#is that a Skyrim reference

[artsideblogofsorts]

"I must be the only cop in the world that gets assaulted in his own house by his own fuckin' android..."

[falmerbrook]

Falmer appearance and attire headcanons

(click on drawings for more details and notes!)

Hair

In Skyrim, we pretty much only see two hair styles to go off of: completely bald and the hair the "shaman" have (which are also the only females we see (a post for another day)).

In concept art, particularly Adam Adamowicz's, we see more potential hairstyles. He draws it as wispy and messy, as well as containing braids and the ties we see in the shaman in the game. This art is largely what defines my own interpretation of their hair.

I picture the typical Falmer hair as wavy, thin, wispy, and looking frizzy. Given the high number of hairless Falmer we see, I imagine baldness is common, particularly among males, and sometimes among females. Their hair can be commonly styled into braids or knots to keep it under control.

The ability to grow long, thick hair is less common, but those who can tend to style it in other unique ways. Especially among females, long hair is commonly styled into large dense locs (akin to a Polish plait) and held into shapes using ropes or leather ties.

(While I think the intention with the way their hair is drawn and modelled in the game models and concept art was that it was braided and held up with those ties, before looking at it closely I always sorta interpreted it as too stiff to just be braided. As a result, I developed the locs headcanon and have become kinda attached to it even though I have 0 in game or lore support for it)

Materials

The material used in their clothing is obviously dependent on what is accessible to them, and given their unique situation that makes the materials they use and value unique as well. In Skyrim, we see that almost all of their armor (which is mostly what we see them wearing) and homes are made of chaurus chitin (and potentially shellbug chitin), so this is likely the most common resource available to them for non-combative coverings as well. Other materials from their arthropods companions could include their cocoons, unhatched eggs, etc.

Bones from other creatures (draugr, skeevers, trolls, adventurers, bandits, etc.) underground or from aboveground raids could also be used fairly often. These could also provide a source of leather or fur, albeit not a lot of it.

Falmer groups and subcultures inside or in close proximity to Dwemer ruins probably make regular use of the materials present in those ruins as well. With all the metal and machinery present in Dwemer ruins, metal probably makes regular appearances in their clothing (and general decorations) even if they can't manipulate it themselves. Falmer more separated from Dwemer ruins would make much lesser use of these materials, however. Additionally, We see implications of Falmer preparing, cooking, and potentially cultivating fungus in-game, but see nothing indicating they have any plants in their diet, and therefore it is unlikely they regularly make or use textiles or fabrics in their clothing, and if they do they likely come form Dwemer ruins or raided adventurers/bandits/settlements from the surface.

On that note, we know that there have supposedly been incidents of Falmer coming to the surface to attack its inhabitants and travelers, as well as instances of them killing bandits, adventurers, and researchers who venture below, so it's not far fetched to believe that they have access to some materials from the surface. This could give them some access to furs from surface animals, beads, glass, jewelry, textiles, metal objects, etc. they might not otherwise have access to. The rarity of these material among the Falmer would depend on the amount of access any given group of Falmer have to the surface, but among many of them these materials could be seen as more valuable for their rarity and the difficulty to gain them.

While gemstones and ore might be accessible from both natural deposits and underground ruins, unless they had some kind of auditory function or unique texture, they might not have much value to Falmer.

General Attire/Accessories

I like to imagine that the Snow Elves, and by extension the Falmer, have an innate cold resistance in the same way Nords do, and therefore don't require clothes for the purpose of warmth even in the chilly caves of Skyrim. Additionally, their blindness likely means that wouldn't dress for visual aesthetic either. My thoughts are that they are then left with the sense of sound and touch to communicate with each other, and their clothing and accessories could reflect that.

Falmer clothing, decoration, and society in general is very heavily based on touch and texture and little on appearances. They touch each other very often for both communication, movement, and just general day-to-day interactions, and their clothes isn’t very modest, but the tactile patterns and materials used can communicate certain things such as position in society, “wealth”/power, whether they are taken, single, pregnant, with a child, etc., their roles, their age, notable achievements/skills, who is who, etc. on both their clothes and buildings. The more noise one makes, the more attention they draw and the more they drown out other noises, and the more noise making things they can “afford” to have, so the amount of noise one makes in a Falmer settlement is a status symbol. Certain types of noises or noise makers are more coveted than others (chitin beads are common, while furs are less common, and materials only gained from raiding the surface are rare and coveted).

Some noise making accessories could include:

Dangling metal, bones, beads, chitin, etc. that hangs off of their clothing or ears and jingle/clank against each other (in my drawing I show them as pretty uniform in shape and size, but they would probably be much more irregular than I depicted them)

Bells (metal or other materials) that are affixed to or dangle off of their clothing or as earrings.

Hollow bracelets, anklets, necklaces, or other accessories that are filled with rocks or beads.

Rattles tied to the body (made of chitin, dried hollow chaurus eggs, dried chaurus cocoons, beads, etc.) with leather or rope.

Flute or whistle like tubes made of metal, chitin, or dried and treated tube-like fungus that makes a woodwind-esque noise when air passes through it in a certain way. They have been designed to make noise easily from even the slightest movements.

Dried grasses (more temporary) tied to the body that make a swishy noise. More permanently, a similar thing can be achieved with hair. The hair can be sourced from Falmer (either through just cutting hair or through taking it from fallen enemies) or killed humans/mer/draugr. That sort of thing can also act as a kind of trophy.

Necklaces with various materials dangling close together that jingle against each other.

Various materials can be tied into braids or the leather ties in their hair as well.

Some textural accessories could include:

Beads. Since they wouldn't have the ability to tell the color of the beads, the patterning of beadwork would be based on the roughness, material, size, or shape of the beads. (I'm sorry I suck as drawing beads)

Furs. This wouldn't be as common since the Falmer likely don't have too much interaction with furry mammals, but some they may have access to that are big enough to make clothing/accessories out of include skeevers or trolls (and potentially rarely animals from the surface). A potential meaning of wearing furs could be as hunting trophies, but it could have other meanings as well.

Chaurus chitin would like be the most common material in Falmer attire, and depending on the part of the chaurus body, the size of the chaurus, or the life stage of the chaurus it was sourced from it could have different textures. Some chitin parts could include large spikes and deep groves, while other parts could be smoother and less rough. The use of this chitin in clothing could take advantage of this contrast in textures. Additionally, chitin or shells from shell bugs might be a different texture from the chaurus chitin. (it's unclear to me whether shell bugs are exclusive to the caves around the Forgotten Vale or if we should consider them distributed throughout Skyrim's underground)

The placement of textured components on the body could have their own meaning to it alongside what accessories or textures are being used.

Specific Falmer Subcultures

While most Falmer settlements we see in Skyrim are just a small-ish collection of huts and chaurus corrals, there are two distinctive settlements that are larger, seemingly more organized, and I like to think have their own distinct subcultures worth mentioning: Blackreach and the Forgotten Vale. The unique scope and environment of these Falmer cities (as I like to think of them) could lend to unique clothing cultures as well.

The Falmer of Blackreach have access to a vast Dwemer settlement and have has the space to spread out throughout it more fully since it seems to be more in tact than other Dwemer ruins we see. These guys would likely have a clothing culture much more heavily based on what the can access from these Dwemer ruins (metal scraps, leftover fabrics, etc.)

The Falmer of the Forgotten Vale would also have access to unique resources, such as Vale deer, Vale sabre cats, and frost giants for fur and leather. Additionally, materials accessed from the Chantry of Auri-El such as textiles from clothing, bedding, tapestries, etc. could give them a greater access to fabrics than other Falmer groups. We don't see many close Dwemer settlements to the Vale, so they would have less Dwemeri influence in their clothing than other Falmer groups.

I like to think that the Falmer's evolution exclusively underground has made them poorly equipped to handle the outdoors during the day and has made them particularly susceptible to sunburn, necessitating the need for covering for those in the Forgotten Vale who have significant settlements outdoors. With greater access to textiles and leather, they could use them as coverings when outdoors.

Armor

I actually have very few notes on armor, for two reasons. 1) I hate designing and drawing armor. It is the bane of my existence. 2) I really like the armor they have in game! I think they look awesome aesthetically, and I like how clearly they are made from chaurus chitin. Per usual, Adam Adamowicz's designs seem to have been the major inspiration for the Falmer armor, and he did a great jobs (even if it isn't the most functional looking armor ever).

(off topic but I also just want to add that he draws them with little hairs and tufts on their ears and I love it. ok that is all)

I do have a few thoughts about armor though.

Even attire made of textiles make noise when someone moves in them, and I can imagine moving around in armor, especially armor made of hard, insect shells would make a lot of noise when someone moves around in it. When you're relying on sound to navigate your environment and pinpoint potential threats or targets, wearing something making a lot of noise would not be ideal. On the other hand, getting into a fight unarmored would be a problem.

So here's my solution: heavy armor (see below) would only be worm within the camps/settlements where noise was already high and space is more cramped (and therefore more risky in a fight) as a sort of guard in case they were attacked. Those guarding the settlements along the outside might still wear armor as well, but less of it. Those going out to scout or hunt (if they do hunt) would wear as little armor as possible, and try to wear it strategically so that it wouldn't rub against itself and make noise. This is why most Falmer we encounter in the game are wearing little except for loin cloths and kneepads.

One more idea I have for armor is a specific armor piece. On the note of guarding or protecting a camp or settlement, I imagine the noises of it all (especially with the noise based headcanons I've laid out here) would make it hard to actually catch any potential threats when you can't see. A large slightly concave piece of armor worn behind the head could block out noises from behind the wearer, as well as a help focus sounds ahead of them.

That is all! Thank you for reading! A lot of these concepts around the culture of sound I think could also be applied to their buildings and even a culture of music, but those are posts for another time.

All of the concept art I used was taken from here and all of the Skyrim screenshots are from UESP.

[bonestrewncrest]

i WAS in the middle of drawing odahviing and started some other dragons but my pc had a girl moment and i lost the file but. it saved this at least

[mywitchcultblr]

Akatosh: "I'm so good at daddying."

Alduin and his siblings running around Tamriel burning cities without supervision and its paarthurnax who has to deal with his brother's bullshit, Miraak sobbing in Hermaeus Mora's reddit mods dungeon, the dragonborn shouting Fus Ro Dah in Whiterun for shit and giggles, and Martin is eternally depressed

[bougainvillea-and-saltwater]

Headcanon: When the Last Dragonborn goes to Sovngarde and fights Alduin, during the very moment of their great battle, the Aurora Borealis and all the stars snuff out of the night sky of Skyrim. And when they finally kill him, there is a momentary burst of light in the sky, as if all the stars went supernova and Kyne's Lights burn brighter than they have ever been...👀

[elderscrollsconceptart]

Its fun to meme about how the dragons all look like birds doing poses in Adam's concept art, but its very clear that Adam was working directly off real reference photos of avians as he was designing the dragons.

There's a piece I've not posted yet which is a super cute plan view sketch of Adam's office and one of the things he labels is a shelf full of reference books. I'd bet real money there was a picture book of birds on that shelf. God I'd love to see the actual bird pictures he borrowed his dragon poses from.

[decoyhounds]

can someone please tell me i'm not the only person who immediately thought of this

[wouldntyoulichentoknow]

when the librarian comes back covered in blood with a fancy stick and your favorite orb gets shut down

[champion-of-dragons]

New dovahkiin just dropped

[stellarsightz]

Linny reference sheet :3

Might start working on Baltana's soon

[amarylliscircuit]

"You were trying to cross the border, right? Ran right into the Spina's ambush, same as me and that dancer over there."

[eastendripper]

An alternate universe where modern time Merlin,. who's either secretly obsessed with games or is a professional gamer is thrown back in time to medieval Camelot. He's entirely convinced he's got isekaied into some video game he's never heard of and he makes that EVERYONE'S problem.

The series starts with Merlin waking up in Gaius's chambers, the old man saying: "You're finally awake"

Light breaks through the veil of fluttering eyelashes. The boy stirs awake, and an old, gravely voice slips past the overwhelming clutches of somber, “You’re finally awake!” Merlin's eyes snap open.

The old man sits by his side, clothed in faintly barbed robes, “I swear I WASN'T trying to cross any borders,” the boy answered hoarsely. The man’s frown deepened, and his curious eyes flashed with unanswered questions, “Right, w-what exactly happened?”

The man let out a whistling breath, somewhat relieved to see him lucid, “You collapsed my boy…,” here he hesitated, “After you used your… magic to save me you’ve lost your consciousness and fell to the floor”

Magic. Right. “As long as I'm not destined to a life of dragon-hunting…” the old man blinked, “Anyway, uh, where am I?”

Arthur and Merlin's first meeting? Merlin says his stats are too low to start a brawl but they can get back to it at a different time. Arthur is fairly confused.

Light shone brightly that morning, it glared into his eyes fiercely, burning. Having started his work under Gaius, Merlin propped the stripe of his heavy bag, filled to the bream with herbs medicine and headed back to the citadel.

Cruel laughter made him halt and he looked towards the group of wealthy clothed knights. They stood round a blonde man, while a servant with a shield ran from said man's flying daggers. “Do you want some moving target practice?” The boy watches as the shield, previously in the poor servant's arms, rolls towards him.

Merlin's foot falls over it before the boy could pick it up. He smiles but the younger boy doesn't look at all grateful. The servant shivers, his eyes wide with fear, lips stretched down in misery. Meroin frowned and looked up, “Oy! Come on, that's enough,” he called out to the knight, who stopped harshly at the causal adress, “Not everyone’s good for knight class, you know?”

The servant frowned, “A what now?” he muttered under his nose.

Knight blinked a few times, “What?” The blonde’s eyes were wide, lips twitching, uncertain between amusement and frown.

“You've had your fun, my friend”

“Do I know you?” the knight questioned as he stepped forward, and Merlin shifted in discomfort.

Unsure, Merlin opened his lips to answer, was it a quest or something? he really hoped it wasn't, “Merlin,” the boy shrugged his hand shooting forward, “Gaius's new apprentice”

A flash of surprise brightened the man's eyes before it disappeared like a lightening on the sky, “So I DON'T know you”

Merlin blinked again, he shoved his hands into the pockets of his slacks and shrugged, “I suppose not.”

“And yet you called me a friend”

The boy titled his head in thought, “No you're right, we'd be a terrible team, I'm sure you'd steal all the loot. I wouldn't invite you to my party”

“What?” the knight stopped, he seemed to have lost his footing for a moment, his mouth hanging open, before he regained himself and asked: “What in all heavens are you talking about?”

Merlin rolled his eyes, “To put it simply: I'd never have a friend who could be such an ass”

For a moment the knight didn't say a thing, then: “Or I one who could be so stupid... Tell me, Merlin, do you know how to walk on your knees?”

“I know how to sneak?”

The knight turned towards the other knights with a face so confused, not that the rest could under any better. Blinking the knight turned back towards Merlin, sounding uncertain of his own question, “Would you like me to help you?”

“I don't think so mate,” the knight faltered, his eyebrows shooting up high, “My stats are too low for this fight, let's reschedule” Merlin decided before turning away.

“What...” One of the other knights whispered to his friend. They watched him walk away. The blonde knight was too stunned to stop him. "...was THAT?"

Arthur catches Merlin crouched in the middle of the corridor being sneaky, when asked he says he was going to steal the horse.

“Merlin?” The boy froze. He turned around to meet the prince's questioning gaze, “WHAT are you doing?”

“I'm... Stealing a horse?”

Arthur blinked, looked around, and muttered something under his breath, something far too quiet for Merlin to understand. “And WHY pray tell are you stealing a horse, in front of Lady Helen's room?”

Merlin sighed in defeat, “Alright, you got me… I'm actually completing a quest”

“Once again I'm asking WHAT—”

Merlin telling Arthur he should already be able to craft a diamond sword at this level.

"I don't understand how you've got such a huge level and you're still fighting with steel?"

Arthur sighed, tired, completely worn-out, and done with Merlin's bullshit, "What ELSE am I supposed to fight with Merlin?"

"I mean your level's big enough to upgrade to diamond"

There's a loud bang. Merlin. startles and looks towards the prince. Arthur's head lies on the desk.

When the undead army comes to Camelot Merlin says: "the zombies are coming," imitating the game, soon after he adds that they don't have enough suns to plant the "attacking plants", so they need to start with sunflowers.

When Merlin realizes they won't be able to kill the undead with mete swords his eyes flash with recognition, "Shoot I know that one. WE NEED MORE SUNS!"

Arthur falters, nearly ran through with a sword of one of the soldiers, "Merlin?!" he screams, "Can you NOT?"

"THEY'RE ZOMBIES ARTHUR!"

Merlin randomly humming GTA Mission complete whenever he successfully sneaks out or through the castle.

Kilgarrah sighs again as he hears the familiar humming as the warlock descends down the stairs, towards his cave.

The scene where Merlin knocks down that guy? he says "KO"

"I'm begging you Merlin, you're making NO sense"

[dark-star-exe]

i am putting him in skyrim

[ariossarts]

We like feral gremlin men in this here house.

[umbracirrus]

Took a break from the main drawings I'm working on to do a very quick shitty doodle of Balgruuf with a bun :3

I can imagine him doing this with his hair when he's reading reports or something like that.

[amiablyinept]

How each rescue bot would respond to you waking up

Blades: Hey you, you're finally awake.

Boulder: Rise and shine sleepyhead, we've got a big day ahead.

Heatwave: Look who's finally awake, you were snoring, the entire night.

Chase: You are up, that is good.