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jaskierswolf · 3 years

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Your heart beats like wings

Written for the Teef Week Event in @thewitcherbog.

Ship: Gerlion

Rating: E

CW: Fae!Dandelion, biting (and drawing blood), mating bites (of sorts), wing kink, coming untouched, blow job,

Geralt had always known there was something not quite human about Dandelion. Whenever his golden-haired poet was near, the wolf’s head would hum quietly on his chest, a fact that Dandelion seemed to delight in. Whenever they shared a bed or curled up together on the forest floor, Dandelion’s long lutist fingers would wrap around the wolf, calloused fingertips tracing the fur on its ears and muzzle. But Geralt never asked, and Dandelion seemed content to keep the mystery a secret. Years passed, decades, maybe nearing a century, Ciri blooming into a beautiful young lady, zipping off through time and space, Yennefer still scouring the Continent for a way to take back what she believed was stolen from her, and Regis settling down in Toussaint with a fellow vampire, popping in to see Geralt and Dandelion on occasion.

No one seemed to notice that the seemingly human bard hadn’t aged a day over the cruel winters and burning summers that had passed.

Geralt noticed but he was scared, scared of losing the one constant in his life. If he asked, if he drew attention to it, the peace surrounding them might shatter and he’d be left alone, always waiting for his friends and family to arrive, isolated.

Dandelion hummed, tucking his hair behind his ears before leaning down to press a kiss to Geralt’s neck, sucking a bruise into the tender skin, his hips rolling over Geralt’s cock. Ever the poet, Dandelion murmured a steady stream of praise as he trailed his lips under the line of Geralt’s jaw, whispering rhymes and verses as he nibbled Geralt’s ear.

“What thoughts are rattling through that pretty little head of yours, my darling?” Dandelion asked as he sat up onto his heels, his fingers tracing patterns into Geralt’s chest, not dissimilar to the runes on his swords.

“Nothing to worry about,” Geralt muttered, pulling his husband into a kiss to finally silence him. The words melted into a soft moan as Dandelion’s lips parted easily under Geralt’s, elderflower wine still on his tongue, sweet, delicious, divine.

They kissed some more, lazy and slow, a simmering heat gradually building into something more insistent as Dandelion’s hands finally wrapped around Geralt’s cock.

“You’re lying to me,” Dandelion hummed, hand slick with oil even though Geralt never heard the cork pop. “Tell me, dearest, please.”

Geralt’s eyes fluttered closed, Dandelion’s fingers working magic along his hardening cock, making it difficult to think about anything else. “You,” he finally mumbled, “was thinking about you.”

Dandelion giggled, the sound making Geralt’s medallion vibrate a little more against his chest. “And what about me?” Dandelion asked, his voice ever musical and beautiful, one carefully trimmed nail running along Geralt’s cheek.

“You- you never age, Dandelion. Why?” Geralt asked, feeling his cheeks heat up as he finally voiced the question that had been haunting him for years.

The poet sighed, pressing his face into the crook of Geralt’s neck, fingers wrapped tightly around the wolf medallion. “I was wondering when you would ask, my dear witcher.”

A heavy silence fell over the room as Dandelion sat up, legs resting either side of Geralt’s waist. He continued to trace patterns into Geralt’s skin, until the quiet became almost unbearable, crushing Geralt under the enormity of its weight. The question became a burning sword, ready for Geralt to fall upon, the destruction of everything he held dear. Until, in a strangely vulnerable voice, Dandelion spoke once more.

“Promise not to hate me, Geralt, darling, please.” His voice cracked, shattering along with Geralt’s heart. They may have had their spats over the years but to hear that his husband doubted him so… it was unforgivable. He would spend the rest of their days together trying to make it up to Dandelion, until his husband truly believed how much Geralt loved him.

Geralt took one of Dandelion’s hands in his, placing a kiss to each knuckle before gently turning it over to kiss the palm. “You must think me mad,” Geralt reminded him, echoing words from so long ago, “if you think I could ever hate you.”

And still Dandelion remained silent, cornflower blue eyes locked on his, lacing their fingers together. “Even if I’m a monster?”

If it weren’t for the sincerity in Dandelion’s voice, Geralt would have assumed the poet was joking. How could his husband, kind and gentle Dandelion who threw up at the sight of blood, think he was a monster? The most vicious Dandelion ever got was when he was up against Valdo Marx in a bardic competition, but his old rival had passed many years ago.

“Even then.”

“Are you- are you sure?”

“Dandelion, speak,” Geralt said, squeezing the poet’s hand in his.

“Very well.”

But instead of speaking there was a sudden burst of magic in the room, Geralt’s medallion jumping off his chest, the teeth of the wolf almost snarling as it vibrated wildly. Dandelion’s features blurred and changed, his already sharp cheekbones becoming more angular, the fingers between Geralt’s lengthening, claw-like nails replacing neatly trimmed ones. When Dandelion opened his eyes once more, cornflower blue irises now glowed with slitted pupils not unlike Geralt’s, and when he smiled, Geralt saw a row of sharp teeth glistening between rosy pink lips. His golden ringlets parted to reveal two curled horns, but what really drew Geralt’s attention were the shimmering rainbow wings that unfurled from behind his husband’s back.

He was beautiful.

“Dandelion,” Geralt breathed, unable to think of any other word.

“Hello, Geralt.”

“You’re- you’re beautiful.”

Dandelion’s eyes fluttered shut, a serene expression gracing his lips, and the room seemed to glow from whatever magic the poet was weaving, his hair gently blowing in a breeze that Geralt couldn’t feel. Behind him, Dandelion’s wings beat slowly, catching off the candlelight and sending glittery sparkles of light cascading across the room. It was captivating, enchanting, alluring, and Geralt couldn’t take his eyes off his husband.

“Can I kiss you?” he asked, his voice distant to his own ears.

“Hmm, well, I rather think you should,” Dandelion giggled, leaning down to press their lips together.

Geralt’s fingers tentatively reached out to caress Dandelion’s wings, making the poet shudder, a soft gasp falling from his lips, the taste of wild flowers on his breath.

“Again…” Dandelion murmured, and so Geralt stroked along the seemingly fragile veins of the wings until his husband was a quivering mess on top of him, cock hard and leaking onto Geralt’s stomach. “Oh gods, Geralt.”

“I’ve got you, Dandelion,” Geralt hummed, his fingers digging into Dandelion’s thighs as they rutted together, Geralt’s cock aching between the curve of Dandelion’s arse.

“Julian,” Dandelion whispered. “My name is Julian.”

Geralt blinked up at his husband, cheeks flushed bright, the very picture of ethereal beauty. “Julian,” he repeated, “my flower.”

As the name fell from Geralt’s lips, a strange silver light whipped around his husband, connecting his heart to Geralt’s, and he cried out, lost in pleasure as he came, purely from the caresses to his wings. He collapsed forward, sharp teeth latching onto Geralt’s shoulder to muffle his cries. Geralt hissed in pain as the fangs sank into his skin, but the pain soon succumbed to pleasure and he thrust up against Dandelion’s arse, hands still exploring the colourful wings that were so alive beneath his fingers. Every touch tingled against his skin, hot and cold at the same time, magic in its rawest form, making Geralt feel dizzy.

Dandelion moaned, releasing Geralt’s shoulder for barely a second before kissing over the wound. His husband then wriggled from Geralt’s arms, kissing down Geralt’s body as he shuffled down the bed, each kiss was accompanied by a sharp bite until Geralt’s skin was a map of unfamiliar teeth marks, some bleeding, some not, Dandelion didn’t seem to care. Wherever his razor sharp teeth did break through Geralt’s skin, there was a thrum of magic, building and building inside of Geralt, until he could almost feel Dandelion’s heart beat right alongside his. Wings fluttered out behind Dandelion, now out of reach but still so captivating.

“My darling, my husband, my Geralt,” Dandelion murmured between kisses, gazing up at Geralt with glowing blue eyes as he pressed a kiss to Geralt’s hip.

“Yours, Julian,” Geralt agreed, threading his hands through Dandelion’s soft blond curls, knuckles bumping against the newly grown horns. Unlike the wings, Dandelion’s horns didn’t appear to be sensitive in the slightest, but Geralt was still intrigued. He gripped one of the horns in his hand, guiding his husband lower, moaning with every kiss and bite to his skin.

Dandelion giggled, pressing a kiss to Geralt’s inner thigh, “Patience, love.”

“You try my patience, poet.”

“And yet you insist I’m not a monster,” Dandelion sighed, sinking his teeth into Geralt’s thigh.

Fire blazed through Geralt’s veins, crackling electricity, even as Dandelion’s tongue lapped over the bite mark. He knew there was some magic at play, but it was a part of Dandelion, a part that had remained hidden for so long and finally, finally, Geralt had been allowed to see.

The trust that Dandelion- that Julian had in him was almost overwhelming.

Glowing eyes met his and Julian winked, eyelashes even longer and darker than before. That was all the warning Geralt got before his cock was enveloped in the wet heat of Julian’s mouth, the bard already moaning around his length. Geralt’s own moans harmonised with his husband as his head fell back against the pillow.

He had a feeling he would be in for a long night.

Taglist: @geraltrogerericduhautebellegarde, @comfyswitcherblanketfort, @fontegagrilledcheese, @dani-dandelino, @dapandapod @unyielding-as-the-sea @officerjennie @feraljaskier @geralt-of-riviass @kueble @gilberik @llamasdumpsterfire

#the witcher #geraskier #gerlion #fae!jaskier #fae!dandelion #non human jaskier #teef week #jaskier pankratz #geralt of rivia #wolfie's witcher writing

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rallamajoop · 3 years

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The Witcher: The Games vs The Books

Coming to the fandom this late, I can only assume the relationship between the Witcher games and the original novels has been long since talked to death by others. But I'm far too fascinated by the whole glorious mess that is this canon not to want to get down some of my own thoughts about how it all fits together.

See, on the one hand, the games (Witcher 3 especially) are arguably only too dependent on the novels to stand alone. They do a wonderful job of picking up a number of unresolved plot points the books left hanging, and a woeful job of explaining so much a player coming in cold would really like to know – Ciri's history with Geralt, Yennefer, her powers and the Wild Hunt itself just to begin with. This is an issue that only increases as the games go along: cliche as Geralt's amnesia may be, it's used to good effect to introduce the world to the player in the first game. By the third, Geralt has all his old memories back and two extra games worth of new experience, and good lord is it all alienating to the newcomer.

On the other hand, so much about the games (again, the third especially) contradicts the novels in painfully irreconcilable ways. That wouldn't necessarily bother me – adaptations are allowed to rework and reinvent, stories can and should evolve in the retelling – except, well, see point one above. So you're bound to come out of the games with a lot of unanswered questions if you haven't read the books, and just as many if you have.

Spoilers to follow, of course, for both the books and the games.

Here's one of the big ones: just how did the world – Ciri included – discover that one of her long-presumed-dead parents was actually alive and well and now ruling the entire empire of Nilfgaard? Fucked if I know. Neither the games or the novels have any explanation. In the novels, in fact, the world at large believes Ciri is married to the emperor of Nilfgaard. Naturally, this 'Cirilla' is a fake, but the scandal were the full truth ever revealed would redefine Emhyr's reign. Yet somehow, in the games, everyone seems to know he's Ciri's father, and that whole awkward incest angle is never mentioned. Continuity has been tweaked pretty significantly, and it's left to the player to guess how. If that wasn’t bad enough, the games apparently still included a Gwent card of the fake!Cirilla (artwork above) just to ensure maximum confusion.

Before I get too sidetracked with all that stuff that doesn’t add up though, there really is a lot to be said for what does work about how the games expand on the plot of the novels. The Wild Hunt itself is the big one. The spectral cavalcade appears several times through the novels and hunts Ciri across multiple worlds in the final book before apparently losing her trail and vanishing to make way for the 'real' big bad, never to be mentioned again. While TW3 left me pretty underwhelmed by the revelation that the spectral Wild Hunt were just a bunch of dark elves in skull armor, the books had introduced the Hunt and let us spend some time on the dark elves' world before we get the reveal that the two may be one and the same. So for all the ranting I could do about missed opportunities regarding the Wild Hunt, they're the natural candidate for the games to pick up on as their new big-bads.

To my surprise, Geralt and Yennefer's "deaths" and subsequent recovery in pseudo-Avalon also comes straight from the novels. That everyone thinks Geralt dead at the start of the first game isn't, as I'd first assumed, a convenient excuse to have him reappear with amnesia, but simply how the novels end. Why Ciri leaves them and goes world-hopping isn't clear, but "because the Wild Hunt was after her again" is as good a theory as any. So, another point to the games there.

And there's so much more. The Catriona plague has only just appeared at the end of the novels, but we know it's posed for a major outbreak – one that’s in progress by the time of the games. The second game in particular does a terrific job of taking the ambitions of the expansionist Nilfgaardian Empire and the still-relatively-new Lodge of Sorceresses and building an entirely new conflict around them – even taking two of the least developed members of the Lodge (Sabrina Glevissig and Síle de Tansarville) and expanding them into major players. Dijkstra similarly ends the novels on the run from those in power, and having already taken the same assumed name 'Sigi Reuven' he's using in the games – while the books assure us that prince Radovid will grow up to pay back his father's assassins (ie. Phillipa) and become Radovid the Stern.

The twisted fairy tale origins of the novels are something the games actually seem to have gotten better at as they went on: the 'trail of treats' to the Crones is the great example, the monster-frog-prince and the land-of-a-thousand-fables of the expansions are two more, and many more are hidden in sidequests. And I'd be remiss not to mention that in again asking Geralt to pick a side in the conflict with the Scoia'tael, the first two games not only recreate a scenario Geralt repeatedly deals with in the books, but a major theme. It's interesting too how much the broad structure of the third game feels like an homage to the books, with Geralt searching for Ciri, interspersed with sections from her POV. You can nitpick the detail of any of these examples, but the intent is unmistakable, and a lot of credit is due for it in the execution too.

Some of the detail that's gone into translating the world of the Witcher books into the games is just insane – not just in the geography and history of the place, but right down to the names of the wine you can pick up. There's the fact the Cat potion makes Geralt see in black-and-white, or the fact the basilisk and cockatrice monsters are clearly based on the same model, but the basilisk is reptilian where as the cockatrice is more avian – which is exactly how Geralt describes the difference between them in The Lady of the Lake. There's a point where Book!Regis recounts a detailed list of all the lesser vampiric species, ending with the only two violent enough to tear apart their victims: almost all can be encountered in the games, and the last two (Fleders and Ekimma) are indeed the most animalistic. This kind of thing is everywhere.

My favourite examples tend to be those that blend into the background if you haven't read the books, but will get a grin from those who have, such as a peasant in Velen who will call out to Geralt (paraphrased from memory, alas) "Sir, sir! We be up to our ears in mamunes, imps, kobolds, hags, flying drakes... oh, and bats!" – which is a lovely little reference to a couple of conversations from Edge of the World wherein Geralt explains that most of the monsters the locals want him to take care of don't actually exist. Or all those soldiers chanting "Long live King Radovid!" – natural enough, but it takes on a whole new life if you've read the passage in Lady of the Lake where the young prince Radovid grumbles internally about having to sit and listen to the city chanting 'long live...' to every other notable figure present except him.

Really, it would be faster to list the things the games introduced that don't come from the original source material in any obvious form, because it's a struggle to come up with very many. The villainous Crones of Crookback Bog and Master Mirror of the Hearts of Stone expansion are the biggest ones that come to mind, along with a great deal of the vampire mythology from Blood and Wine. To the witchers themselves, they’ve added mostly game mechanics: the use of bombs and blade oils, the names of most of the potions, and three new witcher schools (all with their own specialised gear). There are a number of new creatures and monsters – Godlings, noon-and-night-wraiths, botchlings, shaelmaars and so on – and though trolls are mentioned in the books, the games take credit for giving them so much character. Obviously, there are new characters, like Thaller and Roche – but not technically Iorveth, because a Scoia'tael commander of that name is mentioned in the books, if only in passing. And already, short of just listing off every new character the games introduced, I’m running out of ideas. Credit where credit’s due on that front: most of the new characters and locations they’ve created feel authentic enough that Kalkstein or Thaller would be right at home in the novels’ world.

But for all their dedication to the detail, it's hard to feel like the games have really managed to capture the spirit of the books in their storytelling: the mundanely corrupt bureaucracy that does so much to bring the world to life, or their cheerfully cynical sense of humour, or the flamboyant wonder that is book!Dandelion, or their enthusiasm for putting women in positions of power, or the bigger themes about the differences between the story that gets sung by the bards and what really happened – or so much else from the novels that came as such a surprise to me when I started getting really sucked in.

And if we’re going to talk about all the little things they got right, it’s only fair to point out there are just as many little things they got wrong, and sometimes pretty glaringly at that. "I thought you bowed to no-one" says Emhyr to Geralt – almost as if book!Geralt doesn’t happily bow in most every situation where it would be polite or diplomatic to do so. "This would never have happened if the council was still around!" says Geralt upon finding a sorcerer's lab full of human experiments – as if none of his experiences with Vilgefortz or the wizards of Rissberg ever happened, back when the council was very much still around. In TW2, he mocks the idea of a woman like Saskia leading a rebellion – almost as if women like Falka and Aelirenn haven't led some of the most storied rebellions in history (and we can't even blame the amnesia, because Geralt himself mentions Aelirenn later – oh yeah, this one annoyed me particularly).

Book!verse 'Lady of the Lake' is basically just Ciri being surprised while bathing

Yennefer's studious aethiesm and willingness to desecrate Freya's temple is entirely in character – but only if we forget that she had her own personal religious experience with the goddess Freya herself in Tower of the Swallow. And then there’s the fact the Lady of the Lake is now a literal lake nymph who distributes swords to the worthy, as if no-one writing for the games ever got past the title of that particular Witcher novel (let alone got the joke). And the list goes on. It's easy to get overly caught up in contradictions like this – it's hardly as if Sapkowski's novels don't contradict themselves in places, as almost any long-running series eventually will – but it's going to stick out to those who’ve read the novels nonetheless.

While we're talking about how the games pick up where the books left off though, the big contradiction that has to be touched on comes in bringing Geralt back at all, at least in any public capacity. There's plenty to suggest that Geralt survives the novels' end and even goes on to have further adventures, but it's also pretty explicit that the history books record his death in the Pogrom of Rivia as final. The last two novels by order of publication (Season of Storms and Lady of the Lake) go so far as to feature characters far in the future with an interest in Geralt's legacy, and they discuss the matter in some depth. As far as the world knows, Geralt is dead.

Book!Geralt fanart by Diana Novich

But it's hard to blame the games for ignoring this – true, thanks to Geralt's longevity, they could have set their conflict many more years after those future scenes – maybe even used Ciri's established time-travel powers to let you pop quietly in and out of the past (and, okay, now I've thought through all that, I'm kind of sad they didn't). But there comes a point where that kind of slavish devotion to preserving the source material really doesn't do a story any favours, and I'm not sure I could name any other successful adaptation that's bothered.

Besides bringing Geralt back at all, most of the bigger changes pertain to Ciri. In fact, as much as I'm about to get deep into the nitpicks below, you can make a surprisingly good case that the games have made only one really big change, and that's in simplifying the prophesies surrounding her. See, in the novels, all those world-saving prophesies aren't technically about Ciri, they're about her as-yet-unborn child. Who gets to impregnate her is the big driving force behind most of the villains of the books – one that all the main contenders seem to see as more of an awkward necessity rather than the inspiration for violent lust, but even so. To Emhyr, having to marry his own daughter is a bug, not a feature – but he's willing to do it to become the father of the savior of the world. But if Ciri is capable of fulfilling those prophesies herself, then Emhyr is already the father of the savoir of the world, and the revisions to his relationship with Ciri start to make a lot more sense.

Ciri's history with the Aen Elle elves seems to have been similarly revised – if not quite so cleanly. Avallac’h and Eredin are, naturally, both book characters – in fact, a lot of personality has been left behind in the books, since Avallac’h originally had a rather camp flair, and Eredin is less the power-hungry kingslayer you might imagine. When Geralt meets Avallac’h in the books – which happens briefly in Toussaint, for one of those "everything you're doing is going to make everything worse because prophesy" conversations – he's busy decorating a cave with fake prehistoric paintings in the hope of confusing future explorers. (Surprisingly, there does seem to be official art of this moment on one of the gwent cards – see above – though the Avallac’h who jokes about adding erect phalluses to the picture and admits his vanity won’t allow him to resist signing it hasn’t entirely survived the transition to the new medium).

We also meet the former Alder King, Auberon, whose death we see in flashback in the game. (Fun fact: Auberon is actually blowing bubbles through a straw in a bowl of soapy water when we first meet him in the books, hence the straw in the illustration below. The books just have more whimsy than any of the games would know what to do with.)

Ciri spends some time in the final book as a prisoner on the world of the elves, who are as keen as everyone else for their king to father her unborn child. Avallac’h eventually convinces her that this is all for the greater good: her child will be able to open gates to allow the people of her world to escape when the apocalyptic White Frost arrives. But their king, like most older elves, is impotent, leading to multiple nights where Ciri allows him to take her to bed (in some of the frankly more disturbing scenes of the series) to no result. Eredin, moreover, doesn't appear to have intended to poison the king: the vial that kills him was supposed to contain some sort of fantasy viagra, and even Eredin seems genuinely shocked to learn its actual effects.

Regardless, Ciri eventually discovers that Avallac’h and the Aen Elle have deceived her, and intend to user her child's powers to invade her world, not save it. Neither world is threatened by the White Frost for at least several millennia, it's just a pretext to make her cooperate. And so she flees, and Eredin (already leading his Red Riders aka The Wild Hunt long before he was crowned king) pursues her.

With the books as context, why Ciri would ever trust Avallac’h is very hard to understand. It's a little easier if that whole awful episode with her and the former king is subtracted out – Ciri's child is no longer necessary for Eredin's goals. So it's odd that the game still references the deadly vial Eredin gave to the king. Are we to suppose the vial genuinely contained poison in this version of continuity? I'd rather it didn't – Avallach's ruse is far more interesting if he underwhelms Eredin's support by revealing a half-truth – but the games aren't telling us.

And then we have to factor in that one last detail I'd forgotten when I originally started playing with this theory: TW3 does contain one last, dangling reference to the time the old king spent trying to impregnate Ciri, when Ge'els very reasonably asks why on earth Ciri would ever trust Avallac’h now. It's a damn good question, and the game offers no real answers. So in Avallac’h, we're left with a character who is vital to the final chapters of the games, who comes out of nowhere without the books as context, but whose role makes no sense with that backstory in mind. Frankly, the writers would have been much better off avoiding the whole mess altogether and inventing some new character to take Avallac’h's place.

The treatment of the White Frost is even more confusing. The books are ultimately fairly explicit about just what the White Frost is: a ice age, most likely caused by the same mundane climactic factors that produced the real ice ages of our history. The only escape is intergalactic emigration, as Ciri (or her children) might some day enable.

In the games, the White Frost has instead become some sort of nebulous, free-floating apocalypse which will eventually reach all worlds, which is basically fine – up to a point. We briefly visit a dead world that the Frost has decimated, and even the Aen Elle are now supposedly planning to invade Ciri's world because it threatens theirs as well (I mean, apparently – their motivations are so underdeveloped you could miss them by accidently skipping just one or two lines of dialogue). When the Wild Hunt appears, it's always in a haze of cold. Their mages can invoke its power still more dramatically through portals which can freeze you in your tracks. So obviously, the Frost has already reached their world, and time is running out, right?

Well, no – you visit their world too (again, briefly – to meet a character who has never been mentioned before and won't be again, for reasons which have also never been mentioned before if you haven't read the books) – and there's no Frost in sight, apocalyptic or otherwise.

So why does the White Frost follow the Hunt around? No idea. It's never explained.

At the very end of the game, a second "Conjunction of the Spheres" occurs (possibly because of the Wild Hunt's appearance?), and the Frost begins to invade (or possibly Avallac’h summons it, so Ciri can go into it and destroy it?) It's all painfully unclear. The game is too busy pulling a bait-and-switch over whether Avallac’h's betrayed you to tell you what's actually going on instead.

But if Ciri could destroy the Frost completely (at great personal risk, but still) why is this not more clearly set up? Why did the Aen Elle think that escaping to another world (which will ALSO eventually be destroyed by the Frost) was a better solution than sending Ciri to face the Frost directly? For which matter, why do the Aen Elle need Ciri at all if sending enough ships to carry an army is no problem? Why does Ciri spend so much of the game questioning Avallac’h's true intentions, if they were ultimately so noble? When did he tell her the truth? If Avallac’h did summon the Frost, why did he pick that particular moment? And if he didn't, and it all just happened spontaneously, we're back to questioning why invading that world ever seemed like a good solution to Eredin – it all collapses in on itself.

None of these questions couldn't have been answered with a little creativity, but then the game would've had to dedicate some real time to explaining its backstory and developing its core conflict – something it's bizarrely reluctant to do. And if you think I may be drifting from the point a bit in the name of getting all my gripes about the ending down in one place, you're not wrong, but I feel Avallac’h and everything surrounding him is pretty much the ur-example of what doesn't work about the way The Witcher 3 depends on the novels: the backstory the writers are building on doesn't actually exist in any format available to the rest of us.

There are plenty of ways TW3 could have incorporated its backstory into its own narrative (yes, even excluding the method "by expecting people to read many many more pages of text from in-game documents", because that's bullshit and always will be). There are times it does this brilliantly, such as in the quest ‘The Last Wish’: everything you really need to know is covered in Yennefer and Geralt's conversation in the boat, and without ever making the dialogue sound unnatural. In fact, TW3 has even more options here than many works with the same problem, because Geralt is famous and people already think they know his story. You could have bards singing Dandelion's ballads, you could have characters confronting him with misunderstandings about his past to force him to correct them. You could also have Geralt visiting people and places he knows Ciri remembers fondly because of the time they spent there together, or include playable flashbacks similar to the time you spend playing as Ciri. You could stick chunks of backstory in optional sidequests or scenes old-school fans can skip through quickly. So many of my questions (how did Ciri get so close to Yennefer if they were never at Kaer Morhen together? Why has no-one tried training Ciri in her powers before? What does the Wild Hunt even do while it's not hunting Ciri? Why is Ciri princess of Cintra if her father is Emperor of another country altogether?) could have been answered so easily.

Seriously, summarising the Witcher books is not that hard. Lots of things happen, but only a fraction of it is really relevant in retrospect, and you could hit all the major plot beats in a handful of paragraphs. (Heck, I’d do it here if this post wasn’t already ridiculously over long.)

But then, TW3 has a bizarre problem with leaving so much of its best material off screen, even from its own story. It's criminal that we never get to see any of Geralt's time (or Yennefer's) with the Wild Hunt, even in flashback or dream sequence. This is material that directly sets up the relationship between the main hero and the main villain, and the most we ever hear about it is a few vague allusions to it being like a strange nightmare. Really? That's it? What was it like? Was Geralt in a trance, unable to control his own actions – was he brainwashed into believing he belonged there, or was he merely unable to escape? What atrocities might Eredin have forced him to commit? Did he visit other worlds? Was he paraded among the Aen Elle as a captive? There is no way this isn’t a part of the story worth talking about!

We never see the moment Ciri rescues Geralt from the Wild Hunt. We never see how Avallac’h convinces her to trust him, we never see the moment he was cursed, or any of her efforts to save him – all these big, story-defining moments are left off-screen, to be vaguely recounted to you later in dialogue. Then there's the entire political situation in Nilfgaard – you hear about it second-hand, and it's all resolved off screen. And the list goes on. Yet you and Ciri still have time to run around Novigrad so she can thank a bunch of throwaway characters you've never even heard of before, nor will again. The priorities on display here are baffling.

The Witcher 3 was such a wildly successful game that it’s obvious these sorts of issues didn’t seriously hold it back, and it’s such a big game that I could have sat down and written just as many words focusing only on the parts that do work without much difficulty. It boasts stunning visuals, addictive gameplay and some truly wonderful characters, and so many parts of the story work brilliantly in isolation that it’s strange to come out of it feeling that it ultimately adds up to so much less than the sum of its parts.

I’m glad TW3 exists – if it hadn’t been such a runaway success I doubt I’d ever have discovered Sapkowski’s universe at all, but for myself, TW3 will probably always be remembered as a somewhat-overlong introduction to the really good stuff, in the expansions and the original novels it came from. I looked up the novels after finishing TW3 in large part because I’d been left with so many unanswered questions – and I’m glad I did, but I’m honestly surprised more people weren’t turned off by TW3′s scattershot approach to its own narrative. You’re allowed to change and rework in moving to a new medium, but I can’t imagine it would’ve hurt games’ success to tell a complete story in the process.

#The Witcher #Witcher Novels #The Wild Hunt #Geralt #Ciri #Emyhr #Avallac'h #Eredin #meta #long post is long

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do-androids-dream-ao3acc · 2 years

Text

Did I ever tell you that I made another Regis fic? No, I didn’t because I used a new pseud for it and I only transferred that to my account recently. Well, yes, so I did, and I also did a Boba Fett fic, by the way. You can read “Letters to Regis” under the cut (and on AO3, follow the link).

Regis,

I don't know if I'll ever send this letter. Maybe I'll write all this just for myself, imagining you sitting across from me, listening and nodding. A very private heart-to-heart that I can't have with you right now because you've gone to look for Dettlaff. I just imagine you sitting there in that chair, next to the fire, and we talk about all the things we didn't talk about when we last saw each other. You didn't ask what I thought of your departure, and I probably wouldn't have known what to say about it either. Yes, one thing: that it would have been nice if you had stayed longer. Remember, for me, you were dead for many years. That you reappeared, alive and kicking, seems like only a minute ago. For both of us, time passes differently than for others, and when you return - which I very much hope you will - you may act surprised when I tell you that I missed you very much. I don't know where you want to find your friend, which is probably why this letter will remain lost deep in the drawers of the small closet in my bedroom. My bedroom. How strange this thought still is. I found your gift, by the way, and I am still fascinated by it. Unfortunately, you are not here to tell me more about it, and when I stare at the little letter you left me, it does not tell me more, just because I look at it every day like at a dear treasure.

Why I am writing these lines is as unclear to me as your whereabouts, and both are somehow comforting because this way, I can always tell myself that you will never read these words. It means I can tell you all the things I wanted to say to you when you left. But then again, I can hardly think of what that would have been. Maybe it's just nostalgia and the fact that I now actually own a desk and even pen and parchment, like some courtly scribbler. Who would have thought it, back then, in those days in the woods, with our companions, our Hansa? It seems like a lifetime ago.

Now it seems everyone I ever cared about is either dead or has found their place in the world. That sounds terribly melodramatic, but somehow there's something to it. Dandelion and Zoltan have become entrepreneurs. Ciri is a fantastic young woman who holds her own in a dead trade - but it doesn't hurt to know how to fight, right? And you... you are on a holy mission to bring a lost sheep back to the right path.

Cynical? No, I actually wish you luck, Regis. It's not that Dettlaff's fate didn't last me, and yet I think he could have found another way. But it is not for me to judge. I drink to you and your happiness, and I can vividly imagine you toasting me and asking me if I don't think I've achieved something myself. Whether I haven't found my place myself. I've been thinking about that for a while. I think I've found a home, Regis. But something inside me is still restless, and I don't know what it is. Maybe I don't want to name it. Something is missing. The home is not quite complete.

I drink to you, Regis, wherever you are now, and I hope you find what you're looking for, and yes, I wish I find it too someday.

Geralt

----

Dear Regis,

My last letter had such an impersonal salutation, and I thought about why this was so. After all, we have known each other for a very long time, and probably I could address you in a letter as "my good old friend Regis," you wouldn't mind. Because that's what you are, right? My good old friend, whom I actually miss.

Before you ask, yes, I haven't given up on the path. A home, a bed, and the company of pleasant people is probably not enough, and I can almost see your frown. But, you would say. But. The restlessness I have felt since you left is still there. There has been no news from you, and you have already disappeared for weeks. I told myself that you don't owe me any word, that maybe you don't even think that I might be interested in whether you find Dettlaff - oh, indeed I am, though not for the apparent reason. The thought of him fills me with a nervousness that does not suit a witcher well, Regis. Not just because he seems dangerous to the world. I know you disagree, but considering his history, there is little to stop him from venting his wrath on all mankind. Yes, there is, you would say, and that is what I fear. For you may be the voice of reason, my good friend, which has already saved not only me from wrong decisions. But does it still help with him? I doubt it, and since I hear nothing from you, there is nothing to dispel this doubt.

I wonder what advice you would give to someone who feels this surreal unrest, which may or may not be nervousness, fear even. You would probably remark that you didn't think a witcher could feel fear. And you would probably be right that this is a feeling that they have tried to drive out of us from the beginning. But it is not true, my friend, that we do not have any feelings. I can see your knowing smile, but don't bare your fangs. Anyway, what would you say? Ah. I think you would recommend that I distract myself with work and guess what, that's what I do. The harvest is in full swing on Corvo Bianco. No, not wine. First of all, this is not the right time for it, as I was told, and secondly, there is probably not much to be expected this year. Apparently, it is not so easy to grow grapes, but I was advised to try patience and a new-fangled fertilizer. Well. Secondly, there is plenty to do on this estate, because it also includes fields. Of course, their yield belongs to the duchess, just as two-thirds of the wine would belong to her if it were ever produced. I don't care much, I must say, because it is hers, and it is not compensation for her loss, so I don't have to pretend to care how big or small the yield is.

And yet, I inspected the works, as my majordomo (isn't that a great term? he's a great guy, though!) recommended I do. I guess that's what a landowner does. The people there, however, seemed surprised that I lent a hand. Well, there was a man missing, and the work is a bit dull, but only physically hard. And it helped me to clear my head. You don't have to think in the process. If I forgot to think when I was taking care of the monster plagues in the surroundings, I would lose my head. And there's nowhere near enough for them to distract me from the thoughts of what you're doing at this moment.

Whatever it is, I hope you are doing well.

Geralt

----

Dear Regis,

Now it's been a few months since you left, and no news from you. Are you well? Have you found what you were looking for? Has it brought you clarity? I also had a lot of time to think. The time of harvest is over, and winter has come to Touissaint. Well, what they call winter here. Indeed, the days are getting shorter, and it may seem a little chilly on the surface. They hardly know snow down here, except on the mountain passes, and rainy months are entirely unknown to them. In general, it has not rained enough, so the harvest was not so fortunate. I heard Anna Henrietta was not impressed, but since there was no squad of guardsmen standing outside my door with angry expressions, she seems to have resigned herself to it.

You know, I did something foolish the other day. There are few sayings about witchers, I'm sure you know them all, well-read as you are, but did you know that they say a witcher makes a wrong move only once? However, this does not suggest what most people think it does. It's not that we learn more quickly from a mistake - on the contrary, an error can be fatal. That is what this saying actually means. One wrong move can mean death. Just one step, one lunge to the wrong side, one too slow movement with the sword arm, and that's it for the witcher. Precisely, with this one who writes to you, and that he can do that is pure luck.

Whether it was carelessness or distraction, I made a mistake, and when you return one day, it has become a new scar. Then it will be a story that I shall tell you in its entirety, and maybe we'll both laugh about it, and you'll say I'm getting old. But if you had seen me that day, you would have scolded me for my stupidity in particular. I wish you had been there to do that because I lay in a field for half a day and a whole night, and I'm really too old for that. It was not until dawn that the peasants dared to look to see if anything was left of the monster and the witcher who had not returned. Well, I survived it, but I would have preferred your mocking and admonishing words, just like your healing hand, to anything that came after.

Afterward, I thought for a long time about what exactly it might have been, what made me so negligent. I still think it's life out here that's taking it way too well with me. That's a strange statement, don't you think? Let me explain. I never had a home except for Kaer Morhen, as you well know, and it's not the same without Vesemir. An old fortress is just a place full of unpleasant memories. Without a human being in it, or better a familiar person, there is only stone, nothing to want to return to. Yes, Eskel and Lambert are fine, in case you were wondering, but the three of us don't need the castle to see each other, and we certainly don't need it to wallow in sad nostalgia. Corvo Bianco is wonderful, a place straight out of a fairy tale. And I like the people here, some of them have almost become friends to me. Nevertheless... I wonder, Regis, have you ever suffered from loneliness? I'm not talking about being alone; that's something completely different. I think that's what I feel sometimes. Loneliness, defined as the absence of a specific person. Someone to share the home with and everything it means to you.

As I lay in that field for a few endless hours, I thought how uncertain it was whether you would ever know if I died there. That I didn't want you to find out about it through a letter or some sad ballad. It was then that I realized why I had been so restless lately. I wish I could send you this letter and ask you: can you guess why?

Geralt

----

Dear Regis,

I have made a pact with myself. Yes, I know what you would say to that. I see you in front of me, in the armchair by the fire, stroking your aristocratic nose - don't laugh! - remarking that a pact is like an oath, and such an oath has a bond. But be sure, I have not made it easy for myself.

You've been gone almost a year now; are you even aware of that? I am, because I counted every day. One day, it suddenly became clear to me. A poet, perhaps even the one we both know, would probably call it the veil of knowledge that was lifted for me. All the restlessness, the feeling that something was missing, it started that day when you left, and I didn't understand it.

There was something unsaid inside me. Our last evening, you remember? We both looked up at the sky, and you said something about the moonlight making things special or something like that. And I thought at the time that it didn't need the moonlight to do that. We've been through so much together, and of all the people I've ever been privileged to call friends, you were always the only one with whom I shared a specialness. It sounds silly, but we both always strived to be more human than our outer shells. Realistically, of the two of us, I'm still the closest to that strange ideal - though mainly in the sense that I'm easier to kill. But I was never allowed to consider myself a human being; the world always made it clear to me that I did not have the right as if this were a special privilege. You, on the other hand, always seemed so much more human than you are under your inconspicuous guise.

That night I thought how strange we both were and that that was one of the things we had in common. Over the past few months, I thought of more of the same. You'd be amazed, but I've discovered reading as a pastime. You raved about a book of poetry, and I found it in a small bookstore in Beauclair and read it in one evening. I didn't understand any of it, so I reread the poems, and then again. After a while, I understood what fascinated you about it. That it wasn't the stringing together of words that seem to rhyme at random, but the creative power behind them. And, well, there are more things, aren't there? Your interest in alchemy fits well with my need to brew potions. You certainly know a lot more about medicine than I do, and yet we could both set a bone if we had to. It may seem to you that I am arbitrarily listing things that connect us in some way, and perhaps that is nonsense. After all, whether it's sameness or the irresistible attraction of opposites... Regis, since you will never read this, I will tell you that I too saw something in the stars the last night we talked.

But I cannot know if that is what you meant when you spoke those words about the moonlight.

Geralt (confused and probably a bit drunk)

----

Regis, my dear Regis,

since I last wrote words I never intend to give you to read, two months have already passed again. Weeks in which I gained clarity of thought. Life itself did not do much for this - the winery still does not produce wine, but a lot of work, and the giant centipedes in the area multiply like flies despite my efforts. But since my last unsent letter, I began to look at the world around me with different eyes. It's terribly cheesy, but I realized that I was secretly longing for something I can't know if it can always remain just a dream.

After a few trips, I came back to Corvo Bianco and found that it had become a home to me for the first time. I had the feeling of returning home. I knew that Marlene would be waiting with freshly baked bread in the kitchen, as surely as if I had had a vision of it. I almost saw the stable boy, an orphan from Orianna's house, whom B.B. conscientiously put on the payroll after I picked him up hungry in the woods one day and then brought him with me. I could almost hear him speaking to Roach as I walked, although in truth still miles away, up the steps to my house. Next to the door is a bench where Marlene sometimes sits and plucks peas, and I sometimes sit there, reading in the evening. I would sometimes imagine that you were sitting next to me, and we were talking not about potions and herbs and swords but books.

When I was still miles away from Corvo Bianco and picturing all this, I finally realized what was missing. Someone who was waiting for me at home. Someone I had been waiting for all my life.

You know that for many years I thought I had found that very person long ago, and how deceptive that was.... well, I might tell you about that. But actually, I imagined that we would talk about other things. About us, you and me.

Well, now I've written it down. I stare at the words and think about throwing this parchment into the fire. Entirely regardless of whether you never read these words, admitting the truth to me is much more complex than fearing possible rejection. Because now I know that it no longer matters. All that matters is that I want you to know that it's you who's missing. Who I am missing. You are the missing link, the key to a door that I thought was firmly closed. You are my friend, Regis, and as a friend, I tell you, you are far more than that. You are my longing, my harbor, and my home. You are - or would be - what would fill this home and make it complete.

How long have I known this? I don't recall. There were nights when the last thing I saw when I fell asleep was your kind eyes and days when I wished I could feel your touch again. And what if that touch, your words, and your attention were always just amiable? Ah, Regis. Can you ever be sure? I waited a year, and then I realized I knew the exact day you left. The closer it came, the more suspiciously I watched the crows, hoping that they would finally bring the longed-for message from you. I thought about what it could mean that you never wrote. You always knew where I was, while I didn't even suspect if you were still alive. Then I thought: what if you too have unwritten letters? What if you too once thought you could never send them, never tell me what you felt - and therefore never did?

I thought about whether it was worth following your trail for a long time. But I probably should have done that a year ago. What would have happened, Regis? Would I have been able to find you, and would I have known then what I know now? Last winter, I often thought about setting out anyway. Like the old days, a restless life on the path, from monster to monster, with the fundamental goal of finding you. But what if you returned in the meantime, only not to find me? I didn't want to be forever on the search, Regis. As you would say, patience is a virtue. I started putting out feelers many months ago. Bards, mages, witchers: the number of my friends is as unique as their skills. Nobody knows yet why I was looking for you. I disguised my inquiries as a friend's concern, and in the end, that's not wrong, is it? In truth, I already dream of shouting the truth to the world. That I'm looking for you because I miss you, because I want you with me because I... ah, this confession is one for the moment when we meet again.

We will; I know that now. I know you're on the southern borders of Nilfgaard, and you better not ask how I know. This favor may cost me dearly one day. You're moving north, which means you're on your way back. Whether you are alone or not, I don't know yet. But what matters is that you are returning. You probably know that I haven't made myself too popular deeper inland, which is why I refrain from meeting you a good bit. But we will meet. Maybe one day, I'll just show up next to your road, wrap you in my arms and walk the rest of the way together with you. Because that would be what I actually want, metaphorically or not. Maybe one day I'll show you these letters. I guess it depends on what your answer to my question will be. What is it, you ask?

It's very simple, Regis. Did you miss me too?

Yours, I hope, Geralt

#writing #fanfiction #witcher 3 fanfiction #Geralt/Regis #my fics

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vampire--dad · 3 years

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Uhhhh "I’ve got death in my pocket and nothing but time" gives me Regis vibes and "You have no control who lives, who dies, who tells your story" book!Jaskier vibes, so maybe one of those please? :3 (or those two as a couple it would be like MY DREAM COME TRUE though I'm not sure if you like that ship??)

Lo...... you’ve enlightened me. Dandelion/Regis...... Danderegis? Regilion? idk, but boy oh BOY i like that. i like that a LOT

anyway this got really philosophical but i think its cute? they just talkin about things, the ship is hinted at the end

——————

The vampire leans against the tree, watching the embers of the dying campfire jump and flicker weakly as his mind wanders to days long gone and people he once knew. He may be slightly too distracted to be on watch tonight. He didn’t even notice that Dandelion had risen from his bedroll until the bard settled beside him.

“Your shift isn’t due for another hour,” Regis says softly. “You need to rest.”

“Resting doesn’t seem to be coming easily tonight,” the bard replies. “There’s too much on my mind. Too many lyrics and lines and ballads that, truthfully, may never see the light of day.”

His blond curls are dishevelled from tossing and turning and he wears only a light linen shirt and trousers. He seems so much... gentler without his usual colourful regalia. In the latest hours of the night, even his usual flamboyancy seems to slip away into the darkness, revealing a calm and tender version of the bard he knows.

“Besides,” Dandelion continues. “You’ve taken far too many night shifts in the past few days. Though I suppose... you don’t need sleep like the rest of us do, do you?”

Regis smiles knowingly. “No, I don’t. That’s why I prefer to sit by and watch over you. I’d prefer if those who needed it most were allowed to rest.”

He finishes his statement with a pointed look at the bard. Dandelion’s eyes seem to shine with mirth, practically glowing in the moonlight. The beauty of humanity never ceases to amaze him. Just like the flower he is so appropriately named after. Beautiful for a short period of time, and its mortality only makes it more wonderful.

“I would if I could, but alas...” Dandelion tilts his chin up and casts his eyes to the stars with a shake of his golden curls. “Gods, sometimes I wish I were like you and didn’t need to sleep. I wouldn’t be so rushed all the time... I must say, I have always wondered about you...” He turns his head back towards the vampire. “What is it like living for so long, if you don’t mind my asking? You have all of the time in the world, you never have to worry about all of your efforts going to waste... what keeps you going if not the fear that one day it will all come to an end?”

Regis raises his eyebrows at Dandelion and sets an inquisitive look upon him. That is perhaps Dandelion’s favourite look to see upon his face. One that seeks knowledge and answers for questions he never knew he had before. It fills him with a sense of pride to have evoked such a look.

“I didn’t take you for such a philosopher, bard,” Regis says.

Dandelion smiles. Not his usual, beaming smile. A soft smile that Regis would dare to describe as affectionate.

“There’s a great many things you don’t know about me, Regis. I’m not just a pretty face.”

“And here I thought I was the mysterious one,” Regis chuckles. “You are right. I’ve nothing but time. Death doesn’t come quite as easily to me as it will to you, but one day it might. It isn’t easy, but there is a possibility. I don’t believe I am truly immortal. Truthfully, my biggest motivator is your kind’s mortality. You each have such a short period of time in this world that I feel as though I should help you make the most of it.”

“That would explain... quite a few things, actually,” Dandelion mutters, mulling over Regis’ words as he gazes out into the forest. It would explain why he chose a profession so deeply rooted in helping others, and why he joined their party without any obligation or reason to help any of them. It’s honourable, and nothing less than what he expected from such a kind man.

“It would,” Regis agrees, as though he had heard every thought that had crossed Dandelion’s mind. “Now I would ask, but it seems you already answered the question. Is it your own mortality that keeps you going?

“I suppose it is, in a way,” Dandelion says with a curious look upon his face. “It’s... the desire to have a legacy and to create something that will outlive me, to immortalise things that will inevitably come to an end. That’s why I tell Geralt’s stories and I write them into songs. I may not have any control over... anything, but I can make sure that our story never truly comes to an end— that is, until the last person to ever hear one of my songs forgets how it goes and the White Wolf truly is forgotten. I can only hope that that doesn’t happen for a long time yet.”

Regis hums thoughtfully. ‘That’s rather noble of you’ is what he was going to say, but he is cut off by a stifled chuckle.

“You sound so awfully like Geralt when you do that,” Dandelion snickers.

Neither of them had noticed how close to the other they had drifted until their shoulders met, but neither minded. Instead they leaned against the other as they shared their thoughts quietly until the sun kissed the horizon. They never did wake Cahir for his shift.

#the witcher #emiel regis #dandelion #dandelion x regis #regis x dandelion #is that a ship?#it is now

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gayregis · 4 years

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in voice of reason do you think Geralt was justified in calling Yennefer “too possessive”? what did you think of nennekes response?

ok im splitting this into two parts for the two questions!!

PART ONE: do you think Geralt was justified in calling Yennefer “too possessive”?

well, i think that sapkowski didn’t really have the lore of every single detail down-pat yet. he changes much later on - for example, in a question of price, geralt is referred to as a child surprise, but in the sword of destiny in something more, geralt clarifies to calanthe that mousesack got his facts wrong... this is sapkowski is behind the scenes retconning it.

other things also are changed, like i think it’s weird how vereena is just referred to as vereena when mr emiel regis rohellec terzieff godefroy pops up later in baptism of fire and says his name is in accordance with vampire tradition, and also vereena can turn into a bat and fly even though it’s midday (iirc... the time isn’t specified, but it’s assumedly midday?) when regis states that he can only turn into a bat and fly during the full moon, and not before midnight at that. of course vampires are such an irrelevant little detail, a footnote in the actual story, but it’s something to keep in mind that sometimes sapkowski loses consistency in his own lore inbetween books.

i think he also stated that geralt and yennefer spent 6 months together in vengerberg, but this was later changed to a year, and then to four years... so i’m not sure how much he had conceptualized of yennefer as a character and yennefer and geralt’s relationship by this time of writing and publishing the last wish. he might have just had geralt say that yennefer was too posessive because he needed a reason for them to be broken up at this moment.

but for the sake of simplicity, let’s say that this is fully what sapkowski intended to write and convey about yennefer - it’s on the page, after all. firstly, i think that geralt is a whiny pissbaby. he just is. especially at this point in the books. he complains about everything, nothing is ever right, the entire world is out to get him and mock him. so i am inclined to not exactly believe him 100% when he complains about things being too anything, of course he would find everything too anything, he’s so sensitive, he’s geralt of rivia.

i need to analyze what it means to be called “posessive” in a relationship. and i don’t know what the original word used was, perhaps it was something more specific, as is sometimes the case with the translation. does it mean that yennefer didn’t want geralt to be looking at other women, that she wanted him to remain monogamous, and he didn’t want to be monogamous? does it mean that she was controlling of his actions? i think these are kind of both in character, i wouldn’t agree with geralt in calling her “posessive” due to the actual look at yennefer’s character that we get later on, but canonically, yennefer did want monogamy from geralt. and canonically, she did influence his behavior a lot, at least in style of manner and dress, for example she taught him how to eat chicken with a knife and fork and also dresses him for the event on thanedd. i don’t think these are necessarily negative things, it depends on how the level of willingness of geralt to be treated like this, it just depends on if he likes it or not.

but let’s actually look at instances in which yennefer could be called “posessive” - for me, specific scenes in blood of elves and lady of the lake pop up. the first thing that comes to my mind is that triss betrayed her and used magic on geralt to sleep with him... which, obviously, is dubious consent, which means possibly no consent at all... and so, yes, yennefer has the right to be upset at triss and, depending on the context (it’s vague if geralt consented or not) possible geralt. i don’t think this is her being possessive, saying “geralt belongs to ME,” but rather, why would my best friend and my boyfriend go behind my back to sleep together? it's just one of those things you don’t do, as a best friend. it’s disrespectful. and this tension between yennefer and triss continues throughout the series, the last hostility between them in the series is yennefer threatening to snatch her by her ginger locks if she goes after her man - which i find to be just sort of a catfight sapkowski wrote in, owing to his personal biases and view of how women interact with one another. but also, in context, yennefer has just been through hell to get ciri and geralt back and safe, and triss has already gone after ciri to steal her with the lodge, and since yennefer and geralt are actually sincerely in a commited relationship by this point, i think it’s justified for yennefer to be upset at the thought of triss trying to get geralt to cheat on her again. and also, it’s sort of humorous because of how insanely much yennefer has just been through, but sapkowski allows her to have this sort of petty drama throwaway line, it contrasts with her deep character development that she just received in these last two books, and due to that, it’s funny.

speaking of best friends... the next scene that pops into my head relating to yennefer being “posessive” is when she speaks with dandelion at the beginning of blood of elves. i think a “posessive” lover would be one to try and ruin the relationships that their lover has with other individuals: friendships, family, etc. but in this scene, she’s so nice to dandelion! she’s very respectful, even when she’s hurt. and she tells him she respects him and thanks him for being there for geralt. that’s not posessive, that’s entirely the opposite - accepting that even if you don’t really like your significant other’s friends, that they like their friends, and you have to respect that relationship. yennefer could literally just threaten or kill dandelion if she was posessive and wanted him out of geralt’s life, but instead she is grateful to him for being there for geralt when she couldn’t / in a way that she couldn’t. and, in this same scene, she says that she has gone to kaer morhen as a a guest many times, never uninvited, so that confirms that she also has a good relaitonship with the other witchers of kaer morhen, geralt’s family, and doesn’t try to limit geralt’s interactions with them. she’s quite supportive of geralt’s relationships beyond her.

and finally, let’s go to the end of blood of elves, in the scenes where she becomes a teacher and mother to ciri... in the beginning, she is actually upset because she is being possessive of geralt - she resents ciri because she feels that geralt’s attention has been divided between the two of them, that because geralt has this kid now, he’s forgotten about her... but nenneke rebukes her for this, and then she realizes that that’s an incredibly immature way to behave. and she becomes a better person, she changes from her initial petty behavior and becomes a wonderful, selfless mother to ciri. in the end, she wasn’t possessive at all.

so, i don’t think that yennefer is actually “possessive,” she kind of just wants to be respected as a human being and also as geralt’s lover. geralt, in a little sacrifice, realizes that he hasn’t exactly respected yennefer, because of his own insecurities, he believed that she didn’t really fall so deeply in love with him, and that he couldn’t love her back, but she did, and he did. so his perspective changes in this moment... but of course, the voice of reason occurs way before this, when he is still acting immaturely. yennefer and geralt as characters develop together and sometimes as a result from one another. in the beginning, they’re both incredibly insecure people and that insecurity has made them act immature. but over the course of the series, they learn and grow.

in this moment, i don’t think geralt was justified to call yennefer “posessive,” because over the course of the series we see that she isn’t, but it is in character for him to say so.

PART TWO: what did you think of nennekes response?

nenneke responds to geralt by saying she’s not his mom and he shouldn’t be voicing his relationship complaints to her, and that if he has something to say or give to yennefer, he needs to do it himself.

i like this response, primarily because she urges geralt to act responsibly and maturely. geralt is, as i said, immature at this point in the books, and also is not quite experienced in love and relationships... so he is acting indirectly, almost cowardly - like breaking up over text message, or asking someone else to ask the girl in class if she likes you. it’s just like, do it yourself! have some confidence! but this is the edge to how much geralt respects yennefer and values her... he doesn’t want to do the wrong thing and offend her, so that he does the cowardly thing instead, and ends up offending her after all - i mean, leaving a flower on the nightstand? come on, dude...

geralt NEEDS someone to be the voice of reason and tell him to snap out of it, yennefer is just another person like anyone else, and you need to be direct with her. if you’re sorry, then say sorry! don’t try to give her vague presents to make up for it. that’s not how relationships work.

what i find funny and ironic is that as nenneke urges geralt to act mature and respectably, she tells him she’s not his mother in the same breath - even though this is exactly what a mother does. i think this was intentional on sapkowski’s part, since nenneke is so obviously a mother figure to geralt, having her say “i’m not your mother” aloud is something that needed to be said, because even though he sees her as one and they have this kind of mother-child relationship, she’s not. or, on the other hand, she is, and by her denying it, it’s just meant to be ironic to the audience, who understands that she is geralt’s mother but can never admit that to him.

#geralt #yennefer #nenneke #anon #ask #the voice of reason

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vera-simik · 4 years

Text

Wanted: The Witcher. Status: Urgent

Ok. I did it. I finally translated it all. So there it is - my super weird multi-crossover crack-fic, because honestly? Almost everything I ever wrote is more or less crack-fic 😅

Proceed on your own risk 😅

(early morning)

(OK, fine, let’s be honest – NOT so early)

(Vědmi and Erik are sitting in the kitchen, both have a mug of a hot beverage in front of them; Vědmi is also messing around with a small pile of papers)

(Andy comes in)

Andy: “I bid you good morning.”

Erik: (waves sort of disinterestedly) “Mornin’.”

Vědmi: (mumbles something, doesn’t glance up from her work)

Andy: “Judging by her expression, Geralt hasn’t shown up yet.”

Erik: “What a pity you didn’t place a bet. You’d win.”

Andy: “Ah… So, she’s creating WHAT exactly?”

Erik: “Do you remember when she said that if the witcher wouldn’t show up in two days, she’d have to act?”

Andy: “… yes?”

Erik: “She started to create wanted posters.”

Vědmi: “Alright, you two. (puts papers aside) You can stop talking about me as if I weren’t here, and tell me instead – how does this sound? (clears her throat) Have you seen this witcher? Responds to the name Geralt of Rivia. If you find him, be so kind and punch him in the face. (looks at her companions) So? What do you think?”

(both men remain silent)

Erik: “Well…”

Andy: “Perhaps I would word it in less emotive w-“

(suddenly, a portal opens in the kitchen, and Geralt stumbles out of it, slightly green in the face)

Vědmi: (with a mischievous grin on her face) “Aaa, look who FINALLY decided to join us! And as I see, unspeakably wasted!”

Geralt: (mutters) “Be so kind and stop screeching. You’re worse than an echidna, and I, moreover, have a feeling like I could even hear the colours.”

Vědmi: “And why are you acting so surprised, with such a hangover? Shame on you! What am I supposed to tell your wife when she comes here and sees you like this?”

Geralt: (takes a seat at the table) (in puzzlement) “Why would Yen come here? Are you two planning on doing something here or what?”

Vědmi: (facepalm) “And he’s asking! You said yourself that your anniversary is approaching, and then you asked me if I could do you a favor and write it down to the calendar in case you’d forget! You wanted to take her out tonight, and you were pretty damn secretive about it. That’s why we wanted to launch a hunt for you! (points at the pile of wanted posters)”

Geralt: (looks a bit uncertain) “Tonight? Are you sure? How long was I gone?”

Erik: “Longer than you think, mon ami. Did Regis make a new brew of his mandrake moonshine again?”

Andy: „Whatever it was, I suppose it was quite impressive. A witcher with a mild alcohol poisoning… I don’t think it’s something you can see every day.“

Geralt: (waves hand in a dismissive manner) „Eh… it’s not… I don’t wanna talk about it, it’s not very int-“

Vědmi: „Oh no, no, no, keep talking, we’re all ears.“

Geralt: „Ugh, as you wish. Dandelion had the – you know – bachelor party, and – I admit – maybe, just MAYBE it took a bit longer than we planned, and…“

(everyone’s silent for a moment)

Erik: „P-perhaps I did not understand correctly? WHAT happened to Dandelion?“

Vědmi: (shrieks out) „The oaf’s gonna get married?!“

Geralt: (slightly tormented expression) „I begged you to stop screeching…“

Vědmi: (ignoring witcher’s headache) „So he really wants to get hitched… That’s impossible…“

Andy: „And who’s the poor unfortunate soul he talked into it?“

Vědmi: „Crystal clear it’s Priscilla. Am I right? (pokes Geralt) Don’t sleep, and tell him I’m right!“

Geralt: „Does it look to you like anyone could fall asleep here when SOMEONE’s still shouting? (to Andy) And of course, it’s Priscilla. Or did you think he managed to smooth Annarietta’s ruffled feathers?“

Erik: (laughs in his sleeve) „Or worse – Vespula’s?“

Vědmi: “My, my! Someone’s very well versed in latest gossips, am I right, monsieur le phantôm?”

Erik: “Oh please. I know the details just because this shrew and my María know each other. As for me, I could live even without this knowledge.”

Andy: “María indeed knows almost everyone. No offense, of course.”

Geralt: “Could we PLEASE get back to much more serious matter than why and from where do whose partners know each other? Mine will skin me alive when she sees me in this state! (more or less to himself) Damn, Vesemir was right once again, when he said we shouldn’t drink so much because we would regret it later. But is it my fault Zoltan fetched that archival Mahakam spirit immediately after that?”

Vědmi: “Can’t you just, I don’t know, brew yourself the Wives’ Tears of something like that?”

Geralt: “Look… the fact I’m sitting here, talking to you in a way that somehow makes sense, doesn’t mean a thing. I haven’t felt this sick as long as I can remember. And I’m not entirely sure what will happen the moment I’ll try to get up. I’d throw up into the pot before I could even try to brew something in it, most likely.”

Erik: (to Vědmi) “I’d LOVE to know how the rest of the participants ended up.”

Andy: (gets up) “I can’t stand by any longer, Geralt. Come on, I think I have something that would help you down in the laboratory.” (leaves the room)

(Geralt slowly and carefully follows him, Vědmi and Erik remain in the kitchen)

(they’re sitting in silence for a while)

Erik: “Don’t look at me like that. We should have figured out sooner that Dandelion and Zoltan were involved in this.”

Vědmi: “Meh, I don’t give a hoot about who wrecked him like this. He could be drinking with every single one of those dum-dums of the Wild Hunt for all I care, he’s an adult, and as such, he should know that excessive drinking equals headache. I agree with Vesemir almost every time, and I don’t intend to make any exceptions this time. Don’t drink, don’t regret it afterward. But that’s not what’s on my mind.”

Erik: “Then what… Wait, let me guess. Is it because you had an itch for Dandelion?”

Vědmi: (deadly serious) “Tell me this was just a weak attempt to make a remarkably stupid joke because otherwise, I’m giving you a ten-second head start. Drogo helped me retrieve all of the knives which fell behind the stove about a week ago.”

Erik: (raises hands in a defensive gesture) “Keep calm. As you say, it’s just a stupid joke. But it HAS something to do with the bard, non?”

Vědmi: “I’m mostly nice to that fool, in bounds of possibility, and I haven’t told him he’s a nitwit and a skirt chaser to his face for more than a year! For fun nor seriously! And he doesn’t even send me an invitation!”

Erik: “So, is this the only thing that’s troubling you?”

Vědmi: “Tsk. ‘The only thing,’ he says. Hm… Do you think it could be due to that one time three years ago when we stole his lute, and then we sent it back to him one string at a time?”

Erik: “To our – and your especially – defence, I need to add that he was flirting with you in a very indiscreet way. And this was quite adequate retribution. I think he didn’t invite you more likely because he remembers very well when we tied him up with those strings for a similar offence, and that Nuada and NoName sang an intentionally off-key version of Dornishman’s Wife to torture him a bit more. I can’t help it, but I think you didn’t even try to stop them.”

Vědmi: (considers it) “Maybe you’re right… Oh! Or is it because of that other time when I dashed the leftovers of the disgusting old soup at him because he was serenading me underneath the window?”

Erik: “When I’m thinking of it now… We’re giving him fairly hard time, aren’t we?”

Vědmi: (theatrically) “Living amongst the group of fictional villains is corrupting me!”

Erik: “I see myself more like an antihero, and I could argue over this too. And don’t make yourself look like a victim, because you’re not innocent either. Should I remind to you some of these ideas came from your head?”

Vědmi: “Ha! Such an insult! If Andy were here, he’d stand up for me for sure!”

Erik: “But Anderien is out of question. To tell the truth, I’m not entirely sure he could…”

Vědmi: (with a bit of “Creator’s Sense of Guilt” in her voice) “Mind what you’re saying, you could be in for a nasty surprise. He had certain moments in life where you wouldn’t want to get into his ha-“

(once again, another portal opens in the kitchen)

Vědmi: (bangs the table with her fist) “Oh come on now! What kind of manners is this, turning my kitchen into interchange…”

(out of the portal comes Yennefer; it doesn’t look like she’s in a good mood)

Vědmi: “… station. Mornin’?”

Erik: “Eeh… bonjour, madame Yennefer?”

Yennefer: “Where is he?!”

Vědmi: (immediately turns the posters blank side up and quickly tries to gloss over Geralt’s absence) “Honestly? We weren’t expecting you to come here so soon! I thought you were meant to arrive in the evening! And I’d take a guess Gery didn’t expect you so soon either… He went to… went to…”

Yennefer: “Well?!”

Erik: “To take a shower.”

Vědmi: “To get the flowers. (looks at Erik) (kind of desperately) Wait for a second, he said he’s going to take a shower right after the afternoon coffee!”

Erik: “You wait! He wanted to get the flowers when he’s done showering!”

Vědmi: “Uh-oh…”

Yennefer: “If only you weren’t driveling… I know very well what he’s been doing. When it comes to that half-witted bard, what else could they be up to? Invoking the djinn?!”

Vědmi: (snickers) “Yeah, gin was probably involved too.” (discreetly puts the pile of posters out of sorceress’ sight)

Yennefer: “What do you have here?”

Vědmi: “Eee… nothing. I was drawing… a bit…”

Yennefer: (takes a seat) “He was supposed to let me know after he’d left that party. Don’t look at me like this. After the pogrom in Rivia, I tend to worry about Geralt a lot more.”

Erik: “Our dear witcher didn’t think this through, I agree completely. But why didn’t you go to look for him – let’s say – at Kaer Morhen?”

Yennefer: “Do you suppose I didn’t already go there? At the first go! Wait, no. At the second go, actually. At first, I went to look for him at that Dandelion’s tavern in Novigrad. I almost caused Zoltan a heart attack. Nevertheless, they told me Geralt already left and sent me right to Kaer Morhen.”

Vědmi: “Now this is picking up speed. Do you want some coffee? Why am I asking, you do for sure. Black with milk, am I right?”

Yennefer: (curtly nods and continues) “When I saw how Eskel and Lambert came out of this event, I knew it wouldn’t be realistic to expect Geralt would be better off no matter how. There are only three places he tends to spend a lot of time at, and since your house is the last one I didn’t already check out, it would be a huge coincidence if he didn't come back here, either. (sighs) I’m going to lose my mind because of him one day.”

Erik: “I think you're a bit too severe on him.”

Vědmi: “Yeah, that poor fellow doesn’t really deserve this… today. I don’t want to defend him, he sure has a lot of imperfections, but I’m ready to vouch for him right now.”

Erik: “He probably just forgot to let you know, it happens even to the best of us… ehm…”

Vědmi: (pokes the phantom to the ribs) (under her voice) “Don’t overdo it, I bet there’s a lot of things you don’t want María to find out…”

Erik: (ignores Vědmi) “She’s babbling again, it happens a lot, don’t listen to her, it’s not worth it. But what did I want to say before she interrupted me? Ah, oui. Geralt forgot to let you know. And as I mentioned, it happens. See, a lot going on – I mean, there’s this anniversary of yours, his best friend is going to get married… And I admit, he did drink, indeed. But only a bit, and then he got back here quite early.”

Vědmi: (latches on Erik’s improvisation) “Masked weirdo over here’s right. You have not only one, but three witnesses of Geralt’s arrival!”

Yennefer: (slightly ironically) “It's not like I didn't believe what you two are saying, but where do you have the third one?”

Erik: “It’s Anderien Ettreasil, you must have heard of him.”

Yennefer: “That half-elven alchemist? Well, I sometimes do trade with him. Sure, he’s quite trustworthy, but..”

Vědmi: “Exactly! Right now, he and Gery are doing something down in the lab. (ostentatiously pretends to be offended) And they didn’t even let ME to join them! It’s gotta be some sort of surprise, believe me!"

(sound of the opened door can be heard; in a moment, Andy and Geralt are coming in the kitchen) (Geralt’s in a significantly better and more sober state than he was in after he got out of the portal)

Vědmi: “Great! And now there are all of us this situation applies to!”

Geralt: (expectably surprised) “Yen! What are you doing here? We weren’t expecting you to come here so soon…”

Erik: (gives Vědmi a wink) “Where did I hear this today?”

Yennefer: (stands up from the table, folds her arms) (surprisingly calmly) “Geralt of Rivia.”

Vědmi: (to Erik and Andy) (half seriously) “Uh-oh, she called him by his full name! All hell’s going to break loose!”

Yennefer: “I always thought you’re a self-dependent grown man. And that you know what does it mean when we agree on something.”

Geralt: (you can tell from his look that he wishes to be somewhere else)

Andy: “Well… I’d better be going, I’m not sure if I put the burner out…” (prepares to beat a retreat in a very diplomatic way)

Erik: “No, no, stay here. This is going to get interesting.”

Yennefer: (ignores all of the distractions and continues) “After all, I even believed you could even be responsible. And meanwhile, you're even worse than our daughter. She at least lets me know whenever she gets held up somewhere and knows when she's getting back home.”

Geralt: “But Yen…”

Yennefer: “Do I look like I finished speaking?! This one’s for disappearing and not letting me know about your whereabouts, leaving me worried sick!” (slaps Geralt)

(Geralt, because he knows he “earned” it, handles the slap with at least some dignity)

(two thirds of the onlookers, on the other hand, react greatly exaggerated)

Vědmi: (overacts covering her eyes) “Holy shiP!”

Erik: (with extremely false concern in his voice) “Oww, this might HURT!”

Yennefer: “And this one…”

(everyone’s getting for the worst – Vědmi even above her usual “fondness” towards other people’s misfortune)

Yennefer: (no one’s expecting her kissing Geralt on the same cheek where she slapped him before) “… is for your effort after all these years we’re together. I’m glad you didn’t forget our anniversary, and I greatly appreciate it. However (critically examines her dearest from tip to toe) that vomit stain on your shirt kind of ruins this moment.”

Andy: (to Geralt) “I was preparing to let you know.”

Yennefer: “It doesn’t matter right now. But I’m hoping you’ll smarten up until the evening. If not, Triss still owes me a bottle of wine, so I have an alternative program. (opens a new portal) See you later, Geralt. (steps into the portal and disappears)

(nothing much happens for a while)

Geralt: “Alright, I admit it, I tend to make mistakes. You can stop laughing, Vědmi.”

Vědmi: (wipes off tears from the previous fit of laughing) “Sorry. I… pfffhehe… I’m okay, yeah…”

Geralt: “So… first I’ll go to throw this (takes off the filthy shirt) into the laundry basket, and then…”

Erik: “Watch that fanservice, you’re going to kill our landlady.”

Vědmi: (blushes) “Tssk!”

Geralt: (chuckles and leaves the room with the shirt thrown over his shoulder)

(the not-so-early morning quickly regains its previous calmness; lonely trio goes back to their not-so-hot-anymore beverages)

(ANOTHER portal opens, and random young Nilfgaardian soldier falls out of it)

Vědmi: (swiftly stands up) “Oh, come on! Are you fookin’ kiddin’?!”

Random Nilfgaardian soldier: (glances around) “T-this isn’t Wyzima…?”

Erik: (sarcastically) “No way! How did you notice?”

RNS: (at the beginning of a panic attack) “By the Great Sun, this can’t be happening! What am I going to do now?! I don’t even know how and why that portal opened up right in front of me! General Voorhis is going to kill me once I got back! I…”

Andy: “Calm down, boy. I suppose we know general Voorhis. He’s about this tall, kinda ginger, likes horses…?”

Erik: “Oh wait, isn’t it the same ginger Nilfgaardian who tried to hit on our Vědmi?”

Andy: “But of course he is! (to RNS) Don’t worry, young friend, Vědmi will help you with your trouble. She and general Voorhis know each other VERY WELL! (unsuccessfully tries to hide a grin; Erik already gave up trying)”

Vědmi: (annoyed) “Cut it out, you two! I agreed to go out with him once for a glass of wine in Novigrad. ONCE! And you’re immediately making a mountain out of a molehill! And I wish I didn’t go there. He looked like he’s hoping we could repeat it some other time…”

Erik: (mockingly) “Exactly.”

RNS: (observes the conversation considerably confused)

Vědmi: (dramatically) “OK! Fine! I’ll do it! I’ll put myself out for greater good and explain it wasn’t a desertion nor treason! But the moment he starts to hit on me again, I’ll bite your heads off! (to RNS) And you – sit down for a moment, I still need to make myself look like at least half decent human being, and it’s going to take a while. Do you want some coffee?”

THE END

#geralt of rivia #yennefer of vengerberg #the witcher #the phantom of the opera #poto #erik the phantom #my ocs #anderien ettreasil #my alter ego #self insert #crack fic #multi crossover #my writing #i'm sorry for any mistakes #i just 'socially awkwarded' myself to hell #i definitely did #😅😅#the witcher fanfiction #poto fanfiction

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chipchopclipclop · 4 years

Note

Any ships for the Witcher?

I GOT ALOT

this WAS under a readmore BC TUMBLR LIKES TO BREAK WHEN YOU EDIT ASKS I GUESS bc it started to get embarrassingly long but im pretty much a multi shipper in any fandom or thing im into but also especially with geralt if hes involved bc i like to hc him as being in love with like…80 percent of the people he knows and is a hashtag #openrelationship king bc the way this game treats him being weirdly exclusive annoys the fuck out of me we, live in our city now.

geralt is involved

Geralt/Dandelion - ouch my dick ouch my balls the original brain dick pounding. I pretty much like any iteration of them with each other but no show geralt bc game geralt is superior in every way 2 me (PERSONAL PREF PLS NO FLAME (him with no beard is fucked up also)) i usually dont like the pair though if people depict dandy as some… naive pure waif or some such…. this man is a hoe and stupid through and through dont overlook this. its important.

I am also actually am a sucker for geralt singing his praises quietly fr no goddamn reason aside from hes infatuated with him and getting weirdly defensive about him and everyone else around him is just like. Christ. this is influenced by me never being able to pick the bully options when i was playing w3 ( i am whipped)

Geralt/Eskel/Lambert - soon as i knew they were more wolf witchers my brain entered a state of superflux. which means i followed them around making mooney eyes constantly, Im more fond of Geralt/Eskel leg of this ot3 bc they have such. old married couple energy and i am in love with Eskel but i love and respect our king lambert as well and he deserves a good ramming, DONT WE ALL? I REST MY CASE.

i also like to think like geralt, the two are pretty open relationship wise by nature tho i could say this about any of these characters bc i like poly hawhaw but something about witchers being seen as unemotional and unfeeling but these guys just having alot of love to give to each other and with others…poetry 😔

Geralt/Yennefer - i have complicated feelings on this pairing bc the show confounded me in how it happened and then it felt so faking weird in w3 bc of all the weird jealousy love triangle stuff i was forced to sit through as well as yen p much just calling me a dumbass donkey every hour before being like alright. time to fuck randomly. and it was executed bad. i didn’t like it and it was bad.

BUT. the potential here is still good and i like a cagey yennefer who finds it hard to trust opening up more slowly to geralt bc hes just like. straightforward…. i think their convo on the boat was kind of cute too… i think i just am really not into the THEY’RE TIED BY DESTINY TO EACH OTHER. LIKE. LITERALLY. aspect of their relationship especially when they seem to clash to hard against it. when she broke the wish with the djinn though and they were acting sweet with each other it made me kinda 🥺 uhu…. my goth wife….

i also dont mind these two deciding they work better together platonically as well though and being like, chummy exes lolol the ribbing that would entail…

Geralt/Yennefer/Dandelion - i think aqua gave me the idea for this but i am tickled by the thought of Dandelion landing himself TWO powerful beau’s who will step in to defend him from the stupid shite he gets himself into 24/7. Yennefer walking in front of him while he gets cussed out by someone just saying “Is there a problem?” smiling menacingly… does that not fuck…. i say it does !

i think her and dandelion’s relationship is just…..very funny and not dramatic so its very fun to think about even romantically. and also geralt is there and plays the beleaguered straight man.

Geralt/Regis - i am putting this here even if i have not finished blood and wine yet bc oh my godddddddddddddddddddddddddddd [smacks head with rock] also my first interaction with w3 was watching a friend play one of his quests with another friend and and all three of us go mad bc we were like IS THIS MEANT TO BE DRIPPING WITH SEXUAL TENSION AND INNUENDO. WHAT IS GOING ON. ARE WE LOSING IT. HELLO. we all deserve a big word speaking vampire boyfriend

Keira/Geralt - they are cute…. i dont need to defend myself….her being so pompous around him is so funny 2 me

Geralt/Zoltan - i like zoltan okay, actually these two have similar retired dad energy but zoltan is the one who makes them go out for date night still

Geralt/Zoltan/Dandelion - i am thinking about it i am thinking about it

edit: Yennefer/Eskel/Geralt/Lambert - poki put this idea in my head just now GEE YENNEFER HOW COME YOUR MOM LETS YOU SMASH THREE WITCHERS?

not geralt centric

Triss/Yennefer - oh my god they were schoolmates.png and yenn calling triss her best friend made me go hmmmghhh 🥺 also im sick of this series being like oh no my best friend slept with my boyfriend, DRAMA! they are also dating okay shut up #lovewins, i need to intake more witcher content to further solidify these two as a pair in my head but its on the agenda. i am looking. i am watching. WAITING.

Eskel/Dandelion - take my faves and smack them together like barbie dolls also dandelion having a type thats just - witcher is comedy gold on top of that? eskel being flattered a pretty dude like this is into him…cute

Ciri/That One Readhead Girl Whose Name I Forgot - you know in the quest where ciri asks you to come around with her in novigrad and help thank the people who helped her and one was the cute barmaid with freckles, they were so cute what the fuck it lasted all of 5 minutes and i cant stop thinking about it, ciri’s government assigned girlfriend (i am the government)

Regis/Dandelion - when i was walking around his sick basement in w3 he had a book that dandelion has written about him in there… and all it said was nice things… and regis kept it in clear view? much to consider… thinking on this….

Priscilla/Dandelion - these two…surprisingly wholesome… also god i love bards. i dont think about the end of the quest where she gets owned for no reason they’re just faking chilling in novigrad making bank. ALSO i still cant believe these two dont come with you when you’re forming the avengers crew to defend kaer morhen how r they gonna write about it if they arent there !!!!!!! let them sit in the rafters and throw bombs conspiratorially !!!!! smh !!!!!

Priscilla/Yennefer - think pris having a hero crush on yennefer is very cute… she meets her for the first time and her thoughts r just oh god shes even prettier than the song said she was [brain explodes into mush] also her singing about her when geralt rocks up dare i say gay activity ?

Keira/Lambert - find it very funny w3 was like ‘and then keira decided to pick up lambert to roam around with her like he’s some weird fucking stray cat whos hair she likes to fuss over’ also lambert being forced to behave around her scholarly friends lmfao

Dandelion/Everyone okay - this man be fucking

#IM PROBABLY MISSING SOME STILL BUT IDR THEM RN SO WAHOO !!!!!!!!!!!#i like alot of things pretty much welcome to my twistedmind multishipping hours activated #anonymous #chitter chatter

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terato-onlyfangs · 4 years

Text

Geralt x Regis: How they became to be and more

Warnings: Mostly fluff, some swearing

Wordcount: 1012

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Background:

Regis was stuck in layers of complex layers which forced him to stay in Toussaint. To his death and revival, a spell still holds onto him. The past- And no not his youth, I mean a little before his downfall. New friends he meets was the spell, collecting any books about or made from them.

The vampire is quite found of dandelions books, especially the ones with his songs. Dare I say his more favorite ones are the song of Geralt? I do, though he has learned more about humans through dandelions poems and songs, cannot help to miss the great white wolf.

Often he misses his small group of friends, deeply sadden that most had died but that drives his thoughts that some are still are alive. Life is precious at least for Mortals and now Regis truly understands that. But often he wonders if Geralt had grieved him, missed him and loved him even buy as a friend. Yet never had Regis tried to seek Geralt for the reason if what if Geralt wouldn't be happy to see him? Perhaps it was absurd. And he didn't want to leave Dettlaff either, how could he? He loves his blood brother and even though he is very confident Dettlaff would let him look for Geralt. Though his doubts and fears couldn't let him go. Besides he knows Geralt is fine by himself.

So seeing Geralt again, after all of this time that marched right away, and back in Toussaint was a lot to him. Maybe almost an overload in many ways. Broken but washed with excitement, relief, and a new emotion.

----

How they first come to be:

Once Geralt finds Dettlaff and lets him go, and Regis looking and after some time finding him. Regis does come by Geralt's place to update him that everything is fine.

It was supposed to be a quick thing- but no. Geralt hugged the vampire closely and inviting him in for a bite to eat. Which Regis couldn't say no to. After the meal and just drinking Geralt's new wine, even the one that was named after the witcher.

A cute moment happened as they tasted the wine, joking and softly being smartasses at each other. This leads Regis to confess his feelings for Geralt.... Well kind of. It was very coded, and as much as I like Geralt sometimes that just flies right by his head which isn't the only thing that stops him too. The witcher has a deep scar that makes him feel like he's not worthy of love. Regis relates in a way so he understands that scar. But yet he's subtle about his feelings, never going too deep. So after his slight confession, he leaves Geralt wishing him a good night.

Only when Geralt understands what Regis was trying to say when he was laying down. Already having a hard time sleeping because of his racing thoughts.

Well actually once he realizes what Regis said, he races on roach to the vampire's home. Catching Regis by surprise and attacking with a bear hug. Roll confessions off of the witcher's tongue. Things like he never forgot about Regis and was deeply saddened by his death. Hell, he had nightmares that truly fucked him up. Geralt just keeps opening up as they held onto each other, slight tears escaped here and there. But that night was a brand new start to something oddly beautiful.

Relationship headcanons:

Now I would like to start off, their lives would become a bit more domestic, but there's still going to be an adventure somewhere. Regis will actually be the one filling that and encouraging Geralt to have his fun. Even joining on some of the fun once and awhile. Maybe even setting some adventures up for his lover.

A lot of dates around cities even doing sweet things and helping others. Sometimes helping Dettlaff in many ways, but mostly helping him give out toys that he makes for the kids.

Regis moves most of his things into Geralt's underground Wine room. Filling it with herbs, books and so on. Oh definitely uses Geralt's Alchemy room, totally geeks out when he first saw it. Brewing potions is a passion that the two enjoy chatting about.

Also having that area to himself is great on Regis and to the both of them. Both enjoy some time to themselves. Also, Regis does go back to the cemetery to collect mandrake roots and other herbs.

Sometimes they'll have small dates just collecting herbs.

I can see the two talking about scars and tattoos to each other.

I totally headcanon Regis with tattoos over his body. Though Geralt probably stays bare but gets one raven tattoo on his shoulder or something.

Totally can see them hanging around tattoo shops at times.

/yes tattoos exist back then 😔/

They also just hang out in shops, libraries or any local friend parties.

Both don't really like to show much affection in public but you know that they are very close. It just shows. They'll definitely do some hand-holding, Regis is typically the first one to do that.

They enjoy a lazy day once in a while, just holding each other. Regis enjoying Geralt's heartbeat.

Geralt likes to tease and fluff Regis feathers which Geralt thinks is a very cute sight.

Regis definitely patches up Geralt. And Geralt does go to Regis for haircuts.

Regis goes to Geralt when he needs herbs, things at the store and some things that only monsters have. (Sometimes that's usually a set up because Geralt is being grumpy and he needs adventure)

Geralt doesn't join his tribe because he's well. A witcher which is awkward anyway. Though he does get to understand vampire culture, Regis the same with witcher culture. But! Geralt and Dettloff do become friends which relieves Regis greatly.

I just think they would be a very interesting couple, never truly leaving heroics deeds and continuing to spread kindness while they try to enjoy life too. Settle down, make some friends and love each other.

#emiel regis #geralt of rivia #geralt x regis #witcher 3 #witcher regis #the witcher #witcher fanfiction #witcher geralt #the witcher imagine #the witcher headcanons #Fluff

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gotarcher94 · 4 years

Text

The Witcher

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

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

(Also this will be a long post)

OK? OK

Henry Cavill

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

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

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

Anya Chalotra

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

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

Freya Allan

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

Geralt and Ciri

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

Queen Calanthe

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

Yennefer’s backstory

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

The Yennefer and Tissaia dynamic

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

The striga episode

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

Battle of Sodden

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

Vilgevortz

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

Jaskier

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

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

Music and Cinematography

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

Fight choreography

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

Magic

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

Cahir

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

Geralt and Visenna

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

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

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

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

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

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

1. Yennefer and Ciri meeting

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

3. Thanedd Island (eventually)

4. Zoltan!

5. Regis!

6. Vesemir!

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

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happywitch416 · 4 years

Text

Chapter 1: The full-orbed moon with unchanged ray mounts up the eastern sky,

Regis noticed the woman his first night at Mère-Lachaiselongue Cemetery. The moon had fully risen, her pale skin and light-colored dress glowing beneath it. He watched silently as she carefully picked her way through the gravestones. Occasionally, her hand would reach out to gently pat one while she smiled fondly. When she came to the break in the trees that flowed down to the lake she took a seat on one of the wider ones. She simply sat and listened to the night, her voice lilting softly on the wind at times. She stayed until the moon was at its zenith before she left, making her way carefully and without fear.

She came almost every night, only when it rained was she nowhere to be seen. He kept his distance, someone seeking peace in a cemetery in the night was someone who wanted to be left in peace. Regardless, Regis was drawn to her like a moth to flame.

The woman's head cocked his direction. "I am not a terrible wraith seeking her vengeance, stranger." She turned towards him with a smile. Her eyes were white, like the moonlight that shone down but without the shadows of the moon itself. "The only threat I pose is accidentally standing on your feet."

"You are a mysterious woman then, to wander in the dark and not be a threat." She laughed as he joined her, standing just out of her line of sight.

"Perhaps I am the Lady of the Lake, come to test your chivalry." She said with a mischievous grin. "Alas, I am only Amelia."

"Amelia, a lovely name. I am Regis."

Ameli cocked her head again, staring at him intently. "My eyes may not see, and it is not often someone can sneak up on me. Are you perhaps Regis the assassin? A wraith? Not a bandit." She made a face. "You can smell them long before you hear them."

He chuckled. "Just quiet."

"Hmm." She patted the stone next to her. "Well, Regis the Quiet." She broke into that mischievous grin again. "Have a seat. It's not often I have company during my ramblings."

He settled beside her. "The dead don't offer much conversation."

She shook her head. "Which is why I visit them." She scowled. "The palace is full of endless noise and smells, everything moving. The dead stay still and silent."

"And smell?"

She shrugged. "Most of the time it's not terrible. Besides." A small smile appeared. "Anything smells better then the perfume some ladies douse themselves in. If they went too close to a candle they'd catch fire. And out here." She gestured about them. "They'd rather set themselves on fire then come here, much less with Lady Moonblind."

"I have not heard that surname before."

She made a derisive noise. "Nor shall you again since I am the one and only. And nothing takes the sting out of their venom quite like embracing their attempt at being awful." She sighed wistfully. "Just once I would like to see them squirm when I am announced, Lady Amelia Moonblind." She shrugged. "They are not terribly creative with insults. The Sightless. The Unseeing. Clouded Oracle. So many possibilities and that was their best." She gave a disappointed shake of her head.

"Are you truly blind?"

She grinned. "Mostly, I wasn't always. I see." She thought a moment, feet swinging. "Greys, like fog. There are vague shapes but nothing more. No features. People I see their auras mostly. Which is jarring at times." She looked at him again. "Yours is nice, greys and blacks with little swirls of red."

"Most do not find those colors comforting."

"Most do not see the daylight as a blazing fire of death and suffering.” She deadpanned. “They can keep their opinions." He laughed with her.

"How do you come this far alone? Practice?"

She nodded. "Mostly. My mother died when I was young." She patted the stone they sat on. "The same sickness that took my sight. My governess brought me here every day. My father." She gave a dismissive wave of her hand. "Exists in his office and leaves me to myself. I prefer it that way."

"Now." She gave a single nod of her head. "You do not fear the night then."

"Men are the only true monsters in this world and there is nothing they fear more than death and the dead." She told him tartly before shaking her head. “Enough about me. Why are you wandering a cemetery in the dead of night, Regis? Surely you are not also escaping the palace, or avoiding it altogether.”

“I am here to meet a friend.”

“Ah.” She looked down at her hands. “Shall I leave then? Your voice makes it sound like this meeting is dire.”

“That I do not know. He has yet to appear.”

She nodded. “If he is in the city I could ask him to meet you? No one notices me asking strange questions of strange people, it is part of my position.”

“Which is?”

“Official busybody of the Duchess’s court.” Her grin turned mischievous at the change of his posture, nose crinkling. “That is what those dreadful little parrots are for. I am simply a gatherer of songs that her Ladyship may enjoy. Unofficially, of course, no proper noble would be found amongst the no ones learning bawdy tavern songs and equally risque tales. Much less returning to tell them to her Ladyship.”

“Yet you do not like the noise of the palace.”

She gave him a look, brows arching with the quirk of her mouth. “People are honest about their lies in a tavern, the same cannot be said for courtiers. If their mouth moves, they are lying.”

“I will take that into consideration while hearing your words, Lady Amelia.”

Something akin to a snort left her. “Only Amelia. You will just have to see if anything I say is true then, won’t you?”

The silence settled comfortably around them for a time, Amelia quietly humming on of Dandelion’s ballads. “Dandelion would be honored to know his songs are still sung in the Duchy.”

“Well, only when you are not around Anarietta.” She made a face. “To say she is still angry at that man would be an understatement of the highest order. But.” She smiled. “If you know the Bard Dandelion and are waiting in Mère-Lachaiselongue to meet someone, you must be waiting for Geralt of Rivia.”

“Geralt is in Toussaint?”

She shook her head. “Not yet. Anarietta has summoned him though, she sent out two knights to retrieve him and left a notice at every crossroads on the Continent.” She continued softly. “She seeks his aid for the murders, much to de La Tour’s chagrin.” She cocked her head, studying him. “He is not the friend you seek, is he?”

“No, but he is a friend nonetheless.”

Amelia nodded before looking skyward. “I hope your friend finds you, Regis. Alas, I must call our evening to a close, if I am not back soon my bedeviled knight of a brother will come banging his sword insufferably.” She stood and curtseyed with a soft smile. “It was a pleasure to have met you, Regis. Perhaps, our rambles will allow us to converse again.”

He took her hand and bowed low over it. “It would be my pleasure, Lady Amelia.”

She shook her head with a chuckle. “Only Amelia.”

Moonblind Master List

#the witcher #the witch writes #my dudes i am stoked #moonblind

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riviae · 4 years

Text

so this is long & rambly but i’ve been working on this for awhile now.... anyway, starts out very introspective!regis-y but becomes geralt/regis fluff real quick lol. hope y’all enjoy:

Before crossing paths with a witcher who proved himself to be a man worth following into the very jaws of death, the seasons hadn’t meant much to Regis.

He knew the cycle of things--life and death, warmth and cold, planting and harvesting--but he was an outsider to these things just as everything else on the Continent. Time passed. Wars were fought. Blood was shed. Empires rose and fell. All the while, Regis remained, burdened by an immortal life lived alone. To take part in humanity, to love it to some extent, but disappear into the shadows when a curious eye took interest in him. When a hand reached out--something that rarely occurred, unless holding a sword, pitchfork, or torch--he knew it was time to pack up and leave, lest he get too attached.

Self-preservation, for higher vampires, was confined to the affairs of the heart and the mind--their bodies were not in danger of ruin, but memories and emotions were often ruinous for his kind.

Yet, whatever contentment he could find as a bystander to the world’s happenings and goings was dashed the moment he met Geralt. All those years ago, Regis had fled from Dillingen to his home in Fen Carn, a cottage in the midst of an elven cemetery, in an attempt at avoiding the ever-encroaching war.

And in perhaps the same cosmically infinitesimal chances of the Conjunction of Spheres occurring, Regis’ entire life changed at the sight of milk-white hair and amber cat-like eyes. He stepped out of his hiding spot, brushed away the stray leaves that clung to his clothes, and faced his destiny with a reserved, tight-lipped smile.

He’s a witcher, Regis thought, the wolf medallion at the man’s sternum sparking a tiny flame of uneasiness in the vampire’s gut. Then, a more logical thought followed: I’ve always wanted to meet a witcher under amicable circumstances and now, here one is, practically at my doorstep. What luck!

As his journey with Geralt and the hansa continued, as they traveled and fought, bled and healed, wintered in a land akin to a fairytale, Regis had a startling realization. Something had thawed inside him and he was fairly certain it was the stirrings of love. Like a change in season, like the subtle shift from winter to spring, where one wakes in the morning and sees that all the snow has seemingly melted in the night, unaware of the slowly melting ice with each sunny day until it was completely gone, so Regis was caught unaware by what he felt for the hansa--by what he felt for Geralt in particular.

Just how far would he go for these humans? How much would he sacrifice for these flickering beacons of light, here one moment, gone in the next? It was the ghost of himself--the monster he once was--that would have asked these questions. But the Emiel Regis Rohellec Terzeiff-Godefroy of the present loved his friends even more for their fragility, their tenacity in the face of a world that seemed at the ready to send them into an early grave. Love, he decided, staring at the smiling faces of the hansa at their breakfast table in Beauclair Palace, was a good enough reason to die for--and a good enough reason to live for, when he was on the cusp of nothingness. When any other sentient being would have longed for death in the throes of agony, Regis held on. For them.

Memories spilled from his head at the first touch of magic-touched flames, nails clawing helplessly at the air. Fear burned him alive, ate away at his flesh until nothing but a pillar of ash remained. It was a pain worse than anything he had felt before--worse than anything he could have ever fathomed. He was neither alive nor dead, but something grotesquely stuck in the middle, unable to pass on to the comforting abyss of oblivion.

Between the coldness of fear and not-death, between the pain of a body futilely attempting to regenerate from nothing, Regis did find some respite. He dreamed. And dreamed. And dreamed. He was transported to memories of the past, and while some were happier than others, even the painful recollections felt better than the aching emptiness that threatened to swallow his consciousness whole.

Angouleme’s encouraging laughter whenever he used one of her... unique phrases. A warning pinch from Milva when he veered too far off topic, followed by an apologetic, but brief pat of his hand. A comfortable silence between himself and Cahir as they stayed up to guard the group during the night, sharing a small tincture of mandrake hooch to pass the time. Dandelion’s rapt attention to Regis’ stories, one time so transfixed that he caught his sleeve on fire as they all sat around the campfire and didn’t even notice. Geralt telling him about Ciri, voice warm, eyes crinkled in a rare unguarded expression of fondness.

He thought back on his journal entries, the once severe, cerebral scrawl now sprinkled with mentions of the hansa.

Angouleme somehow stole a dozen baguettes from the last tavern we stopped at and took only a quarter of one for herself before distributing the rest to the unfortunate people living in the slums of the city--and I never would have noticed (her prowess as a bandit is not something to be dismissive of, regardless of her youth) if she hadn’t also tried to search through my satchel while I “slept” in the hopes of finding olive oil to spread over her bread. For a child raised by cruelty, her morals are far better than mine when I was her age--or, rather, when I was developmentally at her age. Well, better in certain respects. She’s been quite a menace to the echelon of Toussaint...

Milva means to show me how to hunt like humans do, meaning that I must learn how to be an archer. I don’t have much skill with human weapons--for nothing is as deadly as a pair of claws or teeth built to pierce and bleed flesh--but I will try my best all the same. Perhaps after this we can continue our reading lessons. For as much as she bemoans academics and learning for the sake of learning (as in things not readily helpful in her everyday survival), she is a naturally charming and brilliant pupil. Her “common sense,” as Angouleme often calls it, has kept us from harm plenty of times--which is why her ability as a student doesn’t surprise me. Now, if only she would stop climbing up a tree whenever our lessons start to bore her...

Cahir, to my surprise, has taken on the role of doing the laundry for the group. Granted, we all have very few vestments to spare, but what clothes we do have that can reasonably benefit from a soak, Cahir takes and washes in the lake. Which, while I appreciate the sentiment immensely, I still found myself mildly panicked when I went to dress in the morning and my trousers were nowhere to be found. The man is quite young, probably no more than twenty-two years, but he has an old soul, as the saying goes. I would not be surprised if he finally grows sick of war, having grown up in an Empire where bloodshed is the status quo, and decides to make his living as a fisherman or farmer after we reunite Geralt with his ward. I sincerely hope that he gets the chance.

Dandelion, ever the poet, has shown me his latest ballad. And imagine my surprise when I realized it was about me despite my immense caution on writing anything regarding higher vampires at all. It’s incredibly vapid--a shame, since he is quite the wordsmith when not preoccupied by romantic affairs--but I admit, if it were published, it would become popular within a week. He took the story of my youth and twisted it into something nearly unrecognizable, save for the titular character being named Rex. A two-crown romance with the nominative case of my name attached... perhaps this is a caution to everyone: never make friends with a writer if you value your privacy.

Geralt dozed off beside me with his head on my shoulder. Now, him sleeping close to me is not all that uncommon--we spent many nights as a company huddled around a dwindling campfire together. What was uncommon was that he sought me out--practically barged into my room--to take his late afternoon nap... all the while I remained as still as a statue, attempting to process the sudden show of affection. Toussaint had softened Geralt in a way, so much in fact, that he apparently saw no harm in falling asleep next to a higher vampire, his swords still leaning in the corner of his room. I don’t think I’ll ever tire of his unusual straightforwardness. Where others might embellish their words, dress them up (or down) to suit their agenda, Geralt forgoes words entirely, instead letting his actions speak with a refreshing honesty. I heard the “I trust you, Regis,” as clear as day.

He thought back to all the times were his cowardice had kept him from voicing his feelings and it paralleled to his past, as if he were the same blood-abusing fiend of his youth. Centuries had passed and glimpses of the same shy, timid vampire who drank blood to be accepted, to make friends, only to lose himself in addiction, still rose to the surface. Blood was no longer a problem, but the fear of otherness, of being ostracized by those he cared about, still tempered his actions. And he was absolutely tired of it.

It was then that Regis made a vow to himself: If I live, If I become whole again, I will tell him the truth. He got his chance almost a decade later, when he was as whole as anyone could be after regenerating from nothing but dust and a drop of blood.

After Dettlaff was placated, no longer a danger to himself or others, Regis visited Geralt at Corvo Bianco. It was summer then, a season that saw him at the witcher’s door just as the last of the rows of sunflowers turned towards the sunlight in the midday heat.

He knocked on the front door, politeness dictating his actions. A disheveled witcher opened the door, familiar cat-eyes widening marginally at the sight of Regis, as close to a slack-jaw moment of surprise as anyone were bound to get from Geralt.

“Expecting someone else?” Regis teased, clutching the strap of his satchel as he crossed the threshold into Geralt’s home. He gave a cursory glance about the homestead--it had been decorated fairly well since the last time he visited to drop off the mutagenerator. In fact, the interior was downright cozy, a far cry from what he imagined a witcher keep to look like.

No matter what Geralt says, his years spent on the Path have influenced him. Only someone who expects to wake in the morning would bother to decorate their home--or to have a home at all.

The witcher shook his head, long, tangled locks spilling over his shoulders as he scratched tiredly at his beard. “Wasn’t expecting anyone. Thought if it was you though that you’d let yourself in.”

Regis held his tongue, wanting nothing more than to sit Geralt down and trim his beard. He knew from their time with the hansa that the witcher preferred to be clean-shaven, but hated trimming it himself. The vampire pushed the thought aside. “While I could have simply misted through your window, I didn’t wish to give you a fright.”

“How considerate,” Geralt said, voice rough but teasing. “You chose to wake me instead of letting yourself in.”

“I assumed you’d be awake. I didn’t realize that respectable vineyard owners slept in until noon.”

Geralt rolled his eyes at the well-natured jab before walking to his room, leaving the door open behind him. Regis remained in the foyer, focusing his attention on the rather impressive collection of witcher armor that Geralt had acquired. Yet, his supernatural hearing made it impossible not to eavesdrop to some extent; he heard the rustling of fabric and the soft thud of an article of clothing hitting the wooden floor.

“Hey, Regis,” Geralt drawled.

“Yes?” he replied a beat too quickly, turning towards the open door.

“...Gonna get in here? Or do I need to invite you into every room?”

Scrambling somewhat, the vampire entered just as Geralt tugged a clean white linen shirt over himself. At meeting the witcher’s gaze, the man gave a wide grin. “You came at a good time. I’ve actually got something for you. But close your eyes first.”

“Geralt, what are you--”

“Shh. Close your eyes and hold out your hands.”

A brief flash of fond irritation flickered in Regis’ expression as he gave a long sigh, but obeyed, shutting his eyes. He listened to the tempo of Geralt’s heart-rate, the usual slow and steady rhythm having quickened by a few beats. Ah, so he’s excited, Regis mused. Even witcher mutations couldn’t rob him of the biochemistry of his sympathetic nervous system. Then, a sour thought: I hope this isn’t the last time I get to witness such a jovial mood.

The sound of his heartbeat grew stronger as the man approached, some sort of fabric draped in his arms, if the rustling earlier was any indication. Gently, Geralt placed the mystery item in Regis’ arms and backed away, the old floorboards creaking under his weight.

“Happy birthday, Regis.”

The vampire opened his eyes to see Geralt smiling warmly at him. Peering down, he couldn’t stop the look of absolute surprise upon his features, mouth agape.

“This is...” Regis trailed, fingers running delicately over the soft fabric, briefly pausing to rub his thumb against the black fur which lined the inside.

“It’s not the exact cloak, given what happened at Stygga Castle,” Geralt paused, briefly wincing at the horrid memory, “But I thought you’d appreciate a new one.”

Regis opened his mouth and then immediately closed it, unable to find the words to express how much the gift meant to him. You remembered... years passed and you still remembered.

“I know you can’t feel heat or cold like humans do, but...” he shrugged, a hint of sheepishness in his posture, a hand rising up to rub at the back of his neck. “It’s been weird not seeing you with one. You never took that damn thing off so I thought it must have meant something to you.”

“Geralt,” Regis finally replied once he found his voice again. It was the only warning he gave before the vampire laid the cloak on the bed and moved to seize the witcher in a tight embrace.

Geralt looped his arms around Regis’ back in return, chuckling. He made no attempt at ending the embrace even as the time spent pressed together stretched on. “So... guessing you liked the gift, huh?” he finally asked, leaning into the gentle swaying of their bodies.

When Regis spoke, it was barely past a whisper, but Geralt heard him all the same. “Thank you. Thank you for listening to me--for knowing me. Thank you, above all else, for being my friend.”

“I think I should be thanking you. All I got you was a cloak--but you helped bring Ciri home. Almost gave up your life. Can’t imagine that... risking your immortality for someone like me.”

“Geralt,” Regis started, pulling away to stare the witcher in the eyes, expression serious, “You are exactly the kind of person that inspires sacrifice. You have a noble heart and, despite your best attempts at proving otherwise, it is a heart full of compassion for others. I know you would have done the same if our roles had been reversed.”

The witcher was silent then. When he finally managed a response, he did so while clasping Regis’ shoulder. It was something the vampire had noticed ever since meeting Geralt again--the man was more tactile than he’d been before his regeneration. As if he was making sure that Regis was real. Alive. Of flesh and bone. Not something that would crumble at his touch or slip through his fingers like a ghostly apparition.

“I don’t know if I deserve your kind words, Regis. i haven’t always been... noble. There are things I haven’t told you about. Things that pertain to you.” At this, Geralt’s grip on his shoulder faltered and he pulled away suddenly, as if he were expecting to be hurt. “Truth is, I’ve been keeping a secret.”

Regis blinked in surprise, a retort resting on the tip of his tongue, but he paused. He noticed, for the first time, that Geralt did look genuinely nervous. Geralt had never looked nervous in his presence--at least not because of Regis. The thought left a sour taste in his mouth all the same.

The vampire took a step forward. If Geralt was also planning to tell him a long-kept secret, then he wanted to tell his own confession first. While he still had the courage to do so. “I too have kept something from you, Geralt. I hope we can still remain as close as we were after this... revelation, if you will. But I understand if you’d prefer some time away from me afterwards.”

“I doubt there’s anything you could say that would make me want you to keep your distance, Regis. Not after Stygga.”

Regis gave an attempt at a half-hearted chuckle. “Hearing you say that really warms my heart--especially the certainty in your voice--but I’m afraid that what I need to say will change the course of our relationship, for better or worse. You see, Geralt, I’m... quite fond of you.”

“I’m fond of you as well...” Geralt replied, confusion twisting his features. “Is that really your big secret?”

“Oh, for the love of--” Regis cut himself off, reaching instead with one hand to encircle Geralt’s wrist while the other cupped Geralt’s cheek. “I love you, you stubborn witcher. I’ve loved you for awhile now, really. Even before Stygga. You’re incredibly easy to fall in love with, though I see now that you’re completely oblivious to this trait.”

Regis’ hold was gentle, light--something Geralt could easily pull away from if he wished to. But he didn’t. Staring into his own reflection within the coal black of the vampire’s eyes, Geralt closed the gap between them, answering Regis’ confession with his own: a kiss.

Between kisses, Geralt paused, huffing out a short breath. “...You know, I’m feeling like a fool for not telling you that I loved you sooner, Regis.”

“Likewise. Which is not something I feel all that often.”

At this, they both laughed before resting their foreheads against each other. It had been a long road to this--to love--but it was well-earned. Later, Regis’ cloak found a home within a closet in Corvo Bianco. Though the weather in Toussaint was rarely cold enough to warrant a fur-lined cloak, Regis wore it as often as he could, but Geralt left an empty hanger in the closet all the same--just in case.

Seasons hadn’t meant much to Regis... but now, watching the morning sunlight from the bedroom window pool against the witcher’s back, he felt a tug of warmth at the first touch of Fall, at the chance of donning his cloak and the memory of the day it was gifted to him. He didn’t want to replace the painful memories, the memories of those he loved but lost, but he also knew that somewhere, surely, Milva, Cahir, and Angouleme were smiling down at them. And that was a sense of peace with his past that he wouldn’t trade for the world.

#geralt of rivia #emiel regis #tfw ur both in love but too oblivious to pick up the cues from the other person #& also take almost an entire decade to confess to each other #i swear they're both really smart intuitive ppl but put them together & it's like they have one brain cell #regis: i like you #geralt: oh i like you too. we're friends so that makes sense #regis: .....oh my god #geralt doesn't realize how easy he is to love & that's just sad™#this is basically really sad hansa thoughts that evolve into fluff w/ geralt/regis bc i have two settings & that's angst & pure happiness #so uhh yeah it really be like that sometimes #apologies for the emotional whiplash lmao #edit: i forgot the geralt/regis tag on this post alskdjfsfds #geralt/regis

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jaskierswolf · 4 years

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The Grass is Greener Pt.1/3

Summary: Jaskier's mother is coming to stay and his garden is an absolute mess and his lawn mower has seen better days... luckily for him his ridiculously hot neighbour is there to lend a hand.

Geraskier

CW: Shitty parents being shitty.

(Prompted by @alwenarin and based on this post by @infinite-mirrors)

________

Jaskier stared forlornly out at his garden. His mother was due to come over on her yearly visit and the next few days of his life were going to be hell. His mother was the sort to blast into his life like a fucking tornado, pull apart everything that he had built for himself and leave him broken, shattered into a thousand shards of glass. He wasn’t even sure why he still let her in, probably some childhood trauma that meant he was desperate to please her, to make her proud, but what did he know? He wasn’t a therapist, much to her displeasure. Anything would have been better in her eyes than a musician and occasional bartender.

He didn’t make much money. His band hadn’t taken off yet and only really had a small but dedicated following online that donated pocket money in exchange for small previews of new tracks or little poems that could be given to lovers or in greetings cards. Most of his rent was paid for in the tips he made at the bar. He was lucky to have the house at all really. He shared it with his housemates: Priscilla, his bandmate and ex, Essi, her younger sister, Valdo Marx, his former schoolmate, professional rival and absolutely twat face who lurked in his attic room and never really came out to talk to them, and last but not least, Regis, a kind scholarly type who had been living in the house before the other rooms had become available and most importantly made excellent homemade gin.

Said housemates had agreed to fuck off for the weekend so he could pretend that the house was his in a last ditched attempt win over his mother.

Of course, none of them had helped to tidy up before leaving and he’d spent the last twenty-four hours deep cleaning the house, and bolting the door to Regis’s bathroom shut. The gin in the bathtub wasn’t ready to bottle yet and he wasn’t exactly going to drain the tub of his elixir. He’d moved the furniture in his friend’s rooms around enough to make it look like they weren’t extra bedrooms, more… rooms that just happened to have beds in case he had company. Priscilla’s room now resembled a music room, Essi’s room had been turned into a makeshift study, Valdo’s he’d left a mess and claimed it was just an attic, and Regis’s room was sort of a library if you squinted hard enough.

That just left the garden.

“Bollocks!” He moaned.

None of them really cared much about the garden, apart from the box down the end which housed Regis’s herb garden for cooking. The rest of the garden a mess. The grass was practically a wild meadow filled with weeds. He quite liked it. He enjoyed looking at the dandelions, daisies and buttercups but his mother would have a fit.

Where was he even going to start?

Lawnmower. They must have one. He stumbled through his back door onto the patio and made his way to the shed that honestly barely lived up to its name. It was falling apart and leaked horrendously, but luckily inside was one rusty looking lawnmower.

“Bingo!” He grinned and pulled the mower out of the shed. It was heavier than it looked but luckily Jaskier was also stronger than he looked. Even so he wasn’t entirely how he was going to start the damn thing.

Perhaps Geralt would know…

Fuck.

Geralt.

Geralt had just adopted a newborn baby. Her name was Ciri. Most of the time Geralt just called her ‘Cub’ which Jaskier found to be incredibly endearing, a fact that had nothing to do with his teensy little crush on the mechanic.

He pulled up Geralt’s number in his phone. He’d been delighted when Geralt had given him his number, yes maybe it was because Jaskier kept turning up at Geralt’s doorstep after shifts at work because he’d forgotten his keys and none of his bastard housemates were answering the door and Geralt just happened to have a spare key, but the main thing is he had Geralt’s number.

After that they’d conversed a few times over text. Mostly if one of them was running to the shops and wanted to know if the other needed anything. Occasionally Geralt would text to ask Jaskier if he could watch Ciri for a short while if Geralt needed to leave the house. Once Geralt had even given him a lift to work because Jaskier’s bike had gotten a flat tire and he didn’t have enough time to walk all the way to the bar. So they weren’t exactly strangers but he wouldn’t really call them friends.

In fact Geralt was still listed as Hot Neighbour in his phone. He meant to change it, it was just that you couldn’t argue with the truth. Geralt was his hot neighbour.

J —Hey Geralt! Is it ok if I mow my lawn? I don’t want to wake Ciri if she’s asleep. :)

He stared at his phone intently until about an eternity later, Geralt replied.

G — The child must not be an obstacle.

Jaskier snorted as he read the response. He read it aloud a couple of times trying to mimic Geralt’s rough husky voice and managed to give himself the giggles.

His phone buzzed again.

G — I can hear you laughing at me.

“Oh shit!” He almost dropped his phone and his cheeks felt like they were on fire. “Sorry Geralt!” He called into the air.

G— Hmm.

Jaskier scoffed. Who text back “Hmm”? And why did Jaskier still find that so attractive?

But never mind that! He had the green light. Operation Finally Make His Mother Proud, or FMHMP for short, and yes you could absolutely say that if you tried hard enough, was go! He was going to mow the lawn like a proper adult!

He tried for about six years to turn the mower on but without any success. He kicked the lawnmower in frustration and the whole damned thing fell apart.

“Fuck it!” He yelled as he hopped about on his good foot that hadn’t been battered by lawnmower.

He sulked back into the house and flopped down dramatically on the sofa. It was over. His mother was going to hate him and he would die as a disgrace to the Pankratz name and the Lettenhove estate.

He was half way through his pity party when the doorbell rang. He grabbed his phone to check the time. Strange, his mother wasn’t due for another three hours.

“What the fuck?” He mused and padded over to the door. To his surprise Geralt was standing on his doorstep with Ciri tucked safely into a baby sling on his chest and behind him was a shiny lawnmower. “Ah. Geralt!” He grinned.

Geralt turned to the lawnmower and back to him. “Thought you might need some help.”

Jaskier blushed. “Right. Yes. Of course. Come on in!” He stood back to let Geralt through. “Oh, actually do you want to come round the side gate? The lawnmower probably shouldn’t come through the house. I’ve just cleaned up.”

Geralt grunted but followed Jaskier around the side of the house and into the back garden.

“What the fuck, Jaskier?” He grumbled when he saw the state of the lawn. “I thought you said you were mowing the lawn, not trying to find it!”

“Ah, yes, well. That is an excellent point.” Jaskier stammered, pulling at the hem of his shirt nervously. “You see my mother is visiting.”

Geralt raised an eyebrow. “Your mother, how old are you? Twelve?”

Jaskier gaped at his neighbour. “Geralt!” He whined. “I’m twenty-nine! Mother is just a cow.”

“Hmm. Fine. Let’s do this.” Geralt pulled Ciri gently out of her sling and passed her to Jaskier. “Hold her. I need to grab her stuff. This will take longer than I thought.”

“Oh hang on!” Jaskier called after Geralt but it was too late and Ciri began to cry. “Umm. There there.” He cooed and rocked her gently. “Shall I sing you a lullaby, cub?”

She didn’t answer, babies rarely did, so he decided a lullaby would be fine and began to sing in hushed tones as he rocked her in his arms. Geralt wasn’t long but he seemed surprise to come back to Jaskier rocking his daughter to sleep in his arms.

“Hmm. She likes you.” Geralt noted.

He was carrying Ciri’s car seat and a bag was slung over his shoulder. In his other hand was a large electric contraption with some nasty blades at the end. He dumped the scary looking monster and placed the travel cot on the patio table. Once Ciri was safely asleep they got to work.

Or more accurately, Geralt got to work. Jaskier mostly just watched and made sure Geralt had all the refreshments he needed. He also kept the conversation going by listing all the grievances his mother had with him from her last visit, Geralt hummed and grunted but didn’t offer much in return but it didn’t matter. Jaskier was more than capable of holding an entire conversation by himself.

“And then she starts wittering on about how my sister has a perfect husband and a darling little angel.” Jaskier moaned. “So of course then it’s ‘Julian why don’t you have a wife?’”

“Julian?” Geralt asked.

Jaskier glared at his neighbour. “Don’t ever call me that, I beg of you.”

Geralt shrugged. “I won’t. Just asking.”

“And I tell her, for the hundredth time, to say partner or spouse or lover or you know… not gender specific because she knows! Geralt! She knows. I don’t know how many times I have to tell her.” Jaskier sighed. “Oh, umm I’m bisexual just to give you some context there.”

Geralt nodded. “Right.”

“So of course she starts complaining that I always have to make everything gay, and I’m like… ‘Mother, I am gay!’” Jaskier announced with wide arms.

Geralt looked up at him, pausing halfway down the lawn that was now starting to resemble a lawn. “So why not tell her you’re seeing someone?” He asked. “Solve both problems if you say it’s a guy.”

Jaskier put his hands on his hips and tilted his head. “Yeah.” He scoffed. “Until she asks to meet him.”

Geralt shrugged. “I could do it.”

Jaskier’s heart jumped in his chest. “You what? Geralt!”

“My ex has been bothering me about finding someone.” He grumbled. “Two birds, One stone.”

Jaskier narrowed his eyes at his insanely hot neighbour who was now apparently suggesting they… fake date??

“What exactly are you suggesting here?” Jaskier asked slowly. “You pretend to be my boyfriend for my mother’s visit and we what? Send a few photos to your ex to prove you’re moving on?”

Geralt smirked. “As long as you promise not to fall in love with me.”

Jaskier’s jaw dropped.

Well fuck. _______

#the witcher #geraskier #geraskier fanfiction #geralt of rivia #jaskier pankratz #geralt x jaskier #jaskier x geralt #geralt/jaskier #cirilla fiona elen riannon #ciri #dad geralt #surprise fake dating #I could be persuaded to write a second part #let me know if you want part 2 #Update there will now be three parts #ask and you shall receive #the grass is greener

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unpopularly-opinionated · 4 years

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I finished the Witcher books finally and my non-spoiler thoughts are it was a fucking amazing series. It’s definitely taken 1st place as my new favorite fantasy series (which used to be Seven Realms but TBH the sequel to Seven Realms, Shattered Realms really fucked up badly and made it hard to feel the same about Seven Realms).

I definitely recommend it. One of the things I like the most about his style of writing, that I believe I mentioned in my last post regarding the books, is his use of repetition. But while before I mentioned how he uses it as a stylistic choice to get a point across or be funny, I didn’t mention how he also just straight up repeats some things for you but not in an awkward way. It’s really helpful for someone who has a shit memory like me that he’s constantly repeating names of characters (of which there are hundreds), events that transpired, and critical bytes of information.

I was also gladly surprised at how funny it could be at times. Not many books make me laugh, but these books did numerous times.

All in all, 15/10. Definitely will read again later at some point. I still have Season of Storms to read, which sadly doesn’t continue the story, but once I’m through with that I’m moving onto the Metro books.

Some uh...colourful thoughts and spoilers below...

Fuck me I’m so fucking sad. Jesus fucking fuck fuck Christ that ending was so sad. Everyone fucking dies. We get a fucking montage of “here is everyone who died” EXCEPT REGIS I SHOULD MENTION BECAUSE FUCK HIM APPARENTLY.

Like what the fuck, actually. Why was Regis left out of the montage? Even Coral got a fucking mention, and she dies like waaay back in book 2 and was largely unimportant. Is it just because he’s a vampire so like...what? He went to Hell? There’s no explanation for that, at all. And he gets snubbed twice which means it wasn’t just a coincidence. Dandelion doesn’t see him, and Ciri doesn’t even mention him when she’s telling her fake ending to Galahad. I’m just mad cause Regis was literally my favourite of the party and I was nearing distraught when he died, even though I kind of knew he’d die because of the prophecy, albeit not exactly that way.

Also, and maybe this is just me not understanding how the human body works I guess, but they said that Geralt died of a heart attack but in the end he died from a trident being thrown into his chest. Like I got the whole “killed by three teeth” thing, because tridents have three teeth, so that prophecy came true, but the preface before the final chapter said heart attack but that wasn’t a heart attack.

And then Yennefer just fucking like kills herself or something. And then Ihuraqux shows up and I legit thought they were gonna pull some “unicorns can cure death” nonsense out of their ass or something which would’ve been bullshit but fuck it I want them to live so I’d be okay with it, but no that was it at all. I’m not even sure why he showed up to be entirely honest. Just to remind Ciri that she can fuck off to other dimensions whenever she wants I guess?

I will say that I have uncertain feelings about the end-end of the series. Like I totally get Ciri going to other worlds and what not, but it’s just weird that she ends up in what I guess is meant to be our world or something where Galahad, King Arthur, and Camelot exist. Like I get that a lot of The Witcher series was roughly based off of Arthurian legend, but it just seemed odd to me that she’d end up there, but w/e.

Also...so the video games are supposedly non-canon, which makes sense obviously since I just fucking read everyone’s deaths and there’s zero chance that Wild Hunt takes place anywhere before they die. And I haven’t played the games myself yet, so I don’t know if it explains this much...but what the fuck happened to the Elves? And the Wild Hunt? And the end of the fucking world? Like hello?

Like it’s especially weird because of the fact that they closed everything up so neatly. Like as far as endings go in series, this has by far one of the neatest endings I’ve ever read in my life. Ciri literally goes through a list of people who’ve helped and wronged her throughout her journey and deals with them accordingly, and Geralt does the same for the most part. Fuck, we even get a proper ending for Djikstra, Phillipa, and even the fucking Iron Wolf.

But the Elves from the other dimension are never brought up again since they chased Ciri through dimensions and she lost them after he flat-out told her: “We will find you, and we will come for you.” While they didn’t explicitly mention any proper connection, I completely thought they were going for a reveal that the Elves are the Wild Hunt, because my limited knowledge of the Wild Hunt is that they kidnap people, and we saw that the Elves had human slaves that they’d kidnapped, and the red elf dude (sorry I’ve forgotten all their names) had an army and they could traverse through dimensions n shiet. Like it was a perfect setup for them to be the Wild Hunt.

And so does the world end now that Ciri fucked off to a different world? I mean she knows what’s going to happen to her world, and while sure her closest family is dead I mean she’s really still gonna let Triss and Dandelion die? Fuck man.

#random rant #the witcher books #don't read passed the read more #spoilers beware #15/10 books #books #reading

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andordean · 4 years

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For fic writers meme: 8, 25, 38 :)

(8) Share a snippet from one of your favorite dialogue scenes you’ve written and explain why you’re proud of it.

I answered this one earlier, so gonna cheat and pick my other children. ;)

I absolutely adored the part I call the hansa moment, during Ciri’s coronation banquet:

“So what is that, Defender of the Downtrodden?” Dandelion threw in immediately, which earned him an evil look from Geralt. “I'm already dreading the hangover!”

The vampire smiled.

“Taking into consideration the love for metaphor and poetry our friend here possesses-” he began, but Zoltan cut him off.

“Me gold is on “That Nasty Fecker.”

“Year 1277,” Regis couldn't help adding. “Do pay attention to the subtle hints of vanilla…”

Geralt glared at them.

“Look at that, the jesters’ reunion,” he growled.

“So what is it called?” Triss asked, stifling a giggle.

“Gwynbleidd,” the witcher shrugged. “So that those who drink it don't choke on its name.”

“The wine is excellent, no matter its name,” Yennefer declared after tasting it. “It had clearly been a good year.”

“For wines,” Dandelion shot back.

I absolutely adored writing Grumpy Dad Geralt, too, both with Tankred, and with Cahir.

“The famous Geralt of Rivia.” Tankred nodded at him.

“The retired Geralt of Rivia. Your Majesty,” Geralt forced himself to add. He had yet to figure out just how rude he could be, and with Tankred officially engaged to Ciri now, it would have been preferable not to piss him off too much.

“Not entirely, from what I’ve heard,” Tankred retorted. “I was also under the impression that you deeply despised all etiquette, Master Witcher.”

“I do,” Geralt gave the king a crooked smile; “which is why I’m trying to stay out of sight.”

“So you didn’t seek me out to warn me?” Tankred turned to face him with an expression of weary amusement. “It seems like everyone tonight is suddenly worried about my future wellbeing.”

“Everyone?” Geralt echoed.

“Dijkstra, Meve. At this rate, I’m expecting a Nilfgaardian ambassador to show up in the next hour to express his concerns.” The king gave him a measuring look. “What words of advice do you bring - other than a warning that my head is at stake should you ever think your foster daughter to be unhappy?”

“Other than that, none.” Geralt smiled, feeling something akin to relief at the man’s words. At the very least, he didn't seem to be a pompous idiot. Maybe Ciri would be fine, after all.

Maybe.

Tankred laughed quietly.

“With your infamous, if only partially accurate, title of a kingslayer, I almost feel like I should be worried...” he let his voice trail off for effect.

“But…?” Geralt couldn't help urging him on.

“But somehow I'm confident our new Queen wouldn't be impressed if you ever intervened on her behalf,” Tankred finished with a smirk. “Not unless she specifically asked you to. I’ll try not to give her too many reasons to do so.”

(25) What do you look for in a beta?

I never actively looked for a beta, actually... I was incredibly lucky to get to scream at people about their words, have them scream back at me about mine, and somehow along the way, a relationship developed. In general, though, a similar sensitivity - and a shared sense of humour is great, so that the beta process is part semicolons deleting/descriptions prompts/whining at descriptions prompts, and part making bad jokes and laugh about typos.

(38) Talk about a review that made your day.

Every single one where people scream at me about "Blood Ties” making them ship, or just deeply care about something they never even considered before. (Mwahahah.) And every single one where people say it was my writing that made them care for Ciri.

Thank you!

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gayregis · 4 years

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blood and wine rewrite au basic layout

i already posted something like this before but i cant find the post so im just rewriting all of this from the top of my head

everyone’s repurposed roles:

geralt - he’s still a witcher. he’s geralt of rivia. obviously. i don’t have time or interest to think about how to rewrite the entire witcher 3 game to be lore-friendly, but i assume there would be less triss and more dandelion involved in it. for this let’s just take him as geralt having done everything in tw3 but with the personality of geralt from the books because geralt from the games doesn’t have much of a strong personality good for writing or thinking about.

regis - a bitch. nah jk. he’s same regis but just what he was like 100 years ago when he got his head cut off. he’s less spiralling-into-doom than he was then, and is less desperate and hopeless overall, but is slowly getting there once again. he doesn’t remember anything about learning from his mistakes and becoming a good person, because this regis didn’t get any of that. to this regis, it’s like no time has passed at all since he died, and he’s ready to start partying again without any thought of the consequences. he’s moved to toussaint because everyone’s already tipsy there and the north is plagued by war so it’s not a really great source to be drinking from (like if there was a sewage leak near the vineyard you sourced your wine from). he doesn’t remember anything about maturing up or about becoming a surgeon or about the hansa, so that sucks.

dettlaff - not a fucking maniac. actually a character geralt will likely spend a good amount of time talking to. total character overhaul because he does not have a personality in the actual DLC. he arrived in toussaint because he had heard that regis had returned and wanted to fix things wih him, he had previously left him.

syanna - not a fucking dumbass, yet still naive in her own way due to being blinded with the promise of power. in this, she is planning to stage a coup on the duchy (because she is the older sister, so it IS her right by law) and she supports regis’ slow dive again into uncontrollable insanity because it helps her prop up rumors that her sister’s reign is ineffective against real threats and is cursed. but this alliance does not go as she planned...

orianna - in this, she is the owner of a gladiatorial school (instead of an orphanage), and is still like in canon a wealthy and influential individual of beauclair, yet reclusive from human society. she is regis’ best friend and goads him on, because she never fixed her own issues with alcoholism and now is elated to have him back and forgetting that they had disagreements which drove them apart in the first place. they’re best friends (NO romance) and it’s just good to see how insanely different orianna and geralt are because they’ve both been regis’ close friends at different points in time.

the purpose of this:

fix regis’ relationships with the vampires. he slowly drove all of his good friends away by going off the deep end and many are likely wondering whatever happened to him. but books regis would never consider partying like that again, so we bring the party regis back and then slowly de-escalate him into normal books regis again, and we finally get closure with him and his old friends.

cool dramatic stereotypical vampire shit. i’m talking about a final battle or conversation in a giant dark castle with large open windows and billowing drapery.

regis’s hairstyle

give syanna actual agency as a character and give her motivations that extend beyond pure revenge (although they are related to revenge) and make her more unique so she is not just a ripoff of renfri.

demonstrate anna henrietta and geralt’s relationship as it was in the books. he was genuinely intimidated by her and i interpret him as being jealous of her relationship with dandelion, so he in practice was quite withdrawn around her as she was her overemotional and embellished self

give dettlaff an actual character, holy shit. i hate how sorely underdeveloped he is in the game. i understand why because it’s not meant to be writing, it’s meant to be a video game, but come on. i hate having the vampire with the cool character design be the ultimate villain of the whole narrative. in this, he’s someone geralt can talk to and sees himself in. he’s emotionally mature and doesn’t mix with the other vampires. since we already know what regis is like, we don’t have to sit through dettlaff making excuses for him and trying to describe what his character is like. we also get a better view of regis’ past through dettlaff’s lense.

give orianna an actual character, holy shit. i hate how they didn’t even try with her and just used her as a “surprise, she is quite evil!” gimmick. have her actually have a larder for blood that is lore-friendly yet still jumps out at the audience as morally wrong. give her more personality and development.

examine regis’ backstory without actually getting into every single year of those 4 centuries. we can examine how it started good, turned bad, went worse... there’s a lot of loss involved and i think this would be nice to process it.

roughly what happens (under cut because if i ever do write this fic out, this is spoilers, literally the synopsis of the whole thing):

anna henrietta sends envoys to geralt. they establish that the duchess has no conflict with geralt and that her conflict was with dandelion, only. she has requested his help because he effectively dealt with many monsters while he was in beauclair and established a trustworthy reputation (also, he’s famous, and toussaintoirs are superficial). instead of the beast of beauclair killing particular victims, it’s the countryside which has been plagued by vicious attacks of the devil knows what.

geralt arrives and examines the scenes of the attacks. the sincere majority of the victims are alive, so he speaks to them. they remember nothing, but woke up with their village fucking absolutely trashed and with vomit everywhere. they all have wounds on their necks. geralt thinks he knows what’s up, but is reluctant to deal with it because of his memories of regis, who he misses

damien de la tour is assigned to geralt as a sort of backup. they argue and geralt manages to get him to stay put in beauclair while he rides to a village they believe will be attacked next. it’s not even a full moon so the vampires don’t even come out in their bat form (disappointing) but instead just mesmerize their way in in humanoid form. dettlaff sneaks up on geralt who is (ahem) staking out the situation, and is like hey dont kill regis hes not evil hes just misguided!! and geralt is like REGIS? EMIEL REGIS? THTS WHO’S LEADING THEM? i ..... i know him.... and dettlaff’s like what the fuck how... then they get caught and regis is like oh hey dettlaff who’s this guy and geralt feels very left out :( and also sad bc regis doesnt remember shit and geralt even lists the hansa members by name and regis is still like O_O ok yeah im just going to hypnotize you to get lost ok goodbye! but dettlaff prevents him from doing this and they both get thrown out of the party.

after the party geralt is a mess and is like wtf so hes back and what... how... huh... and dettlaff doesnt know how he returned or why he returned either but they compare geralt’s knowledge of how regis died with dettlaff’s knowledge of how regeneration works and they figure out that regis just regenerated from his past body and that’s why he doesn’t have any of his memories from when he turned good.

then they eavesdrop a little more and find out that syanna has been talking to regis and making deals with him (its... not really like she thinks, regis really hasnt been doing anything he doesnt want to. shes just like “hey can you attack this village here” and regis is like yeah i was gonna host a party there tomorrow night ...) so they are like who the fuck is this woman and track her down to her base of operations, and then they find out that THEY got followed by damien de la tour, who identifies her as sylvia anna. geralt is a little miffed on behalf of dandelion that damien seems to be so close to anna henrietta but i digress.

geralt reports his findings to the duchess but does NOT mention regis because the duchess knows who regis is. then we get the same vampire talk from canon b&w where the duchess and damien are sorely misinformed on every single thing ever.

geralt is defeated and has no idea on how to fix this and hes looking hard into a mirror by candlelight and then decides to go to bed so he turns around and regis is right behind him like hey. cue ‘holy shit what the fuck’ moment and freaking out. regis explains himself and says that he doesnt remember him but the fact that he gave so many specifics weirded him out and he kind of wants to know more out of curiosity. also he wants to talk to dettlaff but feels too bad about how he argued with him like 3 centuries ago that he cant just ask him directly.

so they talk and geralt is all :(( and regis is like ok well. i kinda want to get these memories back because they sound pretty significant and also im pretty miserable. but also im not going to stop partying bc its the only thing that makes me feel alive rn. so long!

geralt and dettlaff talk to orianna and she dislikes them both but still talks to them and then regis materializes and also begins bothering them and its quite civil but this scene just serves to demonstrate how annoying they are as friends lol

there’s scenes where you can either save damien / syanna from being unalived by the vampires’ / regis’ hand, only if you let syanna die will the duchess be mad and accuse you of being heartless like dandelion is and then geralt and the duchess actually get into an argument bc of that comment but geralt ofc loses bc hes scared of her lol

no matter what you get regis his memories back but your decisions to either continue helping him or not is what makes him change or not. even after he gets his memories back (or because he gets his memories back?) he decides to raze beauclair bc hes just so fucking miserable and geralt has to talk him down, if you are harsh and not understanding and shame him etc then he doesnt change, if you condemn his actions but still offer your support then he does.

if you offer your support > geralt talks about the hansa like For Ever and regis then adds in everything and yay regis is back to normal. theres like a wholesome montage of geralt being like “just TRY to sew up a wound i promise you you will be good at it” and regis does and hes splendid at it. regis and dettlaff finally make up and are bros once again. we help orianna with her issues and she realizes stuff but is still going to have a drink once in a while. if syanna is alive she doesnt hate on any of this but just decides to make up with the duchess and then become captain of the guard (damien gets fired for being a dumbass).

if you do not offer your support > regis goes to cry in a delapidated creepy old castle and you have an epic fight (geralt is backed up by dettlaff) and he turns into a bat and geralt almost dies, they manage to decapitate regis again and put him in the ground and set a timer for 50 years

if you redeem regis then there’s an ending scene where the duchess is like “oh regis i didnt know you were in town” and hes just like <:) ahaha... yeah...

cue crying about milva/cahir/angouleme For Ever. maybe link this with the fic where geralt and regis bring them all back as ghosts/real ppl and then they have to deal with those consequences

#blood and wine rewrite au #regis #geralt #thoughts

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