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fangirleaconmigo · 2 years

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It's time again to play...

I Can't Believe It's Not Fanon

otherwise known as:

Witcher facts that sound like Geraskier fic writers made them up, but that are, in fact, book canon. The subject of this post is...(drumroll please)

In fic, Geralt is often extremely, over the top, protective of Jaskier. Is this is a bit of an exaggeration invented to please Geraskier shippers?

Well, folks...

It is canon, my friends. And I think you guys are going to really like this one.

Geralt is especially protective of Jaskier/Dandelion, thinking of him first, even in war zones, and even when he has others to protect.

Now, to review, my previous post was about how Dandelion is protective of Geralt. I've written here how he mocks people who are bigoted against Geralt. I wrote here about how He puts his pride aside to take a job he doesn’t want to do because Geralt is hungry and gives him the equivalent of puppy eyes. He also withstands torture for Geralt and lies to his employer Dijsktra (essentially becoming Geralt’s spy rather than the other way around)

But now we're going to talk about:

Geralt as a Protector of Dandelion

When we think about Geralt being protective, we tend to think sword fights and bar brawls. And that is true, for sure. Geralt is absolutely fine with killing anyone who threatens someone he loves.

But it’s not just grand gestures and homicide, folks, it’s day - to - day devotion.

Geralt is a bit of a mom friend and considers it his job to protect Dandelion’s from his own trademark curiosity.

Dandelion has little restraint when he gets it into his head to examine, grab, question, taste, ANYTHING that he discovers. (I think Joey shows this very well in TWN when he’s in the Kaer Morhen lab sticking everything in his mouth!!) Everything fascinates him!

And this comes up a lot.

Once again Geralt quietly cursed the bard’s irrepressible curiosity.

Baptism of Fire Ch 2

and

Dandelion, who had never been able to reign in his curiosity, urged Pegasus on…

Baptism of Fire Ch 3

Geralt takes it upon himself to protect Dandelion from the effects of his unfettered passion and interest in the world. Here is a funny (to me) scene in Sword of Destiny. Dandelion insists on going with Geralt on this job to look for a sea monster. He’s hoping to see a mermaid.

They spot some underwater steps and immediately Dandelion wades out too far.

"...they are steps," Dandelion whispered in awe."

Uh oh. Geralt tries to warn him.

"Dandelion! That's a trench! You'll slip off!"

Dandelion dismisses him of course. He has already seen this new cool fuckin thing, and won’t be dissuaded.

"...See it's shallow here, barely waist deep...as wide as a ballroom.."

Until

"...Oh, bloody hell."

Yeah, that’s what I thought. Bloody hell. Geralt intervenes.

Geralt jumped very quickly into the water and grabbed the bard, who had fallen in up to his neck.

Dandelion, of course, isn't fazed. He just ignores it and prattles on about the pretty mollusks he's found. (Is Geralt still grabbing him?)

"...It's a pretty color don't you think? Grab it and shove it into your bag, mine's full already."

LOL he’s filled his bag with sea shit and expects Geralt to now take up space in his bag. Poor Geralt. He tries again.

"...Get back on the shelf this minute, Dandelion, this isn't a game."

I laughed when I read that. ...this minute, Dandelion. See, it's no wonder he's such a good dad to Ciri. He just acts like that all the time. Then, sea monsters come out of the water (like they do) and Geralt and Dandelion run away. But Dandelion...

"...suddenly stumbled and fell...Geralt caught him by the belt and hauled him out of the foam, now seething all around them."

Sword of Destiny pp 221-226

I just love that visual of Dandelion trying to keep his head above water and Geralt hauling him out by his belt. I picture him like a flailing yowling wet kitten being scruffed. But anyway, they drag each other out and Geralt lives to fight another day.

But not before Geralt says RUN DANDELION SAVE YOURSELF and Dandelion says NO I’M NOT LEAVING YOU.

That is a habit of theirs. You’re gonna see that a few more times in this post.

Dandelion’s physical safety is always in the back of Geralt's mind. He thinks of it when making any decisions.

In Baptism of Fire, when they are about to go into a scary forest with a whole company of friends, Geralt’s first thought is for Dandelion:

I’ll have to keep Dandelion on a short leash, and make sure he doesn’t touch anything. Particularly since there’s no shortage of plant life that likes to supplement its chlorophyll diet with morsels of meat, plants whose shoot are as deadly as a crab spiders venom when they come into contact with skin. And the gas of course… Baptism of Fire Ch 7

I just picture Dandelion on a little short leash and I cackle.

Now, what about when Geralt has more people to take care of? Does he still think of Dandelion first before anything else? Yes.

In Baptism of Fire, Geralt is traveling with a company of friends (the dearly beloved hansa), Zoltan Chivay and his crew, war widows, and war orphans. (Don’t ask how he gets himself into these things...it’s usually bc his heart is squishy shh don’t tell him I said that)

But holy shit! What’s this??? Nilfgaardian troops appear out of nowhere! (Well, not nowhere, they are traveling through an active war zone). Shrieks from the refugees pierce the sky.

“Nilfgaaaaaard!”

Cavalry from the West! Nilfgaard are attacking! Every man for himself!

There is utter pandemonium. Milva (archer friend, love of my life) calls out to Geralt.

“Our horses!...Our horses, Witcher, follow me!”

Milva is the biggest horse girl in all of the saga (Geralt is merely a second rate horse enjoyer, world’s okayest horse dad next to her) and she’s like COME WITH ME.

Now, let’s look at what Geralt does. Let’s review. There are civilians. War widows. War orphans. Several other dear close friends. Horses. And what does Geralt do? Well, actually let’s start with what Dandelion does...you know, what he always does...shriek for Geralt.

“Geralt!” Dandelion shouted. “Save me!”

If there is one thing Dandelion will do every time he is in trouble, it is shriek for Geralt. Again, this is well represented in the show by Joey when he tells Yen: "You don't get to be the damsel in distress. That's my job." (I really wish I knew which lines were improv'ed bc I loved that one)

But ok, so back to the passage.

“The crowd separated them, scattered them like a great wave and carried Milva away in the blink of an eye. Geralt, gripping Dandelion by the collar, didn’t allow himself to be swept away...”

So. He didn’t think long about that one. He already has him by the collar when shit starts happening. Then Geralt tries to get his bearings but he can’t because:

The Witcher could no longer see anything, but neither did he have any time to watch since he was busy rescuing Dandelion, whose legs had been swept from under him again by a stampeding hog. When Geralt bent down to pick the poet up, a hay rack was thrown straight onto his back...

Ouch. Now he’s on the ground and Dandelion is up.

“Get up!” the troubadour yelled. “Get on your blasted feet!”

“I can’t,” the Witcher groaned...Save yourself. Dandelion.”

“I won’t leave you!”

Baptism of Fire 166-167

They are again, in the midst of danger, shouting vows to not leave the other. It’s their thing.

When Geralt comes across Dandelion in Sword of Destiny, he is fleeing the war and once again asking Geralt to deliver him.

"...Geralt, don't leave me here! I'll never survive by myself! Don't leave me!"

"You must be insane, Dandelion," 'the witcher said, leaning over the saddle. "you must be insane with fear, if you think I'd leave you. Give me your hand and jump up on the horse..."

Sword of Destiny p 368

So. They are just Like That.

Ok, onto the next dramatic Geralt rescue where he is so impressive and gallant in Dandelion’s defense it blows Cahir’s balls off. (Not literally. Also, if you’ve only seen TWN please forget everything you know about Cahir before proceeding. They are friends here).

Anyway, it’s near the end of Baptism of Fire, and the hansa is caught in the crossfire between Nilfgaard and Lyria. Dandelion is trying to get the Lyrian's attention to tell them they are on their side...ie...they are Nordlings, not Nilfgaardians (quick somebody hide Cahir). Someone shouts at him to get down. He...doesn’t listen.

The poet, as usual, rather than listen to the warning, wanted to know what it was all about. And right then, arrows whistled through the air...Two flew straight for Dandelion, but the Witcher already had his sword in his hand, leapt forward, and deflected both of them with swift blows.

“By the Great Sun,” Cahir grunted. “He deflected two arrows! Remarkable! I’ve never seen anything like it...”

Baptism of Fire 328

I mean COME ON. Gallantry. Can you hear me clapping and whooping? Geralt, buddy, you are magnificent.

There is SO MUCH MORE OF THIS. In fact, my first canon or fanon post was about him slaughtering a whole room full of people to rescue a kidnapped Dandelion.And I still haven't covered everything. I can only include so many examples. But you get the idea.

Ok, but you could say...he always defends Dandelion because he’s the most hopeless one. And Dandelion usually is the least warrior-y person around. But not always! Sometimes there are war refugees.

But more importantly, the thing is, we KNOW why Geralt saves him. The story tells us that it enrages Geralt when people harm Dandelion. It is his emotions. He just reacts. Here are two examples.

First example of Geralt feeling rage when Dandelion is harmed:

In this one, the people who harm Dandelion live (or more correctly do not live) to regret it. So, in Baptism of Fire (can you tell I just reread this one) Geralt and Dandelion are fleeing the noose (long story) and Geralt steals a horse.

"Jump on, Dandelion! And hold tight!"

They are fleeing soldiers but end up surrounded. Arrows start flying through the air. Dandelion has his arms around Geralt.

Dandelion yelled, this time very loudly indeed, and dug his fingers into Geralt's sides. The Witcher felt something warm dripping onto his neck.

"Hold on!" he shouted, catching the poet by his elbow and drawing him closer to his own back. "Hold on, Dandelion!"

They lose balance and both fall from the horse. Dandelion hits the ground.

The poet thudded onto the dirt and lay still, groaning pathetically. His head and left shoulder were covered in blood, which glistened black in the moonlight.

Geralt does not take this well. Like. At all.

The Witcher sprang up, feeling a wave of cold fury and hatred inside him. He jumped out to meet their pursuers, drawing the horsemen's attention away from Dandelion. But not because he wanted to sacrifice for his friend. He wanted to kill.

So Geralt felt a wave of cold fury and hatred. He sprung up, not to sacrifice himself because he had no intention of doing so. He was going to kill. And reader, he does exactly that. He kills them all.

Then when he gets Dandelion back to camp, Regis offers to help. Regis is a barber surgeon and can do field dressings. The only thing is, Geralt has just FINALLY realized that Regis is a vampire. So even though Regis has saved his life and been a fucking amazing friend, Geralt is a TAD TENSE. Also, he is still emotional from seeing Dandelion get hurt. So when Regis says the following:

"Your blood smells nice, poet."

Geralt does not react well to this.

At precisely that moment the Witcher did something Milva would never have expected. He walked over to the horse and drew a long Nilfgaardian sword from the scabbard fastened under the saddle flap.

"Move away from him" he snarled, standing over the barber surgeon.

Now, Regis meant that Dandelion's blood wasn't infected, and was also poking at Geralt (the way he does). But we do see Geralt becoming enraged in that scene when people harm or when (he thinks) they threaten Dandelion. He's like, get your blood licking vampire mouth away from my fave boy. (Never to worry, they do all make up with best boy Regis)

Here's the second example of the story telling us literally that Geralt feels rage when Dandelion is harmed.

In The Last Wish, we are told how Geralt feels when Toruviel breaks Dandelion’s lute. More specifically, we are told how Geralt feels when he sees Dandelion’s lips quiver.

Here is Dandelion's response to seeing his lute smashed.

The poet turned as white as death. His lips quivered.

The very next sentence after "His lips quivered." is this.

Geralt, feeling a cold fury rising up somewhere within him, drew Toruviel's eyes with his own.

Geralt doesn’t feels fury when Toruviel kicks him. He is calculating. Smart. But now that Dandelion's lips are quivering, it's cold fury time.

Next, we get typical Geralt ‘kill me, not him’ gallantry. Filavandrel comes in and informs them that he has to kill them. Geralt says:

"Spare him, at least," Geralt indicated Dandelion with his head. "No, not out of lofty mercy. Out of common sense. Nobody's going to ask after me, but they are going to take revenge for him."

I have to include the next part because it’s hilarious. (even though I’ve talked about it before). Filavandrel says...I can’t, because if I spare the poet, he’ll come back and avenge you.

So Geralt is having a ‘save yourself Dandelion’ moment, which as fucking always, Dandelion will. not. let. him. have.

"You can be sure of that!" Dandelion burst out, pale as death. "You can be sure, you son-of-a-bitch. Kill me too, because I promise otherwise, I'll set the world against you. You'll see what lice from a fur coat can do! We'll finish you off even if we have to level those mountains of yours to the ground! You can be sure of that!"

"How stupid you are, Dandelion," sighed the witcher.

The Last Wish, pp 190-200

But there is an even greater reason why Geralt defends Dandelion with such constancy and devotion. There is the single most important thing of all. Geralt tells us exactly what it is with his own words. So let’s let him tell us.

In the djinn story in The Last Wish, Geralt is in the tent with Chireadan explaining why he needs to get Yennefer to help Dandelion with his throat, and he says,

“…this only concerns Dandelion. He suffered at my side, in my presence. I didn’t manage to save him and I couldn’t help him. I’d sit on a scorpion with my bare backside if I knew it would help him.”

The Last Wish pg 236

Geralt values his friendship and appreciates his loyalty. Plain and simple.

And ultimately that is why Yennefer comes to value Dandelion too, despite the fact that he can be a complete nightmare. It is his sheer loyalty and steadfastness that wins her over. In Blood of Elves when she is explaining why she wants him to be safe, she says:

“...Do as I ask. I wouldn’t like anything bad to happen to you. I like you too much, owe you too much--”

“You’ve said that already. What do you owe me, Yennefer?”

The sorceress turned her head away, did not say anything for a while.

“You traveled with him,” she said finally. “Thanks to you he was not alone. You were a friend to him. You were with him.”

The bard lowered his eyes.

“He didn’t get much for it,” he muttered. “He didn’t get much from our friendship. He had little but trouble because of me. He constantly had to get me out of some scrape...help me...”

She leaned across the table, put her hand on his and squeezed it hard without saying anything. Her eyes held regret.

Blood of Elves, p37

The fact is, both Yennefer and Geralt have had long lives filled with people using them as tools. Exploiting them. Wanting to use their power in the service of things they don't care about or actively despise. They both have a metric shitton of trauma plus some serious self worth issues.

So what both of them need more than anything is someone who values, likes, and loves them simply for who they are. That is why they both end up as parents to Ciri. They both make the decision to fight for her. To fight for the chance to love her as a child, not as a Source or a Chosen One or anything else. They realize they need humanity and to embrace their inherent worth as people.

That is why Geralt loves Dandelion. That is why Yen grows to love him. That is why he fits right in.

Because in a continent full of people with agendas who are thirsty for power and don’t hesitate to try to use them or Ciri, Dandelion is just there because he loves them. That’s it and that’s all. And what is more important than that?

I would fight to defend that too.

#the witcher #geralt of rivia #jaskier #dandelion #geraskier #gerlion #the witcher books #canon or fanon #i can't believe it's not fanon

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