Gerskier - Tumblr Posts

when the fic writer makes the human villain (who hurt the witcher's love interest) get killed with the silver sword because they're a "monster"

meta analysis of Extraordinary Things because I have no life

Keep your words on ice

Your gaze lights the fire.

Pretty straight forward, Geralt’s cold attitude and words combined with his gold, “fiery” eyes.

They say keep on playing nice

But I have no desire

This I feel like is a reference to his bisexuality, being told to conform to the typical standards of relationships, or perhaps to accept his nobility as it reflects on his romantic affairs. Play nice and keep in line. But that’s not who he is as a person and he has no desire to pretend like he’ll ever fit that mold.

Why waste our words

When lips were made

For extraordinary things

Fairly straightforward as well, he’s tired of the fancy wordplay and the double entendres of noble life. He doesn’t want to dance around the way he feels or conceal his emotions. Why waste time with talking around how you feel when you can simply accept it. Which is very fitting as he is very open with his romantic life.

It’s not a want, it’s a need

It is paying no heed

To what others say to sing

Another reference to his orientation, however I also feel like this might be a small reference to the line in Her Sweet Kiss “I’m weak my love, and I am wanting” which could be an indicator of his feelings for Geralt adapting and evolving over time. They’ve deepened into a need to simply be around Geralt, even if his role in Geralt’s life isn’t quite was he desires. Geralt matters just that much to him.

The greatest songs are made up

Of unspoken words of love

Okay this line I feel like is the most damning, but possibly not for the reasons people might think. There’s a lot of focus on the “unspoken words of love” section of this line, but I was more focused onto this reference of his music. He’s saying that of the songs he has written, he has embedded his love for Geralt in every line. In particular, the his romantic ballads. He keeps his love songs inconspicuous, switching around pronouns and never revealing a name. Those are expressions of his “unspoken works of love”.

Of them I’ve had enough

With you I have enough

With you I am enough

I am enough

This is where we get angsty. His tone gets defeated and exhausted singing this line. He’s tired of being so desperately in love with someone who will never be able to share that love in the same capacity. He’s had enough of feeling like he’ll never be enough. Radovid has made him feel like he can be enough for someone, but that’s not quite what he needs either (with unintentional foreshadowing to Radovid’s manipulation). He wants to be enough for himself, in his own right, without relying on other people’s perception of him.

Drop the sweet disguise

Your heart’s beating too loud

The fairytale’s and little lies

Can’t drown out all the sound

So I’ve seen this be translated as foreshadowing for him and Radovid’s relationship, but considering that he would have only known Radovid for a couple of days at best, I feel like this interpretation is a little too loose and abstract. We know he writes his ballads about events he’s experienced in his own life, and he doesn’t tend to write about abstract concepts or future events. I feel it’s more likely that this is a reflection of the fact that Jaskier very much knows that Geralt is aware of his feelings. We know that Geralt can canonly hear heartbeats. Jaskier knows that no matter how many pretty ballads he sings and excuses he gives, he can’t hide his feelings, and Geralt will never address them, whether to protect Jaskier’s emotions or their friendship. It’s a feeling of defeat and almost a bit of self-flagellation. Like he’s shaming himself for daring to have these feelings, using a slightly mocking tone while singing these lines.

So take this heart

And break this heart

For extraordinary things

In this, Jaskier is tossing aside these feelings. He’s willing to let his heart be broken and his hopes be dashed to be by Geralt’s side because he sees that Geralt has a destiny and a purpose. He’s willing to go through the pain of never having Geralt in the way he needs because he knows that Geralt has a greater purpose, and he’s devoting himself to seeing this purpose play out.

It’s not a want, it’s a need

It is paying no heed to what

Others say to sing

The greatest songs are made up

Of unspoken words of love

Of them I’ve had enough

With you I have enough

With you I am enough

I am

I am enough…

In short, I feel like this song is very clearly an expression of Jaskier’s feelings of hopelessness towards his relationship with Geralt. He’s desperately in love with a man who he knows in his heart that he will never be enough for, whether due to orientation or feeling like Geralt has a far greater purpose than Jaskier could ever hope to understand or fulfill. He wants desperately to be enough for someone, and to feel like anybody could be enough to fill the hole that Geralt has left inside him. Enter Radovid, who sees this weakness and immediately exploits it to his advantage. But my rant on the cinematography of the scene indicating Radovid’s calculated manipulation and Jaskier’s emotional vulnerability will come another day.

Thank you Joey Batey for another total masterpiece of a performance and a song that will haunt me till I die. 🥹💕