#zeugl

[astaldis]

Of Stinking Sewers and Man-Eating Monsters

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences, No Archive Warnings Apply

Category: Gen   Words: 2,810

Relationship: Cahir Mawr Dyffryn aep Ceallach & Yennefer of Vengerberg

Additional Tags: Sewers, ancient abomination, zeugl, terrifying tentacles

Summary: On the run from the Brotherhood of Sorcerers, Yennefer and Cahir travers the ancient elven aqueduct on their way from Gors Velen to Oxenfurt to find the Sandpiper. But not only the monster with the many tentacles is lurking in the sewers.

Yennefer turns around the corner. And freezes. She cannot see much in the near darkness of the sewer but there is some kind of huge, black shadow squatting right in the middle of the tunnel. Another monster. Fuck! As if that tentacle thing a few hours ago was not enough. And now they do not even have a torch. Why on the continent did the Nilfgaardian throw away their only source of light and means to defend themselves? Right, to grab and save her, she cannot really blame him for that, can she now. But still, a torch would have made their journey through the ancient elven aqueduct so much easier. And especially so if the monster from earlier that killed Dermain and almost her too, is not the only one lurking in these godforsaken tunnels.

Standing still as a statue, Yennefer stares at the creature. In the dim light of the air shaft illuminating it from behind, it reminds her of a gigantic toad. The toad-like beast opens its mouth and a fleshy, long tongue emerges. It looks greyish in the twilight, but she is sure it must have some disgustingly slimy, brown-red colour. It is probably sticky as hell, too, and several metres long. The creature moves its tongue from side to side while protruding and retracting it repeatedly with some kind of smacking sound.

“What is it?” Cahir whispers, stopping in his tracks right behind her, so close she can feel his warm breath on her wet skin. Her disgustingly dirty and stinking skin. Good thing he is no less dirty and wet than her.

“Quiet. I think it hasn’t noticed us yet,” Yennefer breathes, taking a cautious step backward.

Unfortunately, her assessment is overly optimistic. With its sensitive tongue the toad has tasted the air, smelled the scent of delicious prey. It is hungry, too. Not many animals of a size bigger than rats stray into the tunnel system that has been its home for many hundred years. And these weird, two-legged beings are the creature’s favourite. Sweet, juicy meat, and lots of it. It has had only a few of them during its very long life, but recently more of these delicacies seem to traverse the main tunnels than ever before. That’s why it has left its usual, darker hunting grounds and come to this place. Here it has sat on watch waiting for many hours. Patiently. As it has been its habit, its nature for all its very long life. But now the time to feast has finally come. With a loud splash, the ancient amphibian starts to move through the foul water. It moves straight toward them, and a lot faster than Yennefer would have imagined possible with its enormous bulk.

"Run!" she exclaims, whipping round.

Continue reading on Ao3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/46953019

@witchermonstermayhem​

[konfizry]

horses!!!

thats right

any time of day

think about horse

Horse Meshi... aaaaa, Horse Meshi!

yeeeeeeeeeeehaw

put those NPCs on the horse you cowards

[gravehags]

i love this stupid game

[inexplicifics]

Hello Inex 👋

For the WIP List ask game: one (or more) Jaskier/Geralt.

Do you have a favourite wip you're excited about?

Have a snippet of "G/J dare", in which Geralt meets his bard under slightly different circumstances:

Geralt was intending to just have a quiet drink and enjoy having actually been paid in full for the zeugls he cleaned out of the sewers. Unfortunately, he’s in Oxenfurt, and the tavern he picked is infested with bards. There are about a dozen of them, all in a gaggle, and honestly they’re rather amusing to watch. They’re playing some sort of complicated drinking game involving dares; thus far, Geralt has listened to one of the most impressively bawdy songs he’s ever heard (which he will definitely be telling Lambert about this winter), watched a bard absolutely fail to flirt with the barmaid, seen about half of a very unpracticed striptease (the barkeep put a stop to that one), and had to duck out of the way of a bard trying to clamber around the whole room using only the rafters.

As to one I'm particularly excited about - the problem is that I'm excited about all of them, and have neither the hours in the day nor the spoons in the bucket to finish them all immediately!

[seijitheclown]

Who is the Bookman waiting at the Campbell Residence?

I'm back with another theory that bugged me for the last two days I need to put it down. This theory here will contain spoilers regarding Chapter 249/251!

So my theory starts with the following information from the panel above (both from Chapter 222). Lucia says "Bookman has woken up" and:

This scene takes part as Allen was found by Kanda/Johnny, as Allen is on the run for 3 months.

The implication here that it's "just" Bookman. Well, ... which Bookman? As Hoshino confirmed in her last Broadcast Bookman and Lavi are hold hostage for about 4-5 months which will be learn later on, that means around this time of the Story Bookman is still hold hostage by the Noah, same for Lavi.

And for now we know that Lavi will return but not "the same as before". So he is not dead (now), the referenced Junior is Past!Bookman Junior (PBJ for short). There is only one Junior per Generation, so if one is gone another has to be born or the Clan is in danger.

So... who is it?

It's talked about that "Junior" isn't there anymore to carry on the collected memories but also told this will solve once Allen arrives, the scene takes part right after Cross(!) tells Allen to go to the Residence. Mother holds the other key with the Information regarding Zeugle after Allen tells her Cross appeared and told him about Katherina (and we have a huge hint that Cross is still alive by Mother).

So we have an injured Bookman in the twin's old home who was not conscious for quite some time. Bookman Sr. is not injured around that time as Desires just pressures him, Lavi is, but I doubt Lucia would address Lavi as "Bookman-sama" as he is only the apprentice so far, also Lavi is conscious despite being in pain.

You know who is also injured by that time and we all pretty much expect that he is not dead....? Cross. Who was/is suspected to be a Bookman/Bookman Jr even by a lot of people...? Cross. Who has a striking resemblence to Lavi? Also Cross (yes I know some suspect they are related).

Then we have another indicator: Urcampy. It could be that Cross either left Urcampy there (I love the theory both of the Twins have a Golem, but eh) and then we have the information that Cross uses a spell to appear way younger than he is. Another drop of information we got from the recent Broadcast (28.4.24) from Hoshino is that the girl in the panel above is indeed the Lucia we meet in Ch. 251 again and that it has something to do with the Residence. Could it be the same magic Cross uses? But in the opposite direction? To make her appear younger or older depending on how it's needed?

Cross walks upon the lines all the time, he can do as he pleases, he is above the law. He interacts with the Noah casually, Road treats him like an old friend (Vol 27) despite him having not only one but two Innocence (which is, another really interesting information), he has obtained knowledge nobody else has. He can modify Akuma, he uses a Corpse and her Innocence. Why is he not killed despite the fact he knows the true identity of the Earl? He is above the Black Order and Central makes a deal with him, yes he's a good Exorcist, strong and all that. But he doesn't get the "you are a traitor" treatment Allen got, ... what has he going on there?

We don't really know why he cares for Mana, how they met and whatever deal/relationship we have going on (no I don't really go for the Cross = Cyrus theory here). We know by now Cross most likely knew PBJ, but not Past!Allen. As he has no indication on what he looks like aside the age, not even a hair color, personality or anything else aside the information that an Allen is the host and that Mana got told that "Allen" is the key.

This fuels my theory that Master and Apprentice parted, one followed Mana and the other Nea to record their part of history as the both weren't able to engage anymore without trying to kill each other/the Noah side needed to regain anyways after Nea killed them all but the Earl/Road.

So I am back with this panel. This is a Bookman. But which? I had an tad of an idea that this could be 'our' Bookman in younger years but by now I think I was wrong.

Could this be Cross as his role as Bookman? One side of the face is hidden, just like Cross'. Also while we are at hidden face, I am by now sure that Cross mask is a reference to either the same mark PBJ has, or he has the same mark because he is the Master to even that PBJ. In one of the recent Volumes Allen is asked if Cross has a limited vision because of the mask and Allen denies (it's in Komui's Lounge in either Vol 27 or 28... i can't recall it rn I read too many things the last days) and says Cross has a very good vision and can see well despite the mask.

Another point is that Cross is not named Marian Cross, it's a fake identity. We basically know nothing about him. Other than he has forbidden knowledge, even about the hidden side of the war, something only a Bookman should have.

Does Bookman sr. knows? Well, I am not sure about that. In Ch. 251 it's mentioned that not all of Zeugle know each other, they could be fighting each other in the same war until they reveal they are from the Clan, so.. it's pretty much possible that the Order has basically 3 Bookmen among them.

Desires might address Bookman sr. that he was friends with the former generation of Noah but ... he can't access his Noah memories, therefore Bookman could play pretend and maybe truly doesn't know shit about Nea or he covered his fellow Bookman aka Cross.

.. so yeah. I needed to get this out of my head. I have literally no idea if any of this makes sense or if anybody would agree with me, but I am certain we have a different Bookman here and that the Bookman Clan/Zeugle play a way bigger role than we thought.

[witcherislovewitcherislife]

you might not be aware but geralt of rivia once fought a zeugl kneedeep in sewage

[hiddenremnant]

(core) okay so (dgm spoilers under the cut)

past!lavi / past!allen merge is a go-go, de-aged lavi and past!lavi = cross theory is dead but that's fine honestly, past!lavi becoming part of allen and/or crowned clown is still exceptional

like "bookmen have no need of a heart" takes on a whole new meaning when a bookman apprentice literally is part of allen's heart to keep him from dying lmao

apo hoped crowned clown would destroy allen and neah but past!lavi is the reason allen and neah have both survived, which is ironic considering how much innocence could be a literal enemy in this instance. i wonder if apo knows what's happened to past!lavi.

also "the heart is worried about you" also becomes really interesting if it's about past!lavi, we've been fans of "lavi is the heart" theory for decades so it'd be pretty hilarious if it is lavi, just not the current one lol

nealavi also so real just with past!lavi instead of current!lavi (though hopefully they meet in the future lol)

also makes cross pretty interesting, just who is he then? he's either aligned to the bookman clan like the zeugle are, or he's a third person with the same obscured right eye, scar (on the mask at least) and glasses like past!lavi somehow. i wonder if he grew up with neah and mana in some way considering he remembers them as children?

and then yeah it explains why allen is bookman's solution too if he's merged with the previous junior and bookmen work according to blood, i wonder if bookman knew or just assumed allen and/or neah would be the solution to his "lack of a successor" problems

ANYWAY many thoughts

[poupeesdecirque]

Searching for Zeugle - Pt 2

Second part of this little photoshoot. ...

Allen almost. The sign looks similar but it's the wrong store :'D

photos by @adragonstale <3

[allen-san]

Attention SPOILS !

Depuis que j'ai vu JR 1, je lui trouve une ressemblance assez frappante avec Apocryphos. Certes le nez n'est pas le même mais les visages changent et Apo peut changer son apparence à loisir je pense. Autre chose, le mot " Zeugle " vient de l'Allemand et veut dire " Témoin ", ce terme correspond à merveille au Clan Bookman, à nouveau Sensei ne laisse rien au hasard ^^

[dukeofdogs]

Gwent: The Witcher Card Game | The cards that could’ve been 58/?

Hellhound (Alaiaorax), Bloedzuiger Ambush (BruceCeasar)

Zeugl (Atanas Lozanski), (Mith.art Marta Polak)

[olberic]

i wanna hear your law talesofarise thoughts then

ohh this is a can of worms you’re opening rn. im so obsessed with this guy and am always thinking about how the game does him dirty so please share in this with me

(obviously spoilers ahead for tales of arise) (and a few for beyond the dawn)

(and yes im being dead serious about this)

more than anything else or any of the major criticisms you hear about tales of arise, literally my biggest problem with it is how law is treated, both by the other party members and by the writing itself.

so let’s start with why law immediately caught my attention as a character at the beginning: hes a turncoat! he’s a dahnan actively working with the renans! the story bring you straight from calaglia, where that would have been UNTHINKABLE, to show you “hey! not only do dahnans work with the renans, some of them go so far as to prioritize that work over their own family!” which is fascinating! we get thrown into a fight with law, where he clearly uses the same fighting skills as his father, he has calaglian instrumentation in his fight music, and he doesnt show any mercy. all this while knowing hes going to become a party member! because then we learn through the course of that chapter (and a little bit later in the game) that law’s working there under duress, that he watched his comrades be killed in front of him, that he was left alive if he joined with the snake eyes. and he still has nightmares about that. we learn that he DOESNT hate his father, just left on bad terms and couldnt reconcile with his father’s way of being a father. he couldnt stand how overbearing and patronizing zephyr was, and the first thing zephyr does when they reunite is do exactly that! no wonder law was frustrated at him! but then you get to see his absolute loneliness as a dahnan working for the snake eyes. he gets no sympathy from the renans who treat him as other because hes a dahnan, and active dislike from dahnans because hes working with renans. but if his other option was to be killed, then we as the audience have to ask if this was a decision that’s sympathetic. but we do get this conversation:

law: “i never did tell you how i ended ip hanging around with the snake eyes, did i?”

alphen: “not properly. all i know is you had a falling-out with your dad and ran away from home.”

law: “getting to cyslodia almost killed me. once there, though, i actually ended up joining a resistance organization, believe it or not. of course, before long someone ratted us out, and we were ambushed by the snake eyes. i’d never seen such brutality. if i hadn’t surrendered…”

alphen: “law?”

law: “i don't know why they let me live. they made me watch as they butchered my friends right in front of my eyes. i still have nightmares. i hear roars of zeugles as my friends scream, the snow stained red with blood. and all the while those bastards, laughing. i thought that with ganabelt defeated, i’d be able to put it all behind me. turns out that was a little optimistic. i was terrified they would kill me, too. so i wound up betraying the memory of my friends, and getting my old man killed in the process. i wonder if i’m any braver now. what if one day i panic again, and end up running away like always?”

alphen: “and leave us behind? you really think you’d do that?”

law: “i hope not. but who’s to say what i’m really capable of?”

[lies down]

so there’s the whole thing with law trying to free zephyr and fight back against the snake eyes. as a dahnan that’d be a death sentence even if it weren’t coming from a member of the snake eyes. and yes cyslodia’s built on betrayal, but it establishes law as somebody who betrayed his father, who betrayed his people, and who betrayed his pledged loyalty. it also establishes that when push comes to shove, he cant stand by as an observer and enforcer — hes a protector at heart. and it gets proven again and again throughout the game when hes the first one to jump into things that he isnt made to be an observer! as a person hes so fundamentally opposed to what the snake eyes do but still managed to be convinced to work with them for his own well being. we see in beyond the dawn that he experiences deep regret for what he did and for how he was directly responsible for the suffering of other dahnans he sent to the pylons. hell, even when alphen gets him come along with them, theres this little interaction:

law: its not like theres anyone waiting for me in calaglia either. …plenty of ditches along the road. maybe i’ll find one to die in.”

alphen: “how about a fresh start?”

law: “after the kinds of things ive done? i don't know where id even begin.”

so we need to keep in mind that even if he doesnt talk about it, even if he puts on a front, that he a) thinks hes irredeemable, b) feels intense guilt for what hes done, c) still has nightmares about seeing his friends be killed, and d) is living with the knowledge that if it weren’t for his actions, his father would still be alive. (and its important to note that he recognizes it’s not just his own personal loss, he’s well aware how deeply zephyr’s death affects both the party and the crimson crows.)

and here i’ve got to talk about an under appreciated law detail that i love about him so very much: law, the loudmouthed, immature-acting brawler of the party, has the capacity and skills to have been a great snake eye. look — we saw how he acted with zephyr. but in the “stowaway law” skit he says “eh, lets just say i’ve always had a knack for sneaking around since i was little” to explain how he escaped calaglia. hell, for months, as a kid in a brand new realm, he managed to join a resistance cell and avoid getting caught (for a while). when he helps zephyr escape, he uses smoke bombs. when the party is getting tailed by kisara in viscint, hes not only the only person who notices, he manages to fall back, sneak up on HER unaware, and get a blade to her throat! the woman who's supposed to be the best guardsman in the realm! in beyond the dawn, he can sense the party's being followed and calls out nazamil even when she's invisible. and when that zeugle is attacking pharia ranch, law's the first person to be able to track this invisible creature. law’s perceptive, sneaky, unafraid to dirty his hands for the sake of others, and this trait is soooo fucking underutilized in this game…

which probably brings me to why i cant stand tales of arise sometimes. for every incident of law doing this, or showing literally any emotional vulnerability, theres three incidents of the other party members (rinwell) disparaging him. and it pisses me off SO MUCH. its obvious from that first conversation when he joins the party that while he does have a lighthearted nature, hes got a ton of guilt and self-hatred and regret that take precedence, and he’ll put on a joking front to cover that up. because how can he let himself be who is he when he just got his father killed? and this slips out plenty of times in the game — tons of skits have him start to bring up how it felt to lose his father — but every goddamn time he starts to talk about himself, rinwell insults him.

im not fucking joking! ive played this game twice through. i copy down every skit and conversation that law’s involved in for the entire game. law can’t get a fucking SENTENCE out about who he is as a person without rinwell insulting him. the game tries to play this off as banter when its ALWAYS one sided. rinwell gets to have her emotional scenes with other characters without law jumping in. hell, if she starts to be serious with him, he listens! but heaven forbid he get the same respect in turn! and its not just her. shionne never hears him out (and hell, i love shionne the most, but i really dont like that part of her) and its clear she doesnt see much past his front. kisara and dohalim both see him as totally immature.

“but zad,” you say, “law IS immature.” yeah! of course he is! hes 16 and hes never been allowed to have a childhood! hes been involved with the crimson crows since the day he was born! he escapes calaglia as a kid! hes had time to join a resistance cell and end up working with the snake eyes all by the time he’s 16!!! he says it himself, traveling with the party is the first time hes been allowed to be himself. he wears silly wolf decorations because he thinks they look cool and he doesnt have anywhere else to put them. he playfights with alphen. he lets himself have fun in fights. he (unsuccessfully) flirts. he eats good food and learns to cook. hes got immature taste because hes a teenager. i know i sure was the same! he makes ill-timed jokes because he hasnt been able to be a normal part of friendly conversation before. he has a hard time reading other people because he’s only had people patronize him or suspect him until now.

but the fact is that for all his silliness and immaturity, he is more than that. hes sneaky and traumatized and guilt-ridden and has such a big heart that the first things he does when finding himself is to protect others. (hell, he even says “if im not training, its easy for me to get anxious.” ) and it frequently feel like the writers forget his backstory and motivations and treat him solely as comic relief and as a tool to develop other characters (rinwell).

the most egregious example of this is the almeidrea incident, which i can hardly watch. law’s a character who joins the party and immediately gets revenge on the guy who killed his father (which is still an awesome scene), realizes that doesnt bring him back or undo law’s complicity, then stews with that knowledge and doesnt tell anybody. i love a good revenge plot, but i can see where he comes from when he says “killing the person who wronged you doesnt undo what they did”. but what really and utterly kills me is that all of that is a throwaway line used to develop rinwell’s story. time and time again in this game law’s completely disregarded and im honestly so fucking sick of it 😭 the most we get is this line:

alphen: “law left home because of how much he hated his father. i think law spent a lot of time thinking about how they never got to make things right. and if i had to guess, killing ganabelt didn't make any of those feelings go away.”

and the handful of good scenes (law’s pep talk to alphen when shionne’s kidnapped, law’s conversation with the traitor dahnan and the informants)

so yeah. i dont have a conclusion to this. i adore that law’s a traitor and hes sneaky and hes competent and fights like his dad and wears a silly wolf decoration and lives with unimaginable guilt and has nightmares and has favourite foods and flirts badly and likes being a farmer. im just like cheering for this guy and supporting him unconditionally because the game itself sure won’t.

[heroesxdemons]

Fishing up demons!?

@talesofourworlds

Talka Pond Road, a popular fishing spot for travelers, had an unexpected guest wading through it's murky depths. It wasn't a pesky zeugle but it was something a bit...out of this world!

"Weeeeee~!" The youthful demon, Beebz, had shapeshifted into her octo-form and was having a blast diving through the lake with childish glee...unfortunately for her, she didn't realize that this particular lake was a popular fishing spot...so imagine her surprise when a stray fish hook caught the edge of her scuba-mask, threatening to pull it off!

With a startled yelp, the panicking demon began to thrash wildly, putting up a fight that'd put even boss fishes to shame! "What the heck!? Not cool! Not cool!"

[witchermonstermayhem]

Witcher Monster MAYhem 2023 approaches!

Rules:

Anyone can participate.

Any media form is allowed (art, fic, gifs, music, whatever).

You can participate however much or as little as you want, no pressure to complete all the prompts.

You can post your work anywhere on the internet, Tumblr, Ao3, etc.

Tag potential triggers and NSFW accordingly.

If you want to be counted as an official participant and have the chance to be featured on the blog, post your content on tumblr during the month of May. You can still use the prompt list after May ends.

Don't worry if you cannot post your creation on the day of the prompt, as long as it's during May, it counts.

To make it easier for you to fill all 31 prompts, here are some special rules:

You can use just one prompt of the day or combine prompts of the same day (but this counts just as one fill) or you can combine prompts of different days. (If you combine, for example, 2. vampire, 4. cruel claws, 8. full moon, this counts as 3 prompt fills.)

For every new work that you have created for the event, you can post one old work of yours that fits a prompt. They count like new works! (Please tag old works with #old)

You may combine a prompt with a fill for another event!

I can’t guarantee that every single work will be featured but I’ll try to reblog as many as I can.

To increase your chances of being featured here, tag your post with the event name and the prompt of the day that you used.

example 1: #witchermonstermayhem2023, #witchermonstermayhemday1, #too many toes

example 2: #witchermonstermayhem2023, #alt. breathing fire #old

You can also @ the blog, @witchermonstermayhem

If you have any questions, please feel free to ask!

Please reblog and tag your friends who might be interested in the event. Thank you!

Have fun with the prompts! (see below)

@witcherwheeloftheyear

@witcherrarepaircommentexchange

@witchersummercamp

@witcher-bows-and-arrows

And here the prompts as text:

WitcherMonsterMAYhem 2023 Prompts:

1. Too many toes | myriapod | centipede

2. Fearsome fangs | striga | vampire

3. Wicked wings | dragon | wyvern

4. Cruel claws |  gruesome gashes | scar

5. Nefarious necrophages | ghoul | cemetaur

6. Terrifying tentacles | zeugl | kraken

7. Vicious venom | basilisk | paralysed

8. Haunting howls | werewolf | full moon

9. Something wicked in the water | bubbles | drowner

10. Eery eyes | bloodshot | glowing in the dark

11. Hairy horror | yeti | berserker

12. Searing stings | sharp spikes | puncture wound

13. Shimmering scales | mermaid | mesmerised

14. Scary scratching | nasty noises | reverberating roar

15. Clever camouflage | ambush predator | eyehead

16. Creepy chittering | insectoid | metamorphosis

17. Terrible talons | griffin | chernabog

18. Horrible horns | unicorn | impaled

19. Acid attack | archespore | ants

20. Ghastly ghost | hell hound | nightwraith

21. Ancient abomination | leshen | crones

22. Sexy sirens | succubus | seduction

23. Smelly swamps | kikimore | will-o'-the-wisp

24. Treacherous trap | sand monster | grabbed

25. Menacing maw | swallowed | selkiemore

26. Towering trolls | nasty nekkers | grim giants

27. Duplicitous doppler | despicable doppelgänger | shapeshifting 

28. Rare reptiloid | ferocious fish | absurd amphibian

29. Deadly demon | possessed | diabolic djinn

30. Beautiful bruxa | bloodsucking | black bat

31. Cave creature | barbegazi | knocker

Alternative Prompts (alt.)

If there’s a prompt above you don’t feel inspired or comfortable doing, you can switch it out with any one of these alternatives!

Growl

Run

Breathing fire

Scent of sulfur

Blood-curdling cry

Forked tongue

Hide

Undead

Burrow

Turned to stone

Silver sword

Don't kill it!

I hate monsters

Toss a coin

Monster friend

[moonlight-at-dawn]

I'm just gonna post this one here straight up. It'll make it to AO3 eventually, but it's short so hey.

Shionne freaks out when a bug lands on her, and Alphen is Suffering.

----

Water lapped gently against the wall of the basin as Alphen soaked his sore muscles. He reveled in the sensations, both the fatigue of a good day’s work, and the heat of the water working to relax him. There was no point in using up magical energy on a healing when a nice bath would often do the trick. His head lolled back over the edge and he breathed in deep the steam coming up from around him. He hummed in contentment, eyes gently closed, arms out to either side to hook elbows on the basin to keep him from sinking down.

A piercing scream broke the peaceful moment.

“Shionne!” he gasped, leaping out of the tub and slipping on tiled floor, barely keeping his balance. He grabbed his sword from where it hung on the bedroom wall and barrelled out to the kitchen where the scream had come from. “Shionne, what is it!?”

She had her gun out, and he looked to where the barrel was pointed, seeing… Nothing? It was aimed very deliberately at the ground, but he wasn’t sure he saw the threat. “Sh-Shionne…?” he gasped, asking again, hoping for some kind of answer.

When she looked up from her rifle, her eyes were wide and teary, and she let the gun disappear back into its astral pocket. “Alphen…!” she cried out in a voice that reminded him of painful moments. Her hand wiped subconsciously at her arm, and a tear rolled down her cheek. “It, it landed on me, Alphen…!”

“It…?”

“A bug! A big, hideous bug! Some kind of beetle! It was so big, and heavy, and it landed right on me! I thought my heart was going to explode! I swatted at it, but it got away! I never thought I’d miss the thorns, but I never had to deal with bugs like that before!”

She sounded so distraught, crying, and he stood there, soaking wet and naked, dripping bathwater on the kitchen floor, sword in hand. He didn’t know what to do or to say.

Did he hug her? No, that would get her wet, and she’d be angry.

Did he laugh? No, absolutely not, that would get him shot.

What was the right answer?

“I’m… sorry?” he tendered, bewildered.

“Find it and kill it!”

“Can, can I just, put it outside where it belongs, if I find it?”

“Fine, just so long as it’s gone!”

“Alright. But, uh, Shionne?”

“What!?”

“Can I… get dressed first?”

She looked up from her hands that covered her face and took in the sight of him like that. A tear still rolling down her cheek, she suddenly burst into laughter, covering her face again. “I’m sorry, Alphen! I didn’t realize, I didn’t mean to scare you like that…! Go, go finish up your bath, and maybe we’ll be lucky and that damn thing will have left on its own by the time you get back.”

He sighed with relief and nodded, grinning at her. “Thanks. I’ll try not to take too long.”

“And I’ll try not to scream and shoot at any more insects. At least, ones that aren’t zeugles.”

[inexplicifics]

Hi! The eldritch trio fic was lovely! The blend of humour with the seriousness of them being isolated from their brothers on top of the regular witcher isolation must’ve been a difficult line to toe, but I think it turned out great! I smiled at Volthere’s mischief even as my heart ached for the older three.

I was just wondering if you had any idea on what made their batches of mutagens so special? Did each of the three get different mutagens, or did they just react differently to them?

Playing the game, we know that succubi have harvestable mutagens, but did the mages find a way to create an ifrit mutagen? Did they subjugate an ifrit in order to do so? The book Elemental Empires in the game say that ifrits, dao, and marides all share the classification of “genie” with d’jinni, so I imagine that they would be nearly, if not totally impossible to kill, making wishes or full subjugation the only options I can think of, especially considering I don't think witchers would generally hunt them anyways, since they’re both intelligent and generally uninterested in humans unless angered.

Off the top of my head, I can think of both zeugls and kayrans for a monster with tentacles, but other than a genie again, I can’t think of anything particularly easily that would channel the Power that well. Maybe this is just an oversight on my part, but nothing readily comes to mind.

As for Geralt, he didn't seem to exhibit any traits I’d see as genie-like, but the enhanced everything seemed like it might be a higher vampire trait? Though again, I don't know how you’d really harvest mutagens from a body that is forever recovering, though maybe it wouldn’t be a higher vampire like Regis, but one of those who may be labelled as higher or lesser depending on the specimen and the bestiary like a katakan?

I probably overthought this, especially considering it was just a sweet and smutty story, but it was odd hyper fixation time, and today that means a bestiary deep-dive, apparently. Of course, the mutagens may well have come from your bestiary, rather than either the books or the games, which would also be cool, or they could’ve been so top-secret that not even you learned what the mages used, but it seemed fun to speculate:)

I'm genuinely not sure what got put into the Terror Trio's mutagens. Higher vampire seems plausible for Geralt, yes, and something fire-based for Gweld - possibly succubus, possibly ifrit, who knows? - and for Eskel I think it wasn't so much what was in the mutagens as a really interesting conduit moment at a really bad time, plus whatever the mages put into the Grasses. I don't think they were expecting tentacles. I don't think anyone was expecting tentacles.

[seijitheclown]

SPOILERS Chapters 251 onwards

Bookman Junior, past!Allen, Bookman and ... debunked theories, also theories that somewhat were reanimated?

So here it is my new theory post regarding the newer chapters it took me a while but my mind has been working. I did several in the past, here we have them:

Bookman's Flashback & Bookman Jr = Lavi but different?

Lucia & the Bookman at the Campbell's

The weirdness of Allen's Age

Allen & Junior being one person at some point

So hey listen I did come up with a lot of things over the past 6 months and I will refer to a few that were confirmed (and also debunked) and go to a few things we learned from the recent chapter (253). And my two cents to that.

The Bookman from the Ark Flashback is indeed our Bookman.

I had the discussion earlier this year that it was implied that this person is a Bookman but it's not clear what Bookman. My first thought was our current Bookman. Then I had the idea it could be Cross as I stated in the post above but ... no. I came back to it being our Bookman as the ears and the earrings match. So we kinda got that confirmed here.

2. Bookman Jr = Lavi, but no & Allen's bond with Junior in the Flashback during the Circus ark

My idea was if Allen got regressed Apocryphos might have been messing with more people. But that theory was wrong. We do have a second Lavi though.

Also I was right about the one single memory of Red before the circus of feeling someone cared for him was him and Lavi, their bond survived the whole ordeal with Apocryphos (also I suspected Junior protected Allen from Apocryphos that was confirmed too).

I was wrong about the idea that Allen was a child when he met Nea as we learned Allen was dying as Nea approached him and that was the reason why Nea bowed down. I was right about Allen being regressed according to that flashback though.

3. Blood relation between Bookman & Junior, the Clan and their Blood + the black Sheep and the Mark

This is a kinda confirmed thing? At least Allen refers to Bookman as Lavi's "Dad".

Also current Allen indeed looks like a mash up between pastAllen and Lavi. At this point I suspect that a lot of Lavi's personality and functionality took over Allen as he was merely a head and the Innocence arm, everything else was basically Lavi's Helix filling up his.

The question is still are the Bookman otherwise related in any way? How did the elder from the village immediately knew that the Baby was related to the Bookman Clan? A Clan that is not known by many as they operate in the shadows of history.

We know that Bookman are allowed to have children (it was confirmed somewhere in Komui's Lounge I don't know which Volume it was but it was the same confirming that they don't drink Alcohol iirc). It could be that the whole Clan is indeed Blood related BUT maybe just a few people might have the abilities to become a Bookman and maybe even among those only a certain percentage are allowed to work in their profession (heck I still think Lucia looks like Lavi but with a haircut).

This would explain why the Bookman share their recordings by "blood" while they still do recordings on paper (looking at Lucia writing down the stories of that old man). Maybe Bookman, Lavi and current!Lavi are the blessed ones with the Blood connection while Lucia, Joe and the Zeugle guy (does he has a name even?) without socks are helping to a certain degree.

What brings me to ... the mark.

That one thing marking the Bookman as head of the Clan and the Junior as the future Bookman.

It is certainly not the scar that Junior has. At this point I do suspect something else but let me finish my first thought.

Bookman sr. hides his mark under Make up, we all know how he looks like right now. The current Junior wears an eyepatch. We don't see their right eyes uncovered/without make up. Not even with baby!Lavi. Hoshino even hid Bookman's right eye behind the wall to not give away any clues in earlier chapters.

We do not see Lavi's eye uncovered in any flashbacks, the glasses hide his eyes every time.

But we do see in Chapter 253 that Bookman Sr only covers the area above his right eye with make up and we all can agree that both his eyes are fine to use he doesn't need glasses, there aren't any hints that his right eye is defect in any way. Also current!Lavi has only his eye covered there is no mark on his forehead or anything.

So there is a mark somewhere around the right eye the key person of the Clan have by birth.

I do suspect that Lavi, who was conflicted all the time, from young years on, that this profession is what he should follow, reminded by Bookman who supressed his feelings all his live long, to stay true to his profession either forcefully lost his mark by someone else.

Or he decided to blind himself to erase his connection to the Clan. As he sees himself as the Black Sheep, the one who brought shame upon the Clan. They still do see him as 'beloved' member, and the reminder that he lost his former Junior pains Bookman to a certain degree.

I think the latter is the case, I do think Lavi injured himself to erase his connection to the Clan. But he still was a member and he was not completely disconnected from the Clan either.

One point is that current!Lavi was born after Lavi merged with Allen, that means he might gave up his 'Job' but he was still their heir. AND his hairstyle is the same as Bookman's it's a Bookman hairstyle. Also the jacket he wears is hinted to be worn under the cape in the teen flashback, the collar decoration (feathers) still hints to the Bookman Clan and so does the clasp which shows a bird. He is still attached to the Clan even with the fact he denies it.

Why would you continue to wear the cloth of a Clan if you didn't want to be associated with it anymore? Also why does he stick to the rule of not having a name? Like, he left the Clan and still is "I was formerly the one who was supposed to be the next Bookman I have no name but Lavi is the name of the Record so that's not a name either"... Lavi you literally could have named yourself Bob and that would have been your name?! (But yeah I think Allen told him his 'name' is Lavi now just to make things easier)

Also Bookman does his best to not let his current apprentice take after his former Junior (eyepatch, not the same hairstyle, more distance between them, constant reminder not to get attached).

BUT there is something we can't grasp yet...

their weapon. We first see Lavi's staff in Chapter 252. And current Lavi has a similar weapon with his Hammer, he uses a staff during the attack on the Headquarter as his Hammer broke during the fight with Tyki.

Why do the both Junior have the same weapon? Does Bookman teach them the same fighting style? Is there any reason behind this?

And ...

4. Bookman, Lucia, the Helix and Innocence

What is the deal with Bookman and the Helix of Life? Can they just manipulate it like that?

We do know the Lucia in the current chapters is the same as the one in Chapter 222, the chapters take place about 3 months apart, not more, it is not a Flashback. Lucia 'aged' somehow.

An idea I have is that maybe Bookman can indeed control their Helix to a certain degree. Maybe Lucia gifted a part of hers to 'the injured Bookman in the Campbell Residence' to help him heal, she lost years of her life and aged accordingly (wild theory but hey we got wilder things within the series, also Bookman is important to their Clan keeping him alive is their higest priority).

They must be able to manipulate it at some point. This would explain why Bookman and current!Lavi were able to become accomodator of Innocence 'just like that', this is not a coincidence. Especially considering Bookman warns Lavi about becoming a crystal type.

Innocence feeds off the Helix and only chooses people who are resilient enough to endure it, people who aren't giving up after their personal traumas and keep on fighting (which is a horrible thought, they are basically punished for surviving and then their live source is sacrificed for the Heart...).

5. Allen and Lavi are the same, aka we know nothing about Allen

Hands down we learned a lot about the former Bookman Junior and he gave up his own life for Allen, to fill his helix. The former Allen, the soldier, who made a deal with Nea, doesn't exist anymore. And the Allen he was before Apocryphos got him was basically someone else as he was before the deal, he was a teen raised by someone who was a Bookman.

The Allen we have is the result of two people being fused (something I had suspected earlier). Though we have zero idea who past!Allen was aside... being a soldier. We don't know why he agreed to Nea's deal nor what he got for it. We don't know who the opponent was that wiped his whole unit.

6. Cross is not Bookman Junior

I think we can finally get rid of that theory, thank you.

Though I hope we learn what relationship Cross has with them all, he is a big mystery still.

7. The Future of Allen

So yes this ... is bugging me. There is surely more like ... what will happen to Allen when the Clan learns he is basically the lost Junior? Will they claim him? Will they treat him more gently? Will anything happen at all?

Will they help him to regain the lifetime he lost due taking the poison? (Or will that be Link's part?)

Also I tried to keep Hoshino's wish in mind not to share caps from the recent chapter therefore I inserted older caps and own drawings, just in case you wondered why.