#this is not a triss hate blog

[plotvichka]

Family doing baby Ciri's hair

I think everyone agrees Geralt is the "messy pigtails" kind of dad and there's really nothing else to discuss.

Meanwhile Yen allows Ciri to choose a hairstyle every morning (and she can do incredibly complicated ones if her daughter wants her to) and Ciri decides to match with her mommy every. single. morning. So Yen ends up always doing the same hairstyle twice: one for herself and one for Ciri. She never shows how she feels about it, but Geralt can see her teary smiles when she turns away from Ciri.

And Jaskier is the uncle who lets her go crazy with her hair and she comes home to her parents with a ton of sparkly hair clips and a couple of strands dyed in bright colors. He's not allowed to be alone with her for the next month after that as Yen is still planning his murder.

Uncle Eskel totally loves to braid her hair. Vesemir tells Ciri to do her hair herself because she is a big girl after all and Ciri agrees.

After a day spent with uncle Lambert literally no one can tell he brought the wrong child before all the mud is cleaned and there's a random kid instead of Ciri.

And no, sorceresses are NOT allowed to see Ciri. Even Triss. The girl betrayed her "little sis" more than once why would anyone trust her again. The lodge of sorceresses is like a bunch of evil godmothers who no one chose to be godmothers but they decided it themselves and now they are here.

[ganeshpnf]

Are you a fan of httyd as well?! I agree how Percabeth they are :) If you are a fan, what do you think about the live action and casting? Since everyone is debating on it. Personally I dont like race-swapping but I like Nico Parker so much!

Hello! And yes I am a fan of httyd as well, it is one of my fav childhood movies :) Now I dont usually talk about races or other stuff on this blog, but since you asked, I gotta add some warnings first:

Please remember that these are mostly my personal thoughts, if you dont agree it is okay. You are free to add your own thoughts, but please be respectful. Okay, lets go-

I love Nico Parker and know her since her role in tlou. And I gotta say I dont like actors getting hate because I also got so many racist comments when I was a child too. I had a facebook account when I was 12 and you wont believe how people can be so cruel for someone's nationality. Thats why even today, I am rather secretive on my nationality, only sharing to people I trust and call them friends. So why would I be happy seeing actors getting the hate comments bcs of their skin color now? I would never blame the actors, but- I would blame the companies and todays "new era of televizion"

Whatever we like it or not, we cant deny the fact that they only do it for the new era, marketing. Look at Nico Parker, her face looks exactly like Astrid. If they give her a blond wig, she is Astrid. But they dont, also giving her braids. And the only reason is: To show us that she is black and would appear as so. They want us to see that. I hate live actions, because even though they do this for marketing and "diversity", they realize this would get hate for the actor, they are using them. And no we cant say "No it is not for diversity or wokeness". Well, it is since we see almost every og white character is getting race-swapped: Snow White, Ariel, Rapunzel, April from Tmnt, Annie the Orphan, Triss, Hawkgirl, Annabeth, Jimmy Olsen, Doctor Who and many more. I know, whitewashing is a big problem, but I dont think its ever a way to stop the racism. To me even, It creates MORE-

It is also giving double-standarts, because people flip when you even mention changing an og black character. Not that I support that either. "Their race has a meaning in the story!" You can change Snow White but you cant change Tiara. It gives the message "You can change white characters but you cant change poc characters". I am not fully white, but it is giving also racism to me. Not to mention, this new televizion era, tries to avoid blond characters, especially blond woman in any day. New httyd cast has 0 blonds and they are Vikings. Any blond character is replaced. Oh and people say "It is a movie about the dragons!" Well, these are all fantasies. Tiara has a talking frog yk? If you think that, that we should be able to change all of them.

But in today's televizion, race is everything to them. Everything has to be about race. Which is stupid. We all want to be equal, but now they made people look onto race only. Back then, we loved movies because of their plot, acting etc. But now, every remake only focuses on one thing: diversity, how to make it more diverse? Now I also love a good diversity, which means every races together on tv, which is amazing right? It is what we all want. But today, it changed all the meaning. And the only thing companies look for MARKETING. It is not fair to audience, it is not fair to the actors. I would prefer companies to stop doing live action but to make something new with diversity, with new characters who are white, black, latinos, Hispanic, Arabic, Turkish, Indian etc. Now that IS diversity. Not changing og characters to white to black OR change to black to white. Both of them are doing nothing but upsets the audience because people are aware the point behind it.

The worse part is, I think they know it wont do anything as well, but do it for money, using actors as shield. I dont think they deserve it, at all. Especially child actors would have that scars forever. Even how much people support them, at the end, the scars stay.

So yeah, this is what I think. Oh I gotta add, costumes looks like a school play kinda...Its like they only focused on Hiccup and Toothless. But we will see, I would watch it and then share my thoughts again ^^ Thank you for your ask :)

[between-thepages]

for the choose violence ask game: 1, 6, 7, 10, 12, 16

Thank you for the ask!

Character everyone gets wrong.

Probably Geralt. But mainly because a lot of his characterization in Fanfiction is based on the show, and I just don't like what they did with him, which then carries over into fandom.

6. Which ship fans are the most annoying

I'm a tiny blog and I haven't published a lot of fics yet, so my interactions with annoying shippers have been non-existent so far :)

7. what character did you begin to hate not because of canon but because of how the fandom acts about them?

After a lot of thinking, because I didn't engage a whole lot with fandom until a few months ago, this one is going to Triss (the ending of Lady of the Lake didn't do her any favours)

10. Worst part of Fanon

I'm going a bit more general here, as someone who reads a whole lot of stuff and is OK with most ships as long as they're well written, Ship wars! I've luckily managed to stay out of them so far. (Boring, I know)

12. the unpopular character that you actually like and why more people should like them

Jan Natalis xD I just love his premium Gwent art.

Also, Foltest, because I am obsessed with the number of times the books mention him to be so pretty his face belongs on a coin.

Very compelling arguments.

16. you can't understand why so many people like this thing (characterization, trope, headcanon, etc)

monosyllabic Geralt (is that even the right word?)

Not a big fan of Jaskier having some sort of power/being magic/a non-human creature (I have read Fics that did this well)

Yen/Triss, mostly because Yen is one of the very few characters I hc as straight and after finishing the books those two just don't work for me.

[apple-dandy]

Ciri from the games is a heroic lesbian

Jaskier is a feral bi+ bastard boy

Yennifer is a wonderful independent hurricane of a lady

Geralt is a snarky bastard ho

Triss

Anyways I love my crew guys yay!

[bamf-jaskier]

I just having some thoughts on engaging with fandom and how in order to make fandom a welcoming place you have to be purposeful about it. 

If you follow this blog then you know I love talking about all characters under the sun these days but that really was not always the case. 

As in, when I first got started in this fandom, basically all the content I consumed was Jaskier everything and let me tell you -- those are still some of my favorite fics. But then I began to engage in other characters and try exploring a little outside the funky bard character that is simple and easy to fall into. And you know what? I found so many other characters I loved but would have not explored with making the decision to do so. 

And I like to think that my blog and space I’ve crafted out has become all the better for me expanding my character enjoyment and trying to make this an inclusive space. 

Because whether or not we want to admit to it, we all have bias that we have to unpack. Whether you refuse to engage with a female lead or ignore a character of color or somehow still believe that holocaust AUs are okay to write --- we all have to address our own internal bias and consider what we can do to better ourselves and our environment. 

And you know what? I really feel like the Witcher fandom has improved so greatly on this point. Two years ago people were talking about a tw for the mention of Yennefer and writing essays on why we should leave her out of the show. Yenralt and Yennefer as a character, regardless of ships, never reached anywhere near the level of popularity of Geralt or Jaskier. 

But these days Yennefer content is much more common. I see more Fringilla, Sabrina, Triss, and unique character content than ever before. I’m finally seeing some amazing Coen content!! 

And yes, I know that a lot of this engagement is due to Season 2 coming out and fans seeing new and exciting interactions on screen but we as fans have also made the decision to take these interactions from the show and apply them to the fandom -- and I think that’s just an amazing thing. 

At the end of the day, we can easily justify loving or hating any character at the drop of a hat. I’m the type of person who will ship or read just about anything as long as it’s compelling and interesting so I guess this is all to say -- I’m encouraging people to step outside their comfort zones in fandom and engage in new ways. To unpack our internalized biases and consider the why of finding a character unappealing and trying to see it from a new perspective. 

And who knows? Maybe you’ll find some more favorite characters in the process!

[samstree]

okay, things i didn’t like about witcher season 2.

fuck this needs to go somewhere. heavy spoilers below.

eskel. i do not see this. it didn’t happen.

geralt calling nivellen a friend so fucking easily. good for him i guess.

the amount of times ciri is under threat of sexual assault. like nope. no, that is NOT happening. she’s supposed to be 14 and you have someone lurking above her bath and watching her change? nope. the world building is gritty and dark i know, but that was not even ackowledged as if it’s just a normal things that happens.

on the same note, eskel implying that if he’s the one to find a princess he’d rape her??? excuse me? and dad geralt just lets it go?? urgh the writers just don’t care do they

with this moment i don’t even care that eskel dies. at this point he’s just an oc fuckboi

ciri’s very delicate makeup. i do not like treating women with makeup like it’s their bare face no thank you. she’s on the run and it’s okay if she looks plain (much like yen). the only explaination is that geralt carries an eyebrow pencil for emergencies.

triss mentioning yennefer walking by her is what? an in-universe reminder that the scene was written stupidly? yen was literally looking for surviving mages in that battlefield and saw triss was DYING and she jsut...kept walking. fuck her for being the secondary love interest i guess

jaskier is so consistantly made into a joke it’s getting old. yeah yeah nobody likes him everyone hates him we get it. but it particularly leaves you with a sour taste when it got that elf killed. jask literally just gave a speech about how racial oppression is terrible and how he’s been saving their lives. the next moment he’s the butt of the joke again he can’t keep his mouth shut and he’s petty, and a man of the oppressed group was brutally murdered. that is supposed to be a comedic moment, fuck me.

also the romentic tension between yen and jaskier is what they should be doing for yenralt this whole time. it’s funny how when writers aim for friendship, the dynamic is developed more convincingly. it’s almost like friendship is the foundation to all relationships, and simply dragging a sexy man and a sexy woman together within five minutes of meeting each other is not enough.

yen’s apology for trying to sell ciri out...nope, just...nope. “i did try to sacrifice a child but in my defense i didn’t know she was YOUR child and she’s SPECIAL” is a shit thing to say. okay, so parentage and special powers are the reason we shouldn’t sacrifice children, cool cool cool.

still geralt treats yennefer way too terribly. he’s got tunnel vision for ciri which is his character development but that doesn’t mean he has to be shitty to everyone else? that apology to jaskier is also so fucking half-assed. perhaps they ARE better off without him!

my boy jaskier again. just...nobody cares about him except for yen. fuck it i’m gonna jump that ship. this is a yenneskier blog now.

[gwynblcidd]

are you an rp blog or a hate book triss blog?

lmfao i'm both anon :)

[theroadsofararchive]

Hey, are you still active? Or otherwise, do you maybe have an idea of other archives that still are? :)

Chances are you aren't going to see this because you sent it a week ago (I'm sorry, apparently I turned email notifs off on this blog), but @/destielfanworks and @/destielartistsunited are still running for destiel side, @/wincestheaven is still running for wincest/j2 side, and there's @/bideanfreckles (used to be teamfreewill fanart, they have so much stuff). I know of a few more individual blogs who have a ton of art, but I'm very out of the loop right now, and I never did find a sastiel art collection.

As for this archive... Mod Triss (me) is still out of commission. Details below for the nosy.

I had to stop using my computer back at the start of July because I managed to give myself pretty decent carpal tunnel combined with tendonitis. I was having problems holding silverware, let alone my phone, let alone typing for hours on a computer (yes, I tag all the pieces I archive by hand, tumblr doesn't remember enough tags to help). I thought I could fix it with rest, apparently I was wrong, and since I've made everything worse the past two weeks while trying to stretch (I'm having problems sleeping bc of the pain) I'm finally being sent to a pt.

I also have been trying to get on a new medication regime (which has meant brainfog and tachycardia and fatigue) on top of my usual knockout chronic fatigue. Most of the summer and fall just did not happen for me.

I don't know how long it will take for my hands and arms to heal. I'd hoped to be back online in September for small amounts of time, to just feed the archive queue. Obviously that didn't happen, and right now... the archive is not at the top of my list of worries.

So I'm sorry, to everyone who used this blog as a resource and a way to find art. This project is a way to support the art community and the fandom as much as it is a library, and I hate that the lights are out right now. I can only do so much.

[fagcrisis]

books read in 2022: blood of elves (the witcher 1.)

i decided 2 start putting lil book reviews here bc i wanna read more but i fucking hate goodreads. and like, this is what blogs are supposed to be for arent they

i was Majorly worried about the switch from short stories to a novel, but it was suprisingly smooth! i dont know how much people who didnt read the first two understood, but to me it worked pretty well aside from the kind of weird pacing in the beginning

zapkowski continues to be funny as hell and he still writes combat scenes SO well. his dialouges still often have a talking head quality 2 them unless its solely protagonists we're well aquinted with, but its kind of funny so i dont mind

to begin with i was not sure about triss, and i still am not? she is an interesting character and her monolouge in kaer morhen was really good but im kind of iffy about her still. hope that changes in the following books. huge fan of vesemir and the other witchers though, and i really loved the relationships between ciri and everyone wintering at kaer morhen, as well as that training montage because it was cute as hell. i have many questions about the witchers' past tho. many of them. also i dont get lambert im sorry like someone please explain lambert to me

yarpen and that whole situation was, interesting to me. fantasy racism is always iffy as hell, especially considering i cant really name a single character who was described as non white except for Maybe shani?? but that was hazy as hell so i cant even be sure. i like yarpen as a character tho and his dedication to peaceful coexistence is interesting and admirable imo. im going to stay hesitant about the elf racism until i read the next book i think

jaskier being a spy and fucking sucking at it is really funny, geralt finding random ass men to verbally assault is also very funny, and im curious as to why nilfgaard is looking for ciri

i loved the bits of fantasy politics and the leaders of things meeting in secret rooms and conversing about ciri's importance and also how they should do an ethnic cleansing because i like fantasy politics, but i also think its great that ciri and consequently geralts importance is something that is very well established and exists for different but understandable reasons to different people its just yknow good writing. except for again the fantasy racism

finally yennefer and ciri bonding hours was sweet as hell, i liked it a LOT. i think hanging out ciri is actually helping yennefer as well and im sensing the beginning of ciri lesbianism maybe? which im excited for

[wordsablaze]

9. it’s always lose-lose

your beauty hides the pain Lost on the mountain, Jaskier accidentally angers a mage who decides to curse Yennefer with his company and for once, it might actually be a blessing in disguise…

A/N: sorry it took a month to update but it be like that sometimes- @random-nerd-3 @surreal-static @10moonymhrivertam @bicount-de-lettenhove @i-need-blog-ideas

previous chapter

-

The innkeeper is much friendlier after Jaskier’s second performance.

Of course, that’s probably on account of him managing to get through actual requests this time because Yennefer is in the room and his skin isn’t on fire, but still.

Unfortunately, that means he ends up singing toss a coin twice, after which his mood sours enough for his scowl to match Yennefer’s when he flops into the seat opposite her and leans against the wall so he can rest his feet.

“I was under the impression you enjoyed these ridiculous performances,” Yennefer says and although Jaskier’s eyes are closed, he can practically see her raising a perfect eyebrow.

He shrugs. “Rather difficult with the whole Geralt thing.”

Yennefer hums her agreement, neither of them saying anything more in favour of appreciating the food that’s quickly brought to their table. It’s decent but pales in comparison to their makeshift meal earlier and Jaskier hopes he’s not imagining the way they share a look over the table that suggests they both feel the same.

“Well, where do we go now?” Jaskier asks once they’re done.

Yennefer sighs. “We’ll just have to hope Triss isn’t busy.”

Jaskier frowns. “Triss? Do I know her?”

“Can’t imagine you would,” Yennefer replies, clearly not intending to provide him with an explanation of any kind.

“Don’t discredit me, darling, I know plenty of people all over the continent!” Jaskier argues.

Yennefer just rolls her eyes. “And unfortunately, I’m one of them.”

Before he can stop it, Jaskier flinches. It’s not even nearly the worst thing they’ve said to one another but he’s becoming increasingly more aware that he was probably only stuck with Yennefer as some sort of revenge on her, making him no less than the curse Geralt had implied he was.

“We should get going,” Yennefer announces, standing and brushing crumbs that probably aren’t there from her dress.

Jaskier nods, grateful for any excuse not to question his worth, especially since he’s way too sober for such thoughts yet. “Where are we going?” he asks.

“Temeria,” Yennefer tells him, “I’ve been before so I can portal us there.”

With a groan, Jaskier follows her out of the inn. “You couldn’t have warned me of how you planned to travel before we ate?”

Yennefer looks a little guilty but neither of them can prevent Jaskier’s stomach from attempting to twist itself inside out as they step through Yennefer’s portal. As it is, the first thing Jaskier does after setting foot in Temeria is fall to his knees, gagging but mercifully keeping his meal inside his body.

“Thanks,” he mutters once his knees feel solid once again and he can pull himself upright.

“Pleasure,” Yennefer replies absently, though she seems far more concerned with looking around to check where they are, visibly relaxing when she spots their destination and starts to walk.

Jaskier curses under his breath but follows, his fingers gripping the strap of his lute hard enough to ache. Yennefer doesn’t bother knocking on the door to what smells like an apothecary shop when they reach it. Unfortunately, she forgets that mages usually have wards against strangers on the places they dwell in, meaning that although she can get through easily enough, Jaskier crashes into an invisible barrier and ends up thrown backwards, sprawled on the ground.

“Yennefer!” someone exclaims.

Jaskier’s too busy groaning to notice who, though. He forgets how to think until he’s being manoeuvred inside and pressed to Yennefer’s side, both of them exhaling slowly as they recover.  

“Sorry,” Yennefer mumbles with far less reluctance than before.

“Hardly felt a thing,” Jaskier breathes, letting himself flop backwards so he’s lying entirely on the floor, at which point he notices the other woman frowning down at the two of them and waves a hand, grinning. “Hello! You have such gorgeous hair, would you allow me to write it into song?”

The other woman - Triss, judging by how relaxed Yennefer is - laughs softly. “Was that your attempt at flirting?”

Yennefer snorts as she rises to her feet. “You got the best of it, he’s usually far worse.”

Jaskier shrugs. “There are plenty of people who would disagree with you there.”

“What are you doing here, Yennefer?” Triss asks, seemingly unfazed by Jaskier keeping his spot on the floor.

Yennefer sighs. “The bard got us stuck with each other and the mage who did it knows how to cover her tracks so I was hoping you’d help me break whatever the curse is.”

It’s possibly the most straightforward thing Yennefer has said in all the time that Jaskier has known her and he can’t help his mouth falling open; It seems he’d somehow even more severely underestimated how much she hates their predicament.

Triss seems equally as shocked because she glances between the two of them thrice before nodding slowly. “I’ll see what I can do to help. I assume you’ve already tried?”

“Within seconds,” Yennefer confirms.

Finally sitting up, Jaskier rubs the back of his head. “So am I to merely loiter in the background until you magically figure things out or…?”

“I suppose you could write that song,” Triss says, barely holding in her laugh.

Jaskier narrows his eyes at her, but there’s no real animosity in it. “I certainly will, thank you very much.”

Yennefer rolls her eyes at him, which he’s beginning to think is just her instinctive response to him opening his mouth at this point. “Just don’t think so loud this time. “

“Stay out of my head, then!” Jaskier retorts, then stands up so he feels less like he’s about to be stepped on or something. It’s not exactly as though he’s unfamiliar with being around powerful people but two mages who seem incapable of taking him seriously is a little much for the moment.

“I have a room the two of you can stay in while you’re here,” Triss interjects, clearly amused, and although Yennefer looks as if she wants to reject the offer, she nods.

Jaskier beams at her. “Your kindness is just as plentiful as your beauty, it seems!”

He doesn’t miss the way Yennefer and Triss share an undecipherable look but he pointedly ignores it, keeping his attention on his lute as he tries to think of suitable rhymes for curls and mage and forest so he can prove his point. He just hopes he can sing it as a song of gratitude and celebration rather than one of bittersweet appreciation.

-

this chapter was chaos to write,,, i filled it with yen’s thoughts and then realised the fic was jaskier’s pov so had to rewrite the whole thing, and also wrote in trissefer out of habit before remembering the plot is legit just yennskier *sighs*

-

thanks for reading! | masterlist | witcher blog: @itsjaskier | next chapter

[x-reader-theater]

My Days Are Numbered, but so Are Yours {6}

Relationship: Geralt of Rivia X Male!Disabled!Reader

Summary: Every conversation is easier over a game of Gewnt. 

Warnings: Cursing, Graphic Depictions of Violence

Word Count: 1202 words

A/N: Guess what? We’re at chapter 6 and still we have more chapters to go! This story is actually over 13,000 words in length. I want you all to have the ending you deserve, and this is, hopefully, it. If any of you who have seen the show don’t know Gwent, there’s a gwent game that you can buy and play that will hopefully explain everything, but it’s a really fun card game that everyone should check out. Thank you to my editor @mystic-writes​. You are a gem. Thank you so much on your feedback from yesterday. I really appreciate all of you who have re-blogged my work. It means so much. Please like, comment, and reblog, and please send me some asks! It gets lonely in an empty ask box.  Now, without further ado,  My Days Are Numbered, but so Are Yours chapter 6.

Take a Chance for the Nights are Short (Book 1) [1]

Hold me Tight for the Days are Long (Book 2) [2]

[1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10]

Chapter 6: Of Cards and Conversations

"You up for a round of Gwent?" You shake your deck at Geralt from the kitchen table. It's been years since you've played with anyone, it'll be nice to try again. If Geralt agrees, of course. 

"What?" He asks from Ciri's bedside. While she hadn't been seriously harmed, Triss had ordered a bout of bed rest. 

You shake your cards again. They rattle around in their case. "Come on. A game. That is assuming you have played before." You quirk your eyebrow up at that. Geralt glares at you. 

"Of course I've played," he grumbles out. "But I don't have a deck." 

You set the deck box on the table, turn around in your chair, and reach up with your hand to grab the large box on one of the shelves in your tiny kitchen. You lightly place it on the table and open it up. Three more decks inside. Nilfgaard, Northern Realms, and Scoia'tael. You prefer the monster deck yourself, but you're good with all of them. You've spent many years cultivating your collection. 

Geralt gets up and walks over, picking up the Northern Realms box and opening it, looking through the cards. "You have some rare cards here. Would fetch a pretty penny." 

"What use for money do I have here?" You ask as you start shuffling your deck. "And besides. It wouldn't be as much fun without the cards. You might be able to beat me then," you say with a smirk. 

Geralt raises an eyebrow. "Oh yeah? Well, we'll have to see about that!" He exclaims, though not too loud. Ciri's still asleep. 

You set up for your game of Gwent, flip a coin, and Geralt goes first. It's interesting to watch him play. All that tactical training by Vessimir must have paid off. 

"You play like Eskel…" You mutter to yourself, placing your hand on your chin. 

You hear Geralt's neck snap up to look at you. "What did you say?" 

You look up at him as you play a card. "I said, you play like Eskel." 

"How- how do you know Eskel?" Geralt asks. 

You lean forward, tilting your cards to your chest as you say, "I'll tell you, if you play a card." He shakes his head at that, shocked, before placing a card down onto the table. "I met him while I was dead. We talked, had a rather adventurous night, one you probably don't need to hear the details of-" Geralt grunts. "-and after running into him a few more times, he brought me to Kaer Morhen. He and Lambert trained me to fight. I may not be as good as a Witcher, but I sure as hell won't be losing another arm to a wyvern." You wave your left arm at him. Or, half of it at least. 

"And you played Gwent with them…" Geralt says. 

You shake your head and play a card, knocking on the table to convey that you pass. "Just with Eskel. Lambert was far too serious." You drop your chin and say in a gravely, mock imitation of Lambert's voice, "'I'm Lambert and I take everything way too seriously. I hate being a Witcher and I kill everything mleh."

Geralt starts laughing as he places a few more cards down, before knocking. "You know, that's a pretty good impression of the man." 

You shrug. "I try my best," you say with a smile. 

Geralt has won the first round, but he had to get rid of most of his cards to do it. You have significantly more cards than him. You take the monster cards on the table and shuffle them up, holding them face down to Geralt. He picks one and it goes back on the table, the rest in the discard. Geralt discards his field and draws a new card. 

"There was one time, when I was traveling with Jaskier," Geralt says, as you place your first card. "I had lost my swords, and Jaskier was determined that a 'Witcher must have swords!'" Geralt plays a card and you watch as his face lights up. You've never seen him look this way, smiling and laughing without care. You feel a pang in your heart as you see this smile. You still love him. You play a card. "So, he went out and bought me a new sword. Zerrikanian Steel. The best you'll find! And at a good price too!'" 

You laugh as he says this. "Is that your Jask impression?" You hate it. 

Geralt chuckles and continues. "Well, when I used it, the first time I blocked a blow, it shattered!" 

You start laughing even harder, and Geralt joins you. Finally, when you catch your breath, you can feel your cheeks are hot and you're looking at Geralt with such joy, all your thoughts of being alone are gone from your mind. 

It's weird talking like this with Geralt again. Laughing and making fun of mutual friends. You haven't talked with Geralt like this in years, and it's like you never left. You've been friends for years, and nothing happened. 

Until Geralt looks at you, sadness in his eyes. "You know, he wrote a song about you." Your smile falters. "After you… died." Even though Geralt's been with you for a few days, and knows you're alive. It's as if he doesn't believe it. "'A ballad for a Silver Jackal.'" 

"I haven't heard it…" You say, though you did get recognized a few times by people in need. Now that you think of it, they may have mentioned a song… 

"It's perfect. Every bit of it," Geralt says, looking down into one of the floorboards like it held the key to one of his deeper, repressed memories. "Beautiful. He wrote it in a day. When we got back to town, he played it." Geralt looks up at you, and for a man who can't feel, he sure does look sad. "I haven't felt emotions in a long, long time. And yet… when I heard that…" Geralt trails off. 

You don't know if he's embarrassed or just glum. Maybe both. 

You clear your throat and point at the board. "Uh. It's your turn," you say simply. 

Geralt nods and plays a card. He places it in the wrong row, and you move it to the right one for him. You play. He plays. You place a card. He does the same. You, him. You, him. 

Your heart's not in the game anymore, but you keep playing it, setting down card after card. Eventually, you both run out of cards. You won. 

It doesn't feel like it. 

"Congrats," Geralt says. 

You don't look up at him as you gather up your cards to put them away. Geralt does the same and silently, you both work in tandem. Geralt puts the card box away and gets up from the table, moving back toward Ciri. 

"Geralt?" You call out to him. 

He stops and looks over his shoulder. "Yes?" 

You stand up. "Did you miss me?" 

He nods. "Yes. I did." He goes and sits back next to Ciri's bedside. 

You slump into your chair, thinking. 

It's going to be a long night.

[jaskierswolf]

You Set My Heart Ablaze Pt.8/25

Previous

It was the weekend.

Finally.

The year was barrelling towards the winter holidays faster than a river crashing over a waterfall. The children were all getting excited for the holiday season and decorations had been cropping up around the school. Tissaia had kept her classroom bare. The students had been allowed to decorate their lockers but the art classroom needed to remain a blank canvas. The addition of tinsel and fairy lights caused unnecessary distraction to her creative process. Her work was methodical and a way for her to organise the chaos in her mind. The decorations around the winter months caused her thoughts to spiral and her anxiety would become almost unbearable.

She closed her eyes and took a long deep breath, counting the beats in her head and then exhaled. She pictured the tension in her shoulders washing away like footprints in the sand. She repeated the process again until her thoughts quietened down. By the time she opened her eyes all thoughts of the brightly coloured school halls had flittered away.

She grabbed her notebook from her purse and began to sketch the trees outside of the coffee shop window. She noted the way the sunlight broke through the branches and danced on the pavement below, the way the bark shimmered in the bright morning sunshine and yet fell into dark gloomy shadows.

She’d always been fascinated by light in her art. The way something so untouchable could completely change the colour and shape of an object. Things that seemed terrible in the darkness were harmless in the light. It was honestly magical and she would never get tired of trying to capture the beauty of the phenomena on paper.  

“Tissaia?”

Her charcoal skidded across the paper as she started at the sound of her name.

Her sketch was ruined.

Yennefer’s violet eyes were shining down on her, her signature raven black hair tumbling down past her shoulders. She had two small coffee cups in her hands.

She sighed and carefully put her charcoal away. She tore the page from her notebook with practiced ease and folded it in half. She would put it in the recycling the next time she went past a bin.

“Yennefer.” She greeted her former student with a smile as she straightened out the sleeves of her shirt. “I didn’t know you were in town.”

“I’m visiting Ciri.” Yennefer nodded to the till where the young girl was taking a paper bag from the barista.

She raised an eyebrow at the younger woman.

Yennefer rolled her eyes. “She insisted that she bought her own cake. Honestly, Tissaia I’m not an idiot.”

“I never said you were.”

“You implied it.” Yennefer muttered sharply under her breath.

“Yennefer.” Tissaia sighed and picked up her now cold mug of coffee. “Must we always fight?”

Yennefer laughed at that. “Just like the good old days.”

“I was tough on you because I saw talent. You know that.” She grimaced as she sipped her drink. This always happened when she started drawing but she didn’t want to waste her money by not drinking it.

“Auntie Yen!” Ciri came bounding over clutching the paper bag. “I got a chocolate brownie! It has glitter on it!”

“You already have a hot chocolate?” Yennefer asked holding up one of the cups.

“Yup!” Ciri grinned gleefully.

Yennefer rolled her eyes. “You’ll turn into a chocolate if you’re not careful.”

“No I won’t!” Ciri shook her head. “I asked Mr Jaskier and he said that adults just say that so you won’t eat so much!”

Tissaia smiled as she sipped her coffee. Yennefer looked ready to strike down the younger teacher. Her violet eyes flashed dangerously and she ran her hand through her hair. “Of course he did. Do you know why adults say that?”

Ciri scowled and scrunched up her nose. “Nope!”

“It’s because chocolate is a treat and we should only eat it some of the time. If we ate it all the time then it wouldn’t be special anymore.” Yennefer tried to explain. “Right?”

Tissaia nodded. “She's right.”

Ciri tilted her head at the explanation and narrowed her eyes at Tissaia. “So you lie?”

Tissaia looked at Yennefer who was staring right back at her.

This was why neither of them taught the younger tutor groups.

“Think of it more like a story.” A new voice chimed brightly.

Yennefer groaned as Ciri spun around excitably.

“Mr Jaskier!!”

“Hello, Ciri. Yennefer, Ms de Vries.” Jaskier waved cheerfully. “Adult sometimes tell stories as a way to teach children about the good and bad things of the world, like eating too much chocolate.”

“Like when mummy lions pretend to be scared when the baby lions jump on them?” Ciri asked.

“That’s right!” Jaskier grinned.

“What are you doing here, Buttercup?” Yennefer raised an eyebrow at the brunet.

“Getting coffee?” Jaskier held up his own coffee mug which was covered in a gooey caramel syrup. “Heard they were doing special editions for the holidays and I just love edible glitter.”

Tissaia closed her eyes to try and focussed on her breathing to try and block out the conversation. She had come to the small coffee shop for some well earned peace and quiet. It was part of her weekend routine to help her relax after a week of teaching. She had been coming to the coffee shop every Saturday for years now.

“Tissaia?” Yennefer’s voice again.

“Yennefer” She answered, not opening her eyes, her fingers finding the cuffs of her sleeves with practiced ease.

She heard a shuffle of movement and the excitable voices of Ciri and Jaskier moved away. With a final deep breath she opened her eyes to find Yennefer still staring down at her. Jaskier and Ciri were sat at a nearby table away from her.

“I’m sorry, Tissaia. I didn’t mean to interrupt. When I’ve dropped Ciri back at Geralt’s we can catch up properly.” Yennefer suggested.

“You can tell me all about that blog of yours.” She agreed.

“Like you don’t follow me already.” Yennefer teased gently.

“I’d still like to hear it from you.” She countered, and it was true. She had always followed Yennefer’s ascent into the art world with great interest. She was proud to see her prodigy blossom into a fierce and talented young woman. It was a dream come true to see someone so brilliant succeed and as teacher she bristled with pride to know her student was flying amongst the stars, but mostly she had received all this information second hand through Yennefer’s blog or from Triss and Istredd in the staffroom. It would be nice to hear it from her friend in person for a change.

“Always so sentimental.” Yennefer smirked and then turned back to her ward. “Ciri, leave Mr Jaskier alone. It’s time to meet up with your father.”

“Mr Jaskier can come too!” Ciri suggested.

Tissaia watched the young teacher carefully. It was no secret that Jaskier, amongst others, had a crush on Geralt Rivia. Jaskier and Triss were often found gossiping happily in the corner of the staffroom about how handsome the man was. Tissaia didn’t exactly agree, not that she really found anyone attractive, but the mindless conversation was an entertaining break from teaching and marking.

However, having a harmless crush on a parent was very different from actively dating a parent, especially when their child was in your class. That was frowned upon to say the least. Stregobor would certainly have no qualms about firing Jaskier if he thought there was even a shadow of a doubt in the man’s conduct at work.

Jaskier froze.

His face lit up like a tomato.

And then he promptly threw his coffee all over the table he had sat down at.

“Oh chocolate fudge cakes!” He yelled and jumped back. Ciri squealed and leapt back to avoid the hot liquid. “I am so sorry Ciri. Did it get you?”

Ciri shook her head but seemed a little confused by Jaskier’s sudden clumsiness. “I’m ok.”

“Good. Good. No harm done then. I’ll just get some napkins to clean up this mess. You’d better run along now with your Aunt Yennefer. I bet your dad will be very excited to see you.” Jaskier was talking faster than a rocket as he scooped up his now sodden notebook off the table and look forlornly at the empty mug.

Ciri frowned. “I see him every day.”

“Well then you are a very lucky girl. I will see you on Monday in class. Don’t forget to bring in your favourite story. We’ll be sharing them after lunch.” Jaskier rambled in a hurry and then scurried away to find some cleaning supplies.

Tissaia sighed as the young girl was dragged from the coffee shop, still grasping her paper bag that contained her chocolatey treat.

Jaskier was playing a dangerous game and it was likely going to end in heartbreak. She really hoped he knew what he was doing. _______________

Tissaia sunk down onto her sofa wearily. After the chaos of the her usual quiet time at the coffee shop her thoughts had been racing and she struggled to regain control of her own heartbeat. She’d tried to paint various objects from around her house. She’d started with her plants then moved onto an assortment of candles, but she’d not quite managed to capture the way the flames flickered and glowed on the paper and she’d only ended up more frustrated than when she’d started.

After that she’d decided to clear up her kitchen. She’d been too tired during the week and the mess had begun to build up. It had taken longer than she’d expected but as she’d cleaned and organised her kitchen she’d felt her thoughts follow suit. Her feet were now aching and her arms were sore. She’d sleep well tonight.

She hummed happily as she poured herself a glass of red wine. She took a deep breath as she inhaled the swirling lavender scent from her candles. There were no children and she was at peace. It wasn’t that she hated the children. She loved her job really, she loved bringing light and art to a whole new generation of brilliant young minds. She loved their vivid imaginations and endless enthusiasm for the beauty in the world, but by the end of the week she was always emotionally drained. She had considered giving up teaching full time and offering private lessons, or spending more time on her own work and commissions but the stability teaching gave held her back.

She’d just picked up her book when her phone rang. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Apparently nothing was going her way today. She checked the caller ID. It was Yennefer. She clicked the green button and put the phone on speaker.

“Hello Yennefer.” She answered, trying to keep the fatigue from her voice.

“Tissaia. I’m outside. Let me in.” Yennefer asked, if you could really call it a question.

She considered leaving her outside but Yennefer was like family to her after all these years. She hung up the phone and smoothed down her skirt before opening the door. Yennefer was stood holding a large rectangular brown paper package under her arm. She was wearing black jeans that looked like they’d been vacuumed onto her body they were so tight, a plain white t-shirt with cropped leather jacket. God forbid that Yennefer ever wear colour. Tissaia gestured for her to come inside.

“A little warning wouldn’t go amiss, Yennefer.” Tissaia chided gently.

“A warning gives you the chance to say no.” Yennefer countered. “I don’t come back that often, Tissaia. I wanted to see you properly before I left.”

She nodded. “Wine?”

“Please.” Yennefer grinned. “I brought you something.” She added once Tissaia had poured out a second glass of wine and they’d settled down onto the sofa together.

Tissaia raised an eyebrow at the parcel that was propped up against the wall. She’d seen enough canvases in her time to recognise one even through brown paper.

“What’s the occasion?”

“Does there have to be an occasion?” Yennefer challenged but rolled her eyes at the look she received for her question. The two of them were friends, almost like mother and daughter, but that didn’t mean they always had an easy friendship, and surprise presents were certainly unusual, especially from Yennefer. “The Solstice is coming up, an apology for earlier, a thank you for convincing Stregobor to let Ciri into the school. Take your pick.”

Tissaia paused mid sip of her wine, touched by Yennefer’s display of thoughtfulness. She smiled at her younger friend and put her glass down so that she could open the parcel. The pulled the tape off the corners of the present, careful not to damage the canvas hidden beneath the paper and peeled back the edges of the wrapping. The painting was bright and bold and fiery, everything that screamed Yennefer, but there was a strange calmness around the edges of the painting like waves lapping at the sand.

Yennefer shuffled awkwardly and took a long swig of her wine. “It’s not your usual style, I know that. It probably would look completely out of place with the rest of your house so I don’t expect you to hang it up but it’s yours, a Vengerberg original.”

Yennefer wasn’t wrong. The chaos that exuded from all of Yennefer’s artwork would clash horrible with the carefully cultivated tranquility of Tissaia’s house but that didn’t stop a wave of unbridled emotion from rising up in her chest.

“It’s beautiful.” She wanted to trace the swirls of colour with her finger but resisted. She didn’t want to damage the brushwork. “I’ll find a place for it. Everything has its place. Thank you.”

“Don’t mention it.” Yennefer brushed off her praise with a wave of her hand. “So did I tell you what the owner of Aedirn said about my last article?”

Tissaia smirked. She’d met Virfuril once or twice at galas and she’d quickly realised he was a misogynistic racist prick. He cared more about an artist’s appearance, and social standing than about their art. His gallery was full of art made solely by young straight white women. Diversity was not a word that featured in the man’s vocabulary.

Yennefer had called him out on it in her last review, challenging him to feature work by black artists, artists of all different races, sexualities, genders, ages, religions. She’d spoken out about how her own art had been pulled from the gallery, whilst she was still studying at university, once Virfuril had realised Yennefer’s own diverse background after pictures of her childhood and her grandfather had been leaked during her last year at the university.

The younger artist hadn’t known any better back in university. She’d used her privilege to her own advantage without even realising. It had taken Yennefer years to realise that her voice mattered, especially with a growing platform where more and more people were listening to her every day. Now she stood tall and proud, not letting a single person pull her down because of her race, gender or disabilities. Tissaia imagined Virfuril didn’t take too kindly to her just attack but she was immensely proud of her friend. She swirled her wine gently in her glass before deciding she needed a top up.

“You didn’t.” She replied to her friend. “But I can only imagine it was as dull and pathetic as his gallery.”

Yennefer laughed and launched into her story. Tissaia felt herself relaxing as she listened to Yennefer’s scathing remarks and gleeful retelling of how the Aedirn was beginning to lose credibility. It had been a long day but she was glad that her friend had visited. It turned out to be exactly what she needed after a week of teaching children.

_________________

The coffee shop encounter played on Tissaia’s mind intermittently for the rest of the weekend. It was never easy meeting the children outside of school. Most of the younger students were convinced that the teachers lived at the school and never seemed to understand why their teachers were suddenly infiltrating their weekend lives. Ciri had taken meeting Jaskier in the coffee shop in her stride and she assumed that was down to Yennefer’s influence, her young friend had become a sort of mother figure in Ciri’s life. Ciri hadn’t seemed to have recognised Tissaia outside of school but that was probably for the best.

That being said, Tissaia couldn’t stop replaying the entire scenario in her head.

Ciri’s excitement when Jaskier had arrived was not unusual, especially for the younger pupils. Jaskier’s classes always adored him and even the older years still greeted him fondly after they’d left his class, but for her to invite her teacher along to meet her father.

That was…odd.

She sighed as she picked up her register from Triss.

“Morning Ms de Vries.” Triss mumbled.

Tissaia raised an eyebrow at the receptionist’s appearance. Her hair was impossibly wilder than usual and she had bags under her eyes. The young girl was gripping onto her coffee mug as if it were a lifeline.

“Ms Merigold.” She greeted. “Late night?”

“Yennefer wanted to catch up. I always forget how much wine that woman can drink.” Triss groaned.

“Hungover on a Monday morning? How professional.”

Triss fixed her with a glare. “Not a word to the headmaster.” She hissed.

Tissaia pulled a packet of painkillers from her purse and slid them across the desk. “My lips are sealed.”

“Oh thank god.” Triss grabbed the tablets eagerly. “Yen didn’t have any in her cupboard. I swear she’s inhuman.”

“You stayed the night?”

“Not a word!” Triss squeaked.

Tissaia smirked at the younger girl. “You should have checked her purse. You know she keeps her painkillers on her. Oh and Triss?”

“What?”

“Try and perk up before the students arrive. You look like death.”

“Always so kind.” Triss mumbled but knocked back the rest of her coffee.

She tucked the register under her arm and started to make her way to her classroom. She was about halfway there when she stopped. The memory of the coffee shop came rushing back and she spun round on her heels towards the primary school block. It was always easy to tell if Jaskier was in early. The telltale sound of music echoed down the corridor. She grimaced. The sound was not Jaskier’s best. It reminded her of the school’s end of year concerts where all the children were expected to sing and most of them couldn’t quite hold a note. It was probably a new instrument for the young teacher and he clearly hadn’t mastered the basics yet.

She smoothed down the edges of her shirt and then knocked on the bright yellow door.

“Come in!” Jaskier sang from inside.

She took a deep breath and walked into the classroom. She raised her eyebrow and the finger paintings that were pinned up on washing lines on the ceiling. Jaskier was a brilliant musician and wordsmith but his art skills needed work. No wonder the children that came through into secondary school had the artistic talent of an earthworm.

“Mr Pankratz.” She greeted him with a nod.

He jumped off the desk he was sitting on with a start, clearly expecting a different visitor. He placed the strange guitar like instrument on the floor carefully. “Ms de Vries! What can I do for you?”

“Can we talk about Ciri?”

Jaskier visibly paled. “Ciri? What’s wrong with her?”

“Sit down, Jaskier.” She gestured to his chair behind the desk at the front of the classroom.

Instead he jumped back onto the desk itself, clearly the man was allergic to chairs. She very rarely saw him sitting in one properly. She bristled and took a deep breath.

“So…” He ran a hand through his hair and looked distractedly out of the window. “Ciri?”

“Why would she ask you to meet Geralt?”

Jaskier laughed nervously. “She’s a sweet girl.”

“Who wants you to meet her father outside of school?”

“Well… umm. Yes but I swear that has nothing to do with me! Maybe Geralt, Mr Rivia, has said something at home.” Jaskier blushed and then cleared his throat. “Don’t know why he would though. I’m just a lowly teacher and he’s this…” Jaskier gesticulated wildly, “this godlike hero.”

Tissaia raised an eyebrow.

“And by the gods he is beautiful. I do wonder whether his hair is naturally that colour. It’s like he’s captured the moonbeams and woven them into strands of hair.” Jaskier sighed wistfully.

“Mr Pankratz.” She cut him off sharply. “I hope you know what Stregobor would do if he heard you talking like this. It’s a wonder that Mr Marx hasn’t fed your conversations with Triss back to him.”

Jaskier flushed. “That man is a no good, snotty faced piece of sh—”

“Jaskier!” She cut him off.

“Sugar farts.” He finished.

“Sugar farts?” She chuckled.

“Not my best work I know.” He sighed dramatically and swung his legs up and laid back on the desk. “You know the only reason he hasn’t ratted me out is because he fancies Triss and he knows that he can’t get me in trouble without getting her into trouble”

“I’m aware.” Tissaia nodded. “Sometimes I wonder who the real children are in this school.” She muttered under her breath.

“Well that’s rude.” Jaskier huffed.

“Just be careful. Whatever is going on with you and Mr Rivia, you need to remain professional. He’s Ciri’s father.” Tissaia reminded him gently. “You’re a good teacher, Jaskier. I don’t want you to lose your head over this. It would hurt Ciri to lose you as her teacher and God only knows that girl has been through enough.”

Jaskier groaned into his hands. “Bollocks.”

“Julian.” She warned.

“Seriously fuck it all. It’s not fair.” He moaned.

She sighed. “And that’s the hardest lesson of all.”

The bell rang and Jaskier leapt off the desk and scooped up his instrument, putting it back in its case. “Yes well. Thank you for that inspiring lesson, Ms de Vries. Now if you could kindly fuck off.”

“Jaskier.” She sighed.

“Before the kids arrive. I have work to do.” He turned away from her.

She nodded and brushed down her skirt. It had been the right thing to do. She was fond of Jaskier. She wanted to protect him, to prevent him from making a mistake. It didn’t make her a bad person. He was just hurting but this would be better in the long run. She went to open the door but almost fell through as it was opened from the other side.

Geralt Rivia was standing, shocked, in the doorway.

“Mr Rivia?” She stammered before regaining her composure. She spun round to see Jaskier blushing brightly behind his instrument case. “Everything alright?”

Geralt nodded curtly. “Just wanted to ask Mr Pankratz a question about Ciri’s guitar lessons whilst she’s in the loo.”

“Ah yes. The guitar lessons. Have you found a teacher yet? I have a few names to recommend!” Jaskier replied quickly.

“Not yet.” Geralt shook his head.

“Right.” Tissaia hummed thoughtfully. “Have a good day.”

She fled from the room swiftly, glaring at the streams of fairy lights that littered the corridors. The intermittent flashing was giving her a headache already and the day had barely started. Her grip tightened on her bag as she made her way to her classroom.

“Guitar lessons.” She muttered under her breath and pinched the bridge of her nose. “What utter nonsense.” She heard the shouts of children coming from her classroom and rolled her eyes. It was far too early to be dealing with fighting on a Monday morning. She burst into her class, her skirt billowing out behind her. “Right!” She called loudly grabbing the attention of the few children that had already arrived. “Settle down!”

The students grumbled but the shouting faded to hushed chatter.

She pulled the register out of her bag and sat at her desk.

The weekend couldn’t come soon enough.

_____

Next

[gayregis]

Can I just say thank you for being one of the few people who doesn't ship Dettlaff and Regis, yanno, brothers. It's sooooo refreshing to see.

HELL yea this has been my MO since day one on this blog.

in ADDITION to the fact that “regis regenerated from dettlaff’s blood making them literally blood brothers,” i feel dettlaff is way underdeveloped in canon and since cdpr made him a one-dimensional villain of the story that’s insinuated to be controlling of syanna because “that’s just how vampires are” it’s really uncomfortable as a ship. he’s so fucking bland oh my god. he’s literally just there to pose conflict and you can’t even talk to him as a player. i’ve completely rewritten dettlaff in my head to be a better character/a good friend to regis/him and regis actually have a good siblingesque bond, so i can’t relate with cdpr’s idea of him anymore but jfc man i hate canon dettlaff lol he’s so boring and he’s just Angry White Man, i’ve never seen a star wars but he reminds me of kylo ren.

also because if dettlaff had to regenerate regis alone because that’s just a thing that vampires do now i guess, and regis was like unable to speak or move because his body was ??? regrowing ?? (this plot is so fucking weird and gross when you give it any thought at all, it focuses so much on the fantasy-biological aspect of regeneration lol), i think it gives them an weird power dynamic and imbalance because dettlaff at one point would have held all of the power in the relationship. also in blood & wine they aren’t even shown to communicate that much and you know around 2/3 of the endings are like “regis kills dettlaff even if it would alienate him from every other vampire ever :)” (which i guess is also a thing now that vampires do) so it’s really... just... not ship material.

people just ship regis and dettlaff because they need some kind of romantic ship for regis and dettlaff because they are vampires and as regis said in baptism of fire, humans are thirstier for vampires than any vampire ever has been for blood. and i feel like it gets accepted because it’s like, there’s no one else to really ship regis with besides geralt (or the succubus or the queen of the night, but honestly what are you doing if you ship regis with women...) but even though it’s changed now, geralt was for a long time mainly shippable with like, only yennefer or triss, lol. if you had another ship, people would proverbially look at you funny. i feel it was “easy” for people to “square away” regis and dettlaff together as an item because it’s like, “okay, they’re two white men, they looked at each other once, they have some things in common. if we make them gay, then regis never has to interact with geralt again and we can focus on the more important ships.” but then it got popular and p*rverts online realized they could make hella p*rn out of it, so they began to, and that just added to its popularity, cue like a billion ns/fw regis/dettlaff and regis/geralt/dettlaff explicit fics and shirtless drawings. LOL. it’s funny how hard any fandom will try to come up with sexual content for every character just to cover all of their bases. like. look at regis. why does he have to fuck. it’s just that you’re thirsty for like, what, the hairline blood & wine gave him? come on. plus they draw him super pale and gross vampire trope-y to make him look like an unseasoned bowl of oatmeal. i can’t STAND it. provide me content of regis being a good friend, mentor, and member of the hansa, and then we can think about giving him a romantic life. but quench your thirst with mandrake and read his rant in baptism of fire about how humans fetishize vampires, or this conversation will go NOWHERE i assure you

[happyhunnams]

At first I thought Alexandra breckinridge would be a good triss but I think eleanor Tomlinson would've been the perfect actress to play triss. I mean look I like Anna but come on,she really was wrong for the role. And I bet eleanor and Henry would have great chemistry as geralt and triss.

I’ve had enough of this. Face it, the only reason you dislike Anna as Triss is because she’s not white and redheaded. And it can’t be fixed by putting a red wig on her because it’s her race that matters for you at the end of the day and frankly, I don’t have time for this.

Eleanor Tomlinson is a poor actor, I didn’t rate her performance in The White Queen, in Poldark, in Ordeal by Innocence, in Love, Wedding Repeat, in literally everything she’s done. Triss is warm, loving, tender and caring and to me, Eleanor gives off none of those qualities. I also think her appearance doesn’t give off the warmth required for a character like Triss. If you like her, that’s great but she’s really not right for Triss Merigold. Anna embodies the warmth and empathy of Triss perfectly.

And for the last time, Henry does not have chemistry with ANYONE. There, I said it. He’s never been convincing with any of his love interests, it’s always awkward and weird, even more so with Yen. I don’t have high hopes for Henry and Anna’s chemistry either but it seems to be okay so far, no big awkward vibes from the two of them. We barely saw any of Triss in season 1 so if you’re going to keep the same energy when we see more of her in season 2, you can check yourself out of my blog because I’m not here for hate on any, ANY of the amazing women of colour cast in Netflix’s The Witcher (2019).

[callmegwynbleidd]

So, I thought I'd do something I haven't really seen on tumblr and that's provide a spoiler free review for those who are still on the fence about watching Netflix's The Witcher!

I've got several friends who didn't go near the series because of certain casting choices, adaptation choices and more. So, I hope that some of you enjoy my personal little review of The Witcher.

SPOILER FREE.

Before we begin, I just want to say that I'm a film nerd and would love to direct someday. So, I go deep into these things. Also believe it or not as a major fan of the games I went into the series with gritted teeth and I was actually expecting to HATE it. Yet, here I am with a Witcher themed blog. Says a lot doesn't it?

First up, basics.

Effects. They were pretty good! The CGI was decent and the set design, costume design, and the makeup looked epic. They captured the medieval tone nicely and the world they presented felt just like the games in my opinion. Geralt also looked WAY better then that first wig test. A visual highlight was definitely the blend of practical effects and CGI on the Striga. That creature was all sorts of hellish and it was amazing.

Writing: Very smooth, very timely. I enjoyed it. The humor was good and  Even the weaker plot points were never a complete bore.

Casting: Here's where things get tricky. At first I thought Henry Cavill was a bad choice. (UNBELIEVABLE I know) but I have grown to adore him as Geralt. Henry loves the character, and all aspects of the source material and you can totally tell that by the way he plays Geralt. He's taken elements from the Geralt we know in the games, and the books, and added his own interpretation into the character. I really like this version of the famous White Wolf because he feels familiar, yet new at the same time and doesn't disrespect his source material.

The same has been done with Yennefer, and Ciri. And it's been done very well. Then of course there's Jaskier, to put it simply he was a hoot and an absolute highlight.

Let's address Triss for a second... Personally, I would've preferred her to look like her in game counterpart. I mean if they can give Henry Cavil A WHITE WIG AND YELLOW CONTACTS they can give Anna Shaffer striking red hair. Just saying.

Do it for the gamers.

Now, let's address the pointless hate on black washing. This criticism is typical and rather annoying. Yes, The Witcher is set in a vaguely European land in a medieval Era. And yes, there are infact Canon lands in The Witcher that are home to people of a darker skin color. But with all that aside, I've had so many people complain about the timing of the African American cast, and personally I see no issue with the decision. People need to understand that either the casting crew either get the love of the die hard fans by keeping the cast historically accurate. Or they get globally panned and labeled racists just because of the all white cast. Unfortunately, these days forced diversity is a bullet most casting crews, writers, and directors have to take. It's simply to please the masses, and in my opinion, it takes nothing away from the series or the characters that they gave a darker skin tone to.

Sound track: Brilliant. Both the songs performed by Jaskier, and the instrumentals set amazing tone in every scene.

Characters: well played, well delivered. I have no issues with anyone's performance apart from the bad commander dude in episode three. His delivery was a tad amateur in places, but never poor.

Adaptation thoughts: Personally, I see the games and the books as separate entities. After all, the games are more of a spin off of the books than an adaptation. However, the series is an adaptation of the books with some elements of the game tossed in. All in all, they're different mediums, different versions, and different perspectives. I don't compare the Geralt from the games to the Geralt in the series. Same with the books. They're all unique versions of the same character and the same stories, and they're all epic in their own right.

There you have it! I hope this review encourages those of you who are on the fence about the series to give it a shot, and I hope those of you who have seen it enjoyed my little run down of the series.💜

Please remember this is my personal thoughts on the series without getting into the nitty gritty technical stuff like the cinematography and fight choreography. (Which I also loved btw. It was very well shot and structured, and the ambiance was lovely) and EVERYONE is entitled to their own thoughts and opinions!

Anyway, I really hope you enjoyed this post. If you like this sort of thing, please let me know!💜

[dreaming-about-fanfictions]

Hi, may I ask for the Witcher matchup? I’m fairly tall redheaded bisexual female; a mix of 2 & 4 enneagram types. I think I’m rather hot-headed and can handle myself, but most of the time I’m what you’d call soft, I suppose. I hate uptight people, silence, and boredom, but I absolutely adore all kinds of art and humor. Also, I’m new here but I completely love this blog it’s just fantastic

With Triss Merigold by your side there won’t be any more boredom in your life!

You work for the court of King Foltest and that’s where you see her for the first time. You are enchanted by her beauty right from the beginning. However, you are too shy to approach her – she is the right hand of the king and you hold a much lower position than her. Destiny decides that you two should meet after all and so you run into each other one summer night. Literally. You bump into her as you walk around a corner, dropping the books in your hand. Triss immediately helps you picking them up and you start to talk. You see each other again in the castle a couple of times before Triss invites you over for dinner.

It’s one of the most fun evenings you ever had. You stayed awake till morning – talking, laughing, at some point even dancing. The night ends with a gentle kiss and both of you are already falling for the other. It doesn’t take long until you become an official couple.

Triss loves your temper and how you stand up for what is right. She adores your gentle heart and how you turn every situation into something fun and into an adventure. You feel the same about her – she makes you see the world in a whole new light. Around her, the sun shines even brighter and colors are even more vibrant. She is your first love and you hope she’ll also be your last.

***

I hope you are happy with this! Thank you so much for liking my blog <3