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stillness138 · 4 months

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for the character ask game: Vernon Roche

i gotta think about this! thank you

first impression: i actually remember this pretty well because witcher 2 was my first exposure to the franchise. i think i felt pretty much what i was supposed to feel though; "this guy imprisoned me but seems more sensible than the goons he employs". i liked his matter-of-fact but clearly proud and protective attitude towards Ves and his putting the key on the table and walking away like 'surely Geralt will manage'.

impression now: i still like him! surprisingly, cdpr writes original characters with really commendable nuance. of course, if Iorveth is to be believed word for word, Roche is responsible for carrying out hate crimes (he doesn't deny the accusations Iorveth makes, so i think that's just fact), and yet he shows time and time again that he really is more sensible than most. compare him to Rayla - also a special forces leader - and see the difference. Roche lacks the outright bloodthirst or really even the prejudice; it seems to me that he does his job and obeys Foltest without objection because he sees it as doing something worthwhile with his life, considering how he grew up. he and Iorveth contrast and parallel each other in fascinating ways.

favorite thing about him: his relationship towards Ves, because he clearly values her as an employee and as a person. his relative level-headedness. and the unpacked daddy issues that are most definitely there even if he won't talk about it. that part of him is sadly the most relatable to me. i also enjoy his humor, whether intentional or not. "emhyr var emreis, spice merchant" bursting into the elven baths while Triss is trying her hardest to seduce Geralt, fucking comedy gold.

least favorite thing about him: apart from the hate crimes? i think most of my issues that relate to him are metatextual - because the entire political landscape and plotline of witcher 3 sucks ass. maybe he could've held back the cops that beat Geralt though ngl.

favorite line/scene: "And we did. For three days. Then they smashed us into splinters." again, as much as i dislike the politics in witcher 3, this bit stands out to me. maybe also because it's punctuated by a reprise of the second game's main theme, in 3's instrumentation and a much more somber mood. good scene. that and the funny bits. "Some professional you are..."

favorite interaction he has with another character: it should be mainly credited to Letho's absolutely hilarious one-liner, but their little reunion at Kaer Morhen always gets a chuckle out of me. the entire interrogation at the beginning of witcher 2 is up there too.

a character that i wish he would interact with more: in the second game, elves in general. he mostly proves he's not completely shit-headed in context, but it would've been interesting to see him have a conversation with someone like Cedric. third game should've had Iorveth, we all know that.

another character from another fandom that reminds me of him: i know 5 things, but if i had to make a comparison... general Tullius from Skyrim? both are very capable and dedicated servants of a government despite its obvious failures and both show a noticeable sensibility or even calm you perhaps wouldn't expect. both have a badass lady as their right-hand person, too.

a headcanon about him: he hates the smell of cheap alcohol. childhood reminder. i also think he has a notable appreciation for architecture. can't remember if he actually comments on Loc Muinne in any way but somehow it feels like a thing he'd do. and i think it's pretty much canon that his hair color is towards light brown? or have i been living with fanon for far too long. either way, yeah, dirty blonde or warm light brown, super short on the sides.

a song that reminds of him: Shadowplay by Joy Division, in a way. first verse about beginning to serve Foltest, second verse about Foltest's and Temeria's fall. "but i could only stare in disbelief as the crowds all left" versus "and we did, for three days, then they smashed us into splinters".

an unpopular opinion about him: i famously dislike shipping him with Iorveth and i'm actually yet to see a good Roche ship. but the real hot take is that he doesn't need one. did i just say aroace Vernon Roche? maybe.

favorite picture: i'm sorry, but it's gotta be this one. on a more serious note, i always liked this piece of fanart a lot too. he gets to be cool.

#thanks again!#ask game #shut up elis #the witcher

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zhraek · 3 months

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sometimes i said that meve gets annoyed or surprised by the fact that demavend and foltest are her distant but relatives and uh bro what about her real relatives like brothers and sisters who are still alive and live in lyria or rivia

like imagine some of them could be on the council of lords of lyria... i'm one hundred percent sure that conversation between meve and her brothers was VERY interesting

meve: i understand why villem did this he is still a dumb child BUT WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU?! WHAT WERE YOU THINKING ABOUT????!! YOU'RE 40 YEAR OLD MAN!!!

or one of the brothers/sisters was in the army and also joined the dispute....

#whining #witcher

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crispyjenkins · 4 months

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geraskefer "crispy has lost control of their life again" celebration sneak peek

this fic is really really heavy, in ways none of my other works are, so please read the following warnings closely even though i don't actually talk about any of those heavy things in this excerpt this is, however, a story that's very near and dear to me and i really love the world building i've done with it so far, and am actually almost done writing it but it's over 40,000 words and just wanna talk about it 😭

inspired by of music and motion and love (and it’s companion piece) by writethroughthenight on ao3.

warnings/tags: implied/referenced/off-screen sexual assault, canon-typical violence (non-sexual tho), stregobor-typical human experimentation, implied and canon-typical fantastical racism, implied/referenced torture (like it’s not really torture but it’s not NOT torture y'feel?), jaskier whump, no post-mountain geralt vilification, poly-heavy like this is very much a poly fic, minor mind/body control but no outright possession, good valdo marx, jaskier is the sandpiper, angsty but very much with a HAPPY ENDING

She sighs and lets him kiss his cheek before ushering their strange little party out the door and down a servants’ passageway to the stables. To his relief, it’s just their means of escape, and they don’t actually have to deal with smuggling a horse or two; despite knowing she’ll be back the next time Geralt buys a chestnut mare, Jaskier still mourns whatever current Roach Geralt had to have left behind somewhere between Cintra and Temeria.

Also in their favour is the fact that everyone here is quite used to sneaking and hiding for their lives, so it’s quick work to move through Wyzima’s dark streets towards Dandelion. Any time Jaskier has to do something Geralt or Yennefer don’t expect (paying off a watchman here, steering them around patrols there, and even whistling a short code to one of the side business’ other Birds to allow them through a locked gate to cut through someone’s garden), Jaskier feels their curious and considering stares at his back, Yennefer’s with grudging admiration, and Geralt’s with slightly-accusatory guilt.

Whatever, Jaskier doesn’t owe Geralt anything, least of all an explanation for his unexplainable skills.

Luckily, he only has to kill one person during the trek, one of Foltest’s soldiers that recognises Geralt as they pass, and Jaskier doesn’t have time to hesitate, flicking a terribly-thin throwing dagger from his left sleeve with enough force to stick it through the soldier’s throat to the hilt. After he retrieves his dagger, Geralt is back to not looking at him at all.

They reach Dandelion in just over an hour thanks to shortcuts and an old smuggling tunnel, arriving at a small two-storey cottage in a relatively nice area of the city, with no distinguishing features except a single paper Dandelion in a vase in the curtained front window. Jaskier leads them around to the back (the front doors of all the safehouses are sealed and barred, with magic and wooden slats both), and uses a small burst of his own magic to unlock the door to the cellar.

He makes sure everyone enters ahead of him, closing and relocking everything with the same touch of chaos that has Yennefer’s nose twitching, then ushers Destiny’s Trio up into the cottage properly.

It’s sparsely decorated, it’s not exactly meant to house anyone for more than a night at most, but the warm wood furniture and whitewashed walls are actually quite cozy, if Jaskier says so himself. Amused, he watches understanding dawn on everyone’s faces when they see the collection of paper dandelions tied together on the kitchen table.

Yennefer turns to Jaskier. “Dandelion is the safehouse?”

“Of course, my dear witch!” Flouncing into the kitchen, he quickly —though not quite painlessly— unslings his satchel to drop it onto the table next to the dandelions. “So are Buttercup, and Chamomile, though in your defense Poppy is very much a person.”

“Jaskier.”

He winces, taking a deep breath before finally meeting Geralt’s golden eyes for the first time since he’d burst into Triss’ infirmary. Do Cirilla and Yennefer realise just how much emotion their stoic witcher is showing right then? Pain in the clench of his jaw, confusion and the fear of that confusion held in the tension of his shoulders, worry in the lines of his pursed lips?

Fuck, this is why Jaskier never wanted to see Geralt again, because he remembers when Geralt used to look at him with that much emotion all the time, back before Yennefer fucked her way into both their lives, back before Geralt had lost them both.

“Geralt,” he murmurs tiredly, sagging to lean on the back of the chair. “Why do you have multiple safehouses?” The ‘Why do you need multiple safehouses?’ goes unsaid.

#triss and jaskier are twins!!#they were not supposed to be non-human and Yet here we are #y'all have to wait for the actual fic to find out what tho heuheuheu #also yes that does mean jaskier is brown and only white-passing do not fight me on this #crispy writes #pockets full of posies #will be the tag for this fic going forward #because i will absolutely be talking about it again #i love this fic to absolute pieces i don't even know where to begin #wip #sneak peek #another victim of the ''i'm trying to finish writing fic before posting them'' agenda

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thirdsonofeve · 1 year

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As my life long dream is to be a medieval blacksmith I started making bits of chain mail like 2 months ago (the piece is now 4×9 inches it takes so fucking long and my hands get so fucking tired) and I just find myself staring at Roche's coat of mail once in a while bc it’s just so fucking stupid... he's waging guerilla warfare in the most cumbersome mail I've ever seen it doesn't even have a slit between the legs to ease movement he couldn't even ride a horse in that! How the fuck does he piss?!

And it must have taken so fucking long to make like I assume that it's sleeveless bc I would go mad if I found out it has sleeves but I don’t even wanna know how many rings that thing is made up of I don't wanna know what he Foltest had to pay for it. I don't wanna think about how heavy it is nor how annoying it would be to walk (or worse run) up stairs in it. Why is it so long that it covers the upper parts of his shin guards?? Your knees are, I hope, protected by the shin guards and the mail doesn't really give you any additional protection it's just in the way!

So I am partially pulling this out of my ass but plate armor (which is seen worn (at least in pieces) by both northern and nilfgaardian soldiers in tw3) is more effective against projectiles (arrows, not bullets) especially in open fields but less convenient for someone who has to dress himself and move long distances on foot and fight at close range (i. e. with swords or a fucking mace i guess) and a full plate armor is probably considered above someone of Roche's social status (given how plate was considered knight's armor in actual history). It can't easily be fixed while in the field or worn if too banged up so mail is probably the best choice for someone like Roche but the way it's done drives me nuts.

I just cannot stop imagining Roche getting the bottom of his mail stuck on low foliage while chasing Iorveth and just nosediving into the forest floor. His thighs and calf muscles gotta be so thick from carrying that thing around all day. And what's up with the top leather straps on his arms? They don't look like they hold the elbow-guards up? Is it just a kink thing? I do like the leather band at the bottom of the mail though, that's a nice touch. Don't get me started on the boots/shin guards though, they look like he'd use his legs the way wonder woman uses her fucking forearms why would you add weight THERE of all places?? It's relatively easy to carry weight on your chest/back/shoulders but fuck he has to be the strongest human character in this universe to wear full metal guards around his calves holy shit. Put on a fucking helmet and start taking your job seriously you idiot.

#okay im making it my goal to make this fucking thing on my own fuck you i'll make a realistic roche cosplay if it takes me three years #this man will be forgotten by the time im done #hopefully ive had topsurgery at that point so i AT LEAST won't have to wear a binder underneath though i doubt that would even be necesary #i'm taking applications for iorveth the only requirement is 'willing to have a knife fight in public'#or in private if you get what i mean...#if you managed to read all that and thought Damn this guy sure is fuckable i have tragic news there will be no fucking i will rant about #medieval armor and warfare for three hours and you can't stop me #oh right i should tag this #vernon roche #the witcher 2 #the witcher 2 assassins of kings

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stromuprisahat · 1 year

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For some reason I just love Foltest’s score regarding children:

daughter; incestous by his sister; either dead or married off to Redania, therefore unacceptable as an heir

daughter; bastard by noblewoman; fate unknown

son; bastard by noblewoman; dead

Relatively strong and capable king totally fails in that one regard that requires merely basic biological function. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

That said I’ll always hope Anaïs is stashed somewhere under Natalis’ protection and Temeria will have its Queen one day.

#The Witcher games #The Witcher #Foltest of Temeria #Temeria #Adda the White #Boussy la Valette #Anaïs La Valette #V

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shuttershocky · 3 years

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But seriously though I love The Witcher because it's partly a story about the futility of neutrality.

The Witchers of Kaer Morhen are taught neutrality as a survival tactic. They are hated and oppressed by humans despite their power and the valuable service they provide society, so Vesemir and his boys keep their heads down, do their jobs, and not get involved. Monsters are relatively easy fo understand, but people? Not so much.

To help with this, the Trial of the Grasses reduces a Witcher's emotional capacity, dulling their feelings and making it easier for them to ignore cruelty or politics and to not get involved.

But despite adhering strictly to those teachings, Geralt still gets involved in basically everything. He will attack human traffickers, lift the curse off of Foltest's daughter instead of killing her, and negotiate with sentient monsters if he can, because to never stand up for anything or anyone is to be dead.

And the one time he finds himself embroiled in royal drama and tries to wriggle out of it, destiny dumps a surprise daughter with superpowers that the whole world would kill for into his hands. Just as a big steaming fuck you for even trying to not care.

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bard-llama · 3 years

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Iorveth’s Backstory

I was typing up/compiling my notes on Iorveth’s general backstory in all of my fics, so I figured I’d share. Warning for spoilers, I guess? These things will all definitely appear in fics at some point in a variety of ways

Childhood

Born 100 years before the Conjunction

He spent the first part of his life the baby of a family where everyone was busily involved and invested in their science specialty. Thus, no one particularly had any time for him and he grew up very lonely

Discovered music when he was around 15 (human equivalent: 8-9) and he wasn’t great at it, but he practiced and practiced and practiced, SUPER hyperfixated on it. And his skill grew a lot faster than his companions in music classes and eventually he was launched into a bit of a “prodigy” career.

Adult Life (Pre-Conjunction of the Spheres)

Probably around the 16-21 range, Iorveth started to gain a following as an up and coming talented musician. Then he met Chandel.

Chandel is kind of a has-been musician clinging to Iorveth’s coattails. He is loud and flamboyant and outrageous and loves to cause a scandal. He’s also the one who taught Iorveth to embrace his inner drama queen an go all in on the costuming.

One thing Chandel pressured him to get was piercings. Specifically belly button (acceptable) and nipple (unacceptable) piercings.

i do think he's come to like them and when he was still famous but broken up with the asshole, he liked to just barely expose them 'cause it made him unique and scandalous

Laurel leaves – one of his first pieces of jewelry. The leaves are decorated with tiny little emerald and citrine chips making the leaves yellow and green. He takes meticulous care of it as it’s the only real reminder he has that his family wasn’t all awful. After all, it had been their money that bought his fancy jewelry.

He understands how Roche has fallen prey to Foltest. Also understands what it’s like for their abuser to die before they really reconciled their feelings about it

Conjunction of the Spheres

When the Conjunction of the Spheres happens, he’s 100 years old and has been with Chandel for most of that time. The situation is extremely hectic with portals opening and closing everywhere and Iorveth is running, towing Chandel along – and then a portal opens halfway up Chandel’s arm and suddenly Iorveth is left holding a hand and forearm with no body attached.

Obviously this is severely traumatizing, but it also means he never gets resolution as he starts to realize that some of the ways he’d been treated were not okay.

Life as a Musician Post-Humanity

From about age 40 or so to 1100, he spent his life as a traveling musician, touring around concert halls and venues and living the high life (ish). The high life rapidly declined after humanity started their conquest, but Iorveth was content to live beside humans as long as he could make music.

During this time, Iorveth “lived” in Loc Muinne, but really traveled a majority of the time.

He also met Cedric somewhere in this time and Cedric introduced him to monsterfucking (more or less, barring 1 nekker gangbang). Iorveth was 100% a slut on the road and sought out monsters to fuck. If they could pass the Harkness Test, he wanted them to fuck him and/or to be able to fuck them.

Loc Muinne

(sometime around 1050s?) Then General Raupernack of Redania massacred Loc Muinne, slaughtering all the elves in the city, most of them in their sleep. Then Redania set fire to it and cordoned off access to Loc Muinne. They refused to let any elves inside to search for relatives or lay dead elves to rest or discover if anything of their life remained.

Iorveth had been performing in Novigrad (and chilling with his new buddy Elihal) when the massacre happened. The only thing to survive, once he was finally able to sneak into the city, was the stuffed dragon Triss gives him in the time travel AU for DCfMT. Fortunately, that’s not all he has from his life before, as he’d taken some things with him. But he lost a lot.

Fighting Humanity

In the 1060s, Aelirenn starts inspiring a following. Iorveth joins her ranks and she teaches him how to wield war fans. He’s still a traveling musician at this point, but he’s also kind of a spy.

In his first battle, Iorveth flees cowardly. For a long while, he struggles with wanting and trying to fight and kill humans and failing to gather the nerve.

Something hits the breaking point and Iorveth makes his first human kill.

After that, Iorveth begins to fight humans truly and joins various uprisings and fighting forces until the Vrihedd Brigade is formed (1267).

In 1269, 55 Vrihedd Brigade officers are executed as part of the Peace of Cintra agreement. Iorveth and Isengrim somehow manage to escape the fate that befell their companions.

The remnants of the Vrihedd Brigade formed the Scoia’tael and Iorveth quickly rose to prominence as an effective and ruthless leader.

Too ruthless, eventually.

Cedric decides that Iorveth has gone too far and cuts him out of his life entirely, throwing away their centuries long friendship. This is the moment Iorveth realizes he is unlovable.

The Blue Stripes are formed, one of a dozen other special forces groups created by the northern kings to fight the Scoia’tael. Only all the others fall to Iorveth easily. Vernon Roche and the Blue Stripes refuse to do so.

And that brings us to Witcher 2! Obviously some of these details vary if the universe calls for it, but for the most part, this is the backstory I picture for Iorveth in all my fics.

#fic planning #iorveth #backstory #the witcher

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kirk-spock-in-the-impala · 4 years

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Witcher Timeline (sources cited)

Known dates are cited to source. This includes book/game canon and DOES CONTAIN SPOILERS for those who have only seen the Netflix series.

This took so much time and effort extrapolating from all sources and finding relative dates, so I hope it’s helpful.

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Late 1170s - Geralt of Rivia is born (this is based on him being “nearly a century” old in the Witcher 3, which takes place in 1274)

1173 - Yennefer is born (she states she’s 94 in The Tower of Swallow, which is set in 1267)

Late 1180s - Yennefer enters Aretuza (there is no set date, but she is presumed to be an early teenager at the oldest)

Late 1210s - the Black Sun occurs, prompting the “Curse of the Black Sun” whereby 60 girls, born during the eclipse, are hunted down and either imprisoned or slaughtered (some, like Renfri and Eskel’s child surprise, Deirdre, escape) (The Witcher game; “Lesser Evil”)

1229 - Jaskier is born (Jaskier is 38 in The Tower of Swallow, which is set in 1267)

mid-1230s - Renfri encounters Geralt in Blaviken while hunting Stregobor. Geralt earns the title The Butcher of Blaviken (”Lesser Evil”; no set date is given for Blaviken, but Renfri is roughly 18 and was born in the late 1210s)

1237 - Pavetta is born; Duny saves Roegger of Ebbing’s life (Pavetta’s father) and is granted the Law of Surprise, giving him the right to Pavetta.

1247 - Geralt and Jaskier meet in Posada; encounter with Filavandrel at the Edge of the World. Jaskier 18 and Geralt is around 75 or so (his exact birthdate is unknown, but it is in the early 1170s)

1252 - Pavetta’s betrothal feast (she’s 15); Geralt is granted the Law of Surprise; Geralt breaks the curse on Duny (who is future-Emperor Emhyr in hiding) (Jaskier is 23, he’s known Geralt 5 years)

1252 - Geralt removes the striga’s curse for King Foltest of Temeria. The striga, henceforth Princess Adda the White, was born a striga in 1239 and terrorized the city for six years after emerging seven years after she “died” in the womb when her mother was murdered. (The Last Wish; the Witcher games)

1253 - Ciri is born on Beltane in Skellige

1257 - Pavetta dies in a shipwreck at Sedna Abyss; Duny (Emhyr) is presumed dead, but was in fact teleported away by the mage Vilgefortz to Ebbing (dependent state of Nilgaard). Vilgefortz was meant to transport Pavetta and Ciri away as well, but the plan went awry when Pavetta learned of Duny’s plans to bring them all to Nilfgaard, left Ciri with Calanthe in secret, and argued with Duny, ultimately being thrown overboard to her death. (The Witcher novels)

1257 - Emhyr becomes Emperor of Nilfgaard after overthrowing the Usurper (The Witcher novels)

~1257 - Jaskier and Geralt encounter both the djinn and Yennefer in Rinde (there is no exact date given for this in canon, but reference is made to it being about a decade after they met). (Jaskier is ~28) (”The Last Wish”; Netflix series)

1262 - Geralt rescues Ciri from Brokilon Forest after she flees from her betrothal to Prince Kistrin of Verden (from the “Sword of Destiny” short story; this is not shown in the Netflix show)

1262/1263 - The dragon hunt (also another event with no set date in canon, but we know it’s about six years after Geralt meets Yennefer and that it’s before the Slaughter of Cintra. (Jaskier is ~33-34)

1262 - 1263 - the First Nilfgaard-Nordling war. Ends with Nilfgaard’s defeat at Sodden Hill (The Witcher novels)

1263 - The Slaughter of Cintra and the Battle of Sodden Hill (”The Tower of Swallow”; The Blood of Elves)

1264 - Geralt encounters Yurga in Temeria and is gravely wounded. Yurga brings him on his cart across the Yaruga and to his home in Sodden. In the books, Geralt encounters Jaskier at the crossing of the Yaruga. This does not happen in the Netflix series. (”Something More” from Sword of Destiny)

1263-1264 - Ciri escapes Cintra, first spending two weeks wandering the forests before being taken in by druids for a month and then spending six months with Goldencheeks, Yurga’s wife, on their farm in Lower Sodden. (”Something More”)

1264 - Geralt and Ciri reunite on Yurga’s farm in Lower Sodden; they start to travel toward Kaer Morhen for Ciri’s safety and training (”Something More”)

1266 - After training at Kaer Morhen, in the spring of 1266, Ciri travels with Geralt and Triss (who came to teach her at Kaer Morhen that winter) to Ellander to continue her education at the Temple of Melitele (The Blood of Elves)

1267 - Yennefer takes Ciri from the Temple of Melitele to Aretuza to continue her education. But at a conference of mages in June 1267, there’s a coup, during which Ciri escapes through an unstable portal and is ejected in the Korath Desert (under Nilfgaardian control), after which she joins a group of bandits called The Rats under the pseudonym “Falka” (Time of Contempt)

1267-1268 - The Second Northern War; ends with the Peace of Cintra on April 2, 1268. Cintra is ceded to Nilfgaard. (Witcher novels (various))

1274 - Events of The Witcher 3: The Wild Hunt take place; Ciri is 21 and Geralt is “nearly a century”, as he says. (The Witcher 3;

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If you want to know any more dates, let me know and I’ll do my best. The timeline is occasionally internally inconsistent, or dates are not cited, so that’s why there are some ranges given above. I also use book canon as the control where conflicts exist between that and the games/show.

#the witcher #kirk-spock-in-the-impala writes #the witcher timeline #timeline project #geralt of rivia #jaskier #renfri #yennefer #ciri

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littlestsnicket · 4 years

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the witcher: betrayer moon

The beginning of this episode seems to draw so much more on horror tropes than other episodes. Not that I watch a lot of horror to actually know that. This bit isn’t actually that gory, but there’s something about the slow painful dying that’s really ick.

The random ass Witcher is smoking a fucking pipe! I missed that the first time around. It seems like he dies a lot too easy for someone with heightened Witcher senses. I guess there just narratively isn’t time for that to take longer but it feels a bit sloppy in a way this show usually isn’t.

Two funny things about the scene with the prostitute: (1) we immediately establish that they’ve been at it long enough to run out of refreshments which is great, and (2) she’s singing Jaskier’s songs and using them to identify Geralt’s scars. That comes up in shippy stuff a lot but let's assume that is not what they’re going for. The best thing about it is that Geralt is annoyed at the singing and scar identification but also 100% willing to ignore all that if it means a pretty lady is touching his chest like that. I’m amused.

Oh hey, organized labor!

‘You can’t kill the vukodlak so you decide to kill your king?” — that’s a real odd take on the situation, but I suppose it’s not an unreasonable take on what Geralt knows of the situation. Maybe. And he’s so derisive about it. Geralt’s political views are complicated and warrant more thought than I am willing to give them right now to unpick.

“And if you can’t kill it?” “Then I die.” ICONIC.

It’s an interesting touch that the guard captain knows people by name. He seems very engaged on a personal level. It gives you a feeling of how small Temaria is.

I’m not going to look at this in terms of adaptation (that would be a separate thing if I even get around to it) but I think it’s a really interesting choice to pull Triss into this story.

This has been going on for 6 years?!? No wonder people are close to revolt.

Oh Geralt’s angry face when he finds out that Triss lied about the other Witcher fleeing. Like don’t undermine his professional honor.

I’m really glad they didn’t give Geralt cat eyes. I found it really distracting in Good Omens when Crowley wasn’t wearing his glasses. It’s just an odd thing to see on an otherwise human passing creature.

Yenn? Why are there illusions of people you conjured watching you have sex? Why is that something you thought to do? The way they are smiling and the just like... warm applause is so odd. What is the kink you’re exploring there? I want to understand, Yennefer.

“You are a first draft of what nature intended.” The delivery of that line is so funny. (Also, I imagine that is how book!Dandelion’s hair looks.)

“We remake ourselves on our terms. The world has no say in it.” There’s a lot to unpack there. Especially with how Tissaia explains it in terms of power.

“Call her a unicorn if you like.” Fanon is wrong about how much Geralt talks in the show. It’s not all just hmm. Relative to all of his dialog there’s not actually that much of that.

I very much enjoy the way Geralt’s deduction skills are shown here. And also how he confronts royalty as someone who is both not a subject and has very little to lose in terms of social standing.

Stregobor!! AAAAAGH! He’s so awful

“The all powerful sorceress Tissaia de Viress is knocked down from her glass pedestal.” Teenage rebellion Yenn (although that does oversimplify their relationship.)

Geralt just like... ignoring Triss’s questions is really good. There’s not nothing to the fanon characterization of Geralt.

Sniffing! Sniffing years old scents! How does Geralt function out in the world with all of that input? I guess he’s used to it.

“Kings have done more for less.” “True.”

Istredd calls her Yenna!

“I will not be schooled by some man that pimps the world as some romantic adventure. My world is cruel. Unpredictable. You enter, you survive, you die.”

“You’re just angry because you lost your chance to be beautiful.” “I want to be powerful.” “Seen and adored with everyone watching.” “It is what I’m owed.” “No amount of power or beauty will ever make you feel worthy of either.” This whole exchange is so good. Yennefer and Istredd are young and flailing about but know each other to hit the mark a few times.

The aesthetic of this ball is so confusing. What is that music? Maybe Yenn’s dress as “what a early 2000s teen thinks a witch should dress like” was more intentional than I thought. That’s what this party is too. It’s got a strong, for lack of a better word, fanon Harry Potter vibe.

Angry Yenn! She has got to be so used to being able to emotionally beat down people by the time she meets Geralt.

“This isn’t my first time trying to save a princess who others see as a monster.” “What happened to that princess?” “I killed her.” Geralt is fucking impeccably honest. That is a huge part of who he is as a person. What a thing to say to a king.

The prostitute assumes Geralt was in love with the princess and Foltest assumes he is incapable of it. And Geralt does not correct him.

“She was hiding from the brotherhood...” Wait!!! Did Yenn give the guard captain the curse?!? I think she could have timeline wise.

Yenn chooses to keep her eyes and her scars. She also very explicitly knows what she is giving up. Which she, importantly, never puts up for debate. But this really isn’t informed consent. That is the life path she was, essentially, sold into. She also doesn’t get what she was promised in a court appointment. The thing that stands out to me on this watch is how little real power and influence Triss has in Temeria. I think it’s easy to suspect that Yenn didn’t put in her all at court, because by the time we see her next it’s been such a long time and she is so jaded. But I don’t think that’s the case at all. There is something going on here with women needing to be beautiful to exercise power and it also, simultaneously, undermining them. It’s a complex thing.

Geralt can be pretty fucking ruthless when he lets himself. Just abandoning captain dude to die. Not that he’s a good person or whatnot, but still.

The snow particles add a lot to the aesthetic of the fight sequence with the striga. And the noises the striga makes are truly horrifying.

Yennefer is insane to do this without any kind of pain relief. I read some very good meta about Yennefer believing it should hurt. I don’t have anything insightful to say about it.

The little moments of Geralt being clever while fighting! I’m trapped so let me aard through the floor to escape. That is next level situational awareness!

Yenn’s transformation intercut with Geralt fighting to break the striga curse. What does that imply? Lots but I’m really not sure exactly what.

Geralt trapping himself in the crypt. It’s so clever but also feels like an act of desperation. And he’s relatively unscathed until the mostly uncursed but totally feral princess tries to eat him.

Yenn and feral princess are in very similar fetal positions post transformation.

Yenn’s face when she walks into the ball! It’s a really complicated face. Something about her ever so slightly vague open mouthed expression reminds me of Steve Rogers post Captain America transformation. It’s a similar “I have just undergone something incredibly painful and now am different” thing.

So what would have happened if Yennefer ended up in Nilfgaard? Would it have made any difference?

“Anyone else would have killed the princess. You chose not to.” “I’ll take my coin now. I need to get back to my horse.” yeah sure Geralt. Triss knows you’re not in this just for the money.

Vortex of Fate!!! This is not one of the episodes where they say destiny an unreasonable number of times, but Triss does say it there at the end. (And also the bit about destiny being related to choices.)

“I feel something waits out there for you. Something more.” CUT TO CIRI! There are a lot of really clever things with how these storylines are woven together.

You know what? I did not miss Ciri at all this episode. Freya’s performance is good and there’s nothing wrong with the writing, but she is definitely the character and storyline I am least engaged with.

#the witcher #mayo blogs the witcher #oh hey i did the first two of these literally 4 months ago--since i picked it back up again that is good odds i will finish eventually #this is really more for my reference than anything else but why not share my rambley thoughts about things

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saysaraelle · 4 years

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A Ballpark Timeline of Netflix’s The Witcher

So because I love puzzles, and because I also love The Witcher, and because I had a good bit of free time on my hands during the winter holidays, I decided to obsessively watch every episode of this show for clues about the three respective stories to arrive at a general idea of when everything that we see happens relative to everything else. What follows is a chronological timeline that begins with the birth of Geralt of Rivia and ends with the Battle of Sodden, with notations on which events appear in what episodes.

It probably goes without saying, but spoilers under the cut.

Before we begin, a few notes on how I did this timeline. Given that we do not know how old Geralt of Rivia is—but can assume he has lived a long time—I proceed from the broad assumption that he is about 70 years old when he encounters Renfri in Blaviken. Having fixed Yennefer’s date of birth on the basis of information in the books and determined the end of her service in Aedirn to be roughly concurrent with Geralt’s saving of Princess Adda in Temeria, I start the timeline in 1157 with Geralt’s birth and proceed from there. There is wiggle room concerning when Geralt first meets Jaskier in Posada and when the two of them meet Yennefer in Rinde. Going off of Jaskier’s statement in Rinde, however, that he and Geralt have known each other for a decade, I have taken the liberty of assuming that, in our story, Geralt meets a person important to his life roughly every ten years: Renfri when he’s 70, Jaskier when he’s 80, Yennefer when he’s 90, and Ciri when he’s 100. There is also wiggle room concerning how long Yennefer spent in Aretuza, but I happen to really like the idea of her having spent a long time there learning from Tissaia, so that’s the direction I went.

As a final caveat, please note that the writers drop a chronological breadcrumb in episode 3 that has to be thrown out in order to make the timeline work, so I threw it out.

1157

Geralt of Rivia born

1162

Geralt (age 5) is given to Vesemir to be trained as a witcher

1173

Yennefer of Vengerberg is born

Geralt is 16

1190

Yennefer (age 17) is brought to Aretuza and begins her training (ep 2)

Geralt is 33

1210

Yennefer (age 37) becomes mage of Aedirn (ep 3)

the future King Foltest of Temeria (age 10) visits Aretuza with his parents

Geralt is 53

1211

around this time Queen Calanthe of Cintra is born

around this time Urcheon of Erlenwald (Duny) is born

Geralt is 54; Yennefer is 38

1217

around this time King Fergus of Nilfgaard is overthrown

around this time Duny (age 6) is cursed

around this time Jaskier is born

Geralt is 60; Yennefer is 44

1226

Queen Calanthe (age 15) wins her first battle at Hochebuz

Geralt is 69; Yennefer is 53

1227

Geralt (age 70) meets Renfri of Creyden and Stregobor the mage in Blaviken (ep 1)

Princess Adda of Temeria is “born”

Yennefer is 54

1229

Duny (age 18) saves King Roegener's life and calls Law of Surprise

Geralt is 72; Yennefer is 56

1230

Princess Pavetta of Cintra is born

Geralt is 73; Yennefer is 57; Queen Calanthe is 19

1234

Princess Adda (age 7) emerges from her mother’s crypt as a striga

Geralt is 77; Yennefer is 61

1237

Geralt (age 80) meets Jaskier (age 20) in Posada and encounters Filavandrel in Dol Blathanna (ep 2)

Yennefer is 64

1240

Geralt (age 83) meets King Foltest (age 40) and saves Princess Adda (age 13) in Temeria (ep 3)

Yennefer (age 67) abandons her court position in Aedirn after the assassination of Queen Kalis of Lyria (ep 4)

1245

Geralt (age 88) attends the betrothal ceremony of Princess Pavetta (age 15) with Jaskier (age 28); after saving Duny's (age 34) life, Geralt wins a child of surprise (ep 4)

later that year, Princess Cirilla (Ciri) of Cintra is born

Yennefer is 72; Queen Calanthe is 34

1247

Geralt (age 90) and Jaskier (age 30) have trouble with a djinn in Rinde and meet Yennefer (age 74) (ep 5)

around this time Pavetta and Duny are lost at sea

around this time Ehmyr, the rightful king of Nilfgaard, returns to the throne

Ciri is 2

1256

Filavandrel stages an uprising in Cintra, which fails

Geralt is 99; Yennefer is 83; Ciri is 11

1257

Geralt (age 100) goes on a dragon hunt with Jaskier (age 40) and Yennefer (age 84) and learns of Nilfgaard's military campaign (ep 6)

Yennefer travels to Nazair to see an old friend and is enlisted by Vilgefortz of Roggeveen to return to Aretuza for a mages council on Nilfgaard’s campaign against Cintra and the north (ep 7)

Geralt travels to the Amel Pass and then to Cintra where, the day before the battle, he attempts to claim his child of surprise (ep 7)

Queen Calanthe (age 44) falls in the Nilfgaardian siege and Cintra is overrun (eps 1 & 7) while Ciri escapes into the nearby woods (eps 1 & 7)

after three days in hiding, Ciri meets Dara in the woods and comes upon a Cintran refugee camp; that evening the camp is attacked by the Nilfgaard army and Ciri again escapes (ep 2)

the day after she rejoins Dara, Ciri finds her way to Brokilon Forest (ep 3)

Ciri spends a couple days in Brokilon (ep 4); during this time the Nilfgaard general enlists a doppler to capture her (ep 5)

after their time in Brokilon, Ciri and Dara leave in the company of the doppler (ep 5)

realizing the doppler is an impostor they escape and Dara decides he must leave Ciri on her own (ep 6)

roughly a week after the slaughter of the Cintran refugees, Ciri meets a woman at a market town (ep 7); after fending off a gang of boys using her as-yet unknown powers, Ciri agrees to go home with the woman (ep 8)

around the same time, Geralt encounters a man at the site of the Cintran refugee massacre, saves his life, and is bitten while fighting ghouls; the man then takes an injured Geralt with him (ep 8)

during this interim a rogue group of Aretuza and Ban Ard mages travel to the keep at Sodden to defend it from Nilfgaard's advancing army (ep 8)

the Battle of Sodden commences, while Geralt and Ciri, respectively travel with their newfound companions (ep 8)

Yennefer throws down the Nilfgaardian army and then disappears as the northern armies, led by King Foltest (age 57), arrive with reinforcements (ep 8)

the day after Ciri arrives at the home of the woman she met in the market, Geralt arrives with the man he met, who is the woman's husband, and Geralt and Ciri are finally united (ep 8)

#the witcher #the witcher netflix #geralt of rivia #yennefer of vengerberg #cirilla of cintra #spoilers #sara talks telly

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