#and you see jaskier is such a lovely character because of joey i understand that okay no one would do jaskier like him

[thelostgirl21]

Okay, I felt like this post (by @panur & @underthebluerain) deserved some visuals, so people could really understand and truly appreciate just how dramatic the difference in body sizes and shapes between these two gorgeous, absolutely lovely men, is!

And just how skilled the costume design team is, on the show, when it comes to giving the illusion that a character is much smaller (in Jaskier's case) or much larger (in Radovid's case), than their actors actually are.

There was an incredible post, a while back, that really explained how those wizards work their magic!

And it's utterly fascinating!!! Seriously, if you haven't read all of that yet, I highly suggest you go and take a look!

But yeah, when you look at the way their clothes have been designed this season, there's definitely been some attempt to make Jaskier look generally smaller than Joey Batey really is, while making Radovid look generally bigger than Hugh Skinner really is, too.

A few examples (with my extremely humble interpretation / things that have grabbed my eye when I look at their costumes. Please bear in mind that I am but an humble fan with no experience in costume design, so there's probably tons of stuff I've missed, and/or I might have misinterpreted some of those designers' intent):

Then, of course, there's Radovid's cloak that just... triples his size or something!

So, when you look at them side by side with their clothes on (even without the cloak), there really doesn't seem to be such a huge difference in body size and shape between the two.

Why are they so pretty though?

Like yeah, you do get the sense that Radovid might be a bit leaner, and that he has a longer torso, perhaps, but it's not THAT dramatic of a difference...

As soon as you get them out of their costumes, however...

On that last gif, you can really see that Joey's roughly the same height as Henry Cavill, and get the sense that he'd probably fit really well in a Witcher's armor, too!

Technically, their heights are listed as: - Henry Cavill: 1,85cm (6 ft 7/8 in) - Hugh Skinner: 1,83cm (6 ft) - Joey Batey 1,82cm (5 ft 11 5/8 in)

So, Joey's like 1 1/8" smaller than Henry and 3/8" smaller than Hugh.

Since I'm ½" taller than my own partner and virtually never realize it, I doubt they'd notice that 3/8" difference between them.

But yeah, one of the really funny "side effects" of costume designers being so good at their job is when you somehow manage to forget about it while watching the show and then this happens:

and your brain needs a moment to re-calibrate its settings because you're like "Right! Buff bard! Right... 6 feet tall really strong looking damsel in distress that keeps complaining Geralt could break him like a twig, when it would be something closer to splitting a log!"

Makes you wonder if people in Jaskier's family are just... naturally muscular or something (lots of fast-twitch muscle fibers?!)?

Because, while Joey is apparently into climbing, kick boxing, swimming, fencing, medieval sword fighting, etc.

Jaskier complained about needing to walk down the path of a mountain on his own, because his fancy boots kept sliding.

He does a lot of traveling and walking, sure... But that doesn't really help you develop your upper body / pectorals / arms, etc. in such a way!

Unless he just... likes the way those muscles aesthetically look on him?

You know, I really wouldn't put it past him, now that I think about it...

Over the years, Jaskier has just developed his very own calisthenics workout routine to build and maintain his looks, but feels the need to hide it.

Because "body fitness" is not exactly a popular discipline on the Continent at that time.

People tend to train to learn how to fight, or develop muscle mass while working the land or their craft, not because "they like the way those muscles look on them when taking their clothes off!"

So, Jaskier wears clothes that hide his actual body shape, since he's afraid that, if people saw and noticed how built he really is, then they'd just assume he knows how to fight and defend himself, when he doesn't.

People might stop shoving him out of harm's way, pulling him behind them to stand between him and the danger, coming to his rescue, etc.

And, since Jaskier's whole ongoing survival sort of depends on people spontaneously stepping in to save his sorry arse, well...

In the bedroom, however, the added bit of upper body strength and endurance does wonder when you want to be able to fuck someone against a wall while keeping their feet off the ground (for example).

Being able to lift and carry more than your own weight definitely has its advantages...

As Radovid has no doubt found out...

And, if the prince turned out to be a bit lighter and easier to carry around than Jaskier was initially expecting him to be, you definitely won't hear him complaining, either!

Although, I must admit that part of me also likes the idea that they might have been able to accurately "size each other up", so to speak.

Radovid's just there looking at all the lines and proportions on Jaskier's pants and shirt, while figuring out where his shoulders and arms actually stop underneath; being both fascinated by the actual size of Jaskier's body, and the choice of clothing design that's making him look much smaller than he appears to be (if his calculations are, indeed, correct)...

While Jaskier's just looking at all those layers covering Radovid, while attempting to get a rough estimate of the total naked weight underneath, and for how long he could keep him lifted... Hypothetically... For science...

But even there, there's a huge difference between knowing those clothes are playing with your perceptions and briefly getting a mental glimpse of what you think might be closer to the truth... And actually gazing upon or getting your hands all over said truth!

Because sincerely, no amount of me trying to look at this while attempting to make abstraction of the whole illusion created by the clothing design:

is successfully going to be able to make me see this:

Hence why I tend to forget about it, and need a moment to re-calibrate almost every single time Jaskier winds up getting shirtless!

Seriously, just look at the bottom gif of him shirtless, then at the top where he's got his clothes on a few times, one after the other, and try to tell me that you're able to visualize where all of that body at the bottom is managing to fit in there at the top!

It's like part of it literally went missing!

So, even if Radovid had managed to guess that Jaskier was a lot buffer than his choice of clothing was letting on, and vice versa, I'm thinking they'd still have been in for quite a bit of a surprise when they actually got each other's clothes removed!

Therefore, that headcanon would still work, regardless of Jaskier and Radovid having guessed that each of them used their clothes to make themselves appear less threatening, or more imposing than they really are.

#Jaskier #Radovid #Radskier #Joey Batey #Hugh Skinner #Costume design #My thoughts #Other awesome people's thoughts #My Posts #My Stuff

[finleycannotdraw]

Sorry for this stupid question, but I haven't watched or played Witcher (but planning some day at least to watch it) so I think you'll understand me 😅

I saw you reblog at first a lot of Witcher x that young boy (sorry, I have literally no idea what's his name is but he sings cools songs)

And now I'm seeing Witcher x another old man about which I know even less than nothing

Maybe I'm being stupid or something, but these guys are one from the series and another from the game? Idk cuz I knew only about Witcher x young boy and now I'm seeing that old guy and I'm confused because you just haven't reblogged it before and your reblogs are the only thing that teaches me about the Witcher. Idk when I'll watch series, but here's the question. WHO SHOULD I SHIP BRO JUST SEEING THEIR PICTURES AND HAVING NO IDEA WHO ARE THEY BUT STILL CARE FOR THEIR GOOD???

It’s not a stupid question! I’m happy to explain.

The first one is Geralt (witcher) x Jaskier (younger man who is a bard), and most fan-content of them portrays Jaskier the way the Netflix series portrays him. He is an adult, but most people tend to ignore the age gap because fantasy world (Geralt is close to 80 when he meets Jaskier in the show, but doesn’t look it). Plus, henry cavill and joey batey (actors) are close to the same age, so people tend not to think about it.

Jaskier is based off of Dandelion from the original witcher books. In the books, we don’t get to see how Geralt and Dandelion meet, because Dandelion is almost 40 and has reunited with Geralt for the duration of the books.

Another character in the books, that Geralt meets later on, is Regis (the old man). They get along very well, and Regis ends up traveling with Geralt, Dandelion, and a few other people in a group called the hansa. The way they interact is often flirty and sometimes homoerotic. Eventually it’s revealed that Regis is a higher vampire (very powerful and potentially very dangerous), and he and Geralt have a bit of a falling out, but that only lasts about 15 pages or so before he’s back with them.

Regis appears again in the Blood and Wine DLC of the third witcher game (the one I’ve played), where he and Geralt reunite as old friends before advancing the plot together. Regis is not in the Netflix series as of now.

Another character in the games that I’ve been posting about is Vernon Roche (but I wasn’t sure if you were referencing him at all). He’s a major character in the second game and comes back in the third. He’s the commander of the Blue Stripes, a Temerian (country) special forces unit designed to combat the Scoia’tael (a group of elven bandits from the books; they appear in both the second and third games, but much more heavily in the second). I’m not actually sure how old he is, but he’s more middle-aged than Jaskier or Regis.

As for the reasons I ship all of these different couples, it just comes down to a few things:

- I watched the Netflix series first, and therefore started off my witcher hyperfixation and subsequent reblog spree with Geralt x Jaskier. Later on, I learned about the book series, and fell in love with Regis, which led to the beginning of my Geralt x Regis reblog spree, continued vitally by me playing the witcher 3 and loving him even more. Then I made a super awesome friend who shared their love of Geralt x Roche.

- All of these characters, in my opinion, can make Geralt feel safer, happier, and more comfortable with emotional vulnerability. (This is also why I don’t enjoy the ships with the sorceresses, but that’s another post). I enjoy all of these ships because Geralt is an amazing, dynamic character whose relationships with others provide lots of space for good feelings and creative expression.

- I don’t stop shipping any of them when I have a burst of love for one of the ships in particular.

As for who you should ship, I can’t make that decision for you! I’d recommend engaging with at least one witcher series, be it Netflix, books, or the games (or the 2002 Polish Hexer series, which is low budget but made with so much love) and then deciding whose dynamic makes you the happiest! Fandom should be fun, shipping should be fun, so my advice is to just have fun.

Hope this helps! If you want to know anything else, don’t hesitate to reach out. :)

#the witcher #asks :) #geralt of rivia #jaskier #emiel regis #vernon roche #geraskier #geralt x jaskier #geregis #geralt x regis #geroche #geralt x roche #the witcher books #the witcher games #the witcher netflix #information post #(i guess)

[amber-angel]

Do an analysis on your fave muppet man

Rori I need you to know that I saw this and shot straight up, sucking in a huge breath with the BIGGEST adrenaline spike I've had in days. I could literally talk about Jaskier for HOURS, and have to constantly reel myself in so I hope you know what you've unleashed.

Overall opinion: is it bad if my most prevalent opinion on him is just that he's a massive slut? Because that's the first thing that comes to mind whenever I look at him. I think he's severely underutilized, but I also understand why, like, from a management perspective, they don't want their most charismatic character taking up all the screen time. I mean, I'm only watching the show for him at this point anyway, can you imagine how much worse it would be if he was a main? Also I'm just like... fucking in love with the concept of him at this point? I mean his name is Dandelion. His nickname is Buttercup. He's a bard. People call him lark in fics. I was fucking gone as soon as I heard the bread line, but it only got worse from there

One virtue: okay, I like to insult my floppy little muppet boy (with fondness) but I really do think he's an interesting character. Reading about how they changed him from the book to the screen to fit a retelling for a more modern audience, I think it was clever that Lauren (writer) decided to pull away from Dandelion as a womanizer and instead write him like a loving puppy of a man. He's layered. He's sweet and kind, but also will stab a bastard. He's empathetic and willing to sympathize, but at the same time totally down for wishing a slow death upon his enemies. And I know that his overprotectiveness of Geralt is mostly romanticized fanon, but you cannot tell me that he wouldn't jump over a counter to punch anyone who insults his best friend.

One flaw: most of the problems that I have with Jaskier, much like the problems I have with the other characters, are not actually about the character themselves, but with the way their arcs were written, or the way character development just didn't happen. Jaskier is so neglected by the writers that a lot of his growth happens off screen. It has to, or he would just be totally stagnant. And so somewhere between his last scene in the first season and his first appearance in the second, he's turned into this serious rebel spy person, but the writers are still trying to portray him as "goofy old Jaskier! haha, he's funny!" but they're doing this while he's trying to help people escape from certain death, or after he's just been rescued from fucking torture, and it ends up giving you a bit of whiplash and wondering is there any consistency here?

Favorite moment: can't be from his arc because (AHEM) what arc?? But. I am so in love with the conversation he had with Yennefer, where they actually let him be serious and connect with her in a way that s1 Jaskier would never have done. I love love love when they let him show his compassionate side, because it's there! He cares about people so much!! And let's be honest, Anya and Joey worked so well together, I know, I know that they're never going to make Geralt/Yennefer/Jaskier canon, but if they didddd it would work so wellllll

Least favorite: GOD everything about him reuniting with Geralt/being in Kaer Morhen. Big boy just walks in there with his sad eyes and nipple armor and with absolutely no meaningful apology Jaskier just forgives him?? Honey! There are hundreds of people out there who would treat you better. Yennefer being one! Anyway, then, even though Geralt claims he "needs" him, Jaskier doesn't actually end up doing anything? He's just kind of there, I think because the writers knew that they needed to put him in that season or they would lose half their fan base. He's only ever acknowledged when he's being made fun of or pushed away, and I'm tired of it.

One relationship: well, we only really see him interact in any meaningful way with Geralt or Yennefer, but I prefer Yennefer. Like, they basically have nothing in common, but they still mesh so well, and even though I know their friendship won't be explored any more (because it reads as so genuine that Geralt/Yennefer feels like stone in comparison) it would be so cool to see them move past their initial dislike and become actual friends, maybe help each other heal from the MULTIPLE traumas

Relationship to explore: I want to see how Jaskier interacts with Ciri. I want to see it so bad. She's a child and he's a bard, can we not get him singing her a fun little song and letting her have some fun for once? Let him sing her a Cintran ballad and help her process and maybe mourn the things she's lost!! He is JUST as important as your other leads, so let him be a part of the family damn it! And let him be a father figure (or at the very least a weird uncle) to Ciri

What I would have liked to see: I think I've already said it, whoops, but really I would settle for seeing more of him. Jaskier is so good, but the show barely seems to care about him, like they don't realize that they've stumbled onto the best thing they're ever gonna have! Let my pathetic whore of a man have more screen time! Let him into the family! And maybe next time you think about using him for sex appeal don't force poor Joey Batey to do that fucking shit that male actors do to enhance their abs, that fucking dehydration shit? And don't make him shave, wtf, don't add on to our bullshit beauty standards.

#asks #anyway joey batey is a gift and the witcher writers are squandering it #that's my tldr

[pandaspwnz]

I decided to watch season 3 of the witcher (the first 5 episodes that are out at this point at least) and by the time I finished it, I kind of forgot why I had been so hesitant to start watching it in the first place, aside of course the whole Henry Cavill leaving thing (and to clarify, I'm not watching season 4 and onwards because he's absolutely correct in why he's leaving, the show won't be the same without him, and the whole Joey having to write a 7000 word essay to get proper representation vis a vis Jaskier thing etc etc) because honestly I thoroughly enjoyed s3 so far! I did think the 5th episode was a bit.. or a lot 'meh'? But still. Then I remembered ofc that I'd been so hesitant because season 2 was ASS.

Anyway, I never watched Blood Origin, and after looking around the witcher subreddit and seeing that everybody apparently fucking hates s3, which I've concluded I liked so far, and also hates Blood Origin, I figured hey it might just be another one of those things where I would feel differently than the people who hate it.

So I just finished watching it and oh. my god. It SUCKS. ASS.

It's so fucking bad!!

Now I won't do what a lot of people have and go EUGH WOKE LEFTISTS RUINED IT or IT'S FULL OF BAD ACTING because what the hell are you talking about. First of all the only truly good thing about Blood Origin imo was the diversity. The most interesting story lines imo was Meldof and what happened with Gwen, I would have loved to see more of her story and her getting revenge, and Meldof was so endearing! I really loved how Francesca Mills played her. The humor came across as humorous, the grief was sad, and the weird goofy offball energy was delightful. I also think she did the fight scenes really well!

Also Eredin and Brían's story would have been so much more interesting to explore than what we got. Like hello? High ranking fancy schmancy general falls in love with a low born merchant? Even goes so far as to betray his ally for the sake of raising his lover in society, so they can be together without sneaking around? That's a classic premise for a reason! The reason being it's compelling and romantic! I love that shit.

I also don't feel like we needed seven characters. I loved Scìan and wish we had seen more of her life both before and after losing her clan. I didn't really feel we had time at all to get to know Brother Death and Zacaré at all, and even though I especially liked the actress who played Zacaré, neither of those two characters really made much impact on their own. I feel like they could have been condensed into other characters to make fewer stronger characters instead of many weaker ones. I also don't think we really learned very much about Syndril as a person, so if he had been combined with Zacaré, I think that would have worked better.

BUT I think every single actor in that show acted their heart out. They put their whole entire pussies into it!! And they did a great job with the material they had to work with. Unfortunately the material was bad (like jesus christ. by the power of friendship and also singing to calm the hulk like 3 times can we do literally anything else. Also everyone fucking singing the rose song like we GET IT but it felt so inauthentic and staged.) Also Fjall and Éile you knew each other for like 3 days calm down. There was no reason for them to fall in love aside from man meets woman and they are in physical proximity. I understand logically that they traveled together longer but it was SO rushed on screen. It was bad.

Anyway the costume design was gorgeous, and the makeup was as well. The fight scenes were nicely choreographed and shot. The effects were pretty good overall, I think!

But the pacing was bad, the script was bad, the dialogue was bad, it was bad. Beautiful but bad.

#i really really wanted to and thought i would like it but i just didn't #i think somewhere in there was a good story but it just wasn't what we got #the witcher #the witcher s3 #the witcher blood origin #the witcher blood origin spoilers #blood origin #blood origin spoilers #my post

[yeraskier]

heres my daily jaskier is not just comic relief and he is part of the family and he is a flawed character whos simply trying to do his best and people should give him a break and i love him so much post

#just saw sm jaskier hate i had to cleanse my eyes #its very very weird the way people get mad at jaskier stans for wanting him to have a bigger role idk... #let us love our bard #and you see jaskier is such a lovely character because of joey i understand that okay no one would do jaskier like him #but also.... he has sooo much more potential all the LAYERS that i know that are there #and i think... that should be looked into. so yeah #the witcher #jaskier

[oldandkinky]

I've been trying for a while now to articulate what exactly bothers me about S2 and why I'm not motivated to write anything based on it, and someone put it into words in a Discord today.

I've also seen posts about Burn Butcher Burn again, and I have thoughts about that, too.

The thing about S2 that bugs me the most is this: the first half of Jaskier's arc is extremely serious and has a lot of emotional depth. He has a very touching heart to heart with Yennefer, there is the torture, and Joey gets to act.

Then Geralt shows up.

The first confrontation is, again, very emotional. And then it all goes downhill. Nobody ever mentions his injuries - those fingers must be blistered, there's possibly exposed flesh. Have none of the writers ever touched a hot stovetop or a clothes iron? Burns take forever to heal and hurt like hell.

From that point on, Jaskier is once more reduced to (badly written) comic relief and running gag. His trauma is never addressed in any fashion by anyone, he is constantly drinking and obviously left to himself at KM, and his comedic moments felt forced and shoehorned in. He does nothing at all of consequence. Sure, Geralt tells him to take Ciri to KM (which does show trust I suppose), but is he actually needed? I would say no. The stone wasn't needed, he doesn't interact with anyone except Lambert who basically tells him to go fuck himself, and that's it.

I have very complicated feelings about their reunion. Jaskier is obviously still hurt but he is immediately willing to join Geralt again. Sure, he makes a production of it, but there's never any real hesitation. But I don't know if I believe that Geralt understands just how badly he has hurt Jaskier with his accusations. His apology felt very flat to me. I didn't expect him to grovel, as some people have called it, but an "I need you" (which never manifests in anything concrete and feels a bit like something Geralt says to justify having Jaskier back) and that "I'm sorry" from atop NewRoach felt dismissive to me.

I can understand Geralt blowing his top on the mountain. He was hurt and stressed and reeling from everything that had happened. But imo the way he spoke to Jaskier was deliberate. He took all of his own mistakes and blamed them on Jaskier. Was Jaskier the facilitator of these events? Yes. Did he hold a gun to Geralt's head and make him say the third wish/claim the LoS etc? He didn't, those were all choices Geralt made, and telling Jaskier that he never brought him anything but trouble was designed to hurt as much as possible.

Yes, Jaskier inserted himself into Geralt's life and he made a profit off of it - but so did Geralt, and nobody can tell me he couldn't have gotten rid of/avoided Jaskier - who was, let's remember, an 18yo nobody when they met - if he had truly wanted to.

If there was a transactional relationship between them, it definitely went both ways.

The show doesn't address any of this. Jaskier has a very public breakdown about everything, Geralt makes sad puppy eyes at him, and everything is superficially forgiven.

Which, I guess, brings me to the song.

There were definitely choices made here, and none of them were particularly good (except musically, because it is a good song). But I absolutely can see Jaskier writing and meaning this, in that first period of time after the mountain. He was deeply hurt, and let's face it, he is a horrible little man. He wished for someone to die for no apparent reason and for the Countess to love him, for fuck's sake. He's impulsive and vindictive. Something like Burn Butcher Burn is very in character in the heat of the moment, in my opinion. Geralt went for the throat, so he shall do the same.

However.

I think he regrets it. I'm not holding my breath for any sort of meaningful conversation about this in the future in the show, because the writers just aren't willing to give us that, but I would hope he'd explain himself to Geralt, if it ever came to that.

But I think that's where my and many book fans' especially interpretation differs so greatly. Book fans tend to look at Geralt through the lens of book!Geralt's view of himself and his relationship to Dandelion, but I think that is a hindrance here. The whole problem is that this is just not an adaptation, even if the showrunners call it that. It is, at best, based on, but in reality more inspired by. The relationship is so fundamentally different that to say "Dandelion would never" is meaningless.

Book!Geralt's relationship to others is, imo, in many respects defined by his insecurities and belief that he's somehow unworthy. Nx!Geralt doesn't, to me, appear to have those same issues. His relationship to Jaskier is never shown to be based on affection. It's implied that they're friends but we're not shown that they are. Every interaction they have is undercut by long suffering sighs from Geralt who seems to tolerate him despite not liking him all that much.

Fans filled in so much that the show just leaves out, because the show didn't give us any other option. If they're friends, Geralt's words were incredibly cruel. If they're not, Jaskier's reaction is over the top. Both can't be true.

I've seen a lot of people say "have you never had a fight with a friend before" to those defending Jaskier after S1, and personally I can say that, if a friend ever said something like that to me, even in state of heightened emotion, yeah, no, I wouldn't want to be friends any more.

I don't know. This is long-winded and rambly. I liked quite a bit about S2 and disliked even more of it. I'm not hopeful that any of the issues the writing had will be solved, or that the quality will get better. I'll just... stay over here and hope for the best without believing in it, I suppose.

#oldandkinky #oldandkinky talks #the witcher #jaskier #geralt of rivia #witcher netflix #ranting #rant post #witcher netflix critical #this is long and doesn't really have a point #just thoughts

[abeautifulblog]

What do you think are the greatest flaws and best character traits of both geralt and jaskier?

That is a very interesting question -- because while I'd never conceptualized them in terms of "best" or "worst" traits, I have spent a lot of time contemplating what are the core features of both characters. Especially when you're writing an AU, and grappling with the question of how to keep them "in character" when they've been shaped by an entirely different set of circumstances -- what are the aspects of their personality that are going to remain unchanged, and shine through regardless of the AU setting?

Joey Batey has said in interviews -- and I concur -- that Jaskier's greatest strength is his empathy. It's the empathy that led him to see the humanity in a witcher and want to make the world treat him better; to risk his life to help save the elves; to see his greatest rival brought low and immediately extend to her a helping hand instead of being gleeful at her misfortune.

It's why Jaskier in For the Asking can write the songs that he does, despite his lack of firsthand experience with the subject matter, because he has the empathy and imagination to understand anyway. In the dubcon fic, the story is almost entirely predicated on Jaskier's empathy -- none of it would have happened if empathy hadn't been so fundamental to who he is as a person that he was able to retain it even in an environment that actively discourages empathy.

On the flip side, I think Jaskier's greatest flaw is probably hubris -- that when he gets an idea in his head, he assumes that he's right and everyone else is wrong. The canon evidence for this is more indirect than for his empathy, but I don't think it's a stretch to say that there's a degree of arrogance in the unapologetic "I Do What I Want" approach that he takes to just about everything. He's smart, he knows he's smart, and although he's not as bad as some, I definitely think he has a touch of what I call "smartest guy in the room syndrome" -- someone (and it's usually a man) who has gotten so used to always being right when people challenge him that he's stopped considering the possibility that he could be wrong. And we see (in Dol Blathanna, and Joey Batey's heartbreaking acting in that scene as he realizes that everything he thought he'd known about the elves is a lie) that he is capable of recognizing his error, when confronted with it, but a lot of the time, I think it doesn't occur to him.

Jaskier's hubris is also a driving factor in the dubcon fic -- that he believes he knows better than the received wisdom, and it's his willingness to bend or outright break the rules that makes certain plot developments happen... often without putting sufficient thought into the possible consequences, or realizing that those consequences are going to fall more heavily on Geralt than they do on him.

When it comes to Geralt, his empathy is also a striking characteristic, albeit in a slightly more limited fashion than Jaskier's -- he may not be good at recognizing the full range of human emotions, but he empathizes greatly with other people's suffering, and has no desire to add to it. That, and his steadfast dedication to duty, and his deep craving for companionship (which is something I think all versions of Geralt desire, even TWN Geralt who can't bring himself to admit it or ask for it), are the core of how I see him and how I write him.

As for Geralt's flaws, that one is harder to gauge, because I think that, more than anything else we've talked about here, varies depending on which canon you're looking at. TWN Geralt's flaw is being an emotionally abusive douchebag; TW3 Geralt has not done anything wrong in his life, ever, we know this and we love him for it. I haven't read the books so I can't comment on book!Geralt. But if you're going to be generous to TWN Geralt, it would be that he sabotages his own happiness with his lack of emotional awareness -- and if the Netflix folks had known what they were doing, they would have made that the central tragedy of his character, rather than something that gets brushed under the rug.

(And there is also such a thing as taking dedication to duty too far. Ugh, lol, there's a FANTASTIC line in the upcoming chapter of Glacier, that I can't share because coffee_mage hasn’t posted it yet, but yeah -- there comes a point at which you follow the rules to your own detriment.)

Anyway, thank you for this ask!! I had a ton of fun with it, because this is e x a c t l y what I'm here to nerd out about in fandom. 😊

#asks #witcher shit #witcher meta #twn critical

[mordoriscalling]

I am now after watching the whole season 2 of the Witcher and I really need to rant, expressing many unpopular opinions because I am Mad and rather Underwhelmed. MAJOR SPOILERS BELOW THE CUT let’s goooooo

This season started off brilliant, I think. The first episode - chef’s kiss! I loved the whole mystery and dark atmosphere of it. BUT THEN, the show gradually just kept getting... so much worse? Bullshit started right in the second episode, with Eskel’s death which, just, what the fuck - 

I was so bloody Mad after this that I almost stopped watching but I carried on because I was really excited to see Jaskier again. The bard didn’t disappoint. Jaskier’s storyline this season begins wonderfully, and his friendship with Yennefer is, to me, one of the major highlights of this season, if not the highlight apart from Geralt’s growing bond with Ciri. 

The chemistry Yennefer and Jaskier have, dude. Like, that time Yen pretended to be his drunken wife and pecked him on the cheek awakened something in me. I couldn’t wait to see these two in scenes together and every single one was amazing. Especially when Yen wakes him at Kaer Morhen and says, “I need you”, fuck ;-; Joey and Anya have given this friendship such stunning depth! I LOVE IT. These characters have so much to offer to each other. Truly, Yennefer seems to share more meaningful moments with Jaskier than with Geralt this season.

Like literally, when it comes to Yen and Geralt, the show continues to mostly tell instead of show. Geralt clearly loves her but why?? Yen loves Geralt but why?? Apart from the heart-breakingly sweet vision of them living a simple life and having a baby (which is so beautiful, can’t get over it ;-;), we again do not witness them truly being together.

Though, I must say, that moment in the Temple of Melitele when Geralt, Yen and Ciri sat together and talked was amazing. It was so soft and sweet, and the way Geralt looked at Yen made my breath hitch. Kudos to Henry’s acting; boy, he really killed it this season. Yet, to me, his wonderful performance was in many, many moments ruined.... by those fucking contacts. I’m sorry but I couldn’t stand looking at his eyes in most scenes. For all the effort, love and talent Henry’s put into this, he deserves to have Geralt’s eyes CGI-ed, not wear those shitty lenses. 

Speaking of great acting performances, I think Joey really stands out, even when Anya and Henry are very strong competition. I find Joey’s acting truly extraordinary. The way he’s able to pack so much meaning and emotion into a single sentence, a single look, holy shit. Imagine having such a brilliant actor at your disposal and making such little use of him, though. Because Jaskier definitely is a rare presence, which in itself may not be a bad thing. That’s not what makes me truly mad. What I’m angry at is how his reconciliation with Geralt feels so... rushed. So skimmed over. Like a box to check. Geralt says he needs Jaskier.... but for what? I didn’t quite understand. Also, after Jaskier joins Geralt, he sort of fades into the background, which is something I didn’t like too. It sucks, given how his storyline started; how he displayed so much agency at the beginning but then it looked like the writers didn’t have any idea what to do with him.

Did the writers have any idea what they were doing? Because as the show progresses, a lot of plotlines get more and more unconvincing. The whole thing with Yennefer betraying Geralt and Ciri was terrible enough, but it got so much worse when Ciri got possessed by this demon and all the shit that went down afterwards. Like, what?? W-why??? The first episodes got me invested in the story but by the final one, I couldn’t give a shit? (Also, how do they get from Cintra to Kaer Morhen so seemingly quickly wtf?). I only cared for the moments between Geralt and Ciri. It’s truly wonderful how their relationship develops. I’m so weak for Ciri calling him her father and Geralt calling her his. The the shit, man. 

I also like how the characters of Fringilla and Cahir were developed, Lambert and Coen were marvellous, and the struggles of elves touched me to my core. Yet, all the fuckin’ witch of the hut and monolith nonsense took away a lot of the fun for me. If not for that stuff, I think I would’ve found this season much more... much more. As it is, I feel sort of... meh. And fucking Eskel what the fuck jesUS CHRIST -

#the witcher #the witcher netflix #the witcher spoilers #season 2 spoilers #rant post #but I talk about the good stuff too

[vikingqueer]

music recommendations because i have some thoughts™

i don't wanna be that person who's like "my music taste is so weird lol" but i find that very often most of my friends don't really care for the music i like so i thought i'd just make a long ass post about it on tumblr instead. Fair warning, I'm very passionate about MIKA and The Mechanisms and so this very quickly got VERY long because it is part of my ongoing campaign to convince people to listen to mika and the mechs.

1) MIKA in general, but especially My Name Is Michael Holbrook (2019) and No Place In Heaven (2015) (especially the Deluxe version!!)

MIKA is a kind of British singer (half Lebanese, grew up in France blabla), and you probably know him for Grace Kelly and Relax, Take It Easy from his first album Life In Cartoon Motion from 2007. He writes a lot of FUN music, interspersed with the occasional slightly sadder song, especially when looking at an album like No Place In Heaven, which contains a lot of songs with gay themes, resulting in some songs that are just a little bit ouch. He's originally classically trained and has a frankly RIDICULOUS range and idk he just writes very good pop music. Also I have so much respect for that time he talked about how a lot of pop is very fake, with like expensive cars and stilettos and mini skirts in the snow and said "Because I walk down the street, and I don't see any of that. I see fat women and gay men. I don't know... That's real". He's written 5 albums; My Name Is Michael Holbrook (2019), No Place In Heaven (2015), The Origin Of Love (2012), The Boy Who Knew Too Much (2009), and Life In Cartoon Motion (2007).

For starters, I recommend listening to Last Party, Origin Of Love, Grace Kelly, Blame It On The Girls, Blue, Happy Ending, Pick Up Off The Floor, Last Party, Underwater, Tomorrow and Tiny Love (yes this is a long list but i REALLY love MIKA). If you want a slightly broader palette that's not just my favourites, I recommend the Mika starter pack on spotify.

2) The Mechanisms. I warn you. I am making this a thing. I have been obsessed with the mechs since last march.

Boy, where to start? The Mechanisms were a British 9 member space pirate story-telling cabaret that "died" in January 2020. They rewrite songs to fit retellings of various stories. I don't even know what genre I'd describe them as, but probably folk but steam-punk?? Their 4 "main" albums are concept albums, and I honestly just recommend listening to the from beginning to end in chronological order. A good way to get into the mechs is also to listen to UDAD and then watching the live show on youtube or alternately try giving Death To The Mechanisms a listen, to get good quality live show audio of TBI and various other stuff. Also, it was streamed on YouTube and someone combined the footage with the album audio and it rocks. Really, I think the mechs' best selling points are honestly just their concept albums:

Once Upon a Time (In Space) Their first album from 2012. I'd say this is the most "easily digestible" for the general public, since it's a retelling of various fairytales. So, what if Old King Cole was in fact not merry, but rather a cold-blooded dictator, intent on colonising as much of the galaxy as possible. What if Snow White was a general, looking to avenge what King Cole did to her sister, Rose. What if Cinderella was to be wedded to Rose the day that King Cole attacked in order to kidnap Rose? But y'know, In Space and also like every other mechs album it's a beautiful tragedy. Fave songs are Old King Cole, Pump Shanty, and No Happy Ending.

Ulysses Dies at Dawn You guessed it, it's a story about Odysseus, or Ulysses because I guess Ulysses is easier to rhyme or fit in the meter or something, idk. Ulysses is a war hero of unknown gender who is said to keep something that could take down the corrupt Olympians, meanest families in the City, in a vault to which only they know the passcode. Oedipus, Heracles, Orpheus, and Ariadne have been hired by Hades, who happens to be The Mechs' quartermaster Ashes O'Reilly, to get into Ulysses' vault. I didn't care much for udad at first, but honestly it's got some real bangers and the story is really good. UDAD weirdly stands out as the only of the concept albums to not feature any gay relationships, per se. Fave songs are Riddle of the Sphinx, Favoured Son, and Underworld Blues.

High Noon over Camelot This is my favourite mehcs album. So basically, this is Arthurian legend, but it's a space western and Jonny D'Ville does a bad southern accent. This is the story of the cowboy lovers Arther, Lancelot, and Guinevere searching for the Galfridian Restricted Acces Interface Login, or GRAIL, in order to stop their world from falling into the sun. Meanwhile, Mordred and Gawaine are ruling Camelot, and Mordred has convinced Gawaine to try to establish peace with the Saxons by whom Mordred was raised, but Gawaine hates viciously. If you love getting your heart broken and songs by a fucking off the rails batshit preacher I HIGHLY recommend hnoc. Fave songs are Gunfight at the Dolorous Guard, Blood and Whiskey, and Once and Future King. Honorary mention for Hellfire because it awakens something animalistic in me.

The Bifrost Incident TBI is the frankly only good adaptation of norse mythology I've ever known of, and I say that as Dane who was literally forced to learn things about norse mythology in school because it's my heritage or whatever. I've been listening to TBI a lot lately because it's VERY good. It's definitely the most refined of the mechs' albums (because it's the newest) but also I just love a little bit of cosmic horror. 80 years ago, Odin, the All-Mother, ruler of Asgaard, launched a train through the wormhole Bifrost that would reduce the travel between Asgaard and Midgaard from 3 months to 3 days, but things didn't go quite as planned. Lyfrassir Edda of the New Midgaard Transport Police is trying to solve the case of why suddenly the train has arrived 80 years late; to figure out whether it was accident or maybe it was sabotaged by Loki, who was allegedly sentence to death her murder of Baldur, by the Midgaardian resistance led by Loki's wife Sigyn, or maybe by Thor, who was to take over after Odin, and who holds quite the grudge because he used to be a friend of Loki's. You might've heard the song Thor from this album, it's apparently quite popular. Fave songs are Loki, Ragnarok III: Strange Meeting, and Ragnarok V: End of The Line. Yet again an honorary mention: Red Signal because while Lovecraft was a bitch, his invocations are fucking RAW.

Basically, the Mechanisms do all of their performances in character as captain first mate Jonny D'Ville, quartermaster Ashes O'Reilly, pilot DrumBot Brian, master-at-arms Gunpowder Tim, science officer Raphaella la Cognizi, doctor Baron Marius Von Raum (neither a baron, nor a doctor), archivist Ivy Alexandria, engineer Nastya Rasputina, and The Toy Soldier, who is, as usual, present. You can find very obscure lore about the crew of the Aurora here, tidbits on Tales To Be Told and TTBT Vol. 2, such as One Eyed Jacks, The Ignominious Demise of Dr. Pilchard, Gunpowder Tim vs. The Moon Kaiser, Lucky Sevens, and Lost in the Cosmos.

If you feel like listening to a full 40-50 minute album to find out if you like a band is a bit much, I recommend listening to one of the mini stories Alice, Swan Song, or Frankenstein, which are about 12, 5 and 9:30 minutes respectively.

3) The Amazing Devil You know that guy who played Jaskier in the Witcher? I got into The Amazing Devil from spotify recommending them because I listened to the mechs, and apparently Joey Batey from The Amazing Devil is the same Joey Batey who was in the Witcher. Both him and Madeleine Hyland are VERY talented singers and songwriters and their second album The Horror and the Wild makes me go out into the forest and SCREAM. I listened to it on repeat for like a month straight. I guess they'd also be considered folk, but like. New Folk. Also yes, this is another British artist, I don't know why I'm like this. I've never really gotten that into their first album, Love Run, but King slaps. As I understand there's this whole lore about the Blue Furious Boy and Scarlet Scarlet, Joey and Madeleine respectively, but unlike the Mechanisms it's actually possible to find out things about the actual real people and harder to find the obscure lore? I'm open for people to please help me. Fave songs are The Horror and the Wild, Farewell Wanderlust, and That Unwanted Animal, which is literally a third of their second album, but again. I haven't really listened to Love Run that much, and I just LOVE the harmonies on THATW. (also im gay and dramatic leave me alone)

4) dodie I have so much love for this woman. Like many others, I first knew dodie as doddleoddle on youtube. I think I first stumbled across her in probably 2015, because I distinctly already knew her before she released her first EP Sick of Losing Soulmates in 2016. I think I watched probably every video she's ever made in the span of a few weeks. I just loved her quiet sound and was absolutely HOOKED. Also she's actually the reason I got into MIKA originally, so thanks for that. Dodie just realeased her first album Build A Problem (in addition to her three EP's; the one mentioned above, You, and Human) and it slaps. Yes dodie is also British Fave songs are probably Monster, Rainbow, and In The Middle.

5) Cladia Boleyn Unfortunately, Claudia Boleyn only has three singles and that's it. She's been making content on youtube for quite a while, and that's how I first discovered her. I don't know what genre her music is, but I like it. The songs are Celesta, George, and Mother Maiden Crone, of which the latter is my favourite. I'm not saying Claudia Boleyn invented women in 2017 when she released Mother Maiden Crone, but she did. Also you guessed it, Claudia Boleyn is British.

6) Hozier I'm not about to tell you about Hozier. You know who he is. Listen to Nina Cried Power, Angel Of Small Death & The Codeine Scene, and Shrike. Also Hozier isn't stricly British in that he is definitely from A British Isle, but Ireland is not part of the UK. Give me a break.

7) Oh Land Oh Land IS DANISH. I like her early music best, because I'm not that into the electronic sound. I guess Oh Land is just you regular old pop, but with the occasional weird vibe? Oddly enough, I like her first album Fauna best. Unfortunately I haven't really listened to her newest album Family Tree much, but it seems good? Fave songs are Frostbite, Love You Better and Family Tree. I cried on the bus, first time I listened to the Danish version of Love You Better, Elsker Dig Mer because my mother tongue always just hits harder. Also Frostbite is Oh Land doing a duet with herself which is pretty cool.

8) Oysterband This is a live recommendation. I mean they're a decent folk band and all, but they're a fucking experience live. If you like folk and you ever get the opportunity to see Oysterband live, do it. Unfortunately, yes. They are British. Either way, they are incredible on a scene and I think they deserve a mention for that.

9) Ben Platt Honestly don't know much about this guy, but he's not British and he was in Dear Evan Hansen. He released an album in 2019, Sing To Me Instead, and I just think it's a good album, there isn't really not much more to it. Fave songs are Grow As We Go, Bad Habit, and In Case You Don't Live Forever.

and thats all for now. this has been a ramble. shout out to you if you actually read all of this, especially the mechs part.

#music stuff #amalie.txt #music recommendations #mika #the mechanisms #the amazing devil #dodie #claudia boleyn #hozier #oh land #oysterband #ben platt

[jaskiersbrokenlute]

My witcher experience has been a lot simpler since I realized that I dont like the show, but I love what the fandom has done with the show.

The books and the games were much better in a lot of ways, but the show did bring some minor changes that were needed. (Which I mostly mean the way Joey is trying to kill the 'womanizer' Dandelion character) but other than that I think the show just created a more vastly available depiction of the witcher that brought to life a different version of the fandom and of the characters which is why I thought I liked it so much, but after my initial hyperfixation died down and I went back to watching (and im like the last person to notice lol) i realized that I truly didnt like the show in more ways than I DID like it.

Im not going to get into the specifics but the relationships, characterization, and the ways it changed from the source material (which is obviously ok because the show runners have creative licsence, I just thought some of them took away from the story more than they added to it) and the overall way they decided to present the witcher wasnt in a way I like, especially compared to the existing medias.

However, the show did bring back my witchery love and I do think that Anya and Joey helped bring Yen and Jaskier to life in a way they hadn't previoisly been; that improved some parts of their characters and I am eager to see how the other actors in season 2 bring their characters (hopefully no more are eaten by wolves).

and the biggest take away that the show had for me was the fandom, the fanart, fanfics, cosplay and utter creativity that has been sparked from the show is amazing and I love seeing it and creating it so much, you lot are some of the most talented, creative, open, beautiful people I've ever come across and my experience in this fandom has been 100% positive, which is truly rare and I will always be thankful that the show provided a gateway for this fandom to grow and be revived in a sense.

overall, I didnt need to say any of this and it is just my opinion (which is much more complex than a few paragraphs can explain so understand that my feelings about this matter arent as black and white as this makes em look like), but putting it down in words made me understand it better so might as well toss it into the tumblr abyss.

#like #fandom netflix geralt is so lovely #but is legit the worst geralt depiction #and i dont like henry cavill all that much #theres just too much to try and get into words here #the witcher #the witcher netflix #geralt of rivia #jaskier #oh no lute is speaking

[alwaysahiccupandastrid]

Hi! This might seem like a very weird question, and I can totally understand if it makes you uncomfortable, but I was wondering what type of girls/women Joey/Jaskier likes? Because I feel like changing everything about the way I am (especially the moderate severe autism) in hope that if I do ever meet him in a convention that he doesn’t hate me, and think I’m a overgrown child. I’m sorry if that sounds very stupid, childish or silly, but I am actually in love with both Joey and Jaskier 🥺

Hello, dear heart (to coin a phrase from Joey - I think he’s actually called all of us in TAD fandom “dear hearts”, so I hope it’s okay to say that now). Firstly, I’m sorry for the late response, I’ve been out this afternoon to the cinema with my grandmother to watch a recording of the Bolshoi Ballet perform The Nutcracker, and we’ve only just got back. It’s also the first time I’ve seen my grandparents since September, and we’re still not sure if we’ll be able to have Christmas together because there’s still the very real possibility of us going into lockdown. I don’t think this is silly, and I really wanted to address your ask properly though because I saw it and immediately felt a surge of emotions.

To be honest, I think Joey would tell you what I’m about to tell you so I’m not just saying it: you don’t need to change anything about yourself.

I completely understand what you’re saying; I’ll be honest, I’ve felt exactly the same way, especially in the past few months, that I need to change how I look or behave so that if I do ever meet Joey, I won’t be what I am now. I have a whole bunch of ongoing problems with my weight, with how I look in general, my mental health, to the point where even make up doesn’t make me feel even remotely pretty, and I’m all too aware of how awkward I am and how obsessive I talk about the things I’m interested in - I’m an absolute dork, autistic and I’m very weird. And to make things ten times worse, I have a baby face and look like a fat teenager even though I’m almost 24! So that’s just great! I am also very much in love with Jaskier/Joey (to put it into context, I have about 250 pictures on my phone currently of him both in the show and outside of it), so I completely get you here and I don’t think it’s silly to worry that someone you admire/love might think negatively of you when you meet them.

But I don’t think that Joey would want any of his fans to change a thing about themselves or to feel like they have to change just to impress him. I do think if a fan came to him and said “I feel like I need to change this about myself, I hate this about myself, I’m sorry”, he would tell them that he loves them and thinks they’re wonderful the way they are. I would love to say he’d also give hugs because he looks like an amazing hugger but given COVID and also personal space being important, that’s a little harder to say. But I do think he would tell you that you’re amazing and wonderful and beautiful inside and out, and he’d be so grateful to have people who love and support his work as much as they do.

Here’s the thing: in the most affectionate and fond way possible, this is a compliment, I think Joey is a bit of a nerd too. Listening to “Ruin”, it seems to me that he’s nerdy too, like we know he plays D&D (he was even Dungeon Master in a game with Madeleine and he did an online interview super recently where he played it) and that’s not exactly something that one does casually; there’s that absolutely beautiful lyric of “‘Cause if God make us all in his image, Then God's a fucking nerd”, so I do think he’s at least somewhat of a nerd like the rest of us, and I love that about him.

The way that Joey lit up at The Witcher S2 premiere in London when someone mentioned his music, and how happy he is when people have told him how much they love the character and his music, makes me think that he’s one of those people who just gets so ridiculously happy to see fans enjoying his work, even if it can be a little overwhelming at times - and to that extent, I’m sure he’d much rather meet fans who are enthusiastic and passionate about things they love (including his work) than people who give off an air of not caring a bit and trying to play it cool. I think if you went up to him at an event and even just said “I absolutely love your character and your music and my favourite song is ____ etc.”, he would light up like a Christmas tree. Again, I’m basing this just off what I know of him and what we’ve seen in the past.

As for Jaskier… honestly, depends on whether we’re talking about book or show Jaskier. I’m going to assume show!jaskier since we’re talking about Joey, and he’s said that he’s played Jaskier as just “loving everyone”, he just can’t help himself, he falls in love with almost every single person he meets. Jaskier seems like the kind of person to be attracted to a kindred soul (if that makes sense), someone who appreciates art, music, all those things in life.

My DMs are open if you ever want to talk about Joey or Jaskier in any capacity - whether it’s the show or his music or something else Joey related. I can’t promise I’m the most helpful person or the most knowledgable, but I can try.

[valdomarx]

hi! i was wondering, what are your thoughts on geralt and jaskiers characters in the tv show? also i sincerely cant tell what the writers were going for with their relaltonship in the last episodes (umh you know. jaskiers "we shuould go to the coast")

if we start by comparing geralt and jaskier/dandelion’s characters in the books and games (with the caveat that my knowledge of the books is patchy):

geralt and dandelion have a pretty straight forward, fond relationship. geralt has no problem telling anyone who will listen that dandelion is his friend. he talks about him often when he’s not around (it’s cute). even though dandelion is frankly pretty useless, geralt adores him anyway because he appreciates his loyalty. their relationship is in many ways not very complex because they just like each other and look out for each other as close friends do. they rarely argue.

dandelion would undoubtedly be a great romantic partner for geralt, so i can see why people like geralt/dandelion. and i can also see why many of these people are pissed at the way their relationship was handled in the netflix show.

because netflix geralt and jaskier are fundamentally messy. if you look at jaskier, i would argue it’s demonstrated in the show (although never stated explicitly) that he’s in love with geralt. there are the longing glances, the song he wrote about it, the way he delivers his lines (and, going by joey’s comments about how jaskier isn’t a womanizer he just falls in love with whatever person he’s around, i’m pretty sure he’s played that way deliberately). it’s very clear, very loud pining if you’re paying attention to jaskier’s relatively few scenes.

but netflix geralt is, bless him, a goddamn mess. he can’t articulate his feelings, he’d die before admitting that he needs anyone else, and he’s so full of self-loathing it makes it difficult for him to make connections with those around him. he communicates very little verbally, and even his body language and facial expressions are extremely controlled.

so there’s one interpretation that says: geralt doesn’t like jaskier. he’s an annoyance at best and a hindrance at worst. all he ever does is get in the way and badger geralt when he wants to be left alone. geralt might feel some guilt if jaskier gets hurt because of him, but no more than he’d feel for any stranger. jaskier is laughable for ever thinking that geralt could care for him.

but there’s another interpretation that says: geralt can’t say what he wants with words but he says it with actions. he gripes and teases jaskier but he always, always lets him join on his travels. he could gallop away from him in an instant if he wanted, but he never does because despite his grumbling, he loves having jaskier around. jaskier’s songs have done more to improve his quality of life than anything else in decades. and more than that, jaskier offers a warmth and a care with no expectation of return. geralt loves that wholeheartedly, and when he chooses to push jaskier away, it’s because he’s distraught at the idea of him being hurt, because jaskier deserves so much better.

and this is why i think fandom has latched onto geralt/jaskier so tightly. because there’s this fascinating ambiguity - does geralt love jaskier back or does he not care at all? - that begs to be explored in fic and art and meta. geralt’s expressions are so pared down that they’re open to a number of interpretations, so trying to understand his motivations is like taking a rorschach test about your view of relationships. and that ambiguity is what leaves people feeling that they want more, hence the abundance of fanworks focused on this version of the characters specifically.

#geraskier #the witcher #anonymous #george replies

[moonlights-inkwell]

It’s Not Fair

Summary: The thing that will see you into an early grave is almost definitely going to be Jaskier ignoring you.

Jaskier x Reader

Word Count: 4,361

A/N: Me? Writing fics again? After like 2 Years? It’s more likely than you think. I’m kinda obsessed with Joey Batey and The Amazing Devil... so enjoy some Jaskier fic, clearly based on Fair by TAD.

This might just be the thing that kills you. After gods only know how long traveling with the Butcher of Blaviken, how many times you’ve seen the business end of a sword, or how many fights in taverns you’ve been involved in, it seems that the thing that will be the end of you won’t be a gaping slash or stab wound or even hunger, no bleeding out against the wall of some dingy inn or dying heroically in battle for you. No, the thing that will see you into an early grave is almost definitely going to be Jaskier ignoring you. 

Well. Not you specifically. Really, he’s ignoring everyone, and when everyone in your travelling party is only two other people and a horse, that’s difficult; especially seeing as Geralt and Roach are hardly conversationally gifted. For the past four or so days Jaskier has been silent as the dead, not a word had passed his lips; not so much as a ‘good morning’, ‘good night’ or ‘kiss my arse'. Talking, singing, story-telling- it’s his job, his lifeline, everything that your Dandelion lives and breathes for. You’ve known him for years now, spent endless nights with him laughing, singing, talking endlessly, but now he’s quieter than a graveyard. It’s not just out of character, it’s worrying.

You hate the silence, but more so than the silence you miss his touch. Since the two of you have become involved with each other, the Bard has sought out any and all opportunities to touch you (and when none came, he would create them), and now there’s nothing. Four days without a warm hand to gently squeeze yours as you walked or wind an arm about your waist while sitting in front of a fire at night, and it’s enough to make you want to scream. You aren’t courting. You aren’t, but it’s hard to remind yourself that when everything is as it should be. If anything, the two of you actively dance around the courtship without ever really entering it, at least in your eyes, and as a result what you share is so much more and less than that, unnamed and unknowable. You no longer linger around bars at taverns to flutter your eyelashes in exchange for free drinks, Jaskier no longer sniffs around any skirt that he sees, reserving his flirting for during performances. The two of you are intimate, seeking each other out in the night both to find release and to simply lay in each other’s arms, and you have to force yourself not to succumb to the overwhelming urge to stare at him, moon-eyed, while he performs, encouraging patrons to be generous with their coin; really it’s hard not to stare at him while he just smiled, or breathed, adding his music to the conversation makes it harder still. But you are not courting, no matter what the passing touches or delicate pet names would make strangers comment about how lovely a couple you are. Geralt does it too, in the moments when he feels like talking, though his comments are always snarky and in passing than anything else, and makes you try and impress upon him that you and Jaskier are not a couple, no matter what he thinks he sees between the two of you. It feels more like you’re just trying to remind yourself of that, to keep the thought of the bard and yourself out of your mind. Courting, romancing, whatever you could call it, it requires love, and neither of you have told each other that you’re in love, which is important, or so you think. And you do think. Often. Mostly during the night, curled up with him and feeling the warmth of his breath dance against your skin, how easy it could be to just... let yourself say it, to whisper your love to him, release yourself from the much too comfortable purgatory that the two of you have fashioned for yourselves. Your mother always called you brave, and more often bold, impertinent, stubborn or headstrong before you decided running away with a Witcher and his bard was a good idea, but even your bravery does not extend that far. You can’t just do a thing like that; just reveal how much you do actually love him. It’s an easy thing to show, by sitting awake at night with him or buying him the lavender oil that he pours into his baths, but saying it is something else entirely. It would be humiliating, and well... improper. You’ve never cared about impropriety before, but when it comes to making yourself vulnerable? You care. Especially when more than anything you want him to just say that he loves you.

The night before it all started, life had been as normal. Settled in the closest space to a clearing as the three of you could find to make camp, a barely lit fire sent as much dim light out as it possibly could, and even less warmth than that. Geralt, as he normally did, had settled himself in the treeline, close to Roach for him to meditate, while Jaskier was beside you. He claimed that he preferred to be alone during the night but you assume, at least in part, that Geralt’s distance had developed as a result of you and Jaskier being as close as you are and was hoping to avoid seeing things that he would have rather not between the two of you. The bard had curled up around you on your shared bedroll, forehead buried between your shoulder blades and arms wound tight around your waist, while peppering gentle kisses to your skin between whispered sweet nothings to lull you to sleep. It had grown to be routine, this chaste level of intimacy that saw him try to serenade you into slumber while holding you close like you might be ripped away at any time, it was normal. Made you forget, however momentarily, the dangers you faced traveling with a Witcher, because nothing existed outside of the confines of the warm arms that held you like you were something precious. It becomes, in these moments, far, far too easy to forget that you two are not a couple; that this isn’t an unspoken love shared with the man behind you, that he doesn’t love you.

“Dear heart, I could sing about your eyes until I died, and I still don’t think I’d ever do them justice.” He whispered against the back of your neck as you drifted quickly into sleep, followed by something that had been said too quietly for you to even pick up on. Tongue rendered useless by tiredness, you didn’t ask what he had said, but noticed how his breath hitched after saying it and intended to ask him when you woke up. But you didn’t, and he didn’t speak a word all day. Or the day after. Or the day after that. The first day you had blamed yourself entirely, sure that you had done something to upset him into being quiet, but now you’ve veered into just being upset at him in turn for it. Jaskier’s always been so open, too much so even, about his feelings, so his reluctance to share is confusing and hard not to take to heart. He’s even began sleeping apart from you, and it hurts. His nightly whispering while holding you close have become the only way that you can sleep, and the past few nights have seen you lay awake- holding your own arms in a pathetic replacement for the embrace you want from the man sat away from you, melancholically plucking at the strings of his lute and staring at the moon as if it was keeping the answers to every question he had ever had.

It’s hard not to take his newfound fondness for the quiet personally. It’s deliberate. You know it’s deliberate that he’s silent and trailing behind; and worse still, seemingly so does the Witcher.  

Geralt always rides ahead on Roach, leaving the two of you to talk and sing to your hearts’ content without being bothered with it- but now the mare keeps pace with you or, maybe now without a bard to laugh and play with, you keep pace with her. The White Wolf has never been much of a conversationalist, normally Jaskier’s mile-a-minute chatter and songs fill the gap for him, but with his sudden silence you’ve started noticing Geralt grunting to you every hour or so to initiate a moment or so of conversation before you both settle back into your usual quiet travel. It’s appreciated. Little as it is, you can’t help but be grateful that he’s willing to try so that you don’t feel uncomfortable, though it’s beyond his own realm of comfort.  

The song the silent bard is plucking is melancholy and slow, and it takes everything in you not to look over your shoulder to him every time the notes turn sour, or simply stop. It’s strange to hear him play without singing accompanying it. You grew up with a mother who was more lark than Lady, flitting about and singing songs of love, which you hated. They all would always include waifish women who withered and died without a man to lavish them with love and attention, leaning on every cringe inducing stereotype of femininity; the kinds that made you want to shake them by their shoulders until they gained some sort of courage about them. Simpering and cooing had never been what you thought would encourage love. But now, in this exact moment? You might just understand those women from the ballads entirely, if the vice tight feeling in your chest is any indication.  

Maybe that’s a sign of how much you love him, you think to yourself as you and Geralt finally break through the thicket of the woods, the sight of the bustling town around you filling you with a familiarity that only slightly loosened the tightness in your chest. Surely if the lack of him is painful and driving you to distraction, then it can’t be anything but. Nearby crowds all but engulfing you and your companion without second thought on their way to wherever they’re headed makes you feel all at once welcomed and isolated, surrounded by people but entirely alone. The sound of a sudden grunt beside you and Roach’s quiet whiney draws you from your thoughts, and your eyes dart up to the man closest to you. The Witcher gestures slightly towards the town square and tilts his head slightly,  

“Find an inn.” He says simply as the mare's pace slows to a stop. You open your mouth to argue, with him almost certainly going to find his contract someone would need to wait for Jaskier, but the words don’t reach your mouth before he cuts you off. “I’ll wait for the bard. Get a room and some food.” He says it in such a way that lets you know there is no room for argument, though the command is hardly a hardship. Geralt can tell how tired you are, how your pace is slowing with the growing darkness beneath your eyes, and though the man will always claim he feels no emotions, you can see the pity in his ember eyes. Somewhere warm with food and other people who speak sounds heavenly, so without a word you nod with a smile. He doesn't smile back- he never does- but the look he gives is as close to one as he will give.  

“...Fine. But you had better find me.” The brusque harshness you had hoped for is instead a tired plea, which Geralt nods at.  

“Rest.” Is his only response before Roach nudges you forward with her head, sending you off on your way. It feels all too much like being reprimanded by a parent, but genuine concern is hard to come by, and even harder to come by Geralt being open in his compassion, so you let yourself walk off on your search for an inn.  

////

When the Bard and Witcher find you, you’ve been sat in the inn warming yourself, barely able to keep your eyes open. The barmaid, a kindly older woman who had took one look at you and ushered you towards the fire roaring towards the corner of the spacious room all while forcing a bowl of broth into your hands saying you looked half dead, had been periodically looking over at you and then the door. You had insisted on staying down there, instead of in one of the two rooms you had rented, just so you could be easily found, but staying awake was growing harder to do. Eyes finally flickering shut, you jolt awake at the feeling of a cold hand on your shoulder. Geralt, stoic as ever, stands behind you with an enraged looking Jaskier stood a foot behind him, looking for all the world like a reprimanded child.  

“I told you to rest.” Geralt says, ember eyes watching you with a look that was lingering somewhere between amusement and disappointment.  

“...I was waiting for you two.” It sounds weak, but it’s true. The two men sit down across from you, Jaskier keeping his distance from Geralt and his eyes focused on the floor. Something’s happened, if the scowl on both of their faces is anything to go on, but you can’t bring yourself to ask what’s going on. “...I got two rooms.” Neither says a word in response, and you look down to stifle a yawn.  

“Witcher!” A voice from across the tavern calls out, bringing with it a call of drunken appreciation from the rest of the patrons, shouting about the White Wolf. Some begin an out of tune rendition of Toss a Coin, which only serves to make Geralt cringe. You aren’t entirely sure if he prefers the monikers or the out and out cruelty. At least those are open about their hatred, instead of hiding their distain behind songs and treating him like a sideshow attraction. White Wolf, you can’t imagine mocking a man who gets called a thing like that. In spite of himself, Jaskier’s chest puffs with pride at the sound of people singing his song, pride written across his face. Some other patron sees the lute strapped to the bard’s back and recognises him, calling out his name which sends him springing to his feet with a bow, all but running to his adoring audience.  

“He’s a fool.” Geralt says, gesturing the barmaid for some ale.  

“I’m aware.”  

“I told him such.” That you were not aware of. “He’s no idea how badly he’s treating you.” You hadn’t assumed Geralt really cared, that awkward as it may be, he probably appreciated not hearing you and the bard’s constant chatter.  

“...Thank you.” You say unsurely, but he nods and gestures to the stairs.  

“Don’t. Just sleep. You need it.”  

You don’t argue, just clap a hand gratefully on top of his and walk past Jaskier on your way upstairs, not seeing how his eyes lingered on your frame as you disappear from view.  

///

The sound of the door to your room creaking open causes you to crack one eye open, but in the near pitch of the room you’re confused. It had only been about ten minutes since you fell onto the mattress and curled yourself into a ball and the sun had still been high at that point. It’s dark, save for a candle you don’t remember lighting, and realise that what you had intended to be nought but a quick rest had turned into the sleep you hadn’t been able to find outside of Jaskier’s arms. The door opens slowly, and even in your sleep addled state you find yourself clenching a hand and readying yourself to strike at whoever dared to let themselves in, but you stop at the sight of your Dandelion, barely illuminated by the light of the single candle flickering on your bedside table. He’s creeping in and gently shutting the door behind him so as not to wake you up. You had assumed he would wind up sharing Geralt’s chambers seeing as he’s chosen not to sleep beside you for days, and tiredly you smile, reminded of other nights resting in taverns when he‘s performed and slept wrapped around you like a blanket. He is Not Your Dandelion, something cruel in the back of your mind tells you wiping the smile from your face, and you roll over towards the window. He lays down his instrument and begins pulling off his doublet, whispering into the darkness,  

“Dear Heart? Are you Awake?” You could cry at the sound of his voice- so sweet and familiar, whispering his pet name for you in the same caring tone he usually reserves for when you’re injured- spoken for the first time in days. He takes your silence as a no, clambers as delicately as he can to the bed and settles on the edge, pulling his boots off and letting them fall to the floor with a quiet ‘thud’, followed a few seconds later by another. A few seconds later he finds himself once more in the space that he always occupies behind you; hairy chest pressed against your back, arms around your waist, forehead pressed in the valley between your shoulders. It’s as if the days of silence never happened, and you could almost pretend they hadn’t but that wouldn’t be right. You’re still angry. Who do you think you are? You long to scream at him. Staying silent yourself, you breathe out deeply and the bard laughs softly, fanning warm breath down your back.  

“I’m sorry.” For the laughter or ignoring you, you’re unsure, but as he has been so inclined the last few days, he falls back into silence. What little light the candle has been giving off has lessened even still as your eyes flit from the wall to the window. Pinpricks of light cut through the inky blue of the night sky, but you can’t see the moon. The moon and stars are the best part of sleeping outdoors, constant companions that glitter and know you, have always known you and always will. You miss them.  

Spurred on by either your presumed sleep or the lingering high of his performance, Jaskier continues on quietly. “I’m sorry Dear Heart, I’m an idiot. I’m an idiot and I’ve certainly done a good job of showing you that in the past few days...I, I.” He struggles in spite of his usual skill with words and presses a kiss to your spine, which seems to ground him. “I had such a grand plan in my head. Spent all day every day trying to write the words for you, and I ignored you.” He sounds so unsure of himself, which is almost enough to distract you from the idea of his struggling for words about you of all people. “...the words just are not coming though. You probably think I’m an arse. I do. Geralt clearly does. He made that more than clear after my performance. I missed you. I’m so used to you being there after my performances.” You usually are, waiting for him with a mouth full of compliments and kisses. “I’ll... I’ll tell you now, and maybe you’ll dream it so, when you wake, you won’t want to smash my lute over my head or castrate me.” He chuckles weakly, and you struggle in vain not to smile even though you know that he can’t see your face.  

“It... it’s not fair.” His voice shakes slightly, and all at once you expect the worst. “It’s not fair how much I love you.” He follows the words with a kiss to the back of your neck, which only encourages him, whispering his declaration of love and affection into what he presumes is a sleeping audience. “It’s not fair. And it never will be. You’re so... beautiful, and clever and stronger than me, I know. And I love you. And I always will- My rotting bones will sing how much I love you when the rest of me is dead.” He says feverishly, fingers pads calloused by years of playing lute brush gently across the expanse of your stomach, eventually finding a resting place on your hip. “When you smile and sing with my songs... I understand the reason I was born. Melitele, Dear Heart...”  

His voice cracks and something warm and wet drips onto the warmed skin of your back, making you realise that your bard, silly, foolish, perfect Jaskier, was so overcome by his feelings that he was crying. And from the streaks of wet lining your cheeks and making home in the pillows, so were you. Days spent dwelling on the thought that his silence was indifference, never once considering that maybe he was... afraid. You had never considered that Jaskier had ever felt insecure a moment in his life. He floats above those things, as all beautiful, talented people do, but now here he’s admitting that he loves you, has been afraid that he loves you.  

The tightness in your chest squeezes once more before dissipating entirely. Daydreams of confessions had seen the two of you bathed in starlight, or sat in a field of buttercups, never once had you imagined it would be in a dark and somewhat smelly rented room. It feels appropriate, and you begin to shake with laughter. Days of silent strumming and hissed curses make sense when you consider him trying to avoid your hearing his confession of love before he felt it finished. Idiots. Utter Idiots. The worst kind at that, the sort to wallow and pine, planning grand gestures that never reach fruition as opposed to just speaking like adults. Morons deciding that the way to show your love is to detangle from one another only to fall back together like magnets. Bloody bastard bard, fucking foolish fighter, you think, all anger from days of quiet gone like petals in a storm, what a right pair of idiots we make. Jaskier pulls up from his position to lean over you, eyes narrowed in accusatory slits, watching you silently shake with laughter.  

“You’re awake.” It’s a statement, not a question, and one that sounds deeply hurt at that. Overcome with the relief that he doesn’t hate you, and in fact rather loves you, the thought of how it must look for him to confess his love only to be laughed at doesn’t cross your mind, and so the hurt look in his eyes catches you off guard. “I. I see. I’ll... let you rest.” With that, he begins to pull away from you. After nights of coldness and no sleep you simply can’t bare another night without him, causing you to surge up, grabbing him by his forearms firmly enough to keep him in place without hurting him. Moments before you fall asleep where he clutched you like he loved you fell into place in your mind. He did. He does. He loves you. You want to laugh, scream, yell from the rooftops, but really all you want to do is slam your mouth into his and kiss him like the world will end if you don’t. But there is something to do first. Faces barely an inch apart, your lips turn up in a ghost of a smile.  

“Oh Julian,” You whisper quietly into the almost-darkness and feel his breath hitch against the delicate skin of your lips. He'd forgotten. Of course, he had forgotten. His real name was something scarcely spoken, and something you had only learned because he had felt especially emotional once while buried to the hilt inside of you and desperate to hear you moan his real name instead of his moniker. It had felt much too personal to use in front of other people, but now in this moment, it feels only right.  

“You don’t have to pity me, Dear Heart-”  

“How unreasonable.” You cut him off, fingers straying from their place around his arm to gently trace around the angle of his jaw, lips brushing against his with every syllable spoken. “...How unreasonably in love I am with everything you do.” Fear of vulnerability falls away like waves, and it feels like salvation to speak the words out loud .  

His face breaks into a grin, roughness of unshaven scruff shifting against your fingertips, and his own hands scrabble up to cup your cheeks, pulling you into a kiss. It’s nothing like what you know from him. Even in your most desperate of moments, Jaskier kisses like you’re made of smoke and a push that is even slightly too hard will see him destroy you; but now it’s hard and needy, a mashing of teeth and tongue against lip that draws shocked but delighted sighs. He normally prefers to be slow, gently build up, but now he isn’t. It’s clumsy. Everything recently has been clumsy, songs unsung, hands not held, words unspoken, now all poured desperately into a kiss that begs you to stay. I know I’ve been a fool, it seems to say, but I’ll spend every hour of ever day proving I’m not a fool, and that I love you. You believe it.    

“Gods you’ll be the death of me.” He murmurs against your lips like there’s nothing he wants more in the world than to be destroyed by you. The feeling is mutual. Being ruined, broken, pulled apart piece by piece by the Bard, kissing you as if with enough pressure you two will become one, sounds like the most beautiful way to end it all, especially when his tongue dips coyly into the cavern of your mouth before retreating and breaking away from you, breathing deeply.  

“You dare just start ignoring me again...” You whisper breathlessly, but the feeling of him pressing his forehead into yours silences you.  

“I’d need my tongue cut out to not speak to you, Dear Heart.” He reassures you, deft fingers pressing against your lips. “...I’m sorry. I love you. I didn’t want you to... go.”  

“I love you.” 

“I love you.“ You believe him.

#jaskier x reader #Jaskier imagine #jaskier x y/n #jaskier x you #the witcher #witcher x reader #self insert

[johnnyutah]

🎤 for jaskier and 🔊 for until dawn 😗

for jaskier: i was gonna say "YOU NEED A NAP!" because DELIVERY OF DELIVERIES but. Realistically the entire bathtub scene is tattooed on my braini've watched it 5000 times but how the fuck am i supposed to pick between "it is one night bodyguarding your very best friend in the whole wide world how hard could it be" AND "oh you usually just let strangers rub chamomile onto your lovely bottom?" AND that DIRK GENTLY ass line "you never get involved... except you actually do, all of the time" like ok encapsulate geralts whole character and moral stance king!! but NONE of those wonderful lines stand up to 'the last thing i want is someone needing me' and jaskiers soft "and yet... here we are" COME ON. COME ONNN. okay but ALsO all his lines in posada iconic scenes iconic dialogue and also "I'm just trying to work out what pleases me". Hey can i just answer literally every word that leaves joey bateys gay little mouth on screen as my favourite jaskier line. What was the question

for until dawn: my brain since 2015 has just been an awful little cocktail of understand the palm of my hand bitch you couldn't buy a moldy loaf of bread with your skanky ass LEAVE IT TO THE PROS BROS you just got monked My bag we forgot my bag whats up party people party like we're fucking pornstars MICHAEL AND I ARE GOING TO FUCK theres more to this guy than being a lean mean luggage lifting machine it was just a PRANK HAN you're going to shoot me mike me hook line and sinker for Every Little Stinker BOOM BUTTERFLY EFFECT You sure you werent at a truck stop I'm bad I'm a badass oh my god we're sooo totally gonna make out funny you should have your own show hey did you see that dad said it would just be us this weekend

so... if you throw that in a blender, thatd be the most iconic voice acting performance i think

#oh valley of P EN I S #Oh my god. What did our naive sister get herself into now :/ #asks #ask meme

[today-only-happens-once]

If there's a video game or book series or TV show or movie you have thoughts about that you'd like to gush, please do for this ask!! What drew/draws you to it? What's it's best qualities, or worst? Anything you would change if you were given the chance? Good luck with your life-managing and brain-wrangling stuff!

klsjfkdlsjfkldsjf anon you have my whole heart rn

So can I gush about just one character from a show? Because I’mma gush about mah boi Jaskier from the Witcher because I will never shut up about him if given the opportunity:

Gonna stick it under a cut tho because I could ramble about him for hours and he’s not a ts character. ^u^ Thank you for this opportunity anon, but you do not know the floodgates that you have opened. (Mobile users if its doesn’t cut off for you I’m SO SORRY)

Alright so! Jaskier! My heart is so full of love for him like heck. I can’t even explain what, exactly, it is about him that makes me love him so, so much! 

He is relentlessly, unflinchingly loyal to Geralt. I know Joey Batey (the actor that plays him) said that the word he kept coming back to when it comes to playing Jaskier and understanding his character is that term: loyalty. He follows this man around for 22 years (and I get that they’re not literally together all the time for those 22 years but still). He devotes his career, in no small part, to making sure that the world loves Geralt after he is gone. That is going to be Jaskier’s legacy. I think he knows that. I think he likes that; this idea that when Jaskier is old and gone, a part of the world might be a little bit kinder to Geralt and the Witchers like him. 

And he’s such a spot of sunshine in an otherwise very, very dark show. Jaskier brings a balance to the show’s dynamic that is needed, in my opinion. And I also think that’s part of Geralt’s begrudging draw and appreciation of him as well (though I’ll try not to ramble too much about that, as it’s addressed in one of me WIP for the Witcher fandom). But I just... he brings balance. To the show, and especially to Geralt.

But Jaskier, really, is Geralt’s foil at every step. Jaskier is bright and vibrant and literally does not shut up, and Geralt is... not. He lives in a very dark and unforgiving world. A world that has been cruel and harsh to him for as long as he’s been alive. But then here comes Jaskier, who... isn’t. Jaskier is kind, and he fills Geralt’s world with light and love. 

And Jaskier sees that light and goodness in everyone around him, including Geralt. Another thing Joey Batey has been vocal about in terms of his approach to Jaskier’s character (and something he brought up with the writers) is this whole idea of doing away with Jaskier as a womanizer and instead this ardent, all-consuming, but genuine love that Jaskier has for the world around him. Jaskier doesn’t womanize; a part of him falls in love with everyone he meets. And I think that extends to Geralt.

I ship him with Geralt. I do. Wholeheartedly, though I don’t have any illusions that canon will follow that. And part of that is loving this idea that Geralt sees Jaskier as this light and love and brightness in his life that he is both afraid of and desires to protect, and this idea that Jaskier sees Geralt has he’s always wanted to be seen. Jaskier sees the selflessness and the sacrifice and the care that Geralt carries around with him and the bard does everything he can to make him seen as the hero he is--as the hero Geralt wants to be, but doesn’t always feel he is. 

They see the best in each other, is really what I’m getting at here.

AND THEN there’s the role Jaskier plays in the show’s pervasive underlying thematic exploration of the idea of choice and fate. There are three main characters that are tied directly to Geralt: Yennefer, Ciri, and Jaskier. And Jaskier is the only one of those three that is tied to Geralt because of active, continued, persistent choice to be. Yennefer and Ciri are both tied to him by magic and fate, and that doesn’t mean those relationships are meaningless. But I think Jaskier’s relationship to Geralt has the potential to play a role in how the show explores this theme going forward. My only hope, given the six year gap that follows the mountaintop Break Up scene is that such a long absence of Jaskier drives that point home for Geralt. That Jaskier doesn’t ever have to come back. That every time he returned to Geralt’s side, it was done by concious choice born out of loyalty and love (though what brand of love is up to your interpretation; I’m a full-time Geraskier shipper for all the reasons above and more, so you know where I fall on that side of things).

I like the Witcher as a show in general terms too. But it’s a far cry from faultless. There are moments where I (and some other parts of the fandom) are basically Fury in Avengers with the whole “I’m aware the council has made a decision” scene. But I think it does a lot of good things too. Like Jaskier. And I hope the show keeps doing good things. Like Jaskier. (pls pls pls more Jaskier episodes in season 2 PLS im BEGGING). 

#not ts #jaskier #witcher #long post

[noorasaetre-trash]

So I watched Witcher earlier this week and here are some thoughts:

(Mind you I listed the negative impressions first but there are positive opinions too!)

- The timeline was a bit tricky to follow and put together

- For the first half the plot seemed a bit pointless, like Geralt was just travelling around aimlessly killing monsters, but I think the banquet in episode 4 gave the series some direction - or at least it gave me a sense as to where it was all going and a purpose to it all

- Also the politics of the place? Like why were certain groups attacking other groups I’m not sure?

- And the logic behind some of the monsters? Why and how do they exist? Why are there so many monsters around in general? Like I know it’s essential to the story because Geralt is a monster hunter or something, but I just want to understand the logic behind how fantasy creatures and fantasy worlds function

- Henry Cavill’s voice sounded a bit too fake and edited at times

- Not too impressed with the sound editing in general, the sounds from sword fighting etc were a bit over the top and unnatural

- The character of Yennefer felt badly casted for me, she seemed so so young and the character felt overall unconvincing? Like why did she suddenly want a child? I didn’t believe in her wish at all and all her motivations in general felt a bit hollow. The actress is pretty I give you that, but other than that it felt like she did a bad job. Like in the last episode there was that woman who took care of Ciri for a short moment, Zola she was perhaps called? And I imagined her playing Yennefer and I just think that her or some other actress might have felt a lot more convincing and honestly I would’ve opted for someone at least a little older and more experienced

- Also the romance between Yennefer and Geralt seems a bit forced and rushed. And I’m not saying this just because I ship Geralt wish Jaskier but because they had like one scene in which they actually spoke together just the two of them. Sure it is implied that because the timeline jumps around they’ve met many times between the episodes, but here’s when you have to remember an important guide to visual story telling “show don’t tell”. For me it looks as if these people have met like 5 times, had sex twice and spoken once and then we are being told that no no they have a deep relationship and they love and care for each other but you just haven’t been there to see it. Well I don’t buy it, but again this might be partly to blame on me not buying anything the actress of Yennefer says or does.

- However the girl who played Ciri did a great job in her role I think! She felt like a truly convincing and complex character

- Jaskier was definitely the best part of the entire series, and although I was forewarned, I was still disappointed with how few scenes he had in the series. I hope he will be much more involved in S2

- Jaskier is 100% in love with Geralt but I’m not sure if Geralt is in love with Jaskier - YET (or at least he hasn’t realised it yet)

- Like I kinda already said the plot improved from episode 4 on and despite the lack of Jaskier the final two episodes were clearly better than the rest in my opinion

- This series is not the kind of series I would usually go for but thanks to the improvements in the plot within the final episodes and the promise of more Jaskier/Joey Batey in season 2, I’m definitely going to watch it when it airs

I’m not sure if anyone’s even interested in my ramblings, but if you did manage to read them then please let me know what you agree/disagree with!

Ps. It’s probably clear but I had no pre-knowledge about the series, as in I’m not familiar with the game or the books, I know they exist though

Pps. Whenever Geralt introduces himself as “Geralt of Rivia” I instantly swap in Riviera in my head

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