it’s 99% under the cut

►Yennefer was actually able to figure out during the first stay of Geralt and Jaskier (it was three days long, and Jaskier had never felt more like a piece of meat before) that Jaskier didn’t have just one curse on him. The whole of him was too intricate, so she wasn’t able to help much beyond telling Geralt to come back for longer next time. When they did come back, a few months later with no other news on Jaskier’s curse, she discovered that it was three separate curses- one to take away his voice, one to take away his ability to play the lute, and one to take away his looks. Three separate curses from three separate people all forced onto one person. That’s part of why she said true love’s kiss could break the curse- because something so pure could cancel it all out. Otherwise she would have needed to use some very valuable, rare herbs and conduits in order to fix Jaskier and that... would’ve been too much work when she could see what was right before her eyes.

►Cursed Jaskier is a good few inches taller than Geralt, but he’s still not as wide. He’s covered in fur from head to toe, has claws on both his hands and his feet (which are more like paws, there), has a thick ruff of fur on his neck. There are ears on top of his head, the most pathetic excuse for a tail coming out of his spine, and his face looks like a bear and a wolf had a child and then tried to smother it. There’s something not quite unlike a muzzle but still not a muzzle on his face, his eyes are just a bit too sharp to be human, but too round to be animal, and it’s like the tip of his nose can’t decide if it’s muzzle or human. Jaskier refuses to look into any mirrors.

►Jaskier literally cannot go into any town when he’s cursed. No matter how well they try to hide him, something gives him away whether it’s a hand (claw) accidentally showing, or him trying to speak (and the fact that his voice sounds like a literal growl? not helping), or that one time a child grabbed his cloak and yoinked it off of him. Jaskier bemoans to Geralt that the curse wasn’t just against his body, it was against his ability to be comfortable (and he’s honestly probably onto something there). Geralt ignores him (mostly) but knows that it bothers Jaskier more than he likes to admit. For one, Geralt knows it’s been years since Jaskier was in an actually, truly comfortable place to sleep. For another, he would like to bathe in warm water once in a while and leaving Jaskier to sleep alone in the outside of town is asking for a second monster hunt. Jaskier always pretends he’s fine and puts on a fine show of not being bothered that he can’t go into town, but by the way that he bothers Geralt for information on the goings-on when Geralt returns, it’s clear that he misses human communication and the intricacies of human nature. Realizing this actually gets Geralt to open up a bit more - or at least talk more - because besides Yennefer (who’s iffy with communication at Best), he’s the only person Jaskier has any communication with. →The first time Jaskier goes into a town after the curse is broken, he’s nervous as hell. He’s gotten so used to being driven out of towns that even though he knows he’s cured, he’s still afraid that he’s going to suddenly sprout fur and fangs and claws again and be chased out. He’s got a death grip on his lute the entire way to the inn. When he and Geralt manage to get a room, he barely manages to make it to their room before he’s crying in relief that they actually made it and that he’s still human. Geralt offers him an awkward shoulder pat because... just ‘cause they love each other doesn’t mean he’s gotten better at reassuring Jaskier of anything.

►Roach actually doesn’t mind Jaskier, even when he’s furry. The first few days were a bit rough because she’s a Witcher’s horse, that’s a monster, why are they not killing it?? Jaskier plies her with sweet grasses and fruits from trees, and then she becomes quite fond of him. Geralt makes exactly one (1) “she probably thinks you’re related with all the fur” joke before Jaskier’s moping (and Roach’s intentional tripping over every stone and hole in the road) make him apologize (”i think you’re closer in relation to a mole rat, actually” “was that... supposed to make me feel better?” “less fur.” “...thanks?”). The fact that Jaskier can climb trees to get her treats makes her more fond of him. →When Jaskier sees Roach again as a human, she’s like “what the hell” and it takes her a minute to reconcile the human to the formerly cursed fuzzy thing. She tends to be a bit more protective of Jaskier after, because she recognizes that he no longer has claws and fangs to protect him. Geralt notices it (and approves), Jaskier just thinks she likes him more now that he’s human.

►Jaskier has different strengths during and post curse. While he was cursed, he had fur to increase his defense and warmth in cold climates, and fangs and claws that he could attack monsters with. He’s not a fighter by any means but he wasn’t useless. The first time Geralt gets attacked after the curse is lifted, Jaskier almost rushes in to help, forgetting that he’s squishy and vulnerable again. Roach is the one that keeps him from charging in. After the curse, though, he’s able to charm his way into dinner, a room, and a bath for him and Geralt in almost every inn they visit. Geralt misses his (meager) backup, but privately thinks that being able to bathe more often is a worthy trade-off. Jaskier honestly just luxuriates in warm water. →There was one incident where, while Jaskier was cursed, Geralt found himself surrounded by wargs and being overwhelmed. Y’all remember that scene in Beauty and the Beast where Belle ran from the castle and got hunted down by wolves and then the Beast comes out of nowhere, roaring and tossing wolves until they run?? Yeah, that’s this. Jaskier sees Geralt in trouble and doesn’t even think about trying to run away, he runs straight into the fray. He’s not broad like the Beast was, is actually quite lean, but he’s still cursed and a monster, he’s got strength and sharp claws and vicious fangs that even Geralt doesn’t have. He roars at the wargs, enough to frighten some of them away, and fights off the others. He does end up severely injured, though, and while Geralt heals quickly, Jaskier does not. Cue relationship building while they tend each other’s injuries.

►It takes Jaskier a while to re-accustom himself to playing the lute and singing. For so long all he could do was snap strings and warble like a dying dove, he has to practice for hours to get his fingers to cooperate like they used to, and to recover the range and air capacity he used to have. He sings a lot when they travel, which he claims helps pass the time, but whenever Geralt gets grumpy about it Jaskier also points out that a, it’s helping him work on his air supply and b, he went for decades without singing, Geralt, you can deal with his joy for a little while longer

►After the curse is broken, Jaskier realizes that though he was cursed at roughly 20, and that it’s been at least two decades if not three that he’s been cursed, he hasn’t aged much if any. This actually causes him to panic and practically climb Geralt in an attempt to run to Yennefer to check and see if he’s still cursed or not. Geralt calms him down (some), they get back to Yenn, and it turns out that the strength of the curse lingers a bit. Jaskier ages much, much slower now, and heals much, much quicker. Yenn offers to fix it for him but Jaskier declines- he’s going to take this second chance, thank you very much.

#geraskier #geralt x jaskier #beauty and the beast au #just some ramblings about this au #honestly idk about ALL of this but it's whats coming to mind rn

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bomberqueen17 · 4 years

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escaping white orchard

So I managed to convince Dr. F that he should take another run at the griffin boss fight to escape the White Orchard level in Witcher 3.

(spoilers if you’re only really a Netflix Witcher fan!)

It took a few tries, and some running around-- buying components to make grapeshot bombs, looking up how to rapid-switch from crossbow back to Signs. Fine-tuned the concept of alternating Quen and Aard signs to defend while the thing was on the attack and then attack when it was on the ground-- the point of Quen being to survive, and the point of Aard being to stagger it long enough to let Geralt go ham on it with the sword. All other fights have been very simple, just lead off with a Sign maybe and then go nuts with the sword and occasionally have to Quen when there’s a counterattack.

But the griffin... well, it took almost 8 hours of in-game time to finally beat the thing. It just was such a long fight, it was unlike anything so far in the game, and it was a good education for the game’s more complex mechanics.

(Hilariously, throughout, Vesemir is running around and occasionally leaps in there valiantly hacking at the thing, and no matter what he does, how dramatic it looks, he never does a damn bit of damage to the critter, nor does he do anything in a way that would allow Geralt to do any damage either; if he’d just keep Aarding the thing so it would stay down and give Geralt a minute to attack it, it’d be great, but it’s not set up that way, so mostly his role is to periodically intone “Damn! it’s fast!” and “I’m too old for this shit” and just... not do anything useful.)

In the end, what did it was pulling back and going exhaustively through all the inventory screens, and re-evaluating where to use the skill points acquired thusfar. The major thing that proved decisive was taking the skill point that had given Geralt passive healing abilities (you don’t have those in Death March without selecting that) and re-allocating it to give him active healing during combat if he eats food. That was what was decisive-- getting the health bar to replenish, because otherwise the griffin could oneshot him with very little preparation.

All of this is sort of not what I’m into, in gaming; I’d have no interest in actually doing that. So I mostly sat and made Superior Beast Oil jokes with MM throughout this process, and let DF puzzle through it. We did some cheering, and were suitably glum every time Geralt died again (and relieved when DF managed to get a save point after the intro dialogue).

Finally killing the griffin was fantastically satisfying, though, and we all got very excited about that. And then we could go take the mcguffin to the plot device guy and get the plot coupons we needed to leave the level.

There followed many many many cinematic cutscenes and things, some tragic and some satisfying and some interesting.

(”This isn’t how I thought we’d meet,” Geralt says to Yennefer. “Damn right,” Dr F said, “I wasn’t planning on wearing this for the occasion.” His stats-maxing attempt for the griffin had involved an olive-green gambeson with clashing beige skirt bits, teal hunting gauntlets, and some unnervingly-shiny leather hunting trousers with boots that looked sort of like Uggs. This was not a Fashion Lewk in the slightest and was definitely not what you’d want to be wearing when you met up with your ex.)

And then it became clear that I was the only person who had any idea what the fuck was going on, because, well, massive spoilers if you only watched the Netflix thing, but like, the entire premise of this game is that Emperor Emhyr var Emrys of Nilfgaard wants his daughter Cirilla back and the Wild Hunt is chasing her and he knows Geralt raised her and thus is the most likely to be able to find her.

Which, like. My friends had only seen the Netflix thing so they were like WHOSE daughter??? whomst the fuck is this guy???? so I got to be like oh by the way guys... so that was hilarious, actually.

“You’re the only one of us who knows the lore,” Dr F commented.

MM was extremely amused by the outfits they offered Geralt to meet the Emperor, as was DF, who is something of a clothes-horse in real life. He opted for the doublet with the black-on-black vine pattern. “I have fabric to have one of these made for myself actually,” he said, “but in red,” and then we talked about fashion for a while.

Neither of them really noticed or appreciated the portrait of Ciri, however. I shrieked, but there was too much going on.

Anyway MM had to go as we were leaving the palace, so she could lie in the hallway outside Girl’s bedroom and stop Girl from coming down the stairs on various flimsy pretenses over and over again. (DF’s gaming reflexes are so good that he’d hear her coming every time and every time when she came into the room we’d be staring intently at the inventory screen, he’s quite experienced at this sort of nonsense and also does not need his daughter to decide she’s afraid of the TV again because there was a deranged white-haired swordsman decapitating people when she came into the room three hours after bedtime.)

We’ve now left Geralt on his way to the next quest. It was going fine and then a bunch of drowners showed up sort of out of the blue, and shouldn’t have been able to kill Geralt but uh well, listen, it was time to go to bed.

(I woke up at 5, unfortunately, but as a consolation I did get to write some lovely bantery dialogue for Jaskier’s eventual visit to Kaer Morhen so that’s a thing that’ll happen.)

#the witcher #witcher 3 #witcher spoilers #that quarantine life #wee precious flower prince geralt

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itsclydebitches · 5 years

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Geralt and Yen: Relationship Dynamics in The Last Wish

Hi, @dottirselena! Hope you don’t mind me tagging you. I’m very much a meta person, so when your comments popped up in my email I thought I’d waste some time this afternoon diving into Geralt and Yen’s relationship a bit. For those of you who don’t know, I’m referring to a silly ship post I made and this question attached to it:

“I’m reading the Last Wish and I don’t understand “Nenneke establishes that Yennefer treats Geralt like dirt”? In fact, it’s the other way around. Apparently they were together and he ditched her without telling her why and she’s furious with him. HE treated HER like dirt. The crystals are supposed to be some sort of half-assed half-baked barely-there “atonement” for his mistake.”

So far The Last Wish is the only witcher collection I’ve read and thus my knowledge/analysis of the relationship comes purely from that text (the 2007 paperback edition, translation by Danusia Stok. Also beware of spoilers for the short story’s ending from here on out). Admittedly, it would have been far more accurate for me to say that how Nenneke discusses Geralt and Yen’s relationship establishes that she treats him like dirt. Because I don’t think she’s a very reliable witness here. We don’t get to see this fight for ourselves. Rather, we hear Nenneke’s interpretation of it: Geralt “ran away” from Yen, behaved “in a manner not particularly worthy of a mature man” and is now using these gems to “wipe away [his] guilt” (270). That’s what she says, but that’s not necessarily what happened. There are two sides (at least) to every story.

Indeed, Geralt immediately refutes two points. The first is when he re-characterizes “running away” by pointing out that Yen was “too possessive.” He’s asserting that he didn’t just ditch her for no reason. Or even a bad reason. His language here suggests that she was mistreating him. He says that “She treated me like---” but notably Nenneke doesn’t let him finish. We don’t get to hear what Yen treated him like---a possession? A slave? A fool? A child?---because Nenneke cuts him off, outright saying, “I don’t give a shit how she treated you,” thereby denying Geralt the right to explain his side of things and, likewise, the reader’s right to get the full picture. He’s attempting to justify leaving and is straight up not allowed to do so. Geralt likewise asserts that the gems are not an atonement for what Nenneke perceives are mistakes, but rather him just trying to help Yen out despite their differences: “You misunderstand. I’m not thinking of appeasing or bribing her. I do owe her something, and the treatment she wants to undergo is apparently very costly. I want to help her, that’s all” (270). Rather than grapple with whether she believes in Geralt’s altruism or not, Nenneke instead goes on to tell him that the money would be useless to Yen anyway. She can make far more far quickly. Thus, the reader doesn’t get to see Nenneke potentially revoke her earlier assumptions. She, again, ignores Geralt’s attempts to explain, likewise leaving the reader with a very strong assertion on her end and only the words Geralt has been able to get in edge-wise on his. This story is imbalanced.

Nevertheless, by the end of the conversation we’re left with two distinct viewpoints. Since we don’t get to see the fight for ourselves, we have to decide what interpretation we buy into. Do we believe Nenneke, asserting that Geralt treated Yen badly, ran away from his mistakes, and is now trying to get past it in an insulting manner by paying her off? Or do we believe Geralt, asserting that Yen treated him horribly, he left because of that, but he still wants to help her by offering some money for this treatment?

Personally, I believe Geralt and not just because the person in the relationship probably has a better perspective on the situation than a priestess who sees them only a few times a year and who, notably, spoke to Yen first. We learn that Yen arrived two months ahead of Geralt and thus had that time to sway Nenneke to her version of events before Geralt even showed up. Her view of the situation was set before he ever got the chance to tell his side and, as we’ve established, Nenneke isn’t interested in hearing that. Nevertheless, even though we don’t get to see this specific fight, we do get to see how Geralt and Yen interact when they first meet... and I think Yen treats him like dirt. We see throughout this encounter that she’s a manipulative, vain, and incredibly power hungry person:

She attacks Geralt. Not because he was in her bedroom but because he dared to be sarcastic towards her, asking which question she wants him to answer after she shoots out three in a row. It’s only Geralt’s witcher abilities that save him, something Yen doesn’t know about when she decides to attack. So she’s willing to greatly harm others when she thinks they’ve been a bit rude (291).

She clearly values her own beauty and comfort over others’ lives. Geralt reminds her that “time is of the essence” and she still insists on a bath before seeing Dandelion (293-4)

We see how she likes to taunt men and then blame them for the situations she set up. Yen insists that they bathe together, despite Geralt not wanting to bathe at all when his friend is in trouble. She insists that they should be mature about this, “I don’t faint at the sight of a naked man” (294), and is agreeing to have him there while she bathes, yet will later punish him for this. Geralt offers to turn around while she washes and Yen insists that she needs to see his eyes, so she makes herself invisible instead, thereby demanding that he look at her even if he can’t fully see her. Yen also insists that he fasten her dress. She is, in short, flirting with him and Geralt, already being attracted to her, finds himself distracted by the washcloth and soap outlining her form. He doesn’t act on anything and, notably, keeps trying to set up a new situation wherein she can bathe in peace: let me leave, let me turn around, etc. Yen refuses. Geralt keeps trying to be the gentleman, Yen keeps forcing him to engage with her in a flirty, sexual manner using Dandilion’s life and/or voice as the blackmail. Then later Yen re-characterizes this ‘I forced you to bathe/look/touch me’ into Geralt deliberately going after her in an inappropriate manner. She plays the victim:

“My accounts in Rinde could be settled by anyone, including Chireadan. But you’re the one who’s going to do it because you have to pay me. For your insolence, for the cold way you look at me, for the eyes which fish for every detail, for your stony face and sarcastic tone of voice. For thinking that you could stand face-to-face with Yennefer of Vergerberg and believe her to be full of self-admiration and arrogance, a calculating witch, while staring at her soapy tits. Pay up, Geralt of Rivia!” (310, emphasis mine)

The thing is, Yen is full of self-admiration and arrogance. She’s so arrogant that for her a punishment of taking away Geralt’s autonomy and framing him for her crimes equals his “crime” of being sarcastic towards her and looking at her breasts while she very deliberately paraded them with the hope that he would look. Because then Yen has an excuse to punish him. This is, notably, a fraught interaction to analyze in this day and age because we’ve grown used to men insisting that women “forced” them to do something. She was taunting me, she clearly wanted it, I couldn’t help myself, etc. It’s a bit of a knee-jerk reaction to blame him in any scenario because sexual violence against women is so prevalent. However, this is not a case of a woman, say, wearing something skimpy and a man deciding to sexualize her while she’s just getting on with her life. Idk about anyone else, but if I insist on taking a bath at a very inappropriate time, insist that you take this bath with me, insist that you have to look at me while I wash/disregard the offer that you’ll turn around, deliberately flirt with you the whole while... and then get pissed that you looked at my breasts? I’m setting up a trap.

Speaking of traps, when Geralt thanks her for curing Dandilion he finds that there’s another trap set up. He’s clear about being willing to pay Yen in whatever way she pleases. He’s not trying to get out of this transaction by just offering gratitude, going so far as to say that Yen “treated him more kindly, albeit in a calculated manner, than the majority of your brethren would have done” (307). Which based on what we’ve seen so far is a really low bar. Yet Yen has decided she only wants the genie and is willing to endanger both Geralt and Dandelion to get it. As we know, she uses Geralt as a tool to attack all the men who have slandered her, getting him arrested, beaten up, and thrown into jail. Alongside the innocent Chireadan. It’s only Yen’s likewise “magnanimous” last wish that she has Dandelion make that ensures they won’t both be hanged. We learn later that Dandelion doesn’t actually have control of the genie, his wish is useless from a magical standpoint, but Yen didn’t know that. The story presents a last minute ‘Okay. I guess I won’t let them hang you’ as a kind act... even though it’s Yen’s doing that their lives were in danger in the first place.

Finally, we see precisely how much a lust for power and her own arrogance has warped Yen’s ability to read the situation she’s in. Geralt insists that the genie will kill her, she haughtily claims she’s not so easy to kill. Yen opens a portal for him to escape through but insists that she doesn’t need to use it. They fight and all Yen can think about is how the genie will get away. She learns that Geralt has the last wish and taunts him with his witcher mutations--- “Humanity,” she said suddenly, smiling nastily” (341)---playing on his emotions to try and get him to make a wish so she can finally try to capture the genie. Key word being “try” considering that we’re told her spells are fading and her legs are shaking. Yen, with even more arrogance, insists she’s still up for the task. Only Geralt can see how that arrogance is going to get her killed. And killed for what? Pure power. We learn earlier on that only a few have ever successfully bottled a genie and with that power you can literally move mountains. As a former hunchback, Yen is desperate to be everything: the most beautiful, the most respected, the most powerful. As far as we know so far, Yen doesn’t want that power for some noble reason like, say, saving a loved one from some otherwise fatal disease. She just has a drive to possess it and she doesn’t care who she has to trample in order to achieve that. An opportunity arises to keep someone from the noose, or to open Geralt a portal? Sure, she’ll do it, but only if it’s convenient. If, you know, saving them from the noose also gets rid of the last wish so she can have her shot at the genie; only if opening a portal also gets him out of her hair so he won’t stop her from attempting to achieve this power. Yen is one of the most selfish characters I’ve come across in a long, long time. Based on what we see in The Last Wish, Yen is only out for herself.

In contrast, this story establishes that Geralt really is altruistic in many respects. The whole setup here is that he’s willing to do anything, even meddle with a sorceress others are afraid of, to save his friend. Yen agrees to help him before breakfast (again, how magnanimous) because Geralt thought of a “thirsty woman” and brought her apple juice, even with everything else going on (294). The conclusion is Geralt attempting to save Yen despite everyone insisting that to do so is suicide, despite what she’s done to him mere hours before. Geralt likewise uses his last wish to bind them so that Yen will survive her encounter with the genie. That’s admittedly not pure altruism---he clearly desires Yen and wants her to survive for that potential relationship---but the fact remains that he could have wished for anything and screw the woman who used him and a dying friend to gain power.

All of which is a very long-winded way of saying, yes. Yen does treat Geralt like dirt. She enjoys hurting others if they don’t show her what she perceives as the respect she deserves. She enjoys the attention her new beauty brings her while likewise enjoying punishing men for giving it to her. She wants power above all else and will sacrifice others to achieve it---most notably Geralt. She’s cruel, arrogant, vain, and power-hungry.

So when we return to where we started, Geralt and Nenneke’s conversation, I know who’s side of the story I believe so far. We’re given two distinct perspectives, Geralt the abandoner now trying to pay Yen off with gems vs. Geralt the mistreated who wants to help Yen despite the horrible way she’s treated him. The Last Wish shows us the dynamic Geralt claims is the truth. The Last Wish provides far more evidence that we should believe Geralt’s side of the tale rather than Nenneke’s:

Yennefer saw him, jumped up and raised her hand.

“No!” he shouted, “don’t do this! I want to help you!”

“Help?” she snorted. “You?”

“Me.”

“In spite of what I did to you?”

“In spite of it” (331)

Based on what we know I think it’s the same situation this time around too. Yen did something---“She treated me like...”---and Geralt is trying to help her “in spite of it,” this time with money for the procedure she desperately wants. We only have Nenneke’s word that Geralt is in the wrong here and her word doesn’t stand up to his explanations or what we get to read for ourselves.

#witcher #the witcher #geralt/yen #Nenneke #mymetas #I 100% didn't expect to dive into witcher meta #at least not so soon #yet here we are

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