#the witcher discourse

[lazy-cat-corner]

Antis are getting really bold with their lukewarm takes.

[bounce-a-coin-off-your-witcher]

What Netflix was expecting after season one: Gamers upset about lore changes, book fans upset about character inconsistencies, everyone questioning the plot and doubling back to re-read everything. 

What Netflix got after season one: A loud and angry herd of gays banging on the door, screaming for a better white wig and cat-eye contacts for Geralt.

[bastardofmothman]

In honor of some of the anons @feraljaskier has been getting

[Image description: three men looking at a picture frame with the caption “I’ve had enough of this dude.” In the picture frame is the sentence “Anons griping about which canon is ‘better’ so they can insult someone’s headcanon.” End description]

[theyearofrisinglight]

Oh god the Witcher/J@skier discourse over on Twitter is so tiring, like I don't even join in, I just rt and like from afar, but the unhinged tweets that still show up on my tl,,, god give them understanding lmao

Like seriously why go out of your way to like the most uninteresting, stagnant, millionaire sexist misogynist deadbeat dad who's not even that funny bc once the hanza happens Angouleme and Milva take the hilarious group member mantle from him and when there is a vast cast of characters that deserve all the love and attention, like Angouleme??? Perhaps if yall read the books... Okay okay, people can stan whoever they like obviously but trying to pretend canon doesn't exist and getting so offended bc book readers can't accept that distorted soft uwu abomination the stans have created is just wrong, just don't engage with our anti j@skier tweets/jokes, move along and let us hate the character specifically made for that, to be a parody of sexist fools, in peace lol

[tricksterslav]

Hi there I don’t have any experience with the Witcher. Never played the games or read the books. I’ve watched the trailer for the Netflix series. I was wondering what you meant by the issues you have with no Slavic representation in the aesthetic and other things like that? Also I’m from the US so I’m incredibly uninformed on this topic and would enjoy being enlightened. I promise I’m not being sarcastic and if I’m coming off as rude I’m sorry

(Disclaimer - I am not an expert nor do I claim to be, I'm speaking from my own heart and the knowledge I have)

To get into the issue, you've got to understand that for most people that've read The Witcher, it's a very important book. I grew up on foreign fantasy and adventure novels and when my mom handed me a book that was Polish -it was weird. I didn't know Polish fantasy novels even existed - I was fed grim, westernized fantasy beforehand. The Witcher immediately stood out to me- it was complex, intelligent, with a lot of morals and likeable, but problematic characters. It had strong girl protagonists (including Ciri, who's canonically lesbian/bisexual), intriguing action, and it was perfect. I'm sure a lot of people feel the same about it. It's a unique piece of Polish culture, rooted deeply.

The Witcher is riddled with references to Polish history and culture, especially Slavic mythology. Monsters such as Strzyga, poroniec, wąpierz (or even the Wild Hunt, [even though it does appear also in German mythology]) hail from Slavic mythology. Superstitions (such as children being born under a bad moon) are driven from Slavic beliefs. The dryads that take Ciri in while she's exiled are creatures from Slavic mythology. It doesn't matter that Witcher takes place in a fictional world. It's a fictional world build upon slavic motifs.

Now imagine that amazing book, and the incredible game (made by polish artists) taken by a big corporation such as Netflix. They cast non-Slavic actors as the main characters, they leave out everything that makes it unique and beautiful, and turn it into a stereotypical fantasy setting- English castles, French costumes, American actors. There's nothing distinct about it now - it's not a beautiful, captivating story anymore. It's just a mainstream tale about a guy with a sword. And it's fed to a target audience - mostly people who have no knowledge of the books at all, who don't know what this book means to us.

I don't know how people can not be mad about it. If any of my information is false, be free to correct me, but I'd much rather enjoy something made properly than another mediocare Netflix show that leans heavily on special effects for any semblance of quality at all.

Slavic people don't get represented in the media- and I've talked about it before, but to take any sliver of the brand that we had - something distinct, something ours, and exclude us from it? I was very excited for the show, at first, because I didn't know how badly executed it's going to be. This is an utter disappointment, and I'm going to express my dissatisfaction.

Sorry for the long post, but I hope I've helped you understand the problem a little more.

[watchmebitch]

men in the witcher fandom be like

“yeah yennefer’s my favorite character I love strong women”

“Okay so will you like, respect women in real life then?”

“No I mean the ones other men made up”

[bounce-a-coin-off-your-witcher]

Hey, I just wanna say that I am really queer! And I personally really don’t care for how the Fandom ignores the Canon-Homophobia and I would really like to see more content (that I don’t have to produce myself) exploring it! I understand why people erase it, and thats valid as fuck! And I love lots of such fanworks in the fandom. But other queer people prefer/like/draw comfort from a more realistic portrayal and I think they should be also a place for that in the fandom too.

Your point is totally valid!

There are definitely some good fics that speak directly to the canon world and homophobia, and I’m glad that people write them and explore the world that way. 

I just never really had the opportunity to be happy in my queerness until recently, and I’m happy to have found a fandom that doesn’t force us to look at homophobia up close and violently all the time. Like I used to love MCR fanfics (I was young and dumb and it wasn’t Frerard I fucking promise) but the homophobia there was EVERYWHERE. You couldn’t read a fic without someone being traumatized because of it.

So it’s really nice, now that I’m out and I’m happy, to have this space where I can violently project the queer experience I wish I’d gotten to have onto this dumbass ball of chaotic bard energy and write out cutesy, happy scenarios where two people get to just be in love regardless of the world around them. 

Sorry if this is long, and I agree with your point entirely, I just have a lot of feelings.

[electricprincess96]

Both Witcher game fans and Witcher book fans need to learn to be more respectful of each other's media.

Hearing "the Witcher wouldn't be this popular without the games" is perhaps true and book fans do need to acknowledge that the games absolutely contributed to the popularity of the series in the West (the series was already quite popular in Poland and was already in the process of being translated before the games came out).

HOWEVER game fans need to stop being so obnoxious and realise without these books you wouldn't have your games AT ALL. Period, point blank, they would no exist. You would not be able to thirst over Triss because she wouldn't exist in any sort of form without the books.

Like CDPR and Sapkowski both have their own personal drama stemming from business dealings that Sapkowski feels did not go in his favour (when in reality he just... didn't predict how big the game series would become and is a bit salty about that) and that does often result in a war of words happening between these two parties.

But fans should be better than that. We aren't losing any money here, our relationships with both pieces of media don't have to be tainted by bad business dealings so we should be able to look at both pieces of media objectively AND be able to acknowledge that both served an important aspect in where the series is today.

So basically book fans, even if you hate the game, admit it contributed to the popularity of the series as a whole and game fans stop being obnoxious and admit that without those fantastic books you wouldn't have a game in the first place.