#i'm sorry back to the witcher topic but

[angeart]

I have been thinking about some particularly good bits of the Witcher stories and I have two different mumscarian au scenarios and I can’t pick between them. It’s a struggle, because they flip the characters.

Yes dw I’m also working on writing hmtb i promise.

[wolvesandfoxes25]

The truth will out.

"I have a question for you, Geralt?" Jaskier asked, his face pinched up in aggravation.

"Hm?"

The bard spun around, his fingers in their signature formation, shifting into an O.

"Is there a reason why you're giving me these piteous looks?" He all but snapped out, moving a piece of brown hair behind one ear.

Geralt was taken aback... almost flushing at being called out.

He hadn't meant, per say, to do what he was being accused of...but looking back now he realized he kinda had.

"What are you on about?"

Jaskier chuckled, no humor anywhere to be found.

"I'm no fool, Geralt. I know you've spent 20+ years thinking me one, but piss off with that accusation."

Geralt sat down, eyes taking in the fluffed up form of the brunette.

"Jaskier. If I've offended you, I truly apologize." He replied as heartfelt as possible. Which, for him, was a low growl, but... semantics.

"Thank you for the apology, but it doesn't negate the fact that you've been doing it. Now, my acrimonious friend, do enlighten me."

Geralt had always known about the other mans...affinity for him. How could he not?

Jaskier wasn't exactly subtle.

"Is it because you know I wanna fuck you?"

Geralt felt like he'd been slapped.

"Honestly, I stumble upon two people a day I'd like to fuck. So, what? Why the looks?"

Silence.

"Have you seen yourself? Your arse is a thing of glory, as I've said before."

Jaskier waved that statement off like he was shooing a fly.

Gaining his... albeit lack of words, Geralt crossed his arms.

"No. Well, in a way, it is regarding that." He grumbled.

Jaskier rolled his eyes, eyes drifting down to his laced cuff.

Silence.

"I know you care for me." He whispered, knowing his friend would hear.

Jaskier froze, fingers clenching together.

A long, grinding silence filled the cabin and Geralt hated it.

Finally...

"Ah, I see. Poor, pathetic Jaskier, always running after the unattainable. In this case... you." He grit out between clenched teeth, blue eyes flashing.

Geralt glared, getting to his feet.

"I didn't think that for one second, Jask."

Jaskiers glare deepened..."Don't fucking call me that, godsdamn you. S-Stop looking at me like that!"

The Witcher grit his teeth, trying like fuck to reign his temper back to its confine.

"Did Yennefer give you this tidbit of information?" He demanded.

Geralt didn't answer.

She had... at one point mentioned it.

He hadn't replied to her, not wanting to use that topic to... gossip. It wasn't any of her business, and his silence let her know that.

"She did. I fucking knew it. The two of you enjoy a good laugh at my expense?"

Geralt glowered now.

"How little you think of me." He hissed.

Jaskier glared, blue eyes full of discomfort and embarrassment.

"How little you think of the fairy, huh? Sullies your witcher name for a person with a cock to love you? Sorry, I left my cunt back in Oxenfurt."

Turning to leave in a huff, he felt a big, heavy hand clamp onto his wrist.

"Unhand me, you brutish lout of a man!"

Geralt did, setting him firmly against the door.

The two of them stared at each other in the dim light of the shitty cabin, both of them breathing heavy in the night air.

Geralt watched his chest rise and fall beneath his coat, lips pinched together in fury.

"I never meant to judge you, Jaskier."

Silence.

"Well, the 'woe is him, poor piteous little dandelion' has been permanently plastered upon your face for days now. And I would really appreciate it if you'd stop." Jaskier choked out, looking like it was physically painful to say those words to the other male.

Silence.

"I can't help the way I feel, alright? I've tried for years to.. to.. deny what I feel. To push you out and away from my very essence, but I fucking can't!"

He spat out those words like acid in his throat and Geralt felt them like acid across his face, stunning even him into silence.

Jaskier looked like a caged animal when he moved to leave again. But Geralt gripped him again, forcing him back into place.

The brunette pushed at him furiously, but Geralt didn't relent, trapping him.

Two sets of eyes locked... and Geralt felt near possessed when his hand reached up and cupped his bards face.

Blue eyes widened at the action, his lips trembling, chest rising and falling like he'd run away from a monster.

Maybe it was Geralt he was running from mentally.

It was too late, wasn't it? To let Jaskier know?...

Jaskier pushed his hand away with trembling fingers and all but ran out of the cabin.

Geralt stood there, feeling foolish.

The end. Or... to be continued?

[hanzajesthanza]

Dude, I just wanna say I am SOOOOO excited for your video essay on the Witcher. I have been waiting for a good essay covering more than the games and Netflix series for months now, as I like to listen to longer videos as I work during the mornings and I just know this is going to be so good. I've always loved reading your posts and analysis on the characters and arcs that books encompass, so I just wanted to share that I'm incredibly hyped for this, and I know you did an absolutely wonderful job piecing everything together and creating it :) I hope it gets the millions of views it DESERVES!!

i don't know where to begin, all i can say is thank you!! this ask totally made my night!

thank you not only for the encouragement, acknowledgement, validation... but for being. for being there, being excited, interested in the same topics. i'm just so happy i get to share this with people, that we get to share this—the fandom, the whole story, not just the video—together.

i'm really just so excited to share it and i hope everyone likes it or gets something useful out of it (and if it's not your vibe that's ok too!! everyone is invited!) like, i'm excited that you're excited... lol!

i really wanted to make something "quality" for people and for the channel, both in writing and in design. so there's a degree of storytelling that went into it, and i tried to make it visually engaging and structure it so that it's not just a spew of information, but like a little journey for everyone to come along with me on. most of the research was new for me too, so it's like we get to figure it out together.

below the cut is this kind of "diary entry": a long, contemplative, stream-of-consciousness response, haha...

(you don't have to read this, especially because i got a little emotional in it, i just thought i'd take the time to respond to authenticity with authenticity and get some things off of my mind... in reflection of the video, but also just about my personal life lol.)

i initially felt worried that people wouldn't get what i'm doing and would misinterpret my arguments, but despite these urges to explain myself a thousand times, i ultimately let my writing speak for me, and shut down the need to apologize and cover up what is decent work with a littering of disclaimers. i realized i actually can't stand it myself when youtubers go through the whole rigmarole of "sorry i haven't posted," "sorry it's not perfect," "sorry my pronunciation is bad," "sorry i'm not an expert" before they get to the actual video or what they want to say... i'm all: "lol, no worries. i wasn't expecting perfection, i'm just here to watch what you made." and i feel like most people have a similar reaction.

i know the concept of "fandom" has often a poor reputation online as a toxic space filled with drama, witch hunts, offensive behavior, self-absorbed conduct... and of course, there is some truth to that... but, there's also the good side of "fandom," which often goes ignored in narratives about it. i think "fandom" is just a niche kind of "community," and communities are simply groups of people (human beings, which have primal troupe-like natures, both build each other up and tear each other down, faction-like, warring, but also protective, loving fiercefully)...

it was different fandoms back then, of course, a little over ten years ago, but when i first got into "fandom" stuff online as a pre-teen, it was just night and day as opposed to my socializing in real life.

in discovering niche interests, passions, and yes, of course fictional universes that draw you in... i've always had only so few people to share that with in real life—when it comes to popular medias, of course, these medias were things that everybody in my school class was into, my friends had gotten me into it—but as i grew a little older and went on my own explorative journeys, i became most passionate about things that no one around me knew of or cared about, and suddenly, it was really lonely.

it had been a bit lonely before that, i always liked the media a little "too much," to the point of my friends asking me if we can stop playing pretend on the schoolyard and go watch the boys play four-square instead :'D or if we could please talk about anything else other than [media]. these are just childhood stumbles, which i imagine everyone has... but i mean, in this younger childhood, at least we could talk about media stuff sometimes, and i wasn't shunned too badly for it. but interests shifted and i got into things that only interested me, then i became truly alone on the recess yard.

when i first got into "fandom" online: groups of fans of [shared interest], who want to learn more about/talk and listen to others about/share and see more of [shared interest], and that entire world fit on my little iphone as i sat by the fence during lunch period, okay, i'm being so melodramatic here, but it was like a "welcome home." it was like discovering an entire little fairy world in the hollow of a tree. you mean to tell me, this place has existed, all this time? people who have the same interest, who want to talk about it, who are even—ha ha, just imagine—interested in what i have to say about it? those people exist, and they also have their own things to say, which i can listen and respond to? an actual faerieland. magic.

alright, i'll chill out. it's just social media, it's just social exchanges. but social exchanges are powerful, as human beings, we're evolutionarily driven to crave them. social media so often gets seen as fleeting exchanges, shallow engagement, but i—and probably a lot of tumblr's demographic—don't most often speak in staccato sentences online, but rather paragraphs, essays, hell, documents. we try to talk to each other kind of like we would in real life, we collaborate in building canons, worlds, have real discussions about media and society and... life. i don't know if anyone's studied this kind of experience as much as the generic "social media rots your brain" narrative, but it's been mine.

when i talk about [media interest], of course here and now it's specifically the witcher, i'm doing it because i'm part of this community, this whole forum, agora... i want to talk, but i moreover want to be listened to, to share, to be in conversation, not just be alone with my thoughts and interests.

it kind of boggles my mind, because i spent so long (ever since those aforementioned playground days) feeling like talking about anything fandom-related was excruciating for the people around me: that absolutely no one is interested in this but yourself, so get used to it.

so now, the fact that, sometimes when i post something, write something, draw something, make a video, or just say anything about this interest, that other people see that and it resonates with them, they enjoy it, it moves them, they're not annoyed, but also inquisitive, eager to talk about this thing, to share, too... like yourself, so kind to send me a message like "i'm interested in, excited for what you have to say," that's fucking crazy to me, it makes me so grateful, and also puts me in almost a state of disbelief! not just that i'm flattered, but that we share the same interest, have similar questions and desire for discussion about it, and live in a time where we can talk about this together over an instant, online communication... that no one has to suffer alone with their interests, no one has to feel isolated and weird and not know what to make of themselves.

despite fandom being seen as mean and shallow, (... similar to fantasy, come to think of it—interesting parallel with the actual subject of the video!) it's also a group of dynamic communities, that are sharing and criticizing and... just, communicating. the ability to communicate, the culture of communication is so important.

working on this project, somewhat fittingly, made me realize that the world is very gray, and nothing is even wholly good or wholly evil. this, of course, mostly applies to the politics and history and the story of the witcher which i'll be talking about in the video;

but what i realized is that this lesson also applies to mundane things, common anxieties i have. for example, that social media is not just bad or good, it's a tool with certain outcomes depending on how you use it. that people probably won't totally ignore you and shun everything you have to say, but they also won't listen to your every word. that success in life isn't impossible, but it's also probably not going to turn out as it is in your wildest dreams.

we're (~gen Z including zillennials and young millennials) surrounded with so much doomerist culture related to our prospects in life, especially as relates to contemporary media culture and life success, but it's not hopeless. you can always be an outlier of the broader trend. sometimes, you have to choose to be an outlier of the trend.

this is something i begin to talk about towards the end of the video. bagiński and hissrich basically see the trend and go: "looks like their attention spans are fucked, better speed up the process" instead of allowing themselves to be different, instead of embracing what makes them ("fantasy") special, trying so hard to conform... and hurting themselves from it. and looking at that, i just realized, i really don't want to follow that example and do something similar to myself.

i have to be bold enough to put my authentic self out there, even if it's "too complex to be understood", if it doesn't appeal to everyone, even if it turns some people away. it doesn't matter, because i only have one "me" to share, i can't force myself to be something i'm not. what i can do is seek out the people who i think will understand, who will be interested in that complexity. of course, this is something anyone whose advice is worth a grain of salt will tell you, has told me—but maybe i only understood it best when a witcher metaphor was applied :p

i'm in my 20s, and it's been so strange for me after i graduated college (undergrad), since what's now been two years ago. i spent my entire life in school, and suddenly no more school :( so i'm trying to regrow, or maybe grow in a different direction, that part of me that i lost when i had to graduate and get out... i'm struggling with feelings of failure every day, that i haven't met anyone's expectations for me since graduation, there has been so many feelings of worthlessness and confusion, i've so lost without school: a neat structured framework where everything gets measured and you get nice summaries of how you're doing in life.

it's horrified me upon discovering that, in life, no one measures how you're doing! you just live, and no one says "you're doing alright here, but here you could use some improvement." no one gives you direction, you have to plot your own map of unexplored territory. and suddenly, i don't know who i am anymore, where i'm going, why i do anything, what my purpose or use is. and, because i'm not in a class where there's a grade average, i also have no idea how everyone else is doing, only a vague feeling that i'm far behind. so it's really been confusing, demotivating...

as this video essay project dragged on, for about double the time i thought it was going to take, this sense of guilt and shame started to overtake me. throughout the project, i had this nagging paternalistic chiding in my head that i should be chasing success, career, relationships, life... but instead i'm wasting my time on the witcher, writing something no one cares about and people won't acknowledge me for. throwing away my time on something that doesn't matter. it was very contradictory, because i liked working on this project a lot, and of course and obviously i love the subject(s) it's about.

but i felt so fucking guilty for not pounding the linkedin pavement everyday and instead spending my time and effort on this video, lol. related back to what i spoke of earlier in this, that fandom is seen as petty and stupid—it's not something to be proud of. in my saddest moments, i thought of how my favorite professors might react if they knew that after graduation, this was the biggest project i had pursued. and my cheeks reddened in shame, i sweat from anxiety... literally as i write this, my hands are kind of shaking and i'm a bit nauseous imagining having to admit something like that to them. i mean, just think of every little kid that's like "i wanna be a youtuber!" it's adorable when you're 13, not so much when you're 23. and again, contradictory! because this is something i'm so stupidly passionate about, i'm unable to abandon it for something more "honorable"! i felt, i often feel, pathetic for how much i love things that no one cares about.

but upon completing this essay, i realized that this was something i started and finished, by myself, for... well, not "for myself," it's for you guys, but for self-motivated reasons, i.e., i wasn't seeking anyone's pride or approval—of course, your pride and approval would be nice to have and i wouldn't deny it! but i really did this for the values i have about community, for educational and discussional purposes, and of course, love for the witcher.

i realized that i made this because i wanted to make something to share with others, for other's benefit, which, upon reflection, has little to do with what others think of me. and that's really interesting, because i've, in school, in the majority of my life, i think i've been chasing the approval of others, i really wither away without it... so it's cathartic to realize that i put effort into, i spent my time on, making something not for approval, just out of passion. there's some kind of valuable life lesson learned here, i bet... some kind of personal growth...

but yeah, it's kind of weird. i guess my path doesn't look like everyone else's, i probably look like a loser to a lot of people right now if they could see me. but this video is evidence that i've grown and matured (in ways which maybe other people had already achieved for themselves, and maybe they haven't...) it's proof that i'm not stagnant, that life does exist in me still, and it's taking a form i didn't expect. a person is emerging from me. i can only watch with anticipation for who they'll become.

[pocket-lin]

hii <3

4, 11, 16 and 19 for the fandom asks??

(almost just wrote a plea for you to answer all of them but managed to restrain myself😅)

hi hi hi!! thank you for asking me these, this is so much fun!! reading back on these answers after I've written them is shocking because I really can just go on and on about stuff, huh? I really don't talk that much irl so I didn't know I had all this in me hahaha I'm so sorry!! I'm actually so embarrassed 😅 I'm gonna put the answer to 11 in a separate post so I can actually attach the picture I'm proud of!

4. say something nice about a ship you don't ship (it can be another ship in your fandom, a mutual's OTP, etc)

the one ship that's jumping out to me is dramione. I am a huge hater of this ship (sorry sorry sorry if you're reading this and it's your thing I love you and support you!!!) but you guys make some really cool shit and I'm happy you have a community you can share it with!! I've poked around in the ao3 and tumblr tags and its absolutely not for me, but there's some really beautiful and horny stuff out there for this ship and I so genuinely love that for all of you!

16. a tiny detail in canon that you want more people to appreciate

if I'm being totally honest with you, I haven't interfaced with the harry potter canon in a very long time. i already own all the movies and books and stuff, so I wouldn't even be giving jk money by rewatching/reading them, but it just kind of makes my stomach hurt when I think about supporting her in some way. I've had to work through a lot of complicated feelings in regards to jk and harry potter in general, as I'm sure many people have had to do! her words and actions and how I feel about it are not complicated at all, but what to do in the aftermath of it was something I had to figure out. I mean, I have a hp tattoo on my ankle!! my pinned post is about this specifically, but where I've ultimately landed on it all is this: I don't want to let her steal any more joy from me than she already has. there are so many queer and trans people in this fandom creating such incredible stuff, and I just don't want to lose that! I got off on a whole tangent here and definitely have a lot more I could say on the topic, BUT all this to say, I can't really think of tiny hp details anymore!! and in this specific fandom, I'm totally okay with that!

19. your current fandom(s)

the fandom that I interact with the most is definitely harry potter, but I have a bunch of other stuff I'm super into!!

the whole reason I got back into any fandom–and the entire reason I logged back into Tumblr for the first time since 2018–was because of our flag means death!! I've loved rhys darby since flight of the conchords and was so pumped that he was a lead in an hbo show! I was totally shocked when ofmd turned out to not be queerbait!! something about that first season just flipped a switch in me and I looked for fan fiction for the first time in like, 10 years!! I actually didn't even know about ao3 and tried to go to ff.net and it was a whole thing. getting back into fandom was very intimidating, I'm not gonna lie. (wow I really could just talk forever huh?)

my other fandoms are: the sandman, the witcher, good omens (I was so late to that show but jumped on right before the second season completely on accident), check please!, disco elysium, red dead redemption (especial rdr2), the x files, the walking dead, the rivers of london series, and d&d: honor among thieves.

and then there's some stuff that I don't even know how I got into!! like, the spideypool ship. gang, I've barely seen any marvel movies, I haven't read very many marvel comic books. and I honestly don't plan it because I just don't like marvel (once again, could go on about this forever, I was a manager at my local comic shop and have many opinions). but someone I follow posted about a fic (and I am not immune to beautiful fan art) and then I fell down the rabbit hole!! def have recs if anyone is interested!

another one is the ted lasso fandom. I genuinely don't remember why we never finished watching the second season but then the reviews for the third season was kinda mixed so I never went back to it. and then I saw a writer I'm head over heels for had a ted lasso fic (other lives by @andthepeople) and WHOOPS I fell down another rabbit hole!! i also have ted lasso recs!

essentially, if ya boy's read/watched/listened to something, you know he's gonna go look at what the freaks (affectionate) are posting on ao3.

[originsofevil]

Intro <3 !

I go by Michelangelo or any variation of that

(usually michael/mikey but names dont mean much to me)

but i recently found out that i'm the host of a system so if any tags are signed off with a different name thats why

dont care too much abt pronouns but i typically use he/him, ve/vir, and xe/xir/xem. mix it up, get creative. typically dont use she/her but ynever know

body is 21, we're an aries if u wanna make any judgement off of that, autistic + adhd if that wasnt obvious

i do post occasional nfsw/suggestive content, never anything too crazy but if youre a minor id prefer if you didnt interact with those posts, i have no way of enforcing this as i dont check my notifs unless theres tags but i am a full adult, i do pay rent and bills and taxes. on that topic i probably wont follow you if youre under like. 16/17ish. no hard feelings i just am an adult and im not around kids very much as the 2nd youngest of 4 so. if youre under 16 dont do drugs stay in school all that good stuff. i love you, go to bed on time. i've been on this website since i was 11 and it shows. dont be me.

dms are always open ! i'm not amazing at holding a conversation unless its abt my current hyperfixation (rn its zelda/lu) but i love to yap. if you follow me and we're not mutuals dm/ask me and ill follow back! I don't rly pay attention to my followers so i typically don't follow ppl unless theyre consistently posting abt one of my interests and i remember to

I talk in the tags a LOT feel free to <- prev or rb addressing my tags but i typically assume no one will read them all the way through. i'm writing whole essays. im oversharing. call op a college admissions office bc I'm telling my whole life story. if my tags make you uncomfortable on your post please let me know and i will apologize/delete them if you wish. i dont have a concept of tmi and tend to misread/miss social cues/the vibes so i apologize if i misstep

please let me know if i reblog any stolen artwork/ai generated anything/ etc

‼️‼️i am not spoiler free for anything (even if i myself havent seen the content) i dont have any sort of tagging system ‼️

list of my active fandoms! old hyperfixations tend to creep up on me so this is not complete

- bungo stray dogs (bsd beast fans pls follow me i adore beast)

- legend of zelda (all games + lu/links meet aus)(legend fans pspspsp)

- the witcher (mainly the show but i got attached to a character thats not even actually in any of the games. aiden i love you.)

- cars (2006, 2011, 2017)(yes entirely unironically)

- Voltron legendary defender. (again. yes. unironically.)

- star wars (mainly the main series and animation since i havent read thr or played the games)

- jujutsu kaisen (2nd years stan)

- the magnus archives (gerry delano fans i love you)

- percy jackson (mainly the books and musical, i dont care for the show much but i adore the actors)

- gravity falls ! (i actually just got into this like, last month. binged the whole series in like a week at age 21.)

- my hero academia (my hs best friend made me watch s1 and i got attached to aizawa hawks and the todorokis sorry)(im convinced the todorokis were based on my family. im literally natsuo. dont ask abt dabi unless u think you're prepared)

Non Fandom Interests

- I write ! once i start uploading ill link my ao3 here but its rough out here (microsoft word)

- I draw ! i mightve posted my art a few times but as i mentioned i dont have any tagging system so maybe I'll make one for art or link another social at some point

- this mostly falls under loz but i love video games :3 i MOSTLY play loz but animal crossing, minecraft, and random silly da games ive collected over the years are my pride and joy. i want to play the witcher games but i have assassins creed black flag and im really bad at it. (i only have nintendo consoles (ds, 3ds, switch) rn but i want a decent pc at some point. the sims calls to me.

- Politics! my politics are very important to me as a leftist so if you're right wing we will not get along. if i find out that youre racist/homophobic/transphobic/a zionist (i am jewish)/sexist/etc i will probably block you. id say no hard feelings but i dint mean that.

I will probably update this as needed/whenever i remember to <3 ty if u read this and i love you have a great day

[teddybeartoji]

I JUST REALIZED I NEVER RESPONDED TO YOU WHOOPSIE

anyway i love all the resident evil games, i love gore in video games like it just gives me a huge rush of adrenaline idk, i like scary games overall, my sister who is 20 is the biggest tomb raider fan, her room is full of lara croft posters, her phone cover is a picture of lara croft, etc. i love until dawn too, i remember watching berleezy playing it around 2015 and got hooked straight away, when the game goes on sale im definitely buying it straight away

playing arkham knight was so fun, i love solving puzzles in games it just gets my brain working, and i love the parts with jason todd, he’s too fine he can release all his pent up frustration out on this coochie idk 🙂‍↕️ ive literally forgot everything that has happened in outlast, im waiting for my sister when she’s finally has a break from work since she won’t allow me to play it by myself…. the witcher is soooo good ! you should play it one day when you can <3 

and i have heard of ghost of tsushima but i never played it 😭 i heard the next game has a female lead, you just know its about to be so good 

HAII HAI HAIII!!!!!!!!!!! YESSS I REALLY LOVE RESIDENT EVIL GAMES TOO!!!!!!!!! i'm actually relatively new to horror games lmao i did think myself to be too big of a scaredy cat to play them alone buut then i watched a streamer play re2 aaand i thought it was so fucking cool that i decided to check it out myself too and i fucking loved it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! from there on i started realizing that i really like games like that so now i'm always on the look out for a sexy scary game:33333333333

I LOVE JASONNNNN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! he was the reason why i wanted to play the game in the first place lmao i think he is very Neat:3333333333333 that really was such a fun game the combat was so fun!!!!!!!!!! it's so crazy that this game came out almost nine years ago and it's SOOOOOO FUCKING GOOD while some recent stuff is so fucking ass lmao sorry to get into this super random thing but i've seen a few hours of the new star wars game and it's just sooo baffling how bad it is😭😭😭

OH ON THE TOPIC OF VIDEO GAME PUZZLES THOUGH!!!!!!!!!!! i've been playing hsr a lot lately right aand the area i'm at there are a looot of different kinds of small puzzles and i love them so fucking much i'm having a lot of fun with them:3333333 ANDANDDD the silent hill 2 remake came out and since i don't really have money to buy it (rip) i've been watching a gameplay of it and i am genuinely very fucking impressed by the puzzles in it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! not to suck my own cock but i think i'm relatively good at different kinds of puzzles but some of those had me sitting there like O . O like they were hardd😭😭😭I LOVE IT THOUGH!!!!!!!!! PUZZLES NEED TO BE HARD!!!!!!!!

AND AND ANDDDD!!!!!!!!!!! GHOST OF TSUSHIMA!!!!!!!!!!!!!! OHH MY GODDDD I LOVE THAT GAME SOOO FUCKING MUCH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! the story is fucking amazing i love the mc it's fucking beautiful it has little foxes you can pet and my favourite part is definitely the combat!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! i haven't seen any other game with mechanics like that it's so much fucking fun. and addicting lmao like you just want to fight all the time,, there is an option for stealth but i don't think i did anything quietly on my second playthrough just bc fighting is so much more exciting:33333333333 I DEFINITELY RECOMMEND CHECKING IT OUT WHEN AND IF YOU EVER HAVE A CHANCE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! it'll change your life i can promise you that right now:33333333

AND EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEI'M SOOOOO GIDDY BC OF THE ANNOUNCEMENT OF THE SECOND GAME!!!!! I DIDN'T EVEN KNOW IT WAS IN THE WORKS SO IT CAME AS A REALLY BIG SURPRISE the female mc seems so fucking sick i'm already obsessed with her<333333

ANYWAYYY I LOVE VIDEO GAMES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! i just got my rdr2 disc back and i can't fucking wait to start replaying that hehehehe (i have over 300h on it already)(let's ignore that)(i'm normal)

[sonnenreich]

⸻ [ . . . ] crafting spell for @nepnthc, who sent: i'm just kidding! oh , i'm so sorry , your face...

The sudden change in atmosphere was palpable within an instant, the heated summer air turning ice cold, grazing their skins with a shiver. Only on rare occasions would one be able to witness the drop of the blonde’s gaze. Something anyone could be sure of to feel. Zeev wasn’t picky about who deserved his attention as long as he received the same amount in return. Some though, he discovered, felt more sincere than others. 

In this particular case Enid had accidentally nudged a topic Zeev hadn’t expected. Usually he wasn’t easily surprised, heck, he had a poker face some gambling addicts would die for. Somehow the brunette had managed to hit a spot he wasn’t aware he had left open for her to invade. He felt too comfortable. 

Zeev rarely had bad days, especially when the sun was shining. There wasn’t much that could drown his smiles and ease. This particular day though was tainted with a memory that felt more like a hazy dream. He couldn’t exactly recall the circumstances, but he was painfully aware of the outcome. It was exactly one year ago since his little sister had died. The witcher couldn’t blame her for asking, just like himself, she wasn’t used to him sitting all by himself, quiet and withdrawn. His usual outgoing behavior was nothing but a trait of the past. He felt switched out with a version of himself he had thought to have abandoned. 

Asking him “did someone die or why are you so dejected?” probably wasn’t very clever. He had winced immediately, dropping his head so fast he almost snapped his neck.

“I’m just kidding!” she quickly claimed, pure guilt tainting her drawl. “Oh… I’m so sorry.” She fell down next to him, only noticeable by the way the greenery gave in and bent to accommodate her presence.  

Mindlessly he pulled dead weeds out of the dry ground, letting them sprinkle down from his scarred palm. Everything about his body spoke of defeat. Hunched back and low hanging head, the corners of his lips far from remembering how to smile. The shine in his eyes dimmed like midnight hues. 

“Your face…” she mumbled, eying him attentively. Of course she did. Anyone else would have gone away. Anyone else wouldn’t have been around long enough to ever witness that he was just as much human as anyone else. That his grief was just as real, even if he tried to cover it with laughs and sunshine. “I’ve never seen you this sad…” It wasn’t like she was talking to him per se, her voice nothing more than in thought babbling. She hesitated in touching him and he couldn’t blame her. 

She didn’t say it, but her face was as clear as the sky when he dared to look up at her. “Not today” he mumbled. “Perhaps I’ll tell you, but not today…” 

He felt like an antithesis pressed into a human frame. He wanted her touch, he wanted her presence, he wanted comfort and he needed her words — still he yearned to be left alone, to get lost in the darkening thoughts, to remember what is out of reach, to punish himself for an unknown crime, he wasn’t ready to share his feelings. Supposedly, he never would be.

[seidenbros]

Ok.. you are the BEST WITCHER WRITER OUT THERE !!! Seriously, your posts are fabulous and they make me so happy! ❤

So I take the advantage and shoot something over again 😊 Let’s go for another Geralt one (cause come on he’s a bomb). Maybe where you’re a couple and traveling with him and it’s all fine until he meets Yennefer again so you start getting jealous somehow and feel in the way as you see how they react with each other. So you leave the camp one night to clear your mind when the other sleep, but you get attacked and hurt. When Geralt sees you’re not there as he wakes up he freaks out and searches you, just to find you barely hanging on. Then he tries all to save you and realizes that his behavior was not the best but you are the one for him forever? Is that weird ? I hope not haha I looove fluffy Geralt so much ! (also I really hope I don't annoy you with sending another idea)

First of all: Let me love you!

Second of all: your message really made my day/week/month

Thirdly: You don't annoy my in the slightest with sending another idea, I always LOVE these messages, so you're always welcome to send something in 💚

Then I have to apologise that it took me so long to write this, but covid really had me down for more than a week and I'm still exhausted rather quickly, but at least I'm able to write. And writing this was so much fun, even with all the angst woven in, so I really hope you enjoy it 💚

(Requests are open, and if you need inspiration, there are some prompt lists to be found)

Pairing: Geralt x Reader

Warnings: bit of blood and violence, hurt/comfort, angst, fluff

Word count: 3188

____________

Only in the darkness can you see the stars

“Well, well if it isn't my favourite Witcher.”

You hear a voice behind you and turn around only to be met with the most mesmerising eyes. She didn't have to introduce herself, you knew who she was. Yennefer of Vengerberg. The two of you had never met before, but you'd heard stories – some had been told by Geralt himself, but not all of them. Yennefer wasn't a topic he spoke about frequently, but you knew who she'd been to him.

Geralt turned with you, but let go of your hand. Whether it was due to turning around or because of Yennefer, you didn't know, but you had a weird feeling about this.

“Yennefer,” he said with a tone in his voice that was usually reserved for you. The smile that lit up his face was a rare occasion as well. “What are you doing here?”

“I'm staying with a friend for a few days before I move on. What about you?”

“Just passing through. Hoping to get a room for the night.” You'd just arrived and hadn't yet had the chance to ask for a room at an inn, but that was next on your agenda.

“I think you're out of luck. They're all booked. There's an event tonight, so there are no rooms left.”

“Fuck.” Geralt sighed and pinched the back of his nose. He didn't have a problem with setting up camp for the night, but after weeks on the road, you certainly deserved a nice, warm bed.

“And you are travelling together?” Yennefer pulled him back from his thoughts and looked at you, a warm smile on her lips.

“Right, sorry,” Geralt apologised, putting his hand between you shoulderblades as if to push you forward a little bit. “This is Y/N. Y/N, this is-”

“Yennefer of Vengerberg,” you finished the sentence for him, as if you'd just found your own voice again. “I've heard a lot about you on my travels. It's a pleasure to finally meet you.”

Maybe, that was an exaggeration, because you didn't know what to make of this situation, but you were certainly curious to get to know her a little bit better, see what all the fuss was about.

“The pleasure is all mine,” Yennefer replied, still keeping her smile in place. “You should join me for dinner, catch up. My treat!”

Geralt didn't even look at you before he agreed. You weren't mad at him, in fact, this sounded like a good opportunity to get to know her better, but you wished that he would have at least asked you before agreeing.

In the end, the dinner with Yennefer wasn't exactly something you wanted to repeat. Most of the time, you felt like you were in the way of the two of them. Now and then Yennefer asked you something, and while you were happy to answer her questions, you felt like Geralt pretty much ignored you, his eyes on Yennefer the whole time. It was understandable, she was beautiful after all and the two of them had a certain history, but you just wished that you didn't have to witness this. Geralt could have gone without you, or could have told you that you're just the second choice next to her, because it certainly felt like it.

You didn't blame Yen at all, because she was wonderful to you. Geralt on the other hand... It was painful to say the least.

Only when you'd said goodnight to Yennefer and were on your way back out of town to set up camp, did he speak to you.

“You've been awfully quiet tonight. Is everything alright?”

You couldn't see the worried look on Geralt's face, because you weren't able to look at him right now, tears brimming in your eyes, so you just sped up a little bit.

“Yeah, just tired. I need some sleep.”

It was the perfect moment to tell him what was going on in your head, how you were feeling, how he'd made you feel, but you kept your mouth shut. Right now, you weren't sure whether your feelings were valid, or if you were making a mountain out of a molehill. After all, if Geralt still wanted to be with Yennefer, he wouldn't be here with you, right? Well... you still had some doubts about it.

“Mhh,” Geralt simply responded, but kept his eyes on you, watched you intently. He knew that something was up, but he didn't know what. He'd give you some time, because pestering you about it wouldn't get him an answer.

Without a word you set up camp and tried to not look at Geralt. As soon as he'd lit the fire, you got in your bedroll and took a deep breath.

“Good night, Geralt.”

“Good night, sweet one.”

Usually this term of endearment made you smile and steal another kiss before bed, but not tonight. Your head simply wouldn't shut up about Geralt and Yennefer and it was driving you mad. You tried your best to fall asleep, but even after hours, you hadn't succeeded. Geralt on the other hand was lying peacefully on his back, fast asleep. For a moment, you watched him, but that didn't help you at all. You needed to clear your head, so you got up, wrapped your cloak around your shoulders and walked towards the stream. Being near the water had always helped you calm down, so you were hoping that it would do the same this time.

Fresh, cool night air filled your lungs when you took a deep breath and sat down on the stones next to the water. The moon was reflected in the water and for a moment you found yourself simply watching it. You tried to clear your head, think of nothing, but it didn't really work. Instead, your eyes filled with tears again. You didn't want to cry, but you couldn't keep them from coming. You'd thought that you were happy with Geralt, that he loved you, but right now, you weren't sure. Not after you'd seen the way he'd looked at Yennefer.

With a sigh, you closed your eyes, until you heard water splashing and what sounded like footsteps. Immediately, your eyes opened again, you scanned your surroundings, but couldn't see anything.

“Hello? Geralt?” you called out, but it wasn't Geralt you saw a moment later.

Geralt woke with a start because he heard a scream. It couldn't be far away. It didn't take him long to see that your bedroll was empty, and immediately his stomach plummeted. His initial fear had been that it had been your voice he'd heard, and right now, he was pretty sure that he'd been right. Without wasting any more time, he got up and reached for his sword before he followed the noises.

What he saw when he got there, sent his blood boiling. There was too much blood, your blood, and you weren't moving. A drowner was leaning over you, but looked up when it heard Geralt. He lunged at the beast, tore it away from you, before he went completely berserk and slashed the monster into pieces. He was full of rage – some of it directed at himself for not asking you what was really going on with you and for not realising sooner that you were gone.

He was covered in the drowner's blood, when he came back to you, carefully looked you over, and swore under his breath. He could hear your heartbeat, slow and weak, but it was still there, so not all hope was lost. Your injuries were bad, and there was only so much he would be able to do. Geralt needed help, and he knew just the person he could ask.

With you in his arms, he quickly ran back to your campsite, managed to get you both on top of Roach to get you back to the town. He knew where Yennefer's friend's house was, so he hastened to get there.

“Yen!” he yelled even before he'd gotten off Roach, not a care in the world whether he woke up the neighbours. “Yennefer! I need help!” He yelled again, gathering you up, before he brought you to the door. Before he reached it, it already opened, and Geralt sent a prayer to Melitele,

“Are you out of your fucking mind, you moron?” Yennefer asked him in a hushed voice, tying her robe around her, before she cast a look around, but it didn't look like anyone had woken up apart from her. Then her eyes fell on you and she froze. “What happened?” Suddenly awake and sober, she ushered Geralt inside and into one of the rooms.

“Drowner,” he managed to say, carefully putting you down, his eyes never leaving your body. “I knew something was up, but I didn't want to push her to talk to me. And then she left the campsite in the middle of the night.”

“You really are a moron, Geralt.” Yennefer sighed, before she pulled your ripped clothes aside to get a better look at your injuries, but then decided to cut them off your body, because she needed better access to your body.

“What do you mean?”

“You pretty much ignored her all evening and you're wondering what is wrong?” Yennefer shook her head at the blatant ignorance of that man.

“That's not true,” Geralt objected. Or was it? Right now, he wasn't so sure anymore.

“If you say so... this is not the moment to start a discussion. Get me some clean water. Now!”

Geralt did as he was told and assisted Yennefer as much as he could. He couldn't lose you. Not now, not like this, especially because he blamed himself for everything that had happened tonight. It was his fault that you were here, that you were injured, had nearly lost your life. Yennefer was right, he hadn't paid attention to you all evening, too focused on the mage, because it had been some time since they'd last seen each other.

“Come now.” Yennefer's voice ripped him from his thoughts, her hand on his forearm made him look at her. “She needs some rest, and you need a bath my friend. When she waked up and sees you like this, she'll probably faint.”

When, not if. That one word already made the tension in Geralt's shoulder ease a little bit. Yennefer was right. He was covered in guts and blood, some of it yours, and he didn't want to scare you away as soon as you woke up.

After a bath, after washing off all the dirt and guts and blood, Geralt tried to get some sleep. He stayed close to you, where he could keep an eye on you, but at one point, exhaustion took over and he really fell asleep.

The next morning, he woke to a wonderful smell that made his stomach growl. Slowly, he sat up, but before he went and followed that delicious smell, he came to your side. You looked so peaceful, apart from the bandages around your body, the small scratches in your face. But you were alive, that was everything that mattered right now.

It was hard for him to leave your side, but he had to say thank you to Yennefer, so he left for the kitchen. She'd already prepared two plates with breakfast.

“Good morning,” Geralt said once she turned around to him.

“Morning... You look like shit.” Always the charmer, but her words made Geralt's lips twitch up in a little smile. “Were you able to sleep a little bit?”

“Yes. Not much, but a little.”

Yennefer pushed one of the plates towards him and gestured for him to sit down. She did the same and started eating. After a moment of silently eating, Geralt eventually spoke up.

“I don't know how to thank you, Yennefer.”

“Oh I do,” she said with a smirk and leaned back.

“I was a moron, I admit that.” Geralt knew what she wanted to hear, or at least part of it. “You were completely right. I don't even know why. I should have included her more, but seeing you after so long, was just...”

“Strange. In a good way.” Yennefer nodded, because she felt the same way. They had a past, but they'd separated for a reason. It didn't mean that they couldn't be friends, they just hadn't had the chance to try that until now. “I've seen the way she looks at you. Like you're the one who put all the stars in the sky just for her.”

“If I could... I would do that. She's the most wonderful person I've ever met and she deserves the star.”

“Then tell her that. Make sure that she knows exactly how you feel when she wakes up. And tell her that nothing will ever happen between you and me again. We're better off as... friends. Or whatever you want to call this.” She hid her smile beneath her cup, but Geralt knew that it was there.

“Friends... sounds good.” They'd have to try, see if it worked out, but he agreed that they would never get romantically involved again.

A low moan drew his attention away from Yennefer, making him get on his feet in a matter of seconds. When he got to you, he saw that your eyes were open. Relief flooded his body, even more so when he took your hand in his and felt you give a little squeeze.

“Hey, sweet one,” he said quietly, sat down on the side of the bed and scanned your body. “How are you feeling?”

“Like somebody tried to rip out my insides,” you managed to say, voice coarse. Geralt reached for the water to help you take a sip. You needed some water and especially food and he'd make sure that you got everything you needed.

“That is pretty much what happened. A drowner got to you. I managed to get you here and Yennefer helped you.”

Upon hearing Yennefer's name, you stiffened slightly, took a deep breath. You were thankful to her, of course, and yes, you'd overreacted last night, but hearing her name right now, still managed to get you a little worked up.

“Listen, Y/N, I'm sorry for yesterday. I never wanted to make you feel unwanted or anything like that. I shouldn't have excluded you like I did, and that wasn't my intention at all. Seeing Yennefer again was just like meeting and old friend, and it was kind of exciting to hear what she's done all these years. But that's what we are. Friends.” He had to make sure you understood what he was saying, what he meant with that. “You're the one I love, you're the one I picture my future with.” However that would turn out, he didn't know, and he really didn't want to think about the day, he'd inevitably lose you, because you wouldn't live forever. But he wanted this, wanted one lifetime with you more than an eternity with someone else.

Tears were welling up in your eyes, as you reached out your hand to caress Geralt's cheek.

“I love you, too.” Carefully, you pulled him down to kiss him. “And I'm sorry. I should have said something when you asked me yesterday. But I just thought, I was being irrational about this, but I just couldn't sleep, and-”

“It's okay.” Geralt stopped you, smiled down at you, but leaned in for another kiss, before he kept going. “Just promise me, that you talk to me when something is bothering you next time. I thought I'd lost you, and I didn't know what to do. I don't know what I would do without you.”

“But you saved me. And I'm not going anywhere.” You leaned up to him, wanting to kiss his lips, but the pain in your upper body pulled you back down.

“Easy, sweet one. You still need a lot of rest. Yennefer said we can stay here until you're better. If that is alright with you.” He didn't want to make that decision for you or force you to stay here, but it was the safest option right now.

“It's very generous, and I don't really think I can travel like this. So I'd really like to thank her for that offer.” Now that Geralt and you had talked, you didn't mind staying here with her, because you trusted him. In addition, you'd loved listening to her stories the night before, so you'd enjoy hearing a couple more.

As if she'd heard you, Yennefer appeared at the door with a try laden with breakfast and some herbal tea for you.

“You need some food, and that tea will help as well.” Yennefer walked up to the bed and put down the tray before looking at you again. “It will take some time for you to heal, but it's not as bad as it looks.”

“Thank you,” you said, reaching for her hand. “Really, Yennefer.”

“You wouldn't be here, if it weren't for that idiot, who got you in that situation in the first place.”

Geralt grunted and rolled his eyes. It was all friendly banter, but her words still held some truth.

“If he'd been a bit more considerate of you, this wouldn't have happened.”

Her words managed to make you smile. You were both responsible for what had happened last night, but it wasn't good to dwell on that too long. Instead you'd rather concentrate on the good things.

“Has he always been like this?”

“Oh, you have no idea.” Yennefer rolled her eyes, earning another grunt from Geralt. “Why don't you check up on Roach, give us some time to talk?”

He knew that he couldn't win an argument right now, so he got up, placed another kiss on your forehead before he left the two of you alone. He knew that you were in good hands, so he didn't need to worry.

“He really does love you, you know?” Yennefer said when she turned back around to you. “And you don't have to worry about us. We're trying this whole friends thing now, but he's never looked at me the way he looks at you.”

“What do you mean?” Carefully, you sat up a little bit so that you could eat some of that delicious breakfast Yennefer had created.

“Like you're the sun, the moon and the stars all rolled into one. The one thing that lights up his entire being, his whole life.” Yennefer put her hand on top of yours and smiled at you. “You two are meant for each other.”

Yes... yes you really were, because he was all that for you as well. Now even more than before, and your trust, your faith in him had only grown this morning.

[arse-blathanna]

what kind of relationship do you think roche has with non-humans in general? do you think he despise them, hates them or doesn't consider them admirable beings? or none of those things? from what we have in game he seems to be pretty chill with them and his hatred is only targeted towards scoia'tael (which is still bad) but i don't know...(also out of topic love your yenralt fics <3)

(before I go on a massive tangent or twenty, I'm happy to hear that you like my yenralt fics <3)

First off I have to apologize for making you wait, anon. I wanted to give this answer a proper rundown but I didn't have the Spoons to do it earlier. Not to mention writing long replies on mobile sucks and I hate doing them that way. So sorry for the wait, hope this answer will satisfy you. Also buckle in, this ended up significantly longer than it needed to be so I'm putting most of the answer under a cut. Hope that's alright, anon.

TLDR: Roche is not particularly concerned with the rights of non-humans either way, his problem is with scoia’tael methodology more than anything else. However despite not having any particular interest either way he’s also surrounded by racism as background noise and doesn’t show any particular problem with it. It’s just not what he’s interested in. In Roche’s own words, Temeria, that’s what matters.

Content warning for sexual assault later down in the post.

My point of view on Roche's relationship to nonhumans is that it’s well, complicated. Mostly because the only times we see him really dealing with them is in the context of fighting Iorveth and his men. Outside of that context (and the driving force there is always much more heavily focused on Scoia'tael Bad than anything else) it isn't a topic that actually comes up that much.

His core character trait, above all else, is his patriotism, whether that comes in the form of intense loyalty to Foltest, going on a warpath to save Anais, or doing anything and everything that it takes to see Temeria survive another day. Fighting the Scoia’tael is just a part of fulfilling that goal, not really the whole of his interests or motivations. That's not to say that Roche is making good choices, or right choices, or just choices.

He's very much a character who can lean back on the line of "I was just following orders" with regards to fighting the scoia'tael and pacifying Mahakam, whatever that might have looked like. Could he defy those orders? Maybe, possibly. Probably not since we're shown pretty consistently that the punishment for desertion is death and that's all over the games and the books. Not that Roche exists in those books, but it's a line of consistency across the books-games canon we can refer to.

If you're familiar with the concept of the banality of evil as proposed by Hannah Arendt, I think it's a good angle to examine Roche from but I'm also not at all qualified to have that discussion. At all. Still worth considering, if you're willing to do some extracurricular reading for your fandom horseshit. Worth reading regardless, actually.

Anyways, back to our man with the stupid hat. His core goal is Temeria's stability, and that's shown to us consistently throughout Witcher 2 and 3 (though because we know that Iorveth was demoted to Cut Content in Witcher 3 it's likely that there was quite a bit for Roche regarding the Scoia'tael and evolving motivations that we just never got to see, just to address that particular elephant in the room.)

We're told that the Blue Stripes are meant to be the human equivalent of the Scoia'tael. Misguided, needlessly brutal, extremists who have a habit of leaving a bloody smear wherever they go. The Scoia'tael are considered in-universe to be a terrorist organization. I think it's this, above all else, that Roche is opposed to because if his core goal is Temeria's stability, a terrorist organization is a pretty big threat to that.

Yes, their cause is good, but their methods are poor and routinely lead to non-humans who aren't part of their cause being punished disproportionately because of assumed connections. We see this in Witcher 2 with the gallows scene. Of the four people on the gallows, only 1 isn't assumed to be scoia'tael and that's Dandelion. Zoltan and the two others? All assumed to be members of this group. Zoltan has in fact been contacted by Iorveth's commando, but also specifically turned down the offer of a command. Still treated as a member regardless by Loredo's men.

If you take Roche's path in Witcher 2, Zoltan doesn't end up loving the experience, but he does end up hanging around the Blue Stripe's camp until there's the chance to cross the fog with Geralt. So at the very least Roche is willing to offer accommodations to a non-human, and when it comes to Geralt he's pretty genuine (if wary) and even friendly.

Since it’s the one time where we see Roche really involved with fighting Scoia’tael, let’s talk about Flotsam actually. There’s clearly history where he’s been there before, but we aren’t told much about it other than that Roche is harsh with the Scoia’tael, he and Iorveth have been going at it for at least four years, and both have some massive hate-ons for each other. The plight of non-humans in Flotsam is poor, Loredo’s men police them heavily, and most live outside the city walls. The non-humans in Lobinden and Flotsam also consider Iorveth and his men to be extremists, with Cedric in particular having left that life. To say that they’re saviors to the people they claim they’re protecting in the eyes of those people is a bit of a stretch.

Roche and his men show back in Flotsam on the only lead they have in Foltest’s murder. Roche is in work-mode, his main interest in the Scoia’tael being that Iorveth is involved in assassinating Foltest (that Iorveth and the scoia’tael are being used isn’t on anyone’s radar quite yet.) He’s not particularly interested in getting Iorveth and lets his men harass the locals, destroying shrines and whatnot. He doesn’t take issue with Loredo for his treatment of the non-humans, but he does take issue with the man’s willingness to sell Flotsam to Kaedwen, thus compromising an important port along Temeria’s border. It’s that which makes him act to take action against Loredo, nothing else. 

Even with the issue of Moril, the elf woman who Loredo kidnapped (and if I remember correctly is implied to not be a unique case) and her baby, Roche is more or less indifferent. With Moril dead, the baby is left behind. Roche doesn’t particularly care what happens to the baby, referring to it as a half-breed and only wondering who might take it in. Geralt’s the one who makes sure that the baby ends up somewhere safe. Roche has gotten what he wants, Loredo is dead and Temeria is safe from him and the Kaedweni spy he was consorting with.

In chapter two if the player chose Iorveth, Roche’s anger isn’t directed towards Geralt hanging around elves, it’s that he’s chosen “a group of thieves and bandits.” That’s what he thinks of the scoia’tael. If you take Roche’s path instead, he goes to Vergen to fight, but he’s not looking to fight the non-humans in Vergen so much as he is with Geralt trying to figure out what’s going on with the sorceresses and Henselt. Where he has the chance to gut Henselt as an act of revenge, if Geralt chooses to let him.

Speaking of that act of revenge, we should probably talk about Ves and what his most trusted person in the universe being Ves has to say about both of their characters. Because we know that Ves would follow Roche anywhere, and we know that Roche will fight tooth and nail to make sure she survives.

If anyone has good reason to hate the scoia’tael and elves, it’s Ves. She’s been through absolute hell, with her backstory implying that after her entire family and village was slaughtered by a scoia’tael commando, she was taken and kept as a sex slave as a teenager and only escaped because Roche and the Blue Stripes found her. He took her under his protection which is enough to earn a great deal of loyalty, but it’s not as though there aren’t shared values. Here’s what she says on this topic:

GERALT: Is your hatred towards the Scoia'tael some sort of revenge?

VES: You don't know me, Geralt. Human or nonhuman - it makes no difference to me. We were chosen to fight the Scoia'tael, and that's the mission we pursue. To me, the Scoia'tael are but bandits hiding out in the woods. If there were humans among them, I'd kill them in a flash just the same.

Not exactly the words of someone who categorically hates elves.

That’s not to say that Roche isn’t surrounded by people who dislike elves, because he definitely is. It’s the background noise of the Blue Stripes, it’s one of his men spitting at the sight of a half-elf baby. He gives his men free reign to terrorize Flotsam and only seems to tighten the leash when they’re camped directly alongside a Kaedweni camp. Whatever his feelings on the topic are, he’s not compelled enough to stop this behavior. Common folk hate the Blue Stripes, and that’s because of how they behave, and that behavior is allowed under Roche’s command.

Compared to the characters that we know do actually hate non-humans Roche is pretty pale by comparison. When it comes to Radovid and the Witch Hunters, he’s directly opposed to them (though again, his interest isn’t necessarily non-human rights as much as it is Temeria.) He’s not as bad as Loredo is, we don’t actually see him ever going out of his way to punish elves or dwarves. He’s against the Scoia’tael, but otherwise... just indifferent.

The best point of comparison to Roche’s character is probably Black Rayla in Thronebreaker and Witcher 1, and even compared to her (who is, at least according to CDPR’s canon a half-elf) Roche comes off as significantly more lax where non-humans are concerned. And even Rayla claims to be opposed to scoia’tael as opposed to non-humans.

Indifference in situations like this gives power to the oppressor rather than the oppressed, but that’s where he is. Is it right? No. But it’s where he is.

Lastly I just want to talk about the function of writing Roche in this way from a more Doylist perspective which is: if you make a character that Geralt (i.e. the player) is meant to possibly side and sympathize with, you can’t make them too much of a bastard. It’s a pattern that we see in the two witcher games where Geralt is asked to pick a side between Scoia’tael and Temeria/Order of the Flaming Rose. The elf commanders are usually assholes, but their position is that they’re trying to save their race from extinction.Despite Iorveth and Yaevinn being mean, they’re automatically sympathetic due to their cause.

On the other hand we have Roche and Siegfried of Denesle, who are on the wrong side. To make the player sympathize with them, it’s a matter of sympathizing with their characters as opposed to their cause. For instance, if you want players to sympathize with the Order, you’re asking the player (and by extension, Geralt) to be on board with a guy who time traveled and decided that the best way to stop the White Frost was to do some genocide. If Siegfried himself, your main point of contact is sympathetic, it’s not as hard of a pill to swallow (and even at the end of Witcher 1, Siegfried himself is directly opposed to the Order’s apparent endgoal.)

Roche’s cause isn’t as bad as the Order’s, to be clear. But he’s still in the wrong where the rights of non-humans are concerned. His focus is on maintaining a certain status quo, at least until he goes off the deep end and gets driven by a little revenge. The scoia’tael and his conflict with Iorveth are set dressing, it’s just not what he’s about. He wants to protect his kingdom and his people. He wants to serve Foltest and his crown, and protect what’s left of his line. Nothing else.

Because as Vernon says in Witcher 3: Who cares about the Scoia’tael anymore? Temeria- that’s what matters.

[sillyrabbit81]

Hi dear

I'm a big fan of your writing, especially the way you write Sy. Love it. If you are still taking prompts, I have one.

How would Henry and his characters react to having an Erectile dysfunction?

I think that topic is not being discussed enough.

🖤🖤🖤

Thanks for the ask Anon. I was having trouble with this ask so I discussed it with @henryobsessed and we worked on it together. To be fair, she did most of it! If you haven’t read any of her work I suggest you visit her blog and take a look at her Masterlist . She is a great friend and has a wonderful perspective and a unique style. I love her!

@henryobsessed here I have to interject and have my say too, I loved this request, it was so much fun finding creative ways to discuss a delicate subject. And for the record I may have done more characters but @sillyrabbit81 wrote more words per character HAHAHA. You are a wonderful Friend and Cavill sister you inspire and push me to be myself and I cannot be more grateful. That being said have fun reading guys 😊

Summary: Situations in which Henry and his characters suffer erectile dysfunctions

Word Count: approx 3k

Warnings: smut, masturbation (m), oral sex (m and f receiving), anal play, p in v sex, bad medical advice, incorrect use of prescription medication, bodily fluids, period sex, drunk sex, Dom/sub relationship, descriptions of violence and death,

Masterlist

Erectile Dysfunction Headcanon

Henry Cavill

Henry had been filming for months and now he was headed home for a week’s break. You sat there waiting in the tinted people mover, as Henry was ushered to the car. Lights blinded you as the door opened, he climbed in, and smiling a weary grin, he pulled you into a big bear hug. He missed you so much.

That night, he fell into your arms in a passionate embrace. You had both craved each other, missing one another’s touch. As the night progressed, you noticed things were different. For the first forty minutes you were ecstatic, he had bought you to orgasm three times. Your body was super sensitive, but every time he seemed to be close himself, the phone would ring, indicating someone needed him. You had switched it off after an hour, having enough, and wanting his undivided attention.

Henry had managed to stay hard, but after an hour and a half, it was beginning to be painful for you, and he seemed no closer. Eventually, he flopped beside you, drained from the physical exertion.

“I don’t know what’s wrong. It’s like I’m right there, but I can’t let go.”

You brought him into your arms, and caressing his back said, “Don’t worry love. It will be ok. Just give yourself a day, and maybe we can shut your phone off. I think the stress it is causing you might be a big part of the problem.”

He huffed at the thought. “Maybe you’re right. Maybe.” He sighed and soon you heard soft snores spilling from his lips.

Walter Marshall

It had been a long day, scratch that a long month. Walter had been working day and night to catch a serial killer. That night as he came home, he couldn’t forget the latest victim. What they had found had turned his stomach. In all the years he had been on the force, nothing could have prepared him for what they found that night.

Arriving home he collapsed on the bed, he was so physically exhausted, and for once sleep immediately consumed him. He woke nearly twelve hours later to the smell of bacon, eggs, and coffee. He groaned; he had forgotten it was his two-year anniversary with you. Walking into the bathroom he washed his face, staring at the blood shot eyes reflected back at him.

“Come on man, get it together. You promised her,” Walter tried to fire himself up. It was no use, he was spent. Sighing, he walked into the kitchen wrapped his arms around you and breathed in the soft floral scent in your hair. For the first time in days, he felt a spark within himself, and although the horrific images still played on his mind, he felt a slight peace. He kissed your head, relieved, something could still reach him, something was still good. “Happy anniversary, love,” he growled.

After a wonderful breakfast, Walter sat on the couch with you and the two of you cuddled while watching a movie. His eyes kept sliding shut, his exhaustion made worse by his full belly. His fatigue became even more apparent when after reaching your hand beneath the blanket, you could not bring his flaccid muscle to attention.

Normally this situation would turn heated quickly, you had a way with your tongue that often had him begging for more. But Walter couldn’t get rid of the images in his mind, the battered and dismembered bodies, and the fact they were no closer to catching the killer weighed most heavily on his thoughts.

After half an hour of you trying to arouse him, Walter said in a resigned voice, “Sorry love, I don’t think I can.” With eyes that spoke of immense pain he looked at you and asked, “Could we please just cuddle? I think I need that more than anything right now.” In that moment he knew you were the one for him. He had expected huffing or crying because you thought you weren’t good enough or you asking him to please you. Instead, you had adjusted your position, so he was tucked into your body, holding him close while your hand stroked his curls.

A calm filled his soul as you whispered, “I am here for whatever you need my love. Rest now.”

Captain Syverson

You were just about to turn the light off and go to sleep when you heard the front door open with a crash and heard a rough curse. You grin, Sy was home and wasn’t sober. You knew what that meant, rough, wild, primal fucking. You quickly turn the light off and hide under the covers, well acquainted with the game, you knew how to play your part.

“Where are ya, woman?” Sy’s voice boomed at your bedroom door. “Don’t think you can hide from me. I’m hungry!”

You peek out from under the blanket, Sy had turned the light on again and was quickly undressing. You lick your lips, watching your big furry ox as he dropped his jeans, and his cock was revealed already on its way to being hard. Turning suddenly, he saw you, and you yelped covering your face again. “I see you woman, don’t play shy!” You giggle nervously, excited, your core already dampening with arousal.

Sy pulls the covers back and smirks as he sees you’re already naked waiting for him, “You’re a cheeky little thing ain’tcha?” You bite your lip, opening your legs slightly, inviting him in. Grabbing your ankles, he pulls you down the bed and gets on his knees. A low growl emanates from his throat before he dives between your legs feasting on you with an eagerness that brings you swiftly to your peak.

Licking at his lips and sucking on his glistening whiskers, he stands up pumping his cock getting it ready. Your brows pull together, puzzled, he’s always hard when he eats you out. You don’t have time to dwell on it because he’s soon ready. Sy flips you onto your knees before he enters and begins his assault on your core.

Something is wrong though, you can feel him falling out of you. Did he cum already? Sy mumbles curses, pulling out and you turn around and see him fisting himself again as he slips his fingers inside you. In a few moments he is hard again, removing his fingers and replacing it with his cock. You sigh, relieved, as he builds his rhythm, and you hear him start to groan. But soon, it happens again, and try as he might he just can’t stay hard.

“Fuck,” Sy growls. You turn around and see the look on his face, a mix of frustration and embarrassment that melts your heart. “I think I drank too much Sugar,” he says, running his hand over his short hair. “Fuck. This hasn’t happened… Fuck!”

“Hey!” you say sharply to get his attention.

“What?” Sy replies just as sharply, but he doesn’t look at you.

“It’s fine, Baby,” you assure him. You see him jut his jaw and you reach up and cup his cheeks, making him look at you. “It’s ok. You’re just a little too drunk,” you smile and give him a soft kiss. “It happens.”

“Not to me it don’t.”

“It’s not forever,” you say. “Come on, let’s go to sleep. I’m sure it’ll be back normal in the morning.” You kiss him again and pull his head down to whisper in his ear, “maybe you could wake me up like you did last week.” You pull back and smirk raising your eyebrows.

Sy grins, still a little sheepish, but there was a hint of mischief in his eyes again, “You’re a good thing, Sugar.” He kisses your forehead and says, “I love you.”

Geralt of Rivia

Geralt had never in his life had this happen before. The bar maid who had eagerly agreed to keep his bed warm on this cold winter’s night, gaped in confusion.

How could it be? She thought, All the myths about Witcher’s said they were virile and could last most of the night. She had been consumed with the thought ever since The White Wolf had arrived in the area and was quick to accept his offer to take her to his bed. She was bitterly disappointed and pouted at Geralt. Her sweet, plump lips alone should have been enough to make his cock stand, but tonight it lay unmoving, and useless.

That blasted sorcerer, it must have been him who had cast a curse on Geralt. It could be the only explanation for his inadequate showing. Looking at the poor wench beside him, Geralt pitied her. She had been most eager to satisfy his needs tonight, giving a valiant effort to arouse him. No matter, he had other ways to enjoy bringing her to the height of pleasure. Granted he didn’t normally concern himself with their needs as his own normally coincided with theirs. But tonight, his fingers, and tongue would be adequate until he broke the curse and returned to give her what she truly deserved.

Mike

The party had been epic, the drinks flowed, pot was smoked in abundance and Mike had managed to capture the attentions of a wonderful long legged blonde beauty. She helped him back to her apartment and his heart rate raised as she slowly stripped him, leaving him in all his naked glory. Laying on the bed he watched as she did a strip tease for him, her perky breasts bouncing as she jiggled her ample peach in his face.

But something was wrong, the situation was right, she was right but… he held his hand out to the two or was it three beauties before him. One took his hand as he guided her to sit in his lap. He caressed her as they kissed, his tongue violating her mouth with as much enthusiasm as his inebriated self could manage. Even with her grinding against him nothing happened.

“Shit” he swore.

The girl frowned and her lips seemed to move in twisted patterns which stilled again before she snickered. An evil cackle reverberated in her throat and her face twisted into that of a demented creature. “Can’t get it up, boy?” she taunted as she continued to laugh. She collected his clothes and managed to push him out of her bedroom and into the night. Standing in the cold with only his briefs covering his body, he stumbled as he began his walk of shame home.

August Walker

August Walker was hands down, far and away, the greatest lover you have ever had. He was the only man who had ever been able to keep up with you, your average session lasting for four hours. He was able to cum and get hard again faster than any guy you had ever been with too.

But being with August meant following The Rules. There were many Rules, rules which governed how you would dress when you saw him, how you were groomed, how you were to address him and when you could contact him. There were punishments too, but you had been a good girl, never broken any of his rules, so you never gave the punishments a thought.

One of the many Rules was absolutely no snooping. He said it was for your protection as much for his privacy. You didn’t know exactly how August made his money, but you assumed it had to be from some sort of illegal activity. So, you obeyed this rule as you did the others until one evening after a marathon session, you realised you got your period. You were shocked August hadn’t said anything, clearly he had continued to fuck you while you were bleeding. You started opening his bathroom cupboards searching for a tampon or pad or something, hoping you wouldn’t have to stuff your panties with toilet paper until you got home.

You opened the cupboard behind the mirror and were surprised to see a pill bottle with little blue tablets. You recognised them and after checking the label and confirming it you were speechless. August used Viagra? But, it didn’t seem possible that he would need it, his stamina was out of this world… unless…

“What do you think you are doing Petal?” August said from the doorway, a box of tampons and a towel was in his hands.

Quickly recovering your senses, you grabbed the box and towel out of his hands and kissed his cheek saying, “Looking for those. Thank you, August.”

Quicker than you thought possible you were bent over the counter, cheek pushed into the stone benchtop. “You found my pills,” August said coldly. Leaning his body over yours, his weight pushed down on you, holding you in place as he kicked your legs apart. You muffled a cry as you felt him hard again against your ass. “I don’t need them, for most women, Petal. But for particularly slutty, insatiable, cock hungry brats such as yourself, it’s a necessary assistance.”

“I didn’t mean to pry,” you murmured, hoping he would take pity on you. Tears welled in your eyes as his finger pressed against your ass, forcing your tight muscles apart and you cried as he entered you. “I’m sorry, August.”

“My dear sweet, Pet,” August grunted as he violated you with a second finger. “If you aren’t sorry now, you will be.”

Napoleon Solo

Napoleon had been watching the siren from a distance all night. Her lithe body commanded all around to her attention. After she finished singing her call to the night goddess, he made his move. Two drinks in hand he set his sights and went in for the kill.

The two danced, drank and now were in her apartment, laid out on her bed he was happily pleasing her, mouth buried between her delicious thighs. His tongue flicked expertly over her button bringing her to climax, exciting his body, he climbed forward and for the first time that night claimed her lips. They kissed passionately until something changed, his mind grew foggy, and his cock deflated.

“Aww, is the great Casanova having trouble?” she laughed her sweet siren song changing to a bitter retort. His confused eyes tried to fix on hers as she began to distort, her last words filling his gut with fear. “Don’t worry love. I’ll take good care of you Napoleon Solo.”

Clark Kent

Clark was in college and his new friend Tommy was egging him on to take Crystal out for a date. He couldn’t understand why the cheerleader wanted to take him out. He wasn’t anything special as far as she knew, but she had been flirting with him all week.

Dinner was nice and Clark was surprised when Crystal suggested they return to her share house for dessert. Nervous as he was around her, he was pleased when after ice cream he had allowed her to talk him into a make out session in her room. They had only been in the room a few moments when he had felt strange. They had been kissing, it was enjoyable, but his stomach had begun to feel off and he felt unusually tired and weak.

The more they kissed the more frustrated he was to realise he wasn’t getting a rise out of his little friend. He noticed a pendant hanging on the wall near her bed, the green stone glowed eerily at him giving him a bad vibe. After a few more moments he politely excused himself, saying he must have eaten something off. Clarke murmured apologies and gave promises that he would call her and he left. Strangely, by the time he left her house he felt better, as if he had never felt ill at all. He was only a little upset that he had ruined his chances with Crystal, something about that pendant made him hope he would never see it again.

Charles Brandon

Charles sat in the apothecary rooms, wondering what he had gotten himself in for. The King had recommended him when Charles confided in his friend of his problem.

“So young man, why are you here?” the old man asked, his face kind but stern.

“Well, I’ve been having trouble, when I pee it burns and well, I can get an erection, but it deflates quickly and sometimes I cannot get one at all. I’m also having abdominal pain.”

The old man chuckled. After examining the affected area, he turned to his wall of potions. Pulling together some salves, and powdered herbs he turned to address the Charles. “Here, rub this on the affected area twice a day, and drink this tea three times a day.” The apothecary paused and said with a grin, “And finally, give the ladies from court a rest for a bit, you will regain your vigour again.”

Shame and chagrin filled Charles as he pulled his coverings back over his privates. Taking the medicines, he snuck out of the room trusting that no one saw him, and hoping against all hope, that this would work.

Sherlock Holmes

Sherlock sits back in satisfaction, marvelling at his new invention. Based on some literature he read from the America’s he perfected the design and made it fit himself perfectly.

Having commissioned the glass tube and rubber attachments, the contraption worked by winding a small handle, creating the necessary suction to create a vacuum, pooling enough blood into his cock to make it erect. By placing a rubber ring at the base of his shaft, he found he was able to maintain an erection for approximately thirty minutes. He could even bring himself to orgasm by his own hand.

It really was a delightful invention. Now, he just had to find that little vixen of a maid and see if it worked with her too. Perhaps he should try and use her mouth first.

Tag List 1

@henryobsessed @omgkatinka @legendarywizarddetective @posiemax @nostalgicb-txh @moonlacebeam @anitababi @agniavateira @blakerogue @shadesofarrogance @mansaaay @stxlemate @wheretheriversrunintothesea @amberangel112 @madbaddic7ed @eldarwen333 @wolvesandhoundshowltogether @summersong69 @littlefreya @littlebirdofrivia @luclittlepond @myloveforhenrycavill @mary-ann84 @tellingyouastory @beck07990 @zealoushound @sofiebstar @sweetlybigdragonn @bloodyinspiredfuck @marantha @diegos-butt @greensleeves888 @endofalldays01 @justaboringadult @ysmmsy @offroadinjandals @littlewrenofrivia @pussyverson @foxyjwls007 @kebabgirl67

[lovelylutes]

(long post ahead but i have a lot of thoughts i'm sorry)

no bc i don't think you guys understand how utterly SHOOKETH i am by the fact that we got a literal jaskier breakup ballad. like even though he was never in a romantic relationship with geralt, it includes so many lyrical ideas popularly conveyed in songs depicting heartbreak or the end of a relationship. for example, the line “watch me burn all the memories of you”, serves as a parallel to burn from the musical hamilton. for those who don't know, burn is sung by eliza hamilton after she finds out about her husband’s affair, and she sings, “i’m burning the memories, / burning the letters that might have redeemed you”. at one point in the song, eliza attacks alexander’s writing abilities, something she knows will really hurt him, as alexander has always been praised for his talent for writing. artists commonly decide to target something that they hope will hurt the person who inspired the song, as a way of getting back at them, and jaskier does just this when he refers to geralt as “butcher”. jaskier never once referred to geralt as “butcher” in his previous songs, but now that geralt has hurt him, he decides to write a lyric that will paint geralt in a negative light as well as call the witcher something he knows is a sensitive topic. “did i not bring you some glee, mr. “oh-look-at-me”” is lyrically similar to taylor swift’s mr. perfectly fine, a song where swift mocks an ex-boyfriend in that same manner: “hello, mr. “casually cruel” / mr. “everything revolves around you””. jaskier even insults something as simple as geralt's hair: "with your swords and stupid hair", just as taylor swift insults her ex-boyfriend's "stupid old pick-up truck" in picture to burn. there are so many more examples that i could use but these were the ones that came into mind upon my first listen; i probably could use only taylor swift songs as examples. in this essay i will-

[i-want-my-iwtv]

it’s nice to hear a different perspective book store worker, but for the record i wasn’t solely referring the under 25 demographic. i know this may be difficult to understand for tumblr users but our lives don’t stop after 25; we don’t curl up, die and suddenly become boomers. sad as it may be, we’re just past prime vampire turning age.

here. i made a funny. am i still young kids?

no but for real there’s exactly one infant in my family and friend group right now, otherwise we’re all 25+. i understand some people don’t think you’re worth anything past that age, as a person or a fan. it sucks.

[Library/book store worker comment here]

it’s nice to hear a different perspective book store worker, but for the record i wasn’t solely referring the under 25 demographic.

Sorry, I'm not sure which anon you are, if you're returning from a previous ask on this topic [1, 2, 3], or are just now coming to the conversation.

This anon seemed disappointed that "people read less and less everyday. i don’t know a single person among my friends or family that bothers to read books of any kind... idk about [the AMC TV series] [bringing] new blood to the fan groups", but they didn't specify what age group they perceive isn't reading, just that "actually i don’t think i’ve met anyone who reads for pleasure since maybe high school."

This anon responded to the previous one that "I think the idea that the show wont bring in new readers is a little ridiculous tbh. Like when a new season of the Witcher TV show comes out the books are always on a waitlist at the local library," which, again, did not specify the age group of the people seeking the books.

I thought it was great to hear from the Library/book store worker anon that people under 25 do read books! They split the demographic to show that both people over & under 25 will read the books:

➡25+ demographic: "Fans of the show will read the books, even if only adult fans enjoy them." - Library/book store worker anon is speaking to the anon's negative feeling that people don't read, reassuring them that older/adult people will read the books. ➡Under 25 demographic: Library/book store worker anon also added, that from their perspective: "over half our customers are under 25," to provide evidence that younger people do read books.

i know this may be difficult to understand for tumblr users but our lives don’t stop after 25; we don’t curl up, die and suddenly become boomers. sad as it may be, we’re just past prime vampire turning age.

here. i made a funny. am i still young kids?

Lol, well, I mean it depends on the vampire media, but there are VC vampire characters over 25 who are turned: Marius, Gabrielle, David (well, technically he's over 25). In other media, probably most of the What We Do in the Shadows TV and movie cast, other than Nick from the WWIDITS movie.

no but for real there’s exactly one infant in my family and friend group right now, otherwise we’re all 25+. i understand some people don’t think you’re worth anything past that age, as a person or a fan. it sucks.

Yeah that does suck, when people say that, it's ageist and narrowminded, people will take low hanging fruit to bully each other on the internet.

So looking back through the conversation, maybe you can point me to where someone said that people who read the books and are over 25 aren't worth anything, I didn't get that impression from any of them...

But YES, people over 25 exist in fandom, engage and contribute in many ways, offering some of our perspective of fandom from our experiences ("what were zines like? what was strikethrough like?"), the questions about canon/characters that people debate over time ("Could Nicki have survived?"), as content creators with the skills we've developed over our lifetimes, offering comments/Kudos on fanart/fic, Likes/Reblogs, etc.

Overall: "Beauty companies will sell you aging is a curse, when in fact it's a blessing not given to most"

[WWDITS/IWTV mashup by @eosphoroz]

[goleb]

Have you ever thought up a DHMIS fairy tale AU, or something in the realm of fantasy? For the former, I’m not sure there’s many fairy tales focusing on good parental relationships…but there’s plenty of potential for Fluffybird!

Y'know, funny thing is when I started writing up an answer to this ask, the first class I had the next day had a test revision entirely themed around fairy tales. Ain't that a coincidence? My life's full of those. Also that was on Monday, I'm so sorry, I've been way too busy lately ): 

Certainly, I've thought up plenty of things over these Royful years, fantasy-esque ones included. And I'll probably only remember half of them after I already hit post. Some of them, granted, still only concepts and not-yet-developed ideas, but I like to put a lot of care into those things and that's why it takes me years to get them done, you know. But they'll all get their time to shine, eventually, when something clicks. 

Now, fairy tales... yeah, fairy tales aren't exactly a genre of many parents, good ones especially. In my - admittedly perhaps limited - knowledge of the topic, it seems you're significantly more likely to find parental figures who were good but died, or are alive but not good very bad. And, I'm sure you could tell, I'm not about that. Not when we're talking Roy. Roy is a fantastic dad. Roy would not send his kid out into the woods unattended. 

But! Art is all about invention. And if you ever find me unable to make something about Roy, that ain't me. As for romance, I do love a good romance. It's everywhere in the Roylore, if you know where to look. Why, would you like me to provide you with some shipping content? :P Haven't really thought about it before, to be honest, but can do, I suppose, can do. 

But back to my stories! 

There is one particular one I've probably mentioned a few times before, and it's actually one of my most finished ones! Because I've been working on it for like 4.5 years now, good lord! I've got a pretty large piece of the first draft done. Not all of it, but most, definitely. Yeah, definitely. Without spoiling much, it takes place in the faux olden times. It's extremely loosely inspired by Little Red Riding Hood, or more specifically a retelling of it I had to read for a BritLit class once. 

Roy - because it's always about Roy - is what could be best described as a wolf-selkie in that one. So's Yellow. I mean, obviously so's Yellow. They're family. They can freely switch between human and wolf form, so long as they have their skin with them. Not to be confused with werewolves - and they'd be quite offended if you did - because a werewolf is a human that was turned into a wolf via curse, and wolf selkies are all natural. Red Guy's also there. He's a human. Or, well, as much of a human as he can be. I love telling my friends about this story without mentioning the wolf part purely for their reactions when they get to the part where Roy outruns and hunts down an entire horse. 

The aforementioned retelling actually helped me out, with one particular unimportant scene, in picking who the villain of this story was gonna be. Y'see I made this little challenge for myself a while back where I'd make an AU specifically tailored to match one of the teachers as the antagonist. It's still not done yet, you've no idea how difficult some of them are to typecast. Shrignold is the only one so far that's been proving cooperative, I simply adore antagonising the fucker. But this one... this one was good. It was easy. 

And just because I can, here’s a couple more of these contextless lines. 🤭 

And uh. Speaking of Little Red, I have at some point entertained the thought of Little Red... Riding... Guy... as a joke - a joke which practically wrote itself! - and you can consider that idea a precursor to the above. 

On a completely different topic, the Witcher's fantasy, right? Cause you can bet I got into the Witcher purely for the Roy AU potential. Same reason I got into Kingsman (remind me to do something about that, by the way). S'not my fault Roy handling deadly weapons is such a compelling thought. Give my boy a sword. He deserves one. As a treat. 

My point is, really, who's a better fit for a witcher than Roy? They've got so much in common! Though obviously Roy's story is significantly different from Geralt's. Less relationship drama. More juggling getting life-threatening contracts and trying to raise a kid. Max is there as the only actually Polish guy. Also Red Guy? Definitely a bard. Maybe not exactly the best at it but he is one. There’s plenty more I could say about this one, but I’ll save that for another post. This one’s getting a bit long already, haha. 

[bamf-jaskier]

since you dont like geskel (i dont either mostly, with some exceptions), how you do feel about jaskier and the other wolves? specifically eskel?

Shipping Ask Meme

Don’t Ship It

Why don’t you ship it?

Mostly because I like ships because of the dynamics you can create. And I'm going to be honest, I don't often feel like the dynamics created between Jaskier/Eskel and Jaskier/Lambert or even Jaskier/Vesemir/Coen/whoever give me something unique I wouldn't get from other ships.

None of them have ever really interacted in any canon. So the ships are entirely based off of Fanon. And a lot of that Fanon just feels to be like it could be done with another ship if that makes sense?

Like most times I've seen Jaskel it feels like Geraskier with a funky hat on. And since I like Geralt more than Eskel I would rather read a fic with Geraskier that Jaskel. Also Jaskel fics where they bash Geralt make me sad cause I love Geralt :(

And with Lambert/Jaskier (sorry idk the ship name) it feels like they want a snarky person with the bard which I feel like I get out of Yennskier alright. And I like to read Yennefer fics more than Lambert fics.

So it's more the fact that I am less attached to the characters and since the dynamics are so similar to other ships I would rather read those dynamics with characters I am more invested in personally.

(there is also a small part of me that remembers when Yennefer was shoved in a corner to give more room to Wolf Witcher ships so there's a little bitterness there but it's largely faded because the fandom has really expanded)

What would have made you like it?

If there was something that was really different and unique to the ship. Like there was a good Coen/Jaskier fic I read that was really good because it had new topics and ideas I had never seen before and it was just entirely different from other Jaskier ships.

It does just come down to uniqueness. I could see myself reading a Lambert/Jaskier or Jaskel if it really talked about the characters and didn't just fall into tropes. For trope fics I pick the characters I like the most lol.

Despite not shipping it, do you have anything positive to say about it?

Honestly me not shipping these ships is a soft Don't Ship because I could enjoy it I just don't enjoy more often than I do enjoy. So there's a lot of things I could think of myself enjoying. For Jaskel, I think of Eskel like someone who would enjoy literature a lot and I think him and Jaskier could bond over reading ridiculously dense texts together. I also think that Eskel is the type of person who would HATE Jaskier to accompany him on contracts like Geralt allows. But Eskel is also someone who would uphold his word so he would go back and tell Jaskier in great detail about the contract. That dynamic difference interests me. We don't really know what a lot of the Wolf Witchers are like on contracts so there's a lot of room for interpretation and that's cool to me. Going to keep it real, Lambert and Jaskier together is so fucking funny because I can't imagine Lambert and Jaskier together without Lambert constantly bragging to Geralt about it and sending him up the wall. It has crack ship energy to me. And I fuck with crack fics.

[witcher-trash]

For your Reader Ask Meme: 10 :)

10. rec a fic that stayed with you

(there is no way that I am only choosing one, sorry!)

Let's go!

This beautiful Lambert/Coën piece by @rawrkinjd, which is exactly what I needed after my disappointment with watching season 2. I always get back to it when I need something to make me feel better ❤️

While we're on the topic of Rawr:

If These Scars Could Speak - Because this is the first fic that I shared with my fiancée! We would always talk about the newest chapter, and this series is definitely what sparked her interest in Aiden/Lambert.

A Griffin's Squire - for introducing me to the Griffin School, and helping me on the way to discover more Witcher characters besides Geralt and Jaskier.

In Your Arms - much as A Griffin's Squire, it shaped my way of becoming interested in other characters and the wider world of the Witcher.

More fics that introduced me to new characters/new ships:

Fair Trade - this might have been one of the first Aiden fics I read? I love it a lot!

Peace-Tied - for introducing me to Iorveth and Roche as characters, and also getting me interested in the world's politics.

time is a dangerous enemy - such a beautiful series!

Here are 2 fics that I've read recently that definitely stayed with me:

Something You Somehow Haven't to Deserve

The Old Hen She Cackled

And here are angsty geraskier fics that always stayed in my mind:

Always Lose-Lose

ask me tomorrow

Hibernating with Ghosts

Silver and Copper

Singing Silver

Now-before I had this blog, I was in the Attack on Titan fandom and mostly read Erwin/Levi fics. Here are the Eruri fics that stayed with me:

Audacity - one of the first eruri fic I read. I love to look back on it, the fic itself and also on what was going on in my life at the time.

Glass Houses - I still think about it sometimes, because it's just....very sad, but also very beautiful.

Irascible - I actually recently reread this, because I couldn't quite remember all the details, and I needed to refresh my memory, because It really is an amazing story.

Mail Order Spy - amazing and heartbreaking story. Funny sidestory: when I read this for the first time, I actually stopped reading at some point, because my English comprehension level was just not quite there yet. I'm glad I improved since then, because the story is just so good!

(I'm sure there's a lot that I'm forgetting, there are so many fics that are worth reading ahhhhh)

Fic Reader Ask Meme

[laurelnose]

Very New to your blog and the posts are probably way old but I saw you do Witcher Biology (??) rants sometimes and Id love to hear your take, if you have one, on what monsters (namely "naturally occurring" ones like draconids and insectoids) contribute to the ecosystem if anything and whether or not they should be hunted into extinction. I was discussing it w/ a friend last night after dealing with Iocaste, the last silver basilisk, and now its smthn I'm Invested in

re monster ecosystems: I just figure theyve probably found a niche in the world by now and can eat anything smaller incl. humans but because theyve got no natural predators aside from eachother and arent hunted by anything but witchers , monsters are just breeding and eating and wldnt that damage the land? or have they made their own like, circle of life or whatever ? Ive little knowledge on the subject as a whole but the whole thing intrigues me

hi & extremely belated welcome, anon! my apologies for the length of time you’ve been waiting for this answer; I had to think carefully about how I wanted to respond to this ask, because: there’s a lot going on here. also, because I am a disaster, I ended up posting it to ao3 first while I was avoiding tumblr for a spell and then completely forgot to come back. oops. i’m sorry!! This one’s about 5000 words long, which is a lot for tumblr, so reading on AO3 may be preferable.

-

The two main thrusts of your first ask (how do monsters interact with the ecosystem and should they be eradicated from the Continent) are questions of invasion ecology, the study of non-native/invasive species and their effects on the environment. Monsters, having arrived on the Continent about 1200 years ago during the Conjunction of Spheres from entirely alien dimensions, are indeed technically non-native species!

However, invasion ecology is…somewhat controversial, to say the least—there are a lot of invasive species, who have a lot of different & complex impacts, and a lot of different ideas about what we might do about any of this, and it’s basically all arguing all the time, so I wasn’t really sure how I wanted to approach the topic. Not to mention that for reasons I couldn’t initially put my finger on, it seemed wrong to apply theories of invasion ecology to the Witcher monsters. We’ll get into it! There are also a couple of common misconceptions/oversimplifications of how ecology works in your second ask which I want to unpack. Hopefully I pulled this together into something that makes sense, and feel free to ask me for clarification!

Some important background facts:

Species have always been moving to and “invading” new places on their own; humans and globalization have accelerated this process into a Big Problem, as the sheer number of invasive species being introduced all over the globe strains ecosystems already under pressure, but “native ranges” are always shifting, sometimes more dramatically than you might expect. If you go far enough back in time, all species are “non-native”.

Because of this, the very definition of “invasive species” is hotly contested. This is why you’ll hear dozens of terms like introduced species, injurious species, naturalized species, non-native species, etc.; these all have slightly different connotations, but all refer to a species that did not originate in a particular location.

An introduced species is usually classified as “invasive” as opposed to “non-native” or “naturalized” if its presence significantly alters the ecosystem it invades; some people define this more narrowly as a species that causes harm to an ecosystem. “Harm” can take a lot of different forms, as every non-native species interacts differently with the ecosystem they were introduced to.

Aside from various potential impacts to human economic activity, most forms of ecological harm by introduced species involve the decline of native species, by a variety of mechanisms; invaders might eat natives, outcompete them for food, interbreed with them, carry novel pathogens, etc. Invasive species are primarily a threat to biodiversity.

Now, here’s my Hot Take:

The Conjunction of Spheres is analogous to real-life ecological cataclysms such as the Cretaceous-Paleogene extinction event, and thus monsters are not invasive species.

The Cretaceous-Paleogene extinction event saw the extinction of 75% of all species on Earth after the Chicxulub asteroid hit, including the non-avian dinosaurs. The Earth has had several disasters like this, of varying severity—the Great Oxidation Event killed almost literally everything on Earth except for the cyanobacteria who caused it. These cataclysmic extinction events completely upended existing ecosystems, altering habitats beyond recognition and leaving swathes of niches emptied of life that the survivors could evolve to exploit.

The most recent Conjunction of Spheres on the Continent is supposed to have thrown everyone living on the planet at the time into chaos and darkness; it wouldn’t be unreasonable to assume that the interpenetration of multiple spheres caused mass extinction of species living in the pre-Conjunction environment, similar to Chicxulub or the GOE!

But Socks, you might say, evolution works on a massive timescale! It took millions of years to fill the niches left open by Chicxulub, but it’s only been 1200 years since the Conjunction of Spheres! And you are absolutely right*, but the Conjunction of Spheres canonically came pre-loaded with new species. We actually have no proof that any of the animals we see originated on the Continent: if humans are a post-Conjunction phenomenon, why not also dogs? Why not bears? Who’s to say any of those were actually there before-hand? (The elves, I guess, but as they have not, actually, said so, there’s no proof!!)

* FTR, 1200 years is a shockingly short period of time to go from cataclysm that plunged the world into darkness and chaos to functioning medieval-era society considering how long it actually took humanity to build 13 century Europe (horses had been domesticated for at least 3000 years by that time), even if we’re not assuming that most of the ecosystem was destroyed, so, my timeline concerns here are minimal, lmfao. TIMELINE WHAT TIMELINE.

…and actually now that I think about it the three options for the origin of dogs are a) elves or dwarves domesticated them, b) humans brought dogs with them during the Conjunction, or c) dogs have existed for less than 1200 years, and I refuse to accept that dogs are practically a new invention in the witcherverse, wtf.

Anyways: we really have no idea which species are truly “native” to the Continent, or what the physical environment was like prior to the Conjunction. While monsters are not native to the Continent, monsters are also not invasive—there cannot be decline of pre-Conjunction biodiversity or harm to the pre-Conjunction ecosystem because there is no pre-Conjunction ecosystem anymore.

should monsters be hunted to extinction?

So, the thing is, I think we should try to eradicate invasive species from non-native ranges if we can; the biggest problem with that is feasibility, not morality. It’s much more difficult than one might think to eradicate an invasive species once it’s established, and we have to be very careful that the methods we choose don’t have other impacts, but invasive species are a huge threat to the biodiversity of Earth! If monsters are invasive species, then the answer is yes, they should be eradicated from the places they are not native to.

(Notably, on Earth this kind of eradication is not the same thing as extinction; it would be a local extinction, or extirpation, where the species is totally wiped out in the places it invaded but still exists in its native range. This does get way more complicated if the invasive is already extinct in its native range.)

However, I have just outlined a possibility that would make it plausible for monsters not to be invasive species. Let me also outline why I prefer this interpretation. Here is a book conversation between the sorcerer Dorregaray of Vole and Geralt:

“Our world is in equilibrium. The annihilation, the killing, of any creatures that inhabit this world upsets that equilibrium. And a lack of equilibrium brings closer extinction; extinction and the end of the world as we know it. … Every species has its own natural enemies, every one is the natural enemy of other species. That also includes humans. The extermination of the natural enemies of humans, which you dedicate yourself to, and which one can begin to observe, threatens the degeneration of the race.”

“Do you know what, sorcerer?” Geralt said, annoyed. “One day, take yourself to a mother whose child has been devoured by a basilisk, and tell her she ought to be glad, because thanks to that the human race has escaped degeneration. See what she says to you.”

–The Bounds of Reason, ch. 6

This is a, uh, incredibly unsubtle reference to a debate that has been ongoing for decades; Geralt’s stance here is one of the key arguments in opposition to wolf and bear reintroduction. What do we do about large predators that may pose a threat to humans? How do we balance preservation of the ecosystem with the safety of people who have to coexist with these predators?

I can’t fully agree with Geralt, because large predators are integral to the ecosystem, which I value for its own sake and because humans depend on healthy ecosystems. But I can’t fully agree with Dorregaray either, because Geralt is right: human life is valuable and worthy of protecting. This is an issue that India has been running into in the past ten years; as their tiger conservation efforts yield fruit, people become more likely to encounter tigers, and thus more likely to have a bad encounter with a tiger. It’s become a political struggle as rural people who have to actually live with the possibility of a tiger attack come into conflict with urban conservationists who just really want to preserve tigers (& in some incidents, some of those conservationists have been Western, which is a whole additional level of fuckery). The fact is, there isn’t a good answer to this yet! We certainly should not drive tigers, wolves, or any other large predator to extinction, but we also have to figure out a way to keep people safe. It’s something humanity still has to wrestle with.

Under this framing, which CDPR reinforced when they chose to have the Count di Salvaress defend Iocaste as an endangered species while making significant provisions to minimize the damage she could do to human life, there’s far too much baggage attached for me to say yes, monsters should be hunted into extinction. If you’re going to make monsters analogous to wolves, of course I do not think we should get rid of monsters entirely!

And frankly, Geralt doesn’t think so either, despite his hardline stance about monsters that eat humans. Sapkowski isn’t exactly an anti-conservationist; though Dorregaray is shown as out of touch in this passage, at another point the narrative sides with him calling Philippa out on exterminating a species of ermine for her fur collar, and it’s consistently put forth that Geralt’s best quality is that he doesn’t want to perform violence for the sake of it or destroy things without cause, and one of the representations of that is that he refuses to kill endangered species even at cost to himself:

“What should I say about you, who rejects a lucrative proposition every other day? You won’t kill hirikkas, because they’re an endangered species, or mecopterans, because they’re harmless, or night spirits, because they’re sweet, or dragons, because your code forbids it.”

–Eternal Flame, ch. 2

If monsters and other post-Conjunction creatures are invasive species, the nuance in this conversation is flattened, and Geralt’s refusal to kill mecopterans and hirikkas becomes a flaw rather than a virtue. Boring! I also think that one of the strongest themes in the witcherverse is the idea of all monsters being human ills; wraiths are manifestations of hatred, necrophages multiply because of human bloodshed, cursed ones are created out of malice, mages like Alzur and Idarran of Ulivo go out of their way to straight-up create monsters from scratch*, etc. Iocaste attacks humans and takes livestock because the traditional prey of the silver basilisk, roe deer, has been extirpated by human destruction of their habitat. The aeschna in Blood of Elves attacks humans because humans have altered and polluted the flow of the Pontar, hunting the aeschna’s previous food (seals) to extinction. The true monster is the actions of humans. Monsters that appeared unbidden from another dimension into a previously functional ecosystem to invade and cause problems undermines this theme; monsters that are integrated into the ecosystem and subject to the same social and ecological forces as other animals supports it.

* Idarran’s “idr” monsters from Season of Storms absolutely should be eradicated. Did the world not have enough man-eating arthropods, Idarran? Did you really have to mutate horrible new ones and release them in populated areas?? Mages are a scourge, lmfao

Additionally, one of the biggest reasons I felt like I couldn’t actually apply invasion ecology to monsters was that, whether you accept my Conjunction theory as sufficient biological justification for this or not, monsters just don’t really behave like invasive species. It’s hard to explain this because the setting is pretty brief about its ecological details, but aside from the fact that the narrative frames them like just part of the ecosystem of the world, there are never any details like “that type of flower doesn’t exist anymore because giant centipede tunneling destroyed the soil they needed to grow in.” When monsters are the aggressors, their victims are always humans, not the environment or other animals, and again monsters are themselves often treated as victims of human actions.

So I say monsters aren’t invasive species!

Which means that monsters are, regardless of their strange origins, now a part of the Continent’s ecosystem just as much as bears and wolves.

So let’s talk monster ecology.

what do monsters contribute to the ecosystem, if anything?

So, the phrase “contributing to the ecosystem” is actually super loaded, and I want to unpack that before we go anywhere else. Ecosystems are made up of organisms, and organisms interact with and impact ecosystems, but they don’t necessarily contribute to ecosystems! The implication of “contribute” is that it is possible for an organism to not contribute, and it follows from there that some organisms are not useful. This is functionally nonsensical, and also dangerous.

Conservationists talk a lot about “intrinsic value,” which in this context is the idea that we should want to keep species around just because their existence is valuable! Biodiversity is intrinsically valuable. This is important, firstly because I do believe that all species are intrinsically valuable, but also: ecosystems are so enormously complicated that we do not know the full extent of any species or individual organism’s impact, and we can’t predict what the consequences of removing any given species might be. Treating all species as intrinsically valuable is hedging our bets. All organisms affect the ecosystem, because it’s impossible for them not to, and while some species definitely have outsize impact, none of them are “not contributing,” and frankly even if some of them weren’t, it would be the absolute height of human arrogance for us to decide we could tell which ones were useless when we barely even know what most species eat. Mosquitoes are the base of the entire goddamn food chain, and you still get assholes claiming they don’t “contribute anything.” Of course, most people don’t really mean all of these implications when they use the phrase, but I don’t find it useful to talk about what species “contribute,” and avoid using that language if I can!

What I assume you mean by “what do monsters contribute” is a combination of “what roles might monsters play in the ecosystem” and “are monsters actively harmful to the ecosystem, i.e. do they cause loss of biodiversity?”

And this is difficult to answer! As I’ve said, I don’t think monsters are invasive species, and thus don’t harm the ecosystem, though we know that monsters can be harmful to humans. However, when it comes to the role they do play in the ecosystem, there isn’t enough in canon for me to do more than wildly speculate! Also, there are so so many of them, and the role of a hirikka is going to be wildly different from that of a draconid.

Just offhandedly, most of the big predatory monsters can be assumed to fill the same roles as Earth’s big predators, one of the big ones being overpopulation of prey species, which has ramifications throughout the ecosystem. Some of them are canonically ecosystem engineers, or animals that physically alter their environment (think beavers); for instance, shaelmaar and nekker tunneling. Additionally, the big insectoid colonies can’t be relying solely on naturally-occurring caves for their homes; they’ve gotta be constructing some stuff themselves. These tunnels can be repurposed as habitat for other organisms, from giant centipedes to sewant mushrooms. Necrophages, like corpse-eaters in our world, likely limit the spread of diseases from decomposing flesh (and really wouldn’t be as much of an issue if everyone would stop, you know, doing war and mass murder, lmfao). Arachasae use tree trunks and organic plant material to conceal themselves, which is likely contributing to plant reproduction in a few different ways—but the arachasae decorating essay is a different topic that I swear I will finish one day oh my god—

…anyways, feel free to ask about any specific monsters or niches if you’re curious, but if I tried to go into detail with every single potential niche/ecosystem service all of the monsters we know of might fill, we would be here all day!

Let’s talk about a couple specific things you brought up in your second ask.

> theyve probably found a niche in the world by now and can eat anything smaller incl. humans

I mean…maybe! That is, yeah, they’ve definitely settled into niches by now, but feeding is way more complicated and interesting than that.

For instance: orcas can eat basically whatever the fuck they want—orcas are fully capable of bringing down everything from fish to seals to gray whales to great white sharks. But they don’t. In the Pacific Northwest, the resident orca pods almost exclusively eat salmon, while the transient pods largely feed on seals. Orcas are kind of an extreme example, but this is something called resource partitioning and it’s a big part of how animals limit competition with one another and what enables lots of predators to coexist in one place!

We see a big fuck-off dragon thing and we assume that it’ll eat anything it can fit in its mouth, and definitely some predators work like that. But just because an animal is technically capable of eating something and deriving nutrition from it doesn’t mean that it will. Silver basilisks made roe deer the staple of their diet before the destruction of beech forests meant they had to turn to humans—which is a pretty specific dietary restriction when there should be multiple species of deer running around, not to mention everything else a draconid could be killing! And given how many types of draconid there are…I have to assume there’s some kind of resource partitioning going on to prevent them all from conflicting with each other! For instance, if basilisks prefer roe deer, maybe forktails prefer wild goats, while wyverns are mostly kleptoparasitic (stealing other predators’ kills).

And of course, not all monsters eat humans at all; harpies steal from and attack humans, so they’re a dangerous nuisance, but they don’t seem to eat them. And in the books Geralt mentions plenty of monsters which are totally harmless.

So yes, there are lots of things monsters could be eating, but it would strongly depend, and there’s a lot of interesting places one can take monster diets! Netflix decided their strigas only eat specific organs, leaving the rest of the body untouche, & I love that for her. More monsters that need a particular kind of nutrition that leads them to take only specific body parts from some kills!

> because theyve got no natural predators aside from each other and arent hunted by anything but witchers, monsters are just breeding and eating and wldnt that damage the land? or have they made their own like, circle of life or whatever ?

Absolutely—invasive species whose populations rapidly increase once they’re away from their natural predators cause the decline of native species, often by eating natives directly or competing with natives for resources. And in fact, even native species who become overpopulated can seriously damage the ecosystem (see: white-tailed deer in the United States, whose overpopulation has such negative ecological effects that some people argue we should classify them as invasive, even though they have definitely been here this whole time).

However, even if we grant that monsters are invasive, it’s a little more complicated than that for a few reasons!

Despite the apparent preponderance of them in the witcher games, most monsters are supposed to be strongly on the decline, like witchers themselves. Geralt’s profession is falling out of necessity; human development of the Continent is going to be the biggest suppressing factor in monster populations in the future. Monster overpopulation is just canonically not a problem in this universe! But even in the scenario where the Inevitable March Of Civilization isn’t threatening monster populations, there are a lot of factors that could and would limit monster populations.

(TL;DR for this next part: yeah I definitely think they’ve figured out their own little circle of life—the term you’re looking for is ecosystem equilibrium, btw!—& I’m going to take the next 1.2k to talk about how.)

For starters, predation is only one among many limiting factors that affect populations & prevent them from ballooning out of control:

food availability: If there’s not enough food, there’s not enough food! It also matters how adaptable the animal’s diet is—silver basilisks moved from deer to humans, but if the eucalyptus went extinct koalas would not switch to eating cycads.

illness and parasites: Some people argue these are more important than direct predation for limiting populations, and I am often inclined to agree. Basically, if a population becomes very dense, illness and parasites spread more quickly, creating a natural limiter on how many animals can live in any one place. The greater susceptibility of some individuals to illness or parasites also winnows down populations. Non-native species often escape a good portion of their native diseases by moving to a new range—however, given how fast bacteria and viruses evolve, 1,200 years is a pretty decent amount of time for new diseases to arise. Also, just going to drop a link to my treatise on monster parasites here. It’s gross, mind the warning at the start of the post.

mate availability: If only a certain percentage of the population is actually able to reproduce, that’ll eventually bring the total number down. RIP Iocaste’s boyfriend 😔

territory/shelter availability: Animals need a certain amount of space and certain types of spaces to survive, and space isn’t infinite! It again depends on how adaptable an animal is; rats find ways to thrive nearly everywhere, but pandas can only live where there’s bamboo. If there’s not enough space to hide from predators, reproduce safely, store food, and avoid adverse weather, the population again limits itself naturally.

natural disasters: Wildfires, drought, flooding, tsunamis, storms, etc. pick off significant portions of wildlife populations. Disasters are sporadic rather than directly linked to population like most of the other factors but these periodic blows to population and the other impacts of fire or flooding are often integral to the ecosystem (see especially: fire regimes and fire ecology.)

Now let’s talk predation & monsters! (Genuinely, I think predation is one of the most interesting things in ecology; people tend to simplify it down to things eat other things, which—yeah, but there’s so much more going on there!)

First, I wouldn’t underestimate the effects of monsters eating other monsters! Even if it’s rare for a draconid to snatch up a nekker and carry it off, the threat of a draconid doing so can have dramatic impacts; researchers found that just playing the sound of dog barks on a beach stopped raccoons from foraging for crabs for over a month after the barking stopped, leading to an increase in crab populations, even though no raccoons ever encountered a dog. This is called the ecosystem of fear (which as a term is metal as hell) and it theorizes that just the fear of predators can lead to chronic stress for prey animals, decreasing reproduction and making them more susceptible to disease. Maybe draconids in Toussaint eat only a few dozen nekkers a year, but that might cause thousands of nekkers to have fewer offspring or fall to disease. When it comes to ecosystems the direct effect is usually only a small part of the story!

Second, when we talk about a species not having natural predators, we’re usually talking about an animal that would have a predator back in its home range—lionfish, for instance, have plenty of predators in their natural range (the Indo-Pacific), but no natural predators in their invasive range (the Caribbean), so invasive lionfish, suddenly freed of a limiting factor, can run amok. However, a great white shark has, aside from orcas (who do not actually eat white sharks, they’re just assholes sometimes) and occasionally other white sharks, more or less no natural predators anywhere once it reaches maturity, and that’s fine! Lack of predation of great white sharks did not cause their populations to explode and consume the ocean. White sharks are limited by other factors.

So: it is possible that wherever draconids originated (and it’s entirely possible that “draconids” came from multiple different places, tbh) there was something bigger that preyed on them, but it’s not unreasonable to assume they were also apex predators in their previous dimension (I mean…look at them), and that adult draconids were never really preyed on by anything else! It isn’t necessarily an issue for there not to be predators of certain monsters on the Continent.

(Though, of course, we also shouldn’t forget that most apex predators are prey when they’re young—baby white sharks are snack-sized for a lot of fishes, and bear cubs and wolf pups are similarly vulnerable. Based on the size of the eggs you see in TW3 draconid nests, a basilisk is hatched around the size of a little dog, which is the perfect size for small, ballsy predators such as wolverines to sneak into a nest and snap them up—predators such as more wolverines or raptors like eagles and hawks might also come directly for the eggs.)

When it comes to smaller monsters such as nekkers, who likely weren’t apex predators in their original dimensions and would thus be subject to that lack of natural predators—there are usually specific reasons why prey species manage to avoid predation in their introduced range. Lionfish confound Caribbean predators because lionfish are covered with huge poisonous spines that Caribbean predators don’t know how to deal with.

Drowners, on the other hand, are basically just man-shaped fish; they don’t have any adaptations or defenses that would really stump a bear or a wolf. Again, bigger monsters are still probably checking the populations of smaller monsters no matter what, but there’s really no reason a bear couldn’t figure out how to eat a drowner! Unless a monster has a unique defense (e.g. scurver spines), is actively distasteful to eat (rotfiends, probably), or is just difficult to take down (nekkers in packs), most of the non-monster predators* on the Continent will have incorporated various monsters into their diet by now, or suppressed monster populations indirectly with the threat of predation or by competing with them for food. It has been over a thousand years, which is nothing evolutionarily but is still a decent period of time for mammals, who pass hunting techniques down to their babies, to figure out how to eat ghouls—especially if we’re considering that the Continent’s mammals may also be a result of the Conjunction and would thus have to have been just as adaptable as the monsters to establish themselves. And I’ve also actually talked before about how wolves specifically might be preying on necrophages!

* For reference, the non-monster predators are, considering the Continent is more or less Europe, most likely lynxes, brown bears/polar bears (in Skellige), wolverines, foxes, badgers, and a variety of large birds of prey.

So—yes, if monsters were truly overpopulating, then that would damage the ecosystem. However, canon tells us they are definitely not doing that, and there are also many factors that would prevent that from happening!

(Though I will say that some of the reasons white-tailed deer are overpopulated are that we got rid of cougars and wolves and human development creates a lot of extra habitat of the type that deer like. Given that we know many of draconids are for sure in significant danger of going extinct, and the trajectory that Europe’s wolf and bear populations followed in real life, it is possible that the Continent will have to contend with an overpopulation of some of the smaller monsters at some point as they continue to try to eradicate the larger predators, both monster and non-monsters—you think the drowner problem is bad now, wait until the bears are gone and city development has tripled the number of sewers. Yet another of those humans-make-monster-problems-worse things I am fond of in the Witcherverse!)

…whew. that was a lot of words. In conclusion: ecology is really cool & there’s a bunch of ways monsters can fit into it!!