'hold you in his arms, yeah you can feel his disease' excerpt [edited]:

“‘The Guard of the Sea is not only the only god from all of the Yamgraz pantheon to be possibly real, but also known by the general public. The rich in ink city that is Stain’d-by-the-Sea’s mascot, the Bombinating Beast, is thought of by some to be the Guard of the Sea under a different name."

“The legend surrounding the Bombinating Beast has it making its home in the nearby waters of the land that is Stain’d-by-the-Sea, showing itself only on a new moon. Whenever it’s on the prowl for fun or when its hunting for meals, it emits a terrifying buzzing sound that sends anyone around in fear of their death. Eventually, Lady Moira Mallahan killed the creature, and took a wooden statue once owned by a self-proclaim wizard in association with the creature, as a keepsake of the battle.”

“However, the details of the Bombinating Beast contradict with the Guard of the Sea. While there is no agreement on what the Bombinating Beat looks like —it’s either half-horse and half-shark, or half-alligator and half-bear— its physical description doesn’t match the Guard of the Sea, other than it can curl up into a question mark. Furthermore, the Bombinating Beast can potentially be tame."

"While details differ, the wooden statue once owned by the self-proclaim wizard in association with the creature and now in possession by the Mallahan family, is always involve somehow. The Guard of the Sea however is untamable, and unpredictable. Such volatile nature is fitting to the God of precognitions that were and will be, the uncharted waters of the mortal plane, and the plane of the unknown."

“The few written down and translated records of the Yamgraz people revealed several sightings of an unusually long, giant, snake-like creature that curls itself up whenever one goes fishing. Furthermore, accounts of people in the past who claimed to survive the same snake-like creature have one detail in common: that they were with a person or people who thought control of the creature was possible.”

'the chaperone' excerpt [edited]:

“The Old Guard of the Sea is what many people today say is a myth created by a long-gone civilization. But the Old Guard of the Sea is real.” [...] “Why do you think the Yamgraz people are no longer around? Know that it’s the god that lives nowhere, yet everywhere. It’s the god of precognitions that were and will be. It’s the god of the uncharted waters of this mortal plane, and the plane of the unknown.”

“It’s a godly creature with no form to call its own. It’s untamable, and unpredictable. Aye, lad. Cry for those who believe they can control the volatile beast. They are poor souls who are just memories now. Never cross paths with it, as it gives almost no mercy. Almost. Those who claim to survive it says it does grant mercy, but the mercy is in hindsight.”

in the rewrite i wanted to expand the lore. not that i hated the lore in 'the chaperone', but felt short; makes sense that it's someone talking about it via memory vs someone reading from a book. also in the rewrite, i lean into the theory that the bombinating beast isn't the great unknown. it's just a similar mythical powerful creature in shape and strength.

i italicize some parts of the excerpts: this was 'lore' i wanted to keep it. bold are things that i changed. for the 'shape' part, i emphasize the importance of it being a curvy shape/a question mark.

as for the difference regarding survivors, i actually can't remember why i changed it. i can only assume i changed how it showed its 'kindness'. maybe i wanted it to be more 'merciful' to those who knew better to not attempt to control/tame it. re-reading the latter, it does feels more 'natural' being a wild creature, but it's also a god that should be also more decisive in how it chooses to act towards humans/humanity.

and this isn't related to 'the chaperone' but i am in a lore mode! i implied that the great unknown/guard of the sea is part of a trio of important gods (i nickname the high trio), as reveal in my seven six widdershins family members au via a baudelaire interlude:

Much of the book pages were text, though two pages were full illustrations of a three-legged crow, and a deer-like creature with two sets of antlers. [...] It was a hand-drawn sketch of an unknown creature that was curving its body, almost like a question mark.

the og plan was for the illustrations -sans the sketch of the great unknown- to also have their titles given. but i thought that would be force exposition given the circumstances (it's when aunt josephine's house was getting trash during hurrican herman). given this post is all about the mythos/lore, why not talk about the other two here.

the protector of the air: that is the the three-legged crow! i took inspiration from east asian mythologies (the chinese sanzuwu, the japanese yatagarasu, the korean samjok-o). it may or may not be related to the village of fowl devotee, given they are heavy on birds (the crow especially). did the og settlers saw it? who knows!

the sentinel of the land: that is deer-like creature with two set of antlers! deers in general appeared in many different mythos with a variety of roles/meanings. i figure i should have a deer god as well. 100% it killed before with its two sets of antlers.

This theory is dedicated to @ven10, whose post depicting the statue in the episode of The End (https://www.tumblr.com/unfortunatetheorist/758594891663212544/it-certainly-is-ven10-it-certainly-is?source=share), inspired my thoughts. There are also inferences made by @snicketsleuth (and @snicketstrange) which are used.

So, by the end of WITNDFAON (which I admit I haven't read yet but will get round to), we know that The Bombinating Beast statue is of great importance, as well as:

"Snicket fed Armstrong to the creature, and then wandered into the Clusterous Forest with the statue. It is unknown what he did with the statue and what happened to that beast, or its siblings, after this" ~ Snicket Wiki.

The only hint we have of The Bombinating Beast is that Lemony wanders into the Clusterous Forest with it's statue. Therefore it is important to take into consideration an extra detail about the Clusterous Forest, which links the ATWQ universe to ASOUE:

Lucky Smells Lumbermill gets its green timber from The Clusterous Forest.

This is my line of reasoning as to what happened:

1. Despite being an agent of VFD, Lemony is still a child, so there is a chance he feels some remorse for killing Armstrong Feint/Hangfire.

2. It is out of said remorse that Lemony decides to have nothing to do with the Beast again, burying the statue of the Beast deep in the forest... or so he thinks.

3. During ASOUE (just before TMM) a worker (e.g. Evander) chopping trees for Lucky Smells Lumbermill comes across the statue.

4. Not knowing what to do with it, and being under hypnotic influence, the worker promptly hands it to the foreman, who gives it to Sir.

5. It is extremely likely that Sir (The Miserable Mill) and Wiley Smogface (FU:13SI, ATWQ) are in fact the same person; however, there is no reference of any connection whatsoever between Sir/Smogface and The Bombinating Beast's statue. This implies that he knows nothing about the Beast, which makes little sense given that he is from Stain'd-by-the-Sea.

This logical gap can be filled: if Sir/Smogface had a "very terrible childhood" as Charles has clearly stated during TMM, this could refer to his parents bouncing around from town to town as they seek different jobs with more and more money. Hence, Wiley is left by himself in his parents' latest job-stop - Stain'd-by-the-Sea - unaware of the legend of The Bombinating Beast.

6. Sir has no idea of the power he holds... but apparently, neither does Georgina! There's also no reference to Georgina knowing anything about the statue - she's just a VFD optometrist with a bad reputation who lives in Paltryville, even during the events of ATWQ.

This implies that the statue... well... just stood there, as an ornament, in Sir's office.

7. Someone took the statue from Sir's office at Lucky Smells Lumbermill. But who? Well, whoever it was must have known two things:

a) The importance of the statue

b) It's location

There are only 3 people who seem to fit the bill perfectly - Lemony, Ellington and Moxie.

We know that each of them have their reasons:

Lemony: To use its power to somehow help the Baudelaires.

Ellington: To end it all after falling into a depression from the loss of her father OR to claim revenge on Lemony after having gone through the grief mentioned above.

Moxie: For a great story and the Mallahan legacy; after all, Lady Mallahan allegedly slew the Original Bombinating Beast.

@snicketsleuth's post, 'What is The Great Unknown?' (Full post here: The Snicket Sleuth — What is “The Great Unknown”? (tumblr.com)), says the following:

"Following the events of “All The Wrong Questions”, Ellington eventually escaped from the prison cell with Kit Snicket thanks to the skeleton key in Ellington’s bag. Kit and Ellington, before going their own ways, exchanged a good deal of information. Kit Snicket could not help noticing Ellington acted extremely angry towards Lemony and VFD in general.

In the following years, Ellington worked tirelessly to recover her father’s remaining assets as well as uncovering the secrets of Inhumane Society. Though the book Caviar: Salty Jewel of the Tasty Sea was destroyed, she had had the opportunity to read some chapters Lemony hadn’t. No one knew about the CBB more than her. With some effort, she managed to find the animal hiding in the Clusterous Forest, as well as the Bombinating Beast statue that Lemony had buried there. With the statue, she was now in control of the CBB. Eventually she managed to track down an octopus-shaped submarine which used to belong to Hangfire, only to lose it to Count Olaf.

As Olaf escaped with the submarine (now rebaptized the Carmelita), Ellington pursued him. She used the statue to control the CBB, ordering it to seize the Carmelita. The CBB first encountered the Queequeg in close vicinity to the Queequeg. Unsure whether these two crafts were allied with each other, Ellington ordered the CBB to stand down. Captain Widdershins mistook the question-mark shape on their radar for an enemy submarine.  Later, Ellington witnessed the Queequeg being attacked by the Carmelita, and decided to approach the CBB to scare Count Olaf and help the crew of the Queequeg. Count Olaf also assumed the mysterious entity was an enemy submarine."

I agree with Ellington being the one who takes the statue...

...but I don't think she found it in the Clusterous Forest. Sorry, @snicketsleuth.

8. If Georgina's reputation was really as bad as Moxie made it out to be, there is a chance that Ellington would have visited the Lumbermill in disbelief - I think it is here that she stumbles upon the statue.

9. This happens:

"With the statue, she was now in control of the CBB. Eventually she managed to track down an octopus-shaped submarine which used to belong to Hangfire, only to lose it to Count Olaf.

As Olaf escaped with the submarine (now rebaptized the Carmelita), Ellington pursued him. She used the statue to control the CBB, ordering it to seize the Carmelita. The CBB first encountered the Queequeg in close vicinity to the Queequeg. Unsure whether these two crafts were allied with each other, Ellington ordered the CBB to stand down. Captain Widdershins mistook the question-mark shape on their radar for an enemy submarine.  Later, Ellington witnessed the Queequeg being attacked by the Carmelita, and decided to approach the CBB to scare Count Olaf and help the crew of the Queequeg. Count Olaf also assumed the mysterious entity was an enemy submarine.

The Queequeg eventually escaped from the clutches of the Carmelita. While making their way to the Hotel Denouement, Olaf, Esme and Carmelita Spats realized the Baudelaire orphans’ absence and were betrayed by Fernald and Fiona who let the imprisoned youngsters start a mutiny. Ellington followed the entire mutiny from afar. The youngsters were released. Esme, Olaf and Carmelita fled. The octopus-shaped submarine was eventually given back to Ellington Feint who promised to help Fernald and Fiona if they were ever in trouble."

10. Ellington had no further use for the CBB (as she already gained her father's submarine, which was the intention) so she [presumably, most likely] discarded the statue in the sea, before it washed up on the island, as @ven10 describes.

Part 2 (Post-ASOUE) coming soon,

helloooooo everyone ummmmm