#dirty-bosmer

[nuwanders]

Some questions from the TES OC game :D

For Mathyas:

14. Any motifs or symbolism for this character? Flowers, animals, etc.

24. What do they believe is their biggest weakness? What do you say is their biggest weakness?

For Jorunn:

18. Where do they fit on the morality chart?

21. Are they: Diplomatic or Violent? Passive or Instigating? Selfish or Selfless? Law abiding or Lawless? Trusting or Apprehensive? Caring or Indifferent?

thank you so much @dirty-bosmer! <3 great questions :)

14. Any motifs or symbolism for this character? Flowers, animals, etc.

mathyas does have a motif! it features mostly in the waiting door, but has also appeared a couple of times now in king & lionheart. that motif is a spider 🕷️

there’s an obvious lore explanation here, but in irl dream symbology, spiders are meant to signify that the dreamer is being manipulated. mathyas is being manipulated by several characters in his story—astrid, vivienne, even nazir to some extent—but he is also being manipulated by the narrative itself (i.e. me). i mean how unlucky do you have to be to pick the one house in windhelm with a traumatised boy and a rotting corpse as its inhabitants while searching for a hiding spot from slavers?

mathyas doesn’t slot naturally into the canon dark brotherhood questline so i had to manipulate the story a LOT to get it to work. thankfully there’s an in-universe explanation for all of this contrivance, which is that mathyas is one of those unfortunate souls who has been noticed by mephala and turned into one of her playthings. Which i get 100%, because torturing mathyas brings me a great deal of amusement, so basically i am mephala, mephala is me.

Spider imagery features quite heavily in The Waiting Door, but it’s supposed to be ambiguous to what extent these are just ordinary spiders, or whether it’s mephala sinking her claws into mathyas when he's young. Either way, the incident with the spider in the final scene leads mathyas to develop a lifelong case of arachnophobia. Poor boy.

24. What do they believe is their biggest weakness? What do you say is their biggest weakness?

Every misstep and miscalculation that mathyas makes throughout the course of king & lionheart (both what’s been written and what’s still to come), he blames on his not being smart enough— he thinks that if he were only cleverer, he could outsmart astrid and vivienne and beat them at their own game. He also feels held back by what he writes off as his ‘moral squeamishness’, his gut feeling that something is wrong even when his mind is telling him that it’s justifiable in the name of the greater good. 

In reality, he’s got it all back to front. His downfall is caused by his overreliance on what he thinks of as logic or rationality, his refusal to see ethics as anything other than a numbers game, even when his heart and soul are screaming at him to stop. He tries to control what he can in a situation that is soooo so far removed from his control, and in doing so commits some deeds that ultimately are never justified by some happy end. 

jórunn under the cut!

18. Where do they fit on the morality chart?

I would put jórunn somewhere between true neutral and neutral good, moving further into ‘good’ territory as the story progresses. As a disabled sex worker in the imperial city, and very much a member of cyrodiil’s urban poor, jórunn grew up in a kind of dog-eat-dog world and learned from a young age to look out for herself first and foremost. The burden of being dragonborn is not one she welcomes, BUT, she does accept it, because what’s the alternative? She has nowhere to go where she can hide from her fate, no ordinary life she can run back to; those bridges have long been burned. She rises to meet her destiny if only because she feels that she must, but in doing so she discovers a more selfless side to herself 

As far as her ‘chaos’ score is concerned, jórunn remains firmly in that middle column. she doesn’t hold the law in particularly high regard, but equally she won’t go out of her way to break it for the sake of doing so.  

21. Are they: Diplomatic or Violent? Passive or Instigating? Selfish or Selfless? Law abiding or Lawless? Trusting or Apprehensive? Caring or Indifferent?

I’m going to treat this as a a no-nuance ‘this or that’ type challenge for the sake of brevity, because i could honestly write paragraphs on every one of these lmao

violent / passive / selfish / lawless / apprehensive / caring

[dwellerinroots]

Last Line Tag

Rules: Share the last line you wrote and tag as many people as there are words (I have too many words sorry :c)

Tagged by: @dirty-bosmer c:

So, I'm making this it's own post as I don't want to accidentally tag everyone in a reblog? Is that how tumblr works?? I NO LONGER KNOW - let's get to it, though! I've been waiting for the weekend to write so from a very rough draft of Flesh & Metal: All music is composed of notes; and if those notes were keys that fell silent, one by one, it remained music.

Oh no! Hyphen's relatives! Oh well, it's probably fine...

Tagging: @lyriumspectre @totally-not-deacon @kookaburra1701 @pikkish @zombiecatboys But nobody feel like you have to; I just like this kind of thing, so feel free to if you want to!

[arnaerr]

For the OC ask: 38. Which one of your OCs would be the best dancer?

38. Which one of your OCs would be the best dancer?

Nanis, my DOS 2 Godwoken is a good dancer and I like this idea, bc elves in this game are so...long lol. He's like a willow tree in the wind.

[inkysqueed]

What is your favorite quest from Oblivion? And what's your favorite plant from the game?

(sorry, thinking of questions on the fly and all I could come back to was this game 😅)

Aw, the questions were quite welcome! I like talking about Oblivion regardless of the time or place, heh. As for said questions...

Potentially easy answers of Where Spirits Have Lease or Separated at Birth aside-- my favorite quest is Mazoga the Orc. I love Mazoga so much and I've given lots of thought to writing a fic for our one true and honorable knight of Leyawiin (a close contender for favorite quest was Information at a Price. Nothing like Count Hassildor metaphorically cuffing you upside the ear after literally punching a necromancer to death XD)

As for my favorite plant... probably Lady's Mantle! Whether I'm roleplaying an alchemist character or one of my 'main' characters, lady's mantle is indispensable for making health potions when they're faaaaarrrr too expensive to buy early game. They might not be great potions but you'll be more likely to make them in bulk than if you bought them! Plus I love foraging so I'm very likely to have a lot of cloves of the stuff XD

[skyrim-forever]

For the Skyrim Themed Asks:

Rabbit: Are you learning anything new?

Nirnroot: What skill tree do you use often?

Riften: What's (Theodora's) personality like?

<3

Thank you so much @dirty-bosmer :)

Rabbit: I'm learning a few new things, I'm learning R stats for my job and I picked up some watercolours that I'm gonna play around with. I used to be really into art but since starting university I've had less time on my hands

Nirnroot: Is it basic to say archery? It's probably Archery, Speechcraft or Two-Handed when I do a heavy-armour barbarian build (this used to be my standard because big axe go brrrrrr) Theodora dual-wields Draven swords, with some archery.

Riften: Ouuuuuu someone has asked about my girl Theo! When she is young she experiences a lot of trauma (particularly in losing her parents in the Great War and growing up in an orphanage), she copes with this trauma by putting up walls to prevent people from getting too close. She manages the pain primarily through drinking. Theodora joins the Thieves Guild in Cryodiil in her mid-teens and begins to take on dangerous jobs because she really doesn't care if she lives/gets thrown in jail or dies. After a few years or recklessness and some Daedra worship, she learns she is the Dragonborn. Learning she is the Dragonborn is a major turning point in her life as she feels she finally has a purpose. Theodora takes this as an opportunity to learn more about Akatosh, eventually considering herself devoted to the Dragon God. Through Akatosh she is able to come to terms with her pain and develops into wiser person, although the partying never really went away.

[tallmatcha]

I’m alive! Sailor Neptune WIP Wednesday.

Tagging for WIP share: @gilgamish @kookaburra1701 @wraith-caller @cornunut @dirty-bosmer @mirrordaltokki @agentbeeswrites @dei2dei @thequeenofthewinter @izar-tarazed @saltymaplesyrup

As always, no pressure.

[sunsettemplar]

A gift from @skyrim-forever for @dirty-bosmer with Mathieu Bellamont! Happy birthday!

[pocket-vvardvark]

TY FOR THE TAG @skyrim-forever @sulphuricgrin @hircines-hunter @sanza-17 @theoneandonlysemla @dirty-bosmer I'm hugging y'all

I'd like to tag @fangsandsoftgrass @aviel-the-trans-bucket @lucius-the-sinful @thequeenofthewinter @scholarlyhermit @yewphoric @nyarevar @changelingsandothernonsense @caliblorn @firefly-factory @yansurnummu @hadvarandralof @snowy-weather @red-mountain-flower @mavariel I love all of you ♥️ no pressure

Um, I've been working on commissions in between writing my master's thesis, so I don't have a lot!! But, I offer some Alethia doin a little kick wip 😸

[thequeenofthewinter]

Work-in-Progress Wednesday

Uh, hi. I am a degenerate and am currently in the middle of writing scholarly gentleman smut. Not quite there yet, but that is what we are building up to. Yes, today I have more Veilguard. If you wish not to be tagged in content outside of TES, please let me know. I promise I will not be offended.

Tagging: @oblivions-dawn @skyrim-forever @theoneandonlysemla @sanza-17 @dirty-bosmer

@sylvienerevarine @umbracirrus @pocket-vvardvark @firefly-factory @bougainvillea-and-saltwater

“Is this why you lured me out here, Iris?” He whispers, lips coming up to brush against the shell of her ear. “To torture me into an early grave?”

As his mouth finds its way down to her neck, a soft sigh escapes her, breath fanning out into the chilled air in pale wisps. “I know a good necromancer who could help you with that.”

“I should hope that would be you.” He continues to press light kisses to her skin, slowly working his way down to the base of her neck, one hand drawing her closer to press her back against him.

A arm snakes its way further down reaching to grasp at the fabric around her hips. Iris can feel him stir against her, and she arches back against him. “If there is one thing I know how to do well, it’s raise the dead.” 

“Darling, you tempt. You tease, but this is not to the place nor the time.”

“Who said that it wasn’t?” She turns around to face him, eyes sparkling with mischief and want. “You mean to tell me you’ve never fooled around in the Gardens, Emmrich?”

“It would be highly improper—”

“Sometimes the most fun things are a bit improper, dearest, and you can’t tell me that you don’t want to.” Iris leans forward, tugging at the lapels of his jacket. “Can I tell you a something?”

He swallows, hoping that it will press down the increasing heat and desire he feels as he looks down at her—a moth caught in her flame.

“I want you, and I can see you thinking entirely too much inside that brilliant skull of yours, love.”

Love.

The word echoes in a chorus, reverberating through his mind like chiming bells in the wind. “You—”

“Yes, I do.” Pink blossoms over her cheeks. “I—I’ve felt this way for a while, but I just never—”

His lips cut her off, teeth crashing against hers in an uncharacteristic frenzy as he pushes her back against the marble statue behind her. 

“Emm—” A gasp, a half a sound. The rest is swallowed up in his kiss.

Hands tangle, reaching up to thread themselves in her hair, as his composure drops all for that one word. He is trapped in her spell. I shouldn’t be doing this. We shouldn’t be doing this. He will burn if anyone should find them here in this position, but at the same time he can’t find it in him to tear himself away. The softness of her skin, the promise of something more is too tempting, too tantalizing when he is this close. 

Stop it, Emmrich. She’s a lady, and she deserves more than fumbling dalliances hidden in the dark. Someday she could be your—

A sudden warmth brings him back to her moment as Iris’ hands frantically push up the bottom of his dress shirt.

If this is damnation, then I don’t want anything else.

[theoneandonlysemla]

WIP Wednesday

Happy new year to all of you!

Got tagged by @skyrim-forever

Tagging: @dirty-bosmer @thequeenofthewinter @lillxart

@pocket-vvardvark @illumiera @sheirukitriesfandom

@ladytanithia @vanilleeistee

I’ve been drawing and writing a lot lately, but had this obsession of redrawing my pfp on here. Sketch is done now and I’ve compared it with the older sketch and… yeah. Details and such.

[nuwanders]

14 and 20 for the ask ❓

14. that one thing you see in fics all the time

oop i probably don't read enough fic to be able to notice recurring tropes... i guess just the usual (based on what i see in tags and summaries), woobifying or yassifying characters like ulfric, lucien, cicero, martin etc, bashing characters like delphine or flat-out refusing to engage with any attempt on the part of the games to introduce any nuance. it's all very bad faith. also fics that just hash out the questlines without departing from canon in any way, i mean i GET it but i'm absolutely not going to read that sorry </3

20. part of canon you found tedious or boring

hate to say it, but oblivion gates :( the fact there are something like 50 (?) in the game makes me lose my mind. if i was redesigning the oblivion main quest, keeping the plot largely the same but working on the mechanics a little, i'd create maybe 10 ish unique oblivion gates that are each solved in a slightly different way, as opposed to having umpteen 'hack your way through monsters until you reach the sigil stone' gates with the same 7 maps :/

[dwellerinroots]

What is it about birds that you enjoy :)

Thank you, my friend; this is such a good question..? Since I'm going to talk a bit, those uninterested in the sum total of the birdposting tag can roll their eyes and avoid this one, ahaha. Conversation about how great flora, fauna, and especially birds are under the cut!

First, some mood music.

Topsy already knows some of my predilections, here, but unless people peek at my tags, I suppose it'd be easy to say 'oh, this fellow just casually likes birds.' And in a way, that's true; I like pretty much all creatures, real or fictional. I tend to like natural things more then I like people, which I don't think is entirely uncommon among writers, nor does it excuse behaving cruelly to other people (something that is easily forgotten). But first and foremost, I've got a bit of a connection to them. My parents raised me on a steady diet of fiction, classical religion and mythology, and folk tales. A lot of these were 'world' tales, which meant whatever they thought was cool at the time, because my parents were hippies and I love them for that! But just as much was from our culture, which means bird. Lots and lots of bird. Slavic culture has tonnes of mythological bird-ery in it, just as much as mushrooms. I could make the statement that it's more about birds then bears or anything else people want to associate with it, but I think many people would - disagree with that, ahaha. A famous writer (who a lot of people do not care for and I understand that) went by the pen-name Sirin. Who's Sirin? Good question.

But there's tonnes of cool mysterious bird entities over yonder; Alkonost, Gamayun, sometimes even Maiden Midday is depicted as a bird or bird-like. Naturally, some bird or another on fire is important, too. We just - really like birds. But why, though, and why me? Well... I think it's pretty obvious from how I talk and some of my stories that I've travelled a lot and lived a lot of places. One of the few constants is that I've watched the travel of wings, and wondered at that freedom; moving often feels fatalistic, especially when you're young. I don't really have a place or people I consider 'home.' Not an unusual feeling, but... Actually, since I can be as personal as I want this far down, I often disassociate a bit from feeling human. Part of that is the usual stuff a lot of us go through, but part of it is unique to me. I can't tell you how many times, in how many places, I spent watching distant forms lazily drift overhead, wishing I could do nature sketches, but quite content to simply exist, with no greater goal in mind. One of the places I miss most, though, that I think of most as 'home' if I could choose where 'home' is are the moorlands of a certain island nation, rich with heather. I could paint those landscapes from my mind's eye, if you asked me to, also if I could paint. Bahahaha! Brings us nicely to the next point which is that I stumbled unto a very unlikely piece of media and fell in love with a hawk. That's just how these things go; if I cry a lot about a very big bird lady, that's why. Finally, a good friend whom I only occasionally interact with is the second-or-third-best-bird in my life, he's the best*. But these are all personal; the backstory, as you will. In general, outside of my personal reasons - the fact that I like them for how unencumbered they are, their habits, what they mean to me - I like birds a lot because they're pretty! From the most colourful sparkling dainty lads to the tones of feathers that are almost steel. The wingspans of birds unfurling is kind of magical; I don't know if it's some primal sprout mindset that thinks birds == dinosaurs == very cool, or simply that I find the textile sense of wingspan unfolding Reall Cool, but again, I wish I could do scientific sketches or similar. I love how hygienic they are, by and large, and how incredibly goofy most birds are when they've ascertained you are not there to interfere in any way and are just watching. Because all animals are goofballs, but birds are goofy in their own unique way. The many differences in how birds treat each other, how weird and alien some nests look (for nestbuilders), what birds choose to steal everything not nailed down, and which ones are very picky. I just think they're neat! And there are lots of animals I love; I love bees, social insects, asocial solitary pollinators... I love cats and dogs, obviously, I love domesticated animals and weird wild critters, danger noodles and - really I just love nature in general, as mentioned above. But if I was going to choose one (1) kind of animal to watch for, it'd be birds. They're heartening, beautiful, and a bit melancholic.

Thanks for reading this far; here are some magpies being silly. Hopefully this was at least a little interesting to read, and see you around..!

[arnaerr]

2024 Wrap Up

Rules: it’s time to love yourselves! Choose your 5 (or so) favorite works you created in the past year (fics, art, edits, etc) and link them below to reflect on the amazing things you brought to the world in 2024. Tag as many writers/artists/etc. as you want (fan or original) so we can spread the love and link each other to awesome works!

Tagged by @lucien-lachance and @youthroad, thank you! <3 No pressure tagging @grimae, @starrythroat, @dirty-bosmer, @ghostofashina!

Really proud of my brushwork improvement in 2024, and here are some of my fav works in terms of this aspect!

[sylvienerevarine]

Sylvienerevarine.tumblr.com's Extremely Sexy And Glamorous Fic Rec List

2024 was a banner year for me specifically in terms of both reading and writing a boatload of TES fanfic. With the New Year fast approaching I wanted to give a little love to some of my favorite writers on here (many of whom have also been unbelievably supportive of my own work as well because they're just great people). This list is not 100% comprehensive because I read a lot this year but is a broad overview of some of my faves!

So LET'S GET INTO IT! First, a couple of series-es:

the Every Star a Sign series by @wispstalk

this series makes me feel more emotions than there are emotions to feel. I would kill and die for Tanis Irathi and I'm heartbroken he and Marty didn't get to settle down in a nice cottage with a few cats. That said, Tanis' trip to the Shivering Isles was pretty sick (good sick)

The Seasons of WinterCloak series by @thequeenofthewinter

I'll confess to having been an Ulfric Stormcloak disliker in my time. This series did so much emotional labor to fix that in me. Winter's Dovahkiin Dahlia is a relatable queen, and Ulfy is astonishingly sympathetic (and a little sexy, rowr). I adore that this series takes place AFTER the main events of Skyrim as well!

The Threads of Blood series by @oblivions-dawn

Like every sane person, I love Serana and want her to be happy while also going through plenty of drama first. This series scratches that itch in my brain so beautifully. And I know our other heroine Vigdis would hate my guts (because I'm a person who is not Serana) but I love her anyway. Sorry Viggy!

The Ebonsong series by @stormbeyondreality

Our loveable bard hero flees an arranged marriage in High Rock and boops around all of Skyrim while meeting scary vampires, Maran priests, wacky theater kids, and family ghosts. Utterly delightful, no notes.

The Illusionist series by @dirty-bosmer

Nim, a delightful Bosmer urchin, avoids solving the Oblivion crisis and rises to the top of the Mage's Guild while also joining every criminal organization in sight. If that doesn't make you squeal with delight I'm afraid there is no hope for you. I love you Nim.

And some individual fics that made me laugh, cry, and explode:

Fire and Blood by The Severed. If I had a nickel for every time a Serana/angry redhead story made me cry this year I'd have three nickels.

The Imperial City Irregulars by @nostalgic-breton-girl. Everything this author writes is amazing, actually, but ICI made me laugh like a banshee at the dentist's office so it wins.

Age of the Dragons: Blood Upon the Snow by @spinchboli. The Dragonborn DLC meets marine biology documentary meets terrifying existential rom-com that we all want, nay, deserve. I love it so much.

Thicker than Holy Water by Vhokken

Werewolves. Vigilants of Stendarr. Forbidden tragedy-gay romance. I'm sobbing already, excuse me.

There are probably quite a few more I'm forgetting but for now, this is your 2025 reading list. Get to it, darlings!

[skyrim-forever]

do you ever just think wow? I'm mutuals with that person???

[thana-topsy]

Trying to fill my dash with good vibes - what are your favourite tesblr blogs? Art, memes, writers, anything!

Good vibes for all! What a great ask, thank you. I might turn this into a tag game of sorts.

I'll divide this into categories to make things easy to navigate. This is in no way comprehensive, because otherwise I'd be here all day just listing literally everyone I follow. But here's where I'll start!

Favorite Aesthetic TES Blogs: Gifs, screenshots, edits, in-game gorgeousness~ - @darkelfguy

Favorite Art & Writing Blogs: These blogs don't only post their own art and writing, but also reblog a lot from the community! - @falmerbrook - @moriche - @dirty-bosmer Favorite Lore Blogs: Blogs that tend to have canon-friendly lore posts and civil discussions - @nientedenada - @kookaburra1701 - @greyborn2

Favorite Meme Blogs: Blogs that just makes me smile or have a chuckle - @incorrectskyrimquotes - @nerevar-quote-and-star

Well-Rounded Tesblr Blogs: This category goes out to the homies who post all the good shit from art to writing to memes to shitposts to lore dumps. The MVPs in my books. - @skyrim-forever - @trickstarbrave - @v1ctory-or-sovngarde - @captain-of-silvenar - @throughtrialbyfire - @elavoria

I seriously had to cut myself off otherwise I would have just kept listing blogs LMAO. If I tagged you in this, please feel free to add your own favorites and maybe we can get a nice chain going!