#most of skyrim’s dark brotherhood

[libartz]

NOOO THIS CHAR HAS DIED (sad) vs

NOOO THIS CHAR HAS DIED (there was so much potential)

[merrimentsmight]

Saw the ask for Cicero-themed prompts.

Wondering if you'd be interested in writing a Cicero x Listener, with a Cicero who hates the Listener but is to loyal to the Tenets to admit that to himself?

“Come here, my Cicero, my dear,” they say. They order. So condescending. My dear. My my mine my mine. Of course, though, it is true. He is theirs. He has made monuments of that truth in actions, in fluids, the shapes he writes, his own blood on their thighs. The way he kills on their order, sleeps on their order, breathes on their order. It is their prerogative. And in the same fashion they, who outstrips him in everything, who sups at the Night Mother’s dry husk of a breast, who could have killed him once and should have taken the chance when they had it, do not belong to Cicero. They belong to no one. Are accountable to no one. Least of all the poor Keeper. 

Sometimes he worries that the Dread Lord will become tired of it and strike them down. Other days he simply prays that their Father will see his loyalty and spare him that repercussion. Other days still he knows that he has fallen prey, and lost himself, and deserves everything coming to them and more. And then on each of those days he comes to his senses, and prays to be released from his own heretical thoughts. He reminds himself that he loves the Listener. He reminds himself so often. 

He rises from where he had knelt at their feet, follows their gestures, sits in their lap. They smell good; clean and like wind and autumn fruit. They kiss him and they taste of full, sweet wine, and they grip his side, and he moans. He could reach out now and strangle them. He could bash their skull against the stone wall until it busted open, their brain red and wet and soft like jam. He could sink inside of them and claw his way out; rip them open from the depths. He could he could he could he could. He could not! He would never. Mother chose them. After all. Out of all, out of anyone, Mother chose them. And they chose him. And that was. That was an honor. 

Is he lying? Is he lying to the Listener? To Mother? Oh no no. Oh no. Oh never. He would never. But when they run their hand through his hair he knows he's a pet. Feels what he has been reduced to. Knows that every moment he falls into it, enjoys it, the praise and attention, is a little lie he's telling to himself. He tries to fall into it anyway, enjoy it anyway. If this is what Sithis laid out for him he has no recourse but to obey. But each day the ties that bind him to the stone altar of devotion abrade against its unpolished edges. They grow thinner. They will snap. 

And what will loyal Cicero be then?

[nerevar-quote-and-star]

Veezara: Are you mad?

Gabriella: No.

Veezara: So sharpening your knives at 3 in the morning is just a hobby?

[potatoesandsunshine]

sorry everyone but to me the dark brotherhood is like a weird sitcom family you join midway through their third season. they've all already got established dynamics and relationships and my character is walking in to add a little extra drama to an already-moving plot. we don't even get to the friends stage before whatever climactic awful thing (usually me) happens to them

[unromancable-favs]

Nazirs special reactions to the amulet of mara

As imagined by me.

"Id follow you untill im dust in the breeze, you realize that?"

Before completing the quest:

"An amulet of mara? Odd thing for an assassin to be wearing."

>Are you intrested in me?

"No. And let me give you a bit of advice, dark brother/sister. Youre going to want to leave false ideas like "Love" behind."

After completing the quest:

"Maras amulet? What, did you kill a priest?"

>Are you intrested in me?

"You know what, listener, I think I might be. What say you?"

>Im intrested.

"Well, how about that. Hah. You know, I thought I left behind feelings like that a long time ago. If I ever felt them to begin with, but.. Youre different. You're worth it."

>No, im not interested.

"A respectable decision. Romance is quite the weakness."

If you change your mind at the wedding

"Dont waste my time like that again."

[two-bit-socrates]

The Elder Scrolls: Oblivion

I made some notes in a post earlier about how I thought Mankar Cameron deliberately let him and his kids be killed for the hero of kvatch to take the amulet. Now I'm very sure of it but also not because that would imply Bethesda were intentionally telling a thoroughly plotted out saga. Still, if The Elder Scrolls were a thoroughly plotted out saga it would make sense on a grandeur scale of things that Mankar deliberately set himself up to be caught and the amulet reclaimed if the plan wasn't actually for Dagon to take over Tamriel.

I just installed Skyrim on my Steam Deck and I installed Morrowind on my laptop and I have 500 other things I should and rather be doing but they're not happening rn.

EDIT: I keep coming back to the story telling and environmental design and social interactions of Oblivion and how it's not a well thought out and researched story but it's an odd way of interacting with a world that is a bare bones fantasy reflection of the u.s. in 2006 from the perspectives of people who didn't seem like they interacted with people that much. I just started up Skyrim again a few hours ago and it feels the same way but later as these same people get more exposed to life being chronically online.

I'm aware this doesn't sound like cohesive thoughts but my brain is fatigued but won't stop rotating oblivion inside it so I'm writing it down for now.

[stellarsightz]

What is the flavor of fear?

Sublime, my Brother.

(Alternate version under the cut)

[littledragondork]

I love how the Elder Scrolls universe has hair dye, so many characters could have had emo or goth phases

[neverendingford]

.

[bucca2]

okay not to wax poetic about a minor side character in Skyrim that annoys the fuck out of most people, but it really does sadden me that most people are like “he’s annoying, kill him!” and then do no self reflection on the fact that they only killed him because of a petty personal gripe and because they were sent to do so by a power tripping traitor who LATER ALSO TRIES TO KILL THE LISTENER THEMSELVES.

For a long time I’ve had Thoughts™ on the phenomenon of Gamers (derogatory) who treat any NPC who is even slightly an inconvenience with disproportionate and often violent vitriol, but this post is already getting long. General musings on the tragedy of Cicero’s character and how it’s objectively the wrong choice to kill him below.

Thanks to my partner @wrenanigans I’ve had reason to re-examine Cicero’s character, and his past just makes me so deeply sad. Of course, his journals only cover DB-related events, so maybe he had a personal life he just didn’t write about, but it kind of struck both of us that he feels the loss of his fellow DB members so keenly and yet never really mentions any personal relationships outside of obligation to his fellow assassins. (i.e no family or lovers pre-insanity when he was a normal, extremely capable man) Like of course he went insane. The organization that was his entire life’s purpose not only promoted him to a position where he could no longer do what he joined them to do, but then he watched the organization dissolve around him and all his friends be slaughtered.

Then he was alone with the Night Mother waiting for her to talk to someone and give him direction for eight fucking years!!! Of course he went completely off the deep end! If I was isolated, paranoid (but is it paranoia if they’re actually out to get you?) and constantly on survival mode for that long, I’d be relieved if being a little quirky and doing little dances was the extent of my deviant behavior! (The murder comes with being in the Dark Brotherhood, so I don’t wanna hear any whining about him being stabby. Murder isn’t OK if the Dragonborn does it, but suddenly immoral if people you don’t like do it. In video games.)

I think for most people who don’t put much thought into Cicero and his actions, they just vaguely think “oh, Cicero betrayed the family and tried to kill Astrid, so killing him is justified irrespective of her later betraying us”, which is simply not true. There’s a very interesting post I saw floating around lately about how you can’t treat religion in fantasy worlds like TES the same way you would with religious groups IRL, because in TES there is tangible proof that gods exist, and they can and will fuck with the mortal world for their own whims. The point of the DB quest line is that the Tenets matter, and straying from them and the Night Mother almost snuffed the DB out for good. The narrative of the game explicitly justifies Cicero’s actions and QUITE LITERALLY tells you that killing Cicero is not the right call.

TES has a lot of creative interactivity with picking your own outcomes and going with your own solutions, but quests don’t usually end with “go kill this guy. but you can also spare him… ;)” They usually don’t give you an old wise dude whose spirit you can summon who tells you not to kill that clown. And then if you spare Cicero, he comes back and is a potential companion. Like…I don’t know how much more obvious it can get that you’re not supposed to kill Cicero. I get for most people it’s not that deep, but this is TES. We talk about lore here.

[nerevar-quote-and-star]

Astrid: My throat hurts.

Arnbjorn: Who asked you to scream so loud last night?

Astrid: It’s your fault anyways, you hairball.

Arnbjorn, smirking: It’s not my fault I’m so good.

Astrid: YOU DEFINITELY CHEATED!

Astrid: NO ONE BEATS ME AT MONOPOLY! NO ONE!

[maxwellatoms]

What kind of video games do you like to play Mr. Atoms?

So many! Assuming there's time. These days there's generally not, so I've been bingeing Vampire Survivors in half-hour doses.

Above is a gif from Noita, my top game of the pandemic. It's an old-school "Metroidvania", but every pixel is simulated and you're a witch who can manipulate her spells (and thereby the world) in a seemingly infinite number of ways. Here, I've built magical "buzzsaws" around myself, which blinded me to the shadow amoeba. In Noita, almost every death is due to hubris, and I think I love that pendulum swing. If you're lucky and skilled, you can become a walking whirlwind of destruction, but you're always your own worst enemy. Bonus: You can turn your vomit into rats.

I'm currently on a break in the midst of my Baldur's Gate 3 run, with a party consisting of my BG2 character's daughter, Karlatch, Lazelle, and Shadowheart. Ladies' Night!

I'm also playing a bit of Shadows of Doubt. I'm not sure it'll hold up long-term, but it's got a lot of potential.

I don't really limit myself by genre or platform, but I'd say that I primarily play indie PC games. The games in my Steam library that I keep going back to again and again?

Cities: Skylines: A chill City Building Simulator. Lots of fun mods.

Darkest Dungeon: This thing is a classic strategy game IMO.

Death Road to Canada: A light, fast Project Zomboid. Dogs with guns!

Dwarf Fortress: For me, it's the ultimate fantasy sim. I love it so much. Looking forward to Adventure Mode finally appearing on Steam.

Project Zomboid: The ultimate lonely 2D zombie apocalypse survival game. Or non-survival game, I suppose.

Total War: Warhammer: For when I'm in a strategy-y mood. Like a lot of people, I'm a bit soured on the modern DLC scene, so I'm still waiting on #3 even though I'm a Chaos stan.

Not on Steam? I do play some Star Citizen from time to time. I backed it a decade ago. I used to joke that it was the game I was going to retire into, but more and more that's looking less and less like a joke. Still, it's made some good progress in the last couple of years and I'm hopeful that repair and engineering turn out to be fun.

The game I'm looking forward to most would be the next Elder Scrolls. I know it's still a ways off. Ever since my Nereverine landed in Morrowind with the intention of becoming a just and righteous cleric and instead found herself an unwitting villain and colonizer, I fell in love with the Elder Scrolls and it's deep, gray lore. It is (for me) a great way to really get into a character's head. Roleplaying... go figure.

Since Morrowind (and a backtrack into Daggerfall), I only allow myself one canon playthrough. My rule is to "let it ride", so that aside from death, if I screw up or if something unexpected happens I don't save-scum. All of my characters are related, either by quest or bloodline. I already know that my next character will be Aventus Aretino (the kid you catch summoning the Dark Brotherhood). My Skyrim character (above) had adopted him and then left him in the hands of a vampire, so I should be covered even if there's a big time jump. Now I just have to wait six more years for the game. And then maybe two for mods. God I'm so old.

I need to spend more time with Dave the Diver.

Anything current I'm missing out on?

[ffaelix]

obsessed with the batfam and skyrim, so here’s who they’d play as and how that would go:

bruce – imperial bruce is 100% picking imperial. he’s got some elaborate backstory about being a noble general or strategist trying to bring balance to skyrim. the civil war questline? yeah, he’s leading the imperials to victory. also, he’s spending way too much time perfecting his alchemy and enchanting. his playthrough is methodical, overthought, and probably takes six real-world months.

dick – wood elf (bosmer) dick’s going bosmer because he loves sneaking through forests, sniping enemies with a bow, and avoiding heavy armor—but he’s also leaning into being a bard. he’s probably charming every npc he meets, playing instruments, and giving his dragonborn a whole backstory as a traveling storyteller. he’s siding with the stormcloaks, not for any deep reason, but because he likes the blue costume. also, you know he’s adopting every random npc follower he finds and pretending they’re part of his merry band.

jason – orc jason's going orc because he thinks they look the coolest and because he knows orc is the most overpowered race to play as. with two-handed weapons, heavy armor, and berserker rage, he’s unstoppable. his approach? smash first, ask questions never. he’s storming into bandit hideouts, wiping everyone out, and looting like a maniac. also, he’s destroying the dark brotherhood instead of joining it, just because he can.

cass – khajiit cass picks khajiit for stealth perks and becomes a sneaky assassin queen. she’s all daggers and silent takedowns, probably speedrunning the dark brotherhood questline without getting caught once. she skips dialogue, avoids side quests, and somehow finishes the main quest in record time.

tim – high elf (altmer) tim’s not just playing skyrim—he’s modding it to make it even harder. master difficulty, absurd enchantments, and hours spent in menus. he’s doing every quest, collecting every book, and building a lore-perfect house in solitude. his playthrough is less of a game and more of a research project.

damian – imperial damian picks imperial like bruce because he idolizes his dad but would never admit it. he’s siding with the imperials because "ulfric is an incompetent brute" and would lecture everyone about how their character builds are inferior. unlike bruce, though, he’s dual-wielding swords and charging headfirst into everything. also, he’s doing every daedric quest because power = perfection.

how they’d play:

jason: so i killed the jarl of whiterun because i was bored. bruce: what? why? jason: he called me a milk-drinker. not letting that slide. tim: you just broke your entire game. you can’t progress now. jason: whatever, i’ll just join the dark brotherhood and kill everyone else too. cass: jarl balgruuf doesn’t even say ‘milk-drinker.’ jason: i modded the game so he did. i wanted a reason.

.

tim: if i side with the imperials, am i enabling systemic oppression? but if i side with the stormcloaks, i’m supporting racism. there’s no winning. dick: tim, it’s a game. just pick one. tim: no, i need to read every book in skyrim first to understand the full context. bruce: [nods approvingly.] jason: or you could just shout people off cliffs. that’s what i do. tim: that’s morally irresponsible. cass: i like fus ro dah. tim: not helping.

.

damian: why are you wasting points on archery, grayson? it’s inefficient. dick: because it’s fun? damian: this isn’t about fun. it’s about building the optimal dragonborn. you’ve already failed. jason: says the guy who ran face-first into a dragon and died five times. damian: that was a tactical experiment. tim: no, you refused to use potions because you said they were ‘beneath you.’ damian: father agrees. right, father? bruce: …i always carry potions. damian: [offended silence.]

.

cass: done. bruce: what? cass: main quest. finished. tim: you started two hours ago. cass: skip dialogue. sneak everywhere. no distractions.

.

jason: ugh, i accidentally fus-ro-dah’d a chicken again, now the entire town is trying to kill me. tim: why do you keep doing that? jason: it’s instinct at this point. cass: sneak past guards. jason: why sneak when i can punch my way out? (ten minutes later, jason’s running naked through whiterun because he refused to pay his bounty.)

.

damian: dick, why are you using an orcish bow when you have access to elven weapons? dick: because it looks cooler? damian: you’re an embarrassment to this game. jason: you know he’s got, like, 3000 pieces of cheese in his inventory, right? damian: excuse me? dick: cheese heals health. don’t knock my tactics.

.

dick: this is my new best friend, sven. damian: that bard in riverwood? he’s useless. dick: he’s got dreams, damian. i’m helping him live them. (later, sven dies in a dragon attack, and dick spends real-world hours reloading saves to keep him alive.)

[sunsettemplar]

Vincent Valtieri and my Champion of Syrodil - bosmer Gwendolyn. I draw this comic a year or more ago after remembering Vincent and really wanted to finish it, but I don't have the energy to color it completely, so I just cleaned it up or so. Little fact - I liked to steal books for Vincent and stack them in his room. I went through Oblivion a long time ago and in my memories Vincent looked much better than his model in the game lol. But still when i met him in dark brotherhood i was amazed. I know a lot of people like Lucien Lachance a lot but I was really surprised at the time because there is Vincent…… he is so polite, so interesting, so gentle or something like that dpfhpfhp…..But I cried VERY hard at the ending of the brotherhood because I played Oblivion after Skyrim and in Skyrim most of my friends survived………very sad yes……. The main plot and the Dark Brotherhood plot are intertwined in my version, they run concurrently where Gwen has to balance saving the world, working for the brotherhood, and then well…she loses everyone she ever cared about. But it's been good for a long time so I can capture it at least here. I think Vincent is more of a mentor to her (but she is in love with him, of course) and a man who treats her with respect and even tenderness, maybe some paternal on his part.

[monstersandmaw]

inspiration struck today for a non-monsterfucker story (sorry) in a relatively niche area that few people who follow my blog are interested in (Skyrim), for a romance between a character I'm sure most people won't remember and who may be seen as Problematic (Muiri, who gives us a double assassination revenge quest in game) and a Dark Brotherhood assassin OC...

sorry?

[littledragondork]

Gonna redraw these guys because I want to draw them again and see what I can improve on, might do new doodles too

TES Cat AU: Skyrim Thieves Guild

My self indulgent TES Cat art is done, at least my favorite Skyrim Thieves guild NPCs are, Probably gonna’ post the Companions next because I was drawing the Skyrim Dark Brotherhood and for the life of me I couldn’t get Cicero to look right lol, but I’ll take suggestions :3c

(I’m so down with doing the rest of the Skyrim Thieves Guild eventually)

Anyway, my art for Skyrim Cat AU Brynjolf, Karliah and Mercer Frey under the cut, with some design notes :3

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