#rawrkinrambles

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In the Top Ten things you don't want a writer who has been given free reign on something you love, that requires a lot of careful thought and interpretation, to say:

"I honestly didn't think that much about it".

#rawrkinrambles #discourse #twn critical #nightmare of the wolf #nightmare of the wolf spoilers #the witcher netflix critical

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You know you get those novels for games like Dragon Age and Warhammer, I kinda wish Sapkow would let people write them for The Witcher Games too.

I would read the shit out of someone's take on Letho's backstory, or Roche and Iorveth getting it o-- I mean, fighting a lot, yeah, fighting. Or maybe a short set of stories with Ciri world-hopping, or Eskel taking a contract for chicken herding, you know, Witcher work ("bear! Bear! Run, you piece of shit"). Adventures in The CDPR Witcher-verse. (Unnamed Deity Bless Fanfic Writers, I guess).

#rawrkinrambles

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“You never age.”

“What?” Dandelion looked up from the fire, lips pressed together.

“We’ve been travelling together for ten years,” Geralt poked the large, rat-like creature he had secured for their evening meal. “But I have more lines on my face than you do.”

“You need a better skincare routine, my dear.”

“Your locket made my medallion vibrate when I touched it.”

Dandelion twanged his lute strings in surprise, and they both flinched. “Foraging through a man’s underwear, Geralt, whatever next.”

“Dandelion.”

“Geralt.”

“Don’t misdirect,” the witcher said, rubbing at his eyes. It had been a difficult season. “Why do you not age? Is it the locket?”

“I’m not a monster.”

“I didn’t say you were.”

“And I’ve never hurt anyone,” Dandelion said quickly, his heart racing. “Well, emotionally, perhaps. But what is life without love and loss, Geralt? What is—?”

“Dandelion.”

“Yes, right, well—.”

“Don’t fret, dear friend, you have nothing to fear from me.” Geralt placed his temporary cooking implement—a short gnarled stick—in the fire. “But I need to know. Magic is a fickle thing. Sometimes it doesn’t like to mix, sometimes it reacts in unfamiliar ways. You know all this. We’ve travelled together long enough.”

“I didn’t mean to keep anything from you,” Dandelion croaked, placing his lute aside. “I have just run afoul of it before. I once lived by a different name. Had a different life.”

“Tell me.”

“And you promise not to chase me into the forest? Skewer me on the end of your silver blade there?”

“Gods dammit, Dandelion. I will chase you into the forest if you don’t start your tale. Hurry, preferably before the food gets cold and certainly before my hair gets any whiter.”

- Geralt and Dandelion, Duality of Witchers

I’m still really proud of this story. I wrote it in nine hours in a single day and it just shows you can’t odds what people will want to read or what they’ll enjoy, sometimes you’ve just got to write whatever pours out your head.

#duality of witchers #rawrkinrambles #the stats be getting me down folks #but I'm trying to remind myself why I write #and it's because I find it fun #Geralt #Dandelion #Geralt & Dandelion

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A friend asked me why I read sad or difficult stories and avoid fluff when I'm going through a rough patch, because surely that's a little counter-intuitive, right?

I sat down and had a think about it.

(TW: long post; personal mental health experience; fanfiction; gratitude to writers).

My "rough patches" often entail long periods of numbness. Like I'm watching the world and everyone else's happiness through a window. Sometimes it's so bad that the metaphorical window is fogged too, so I have no connection to the real world and the people in it.

I'm stuck in a void with my own thoughts, doubts and demons. It's a horrible place to be. Nothing can reach me there. Not hugs, or kisses, or lovely affirmations from my family and friends. I am numb. Voiceless. Hopeless.

But if I read a sad story?

Something so well written that it cracks my heart in two? That I feel a lump in my throat? That I cry?

It smashes the window.

The tears are like a flood of feeling rushing in. It's dizzying after a period of feeling detached, of feeling numb.

People say "oh, I don't do angst" and I've even seen some denigrate it as "torture porn" (ew). Why would you want your favourite characters to suffer? And there are some stories that lack emotional oomph, for sure. But those stories that are brilliantly crafted tragedies? They are my lifeline.

Because from there, I can brush the shattered glass aside and look for a hopeful ending. After my cry, the numbness is gone and I feel light. Fluff can't do that for me. Because when I'm behind the glass, that happiness seems entirely unattainable.

Because I need my heroes to go through what I do; I need them to endure, survive. I need them to cry, and fight, and struggle. I need them to be like me - flawed, sad, down on their luck, ready to give up - but slightly better. Just one step ahead. Because if they took the step, then I can too.

So, I guess, after that ramble, I need to look angst writers dead in the eye and thank them.

You may not get the hits, kudos and comments of a trope or fluff piece, but I need you to understand that your work is more important than you could possibly imagine (at least to this fan, and I'm sure to many others that are too anxious/low/exhausted to say anything).

So please take this from me: thank you.

#rawrkinrambles #from Twitter #cross-posted #fandom #personal thoughts

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The Witchers As Morning People: A Thread

Geralt

This dedicated Horse Girl rises before the sun does. While everyone else is still in the land of nod, Geralt’s trudging down to the stables with a thermos of hot coffee to feed, “turn out” and “muck out” and [insert specific Equine jargon for unpleasant chores that need doing at such an outrageous hour]. By the time everyone else is dragging themselves out from their nests, Geralt’s already rummaging around the kitchen while smelling of soiled hay, sweat and the outside. He’s quietly smug because he’s already done something fulfilling with his day. What have you done? Sometimes he doesn’t shower and he’ll go ‘round smelling of “horse” all day. It’s gross.

Coën

 He’s an early riser too, but for an entirely different reason. For Coën, the mornings are prime time for exercise. He’s that annoying asshole who uses phrases like “the early bird gets the worm” unironically. His Instagram feed is just an endless scroll of health gurus discussing the pros and cons of “fasted exercise” with occasional adverts for protein powders. Depending on your setting, you’ll find him jogging around the estate or running sword drills as the sun rises; he pauses occasionally to huff in a lungful of fresh air and plant his hands on his hips to emphasise the health benefits of a strict sleep and exercise schedule. Breakfast is a smoothie of “green” and raw eggs. He says he enjoys it.

Lambert 

Waking up? Lambert hasn’t been asleep yet. He spent all night running experiments in the stillroom, because during the night is the only time the world is quiet enough for him to concentrate, alright? And besides, going to sleep means he needs to get up, and that’s just fucking horrific. If it’s a modern setting, you know he spent the entire night creating spoof Twitter accounts to harass people he disagrees with about a very niche interest of his. When Lambert does sleep, he is not a morning person and will throw his heaviest pillow at whoever dares to wake him. Occasionally his boyfriend stays over and then they do go to bed at a decent time because Aiden insists on “cuddles”. When this is the case, he’s forced to wake up early because Aiden repeatedly bats him on the face until he gets up to make them food. Lambert has asked why Aiden can’t just grill his own damned bacon, but Aiden just says it’s “better when he does it”. Aiden’s a dickhead.

Eskel 

He sets the alarm half an hour earlier than he needs to just so he can hide under the duvet and enjoy being comfortable. The world has no expectations of him in that beautiful thirty minutes and he can just be. If there’s a lover in his bed, then it's a prime opportunity for some extra snuggles;  he loves nothing more than curling them up in his big arms and snuffling through their sleep mussed hair. When he does roll out of bed, he throws on the ol’ dressing gown and looks far too fucking dashing, I mean, what the fuck (Lambert, chill out). He swans down to the kitchen, grabs some toast or the sugary cereal of the week and scrolls through the news until he’s awake enough to start his day. Eskel’s also one of those annoying pricks that can survive on only a few hours of sleep and function as if he had a solid eight hours. Fuck you, Eskel.

Vesemir 

He wakes up with Geralt, but only because he’s now “old” and “old people” are incapable of waking up any later than five thirty in the morning. If he had a spaniel, he’d walk it in a flat cap and Barbour jacket, and then attend to his beehive - looking at you, @castillon02 - while telling them about his plans for the day. He might even potter around the herb garden a bit, and then he’ll sit in the kitchen with a pipe and newspaper while the rest of the world wakes around him. God-fucking-help you if you interrupt him while he’s doing the crossword. Unlike Eskel and Geralt however, Vesemir will fall asleep in the armchair at five thirty in the evening. It’ll be halfway through a conversation, or he’ll snore over the top of a film so loudly that no one can enjoy it. When someone tries to change the channel - or ask him politely to stop snoring - he’ll snap that he “wasn’t even bloody well asleep”.

Bonus: Jaskier 

“Lark” is an ironic nickname bestowed on Jaskier when the Witchers realised he was an absolute amoeba in the mornings. It takes several vats of coffee and a shower before he can even string a sentence together, and even then it’s hit and miss before midday. He’ll try to stay up all night with Lambert but end up falling asleep face down in some suspect chemicals, and once he tried to start jogging with Coën; he snoozed the alarm eight times before Eskel picked it up and threw it out the window. Jaskier is the antithesis of a morning person. The antonym for “early riser” is just a picture of his face looking half zombified with a string of drool hanging out the corner of his mouth. The first steps outside the warm cocoon of his bed are agony, and he’s not above crawling into the shower on his hands and knees.

#stupid server stuff #cake shop #rawrkinrambles #inspired by GrimmGrimm #who needed extra duvet time #Jaskier #Lambert #Eskel #Geralt #Witcher Coën #Coën

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Modern AU - Old Witchers In Love

Brought to you by the Cake Shop.

Keldar is away on a business trip. He’s recently taught Vesemir and Guxart how to use WhatsApp, with varying success. Vesemir occasionally lets autocorrect and/or caps lock run wild, while Guxart communicates only through emojis. 

He’s sitting in the hotel bed when he gets a text...

While Keldar is familiar with technology, he’s not exactly ‘street’ savvy and wonders why Guxart didn’t ask him for aubergines and peaches when Keldar placed the Sainsbury’s order. Keldar writes himself a post-it-note - ‘buy peaches and aubergines, Guxart’ - while worrying over what disgusting dinner he’s going to have to pretend to enjoy in a few night’s time when it’s Guxart’s turn to cook again...

@round--robin​ - so you can keep it forever.

#GriffinWolfCat #Old Witchers In Love #Modern AU #rawrkinrambles #smut #I guess

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I love it when someone in a Discord server goes off on an amazing story spin, and I sit there [chinhands] and occasionally throwing out questions/emojis/support memes/hypotheticals.

Worldbuilding, interesting characterisation, thoughtful plot - hnng!

#rawrkinrambles #I am frequently amazed by the talent of the people I know #and their minds #the witcher #writing

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Witcher society, but it’s based on Lacedaemon (Spartan) society.

The population of a witcher’s keep is split into three main groups: the Spartiates, the helots and the Perioeci.

The Spartiates are the healthy male specimens most likely to survive the Trials. The Choice not only focuses on the development of physical prowess and endurance, but also obedience, courage and self-control. These witchers are taught that loyalty to the school comes before everything else.

Spartan training started at the age of seven. The boys left home—like witchers—and lived communally in extremely austere conditions. They were subjected to continual physical conditioning, competitions involving violence and given meagre rations to survive. They were expected to become skilled at stealing food (among lots of other techniques needed to survive in difficult circumstances, like being on the Path).

Spartan means self-restrained, simple and austere. Laconic (concise, pithy) is derived from the fact that the Spartans prized brevity of speech. Getting straight to the point. A bit like how many of our favourite witchers are characterised.

The Perioeci (means “dwellers-around”) are craftsman and tradesmen. They built the weapons the Spartans used. I imagine these are the witchers that barely survive the mutations or aren’t as skilled in combat. Instead of wasting time—and their life—the instructors teach them skilled professions and set them to work.

In Sparta, the Perioeci didn’t enjoy full citizenship rights and were not subject to the same laws and education. This could mean that their formal education as witchers ends so that they can focus on developing their skilled profession. They’re free to travel to and from the keep, sourcing materials, bartering with external merchantmen. They bridge the gap between the witcher brotherhood and the rest of society.

Finally, you have the Helots. These are literally slaves. In Sparta, they were descended from those peoples who had resisted surrender to the Spartans. Because the helots rebelled a lot, the Spartans attempted to control them by forming a secret society that annually murdered those suspected of trying to overthrow their Spartan masters. Helots were owned by the state, they lived in the household of their masters, and could never be freed.

In witcher society, these would be the boys and girls viewed as unfit to stand trials. They might have been too belligerent, bull-headed or refused The Choice. Perhaps they tried to run away or deny the Law of Surprise, either way, being a Helot is a punishment. They’re not free, they’re never allowed to leave the keep (if you want to get extra dark, perhaps they have brands or collars). Within the walls of the keep, they’re domestic servants, attendants (similar to squires), farmers and nurses.

The helots exist at the beck and call of their senior brethren. The Spartans used to play games where they got helots drunk on wine and ridiculed them for their lack of control. Can you imagine the older witchers playing around with that? Making them dance on the table? Perform? I would also imagine an ownership/responsibility system. If a helot tried to flee the witcher keep, then their associated master would hunt them down to return them.

Of course, you also have the sexual comfort part, which happened in Spartan society, obviously. It would definitely happen inside a witcher keep.

There's so much scope for development, but the comparison has been buzzing around my head for ages! This is obviously a very simple summary, too. My thoughts: a forbidden love affair between Spartiate Eskel and Helot Lambert, with Eskel sacrificing his honour (and himself) to set Lambert free; Geralt, a Perioeci, who puts himself forward to be twice-grassed despite the first time not going as well as it could have.

#rawrkinrambles #world-building #Sparta #Spartans #the witcher #Eskel #Lambert #Geralt

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This is the exact energy I have in mind when writing Guxart.

#oscar isaac #faceclaim #Guxart #writing #rawrkinrambles #school of the cat #Gaetan and Aiden #are just being so fuckin' extra #and he can't even

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Meeting new sections of the fandom feels like unlocking a new stage of an MMORPG.

What new wonders will you discover? What new characters will you meet? What new alliances will you build with which to gain reputation? What sections of fandom lore will you add to your journal? What new pieces of discourse will one hit KO you after a perfectly innocent mosey into a dark cave of historic fandom drama you thought was inert?

It's so exciting.

#rawrkinrambles #fandom is a weird and wonderful place #i've met do many amazing people #and everytime i meet a new part of it #it's so fun #fandom

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New story added to the “to write” pile.

A story following Ciri post-TW3 (perhaps post-B&W) as she adapts to becoming Empress, while still following her heart and spending time with all the people she loves. Just exploring her different relationships with them and why they’re important to her.

In the wilderness with Lambert hunting Arachas, playing Gwent with Eskel in some nordling tavern, or riding with Geralt through Toussaint before he heads out on a “camping trip” (his term he uses for BB when he’s really going back on the Path to breathe for a bit). She drops into Yennefer too, their relationship a little turbulent, but they’re still mother and daughter, and Yennefer will always be there for Ciri. 

Ciri visits everyone. Zoltan, Dandelion, Triss... and she pops across to Skelliger, because she’s rather taken by Cerys.

#rawrkinrambles #having Ciri feels #so many ideas #so much to write

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Thank you for your patience! Both those who sent me Asks a billion years ago, and those who have tolerated a flurry of them now. Most of the drafts are half written stories for your prompts, and I'm sorting through my inbox now. I've deleted a few more, uh, inflammatory Anons, but if you are desperate for a response on anything, please do feel free to send it through again. (Usual boundaries apply).

#rawrkinrambles

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We stan two bad ass warrior queens and their himbo husbands.

Sources: The Witcher (Netflix); Gwent Custom Cards and The Witcher Wiki.

#rawrkinrambles #Calanthe #Eist #Meve #Reginald #Calanthe x Eist #Meve x Reginald #Favourites #Favourite Characters #Favourite Relationships

[on-a-lucky-tide]

I got tagged by @in-love-with-writing002. Thank you, lovely.

I debated doing this because of overwhelming imposter syndrome in the face of some very good writers doing it (and a comment on a work this morning that left me feeling crappy), but you know what? Yeah, I’m quite proud. I’ve written a million words since January. Here are my favourite couple of k.

Rules: it’s time to love yourselves! choose your 5 (ish) favorite works you created in the past year (fics, art, edits, etc.) and link them below to reflect on the amazing things you brought into the world in 2020. tag as many writers/artists/etc. as you want (fan or original) so we can spread the love and link each other to awesome works!

1. Piece Me Back Together, Dear Heart (102k)

This is possibly the most well-known work of mine (I say that, there are thousands of people in this fandom, so it’s a niche). It’s a post canon “fix-it” - but not really - where Jaskier travels with Eskel after breaking up with Geralt. Geralt dies early and comes back thirteen chapters later (via game canon). I really wanted to build a realistic, loving polyamorous relationship that felt... well, real. I really enjoyed writing the series and I still have two more parts planned out to finish it off - one set in Hearts of Stone, the other in Blood and Wine. It’ll follow the trend of filling in gaps around the main three characters, and weaving/warping game events. I’ve learned a lot more about lore - and the Witcher in general - since writing Dear Heart, but still I’m pretty proud of it.

2. If These Scars Could Speak (100k)

Modern AU study of the abandonment of heroes once they’ve stopped being “useful”. I drew on a lot of the themes for the Witcher and tweaked the characterisations for amusement - i.e. Lambert is the best cook out of all of them, haha - but worked hard to stay true to who the characters were at their core. It started in response to media using the “hero” rhetoric for people being forced onto the frontline of the COVID-19 crisis. Not because they’re not, but because people used it almost as an excuse to not give them proper protection, or look after them in any way. “That shop worker hasn’t been given a mask... that nurse is working sixteen hours without PPE...” Oh, but they’re heroes. To be a hero, you’re meant to sacrifice and then when you’re sick, or unable to do ‘heroic’ things anymore, you get abandoned. That sucks. So yeah, that work took me a while to get my head around.

3. Petrichor (93k)

It’s A/B/O time. It’s light touch as all hell (it was my first look at the trope, and there were lots of bits that I was not okay with). It was the first big thing I wrote. It’s fluffy and full of love. Jaskier, Eskel and Geralt get married. They retire to Corvo. They sing, they dance, there’s a lil’ bit of angst. It was just fun to write, okay?

4. Cabinet of Curioisities (151k)

My collaboration with @round--robin! It started off as “hey, what if we look at some of the unpleasant parts of Jaskier and whack it up to twelve?” It then grew a plot, became 150k words, spawned the Vipurr (Letho/Gaetan) ship and made her love Letho (mwahaha). It was really good fun, and I learned a lot about someone else’s writing process, and a bit about what I could do better to improve.

5. Sonnet X (20k)

The first one. I’d never been part of a fandom before, or written anything for public consumption. My friend read it through for me. I was so nervous posting it, but I’m glad I did. It was pure Geraskier too! It was a very blatant study of grief/depression and what it does not just to the person suffering, but also the collateral damage to those around them. Geralt is literally almost consumed by the poison from the monster, which is spawned from the grief of a mother who has suffered the most harrowing loss. I was still dealing with a loss in my own family and it was damn cathartic - low and behold, a coping mechanism is born.

I tag: @cylin-aka-ankamo; @round--robin; @goldandlights; @tumbleweedtech; @stardustlupin.

#rawrkinrambles #chain ask #please do it if you want

[on-a-lucky-tide]

Saw this post from @adevinecomedy​ and couldn’t resist.

Aiden buys Lambert the t-shirt. Lambert wears it (he claims it’s ironic/for a laugh; really, it’s a silent plea for affection).

#rawrkinrambles #Lambden #Lambert #Aiden

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Have just discovered the #witcher lass tag is on this hellsite too. Sorry (not sorry) for the spam.

#rawrkinrambles #Witcher lass #amazing OCs