#the witcher criticism

[noveratus]

I just finished watching the Witcher season 3. Here are my thoughts on this season:

First, I should make it known that I have not read any of the books and I played the witcher wild hunt very briefly since I wasn't a huge fan of the combat system, so there is a chance that I'm not the target demographic for this show. Perhaps they were trying to appeal to the fans of the series. If that is the case, I apologize for my thoughts. These are the thoughts of a casual watcher of the series who is very passionate about writing and stories and general.

The best word that I would use to describe this series and just the whole show, in a whole, is confusing. Things just seem to happen, and I am left wondering what even is the story here. The show feels both too slow and too fast for the story it is trying to tell.

Season one is by far the best. Despite the non-linear timeline, you can understand what is happening, you understand what the arcs are, what the characters want, and you have a notion of what is going on. There are still confusing moments, particularly those with the elves and Cintra. Her journey feels so slow compared to both Yen and Gerald since, once you remove all the magic and all the dressing, their stories are about family, with Gerald's being about the fear of letting people in and Yennifer's being about being accepted enough to be loved.

Then we have season two, which is just political nonsense for the most part. We barely get any time with the main trio, and it is mostly just a lot of nothing. People speak and tell your their plans and whatever, but it summarizes to a bunch of nothing. There is a 6. Everyone wants Cintra, but that's it. There is essentially just one character arc in this season that goes through a character arc with that being Yennifer, and while I do have conflicting emotions about it, it is definitely a character arc. Besides that, the closest thing you get to character development is Cintra's fight montage scenes, and while those can be fun, not everything has to be deep and sad and depressing, that is not what they are. They try to be exactly that. Bleak. Like the show is turning to you and asking, "Aren't you enjoying seeing how much these characters for basically no reason? This is what will make them stronger! They aren't really learning anything, just getting beaten until they seem like they can be excusable to be strong enough to survive what will throw on them next! Isn't this deep? Isn't this exciting? Bleak and depressing equals deep guys! C'mon!" When it comes to the plot, it is essentially people saying "shit is going to happen, shit is really going to happen. We will kill this baby. You know we will kill this baby! Wanna see us do it? We will do it! Just watch it! And hah! We did it!" And that's pretty much it. Pretty much the only thing that carries over from season 2 to three is Yen's arc, and the first thing they try to do is try to retcon it. So yes, season 2 is a boring, confusing slog where things just happen and feels very pointless.

Then we move on to season 3. Season three starts well. I honestly enjoyed the first episodes, with Yennifer trying to regain the confidence of both Gerald and Cintra, and I think it works. I enjoy seeing Cintra and Yennifer butting heads, it makes sense, they are different people who can teach each other a lot after everything they went through, and you see glimpses of this, and while Gerald's hunt doesn't make a lot of sense since he just let the guy go, I think that the subsequent plot with the fake Cintra and the missing mages is fine, I'm invested, I want to know what is going on, and then the ball happens and that is a good episode, it has mystery and this sense of magic and actual illusion and I was hyped. Truly, I couldn't wait to see where this was going, and then we had a betrayal, and then another and suddenly the elves are here, and they are the bad guys and the racist is in the right and gets treated like a hero and Ciri is there and then she isn't and why did you leave in the first place, Yennifer, if you were going to come back to help your people?! What did you think was going to happen? Sunshines and rainbows?! There is this huge battle where a lot of people die, but I'm left just confused because, oh my god, there is even more political nonsense here and it carries on through the last three episodes where, again, nothing really happens besides the nonsense politics while Gerald is recovering and I'm so done. Ok, that is not completely true. There are two segments that I would like to mention, the sorcerers and Cintra. I think that, while not that important development wise, since Cintra goes from point A to point B back to point A, the desert part is good. It is visually interesting. It shows her skills, and while bleak, it is entertaining. They are showing you something that isn't characters talking about something no one understands or trying to make something deep out of something that isn't. This is a girl trying to survive in a desert in a harsh environment. I can understand that I want her to succeed in that. Now, for the sorcerers, they are mourning, they are dealing with loss in the middle of war. I can understand and sympathize with that, but then you have Tissaia's death that is framed as this noble sacrifice when it isn't. It is sad, yes, but the audience isn't really given a moment to process that, it is framed so that her death is about Yennifer, like losing her will make her stronger and I have serious problems with any media that shows suicide as anything noble or brave or good, like one's death is preferable to them being alive.

Now, I have avoided speaking about Jaskier so far because, and I want to make it clear that Jaskier is my favorite character in this show, he is sadly pointless. Don't get me wrong, Jaskier is essentially the heart of the Witcher, but when it comes to the narrative, the story itself, he is only there for fan service. They tried to fix this with Radovid, but it still didn't work, it didn't truly affect the narrative since the most important part of Radovid's character is that he becomes the king and, so far, that has nothing to do with Jaskier. Dandelion is just there to look pretty and occasionally get saved by Gerald, which I find particularly funny during the action scenes where he just disappears or runs around with nothing to do. The sad part is, Jaskier is a bard. A man known for the art of speech and song and playing with people's emotions. He would be perfect for a political piece, which seems to be what the show is going for, but instead, they put him in situations where he is completely pointless.

So, in the end, I didn't like season 3. I liked the first half of season 3, despite its issues like the Wild Hunt bit, but the ending was disappointing. It didn't diminish my enjoyment of the first part, so that is something I guess, but still. And I want to make it clear that I don't think this is the writer's fault. I would like to put my theory hat here for a moment and take a shot saying Netflix desperately wanted the Witcher to be game of thrones. They wanted all the politics and gritty realism and bleakness from that show, but the Witcher just isn't that, is it? I haven't played the games a lot, but from what I understand, the Witcher shines most with its side missions, the ones where you don't have the end of the world, but a person trying to survive, and love, and find happiness in a world where humans seem to be at the bottom of the food chain. The Witcher's tv show seems to completely forget about monsters until it is convenient for them to remember when, in the game, even if you are powerful, there is a chance you will struggle with what you are fighting if you don't know how to fight them. And this, this sense of survival is pretty much gone in the show. It is just politics that say nothing really with a moody superman thrown in the middle of it.

#the witcher #the witcher spoilers #the witcher critical #review #the witcher criticism

[assassinregrets]

i think lucy lawless should be the new geralt

#the witcher #why not #critics are calling this my finest work

[cat-cosplay]

#cat armor #cat cosplay #cosplay #cats #kitty #cats in costumes #cat #cat costume #cats of tumblr #aww #fan art #pike trickfoot #vax'ildan #critical cosplay #critical role #geralt of rivera #the witcher #jon snow #hiccup haddock #how to train your dragon #orym of the air ashari #warcraft #grom hellscream #armor #pet armor #leather armor #leatherwork

[archerinventive]

When your costume closet starts looking like a D&D campaign team.

For today we have have the Barbarian, Warlock, Fighter, Ranger, and our poor Paladin just trying to keep it all together.

Wishing all you warriors a wonderful Wednesday. ❤️⚔️

Photo Credit (Image 02): Costographer

#dungeons and dragons #adventure squad #yasha #critical role #red sonja #witcher #geralt of rivia #archer #ranger #paladin #cosplay #costumes #axe #swords #archer inventive

[spielzeugkaiser]

[MASTERPOST] - there I go with the h/c again :) In the last post @panur asked something about the timeline and that got me thinking! Ciri was very little when Jaskier was ill, she doesn't remember much - she probably had no idea what happened. And she does not really have an idea what Jaskier does either but oh well

#geraskier #jaskier #geralt of rivia #the witcher #Ciri #onlyfans!jaskier #roach the cat #trans!geralt #of course I do hurt and comfort after some fun stuff #also I drew this with a fever I swear to god I'm dying ahhh #cancer tw #critical illness tw

[xeylah]

THIS should be the new witcher

#I'm actually losing my mind right now this is how I'm coping #im flabbergasted #the witcher #critical role #matthew mercer #henry cavill

[luddlestons]

As a fan of the dnd/rpg/high fantasy genre I have definitely experienced the “seeing a b/w sketch of a wizard with a book and a cat and not knowing for a second if it’s Anders, Caleb, or Gale” but I’d like to note a new variation which is:

“Oh, that’s a cool hairstyle on Yennefer—wait. That’s Shadowheart.”

#critical role #bg3 #dragon age #the witcher

[marstheterrible]

#the first meeting went exactly like this #hes been at it ever since #i wont be taking any criticism #jaskier the bard #jaskier #geralt of rivia #geralt #geraskier #the witcher #incorrect witcher quotes #queue me up and spit me out

[patroclusdefencesquad]

the thing about the witcher season 4 is that even if it's the worst thing ever made you will not hear one word of criticism pass my lips

#i'm a hcav hater first and a witcher critic second #as long as there's jaskier and yennefer i will be satisfied #the witcher

[revoevokukil]

There is an old copy-paste moving around the internet regarding discussions asserting the inherent Slavicness of The Witcher, and I will record it here for posterity.

(translated from polish)

-write eight books

-have their main character suffer from otherness, prejudice and erroneous stereotypes

-insert anti-racist references at every turn

-make dwarves into Jews

-and use to criticise anti-Semitism

-criticise nationalist attitudes

-criticise xeno- and homophobia at every turn

-show support for a multicultural society and acceptance of otherness

-describe how victims become executioners

-show how violence begets violence

-make it the central theme of the last three volumes

-have the hero and his lover die during a racist pogrom

-defend the persecuted to the lastHear from every corner of the internet that "a black witcher would be a disaster."

-write thirteen stories

-based three on Andersen's fairy tales

-three more on the fairy tales of the Brothers Grimm

-seventh on an Arabian fairy tale

-mock folklore and folk beliefs in the first one

-but also make fun of them in the story "The Edge of the World"

-mock the Polish legend in "The Limits of Possibility"

-name the main character "Żerard" (Jerald)

-generally use mainly names with Celtic roots like Yenefer or Crach

-and those derived from Romance languages such as Cirilla, Falka or Fringilla or Triss

-a few English names such as Merigold

-and those derived from other Germanic languages such as Geralt

-and Italian

-German

-and even French

-borrow monsters from American games, especially from Advanced Dungeons and Dragons

-from Irish, make an elf language

-and from German, make it the language of dwarves

-make the characters celebrate Irish folk holidays

-write an article about where you got your inspiration from

-pour bile on Slavic fantasy in it

-finally write an eighth book

-make one of the key characters a Japanese demoness

​

Become a champion of turbo-slavism.

/s

#the witcher #the witcher 3 #the witcher books #nobody contests The Witcher is the product of the time-place-history and culture experienced by its author #what very much ought to be contested are attempts at painting TW as symbolic of an ideology it very much criticizes #aside ethnonationalism criticism applies to imperialism likewise. not like eastern europe has extensive experience with both or anything #as goes for creative and intellectual inspiration it would be trite to reduce it to the local circle only (and inaccurate) #Sienkiewicz or no Sienkiewicz #at some point the audience must simply read more to know more. helpfully AS has provided a plethora of references + an entire other trilogy #9/10 when you see a discussion about the inherent Slavicness of The Witcher it's thanks to CDPR's excellent marketing strategy #which is a shame

[keen-on-euphemisms]

Everybody: praising how well The Last Of Us depicted the adaptation, not only sticking to the source material but also making minor changes that compliments the story

Meanwhile, The Witcher production:

#the witcher #geralt #twn critical #the last of us #the last of us hbo #the pain of knowing that we will never have a good adaptation when we have an example that it is possible is killing me #at this point i just can't anymore

[angelltheninth]

Kinktober 2022

Very nervous about this one but I figured I'd try to do it. It's also a fun challenge in general and I've seen quite a few fic writers do it, so why can't I right?

The rules are simple, just give me a character for the specific kink and I'll write it. One character per prompt. I'll update the list as the slots are filled out.

Day 1 - Praise kink - Julian Devorak - Quick to Assume

Day 2 - Cockwarming - M'Baku - Used to This Feeling

Day 3 - Masturbation - Angel Dust - Mutual Satisfaction

Day 4 - A/B/O - Idia Shroud - Different Kind of Heat

Day 5 - Dry humping - Geralt - Little Pleasures on the Road

Day 6 - Orgasm denial - Peter Parker - Endurance Test

Day 7 - Morning sex - Cassandra Kiramman - A Little Morning Relaxation Before Work

Day 8 - Breeding kink - Mycroft Holmes - Bride and Joy

Day 9 - Hate sex - Sukuna - The Hating Game

Day 10 - Edging - Tony Stark - Only a Touch

Day 11 - Restraints - Bruce Wayne - Restraining Vengeance

Day 12 - Sex pollen - Scaramouche - Unpleasant Yet Greedy

Day 13 - Overstimulaton - Caitlyn Kiramman - A Real Hard Worker

Day 14 - CNC - Zhongli - Instincts of a Calm Mind

Day 15 - Somnophilia - Jamil Viper - Poison Just as Sweet

Day 16 - Double penetration - Finn and Sevika - Sharing is Caring or Something Like It

Day 17 - Face sitting - Rook Hunt - Ride You Don't Want to End

Day 18 - Roleplay - Natasha Romanoff - Interrogation and Reward

Day 19 - Dirty talk - James Bonde - Even Gentlemen Have Needs

Day 20 - Mirror sex - Sevika - Beauty in the Eye of the Beholder

Day 21 - Degradation - Matt Murdock - Silver Tongued Devil

Day 22 - Size difference - Dainsleif - More Than You Can Take

Day 23 - Dumbification - Pietro Maximoff - Empty on the Inside

Day 24 - Power play - William James Moriarty - Know Your Place

Day 25 - Used for pleasure - Darth Maul - Cold, Hard Touch

Day 26 - Knife play - Dottore - Knife Treatment

Day 27 - Dacryphilia - Valentino - That Pretty and Ruined Face

Day 28 - Lingerie - Jason Todd - Shopping Has Many Benefits

Day 29 - Office sex - Marcus - Tell Me Under the Table

Day 30 - Creampie - Albert James Moriarty - Mind Over Lust

Day 31 - Love bites - Human!Alastor - Obvious Places

Bonus Day - Titfucking - Grog Strongjaw - Rough Around the Edges

#fic list #requests open #writing requests #genshin impact x reader #arcane x reader #hazbin hotel x reader #helluva boss x reader #bungo stray dogs x reader #jujutsu kaisen x reader #bnha x reader #star wars x reader #critical role x reader #yuukoku no moriarty x reader #the arcana x reader #twisted wonderland x reader #vnc x reader #the witcher x reader #dc comics x reader #mcu x reader #kinktober

[toss-a-coin-to-your-stan-account]

no offense but some of you guys are going from "yeah they didn't style jaskier's hair very well from the looks of this trailer :/// not a good stylistic choice considering how well we've seen his long hair styled in other stuff" to "OH MY GOOOD LOOK HOW BIG THEY'RE MAKING HIS FOREHEAD LOOK THEYRE MAKING IT LOOK SO BIG" really fucking fast and really. from the bottom of my heart. gotta say. it's not it

#the problem is the stylists making his hair look flat & overironed instead of how great it could rlly look #not the fact that his forehead is big??? youre not even criticizing the stylists choice youre being fucking mean abt how someone just. #looks at that point. #mine #jaskier #the witcher #witcher #joey batey #i hope they keep it like that in future seasons out of spite for you dicks

[decaffeinateddonutmaker]

Devilman

#artists on tumblr #my policeman #stranger things #nov 5th #supernatural #the dragon prince #the owl house #the witcher #critical role #miraculous ladybug

[gabetheunknown]

I rewatched Brooklyn Nine Nine again and I can totally see Jaskier and Valdo interacting with each other like Wuntch and Holt

This has been living rent free in my head for the past weeks and I just had to draw it

Click for better quality, Tumblr likes to make it sucky <3

#I cannot draw horses and I will not take criticism thank you #I do what I want #my boyfriend upon seeing some panels: You convey emOTION #jaskier #valdo marx #the witcher #geralt of rivia #geralt #the witcher art #the witcher shitpost #comic #my art #gabe's art #brooklyn nine nine

[spielzeugkaiser]

[MASTERPOST]

Oh Jaskier... this is an awful winter for him. I think there are various things at play that would make Jaskier defensive. His track with father figures isn't the best, and while he firmly believes that there isn't anything shameful about what he's doing, he still feels like he isn't seen as anything different than a stupid omega, who can't provide properly for his child, who isn't a good parent- Meanwhile, if Vesemir threw the first stone, with his educational and disciplinary methodes...

#geralt of rivia #jaskier #vesemir #yennefer of vengerberg #geraskier #geraskier lovechild #omegaverse #blood tw #this is not how you want to meet your father in law #I keep thinking about how insufficent Jaskier feels as a parent sometimes #(and what that says about him that this is something that is one of his biggest worries) #and what Vesemir sees #a child that is well-fed #that gets bed time stories and toys #who gets his scraped knees kissed better #a child that was never beaten or slapped in his life - that has never experienced violence before #he has absolutely NOTHING to say #nothing to criticize #but Jaskier is out of his mind (understandably so) #(it might come across as slightly anti-witcherish with all the stories that exist about witcher stealing children) #(which Jaskier knows are bullshit that is not why he's reacting that way) #They'll have a lot to talk about! and for quite a while this explains why Jaskier didn't seek out Geralt #why WHY WHY did this story start to get plot it always happens and I can never manage to get it all in comic form gosh