#also ashlander>all

[panlight]

I know bring this up like once every six months but I will never understand how "Olympic Coven" became so commonly used for the Cullens' coven in fandom when they are never called that by anyone in the books, don't call themselves that, never called that in the movies, never called that in the Guide.

The name literally only exists in the Vampire Index in the back of Breaking Dawn. This should be a strange little easter egg we all forgot about.

How did it become so widespread in fandom when it's so obscure in the actual books (and not in the movies at all)? It seems like it was a one time idea of SM's that she abandoned, because it's not in the guide (almost all references to 'Olympic' in the guide refer to the Newtons' store and they are called the Cullen Coven in the guide) or Midnight Sun, but it lives on in fandom.

It is literally just because the wiki uses it? So anyone getting into the fandom for the first time and googling characters will see it and then uses it themselves? Does the Rule of Cool apply, because it brings up images of eternal gods and powerful athletes, even though it's really talking about a mountain range?

[noxcorvid]

help im getting mod ideas beyond my skill level

[kinghlaaluhelseth]

im surprised there's not a lot of oblivion questline overhauls like there are for skyrim and morrowind. id love a dbh questline overhaul that lets you side with mathieu instead.

[kokikwii]

I missed the eclipse bc i forgot it was yesterday . And was playing my sixth playthrough of bg3 with my partner lol

[valiisthea]

Would anyone be interested in the OCs I brought up last night? Keith, Micah, Ashland, Nate, and a new oc I just made tonight called Austin? 👀

Fcs under the readmore. Yes, I use actors/musicians/well known people as FCs. No I do not base these characters after their FCs, nor will I ever, nor do I agree with the idea of role-playing real people. I think it's fine to use FCs for OCs. If you don't agree, probably don't look below the cut then.

Keith:

Micah:

Ashland:

Nate:

Austin:

Austin and Micah have the same FC, yes. Don't @ me 🤣

Austin isn't a fnaf oc but his story does intertwine with fnaf a little. He was a previous security guard that quit (did not get killed) and ends up going back to warn/try to save all the other guards that end up taking the job.

[rucow]

i imagine that when nerevar and voryn visit an ashlander camp together he truly notices how well voryn fits in and how much they Look like the velothi...he points it out and voryn's just like "well yea that's bc this *gestures at ashlander wise woman* is my aunt on my father's side"

[dishwatergothic]

resisting the urge to post very specifically

[bforblitz]

do the pro-imperialist aspects of tes generally come from oblivion? i've only played morrowind where theyre an antagonistic colonizing force, and skyrim where they're an incompetent bureaucracy, so i was surprised to see your "pro imperialist" take in that one post😭 totally agree about the racism though

okay not to go on full autism mode but. this is highkey my special interest so this is going to be a long post. this does get kind of serious, so i want to preface that this is all just fiction, but it's important to analyze how writers' internal biases can affect the worlds they build. and like I don’t think the Bethesda writers are like “graaa!!! kill all minorities!!” in a way that’s different from the average liberal American imperialist brainrot.

TL;DR tes is pro-imperialist because the empire is constantly portrayed as either good or not as bad as the other options + characterizes racial minorities in a super "they deserve to get colonized" way.

Pretty much every tes game has aspects of pro-imperialism (the only exception I can think of is Redguard). Oblivion is 100% the most pro-imperialist, but Skyrim and Morrowind are steeped in pro-imperialist rhetoric as well, it’s just a little more subtle than “DIVINE RIGHT OF KINGS: THE VIDEO GAME”.

OBLIVION

I don’t think I need to explain too much on why Oblivion is pro-imperialist outside of the concept of “the Emperor is divinely chosen so only he and by extension the Empire can save the world”. The only way to stop the Oblivion Crisis is to relight the Dragon Fires, which only the Emperor can do because of a covenant with Akatosh that says he’ll protect Mundus so long as Alessia’s heirs (aka dragonborns) sit on the throne, and thus the Empire’s claim to dominance is legitimized because they are literally divinely chosen as the protector of Nirn. There’s also how Pelinal is portrayed as a noble hero that the player actually “becomes” when he committed genocide against the Ayleids so extensively that even his allies were disgusted (bit awkward if the player is an elf).

Now I COULD go into how Mankar Camoran’s writings can be interpreted as anti-imperialist, but that’s a huge can of worms that I don’t feel equipped to talk about because there is like. genuinely theological analysis there and I’m a filthy non-believer.

MORROWIND

Morrowind’s pro-imperialism is actually quite interesting. It’s definitely critical of the Empire, painting it as bloated and corrupt, but any attempt at anti-imperialism is stifled by other factors.

The Nerevarine is an imperialist agent. Like not “you work for the Empire”, but ACTIVELY furthering imperialism and making it easier for the Empire to colonize Morrowind. I can expand on this on a different post, but the Empire uses the Nerevarine to politically destabilize Morrowind .

The only reason Morrowind is not a fully incorporated province is because of the Tribunal. Tiber Septim understandably did not want to fight three living gods, so he instead made a deal with Vivec that allowed Morrowind to be semi-autonomous. The current Empire probably also doesn’t want to wrestle with the Tribunal, plus they’ve got Dagoth Ur and Corprus to deal with as well. The Tribunal are also generally seen positively because they’ve done so much to improve the lives of the average Dunmer.

So it’s very, very convenient for them that there’s a local prophecy about an outlander hero (who can be born within the Empire) that is destined to defeat Dagoth Ur and the Tribunal. This is best seen in the Tribunal DLC, in which Helseth (my cringe problematic failson) literally says that now that the Temple is weakened after Almalexia’s disappearance, he can better implement his policies (which are intrinsically in the Empire’s interest). The Empire basically highjacks a sacred prophecy from an indigenous people (the Ashlanders) so they can colonize better.

The Empire is definitely painted as kind of scummy for this, especially since they blackmail you and likely Caius, but only in their methods. Yes, there’s criticism of the Empire, but it’s often coming from people we aren’t supposed to agree with. The idea of the Empire taking over Morrowind is only questioned by locals who are painted as xenophobic bigots and the strangely large amount of tax evaders. Or straight up bio-terrorist cult leader Dagoth Ur. The Empire certainly isn’t perfect, but seeing as how Morrowind is a place of constant strife and danger, they’re the best choice for “stabilizing” the region and making it “safer”.

Going into a more doylist analysis, Morrowind is extremely orientalist. Like by the gods, it is SO orientalist. Let’s start with the fact that Morrowind is explicitly referred to as “the East” while the Empire is “the West”. The Dunmer are analogous to several Asian + MENA cultures, it’s stated by the writers they were inspired by the Japanese and Egyptians. Dunmeri culture is seen as backwards (slavery), violent (solve problems by killing people), mystical (elven magic), conniving (bureaucratic corruption and murder plots), and highly xenophobic. Most of the people on the player’s side are either not from Morrowind or sympathetic to the Empire’s cause (whether they know it or not). We’re clearly getting set up for a Western civilization vs. Eastern barbarism dynamic.

This is best seen in the issue of slavery. In-game, the Dunmer view slavery as part of their tradition and culture. The Empire views slavery as a backward and evil institution that must be abolished. Slavery is undoubtedly evil, and the average tes player is probably going to agree with that. At the baseline, the player is already more supportive of the Empire on this issue because their position reflects our irl values. The primary pro-slavery House is Telvanni, who are arrogant, “crazy” xenophobes. Telvanni is also extremely anti-Empire, and there are many instances where violence is literally just the only answer to problems. The primary anti-slavery House is Hlaalu, who are hypocritical, conniving opportunists. Hlaalu is pro-Empire, but only for their own economical reasons, so they don’t come out of this looking very good either. The writing on the wall is “this culture is so inherently violent and primitive that those who are against this great civilizing force hate us because of we’re bringing progress and those who are with us are doing so because they have no loyalty and are willing to betray their own kind”. Textbook orientalism.

This isn’t even talking about how in Bloodmoon you literally can found a colony, or how the Dunmer traditionally worship the “demonic” Daedra, or how living in an inhospitable place and being violent partly because of that is literally how people talk about MENA people. There is so much that could be said about how Morrowind is pro-imperialist, but I don’t want to ramble for too long.

SKYRIM

Skyrim is, in my opinion, the writers’ attempt at writing something anti-imperial that just ends up being imperialist because they don’t understand how anti-imperialism works. There is, again, a lot to talk about that I can make a separate post on, but I’ll be going over what I think is the most notable examples.

Let’s start with the Empire. Again, the Empire is NOT painted in a good light. But it is kind of telling that most people agree that they're the better of the two options because at least they aren't ethnonationalists, they're only oppressive imperialists. Kinda racist, but at least not as racist?

In my opinion, the Stormcloaks are more interesting when it comes to analyzing Skyrim as pro-imperialism.

First off, we can’t ignore the fact the Stormcloaks are white. Like THE whitest race in tes, PASTY white. They also have that christianized version of the Viking aesthetic going on (@trickstarbrave has a great post about this). They’re literally called the STORMcloaks. They’re based in Racism, the City. They are literally ethnonationalist white supremacists, and I think it’s kind of fucked up that their ideology is treated as a valid way to rule a country.

Similarly, the main negative of the Stormcloaks is the racism. But that really isn’t a negative for people who like them. At best, it’s something they can downplay (not to call anyone out but I’ve seen fics where the author explicitly says their version of the Stormcloaks is “less racist”). At worst, it’s the reason they like them. The portrayal of racism in Skyrim is also cartoonishly hamfisted and inaccurate. The other negative is them not being able to defend Skyrim against the Thalmor, but I'll go into this later.

It's also important to point out that the Stormcloaks' whole thing is that they want to rule Skyrim independent from the Empire because it's their homeland and they don't want the man to tell them what to do. However, in the lore, the Nords stole Skyrim from the Snow Elves, who they proceeded to genocide and enslave (reminder that Windhelm was built by Snow Elf slaves). This is literally the same dynamic as "the white colonists of the U.S. wanted to rule themselves because it's their land, don't ask about the people that have been living here for thousands of years".

The anti-indigenous rhetoric is RAMPANT in Skyrim, and I don't think I need to explain how imperialism begets it. The Snow Elves are said to be dead and gone, which falls into the trope of indigenous people being in the past and not existing in the present. But more importantly, THEY'RE LITERALLY STILL THERE. The Falmer are painted as mindless beasts, but they clearly have culture. They've domesticated Chaurus, they've built their own homes, they have some type of religious structure. They're people that are understandably scared of outsiders who are invading their home, which is why they attack anyone who wanders too close. Again, painting an indigenous group as "mindless savages with no culture who kill innocent people and steal babies" is like THE trick in the anti-indigenous, racist playbook.

The Reachfolk aren't treated any better either. The Forsworn is a group fighting against the people who stole their land, genocided them, and threw them in a labor camp. They are by all rights in the moral good here, but the writers have tacked on very questionable things. They have demonic, Daedric rituals where they transform their own into evil crones and mindless warriors. They wear little to no clothes to represent their "wild" nature. They're bandits who attack innocents and pillage the "civilized". Truly the ONLY quest in Skyrim that isn't about how much we fucking hate indigenous people is the Forsworn Conspiracy, and even then Madanach compromises his own values in collaboration with the Nords. At the end of the day, the Nords are portrayed as the best option for keeping Skyrim at peace. They are in the right for driving the Reachfolk and Falmer off their land.

We have now reached the point where I say probably my most controversial tes lore opinion: I'm pro-Thalmor but for a very specific meta analysis reason. I promise I do NOT like fascism or racism.

The Thalmor being fascistic ethnonationalist who manipulate 4E politics from the shadows is reflective of the writer’s pro-imperialist views and actively deploys anti-semetic + sinophobic tropes. Stripping things of their weird racist tes context: the Thalmor are a political group that rose up against a colonial power that genocided their race. They came to their peoples’ aid during one of the most horrific tragedy when the colonial power could not, and They are actively supporting other colonized peoples to fight against their oppressors (reminder that the writers felt like it was okay to say the Thalmor were behind the Argonian invasion of Morrowind).

How the Thalmor are portrayed in Skyrim is truly fucking terrible. They want to genocide the humans simply because they think they're better than them. They want to get rid of Talos worship because they simply can't accept that a human could ever ascend to godhood. They want to destroy human culture because it is inferior to their own. They are manipulating the scene, they control the Imperial government, which is ineffective and bending to their whims. They're doing evil against humans and the Empire.

I need to stress that the Altmer are in some parts inspired by East Asian cultures (the old Altmer art is literally holding a katana while wearing a shitty recreation of traditional Japanese wear), particularly the Chinese. In fact, ALL of the non-human races are based on BIPOC cultures. Combined with what I said in the previous paragraph, what does that say?

The minorities DO hate us. The minorities WILL form a coalition to destroy us. The minorities DO control everything and want to eradicate us and our culture. The minorities DO want revenge. They are a faceless hoard, a force of brutal and manipulative power that we know nothing about except for the fact that they hate us. They are lying in wait to strike when we are weak. And if we don't get rid of them first, they will do EXACTLY what we did to them.

THAT is exactly how fascism frames its victims. They are weak, but they are strong. They hate us, so we must hate them. If we win, we will return to our former glory and rule the world as its rightful kings. And if we lose?

They will exterminate us.

Now, giving them the benefit of the doubt, I don't think the people at Bethesda are like. consciously into killing minorities. I think this is just the product of that particular flavor of imperialist, borderline fascistic brainrot that every American has (source: I'm an American and I absolutely unconsciously held similar views, even as a POC). Then again, that’s like basically the same thing.

It's really hard to watch people just NOT understand that writers' conscious and unconscious biases affect their writing. I ultimately torture myself by deeply loving this series, and I don't expect people to like suddenly start hating it because it's problematic in the way 99% of fantasy and sci-fi media is.

so yeah. that's the condensed version of my opinion.

[vintagerpg]

We are getting to the point where I have covered just about all of first edition D&D. Which is crazy, really. This week, I’m polishing off a couple module series. First, the UK-series, starting with UK6: All that Glitters (1984). The set-up is pretty by the numbers — the players find a treasure map and, well, follow it. The interesting bit here is that doing so forces them to traverse a weird conduit called the Wind Walkers’ Passages. It’s sort of like a transit system but using wind instead of, say, a train; this allows traversal of the 80 miles of tunnels in about two hours. How it works is…well, there are earth elementals and magic circles and invisible stalkers and time distortion and…look, I don’t know, OK. This is one of those very clever 1980s D&D magical dohickeys that has a very particular way of working that is intentionally obscure so as to provide a mystery for the players to suss out while fighting the occasional demon. It’s fine. I’d probably simplify it a lot in play.

The other side of the tunnels is an ashland, full of giant striders (their lone appearance in a D&D scenario, possibly) and other critters primarily from the Fiend Folio (this being a UK-produced book, that’s not surprising). The scenario ends in a tomb and the titular treasure poses a fairly uncomplicated moral conundrum.

All of this would be fine if that cover art by Brian Williams wasn’t so damn good. This is a problem because I think it is meant to represent one of the demons in the tunnels, though it isn’t really a good match for any of them? It is also one of maybe three illustrations for D&D involving ioun stones. Except, there are no ioun stones in the scenario. Unless I am somehow missing them? Or, am I wrong, are these not ioun stones, but something else that I can’t see because I have so deeply convinced myself they are ioun stones? I dunno! I have stared at this module for what seems like hours looking for an answer and getting none.

The rest of the scenario’s looks are on par with other UK-produced D&D products. Tim Sell did the interiors. The graphic design and the maps all have some extra British sizzle. I like that.

[copperbadge]

Routing the El

@mbta-unofficial recently "routed" the T in Boston, riding through every T stop in the city in a single day. I love public transit and random fuckery so this appealed to me instantly, but even @mbta-unofficial admitted they didn't know how they'd route the El here in Chicago. I know nothing about routing and very little about certain parts of the El even after living here as long as I have, but I'm willing to take a swing.

The first question is one of simple logistics: are we riding every stop, or every train that passes through a stop?

In other words, there are many stops that multiple lines pass through, and the question is whether it's enough to pass through each stop on a train, or do I need to ride the entirety of the line, then backtrack and hit the same stations on a different line? This wouldn't be such a big deal if it weren't for the purple line, which is an express from Evanston that covers much of the northern red line branch and a huge whack of the brown line as well. If I'm covering lines, I almost certainly need to start with purple.

Moreover, do I include the yellow line, which is an extension built to serve basically a single suburb? It feels snobbish to ignore it; it is outside of Chicago proper but then so are several stops on the blue and green. But it also feels very Chicagoan not to acknowledge it, and it is going to be a massive pain in the ass to include because there's nothing near it. I would just be riding out to the Dempster-Skokie stop and back, or starting at Dempster-Skokie and then having to backtrack up the purple line.

Which leads to the next question: where to begin? @mbta-unofficial's route began at one of the termini, Braintree, which they traveled to get to, so in theory one could, and probably should, begin at an endpoint, but the T also isn't structured exactly like the El; there is a central exchange, but nothing as cohesive as the Loop, around which almost every line circulates and which every line at least touches except the yellow. But living downtown, I could also begin at a Loop station, or a red or blue line station that touches the Loop.

So let's set some rules for the initial run, and once that's accomplished, we'll see about adding complications.

Every station, not every line. As long as I touch every station while on a train, it counts.

However, if the stations are discrete, I have to hit them twice -- in other words, I have to touch Monroe and Jackson twice, once on the Red and once on the Blue, because the platforms are accessible to each other but separated by a passageway several blocks long. I'll have to touch Lake twice, once on the Red, because it's both elevated and underground.

I'm going to disqualify the Yellow not because it's suburban but because it doesn't touch the Loop. This is the rule I'd most likely revisit if I was going to attempt this several times.

I am also going to disqualify the purple line, not via the "loop exception" but because it will knock almost half the red line off the map for me in about a third of the time it would otherwise take, but even so having to start at Linden kind of fucks me. Given the purple line's extremely limited running time, there's an argument for disqualification, but this is another rule I'd revisit on a second attempt.

Removing the purple line makes routing a lot easier. And I think the starting point then becomes both obvious and poetic: we start at O'Hare, where it costs double to board the train.

O'Hare blue line all the way to Forest Park is an easy first leap, and from there I think it's most rational to bus to the green at Harlem/Lake and ride it all the way to Cottage Grove. From Cottage Grove, backtrack to Garfield to cover the Ashland-63rd leg of the green line, and then again back to Garfield to disembark and walk to the Garfield red line, which I can take south to 95th/Dan Ryan, then north again to Roosevelt (another two-touch stop). I can catch the Orange at Roosevelt south to Midway and back north again unless there's a fast bus to 54th/Cermak; presuming there's not, depending on stop times I can either take the Orange line back to hit any missing loop station or transfer to the Pink and then take that out to 54th/Cermak. Either way I need to get back into the Loop and catch the Brown out to Kimball, then back to Belmont (or Montrose and bus to Wilson), north to Howard, then south to Harrison on the Red line. Convenient to end at my home station -- I didn't plan it around that, but it's a nice touch.

If I really wanted to get ADHD about this I could sit down with timetables and work out ways to catch trains within the loop to shave minutes off, but El timetables are essentially worthless these days.

I think that's a functional plan. Working off my base knowledge of the trains and also with the reminder that I'm pretty time-blind, I'm estimating:

Blue line O'Hare to Forest Park: 2hrs

Bus to Harlem/Lake: The 318 picks up every 15 minutes and takes 8 minutes, so guesstimate 30 minutes to be on the safe side.

Green Line Harlem/Lake to Cottage Grove: 1.5hrs

Cottage Grove back up to Garfield and down to Ashland/63rd: Again no idea, but probably at least 30 minutes

Ashland/63rd to Garfield and transfer to Red Line Garfield: 30 minutes?

Red Line Garfield to 95th/Dan Ryan and back to Roosevelt: 1.5hrs

Orange Line Roosevelt to Midway: 30 minutes

The 54B bus comes every 20 minutes and take 40 minutes to get from Midway to 54th/Cermak, which is still I thiiiink faster than doing Orange back to Washington/Wells and then Pink out and back. Mulling this one still. Either way, Pink line gets me to Clark/Lake

Walk to Washington/Wells, Brown Line around the loop to hit the missing Loop stations, to Kimball: 1hr

Kimball to Belmont: 30mins

Belmont Red Line to Howard: 1hr (Red line to Howard is HIGHLY variable, I've had it take anywhere from 40-90 minutes from Harrison)

Howard to Harrison: 1hr

About 13 hours in total, let's say my time to beat is 15 hours.

I can't do it this coming weekend; I have all-day events both days. I can't take a day off next week either, I'm going to be slammed at work ahead of an event. So my best bet is either Saturday or Sunday the 20th/21st, or taking Wednesday the 24th off...

Or this Friday. I could call in sick with few ramifications.

Well, I'll keep prepping for now -- find the bus I need from Forest Park to Harlem/Lake, then maybe run the whole route through Google Maps to see what it thinks the timing estimate would be. It might even have some ways to shave time off -- still looking at that Pink-Orange transfer and wondering.

And I need to find places around transfer points to take bathroom breaks since the El doesn't have public restrooms. I can probably get to a bathroom at Midway and back in the 12-minute delay time between arrival and departure...

[moriche]

TES WIP WEDNESDAY

Tagged by a whole bunch of folks, and tagging a whole bunch of folks in return as well! Honestly I have no idea when this becomes too much or if I'm breaking Tumblr-Etiquette 😅but I love seeing what everyone is up to and reblogging your work too!! @thequeenofthewinter @truth-01001001-liar @pocket-vvardvark @illumiera @unknownhomosapien @kat-tail @nyarevar @changelingsandothernonsense @bougainvillea-and-saltwater @oblivions-dawn @scorchedcandy @saltymaplesyrup @dirty-bosmer @ladytanithia @thenotebookwizard @sulphuricgrin @umbracirrus @skyrim-forever @hircines-hunter @friend-of-giants @labskeever @heavy-metal-dick @sanzas-reverie @theoneandonlysemla @yansurnummu @scholarlyhermit @linwelinwrites @sylvienerevarine @kookaburra1701 @elavoria @wispstalk @stormbeyondreality @ansu-gurleht @madam-whim @gilgamish @ggghoulish @graveofcalaxes @nuwanders @captain-of-silvenar @pyre-of-pages @guardianlizard @lobu-inu @fangsandsoftgrass @rustyram035 @lathez @babyblueetbaemonster @unironicallytes

If you want to get on or off Ms. Moriche’s Wild Ride, please tag me or DM me and I’ll make a note and add or remove you!

And also tagged are YOU! YES! YOU!

▲ ▼ ▲

I got some more work done on Veryn's outfits - this time it's the Telvanni Armour / Dust Adept look to travel the Ashlands, featuring a Dreugh Skull. I also did some writing, which you can see below the cut! Can't believe it's almost a year since I last updated my fic, but I've had a hard time getting words on paper. Real Life and Miniche get in the way, and I've arrived at a series of chapters that are going to be this Big Centerpoint of the fic - and I want to really do them well. (and I ran into someone bookmarking my fic, only to see multiple occasions of really similar sentences to mine in their work, which was kinda demotivating too ;.;). But. Hopefully. We're back, baby.

Veryn remained with the guar, the animals loosely tethered and grazing on what dried grasses had survived the cold. Leaning against Sharn, he squinted at Caius setting up a tripod, topped with a gleaming brass instrument. Even from a distance, the man looked intimidating, cloaked in red, clad in decorated Legionnaire’s plate. “Do you hate him?” His spine stiffened at Sharn’s question, vertebrae locking together like a Skyrim shield wall. “It’s that obvious, huh?” Nerves crawled like spiders through his mouth, desperate for a release, and he laughed wryly. “I don’t know if I hate him. What he did, what he’s doing? How can I forget that the Blades are using me as their sacrificial pawn? How can I forgive Caius for lying to me about my own death? And yet if I don’t do anything, if the Empire doesn’t — what if Dagoth Ur wins? What if the voice in my head — ” He broke off abrubtly and gestured around him. “What if all of Morrowind becomes like this or worse? Endless rock and ash, choked by poison weeds. What if Cyrodiil becomes his twisted garden? All of Tamriel?” His answer was a gaze of worry, of uncertainty - a gaze that told him Sharn did not know what the future held either. “And must you carry that weight on your own?” “I don’t know, alright?” He raised his voice, the aching pulse in his temples overriding clarity of thought, frustration and anger threatening to spill out in a torrent of tears and rage. Stomach roiling, Veryn clenched his teeth and eyes, clawing at his mind to gain back a semblance of control. Not here, not now, not in Mamaea, where he couldn’t tell whether the heartbeat in his ears was his own. Sharns hands found his shoulders, her voice found his ears; but he couldn’t quite tell what she was saying over the ring of anxiety until her tone changed and her words stilled. “Ryn,” she said, her voice full of alarm. “I’m fairly sure I’m sensing some magic out here, and it’s not yours.” His stomach stopped squirming and dropped down like lead as a screaming sense of warning jolted through his veins and dragged him back to the present. He cast out his magic hyperagonally, reaching out to the ambient magicka that surrounded them, searching it without rhyme or reason, trying to find patterns in that sea of near-primordial chaos. Usually he was good at this. Usually, he saw patterns where there might be none at all. Today though — “I sense nothing. But if you do, then — ” A corpse from an era long-gone. “Necromancy.” Sharn realised it at the same time he did, wide, panicked eyes meeting the lenses of his dust-mask. “Run!” A creak escaped from the ground, a grinding, grating sound, as if some long-shut door had been opened, some rusty, stilled joint started moving again. Little clouds of dust began to leap towards the sky, growing larger with groan from below. His boots dragged through the ashen dust, solid ground becoming looser and looser with each step he took. Sharn cursed, sinking in to her ankles, the earth caving in below her steps. He stumbled next, their footing disintegrating faster than they could run. Out of the depths echoed a snap, sharp and sudden, followed by another; by a third one, the squealing movement of ancient bones beneath their feet, splintering and fracturing from the pressure of soil and dust. Mamaea awakened, a giant unable to bear its own weight, a skeleton collapsing into itself, a gaping mouth to the abyss, jagged ribs jutting out like teeth. “Hold on!” Veryn yelled, barely audible through the dust blasting his mask. Grasping Sharn’s arm, he drew on his magic without care, lifting up the both of them in flight. A brief distance was all he needed, a few more paces, and they’d make it to more solid rock. Caius must be out there somewhere, obscured by the same storm that proved his undoing. The wind screeched and howled and hummed, resonating with the beat of a thousand scarab wings. It ripped at his clothes and armour and tore at Sharns limbs, wresting them off balance. His magic fizzled, unable to keep two people airborne for long, leaving him only one way. Down.

[cryptfly]

All I ever want to do is play dress up with my dollies. Here’s Rinsea, my ESO main, in some various ceremonial garbs she’s picked up during her adventures. More info under the cut.

Champion of Vivec

She would rather you think of her being the City’s champion than the God-King’s, but here we are. I obviously based it on the Buoyant Armiger’s glass armor. She’s not officially a Buoyant Armiger or anything, but she does get some fancy glass armor pieces for official occasions which she does not attend. This is also partially based on Bajoran liturgical wear because I like it very much.

Champion of Sotha Sil

Technically she’s the champion of the Clockwork City but that was very long to put on her picture lmao. I don’t think Seht would have gotten her any ceremonial wear honestly, but since it’s basically a standard Clockwork Apostle outfit, I like to think that one of that order got her this, something fine and suited to the environment as a thanks for saving their sadboi God. Drawing the armor pieces was really fun and satisfying and they turned out way better than I was expecting.

Champion of Almalexia

Once again I changed the actual title given to fit the picture. Almalexia actually named her a Hand! However as we all know, a Hand of Almalexia is a specific kind of Ordinator and Rin is not actually inducted into that order. She’s a Hand because Ayem says so but that doesn’t actually give her any rank or anything. Instead of giving her Ordinator armor, I gave her a fancy gown. I think Ayem did this with a touch of vanity-isn’t my Hero so beautiful, a true Daughter of Morrowind I am such a proud Mother. Also, I really wanted to draw a pretty dress and no one can stop me. I based some of the details off Kirkbride drawings of Almalexia herself.

Urshilaku Clanfriend

In my personal canon of the story, the Vvardenfell quest happened first for Rin and took around little over a year and in that time she became a Clanfriend among Ashlanders. Her father, Gares, had been an Ashlander until he was forced to flee with his infant daughter and when she returned on what seemed to be Temple business, they were wary of her. But she made herself useful and was unfailingly polite and she was folded into much of their life. I like that while the other outfits look designed and tailored to suit her, her Ashlander gear almost looks like hand me downs and mended pieces. She wasn’t given new and special clothes, she was trusted with clothes worn by the tribe, inviting her into the family itself. These clothes look nice but also like something she work in side by side with the Ashlanders.

[yeoldecorprusarium]

I love the ashlands and Ashlander camps so hard it's not even funny.

Also, the mod that adds wild siltstriders is my favorite of all time.

[vidvana]

I know that nobody asked, but here's some Telvanni lore for all the foodies.

Before you begin this culinary journey, check out this post about ash yams it's essential.

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Telvanni Cuisine

It’s obvious that Telvanni have an extensive knowledge of fungi.�� After all, they live in huge mushrooms and collect and plant numerous species from all across the Tamriel to use them in their potions. It goes without saying that their cuisine is also quite fungal. The commonfolk at Telvanni settlements as most of the Dunmer source their protein both from fungi* and insect meat. But Telvanni nobles love nurturing peculiar worldviews and traditions that differentiate them from other races - or even other Dunmer. One of them is their distaste for anything that doesn’t grow in soil. They frown upon hunter traditions of Ashlanders and stock-raising of house Redoran and regard them as “primitive” in contrast to the delicate art of growing fungi. The alchemy ingredients are an obvious exception from this rule, but in general as their occupations don’t usually include menial work, their light and low-calorie cuisine perfectly matches their lifestyle. This resulted in traditional cuisine of the nobility being solely plant-, or more specifically, mushroom-based**, that contrasts sharply with the cuisine of Skyrim that is rich in venison and other animal-based foods***. Noble Telvanni shun debilitating ingredients such as alcohol and moon sugar in their everyday cuisine, as keeping their minds sharp is their main priority. In order to get an indulgent sweet taste marshmerrow is used instead. Telvanni rarely import vast quantities of vegetables from other provinces as house Hlaalu does. They use commonly grown foods like saltrice, ash yams or mushrooms as the base ingredients of the dishes. In some aspects they prefer to stick to the Dunmer traditions. The nobles, though, indulge themselves in expensive imported berries - not only because of their magic-enhancing abilities but also because of their extravagant taste. As the Telvanni ranks feature numerous alchemists the import of alchemical ingredients is obviously very common. Telvanni chefs gradually incorporated some of the exotic spices into traditional cuisine. Especially valued are the most characterful of them that fancy up the bland taste of mushrooms, such as juniper, ginseng or garlic****. * In real life mushrooms are a rather poor source of protein compared to legumes like beans and lentil. But since there are no legumes in TES universe (at least as far as I know) let's suppose there are some protein-rich mushrooms Telvanni can plant. ** It’s also worth mentioning that I’m a Telvanni-fixated vegan ass myself so that’s a more probable reason why I made my beloved house also vegan xD *** A lovely example of that contrast you can encounter in @thana-topsy ‘s fanfic “Breathing Water”. This would nicely explain Neloth’s preference for apple cabbage stew. **** This recipe for example resembles Telvanni cuisine, it was one of the inspirations from my imaginary dishes above.

Above I’ve come up with some examples of what noble Telvanni would eat on a daily basis.

Thanks for reading that and take care :3

[kaitcreates]

Since Ragpicker King comes out in less than a week, here’s my attempt to predict the book based on some of the new character portraits

First up we have Anjelica Iruvai, the princess of Kutani and Conor’s new financé. She definitely looks like royalty with all the gold in her outfit, the tiny pearls scattered in her hair, and her very formal stance. From the first book we know she directed her kingdom’s army to stop a bandit uprising while her feather was away and her brothers cowered. From her portrait we can pretty easily guess she will be a painter or at least have painting be of some importance to her. In the background we can see the outline of a ship on the ocean, most likely representing her travel to Castellane. I can definitely see her arrival remarking Kel’s interest in the ocean and travel which will likely add more conflict to his and Conor’s relationship as he still has yet to fulfill the promise he made to Kel when they first met. While she does not have flowers in her portrait(yes I’m still on this) there does seem to be red petals or possibly leaves floating around her.

(More under the cut)

Next up we have Ciprian Cabrol. I won’t go over what we know about him from the last book because he has a pretty significant role in it, but I will mention in a RK snippet he has become well integrated into high society and his family have become well known dye merchants and with the way Joss talks about it it’s possible they’ve taken over the charter from the Charlon’s however that is unconfirmed. His fox mask is presumedly the mask he will wear at the masquerade ball and despite his new higher status he continue to wear a outfit more fitting of the working class likely showing he has yet to completely fit into his new life. The bucket behind him is presumedly pouring out a bunch of dye and his entire background is dripping in color due to his reclamation as a dye merchant. In the foreground Ciprian only has two plants: Half a pomegranate and a single marigold. The pomegranate I don’t have a super clear idea on but considering Lin also has pomegranates in her art it might symbolize the two of them falling deeper and deeper into noble politics similar to Persephone’s decent into the underworld. Another option is it symbolizes the same thing as the marigold that I’m 90% sure signifies the fact he’s going to die. The only other instance of marigolds in the artwork is in Vienne’s portrait and she died pretty quickly after her introduction.

Next we have Artal Gremont, Antonetta’s fiancé. I have the least to say about him since his portrait is pretty clear cut. He carries a teacup with a teapot in the corner clearly representing his ownership of the tea charter. There are chain in his background and there is a pit of unlocked shackles seemingly falling from his hands symbolized his new found freedom from exile. There are a multitude of jewels in the background as well, likely representing his noble status and immense wealth. The most interesting things about his portrait is the lack of the amulet the mystery lady gave him in the RK snippet and the gold whips around him in the background. The whips could either signify something he’s going to do in the book(likely to Antonetta) or it could be meant to represent he’s being threatened by mystery lady. Also worth noting this is yet another portrait with flowers.

Aron Benjudah is next. He is the exilarch of the Ashland and is in charge of making sure Lin is actually the Goddess returned, to which he is highly doubtful. His arms and chest are both covered in writing, likely for religious reason and possibly be the Goddeses Prayer that all Ashland are required to carry on their person at all times, while he stays dressed fairly modestly but notably not wearing the blue and grey Ashland are required to wear in Castellane which I can defiantly see become a point of conflict in the book even if it’s brief. His background isn’t super interesting, it’s a stained glass window of a tree with two hands with eyes in the center on either side. The pattern likely has some religious or wordbuilding reason but I can’t tell much about it. He notable also spent a have any flowers in his portrait.

And last but not least we have Elsabet Bellamy, a Princess of Malgasi who is highly dislike by her people and almost defiantly the mystery lady Artal talked to in the snippet. The reasons why she’s almost definitely the mystery lady comes down to three things: One, mystery lady is described as having a very dark color scheme which Siri rely fits what she looks like in this portrait; Two, Elsabet is described as having “intriguing powers” and we know for a fact mystery lady has magic; Three, Artal says “I suppose you would know.” To mystery lady when discussing how royal blood demands royal blood in marriage. Back to the portrait, Elsabet is dressed ready for combat and stealth with her dark clothes and many belts, but she’s also wearing a long bright red ribbon on her arm which doesn’t entirely fit. She is carrying two daggers one that looks to be dripping in blood but that could just be the red smoke surrounding her. There are numerous faint outlines of daggers encircling her either signifying she’s dangerous or she is being threatened. There are a lot of crossing spears behind her, feeding into her warrior aesthetic and in the foreground we have something that could either be fire to continue style theme that’s she’s dangerous, or some sort of magic effect to signify her “intriguing powers”. She also doesn’t have any flowers.

All in all, I’ve come to the conclusion the lack of flowers likely represents royalty. As such I am now convinced Jerrod is some long lost royal until I can come up with a better theory surrounding the flowers.

[changelingsandothernonsense]

Josh designs part 5- Post Morrowind

Rounding out this um... awful day that started ok with Joshi's designs from between the end of Morrowind's main quest to post Dragon Crisis.

After he defeated Dagoth Ur, Josh is at a bit of a loss. He lost his husband, his joy and his ability to move with ease. His pelvis and femurs get crushed under the hand of Akulakhan and he's lucky that he can walk mostly unassisted at all.

As a part of Ashland mourning rituals, Josh has three ritual scars cut into his cheeks (loss of a spouse) and his head shaved. He starts growing it back a year into his three-year mourning rite courtesy of Nerevar taking the reins and sending him to Mournhold for a "reunion" with his ex-wife. Josh does front at times but he really only has tiny fragments of memory from that time. He flees Morrowind after the death of two of the Tribunal and finds himself in Cyrodiil pawning off Nerevarine memorabilia to feed his alcoholism.

He meets Jiub again and finds a shed of joy and stability. Things start looking up for a few years before the Oblivion Crisis. Of course his time had to be ruined by more daedra. (Josh can't handle affection, also his hair's cute here)

Which sends him to his first of many rock bottoms. He shaves his head, though the scaring can only be done by wise-women so he feels like he can't even mourn right. Josh wanders Cyrodiil with nothing but the clothes on his back until he steals enough cash to take him to Sunhold, where his mother currently lives. He knows he needs someone to take care of him after everything. (Sidenote Josh is upset here over his son rejecting him in that letter.)

He starts doing better with care and starts focusing again on cracking Dwemeris. He gets his work published in Summerset under an Altmeri pseudonym and has submitted his work to the last shreds of the Arcane University by the time he runs back to Vvardenfell to get his family (the Urshilaku confederacy and his son) out before Red Mountain blew. He spends a lot of time after Red Year leading refugees out of Morrowind, though he keeps his face covered. He starts wearing a mask in public permanently. No one needs to know what became of the Nerevarine. (Josh cuts two new scars into his face that represents the concept of mourning a group, he mourns for sixty years)

Jump a few centuries into the future and ya boi is fresh out of luck once again. He ends up taking the blame for the death of a child and finds himself on the run for years. This is when we join up with the Skyrim timeline- or just before in my fic. (He had his ear notched and his earring- ringmail of Alandro-Sul taken as a trophy)

He's a mess by the Dragon Crisis, sobriety becomes a rarity. He finds a bit of joy once he and Sydari stop doing the on and off again thing though that ends when Sydari goes and deals with Alduin. She's gone for six years and that leads him to picking fights with dragons, ancient Nords and deadra alike.

And he doesn't come out the other side unscathed. A dragon mauling sees him lose most of his right ear, part of his left and scaring that causes him facial paralysis and slightly slurred speech.

He does, after way too long drowing, get himself a modicum of peace. He sobers up after Sydari comes back, hoping to be a better father to their daughter than he was for his son. Sydari manages to patch up things between him and Adren well enough. Vyna should know her older brother after all. The length of his hair is kinda indicative of his turmoil. Longer hair means more time between losses, shorter hair indicates grief. Shaved hair indicates mourning etc.

Anyway, hopefully next year's Josh!fest is less devastating.