#the games just has Yennefer and Triss fighting over Geralt for no reason

[firewvlk]

Look who just woke up- is that VIRGINIA GARDNER? No, I must have been mistaken, that’s CIRI from THE WITCHER. I heard she is 23 and stuck here just like everyone else. Even in the 20’s, they still give off a LION CUB OF CINTRA, HEAVY CROWN, AND LAST CARRIER OF ELDER BLOOD impression. They’re known to be quite RESILIENT, but have a tendency to be VENGEFUL on their bad days.

Gender/Pronouns

cisfemale & she/her

How long have they been in Sydney?

a couple of years, real time

Job

investigative constable

Which suburb do they live in?

the rocks

Memories of their real life

full name is cirilla fiona elen riannon, or cirilla, but her dad and grandmother are like the only people who call her that. she prefers ciri.

born in 1251 to a princess in a kingdom called cintra. her mother died when she was very young, so she was raised by her grandmother, the queen, until the slaughter of her kingdom by her father & his empire.

she escaped & roamed around for a while before ending up in geralt’s care. he took her to kaer morhen where she was trained to be a witcher & trained in magic by triss, but once she started showing that she was a powerful source & they were all in over their heads, she was sent off to training under yennefer instead.

eventually joined a ‘ gang ’ called the rats after escaping from a bounty hunter her father hired & even had a relationship with one of the female members named mistle. i won’t go into details bc it was a fucked-up relationship. she did love her, though. or she thought she did.

had to watch them all die right in front of her, she tried to save them but was too late. the bounty hunter that killed her friends then imprisoned her and forced her to fight in an arena. she went through a lot of abuse at his hands & he would make her use drugs to ‘ up ’ her performance in the arena.

eventually escaped that, which is when she got the huge-ass scar under her eye. throwing stars & eyes don’t mix, y’all. ciri & butters stotch are proof of that. she nearly died from it.

escaped to a world of elves once she recovered. they wanted her to have a kid with the king elf, so they could get back the elder blood, but she wasn’t about that life & bailed back to her world & eventually reunited with geralt & yennefer

during the rivian pogrom, geralt & yennefer were both killed or nearly killed, i forget. ciri took them to malus island/isle of avalon to save them. she then world hopped again & met sir galahad & lived in camelot for some time.

then you have the events of the witcher games, where she lived mostly on the run from the wild hunt, who also wanted her for her blood/power. that went on for years until she & the witcher’s defeated them, and she prevented the end of the world/ithlinne’s prophecy.

after that, she became emhyr’s successor & empress of nilfgaard, not out of a desire to, but to stop the war & make actual changes for the better. bUT she still took up witcher contracts with geralt from time to time.

has been through a lot of trauma thanks to men, so she’s a lot more comfortable with women romantically & in general, outside of her witcher +jaskier circle.

still has more compassion for ‘monsters’ or nonhumans than humans, most days. she’s known as the witcher who hunted humans for a reason…

What was their fake life like?

tba, but she’s one of joyce byers’ fake life kids

[bamf-jaskier]

Okay so I’m going to try and do a comparison of some of the major scenes between Geralt and Yennefer in Bottled Appetites vs The Last Wish. 

Warning: this is a very long post and I tried to keep it as short as possible but Geralt and Yennefer is the relationship that is mainly focused on in both the short story and the show so there’s..a lot of content here. 

Now, before I really jump in it’s important to note that the show is basically the spark notes version of the book, there’s a lot of missing content in the show mostly because the book just has so much more complexity so for a brief timeline:

Jaskier is injured

Talks to Chireadan 

Meets Yennefer

Take Bath Together 

Yennefer mind-controls Geralt and send him off to go fight some council members

THEN this is where the show and book differ 

In the books, Yennefer’s mind-control has more obvious consequences and Geralt gets into legal trouble and there’s a whole scene with some town leaders threatening Geralt and Jaskier. (Although it is important to note Yennefer in the books has a back-up plan to save Geralt)

As well when Geralt goes to stop Yennefer in the books from capturing the Djinn  she portals away with Geralt and they hate-crash a Noble’s party before having a conversation and fighting the Djinn again, Geralt makes his third wish and then they have sex 

So basically the townspeople sub-plot is removed in the show and the Djinn fight is streamlined into one-scene instead of multiple. Now understanding that, let’s get into the scene comparisons. 

Geralt Meeting Yennefer:

The Last Wish:

“You parried my spell,” she finally said. “You're not a sorcerer; that's obvious. But you reacted exceptionally fast. Tell me who you are, stranger who has come in peace. And I advise you to speak quickly.”

“I’m Geralt of Rivia. A witcher.”

Yennefer leaned out of the bed, grasping a faun—engraved on the pole—by a piece of anatomy well adapted to being grasped. Without taking her eyes off Geralt, she picked a coat with a fur collar up off the floor and wrapped herself up in it tightly before getting up. She poured herself another mug of juice without hurrying, drank it in one go, coughed and came closer. Geralt discreetly rubbed his lower back which, a moment ago, had collided painfully with the wall.

“Geralt of Rivia,” repeated the sorceress, looking at him from behind black lashes. “How did you get in here? And for what reason? You didn't hurt Berrant, I hope?”

“No. I didn't. Lady Yennefer, I need your help.”

“A witcher,” she muttered, coming up even closer and wrapping the coat around her more tightly. “Not only is it the first one I’ve seen up close but it's none other than the famous White Wolf. I’ve heard about you.”

“I can imagine.”

“I don't know what you can imagine.” 

She yawned, then came even closer. “May I?” She touched his cheek and looked him in the eyes. He clenched his jaw. “Do your pupils automatically adapt to light or can you narrow and dilate them according to your will?”

“Yennefer,” he said calmly, “I rode nonstop all day from Rinde. I waited all night for the gates to open. I gave your doorman, who didn't want to let me in, a blow to the head. I disturbed your sleep and peace, discourteously and importunately. All because my friend needs help which only you can give him. Give it to him, please, and then, if you like, we can talk about mutations and aberrations.”

She took a step back and contorted her lips unpleasantly. “What sort of help do you mean?”

“The regeneration of organs injured through magic. The throat, larynx and vocal cords. An injury caused by a scarlet mist. Or something very much like it.”

The Show:

Yennefer: And quite a bit more. You’re immune.

Geralt: You must be the mage.

Yennefer: Yennefer of Vengerberg. 

Geralt: Hm. Chireadan didn’t mention that, uh…

Yennefer: What did he fail to mention?

Geralt: We need your help.

Yennefer: “We”? [Geralt looks to Jaskier who gives a feeble wave.] Just a friend, I hope? [Geralt looks back at her.] Your heartbeat, it’s extraordinarily slow. You’re… a mutant.

Geralt: A witcher. Geralt of Rivia.

Yennefer: The famous White Wolf! [Standing up she steps close to Geralt.] I thought you’d have fangs or horns or something.

Geralt: I had them filed down.

Yennefer: [chuckles] First time I’ve seen a witcher up close. [She circles him, looks him over.] What little spells can you cast with your hands? Call it professional curiosity.

Geralt: Please, Jaskier here needs immediate attention. And then, if you’d like, I’ll indulge your curiosity all night long.

Yennefer: It won’t take all night. But I’m sure we can find a way to fill the time.

Geralt: [holding up the small sack with the pot’s shards] He was attacked by a djinn.

Yennefer: A djinn?

Geralt: Whatever’s wrong with him, it’s spreading. [Yennefer takes the sack and inspects the contents.] Fix it and I’ll pay you. Whatever the price.

Yennefer: You’ll have to do better than juice. [to the undulating figures] "Ragamuffin"!

In the books there is no orgy sequence, instead Yennefer has been mainly just been fucking with the merchant Beau Berrant, who in the show is the Mayor of Rinde. The apple juice sequence occurs in both adaptations and Geralt goes to Yennefer. In the books, Yennefer is alone in Berrant’s bedchambers, in the show she is in the orgy sequence. If you read the passages, they share the same bare bones. Yennefer tries to bespell Geralt, he is immune, she comments on his mutation, Geralt asks for help. 

Yennefer and Geralt have the same flirtatious overtones in both adaptations. Honestly I don’t have much to say here because it parallels relatively well as far as characterization goes. I will say I prefer the book’s prose but I also understand that the show has more simplistic writing and wording. 

Anya Chalotra has fantastic energy in playing Yennefer and the tension between the actors in this scene are quite apparent. 

Bathing Together:

The Last Wish:

She entered the bath-chamber just as Geralt, sitting naked on a tiny stool, was pouring water over himself from a bucket. He cleared his throat and modestly turned his back to her.

“Don't be embarrassed,” she said, throwing an armful of clothing on the hook. “I don't faint at the sight of a naked man. Triss Merigold, a friend, says if you've seen one, you've seen them all.”

He got up, wrapping a towel round his hips.

“Beautiful scar.” She smiled, looking at his chest. “What was it? Did you fall under the blade in a sawmill?”

He didn't answer. The sorceress continued to observe him, tilting her head coquettishly.

“The first witcher I can look at from close up, and completely naked at that. Aha!” She leaned over, listening. “I can hear your heart beat. It's very slow. Can you control how much adrenalin you secrete? Oh, forgive me my professional curiosity. Apparently, you're touchy about the qualities of your own body. You're wont to describe these qualities using words which I greatly dislike, lapsing into pompous sarcasm with it, something I dislike even more.”

He didn't answer.“Well, enough of that. My bath is getting cold.” Yennefer moved as if she wanted to discard her coat, then hesitated. “I’ll take my bath while you talk, to save time. But I don't want to embarrass you and, besides, we hardly know each other. So then, taking decency into account—”

“I’ll turn around,” he proposed hesitantly.“No. I have to see the eyes of the person I’m talking to. I’ve got a better idea.”

He heard an incantation being recited, felt his medallion quiver and saw the black coat softly slip to the floor. Then he heard the water splashing.

“Now I can't see your eyes, Yennefer,” he said. “And that's a pity.”

The invisible sorceress snorted and splashed in the tub. “Go on.”

The Show:

[Later, in the bathroom, Geralt takes a bath while Yennefer keeps him company]

Yennefer: Fishing for a djinn seems an extreme measure to remedy sleeplessness.

Geralt: When extreme measures seem reasonable, yes, I’m desperate.

Yennefer: And yet you didn’t ask me to help with that.

Geralt: Looming death kind of jumped the queue. Now I’m wondering if I can afford you. Have I accidentally agreed to indentured servitude? [Yennefer notices his scars.] Go ahead, ask about them. Everyone does.

Yennefer: Everyone else is boring. [She undresses and steps into the tub.] Turn around.

Geralt: [Tries to look at her in a mirror, but Yennefer moves it with magic so he can’t see] That’s cheating.

Yennefer: Nobody smart plays fair. Tell me, are all witchers similarly blessed? [She sits down so they’re back to back.] Come now, you promised.

Geralt: Hm. I haven’t conducted a survey, but I’d hardly say we’re blessed.

Okay!! Now I can get more into the characterization differences because oh boy are there some here. First, Yennefer mentions Triss in the books which I would have loved to see in the show but the main thing here is how they objectify each other. In both adaptations, Yennefer notices Geralt’s scars when they begin to bathe together but in the books, Yennefer uses it as a way to pry more into the biological functions of Witchers whereas in the show she uses it as a way to talk about their shitty childhoods. 

This ties into how the show, instead of focusing on the more biological aspects of Witchers, focuses on the tragic backstory of the characters. Of course, Lauren is of the mindset (like much of fandom) that Witchers are more animalistic while Sapko really pushes the idea that Witchers are creations of science so it makes sense the show wouldn’t want to talk about Witcher science as much. 

As well, in the books, Geralt is rather respectful to Yennefer, promising to avert his gaze and she ends up turning invisible so she can objectify him but he can’t objectify her. It places Yennefer in charge and the obviously more powerful force in the room. 

In the show, Geralt tries to take a peak at Yennefer and they sit back to back, establishing them as equals. And this is no mistake. In the books, Yennefer is quite a bit older than Geralt, she is powerful mage and Geralt is just a guy. Yennefer is the one in power in their relationship and that is obvious in every aspect of their relationship. 

The show made Geralt 32 years older than Yennefer. They push a narrative of Yennefer and Geralt being on more equal footing (or even at times go as far as to make Geralt seem the more mature and older one which we will see later with Yennefer not being aware of the Wish). 

This reverses a lot of the show/book dynamic where instead of Yennefer being the dominant one she is on equal footing with Geralt. Of course, this is likely due to Henry Cavill being around 37 and Anya Chalotra being around 23. Hollywood is allergic to the older woman/younger man dynamic that is seen in the books so making Yennefer seem younger is not a problem specific to The Witcher but with Hollywood at large.  (Not to say it isn’t still bad to see this perpetuated in the show because it is)

Yennefer mind-controlling Geralt:

The Last Wish:

“He's asleep,” said Yennefer. “And dreaming.”

Geralt examined the patterns traced on the floor. The magic hidden within them was palpable, but he knew it was a dormant magic. It brought to mind the purr of a sleeping lion, without suggesting how the roar might sound.

“What is this, Yennefer?”

“A trap.”

“For what?”

“For you, for the time being.” The sorceress turned the key in the lock, then turned it over in her hand. The key disappeared.

“And thus I’m trapped,” he said coldly. “What now? Are you going to assault my virtue?”

“Don't flatter yourself.” Yennefer sat on the edge of the bed. Dandilion, still smiling like a moron, groaned quietly. It was, without a doubt, a groan of bliss.

“I already knew what you were like,” she continued, “after exchanging a few words with you in Beau's bedroom. And I knew what form of payment I’d demand from you. My accounts in Rinde could be settled by anyone, including Chireadan. But you're the one who's going to do it because you have to pay me. For your insolence, for the cold way you look at me, for the eyes which fish for every detail, for your stony face and sarcastic tone of voice. For thinking that you could stand face-to-face with Yennefer of Vergerberg and believe her to be full of self-admiration and arrogance, a calculating witch, while staring at her soapy tits. Pay up, Geralt of Rivia!”

She grabbed his hair with both hands and kissed him violently on the lips, sinking her teeth into them like a vampire. The medallion on his neck quivered and it felt to Geralt as if the chain was shrinking and strangling him. Something blazed in his head while a terrible humming filled his ears. He stopped seeing the sorceress's violet eyes and fell into darkness.He was kneeling. Yennefer was talking to him in a gentle, soft voice.“You remember?”

“Yes, my lady.” It was his own voice.

“So go and carry out my instructions.”

“At your command, my lady.”

“You may kiss my hand.”

“Thank you, my lady.”He felt himself approach her on his knees. 

Ten thousand bees buzzed in his head. Her hand smelt of lilac and gooseberries. Lilac and gooseberries…Lilac and gooseberries…A flash. Darkness.

The Show:

Yennefer: If you wake him before he’s healed, the spell won’t take. That’s no way to treat a friend, Geralt.

Geralt: You want the djinn, but the amphora’s broken. The djinn’s already long gone. [Suddenly the candles around the sign flare up.]

Yennefer: [rubbing perfume onto her wrists] Do go on. Tell me how stuff works. The djinn is tied to this plane and its master. How many wishes did the bard express before he lost his voice?

Geralt: You need Jaskier to make his last wish so you can capture it.

Yennefer: So that’s… two then.

Geralt: The djinn will fight you. If you try and bend it- [He breaks off, clears his throat then inhales.] Ah… That scent… Lilac and…

Yennefer: Gooseberries. [Geralt exhales sharply.] Tough to get in your head. You have a strong will, but you can’t contend with me. Sorry I couldn’t be direct, I knew you’d fight it. [She leans up to kiss him, bites on his bottom lip until it bleeds.] And I do love a good old-fashioned trap.

Geralt: [slurring] A good old-fashioned… nap. [His eyes flutter shut.]

I mentioned how the show is a spark notes? Well, in the books Yennefer finds out through interrogating Geralt in the bath how many wishes are left. As well, in the books Yennefer is much more physically violent, again asserting the idea that she is the dominant one in the relationship and that she is in charge. 

Honestly, the show softens Yennefer quite a bit in this scene. While she does bite his lip, it’s slowly and not particularly violent. In the books, she is compared to a vampire, grabbing his hair, pulling him down. 

It all ties into the softer, younger version of Yennefer we see in the show vs the books. She is not as aggressive in the show and also not as dominant. Again, this could be due to the actor’s age difference but I also think it ties into Hollywood’s avoidance of placing women in a position that is above a male character. (Especially with Henry Cavill as Geralt, he would be unlikely to play a more subservient role to a woman purposefully considering some of his past statements about Me Too). However, having Yennefer as less aggressive also might make her more relatable to the audience and have her be more likable. At least, that could be what the writers were going for but I’m not psychic and I couldn’t tell you for sure. 

Geralt trying to save Yennefer from the Djinn:

The Last Wish:

“Yennefer saw him, jumped up and raised her hand.

“No!” he shouted, “don't do this! I want to help you!”

“Help?” She snorted. “You?”

“Me.”

“In spite of what I did to you?”

“In spite of it.”

“Interesting. But not important. I don't need your help. Get out of here.”

“No.”

“Get out of here!” she yelled, grimacing ominously. “It's getting dangerous! The whole thing's getting out of control; do you understand? I can't master him. I don't get it, but the scoundrel isn't weakening at all! I caught him once he'd fulfilled the troubadour's third wish and I should have him in the sphere by now. But he's not getting any weaker! Dammit, it looks as if he's getting stronger! But I’m still going to get the better of him. I’ll break—”

“You won't break him, Yennefer. He'll kill you.”

“It's not so easy to kill me—”

She broke off. The whole roof of the tavern suddenly flared up. The vision projected by the sphere dissolved in the brightness. A huge fiery rectangle appeared on the ceiling. The sorceress cursed as she lifted her hands, and sparks gushed from her fingers. 

“Run, Geralt!”

“What's happening, Yennefer?”

“He's located me…” She groaned, flushing red with effort. “He wants to get at me. He's creating his own portal to get in. He can't break loose but he'll get in by the portal. I can't—I can't stop him!”

“Yennefer—”

“Don't distract me! I’ve got to concentrate…Geralt, you've got to get out of here. I’ll open my portal, a way for you to escape. Be careful; it'll be a random portal. I haven't got time or strength for any other…I don't know where you'll end up…but you'll be safe…Get ready—.” 

... (description paragraph skip)

“This way!” shouted Yennefer, indicating the portal which she had conjured up oh the wall by the stairs. In comparison to the one created by the genie, the sorceress's portal looked feeble, extremely inferior. “This way, Geralt! Run for it!”

“Only with you!”

Yennefer, sweeping the air with her hands, was shouting incantations and the many-colored fetters showered sparks and creaked. The djinn whirled like the bumble-bee, pulling the bonds tight, then loosening them. Slowly but surely he was drawing closer to the sorceress. Yennefer did not back away.

The witcher leapt to her, deftly tripped her up, grabbed her by the waist with one hand and dug the other into her hair at the nape. Yennefer cursed nastily  and thumped him in the neck with her elbow. He didn't let go of her. The penetrating smell of ozone, created by the curses, didn't kill the smell of lilac and gooseberries. Geralt stilled the sorceress's kicking legs and jumped, raising her straight up to the opalescently flickering nothingness of the lesser portal.

 The Show:

[In the bedroom]

Yennefer: [still chanting in Elder]

Geralt: [as he enters, Yennefer lifts a hand in his direction.] Don’t! I’m here to help you.

Yennefer: [lowers her hand] I don’t need your help. You’re free. No longer under my spell.

Geralt: And yet here I am.

Yennefer: You seem to want to meet your end.

Geralt: As do you.

Yennefer: [groans] The djinn isn’t weakening. The bard expressed his last wish, but it’s- [screams] it’s getting stronger! Go!

Geralt: That’s because I’m the one with the wishes.

Yennefer: You? You’re the djinn’s master?

Geralt: Yeah.

Yennefer: Well, what are you waiting for? [She screams as her bones crack.] Make your wishes!

Geralt: Becoming the vessel for the djinn will have you lose control, not gain it! Can’t you see what this is doing to you?

Yennefer: True transformation is painful.

Geralt: Release the djinn! I’ll give you my last wish!

Yennefer: You heroic protector… noble dog, permitting my success so long as you command it yourself. Fuck off! I’ll do this myself!

Geralt: Damn it, Yennefer! Tell me what you want!

Yennefer: I want everything!

[In the bedroom, Yennefer’s eyes have gone red, her voice distorted]

Djinn: [speaking through Yennefer] Make your wish! You can have anything you want! You could choose not to be a witcher. What do you desire? Immortality? Riches? Fame? Power?

Geralt: I wish… [The rest of his words are drowned out by the wind. Yennefer falls forward and the wind calms down. Geralt pulls up his sleeve to reveal the third cut.]

Yennefer: The djinn… Wh- Where did it go? [The house groans and creaks, and the two look to the ceiling as it crashes down.]

Yennefer still craves power and wants for everything in the show. In the books, she is more established and wants to try and control the Djinn. This is why when Geralt comes back for Yennefer, both versions express surprise at why Geralt would come back to help after they cast a spell on him but Netflix!Yennefer tells Geralt to fuck off on the basis she doesn’t want a man controlling her life (tying into the Strong Female Character Trope) while Book!Yennefer wants Geralt out of danger first and foremost.

Of course, much of this in the show is likely a response to try and subvert the “damsel in distress” stereotype and while the books have Yennefer as the dominant one and in control, showing that she in not in distress, the show has her explicitly point this out because she is not established as the dominant one as much as in the books. 

The show constantly is more overt with its themes that the books which are far more subtle. 

Yennefer is mad at Geralt and then they have sex:

The Last Wish (Warning this is rather long and I even tried to shorten it without removing content!!):

“You moron!” Yennefer yelled, trying to scratch out his eyes. “You bloody idiot! You stopped me! I nearly had him!”

“You had shit-all!” he shouted back, furious. “I saved your life, you stupid witch!”

She hissed like a furious cat; her palms showered sparks.

Geralt, turning his face away, caught her by both wrists and they rolled among the oysters, seaweed and crushed ice.

“Do you have an invitation?” A portly man with the golden chain of a chamberlain on his chest was looking at them with a haughty expression.

“Screw yourself!” screamed Yennefer, still trying to scratch Geralt's eyes out.

“The wish, Geralt! Hurry up! What do you desire? Immortality? Riches? Fame? Power? Might? Privileges? Hurry, we haven't any time!” He was silent

“Humanity,” she said suddenly, smiling nastily. “I’ve guessed, haven't I? That's what you want; that's what you dream of! Of release, of the freedom to be who you want, not who you have to be. The djinn will fulfill that wish, Geralt. Just say it.”

He stayed silent.

She stood over him in the flickering radiance of the wizard's sphere, in the glow of magic, amidst the flashes of rays restraining the djinn, streaming hair and eyes blazing violet, erect, slender, dark, terrible…

And beautiful.

All of a sudden she leaned over and looked him in the eyes. He caught the scent of lilac and gooseberries.

“You're not saying anything,” she hissed. “So what is it you desire, witcher? What is your most hidden dream? Is it that you don't know or you can't decide? Look for it within yourself, look deeply and carefully because, I swear by the Force, you won't get another chance like this!”

But he suddenly knew the truth. He knew it. He knew what she used to be. What she remembered, what she couldn't forget, what she lived with. Who she really was before she had become a sorceress.

Her cold, penetrating, angry and wise eyes were those of a hunchback. He was horrified. No, not of the truth. He was horrified that she would read his thoughts, find out what he had guessed. That she would never forgive him for it. He deadened that thought within himself, killed it, threw it from his memory forever, without trace, feeling, as he did so, enormous relief. Feeling that—

The ceiling cracked open. The djinn, entangled in the net of the now fading rays, tumbled right on top of them, roaring, and in that roar were triumph and murder lust. Yennefer leapt to meet him. Light beamed from her hands. Very feeble light.

The djinn opened his mouth and stretched his paws toward her.

The witcher suddenly understood what it was he wanted.

And he made his wish.

... (time skip)

Yennefer, slightly flushed, knelt by him, resting her hands on her knees.

“Witcher.” She cleared her throat. “Are you dead?”

“No.” Geralt wiped the dust from his face and hissed.

Slowly, Yennefer touched his wrist and delicately ran her fingers along his palm. “I burnt you—”

“It's nothing. A few blisters—”

“I’m sorry. You know, the djinn's escaped. For good.”

“Do you regret it?”

“Not much.”

“Good. Help me up, please.”

“Wait,” she whispered. “That wish of yours…I heard what you wished for. I was astounded, simply astounded. I’d have expected anything but to…What made you do it, Geralt? Why…Why me?”

“Don't you know?”

She leaned over him, touched him. He felt her hair, smelling of lilac and gooseberries, brush his face and he suddenly knew that he'd never forget that scent, that soft touch, knew that he'd never be able to compare it to any other scent or touch. Yennefer kissed him and he understood that he'd never desire any lips other than hers, so soft and moist, sweet with lipstick. He knew that, from that moment, only she would exist, her neck, shoulders and breasts freed from her black dress, her delicate, cool skin, which couldn't be compared to any other he had ever touched. He gazed into her violet eyes, the most beautiful eyes in the world, eyes which he feared would become…

Everything. He knew.

“Your wish,” she whispered, her lips very near his ear. “I don't know whether such a wish can ever be fulfilled. I don't know whether there's such a Force in Nature that could fulfill such a wish. But if there is, then you've condemned yourself. Condemned yourself to me.”

He interrupted her with a kiss, an embrace, a touch, caresses and then with everything, his whole being, his every thought, his only thought, everything, everything, everything. They broke the silence with sighs and the rustle of clothing strewn on the floor. 

They broke the silence very gently, lazily, and they were considerate and very thorough. They were caring and tender and, although neither quite knew what caring and tenderness were, they succeeded because they very much wanted to. And they were in no hurry whatsoever. The whole world had ceased to exist for a brief moment, but to them, it seemed like a whole eternity.

And then the world started to exist again; but it existed very differently.

“Geralt?”

“Mmm?”

“What now?”

“I don't know.”

“Nor do I. Because, you see, I…I don't know whether it was worth condemning yourself to me. I don't know how—Wait, what are you doing…? I wanted to tell you—”

“Yennefer…Yen.”

“Yen,” she repeated, giving in to him completely. “Nobody's ever called me that. Say it again.”

“Yen.”

“Geralt.”

The Show:

[Yennefer and Geralt portal into the room inside the manor, where they first met.]

Geralt: Yennefer? [He gets to his knees and shifts the hair of her face.] Yennefer. It’s me… Geralt.

Yennefer: [She opens slowly her eyes, shoves Geralt away and rises.] I know who you are. What did you do? You stopped me, didn’t you? I nearly had it.

Geralt: You had shit all. I saved your life.

Yennefer: And I saved yours! You let the djinn escape. Who knows what havoc it’ll wreak now that it has no vessel at all?

Geralt: No more havoc than you. Djinns are only dark creatures when held captive.

Yennefer: How can you be so sure?

Geralt: When did you last feel happy when you felt trapped? And if you were going to portal us to safety, you could’ve taken us out of this shit town!

Yennefer: A fine critique if you could make a portal yourself. And it wasn’t a shit town, it was a fine town till you came along. I had a plan!

Geralt: [chuckles] And that was going swimmingly!

Yennefer: It was. Like a drowning fish. [They kiss and begin to have sex.]

I tried to keep it short here, but the show combined multiple scenes from the book here. I do love the fact that they kept the shit-all line, it’s a favorite. Of course, many people have likely noticed the HUGE difference between the show and books. In the books, Yennefer knows what the wish is and she’s aware Geralt tied their destinies together. 

The show keeps Yennefer in the dark about the wish (likely as a way to manufacture tension on the mountain and have it be dramatic tm) and this just further places her as the not-dominant one in comparison to Geralt. I will also say I love how in the books, Geralt gets a flashback through Yennefer’s past and her trauma. It would have been interesting to see that in the show. 

This final scene suffers so much in the show by being so shortened. We don’t see Yennefer and Geralt have a long conversation about the consequences of the wish or what they might do next, they just exchange a few lines about the Djinn which makes the sex scene seem more sudden than in the books. 

Of course, I will give props to the actors for the sexual tension they are able to generate in just a few lines as they move closer to each other (granted this tension is ruined as soon as the music starts playing and Jaskier shows up, making the sex scene humorous instead of impactful). 

The last lines in the book passage where Yennefer asks Geralt to call her Yen just breaks my damn heart and I would do anything to have seen it in the show. The way the books showcase two very traumatized people finally finding each other is just so lovely and I don’t understand the directing decision to have the tone of the scene switch so quickly in the show from serious and impactful to light. It takes away a lot from the characters. 

In the end, the show has Yennefer in a less dominant position in the books and also has her act younger in a sense. This could be due to the actor’s age difference or Hollywood’s allergy to dominant women but despite this, the actors bring a lot of chemistry to the screen (especially in the first meeting/bath scenes). 

I would have liked the show to give Yennefer more agency in regards to the wish, especially considering that is her character arc in the show, but I did appreciate how many scenes paralleled each other and I believe at the end of the day, the show was able to preserve enough of Yenralt to make it a believable pairing in the show and I can see them improving the dynamic they have already established throughout the first season in season 2. 

[lwiamatkaarchive]

calanthe’s witcher 3 plotline: (to be continued as i play the games)

includes possible romance with geralt. y’all already know i ship it anyway. 

velen: 

- geralt meets calanthe in velen, after some villagers mistakingly pointed him towards her when he asked for an ashen-haired woman. he meets her after baron, but before keira. they talk, he learns of what happened to her while he thought she was dead and she learns that ciri is alive, but in danger.

- he tells calanthe of a witch ciri quarreled with, calanthe agrees to help him

- together, they meet up with keira, who tells them about the mysterious elf 

- they agree to help keira, and without her head to the old elven ruins 

- they fight with the wild hunt there, geralt learns of calanthe’s elder blood, that she learned how to use it and that it is as potent as ciri’s and the wild hunt might want her, too

- they find avallac’h’s lab, calanthe recognises lara dorren as her ancestor and finds the altar he built for her quite disturbing 

- after they are done, calanthe leaves geralt to his own devices to continue with keira’s questline and other quests in velen, with geralt’s promise that he will contact her as soon as he learns something (optional). after that, she can be found in a tavern in velen. 

novigrad: 

- if geralt decides to go to calanthe after finishing velen plotline, she agrees to go with him to novigrad, another place where ciri was seen (though she makes it clear it’s the opposite way of where she was originally headed). she accompanies him to rosemary and thyme. that is where she can be found most of the time, accompanied by zoltan who, despite calanthe’s protest, promised geralt to have an eye on her. she decides to stay incognito in the city.

- calanthe’s input during the novigrad plotline is small. she can have an impact on the way priscilla’s play is shown, and listening to her advice about how duny’s and pavetta’s story was not one of true love, we get the best outcome from the crowd while still helping find dudu. 

- calanthe can be talked to at any point of the plot in rosemary and thyme, she gives her insight on the things geralt learned about ciri. in this time, she deveops a friendship with zoltan, who teaches her how to play gwent. (eventually, a unique card can be won from her) 

- after geralt helps triss saving the sorcerers of novigrad, he can once again, optionally, tell calanthe what he learned about ciri and say he is going to skellige. if he offers her to come along, she reluctantly agrees. 

skellige: 

this is the part of the plot where calanthe plays the biggest role, if geralt decides to bring her along. 

- calanthe and geralt together meet yennefer at bran’s funeral. calanthe explains that she is saddened by his death, seeing as he was her brother-in-law. during the funeral, mousesack notices her in the crowd and recognises her immediately. so does crach, who to greet her kneels before her and adresses her as modron. the funeral feast for bran’s death is also a reason to celebrate the lioness’ return.

- after the funeral, calanthe can be talked to and geralt can ask her about her exact connections with crach and mousesack, if the player isn’t familiar with the books. she explains how crach is her late husband’s nephew, how skellige and cintra were once in a close friendship and how mousesack was her advisor. this is the first time she mentions her guilt over surviving the fall of cintra. 

- for the feast, geralt can choose to wear black, as instructed by yennefer, not change his clothes, or wear something with a green accent. 

- during the feast calanthe is met with cerys, who reveals to her her plans to become queen, which calanthe heavily supports. yennefer reveals to them her plans of stealing the mask of ourobors from mousesack. calanthe voices her displeasure with this plan. geralt can choose to go along with yennefer, at which point the plot goes as it does canonically, or agree with calanthe. if geralt chooses to side with calanthe, they speak to mousesack openly and the druid, unable to refuse her, allows them to take the mask, but they found yennefer had already stolen it on her own. 

- whether geralt chose to help yennefer or go along with calanthe, the quest brings him to the place of the anomaly in the forest. yennefer is already there, arguing with mousesack. as calanthe and geralt speak with the druid, yennefer sneaks away and uses the mask. once trhe mask is activated, calanthe agrees that there is no other choice but to proceed with it, but she is clearly annoyed with the sorceress and her methods. 

- after searching the anomaly, calanthe goes along with yennefer and geralt to the larvik village, where the wild hunt was seen. calanthe opposes the use of the garden’s power to bring back skjall and speak to him and instead offers herself as the source yennefer can take from. if geralt agrees, calanthe is weakened but the garden is saved. if he denies, the garden dies out like in canon. 

- the last wish quest takes place here. geralt goes along with yennefer to help her break the last wish. if he tells her he doesn’t want to be with her anymore, her romance path is closed and calanthe’s romance path opens. 

- as they find out about uma, geralt goes to retrieve him from velen, and calanthe goes along with yennefer to kaer morhen to help undo the curse. 

SIDE NOTE:

- in the hjalmar vs cerys storyline calanthe stands with cerys. she sees through birna with whom she was nver friendly and knows right away that the bears could not have been an craite’s fault. 

kaer morhen: 

- calanthe is always in kaer morhen! even if the player chose to not bring her along to novigrad and/or skellige. she voices her frustration over feeling useless. everyone is given a task to complete, except for her. she tries to help with uma, but has no knowledge nor abilities to help break the curse. she is worried that it might be ciri, and as uma is being put through the trial of grasses, she walks out, disturbed and disgusted, unable to watch. 

- after uma is turned back into avallac’h and the plan of the battle of kaer morhen is born, calanthe offers to go with geralt to the isle of mists, but he refuses, promising to bring ciri to her unharmed. 

battle of kaer morhen: 

- as ciri is brought back, calanthe greets her with a hug and a wholesome reunion ensues. if geralt refused to continue romance with yennefer, spoke to calanthe many times and took her along through the game, he can receive a kiss from her as a thank you. they speak about their past, but are interruped by triss. the kiss is unavailable if the player recruited help from and/or spoke to emhyr.

- the plans are made according to the game, but the sorceresses act suspicious. they say they have a plan of their own, a circle drawn in the main courtyard of the fortress where they tell everyone to meet rif things get dire.

- the battle of kaer morhen goes as in canon, until the party is forced to back all the way bto the main courtyard. once everyone makes it to the circle, triss, yennefer and (optionally) keira create a barrier. ciri is the one to voice that her grandmother isn’t there. 

- a cutscene starts. calanthe stands in the middle of the courtyard, outside the barrier, despite ciri yelling for her to come. the warriors of the wild hunt approach her and surround her and as they reach for her, she explodes in an elder blood scream. everyone is blinded by it, but unlike ciri, whose cry is just a nova of force that pulls everything towards it, calanthe’s scream is fire that burns the forest around the fortress and even starts to melt the stones it is made of. imlerith, ereding and caranthir make it out through a portal in the last second, but a big portion of their forces is decimated. finally, avallac’h uses magic to stop calanthe’s outburst. if the player did recruit keira, nobody gets hurt. if keira wasn’t recruited, triss dies, having used too much power to hold the barrier against calanthe’s elder blood and save everyone from its impact. 

uniting the lodge: 

- after the battle, ciri is found sitting by calanthe as she is unconscious. avallac’h promises that she is not dead, but will require a lot of rest, and that he will keep her stable. yennefer reveals to geralt his plan of using calanthe as a weapon against the wild hunt. geralt can answer with anger or understanding. if he answers with anger, so does ciri, saying that her grandmother is not a weapon and she almost lost her again. if geralt agrees with yennefer that the plan was good, ciri gets upset with him as well and storms off.

- the sorceresses (or just yennefer) go to unite the lodge to help fight the wild hunt, while avallac’h takes care of calanthe. they are meant to meet in novigrad, but ciri wakes geralt up early in the morning to go to sabbath. fights against the crones and imlerith happen. 

- after the boss fight, geralt and ciri together go to novigrad and in the chameleon find avallac’h and calanthe who, still weakened, scolds them for going alone. optionally, also triss. if triss survived the battle of kaer morhen, her plotline doesn’t change. if she didn’t, keira takes hr place. if keira did nbot survive, geralt has to first help yennefer find margarita and only then will be able to help philippa. 

- after geralt solves all the quests, helping philippa, margarita, avallac’h and ciri, a quest from calanthe is available. when geralt enters her room, he sees that she is already up and dressed. he can voice his concern over her, if she is well enough to walk, but she laughs it off. 

she confesses to him that she knows one more person who could help them fight the wild hunt. it was the sorceress who saved her from the burning cintra. to find her, they have to go to garramone, deep in old temeria, now within the bounds of the empire. on their way there, they get to talk. 

depending on the player’s choices, this is the point at which geralt can confess his love to calanthe, but only if he rejcted the romance with yennefer during the last wish quest. if he does it, they kiss and carry on their journey. 

the woman calanthe has been speaking about turns out to be adalia the seer, calanthe’s mother. depending on player’s choices, adalia may join them, but it is clear that her intentions ar not pure and that she will want something in return. 

after the encounter with adalia, if the player chose to not recruit her help AND chose to go along with the romance with calanthe, a romance cutscene starts, with them making love in the middle of the forest, by the fire. 

battle of kaer trolde:

- before the battle, calanthe is the one to accompany geralt and ciri to go to avallac’h’s laboratory. she immediately recognises the family tree and if the player decides to let ciri destroy the laboratory, she is very onboard with it. after that, she lets ciri and geralt go to make a grave for skjall, if that is the player’s choice, while herself returning to the port

- calanthe does participate in the battle of kaer trolde. she heavily dislikes nilfgaard’s involvement and swears that after ciri is safe, she will personally get nilfgaardians out of cintra and skellige.  she fights alongside hjalmar and crach and when crach dies, she cries and mourns his death, causing eredin to almost get to her before the boss battle starts with geralt saving her in the last second 

- after geralt saves calanthe from eredin, they learn of avallac’h’s betrayal and the gate to the casm to the other worlds open. calanthe is the one who escorts geralt to the top of the mountain and makes the hole in avallac’h’s barrier. sadly, she cannot open it for long enough to accompany him. 

endings: 

ciri is witcher ending

if ciri survives but doesn’t choose to become an empress, if geralt chose to romance calanthe, they live together quietly in kaer morhen, taking in children, orphans and those that were abandoned, but not to mutate them. rather to teach them how to survive in the world on their own. iif geralt did not romance calanthe, she lets her presence known to the world, gathers around herself a sizeable army of people ready to follow the lioness and pushes nilfgaard back past yaruga. 

ciri is empress ending

if ciri survives and becomes an empress (by killing emhyr, nto working for him) calanthe becomes her advisor and works with her from the shadow to make the new cintra as bright as the old one was

ciri is dead ending 

if ciri dies, the player gets a cutscene where geralt comes down the mountain and tells calanthe what happens. she loses control, her power wipes out all the nilfgaardian ships and the castle in which the gate has opened, sealing it shut forever and burying avallac’h under the rubble. calanthe uses so much power that she dies in the process.

DLC AND OTHER SIDE QUESTS COMING AS I FINISH PLAYING THE GAME.

[dhwty-writes]

Awakenings

The last part of my gift for @heyabooboo for @thewitchersecretsanta!

Did you think we're done with the angst? Sorry to disappoint, there's still one last chapter left. So, without further ado, read away! 

Summary: Geralt wakes up from his stay in Nehaleni's dreamworld. But Jaskier is still asleep, and it's not looking good for him.

Moodboard by the amazing @petrificustotaluss​

Warnings: temporary character death, I guess? For about 1 paragraph

Read on AO3

part 1 | part 2 | part 3 | part 4 | part 5 | part 6 | part 7

Waking up is one of the strangest experiences, mortals undergo on a daily basis. It can be peaceful, like untangling yourself from a lover's embrace to go relieve yourself, only to know that you will come back to that welcoming warmth once more. It can be violent, like a bucket of cold water on a morning after a bender. It also can be very disorienting, especially if you find yourself in a place where you decidedly did not fall asleep in.

Some of them wake slowly, their mind still wrapped in the sluggish fog of my dreamworld of creation and creativity. Others fight to escape the misty tendrils of a nightmarish prison of their own design. And others still are able to wake in the span of a heartbeat, one blink submerged in the very heart of my garden and the next far beyond my reach.

Witchers, generally, belong to the latter sort of people. It is a shame; they rarely are able to indulge in the pleasures of my realm for long. Waking to a monster with steely claws looming over you or a beast ready to tear out your throat will teach you to sleep too deeply. And even if they are able to enter into my domain, their lives of hardships often make it impossible for them to even imagine anything but a waking nightmare.

So, it should be no wonder that Geralt of Rivia woke with a gasp, already half on his feet before he even knew what was happening. The witcher stumbled, his legs giving out beneath him and collapsed on the floor.

He blinked. His vision was still foggy with the sleep. He blinked again. And again, and again, and again, until he could see the room he was in clearly. 'Room?' Geralt groaned and pushed himself up to his elbows. "What the fuck?" he meant to mumble, but his throat was too dry to form words.

The door burst open. 'Shit.' He tried to scramble to his feet, panic flaring up in him. He was dressed in nothing but breeches and a shirt, different ones than what he had worn when he had gone into the ruin. His armour, his swords nowhere to be seen— Whoever had come to look for the intruder in their home would surely have having and easy job finishing off the witcher—

"Geralt!" Yennefer of Vengerberg exclaimed and fell to her knees next to him. Her hands hovered above his body as if she didn't dare to touch him. As if he were an illusion that might shatter any minute. "You're... awake?"

"Yen?" he groaned weakly, not quite believing his eyes either. What was she doing here? She should be far away in whatever estate she was currently occupying while he was supposed to be on a scouting mission in a haunted ruin. He glanced around warily. Wherever he was staying, it was definitely not a ruin. More like the mansion of some minor noble.

"Yes, it's me, you big dumb oaf," she scoffed and interrupted his wondering. She tugged at his too-heavy arm until he complied and she could pull one of them over her shoulders. "Triss!" she called as she tried to get him into a standing position. His legs stubbornly remained uncooperative. "Triss, come over here, he's awake!"

It took his brain a while to catch up with her words, his mind still much preoccupied to move even one single muscle in his body. "Triss?" he croaked. This was starting to make less and less sense. And it hadn't made a lot of sense in the first place.

"She's looking over Jaskier," she snapped as if that was an appropriate answer.

"Jaskier." He frowned as he was made to sit down on the bed he had stumbled out of earlier. Jaskier. He remembered— In the ruins, he remembered the fog. The nightmare. The blood, the guilt. And the loneliness, the desperate feeling of missing someone. He remembered yelling— "Jaskier," he gasped. He remembered the deity, remembered the deal—"Butcher, I need a priest. You need to offer a replacement at least. Come with me and I let your loved ones be. Or stay and let them pay."—the garden, robes, shackles. He remembered a door, and— "Jaskier."

He clung to Yennefer, desperately, hoping she would understand. She passed a hand over his hair. "Breathe," she ordered him and pushed a waterskin into his hands. He drank gratefully. "And drink something. Your bard is—" She hesitated with a frown, evidently weighing her next works. "He's asleep next door."

"What happened?" he grunted, once his throat didn't feel like sandpaper anymore.

"He brought you here," she explained calmly, handing him a cup with an atrocious smelling concoction. When he raised his eyebrows in question she answered: "Yeah, I don't know how he managed either— oh that? Drink that, it will give you back some of your strength—he brought you here, begging me to save you. I told him I'd do some research—"

"—and came to Aretuza, where she found me," Triss Merigold chimed in from where she stood in the doorway. "Welcome back to the world of the living, Geralt."

He frowned. Aretuza? Yennefer avoided that place like the plague. If she truly had gone there, it had to have been bad. "Triss," she chided, evidently surprised.

"Don't worry, he's stable." The words 'For the moment' hang unspoken in the air between them. "Did you know that your bard is absolutely insane?" He nodded. "He demanded that we send him after you and threatened to find a ruffian to knock him unconscious if we didn't."

Geralt grimaced. Yeah, that sounded like Jaskier. He drained the last of the revolting brew and thrust it back into Yennefer's hands. "How long?" They exchanged a silent glance. Geralt growled. "How long?" he asked again.

"Almost two months," Triss admitted finally.

Two months. The little colour he had regained drained from his face again. Two months of sleeping. Two months without moving a single muscle. Two months without food and drink except for what the sorceresses could administer with their magic. 'Too long.' That was too long, far too long for any human. Panic started rising within him as he thought of all that could happen in that time. "Where is he?"

"Geralt, lie back down," Yennefer tried to soothe him and manoeuvre him back into a lying position.

"No," he insisted weakly, and tried to push her away, a futile attempt in his weakened state. "No, no, Yen. Yennefer, where is he? Please, I need to— Please!"

"You need to rest, is what you do."

"You lost a lot of strength in that time while you were asleep," Triss agreed, but he barely listened to them.

His mind was aflutter with all the memories of his stay in the deity's realm coming back to him; the lonely eras of him kneeling at their feet with nothing to do, nothing to talk about, Jaskier appearing, the Game of Fools, the poems, the shackles closing around Jaskier instead. Their last song, their kiss, their goodbye. The storm raging with Jaskier at the centre, hidden from view but clear to see, energy swirling around him, within him, dying out. Their freedom. A kiss. "I'll be with you in just a moment."

"Stable?" he echoed.

"Yes," Triss agreed. "He has been so for a few days."

"I need to see him," he blurted.

"Geralt," Yen said very softly, but he was having none of that.

"No, I need to see him." He grabbed her by the shoulders and stared at her intently. "I need to see him," he insisted again. "Please. Please, Yen, help me."

"Geralt," she said again, more worried this time. He looked at her, pleading, desperate. "Alright," she whispered and hoisted his arm over her shoulder again.

"Yenna," Triss chided, but she was shut up with an angry violet stare.

"Come over here and be useful. He wants to see him? Fine. He'll see him."

With combined forces they managed to haul him over to the room next door. They almost didn't make it over to the chair next to the bed, for Geralt's legs gave out beneath him from relief when he saw Jaskier lying there. The bard was thinner than he remembered, his cheeks sunken in, and his skin a sickly grey he almost didn't notice with the glowing sphere of light surrounding him.

He looked peaceful, almost, he mused, once he collapsed at his bedside, waiting. Peaceful and stable. But the longer he waited, the more worried glances the two sorceresses exchanged, the more time passed without his... friend? Lover? Bard. The more time passed without his bard stirring, the less he looked asleep. The more he looked like a corpse.

"What— Why— Why is he not waking up?" he stammered after what felt like an eternity.

"It's the spell we put him under, so he could go after you," Triss explained as Yennefer put a hand on his shoulder and asked: "What happened Geralt?"

"He won. They said that we could go, he won, he wrote a song to melt a heart of stone!" He looked up at both of them, uncontrolled, unbridled fear clouding his mind. "He should wake up, he won- Why is he not waking up? Triss! Yennefer!"

Again, the anxious glances. "Lift it," Yennefer said quietly.

"Yenna—"

"No, Triss, you have to try again. You have to lift it."

"Again?" Geralt asked with a wavering voice as Triss got to work, chanting quietly in Elder. "What do you mean, again? Yennefer, answer me!"

"Calm down, Geralt," she ordered him sharply and he snapped his mouth shut. He could do that. "It's— Fuck," she cursed and looked away. "I need you to not freak out. Alright? Do not freak out, Geralt."

He probably couldn't do that. Still, he nodded.

"We had agreed with him," she started slowly, "to leave him in the netherworld for one month. For safety reasons. So, after that had passed, we tried to guide him back. And— we couldn't. It was like he was fighting back. And then, he slipped further under. With each day, more of his soul got sucked further and further into the netherworld."

"What?" he whispered quietly. "But he found me. He won. He should be waking up now."

"We're not sure if he can. We can lift the spell, but... there is so little of him left in this world, he might not be able to find his way back here."

"But he won," he said again, stupidly. "We were free to go. He— He said he'd be with me in just a minute." Despite his better knowledge he reached out, to grasp his hand at least. He hissed when the sphere burned his fingers.

Uncharacteristically, Yennefer didn't even chide him for it, her attention diverted by Triss' disturbingly calm: "Yenna." Geralt was left to stare helplessly at his bard's lifeless body as the two sorceresses argued quietly.

After just the blink of an eye, Yennefer turned back to him and said: "Geralt."

Suddenly, he knew with terrifying clarity what she was about to say next. "He's not finding his way back," he said with a surprisingly steady voice. "He's dying."

"He's dying, Geralt," she agreed meekly.

He nodded. He could already feel the tears rising again in his eyes, just like they had done in the netherworld. Only this time there was no soft song of Jaskier to call them forth. Instead, the room was as silent as a grave. "Drop the sphere," he ordered.

"Geralt—" Triss tried, but he shook his head.

"If he's dying anyways, I can at least hold him while he does," he decreed. "Please. Drop the sphere. And leave us alone. I'll— I'll shout, once it's over."

He didn't even register them dropping the spell and leaving. He just blinked and found himself alone with a barely breathing Jaskier in the room. In any other situation it might have worried him. It should have worried him. But not now.

Not now, because Jaskier was dying, and there was nothing he could do.

Geralt swallowed his tears and, with an incredible feat of strength he crawled onto the bed. Wheezing, he leaned against the headboard to regain his breath. Then, he heaved Jaskier into his lap, to cradle him gently.

For a while, he just sat like that. Holding the fragile body of his bard, rocking softly back and forth while he listened intently to his breathing. Jaskier breathed in. And out. In. And out. 'I should say something,' he knew. But what did one say to a dying person who couldn't even hear you?

"I— I'm sorry," he stammered after a while, the first thing that came to his mind. Jaskier breathed out. And in. "I'm sorry it has to end like this. I'm sorry for going into that ruin, I'm sorry for being so stubborn, I'm sorry for never telling you how I feel."

Jaskier breathed in. And out. It was like those words broke a damn, for suddenly Geralt couldn't stop speaking anymore: "It was stupid, I know. But I was scared. Scared of losing you. Somehow, I thought losing you when you didn't know would be easier."

Jaskier breathed out. And in. "Hm." He carded his fingers through Jaskier's soft hair. "Stupid. Hurts just as fucking much."

Jaskier breathed in. And out. "I'm really fucking angry with you right now, y'know, Jaskier? I wanted to hear that song. I wanted to kiss you. For real. Just once."

Jaskier breathed out. And in. "Y'know— hm." This was somehow even harder than he'd thought. "Y'know, you were the last thing I thought about before I fell asleep. And the first thing I worried about when I woke up in the garden. When they offered me their terms, I— it's stupid, but at first, I didn't even think that they might ask for Yennefer's soul instead. Or Ciri's. All I thought was that I can't let 'em have you. 'S why I stayed."

Jaskier breathed in. And out. "I love you," he whispered and took his hand gently. "I know you probably can't hear me, but if you can, please— Please, Jaskier, come back to me. I'm waiting for you. I'll always wait for you."

Jaskier breathed out. Geralt waited. And waited. And waited. He didn't breathe in again.

"Fuck," Geralt whimpered, curling himself around his bard's lifeless—dead—body. He might have been ashamed of the violent sobs that shook his body, of tears that flowed freely. But all of that mattered so little. Not when he— Not when— When—

"Oh," a croaky voice said and Geralt froze, "tha's nice."

"Jaskier," he whispered against his bard's shoulder, not daring to look up. What if he had misheard? What if Jaskier was not actually awake? What if it was a ghost, what if Geralt had to fight him—

"'S my name, love," Jaskier slurred and sighed. "Always thought it'd be nice t'die in your arms."

He couldn't help it. He had to pull back and look. He had to confront the horrors that inevitably waited for him when he looked into his bard's face, he had to see— Blue eyes. Very tired blue eyes. Very tired, alive blue eyes. "You're not dead."

"No? Oh." He blinked sluggishly. "Dyin'?"

"Yen!" Geralt shouted, because he didn't know what else to do. "Triss, Yen, he's awake!"

The two sorceresses barrelled into the room immediately, betraying that they had been eavesdropping. Geralt was hauled off the bed by Yennefer, as Triss rushed over to Jaskier, weaving spells and fishing for potions in her bag. "Wha's happenin'?" Jaskier managed before he was shut up by some vile concoction being poured down his throat.

"You nearly died, you idiot, that's what's happening," Triss hissed as she supported his head while he struggled to swallow the brew. "Reduced your witcher to a useless, blubbering mess."

She wasn't wrong. Geralt still couldn't stop rambling: "He just woke up, Yen, I don't know— I don't understand— He was dead, and suddenly he was talking. Will he be alright? Please, will he be alright now?"

"Shut up," both women snapped at him and Jaskier.

"Yen, I need to—" he tried again and was promptly shoved back into the chair.

"If you don't sit down and shut your mouth, I swear to the gods, Geralt of Rivia, I'll kick you out of this room, whether you can walk or not," Yennefer spat and joined Triss in the check-ups she was running.

It was probably the hardest thing he had ever done in his entire life. Normally, he had no issue with keeping his mouth shut, but this time it felt like torture. His fingers itched, his whole body thrummed with the insistent need to do something, anything. Was this how Jaskier felt all the time? Geralt felt like he was losing his mind.

Yennefer held Jaskier upright as Triss stripped him of his shirt to check for... something. Geralt's stomach churned with each strip of sickly grey skin revealed, stretched far too thin over Jaskier's rips. 'Maybe I should wait outside,' he thought. But he couldn't. Not watching, not knowing seemed somehow even worse.

His thoughts were interrupted by Jaskier's hand searching blindly on the soft sheets. "Please," he croaked, "take my hand, love."

And how could he deny such a request? Geralt leaned forward, resting his forearms on the edge of the bed to clasp his hand tightly with both of his. The angle was a bit awkward, maybe, but that didn't deter him. He was glad to be able to do anything at all. And if he helped Jaskier with that, even better.

He couldn't say how much time passed before Yennefer and Triss backed up, grim masks hiding their relief. Not very well, of course, but still. "You'll be alright," Triss decreed. "A few days of rest and proper food, and taking it slowly for the next few months and you should be as good as new."

Jaskier nodded and smiled. "Thank you."

"Still, you're an idiot. I tried to wake you up, twice. And you didn't come back either of those times. You fought me, you bastard."

"I'm sorry. I needed my strength there." The smile on his face grew sheepish. "But I'm back now, aren't I? We both are."

She scoffed and crossed her arms. "You owe me, bard."

"I know. And I'll gladly repay you at any time."

"No," she pointed a finger at him, "not at any time. First, you rest. Come, Yenna." They were already out the door when Triss poked her head back in. "Before I forget it: there's a strict no-sex-policy while you're resting."

Jaskier scoffed and Geralt made a vague gesture at both of them, exhausted from the little they'd done in the past hour. "I doubt that's even an option."

"For now," Jaskier added and Triss wrinkled her nose.

"Yeah, it's the 'for now' I'm worried about. No sex!" she ordered again before she was pulled out of the room by Yennefer and the door shut behind them.

With them gone, the room was plunged into silence. Geralt knew that he should say something, but there was nothing he could think of. As so often. Instead, he just sat there, still holding on tight to Jaskier's hand as if he might vanish if he stopped touching him. And staring. How could he not? Whatever magic the two sorceresses had worked, had regained Jaskier some semblance of strength at least, his skin not quite as sickly pale as before. But it was his eyes that kept attracting Geralt’s gaze. There was something… weird about them. An unearthly glow, interrupted by little bursts of lightning flashing through the clear blue. He couldn’t bear to look. He couldn’t bear to look away. 

Luckily, with Jaskier silence never lasted long. "Hey there," he whispered and stroked Geralt's knuckles with his thumb. He still looked very tired, but the smile at least was reassuring. "You look like shit."

Geralt snorted. "You've seen better days yourself, bard."

"Rude," the bard decided and pouted, closing his eyes again.

"You started it."

He chuckled and squeezed his hand weakly. "Shouldn't you be nicer to me? Y'know after all of—" He waved his hand around vaguely.

"What? 'Cause you're my lover?" He groaned quietly as he got to his feet again. "Can I?"

Jaskier's eyes snapped open again and nodded. "Is... that what I am?" he asked hesitantly, shuffling to the side to make room for Geralt on the bed. "Your lover?"

"Hm," he answered and flopped down, exhausted. "You're my bard,” he said finally, once he was settled. “And you're an idiot."

"Yeah?" Jaskier scoffed. "Well, whose idea was it to investigate a spooky ruin? Certainly not mine, I tell you that mu—mphh!" Geralt shut him up with a kiss.

"You're an idiot," he said again once they separated. "And I love you."

Jaskier's expression softened and cuddled close, arranging Geralt's limbs to hold him. "I love you, too, you fool."

"Good," he sighed with relief. Immediately, his expression hardened again: "So, stop being an idiot!" He pointed an accusatory finger at him. "I can't lose you now. Fuck." He draped his arm over his eyes. "Fuck, Jaskier, I thought I was losing my mind. You stopped breathing in my arms."

"Romantic, isn't it?" the bard grinned up at him. Geralt growled and Jaskier winced. "Too soon? Yeah, I get that."

"Yennefer told me you found me and brought me here. I— I can't even imagine how you... How could you bear that?"

He chuckled. "I don't remember, if I'm quite honest. One moment I found you lying there, the next I was knocking on Yennefer's door. And then suddenly I woke up in the netherworld."

"Hm. Was it—" He hesitated, remembering what it had been like for him. The fog, the corpses, the guilt. "Was it bad?"

"Bad?" Jaskier grimaced. "It was a fucking pain in the arse, that's what it was. So many riddles. So weird."

"Weird?" Geralt looked down at him suspiciously. He supposed that was one way to put it.

"Yeah," he nodded. "Pink grass, purple trees, green snow. A whole bunch of talking flowers and birds. Just weird."

"Hm." That didn't sound anything like what he had seen.

Jaskier huddled closer. "The nightmares were worse," he confessed. But before Geralt had a chance to ask about them: "But let's not talk about that now. The important thing is that we are together." He yawned. "And that we'll stay together."

"Hmm." He pressed his nose into Jaskier's hair and inhaled deeply as his bard's breathing evened out. There were still so many questions he had. Like why Jaskier had stayed longer. What had happened during the storm. What the name of the deity was. But they could wait until they had slept. "Sweet dreams," he mumbled. "I'll be there when you wake up."

Jaskier's lips quirked upwards. "I'll be there when you fall asleep."

Geralt hummed, not quite understanding what he meant. But it didn’t really matter either, he decided and let his eyes droop closed again.

It was a serene and starry night when the witcher fell asleep with his bards in his arms. As it should be, by any rights; a night as beautiful as you can imagine for a picturesque pair of young lovers. They dreamt as well; a dream of pink grass and green snow, a garden with an old friend and a sky that was eternally stuck in sunset no more. It was a peaceful dream. A dream of freedom, found fortune, and love.

[gayregis]

what are your feelings about geralt and yennefer? either book or game or netflix or all of them?

books

i agree with most canon*. it’s a good relationship that sapkowski put a lot of effort into developing and writing over the course of all of the short stories and the saga, so i think it tends to get more attention just because the author gave it more attention. i think it’s pretty incredible that geralt and yennefer have this deep relationship without even seeing each other in-person for basically half of the short stories and half of the saga, sapkowski did some interesting things to make that happen, but it ends up working.

i appreciate how geralt and yennefer are two very vulnerable people with issues relating to intimacy and letting others into their life, and they actually aren’t ready to have a relationship before they become more mature and understand what love actually means. imo, their journey to committment is a little too focused on monogamy and looking at relationships through that lense, but that is/was the viewpoint of the author at the time.

the major thing for geralt x yennefer as a ship for me is that i appreciate it in canon, whenever i read their romantic parts i feel it’s sweet, their moments in the end of the last wish, at thanedd, and the end of the assault on stygga castle are really moving and wonderfully written. i like how they speak about each other and feel about each other when they are apart. it’s something i can support and like, i feel a lot of this is tied to them being parents as well but it works overall. 

something i also appreciate about them is how they’re really different from a lot of other m/f relationships. geralt isn’t fucking cruel, he acts like a human being and also has the capacity to apologize and act humble towards yennefer, being kind and caring so much about her feelings and what she wants. yennefer isn’t just a sex toy for geralt, she exists as her own person and is a very strong personality, but also isn’t cruel and doesn’t take him for granted. together, they really do care about one another.

BUT. even though i appreciate it in canon and in all of the parts i have read*. i literally can’t really ever think up my own thoughts or headcanons for them. and the reason for this that they never DO anything together in canon, asides from living together in vengerberg, going to thanedd, and participating in the fight at stygga castle. all they ever do TOGETHER as a couple is stay at home, go to a formal party, or fight for their fucking lives trying to escape the mad torture and grief wrought upon them and their daughter. in the other moments, they are just thinking about each other in loving manners, yearning, if you will, but whenever they are together it’s never an activity with potential for a story.

in my mind i HAVE to compare and contrast yennefer and dandelion and their respective relationships to geralt, just because they’re the two closest adults to him that he has in his life. the issue for me with geryennefer is that it doesn’t have potential like gerlion does. geralt and dandelion do all KINDS of fun, weird things together. mainly they go to festivals and bars, but they also just ride to different cities across the continent and explore, sometimes dandelion accompanies geralt on contracts, sometimes geralt has to meet dandelion in a place significant to him like oxenfurt. dandelion is constantly embroiled in other personal relationship drama. they actually DO a lot of things together, and these different scenarios are really interesting as a fan, because you can just think up unlimited things that they could have potentially done during all of these years. with geralt and yennefer, you can’t really do that because yennefer doesn’t travel, she has a house and a career and is a very esteemed and classy woman. in addition, this is just a personal preference it seems, but i never really get too involved in characters (and thus, ships with those characters in them) that don’t have an element of comic relief to them. geralt and yennefer can be in love, but i don’t know what kind of funny situations they might find themselves in, i don’t know what funny or wacky interactions they might have. and so it’s not all that interesting to me.

similarly, another thing i always compare and contrast geryennefer and gerlion on is that geralt and dandelion are so different. they’re entirely opposites. dandelion is very extroverted, flirty, gets into trouble, and has no issue with vulnerability or intimacy. geralt stays away from people because they despise him, he stays away from drama, and he’s not experienced with intimacy, he is insecure. they have a lot of friction there as two characters interacting with one another because of how different they are and the different lives they have had that influence who they are and who they might know, what they might like to do in a situation. in contrast to this, geralt and yennefer are very similar people. they both have a lot of issues with intimacy and vulnerability that makes them finding each other and developing with each other over the course of the series very compelling and interesting, but boring when you want to think of headcanons or new adventures and interactions for them to have. once they have developed their characters, they will stay developed. unlike with geralt and dandelion, where there will practically always be at the very least a little friction between them because they’re just so fundamentally different.

tl;dr: geralt and yennefer is a compelling and well-developed relationship in canon because sapkowski just poured his entire heart into developing them, they have many endearing moments together and develop their characters together and parallel each other in many ways; however, this means that they’re very similar characters and their goal as a couple is to finally be able to settle down, and that makes them lack potential as a ship to think about as a fan (in relation to thinking of new interactions for them or new situations for them to be in). 

so as a fan who has ships, i have many many headcanons and ideas and fics in-progress (that i will never get around to writing) for gerlion, but basically nothing for geryennefer, which kind of sucks. but i also don’t disregard geryennefer as not canon or something like that, i just think that geralt can have both a boyfriend and a wife because i am disrespectful to sapkowski’s writing of yennefer as a possessive lover and his emphasis on monogamy as the ultimate commitment.

* obviously the shitty things that sapkowski did relating to consent in the last wish and something more (it’s basically canon that sorcerers/esses can hypnotize others into love and sex, but yennefer just chooses not to do this with geralt after the last wish because they Love Each Other Truly or something like this) should be retconned, just as i retcon the fact that geralt slept with barely-legal essi and shani, just as i retcon the off-color comments and jokes that got written for dandelion

games / cdpr

it’s... fine. yennefer got a major personality retcon and a lot of what cdpr says about their relaitonship doesn’t make sense and is pretty cringey, without much depth (apparently, they bonded over making witty puns...?) but it’s also a video game and we finally got to see yennefer and ciri in the witcher games franchise, which is a gift enough of itself, because they’re like, the most important people to geralt. cdpr has this weird infatuation with triss merigold and sexualizes her at every chance they get, her personality is incredibly different from the books, they basically made her really easy to wife up because she’s just very sweet and agrees with everything you say and loves you, so i am just glad that we have another option besides OOC triss. 

but yennefer is also pretty OOC in a lot of parts, she has been rid of all of her character development from the series and even though she makes a lot of sacrifices for ciri, tw3 is incredibly reluctant to call her ciri’s mother, so what was the point of all of this. they also nerfed yennefer incredibly by making her hair salon curls instead of actually naturally curly, stormy hair, so that detracts from her entire character. the fact that she’s working with nilfgaard is just plain laughable and the fact that geralt is ok with this is even more laughable. there’s not even that much ship material between the two in the game and whatever there is is pretty cringey and base with no real depth or intimacy, so i cringe whenever i see a romantic gifset or something of them. it’s yawntown.

netflix

i despise netflix version of them because they’re incredibly boring and basic with pretty much every common major issue with depiction of a m/f relationship on screen: huge age cap between cavill and chalotra which is uncomfortable to watch because chalotra is only a few years older than freya allen who is meant to play ciri, geralt’s daughter..., they jump into romance and sex way too quickly (yennefer receives geralt in the midst of a huge orgy and is very seductive and sweet to him instead of zapping his ass with lightning and threatening to kill him, she also bathes in the same bathtub with him immediately instead of turning invisible to make a fool out of him), consent (geralt’s wish in their adaptation of the last wish wasn’t heard by yennefer, and in the end, he says “my plan worked,” which are three words pretty much no one wants to fucking hear after sex), weird homophobic joke upon meeting (yennefer says jaskier is “just a friend, [she] hope[s],” which is... it’s 2019 guys, come on), they argue for pure drama, geralt is sincerely mean to her (laughs at the idea of her being a mother), their intimate scenes are tasteless, they break up by the end of the series in the adaptation of the bounds of reason because geralt was mean to her... 

there’s so many things i can’t even begin to list them all, but those are a few key ones. geralt is just a purely unpleasant character in netflix so he doesn’t deserve to be in love with anyone, and yennefer is such a basic and boring character with no sincere flaws or uniqueness that i can’t be interested in her at all. and together, they’re every heterosexual relationship that has ever existed.

[siimplewolf]

So you want to write an OC for the Witcher franchise? Want to write a verse? I have a couple of tips and pointers for you that might be of help!

disclaimer/credits:

This post COMPLETELY ignores the Polish TV series since they’re a joke and should not be taken into consideration when working on a Witcher verse/OC.

Credit goes to @snarkomancy and@vanbredevoort for all the help and tips about mages and some about witchers that I had forgotten.

Lore:

The books and the games are your friends, and so is the wiki. Haven’t you read the books or played the games? (What are you waiting for?????) It doesn’t matter, the wiki articles are a life saver. And if there is something you don’t understand about them, you can always ask your local Witcher buff. Try not to stray too far from the lore, nor make your character interfere with canon things that happened. (I’m talking mostly book-wise, since game wise, the lore can be quite malleable.)

Book!Triss and Yennefer:

Yennefer has the curliest hair to ever curl, is tiny as heck and will do anything/everything to save those she loves.

Triss has chestnut hair and blue eyes, as well as a massive scar on her chest that prevents her from wearing revealing outfits. She’s also selfish and a coward.

Witchers:

While witchers are powerful, they are not almighty. They learn from experience which is why many of them die in the field. They age slowly but no one knows just for how long they can live since no one ever heard of a witcher dying of old age.

             -The oldest witchers, at the time of the year 1275 (the time of Blood and Wine), can be up to 325 years, give or take.

             -The youngest a witcher can be is around 80-90 years old.

Ages can vary, but you will not find a 30-year-old witcher in the year 1275. For several reasons, the different schools (Griffin, Wolf, Cat, etc) stopped creating witchers. Some of those reasons are: Monsters are dwindling, therefore witchers are no longer required. People learn how to live with some of those monsters, the sentient ones that can be reasoned with.

In the particular case of the Cat school, it was disbanded by unhappy yet powerful people. Those witchers had become assassins and sellswords, something that a witcher was never supposed to become.

In the particular case of the Wolf school, a mob attacked the keep way before the events of The Witcher 1 and everyone within that keep died with the exception of a young Vesemir. But since Vesemir was only a fencing instructor, there was no possible way he’d be able to resume with the Trials for he didn’t have the knowledge.

There are NOT female witchers. Female witchers ARE NOT a thing. Speaking of the fantasy world, it could be a sexist thing, or it could be a merely biological thing. Only 3 out of 10 males survived the Trials, and no female survived. The alchemical formulae for the Trials and mutations, had the same base that changed a little with each school, gearing towards what that school wanted from their witchers. But those formulae were never meant for females and the sorcerers involved in those mutations and formulae were never interested in turning females. “But what about Ciri?” You ask me, and I tell you that Ciri never ever went through the mutations. The Wolf Witchers merely fed her mushrooms and infusions that helped her metabolism, but there was no Trial involved. She was merely trained in sword fighting and theory and practice by the witchers. Nothing else. HOWEVER. It IS possible for a female to be trained by witchers, just like Ciri was. If the witcher allows this, they will train a female in the art of sword fighting and share their knowledge on monsters, ancient and not so much. And given that females trained by witchers did not undergo the mutations, they do not have yellow eyes or any other characteristic of a witcher that comes after the Trials.

On that note, after the trials, witchers are, like sorcerers, INFERTILE. And their eyes are ALWAYS amber eyes. Feline amber eyes, because that way they can see in the dark. Witchers ONLY have amber eyes, they cannot have some other colour.

Witchers do most, if not all things for coin. They need the coin to eat, to buy supplies, pay the blacksmith, feed their horses and many more things. The job for a witcher is scarce, a witcher will not work for free or be there to advise you on your life. You hire the witcher and after the job is done the witcher is more than gone from that village/city/town.

Like I said, jobs for witchers are scarce, therefore there can’t be a rich witcher. Witchers can barely live on what they do. They scrape for coins. They are poor and they DO NOT REMEMBER THEIR FAMILIES. They might have a little something that resembles a memory, but that’s about it.

Witchers were abandoned children, or children picked up from the Law of Surprise, ripped from their families. But they do not remember said families or if they ever had one, to begin with.

Witcher elixirs wear off after some time, and they cause impotence soon after it wears off. They need some time for that to be over.

Witchers are able to cast magic, but their signs are basic at best. Mages make fun of them for this.

It is not said, but there is a general guess that a witcher finishes his ‘studies’ and earns his medallion in his late teens, early twenties. Which is when they go out to the Path for the first time. At this time, while they are powerful and have all the knowledge needed to fight a monster, they lack the street smarts. The smarts that they gain with years of being constantly around people other than their instructors or friends. So a young witcher in his early twenties will be clumsy, will probably die due to a stupid mistake. And from then on he’ll only gain scars from mistakes. A witcher starts to actually get a feel for his job around his 50s or 60s.

A witcher will not win a fight against a magician. The only possible way for a witcher to have a fair fight with a magician is if the magician is not well versed in the art of hand to hand combat or sword fighting and chooses not to use magic, or if the magician in question already used magic enough to drain them of their energy. Otherwise, the fight will be won by the magician, no exceptions.

Witchers are very well versed in many monsters, and they will always try everything before fighting. Fighting a creature is the last choice for a witcher, or at least that’s what it’s taught to them.

A witcher is supposedly stripped from all of his feelings with the mutations, this is so that they do not feel pity or regret for those monsters that they kill. “But what about Geralt?” You ask me, and I say that Geralt was a special case, he suffered from Main Character Syndrome, and since he was able to endure the basic mutations very well, magicians put him through even more mutations, giving him the white colour of his hair. Supposedly those mutations failed which is why he got to keep his feelings, or at least most of them. Now here’s where you can play around, to some degree, with what your muse, as a witcher, can or can’t feel. But remember that your witcher will not and cannot be overly sensitive, cannot and will not be over emotional. They don’t feel much. What a regular human feels as mild emotion, is a strong emotion for a witcher.

Magicians:

Boys: Ban Ard in Kaedwen Girls: Aretuza in the island of Thanedd POLITICS. LOTS OF POLITICS.

Magicians are more powerful than witchers, that is for certain, as I stated before. They use elemental energy (never fire, for it is very unstable) and they are the conduit for it. They do not run out of power but they get very tired because shaping and directing that energy the right way is hard and painful.

It is said that women are better for magic than men.

Jewellery is not for aesthetic purposes only, it channels power, therefore they cannot remove it.

There are places of power in the world, and a mage can identify them by feeling a tugging or pulling sensation or merely observing cats, for they are sensitive to that and like to sit on them.

Ban Ard and Aretuza are boarding schools and students ARE NOT allowed to leave until they don’t finish their studies. It is not known for how long they remain within the schools.

Magicians are most certainly ‘ugly’ before they are taken in into the schools, where they are fixed with magic.

Magicians are not powerful when they are young and just left the school they come from. They, like witchers, gain experience over the year. It is said that they start gaining political power around the age of 70.

AND THERE YOU HAVE IT, FOLKS. IF YOU WANT SOME HELP YOU ARE MORE THAN WELCOME TO POKE ME OR @vanbredevoort FOR MORE LORE GOODNESS <3

[lastdropfalls]

The Witcher Appreciation Week - Day 1

Original post

Aight, let’s do this! I will try to keep this mostly show-related, but will probably fail miserably. Posts might will include spoilers for the books and or games, so read at your own discretion. I’m not good at drawing and I haven’t written anything in years, so I’ll just rant about how much I fell in love with The Witcher.

Day one: favorite character

GERALT OF RIVIA (warning for maaaaassive rant!)

Why? I simply saw so much of me in him while I was reading the books, that I just couldn’t ignore it. While he comes off as this stoic Big Bad Witcher, he’s actually a child (in the best way possible) inside and all he really wants is to be shown a little bit of gentleness and love. Behind the raw exterior he’s quite emotional and caring and pays dearly for this, mostly by royally screwing up his own life. I fell in love with his desperate need to be loved, but the inability to express his emotions for one reason or another. By about the first half of The Last Wish I had fallen in love with him unconditionally and I was and still am very emotionally invested in his well-being.

Favorite art My first brief brush with Geralt was with screens from TW3. My first real brush with The Witcher was through the show. While I consider Henry Cavill’s depiction of Geralt to be a great one, neither “his” Geralt, nor Wiedzmin/Hexer Geralt, nor game Geralt were the image (and voice, for that matter) I saw while reading the books. I’m yet to find an art that depicts him at least a bit close to how I see him in my head. As of the time I wrote this, I wasn’t even aware there’s a rock opera and the guy who plays Geralt there has this far come the closest to how I saw him! Even though I continuously reblog stuff from the games, I deeply dislike the scar CDPR have given him. BUT if I were to pick an all-time-favorite art, it would be this one piece by nikivaszi I found randomly very early in my reading progress while looking up lore. Despite the scar, I think it shows a very soft side of Geralt and kinda best captures the vibe I got off him while reading.

Favorite quote/scene (Writing this section I realized what a sucker I am for soft Geralt and that Time of Contempt is probably my favorite book from the series.) Show: that one scene in Yennefer’s tent. You know which one. Game: so far my most favorite scene is still from TW3 when Geralt finds Ciri and thinks she’s dead. The way he breaks down simply broke my little heart even though I knew she wasn’t dead.

Books: I have so many scenes I adore, but my top two would be this from Time of Contempt

‘Look through that hole again and tell me what they’re doing.’

‘Hmm...’ Ciri bit her lower lip, then leaned over and put her eye closer to the hole. ‘Madam Yennefer is standing by a willow... She’s plucking leaves and playing with her star. She isn’t saying anything and isn’t even looking at Geralt... And Geralt’s standing beside her. He’s looking down and he’s saying something. No, he isn’t. Oh, he’s pulling a face... What a strange expression...’

‘Childishly simple,’ said Dandelion, finding an apple in the grass, wiping it on his trousers and examining it critically. ‘He’s asking her to forgive him for his various foolish words and deeds. He’s apologising to her for his impatience, for his lack of faith and hope, for his obstinacy, doggedness. For his sulking and posing; which are unworthy of a man. He’s apologising to her for things he didn’t understand and for things he hadn’t wanted to understand—’

‘That’s the falsest lie!’ said Ciri, straightening up and tossing the fringe away from her forehead with a sudden movement. ‘You’re making it all up!’

‘He’s apologising  for  things  he’s  only  now  understood,’  said Dandelion, staring at the sky, and he began to speak with the rhythm of a balladeer. ‘For what he’d like to understand, but is afraid he won’t have time for... And for what he will never understand. He’s apologising and asking for forgiveness... Hmm, hmm... Meaning, conscience, destiny? Everything’s so bloody banal...’

and also this, also from Time of Contempt.

‘A most deplorable sight,’ she said, folding her arms across her chest. ‘Someone who has lost everything. You know, minstrel, it is interesting. Once, I thought it was impossible to lose everything, that something always remains. Always. Even in times of contempt, when naivety is capable of backfiring in the cruellest way, one cannot lose everything. But he... he lost several pints of blood, the ability to walk properly, the partial use of his left hand, his witcher’s sword, the woman he loves, the daughter he had gained by a miracle, his faith...Well, I thought, he must have been left with something. But I was wrong. He has nothing now. Not even a razor.’

Favorite relationships With the constant Triss vs. Yennefer fights, I simply had to pick one for Geralt and it’s, drumroll, NEITHER. Seriously. Both of them are just not good enough for him and nothing you can say can change my mind about it. Triss is just way too meek and desperate in her attempts to get him to love her. Yennefer does things for him behind his back, but behaves mostly terribly with him face to face. My pick is probably super unpopular and maybe unconventional, but I do believe Essi is the best fit for him, as she calls him out on his bullsh*t, but does it in a gentle way. Since she passed, however, my next choice would be Shani.

Love aside, I actually love the relationship between show Geralt and show Jaskier. Most people who dislike the show often label it as butchered, Shrek-Donkey-like and so on, but I actually quite enjoy it. As for the books and games, I really love Geralt’s interactions with Regis, especially those in TW3.

[siimplewolf-archive2-blog]

So you want to write an OC for the Witcher franchise? Want to write a verse? I have a couple of tips and pointers for you that might be of help!

DISCLAIMER/CREDITS:

This post COMPLETELY ignores the Polish TV series since they're a joke and should not be taken into consideration when working on a Witcher verse/OC.

Credit goes to @snarkomancy and @vanbredevoort for all the help and tips about mages and some about witchers that I had forgotten.

Lore:

The books and the games are your friends, and so is the wiki. Haven't you read the books or played the games? (What are you waiting for?????) It doesn’t matter, the wiki articles are a life saver. And if there is something you don’t understand about them, you can always ask your local Witcher buff. Try not to stray too far from the lore, nor make your character interfere with canon things that happened. (I’m talking mostly book wise, since game wise, the lore can be quite malleable.)

Book!Triss and Yennefer:

Yennefer has the curliest hair to ever curl, is tiny as heck and will do anything/everything to save those she loves. Triss has chestnut hair and blue eyes, as well as a massive scar on her chest that prevents her from wearing revealing outfits.

Witchers:

While witchers are powerful, they are not almighty. They learn from experience which is why many of them die in the field. They age slowly but no one knows just for how long they can live since no one ever heard of a witcher dying of old age.               -The oldest witchers, at the time of the year 1275 (the time of Blood and Wine), can be up to 325 years, give or take.               -The youngest a witcher can be is around 80-90 years old. Ages can vary, but you will not find a 30-year-old witcher in the year 1275. For several reasons, the different schools (Griffin, Wolf, Cat, etc) stopped creating witchers. Some of those reasons are: Monsters are dwindling, therefore witchers are no longer required. People learn how to live with some of those monsters, the sentient ones that can be reasoned with. In the particular case of the Cat school, it was disbanded by unhappy yet powerful people. Those witchers had become assassins and sell swords, something that a witcher was never supposed to become. In the particular case of the Wolf school, a mob attacked the keep way before the events of The Witcher 1 and everyone within that keep died with the exception of a young Vesemir. But since Vesemir was only a fencing instructor, there was no possible way he’d be able to resume with the Trials for he didn’t have the knowledge.

There are NOT female witchers. Female witchers ARE NOT a thing. Speaking within the fantasy world, it could be a sexist thing, or it could be a merely biological thing. Only 3 out of 10 males survived the Trials, and no female survived. The alchemical formulae for the Trials and mutations, had the same base that changed a little with each school, gearing towards what that school wanted from their witchers. But those formulae were never meant for females and the sorcerers involved in those mutations and formulae were never interested in turning females. “But what about Ciri?” You ask me, and I tell you that Ciri never ever went through the mutations. The Wolf Witchers merely fed her mushrooms and infusions that helped her metabolism, but there was no Trial involved. She was merely trained in sword fighting and theory and practice by the witchers. Nothing else. HOWEVER. It IS possible for a female to be trained by witchers, just like Ciri was. If the witcher allows this, they will train a female in the art of sword fighting and share their knowledge on monsters, ancient and not so much. And given that females trained by witchers did not undergo the mutations, they do not have yellow eyes or any other characteristic of a witcher that comes after the Trials.

On that note, after the trials, witchers are, like sorcerers, INFERTILE. And their eyes are ALWAYS amber eyes. Feline amber eyes, because that way they can see in the dark. Witchers ONLY have amber eyes, they cannot have some other colour.

Witchers do most, if not all things for coin. They need the coin to eat, to buy supplies, pay the blacksmith, feed their horses and many more things. The job for a witcher is scarce, a witcher will not work for free or be there to advise you on your life. You hire the witcher and after the job is done the witcher is more than gone from that village/city/town.

Like I said, jobs for witchers are scarce, therefore there can’t be a rich witcher. Witchers can barely live on what they do. They scrape for coins. They are poor and they DO NOT REMEMBER THEIR FAMILIES. They might have a little something that resembles a memory, but that’s about it.

Witchers were abandoned children, or children picked up from the Law of Surprise, ripped from their families. But they do not remember said families or if they ever had one, to begin with.

Witcher elixirs wear off after some time, and they cause impotence soon after it wears off. They need some time for that to be over.

Witchers are able to cast magic, but their signs are basic at best. Mages make fun of them for this.

It is not said, but there is a general guess that a witcher finishes his ‘studies’ and earns his medallion in his late teens, early twenties. Which is when they go out to the Path for the first time. At this time, while they are powerful and have all the knowledge needed to fight a monster, they lack the street smarts. The smarts that they gain with years of being constantly around people other than their instructors or friends. So a young witcher in his early twenties will be clumsy, will probably die due to a stupid mistake. And from then on he’ll only gain scars from mistakes. A witcher starts to actually get a feel for his job around his 50s or 60s.

A witcher will not win a fight against a magician. The only possible way for a witcher to have a fair fight with a magician is if the magician is not well versed in the art of hand to hand combat or sword fighting and chooses not to use magic, or if the magician in question already used magic enough to drain them of their energy. Otherwise, the fight will be won by the magician, no exceptions.

Witchers are very well versed in many monsters, and they will always try everything before fighting. Fighting a creature is the last choice for a witcher, or at least that’s what it’s taught to them.

A witcher is supposedly stripped from all of his feelings with the mutations, this is so that they do not feel pity or regret for those monsters that they kill. “But what about Geralt?” You ask me, and I say that Geralt was a special case, he suffered from Main Character Syndrome, and since he was able to endure the basic mutations very well, magicians put him through even more mutations, giving him the white colour of his hair. Supposedly those mutations failed which is why he got to keep his feelings, or at least most of them. Now here’s where you can play around, to some degree, with what your muse, as a witcher, can or can’t feel. But remember that your witcher will not and cannot be overly sensitive, cannot and will not be over emotional. They don’t feel much. What a regular human feels as mild emotion, is a strong emotion for a witcher.

Magicians:

Boys: Ban Ard in Kaedwen Girls: Aretuza in the island of Thanedd POLITICS. LOTS OF POLITICS.

Magicians are more powerful than witchers, that is for certain, as I stated before. They use elemental energy (never fire, for it is very unstable) and they are the conduit for it. They do not run out of power but they get very tired because shaping and directing that energy the right way is hard and painful.

It is said that women are better for magic than men.

Jewellery is not for aesthetic purposes only, it channels power, therefore they cannot remove it.

There are places of power in the world, and a mage can identify them by feeling a tugging or pulling sensation or merely observing cats, for they are sensitive to that and like to sit on them.

Ban Ard and Aretuza are boarding schools and students ARE NOT allowed to leave until they don’t finish their studies. It is not known for how long they remain within the schools.

Magicians are most certainly ‘ugly’ before they are taken in into the schools, where they are fixed with magic.

Magicians are not powerful when they are young and just left the school they come from. They, like witchers, gain experience over the year. It is said that they start gaining political power around the age of 70.

AND THERE YOU HAVE IT, FOLKS. IF YOU WANT SOME HELP YOU ARE MORE THAN WELCOME TO POKE ME OR @vanbredevoort FOR MORE LORE GOODNESS <3 

[ilonavic]

25 Q/A Personality Tag

A dear friend of mine asked me to do this tag myself after I wrote this a while ago for my lovely friends here on Tumblr, thanks to the post by @annarieta regarding this tag, it gave me a little courage to do it. (I actually think there are many scary questions, I don’t like the idea of revealing it to just about anybody.) RULES: Tag people you want to get to know better.

1. Are you introverted or extroverted? I’m very introverted. I can go weeks on my own, without needing company or social stimulation. 

2. Are you ruled by emotions or logic? I reason from a point of logic, but ultimately make decisions based of what I feel will make everyone the happiest. 

3. What is your happiest memory? Like many others have said already, which was a bit surprising to read, I don’t recall many outstanding happy memories. Like @annarieta said, it’s the small things mostly. But I remember happy car rides with my best friend where we sang (screamed) to music, and traveling to the Vatican City with my classmates. Even if the company wasn’t necessarily good all the time, that place really made me happy. It was so beautiful. 

4. What is your saddest memory? Nowadays, every winter, I go into a state of hibernation really. It’s very dark here during the winter, we have about 5 hours of sunlight everyday. It’s cold, it’s dark and murky. It makes me very depressed. But um. The day I lost my best friend is a terrible memory. We were friends for 8 years and I’ve missed her very much for 3 years since. 

5. In what kind of world would you rather live in? I’d love to live in an Elven world. I love the architecture, I love the purple/blue/mystic gloom of the places. The nature, rivers are very beautiful. Where people cherished art, music, writing, love, beauty etc, and no one cared a wit for politics, cruelty or had any desire to forbid people from being different or happy. 

6. What is your favorite video game? The Witcher, Skyrim and BioShock are my babies. 

7. What is your biggest fear for yourself? Being hated by people. 

8. What is your biggest wish for yourself? To be a happy little hermit =) In a beautiful place where I can write stories, paint and be surrounded by 20 dogs.

9. What fictional character do you relate to the most?  Queen Freya from The Huntsman (she’s my avatar for a reason guuuuuuys). Wait, let me explain, haha. She’s portrayed as a complex evil character. I don’t consider myself to be evil, nor do I consider myself to be purely good either. I can relate to her character process. Alike her, I was very trusting and happy when I was little, I was truly a little sunshine. But like with so many of us, life happens, and then life happens again, and I became... well, a different person really. Like her, I often feel misunderstood and isolated. But I also cherish loyalty above all, and shun love away from me (I also freaking love ice and snow). I think love is beautiful when I see it with other people, but I could never love like that myself, somewhere it’s hardwired in my brain in a twisted way that love is a weakness and can be used to manipulate and harm me. Heartache and emotional suffering is something I'm terrified of (you know, when you can physically feel pain in your chest), and I can’t handle it anymore. So I don’t feel romantic desire towards people anymore, I think I’ve... removed it?  

10. If you could become anything, without any education or demands, what would you choose as your profession? Author or an actress.

11. Do you have any siblings? Two brothers and one sister. I’m the second youngest. 

12. Have you ever wanted to injure someone? When I was bullied, I wanted to injure the people who hurt me all the time, but I never actually did it. 

13. Have you ever wanted to help someone, but didn’t? Yes, but I always try to do the best I can to help someone, even if I don’t know the person. It doesn’t matter, I’ll happily embarrass myself to help someone in need. 

14. What makes you angry? Bullies, homophobes, racists, sexists, rapists, murderers, especially animal abusers can fuck off right to hell. 

15. What makes you happy? My precious jewel, doggy.<3 Also, traveling and airplanes is a joy. Museums, exploring new places, yeah. Fun fun. 

16. Would you rather beat up a small child once - or get beaten up by an angry man every single day for the rest of your life? I don’t want to beat up anybody, so bring me the man. Maybe I’d get really psychologically twisted and Stockholm Syndrome would set in so I’d start to like it lol. 

17. What places would you visit today if you could? Ireland! Scotland! England! Just because @lithiumgrayangel showed me how beautiful Sevilla is, I wanna visit Sevilla one day. But of course, beautiful Italy (Rome is stunning), Venice again, Russia (possibly Moscow), FRANCE! Finland, Norway and Iceland are beautiful too. Also Warsaw, UK and US. And Budapest. And New Zeeland, Canada, Australia... Gosh I wanna go everywhere, I can’t pick one!

18. Do you want children? Why? If not, why not? To be honest, it will depend on what situation I am in. Did I, against all odds, found a person who wants children? Then yes, in a stable household and in happy relationship, I’d consider having one or two, no more. But... Right now, that future is looking very bleak. And if I end up with someone who don’t want children, then I won’t have children. Just get a dog instead, they’re less fussy.  

19. Did you have a happy childhood? It’s a bit complicated. When I was young, I did have a happy childhood, but my father was also abusive back then. He calmed down once I became a teenager, and then the bullying started, and when the bullying stopped, my dad became sick. And my mother has basically been hysterical and wacky my entire life so. But um, to be honest. I had friends, a roof over my head, food on the table. I got nothing to complain about. 

20. Have you ever done drugs? If you have, would you do it again? I’ve been offered, but I’ve never been interested and nor will I be. I know a couple of people who just smokes pipe and marijuana in front of me? I think it’s odd but. I try not to judge, and it’s not my business. 

21. Would you rather become a child again, possessing all the knowledge you have today, or become middle-aged, with 45 000 000 € on your bank account? I’d become a child again, start my life over, and be twice as intelligent. Could be like a scientist or something. 

22. If you could become any existing famous person in the world - who would you be and why? I admire Lana del Rey a lot, but I wouldn’t want to be any celebrity. Unless I can become someone really powerful and change the world. Like Donald Trump and resign as the president so someone more capable can take over. 

23. Are your parents married or divorced? They’re divorced, but sadly live together still. It’s a stupid decision, but I reckon my father wouldn’t last a day on his own, and my mother must be addicted to misery. 

24. Where do you see yourself in the future? An author, hopefully. Making a positive change, helping people, having meaningful friends in my life, living in a beautiful place surrounded by nature and animals. :) 

25. If you’d like, a question of your own here. Mine is directed to my fellow Witcher lovers; Who and Why?

For friendly purposes, Regis or Cirilla?  I like Ciri, and I can understand why people would choose her, she seems like she would be a lovely friend. But ultimately, I’d have so much to discuss with Regis. I feel like, without being self-absorbed or... delusional in any way, I have some things in common with him. We’re too loyal, we fight for people who don’t cherish our love or advice and we both like discussing philosophical topics with loooooooong sentences (as you’ve probably noticed by now). I’d feel so good in his company, he’s a lovely lovely man. 

For romantic purposes, Dettlaff or Avallac’h? My darling Avallac’h, I know there are so many people who misunderstands him, confuses his intelligence for arrogance. People call him horrible things. To be honest, I don’t have too much against Dettlaff though, I like him, and I love his complex nature. But of course, I’d never pick anyone over Avallac’h. He’s brilliant, and I would love to discover a million new worlds with him. (ps. marry me have my babies)

As your co-worker, Caranthir or Geralt? Caranthir would be a brilliant colleague, though Geralt is probably more lovable, Caranthir is intelligent. He’d help me with my tasks and I’d sit there gazing into his eyes and not hearing a word he’s saying. ♥‿♥ (true story, I often drift away when people talk to me)

As your boss, Eredin or Ge’els? I don’t know, he feels more attainable than Ge’els do. Ge’els is just da boss, he’d rule over me, I’d always feel incredible stupid and inferior around him. But Eredin is kinda wacky, but I love him, but he’s a silly goose so I’d just try to befriend him to eventually marry him so we could rule the galaxy together. 

As your best friend, Yennefer or Shani? Yennefer, my oh my, I’ve been in love with her since the first time I saw her. She’s INTELLIGENT AND INTELLIGENCE IS SEXY ASF. Shani, you cool too but. Meh, I think her character is a bit boring. There’s not much interesting about her that makes her stand out? She’s not really complex either? She’s just... idk... pretty and stuff. Redhead and stuff. (sorry @vaporeox dont kill me)

As your ally, Vernon Roche or Anna Henrietta? Nah nah, always Roche, I love that man immensely. I’d marry him too. I’d marry everyone. 

As your worst enemy, Triss or Dandelion? I don’t really like Triss that much. What she did to Yennefer has ruined her in my eyes.

Tagging: I’ve already tagged people for this tag, but I would like to tag some of my lovely followers who haven’t been tagged in this, tho I can’t possibly tag all of you, I’m sorry about that: @blackeasteagle @everydayzer0es @spooky-cowfish @dovahkiin-deathbat @shadanakara @i-am-the-sword-in-the-darkness @o-moonyue-o @heroesneverdiie @blohandrum @rosiesuzuya and anyone else who wants to do it - you can write you were tagged by me. ❤