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So I’m re-reading ![[profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
bomberqueen17 https://tmblr.co/mEi4sKUjTkzs4ila4vEdnuA
’s Witcher fic Decent Forage
https://archiveofourown.org/works/30201588/chapters/74519010#workskin and
being struck again by the same thing I liked about it the first time, which
is… how stark the difference is between the townspeople’s experience of
these events, and Eskel’s experience of them.
It’s told from Eskel’s point of view, but like. You can see so clearly in
the other characters’ reactions, the version of this story that they’ve
been living through– a slow-creeping type of horror story where mildly
concerning things happen and you write them off, and then creepier things
happen and you realize something is probably wrong, but you’re already
entangled so you keep going, and by the time you realize what’s truly going
on it’s like you’re trapped in a nightmare and there’s nothing you can do
to fight it anymore. And that would be a compelling story, it would make
sense, I’ve actually more or less read that version of this story.
But Eskel cuts through the middle of this creeping psychological horror
with just. absolute ice-cold clarity, and calmly presents the other version
of this story, which is that several dozen people knew exactly what
terrible crimes were being committed here, day in and day out for years,
they lived with this knowledge and felt horrified about it, and none of
them acted to stop it.
“Mister Witcher, sir,” the footman said, catching up to him near the edge
of the property.
“Yes?” Eskel said. It was a novelty to be called mister anything, let alone
sir, but he knew he could chalk it up to the current local state of
disarray more than anything else.
“The child,” the footman said, cringing a little, “is– is–”
“Dead,” Eskel said. “You found the missing kid from the notice.”
“Yes, sir,” the footman said. He did look distraught. They had all looked
distraught. They’d all known what was going on. Maybe they really hadn’t
been able to do anything about it. Maybe they could tell themselves that
and feel better. Maybe how anybody felt about it didn’t much matter, the
kid was dead.
Eskel gestured at the footprints he’d just been examining. “So there’s a
child’s footprints here,” he said. “Another kid. Eight, nine, maybe ten
years old. Anyone know whose that one is?”
The footman looked horrified. “Another,” he said, and shook his head
slightly, horror slipping away to resignation. Lot of resignation, around
here. “The procuress,” he said. “She may have brought– she would go into
the cities, and bring people back. All kinds of– different kinds of
people.” He actually wrung his hands, and looked sick, though Eskel hadn’t
changed his facial expression. “I– please believe me, there was nothing we
could do.”
“It’s not me you need to explain it to,” Eskel said mildly.
And that is so… important to remember, how easy it is sometimes to
recognize something terrible, say “wow, that’s terrible” and then not do
anything about it. To wait for an authority figure to come along to fix it,
instead. When that’s not enough. Being horrified is only the first step.
YES! I’m so glad that was your takeaway. I feel like that’s often the role
a Witcher falls into in these sorts of things– there are several quests in
W3 that are transparently like, “oh these people are fucked-up” and as
the player character you have to choose between ineffectual responses at
best.
But it’s more broadly applicable to real life too, of course.
God the sequel to this is like– outlined and has been for months and I
need to tie it back in to the broader story but– well, we’ll see, I won’t
get to it before the new season comes out now, surely, and we’ll have to
see what shape the fandom takes after that, if anyone will want to go back
to S1 hiatus fic. LOL c’est la vie, as a writer of very long intertwined
nonsense.
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