#witcher book spoilers

[glitteringpoet1685]

I just know that Regis was giggling and kicking his feet while being invisible in the bushes after Geralt told him that he doubted anyone could ever afford the price it would take for him to go after Regis's head.

[chocochipclaire]

last words

[cahir-and-ciri-dyffryn]

omg I’ve just realised…

WITCHER SERIES SPOILERS:

that was the last time we’ll see Cahir and Ciri together before the 10 seconds preceding the big sad. Legit they glance at each other once more before Cahir urges Ciri and Angoulême to flee while he delays Bonhart — who then unceremoniously cuts down Cahir like he’s nothing more than a scarecrow holding a sword. He legit lays his life on the line and dies for Ciri. For thousands of pages, multiple bloody books that could be used as bricks, they’ve been tied by destiny — more so than even Geralt and Yennefer or even Emhyr — and yet, there’s no explanation to their connection. There’s no even conversation between them. Nothing. It makes me utterly heartbroken, even years after reading, thinking about how it’s all going to end. It’s honestly one of my least favorite books of all time. It breaks me. Cahir and Ciri at least deserve a Reylo-like chance and ending.

Freya and Eamon were brilliant together — their chemistry palpable — and we get no more — until their final 10 seconds 😭 😭 😭

[astaldis]

@whumpers-monthly​     @whumpuary​

Chapters: 1/1   Words: 169 Fandom: Wiedźmin | The Witcher Series - Andrzej Sapkowski Rating: Mature Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death Characters: Maria Barring | Milva, Geralt of Rivia, The Hansa | Geralt's Company Members (The Witcher) Additional Tags: poem, iambic hexameter, Spoilers for The Lady of the Lake, Shot by an Arrow, whumper's-monthly issue no 24, Stygga Castle

Summary: At Stygga Castle Milva saves the Hansa - at a very high price. A poem in iambic hexameter.

[superunicat]

So... I arrived at the scene in Tower of the Swallow in which Geralt and Cahir are sitting in that cave, and...

[cahirmawrdyffrynaepceallach]

"I will have my queen by my side" WAIT WAIT WAIT ARE WE DOING THIS???? I THOUGHT WE WERE GOING TO DO THE SANITIZED CDPR PLOT

[cahir-and-ciri-dyffryn]

My time has come (my top faves atm):

- @andordean’s AO3 is a treasure trove. This is my all-time fave fanfic with Cahir

- more @andordean but this one takes place during Lady of the Lake and is more of addressing misconceptions around Cahir & his actions

- oh, look, more @andordean!

- Molanna has s3 Cahir PoVs for each episode

- Wind_Rider’s fic Of Monsters and Men

- powerofadyingsun’s Stardust Blowing in the Wind

After watching the last part of The Witcher S3, I just want to read Cahir material. Please send help 👀

(look at this soft boi here I'm melting)

[dol--blathanna]

Thinking a lot about Orym choosing a rabbit when asked what animal he would pick if cursed with lycanthropy.

Because, it makes sense. Orym is small, quick, agile, jumps well, and is highly perceptive. That definitely evokes rabbit imagery. But a lot of Orym’s identity is also tied up with being a protector – giving people AC bumps, the shield being as much a part of his fighting style as his sword, even his title: Saviour Blade of the Tempest. He wants to be a “Shield that protects Exandria”; his priorities about saving the gods are less about the gods themselves, and more about protecting the people of Exandria from the unintended consequences and bloodshed of releasing Predathos. And it would’ve been very easy to pick a large, strong predator to try and evoke the sense of a protector – a wolf, for example, an animal associated with loyalty and protecting its pack. Yet Orym chose a rabbit.

And I think that’s interesting, because rabbits are often seen as ‘cute’ animals – but they’re also a prey animal. In fact, they’re a common food source for many animals across several ecosystems: foxes, wolves, wild cats, dogs, birds of prey like eagles or owls, coyotes, stoats, and humans (and that’s just off the top of my head). Rabbits are skittish, easily frightened; to be rabbit-hearted is to be timid or cowardly. They are not generally associated with fierceness or prowess in fighting. Mice and rats are prey animals too, but typically seen as vermin (rabbits are sometimes seen as vermin too, but a farmer could eat a rabbit – they wouldn’t eat a rat). Deer are prey, but they have hooves and antlers that bring a danger to hunting them, for any animal – the difficulties of hunting rabbits are more related to their evasiveness, speed and good hearing than any life-threatening danger they might pose. Rabbits are, first and foremost, prey animals. They are killed and eaten, so that another animal might live.

Which made me think a lot about one of Orym’s other key traits: self-sacrifice. Bait and switch doesn’t just bump up his ally’s ACs, it specifically switches their place to put him directly in harm’s way. Goading attack is meant to encourage enemies to attack him instead of his friends. He literally made a deal with a hag, essentially exchanging his own life for power to protect his friends. How many times has he gone down in a fight? He’s not the only tank – but unlike Ashton (and Chetney, who also uses ‘self-sacrifice’ in his fighting style with his blood curses) he has no abilities to reduce the damage from the hits he takes (barbarian rage and the werewolf form).

(Side note: I think it’s pretty interesting that Chetney, the wolf, has attacked Orym, the rabbit, more than anyone else when losing control. That Orym’s facial scar was given to him by a friend, not a foe).

Of course, Orym isn’t the only character with self-sacrificial tendencies (FCG wins by a landslide), but I just can’t stop thinking about how weirdly perfect it is that he chose a rabbit for his animal. Rabbits are prey animals. They are eaten, so that other animals may live. Orym takes the hits, he goads and switches with his team mates to put himself in danger, he makes a deal with a hag at the cost of his own life. He’s a soldier, throwing his life away for a cause over and over again because Ludinus must be stopped, because Keyleth has put her trust in him, because it’s the only way to protect his friends, to protect everyone, because it’s the right thing to do. Orym is a rabbit. He’s always been a rabbit. That day in Zephrah, it could have easily been Orym who died instead of Will and Derrig – “unfortunate but necessary sacrifices”, as Ludinus viewed the attack. It’s unfortunate they had to die, but it was for the greater good, according to Ludinus. It’s unfortunate that a rabbit has to die, but it will feed a family of foxes, or stoats, or even a hungry human, so it’s acceptable, right?

Orym is a rabbit. He is giving himself to a greater cause that could very easily kill him – he already willingly signed his life away to Nana Morri. Because that’s what rabbits do. They die to feed others.

And the theme of being disposable is present across the entire group, not just in Orym – Bell’s Hells has been called a “party of NPCs” before. Aside from FCG’s death, I’d say Laudna perhaps fits this theme the best: she was literally murdered and hung from a tree simply because she looked similar to Vex, acting as a warning to adventurers she had never met before. But FCG’s death was – rightfully – viewed as a terrible tragedy by the group. Laudna’s decision to remove Delilah, finally freeing herself from her abuser and emphasising she is more, and deserves to be more, than just some disposable puppet – this was rightfully viewed as a very good thing! But Orym seems to be embracing this identity of self-sacrifice instead, rather than this mindset being properly challenged or acknowledged as a bad thing. After all, there’s no time. There’s too much at stake. Keyleth, Bell’s Hells, all the memories of those who have died in this fight, all the people who might die if Predathos is released and kickstarts a second Calamity – they’re all relying on him, right? A rabbit feeding so many animals with his sacrifice. And it’s not malicious compared to the way that, say, Delilah killing Laudna was an incredibly evil, fucked up and unnecessary thing to do. If Orym died to save everyone else, well, at least everyone else would be saved, right? Saving lives is good, isn't it? How could he complain?

Because rabbits are prey animals, and Orym is a rabbit too. Destined to die so that another animal may feed.

Except, that’s not true. Rabbits are more than just prey. They’re highly social, and thrive best living with others. They’re playful, they enjoy running around and kicking their legs just to show their enjoyment. They’re inquisitive and mischievous, even being associated with tricksters in some folklore and stories. They’re also associated with innocence, playfulness, spring, youth – all manner of things, depending on the story or culture. And they’re not helpless, either, even if they might be thought of as such. They can bite and scratch and draw blood quite easily if they want to! In fact, freezing up isn’t their only response when being attacked by a predator, they are known to fight back if cornered. They can sprint quickly, they have excellent hearing and senses of smell, they know how to evade predators.

Rabbits are prey, and they are also survivors. They have their own social dynamics, their own habits and dislikes and preferences. They are more than just a wolf’s meal. And Orym is more than a soldier, too. He’s more than a “necessary sacrifice”, he’s more than just a shield and sword. He deserves more than to die for a cause. He deserves a happy ending, just like everyone else. I hope he remembers that.

Orym is a rabbit. And the message isn’t that he shouldn’t be a rabbit. It’s that rabbits are worthy of surviving, too.

[hanzajesthanza]

i like how the series ends with dandelion and triss just having witnessed the deaths of their best friends, then just awkwardly standing there not being able to join them in the afterlife. and it would have been less weird if they had ever been introduced at all before then. note to self introduce friends before you go off to avalon

[wodania]

okay this yen and dandelion have been sitting in my files for decades I might as well post them

[proffbon]

I'm usually not a fan of explaining the origin of thing that don't really need an explanation but I do like the backstory to why all of Geralt's horses are called Roach.

- But how is that, a witcher on a mare instead of a stallion? How dishonorable. What? That's the least of your problems? Ha, the client is our lord, he wants a mare, he's got a mare. But, hehe, my lord witcher, horses are like fish. I offer you thoroughbred stallions like they're big pikes, and you go and choose a little roach. What are you laughing at? Did I say something funny?

[glitteringpoet1685]

Ciri doing Murder on Ice was not on my Witcher books bingo card.

[nicelytousled]

Love in The Witcher Saga

@fagflint got me thinking about pears

[cahir-and-ciri-dyffryn]

Witcher spoilers:

So, while I do appreciate the nod to Rience’s end in Lady of the Lake… where Ciri skates over his fingies and he loses them and then drowns… I was so looking forward to that scene in particular.

Like, that has been, and will likely always be one of my fave things about the books. Because the juxtaposition— Ciri was a princess. But she became a Witcher. She was hardened like steel, she became ruthless, she was Falka. But she returns to herself — to Ciri. And she faces and deals vengeance out like a motherfucking Princess.

[astaldis]

Why does Gallatin have that scar in his face?

Poetic justice? / Foreshadowing?

(Beware: major "Lady of the Lake" spoiler below!)

[waterflowing-under-ground]

Geralt and Dandelion in the books:

- 2 badass and competent professionals in their own fields who have great chemistry right from the start of their relationship

- bond over philosophy and literature and a mutual desire and need to roam and travel

- are friends because they just genuinely enjoy each other's company, love, care about, and respect each other

- go out of their way, often to great personal risk, to help each other

- A close, platonic relationship between two adult men who are comfortable being physically close with each other (which includes sharing a bed quite often)

- share personal and financial resources when they travel together

- feel comfortable enough to read each other for filth and be honest about what they see in the other's life choices, and feel free to tell the other what they need to hear (but don't want to hear) in terms of life and relationship advice.

- close until the (literal) end even though there were still some residual relationship issues between them (with the Dutchess Anna Henrietta situation) which the reader is left hoping would have been worked through eventually had they been given the time. And even this wasn't enough to make them want to stop being close. 🥹😭

Geralt and Jaskier on the TV show: