Okay but modern AU where Jaskier greencard marries Geralt’s ex, Yennefer, who he kinda hates, because she’s in trouble and he can’t resist helping people and also plans to hold it over her (in a bantery kinda way) and thinks it’ll be funny to rub in Geralt’s face when he inevitably comes crawling back to Yennefer.
They pass the interview with almost zero prep because it turns out back when they were jealous rivals for Geralt’s attention they learned way too much about each other. Then they have (supposed) hate sex when they’re drunk because 1. why not? 2. they’re both curious and 3. they’re both still kinda pissed off at Geralt the booze make it seem like the perfect revenge.
Jaskier finds inexpressible amounts of glee in referring to Yennefer as his “ball and chain” and “old lady” and other unflattering nicknames for a spouse, and Yennefer enjoys ruining his every attempt at getting laid by waiting for him to make a pass, then storming up and slapping him and bursting into tears about him “ruining their marriage” by betraying his loving wife.
Then they sleep together again because neither of them is getting laid and they’ll each begrudgingly admit the other is good in bed (Yennefer says it’s the only time his incessant strumming is enjoyable).
Then the next thing they know they’re horrified to discover they’ve been in a committed sexual relationship with all the appearance of a romantic relationship for several months. They haven’t had a genuine fight since… well, Jaskier can’t remember. And Yennefer’s been at nearly every gig he’s played since they got married, and he’s got into a routine of giving her a foot rub when she drops onto the sofa after work, and the love song he wrote about her that was intended to annoy her has started to sound distressingly genuine no matter what he does, and Yennefer was terribly rude to Valdo when they ran into him and may or may not have keyed his car, and really, they’re better at being married than either of their parents were. They’re pretty good at being married full stop to be honest, and that’s when they’re not even trying.
And okay, so maybe he kinda doesn’t hate her after all. Maybe.
Writing this down to draw later but hear me out. Witcher Role reversal au but it’s with the trio. We have bard Geralt, witcher Yenn, and mage Jaskier.
Bard Geralt is selectively mute so he just plays his instruments really reallywell to earn coin
Yennefer instead of being sold is abandoned by her family and picked up by kaer morhen so nothing really changes from Geralts story
Jaskier on the other hand ohohohohoho. He’s a wild card. Never followed the rules of magic (you know he’d be mixing herbs) and was always really handy at it.
Jaskier came from a prestigious mage family so he’s been cocky about his skills since the start
Jaskier never struggled with the first spells like yennefer instead he was infuriating-ly good at them.
We’re ignoring that women can’t be Witchers here but early Witchers put yenn through the trials and we’re like “damn it worked?! Let’s do some more”
I want to think that yenn willingly went through the trials on the off chance her back could b fixed? The same way she did with the mage trials
And there’s all the word vomit I can muster. Expect reverse au art soon!!
Why Yennefer’s name isn’t Jennifer: (For English speaking fans of The Witcher):
This is petty but I just realized how few English speaking Witcher fans know this bit of trivia and so keep asking about certain character names.
The reason Yennefer’s name is spelt with a Y instead of a J in The Witcher is because the original Witcher novels were in Polish before being translated to English. In Polish and German the J (Jay) letter as we know it is called the Yacht (I spelt it like that for English language readers) so names like Jennifer, Johann, and Jasmine start with a “Yaa” sound instead of a “Jaa” in German and Polish.
There’s something similar with W names too, where we hear a “Wha” they’d pronounce with a “Vaa”. Wagner is pronounced as Vagner in Germany. Also an “e” at the end of a German name tends to make an “ah” sound. So names like Martha are spelt Marthe. (Thank you, Goethe’s Faust.)
The spelling of Yennefer’s name was changed to a Y so English speaking fans would know how it’s supposed to be pronounced. Jaskier’s name is kept with a J but pronounced with a “Y” because it’s not a common word in English, while Jennifer is already associated with a “Jaa” sound in our language. So to make sure the character’s name had the Polish pronunciation in English speaking countries, the spelling was with a Y. That’s why the character’s name is Yennefer (Yen for short) instead of Jennifer.
The i in Jennifer is also an E in Yennefer, this is also to retain Polish pronunciation.
Side note: Jaskier’s name is Dandelion in the video games and English language versions of the novels because Jaskier is actually Polish for “Buttercup.” Though Buttercup (Jaskier) is a perfectly common boy’s name in Polish, in the English speaking world it’s usually a girl’s name. I think the translators failed to realize that was kind of intentional as Jaskier IS a bit flamboyant. Oh, well. At least Dandelion has “Dandy” in it.
So to recap: Yennefer is Jennifer but the spelling was deliberately changed so English language fans would use the Polish pronunciation.
Jaskier (Yass-key-er) is the correct name for the Bard character in the original Polish novels and the Netflix TV show and it means “Buttercup.” But fear of it being “Too feminine” is why his name is Dandelion in the video games and English language version of the novels. They didn’t change his name “to” Jaskier for the Netflix show. They changed it back. Though, personally, I think they should just call him Buttercup, since that’s what Jaskier means and it’s how the Polish readers see his name.
Finally: Geralt’s horse. Roach is not named for the insect. Geralt’s horse (named Roach) is named for a common type of fish, similar to Tuna. He did not name his horse after the insect. He named his horse after a fish. It IS like naming your horse “Tuna” or “Sardine” or “anchovy.”
Also, though Polish isn’t actually a Germanic language (It’s actually Slavic) it does have certain pronunciation similarities, which is why I made so many German comparisons in this post.
Finally, the reason I created this post is I saw a comment on Facebook where someone legitimately thought she was called “Yennefer” to mock her childhood lisp. And I can tell you with certainty, no, that is not the case.
Remember that moment on the ship when Jaskier and Yennefer were talking? It just seems to me that there was such a special moment that is easy to overlook.
You know this thing when you feel driven, weak and desperate, but when there is someone weaker than you nearby, your brain and heart immediately turn on and want to be a protector for this someone and strength immediately comes from somewhere and you forget about your own weakness and fears.
So I feel that in addition to just the fact that Jaskier opened up to Yennefer, he also quietly helped her. He saw the state she was in and brought out his own weakness to give her back her strength and confidence, because he saw that she needed it. And it worked. It can be seen how Yennefer changed at the same moment, bristled inside and replied that we would find a new purpose, a better one.
I love this moment so much. It holds hope for both of them.
“And you find love, but it isn’t real, it’s just a wish someone made once before they even knew who you were.”
This breaks my heart for Yennefer, but it also surprised me a bit. I thought the mainsticking point of the djinn wish for her would be the loss of personal agency—something she’s fought for all her life. And I’m sure that’s also a big part of it. But here she’s talking about how Geralt made that wish before he even knew her, before he could’ve possibly loved her for who she really is. That’s something that Yennefer also deeply yearns for, that someone would look beyond her beauty and power and find her a worthwhile person to love. The fact that Geralt kept coming back to her over the years made her think that she might have found it. It must’ve been a bitter, bitter pill to swallow that he bound the two of them together before he knew anything real about her.
This is a really interesting analysis, and I find the flip side of it is actually really interesting too. Given that he couldn’t have known her long enough to love her for herself, why did Geralt use his last wish to bind their fates together? I mean, the obvious answer is he was trying to save her life, to protect her from the djinn’s wrath, but why? She had just almost got him killed and was in a mess of entirely her own making. The reason he gives to Jaskier is that he wants to save her because Yennefer saved Jaskier’s life, but he’s technically already paid her for that (albeit under magical compulsion) by punishing her enemies for her. She even says as much to Geralt when he comes back.
But I’d argue he was telling the truth when he said he couldn’t let her die. To me, I think he saw something in her he wanted to save, something worth saving. Not her beauty or her power–the things people have typically wanted from her–but her drive, her passion, her personality. He didn’t know her intimately, all her fears and failures or hopes and dreams, but, in that moment, whatever the actual wording of his wish, what he wanted was for her to stay in the world.
It couldn’t have been love that motivated him, they didn’t have the time for that to really develop, but I’d argue it was interest and compassion. But, oh, if someone said that to Yennefer, how much it would seem like just another way of saying control and pity!
#Regram from @mdavid_photography featuring @areesaurus at MAGFest in National Harbor, Maryland, USA ・・・ “Yet i did have my vengeance” - Ciri by @areesaurus . . . #ciri #cosplay #witcher3 #ciricosplay #witchercosplay #videogane #gamergirl #cirilla #yennefer #magfest (at MAGFest - Games on Film)
