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strangecloud · 19 days

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Do you remember your first Skyrim playthrough?

I played Skyrim on the 360 when it came out. I remember the starting Helgen cutscene making me uncomfortable, being carried to an executioner's block. The character I ended up playing was a paladin sort of dude who instead of shielding or avoiding blows would use Restoration to heal himself back up when he inevitably got hit.

I've been on an Elder Scrolls kick lately, playing Morrowind and Skyrim and even some ESO. I think they're good games, but I believe I've puzzled out why so many people prefer Morrowind over the rest of the series.

When I say the starting cutscene in Skyrim made me uncomfortable back in like, 2011, I mean it has since lost any of that power. I've just seen it so many times. I think this is the core of why Skyrim, despite being indubitably an absolute achievement in game design, seems to be less and less appreciated as time goes on. Simply put, most people have played it to the point that it's almost like a solved game.

This is a phenomenon that has happened to me across some games, even my favorite game of all time, Fallout New Vegas. I've just played it so darn much that the whole thing is predictable, like I can see all the decisions and consequences without even booting up the game. This contradiction of the medium has been commented on and explored by the metafiction of games like Undertale. The artificiality of an entirely predictable system, no matter how lifelike, will lessen your investment.

And it's not the game's fault. If anything, a game being good to the point of wearing out its welcome with diminishing returns because people just insist on playing it over and over again is a crowning achievement. However, transcending that, making a game that's quality to the point of beating that almost invincible limitation? That's on a whole other level.

Enter: Morrowind.

On the surface, Morrowind just looks like an old ass game. Everything is a little weird, to the way combat works to how it expects you to visually navigate the world with directions, sometimes daisy-chaining instructions on how to get where you're going. You know, go here following a path, to ask this person who actually knows where you want to go how to get there. And then follow a path again. The game expects you to study in-game lore books to figure out what to do. Like, actually roleplaying a researcher poring over tomes for answers. It's real weird.

But it makes a lot more sense when you consider, all of this, intentionally or not, contributes to a very interesting result. It makes the game a kind of perennial experience.

Even if you know what you're looking for, there's no map markers telling you where most things are in Morrowind. Some things might be easier to do off the top of your head when you're familiar with the game but even then, most of the time there's nothing for it but to knuckle down and search around. Like, actually paying attention to the world instead of some compass or map.

The character building works almost the same. You can steer your character into some set of gear you really want, assuming you know it exists and how to get it, but until then you're mostly gonna use whatever fits. Random magical items are more likely to dictate your effectiveness than anything else. You just don't control your builds and progression as much.

And the main story and lore are probably the best in the series. There's just so much to think about, find out, and discover. Even the little blurbs that random NPCs will spout about how their job works are very well written and made with a ton of thought. It's like the anti-Skyrim, the more you put into it, the more you get in return.

All this to say, playing Morrowind is still a rewarding experience decades after it was released, because there's a weird kind of harmony in its crazy designs. It's like it was made to be played and enjoyed forever, there's so much in there. Even if you've played it before many times, you might just forget where an important item is and have to navigate manually. You might decide to make a wacky character that leads you down factions and quests you've never done. You might find out some fact about the lore you've never really thought about.

It just keeps going.

I'm not one of those people who resent modern Bethesda for "dumbing down" or "selling out". I love Skyrim, but there's very little it can give me after all these years. On the other hand, Morrowind just keeps on giving.

I think that's the difference, and I think that's why people like it so much.

#my writing #video games #morrowind #skyrim #the elder scrolls

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sotgofficial · 1 month

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Hello! I'm currently OBSESSING over modded followers (specifically, followers I've overlooked; cardinal sin to overlook Auri, I know) but anyway, I find myself REALLY curious about what inspired you to make Auri? I've been really enjoying having her in all my playthroughs now that I've taken the time to get to know her <3

Hahah better late than never! Thank you so much for giving her a try! :D As for what inspired me... When I first played vanilla Skyrim, I was struck by how lifeless the NPCs were. Made an otherwise huge and living world feel hollow - so I started looking into mods. I discovered Interesting NPCs by Kris Takahashi, and ended up voicing a couple of characters in it. That inspired me to make a follower of my own. My first few attempts failed and were scrapped. I gave up for a few years and tried again, this time focusing on Bosmer lore, which I thought was woefully underrepresented in Skyrim. (It was only after I started working on Auri that I started getting into other standalone followers, which were a lot more rare back then! Inigo, Vilja and Sofia were probably the big ones. Then came Lucien and started a huge boom. :D Now we're so spoiled with followers to choose from, Skyrim certainly isn't hollow anymore.)

#auri song of the green #asks

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cy-cyborg-draws · 1 year

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I've been playing Skyrim lately, and one of the mods I have installed gives your character headtracking and expressions in 3rd person. The expressions on the argonians though, are hilarious at best, through no fault of the mod's creator. combine that with the headtracking being a little janky and it's giving "autistic person who forgot how to mask during the pandemic" and as an autistic person, I have never felt so seen lmao.

One particular interaction between Inigo (another mod lol) and my giant Murder-Hobo Lizard Niitk caused her to kind of glitch and she got stuck with this creepy grin somewhere between the "angry" and "happy" expressions while Inigo just happily chattered away about Mr Dragonfly and I really wanted to draw it. Inigo doesn't care what his friend's face does, he's just happy to be there lol.

also I feel like I should mention the golden arm was also a result of another mod glitching and now I just interpret her as having a prosthetic lmao

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dovahkinniez · 2 years

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I genuinely love your blog so much, I've definitely binged a few times haha. I was wondering if you'd do a NSFW alphabet for Kaidan from skyrim? I hope you have a wonderful Christmas and holiday season!

` 𖤓 . . . NSFW ALPHABET: KAIDAN.

Oh my god. You absolute angel. Thank you so much! I hope you have a wonderful Christmas/holiday season too, love.

So then, I expected either Kaidan or Farkas to be requested for this, I was right. Let's get into it. (I'm excited HAHA) ps. This hasn't been proof-read, any mistakes ignore, if I change any that's means I've had the motivation to read though... Enjoy anyway!

18+ only!! Sexual content ahead. Minors dni.

A = Aftercare (What they’re like after sex)

Kaidan is a naturally rough man with a rough outlook on life, but this doesn't apply to the aftercare he gives you. He loves the intimacy of feeling your bodies close after sex, in a non-sexual way where he feels you both calm down.

He likes to hold you, to help wash each other between sweet kisses and light conversations. After a rough session he'll massage you, you massage him and it's like a little bonding session between you both. He loves to be just a pampered and as looked after as you are after sex. He finds it more intimate than the act beforehand.

B = Body part (Their favourite body part of theirs and also their partner’s)

His: he likes his arms, hands and shoulders. They're strong and big. He likes how his arms hold you, move you about. He likes how his shoulders cage over you, how they hold your legs over them when he goes down, he loves how his hands make you feel.

Yours: your thighs and stomach. Doesn't matter how big or small. He loves them. To grab, kiss, bite, rest his head on. To hold when he fucks you. If you have a tummy he will grab during sex, it drives him wild. I see him liking a thicc mf. (Yum)

C = Cum (Anything to do with cum basically… I’m a disgusting person)

I see him as someone who cums quite a lot. He's a horny mf and when he shoots, he shoots. He likes to cum in you, likes to fuck it further in you, to watch it ooze around you both. And on your stomach and chest too.

I think he strays away from doing it in your mouth for the simple reason he doesn't want it to be too much, if you're okay with a literal mouthful then go ahead, but you'd have to tell him you want it.

D = Dirty Secret (Pretty self explanatory, a dirty secret of theirs)

Hehe. He likes to watch and hear you pleasure yourself. He will pretend he's asleep if you do it beside him late at night. One eye open as he watches you. He doesn't touch himself, he doesn't interrupt. He finds it hotter letting himself rile up so he can wake up tomorrow and fuck it out his system with you. He's never told you he's done this multiple times and he won't because he wants it to happen again. And again.

E = Experience (How experienced are they? Do they know what they’re doing?)

He has experience. Fuckin hell. I suggest you don't ask his body count, unless you want to leave with a bruise on your ego. Thing is though, you're the only one he's ever loved. He's had sex, a lot of it but never with people he loves or even really likes. Most he couldn't even tell you their name.

But all this experience has lead him to know what to do and what not to do. He knows what he's doing, and he's really good at it too. So say thanks to the many others before you, because you're his last and you get the best sex ever.

F = Favourite Position (This goes without saying)

I'd say he's a switch, with a huge dominant lean.

He loves it when you ride him. Laid back relaxed as he moans out into the air, dark eyes watching you as you use his cock as a toy to pleasure yourself on. Loves watching how your body moves, how it takes him.

Doggy. We know this. He just screams it. Loves it when you arch your back, face down, ass up. Grabbing all over your thighs and ass as he watches it shake with each thrust. DAMNNN. And when he leans down, hand holding your jaw up as he presses hot kisses along your neck and shoulders.

G = Goofy (Are they more serious in the moment, or are they humorous, etc)

Depends. He's naturally quite a funny person once you get to know him, unintentionally that is. During sex he might come out with a few one liners that he says seriously but you end up dying of laughter, he laughs with you.

He believes its healthy to have fun while having sex because sometimes when you see sex as two naked people bumping bits it can feel awkward, so when you laugh it loosens that up a bit, especially if you are inexperienced and it's the first few times of you two having it.

H = Hair (How well groomed are they, does the carpet match the drapes, etc.)

This man doesn't care either way.

Whatever you prefer, he's easy come. Easy go. He ain't afraid to delve into the jungle if you prefer not to shave and he's too lazy to keep up with his own. He likes to do a bit of trimming because otherwise he's complaining about his 'dangly bits' annoying him if he shaves completely.

But he keeps his happy trail, hell yeah. I am a supporter of happy trails.

I = Intimacy (How are they during the moment, romantic aspect…)

Very intimate, but not cheesy romance. More like 'fun and loving', he sees it as a fun thing to do, he likes to watch you and feel you and loves eye contact with lots of touching. So yeah. He is pretty intimate.

But don't expect candles and petals everywhere...

J = Jack Off (Masturbation headcanon)

He's a horny man. He loves a good wank. He isn't the type to do it like four times a day. Maybe four times a week. But he usually has you anyway so he doesn't need his fist as much anymore.

If you aren't as sexual as him, that's cool. He'll just had a wank and go about his day if he's horny enough. But he's always horny so..

K = Kink (One or more of their kinks)

Face sitting ‐ loves it when you sit on his face. No hovering. None of that shit. Suffocate this man. If he ain't gasping for air after he ain't impressed.

Choking - both ways. Loves it when you take control. He knows he can easily overpower you but he doesn't because he just likes to let loose and let you take the reigns. But still, choke him, let him choke you. He loves it.

Degradation - again, both ways. Loves to call you his whore, and loves to fuck you like it too while grunting strings of degrading things into your ear, loves to mock you even more when he sees your reaction to said nasty things.

L = Location (Favourite places to do the do)

Anywhere. You could have just taken down a dragon and he's like 'fucking hell, seeing you murder that thing was sexy. Wanna fuck?' And you're off behind a rock like the rest ain't behind the other side like ???

Lowkey loves it in taverns though. Having the stay quiet while the others drinks and sing, relax and sleep. Especially after youve both had a few to drink. Makes it more fun.

M = Motivation (What turns them on, gets them going)

Pfffttt. Anything. You could bend over to pick up something and he's the type to grab your hips and pretend to fuck you. You even remind him of what happened last night and he's ready to do it all over again. He loves you, and your body and what both your bodies do together, how could he not want more?

N = NO (Something they wouldn’t do, turn offs)

No threesomes or anyone involved at all. You're his, he's yours. Only you two could see and experience something as intimate as sex. He may like the excitement of being caught. But would kill anyone who set eyes on your body the way he does.

O = Oral (Preference in giving or receiving, skill, etc)

Likes to wine, dine and 69. He loves your mouth and you love his. Especially when used down under.

He's like a starved man, so hungry and ready. Definitely a messy giver, he gets off to it because he loves the taste and the feeling of his mouth against you. Like just imagine him drunk on you with his chin and jaw soaking wet - fucking hell.

Likes it when you lay with your head back off the bed so he can fuck your throat. Holding your head in place as you use your tongue and lips on him. Drives him crazy to see your throat expand and gasp as he slides it in and out.

P = Pace (Are they fast and rough? Slow and sensual? etc.)

Usually pretty fast. It really depends on the mood and specifically how you want it. He wants you to enjoy it as much as him. He likes to go slower after an emotionally waring day, to just lose himself in you.

Q = Quickie (Their opinions on quickies rather than proper sex, how often, etc.)

Again, depends on you. He's down to quickies, but he likes to make you feel good so if you're the type who needs time he'll make sure you're both able to have that time.

R = Risk (Are they game to experiment, do they take risks, etc.)

A bit of knife play. He's a skilled man and the way he handles his blade gets a fire in you. So maybe you asked him about it. He sees it as a risk. He never wants to hurt you or do something accidentally so you'd most likely have to talk him into it and reassure him. His Aftercare is 100% more important after sessions like this.

S = Stamina (How many rounds can they go for, how long do they last…)

He lasts a long while I'd say, maybe not when you first got together because he hadn't had sex for awhile. But he gotten better and at not wanting to bust the moment you even touched him. He'd last up to an hour, three on a good day if he takes breaks to move positions. You and your body hold a lot of power over him.

He can go over two rounds. Especially if you haven't done it in awhile, he wants to make up for it.

T = Toys (Do they own toys? Do they use them? On a partner or themselves?)

He's not opposed to them. Sex toys don't exactly like ... exist... in this world. But if you wanted to try something out, he'd never say no. He loves to try new things and spice it up.

U = Unfair (how much they like to tease)

He's a natural tease. He's so funny with it until you're about to orgasm and he's like 'aha. Not too fast there, darling', acting as if he hadn't done that multiple times.. So yeah. He is quite unfair. But he loves to lead you into the best orgasm physically possible.

V = Volume (How loud they are, what sounds they make)

Yknow when you're in a dungeon and he starts speaking loudly out of nowhere? Kind of like that. He goes from being generally quiet, the odd noise in your ear to him groaning and grunting. It's so hot. He mumbles a lot too. Cussing between gritted teeth.

W = Wild Card

He loves to fuck your thighs. Simple as. Xoxo

X = X-Ray (Let’s see what’s going on in those pants)

Lol. He's big, around 8.5/9 inches long. He's thick too. Curves upwards slightly. It's kind of scary until you're used to it. I don't think he's the type to realise how big he is either. But he knows how to use it, really well.

Y = Yearning (How high is their sex drive?)

Very high, simple as.

Z = ZZZ (… how quickly they fall asleep afterwards)

He makes sure you're comfortable and sorted. He likes to chat too afterwards so he isn't the type to fall asleep fast after. Most times he falls asleep after you do because he likes to tell you stories as you sleep.

#skyrim x reader #elder scrolls x reader #skyrim headcanon #skyrim scenarios #skyrim x dovahkiin #elder scrolls skyrim #skyrim #elder scrolls #kaidan 2 x reader #kaidan tes #kaidan mod x reader #kaidan 2 #kaidan romance

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wispstalk · 6 months

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20 questions for writers

under the cut. Thanks to @everybodyknows-everybodydies for tagging🖤

Tagging back: @nuwanders @jiubilant @ervona @ehlnofay @druidx @blossom-adventures @sylvienerevarine @throughtrialbyfire @da3drat no pressure

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

Five

2. What's your total AO3 word count?

198327

3. What fandoms do you write for?

Just elder scrolls. I have a feeling that's gonna be it for me. I've been tempted to write stardew valley fic lately which would perhaps be classed as "crack" (I know what that is in theory but the way people use it makes no sense to me) but I took a cursory look at the tag and I don't think the stardew valley fandom is ready for a ray fic lmao

4. What are your top five fics by kudos?

Well. I have five.

5. Do you respond to comments?

I try 🫠 it haunts me how often I've left my beloved mutuals on read..... but if that's u and I did, I am telepathically beaming this: !!!!!! ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️ Making out sloppy style etc etc

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

lol. lmao even

7. What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

.....within AO3 I guess it's "Morning" but also that's set at a refugee camp? I will say the skyrim story will have a more peaceful ending but up until now fic writing has been an outlet for my thwarted rage and covid brain damage soooo

8. Do you get hate on fics?

I mean this is generally a culture of positive feedback. Someone did yell at me once for hitting martin septim with the transgender beam which is a level of no-life-havin loserdom which could be classed as "hate" but came off as pure cope and seethe

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

I really bristle at the word smut sorry its too cutesy. I was a prodomme for seven years I don't do euphemisms lol. I wrote a sex scene into IITT to see how I felt about writing sex scenes. I learned that I am only interested in writing them if they serve specific functions. I have absolutely zero judgment toward anyone who wants to write about fuckin and suckin, that's just not why I'm here

10. Do you write crossovers? What's the craziest one you've written?

No but recently my household watched game of thrones together and my bf and his brother were cracking jokes like what if one of these medieval characters had a gundam. Neither of them read fic so I was like don't be too entertained by yourselves. I bet that has been written. looked it up on ao3 and sure as shit

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

I'm not gonna lie I did find a fic where someone very obviously ripped me off but I don't wanna call them out. One specific instance where they bit my style was so clumsily applied as to be obvious, but their prose in general was fantastic so like. who care.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

Not as far as I know but that would make me holler

13. Have you ever co-written a fic?

Nope. I'm not opposed to the idea but it's hard to imagine how I'd do this given my process. I think I'd be pretty difficult to work with

14. What's your all-time favorite ship?

?!? I dunno I don't have one. I put a lot of effort into writing martinhok but I could not say that one, due to how overwhelmingly heterosexual the tag is. I'm sorry but can everyone who's not a faggot please pipe down

15. What's a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

I have my moments with the skyrim wip. I've signed myself up for something pretty complicated and challenging but I also learned that I can finish things so I'm not really worried about it. The fact of the matter is: I do not care if this is good. It matters that it is done so I can move on with my life. If parts of it are boring and overlong that's yalls problem

16. What are your writing strengths?

I get a lot of compliments on my worldbuilding. I do think a lot about the minutiae of material culture and think I have a talent for incorporating detail in engaging ways

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

I'm a cornball. This is a corny activity. I don't really care because I'm doing it for free. Enjoy the unsolicited view into an internet stranger's terrible psyche

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic?

I try to apply with a light hand. I'm a dumbass sheltered American and I can mostly make myself understood in a Spanish-speaking country but that's about it. I like playing around with language and the idea of multilingual societies matters to me so I include it, but I'm not a linguist so I try to work within my limits. Whether I am successful at this is up to others.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

Elder scrolls. Never felt compelled until i spent a winter playing oblivion and went wow this game has an incredibly bleak narrative behind a silly aesthetic. Oops now I'm in a lore pit

20. Favorite fic you've written?

The Nature of Fire is my best prose hands down. I'm gonna be real with y'all I am desperate for people to read it. It is genuinely the best I can do at this point and if you like what I've done so far, well, whatever u read sucks compared to this fic.

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skyrim-forever · 3 months

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WIP Wednesday Thursday Friday

Sorry I'm a bit late to this but I've been writing and wanted to share something I've been working on!

Thanks for the tag @thequeenofthewinter <3 missed you while you were gone <3

I'm currently writing how Theodora and Ondolemar met and I've finally come up with a fitting story. Hope you enjoy this snippet!

Slightly suggestive so *casts dispell minors*

The first time Ondolemar met Theodora, he was drunk. Not too drunk to make a fool of himself, thankfully. But drunk enough that getting through the evening was tolerable. The Silver-Blood’s were having an event in the Understone Keep, to celebrate the supposed defeat of the Reachmen leader. Nord nonsense but he figured it was an opportunity to remind the city of who’s direction they are really under. And although his palate was accustomed to Summerset wine, drinking on the city’s behalf was a nice bonus.

And drink he did, the wine in Skyrim was tolerable, but after a whole bottle it didn’t make much of a difference what it was. It seemed he wasn’t the only one hovering around the wine table. Throughout the night he watched an Imperial woman come back and refill her glass 3 times in an hour. On her fourth he decided to finally speak to her.

“No lady should have to fill her own glass.” She was beautiful, even for a human he had decided. She had green eyes and dark hair, although his eyes fluttered between her face and her sizeable cleavage, he was still a male after all. Gesturing for her goblet, he gave her a generous pour. “To whom do I owe the pleasure?” Even her voice was attractive, low and silky. Oh this will be fun.

#tesblr #wip wednesday #my writing #ondolemar/theodora #ondolemar #oc: theodora #spolier this does not go the way Ondolemar expected

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argisthebulwark · 2 months

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F, I, O, and S for the fanfic asks!! <33

<3<3<3<3<3

F: Share a snippet from one of your favorite dialogue scenes you’ve written and explain why you’re proud of it.

“Why?” She finally broke the silence, head turning until she looked straight up at him. Her dark eyes glimmered in the low light and chin rested so nicely on his chest. “Why what?” He felt her muscles tighten but she didn’t bolt. “Why would you do all this for me?” Her voice cracked and he knew it was time. Brynjolf watched her eyes widen when he cupped her cheek in his hand, both of their hearts racing. “Oh, lass.” He brushed aside a stray lock of hair, intent on meeting her gaze. She looked terrified. “You know, right?” She didn’t say a word but it was there, clear as day. Her fingers tightened in his shirt and she nodded. Everything they’d been through had led them to this moment. “Are you ready to hear it?” “I think so.”

idk man i never posted this chapter of the brynjolf longfic i was working on... I should get back to that lol. I like to dump my own issues onto my characters and being unable to accept love/affection is a big one so it just hit me right in the feels rereading it. Using my favorite character/oc like an emotional chew toy.

I: Do you have a guilty pleasure in fic (reading or writing)?

Everything I write feels like a guilty pleasure lmao. My google drive holds sooo many fics that will never see the light of day since I never post any non Skyrim works. I've been working on a self indulgent Simon Riley fic for over a year now that makes me giggle and kick my feet when I reread or edit it lol.

O: How do you begin a story–with the plot, or the characters?

It depends on the format. For my little ficlets I have a long list of prompts I'd like to fill, pick one that sounds fun, and choose characters from there I think would fit the prompt. When I'm writing a longer fic I often get inspiration from imagining cool scenes and building a fic around that, which would lean more toward characters.

S: Any fandom tropes you can’t resist?

I'm such a sucker for enemies to lovers. It's written somewhere deep in my soul, I will happily read it a thousand more times. I love a hurt/comfort fic where the comfort comes waaaay later, when they let the angst really set in. A few years back I got really into forbidden romance stories for a while but I haven't gone for that lately.

thank you thank you for the ask <3 ask game here

#asks #ask games #beloved mutuals

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ladytanithia · 1 month

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TES Summer Fest - "companion/fallen"

From "Dalliances with Dunmer"

Miranja fell really hard for her best buddy Talvas after taking him to Skyrim for a few weeks. But she didn't know how deep his Telvanni ambitions ran. When Talvas used her as a pawn to force Neloth's hand, it didn't end well - for either of them. (nudity, death - excerpt and pic below the cut)

@tes-summer-fest

"Our trip to Skyrim showed me that I'm more powerful than Master Neloth wants to admit. And of course, all the gold we split from our bandit raids and such helped me pay the Morag Tong. Neloth's been purposely holding me back and putting me down because he doesn't want me to overtake him. But I'm onto him now. And I've had enough. It's my turn."

"Oh, Talvas..." Miranja wept. "It doesn't have to be like this."

"I'm sick of Tel Mithryn, sick of Solstheim. I'm getting those secrets, collecting the bounty on Master Neloth, and going back to Morrowind in glory. You're either with me or not. I'd rather have you with me – I really do love you, Miranja. But if you leave me no choice..."

"I love you, too, Talvas, but you can't expect me to make this kind of choice. I love you both very, very much."

Talvas's face turned sulky. "You know I can't let you just go after this, right? If you're not going to be with me, I'll have to eliminate you as a witness. Neloth doesn't have to know that you're no longer alive."

"So be it," Miranja said, scrunching her eyes closed and mentally making her peace with her chosen divinities. She wasn't sure she wanted to live in a world where her precious Talvas was a twisted, evil mage-lord, anyway.

"I had so hoped you would see it my way, Miranja. I'm so much younger than Neloth; we could have had so much more time together."

"I'm not an elf; we would have five or six decades at the most, as long as I didn't get killed."

"Neloth knows life-extending magic – yet another thing he hasn't taught me yet. But you could help convince him."

"No, Talvas. This whole thing is wrong."

"Then perhaps I need to convince you." Standing next to the rack, he raised his hands, sparks arcing in his palms – and flew sideways across the room, a mass of electric sparks blinding her. Miranja blinked, her mind not comprehending what just happened. One second, she had been drawing a breath to use Bend Will against him, and the next, he was gone.

Then Neloth came into the room, anger blazing on his face and a veritable lightning storm flying from his raised hands toward Talvas. Before she could even cry out to stop Neloth, Talvas lay lifeless on the floor. Neloth stomped on his body for good measure, eliciting a shriek of horror from Miranja, then he came and released Miranja from the rack, helping her move her stiff legs, working the blood back into her numb arms.

"Are you all right?" he asked, stroking loose hair from her face and pressing kisses against her forehead. His long goatee tickled her nose, and she had to try very hard not to sneeze. In spite of her grief over Talvas, she was enjoying his comforting attentions.

"Yes, thank the Divines, I'm okay. Physically, anyway." She glanced at her beautiful, raven-haired Talvas on the floor and her heart broke anew. Tears flowed once more down her cheeks. "Gods, Neloth, why did you have to kill him?"

"If he was so far gone as to threaten you with bodily harm, then I am afraid it was already too late for redemption. I am sorry, Miranja. I know you loved him."

#tesfest24 #tanithia draws #skyrim #elder scrolls #tesblr #digital art #tes #miranja #ao3 #fanfic #dunmer #skyrim fan art #talvas fathryon #tanithia writes

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rei-ismyname · 11 months

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I hate Sheogorath

TLDR he's an absurd caricature of mental health and he's unforgivably *zany*

In case it wasn't obvious, I've been hyperfixating on The Elder Scrolls lately. Block #tesblr if you're not interested in that. One of the great things about Tumblr is that it's a space to express things you don't have anywhere else to - I've wanted to express this for years and I don't really mind if nobody reads it.

When I refer to Sheogorath, I'm drawing on my observations from Skyrim, Oblivion, and TESLegends. I don't recall his appearances in Daggerfall or Morrowind and I haven't played ESO (yet.)

Sheogorath is the Daedric Prince (DP henceforth) of Madness. Fandom discussion has touched upon the issue of representation a lot, and folks are right when they say Sheo is an inaccurate and borderline offensive example. I won't touch on that bc I don't have anything to say that hasn't already been said.

My view is that he doesn't deserve to be The DPOM, because an all-powerful, mean-spirited, fickle, zany figure for neurotypicals to giggle at (when he talks endlessly about cheese or narwhals or whatever) is weak characterisation. Especially compared to the deep lore and character of every other TES deity, he just doesn't cut it. It might not make sense if you haven't played TESLegends, but he gets OLD when he's overused.

He's also associated with drug addiction and needless cruelty. He's having a great time, though. Obviously they can't walk it back now, but I think he'd work better as A Trickster God figure. (Well they could, but they won't. Bethesda is too high on their own farts.) Lorkhan already occupies/ed that spot, but it's explicitly stated that Sheogorath was 'born' when Lorkhan 'died.' It doesn't mean they're one and the same (TES doesn't work that way) but the two are definitely linked. So what gives? The trickster deity who 'created' the world vs a zany dipshit who'd be executed after a week as a medieval jester.

He's in opposition to Jyggalygg, the DP of Order. Madness isn't the opposite of order, though. It's disorder, chaos. If I were writing him, I'd change him to a Loki-type figure - and make him a patron of 'madness' or mental health - just one aspect of his realm. So instead of being a fickle dickhead who exists to torment mortals, he'd have the ND under his protection. This gives him some pathos, and as a well-rounded trickster he could actually pose a credible threat to everyone while opening up a lot more narrative space for him.

That's the end of this ramble, I might edit it later. LMK if you agree or disagree, if I got anything wrong, or what have you.

#sheogorath #the elder scrolls #tes meta #tesblr #oblivion #TESLegends #Skyrim #daedric prince #daedra #Bethesda critical #mental health #lorkhan

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novelyst · 10 months

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Skyrim Female Head UV: The Definitive Post

We begin as like a cooking blog's recipe, with a sort of vaguely related yet unnecessary anecdote. I've been thinking about putting modding stuff up on this blog, lately. I used to run into the problem on Discord where I'd be like: man, I'm spamming this channel, who even cares about this stuff anyway? So I made my own dev thread in which to spam these posts. As more and more people started joining, though, and still not replying to anything I wrote, I ran into the same issue where I've now become hesitant to post whatever I want in my own dev thread for fear that people will find it annoying. Silly, I know, but I figure that this here, tumblr, is the option with which I cannot go wrong, right? So long story short: this might turn into a mostly modding blog now.

I'm about to do an explanation of UV mapping as an introduction to this post, for those who know very, very, little about it. Many of you reading this may already be modellers or texturers who don't need this dumbed down, so you are welcome to skip to the big red UV map if you wish.

Without further ado: this is Nur.

Nur is what I would call a 'chatterbox', but she was made in the same way as any paper fortune teller. One thing that you should note about her: she is three-dimensional. I have power over Nur's state of being, and I can unfold her.

Unfolded Nur looks very different. We can see that her mouth, usually a triangular bipyramid minus a couple of faces, is now four separate triangles. We could also conceivably understand this as a '2D' version of Nur. It's flat, but it has all of the colour information that ends up on the surface of her 3D self; the area painted red is the 'mouth' part, the top squares on the left and right are the upper part of the 'face'.

Now, if we were to make a 3D mesh of Nur, we could use something like the second image for her texture and tell the computer which area of it should be shown on the surface of a given polygon. We'd do this by giving every point two dimensional coordinates, instead of inventing some kind of new format where every voxel in 3D space is assigned a colour—after all, it's only the surface that matters, right? This process of giving 3D vertices 2D-coordinates on a texture is called UV mapping. What you should really take away from this is the UV map holds the information of how to wrap a texture on to a mesh.

And, since all vertices already have X, Y, and Z coordinates, (and W is used for something else,) their two-dimensional texture coordinates are U and V.

Now, UV maps can be different from a piece of paper you fold in a few ways. What you mainly need to remember is that in UV Maps, we aren't bound by angles, length, or area – the lines making up a UV map are 'stretchy'. This mapping allows, then, for you to 'stretch' the texture over the surface of the mesh.

Now that everyone is (hopefully) on the same page, let's move on to the subject of the post!

This is the UV map of the female head mesh in Skyrim. Right away, a few weird quirks are going to stand out about it.

It is not truly vertically symmetrical along any X-coordinate.

It is kinda symmetrical along a line a short ways to the left of the centre.

Even along that line, the eye sockets are not symmetrical.

The symmetry along that central line starts falling apart towards the boundaries of the image, where there is not really very much symmetry whatsoever and what there is seems to fold more along the actual central vertical axis.

Now, if none of that stuff stood out immediately to you, or you are having trouble seeing it, that's absolutely fine! This image here should help to clarify the things I just mentioned.

The white line in the middle highlights the true centre of the image, from which (as you can see) the UV of the mesh's 'central line' is offset. The sort of lens-shapes either side of it trace the UV map's eye sockets, which are quite different.

Now, is all of this stuff fine? I mean, kind of. No, it's not really a good UV map (there are serious issues, for example, at the back of the scalp) and the symmetry problems all suck for working with it as a texture, but it's still useable and, for a high-poly to low-poly workflow, won't really impact things all that much for the creator. Painting on to the mesh, baking from a sculpt – all these will suffer for a worse UV map, but are still essentially the same process as with a different UV. The game's textures were made for this UV map, and Bethesda seem to have been able to manage fine with it.

Credit to Bethesda Game Studios. A section of the 'FemaleHead_MSN.dds'.

The issues come in more for people working on a 2D level. Making textures in photoshop? Painting some tintmasks? Then these things are going to annoy you, especially those darned eye sockets. So, is there a better way?

A Better Way

Sorry, that section header is kind of misleading. There's an extent to which this is subjective but, honestly, I don't think there really is a better way. I firmly believe that you can't fix Bethesda's UV because it's not broken. A little annoying to work with? Sure. But it wasn't meant to be another way, and it works with the textures provided by the game. There is nothing to fix.

On the 15th of March of 2012, Enhanced Character Edit (ECE) was published on Nexus Mods, in its description claiming thus:

Fixed asymmetry head mesh for Female.

Enhanced Character Edit had not 'fixed' issue of the off-centre axis of symmetry. What it had done was make the eye socket on the right symmetrical to the one on the left in the UV map. Behold, the ECE head mesh with the vanilla game's texture.

On the left: the ECE head mesh with the vanilla textures. On the right: the vanilla head mesh with the vanilla textures, as Todd intended.

ECE needed its own textures, made for the 'symmetrical' eye socket UV. There were already existing texture sets made this way (even reflecting the same eye; I suppose people preferred the left side), so it wasn't too great a problem—ECE was providing a fix for existing mods, really!

Except, well, it's a little more complicated than that. You can change the mesh, and the textures along with it, which works. This only affects the player character, however—generated face data for NPCs must be regenerated or, in the case of NPC overhauls, manually changed by the user, a thing few users actually know how to do. Pretty soon, though, people were using ECE in their character creation, and then for the NPC overhauls that they put on Nexus. Skin mods were being made specifically with use of this head mesh in mind, like SG Female Textures Renewal, which actually includes ECE as a requirement for this reason.

So everything is great and we can just use ECE, right? Sure, we have to regenerate all of our NPCs' faces which requires the creation kit and a lot of time, but that's workable. Well, not quite. Some mods have mismatched diffuse maps and normal maps when it comes to eye sockets, like Tempered Skins, which has ECE's eye sockets in its diffuse, but bases its normal maps mostly off of vanilla, including keeping its asymmetry. Mods like Mature Skin don't even use the ECE sockets, which means that those textures will look wrong on NPC overhauls based on the ECE head meshes. This issue ends up happening both ways, too—users of ECE-based textures have an even worse issue when using a mismatched mesh, to the extent that Enhanced Female Head Mesh was created, a mod that solves an issue that isn't in the base game. The ECE sockets are that ubiquitous.

Credit to DomainWolf. A comparison image from the mod Enhanced Female Head Mesh, showing the issue that ECE-based textures have when using the vanilla mesh.

Incidentally, this user has also created tintmask mods. Many of the textures included in those would have to be manually edited in order for them to look right on the vanilla head mesh.

We can see that the effects of ECE's change ripple outward without ever really becoming understood by the common modder. When installing High Poly Head, users are presented with the option of Symmetrical Eyes (Female). The average user probably doesn't know what this means, let alone whether the texture that they're using is based on ECE. If they choose the wrong option, many won't think to go back to the FOMOD. ECE itself has been far surpassed in popularity by RaceMenu on SSE—how many people would think to install it for its head mesh alone? Even Enhanced Female Head Mesh, which is specifically mesh-only and for SSE has only ~25 k downloads as of writing. Popular skin mods with symmetrical eye sockets have millions.

This whole thing impacts almost all modders. Most of them know barely anything about it. So, this stubborn ass who refuses to use the 'fixed' eyes and manually converts all of their NPC mods by painstakingly fixing things in NIFSkope wanted to write a post aggregating everything they knew about the subject, endeavouring to maybe improve people's awareness of it.

If you read all of this, thanks! I'm honestly surprised at how long it got. I hope you enjoyed my writing.

Hello, future me here. If you read this before this message was added, please note what I had earlier said about ECE not working on SSE was wrong. I have updated the previous sentence to reflect this information.

#skyrim modding #skyrim #long post #my post

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