I'm checking in from a secluded spot at a lake near Kermoorhen.
The Witcher's Keep.
So as you might have discerned from the title, today I will talk a little bit about the Witcher games and books.
And before you ask, no, I have not watched the Netflix series for the simple reason that I don't want to be annoyed by it.
Because you know, if you have a good opinion on something, then you see a lot of forced diversity in it.
It destroys it.
I get annoyed.
And yeah, if I want to watch something nice, I don't want to be annoyed and have to overanalyze things.
So I'm just not going to watch it.
I'm just gonna continue enjoying the books.
So I'm halfway through now and that's enough for me to recommend the books and talk a bit about them.
Now first and foremost, I do recommend you to, if you have to choose between, you know, if you have a limited amount of time, I would recommend you playing the third game.
It's probably the best game I've ever played.
You know, it's just an injection of European folklore and mythology and aesthetics into it.
So the aesthetics of it is medieval Europe with mythology and folklore.
Absolutely love it.
Gain so much aesthetic inspiration from it.
So yeah, that is something I definitely recommend.
And what you get in the game that you don't really get in the books, of course, the aesthetics and the music and that feel.
But the books are very entertaining, very well written.
You know, they're classic and they're hit for a reason.
Now I would say though, before I begin to talk about more the two topics, which is racial relations and sexual morality, I would also mention that you don't really need to play the second Witcher game.
I haven't played the first game, but I don't think you should really play the second game unless you are a really hardcore fan.
I played it once, actually streamed it on Twitch.
It was actually five years ago I did that.
Shout out to all of you who were with me back then.
But that game is not even nearly on par with the third game.
So if you're gonna play one game, just play the third game.
And yeah, you're in for a treat.
Actually, on a second note, I think you can actually play the game if you have the time and opportunity.
And since many of you are actually in quarantine right now, I suppose you do have the time.
What I like with the second game is that they explore more of the racial tensions between the Squire Tel, which is the non-human gorilla, and the humans.
So you see this screenshot before you right now I took in the second game.
Yet race is the very reason we fight.
We have pointed ears, yours are rounded.
We are few, yet long-lived.
Your kind multiplies like vermin, though thankfully expires quickly.
So if you can't read the books, but you have access to the game, you can play the second game.
But the reason I don't necessarily recommend it is because gaming wise it is quite difficult in the sense that it's unsmooth, if that makes sense, whereas the third game is just a true pleasure in every way.
But yeah, play the second game if you want.
It deals more with the racial component of the series at least.
And even if you haven't played any video games earlier, you know, it's like you play a story.
It's not like you are playing a game, you play a story.
So yeah, great, absolutely great game.
The books.
There are two themes in the books that I thought would be particularly interesting to you, my dear audience.
First and foremost, perhaps the relation between humans and non-humans.
So the humans can be seen.
What I thought about was the Saxons and Welsh.
And you have non-humans, primarily the elves being Welsh, being driven off from their lands into the mountains, and the humans coming in a few centuries later to the continent and you know establishing kingdoms of their own.
They can be seen as Saxons.
Now of course as I said the aesthetics it's medieval, it's not migration era, but the sensation of it and especially since the elves they have Welsh names etc.
So that is the relation and then you have you know racism and discrimination in cities from humans against non-humans.
So you have that feel to it the entire time but it's not moralizing in that sense.
It's more about the witcher being in between the two.
So he is a human but he's also not a human because he's a mutant and you know he is viewed with suspicion.
So he is an outsider anyway.
So both in the games and the books you can stumble upon guys such as this who says the following readily you are a mutant, a freak, a useless relic of a bygone age that should be burned like a withered branch.
So as I said he's being viewed with mistrust by a lot of humans but he also has his profession, he's a witcher so he kills monsters to protect humanity basically.
That being said moving on to the second theme I'd like to discuss in regards to sexual morality.
Something to note as well in regards to the sorceresses is that they are infertile so therefore they can be promiscuous but you know some guys they will say that the witcher books promote degeneracy.
It doesn't really.
I found this really interesting quote in regards to Tris Marigold.
As far as her erotic life was concerned, Tris Marigold had a right to consider herself a typical enchantress.
It had begun with a sour taste of forbidden fruit, made all the more exciting by the strict rules of the academy and the prohibitions of the mistress under whom she practiced.
Then came her independence, freedom and a crazy promiscuity which ended as it usually does in bitterness, disillusionment And resignation.
Then followed a long period of loneliness.
So, you see, yeah, there is a lot of promiscuity in the books, but it's not seen as something good.
And the way it is written is quite crude in the language.
And I like that.
There's nothing fantastical about it.
It's very base human nature on display.
And that's also part of the charm of the books: that it's very, you know, gritty and filthy, like that.
And of course, you know, crudeness, sexuality goes into it.
But I wouldn't say it is something that hails up sexual decadence as something virtuous.
It's just there, just as plundering of villages.
It's there because that's how humans are in these situations.
So the sorcerer says they are promiscuous because they are infertile, basically.
Witchers are also infertile, applies to Gerald, of course, too.
So he doesn't really have that option to settle down and have a family.
So he and Jennifer have this sort of complicated relationship.
So those are two aspects that I thought were particularly interesting.
But it's not black and white, it's more like it's there and you know the characters are developed around it.
But it's not something he is not promoting tolerance for the sake of tolerance.
He also points out that in the cities where there are dwarves, elves, humans, they tend to stick to themselves.
Then pogroms and distrust and mistreatment appears because it does appear when humans live close to each other.
So it's not, you know, the moral of the story is not to be tolerant to outsiders.
It's more about you can view it at least.
You can view it as you know when you have different species or races living next to each other, there will be conflict.
Then, of course, if you want to interpret it as humans are being having prejudice and being mean to others, yeah, you can say that too.
It doesn't bother me in the list.
I think it's still a good, interesting thing.
And then also something I can say for both the books and the game is that there is a lot of gems in terms of societal issues and economics, etc. that you can appreciate, that I appreciate.
Invisible hand of the market, for example, just thrown in there for good measure.
It gives it a bit more mature feel to it.
And yeah, I sort of like that when you can pick up these small details.
And in terms of the books themselves, I said they were entertaining.
They are.
Dandelion is my favorite character, I would say.
Not that I relate to him, but I think it's fun when he just is himself basically.
So yeah, entertaining books, good stuff, definitely something I can recommend.
So yeah, that's my thoughts on The Witcher.
And again, if you haven't played The Witcher 3, you are missing out.
I'm actually replaying it now because I, as I said to you, I was going to do it when I hit 100,000 subscribers.
And yeah, it's long overdue, so I'm replaying it, but I'm not doing any Let's Plays because I just want to enjoy it by myself.
And because, well, you know, it takes a bit of time to make Let's Plays, and I would rather make book reviews instead.
I think that's more productive and more appealing to more people.
So anyway, I hope you're all staying safe in the quarantine and I hope you enjoyed this little talk along this fine lake.
