#Fall fall fall upon us

[getvalentined]

Thinking a lot recently about the constant comparison of Oblivion to Skyrim, particularly claims that Oblivion is superior in every way strictly by virtue of quest length and the greater grandiosity of the organizations in Oblivion, and I think there's been a fundamental misunderstanding of what's actually going on with Tamriel during the time period of Skyrim. Even though it's like...one of the core concepts of the main storyline.

Putting most of this under a cut for length, but I just...I think people misunderstand what's going on here. This is not a "One Game Good Other Game Bad" post, it's an analysis of a major, key difference in story basis between the two that I think gets lost in the (frankly asinine) argument about which is superior.

See, everything in Skyrim sucks. Every organization you can align yourself with is falling apart. Literally every single one.

That's the point.

To summarize:

The Companions (equivalent to the Fighters' Guild) are about a dozen strong, literally cursed, and their most beloved leader gets murdered very early in the storyline.

The College of Winterhold (equivalent to the Mages' Guild, not to the Arcane University) has seemingly only been saved from collapsing into the sea because a master of Restoration fused himself with the structure itself when the Sea of Ghosts tried to tear it down a little under a century ago and his presence is constantly physically "healing" the foundation.

The Thieves' Guild has lost the favor of every possible patron deity, having been outright cursed by Nocturnal after one of her Nightingales murdered another and stole the gift she offers her champion, while the boon that the organization's founder claimed from her in ages past (the cowl) is missing.

The Dark Brotherhood has been all but completely dismantled, the Night Mother's tomb in Bravil having been raided and struggling to persist without a Listener for over a decade; the bodies of the Night Mother's children have been lost and she's essentially being smuggled from region to region in an attempt to find a safe place to continue operations.

The Empire itself has been kneecapped, forced into a traumatic treaty by a fascist regime determined to strike the beliefs and culture of anyone not Altmer off the face of the planet; the Thalmor have gone so far as to torture and radicalize the figurehead leader of the Nords in order to use their own nationalism and superiority against the Empire, sparking a civil war that will further weaken the Empire and allow the Aldmerri Dominion to destroy it wholecloth.

This extends out into the rest of the world, too! We have confirmed existence of Hist-deaf Argonians. The Dunmer are floundering to recover after the quadruple-whammy that is the fall of the Triumverate, the destruction of Vivec City when Baar Dau finally made impact, the Red Year, and the Argonian uprising. The Bosmer are literally endangered due to habitat loss following a super-isolationist cultural shift due to wars with the Khajiit and Altmer. The Void Nights were devastating to Khajiit culture and population in ways that have yet to be fully explained.

The world is falling apart. Everything is dying.

And then Alduin shows up.

We all kind of talk about Alduin carrying on as World-Eater through the course of the Skyrim storyline like it's him being a piece of shit, since he'd started it ages ago and was just displaced in time to land on the Last Dragonborn's head in the Fourth Era, but I don't think that's the case.

Based on the state of things, I think Alduin arrived right on time. I think it's the end of the world. The only reason he "should" be stopped is because the Last Dragonborn has the capacity to stop the world from ending in a more down-to-earth sense than just defeating Alduin: they can't save everyone, but they can "fix" every single organization that's holding "the world" together.

They can align with the Imperials and keep the civil war from further crippling them, keeping the Empire from being too weak to push back against the Aldmerri Dominion.

They can save the College of Winterhold, the only group in the right place at the right time to stop the Eye of Magnus from opening, and in doing so make sure that the Psijics are able to put it somewhere nobody else can find it.

They can lead the Companions, cure the curse for those members who don't want to run with Hircine after death, which bolsters their spirits enough to keep doing what they can even when everyone else is trying to kill each other. A single neutral martial force in the middle of a civil war.

They can regain Nocturnal's trust for the Thieves' Guild, restore the Nightingales, and in doing so they can return the luck that was stolen from them as punishment for Mercer Frey's transgression. They can even reclaim the Crown of Barenziah and award the guild with a paragon to increase their newly-regained luck.

They can hear the Night Mother, becoming Listener for the Dark Brotherhood to restore the balancing force of Sithis in the world, purify the most broken Sanctuary the Brotherhood has ever had, and finish a story set into motion way back in the Third Era—Emperor Titus Mede II is murdered under the order of a Motierre, a descendant of a mark the Brotherhood specifically kept from dying during the Oblivion Crisis.

The Last Dragonborn can't do anything outside Skyrim—there's nothing they can do for the Argonians or the Bosmer or the Khajiit, and they can only do very little for the Dunmer via work in Solstheim—but they can work with every single guild or guild-adjacent group, strengthening the Empire to stand against the biggest threat to Tamrielic culture since the First Era, and in doing so they can make it so the world isn't ready for Alduin to eat it.

The Hero of Kvatch exists when Tamriel, and presumably Nirn as a whole is in the prime of its life, that's what makes the Oblivion Crisis such a big deal. This is a world that isn't ready to give up, it still has the strength to fight, it just needs someone standing at the head to direct it. The Last Dragonborn comes into the story when everything is falling apart and nothing really feels worthwhile, when it's hard to see why the world is worth saving. They have the chance to prove that there's still some life left here, that the world isn't too far gone to save—Alduin arrived right on time, it's the Last Dragonborn's job to change that.

I can see how coming from Oblivion to Skyrim would feel disappointing and hollow, but I'm pretty sure that's literally the point of the story.

Oblivion tells you the world is worth saving because it's got so much left to live for, even with the odds stacked so high against it. Skyrim asks you whether a world that's dying is still a world worth saving, and it's up to you to prove that it is.

[creating-by-starlight]

Me, every time anyone says anything about "waiting for The One God has for you"/romantic soulmates/etc: Stop, stop, stop! Why are we implying that everyone has a soulmate when everyone does not have a soulmate? God's going to get nasty letters saying "Where's my soulmate? Why haven't I found my soulmate?" and do you want Him to have to deal with that? I don't think so! Stop spouting heresy being so silly!

[darkdragon768]

Various doodles of the Dorito Twins.

I just like to play with them like dolls and put them into situations.

[m4nc4v3-2000]

It's not so lonely out there.

[trickstersaint]

core // september 26 2024

[girzapata6]

TRADITIONAL COMMISSIONS ARE NOW OPEN!!

PLEASE HELP ME READ DESCRIPTION!!

Ok, so, I'm opening my Traditional Art Commissions once again.

As how I've told you before, I've moved countries. I was hoping for a new life and everything was going all right... Until it went all downhill again.

So I'm here stuck, with no money, no job, no papers, no NOTHING. And I really NEED to get money for me to have at least papers for work... Legal stuff can be a kick in the ass...

So PLEASE, PLEASE. IF YOU CAN, BUY ME A COMMISSION!!

I'll even gift you an extra sketch if you are a new customer!!

And if you can't buy me a commission, you can always Support me on my Ko-Fi or at least SHARE THIS!! ANY KIND OF HELP IS APPRECIATED!!;;;

But please, I'm begging. I really need your help!!!

[visenyaism]

saw an orange leaf…chill in the air…i can feel it. the time of year that i remember that the family jewels (2010) by marina and the diamonds might be the album of all time

[reznorty3]

I've put the photo of L and his old bastard judge father on the wall of my office with some other 'friends' and family photographs so it doesn't look out of place. Earlier on, I put post-its over the faces of everyone else, but I'll have to take them off at some point, I suppose. L's idiotic smile beams at my back as I stare at the clock, and I wonder if I would have liked him then, if he was that age now, or if I was my age then. I wonder what he was like. He wears his age like he's proud of it and that it's a miracle that he's still alive. I really can't imagine the boy in the photograph. There's nothing there to suggest that he would be any different from everyone else.

those who stand for nothing fall for anything, chapter 7, 'The Libertine'

[wooiamamess]

[artisiumstudios]

I’m writing a fic (what a surprise says no one) about that one prompt I wrote about Stan getting head trauma and it got me thinking that after ford reassures Stan of his worth, he likes to joke about cursing them so that they die of a heart attack at the same time, except ford eventually starts to ACTUALLY want to do it. The fear of losing Stanley (and permanently this time) terrifies him so he tries to find a spell (or curse or ANYTHING) because he CANT LOSE STAN AGAIN.

And Stan’s just there like 😎 cause unfortunately he has a harder time reading people now, but he does eventually tell ford to cut that shit out.

[pieflavoredartz]

( CLICCKK FOR THE SWEEET QUALITYYY CHOO CHOO 🚂🚂)

kiraboss mini meals!! eat em up yall! ∠( ᐛ 」∠)＿ 🫂

[chibishortdeath]

I have bedazzled his card protector :3

[darkdragon768]

You steal book? You steal book like a little thief? Oh torture chamber for you. Torture chamber for you for 1.000 eternities!

Bonus:

Get the Sinister Potion today for only 7.99€!

And if you've six fingers you may get it even for free!

(Tumblr doesn't seem to like my images today. Please excuse me if they look blurry. Click for a better quality.)

[tamaharu]

are you kidding meeeeeeeeee obsessed obsessed obsessed

[synth-spinner]

No matter what happens you can ALWAYS doodle ur sona interacting with your blorbo 🔥🦋 it's always correct and admirable ^_^

[photon-bytez]

September 1st: starts

Me: