#Nevena Ules

[mareenavee]

(Tired) WIP Wednesday

Dragging ourselves through the week through the chaos <3

I've been ill but writing has been a balm! I'm gonna share a few snippets with you.

Was tagged by @thana-topsy (HUGE HUGS! Aiden and Sarel are adorable and you DID IT. You did the thing!) and @kookaburra1701 (I'm still waiting on Book 32 of your fic universe, and will cheer until its ready!)

Tagging especially @changelingsandothernonsense for the Sad Wars which have produced amazing content as of lately from me, for being writing exercises hehe. Not to brag, I'm just really fond of the work! And of course the amazing @paraparadigm, @thequeenofthewinter, @snippetsrus, @wildhexe, @nuwanders, @oblivions-dawn, @miraakulous-cloud-district, @throughtrialbyfire, @expended-sleeper, @inquisition-dragonborn @archangelsunited, @dirty-bosmer, @viss-and-pinegar, @ladytanithia, @polypolymorph, @gilgamish, @tallmatcha, @rainpebble3, @late-nite-scholar, @greyborn2, @saltymaplesyrup, @orfeoarte, and YOU. Because yes. You are tagged. Tag me back if you have stuff to share! I love to see it.

Below I have a few samples from some WIPs! I'll start with World, as I'm restructuring chapter 31 <3

This selection is long, too! 1,050 words, below the cut!

1) The World on Our Shoulders, Chapter 31 Athis's POV as he goes through Northwatch Keep to save Thorald. 219 words.

Still, there was something unsettling about how unnaturally quiet this part of the keep was. The hairs on the back of Athis’s neck stood up, some instinct he couldn’t place screaming of danger. Something was wrong. He’d felt this way once, years ago, before a bear charged out of the woods that time his hip had been shattered. He’d almost died, then, if it hadn’t been for Farkas and that priest out of Falkreath. Odd, that, as it was a priest of Arkay. The irony wasn’t lost on him. Now, however, was not the time to lose focus.

Athis pressed against the wall that lead out of the twisting passageways into a room that looked, from what he could tell, like some kind of torture chamber. Only, the air rippled with some kind of magic that felt like static on his skin the closer he crept. He remembered how it felt when Nyenna used certain spells nearby; this one didn’t feel like anything he could recall, and that didn’t bode well. None of it did, if he was being honest. He got the sudden notion that perhaps it wasn’t worth all the trouble — that Thorald might already be dead. But no. If there was the slightest chance that he was still alive, Athis couldn’t leave him here. He wouldn’t.

2) Storms Like This A secret WIP I'll be editing and finishing soon for a friend. 266 words.

He’d thought back to one of his favorite memories of her, besides their wedding. Before they’d decided to adopt and start a family, they were living comfortably in Proudspire Manor in Solitude. He’d been overwhelmed at first by the city he’d only ever passed through before. Living in it meant becoming entangled in the political nonsense, which Sigyn seemed to take in stride. She’d come home, fancy clothes thoroughly drenched from the rain after being gone a particularly long time on what was supposed to be a local errand, and deposited an old hip bone into a chest by the door. Unnerving, sure, but not too atypical for her.

She took him by the hand and dragged him out into the storm, onto their back porch, all while Jordis silently judged them both from her perch at the kitchen table. Sigyn had said nothing, only smiled as he’d exclaimed from the cold downpour the further she led him outside, but then, even over the thunder, he’d heard it—the Bard’s College, practicing for the Burning of King Olaf, bright and clear, almost enhanced by the storm, music reverberating through the very stones of the building next door. They danced together, on their porch, regardless of the weather. It was if, for a moment, the entire world consisted of only them. She’d laughed even as their sodden hair clung to their faces, and as water ran freely into their eyes. [He] knew then, despite all of her chaos, he would follow her absolutely anywhere for as long as he lived.

Storms like this always reminded him of her.

3) Fragment - part of The Bitter, Bitter End (Unpublished as of yet.) Featuring Nevena Ules as the POV and Orvas Dren. (Yeah. Ew.) 209 words.

Orvas was leaning over the stone parapets, looking down into the courtyard where regular people milled around on business relating to Vedam’s gathering. The moons shone overhead and, besides the noise of the crowds and bards inside, all was silent. She cleared her throat, and Orvas turned to her. He smirked—the same sarcastic look he’d won her heart with when they were younger and under far less pressure—and closed the distance between them.

His eyes, blood red in this light, held storms. She knew what had been worrying him, but she was trying hard to ignore that part, until it was safe to talk about it. Vedam’s overreaching included parlaying with the Empire and solidifying trade between Morrowind and other provinces. Only, there would be an embargo if the Blight situation got worse—which it already was, by the day. And if all of that work was so new, the newfound strength of House Dren would be the first to collapse. Orvas had said as much, and had been bringing it up in their conversations more often as of late, because Vedam wouldn’t see reason. He thought he could see a solution, but even thought of it scared her.

He wanted to ally the Camonna Tong with the Sixth House.

4) Fragment - part of It's Always Darkest Before the Dawn (Unpublished as of yet.) This one is is Danger!Bean Varlais's POV. 353 words.

Varlais never felt like he belonged anywhere in particular, to be fair. His parents had been elevated slightly after a few turns of events when they’d moved with Ondolemar’s family to Skyrim. That was, technically, his doing, all those years ago, but they were still othered by most Altmer of any rank, Thalmor or not. It was complex, of course, and he didn’t have the energy to parse it all. He’d leave that to Ondolemar, who seemed like he could hold every political detail in his head, as if his mind was some kind of tome.

All he knew was it had to do with the Ayleid ancestry that refused to fade into the background for his family, no matter how many generations. Aerissa, at least, never looked down at him for the blue eyes, thank Auri-El, but she was back in Alinor now, doing clerical work for the Thalmor. And, of course, he was stuck here. But at least, if he was here, he could try and save her from them. No matter how badly he missed her, he’d keep fighting. Before she became a thrall, well, she’d always stuck by him. He looked down at his ring, the gold band glimmering with a faint enchantment, the metal worn and scratched. Somehow, likely by Mara’s direct intervention, he’d not lost the thing, nor had it torn through his skin and bone in some horrifying way. He touched the edge of his left ear where he’d lost an earring that way, and was grateful at least in that moment, his magic worked to stanch the bleeding.

As of late, he’d been feeling even more unmoored than usual, despite Ondolemar’s best efforts—the man was seventeen different kinds of distracted, after all. They were and always had been close as brothers, but with so much changing and hanging in the balance, Ondolemar had to focus on the plan. They had a goal, after all, as impossible as it all seemed. The Civil War and the Dragons were mucking up pretty much everything. Varlais also tended to make himself a problem, though never intentionally. Not really.

[katastronoot]

for your character drawing requests, maybe Nevena Ules from Morrowind?

here she is!!! thank you for requesting!!! <3

[atypicalacademic]

Silk 🧵🪡 (or maybe 🕷️???) pls and thank you u3u

Could be both really, Silk is about the circumstances surrounding Alsal's parents, and therefore the normalest most healthiest family in the world

“A favour, not a partnership. And that can be withdrawn if you break your agreement and overstep your bounds. I can’t let you override our interests on the matter. The Council would never--”

“Vedam.”

His brother was pacing now, his golden robes lashing against the floor. Tall, handsome Vedam, who spoke Aldmeri and Cyrodilic, more personable and charming than Orvas could ever harbour hope of becoming. Not that he did. Orvas was not in the business of envy. He could rub two sides of a coin without bleeding his thumb dry.

“From here on, I would ask you to consult me before--”

“Velanda Omani. Nevena Ules.”

He stopped. Orvas read the dawning dread behind his eyes. Not both of them. It said. No.

Little brother, the light of his life. His nix-hound on a golden leash. Orvas smiled freely now. “I can make you Grandmaster.”

[oxalisvtesblog]

2nd Item, That he shall not suffer any playing at Cards, Tables, Dice, Bowls, Nine-holes, or any other unlawful Game, or any Disorder, or Outrage in his House, Orchard, Garden, or Back-side, but shall keep good Order and Rule in his House.

Hrisskar Flat-Foot: "That's right. See, I had a bad run of luck playing Nine-holes, and lost a bit of money."

6th Item, That he shall not Buy or take to Pawn, or suffer to be Bought or taken to Pawn in his House (to his knowledge) any goods of any unknown Traveler, or of any Neighbor's children, or Servants, or Slaves, or of any man's Wife, without the consent of their Parents, Masters, or Husbands respectively, and if any such Goods be offered to Sale, or Pawn, by any Stranger, he shall make the same known forthwith to the next Bailiff, or other Officer of the Town.

8th Item, That he shall not suffer any Bawdry, or Criminal Conversation, in or about his house, nor shall procure or cause to be Enticed any man to drink in his house, until he shall be Drunk, or distempered with Drink.

Undersigned,

Master Velanda Omani Master Nevena Ules Master Dram Bero Master Crassius Curio Master Yngling Half-Troll

[uesp]

"I have long believed it was a mistake to turn from the old gods. Perhaps Azura is with you after all. And perhaps not. I will tell you that I've spoken with Dagoth Ur. He promised me the same thing. That he will drive the foreigners from our lands. But I am not one to ignore opportunity, nor am I one to be troubled by rubbing two sides of a coin. If you are true to your word, I am your ally. I will tell Velanda Omani and Nevena Ules to support you as Hortator of House Hlaalu."

--Orvas Dren, ending his alliance with Dagoth Ur for an alliance with you.

[stiri-noi]

Cum îţi poţi „recupera” datele personale pierdute în mediul online?

Oamenii au pierdut controlul asupra datelor personale. Această informaţie este confirmată de către Kaspersky Lab. Conform specialiştilor în domeniul securităţii cibernetice, 2 din 3 persoane nu știu cine deține datele lor în mediul online. În plus, 2 din 5 părinți nu știu ce date există pe internet despre copiii lor.

Şi în acest context, incubatorul pentru start-up-uri Kaspersky Lab a lansat serviciul Audit Privacy. Acesta poate ajuta oamenii să recâștige controlul asupra datelor personale.

Recuperare date personale: adrese de e-mail, numere de telefon, locuri de muncă…

„De la adrese de e-mail la numere de telefon și de la locuri de muncă la date de naștere, există o cantitate alarmantă de date despre noi în mediul online. Europenii au pierdut șirul locurilor pe unde au călătorit datele lor personale, al companiilor și al platformelor ce dețin informații despre identitățile lor sau chiar al locurilor unde există date despre copiii lor”, conform sursei citate.

Datele personale se numără printre subiectele discutate în cadrul Kaspersky Next, conferința care reunește experți în securitate cibernetică, între 29-31 octombrie.

Recuperare date personale: Anunţul făcut de Kaspersky

De asemenea, datele personale sunt o problemă pe care Kaspersky Lab și-a propus să o rezolve. Astfel, incubatorul pentru start-up-uri al companiei lansează o versiune Beta a serviciului său de audit de date personale, creat special pentru a le da utilizatorilor ocazia să afle ce informații despre ei există în lumea online.

„Am ajuns într-un punct în care viața noastră privată este mult mai expusă online decât offline, iar motivul este acela că suntem naivi când credem că serviciile online pe care le folosim sunt „gratuite”. În schimb, ca utilizatori de Internet ar trebui să fim mai conștienți de locurile în care oferim datele noastre și de faptul că organizațiile care ne procesează datele au datoria să se bazeze pe anumite norme – nu doar juridice, ci și etice”, spune Nevena Ruzic, Head of Compliance at the Information Commissioner’s Office Serbia.

Recuperare date personale: Rezultatele studiilor

În urma unui studiu asupra a peste 7.000 de utilizatori din Europa, Kaspersky a descoperit că pierderea controlului asupra datelor personale este o chestiune cu impact asupra majorității europenilor.

Cercetarea arată că 64% dintre respondenți nu știu toate locurile unde sunt stocate datele lor personale pe web. Mai rău, 39% dintre părinți nu știu ce date personale fac publice copiii lor în mediul online.

Studiul mai arată că utilizatorilor le pasă de soarta informațiilor lor. Astfel, pe 88% dintre ei îi interesează dacă datele lor sunt folosite ilegal.

De asemenea, 57% dintre ei ar fi speriați sau stresați dacă datele financiare personale le-ar fi compromise.

Recuperare date personale: Cine ne gestionează datele?

Pe de altă parte, numai 45% dintre respondenți au încredere că marile companii vor avea grijă de datele lor. De asemenea, doar 36% cred că informațiile lor sunt în siguranță pe site-urile de socializare.

În pofida acestor temeri, utilizatorii nu fac nimic pentru a rezolva problema, iar un procent îngrijorător de respondenți procedează greșit.

Astfel, o persoană din cinci (20%) nu își protejează conexiunea Wi-Fi cu o parolă. În plus, 31% au fost de acord cu afirmația: „Nu mi-am actualizat niciodată setările de securitate de la router-ul Wi-Fi”.

Totodată,  30% nu își protejează dispozitivele cu un soft de securitate.

Recuperare date personale: Efectele pot fi dezastruoase

„Oamenii știu că trebuie să-și protejeze datele, pentru că, în caz contrar, efectele pot fi dezastruoase”, adaugă Marco Preuss, Head of Kaspersky’s Global Research and Analysis Team pe Europa. „Dacă îți sunt furate datele, poți să ajungi să pierzi bani, să fii urmărit pentru o datorie pe care a făcut-o altcineva în locul tău sau chiar să fii acuzat de o infracțiune. Informațiile tale pot fi vândute, iar banii obținuți, folosiți pentru tot felul de infracțiuni.”

Citeşte şi Câte firme de pompe funebre există în România?

    Articolul Cum îţi poţi „recupera” datele personale pierdute în mediul online? apare prima dată în Jurnalul de Afaceri.

[too-right-red]

Gender Politics in Morrowind

This is mostly a compilation of my thoughts and observations on gender and gender politics of Dunmeri society in Morrowind.

In Morrowind, and Dunmeri society especially, gender politics are very culturally heterogeneous with a strong geographic component (due to House rule having a strong correlation to geography - Houses in Morrowind are like a combination of states and political parties), so how an individual Dunmer thinks of and relates to gender varies depending on their culture and location.

Ashlanders are a very patriarchal and gender-segregated society, and have a sort of philosophy that men and women occupy "different spheres of life", that should compliment each other like yin and yang. Their gender roles seem to be very rigid, and trades are strongly gendered. They also seem to resent the Ashlander women who reject the patriarchal rules and run off to become witches that worship the great cosmic snake that makes men tremble like maidens.

Redoran are also incredibly patriarchal and perhaps this is due to their intentional imitation of "the traditional ways of the Dunmer" and therefore are trying to model their society on Ashlander tradition. Their emphasis on traditional martial arts and physical combat could maybe be why they downplay the role of women as warriors. They also seem to emphasize family very strongly, and politicians seem to do better if they have wives and children (the only woman councilor is an interim councilor because her husband - the previous councilor - died, so honestly it seems like Redoran generally believe politicians should be men). This emphasis on raising of children seems to make it difficult for women to get ahead in Redoran society. However, Redoran society is not nearly as gender segregated as Ashalnder. At the lowest ranks, the parity is OK, but there's a very sharp rate of attrition as you go up in the ranks and Redoran women hit that glass ceiling.

I also want to point out, that they reference this directly in the Redoran Stronghold questline. The Captain of your guard tells you that his men are concerned that they will not be able to find wives if they're stationed at your settlement, because it is all dudes there. You then have the choice of going and convincing unmarried women to move to your settlement, or you can buy a bunch of slaves for your men to marry. Wonderful.

Hlaalu seems to have OK gender parity, but it isn't perfect. Fairly close. But women at some of the higher ranks seem to enjoy less status and influence than their male peers (the female councilors, Nevena Ules and Velanda Omani are both completely beholden to Duke Vedam Dren and basically vote however he tells them), but there certainly isn't as hard of a glass ceiling as we see in Redoran society. This makes some sense, given their emphasis on trade deals and wealth accrual, that they would have better parity than Redoran but still have issues with intractable "old boy's clubs" due to generational wealth making change slow.

Telvanni has the best gender parity by far, from the bottom all the way up through the highest ranks. Even their Great Councillor in Ebonheart is a woman. It seems like the Telvanni actually do have something of a meritocracy just as they claim, and do not care about gender. At least not much. They claim to only care about ambition, magical might, cunning, and prowess. Due to the nature of such things, you would expect an equal playing field between men and women, and indeed this seems broadly to be the case. In stark contrast to the Redoran and their afforementioned dude-centric settlement, most of the retainers and minor nobles which move to your settlement at Uvirith's Grave are women (and they don't complain to you about not having enough husband prospects, just gonna say).

Also contrasted with the Redoran, the Telvanni do not put any emphasis on family or children. In fact, having a family seems to be a hindrance to a Telvanni politician's career. The Masters especially appear to have foregone investment in a family in order to focus on their political careers (the men and the women). Which allows for greater gender parity in their society. In addition to not raising families, the Telvanni Masters even traditionally cut off their family names, which I guess could be to emphasize how unimportant family history/influence is to them.

Why would families be a hindrance to Telvanni politicians? Dynastic power structures usually aid in stability, and they explain why we get generational transfers of power in the real world - even for elected officials. But I guess Telvanni Masters plan on living forever (or at least thousands of years) through their strange magics, and that takes a ton of pressure off of them for producing heirs. Additionally, the Telvanni have a very strong culture of mentorship / taking proteges. The tradition of a Mouth that legally speaks with their Master's voice and is binding as such in all things, I think, gives a pretty clear delineation of wealth inheritance in the case that some sort of accident happens and the Master does not live thousands of years (the Mouth doesn't inherit the council seat, of course, they would have to earn that like anyone else).

The Mouth and the Master would both have an incredible amount of influence on each other, with the Master not only providing mentorship and grooming the Mouth for their career in Telvanni politics, but the Mouth would also act as confidant and advisor for their Master and they would inevitably be very close and politically similar. If the Mouth is the traditional inheritor of the Master's wealth, then having a family could actually make things less stable, because now you have a family which might contest your Mouth's right to your estate after you die. This would take even more pressure off of Telvanni politicians for producing heirs, and perhaps even dissuade them from it.

[mareenavee]

For the ask game :D

54. What’s your favorite part about the fanfiction writing process?

35. What is one essential thing to remember when writing a villain?

16. How many fic ideas are you nurturing right now? Share one of them? ( 👀👀 at this one. No idea how you whip up so many ideas but more power to you LOL may they keep coming)

Hello <3 I haven't actually answered an ASK in forever, but I love these!! AH. Thank you.

54. What’s your favorite part about the fanfiction writing process?

My absolute favorite part is the ability to slightly twist canon and provide readers (and myself) with new takes on ✨weird magic shit.✨ Hehe. I really love when I can read TES like a text (which it kind of is), find a strange detail and absolutely go wild with it. I like writing on the rails for World, too, for the most part, but I'm really enjoying the bits I get to make up, like new pieces of dungeons, or worldbuilding that isn't touched on in the source material. It's a ton of fun.

35. What is one essential thing to remember when writing a villain?

@paraparadigm teaches us this best with Undnar, but the best kinds of villains believe wholeheartedly that what they are doing is the best way to proceed to get to their goals. That they are, without a doubt, wholly correct in their approach because to them, there is no other way. There is such a super fine line between a hero and a villain -- it should be that if you flip perspectives and hop into the villain's head, the HERO of the original story or POV looks like the villain from there. Evil for the sake of evil is hard to get right -- Evil because of really high stakes for that character is also difficult but I find it to be more satisfying to read and to write. :>

16. How many fic ideas are you nurturing right now? Share one of them?

HEHE <3 I just stunlocked myself and @archangelsunited with the answer. I have 41 WIPS at the moment. BUT to be fair, I am participating in a prompt challenge or two, and more than half come from prompts and are mostly being collected as a crow might collect shiny things.

It's tough to narrow down a favorite 1 new WIP I'd like to talk about...but I can speak on one that's not related to the main fic's universe, and that's The Bitter, Bitter End.

It came up from some brainstorming sessions on Skywind and ultimately we didn't go in this particular direction because of...oof so many reasons...but I still LOVED the concept and, since I do write fanfic, I can twist it even further.

The quote might sound familiar to other Morrowind Fans. It will be a doomed Morrowind where the incarnate dies, but that's background as to why the world is as bleak as it is in that one. The main focus will be a political snakepit and the narrative will center around two slimy POVS: Nevena Ules and Orvas Dren. Or rather. Nevena/Orvas. It will end with what happens with the fact that Dren has linked up with the 6th house and nobody is around to stop the spiral of destruction. This links up super well with the villain question above. How does one build a story around two villainous POVs? I think it'll be a really fun challenge.