#he's the guy that critique's Jaskier's songs

[feykrorovaan]

It happened AGAIN.

Me:*casually rewatching the second season of the Witcher, when the dock master starts critiquing Jaskier's songs*

BLACKWALL!

[fangirleaconmigo]

Sorry if you've already discussed about this but I'd love to read your thoughts about Jaskier's song burn.

Hi Nonny! I have not. But y’all are gonna have me out here being honest on tumblr dot com today. 😅

I have very strong and very complicated feelings about Burn Butcher Burn. (Not surprisingly)

So do not read below that line if you think critique (not hate, but critique) will bum you out or inhibit your ability to enjoy something you enjoy. I'm beggin you, I'm Boys II Men I'm I'm down on bended knee. Just don't do it. I don't want the pissy anons.

Ok, now that we're all here, I am going to tell you something funny. I first heard of Burn Butcher Burn via the Hot Topic t-shirt that was released ahead of S2. I thought Burn Butcher Burn was a Hot Topic invention. I didn’t know it actually appeared in the show. lmao

I’m sure the song list must have been released by then, but I hadn’t read it. (Spoiler alert: Sometimes I’m dumb) Now, I am a fan of The Witcher as a story and I’m a fan of the fandom. I am not a fan of massive corporation Hot Topic. (Of any corporation really) So I had no problem being critical and loud on Twitter.

I was like WHAT THE FUCK? JASKIER WOULD NEVER DO THAT!! (I know, I know.) HOT TOPIC IS CATERING TO SHIPPERS BUT DOESN'T UNDERSTAND THE CHARACTER OR THE RELATIONSHIP. I’m laughing at that now. Because in retrospect, it obviously came from the show. But anyway.

That day on Twitter, there were many very reasonable people who disagreed with me. They felt that of course Jaskier would do that. They felt that I was overlooking Jaskier’s petty and dramatic side. (He wished for Valdo’s death when he had a djinn! Etc etc) That I was reducing him to sunshine and rainbows. And that I was forgetting that sometimes people say mean things when they are very very hurt.

That was not the case. I am fully aware that Jaskier has a petty vindictive side. I also know that people say things in anger. But I stuck by that opinion (and still do) that Jaskier would not do that.

And now with some thought, I believe it comes down to our differing associations with the name Butcher.

I associate the word “Butcher” with bigotry. Yes, butcher refers to Geralt killing people. Hence butcher. So maybe it is not literally in the word.

But the episode in Blaviken, all the talk about him being a monster, and the way the crowd turns on him for fucking defending himself, for me, it has everything to do with his otherness. It is inseparable in my mind from bigotry against witchers. It goes hand in hand with the dehumanization of Geralt.

I think that is the difference. I don't see it as an unfair characterization of Geralt's ethics. I see it as bigotry against him. That's what it feels like to me. I can't separate that word from it at all. And that is where I get stopped up.

Because Jaskier never. Ever. Not once. Has seen Geralt as an “other.” He isn’t capable. It wouldn’t even occur to him. The thought is totally absurd and laughable. Geralt is just his buddy. His fave. As far as the books (of which there are eight long books that cover years and years) they have arguments and bicker plenty, but not during their worst arguments does he ever. Ever. Throw Geralt’s otherness in his face. (Meanwhile many other people do)

It is truly my favorite characteristic of Jaskier. In fact, when they are in a fight, he says the opposite to Geralt! He’s like (paraphrased) “and you think you’re an other when you aren’t, ya big dumbass. I’ve got news for you, you aren’t special. You’re just some guy.”

Wait ok, I'm grabbing the quote, because it is literally my favorite thing that Dandelion ever says to Geralt. (well top three things). This is in Sword of Destiny in the short story A Little Sacrifice. Dandelion is irritated at Geralt for being kind of a cad with Essi. Essi gives him attention and he assumes she is just morbidly curious and he tries to kiss her but it seems like he's trying to put her off or prove something to her. Basically, he's rude.

Do you know what your problem is, Geralt? You think you're different. You flaunt your otherness, what you consider abnormal. You aggressively impose that abnormality on others, not understanding that for people who think clear-headedly you're the most normal man under the sun, and they all wish that everybody was so normal.

What of it that you have quicker reflexes than most and vertical pupils in the sunlight? That you can see in the dark like a cat?

Big deal. I, my dear, once knew an innkeeper who could fart for ten minutes without stopping, playing the tune to the psalm Greet us, greet us, O, Morning Star. Heedless of his---let's face it--unusual talent, that innkeeper was the most normal among the normal; heh ad a wife, children, and a grandmother afflicted by the palsy..."

Ok, so I love that it's canon that Dandelion calls Geralt my dear. And I laugh my fuckin ass off at the implication that his witcher attributes are correlated with a man who can fart a tune. Amazing. Also, this passage speaks to my absolute favorite things about Jaskier. It is the entire reason I fell in love with him. In in a fictional world saturated in bigotry and racism (much like the real world) he just doesn't have that in him. He just doesn't.

He sees someone different and he just goes YES! FUCKING AMAZING PERFECT NO NOTES!

It has to do with his empathy but also his natural curiosity and wonder.

That is 100% why I fell in love with him in TWN in the first place. He sees the pissed off looking mutant who everyone else mistrusts, and he just walks up to him like YOU! YES, YOU! YOU ARE FRIEND SHAPED.

That is it! The core of why I love him.

So, back to Burn Butcher Burn. I know lots of people see it differently. They say, but Geralt was terrible to him and left him! He’s just hurt! But that isn’t my point at all. My point is, I believe that no matter WHAT Geralt did to him, it just would never occur to him to be bigoted towards Geralt because it simply is not in him.

Would he call Geralt an Asshole? Yes. Motherfucker? Sure. Clod. Clown. Petulant moaning whoreson? Absolutely. Butcher? I’m sorry. No. Not for me. And for me it sabotages the entire reason I love that character.

And it made me fear what the show would bring.

And then the season came out.

And. Well? Not only did they not make him a bigot, but they have him actively helping elves escape. He is actively anti-racist. So they clearly understand that about him.

So idk man all I can think is that, just like the other fans who disagree with me on Burn Butcher Burn, the writers just do not associate Butcher with Geralt’s otherness or with bigotry the way I do.

So, having Jaskier be The Sandpiper took some of the sting out of my disappointment, by actively saying…we know Jaskier has compassion for elves and other non humans, and we are explicitly showing that.

The second thing that took some of the sting out of it was Joey’s performance. He is so grief stricken he kind of collapses while he’s singing. He looks like he’s dissociating! My god. Joey really put his all into his performance. Just wow. I was completely blown away by his vulnerability and authenticity. You could not watch his performance and say the song was a result of anything but a shattered heart. It didn't come across as someone being mean.

All that calmed me down a lot.

The song gave us an absolutely fantastic performance from Joey. It showed how incredibly important Geralt is to him. How deeply he feels. The honesty and vulnerability of it also created a bonding point with Yen, and their scenes were my favorites. My beloveds. If I could frame that entire goodbye good luck and good riddance scene I would. I am currently clutching it to my chest.

So, it’s complicated. Burn Butcher Burn giveth and it taketh away. They used it to such good effect. And they clearly know that Jaskier isn’t a bigot.

But. I still wish they would have used almost any other word. And I don’t acknowledge its existence in any of my fanwork because it still doesn’t line up with how I feel about that character or that relationship. I just can’t. My association with that word is my association with it. I feel how I feel. If others feel differently, I respect it. But I can't. In my little dream land of headcanons it never happened.

Ok, those are my feels. Thanks for the ask! <3