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brokenmoonsongs · 3 years ago

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In Defense of Jaskier, Not Your Average Sidekick

(Original image of Jaskier in the Netflix Timeline site. You could find him playing in a forest, and then below was the list of season one songs.) Summary: My analysis of Jaskier in Netflix's The Witcher, stemming both seasons but an emphasis on season two. His character, his relationships, his portrayal and representation in media. This will touch on fandom and beliefs topics surrounding toxic masculinity, queer platonic relationships, queer bait tropes, and heteronormativity in the media. Word Count: ~11.7K

This is going to be extremely rambly, and probably will be tons of points already mentioned in the the Tags and other parts of Fandom. But I've been stewing over this since I saw season 2 and just need to get it all out. I've only read one post on tumblr, and plenty of author notes through fanfics produced in the last few weeks.

Final disclaimer, while I've only consumed the show, I have read summaries of the books and researched as much as I can of the games/books and talked to a few IRL friends who were fans of the book first. My focus here will be of course on the show's portrayal.

EDIT: Apologies, somehow queuing this up fucked up the formatting?

First Impressions & Jaskier Season 01 vs the Books

I had managed to avoid playing the Witcher Games ever since I saw an interview with the studio in a magazine back when the first one was supposed to come out. Even though Fantasy hack and slash RPG was (and is) totally my jam, I hated how misogynistic and racist the studio interview was (surprise, surprise with what we got from Cyberpunk, lol) so vowed to just ignore.

Flash forward to a few years ago (what is time anymore) when GOG.Com came out with Gwent as a standalone game. Up to that point, I've seen some random scenes of the video games from watching friend streamers play it, so I knew of Gwent. It felt like it was supposed to be as difficult to figure out as Triple Triad from Final Fantasy. But I had a chance to play a beta version of the game. There was a storyline/lore component to learn the game, which was of course narrated by Dandelion. I loved everything about him, even though I didn't know much, but totally my type (I've been a Gambit fan since the Saturday morning cartoon). And already, I was like hmm... What if Dandelion and Geralt? I didn't play the beta long as I got distracted with other stuff and then again Witcher was far from my mind.

Until the Netflix series. Being a fan of Henry Cavil, I was willing to give it a shot. It wasn't until the person I was dating at the time (Jan 2020) insisted on watching it that I finally did. They were a HUGE fan of the book series, having read it all and played the games. So it took a while for me to realize Dandelion was Jaskier, and then things were filled for me as we watched the first few episodes together.

I watched the rest of the season on my own. And again, I was captivated by Jaskier. I don't think it was obvious in season one what was definitely set up on season two. I'm definitely a shipper type of person. But for me, in tv shows? It's almost never the canon ships they want people to see. So it was Istredd/Yennefer and Geralt/Jaskier almost immediately. I didn't know at the time that twenty years had passed from first and last appearances of Jaskier. At least the amount of time that Cirilla was born, for sure.

Look, the barker/bard trailing after the big macho fighter and being the plucky best friend/sidekick is not new. We had Hercules & Joxer, Xena and Gabrielle, He-Man and Gwil-dor, Sherlock & Watson, Robin Hood & Much, Blair & Jim. And in a lot of these, there's a fandom for the pairing. It's just as good as rivals/enemies to lovers. And nearly in all of these, the canon states (except for Xena & Gabrielle) that they are all straight people who only love each other in a platonic way.

We'll get more on that later.

But here are two good friends, complete opposites in nearly every which way who's managed to not kill each other (intentionally) for two decades. And there was Jaskier, reaching out for Geralt, to give us that hint of "hey it's been twenty years, is what pleases us still the same" in Jaskier's demeanor. Geralt was cranky before the mountain, maybe it was the beginning signs of a friendship that needed to adapt/evolve. Nothing can stay the same for that long span of years (at least for humans). And Jaskier, being a very perceptive person, was feeling that out, was realizing maybe something needed to change.

Having slept through an important battle and missed out on a very important discussion regarding his best friend, Jaskier then tries to to do what he always does best. Be an outlet for Geralt, with humor and annoyance. Problem is, he misjudges and gets a verbal lashing that actually affects him. It's the fact that Geralt NEVER said "go" in this that makes it even worse. Because even when they first met, Geralt had tried to leave Jaskier behind and never see him again. It's the words never said, but all in the actions and feeling that Jaskier gets the message. It's not like old fights or yelling.

(What's even MORE frustrating, is in the season two recap we get before starting the first ep, we don't see Jaskier until a little over halfway of the 3minutes. We see everything that Geralt claims is Jaskier's fault, except edited in a way where Jaskier is not shown. And then we get the shit shovel line and Jaskier's heartbreak. AND, super imposed audio of the first meeting: "This is where we part ways, bard, for good." implying he said it in the mountain.

Now, being a video editor and social media marketer myself, and having worked with game marketing departments, one hand doesn't listen to the other. So can't blame this on the writing/editing of the show itself. But it's very telling that they make this scene worse than it is and imply Jaskier's part in Geralt's life was miniscule compared to everything else.)

And then it's the last we see of Jaskier. Obviously, between the pain on Jaskier's face and the vitriol spewed by Geralt, the heartache and heartbreak is where it really cemented this relationship.

It's meant to be platonic heartbreak. And believe me, I know. I've had friends I've loved (in a friend/platonic way) who've betrayed me, who've broken my heart in worse ways than actual relationships have. It's powerful, and it's not often showed or talked about. Especially in fandoms where we're grasping for more queer content that we'll translate this. It's still just as important and meaningful even if we just kept this at surface level.

But what makes this hard to swallow sometimes too, is the book fans crying out about how their relationship in the books wasn't like this. That Geralt was always sweet to Jaskier and they were obviously best friends and yeah Jaskier got on his (and other's) nerves as is the way of being a loud, flamboyant bard. While it was in the books and games that they didn't spend all twenty years together, Jaskier having his own life and pursuits, and probably stupid petty fights too, they never had a break up like this. It never got to this point. When you adapt texts, you have to be mindful of what you change and what that implies.

In theory, this meant that Netflix!Geralt cared less about this friendship than Book!Geralt. And up until the viewing of season two, most fans didn't want to believe this. We gave excuses for his more recalcitrant nature and even more silent demeanor. We still believed and hoped that Netflix!Geralt cared just as much and regretted it immediately. It's unsure whether that final look we get is of that, or if Geralt was just in his head too much (could be both).

INTERMISSION. FRIENDSHIPS VS BROMANCE

Now, there's an argument I've heard a few times, both from online people I know and from just general commentary on media... "Why can't we just have good platonic relationships? Why can't they just be friends?" when talking about a presumed same sex couple. And there's definitely some validity to that and truth to that. But in media, everything's extremely heteronormative. People are always saying "men and women can't be friends" and using that as an excuse to romance two people of different genders. You never hear that about "same sex" friendships.

(I apologize at keeping this in the restrictive binary. Relationships of all sorts are much more complicated and nuanced, and there's not the same tropes with transgender, nonbinary and other minority identities. And while I'm currently questioning my cis-ness, I'm not capable of expanding this conversation with confidence.)

I've watched only a handful of interviews about season two since watching the season, mostly Joey's, and it's emphasized of course about the friendship they have, and being able to celebrate just the closeness and intimacy they have. As friends. Who just happen to be two guys. And that's great. In the very online world that we live in now, we don't actually see a lot of positive male intimacy in American/Western society/media.

There's always the idea of #NoHomo and the marketable #Bromance that's thrown around. There's a lot of toxic masculinity going around that affects everyone, about not showing feelings to other guys, not showing how much their guy friends mean to each other. Usually when we see some form of male intimacy between seemingly straight guys, it's usually quickly played up for laughs, or it happens after some very traumatic event. Sometimes it's the pat on the back type of hug, sometimes it's an actual, genuine full hug. I always think back to the FRIENDS episode where Joey and Ross become nap buddies. They fall asleep together and curl up with each other. They accept it when they're alone. But as soon as anyone else finds out, it's "oh shit!" and they pull apart and then it's known to the group, so they stop doing it.

So no, we really don't get enough positive reinforcements of this. And on the other side, while women friends are more accepted and not questioned, whenever a guy is involved and there's that misnomer love triangle, then suddenly they can't be good or close friends. We get them competing for attention of the guy, or being jealous of each other. Or if one's in a relationship and the other isn't, their friendship usually turns into either complaining about the guy or complaining about being single. And in the few shows that have women as the main characters (such as Rizzoli & Isles) it's very much more about them being independent and not needing a guy and how relationships interfere with their dynamic. We rarely if ever see that particular situation when a show is comprised of mostly male lead characters.

And that's the problem. So many shows, "genre" and modern, are comprised of mostly male leads and casts and are mostly straight. So the whole "why can't they just be friends" argument doesn't hold up that well when we have queerbaiting/bromance marketing going on all the time for shows like Hawaii 5-0, NCIS: LA, Psych, Lethal Weapon show, or even shows not marketed like that like Sons of Anarchy, Cobra Kai, The Boys, and others. And even in non-Western media, we have to contend with shows based on actual LGBTQIA+ works being transformed into "just good friends" like Sleuth of Ming Dynasty because of censorship and other things.

Wheel of Time has some of the best queer rep I've seen in a studio made fantasy adventure show. It fails in other departments, but goddamn, did it make me happy to see polyamory, and queer people, especially queer people of color. And it was a mix of having to hide it (because of politics not favoring relationships of any sort) and being proudly open about it. It's not there as shock value or to titillate or prove a point about someone's proclivities (looking at you, Yennefer orgy scene in season 01).

So when the first season of Witcher came out, it was always marketed as Geralt and Yennefer as the big romance. It was never doing the bromance thing with Jaskier, even though we got more scenes with Jaskier & Geralt together than Yennefer & Geralt making their supposed romance/lust for each other seem very contrived. Even me with knowing how it was years of back and forth with the two in the books, couldn't really see it.

All we get in the show is sexual attraction. It's there in spades between Geralt and Yennefer. There's only implied emotional connect at the end, right when they force the issue in the Mountain scene. It was too little too late. A little bit of this gets fixed in season two, but we'll get to that (sorta).

And this is an issue in a lot of heterosexual "romances" in media, both on TV and in movies. It's always about sexual attraction and then a relationship and then maybe if one's lucky, there's emotional/romantic/mental attraction between the two. And usually it's lopsided.

One gregarious example is with Big Bang Theory. While I liked Leonard mostly in the first season (playing shy nerdy dude who seemed to be a good guy), it was more and more obvious (and tech obvious from the get-go), that he really only cared about Penny's beauty and his attraction to her. This is supposed to be the extreme case of opposites attract. But what Penny first fell for in Leonard was the whole "not like other guys" which was the masculine definition, someone taller than her, strong, and conventionally sexy, but almost always an asshole. She liked that he was sweet and kind to her with not really expecting anything else. Aka the "friendzone." She eventually learns to like him and feel attraction to him because of who he supposedly is. We really never get that from Leonard's side. And while he never cared about her being as smart as him, things really didn't get serious until she got a more reputable job that was science-adjacent. And in one of the many seasons when they were broken up and "just friends", they go out on a friend date and he admits that when they were dating, he only pretended to like the things she was into to get sex. He even lauded it over her. Meanwhile, she suffered with Sheldon's tutelage so she could feel a little smarter. She wasn't a geek, but she tried to get into his geekdom. (We'll ignore the only time this ever worked was when Sheldon got her into things like Star Trek, MMORPGs, and a few others when she felt genuinely interested.)

So here we have Geralt and Yennefer who do actually have a lot in common but we don't get it in the show. I'm sure it's in the books, and fandom, even Geraskier fandom, fills in the blanks about why they should have worked but also why it makes sense that they don't. They're both opposites and yet too much alike. But because they're straight (supposedly, orgy scene aside), that means they're just supposed to fit and it be unquestioned. We get no romance, just some possible romantic lines.

Now here's an interesting thing. In a lot of "bromances" or buddy cop shows, there's always the line of "you act like a married couple", (this also happens in Hallmark Romances with het characters), and usually it's regard to friendly or not so friendly bickering/teasing/light fighting. It always felt like a wink wink nod nod kind of thing. It also is part of that whole trope that's SO excessive in het romances (especially Shoujo manga) that fighting and hiding things and pulling pigtails is indicative of love, and it's "just so obvious guys". So with straight couples, it's a sign of true love, but with generally two men? It's just a joke and they're "just bros" or "good friends".

As a writer, I do my best to do research even for throwaway lines. The Netflix site for the Witcher Timeline is invaluable as I want to stay true to Netflix and then sprinkle in game/book stuff when there's not enough information. I keep forgetting sites like these are VERY ephemeral. I luckily took a cap above before season two hit. There wasn't much about Jaskier in the last iteration of the site before season two (the events of the animated prequel were added then). We had his date of birth which confirmed 20 years went by, and that he came from Oxenfurt and Lettenhove (no mention of Viscount). Now, I don't remember if one of the entries was always like this, but only when I checked last did I notice the paragraph about Jaskier and Geralt. And instead of using the tried and true phrase of "bicker like an old couple" it actually said "they fight like brothers."

That's... not a phrase I've seen often in shows with two main leads, unless they were previously "brothers in arms" in the military or something. I thought this was very choice wording, especially considering that Geralt does have his own brothers and we see he treats them in season two way differently than we've seen him treat Jaskier. Granted, one main difference is that when Jaskier is in trouble, Geralt doesn't hesitate to help him. But this is more I believe because Jaskier is just human and needs that protection than the other Witchers.

I'll touch more on that odd line from the older Netflix entry later, or at least tie it in with what we'll probably get in season 03. Mind, I know we'll never get canon Geraskier. It feels like we'll get bi Jaskier at least, and then quite possibly confirmation of a queer platonic relationship. (I do worry though this will play out like how The Rock handles any queer guys in his last two films: Jungle Cruise & Red Notice, which isn't great.)

Again, we do need more instances of queer platonic relationships, especially in a healthy, positive, affirming light. I just don't think that'll happen here given how poorly Jaskier is treated in the show and related media (like in the updated Netflix timeline site). It would just be nice, you know? It's miserable we're still desperate for crumbs in 2022.

Treatment of Jaskier by Others in Season 01

The Bard is almost always treated as a comedic sidekick in shows, or the supposed best friend of the main hero. They're the ones to lighten up the situation and give some softness to the gruff/angst-ridden lead. They're the wingman. We see this often in Joxer, Gabrielle, Ron, Poe Dameron, Danno (his stories are always second to McGarret), Riley (of National Treasure), Goose, Gus, Donkey, Genie... Usually, the only one that sees their worth or that they're more than just there for comic relief is the audience and the hero. But not always.

Understandably, Yennefer cares not for the bard (and vice versa). We don't get confirmation till the second season that a lot of it is jealousy/rivalry based, and not just Jaskier's personality. But it makes sense, more sense than Yennefer and Geralt's romance.

When we first meet Jaskier, the Posadans don't care for him at all for his shit songs, and that makes sense. He's 18, doesn't know how to read the regular folk, and is very academic. The Sylvan and Elves? Hate humans, especially naïve ones who only know of the hateful rhetoric.

Now, it's roughly 6-8ish years after Posada that Jaskier is invited to play for Calanthe. No matter her opinion of him (which is low) she still invited him. And this is Cintra, where EVERYONE on the continent was afraid to mess with politically or otherwise. So it's definitely high praise if she's seeking out entertainment OUTSIDE her walls, especially from a possible Redanian. (Still unsure where Lettenhove is but, still at least very north of Cintra.) So while Toss a Coin has become an earworm that everyone loves to hate, or hates to love, it's still has brought him fame. Along with every other song he's created since then. Jaskier is already becoming extremely well known. And he plays with the court band well. In the briefest of cameos with the court band, they don't hate him, they like him, and there's at least musical/professional respect going on.

Frankly, this is the only time we see anyone treat Jaskier with respect that's not connected with either his flirtations OR with Geralt (like when the villagers were eager to tell their tales to Jaskier). We get the angry cuckolded noble, we get Mousesack who sniffs at the ridiculous outfit, we get the Queen who sniffs at anyone really who's not a warrior. But at least she enjoys the music when Jaskier changes it up.

I'm not sure about Chireadan, who was hard to watch in his scenes, and doesn't necessarily look down at Jaskier, but it seems like it was more like "we're both lowly people who should bow to the awesomeness that is Yennefer and/or powerful people like Geralt" than anything. Again, here it was more playing for laughs.

Up the mountain, Yarpin and his lot obviously don't care for Jaskier, and neither do the rest of the adventuring party. They just see a foppish fool of a bard. And yeah, Jaskier isn't at his best at his poor flirtation with Téa and Véa. This really reminded me of all the attempts Gus does around Shawn in Psych, skating the lines of creepiness. Again, despite us being told he gets around easily and is the "typical bard" who flirts with anyone, we don't see him being smooth and suave. This could be because he's distracted with Yennefer's presence, or the fact there was again some tension going on with him and Geralt in the beginning of the episode. And then Borch also pays him no mind, more interested in the destiny and chaos surrounding Geralt and Yennefer.

Despite the fact that we're now at twenty years of Jaskier following Geralt around, he still acts like he doesn't know what he's doing for an adventuring party, talking to an unknown and possibly deadly creature. Showing up his supposed incompetence and buffoonery. We can meta this as him just being that goodhearted person that we know, that he's still naïve (and harkens to a famous book quote about him still acting like a child of 10), and that it's not necessarily a bad thing. He's with Geralt, he technically doesn't have to worry about anything.

But, the whole "what pleases me" scene and his reaction to witnessing a traumatic "death" was fantastic and sobering and we get that hint of him realizing it's been YEARS at this and maybe, just maybe, something should change. Like what I wrote at the beginning where he's realizing this subtle shift with Geralt, he's possibly realizing now a shift within himself.

And then we have Geralt. Who barely tolerated him in the first adventure, punched him for mentioning the Butcher, tried to leave him for good after selflessly trying to sacrifice himself for him. Next, we see him barely tolerating him after a nasty hunt, making faces at him (and the bartender which was hilarious), but relying on him for a good bath and the possibility of good food and drink. He then lies to a noble to save his friend, doing it in such a way that yes would make the noble feel bad for the man, but also again, to belittle Jaskier (and emasculate him despite his supposed reputation of being a pleaser). Still, he does his due diligence and even after the end of everything still tries to warn Jaskier to play it safe. The djinn situation makes it seem it happened within a year of Cintra (1249) but it was actually 7 years later. Obviously it wasn't seven years since Jaskier seen Geralt but they definitely hadn't spent most of that year together. We can't fault Geralt's demeaner here with Jaskier, as both aren't in their best of minds. But here we see that he does care (even beyond just helping a hapless human), willing to make a deal with a powerful rogue court mage. Once he's assured that Jaskier will be fine, he relaxes. This is not necessarily a bad thing but when it comes to Jaskier, we see in season two that Geralt is shit at follow through/ups.

I really wish we had gotten one more episode of their adventures to see their friendship more, and hell, more of Geralt and Yennefer interacting that wasn't just sex, but showing how their brilliant minds could solve problems.

But no, despite seeing this care and then kind of discard of Jaskier (Geralt finally getting sleep and who knows if Jaskier stayed around that time or not), we go right to the mountain. Where Geralt again is irritated with Jaskier who's just trying to write a new song and waiting by Roach. Like I had mentioned earlier with Jaskier seemingly not have changed in 20 years, Geralt's treatment to Jaskier here shows similar to Posada. He again mostly ignores Jaskier, worried for Yennefer. And especially when Jaskier tries to not be his bardic self (maybe showing that noble upbringing), to console him and open up to him, Geralt takes it as sign to just go to Yennefer and not realize what Jaskier was attempting.

Who knows why Jaskier isn't woken up by the morning activities, that he misses all the action. Is it because Geralt's so focused on Yennefer? Possibly. Is it because Geralt thinks Jaskier would be safer away? Maybe. More likely it's the Yennefer thing AND that he knows Jaskier would be pretty much useless in a fight. And then the final interaction. Jaskier, not knowing the context, trying to be what was always expected of him, someone to make light of the situation, to get Geralt's mind off of things, and maybe he expected annoyance, but not the anger and vitriol.

Overall, Jaskier is not treated with kindness and respect. We're told that he's loved by a lot, and his songs are famous and revered, and beyond everyone enjoying Toss a Coin, we almost see none of that. He's just here for the comedic outlet, for the songs. Never mind in the books, he's treated better by most everyone, that he's done a lot of respectable things including being a famous musician. He has many flaws, and we see them, just despite it all, he's a good person, he's doing his best, he's HUMAN. And one of the best humans out there for anyone considered or is non-human. Jaskier is a contradiction in so many ways but we shouldn't be getting so much of that in the show and supplements related to the show. But, at least season one ends with the final song Jaskier was working on with Geralt.

I am weak my love, and I am wanting.

Season 02: Where's Jaskier?

The writer(s) seemed to realize that hey, Jaskier is a HUGE fan favorite. We do get more depth to Jaskier in season two, at least more obvious than all the implication in season 01, but again, there's so much contradictions and so much ERASURE done to ensure we're all reminded that this is the Geralt and Ciri and Yennefer show. This part here is just me as a fan's feelings (I mean all of this is but I've been trying to analyze and talk it out with facts we know), but I feel like we were punished in ways for wanting more Jaskier (and possibly Geraskier fandom being one of the loudest? I'm unsure, I kept myself in a grief bubble for most of last year) for what we do and don't get in season two.

Mainly, we had to wait for FOUR episodes for Jaskier to appear. He's not even MENTIONED or referenced in the first three episodes. His part in season one of the recap was erased to JUST show Jaskier being tossed aside, despite his importance to the events in Geralt's life. How does Geralt not bring Jaskier up when talking to Ciri? Even just a passing "I was at your parents' betrothal cause I was protecting a dumb bard" or something. This bothered me so much I wrote a character study about that first episode lol. It's tossed in our faces too when Geralt mentions who his friends are but never once called Jaskier a friend, or admitted it.

There's a possible chance that Yennefer again was the first to mention Jaskier in an offhand way when she picks up that the elven songs have actual lyrics. That's what I was hoping on. This is still a possibility given what we now know will be happening in the prequel mini-series (which I hope turns to be a full on series on its own right). I haven't scoured every single interview for everything, so maybe that's been confirmed? I'll go on the current presumption it's not.

In the original Netflix site timeline, it indicated that between the mountain and Geralt finding Ciri was just nearly a year. It seems like the show writers forgot about that (and what is distance, crossing the continent back and forth like it was only a half day's ride without portals but I digress), and tries to make this entire season fit in just winter?? So three months? Man, music must've spread like wildfire for Jaskier to have THREE BANGERS hit across the continent (Her Sweet Kiss, The Golden One, and now as the Sandpiper, "Man of a Thousand Grunts"). Which we all agree on is impossible again to make such connections with Ciri and the Witchers and just... I'm still going to go with at least a year in between and then maybe 3-5 months with Geralt & Ciri together.

I bring you that tangent because it's related to what we do learn of Jaskier this whole season. Of what he did before we FINALLY see him.

Even the above snippet from Netflixpedia (as I'm going to dub it from here on out) is truly too short of a summary of Jaskier's escapades the past twenty years. Granted, we get a few extra in the locations and events around the continent, but it's still sparse. This is I believe one of the few entries not written as Jaskier (which is common across all media that most of the narration done is by Jaskier/Dandelion himself).

Going with the belief of about a year in between seasons, we know this. Jaskier made it safely down the mountain. Jaskier did not stop composing or performing. Jaskier believed that when Cintra fell, possibly the Witcher did too, temporarily (How disappointing). For a time, instead of going straight back to Oxenfurt, he went to Bleobheris. Although we got "Her Sweet Kiss" at the end of season 01, I don't think he finished it first. I think "The Golden One" came out first. Like "Toss Your Coin", it was a surprise hit, and much similar to one hit wonder pop songs like "Friday" where it's just an ear worm. It's not Jaskier's best, musicality wise still good, but he wrote it cause he needed to get the Mountain out and make himself feel better. Maybe working out his feelings.

I believe he finally released "Her Sweet Kiss" when he thought possibly Geralt and/or Yennefer was dead (Battle of Sodden taking out so many sorcerers and sorceresses). Mind, he's still heartbroken and hurting and the anger building. But Bleobheris happens. We figure he was there at least long enough for it to really make an impression. Was it his first time there? Who knows. Maybe he was even starting to heal a bit, being among others like himself. And then he witnesses an atrocity first hand. I'm sure Jaskier has witnessed a lot, but he's smart to keep himself out of anything military wise. And in this Netflix version, he hasn't done any spying (as far it feels like) prior to the Mountain. But this, similar to what happened in Posada is possibly the first time he's seen anything like it. It's scarring. He knows he's lucky to have been considered "safe" and not a "danger". We'll get more on this below. That affected him deeply, both as a compassionate and empathic person, and knowing it could eventually come down to him. He gets enough out of his rut to be willing to do anything to help. To not shovel piles of shit and be a useless bard. To have a purpose that aligns with his heart and head and abilities.

So he becomes the Sandpiper.

"The common sandpiper is a migrator, but it frequents similar habitats year-round. When in upland areas, sandpipers live along river, ponds, or lakes."

Seems fitting, no?

Between the raid and Oxenfurt and his new identity, he pens what we call "Burn, Butcher, Burn" but technically at last check on Netflixpedia, it's actually called "Man of a Thousand Grunts". His heartbreak and hurt manifested into this song when he realizes that Geralt is still alive. And after all this time, has not come for him. I won't necessarily fault Geralt for this (even most of Geraskier fandom doesn't, we love parent!Geralt), and to a point not even Jaskier later on. But it doesn't mean it doesn't sting, it doesn't hurt. No check ups, no letters left, nothing. And he's dramatic, he's admitted this. With his new purpose in life, he needs to do his best to get past twenty years of history. But it's not easy. He writes this break up song as a way to move on and of course like all his other songs, it's a hit.

Jaskier has been a popular artist for at least a decade. This isn't recent. It may be the most music he's churned out in a season—it helps if he's not on the road dodging monsters and taking care of Witchers, but he's consistent.

Let's not also forget that it seems like he singlehandedly came up with this idea of the Sandpiper or at least put it into execution. That's no easy feat. To use his charm to get several benefactors and to keep the chain going. It had to be working for a long enough time, and he's managed to DISGUISE himself as Sandpiper without a real disguise in the city where Julian Alfred Pankratz/Jaskier, master of the seven arts and occasional teacher is FAMOUS. Granted, yes, it seems like one of his biggest benefactors is freaking Sigismund Dijkstra, but still.

He could've gone back and gone to court or just stayed in the bubble of Oxenfurt Academy. But he doesn't. He does this work as often as there's ships to give enough passage. He's holding a lot of hate and hurt in his heart for what happened on the Mountain, for what is happening to the poor Elves and others. And he's drinking. He's drinking constantly, even before Yennefer gets to him, and definitely after. I believe the drinking isn't necessarily due to the heartbreak but also what he witnessed at the raid. He's no one to confide in, to rely on, even when he reunites with this new Yennefer, and eventually Geralt.

But all this? We learn in a few choice sentences and references. What we get on screen of Jaskier is perfect and wonderful and Joey Batey is probably now one of my most favorite actors and singers out there. All the little things, the subtle the looks and touches he does.

We can see through his quips and expressions and mannerisms that he hasn't moved on. He was ready to be just as nasty to Yennefer as he always was, not caring that she could literally hex his balls off. And I'm sure he had a whole speech ready for Geralt too. But she comes and hugs him, relieved for something resembling normal and safe for her. Her whole demeanor is different. We know she's grown and learned and matured (at least a little) to realize Jaskier's worth before even getting to the Sandpiper business, but I'm sure that helped too. And especially after his explanation. Finally, he has someone who understands, even if it's his rival.

I love their relationship, their dynamics. I wish we saw the cattiness of them in season one even more than what we saw, the in betweens, when Geralt and Yennefer were on a good footing for a bit. But still, this is great, and we can see that Jaskier is touch starved/friend starved. He latches onto Yennefer but is smart enough to know when to let go, to know that he still has a lot of shit to work through. Yennefer brings memories of what he could never have, and if he can save her, and never see her again? Then at least he'll feel accomplished.

I also LOVE that little bit. That he knew. That it was a conversation had either with Yennefer or with Geralt, about her family origins. And it was never a thing lorded over her cause of course Jaskier isn't like that. That despite everything he hates of her, it's not and never been her heritage.

Now, every time we see something serious or mature done by Jaskier, it has to be "balanced" with him giving into his flaws. This is where we get to learn that he did write a song about the mountain, and meeting a fan of sorts. His ego and hubris gets to him, and even admits to himself that he's doing the stupid thing to argue with this guy, potentially ruining this night's run of getting the Elves (and Yennefer) to safety. We have to presume this is a rare occurrence since no on seems wary on relying or searching for the Sandpiper. So that means he has to be consistently helping.

Quick aside. While the writing overall was much better this season as a whole, there are so many easy/simple parallels going on and the writers patting themselves on the back. They're consistently setting things up for an easy win (much to the detriment of characterization when it came to the Witchers and their Keep, or that we can get across the continent conveniently in a day when needed) without good follow through. This scene is to set up Jaskier is beholden to his pride and to give another elf the chance of redemption for the death of a young black elf. It's very contrived and frustrating.

"The Golden One" isn't his best work, not even better than "Toss a Coin" but it's popular and loved and it's possibly one of the few songs (Dandy Lion aside) where Jaskier's inserted himself. Yeah, it's an easy line of him getting the girls, but it's deeper (calling my right of death of the author here) than that. It's him trying to prove to himself and the others that he's not a shit shoveler, that he's a "worthy travel companion" to others. It's a small bit to the rest of the song about the greatness of a dragon. It's technically not supposed to be noticed or called out, just a silly little bard insert, yet it hurts when it's the main part being criticized, along with it being apparently one of his weakest songs. But it's his first song he's written post Geralt fully. So obviously it's still a dear song to him.

And as us who are content creators know online, or even just being professionals online in social media, sometimes it's the straw that breaks the camel back of being told how to do what we're trained to do by people who have NO idea what's it like. (Being a game dev person, a writer, a video editor, and worked manufacturing, it's amazing what Twitter & YouTube commenters think they know about in these industries. Amongst other parallels.) While Jaskier is a well known artist, a rock star in his own right, he doesn't play just the big venues (court, festivals), he plays taverns and bars. For the Sandpiper gig, it has to be that way. I mention this cause it gives the illusion that anyone can come up to him and talk to him like a professional when they're not. Jaskier also is someone who thrives on people liking him, praising him, or engaging him meaningfully so it's not like he's going to keep his distance either. So this, along with what he says to Rience, shows that it's an extremely common occurrence. And he's at that part of his career where he doesn't have to listen to just anyone about his music.

Despite that hiccup, he gets the elves on, meets Dara briefly (and hopefully inspired him), and says what he hopes is final goodbye to Yennefer.

And then he gets hit over the head, knocked out, and loses his lute, for good. Fitting final scene of seeing it broken. The end of an era.

Now the torture scene with Rience is apparently longer and more brutal than it was in the books. All we know is that he gets beaten for a few hours (anywhere between 2 and 4 or more depending on the tides of the ship leaving and it being early morning when he's finally rescued), not spilling anything. And then the fire and his fingers are burned. Not by REGULAR fire mind, but mage fire. Probably burns hotter than we expected. And all it takes is those few seconds to get serious burns.

And despite it all, Jaskier holds out, still has his wits about him. If we take what he says at face value, and later scenes sort of reinforce it. Sadly twenty years of being Geralt's companion yet Geralt never shared anything to Jaskier? Fanon of course had it that Jaskier did see Cirilla a few times after she was born. It's believable (if albeit sad) that Jaskier never went to Kaer Morhen, but man, maybe if he was a sex worker he would have since they were frequent visitors apparently. What he slips out could be coincidence of him making it up, and yes we know Jaskier is brilliant with words. Or it could have all been a ruse and Jaskier did know more but managed to keep it to himself.

Did we ever figure out HOW Rience found the keep?? Man that keep was so easily found by so many this season. And The Killer pass wasn't so murderous.

But guh, that speech was great, and how he's able to go from the pain of torture to improving with Yennefer AND at the same time be scared for her since she has no magic and seemingly as defenseless as him. Fantastic scene there. We see both of their vulnerabilities, we see Jaskier's quick-wittedness (along with Yennefer's), we see how well he knows Oxenfurt by the back of his hand, knowing which way to go and where, and willing to goad men to follow him. Despite being "a humble (human) bard", he's fast on his feet, nimble for his age. And he knows his worth, that he's the damsel and even without her powers, Yennefer's still formidable.

I would've loved to see how Jaskier rescued Yennefer from the brothel, we saw his mind working quick before she escaped herself. And then he's thrown into a prison. For how long? Who knows, a few days, a week. Even without the flashback timeline shenanigans, time is still wibbly wobbly in this season. It's enough that his untreated burns have healed a bit.

Writing nitpick. Oxenfurt is his home. Why didn't he use his name or his place at the Academy to get out of Jail? We know he has a large network of people, outside of the Sandpiper business, and this is his city, not a foreign land. Other than for plot sake, it's weird.

You can on Spotify hear the whole rendition of Whoreson Prison Blue's but I still love the "live" version we hear in the jailcell. Here's Jaskier's beautiful mind always composing, always coming up with something to wile away time or piss off people to his advantage. When he's not alone (truly) or have access to alcohol, he remains pretty stoic and unflappable. We see the charm and Disney princess like quality of him befriending some mice. Played to comedic effect of course, but it works, shows more of what kind of person Jaskier is.

Again, commending Joey Batey's fantastic acting here, giving us so much in the span of a few seconds. He sees Geralt and the relief of him being there, being alive. The "Fuck it" and the hug is so good, and we get Geralt showing a positive emotion and glimmer of guilt (not enough). We get to see Jaskier not be a push over (sort of) when he tries to get Geralt into an actual conversation, an actual apology, because we know and he knows that Jaskier's forgiven him already. Not forgotten, but forgiven. And while Geralt doesn't say "I need you" (again it's Yennefer first) it's close enough for Jaskier.

It's frustrating that we don't get to see the fallout of everything Jaskier's been through, to show anyone have any concern for him and what he went through. We do get a lovely fan service scene of Jaskier and Geralt falling into their old dynamics, with Jaskier cleaning up and doing a bit of exposition and comedy. We see that Jaskier isn't an idiot at all, gullible maybe because he constantly tries to assume the best of people, even Yennefer. But despite the strides he and Yennefer made into amending whatever their own dynamics are, he's of course going to take time to get through those feelings he's harbored for almost a decade when it concerns her. It's easier to slip, especially with Geralt around, to snarking about her, to try and ensure that Geralt doesn't fall back in love or forgiveness for her. But we can see that even Jaskier knows he's fighting a losing battle about it.

The scene with Yarpen and his crew again showcases how little is cared for about Jaskier, but granted, he couldn't remember their names or faces. I do say though he's been nearly drinking himself to oblivion since the mountain, and they didn't care for him back then so why should he do the same?

We get the high horse apology and immediately Jaskier cuts Geralt off, quipping with him and putting Geralt at ease. It's a sweet scene, even if most of fandom doesn't think it's enough (it's not). Jaskier was the one tortured and rotting away in a cell and yet he's the one walking having to look up at Geralt. We see Jaskier sympathizing and empathizing again, learning what Geralt's been through, and putting Geralt (and Ciri) and his needs first and foremost. Jaskier knows Geralt best, knows that the Witcher carries so much on his shoulders, both deserved and undeserved. It's easy to ensure there's one less burden there.

But we can see in the lingering looks and the mannerisms when Geralt isn't looking at Jaskier, that Jaskier still hurts, still aches. His heart is still shattered into a million pieces. But he's a good person, and he won't hold it over Geralt now. He tried in the jail cell to get what he desperately needed. Not the time or place, but will Jaskier ever get what's owed him at least? I doubt it.

Do we even know why Geralt needed Jaskier's help? Just to have someone with him to look for Ciri? To get the Yennefer information and that's it? Or simply for the escort mission to the apparently short distance from Cintra to Kaer Morhen? (Which should've taken weeks.) Jaskier's there though not really in the escort back, no one knowing that Ciri gets possessed.... And then the next we see him is him drunk in a cold bed, sleeping nearly the entire big event away (again). Except Yennefer searches for him.

Yennefer is the one that says she needs HIM. Not his help but him. Seriously their dynamic is so good this season, through and through, and I hope in the next we'll get more of it. Jaskier shows again that he believes he knows his worth, he's not a coward, he's smart. What can he, a human do? So Yennefer gives him a McGuffin.

I really feel like Jaskier was made to be a McGuffin to us fans, teasing us with all this potential. At our grasps yet the follow through is never quite there. (I feel the same with Dara and Istredd. Like the writers knew the fans cared about these characters but they weren't important enough to do much but muddle around in the plot. I love these two and what they tried to do for themselves and others but again, frustration.

Because yeah, in the end, even though Geralt did hear Jaskier, how much of that was really needed? Geralt and the other Witchers were kind of being really stupid in this fight (and in Eskel's fight too) just for the sake of it. Jaskier risked life and limb to the one job he was given. He was determined. But the Jasper, like he, was useless, wasn't needed, truly.

Though we are teased with Dijkstra's reveal that he's one of the Bard's benefactors. That he's of some use and Dijkstra's going to come collect. I fear this means we'll have Jaskier separate again just so that Yennefer, and Geralt, and Ciri can interact and be the DESTINED TRIO. Jaskier will be bardnapped and pressed into spy services, hopefully being actually more crucial to the political plots going on. It may also mean like it seems like a betrayal to Geralt, but we know Jaskier won't do it so willingly. It's been teased in an interview that he'll have a more significant part, and this could be why. I just want him and the other three to have some good adventures together and not suffering.

The final two times we see Jaskier are both meaningful but also contradictory. When the trio comes back from another Sphere, Jaskier goes to Yennefer first, cause she's without chaos and "technically" the weakest of the three. He's genuinely worried for her, for her potential sacrifice to make things right again. The soft touches, the looks at each other before he looks at Ciri and Geralt. He may not be able to do much, but he's able to do this.

Jaskier's an outsider. The only human up in the keep. Everyone knew of Yennefer and Geralt, but we have no indication Geralt talked about Jaskier (like how he wasn't mentioned at all in the first episode this season). He technically didn't help in the fight (he tried). And all he wanted was to feel like he belonged. But instead, we had to be reminded on how little people think of Jaskier, that he's just the comedic sidekick. And so he gets pushed roughly away from Lambert, and is told he's not part of the family. Which Jaskier accepts. Cause it was always this way for him. He takes it mostly in stride, as he does every lump he's been given. And paralleling last season, he is dismissed and that's what we last see.

(Jaskier's) Respect Doesn't Make History

There were times in season one mostly where Jaskier seemingly breaks the fourth wall. The most obvious example of this in season two is when he tells Yennefer that he's supposed to be the damsel in distress. We get these small snippets of Jaskier knowing his place in the grand scheme of things. And he accepts it. He's not the main character. He's the storyteller, he's the one that gets to tell everyone else about the main characters, create scenarios where the real heroes get to prove that they are heroes. I think partially that's why he doesn't push for the respect owed to him beyond his music. It's why that he clings to needing to be right about his music, his craft, which becomes his detriment at times, or his folly. It's why he hides his pain in a breakup song and drink, and lets Geralt believe everything is okay.

Fandom wants a proper apology, wants proper acknowledgement of everything Jaskier's done for and been through with Geralt. Even as friends, brothers, this is just as important than if they were lovers, and in some ways even more important. Especially if the hints thrown this season gets cemented with Jaskier being bi (even if it's typical TV!bi like Lucifer and not atypical!bi like Constantine). Because queer platonic relationships demand respect and love and courtesy and importance as others.

I don't think we'll get this. We may get one more acknowledgement from Geralt, either before Jaskier is taken by Sigi or maybe after he needs rescue again, but it won't be enough. I worry we'll get the typical masculine portrayal of forgiveness (something that's shown frequently between Geralt and his Wolf brothers) of blowing up and then it's water under the bridge. We sort of already got that, but we'll probably get one more of it from the other half too (burn, butcher, burn after all).

I've already mentioned it a few times but emphasizing here, that we get a lot of fantastic writing and acting with Jaskier in this season. Yet also, with the writing, just all these teasers and failed stopping points. We have to be constantly reminded that Jaskier is the side kick, the best buddy friend, the support, but most importantly... The comedic relief. If not through jokes than through his pratfalls. This in essence isn't a bad thing as it's a lot of Jaskier's charm, a lot of why we as the audience love him. He brings levity and joy and innocence, and the human experience. He's surrounded by Destined Ones^TM and people of awesome power, and he can still stand up with them.

But he must always know his place.

Especially in the Netflixpedia, in the dock worker who had an opinion, in the prison guard, in Yarpen and his crew, and in Lambert and the surviving Witchers. And, in Sigismund Dijkstra.

They are all people who don't know Jaskier and takes him and his antics at face value. Despite most knowing of him, of hearing his deeds or songs for the past couple of decades.

We see the maturity of Jaskier, of him figuring out who he could possibly be if he could no longer be the Witcher's anything. And it was working, being the Sandpiper. He was respected, not that he was looking for that, and looked up to. He was still Jaskier the talented lutist/lyricist, whom most of the crowd loved and adored. He still strikes a dashing figure, catching the eyes of women and men in the tavern, in the ship, and even a lovely bearded female dwarf of Yarpen's crew.

I already mentioned most of these characters in the review of the season and their disregard of him. The dock worker's opinion was unprompted. Yarpen threw an axe not between Geralt and Jaskier but to Jaskier's shirt specifically. Ignored and dismissed his introduction for a second time. Sure, maybe like the elves in "Toss a Coin" with "The Golden One" they felt pissed at the portrayal in song. Especially as Jaskier didn't necessarily do anything during the Dragon hunt compared to Yarpen and them.

But that puts in a dichotomy of sorts, with Jaskier's songs being popular and loved by the people, but not by anyone who's opinion that really matters to Jaskier. Again it's not recognizing that Jaskier is more than a one-hit wonder, is a pop star/rock star, yet not treated as anything with respect. Because he's not constituted with doing masculine work, like being a Witcher, being a Knight, being a band of bandits, or anything that would be considered more salt of the earth. Even Yarpen makes a comment on why they didn't stay being lords of the land. Never mind that Jaskier gave up his nobility at a young age and has been traveling on the Path with Geralt on and off for twenty years.

We get the waitress who's sick of the song and seemingly of him, giving him a dirty look when he drinks any of the discarded ale before meeting Yennefer. Of course the prison guard is purposely being annoyed by Jaskier.

Now, between the extreme hubris "Jaskier" writes of himself in Netflixpedia and of course his persona as Jaskier on the show whenever he sees someone pretty, it makes sense to knock him down a little. Even Geralt gets knocked down time again for his own hubris and refusal to learn and grow. But with Geralt, he's always seen on a level playing field. It nearly never is with Jaskier.

Jaskier who can slip into being the Sandpiper and help others, truly selflessly, is one of the only times he has respect and awe. The only one who truly gives him respect as himself is Yennefer. She's happy for him, that he hasn't changed so much to be unrecognizable to what she knew of him, and learns more about him in one evening than all their time together. All because the barrier of Geralt isn't there and they're both nursing their broken hearts. There's a kinship, and I'm glad it's not lost after Yennefer reconnects with Geralt, even to disastrous effect. She finally understands him and when she's without her chaos, she cares and respects and needs him.

She saves Jaskier not for any ulterior motive. Not to help her, or to get on Geralt's good side again, or anything. She takes her time in telling Geralt about Jaskier, and sort of plays down the fact he was tortured for a few hours. I think that's more her juggling with the decisions and and promise she made with baba yaga—I mean, Voleth Meir and her own conflicting feelings with Geralt. Her and Jaskier both tossed their hurt feelings aside to forgive and give into Geralt. And then with the battle at Kaer Morhen, Yennefer relies on Jaskier, believing that he's the best chance to get through to Geralt, that only Jaskier is still trustworthy enough. She accepts his kind touch after coming back from the other sphere and it's sweet and touching. She's the only one in all of season two to see Jaskier, to respect him, to care about him.

Geralt? Did worry about Jaskier when someone finally mentioned him. Did think of him first when Nenneke said he couldn't do this alone. Admitted he missed him and hugged him back. And.. he did try to apologize after [timey wimey travel time], and he trusted Jaskier with Ciri (along with Yarpen). He gave Jaskier a chance to bathe and rant without really pushing him around.

But again I must mention how the writing fails, with Geralt needing Jaskier's help and Yennefer just needing him. It comes to naught, as much as Jaskier tries to be good and useful. But he's only human and of the few GOOD humans in this show, the writers don't know what to do with that.

Geralt has respect, but not a lot for Jaskier. It's better here than in season one to a point. But Geralt has so much more on his mind so much other rightfully important things. He hasn't had time to mourn Eskel, his horse, or the other Witchers dying before and after Ciri's reveal. He barely allowed himself time to mourn when he thought Yennefer was dead. We just unfortunately did not get a lot of interaction between them because of other events that were more pressing. We can only make a lot of assumptions.

With Lambert's remark and Jaskier's final onscreen scene, there is no other context to see if this is just regular joking or the other Witchers seeing Jaskier as less than. This is why it was frustrating that Jaskier is not mentioned for three whole episodes. No one asks about Geralt's Bard, or mentions the new songs going around since before the fall of Cintra. Everything points to Jaskier never been brought up to Geralt's family in the last twenty years. This could have easily been fixed with a single line or two from any of the Witchers, the way that the line of Jaskier knowing of Yennefer's heritage spoke volumes.

Now, granted, in a time of war and politics, everyone's being used as pawns and being seen as useful, threats, or disposable. Dijikstra only sees a pawn of a bard, an investment he put in so he can be used in the future. But aside from Jaskier, every other human who's moving pieces around who seems to be of importance, are kings and queens and of politics. We don't see other human rebels trying to fight the good fight. But understandably so, in this story, in this series they are the bad guys. In most fantasies, it's the case, with maybe a group of plucky young heroes being the exception.

Now, maybe it's the long con, the long game, the hints in interviews that Jaskier will be thrusted into importance in the 3rd (and future??) seasons. We know now he'll be the narrator for the prequel series, but again playing the dumb human who has to be corrected about what really happened. (I'm hoping we won't have Jaskier human!splaining for comedic effect, but... we'll see.) We have the spying come up, and hopefully more political intrigue. This is what I thought would happened this season when we had gotten the season two trailer and Geralt needing Jaskier's help. It's what made sense to me, to navigate the courts.

This could all be buildup for parallels that were set up here for season 03. One can truly hope, but I'm not holding my breath.

We have two seasons of Jaskier being disrespected left and right, having his best friend throw him away when angry and only seek him when he's needed. He doesn't have the respect from others as he should, to the point where he makes it up on his own in his hubris and ego and in the logs of Netflixpedia. When it really matters, Jaskier is always putting others first, always putting himself in harms way to help others. And he swallows his feelings down, transforming them into songs that people listen, and enjoy, but never truly understand.

He's a human, through and through. He is both cowardly and fearless, brilliant and childish, compassionate and ambitious. And the show keeps punishing him for it, for not being more. Yet that's the brilliance of him. Of this single human having shifted destiny so many times, all for the love (platonic or otherwise) of one misunderstood Witcher.

Jaskier, Bi Fodder

I thought this section would be majority of this post, haha. But I've explained a lot of my thoughts on this through the other parts. I apologize for my rambling. While TVTropes isn't the definitive of what is a consensus on media and representation, it does support a lot of what's been written here. Like with any canon or perceived bisexual guys, they tend to have both "Ambiguously Bi" tag and "Camp Straight". Short of us seeing Jaskier with another man, or him straight out saying it, everyone can still explain away that Geralt and him are just brothers, just friends, that the heartbreak was borne of friendship shattered. He flirts only with women on screen, we only hear of his escapades with married women and running from straight men.

And yet, here we are. We know he was heartbroken, he said it. He and Yennefer can sympathize together. In his singing scene, a few of the male patrons look at him with something a little more interesting, and so does one of the male elves. The way he looks at Geralt in this season speaks volumes. Joey's alluded in interviews on how he was surprised and happy that the script took his character into new and dark and surprising situations, to be bold.

"As many of you will know, the story of Geralt and Yennefer's rocky romance is chronicled in 'Her Sweet Kiss, one of Jaskier 's most famous ballads..."

— From Netflixpedia

Yet TVTropes and fandom saw this song as a bit queer, as Jaskier looking in and longing. It was teased and joked in Twitter after what we lovingly call "Burn, Butcher, Burn" that of course "Her Sweet Kiss" wasn't obvious enough in heartbreak so they had to make it more obvious with the break up song of the century.

But what really cinched it for me with the show trying to tell us *wink wink nudge nudge* that Jaskier is more than he seems? The quote above. When he talks about why he's helping the elves.

"First they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out— Because I was not a socialist. Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out— Because I was not a trade unionist. Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out— Because I was not a Jew. Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me."

— Martin Niemöller

It was a parallel to this famous poem. Combined with the fact that if one had studied American/Western Media in the 50s through the 80s with regard to LGBTQIA, artists were considered Queer. Majority of the blacklisting that happened wasn't just to do with communism, but anti-Semitism, homophobia, and other prejudices. One had to look between the lines, to see the subtext here. This is both overt and sub text going on.

It was Jaskier alluding that he was other for many reasons, and not just for being a "humble bard" considering we've been shown time again that they're not respected. So where would the fear come into play? Unless he was doing or saying something revolutionary. And this was before he became the Sandpiper. The way he hesitates, pauses, looks at Yennefer... Jaskier is the sort of person that talks all the time and says everything in his mind but not nearly everything in his heart. It's fantastic deflection that's hidden in the expectations of what a bard should be. But here, he's very careful with his words, with not saying too much.

When speaking of hubris this time, I'm pointing at the head writer and others in that team. They think they're so clever, being ambiguous in interviews and social media (and I know, part of it is you have to, you just can't spoil an upcoming season, duh, or promise something that hasn't been written or approved of). There's a lot of "pat on back" moments in the season, not to just Jaskier but others where they think they've done something different and new.

But the fantasy adventure bar is so goddamn low, especially in TV and Movies. Especially when it comes to any sort of MEANINGFUL representation. Wheel of Time did queerness real well, but failed in other marginalized representations. Witcher? Maybe because its origin is Poland, where real people are fighting for their lives to just be queer freely. I'm not saying the author is phobic, but he is very cisgendered straight, and it shows. We have fantasy homophobia, because it always parallels what we perceive history to be (even though history didn't have the right words for this discourse, and in some places were more queer friendly back then than we are now).

Why can't we have fantasy stories where queerness is normalized? It's still treated as something explicitly sexual and weird. We only see it in Yennefer's orgy scene (which was made fun of for such poor choreography), just to show that Yennefer is a "worldly" woman. All the sex workers that came up to Kaer Morhen were visibly women (and presumably cis, but easily could be otherwise).

We can argue what Fringilla and Francesca had as possibly queer too. It was lovely to see their friendship grow and how they helped each other. It's probably the only other sort of representation we can conceivably grasp for in the show.

So yes, I do believe they're setting up Jaskier to be bi/queer. Maybe it wasn't something he even realized till later in life, or something he always hid. One could argue that in the book's version of events of him running from his family cause he messed with the wrong noble, it could've been a male one. They may leave it continually ambiguous. We'll never get Geralt as anything but straight, especially as Henry keeps on insisting that all he wants is the show to be as close/true to the books as possible. While this would bode well for a more friendly happy companionship with his character and Jaskier, it's a continual insistence that the only true love for Geralt is Yennefer. I don't seem him as one of the actors who would be comfortable with anything but straight roles. Mind, again, I don't watch every single interview of this show or of the actors in others. I am a geek and a general fan of Henry, but it's not something I look to often.

And, if the best we can get out of this is a queer platonic relationship, fantastic. But as I've harped on throughout all of this... We need a healthy one. We need Geralt to acknowledge the pain he caused, for Jaskier to admit to that pain to him, to get them to an understanding, one that is full of love and hope and friendship and family and importantly, respect.

I don't know if the solution is to keep him forever pining (please no Supernatural ending here), or to create a new character (or gender swap one we haven't seen yet) for him to have a happy queer relationship. I've always hated "pair the spare" last minute kind of endings we get when a series comes to a close. I think, we just need more of him with the others in meaningful situations. Not empty ones that lead to no where (the jasper, the following possessed!Ciri) but ones of his choice and of others too.

We should be beyond the token bi/queer, the little scraps and hints and that is all we can get from these big shows. Granted, the best option is to have queer media be adapted and created from the get-go. But we should get that and get rep in the popular shows too.

Jaskier is a wonderfully complex character in all versions of him. I just wished the Netflix creators could see that.

“The richness, beauty and depths of love can only be fully experienced in a climate of complete openness, honesty and vulnerability.” – Anthony Venn Brown

Sources Used: Witcher Game Fandom Page - Jaskier & Various Witcher Netflix Site (Media Heavy) Witcher Jaskier TVTropes Page Wikipedia - "First they came..." Various Official Youtube & Tumblr Interviews with Joey & Lauren & Henry

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jennifersylvesters · 6 years ago

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on the air ( prologue )

Synopsis: Your radio program receives its first ever caller...only to complain about a certain segment. Little do you know that he’s not going to stop bothering you both on the air and off. Pairing: uni!Harrison Osterfield x reader Word Count: 3.1k~ A/N: i’ve got absolutely no knowledge about radio stations so i’m so sorry if anything’s wrong. also - laying all the foundation for this - probably will start to pick up in part one. as always, i appreciate any - if at all - feedback. aka please give me feedback.

There were certain aspects that made autumn reign the supreme season in your mind. From the colorful leaves that swirled around to coziness of the sweater weather, you lived for the moment the air turned crisp and autumn came to visit. While others considered January the start of a new change, your heart said that fall season signaled new beginnings. After all, autumn meant the start of a new school year which had just as many resolutions as a new year did.

You knew it wasn’t a popular opinion, but you loved coming back to campus after break. Summer was great, but there was something comforting about returning back to the quad. Yes, of course lugging up all your belongings into your new dorm room was always a pain. Yet there was a satisfaction when you finally tidied up your room making it feel like a home away from home, a small victory that you relished.

And nothing excited you more about arriving back on campus than getting to see your uni friends. Even though it had only been a couple months, you would break into a sprint and crash into all your closest friends with a hug when you spotted them; the reunion may have been a bit dramatic, but text messages and FaceTiming didn’t have quite the same effect as seeing someone in person.

Coming back to campus also meant another year of being a radio host. What started off as a fun proposition during your university’s activities fair turned into one of your favorite activities.

The concept seemed simple enough. The station managers explained that all you needed to do was submit a radio proposal on what you planned on broadcasting. They would show you how to work the equipment and because it wasn’t a particularly popular activity, the station accepted just about every proposal thrown their way.

In the couple of years that you broadcasted, you mostly kept to yourself. Of course you politely smiled at passing DJs, but you didn’t branch out fully with them. It wasn’t as if you viewed them as competition so much as you weren’t sure what to say to them. The only people you really spoke with were the station manager and the engineers.

Most of the engineers who worked at the station were students, taking the job in order to enhance their resume. It also helped that the position was an easy gig. Rarely did things go wrong and if it did, they were tiny blunders that engineers could quickly fix.

Which is how you came to work with George. For the most part he kept to himself, occasionally commenting a one word response. You were well aware of how he tended to tune out your broadcast, focusing on homework. Yet he was a reliable fellow, quick to fix whatever mistakes arose without being asked and never casting blame on you.

About a year into knowing George, you suggested the idea of interviewing him which he surprisingly agreed to. It shouldn’t have surprised you how poorly the interview went. The struggle to have interesting questions combined with his stoic personality made for a terrible segment. The only positive outcome of the broadcast was that you learned three odd yet interesting facts about George: he typically had terrible luck with the exception of technology, he hated his roommates, and he was Greek.

By now you and George mutually understood one another. He got the gist of your programming, knowing that you still struggled with cues and always lent a helping hand during those difficult moments. You understood he was friendlier to you on the days when his roommates weren’t being as annoying as usual.

Unlike some radio presenters that attempted to broadcast new, fun and exciting concepts, you kept your proposal simple: half of your program would be a talk show while the other half would play whatever music interested you at the moment. “So basically like a regular radio show?” the managers confirmed when you pitched, to which you slowly nodded your head. Your proposal wasn’t extravagant, and they could work with that. You requested if at all possible to you go by a pseudonym which they had no problem with. The station managers understood you weren’t trying to be ambitious; it was the presenters who wanted multiple sound effects and crowded the booth worried them more than your show.

You settled for taking the nine to midnight slot on Thursdays, not wanting to fight for prime times the way other presenters did. This meant you couldn’t party with your friends that day, and you secretly loved using it as an excuse. You assumed no one except your group of friends actually listened to your show when they weren’t going out, and you didn’t mind. At least someone was listening.

The music aspect of your show came naturally to you. Every week you would decide on a genre and let whatever music peaked your interest play freely. While you knew it was expected to make a set playlist, you found the managers let you skate by on that expectation because it wasn’t particularly busy that late at night.

You found the talk show aspect was more difficult than you expected. Speaking about different subjects for an hour and a half took more work than you realized. Still, you always managed to find a couple of topics that peaked your interest to discuss on your show.

Your favorite segment that you always included was something you dubbed “Romance Report” where you discussed the adorable romances you noticed on campus. You gushed about the cute couples, vividly describing certain people and the gestures that made you believe how in love they seemed to be. While you didn’t personally know any of the couples, you chose to give them the benefit of the doubt that their relationships were going strong.

After a month and a half of being back on campus, you finally found your rhythm once more with programming. As you gently bopped along to the beat of Kehlani’s “Distraction”, you situated yourself to start “Romance Report” once the song ended.

This week you spoke about a certain couple you saw where the boyfriend lovingly tucked a dandelion behind his girlfriend’s ear before kissing her on the forehead. The two of them laced their fingers together as they walked away from your vision, but the interaction left you full of butterflies in your heart. As you jabbered on about how adorable the gestures were, the phone line lit up. You stared quizzically at the blinking button, almost unsure if it was truly happening. The phone line only lit up when it was just your friends wanting to chat with you, but they normally texted before actually calling the station. It took you by surprise when you answered and an unfamiliar voice spoke.

“Hey. Uh, yeah, would you please just shut up about the couples on campus?” the voice berated you, irritation laced in their tone. Naturally you were taken back. The first actual caller you got was upset with your programming?

“I-I’m sorry?” you stuttered, unsure of what was occurring. You looked up to see George looking up at you. Like always, he rarely had an expression on his face but it was odd for him to pay attention unless something interesting was happening.

“Listen” the unknown voice sighed. “I’m not trying to be that person, but hearing this whole “romance report”...Honestly, it’s idiotic.”

The caller certainly wasn’t one to mince words. The comment stung, but you tried your best to remain civil. “Well, you don’t have to listen if you don’t want to?” you slowly responded, not wanting to offend the caller.

“Yeah, but my mate says the music you usually play is pretty good. Which, yeah, you do have good music taste. So can you just stick to that?” It sounded more like an order than advice, and you could feel yourself becoming vexed.

“No. You know what? I think I’ll keep talking about this couple” you decided promptly. You heard the caller on the line groan. “Listen pal, just change the station if you’re really that upset.”

“Or maybe just stop doing this segment in general.”

“This is my radio show” you snapped. “I’ve literally been doing this since I started.”

“So I’ve heard” the voice grunted. “And some of the couples you choose are ridiculous, you know that? Absolutely ridiculous.”

“How are they ridiculous? You don’t know what you’re talking about” you scoffed.

“A couple weeks ago you talked about some couple sharing a croissant near the library’s coffee shop. You went on and on about how they must share everything. Pretty sure he’s not sharing the fact that he’s cheating on her.”

Your eyes widened at this statement. “What are you talking about?”

“Not to call him out on the radio, but he’s probably not listening anyways. So the guy you were talking about: his name’s Marcus. Saw him hooking up with some girl that was definitely not his girlfriend last week at that bar, Checkers.”

You exchanged glances with George. Even for someone so stoic, you noticed how he raised an eyebrow at that statement. Clearly this wasn’t what he expected during his shift.

“Y-You don’t know that” you stammered out.

“But I do” the voice insisted. “Love’s a joke. People like you think that it’s this everlasting magical feeling when it’s not. It’s work and when people realize that, they leave.”

“You’re being cynical” you retorted.

“And you’re getting played by the biggest con job of them all.”

“N-No, I’m not” you defended yourself, but you heard how weak your response sounded.

“Stop living in a fantasy world, romanticizing couples like that. It’s not real.” The comment cut deep, triggering something in you that you weren’t particularly sure you liked.

“I think that’s all for now” you dismissed as you cut the line. You didn’t wait for the caller to respond, done with his attitude.

You fumbled around with the controls before playing something - anything - to buy you some time. Somehow you managed to start up Mahalia’s “Never Change”, letting her song kill three minutes so you could formulate what to do for your remaining air time.

Glancing up, you noticed George still looking at you. You swallowed nervously, unsure if you wanted him to say anything or not.

“Christ. Thought that’d be one of your friends” he finally commented before taking a sip of his coffee and returning back to his studies.

“So did I” you agreed, leaning back in your chair. A loud sigh escaped your lips before you sat back up and began queueing up songs, at least long enough for you to compose yourself once more. The caller’s comments rang in your mind as you tried to process what just happened.

Despite your consistent praising of love, you hadn’t truly experienced it yourself. While some of your friends had significant others in high school, you only had a handful of crushes that eventually fizzled out. You never bothered to get a boyfriend, believing you would eventually get one in uni. Yet somehow that expectation never came true.

The last thing you wanted to focus on was searching for someone to date. The majority of your time was spent hanging out with your friends or studying anyways. Occasionally your friends dragged you out to parties and bars, but you believed that no serious relationship could start at these locations. So you politely declined the idea of hook ups or handing your numbers out to strangers who offered to buy you drinks.

You found solace in your radio show, just enjoying the idea of love rather than putting yourself out there. Because you wanted something cute, something real. But it didn’t seem likely on your campus.

Still, you enjoyed the fantasy loves in your life. They were attractive guys whose small acts of kindness fueled your fantasies of what love could be.

There was Kendall, the barista whose eyes always crinkled happily when you thanked him for your drink. During freshman year you generously tipped and politely thanked him after a huge rush, never once pestering him about how long he took to make the drinks. From discussing the different types of roasts to asking about his day, you always made polite small talk with him. At this point he memorized your usual order and always had it prepared by the time you finished paying.

There was Logan, one of the student librarians who always let you eat in the biography section of the library despite no food being allowed near the bookshelves. You suspected it was because you consistently visited the place that he gave you a free pass. But you liked to believe it was due to you helping him shelve books during a particularly awful finals week. Whenever you passed him on campus, he would nod in your direction and the two of you would share an understanding smile of the secret that you both kept.

And then there was Harrison, one of the students in your art history class. If there was one thing that made an eight in the morning course more bearable, it was getting to see him. You couldn’t help but steal glances at the boy whose disheveled hair somehow looked so perfect.

Two weeks into the class you curiously watched as he fumbled through his pockets before letting out a low groan. You were caught off guard when he turned towards you asking to borrow a pen. After a brief moment of rummaging around your backpack, you pulled a pen from the front pouch. As you began to hand the pen over, you spotted bagel crumbs scattered on his shirt.

You held out the pen to him, nervously silent. But something told you to let the cute boy know about the crumbs. “Don’t mean to be rude, but you have a little mess going on there” you whispered, leaning in towards him.

Looking down, he spotted the little bits of his breakfast scattered on his shirt. He lightly blushed before mumbling a thanks, wiping the crumbs to the floor.

A week later as you studied on a bench in the quad, you felt a light tapping on your shoulder. You looked up to see Harrison smiling down at you. He made brief small talk before asking to borrow your notes after missing the previous class. You pretended that you hadn’t realized he hadn’t shown when in reality you glumly spent the first couple of minutes of that class staring at the empty seat besides yours.

You handed over your notes as he thanked you. Harrison paused, opening his mouth to say something but stopped upon hearing someone call his name. Both of you glanced around only to spot a boy a couple feet away waving his arm excitedly. Harrison nodded towards whom you assumed was one of his friends. “Well, I’ll see you in class” he said as he headed towards the cheerful fellow.

As the next week rolled around and you tiredly staggered in to the art history class, you were caught off guard by something you weren’t expecting to see: on top of your usual desk were your notes along with the pen Harrison borrowed weeks before and an iced coffee with two sugar packs on top of the lid. The kind gesture touched you, especially since you hadn’t been able to stop by your usual cafe and were in desperate need of caffeine. You tore the sugar packets into the coffee before stirring, thoughts swirling of how Harrison must’ve noticed your preference of coffee. You gratefully sipped on the beverage before the professor walked in and began the lecture.

By next class, you found yourself buying him a breakfast muffin. You knew he only bought the drink as a gesture of showing thanks, but it was too sweet and kind for you not to thank back. It took all your courage not to chicken out, but you placed the pastry on his usual spot before class started.

Upon seeing Harrison enter the classroom, you whipped your head around and immediately pretended to focus on your notes. The sound of his chair sliding out indicated he was next to you, but you ignored it. It took a brief moment for him to actually take his seat, which you figured meant he saw what you left for him. You could feel his gaze on you, but you continued to stare down at your notes as your face heated up. It wasn’t until the professor walked in that you finally looked up.

The first couple of minutes you desperately tried to concentrate on the subject at hand, refusing to look anywhere but straight ahead. But a soft tap on your arm brought you out of your trance, and you turned to Harrison who had halved the muffin and was offering a part to you.

Your face heated up once more as you politely shook your head and raised a hand to indicate “no thanks”. But there was something about his gentle smile and him gesturing once more for you to take it that you eventually caved in.

And that was the start of your art history tradition with him. One of you would bring in a breakfast food and split it with the other. No words were exchanged except the occasional thanks. While you couldn’t help but think that it didn’t mean much to Harrison, it only fueled your imagination about the potential of falling in love with him.

Out of all your fantasy crushes, you enjoyed your thoughts about Harrison the most. Perhaps it was because you spent the most time with him, even if it was during a two hour lecture course filled with silence between the two of you.

You knew about Harrison even before this course. He was one of the many foreign students on campus that people fawned over. Perhaps it was his personality or maybe just his looks, but there was something about him that had girls hooked. You occasionally saw him at parties, but girls always clamored over him that you hadn’t paid mind until recently.

Fantasies now plagued your mind of him being yours, him taking you out to bars not to get drunk but to show you off as his girl. You couldn’t get over the idea of Harrison laughing along with your mates while his arm casually wrapped around your waist. And that at the end of the night, the two of you would go back to his dorm room and cuddle, falling asleep in one another’s arms. When his alarm would go off in the morning, you’d bundle up in his sweater and stroll hand in hand to the art history lecture hall.

But of course you knew it was just fantasy. Still, you loved the idea of love and scowled at the idea of love being a joke like your caller implied.

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