#also soft boi geralt who didn't used to be so soft but has learned to channel it all into his music makes me hhhnnnggg too

[him-e]

So curious about your Witcher Season 2 thoughts and who you ship! :)

As someone who has no context and no idea where the story is going and isn't familiar with either the books or the game, I'm super intrigued and excited for season 3. The scope and stakes of the story are finally starting to shape up and I can't wait to see what Ciri's destined to become and what will be Geralt and Yen's role in this. A few scattered thoughts:

I loved Voleth Meir as the season's big bad and hope to see more of her, but I felt like her arc was done a bit confusingly (though I'll admit I didn't pay enough attention to episode 2 which is crucial to understanding what's going on, so I'll probably rewatch it)

I think the show still has to decide whether it wants to have some monster-of-the-week episodes, or be 100% about the overarching plot. I'd prefer the latter, although this would mean losing small gems like 2.01 (did anyone else love the gothic romance vibe and the spin on the beauty and the beast trope?). Trying to do both makes the pacing a bit weird.

Having Yen be without magic powers for the entire season was a bold choice that I can only applaud. Frustrating, at times, especially because we don't really have a big "gets her powers back and starts kicking ass" climatic moment, but that's part of why it's interesting. We see a different Yen this season - somewhat understated and melancholic, more vulnerable and withdrawn than ever, but we also see how cunning and fearsome she can be even without her magic. This is clearly tragic for her because she shaped her entire identity and purpose around her powers, and sacrificed a lot for them, so her motivation throughout the season is entirely sympathetic.

Both Fringilla and Francesca are ambitious, passionate and ruthless and I loved both the Dinner of Death scene and Francesca going biblical on the Redanian infants. In general I love how this show has so many powerful, unapologetic and morally grey female characters.

Loved the Witchers' Castle Black!

Has anyone started calling Ciri a Mary Sue? Was her training montage long enough to justify becoming accepted by the witcherdudes special club? di d she b l e e d en o u g h?

I just love Ciri ok.

However, it is a bit annoying that Vesemir is only briefly tempted to kill her when she's possessed by Voleth Meir, and quickly comes around. It wouldn't feel so strange if the lesson previously learned, via Eskel's arc, was that sometimes the best and most compassionate thing to do with someone who's been possessed by an evil entity is kill them. I do think the writers wanted to use Eskel as foil to Ciri and as foreshadowing of what would happen to her, but the subtext is a bit messy/confusing here.

I scoffed at poor Roach's death. Unnecessary, sudden and cruel. I wish we'd seen more of Geralt's pain.

Geralt is a soft, soft boi.

I YELLED AT THE WILD HUNT. riders on the storm. YES GOOD.

*

Who do I ship? Well, primarily Geralt and Yennefer, of course. But also Geralt and Ciri (in a weird way: I'm completely sold on their surrogate father/daughter dynamic, but I'm such a sucker for psychic bonds and being each other's destiny). I'm kind of into Fringilla/Cahir and possibly Fringilla/Francesca, and in season 1 I had a brief moment of "what if they kissed?" with Yen and Vilgefortz, but mostly because the actor is just absurdly hot (not especially vibing with him & Tissaia tho).

This season's surprise ship for me was Yen/Cahir - when she freed him instead of executing him and they fled together I was like RELUCTANT ALLIES! ENEMIES TO FRIENDS TO LOVERS! But ultimately, I'm too intrigued by the idea of Ciri/Cahir as enemies to lovers, which I've had since season 1 and hope it's -actually- going somewhere. Yeah, lots of shipping material here. I'm being fed well.

#the witcher #the witcher spoilers #* #thewitcher* #thoughts

[noszkass]

ashley tempest winthrope.

thirty six. defense attorney. jai courtney.

“You're supposed to grow out of your horridness, aren't you? I don't think I ever grew out of mine. Sometimes I think it's still inside me, like something nasty I swallowed, that got stuck...”

content warning: mentions toxic, co-dependent relationships; abuse; death of a peer/family member (via murder).

dominant traits. logical, charismatic, gentleman, stoic, focused, patient, selectively affectionate, charming, observant, cautious, possessive, unpredictable, self-preserving, forceful, obsessive, demanding, melancholic, aggressive, irritable, distrusting, unrelenting, loyal, easily jealous, less hair-trigger more berserk button, no-nonsense, quick thinking, dishonest.

fictional parallels. elijah mikaelson (the originals); geralt of rivia (the witcher); henry winter (the secret history); pope cody (animal kingdom); richie gecko (fdtd the series).

○ born into the winthorpe family; known for their successful generational family law practice, as councilmen from neighboring townships, and good for nothin' criminals who latched onto the teat of a community that's long-since given up on them like leaches─depending on what side of miriam's well it is you live in. ashley's particular branch is the former. estate house in rosebush hill drive, debutant turned matron belle mother who just can't seem to find her way around or out of other people's business (including, if not almost invariably, that of all three of her children), and a certain amount of respectability he was brought up to live by.

○ on the surface ashley winthorpe is a deliciously handsome man. wealthy and put together. takes pride in his appearance and family name. he's also well-mannered and polite, and thoughtful in such infinitesimal ways that you never really think much of until after the fact. and there is something so very not right about him. he has a kind smile that never quite reaches the edges of his eyes and though it doesn't necessarily look disingenuous, there's something about it that doesn't exactly leave you with a sense of ease. like an unfamiliar gesture that's been practiced over and over, so many times that it's lost meaning. like it takes the muscles in his face a moment to pull before they settle in the correct spots. he'll have a conversation with you and while at times it seems he's looking right through you, others will have his attention so intensely undivided it feels as if you've been bared naked and left in a cold room. like you've just been caught lying about something and he knows. somehow, he's known all along. because he listens intently when you speak to him and you suspect somehow he never forgets a single thing he's heard.

○ there's no mistaking his booming voice, jarring, even at a whisper sending shockwaves through your core that has you on high alert. even when it's soft and lulling (in an attempt to offer comfort or catching him melt into the woman he's declared the love of his goddamn life from the corner of your eye through the crack in his office door), there's something threatening that looms. less like hard blunt force and more like a living, breathing fog that blankets you with strong arms, settles deep into your gut, coils itself around your innards, and wrings you dry. the confusing part? you know, without a doubt, he would protect you with no hesitation and ask for nothing in return. and, most of the time, you'd be right. because ashley winthorpe is a good man. no matter how your instincts thrash, screaming at you otherwise.

plot hooks.

i apologize, some of these are all very specific to a singular plot and i could've just included them in a legit request 😬🙃

○ sandbox love never dies. a very specific and imperfect friend group cast in the roles of bastard, bleeding heart, damaged, golden, grim, ingénue, temptress, and wild card. they've been together since any of them can remember. spent their whole lives dreaming about trying to get out of miriam's well, but instead only found tragedies that bind them to each other. tragedies, usually, of their own making. you'll be able to read a little more about these characters in the sandbox love request, which i promise is coming!! there is a doc in the works with more information + a plot server, so expect to be part of those things if you take one of these babes!

○ his secretary. in the past he's helped her out with something legally and she's kind of in his debt, though he insists time and time again she owes him nothing of the sort. i figured it'd be something along the lines of strong holding an ex-boyfriend or husband who wouldn't leave her alone (making her miserable, or something like refusing to pay child support he'd been ordered to pay, dragging her name through the mud, etc. general nuisances to nip in the bud/bad behavior in need of correcting before they became worse as they usually do. you get the idea), because that's notoriously right up his alley. likely using non-legal means to get there; intimidation is sort of his thing. and while he may not be the type of boss or co-worker who meets you for drinks after you clock out, he does have an affection for every single one of his employees and seeing as how she works with him the most, she'd be near the top of that list. maybe she was intimidated by him in the beginning and now she knows he's not everything he appears to be. and they have an understanding.

○ the weight of his guilt. [cw: murder. this will come much later in the plot!] the winthorpes are a family on two very extremes of a type of people. [the bastard] is his cousin on his father's side, a wayward little sister who got knocked up by someone unbefitting of the family and then marrying someone worse by their standards when the father got himself put away over an affair or something just as unbecoming. ashley was always raised closely with [the bastard], his father's hope to sway the boy of many wasted talents to the right side of the family, to make something of himself. but he's a product of his lineage. and only ever finds situations for ash to get him out of. eventually, [the bastard] who he will murder, cold and bloody and bury at the base of an old oak tree will disappear. and ashley's guilt will cause him to reach out. as far as anyone knew, they were the best of friends. always together (even if that relationship was practically handwrought by his father, and he had little-to-no patience for his cousin's antics). it'll be only natural that he come by every now and again to check on them, show care, help fix up things around the house that [the bastard] would have if he were still around. because it'll ultimately be ash's fault he's gone. partially. [the bastard] will deserve what he gets and no one who'll know will be able to convince him anything otherwise, but his family didn't deserve the fallout that came after. maybe a parent or sibling or someone [the bastard] claimed to love while making his way through the female population of miriam's well.

○ the other two winthrope children. they're expected to be upstanding citizens to combat the trash reputation the other winthrope side creates. father is one of a long line of lawyers (with a main practice just outside of town, ashley's secondary office in mw because he prefers it here) and mother is a homemaker whose extracurriculars might as well be solid, paying jobs. they have three children together; ashley (being the oldest son), a daughter magnolia (and the only girl -- taken by sage), and the youngest son, credence (who is very likely expected to join the family business, like ashley). i don't expect anyone to make the parents even though that would be incredible? but they all still have rooms at their home in rosebush hill drive to use at their leisure. it wouldn't at all be out of the question that some of the children still live there -- especially the daughter if she's unwed. they're very old fashioned southern that way. they do these big family events where everyone is expected to participate, go on vacations and holidays together, and church on sundays regardless of your personal beliefs on the matter (that you had very well better keep to yourself if they don't align, ashley has learned). their grandfather also lives in the family house after losing grandma a few years back.

#halfmoonrp #type: blurb #ch: ashley winthrope