#askbox activate!

but i just realized that their relationship makes about 10 times more sense if they got together during the month that yennefer was missing after sodden between s2ep1 and s2ep2 when tissaia was going crazy w grief over yennefer

tissaia was simply not in her right mind

and vilgefortz slid in like hello I, too, have a bad temper, impetuousness, and the overwhelming need to win an argument

i just came out to have a good time and honestly i'm feeling so attacked right now

*looks at tags* ah

there are some actors you always just look at and are like "yep, that's [actor]." myanna has a tendency to disappear into her roles anyway but that scene in particular got me like "nope that is not ms. buring that is susan hart"

it's the eyes. the speaking through gritted teeth. the set of the mouth. etc. that's all

MyAnna should just teach acting masterclasses honestly. A theater friend who watched like the first episode and nothing else back in season 1 started s2 and suddenly texted me one day "I understand now. I get why you like the one lady so much. The ACTING."

we all gathered for a bonfire and smores soon after and sat and watched Tissaia's early scenes (as well as Jaskier's song, because holy shit the acting during that scene) and friend who had no prior investment in myanna just (when geralt and tissaia meet on the battlefield) "look! look at her! who loves [yennefer] more? it's her. the turn! she's choosing to be vulnerable!"

Oh man haven't done one of these in a while. I love surprise prompts xD

I see your chef Yen and raise you...

Yen recently opened a brick and mortar café, and the menu is all about clean, organic eating, etc. Fair trade coffees, responsibly sourced grains, locally-baked breads, local produce and cheese, etc.

(Previously the business was a food truck with a decent following; they were successful enough that Yen decided to take out a loan and give the permanent storefront thing a go. So far it's looking ok?)

Expanding the business means expanding the menu, and that's where Tissaia comes in. They've been doing fruits for smoothies, but not a whole lot of veg. Yen wants sandwiches with fresh, juicy tomatoes. More greens. Salads! Soups! (She makes damn fine corn chowder and broccoli cheese soups, and had been working on a chicken sausage and kale soup recipe, but soup never really made much sense for the food truck. Now she's gonna have soup, dammit, and she needs to source that veg.)

Tissaia does source produce for a couple local establishments, as one of the larger local farmers, but her big thing isn't even her own farm—it's urban farming. She's spearheaded 3 different urban farming initiatives locally, but of course the whole thing doen't get much attention outside of the circle that are already interested in that sort of thing. Regardless, she helps source seeds, fertilizers, etc, and leads up most of the logistics involved in training folks to tend the plots and all that. Soil pH! Etc etc.

When Yen first contacts DeVries Farms, it's via email. Tissaia signs off as T. DeVries, and y'all bitches know exactly where this is headed but I'm taking you there anyway. Yen likes a boots-on-the-ground approach when it comes to knowing where her food is coming from—she's saved up to make a few trips overseas to meet the farmers responsible for her coffee, tea, quinoa... and has definitely met the folks that bake her bread and grow her fruit. T. DeVries is "happy to oblige" when asked for a tour.

T. DeVries is... (Tissaia arches an eyebrow, her hand still caught up in Yennefer's where she's been too caught up in her surprise to release her. "Something wrong?" "What? Oh, shit, no—sorry, just. Wow." "..." "sorry, I think I expected a, uh... very large... man..." "...I get that a lot, actually. Kind of the point.")

(Tissaia learned early that people don't really take women farmers seriously for some reason)

Anyway it's a great working relationship and Yen keeps conveniently deciding to add more recipes with a wide array of produce to the menu, which is a great excuse to call Tissaia (she prefers phone calls really, and Yen doesn't mind at all when her voice sounds like that)

As the cafe gains traction she's interviewed for a local paper and, naturally, talks about the choice to support family farms and fair trade, and thanks all her local suppliers because she's very passionate about supporting local business as well as clean eating in general. She might start prattling on about Tissaia. She might realize it, be embarrassed about it, but not have the wherewithal to stop herself. ("And our newest supplier is DeVries Farms, just outside of town. All the veg you see comes from our there—honestly the best tomatoes I've ever tasted. And Tissaia—uh, the owner, Tissaia DeVries, she a phenomenal person and a joy to work with; actually she's spearheaded two... three?? urban farming campaigns here in the city. If you haven't heard of them you should definitely check them out, because they're great initiatives that really help lower-income families without easy access to produce and healthier options, and her knowledge and expertise has really helped drive these initiatives to success..." [insert more q&a about urban farming, followed by a half joking comment about how fond Yen seems to be of Tissaia; cue nervous laughter])

Anyway after Yen somehow winds up not only giving a huge shoutout to the urban farming campaigns (which brings in a LOT of volunteers and donations and general interest very quickly) but also managing to play it as if the success of her own business rests on Tissaia's shoulders lmao, Tissaia shows up at the café one day and Yen's eyes just about bug out of her head. ("I thought it was time I taste the fruits of my labour, so to speak. And besides, I have a gift for you." "A... gift?" "As thanks. For the positive attention for the urban farms. They tend to fly under the radar, but the truth is they need community support—volunteers to water and weed. Honestly just one or two families deciding to save their vegetable scraps and take them to the farms for composting instead of sending them to the landfill is helpful.") (Idk what the gift is, use your imagination)

Tissaia is... suddenly a fixture at the café. And Yen starts keeping fliers and shit up to advertise the farms, etc. Yen insists that Tissaia eats free. Tissaia insists that she pays. The compromise is that Tissaia winds up tipping the amount she would have paid for her meal. (The staff is happy so Yen keeps insisting that nobody is to ever take Tissaia's money for food or drinks. The staff is happy to comply.)

The elephant in the room of course is that Yen said some pretty gay shit while she was talking Tissaia and her farm up. Neither of them mentions it but Jaskier and Triss ("the staff") ship it REAL hard and make no secret of it.

I have not, and i can't say much, but we're talking about two women who're both very committed to what they do and will absolutely make the difficult decisions whatever the cost so like. there'd definitely be mutual respect, if nothing else? honestly though they're also both... pretty taciturn. i imagine a first meeting might be pretty unexciting LOL

ABSO-FUCKING-LUTELY YES.

ALRIGHT LISTEN UP CHILDREN

ARE YOU AWARE THAT ARCHMISTRESS TISSAIA DE VRIES SMILED AT GERALT OF RIVIA IN THE BOOKS?

this surprised everyone, because naturally it did. Vilgefortz in particular seemed to think it was a Big Deal. i have questions for Sapkowski regarding his obsession with throwing every single sorceress at Geralt’s dick, but i’m willing to ignore every other instance of Sorceresses Being Undeniably And Perhaps Unreasonably Attracted To Geralt and accept that Tissaia de Vries genuinely saw something in that dirty, smelly slab of genetically modified man-meat lmao