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bamf-jaskier · 4 years

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What the fuck is up with Triss and Geralt (in the books)

Hello! and in today’s wtf post, here is a summary of the relationship (or lack thereof, sorry Triss) of her and Geralt’s relationship in the books.

TLDR: At the end of the day, Triss and Geralt have a clearly described mutual attraction to each other through all the books. However, Geralt’s attraction to Triss does not compare to his love for Yennefer and as such, despite Triss and Geralt sleeping together once, they set boundaries and relegate each other to friends. Geralt never fully stops being slightly drawn to and sympathetic towards Triss and Triss never fully falls out of love with Geralt.

CW for minority graphic depictions of violence (standard for the books)

More under the cut:

So, let’s start out with their backstory. Here’s a snippet describing their hook-up from Blood of Elves.

Then Geralt of Rivia appeared. A witcher leading a stormy life, and tied to her good friend Yennefer in a strange, turbulent and almost violent relationship.

Triss had watched them both and was jealous even though it seemed there was little to be jealous of. Their relationship quite obviously made them both unhappy, had led straight to destruction, pain and yet, against all logic… it had lasted. Triss couldn’t understand it. And it had fascinated her. It had fascinated her to such an extent that she had seduced the witcher – with the help of a little magic.

She had hit on a propitious moment, a moment when he and Yennefer had scratched at each other’s eyes yet again and had abruptly parted. Geralt had needed warmth, and had wanted to forget.

No, Triss had not desired to take him away from Yennefer. As a matter of fact, her friend was more important to her than he was. But her brief relationship with the witcher had not disappointed. She had found what she was looking for – emotions in the form of guilt, anxiety and pain. His pain.

She had experienced his emotions, it had excited her and, when they parted, she had been unable to forget it. And she had only recently understood what pain is. The moment when she had overwhelmingly wanted to be with him again. For a short while – just for a moment – to be with him.

So Geralt and Triss had sex once, and it is important to note that while CDPR took the interpretation that this meant Triss had assaulted Geralt and used that in their games, this is not explicitly said in canon. The single line “she had seduced the witcher – with the help of a little magic.” is also likely to be referring to how mages use transformation magic in order to alter their appearance to be more beautiful. This is mentioned by Fringilla in Baptism of Fire:

She herself had regularly ridiculed the crude image painted by gossip and propaganda of the typical sorceress from the North: artificially beautiful, arrogant, vain and spoiled to the limits of perversion, and often beyond them.

Even then, Geralt has a pattern (similar to Yennefer as well with Istredd) of sleeping with other people such as Fringilla herself in Lady of the Lake when him and Yennefer are on a break. So it’s important to note for their relationship in the books, that there is nothing in the text that says that Triss assaulted Geralt and that is simply another literary interpretation of the relationship and not directly canon.

Sometime after their hook-up Triss is presumed dead at the Battle of Sodden but goes to Kaer Morhen in order to teach Ciri magic. Here is Geralt and Triss’s reunion in Blood of Elves.

“I’ll take your horse,” offered Geralt, reaching for the reins. Triss surreptitiously shifted her hand and their palms joined. So did their eyes.

“I’ll come with you,” she said naturally. “There are a few little things in the saddle-bags which I’ll need.”

“You gave me a very disagreeable experience not so long ago,” he muttered as soon as they had entered the stable. “I studied your impressive tombstone with my own eyes. The obelisk in memory of your heroic death at the battle of Sodden. The news that it was a mistake only reached me recently. I can’t understand how anyone could mistake anyone else for you, Triss.”

“It’s a long story,” she answered. “I’ll tell you some time. And please forgive me for the disagreeable moment.”

“There’s nothing to forgive. I’ve not had many reasons to be happy of late and the feelings I experienced on hearing that you lived cannot compare to any other. Except perhaps what I feel now when I look at you.”

Triss felt something explode inside her. Her fear of meeting the white-haired witcher, which had accompanied her throughout her journey, had struggled within her with her hope of having such a meeting. Followed by the sight of that tired, jaded face, those sick eyes which saw everything, cold and calculating, which were unnaturally calm but yet so infused with emotion…

She threw her arms around his neck, instantly, without thinking. She caught hold of his hand, abruptly placed it on the nape of her neck, under her hair. A tingling ran down her back, penetrated her with such rapture she almost cried out. In order to muffle and restrain the cry her lips found his lips and stuck to them. She trembled, pressing hard against him, her excitement building and increasing, forgetting herself more and more.

Geralt did not forget himself.

“Triss…Please.”

“Oh, Geralt… So much…”

“Triss.” He moved her away delicately. “We’re not alone… They’re coming.”

So they have a (bit) of a spicy post-death reunion where Geralt says some very nice and heartfelt things things that make Triss especially horny. Triss almost orgasms from a hug and kisses Geralt to avoid moaning (can you tell this series was written by a man yet?)

Then later, Geralt and Triss have a conversation about Geralt needing to reach out to Yennefer because Ciri’s trances and magic are becoming overwhelming. In fact, in this scene, Triss is pretty shaken up because she was just in a joint-trance with Ciri. So, post-trance in Blood of Elves Geralt brings up their past hook-up:

“You have to get help from another magician. A more gifted one. More experienced. You know who I’m talking about.”

“I do.” He turned his head away, clenched his lips.

“Don’t resist. Don’t defend yourself. I can guess why you turned to me rather than her. Overcome your pride, crush your rancour and obstinacy. There is no point to it, you’ll torture yourself to death. And you are risking Ciri’s health and life in the process. Another trance is liable to be more dangerous to her than the Trial of Grasses. Ask Yennefer for help, Geralt.”

“And you, Triss?”

“What about me?” She swallowed with difficulty. “I’m not important. I let you down. I let you down… in everything. I was… I was your mistake. Nothing more.”

“Mistakes,” he said with effort, “are also important to me. I don’t cross them out of my life, or memory. And I never blame others for them. You are important to me, Triss, and always will be. You never let me down. Never. Believe me.”

She remained silent a long while.

“I will stay until spring,” she said finally, struggling against her shaking voice. “I will stay with Ciri… I will watch over her. Day and night. I will be with her day and night. And when spring is here… when spring is here we will take her to Melitele’s Temple in Ellander. The thing that wants to possess her might not be able to reach her in the temple. And then you will ask Yennefer for help.”

“All right, Triss. Thank you.”

“Geralt?”

“Yes.”

“Ciri said something else, didn’t she? Something only you heard. Tell me what it was.”

“No,” he protested and his voice quivered. “No, Triss.”

“Please.”

“She wasn’t speaking to me.”

“I know. She was speaking to me. Tell me, please.”

“After coming to… When I picked her up… She whispered: ‘Forget about him. Don’t torture him.’”

“I won’t,” she said quietly. “But I can’t forget. Forgive me.”

“I am the one who ought to be asking for forgiveness. And not only asking you.”

“You love her that much,” she stated, not asking.

“That much,” he admitted in a whisper after a long moment of silence.

“Geralt.”

“Yes, Triss?”

“Stay with me tonight.”

“Triss…”

“Only stay.”

“All right.”

Okay this scene makes me feel a lot of emotions because Triss knows she has to let go of Geralt and she genuinely wants to because she values her friendship with Yennefer more. But like she said, she can’t forget. And it’s also important that in the same way Triss asks forgiveness, Geralt is asking forgiveness too. He knows that he slept with Triss while still in love with Yennefer and while, like he says, he doesn’t think his mistake is unimportant, he is not going to pursue a romantic relationship with Triss.

This scene is so important because it sets the boundaries for the two of them. Especially at the end with Triss asking Geralt to stay the night with her platonically, it’s them trying to re-gain their friendship without the romantic aspect. Triss is a pretty insecure character in the books. In fact, in an interview when asked what immediately came to mind when her name was mentioned, Andrzej Sapkowski said: insecure and red-headed. So her setting these boundaries for herself is important and Geralt setting these boundaries is important as well.

After this, Geralt stays as as close friend of Triss, even comforting her when she recounts the Battle of Sodden (which btw is one of my favorite book Triss moments in the series, it’s so powerful).

Then, Triss is traveling with Ciri and Geralt and gets very bad food poisoning and basically has to be nursed back to health by the two of them and Geralt has to literally hold her as she shits herself in the woods. So it’s nice that he’s being a supportive friends but also it’s a gross situation.

On the road, when asked by Yarpen who Triss is to Geralt (Triss is currently very sick and asleep) he replies in Blood of Elves:

“Who is this Triss to you?”

“What difference does it make in this situation?”

“In this situation – none. I asked out of an inappropriate curiosity born of the desire to start new rumours going around the inns. But be that as it may, you’re mighty attracted to this enchantress, Geralt.”

The witcher smiled sadly.

You can tell that there is a still a lingering sense of attraction. But it’s not love and it pales in comparison to what Geralt feels for Yennefer. So it’s important Geralt keeps up the boundaries he set earlier. But it’s not just Geralt who has trouble letting go. When Triss is in the worst part of her fever she says this to Geralt:

“Oh, Geralt,” she sobbed. “I so regret… I so regret that what was between us”

“Triss, please.”

“…it should have happened… now. When I’m better… It would be entirely different… I could… I could even—”

“Triss.”

“I envy Yennefer… I envy her you—”

“Ciri, step out.”

“But—”

“Go, please.”

It’s hard for the both of them, in my opinion Triss far more than Geralt but they both struggle.

It’s important to note that at the end of Blood of Elves, Yennefer also finds out the whole story about Triss and Geralt from Ciri:

There was a subject which the girl [Ciri] instinctively and carefully avoided. But one day, she got carried away and spoke out. About Triss Merigold. Yennefer, as if casually, as if indifferently, asking as if banal, sparing questions, dragged the rest from her. Her eyes were hard and impenetrable.

Now, the next time Geralt and Triss meet, Geralt and Yennefer were invited along by Philippa to attend a mages’ meeting on the island Thanedd. Here is their meeting from Time of Contempt:

They went over to Triss, who was shimmering in shades of blue and pale green. On seeing them, Triss broke off her conversation with two sorcerers, smiled radiantly and hugged Yennefer; the ritual of kissing the air near each other’s ears was repeated. Geralt took the proffered hand, but decided to act contrary to the rules of etiquette; he embraced the chestnut-haired enchantress and kissed her on her soft cheek, as downy as a peach. Triss blushed faintly.

So, Yennefer knows that they slept together but they all seem to be able to co-exist together which is good. Yennefer and Triss even have a sem-nice conversation about Ciri together moments later:

“They’re on excellent terms,’ Yennefer warned her gravely. ‘Be careful, Triss. Don’t breathe a word to him about–about you know who.’

‘I know. I’ll be careful. And by the way…’ Triss lowered her voice. ‘How’s she doing? Will I be able to see her?’

‘If you finally decide to run classes at Aretuza,’ smiled Yennefer, ‘you’ll be able to see her very often.’

‘Ah,’ said Triss, opening her eyes widely. ‘I see. Is Ciri…?’

‘Be quiet, Triss. We’ll talk about it later. Tomorrow. After the Council.”

“Tomorrow?’ said Triss, smiling strangely. Yennefer frowned, but before she had time to ask a question, a slight commotion suddenly broke out in the hall.”

This is an important conversation, because Philippa set up the Thanned meeting as a way to arrest Nilfgaardian mages such as Vilgefortz and Francesca and Triss was in on this planned coup while Yennefer was not. However, I don’t want to get too off-track, so back to Geralt and Triss’ relationship!

Triss in Time of Contempt, mentions to Geralt that Yennefer is member of the mage’s council and asks Yennefer why she hadn’t told Geralt yet and this is Yennefer’s reply:

“No, darling,’ said the enchantress, looking her friend straight in the eyes. ‘For one thing, I don’t like to boast. For another, there’s been no time. I haven’t seen Geralt for ages, and we have a lot of catching up to do. There’s already a long list. We’re going through it point by point.’

‘I see,’ said Triss hesitantly. ‘Hmm… After such a long time I understand. You must have lots to talk about…’

‘Talking,’ smiled Yennefer suggestively, giving the Witcher another smouldering glance, ‘is way down the list. Right at the very bottom, Triss.’

The chestnut-haired enchantress was clearly discomfited and blushed faintly.

‘I see,’ she said, playing in embarrassment with her lapis-lazuli heart.

‘I’m so glad you do. Geralt, bring us some wine. No, not from that page. From that one, over there.”

Then, Geralt asks Yennefer once he and her are alone and says:

“Sure you didn’t go a bit too far?’ he asked coldly. Yennefer’s eyes flared violet.”

“Don’t try to make a fool out of me. Did you think I don’t know about you and her?’

‘If that’s what you—’

‘That’s precisely what,’ she said, cutting him off. ‘Don’t make stupid faces, and refrain from comments. And above all, don’t try to lie to me. I’ve known Triss longer than I’ve known you. We like each other. We understand each other wonderfully and will always do so, irrespective of various minor… incidents. Just then it seemed to me she had some doubts. So I put her right, and that’s that. Let’s not discuss it any further.”

So underneath this exterior, there’s definitely some tension and we see Yennefer’s possessive side come out. Needless to say, Triss isn’t going anywhere near Geralt romantically while Yennefer is in the picture. However, it is important to note that Yennefer still highly values Triss’ friendship, going so far as to daydream about her being in their lives if Yennefer and Geralt were to ever retire.

Then, during the coup on Thanned, Geralt’s leg is horribly injured and Triss is the one who saves him (although she did help cause the coup in the first place). From Time of Contempt:

Now Geralt could see nothing and hear nothing. He was sinking, submerging into something warm. He thought Vilgefortz had gone. He was astonished, then, when a fierce blow from the iron staff struck his thigh, smashing the shaft of his femur.

If anything occurred after that, he did not remember it.

‘Hang in there, Geralt. Don’t give up,’ repeated Triss Merigold endlessly. ‘Hang in there. Don’t die… Please don’t die…’

‘Ciri…’

‘Don’t talk. I’ll soon get you out of here. Hold on… Damn I’m too weak, by the gods…’

‘Yennefer… I have to—’

‘You don’t have to do anything! You can’t do anything! Hang in there. Don’t give up… Don’t faint… Don’t die, please…’

She dragged him across the floor, which was littered with bodies. He saw his chest and belly covered in blood, which was streaming from his nose. He saw his leg. It was twisted at a strange angle and seemed much shorter than the intact one. He didn’t feel any pain. He felt cold. His entire body was cold, numb and foreign. He wanted to puke.

‘Hold on, Geralt. Help is coming from Aretuza. It’ll soon be here…’

Triss basically drags Geralt to Tissaia and begs for help. Tissaia reluctantly gives help and Triss teleports Geralt from Thanned to Brokilon to be healed by the dryads and tells only Dandelion where he is and keeps Geralt’s location a secret. Both Yennefer and Ciri are missing after the coup.

However, once Triss fully commits herself to the Lodge of Sorceresses, she puts their well-being above all her previous connections. In The Tower of Swallows, she is even willing to let Geralt die as he didn’t serve the purposes of the Lodge:

“The information,” Yennefer said dully, “for his life. Save him, Philippa.”

“No, Yennefer.”

“Because it's not in the interest of the Lodge.” A purple fire kindled in the sorceress’ eyes. “Did you hear that Triss? There, you have your Lodge. You see their true colors, their true interests. And what do you think of them? You were a mentor to the girl, almost – as you put it – a big sister. And Geralt…”

“Do not attack Triss’ relationships, Yennefer.” Philippa retaliated with her own fire in her eyes. “We will find and rescue the girl without your help. And if you succeed, that's fine, a thousand thanks, because you will have saved us the trouble. You tear the girl out of the hands of Vilgefortz and we will be happy. And Geralt? Who cares about Geralt?”

“Did you hear that, Triss?”

“Forgive me,” said Triss Merigold dully. “Forgive me, Yennefer.”

“Oh, no, Triss. Never.”

While Triss takes many steps to try and find and save Ciri, she does nothing of the sort for Geralt and it appears that she has abandoned much of their friendship (and Yennefer’s) in favor of The Lodge. Despite this, Triss still showcases jealously whenever someone else mentions being involved with Geralt.

For example, in Lady of the Lake, Fringilla is summarizing her seduction of Geralt and his responses and says:

“December came,” she continued. “Then Yule, then the New Year. The witcher calmed down to the point where Ciri’s name no longer showed up in every conversation. The monster hunting expeditions, which he regularly undertook, seemed to completely avail him. Well, maybe not completely…”

She trailed off. She thought she had seen Triss Merigold’s blue eyes flash with hatred. But perhaps it had just been a reflection of the flickering candle flames.

Seeing The Lodge like this is a turning point for Triss and she regrets joining The Lodge and her actions in The Tower of Swallows and says as much to Nenneke in Lady of the Lake:

“I cannot go madly hurrying after Ciri to help her, I cannot run like crazy to save Geralt and Yennefer. Not only that, there is a war, which you have sent your girls… A war, that Jarre fled to and I am refused the possibility to even stand on a hill. To once again stand on a hill. Knowing this time, I’d made the right decision.”

“Everyone has their decisions and everyone has their hills, Triss,” the priestess said quietly. “Everyone. You cannot escape your own.”

This arc of jealously, betrayal, and love comes to a head when Triss accompanies Ciri and Yennefer to Rivia to try and rescue Geralt from an uprising. Yennefer rounds on Triss and the two of them have an absolutely vitriolic fight. From Lady of the Lake:

Triss averted her face, determined not to give Yennefer any excuse. She did not expect it to work. For a long time she had been sensing Yennefer’s anger and aggression growing stronger as they approached Rivia.

“You, Triss,” Yennefer mischievously insisted, “do not blush, do not sigh, do not drool or wiggle around in your saddle. Or is it that you think because I agreed to your request that I want to have you with us? That I was interested in seeing you spend a meeting with an old love? Ciri, I asked you to go on ahead. The two of us need to talk!”

“It is not a discussion, it is a lecture.” Ciri dared to argue, but under the threatening glare from violet eyes, she immediately recoiled, clucked and galloped off on Kelpie on the road ahead.

“You’re not going to meet a loved one, Triss,” Yennefer continued. “I am not so noble or stupid enough to give you the opportunity, or him the temptation. But just for today. I could not deny myself the sweet satisfaction. He will know what role you play as a member of the Lodge. He will thank you for that with his famous look. And I’ll be looking at your quivering lips and trembling hands, I will listen to your lame apologies and excuses. And you know what, Triss? I will faint with delight.”

“I knew,” Triss grunted. “That you would not forget, that you would take your revenge. I agreed to this, because I was actually at fault. But one thing I must tell you, Yennefer. Do not count too much on fainting. He knows how to forgive.

“He knows what was done to him, of course,” Yennefer narrowed her eyes. “But he will never forgive you for what was done to Ciri. And me.”

“It is possible,” Triss swallowed. “He may not forgive. Especially if you insist. But he won’t fly into a rage. He won’t lower himself like that.”

“Yennefer flicked her horse with her whip in anger. The animal whinnied and leapt and the sorceress swayed in her saddle.

“Enough talk,” she snapped. “More humility, you smug viper! He is my man, mine and only mine! Do you understand? You have to stop talking about him, to stop thinking about him, you have to stop admiring his noble character… As of right now, right now! Oh I want to grab you by your matted red hair…

“Try it!” Screamed Triss. “Just try it, you vindictive bitch and I’ll scratch out your eyes! I…”

The both fell silent when they saw the cloud of dust as Ciri galloped back towards them.

That fight was particularly ugly and it’s built out of a lot of repressed feelings and betrayal over the course of the story that these two refused to properly address. However, the two of them put this aside in order to work together and fight together in the end of Lady of the Lake, but this post is not for analyzing Yennefer and Triss’ relationship so I won’t link the quote.

#holy shit this post turned out ridiculously long #so kudos to anyone who makes it through the end #also now I want to do analyses for all the characters' various relationships like Yennefer and Triss #the witcher #meta #triss Merigold #geralt #triss #the witcher books #Andrzej Sapkowski #the time of contempt #the tower of swallows #baptism of fire #blood of elves #the lady of the lake #myposts #wtf series

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likecastle · 4 years

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re: Witcher femslash: would you consider some Tissaia/Yennefer? I am so into the difficult push and pull of their dynamic and always love to see more of it!

So approximately a hundred years ago I got this Tissaia/Yennefer femslash ask, and I finally got around to finishing the thing I started in response. I have a lot of feelings about Tissaia/Yennefer, because they have such incredible chemistry on the show, but I have a hard time reconciling it with their actual relationship in canon. I tried to get around it by situating this in Yennefer’s fantasy of what might have happened the day Tissaia shows up in Rinde, but it remains to be seen how successful that approach was.

Also, I would very much welcome more Witcher femslash requests, though I can’t promise they won’t take me several more months to fill.

As the light outside the windows wanes, Yennefer’s guests begin to arrive, but her mind wanders. She’s grown bored of these little gatherings, of using her considerable skills to help the landed gentry slake their secret lusts without shame. One can only orchestrate so many orgies before one tires of the spectacle, after all.

And so Yennefer’s thoughts drift to the touch of a gloved hand on her shoulders, and the smell of damp stone and ozone welling up behind her, a scent that is for her inexorably bound both to fierce longing and implacable misery. It’s anger, of course, that causes her to linger on the memory—irritation at Tissaia’s intrusion, fury at her self-serving condescension.

Around her, her guests begin to succumb to the aphrodisiac fog rolling through the room. How tedious their desires are, how small. Yennefer can’t understand how their petty little wants—to be fucked by two people at once, to be pushed down or punished or indulged—can fill them with such insurmountable shame that they must seek out magical assistance to lower their inhibitions. It’s inconceivable to her, because what she wants is so immense it’s a constant maelstrom inside her, and still she cannot bring herself to feel ashamed.

Damn Tissaia for trying to make her feel like a cowed schoolgirl again. How dare she turn up here after all these years and presume to understand what Yennefer wants or needs. How dare she offer Yennefer redemption. As if Yennefer is the one who’s failed. As if Yennefer has anything to atone for.

The same sensation she felt when Tissaia touched her wells up inside her now, a current of heat that sears her right down to her core. It makes her want to tear at her clothes, strike out, scream so loud Tissaia can hear her all the way back at Aretuza. But Yennefer stays still.

She has long experience schooling her emotions—Tissaia taught her that. And it’s Tissaia’s voice she hears whenever her anger flares up so fierce she wants to burn everything down, herself with it. You weren’t taking control, Tissaia said to her once, you were losing it. Yennefer would like to show her a thing or two about control.

While her host goes off in search of refreshments for her, Yennefer amuses herself by imagining what might have happened if her meeting with Tissaia had gone another way. If, instead of enduring Tissaia’s patronizing warnings, she had pushed her back onto the bed and put that prim mouth to a better use.

She can imagine Tissaia’s shock as Yennefer hiked up her skirts and climbed on top of her. Yennefer expects such wanton behavior would outrage Tissaia’s carefully constructed veneer of propriety and poise. But Yennefer can’t imagine she’d offer any real resistance. No, she can almost feel the way Tissaia’s breath would hitch, her sides heaving between Yennefer’s thighs, her lips parted to gasp for air.

It would be gratifying to watch her eyes widen as Yennefer inched up her body. She’d like to see that foxlike face disappear under the black pool of her skirts. How she would shiver at the first touch of Tissaia’s tongue. Yennefer clenches at the thought of the slick sounds Tissaia would make lapping at her, how her face would grow wet and slippery between Yennefer’s thighs. And Yennefer wouldn’t let up for a moment, so that Tissaia had no choice but to bury her face in Yennefer’s cunt.

In the midst of the great hall, Yennefer presses her thighs together, feeling her pulse hot between her legs. Yes, she would like to have the rectoress at her mercy. It would be infinitely more interesting than the tedious tableau playing out in front of her now. Just once, she wishes someone would come to her with a really unusual desire, a passion that might stand up to her own. She wonders if Tissaia could withstand her, or if she would disappoint her like all the others.

Somehow Yennefer doesn’t think the rectoress of Aretuza would be the type to beg. Much too proud for that, Tissaia de Vries. Nor would she let herself flag in her ministrations, even when the hot embrace of Yennefer’s thighs grew stifling and her head began to spin. By then, Yennefer would be close and she would rock her hips, fucking Tissaia’s face. And perhaps she would feel Tissaia writhing under her, desperate for her own pleasure but unrelenting, and that would be what set her thighs quaking—the knowledge that Tissaia was hers, that she would give her everything she had to give and Yennefer would take it all.

It is, Yennefer decides, an intriguing little daydream, certainly worth revisiting later in the privacy of her own room. Perhaps someday she’ll even test the theory. Before she can decide how the conditions for such an experiment might arise, there is the sound of footsteps on the stairs, and she looks up, expecting her refreshments.

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gayregis · 4 years

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boppinrobin replied to your post: “Question. Part 1. Hi. I like your blog and your analytical analysis of books,”

aauuuughhh tysm for ur analysis as always

thank you for reading and liking it!!

arinasassymessi replied to your post: “Question. Part 1. Hi. I like your blog and your analytical analysis of books,”

Thank you again for your response! I wrote anonymously because I was a little embarrassed by my English, but to be honest, I've been reading your blog for a very long time, and I've always wanted to discuss some topics with you. Thank you, I feel more confident now. First of all, I apologize for the fact that I considered this scene pro-life.

The thing is, I've reread the witcher books countless times (mostly because of Regis, lol). And if in the first times I was so fascinated by the plot and characters that I did not notice any obvious sexist/homophobic moments, then after rereading the books more consciously, I caught very unpleasantly, conservative motives, which Sapkowski is not shy about.

I remember that the first time this scene, even though it caused a bit of misunderstanding, still touched me with its warmth and how Geralt emotionally supported Milva, helping her make a rather difficult decision. And the way Regis was pleased with his actions, smiling at him, awww.

But after studying the books in more detail and the messages that Sapkowski puts in them, it seems to me that I began to see a catch everywhere. At first, I was also delighted to learn about Ciri's relationship with Mistle, wow, progressive author, LGBTQ+ representation! But after seeing this relationship "live," I felt cheated, and since then, I have returned to this scene with Milva.

I thought, oh no, isn't everything here the same as I believed? Most of all, I was afraid of Regis because he is my comfort character, the voice of reason, and a progressive medic. Does Sapkowski put pro-life ideas in his mouth?.. After a couple of discussions with friends, this fear only took root.

However, after reading your in-depth analytical analysis, I agreed with it, looking at the facts in a new way, and was glad that my first guesses and feelings from this scene were close to the truth. Now I can rest in peace, lol.

About "medicament/medicine" and "agent." I have read books in Russian, and now I am rereading "Baptism of Fire" in English to practice. I think the difference between the words "medicament" and "agent" in English is somewhat unclear, and it is impossible to say precisely which of them has a negative connotation.

Both of them sound entirely neutral and normal to me, but again, I'm not a native speaker, correct me if I'm wrong. In Russian, instead of the word "agent," we have the word "snadobye" (the closest translation is 'potion,’ and in Polish, it is 'ziola’). And while "medicament" means only medicine, a remedy, the word "snadobye" can also mean medicine, but has more folk properties (?).

It is brewed from herbs and a synonym to a potion/drug — a poisonous, magical, and forbidden drink, usually attributed to witches and wizards. For me, Geralt's refusal to use the word "medicament" — neutral and scientific-medical — in favor of a word that has a more magical/negative connotation seemed rather strange. But again, this is just my guess.

I consider the Russian translation closer to the Polish one because it belongs to the same language group, but I don't have access to the original to check what words were used there. In any case, I think that since Geralt decided to use one instead of the other, they should differ in some way, but it is not known in favor of which word this works. I also like your version.

I also had a lot of questions about Milva and her actions. She's probably my second favorite character after Regis, and I didn't understand her actions until a certain point. She was not satisfied with a woman's position in her society, so instead of the usual role, she decided to participate in Geralt's journey?

I was also not very clear about their conversation and Geralt's conclusion: "someone else's child for your own, life for life." Why? After all, she could stay in Brokilon and give birth, but if she didn't want a child, she could have an abortion (for example, she rather cruelly compared her child to young wasps that eat caterpillar alive).

Recently, the Russian Witcher community posted a short theory that Milva was in love with Geralt and therefore went after him. Milva's thoughts in Brokilon speak in favor of this — she finds Geralt attractive (although she felt something similar for Cahir when they were waiting for Geralt and Buttercup to be released from prison at night).

*not Buttercup (have no idea what is it), JASKIER

Also, their conversation outside Regis' hut at night, when Milva bitterly remarked that Geralt needed another woman — a scholar, a wise one, a beloved one (Yennefer), desire to get emotional support exactly from Geralt and and insisting on his presence during the miscarriage, her further refusal to marry the baron, and perhaps Sapkowski's sometimes ANNOYING idea that any woman should go crazy in Geralt's company. But again, these are just guesses, and I would be interested to hear your opinion.

I also didn't know that tumblr has a word limit in comments, so my replays look pretty stupid now, lol.

yes!! i also read the books first just for the plot and then went back and later, when my mind was clearer, noticed a lot more of political views in the writing. it’s the fact that a lot of sapkowski’s other takes are shitty (re: feminity, lgbt individuals and relationships), or at least come off as shitty because they are not explicit enough to actually be a progressive opinion, compounded with the fact that the scene with milva is not very clear on exactly what regis is asking geralt, why he is polling them, why geralt is upset, or what they even intend to do. i think also, because the subject is so important and people have very intense opinions about it, it makes you nervous to see it come up in a fictional story, even if the author is promoting a good message - it’s the feeling you described of, “oh no, isn't everything here the same as i believed?”

and yeah, you’re right, in english i’d say medicament and agent both have neutral connotations, “agent” to me sounds more scientific, somehow? like it would be used in an experiment? i think i have usually heard it more in descriptions of products, like “cleansing agent” in relation to something dealing with chemistry... but then again, i am not a scientist, doctor, beautician, etc...

and about milva - agree, i love her too :D!! these are my personal opinions and takes on her character motivations but:

i think her ‘not being satisfied with a [traditional] woman’s role in society’ extends beyond not being satisfied, it’s being disgusted with it - in tower of the swallow, she describes how she as a teenager experienced sexual assault at the hands of her stepfather, and her mother didn’t do anything (assumedly because of the societal roles involved, and you can (unfortunately) see this occur in real life as well, mothers don’t protect their daughters from the men they stay with). milva beats him to death and runs away, and never goes back to that life. additionally, in baptism of fire, she talks about her name - milva, and why she changed it, and she says that her original name, maria, along with a lot of other “feminine-sounding” names beginning with M (this is at least what i got out of it, they sound like sweet names given to peasant girls), get your ass pinched in taverns (this is my best recollection of the quote).

it’s clear that she has not only experienced discomfort, but really just blatant violence at the hands of “traditional feminity/women’s societal roles,” and so she goes to rely on only herself at first, hunting in lower sodden, and then finally being ‘adopted’ (kind of) by brokilon and eithne, becoming affiliated with them and working for them and the scoia’tael. this makes sense to me, because of course brokilon is a matriarchy, and the elves are mentioned to raise (and thus, treat) male and female elves the same way.

i won’t rule out that sapkowski intended for milva to have romantic interest in geralt, but i think that even if he did, it wasn’t interesting and i disagree with that direction for her character. my takes continued are that:

re: "someone else's child for your own, a life for life." in this conversation, she talks to geralt about the differences between “milva” and “maria,” her two identities that seem to be at ends with each other. she didn’t want to stay in brokilon to have the child, because by societal means, she is no longer a “woman” in the traditional sense - she’s milva, not maria - she kills, she laughs as she pulls out the arrowheads from corpses, etc., like her chosen name, ‘milva,’ she is a red kite, a bird of prey.

she doesn’t fit the societal expectations of a woman, and was never trained in being a mother (she ran away from home as a teenager, she hasn’t done ‘traditional woman things’ like keep house and cook, raise and deal with children, weave (?) and work in a house since she was 16, and she is older than that now (i’d say she’s at least past her early 20s, because she is described as a “young woman” compared to angouleme’s “very young woman” in lady of the lake, and angouleme is approx. 18-19). but since she doesn’t fit these expectations, how can she expect herself to raise this child? thus, she likely wanted to drop the baby, but since she was raised in a conservative rural society in which women are expected to bear children and not have abortions, she may have felt guilt and shame for wanting to do so. thus, she wanted to follow geralt - although she would have intentionally lost her child, she would have intentionally saved another, absolving her of her guilt. it’s like as regis described to geralt in the middle of the book, about penance and running up debts, this is a large theme of the book - a baptism of fire, fire which not only purifies, but burns (a challenge which absolves one of guilt, but it is painful).

these are just my takes, i think sapkowski’s intentions were more along the theory that milva had a crush on geralt, but as i said i think that’s just boring and the “easy way out.” he also did that with cahir and ciri, making heterosexual love the motivation for a noble deed, and it’s just like... these characters have so much other depth and serious individual issues, and you want to reduce their motivations to just simply “they were in love”? okay... so yeah i don’t think sapkowski really may have intended any of the above, or if he did, it was to a lesser degree, but this is my interpretation of it.

#arinasassymessi #replies

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bomberqueen17 · 4 years

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a big reply-reply dump

gwogobo replied to your post “he actually equipped Quen on this one”

I probably shouldn't find this playthrough as enthralling as I do, but I do so /shrug

I am trying to keep it interesting. It’s the only interesting thing happening in my life and for a while there it was the only writing I could do, so I sure hope it’s entertaining, LOL.

(That’s my advice to other writers, too-- if you’re having terrible writer’s block, writing anything is better than nothing, and nonfiction and essays are, at least for me, a really great way of getting those gears turning because it’s easy enough to start trying to think of a way to structure and embellish a nonfiction story that happened to you, and from there at least for me it doesn’t take long for my desire to tell a whole new story to build up until I can’t actually stop myself from writing, so-- it works, generally.)

more joy behind the cut, including a bonus AO3 comment:

childoffantasy replied to your post “he actually equipped Quen on this one”

OKAY ACTUALLY I MIGHT HAVE AN EXPLANATION ABOUT CUNNY OF THE GOOSE. There is some historical precedent for goose being slang for one's prostitute, so every time I hear about this Cunny of the Goose place I wanna know if they have a particularly good brothel that might have given their town its name

OK that’s hilarious. Listen, maybe there was a brothel there, we didn’t actually look!

akilah12902 replied to your post “he actually equipped Quen on this one”

Re: the dead son: huh. I tell her about it; the letter you find on him actually has a lot more detail about how he realized what a lot of the Nilfgaardian war machine was doing was wrong, and like... maybe changing hearts and minds.

I didn’t find that the letter really had that much good content in it, it was mostly him being full of despair. If I were the mom I’d’ve wanted to read it, but I understood Geralt not handing it over and telling her a pretty lie instead. Because let’s be real here, a sad mom is going to change the mind of the White Flame Dancing On The Barrows Of His Foes?

I don’t think so. This ain’t a democracy.

(Also, the Hearts And Minds phrase comes from a really fucking horrible Vietnam campaign that Really Really Did Not Work, so, sorry if I had an involuntary cringe response to that thought. Ooh it’s got a dark history in general, as a phrase. [link is to wikipedia])

kaijyuu replied to your post “no mercy once she grips a sword”

deffo what akilah said. also, coral was just... sort of a huge asshole, but doesn't iirc use artefact compression on anyone? it was used on yennefer by another sorceress tho, and is quite unpleasant. also dandelion's voice is-- something. i feel like netflix!jaskier is a huge glow up for the character in general, really.

IDK about Coral at all, but you are absolutely, absolutely right that Netflix!Jaskier is an enormous fucking glow-up, I know this and haven’t even really properly met Dandelion.

bygodstillam reblogged your post and added:

/chinhands at this entire thing

Hee, hi! I’ve made some great progress on the Morning After bit too, I’m rather pleased.

gnomeicecream replied to your post “geralt says fuck cops”

A lot of fic I've read show Dandylion with a sister? Maybe its only fanon

It’s definitely fanon. I mean, I gave him a sister too, but-- in this game plot it is extremely clear that he is lying to every one of the women he speaks to and is claiming that the woman he’s most infatuated with is his sister, to keep the others from being jealous, and it’s presented as being on the face of it rather flimsy, as a story.

Yeah, Netflix!Jaskier is in every single fucking way a huge improvement.

saffronheliotrope replied to your post “geralt says fuck cops”

I’m delighted to hear that Morvran is obsessed with horses in the game, because pretty much the only detail I remember about him from astolat’s fics is that at one point Ciri says he’s a magnificent horseman who fucks as well as he rides. A+ for consistent characterization!

!!!!

Go Ciri! I hope she’s getting what she wants out of it. (Maybe I remember that bit. I should reread those now that i know who most of those people are.)

nogling replied to your post “geralt says fuck cops”

I will say that if you DO ask why Elihal is dressed like that, you get some great lines about personal expression, and Geralt is pretty chill about it.

Oh, that’s good to know. We weren’t willing to risk it. DF was so funny, he was just like, I am absolutely fucking not choosing that dialogue option, it’s none of Geralt’s fucking business why he’s dressed like that.

bittylildragon replied to your post “geralt says fuck cops”

There's a few nice Elihal/Eibhear fics, if that's of interest to you

Oh is Eibhear the one with the dumplings? Ohoho I should probably seek those out. I haven’t done the swords and dumplings quest though we did accidentally do the opening cutscene bit, I’ve probably met him enough to go on with.

bittylildragon replied to your post “geralt says fuck cops”

The game's treatment of Elihal is Extremely Questionable, but they did really weirdly manage to give Elihal some good lines? It's confusing and upsetting at the same time. Thankfully a very small subset of game fans really like Elihal and ship them with Eibhear, the elven blacksmith in the same city.

I mean-- that’s the thing! He’s so undeniably a rad character!! Like, why’d you have to make it weird, CDPR???

OK I definitely will have to look those up.

Be hilarious if later Geralt’s like back in Kaer Morhen and he’s like “oh so this is wild, I met this elf in Novigrod who wore these pretty dresses--” and Lambert’s like “yes he was so cool” and Geralt’s like “... oh you know him” and shuts his mouth but I won’t write that because it would require acknowledging their weird awkward characterization of Geralt as somehow being 100 years old and never having met anyone cross-dressing before.)

bittylildragon replied to your post “geralt says fuck cops”

IMO Zoltan is not only a dadfriend (he's probably forever trying to feed Dandelion and Geralt) he is also clearly Geralt's FWB.

ORLY? Hm, I can see that. Surely someone has ficced this. I mostly consume fic through recs but I see between this and the elf dress-person I am going to have to do some searching.

enchanting-person-wizardreplied to your post“UNDERCUT ACHIEVED”

Dude oil has me in hysterics every freaking single time and I live for these play through writeups - I look forward to them all the time lol I’m playing, too, atm, so it’s cool to be like yeah, I know what you’re talking about rn, and that’s so fun! Plus, absolutely the undercut is like 10/10 the best option- like, especially paired with the full beard?? Lol

ugh I WISH we had the full beard. But the soul patch is, at least, ignorable; I can just make it a goatee in my mind, because the rest of his chin is sort of stubbley, so it’s kinda acceptable.

Dude Oil. I should’ve worked harder on incorporating a mention of Dude Oil into the sex scene I wrote but I figured I should keep it lowkey-- Geralt’s Box O Where Weird Salves Go To Die is as close as I’d let myself come. Maybe the saddest bit of that is that I know he’s not using those to wank with, he’s mostly using them as chapstick/moisturizer/hair oil because his skin gets so dry in Kaer Morhen’s winters and if he greases himself up before he goes to bed he winds up less ashy and frizzy and it’s all soaked in so he’s not trying to live his life with a fine coating of grease on his face all the time. But sometimes whatever odd ingredients are in it give his hair a weird color cast or make him smell funny and he just deals with it because he doesn’t take bad care of himself, but he also doesn’t take real great care of himself. He’s going to not be ashy (not that an albino can really be ashy, per se-- he is, more or less, an albino, after all, but you know. as a very pale person I totally can get ashy) but he’s also not going to pamper himself with, like, cocoa butter and rose hip seed oil or anything. (Rose hip seed oil is supposed to help with scarring, which, he’s definitely not bothering with that.)

which brings me to OH the BEST AO3 COMMENT of the recent lot (and there have been a lot of good ones):

transcript: Mikiwatches left the following comment on The Ancient Sea:

I am sorry, but Geralt is a dangerous bottle reuser and needs to go to jail for 1000 years. Geralt buys bulk spices and puts them in mayonnaise jars unlabeled. Geralt decants hand soap into shampoo bottles as body wash. When will he pay for his crimes??

THIS IS SO TRUE

He doesn’t even buy the bulk spices, he makes them himself. And he’s just like my sister, who is this times a thousand including the growing the herbs herself-- she doesn’t peel the labels off the jars so they’re still like, Chunky Salsa or whatever, and then she scrawls the new thing in Sharpie on the lid but then neither crosses it off nor removes it with rubbing alcohol when she puts something else in there so you’re left standing in her GIANT kitchen (which TEN PEOPLE use on the reg, that’s the farm sister with the crew who take turns cooking) holding a jar that’s printed with Chunky Salsa and the lid has a Sharpie scrawl that says LARD and it’s filled with some greenish dried vegetable matter that smells like perhaps borage or it could be marjoram and who the fuck knows, maybe it’s poisonous!

(My favorite were the unlabeled jars that held the baking powder and the baking soda. TAKE YOUR CHANCES, BABY. Also the sugar and the salt. GOOD FUCKIN LUCK.)

So he’s got like, twelve unlabeled jars next to the bed, all of which contain salves or oils that are mostly based on the same combo of oils and fats so they’re semi-solid at room temp but melt on the skin, and all of them are varying shades of beigeish-green or beigeish brown. And some of them are completely harmless, even beneficial to humans, and some of them will MELT YOUR FUCKING SKIN OFF, MORTAL. Best of luck!

(This is why Lambert teaches Ciri immediately how to mix her own goddamned cosmetics, because he knows very, very well that Geralt is a fucking menace.)

#replying to replies #the witcher #witcher 3 #wee precious flower prince geralt #the ancient sea #meet death sitting

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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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toss-a-coin-to-your-stan-account · 4 years

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RE: My Yennefer And Jaskier Post

In regards to my post about romanticizing the “Make A Damn Wish” scene (tw sexual assault), I’d like to reiterate that my problem is not with Yenn//skier or it’s shippers as a whole.

(I’ve censored the ship name for search result reasons. I’ll tag the individual characters, but I’m not going to put something that might come across as ship hate it’s tag, even though, I honestly don’t intend to hate on the ship.)

That post was made to address one specific problem I’ve noticed in this fandom; one that I don’t feel right not voicing my opinion about, considering how long and how deeply I’ve involved myself in the Witcher fandom:

What Yennefer did to Jaskier should not be romanticized.

[Sexual Assault TW]

Sometimes, I see people talking about the scene and saying something along the lines of “Oh~ This pretty witch lady held him against the wall~ and kept a knife to his throat~ oh the tension and eroticism of it all~” and seeing that so often has really upset me.

I feel like painting this scene as something hot/sexy/~filled with horny energy~ is unhealthy, and I felt like it’s a prevalent issue that I had to express how I feel about. That’s why I made that post. I tried to be as clear as possible with who this was directed towards/what my point was, but I’m sorry that I wasn’t clear enough.

My frustration, again, isn’t with the concept of Yenn//skier or all of it’s shippers.

My frustration is with one particular problem - romanticizing a scene involving sexual assault.

I understand that shipping a certain ship =/= thinking everything the character’s have done together is cute/hot/nice. I know fully well that you can ship something even though there are flaws within their dynamic.

My issue is with how I’ve seen people blatantly try to paint what Yen did as something to be romanticized as if it wasn’t sexual assault.

I’m not upset with: “Oh yeah, I like this pairing even though Yennefer has done this bad thing to Jaskier in canon.”

I’m upset with: “Oh, this thing Yennefer did to Jaskier? Where she grabbed him by the genitals and held him at knifepoint? It’s actually really hot. What do you mean, he was violated and clearly felt uncomfortable/terrified of the situation? No it was ~sexy~”

I understand that not everyone who ships those two condones/romanticizes what Yennefer did, and I’m grateful for that. My problem isn’t with those people. There’s also people who do continue to romanticize this scene despite not really shipping it.

I don’t think shipping yen//skier in itself is problematic; I think romanticizing the particular scene involving sexual assault is.

I’d love to see some development between these characters in season two, and much of the fanon content I’ve seen with them is great. Also, the interactions beyond that scene - those two being catty to each other 24/7 in Rare Species - are funny and that catty dynamic is something I like to keep playing with in fanfics, incorrect quotes, HCs, etc.

I feel like I have been misconstrued as saying something along the lines of “This ship is bad and you should feel bad.” or “This ship started off unhealthy so it can never change and is terrible and unshippable.” and... that’s really not the case. At least, it’s not the sentiment I’m trying to convey.

There are plenty of ships I enjoy that have imperfect beginnings. In fact, one of my favorite ships at the moment is enemies to lovers, which is like... the most imperfect beginnings anyone could have. So, I don’t want people to think I don’t understand or support the concept of being able to ship imperfect/unhealthy ships, because I do.

However, I feel like there’s a difference between liking a ship where the characters have had unhealthy interactions, and painting those unhealthy things as something to be desired. The former is not what I have a problem with, and the latter is.

TL;DR: I don’t have a problem yenn//skier or its shippers in general. I only have an issue with the romanticization of a particular scene involving sexual assault. I think it’s a prevalent issue in this fandom, so I felt like I should speak my piece on it. Now, I have. I hope I’ve made my intentions clear, and I’m sorry for wrongly offending anyone.

#the witcher #witcher #mine #jaskier #julian alfred pankratz #yennefer of vengerberg #yennefer

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gotarcher94 · 5 years

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The Witcher

So I’ve watched the first season of the Witcher on Netflix and all I can say is holy motherfucking shit. That was a good season.

I wanted to jot down a few things that I liked about the season, bearing in mind that I haven’t yet read the books and have only played the Witcher 2 and 3. I will be using spoilers so consider this a spoiler warning.

(Also this will be a long post)

OK? OK

Henry Cavill

When Henry was announced I gotta admit I had some doubts over the casting. Not because I don’t rate him as an actor but I just couldn't picture him as Geralt. My personal pick was Zach McGowan, known for playing Charles Vane in Black Sails. He had the gruff voice, he looked like the game version of Geralt, and he even had similar hair. Just dye it white and he was good.

But having seen the show... I recant every syllable of my foolishness.

Henry Cavill is perfect as Geralt. He perfectly embodies the White Wolf. From his sarcastic sense of humour, to the subtle emotion on his face to the conflict he has while making the decisions he does. Absolutely perfect casting.

Anya Chalotra

Speaking of perfect casting, Anya is an incredible Yennefer of Vengerberg. Like Henry she perfectly embodies Yennefer. Anya plays the evolution of Yen superbly, from her beaten down and almost broken early days to the immensely powerful and confident sorceress she becomes later, she performs both absolutely perfectly.

And to all those who say that Anya is wrong to play Yennefer because she doesn’t “look like her”.... I cannot say shut the hell up loud enough. She was incredible and deserves all the accolades that should be sent her way.

Freya Allan

And rounding out the three main characters, the show is three for three in terms of perfect casting. I loved her independent and driven nature, continuing to keep going on despite all the trouble going her way despite only been about 11 or 12 (i think, not 100%). Her strong bond with both Queen Calanthe and Mousesack is evident, despite the relative lack of screentime devoted to it. I can’t wait to see how both the character and actress evolves over the (hopefully) seasons to come.

Geralt and Ciri

I loved the “the girl in the woods will be with you always” transition in the first episode, that eventually came full circle in the finale with the two finally meeting (with the run and hug scene!). Having seen their bond fully established in the games (I know they aren’t canon) I cant wait to see it develop on screen

Queen Calanthe

Is a badass. End of story. Ruling a kingdom, fighting at the front of every battle, effectively flipping off destiny and law of Surprise and being an incredible role model for Ciri. Absolute awesome character and Jodhi May did such an incredible job playing her.

Yennefer’s backstory

As a game only fan in terms of knowing much about the characters when I went into this season, my knowledge of Yen’s backstory was pretty much nonexistent, as I can’t remember it even being mentioned in the two games I played (of which Yen was only physically present for one). However, the show delved deep into it, and I’m glad they did. It simultaneously made us empathise fully with Yennefer but also established the basis for her desire to grow stronger and be in control of her own destiny and future, and why she was then so frustrated being in the mire of courtly intrigue, not able to grow higher.

The Yennefer and Tissaia dynamic

One of the most unexpected but welcome events of the show was the dynamic that they two shared. It was not the typical mentor and apprentice relationship and I appreciated the change from the norm. From Tissaia’s initial attempts to bring Yennefer to heel before eventually being the one to tell Yennefer to unleash her chaos during the battle at Sodden was great.

The striga episode

I mean..... just wow. As soon as they mentioned Temeria I had a feeling that it would be the striga, as it was one of the few things that I knew about from the books. And holy shit they did not disappoint. From the investigation aspect, to the fight scene, to the music. It was incredible episode and one that I cannot wait to get back to when I re-watch the series

Battle of Sodden

The main focus of the incredible finale. I had heard of the Battle of Sodden during the games but to see it was something else. A great battle scene combined great fights, solid battle plans and incredibly cool magical skills. And also,during the night scenes, you could actually see what the fuck was happening. See GoT! It isn't hard!!

Vilgevortz

As soon as his name was revealed in the episode, I’m not gonna lie but i may have gone full fanboy. I know a little from what was mentioned in the books and have read a little from other sources about his story in the books and was immensely excited when he showed up. And I cannot wait to see his story unfold on the show and see him interact more with Yennefer and meet Geralt and Ciri.

Jaskier

From what I know, calling him Jaskier (his original name in the Polish stories) instead of the English name of Dandelion was one of the problems people had with the show. And I have to ask... does it really matter? He still acts like him, talks like him, annoys Geralt like him. He is the same character, the showrunners are just honouring his roots.

And he brought some comic relief to the series in just the right ways, especially in the djinn and dragon hunt episodes. Joey Batey was great.

Music and Cinematography

Both of them were absolutely fantastic. Every episode looked and sounded phenomenal. I’ve been listening to a few tracks from the soundtrack that have made it onto YouTube on repeat for a while, most notably “Toss a Coin to your Witcher”. However, one track that I really liked but haven't been able to find is the battle theme from the striga fight. If anyone could send me a link to it, I would be incredibly grateful

Fight choreography

All of the fights this season were absolutely fantastic. Both the human fights and the monster battles. Geralt and Duny vs the Cintrian soldiers, Vilgevortz vs Cahir and (my personal favourites) Geralt vs Renfri and her gang from episode 1. All of them superb and I couldn't have asked for more from the fight scenes.

Magic

I really like the magic system they set up in this series. Not only is it incredibly diverse (with the finale alone showing us Vilgevortz constantly creating swords, Triss making poison mushrooms grow beneath the feet of the army and Coral wiping out a whole section of the Nilgaardian army) but I really like the idea that it isn't just them tapping into a great power, that there can be a great cost to performing these spells. Not something that a lot of fantasy series do.

Cahir

He was a great antagonist throughout the season and again I know little in specifics about him but I know that he is important to Ciri’s story, so I am looking forward to seeing that develop further.

Geralt and Visenna

I loved the scene of the two of them in the finale, even if it proved to only be a dream/hallucination. The “How do you like my eyes?” line legit gave me chills. Incredible acting by Henry there

Geralt and Yennefer (Yenneralt?, I think certain parts of the fandom have settled upon)

Now, as a game only fan prior to this, my exposure to the relationship between the two of them was limited, as the games only touched upon it in the Witcher 3. Before then it was told that Geralt and Yennefer had an epic love but it was very much tell and don’t show, as Yennefer didn't appear in person until the Witcher 3 and by then CDPR had developed the Geralt and Triss romance story in the Witcher 2. And I’m not gonna lie, I was fully into their romance during my playthroughs. Not that I didn't like Yennefer but I just didn't have the same basis into their bond that the book fans did.

After Season 1, however, I am fully onto the Geralt and Yennefer ship, having seen it develop as it did.

Methinks it may be time for another playthrough, as well as buying the books.

Things I’m looking forward to seeing on the show in the future

1. Yennefer and Ciri meeting

2. Seeing Geralt and Ciri bonding more, with some time together at Kaer Morhen

3. Thanedd Island (eventually)

4. Zoltan!

5. Regis!

6. Vesemir!

#the witcher #witcher spoilers #henry cavill #anya chalotra #freya allan

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monsterboyfriend · 4 years

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Re: Your desire for more Yen fic--there is a witcher ladies discord server (specifically a femslash server but we also spend a lot of time yelling about ladies in general). Note that the title refers to the people we stan, not who's allowed to be a member, since a couple ppl weren't sure. We have lots of fun fic ideas and want to hear more! Invite if you're interested discord. gg/gSSAAVqx

Sorry I took so long to answer! I’m not really into femslash or discord, but I might give it a try. I really want a Yennefer whump fic because her relationships with power and vulnerability really interest me. I’m not a big Yennaia fan. I like Trissefer, but in most fics they’re already in an established relationship, which I don’t like. If there is shipping taking place, I want the fic to show me how it developed and why it works. I really dislike modern/romcom aus, which almost all Yen fics are, and I rarely see any pre-transformation Yen fics. I just want some gritty and/or tropey Yen fics.

I have a modern canon-adjacent retelling in the brainstorming phase that restructures the show story to focus on Trans!Yen, but Geralt, Jaskier, and Ciri still play HUGE roles in that to the point of it being more of an ensemble fic.

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itsclydebitches · 5 years

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Title: Mightier Than the Sword (Chapter Three)

Fandom: Witcher

Summary: A month after the events of “Rare Species,” Geralt slinks his way into an inn and is faced with the question of how an emotionless man apologies. (TV!canon with some details drawn from the books and Wild Hunt.)

Pairing: Pre-slash/slow burn Geralt and Jaskier

Word Count (This Chapter): 2,701

Where to read it: Below or on AO3

Traveling with Jaskier was as exhausting as Geralt remembered.

Only a fool would assume that was a bad thing.

Indeed, exhaustion had many forms and not all were made equal. Witchers understood that better than most. The ache from training was not the same as pain from a battle. The morning after drink could not compare to the morning after a cry—or so he’d been told. Geralt was indeed exhausted with Jaskier at his side... but he’d also been exhausted with him gone. The latter was an itchy feeling that never went away, felled not by sleep, drink, or even the occasional woman. It loosened its hold on him only when Geralt spent long afternoons talking to Roach, which was how he had been able to label it as something akin to loneliness. Not the true thing though, surely. Witchers didn’t feel the same as humans did, most felt nothing at all, so it only served to reckon they wouldn’t get lonely quite like they did either. Vesemir had given long lessons on the enhancements Geralt’s additional mutations had granted him, though little on the consequences. None of it had been hard to figure out on his own though. Not once he set out on the Path. Unlike his brethren, Geralt had... needs. Or desires rather, for he’d had little difficulty in suppressing them over the years. He found himself craving the gentle ministrations of the priestesses over the brusque treatments of rural healers, when they designed to treat a mutant at all. The conversations held with streetwalkers were at times more enjoyable than the sexual release they built to and when it was through, watching them all but sprint to the baths to be rid of him, Geralt could admit to a foreign ache in his stomach. Something he couldn’t fill with food. Admit, but not speak of. He’d once shared meat with a witcher from the School of the Viper. In turn the man had shared his crudely made alcohol. Potent stuff and within an hour Geralt’s tongue had loosened far more than he was used to, speaking of those strange moments and hoping that his companion would open his mouth across the fire, admitting to the same. Or at least to something similar.

Instead he’d accepted Geralt’s ramblings in silence, then packed his things in that same quiet, deepening it. He’d left without a word, choosing the forest over his company. He learned his lesson well and over the years Geralt had grown more adept at shoving such desires deep down where they could cause him no more strife. After all, he might also desire hot food and a feather bed to sleep in. That didn’t mean he had any hope of receiving them. It was an exhaustion he’d grown used to.

Nowadays though... Geralt’s head grew heavy because it was being stuffed with information he’d never need: the exact circumference of Lady Kathryn’s waist, what strings worked best for an Elven lute, why you must never soak a dark colored shirt with its lighter siblings, the best spots in Novigrad to buy cinnamon pastries (though Geralt admitted he might well use that last bit). Jaskier talked incessantly, until Geralt’s ears ached and his throat grew scratchy from the uncommon number of responses he was expected to give. Being forced to interact with someone from dawn to dusk ate at him in unexpected ways, so that Geralt tumbled onto his mat each night weary from something other than travel. Though it did occur to him that he might be helping create that monster. Surely Jaskier’s conversation was tied at least somewhat to the encouragement he received, yet Geralt couldn’t bring himself to dissuade him. He’d spoken harshly once and had regretted it for weeks after.

More proof of his abnormality. Witchers weren’t meant to feel regret either. Too emotional for his brothers; too unfeeling for the rest of the world. It left him somewhere in between, freakish to all who bothered to spare him a glance.

Yet here Jaskier sat. Talking.

“I really must buy a proper case for all this,” he said, carefully weighing down his papers with nearby stones. Jaskier had a tendency to rip them from his notebook while working, chucking them into the fire before realizing there was still merit and attempting to retrieve them with a squawk. Geralt had kept the fool from burning himself on more than one occasion. “Something enchanted, I think. Although...” Jaskier’s mouth twisted, the same lemon-puckered look he adopted whenever Yennefer came up. Today, Geralt found the look more amusing than offensive. “I hate to sully my work with that stuff, but it’s probably worth it in the end. Something waterproof, of course. Resistant to fire too. Oh! Maybe one of those retrieval options. You know, the fancy spells that draw the object back to your hand. And—”

“Expensive,” Geralt finished. “Even for you, Bard.”

“That’s poet,” Jaskier sniffed. “I’m hardly just a bard, Geralt. Sure, I might be forced to put my art to catchy tunes in order to keep our bellies filled—”

“Ours?”

“—but poetry is my true calling and one day you shall hear it recited from Oxenfurt Academy to the poorest villages of Velen! Provided that my writing survives our journey, of course. I just need to...” Jaskier tore a few more pages apart so that each held but a single stanza, secured them with more stones, then re-arranged the whole design, quick as a Gwent master. “What do you think? Should the description of the swamps come before the battle, or as a way of breaking it up?”

Before Jaskier conversation had been rare, but easy. Geralt knew precisely what was wanted of him and could map out the talk down to the last words he’d receive: “Fine.” “Freak.” “Quickly.” “You’d better.” The common folk wanted him to be a sword against the rest of the world. The rare woman wanted him as an easy fuck with no chance of pregnancy. Conversation led only to these two outcomes and when he’d completed either he was sent on his way. Jaskier though...

That first morning together he’d donned the clothes Geralt had stolen and done a little twirl, asking how he looked. “What’s it matter?” he’d replied, thinking of the stains and tears that would inevitably develop; whether the wool would be warm enough for a human out in this cold. Jaskier had pouted though and given him five words that had reverberated in his head for the last few days.

“I just want your opinion.”

No one had wanted Geralt’s opinion before. Not unless it was in the service of their survival. Now there was clothing and poetry and the occasional pretty thing. Geralt opened his mouth, unsure if he could force anything to come out of it. Beside him on the log Jaskier was quiet. That, more than anything else, shocked a response out of him.

“Before,” he said. Jaskier blinked.

“Why?” Genuine tone. Honest expression. Jaskier got nervous when he lied and Geralt would have heard the kick in his heartbeat.

“You don’t break up a fight. It happens. It ends.”

“Huh. I believe you’re right. Best not to interrupt the action,” and just like that the moment was broken. Jaskier surged forward, spreading his legs to scribble on the papers between them, then leaning to reach those positioned near Geralt’s boot. His writing was nigh illegible and Geralt suddenly felt compelled to mention as much.

“My handwriting? You’re one to talk given your spelling.”

“My spelling?”

Jaskier dipped into the bag where his lute lay, retrieving a few pages with unnerving accuracy. Geralt immediately recognized them as his own notes. Jaskier flapped them in his face causing him to draw back with a growl. “No one spells ‘pathetic’ as ‘pathetick’ anymore. Or ‘connection’ with an ‘x.’ Your spelling is at least a century out of date, my friend. Who taught you? A vampire?” and Jaskier laughed at his own, highly suspect joke.

“No. But I learned to spell a century past.”

“You—?”

Jaskeir’s head whipped around. He stared at Geralt. Geralt stared at him. Jaskier’s eyes were as wide as a newborn foal’s.

“Right,” he finally said. “That’s... yeah. That’s a thing. Okay then, grandfather.”

“Don’t call me that.”

He only got a noncommittal noise in response, the same one he heard whenever Geralt demanded that Jaskier not compose another song about him. He was already lost in his own words again and Geralt let him go, distracted himself. Because that had been different too. Most recoiled from his age as quickly as they did his eyes or his scars. Yet here Jaskier sat, shrugging off his age as easily as he would... well. Geralt didn’t know what to compare it to. He’d never had a need. The fool currently smearing ink on his chin was a mess of contradictions that Geralt feared he’d never untangle. As brilliant as he was dense. Brave as he was cowardly. He ran from monsters only to then willingly walk beside another and unlike those who judged him on looks and rumor alone, Jaskier had true reason to fear him. Geralt had treated him monstrously and gotten only kindness in return.

It all made his head ache. Vesemir had warned Geralt that the Path would be confusing. Humans, elves, dwarves, and halflings—they all led such complicated lives; governed by meandering social rules that witchers could never hope to master. It often made him long for the simplicity of Kaer Morhen. Even so, Geralt didn’t think that anything would have prepared Vesemir for Jaskier.

The sudden image of the two meeting burned bright in his mind, causing a suspicious twitch in Geralt’s lips.

Jaskier, meanwhile, impatiently tapped quill against paper.

“Fog sweeping

Hearts still

When rose the drowned

For troubadour bound

and came to claim his—”

Geralt, what part of a human do drowners eat?”

He nudged one of the stones further onto its paper, keeping it from flying with the breeze. “Everything.”

“Well that’s not useful.”

“And there was no fog. Or is your memory that fickle?”

“Excuse me, but I’m not the one forgetting lessons here. What have I taught you about truth and fame? They rarely go hand-in-hand.” Jaskier suddenly grinned. “A bit like coin and monsters that way.”

For some reason that smile and those words sparked a memory, an actual flitting thing that danced at the edge of his mind. Ah, of course. Triss. She had demanded to know whether there was more in Geralt’s life than beasts and payment for their slaughter. Now, looking at Jaskier, he wasn’t sure what answer he would give her.

“Far too many words that rhyme with ‘still,’” Jaskier said, oblivious to Geralt’s thoughts. Whether it was arrogance or brilliance that drove his focus, who could say. “That’s the real problem here. Too many options. You wouldn’t think it, but it’s the truth. You’re like that too with your, ah...” Oddly, color rose high into Jaskier’s cheeks as he looked back at his companion, hand making a sweeping gesture from Geralt’s head to his toes. “... everything. Your everything, Geralt. I mean, what am I supposed to describe first? Soft hair? Golden eyes? Armor bearing the marks of your survival? Though perhaps not as that’s in need of a wash.” Jaskier wrinkled his nose. “You stand out. Everything practically begs to be put to paper, but there’s only so much flattery an audience will sit through. One must pick their details wisely. Hmm. Actually, I may well opt for your hands, dear witcher. They are after all the real tools that saved me that day.”

Six hours from now Geralt would be ankle deep in a stream, trailing behind Jaskier in an effort to keep anything from sneaking up behind them, but in truth he’d once again be distracted. Uneasy about his own abilities and cursing that state. Because if a mere human could spring on him so, what would stop a creature of more cunning and skill?

Geralt should have caught the movement. Jaskier sat right beside him and yet somehow he managed to snag Geralt’s hand without him realizing, fingers cupping palm. He registered how cool the human’s skin was compared to a witcher’s blood, the calluses so similar to his own, yet residing in all the wrong places. Geralt felt a thumb tracing his lifeline, heard Jaskier’s voice as if from deep under water...

...and then instinct had him pulling away with a snarl. Geralt stumbled off the log and resisted the urge to drag his hand up against his chest. Impossibly, it felt bruised. Raw and burning in equal measure.

Jaskier froze.

“Okay,” he whispered, voice pitched low and soothing. Like he was attempting to coax a temperamental mare. Indeed, Roach flicked her ears at the noise and turned, bumping her head briefly against Geralt’s shoulder. It was only then that he realized he was still snarling, lips pulled back to reveal teeth too large and sharp for a human mouth. Jaskier had gone a shade paler than was his norm.

“No touching,” he said. “Message received. Except,” Jaskier hesitated. Geralt watched his throat bob once, then twice. “Didn’t seem that way a few days ago. You—” he briefly raised a hand, that same hand, up into his hair where he tugged at the strands. “Gods, Geralt. You can thread your hands through my hair but I can’t so much as brush you without getting... this?”

Finally, his lips receded. Geralt’s shoulders relaxed and his pupils went back to their normal size, no longer dilated for defense. “That was different.”

“How?”

“Because...”

Because it just was. It was like exhaustion. Nothing was made equal. Geralt checking Jaskier for a head wound was not the same as Jaskier touching his hand. Dragging him to Yennefer’s doorstep was not the same as the press of shoulders Jaskier had attempted over the fire last night, or the squeeze of an arm during breakfast, both of which Geralt had managed to dodge. He didn’t know why he’d failed this time and that vulnerability strangled anything else he might have said. It all died in his throat and eventually, when the silence grew, Jaskier looked away.

“Knew I shouldn’t have made that joke about chamomile and bottoms,” he muttered, rubbing at his face. “Right! Well, you needn’t worry in the future. I value my neck too much to risk it wrung over a closer look at your hands. Besides, terrible cuticles. Chipped nails and dirt beneath them. I doubt my audience wants to hear any of that.”

It hurt. Somehow it hurt to move from Jaskier’s praise to these insults, however unconvincing they may be. For Jaskier’s heart was beating like a rabbit’s and he was still avoiding Geralt’s eye. The worst was that, with a few minutes and deep breaths behind him, Geralt found that his hand no longer burned. Rather, there was a satisfying warmth that crawled up his wrist and his fingers twitched, eager to reach back. To take what he’d just rejected.

“Jaskier...”

“No, no. No need to explain. I get it, really. I’m the impulsive one. Rude too, though it’s unintentional I assure you. ‘Little fool’ my mother used to call me.”

“Jaskier.”

“I apologize, Geralt. Seriously. I shouldn’t have—”

“Jaskier would you shut up for once?”

He did, but only because by now the sounds were near enough for a human to hear. Jaskier stilled, eyes widening as two voices approached from the west. Men, with the roughened tongues of hunters. Harmless perhaps. But Geralt had never put his trust in odds, even good ones.

“Should we...?” Jaskier whispered, motioning to run. He already had a tight grip on Roach’s reins.

Geralt considered, then looked to the spread of papers still on the ground. It would take longer than the few seconds they had to gather it all up.

“No,” he said. Warmed fingers grasped the hilt of his sword. “Just keep behind me.”

Jaskier did. Close, but not so close as to touch. Geralt shoved aside the meaning of that as two shadows moved out from behind the trees.

#witcher #the witcher #twn #gerlion #jaskier #geralt #geralt x jaskier #witcherfic

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rectoress · 5 years

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;; re: this moment

tissaia is genuinely at a loss. (i won’t broach yennefer’s strong yearning for a baby, that is another story) over her years at aretuza, she has moulded yennefer into a sorceress. she has done her job and she has done it thoroughly and religiously so as to watch her step back on the continent to be what tissaia is: entirely devoted and dedicated and loyal to the brotherhood. there is nothing else for tissaia. the brotherhood is her life, aretuza her home. she cannot understand, let alone comprehend, that a sorceress as powerful and capable and sharp as yennefer into whom she believes (and with whom she shares personality traits) could want more than the life she has been offered. what more can she want? being a sorceress is everything to tissaia - and she has exerted herself to drill it into yennefer and into each of the girls she’s ever taught. the life of sorceress is no longer her own. it belongs to the brotherhood, to a cause greater than what they could possibly want. they are ensuring that the continent thrives, that it stays at peace. there is nothing more than one could ever want but this. their actions, their needs, their desires should stem from this sacerdoce - because, ultimately, it is a sacerdoce. (more on this moment: her relationship with yennefer. “how did we get this way?” clearly implies that the rift between them is painful and something tissaia has been trying to mend and to understand)

#tissaia de vries ;; headcanon #tissaia de vries ;; meta #tissaia de vries ;; re: yennefer of vengerberg

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arzani-fuchsia · 5 years

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Well me re-watching the Witcher, I see so many new things in each episode. And of course I have to share.

Ep. 2: four marks. At first I thought, a yeah this episode is to introduce Yennefer and in a way it does. But as I watched it again, I realized that the whole tone of it was: elves.

Ciri finds Dora, who is an elv. Geralt finds Jaskier (or well, tbh Jaskier finds Geralt) and they go on their first adventure together, meeting the Elven-King Filavandrel and it is revealed that Yen has elven-blood, because her father was half elv.

It also deals with racism and how the humans treated the elves feat. the great cleansing. It’s interesting how everyone of the main characters seems to realize that the flaw is in the human perceptive of the elves and not the elves themselves while the rest doesn’t.

It’s interesting how much of the main characters character is revealed in this series. We saw Geralt’s sense of justice before and his heart, even though he tries to hide it, but in not killing the sylvan and the elves it’s shown again. And interestingly Jaskier sees it and I think it changes his view of Geralt. He may came with Geralt out of curiosity, but he stayed because he was impressed. I think when Geralt talked about the great cleansing and about not being human Jaskier realized that not everything is as carefree as he thought it is. And it makes sense for Jaskier (who’s fairly young in this ep, and is carefree and curious and fucking stupid and chipper and mischievous) to learn from experience rather than education. It does something with the bard. And he’s not showing it, but he knows/understands that Geralt (who he stupidly called the Butcher of Blaviken as if it was something to be proud of, stupid fool) isn’t the monster people try to make him into. Just like the elves aren’t bad per se. And interestingly while he understands he’s silent. He listens. I think Jaskier reveals a lot more in his silence than in his (endless oncoming) words. That can also be seen in ep. 6 when he sits on the mountain and talks about the coast. People always hear him speak, so they don’t understand his silence. I had a feeling maybe Geralt does. But honestly thinking about ep. 6 ... he maybe doesn’t. Or he has forgotten.

Besides that, I had to laugh a few times hearing Jaskier ramble on. Especially when he said to Geralt that he’s acompaning him in silence (or something like it). Because of course he does xD

I also loved what was revealed of Yen in this episode. She is feisty, the girl. Had always been. She talks back. Even when first meeting Tissaia, the woman who bought her (and to know you only are worth four marks must be painful, when a fucking pig costs ten. Horrible. Poor Yen.), she says: I’m not coming with you, you can’t make me.

Yen wants to control things, because in her life she never controlled anything. Not even her own death. Her suicide attempt failed. It’s hard for her to control the chaos and form it into magic. She wants to, but she can’t. Not yet. I understand how it bugged her that she couldn’t claim the djinn, reminding her she’s not able to control. It’s like her life is slipping from her fingers.

She believes she isn’t worth loving and with her wish to control ... being bound to Geralt by a wish. I get that Yen hates it. That for her it’s both a violation of her control of her life and the desire to be loved for who she is. She believes it isn’t her that makes Geralt love her (on the mountains. I’m mixing episodes here) but the wish. A lot of the Yennefer people fear later is already in the hunched girl that trains under Tessaia. And I guess Tessaia sees that.

Well and Ciri. Ciri is just adorable and learns that she has been a princess all her live and how that means that she has been spoiled. Like when she cuts the line for the food and isn’t granted to get it. As a princess she would have been first to serve. Now she isn’t. She becomes humble in the days running. As when she gets her new shoes and sees that getting them is by getting them from someone else. It does shock her how life can treat people unfairly. But she’s young and I’m sure she has plenty of time to learn.

#the witcher #just my thoughts #episode 2

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bamf-jaskier · 4 years

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Good!Nilfgaard AU

Book Spoilers under the cut but also this might be my new fav AU

Fringilla goes to Nilfgaard in 1210 and the kingdom is falling apart. Fergus is a terrible king an it's no surprise when the Usurper takes over but Fringilla knows he will be just as bad as Fergus so she helps a thirteen year old Emhyr escape into the Northern Kingdoms in the hopes that he will one day reclaim the throne. Of course, Emhyr goes and does his thing where he becomes Duny and ends up w/ Pavetta but I am SHIFTING THE TIMELINES so Pavetta and Duny are both mid-twenties when they meet. Then, Vilgefortz finds out about the White Frost and the prophecies about a child of elder blood. He finds Fringilla and the two of them begin to search bloodlines for who could possibly still have elder blood and they end up finding that Queen Calanthe's line would have it. The other line that has Elder Blood is the royal line of Nilfgaard but no one has seen Emhyr for almost a decade now. Good news, however, there was just a Royal wedding in Cintra and they are currently having celebrations so Fringilla and Vilgefortz sneak away from Nilfgaard to go to the celebrations in Cintra and see if there are any hints of Elder Blood.

When they get there, Fringilla is in shock because holy shit that is Emhyr aka lost prince of Nilfgaard and Vilgefortz is like "oh fuck Pavetta is pregnant that child is the prophecy child" So late that night Fringilla and Vilgefortz sneak into Pavetta and Duny's rooms and reveal themselves and tell the two of the prophecy. In this world, Duny took to his isolation and exile a lot more humbly and is sort of like "oh wow you wanted me to re-take the throne? I thought I would just stay the prince of Cintra”

After hearing the prophecy, Pavetta grows concerned. She knows how power-hungry Calanthe is and even now, there are rumors of an Elven Army marching towards Cintra. If they had a child of elder blood, well, a lot of people want to get their hands on that power and with Elves coming from the North and Nilfgaard (under the rule of the Usurper) coming from the South there is danger on all sides.

Especially with how much the Northern Kingdoms hate non-humans, Ciri might be considered by some to be non-human so they want to raise their child somewhere where they could be accepted.

after talking, the four of them decide that the best way to make sure that the prophecy child is truly hidden is to kill the Royal family of Cintra and either go into hiding or return to Nilfgaard.

So, just before Ciri is born, the four of them board a ship to visit Skellige and fake a shipwreck, however something goes wrong and when they portal out Pavetta goes into labor. However, with the healing magic that Fringilla knows she is able to save Pavetta's life and Ciri is born on the shore of the ocean.

Now, the gang goes to Nilfgaard in disguise, Fringilla returning to court to see what happened in her absence and how they could possibly re-take the throne.

She enlists the help of a nobleman, Cahir, in order to gain better access to all the going-ons in court. The Usurper is not popular and his imperial war against the continent has made him even less popular but they need an opening for Duny to assassinate him.

As the rightful heir to Nilfgaard, Emhyr taking the throne is the only real way that the people would accept his role. Fringilla brings Vilgefortz into Nilfgaard's court as a "new mage" and Cahir, Fringilla and Vilgefortz begin making plans for a masquerade ball where Emhyr could sneak in.

Meanwhile, Emhyr and Pavetta are living in disguise in Nilfgaard as peasants. They had fake names and are raising a newborn Ciri. Once again, this is another way Emhyr is humbled, he had to live among normal people. (Also having Pavetta around keeps him grounded too)

A few months pass and Duny infiltrates the court and just imagine this scene:

Emhyr cuts off the Usurper's head, then all the usurper's men and knights attack and Fringilla, Cahir and Vilgefortz basically begin taking them the fuck OUT and the gang takes the throne of Nilfgaard.

Instead of establishing the previous monarchy, Emhyr creates a more parliamentarian system where he has a council that could overrule the king if needed. Obviously, his top council members are the Sun Trio of Cahir, Vilgefortz and Fringilla.

Of course, he is going by Emhyr now and Pavetta is also going by a different name and no one in Cintra even knew Ciri existed so they all collectively hide their past with Cintra and hold onto these new identities.

The war on the continent is stopped and the forces of Nilfgaard retreat. They shore up their defenses and begin trying to build up their own Kingdom.

Between Fringilla's disdain for mages, Vilgefortz's disdain for the military and Pavetta having an in-depth understanding of the hatred against non-humans they begin to push Nilfgaard in this direction of being one of the few kingdoms open to non-humans. Ciri grows up being taught magic by Vilgefortz and Fringilla and I can totally see Fringilla basically having this moment one day when she's surrounded by everyone and she looks around and she just goes "Oh, while I wasn't noticing I made a family" and it's just very sweet.

Calanthe still massacres the elves when Ciri is around 12 years old but this time, many of the remaining elves flee to Nilfgaard and the other nonhumans in the Kingdom go to court and tell the council that it's time they take the continent back. Fringilla has been waiting for an excuse to try and fight back against the council who she sees as perpetuating so many of the injustices on the continent so she immediately agrees and the others follow her lead.

Then, for the first time in a decade, under rule of a council headed by two mages who left the order and a lost-prince, Nilfgaard prepares for war.

As for how Geralt and Yennefer fit in: The two of them find each other still but this time when the war between Nilfgaard and Cintra starts, they don't know what side they are on. Geralt has thought his child surprise has been dead for over a decade so he has no ties to Cintra and Yennefer has hated the brotherhood for decades so she has no desire to save their order.

There is no Vilgefortz to convince her to come back so her and Geralt end up running away from the war together but then Yennefer runs across an Elven refugee camp and she ends up helping and her and Geralt end up helping the elven resistance which ends with them getting caught up in battle against the Northern Kingdoms and in the heat of battle, Yennefer and Geralt are surrounded but then Vilgefortz, Cahir and Fringilla end up saving their lives and that is how they are all introduced.

Vilgefortz invites them back to camp and when they get there, there is the Nilfgaard royal family and Geralt feels drawn to the Princess of Nilfgaard and can't understand why and then they are all a family together fighting the Northern kingdoms.

#I love this so much #I just want story w/ Fringilla and Vilgefortz #and then this became super complex #and now it's a whole THING #and just AHHH #the witcher #fringilla #The Witcher au #vilgefortz #cahir #the sun trio #yennefer #geralt #yenralt #duny #emhyr var emreis #pavetta #ciri #myposts

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