Random Thoughts that Don't Deserve Its Own Page

Right-Wing Witcher Fans?

the way right wing grifters hold the witcher as this aggresively antiwoke "masculine" media makes me lose my SHIT. the novels are incredibly open, especially for its time, and theres so much talk about politics, and also god forbid, identity politics!! aaah!

geralt is literally othered in many ways, hes this gross, gangly thing who people are revolted by and religious zealots scoff at as a monster. (hm!) he's incredibly masculine in the sense he fights monsters, yes, but his best friend is a flamboyant feminine man who he spends all his time philosophizing with. he's not this stoic "i feel nothing graaah!" guy, he pretends he is neutral in conflicts despite being sooo biased in so many ways. he pretends he doesnt feel then proceeds to feel so much.

characters like Milva and angouleme are female characters who are "strong" and "independant" the worst things that a right wing grifter can have in a media!! characters like yennefer are incredibly cruel and "bitchy" women (the trope of jealous, mean girlfriends that right wing grifters love) who are humanized and treated like people - yen is bitchy because she needs to be. thats the world she lives in as a female sorceress. ciri is literally the most important person in the world in the witcher so why is it a big deal shes the protagainst of tw4 when shes literally the chosen one-type character?!

elihal is a crossdresser. ciri is bisexual. geralt's best friend is gender non conforming. triss is at least bicurious, and phillipa is a fucking lesbian. queer/gnc people have existed in the witcher for the longest damn time, female characters have always been important, why is the witcher what right wing dudebro gamers latch onto. do they see geralt, big hulking man who claims "he doesnt feel emotion" and take him at his word. did they not play the games or read any of the books. how do you come out of the witcher 3 and still think its completely apolitical.

(not saying the witcher is wholly unproblematic and the peak of representation just saying its far from apolitical)

(also iirc Andrzej Sapkowski makes a joke or something about the law and justice party in poland being bad, which is a conservative party... i cannot add more to this but it is from a Wera analysis video about the newest book)


Yennefer in TW3

i love yennefer, she is such an incredibly interesting character and one of my favorite female characters at the moment but OH MY GOD CDPR Yen is so fucking annoying about Triss Quite Literally taking advantage of Geralt's amnesia - do not tell me Yen didn't get around while she had her amnesia. we know how she is, and then blaming Geralt for being in a relationship under false pretenses... and then it's never fully resolved. she's victim blaming Geralt for something he had no idea about and it's exhausting to deal with that fallout. i really dont like the amnesia plotline as its handled (especially with how dandelion is written- see, yen and ciri) and i desperately wish it was written in a way where it was more... nuanced and not played for laughs??

it's more of a fault of the writing in tw3, which, while amazing, is not perfect. (again, dandelion?? really?? hes so gutted from the books, he just... is so empty compared to the personality in the games. you cant even tell him about the kaer morhen battle, because I KNOW he'd at least help geralt in some way, even if he cant be there physically. i was so sad when i went to go talk to him during the brothers in arms questline and there wasnt even a dialogue... dandelion's writing is for a whole different post.)

anyhow. yen... oh... when i get you cdpr... when i get you... shaking my fist at a cloud. i love yenalt so very much... in my head yennefer and geralt argue about it for months until dandelion (or ciri) (or hell, even regis LMAO) steps in as usual and tells them to talk to each other about it and yen apologizes. in my head.

i understand if this was a character flaw but the way she is written makes it seem like she is... just being "dramatic" and its played semi lightheartedly. i understand a character having flaws and doing things the writers dont agree with but awaaaa rlly?? no resolution?? to this conflict?? at all?? i guess my issue stems with the lack of resolution to her hypocrisy + such, and with their happy ending would it have been so hard for them to even like. bring it up. ah, whatever. im getting worked up over nothing.