#Lambert & Ivo

[donovaneagle2098]

Question About the Bear Witchers

Hey Witcher Tumblr! I've seen a lot of posts and even lore videos more and more in recent years that say the Bear Witchers have almost a cult-like worship of strength and a survival of the fittest mentality and that's why they followed Arnaghad. Could someone point me to where this came from in the lore, if anywhere? Because it seems like something parts of the fan base made up as a collective headcannon.

I was under the impression the early Bears left the Order of Witchers with Arnaghad because he spoke about not wanting a code tying Witchers down, and had a general disrespect for authority or anyone imposing their will on them. The Bears are called "Firebrands" in the Gwent Cat School lore for a reason, after all, and they certainly have a trend of disrespecting authority. They seem more unruly anarchists than survival of the fittest assholes who want "the strongest to get the contract!" as I've seen one lore video claim.

[blackberrywars]

Berry’s Masterpost

♥️ A new and improved, mostly comprehensive version of my masterpost, to be used as a guide to my works and/or my blog ♥️

Tags to find/block posts: #berry’s fics, #berry’s games, #the witcher, #legend of korra, #osha violation, #bears, #berry cute in the berry queue

Asks/PMs: always welcome, whether we are mutuals or strangers. If you want to talk/ask about my blog/fics, or if you just want to chat!

Ask Games: I’m basically always down to play these, no matter how long ago I reblogged it, so please feel free to send an ask about anything. All the games I’ve participated in should be in #berry’s games

Fics: all available on my AO3, some available right here on tumblr. There’s a lot for the witcher, especially wlw Lambert/Aiden, but I’ve also branched out into writing for the Legend of Korra.

♥️ The Witcher ♥️

Request Fics

Kitten-Tossing: (Teen/959/No Archive Warnings Apply) Guxart discovers a new and efficient method for keeping his rowdy kittens entertained, all while developing their sense of balance and spatial awareness. (On Tumblr)

Waltzing Wolves: (Teen/1,049/No Archive Warnings Apply) Geralt has seen many, many things in his very, very long lifetime. He has never, as his partner Jaskier points out, champagne glass tipped just so, seen Agent Eskel dance a waltz. (On Tumblr)

Copy-Cat: (Mature/2,364/No Archive Warnings Apply) Keira thinks she’s rescuing a half-dead Cat for her boyfriend, only to realize she’s saved the wrong one. Oh well. (On Tumblr)

Grampa’s House: (General Audiences/1,945/No Archive Warnings Apply) Vesemir struggles to figure out what to do while watching his five year-old granddaughter for the weekend because he’s an old-ass man with old-ass man hobbies. Turns out she likes that just fine. (On Tumblr)

Two Cloaks, XXXL: (Explicit/1,376/No Archive Warnings Apply) Erland is determined to win the most difficult battle he's ever faced: getting Arnaghad to wear weather-appropriate clothing. No matter how much the big bastard insists he's fine without it. (On Tumblr)

2022 Witcher Summer Camp

With Her Own Two Hands: (Teen/2678/No Archive Warnings Apply) Aiden spends her winter building a safe, warm nest for her baby wolf, and doesn’t regret a single splinter. (On Tumblr)

Flint And Steel: (Teen/2848/No Archive Warnings Apply) Jaskier watches Geralt and Yennefer tear each other apart, and decides that, at the very least, Ciri shouldn’t have to put up with that shit. (On Tumblr)

The Art Of Threats: (Explicit/3433/No Archive Warnings Apply) Ivo hates the sun, and he hates being sweaty, but he hates the thought of a beardless Junod even more. Cue the filth. (On Tumblr) 

Calm Before The Storm- (Explicit/4879/No Archive Warnings Apply) Arnaghad and Erland have a final confrontation before the end, but they both know they’re a tragedy in the making. (On Tumblr)

Half-Drowned Kitten- (Teen/1962/No Archive Warnings Apply) Aiden would have gotten herself killed chasing beautiful sirens, except Lambert is there to save her, and she falls in love. (On Tumblr)

Guxart’s Fables- (Teen/4350/No Archive Warnings Apply) Every night, Guxart reads a fable to a tangled pile of kittens, and on this one, he teaches them a slightly biased version of their history. (On Tumblr)  

Laiden Gets Laid (Again and Again)

Sweeter Than Pride- (Explicit/2524/No Archive Warnings Apply) Aiden is so fucking proud of her baby wolf... and all she wants to do is take her completely apart, as low as it makes her feel sometimes.

Collars Of Many Kinds- (Explicit/1830/No Archive Warnings Apply) Aiden hates Lambert's armor, specifically the ugly, flaking, fucking hideous collar. Her baby wolf deserves better than that, and she's damn well gonna get it.

Curiosity Killed The Cat- (Explicit/5142/No Archive Warnings Apply) Lambert tries to get in some stress relief, and Aiden is very accidentally a peeping tom. It works out for both of them

Digging Graves  —Crawling Out

No Grave- (Mature/2293/No Archive Warnings Apply) Jad Karadin kills Aiden and buries her six feet deep. It’s not gonna be enough to keep her from her from her baby wolf.

As A Shrike- (Explicit/8700/Graphic Descriptions of Violence & Major Character Death) One by one, Lambert hunts down Aiden’s killers, and absolutely nothing and no one can stop her

You’re Good To Me- (Mature/4371/No Archive Warnings Apply); Aiden crawls from her grave and gets help from an unexpected source. Lots of healing and re-learning how to witcher again.  

♥️ Legend of Korra/Avatar the Last Airbender ♥️

His Clothes: (Teen/3,213/No Archive Warnings Apply) A newly-liberated P’li desperately needs something to wear, and Zaheer is more than happy to give her the clothes off his back. Too bad he’s kind of into it. (On Tumblr)

All Things End: (Teen/1,623/No Archive Warnings Apply) A re-write of Ghazan’s escape scene where he realizes his tattoos have faded along with his hope, just before Zaheer arrives and he kisses him on the mouth. (On Tumblr)

[continentcakeshop]

Reverse casting time!!!! Cakeshop peeps as Witcher characters. Go!!!

ALRIGHT I spent like 2 hours on this and the shenanigans that happened with everyone laughing and helping out... BUT ITS LONG. So it's behind a cut. It's not complete, because oh man I gotta go do errands, but we did our best!

@on-a-lucky-tide is immediately our Eskel @hungarianbee as Erland @lookoutrogue is Coen @major-trouble is the best Valdo ever but countered with @sometimesiwrite as Essi (she LIVES THO) @trickstermoose67 is Ciri ... but @so--many-fandoms is Baby Ciri (from W3, with the freckles) @jayofolympus is Serrit @frenchkey is Auckes @tumbleweedtech I'm claiming Keldar thanks @angry-cajun-lady is Gaetan @lohrendrell is Ivo @thirstyforred is Jacques de Aldersberg @stellecraft is Nenneke @round--robin is Arnaghad @piranhaincaps is Gezras @greenbirddraws is Letho @anonymousblueberry is Ves @cylin-aka-ankamo is Emiel Regis Rohellec Terzieff-Godefroy @liaonyxrayne is Dettlaff @jlyarts is Kiyan @justhereforeskel is Lil' Bleater @justleaf is Iorveth @zzzett is Isengrim @whysowlowl is Philippa @heyriel-art is Vesemir @eyesofshinigami is Shani @lokibus is Geralt (complete with horse pics) @straysinfiltrator is Meve @iboughtaplant is Gascon (she has the BEST boy) @pressedinthepages is Angoulême @jaskiersvalley is Cahir Mawr Dyffryn aep Ceallach obscure potato is Reynard @Towelapocalyse is Aiden @andtosatvrn is Ivar @disaster-imp is Lambert @resident-beekeeper is the beekeeper that Regis thinks is a werewolf? sdorim is an npc who wrote punny letters to Geralt @winter-fir is a farmer NPC. Her rakes are not broken, and if you press X you get an 🍎 And who you've probably been waiting for? @skaldingrayne would be Jaskier.

[faetxlity]

2022 Ao3 Wrapped

Huge shout-out to @lambden for the tag!

(This was the year of the rare pair)

Works Published: 150 (holy shit y’all)

Word Count: 251,038

Hits: 44,066

Bookmarks: 602

Most Popular By Kudos: The Sun Was An Okay Guide - an Eskel/Cahir arranged marriage fic that was completed almost entirely thanks to @jaskiersvalley

By Hits: Same as above but honorable mention to ‘winter reprise and a child surprise’

Longest: also Okay Guide at 50,656

Shortest: 100 word drabbles - one for Junod and Ivo of Belhaven (as I said, year of the rare pairs) and one for The Sandman which is musing on Morpheus and the title of ‘brother’

Most Comments: Okay Guides - with an honorable mention to Unbroken Oaths - a fic in which I am very cruel to Eskel and gave both Gaetan and Letho some time to grow as characters.

Fic that made me cry: Ummm, maybe the murder-suicide Vernon Roche/Foltest fic or the whumptober ‘Steve Harrington self depreciation and mutism’ fic - there’s also... well. I had a lot of fun with whumptober, let’s leave it at those.

Fic that made me smile: all of them?  Okay so for fluff it’s going to be the Anniversary Fic for Eskel/Cahir and for fun it’s The Poly-cule Needs To Poly-Calm Down - which is Kolgrim the Witcher and his two boyfriends getting body swapped

Gift: to someone - This is our Get Along Aphrodisiac - Iorveth/Vernon Roche/Geralt of Rivia smut

From someone- it’s hard to choose but I think I’m going to split the award between Anoke and Iliside - one for the hilarious Settle Your Bets and the latter for the gorgeous Eskel/Lambert artwork.

Events: Save a Witcher Bingo, Witcher Winter Gift Exchange, Do It Like They Do on the Discovery Channel, Whumptober, Kinktober... I think that’s all of them. I love doing event challenges throughout the year, particularly bingos.

I’m tagging @resident-lambert-hoe , @swanfloatieknight and @whataboutthefish

[sigismund-dijkstra2269]

My biggest secret is that I love Ivo of Belhaven. And Coën. And Ivo/Coën

My biggest secret is simple. What does Lambert and a leshy have in common? 🌿🌿🌿

#youhaveamole

[burnbrighterthanever]

Witchers never die in their beds!

(click for better quality)

[witcher-trash]

Weekly (?) Witcher Fic Recs 11

Bubblegum and Botticelli (aiden/lambert, explicit, complete, 2k) The security guard lounging against the wall pops his gum obnoxiously, smirking at Aiden’s scowl. “I thought they paid you off?” Aiden asks. “Oh sure,” the guard agrees, “new Ecosse drives like a dream. Thanks for that.” In which Aiden is a professional with a job to do and is under no circumstances going to fuck the security guard.

Dungeons and Dandelions (geralt/jaskier, mature, complete, 3k) Geralt and Jaskier need to get their shit together. They've been best friends since elementary school and they're clearly in love with each other. They just won't do anything about it.

Every Now And Then I Fall Apart (Ivo of Belhaven/Junod of Belhaven, mature, complete, 2k) When Ivo has a bad day and falls into his old damaging habits again, he finds unexpected help in a stranger.

If I Could Save Time In A Bottle (eskel-centric, teen, complete, 1k) Eskel spends some time taking contracts in Skellige in 1269. One brings up some memories he'd rather be spending time forgetting.

I love a good... (eskel/lambert, explicit, complete, 2k) An evening of stitch and bitch. A risque encounter in the back of a car. Some softness and conversation afterwards.

Kneel (eskel/lambert, explicit, complete, 2k) Eskel had seen him around. The lean, bitchy witcher that spat in the face of all their institutions and traditions like he was better than all of them. He’d chewed out every instructor and loudly disparaged the brotherhood while eating from their shared table, drinking their ale, sleeping under their roof. The only time the little bastard ever fell silent was when Vesemir stepped into the grand hall, and even then silent was a generous description. Every witcher three tables over could hear Lambert’s whispered remarks. He might as well have stood on the bench and bellowed it so everyone could hear. Or: Eskel confuses jealousy with contempt and Lambert introduces him to his mile-wide humiliation kink.

Rain, Wind, and Other Things Best Avoided (aiden/lambert, teen, complete, 3k) “So Geralt went and did something stupid again.” Because every romance needs a lot of wine and a little hope.

When the Sunset Fell Into the Ocean (aiden/lambert, mature, complete, 3k) Lambert returns to his last day with Aiden again and again, never sure how to fix things.

[on-a-lucky-tide]

Day Fourteen: Walking in the Snow

A/N: Lambert has a brother. They meet for the first time over the graves of their parents. Warnings: mentions of past child abuse; mentions of past murder.

Lambert stood over his mothers grave with a bunch of flowers in his hand. It was something of a tradition he had. Before he headed out onto the Path properly, he rode south to his hometown, pissed on his father’s grave - one that Lambert had dug for him - and then spent some time just thinking. He missed her. Missed her more than anything else from his previous, only marginally shittier, life. This year he’d missed it though. Various amounts of bullshit had piled on, which meant spring, then summer and finally autumn had come and gone.

War was ike that. It separated families even when half of them were fucking dead. “Sorry I’m late,” he murmured finally, “don’t have many flowers this year either. Not gonna’ make it up to Kaer Morhen this winter now, but couldn’t let you go a year without...” He trailed off. Without enduring his fucking pity party. Even if there was nothing but dust below the frozen soil now, she was probably looking down on him and shaking her head. It’d snowed the night before, and Lambert’s boots crunched through the thick layer as he stood.

Crunch. Crunch. Clop. 

He looked down at his feet and then over his shoulder. A man approached on foot, with his horse strolling behind him. The air around him stilled, while his chest froze midbreath. The man stared at him in return, yellow eyes wide, twin sword hilts jutting over his shoulder. For once, it wasn’t Lambert who got the first jab in. “Who the fuck are you?” The strange Witcher growled his gloved hands twitching around the reins of his horse.

“Could ask the same thing,” Lambert bit back, and then grabbed his medallion from his gambeson. It rattled against the metal clasps of his swordbelts as he let it drop. “Lambert, School of the Wolf.” But his tone didn’t hold quite the same bite as he intended; there was something uncannily familiar about the figure that stood before him.

“Ivo of Belhaven,” the Witcher returned. “School of the Bear.” The way he said the word ‘bear’. It was like he was holding something unsavoury on his tongue. Ivo’s gaze dropped to the two mounds of earth at Lambert’s feet. The heat of the tension building between them could’ve melted the very snow beneath their feet. 

“Bit small for a Bear,” Lambert smirked. “Thought Arnaghad was meant to be nine hands wide.” The legends about Arnaghad had been passed around the keep for as long as Lambert could remember; the leader of the School of the Bear was as physically imposing as his temper. But Ivo was no bigger than Lambert. Better suited to the School of the Cat, or the Viper, perhaps. Not that he’d dare say such a thing in front of a Bear.

“He is,” Ivo sighed. “I’m the black sheep of the family. Why’re you here, Wolf?” It sounded almost accusatory; Ivo’s eyes kept dropping to the graves at Lambert’s feet, but they always returned to Lambert’s face again. Searching.

While Lambert would usually meet such invasive questioning with the whipcrack of sarcasm, he didn’t want to risk driving this one away. Shit, it almost felt like he was looking in a mirror and, as Ivo kept glancing at the graves, his heart began to quicken. “Visiting family.”

Ivo sucked in a breath and took a step back, like he’d been physically punched. “What are those graves to you?” 

“No, no,” Lambert took a step forward, closing the distance. “You first, asshole. You look like a wraith’s just popped up over my shoulder, and I know it hasn’t, so what - ? What are they? Who - who the fuck are you?” Lambert’s hands clenched into fists, trembling. He could feel his heart in his ears as his chest constricted.

“My parents,” Ivo’s voice cracked, just a fraction. “My mother lies on your right, my father on your left. I buried the first, but not the second.”

Lambert felt faint. In fact, he definitely swayed a little. The familiarity. They looked... fuck, with a few minor differences, they looked almost identical. Ivo’s hairline was doing better than his, though. Must be the Bear mutagens. Lambert found his words again. “They’re mine too. My parents.”

“No,” Ivo shook his head viciously. “No. He - no.”

“Calling me a liar?” Lambert snarled, moving to stand between the Bear and his mother’s final resting place.

“Fucking prove it,” Ivo stepped forward now, squaring up until their chests almost touched. “Tell me something only a son would know.”

“He was an abusive asshole. Beat her every single day.”

“Whole village knew that. Try again,” Ivo bit out.

“During Yule, every year, she hung love charms on the trees asking the gods for happiness. That’s all. She still thought she was being greedy. She loved playing in the meadows, making flower crowns.”

Ivo faltered, Lambert continued. “She used to swim in the river with me, like ladies weren’t supposed to, but she always said you shouldn’t only be what people want you to be, and - ,” he hesitated, “she sewed or built all my toys, but I had to hide them because - .”

“- he’d burn them in his rages,” Ivo whispered. 

They stared into mirrored amber eyes.

Their breath clouded in the frozen air around their faces.

One of them moved first. Lambert wasn’t sure which. It might’ve even been him, but suddenly he had this stranger pulled to his chest, his arms wrapped tightly over his gambeson and swords. His embrace was returned, and he felt the cold of Ivo’s nose against his neck as he sniffed at him. It only cemented the familiarity. They had the same undertones; the same mixture of summer heat and spice that matched their characters.

It was instinctual. Two men that believed their family - their real family, not some military garrison made for mutating boys - had been lost to them forever. And yet, here stood a final trace of it. It was impossible. Too good to be true. Couldn’t be real.

When they pulled apart, their hands remained on the other; Ivo gripped Lambert’s biceps while Lambert curled his fingers around Ivo’s swordbelts. When Ivo spoke, his throat sounded like cracking ice. “I never knew. He got rid of me first chance he could. Dropped me off in an orphanage in Belhaven. I came back years later, and found her in the dining room, she’d -  he’d finally - .”

“So you buried her,” Lambert murmured. Of course; their shithead of a paternal figure wouldn’t have given her even that level of decency and respect.

“I waited for him to return, but he was... gone. They weren’t sure when he was coming back, so I just - I left,” Ivo dropped his gaze.

“I killed him,” Lambert lifted a hand and grabbed Ivo by the jaw, wrenching his face up. “It wasn’t quick, or painless. It was everything he deserved.”

Ivo let out a breath as if he’d been holding it the whole time. His hardened eyes softened and he released Lambert’s bicep to tentatively touch his face. He traced the features so similar to his; the dark hair, the bearded jaw, the set brow, the nose. Lambert let him. Fuck, how could he not? Look - it was a - he had a -

His mind just couldn’t grasp it.

“See you inherited his hairline,” Ivo said finally, lips twisting in a shit-eating grin. Lambert huffed and shoved him back. The Bear’s smile softened again. “Her everything else though. I can see her in your face. Still remember her like it was yesterday.”

“She never told me, she - ,” Lambert turned now to face their mother’s grave. She’d never mentioned an older son.

“Course not. The son she’d been told never to speak of. She was probably hoping that if she did everything ‘right’, he wouldn’t throw you away and try again,” Ivo sighed, dropped the reins of his horse, and stepped around Lambert. “I always come at this time. Heading back to hibernate. Like to let her know I’ve not gone to hell yet.”

“I usually come in spring, but... uh, shit happened,” Lambert murmured. 

Ivo crouched down and placed his hand gently over the mound of earth. He whispered something that not even Lambert could hear, before straightening up slowly. “You’ll never get back before the snow buries you.” He dropped his head, eyes moving as if he was running a decision over.

“I couldn’t not see her.”

“Winter with me,” Ivo said, looking up suddenly. “Look, we mostly keep to ourselves, the few remaining of our school. But it’ll be a roof, with food, loads of it. And we can - talk, there’s so much I - .”

“Yeah,” Lambert blurted out. “Yeah, I - yeah, just let me, let me get my shit. It’s in the town a mile out.” Even if Ivo was lying, even if this was all some elaborate fucking ruse, it was something. A shred of hope. And hope was so hard to come by. Lambert snatched at it now with both hands.

“Lead the way,” Ivo gestured, and cast one final glance towards the graves as they began to walk east.

Lambert had used the word ‘brother’ many times before. It meant ‘fellow soldier’, ‘fellow Witcher’, ‘you’re safe with me’, ‘we’re in this together’. It didn’t mean what it should: family. And the only blood he shared with Eskel and Geralt was what they spilled on the training grounds. As a result, he didn’t use it as much as the others, because he’d never really felt like he belonged. He was an outsider to the only vague unit of a family he would ever have. 

Until now.

As they walked in the snow, side-by-side, Lambert kept glancing up from the path to gaze at Ivo, drinking in his face - a face that looked so uncannily like his. There was so much he wanted to say. Wanted to ask. There’d probably be anger, and cursing, and he might even fucking cry - shit, wouldn’t that be something? But that one word buzzed around his head on repeat. And it set his heart on fire with joy, because it actually meant what it was supposed to mean.

Brother.

Lambert wasn’t alone. Not anymore.

Thirty-One Days of Decembert

* With thanks to the Continent Cake Shop for inspiring this and listening to my rambling about new and wonderful characters from the Witcher universe. 

[france-in-your-pants]

A small fic based off Decembert Day 14: Walking in the Snow by @rawrkinjd. Please go check theirs out! They're a lovely author with amazing work who deserves more love!

----

Ivo wasn't sure what he expected when he visited Kaer Morhen for the first time. Well, first time since the purges

He'd come once or twice, decades ago with Junod and Grayson on some business he couldn't even remember. Back then the keep was loud and lively, more than his own school surprisingly. Full of trainees, instructors and various Witchers on reprieve from the Path, all laughing, training and existing together. In their stone fortress sitting high and intimidating atop the mountain, terrifying yet magnificent. 

Now though, the once great walls barely stood upright, left half crumbled as if in memorial to disaster. One of the tall towers he remembered standing proud was now gone, reduced to rubble. The big difference was inside the keep however. Quiet like a tomb, now only playing host to the few remaining stragglers of the once great wolf pack. And a bard. And a Viper and two Cats. 

Dinner the first night was an interesting affair, everyone intrigued about the tale of two brothers finding each other after a lifetime apart. The bard rambled about fate and some flowery prose about destiny that the Viper called bullshit. The White Wolf eyed him with thinly veiled suspicion for most of the evening. Not that Ivo could blame him. Thankfully one of the Cats, Aiden, proclaimed it a "helluva thing" and something to celebrate, which prompted Lambert to bring up some of his moonshine stores. With alcohol out and everyone sufficiently tipsy, conversation gradually moved to one upping each other on that year's contracts. 

Over the next few weeks he truly began to see the differences in his and his brother's schools. For one, where Bears largely preferred to spend their time alone, the wolves never seemed to be apart from each other. Wherever one went there was usually another close by, or if one were by themself somewhere in the keep it wouldn't be long before another would join them. Baths he could understand as a communal activity, they were in all schools, but damn near everything seemed to be with the wolves. 

Once he'd been helping the elder wolf with that night's dinner, chopping away at vegetables when Lambert came in. Soft fur wrapped tight around him and muttering about the cold. His baby brother was very sensitive to the cold winter air. He strode quickly over the fireplace where Eskel had been lounging and reading, and promptly inserted himself in the other man's arms. Draping over him like a blanket and still bitching about the cold, the youngest wolf lay on his brother as the other simply carried on reading, dropping a hand to play with Lambert's hair. 

Neither the two by the fireplace nor the elder wolf noticed his dumbfounded and confused stare. Bears took their comforts in each other occasionally, it was common among Witchers in general. But none would dare be so expressive and casually open with their affections. Unless they wanted to get the ass blasted out a window with Ard. He shuddered to think what Grayson would do if he ever did that. 

Then the White Wolf had come in from gathering more wood and promptly joined his two brothers at the fireplace. Lambert shifted so he could lay between them, head pillowed on Eskel's chest with Geralt spooned behind him, and they stayed like that until dinner was finished. Piled together in front of the fire. 

He wasn't sure what he'd expected when he'd arrived at Kaer Morgen this winter, but puppy piles wasn't one of them. 

[donovaneagle2098]

Bear Witcher/Arnaghad Headcannons

Here's a list of Bear Headcannons because I can't stop thinking about them. They won't leave my brain no matter how much I try.

-their fighting style is more about dodging than a lot of the Bears' lore says. (Actually I don't think this is a headcannon I think they have confirmed in like the TRPG and that "what Witcher school are you?" quiz that their armor is super flexible for dodging and that they're just very good with quen so the school got a reputation for tanking blows)

-they hate authority/are possibly anarchists. Another low key cannon one. The Cat School lore in Gwent lists the Bears as "firebrands", Arnaghad is cited over and over as having trouble with authority, as does Gerd and Ivo's lore. Honestly so many people connect Lambert to the Cat School but he'd fit right in with the Bears too.

-Arnaghad got a following and respect from other Witchers because of his hatred for authority. Most Witchers, ESPECIALLY early era Witchers, did not come to the Order of their own choice, and I think Arnaghad speaking his mind about the school not needing a code that further takes choice away from future Witchers is what earned him support.

-Arnaghad was a slave. I think this because he comes from Gemmera, a country bordered by several nations that practice slavery, and we know the Order was not above buying test subjects. It also explains why he "hated anyone who tried to impose their will on him."

-Arnaghad attacked Rhys because he lost a student. I have no evidence to support this one at all, I just like the idea of Arnaghad losing a student to the Trial of the Grasses, and him going off to hunt a monster, so he can work through his grief with violence, finding Rhys already took the contract, and not getting to picky about what target he tried to kill while grieving. I especially think it's be sad if Rhys, seeing Arnaghad, went to comfort him about his dead student, only for Arnaghad to draw his sword before he can get a word out. It humanizes him without excusing his violence.

-Gryphon, the Order's swordmaster who inspired the creation of the Griffin Witchers, picked on Arnaghad. Gemmera, Arnaghad's homeland, supposedly constantly attacked it's neighbors including Gryphon's home country, so I think the idea of Gryphon treating Arnaghad as a barbarian fits his character, and a lot of Witcher esque themes of knightly hypocrisy.

-the Bears were the most successful school. This one is just economics. When the Bears left the Order of Witchers, the location they picked to set up shop was on a massive mountain range bordering the North and South. Anyone who wanted to pass through or around that mountain range for things like trade would need a guide, and who better than a Witcher who had been trained on those mountains? Toussaint especially would need protection to get their wine across the mountains, and the Bear's final trial was on Mt. Gorgon.

-Skellige hero worships the Bears. Kind of implied already, but I love the idea that the Skellige armor sets you get, which look a lot like the Bear school gear, were inspired by tales of the Bear school, since we know the Skelligers loved them.

I got more but this post has gone on long enough. If you made it this far, thank you for reading, you're awesome and I hope you have a day that's just as great as you are.

Oh and, uh... my ever wonderful friend and Witcher TRPG game player @aerllette , my always incredible mutual @loganyeehawhowlett who I know loves a good Witcher story, and my new super amazing Witcher mutual @seainthestars , any Witcher Headcannons you guys have?

[blackberrywars]

Requests for Witcher Ficlets!

What: Me taking requests for 500-1000 word witcher ficlets because I’m home for the holidays and I need something to do!

When: 12/27-1/10

Rules:

Most game/show characters and ships  are welcome! As a fair warning, I don’t know a lot about book canon, but I will do my best to research and deliver on any requests from that angle

Modern/Alternate AUs are accepted and appreciated!

I will take up to 3 requests per person! Please flood my ask box, for it is barren as a desert and dry as my mouth at 3am.

NSFW requests are welcome! I will write a wide variety of kinks, but it is case-by-case, and there are some I won’t do. Still, don’t be shy, my anon is available, and I will answer any respectful questions via ask/PM

Limited Dead Dove. Acceptance will be case-by-case, but I will do canon-typical types of violence, whump, and taboos. Rape is off the table as far as an actual scene, but references are allowed

Recommendations: I am very excited to branch out of my comfort zone with this, so feel free to go buckwild, but if you want recommendations of stuff I’m more practiced at, I have a masterpost over on my page. The following is a list of stuff I’ve posted, drafted, or am otherwise really into.

Fem!Lambert x Fem!Aiden (it’s my brand and my specialty)

School of the Cat/Dyn Marv (group dynamics + partners)

School of the Wolf (both brotherly and romantic)

School of the Bear (particularly Arnaghad, Ivo, and Junod)

Nenneke (bamf and milf supreme)

Witchers & Whores (as allies)

Iorveth x Roche (I’ve seen a lot of content for them recently, and go absolutely wild over the fics/art where Roche is revealed as a half-elf)

Ves (she’s so hot and she loves knives and I wanna be her)

Previous Fills: I’ve done this thing exactly once before, and it was a blast, so if you want to check out what you can expect, these are the two prompts I received last time

Waltzing Wolves: a Super-soldier Spy AU for Gereskel + Jaskier, where Geralt drools over Eskel waltzing like a suave gentlemen, with ART by the amazing original requester, @whyzowl!

Kitten Shenanigans: Guxart learns a way to manage his unruly kittens while also developing their skills. Vesemir is only a little horrified. Done for my dear @halehathnofury.

I will accept requests from now until midnight on January 10th, 2023! Ficlets will be posted as soon as I get them done because I have zero self-control.

[continentcakeshop]

Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: Wiedźmin | The Witcher - All Media Types, Wiedźmin | The Witcher (Video Game), Gwent: The Witcher Card Game Rating: Mature Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Iwo z Belhaven | Ivo of Belhaven/Junod of Belhaven, Iwo z Belhaven | Ivo of Belhaven & Lambert Characters: Iwo z Belhaven | Ivo of Belhaven, Junod of Belhaven (The Witcher), Lambert (The Witcher) Additional Tags: Angst, Implied/Referenced Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Existential Crisis, Existential Angst, First Meetings, Vomiting, Pre-Relationship, Alternate Universe - Modern: No Powers, Ivo & Lambert are Brothers, Crack Pairing, Crack Family Bonds, Crack Treated Seriously Series: Part 9 of Lohre's Witcher Flash Fic Entries Summary:

When Ivo has a bad day and falls into his old damaging habits again, he finds unexpected help in a stranger.

[marbienl13]

Lovely! And LOL at (NOT) small Ivo. The other’s are just bear-format XD

Finally! I can release some Patreon art to you peeps! School of the Bear (left to right: Zerrin (OC), Junod with Ivo, Arnaghad in the back, Grayson (OC), Vanik (OC) and Gerd) Second pic is a bit of an in joke, since there is the fan theory that Ivo and Lambert are brothers and I wanted to draw height comparisons (also to show how looooorge the bears are - and it made Geralt grumpy, cause he smol If you’d like to support me, you can do so here: Patreon.com/Cylin

[tumbleweedtech]

Regarding your post on the cöen discourse: I don't even understand the implication that portraying book cöen is racist? I hated the portrayal of twn witchers just like everyone else did, but I really enjoyed cöen's actor himself and I have no problem imagining him as cöen when reading the book? His race is never stated, why would the fandom come up with the implication that if you don't like the netflix portrayal, it means that you imagine him as a white man in the books, I don't get it

I have no idea. Fandom has jumped on the "if you read books and assume the people are white you're racist", which... I mean. I can understand that, to a degree. People tend to read characters as people who look-like-them. If you do this uncritically, it's a problem. I like to give a bit more benefit of the doubt, especially for fic writers. Because I suspect because barring physical descriptors, people tend to go with the Gwent art as character faces. Which is great! Why not? Those are the faces the Wiki gives you. However CDPR has a bad habit of giving us... just piles, and piles of white men. I'm still bitter over how when we first met Ivo he was beautifully dark skinned- I gleefully delighted in how familiar he looks to the men I grew up with as family. (See above- When reading, I tend to see people based on myself.) but subsequent cards his skin tone was lightened up. There also is a shameful, racist portion of people who don't believe? understand? that Europe very much is more than just white people. This is rampant on twitter, eugh. PoC have been a huge part of history, literature, and fantasy for as long as history, literature, and fantasy have existed. The habit of famous fantasy authors having only white characters is, largely, because they are white men. Because white men, historically, have been the voices uplifted by what is, frankly, boiled down to racism. There have been PoC writing and telling stories, there have been women writing and telling stories, for millennia. Long way to say "people who say that only white people belong on the continent because it's fantasy" are wrong. It is the downfall, however, of wanting to write the characters we're given by a media source that prefers white faces (CDPR, I'm looking at you.) means that you have to add in the diversity yourself. And if you do, you get screamed at. If you don't, you get screamed at. Which is WILD considering how many people write Aiden- a character we only know by name, and that he's "a good man". I'd even argue there's MORE characterization for Coën in the novels than Eskel or Lambert. (Note: I feel that it's important to point out that CDPR, and therefore Gwent, are Polish. TWN is American media)

[art-now-germany]

Quiff,, Wolfgang Schmidt

Sincerely to: Andy Hall, Sheikha Al Mayassa bint Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani, Paul Allen, Edythe L. and Eli Broad, Rosa and Carlos de la Cruz, Patricia and Gustavo Phelps de Cisneros (Venezuela and Dominican Republic), Donald and Mera Rubell, Steven A. Cohen, Theo Danjuma, Maria Baibakova, Adrian Cheng, Ingvild Goetz (München), Victoria and David Beckham, Leonardo Dicaprio, Alan Lau, Camilla Barella, Ralph DeLuca, Arthur de Ganay, Ramin Salsali, Moises Cosio, Pedro Barbosa, Monique and Max Burger, Joaquin Diez-Cascon, Luciano Benetton, Roman Abramovich and Dasha Zhukova (Russia), Robbie Antonio (Philippines), Hélène and Bernard Arnault (France), Maria and Bill Bell (United States), Peter Benedek (United States), Debra and Leon Black (United States), Christian and Karen Boros (Germany), Irma and Norman Braman (United States), Peter Brant (United States), Basma Al Sulaiman, Marc Andreessen, Laura and John Arnold, Camilla Barella, Swizz Beatz, Claudia Beck, Andrew Gruft, Robert and Renée Belfer, Lawrence Benenson, Frieder Burda (Germany), Richard Chang (United States), Kim Chang-il (Korea), David Chau and Kelly Ying (China), Pierre T.M. Chen (Taiwan), Adrian Cheng (China), Kemal Has Cingillioglu (United Kingdom), Nicolas Berggruen, Jill and Jay Bernstein, Ernesto Bertarelli, James Brett, Jim Breyer, Christian Bührle, Valentino D. Carlotti, Edouard Carmignac, Trudy and Paul Cejas, Dimitris Daskalopoulos (Greece), Zöe and Joel Dictrow (United States), George Economou (Greece), Alan Faena (Argentina), Mark Falcone and Ellen Bruss (United States), Amy and Vernon Faulconer (United States), Howard and Patricia Farber (United States), Larry and Marilyn Fields (United States), Marie Chaix, Michael and Eva Chow, Frank Cohen, Michael and Eileen Cohen, Isabel and Agustín Coppel, Anthony D'Offay, Hélène and Michel David-Weill, Antoine de Galbert, Ralph DeLuca, Amanda and Glenn Fuhrman (United States), Danielle and David Ganek (United States), Ken Griffin (United States), Agnes Gund (United States), Steven and Kathy Guttman (United States), Andrew and Christine Hall (United States), Lin Han (China), Henk and Victoria de Heus-Zomer (Holland), Grant Hill (United States), Maja Hoffmann (Switzerland), Erika Hoffmann-Koenige (Germany), Tiqui Atencio Demirdjian, Beth Rudin DeWoody, Eric Diefenbach and JK Brown, David C. Driskell, Mandy and Cliff Einstein, Rebecca and Martin Eisenberg, Ginevra Elkann, Tim and Gina Fairfax, Dana Farouki, Michael and Susan Hort (United States), Guillaume Houzé (France), Wang Jianlin (China), Dakis Joannou (Greece), Alan Lau (China), Joseph Lau (China), Melva Bucksbaum and Raymond Learsy (United States), Agnes and Edward Lee (United Kingdom), Aaron and Barbara Levine (United States), Adam Lindemann (United States), Eugenio López (Mexico), Jho Low (China), Susan and Leonard Feinstein, Nicoletta Fiorucci, Josée and Marc Gensollen, Alan and Jenny Gibbs, Noam Gottesman, Florence and Daniel Guerlain, Paul Harris, Barbara and Axel Haubrok, Alan Howard, Fatima and Eskandar Maleki (United Kingdom), Martin Margulies (United States), Peter Marino (United States), Donald Marron (United States), David MartÍnez (United Kingdom and Mexico), Raymond J. McGuire (United States), Rodney M. Miller Sr. (United States), Simon and Catriona Mordant (Australia), Arif Naqvi (United Kingdom), Peter Norton (United States), Shi Jian, Elton John, Tomislav Kličko, Mo Koyfman, Jan Kulczyk, Svetlana Kuzmicheva-Uspenskaya, Pierre Lagrange, Eric and Liz Lefkofsky, Robert Lehrman, François Odermatt (Canada), Bernardo de Mello Paz (Brazil), José Olympio & Andréa Pereira (Brazil), Catherine Petitgas (United Kingdom), Victor Pinchuk (Ukraine), Alden and Janelle Pinnell (United States),Ron and Ann Pizzuti (United States), Michael Platt (Switzerland), Miuccia Prada and Patrizio Bertelli (Italy), Howard and Cindy Rachofsky (United States), Mitchell and Emily Rales (United States), Dan Loeb, George Lucas, Ninah and Michael Lynne, Lewis Manilow, Marissa Mayer, David Mirvish, Lakshmi Mittal, Valeria Napoleone, John Paulson, Amy and John Phelan, Ellen and Michael Ringier (Switzerland), David Roberts (United Kingdom), Hilary and Wilbur L. Ross Jr. (United States), Dmitry Rybolovlev (Russia), Lily Safra (Brazil),Tony Salamé (Lebanon), Patrizia Sandretto (Italy), Eric Schmidt (United States), Alison Pincus, Heather Podesta, Colette and Michel Poitevin, Thomas J. and Margot Pritzker, Bob Rennie, Craig Robins, Deedie and Rusty Rose, Stephen Ross, Alex Sainsbury, Alain Servais (Belgium), Carlos Slim (Mexico), Julia Stoschek (Germany), Budi Tek (Indonesia), Janine and J. Tomilson Hill III (United States), Trevor Traina (United States), Alice Walton (United States), Robert & Nicky Wilson (United Kingdom), Elaine Wynn (United States), Lu Xun (China), Muriel and Freddy Salem, Denise and Andrew Saul, Steven A. Schwarzman, Carole Server and Oliver Frankel, Ramin Salsali, David Shuman, Stefan Simchowitz, Elizabeth and Frederick Singer, Jay Smith and Laura Rapp, Jeffrey and Catherine Soros, Jerry Yang and Akiko Young (United States), Liu Yiqian and Wang Wei (China), Anita and Poju Zabludowicz (United Kingdom), Jochen Zeitz (South Africa), Qiao Zhibing (China), Jerry Speyer and Katherine G. Farley, Susana and Ricardo Steinbruch, Kai van Hasselt, Francesca von Habsburg, David Walsh, Artur Walther, Derek and Christen Wilson, Michael Wilson, Owen Wilson, Zhou Chong, Doris and Donald Fisher, Ronnie and Samuel Heyman, Marie-Josee and Henry R. Kravis, Evelyn and Leonard Lauder, Jo Carole and Ronald S. Laude, Francois Pinault (France), Udo Brandhost (Köln), Harald Falckenberg (Hamburg), Anna and Joseph Froehlich (Stuttgart), Hans Grothe (Bremen), UN Knecht (Stuttgart), Arendt Oetker (Köln), Inge Rodenstock (Grünwald), Ute and Rudolf Scharpff (Stuttgart), Reiner Speck (Köln), Eleonore and Michael Stoffel (Köln), Reinhold Würth (Niedernhall), Wilhelm and Gaby Schürmann, Ivo Wessel, Heiner and Celine Bastian, Friedrich Karl Flick, Monique and Jean-Paul Barbier-Mueller (Genf), Christa and Thomas Bechtler (Zürich), David Bowie (Lausanne), Ulla and Richard Dreyfus (Binningen und Gstaad), Georges Embiricos (Jouxtens and Gstaad), Friedrich Christian "Mick" Flick (Hergiswil and Gstaad), Esther Grether (Bottmingen), Donald Hess (Bolligen), Elsa and Theo Hotz (Meilen), Baroness Marion and Baron Philippe Lambert (Genf), Gabi and Werner Merzbacher (Zürich), Robert Miller (Gstaad), Philip Niarchos (St. Moritz), Jacqueline and Philippe Nordmann (Genf), Maja Oeri and Hans Bodenmann (Basel), George Ortiz (Vandoeuvres), Graf and Gräfin Giuseppe Panza di Biumo (Massagno), Ellen and Michael Ringier (Zürich), Andrew Loyd Webber, Steve Martin, Gerhard Lenz, Elisabeth and Rudolf Leopold.

https://www.saatchiart.com/art/Painting-Quiff/694205/3616535/view

[blackberrywars]

WIP Poll Game!

Thank you so much @alllthequeenshorses for tagging me! I'm gonna make two of these, one for the witcher, one for the red lotus

The Rules: post your current WIPs in a 24 hour poll. Whichever gets the most votes by the end gets worked on! The number of votes is how many new sentences you have to add.

Taglist for you and anyone else if they want to play: @halehathnofury, @keirametzbrassknuckles, @t4tlambert, @round--robin, @on-a-lucky-tide, @anonymousblueberry, @jayofolympus, @whyzowl, @yolki-palki