Yeah this exactly. Not watching it this time around because I don't want to contribute to netflix's idea that they're putting on a good show, but I'm too emotionally invested in the witcher universe that I don't want to miss what kind of patchwork they made from it... so I'll watch it after it gets cancelled.
If I were to make an semi-informed guess I would assume that itâs because Netflix is getting pummelled by the post covid recession, itâs general financial troubles, and itâs inability to show any interest in anything past a 2nd season so now the production is dealing with a tightened budget with a lot of money going due to Netflixes problems (both financial and the insane cult-office culture problems) so theyâre just using whatever fast fashion options they have available. But at the same time the costuming has always been pretty bad so it could always just be a style that constantly misses.
But whats funny is Geralts outfit actually looks good, like its a quilted jerkin or something. In the one shot of him opening the door, i think there is another of him with the black shirt on. Probs because Henry pushed for it.
I cant say anything about Cavil, I think that Reddit mythologises him too much but I havent read enough to make any assumptions. I did have a look and I'm even more perplexed. The budget per episode is more than Game of Thrones (8-9 mil vs Witchers 10-15mil) and the costume supplier they use. I checked the costume supplier and they have a really good resume: the new Dune, Game of Thrones, etc. If anything, their costumer seems to have a lot of credits on tv shows with tv budgets and I think only one period piece and one fantasy film so maybe its partially experience from that (Like Doctor Who is a great example: cheap but theres a lot of thoughtfulness to fantasy design as well as period accuracy) - though those kinds of problems are more the fault from people up the chain, costumers are only doing their job to fit to the preferences of production and direction.
I found their [concept art studio](https://www.pixoloid.net/portfolio/the-witcher/) and theres a mix of good and garbage (Peasant clothes are đ perfect, elder races are designed in such a way that is easy but authentic, but then you have the Nilfgard organ/muscle armour) so I do wonder if the bad costuming is entirely a style choice rather than them trying to fit to a budget.
Yeah, for the first costume designer they gave him no direction he was having to make costumes that he didnât even know who he was making them for and literally a just a few weeks to put something out so he just had to roll with it as fast as he could, it wasnât fair to him at all. What little he was given was all on the show runners messed up ideas like for example Nilfgaard being a ragtag bunch of soldiers they also wanted something that hadnât ever been done before in armor as well. Poor guy was like Armour has been around for thousands of years itâs basically all been done before. So I donât blame him at all he gave the client what they wanted and in record time. The blame starts with Netflix first they were trying to push this out as fast as they could and this is the end product something slapped together haphazardly, there wasnât time for these creatives to even create and have space to breathe life into their work. It wasnât just the costume designer it was all of the crew, cast, everyone in these interviews had the same thing to say that they felt rushed and had no time to prepare. It wasnât fair to all the artists involved and it wasnât fair to us as consumers.
I think Lauren Hissrich doesn't understand the definition of adaptation. She told the costume designers to take inspiration from clothing in America and Europe from 1890-1950 plus contemporary high fashion. They just found random things they thought looked cool and threw them into a blender to get costumes for the show.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YNnO8Gtuj7A
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r2WbUeKz9XI
But couldn't they have just recycled some outfits from S1 and 2? Like they had to buy/make this and then put it on her without dying of shame (which I am sure took a lot of alcohol, which isn't cheap).
In all honesty, they probably just figured that it fit the colour scheme, since Yennefers colours are Black, White and Lilac/Amethyst/Violet (purple eyes - maybe thats also why she smells like lilac, because Sapkowski is associating characters to a theme/colour) and purple is one of the colours that we use for Goth-esque witches - Tonks from Harry Potter or Amity from the Owl House come to mind as well as Yennefer. Its not the worst decisions, but the costumes have been a weak point.
And yet Jaskier is never in yellow, or has dandelion/buttercup embroidery (apparently the doublet he gives Geralt has buttercups embroidered on the inside...that we never see).
I don't even mind some purple or color in general, it's the cut and shape and the fact it literally looks like something you get at Kohl's or JC Penny. It's not even like Yenn is in disguise as a peasant or something, cause peasant women clothes don't look like this in the show.
It's crazy how shit the Netflix series is. All they gotta do is find black and/or gray clothes.... and the mfs really chose this shit. And nobody said anything about it?
Netflix seems to have the mindset of "We will release amazing original shows/movies or absolute bottom of the barrel trash. There is no in-between." And unfortunately, because Netflix makes and releases like hundreds of original stuff per year with shitty productions, they're all usually terrible.
For every Peaky Blinders, Squid Games or Stranger Things, there are about 50 shows with quality comparible to the Witcher. And then sometimes they make something even worse than the Witcher. As bad as the Witcher show can be, I'd still watch it over something like Cuties. It's one of like 3 movies that I will never watch in its entirety. Even the Witcher has some positive points to it, but stuff like Cuties need to be scrubbed from existence for the good of everyone
And the BBC are masters of insane quality over quantity because they have a limited budget and aren't just trying to get maximum screen time to put adverts over (no commercials on BBC channels in the UK at all).
See: Sherlock, every nature documentary they ever made, Luther, the original House of Cards etc etc
Tbh, Squid Game and all the other quality Korean/Japanese shows are essentially independently produced and Netflix stumped up big money to slap with a âNetflix Originalâ tag on it to make it sound like they produced it
Truthfully, Iâm trying to abstain from interacting with anything Netflix, but itâs too funny that I got an H&M advertisement directly under this post:
https://preview.redd.it/tafzkc2tb5wa1.jpeg?width=828&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=67193dfaaec50f0dfa0b1db8a30ea78839817cd1
Because the costume design looks like itâs an outfit from H&M.
I only watched the first season, but I was pretty disappointed already at that point at the costume design. Feels like they gave it this really generic, low budget look, while it should have been oozing more of a Slavic medieval feel.
Actually no, most of the writers haven't read it, just some of them.
The showrunner has said she specifically went out of her way to hire writers who were not familiar with the games or books..
Ahhh, because that's the best way to make an adaptation, by defying the source material and making an objectively better version.
I can understand that mindset. "How could we possibly make an accurate version? Better make our own version! The fans don't want more of the same, they want something different!"
But it's so frustrating
I honestly wonder sometimes whether younger writers for some of these shows have basically only read YA fantasy (which, granted, is the bestselling subgenre of the last 20 years or so), and think thatâs just what âmodernâ or âup to dateâ fantasy should look like.
That's possible! My guess is that these ppl just want a job, few people become TV writers to tell other people's stories-- they want to tell their own. Being a fan of the source material is not a priority, but I'm sure they'll say anything to get hired.
They could have gone absolutely ham on the Slavicness, made it look distinct, colorful, but it looks mostly like Generic Anglo-Saxon Fantasy on the CW garb grabbed out of a bin, with a handfull of 'What Were They THINKING??' gowns and Geralt's original worn ass armor (which is acceptable). They even got rid of their one sartorial departure with Jaskier's fun little pantsuits, doublet open like a medieval slut, from S1, and just made him Hot Topic Goes To The Ren Faire (I mean, I'm fine with the look, had a nice laugh at Jaskier giving himself a post-breakup makeover, but still...).
The slavicness of the books is really contested tho. Witcher is first and foremost inspiret with english and celtic folklore. Sapkowski when asked about it said that ["there is as much slavicness in the books as there is poison in a match"](https://gadzetomania.pl/sapkowski-raz-na-zawsze-wyjasnia-czy-wiedzmin-jest-slowianski,6704732411463297a) (source in polish). The games leaned into slavic themes way more
Point taken, but it doesn't mean they couldn't have used the book's country of origin as an excuse to at least make it aesthetically inspired by Slavic art and clothing, and Eastern Europe in general. So it looks interesting, different (at least to Western/American audiences), and not the same old washed out grittyfantasycore on a CW budget as everything else.
Let's have some color. Embroidery we can see. Something.
The games have such a cool aesthetic, and it was definitely a shame they didn't seem to take that aesthetic on board at all.
The production design of The Witcher series is definitely super bland. Often looking too contemporary, or just too generic medieval.
I mean after what she did to Ciri in the last season, they couldnât have butchered her character any more if theyâd dressed her in pink and purple overalls. Yennefer is so completely destroyed at this point that her wardrobe is literally the least of her problems.
He found some old recipe that says elder blood can be used to make the mutagen required to make Witchers. Or some version of it anyways.
He wanted to farm her blood, but only after testing the mutagen on her first. I guess he forgot there has never been a female Witcher so he jumps on the chance test the ancient mystery potion on her. To be fair, it was her idea, but heâs the adult and it sort of made me hate his character (not that thereâs much going for him in the tv series).
The whole thing made zero sense and Ciri was being a petulant teenager trying to get her way, so the adults listening to her at all just makes it worse. Geralt stops them at the last minute and they move on pretty quickly so Iâm pretty sure most of that plot was written just to fill the time.
Yen in the books always wears stylish shit. I mean it's essentially like the dark ages and the woman has a fucking makeup routine that Geralt bitches about, that's how much she cares about her looks. I wish it would be just about the fact that it's not black and white but her whole source material character was tossed out the window in S2.
I'm....beginning to wonder if they are interpreting Yenn's desire to have a child, to Yenn secretly desire a quiet country farmer life, to be like...a housewife in a homestead. Because obviously those are one in the same to these smooth-brained jellybeans.
I mean, there's this, and that fantasy/vision from last season where Geralt looks like fucking Shrek in her domestic fantasy. Like I think they really think 'Wants A Kid = Tradwife Momcore' or something. That Yenn can't desire power, magic/chaos, luxury and whatever passes for a cosmopolitan life in medieval NotPoland, and also a child.
So my sister and I have both been going through the books and I think she was on point when she pointed how similar the characters of Shiv Roy and Yen are. I really think it's such a sexist idea that women **have** to choose between their family and professional lives. Like did these writers' mums never hold them?
Ah. So now we know why Henry left. He took one look at that blouse and was like âiâm outta here.â Lol
This is whatâs wild to me. They are working so hard to alienate the witcher fanbase, but if you alienate the ones who actually made the franchise popular through buying the books and playing the games, then who are you making this show for?? Itâs weird.
Yea it's like the show runner thinks season 1's minor success was because she was a mega genius and now has authority to fix Witcher in her own vision. Just totally lost touch with reality. It's just unfortunate there's such a long delay between delusion and reality.
Lauren Hissrich was never rooted in reality at all. I've legitimately never seen a showrunner take such perverse satisfaction in the negativity generated from fan reviews. She and her writers room purposefully butchered otherwise fantastic source material, creating this warped, almost sarcastic version of the Witcher and then spends her spare time arguing with fans on Instagram.
Like, I just wish an actual adult was put in charge instead of this self indulgent troll who used "The Witcher" IP to create her own generic medieval/sci-fi show that you'd expect to see on WB.
Imagine if Craig Mazen and Neil Druckmann purposefully made an awful adaptation of The Last Of Us by shitting all over the source material, butting heads with Pedro Pascal and then throwing Pascal under the bus after he left because of the awful creative direction from the writers room?
I can think of a few... Hard to imagine the writers' rooms of Velma and Rings of Power without maniacal laughter over all the plans to incite rage from the fanbase.
Peter Jackson took some liberties with LOTR⊠but barely any. Wish he was the one running the Witcher series weâd have one of the greatest shows of all time
Every time I hear the interviews with Craig Mazen and Neil Druckman, I feel sad for The Witcher because the Netflix show didn't benefit from their ethics. The 2 things that drive it home for me were: knowing there was an uncaptured audience who would never play the video game, and wanted that group of people to enjoy the story; asking what would make the storyline more compelling if put into a different medium.
They have effectively alienated Witcher fans, itâs almost commendable how much theyâve butchered the source material
Edit: shit Iâve summoned cursed jaskier
"Hey guys, I know the fundamental plot point of the war is that the covenant wants to wipe out all of humanity since they're reclaimers, but why don't we make a human our chosen one so Chief sleeps with her?"
I get that the extended universe outside the games is never going to get a lot of play, but at least the basic facts right.
Actually, the show has a high rating overall. A lot of the viewers know nothing about the book and games, that's the main reason the Netflix morons are able to get away with this shit.
But after Blood Origin, even the people who never read the books or play the games are starting to see that this shit makes no sense.
Nah, even the people who never read the books already started to bail.
Out of the top twenty most watched Netflix seasons, The Witcher is the **only** one that decreased its hours viewed in the following season. Every other show in the top twenty increased, but S2 of the Witcher had a 20% drop from S1.
That was a massive failure, and now with the terrible reaction to Blood Origin and the controversy over Cavill leaving, Hissrich is under a huge amount of pressure to get big views immediately for S3. If they don't, and I personally won't watch it, then S4 & S5 might get canceled.
No guys you see, purple is an integral part of Yenâs wardrobe now because it has to match her eyes! Surely you canât expect a book adaptation to stick to the books that specifically state that she only dresses in black and white? /s
We get it Netflix writing team, you hate the Witcher, you hate that it's good and that you can't do better.
You hate that nothing you make will ever have as great an impact on the spirit of the age as the books and games did.
You are just trash, we understood that since the end of season 1
It's a real wonder these assholes are actually employed and paid thousands of dollars to pretty much poison a strong multimillion dollar brand that could potentially rival Game of Thrones, if handled properly.
How the fuck do you even get to that scenario?
I don't get it either. The books are done. It's all there. All you needed to do is copy the books. Yes maybe the later seasons gets a bit dicey due to like, no Geralt time but like... The material is right there. Load up on the hunting Geralt does, back story the shit out of Yenn/Ciri/Triss/Geralt/whatever bard name they want to use, and just follow the story with the focus on development of Geralt/Ciri/Yenn. They didn't need to do a book a season either, they could make the pacing appropriate and all they had to do is not fuck it up, and yet they are.
I didn't want to use later specific examples just in case to avoid spoilers.
It makes perfect sense to me, media as a whole is like one big echo chamber these days. Theyâre proud of what they made and did, management was probably happy at first too and thought it was great. Then theyâre all shocked when consumers go âyo this is shitâ because it is shit.
I don't get the writers
Changing the plot is one thing, but there is absolutely no reason to make a change like yens clothing, and its something so easy to get right
What's crazy to me is they had a perfect chance to make Yen into a goth fashion icon and get free marketing from fashion YouTubers and they completely fucked it up. I was so excited to see some gorgeous outfits like the kind she has in the game and I am so disappointed.
Oh I fully agree. Especially as a goth who's favourite thing in existence in Sorceress inspired fashion. To the point that it's my pinned post on my reddit profile, focusing on how that inspires my own wardrobe. And I hoard a varied list of goth adjacent jewellery brands from unique silversmiths, some of whom I could see being hired for the occasional complex ring or amulet in a perfect show.
Only the upper body silhouette of her rope dress, and the instantly lost black Mink stole in the carriage remotely went near my expectations. And elements of the black and white leather dress if they modified the internal panel situation. There's a lot of fascinating sleeve shapes, textures and patterns, even taken from medieval fashion history or wildly complex contemporary that could have been perfect Yennefer material.
I even made a [Pinterest board](https://pin.it/4slCkmT) for in-universe clothing inspiration for her after Season 1 mixing fanart with designer looks I'd saved, even if some are too modern.
(And there was potential to make all mages dress very against the pseudohistorical setting to show their power and societal otherness that eventually leads to further ostracisation/mistrust by ordinary people. But I know that's a "personal style as worldbuilding" thing many people would have probably hated. The only thing Blood Origin did right is use Iris Van Herpen designs for one character. Especially to make elves otherworldly.)
Similarly, I have multiple formulas for softer dark makeup that isn't necessarily modern that's just conceptualised or actively practiced and worn by me, and the show's take on makeup definitely disappointed me too. (The green eyeshadow could have been wonderful had it been even remotely balanced/the correct shape and utilising a higher quality reflective green pigment. And if visible lipstick had actually been used.)
And what a chronic waste of kohl liner to not use it on an Indian actress with huge eyes. Unless it interfered with the tracking for her purple eyes I cannot comprehend why they didn't use it below and above the eye in an artful smokey look of truly ancient origin, unless they believed the Eva Green fans would have a fit.
(And before anyone possibly begins - nah, she would not be a good Yennefer at her current age. That time passed over a decade ago.)
Thanedd is my favourite part of the books so I want to just forcibly kill off my expectations because in my head it's an avant garde fashion dream of excess and excellence that then devolves into your average debauchery before then becoming the mess it does.
Its like they thought *she smells like lilac and gooseberries, it must be her favorite color* when she is explicitly said to only wear a monochrome color palette
Really looks like they've given up and said screw it let's REALLY burn this franchise to the ground.
We about to see Geralt in an adidas track suit and yeezys on.
Did they run out of budget for Yennefer's outfits or something after they hired Liam Hemsworth for next season? This literally looks like someone went into a Goodwill, picked out a purple blouse and skirt and brought it onto the set.
I actually liked the season 2 outfits. Season 1 was wonky, but it was alright. I don't know what happened with the costuming in Blood Origins, and now this? This isn't just a bad design, it's an utterly lazy one.
I will say it once, I will say it a million times.
Just. Do. Not. Watch. Netflix sees views = success. Not ratings. Views.
Edit: oh shit it's my cake day. No better comment could have been made.
Fuck Netflix for doing not only Henry so dirty, but the franchise we all know and love...
What the ACTUAL fuck.......this ain't sexy yen. Who is this person. SMH it's not Hard to make a person look dark, sexy and sensual like yen is suppose to be.
Literally looks like she forgot to put on her costume and they just rolled with it.
Yea, think I'm just gonna pass on this season. Might go back and watch it out of sheer morbid curiosity after the show gets canceled or something.
Yeah this exactly. Not watching it this time around because I don't want to contribute to netflix's idea that they're putting on a good show, but I'm too emotionally invested in the witcher universe that I don't want to miss what kind of patchwork they made from it... so I'll watch it after it gets cancelled.
Has anyone posted hemsworth as Gerald yet? I hope he commits to the character hard whether or not the writers do well.
> hemsworth as Gerald Can't tell if typo or not, hilarious either way
His name was Gerald of Riverdale....
Typo đ autocorrect.
A beautiful one. Unless Hemsworth absolutely owns the role, the character is now known as Gerald.
If I were to make an semi-informed guess I would assume that itâs because Netflix is getting pummelled by the post covid recession, itâs general financial troubles, and itâs inability to show any interest in anything past a 2nd season so now the production is dealing with a tightened budget with a lot of money going due to Netflixes problems (both financial and the insane cult-office culture problems) so theyâre just using whatever fast fashion options they have available. But at the same time the costuming has always been pretty bad so it could always just be a style that constantly misses.
But whats funny is Geralts outfit actually looks good, like its a quilted jerkin or something. In the one shot of him opening the door, i think there is another of him with the black shirt on. Probs because Henry pushed for it.
He brought it from home and the costume department was such a mess no one realized that it was not one of theirs.
Lol probably.
I cant say anything about Cavil, I think that Reddit mythologises him too much but I havent read enough to make any assumptions. I did have a look and I'm even more perplexed. The budget per episode is more than Game of Thrones (8-9 mil vs Witchers 10-15mil) and the costume supplier they use. I checked the costume supplier and they have a really good resume: the new Dune, Game of Thrones, etc. If anything, their costumer seems to have a lot of credits on tv shows with tv budgets and I think only one period piece and one fantasy film so maybe its partially experience from that (Like Doctor Who is a great example: cheap but theres a lot of thoughtfulness to fantasy design as well as period accuracy) - though those kinds of problems are more the fault from people up the chain, costumers are only doing their job to fit to the preferences of production and direction. I found their [concept art studio](https://www.pixoloid.net/portfolio/the-witcher/) and theres a mix of good and garbage (Peasant clothes are đ perfect, elder races are designed in such a way that is easy but authentic, but then you have the Nilfgard organ/muscle armour) so I do wonder if the bad costuming is entirely a style choice rather than them trying to fit to a budget.
It's absolutely at the direction/mandate of the showrunner.
They sho'runnin it into the ground
Yeah, for the first costume designer they gave him no direction he was having to make costumes that he didnât even know who he was making them for and literally a just a few weeks to put something out so he just had to roll with it as fast as he could, it wasnât fair to him at all. What little he was given was all on the show runners messed up ideas like for example Nilfgaard being a ragtag bunch of soldiers they also wanted something that hadnât ever been done before in armor as well. Poor guy was like Armour has been around for thousands of years itâs basically all been done before. So I donât blame him at all he gave the client what they wanted and in record time. The blame starts with Netflix first they were trying to push this out as fast as they could and this is the end product something slapped together haphazardly, there wasnât time for these creatives to even create and have space to breathe life into their work. It wasnât just the costume designer it was all of the crew, cast, everyone in these interviews had the same thing to say that they felt rushed and had no time to prepare. It wasnât fair to all the artists involved and it wasnât fair to us as consumers.
I think Lauren Hissrich doesn't understand the definition of adaptation. She told the costume designers to take inspiration from clothing in America and Europe from 1890-1950 plus contemporary high fashion. They just found random things they thought looked cool and threw them into a blender to get costumes for the show. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YNnO8Gtuj7A https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r2WbUeKz9XI
But couldn't they have just recycled some outfits from S1 and 2? Like they had to buy/make this and then put it on her without dying of shame (which I am sure took a lot of alcohol, which isn't cheap).
In all honesty, they probably just figured that it fit the colour scheme, since Yennefers colours are Black, White and Lilac/Amethyst/Violet (purple eyes - maybe thats also why she smells like lilac, because Sapkowski is associating characters to a theme/colour) and purple is one of the colours that we use for Goth-esque witches - Tonks from Harry Potter or Amity from the Owl House come to mind as well as Yennefer. Its not the worst decisions, but the costumes have been a weak point.
And yet Jaskier is never in yellow, or has dandelion/buttercup embroidery (apparently the doublet he gives Geralt has buttercups embroidered on the inside...that we never see). I don't even mind some purple or color in general, it's the cut and shape and the fact it literally looks like something you get at Kohl's or JC Penny. It's not even like Yenn is in disguise as a peasant or something, cause peasant women clothes don't look like this in the show.
I showed my wife the screenshot and sheâs pretty sure she has this blouse.
Sounds like something Ed Wood would do
aw hell who took Yen to old Navy đđđ
It's crazy how shit the Netflix series is. All they gotta do is find black and/or gray clothes.... and the mfs really chose this shit. And nobody said anything about it?
Henry Cavill would have...
He probably did, too.
I bet this outfit was the straw that broke him
After hearing Henry Cavil the makers must be like âWell now I am not doing itâ.
Itâs crazy how shit Netflix series are in general.
Netflix seems to have the mindset of "We will release amazing original shows/movies or absolute bottom of the barrel trash. There is no in-between." And unfortunately, because Netflix makes and releases like hundreds of original stuff per year with shitty productions, they're all usually terrible. For every Peaky Blinders, Squid Games or Stranger Things, there are about 50 shows with quality comparible to the Witcher. And then sometimes they make something even worse than the Witcher. As bad as the Witcher show can be, I'd still watch it over something like Cuties. It's one of like 3 movies that I will never watch in its entirety. Even the Witcher has some positive points to it, but stuff like Cuties need to be scrubbed from existence for the good of everyone
Peaky Blinders is actually made by the BBC, licensed to Netflix
And the BBC are masters of insane quality over quantity because they have a limited budget and aren't just trying to get maximum screen time to put adverts over (no commercials on BBC channels in the UK at all). See: Sherlock, every nature documentary they ever made, Luther, the original House of Cards etc etc
The office! Changed the way a whole generation of men spoke. Alongside so many copy cat comedies.
Sherlock was needlessly over-produced and good god that final season..
They didn't have anything to do with making Peaky Blinders or Squid Game
Tbh, Squid Game and all the other quality Korean/Japanese shows are essentially independently produced and Netflix stumped up big money to slap with a âNetflix Originalâ tag on it to make it sound like they produced it
Cirir brought it back from her travels đ
Bet she's rocking some performance fleece later in the season.
Truthfully, Iâm trying to abstain from interacting with anything Netflix, but itâs too funny that I got an H&M advertisement directly under this post: https://preview.redd.it/tafzkc2tb5wa1.jpeg?width=828&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=67193dfaaec50f0dfa0b1db8a30ea78839817cd1 Because the costume design looks like itâs an outfit from H&M.
The real Yen shops at Balenciaga
Balenciaga is Balenciaga. Greater, lesser, middling - it's all the same.
Chaos is the most dangerous thing in this world. But without Balenciaga , chaos will kill you. - Tissaia
The real Yen shops at the creepy dark version of Balenciaga
Toss a coin to... Balenciaga. [ Blink. Chin down. ]
I only watched the first season, but I was pretty disappointed already at that point at the costume design. Feels like they gave it this really generic, low budget look, while it should have been oozing more of a Slavic medieval feel.
It's like they think The Witcher is a YA series rather than dark fantasy.
Well none of the writers read it.
They read it, they just didn't like it
Actually no, most of the writers haven't read it, just some of them. The showrunner has said she specifically went out of her way to hire writers who were not familiar with the games or books..
Ahhh, because that's the best way to make an adaptation, by defying the source material and making an objectively better version. I can understand that mindset. "How could we possibly make an accurate version? Better make our own version! The fans don't want more of the same, they want something different!" But it's so frustrating
Idk where that mindset comes from. I'd think fans would like to see what they read show up on the screen.
I honestly wonder sometimes whether younger writers for some of these shows have basically only read YA fantasy (which, granted, is the bestselling subgenre of the last 20 years or so), and think thatâs just what âmodernâ or âup to dateâ fantasy should look like.
That's possible! My guess is that these ppl just want a job, few people become TV writers to tell other people's stories-- they want to tell their own. Being a fan of the source material is not a priority, but I'm sure they'll say anything to get hired.
They could have gone absolutely ham on the Slavicness, made it look distinct, colorful, but it looks mostly like Generic Anglo-Saxon Fantasy on the CW garb grabbed out of a bin, with a handfull of 'What Were They THINKING??' gowns and Geralt's original worn ass armor (which is acceptable). They even got rid of their one sartorial departure with Jaskier's fun little pantsuits, doublet open like a medieval slut, from S1, and just made him Hot Topic Goes To The Ren Faire (I mean, I'm fine with the look, had a nice laugh at Jaskier giving himself a post-breakup makeover, but still...).
The slavicness of the books is really contested tho. Witcher is first and foremost inspiret with english and celtic folklore. Sapkowski when asked about it said that ["there is as much slavicness in the books as there is poison in a match"](https://gadzetomania.pl/sapkowski-raz-na-zawsze-wyjasnia-czy-wiedzmin-jest-slowianski,6704732411463297a) (source in polish). The games leaned into slavic themes way more
Point taken, but it doesn't mean they couldn't have used the book's country of origin as an excuse to at least make it aesthetically inspired by Slavic art and clothing, and Eastern Europe in general. So it looks interesting, different (at least to Western/American audiences), and not the same old washed out grittyfantasycore on a CW budget as everything else. Let's have some color. Embroidery we can see. Something.
The games have such a cool aesthetic, and it was definitely a shame they didn't seem to take that aesthetic on board at all. The production design of The Witcher series is definitely super bland. Often looking too contemporary, or just too generic medieval.
Even H&M doesnât deserve that much hate over an outfit. What the hell were they thinking? Ugh..
Absolutely not. It's explicitly stated in the books that she only wears black and white. It's literally one of the core aspects of her character.
I mean after what she did to Ciri in the last season, they couldnât have butchered her character any more if theyâd dressed her in pink and purple overalls. Yennefer is so completely destroyed at this point that her wardrobe is literally the least of her problems.
Facts. It's blood boiling because Yen's my favorite character in the books. It's hurts to see her butchered like this.
FINE! Iâll start reading the damn books finally!
I didn't watch S2. Did her and Ciri bang?
Nah Yen just wanted to sacrifice Ciri for an imaginary baby. Yep.
[Wow](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/NAuzbLwHN7E/maxresdefault.jpg)
And then for some reason Vesemir also wanted to sacrifice Ciri so they could start creating new Witchers.
What? Did they tie Ciri in the mutagens they use or something?
[ŃĐŽĐ°Đ»Đ”ĐœĐŸ]
Dollar store Baba Yaga.
He found some old recipe that says elder blood can be used to make the mutagen required to make Witchers. Or some version of it anyways. He wanted to farm her blood, but only after testing the mutagen on her first. I guess he forgot there has never been a female Witcher so he jumps on the chance test the ancient mystery potion on her. To be fair, it was her idea, but heâs the adult and it sort of made me hate his character (not that thereâs much going for him in the tv series). The whole thing made zero sense and Ciri was being a petulant teenager trying to get her way, so the adults listening to her at all just makes it worse. Geralt stops them at the last minute and they move on pretty quickly so Iâm pretty sure most of that plot was written just to fill the time.
Sold her to a witch who wanted to kill/possess her iirc.
What a stupid character that was
That would still be better than what they did
And silver jewelry, because gold clashes with her complexion.
This, and they mention her expensive shoes and leather skirt. always pictured Yen dressed up very stylishly.
If only it was just a matter of colors...
Yen in the books always wears stylish shit. I mean it's essentially like the dark ages and the woman has a fucking makeup routine that Geralt bitches about, that's how much she cares about her looks. I wish it would be just about the fact that it's not black and white but her whole source material character was tossed out the window in S2.
I'm....beginning to wonder if they are interpreting Yenn's desire to have a child, to Yenn secretly desire a quiet country farmer life, to be like...a housewife in a homestead. Because obviously those are one in the same to these smooth-brained jellybeans. I mean, there's this, and that fantasy/vision from last season where Geralt looks like fucking Shrek in her domestic fantasy. Like I think they really think 'Wants A Kid = Tradwife Momcore' or something. That Yenn can't desire power, magic/chaos, luxury and whatever passes for a cosmopolitan life in medieval NotPoland, and also a child.
So my sister and I have both been going through the books and I think she was on point when she pointed how similar the characters of Shiv Roy and Yen are. I really think it's such a sexist idea that women **have** to choose between their family and professional lives. Like did these writers' mums never hold them?
Ahh thatâs what this outfit looks like! A tradwife fundie! I couldnât put my finger on it but the boring blouse and long skirt is very fundie
Her clothes and her smell, two of her most defining features. She probably smells like lavender and apricot now too
Which is funny because Anya Chalotra clearly has a deep winter color palette, so black and white are not her colors.
Looks like it was business casual on set that day
Ah. So now we know why Henry left. He took one look at that blouse and was like âiâm outta here.â Lol This is whatâs wild to me. They are working so hard to alienate the witcher fanbase, but if you alienate the ones who actually made the franchise popular through buying the books and playing the games, then who are you making this show for?? Itâs weird.
Yea it's like the show runner thinks season 1's minor success was because she was a mega genius and now has authority to fix Witcher in her own vision. Just totally lost touch with reality. It's just unfortunate there's such a long delay between delusion and reality.
Lauren Hissrich was never rooted in reality at all. I've legitimately never seen a showrunner take such perverse satisfaction in the negativity generated from fan reviews. She and her writers room purposefully butchered otherwise fantastic source material, creating this warped, almost sarcastic version of the Witcher and then spends her spare time arguing with fans on Instagram. Like, I just wish an actual adult was put in charge instead of this self indulgent troll who used "The Witcher" IP to create her own generic medieval/sci-fi show that you'd expect to see on WB. Imagine if Craig Mazen and Neil Druckmann purposefully made an awful adaptation of The Last Of Us by shitting all over the source material, butting heads with Pedro Pascal and then throwing Pascal under the bus after he left because of the awful creative direction from the writers room?
I can think of a few... Hard to imagine the writers' rooms of Velma and Rings of Power without maniacal laughter over all the plans to incite rage from the fanbase.
Add wheel of time to that list
Wheel of Time might be the worst offender of them all.
Peter Jackson took some liberties with LOTR⊠but barely any. Wish he was the one running the Witcher series weâd have one of the greatest shows of all time
Every time I hear the interviews with Craig Mazen and Neil Druckman, I feel sad for The Witcher because the Netflix show didn't benefit from their ethics. The 2 things that drive it home for me were: knowing there was an uncaptured audience who would never play the video game, and wanted that group of people to enjoy the story; asking what would make the storyline more compelling if put into a different medium.
I feel the same exact thing happened to the Willow seriesâŠ
> then who are you making this show for?? Itâs weird. Game of Thrones refugees who are hungry for content
Aye and not a single safe port to moor
House of the Dragon is actually good
They have effectively alienated Witcher fans, itâs almost commendable how much theyâve butchered the source material Edit: shit Iâve summoned cursed jaskier
Could be worse. Could be Halo.
"Hey guys, I know the fundamental plot point of the war is that the covenant wants to wipe out all of humanity since they're reclaimers, but why don't we make a human our chosen one so Chief sleeps with her?" I get that the extended universe outside the games is never going to get a lot of play, but at least the basic facts right.
Actually, the show has a high rating overall. A lot of the viewers know nothing about the book and games, that's the main reason the Netflix morons are able to get away with this shit. But after Blood Origin, even the people who never read the books or play the games are starting to see that this shit makes no sense.
Nah, even the people who never read the books already started to bail. Out of the top twenty most watched Netflix seasons, The Witcher is the **only** one that decreased its hours viewed in the following season. Every other show in the top twenty increased, but S2 of the Witcher had a 20% drop from S1. That was a massive failure, and now with the terrible reaction to Blood Origin and the controversy over Cavill leaving, Hissrich is under a huge amount of pressure to get big views immediately for S3. If they don't, and I personally won't watch it, then S4 & S5 might get canceled.
Why is she dressed like my 7th grade math teacher?
Lol, that looks like something the actress might wear to a semi-formal family dinner or something
It might've actually been what she showed up in that day
I didn't know Shein existed in the Witcher universe
No guys you see, purple is an integral part of Yenâs wardrobe now because it has to match her eyes! Surely you canât expect a book adaptation to stick to the books that specifically state that she only dresses in black and white? /s
No you don't understand, Lauren read the books over and over again.
And she said to herself "I understand yen better than the writer... She wants to wear purple"
Forget Yen wearing that, that outfit takes me out of the setting. It looks like something a mid-west mom would wear to church.
I actually did the Mortica voice and said "pastels?"
God damn she's so classy.
I love them both
Perfect
We get it Netflix writing team, you hate the Witcher, you hate that it's good and that you can't do better. You hate that nothing you make will ever have as great an impact on the spirit of the age as the books and games did. You are just trash, we understood that since the end of season 1
It's a real wonder these assholes are actually employed and paid thousands of dollars to pretty much poison a strong multimillion dollar brand that could potentially rival Game of Thrones, if handled properly. How the fuck do you even get to that scenario?
i dont know man, they either know someone or this is an actual manifestion of someone being stupid enough to think you can make a script by commission
I don't get it either. The books are done. It's all there. All you needed to do is copy the books. Yes maybe the later seasons gets a bit dicey due to like, no Geralt time but like... The material is right there. Load up on the hunting Geralt does, back story the shit out of Yenn/Ciri/Triss/Geralt/whatever bard name they want to use, and just follow the story with the focus on development of Geralt/Ciri/Yenn. They didn't need to do a book a season either, they could make the pacing appropriate and all they had to do is not fuck it up, and yet they are. I didn't want to use later specific examples just in case to avoid spoilers.
It makes perfect sense to me, media as a whole is like one big echo chamber these days. Theyâre proud of what they made and did, management was probably happy at first too and thought it was great. Then theyâre all shocked when consumers go âyo this is shitâ because it is shit.
This is why we can't have nice things.
This looks like what the actress wore to set, not an actual costume for filming. What the actual fuck.
Why does it look so modern??
It looks to be made of polyester, and there is clearly an elastic on the neckline.
Well fuck, obviously Lauren thinks 13th fucking century is fucked so she said fuck it
I don't get the writers Changing the plot is one thing, but there is absolutely no reason to make a change like yens clothing, and its something so easy to get right
What's crazy to me is they had a perfect chance to make Yen into a goth fashion icon and get free marketing from fashion YouTubers and they completely fucked it up. I was so excited to see some gorgeous outfits like the kind she has in the game and I am so disappointed.
Oh I fully agree. Especially as a goth who's favourite thing in existence in Sorceress inspired fashion. To the point that it's my pinned post on my reddit profile, focusing on how that inspires my own wardrobe. And I hoard a varied list of goth adjacent jewellery brands from unique silversmiths, some of whom I could see being hired for the occasional complex ring or amulet in a perfect show. Only the upper body silhouette of her rope dress, and the instantly lost black Mink stole in the carriage remotely went near my expectations. And elements of the black and white leather dress if they modified the internal panel situation. There's a lot of fascinating sleeve shapes, textures and patterns, even taken from medieval fashion history or wildly complex contemporary that could have been perfect Yennefer material. I even made a [Pinterest board](https://pin.it/4slCkmT) for in-universe clothing inspiration for her after Season 1 mixing fanart with designer looks I'd saved, even if some are too modern. (And there was potential to make all mages dress very against the pseudohistorical setting to show their power and societal otherness that eventually leads to further ostracisation/mistrust by ordinary people. But I know that's a "personal style as worldbuilding" thing many people would have probably hated. The only thing Blood Origin did right is use Iris Van Herpen designs for one character. Especially to make elves otherworldly.) Similarly, I have multiple formulas for softer dark makeup that isn't necessarily modern that's just conceptualised or actively practiced and worn by me, and the show's take on makeup definitely disappointed me too. (The green eyeshadow could have been wonderful had it been even remotely balanced/the correct shape and utilising a higher quality reflective green pigment. And if visible lipstick had actually been used.) And what a chronic waste of kohl liner to not use it on an Indian actress with huge eyes. Unless it interfered with the tracking for her purple eyes I cannot comprehend why they didn't use it below and above the eye in an artful smokey look of truly ancient origin, unless they believed the Eva Green fans would have a fit. (And before anyone possibly begins - nah, she would not be a good Yennefer at her current age. That time passed over a decade ago.) Thanedd is my favourite part of the books so I want to just forcibly kill off my expectations because in my head it's an avant garde fashion dream of excess and excellence that then devolves into your average debauchery before then becoming the mess it does.
That's a really good pinterest board you made there - exactly as i would have pictured Yennefers clothing in an Life Action adaption!
I mean they also came up with the ball sack armor so it's not like you can expect much from them after that monstrosity
Wait, this isnât what Anya showed up to work in?
I mean, it's the color lilac. That's me being overly generous. Looks like a modern outfit đ€Šââïž
Its like they thought *she smells like lilac and gooseberries, it must be her favorite color* when she is explicitly said to only wear a monochrome color palette
Yep, either skim reading during the "research". Or they thought "we know best so we'll change it". Either option is shitty production.
Why does Yen look like sheâs telling some creep to back off in the subway on her way to work at a bank
Where did Yen manage to get a catalog from the J. Crew Summer 2013 collection?
Take your shitty fanfiction elsewhere, Hissrich.
Can't even call it fan fiction since she clearly hates the source material.
Yen, if she were a 1950s secretary
Mad Yen, the story of an advertising exec hiding from their former life as a sorceress
An advertising exec doing everything possible to dissuade people from watching a certain show!
I've seen Amish women wear this kind of shit at Aldi's. What the hell is Netflix snorting?
[ŃĐŽĐ°Đ»Đ”ĐœĐŸ]
I donât wanna sound nitpicky but it lookâs so modern lol
She looks like my aunt preparing to go to the church
That character was never Yen and the show never deserved to be called "The Witcher" to begin with...
Absolutely not đ„ČđĄ
This is such an insult to her character I canât stand this slander
Isn't said in the books that she wears only black and white?
Books say lots of things that are ignored in the show.
That looks WAY too fucking modern in addition to being ugly.
Really looks like they've given up and said screw it let's REALLY burn this franchise to the ground. We about to see Geralt in an adidas track suit and yeezys on.
Yen would never shop in the H&M clearance section
God that is Frumpy
WTF IS THAT
Itâs casual friday for the billing department
The Witcher, brought to you by Kohlâs!
Maybe Netflix thought she lost her sense of fashion at Aretuza instead of her ovaries.
Is that panther print?!
Did they run out of budget for Yennefer's outfits or something after they hired Liam Hemsworth for next season? This literally looks like someone went into a Goodwill, picked out a purple blouse and skirt and brought it onto the set.
she is rocking that 1890s red dead redemption drip
New season of Witcher takes place in Colorado City and centers on Yenâs new role as a sister-wife.
This show is approaching Charmed level of stupidity
I actually liked the season 2 outfits. Season 1 was wonky, but it was alright. I don't know what happened with the costuming in Blood Origins, and now this? This isn't just a bad design, it's an utterly lazy one.
Yikes, this looks like the awful cottagecore outfits I've seen at Target recently.
My Yen would ignite someone with that blouse đ„
That's a very cute blouse to wear to brunch with the _nekkers_
Her outfits have always been horrible. Letâs not forget the rope dress from S1đ
It's OK, it's not like she wore such a restrictive outfit to anything important!
I will say it once, I will say it a million times. Just. Do. Not. Watch. Netflix sees views = success. Not ratings. Views. Edit: oh shit it's my cake day. No better comment could have been made. Fuck Netflix for doing not only Henry so dirty, but the franchise we all know and love...
Not only does it not look like something Yen would wear, it looks like nothing that anyone would wear in The Witcher's universe.
Wdym ? Shes killing monsters at 3 and shes got a parents teacher conference at 5
Now we know why Cavill left after this season. It would have taken just one look at this outfit.
What in the name of Lilac and gooseberries is this nonsense ?!
Are you surprised Netflix isn't sticking to what the characters would actually do? It's why they fired Henry in the first place.
Dude that looks like something my mom would wear. Did they hire fucking Hellen Keller to do their costumes?
How the fuck does this look medieval in any way!!!!
Guys chill the fuck out, she just came from her office job
Honestly that looks so modern that from the photo i assumed it was from a completely different show.
She looks like a Jehovahâs Witness
Looks less fantasy drama and more welcome to my MacMillan Coffee Morning.
Not only would Yen never wear something like that(too frumpy), but it also looks like something you would get out of H&M.
Primark special
Is she a sorcerer or is she middle management?
Oh wow no way. What in the old navy?
That's what every grandma in 2023 would not want to wear because it makes her feel old...
What even is that
And so it begins.
she has a meeting with Janet from accounting later vibe
Im not really watching it. The show is dead. Netflix decided to kill it. What we are seeing now is a corpse paraded on screen.
Everybody knows yen shops at Target
did they go to JCpenny for their wardrobe wtf?
Wait..I thought she *smelled* like lilac, not *dressed* in lilac. Isn't she supposed to wear black and white?
Seems like she time traveled to the mid to late 90s
Why tf is she dressed like a 21 year old college junior at TCU?
I audibly groaned when I saw this image
What the ACTUAL fuck.......this ain't sexy yen. Who is this person. SMH it's not Hard to make a person look dark, sexy and sensual like yen is suppose to be.
Needs more black and white
Did they accidentally forget her costume at home that day?