#Most of these examples are bosmer

[dynamite124]

I want to see more diversity in teeth! Sharp, broken, crooked, missing or gaped, ect! You're beautiful the way you are!

[aldmeric]

Species Anarchy: What It Isn’t

I’ve been thinking about this a lot recently. The ideology of species anarchy does overlap significantly with otherkin, alterhumanity and nonhuman experiences, but it is not inherently related to these concepts.

Take holotheres for example. They are known as physical nonhumans. The term “physical nonhuman” denotes something very specific, as it is an identity defining term under the nonhuman umbrella (and for some, the otherkin and alterhuman umbrellas). Holotheres are physically nonhuman, but not all of them claim to be biologically nonhuman, as per their self identification. Some do, and those are the instances in which species anarchy may overlap.

A key point that often comes up in holothere spaces is psychosis and schizophrenia (clinical zoanthropy etc). Some individuals have these labels unwillingly placed upon them for expressing themselves, and while they may be considered delusional or psychotic by modern psychological standards, these individuals would likely be highly revered and treated with extreme care and sensitivity in pre-colonial environments due to being seen as spiritual guides — nonhuman creatures come in the form of a human vessel to teach crucial environmental lessons to their clan or village. They also would not have many of the symptoms that come with psychosis if the effects of colonialism hadn’t leeched into everything we know, but that’s a conversation for another day (as is the criteria for delusions, psychosis and schizophrenia being rooted in Christianization and generational trauma of Indigenous people).

Some holotheres take pride in their psychosis, which I would argue is the healthiest possible avenue of existence (if that is constructive and healing for you personally, but it isn’t for everyone). Every brain is different. It would be boring if everybody lived in the same reality. However, some individuals rebel against the label entirely, as I mentioned earlier, but in a different context — they reject the labels that the system of modern Western psychology they believe has imposed upon them, and they choose to redefine what existence is for themselves, and in general, because they know that the system labelled them as such due to the constructed societal view of being a failure if you are unable to conform — of the three, this is the most similar ideology to species anarchy.

While I have always known I’m bosmer in my heart, gut and soul, it was not something that came in words to me until later on in life. I knew I was different, but I didn’t know how. As a child, I had an intense phobia of getting “found out” to be biologically different from humans, and to be hauled off to a facility to be dissected or tortured or brainwashed. While I did suffer from childhood trauma, none of it was ever related to this fear. It’s been completely unexplainable for me (until now). I’ve dealt with a lot of medical mishaps as a result - doctors did not know how to treat me because my body was not responding the way a human’s would. They were confused, and I nearly died as a result.

I realized that, through evolution, I am biologically not human whatsoever. My mother has experienced similar experiences as I have, but not to the extent that I deal with them.

Carl Linnaeus never defined the term Homo sapiens. He just… left it blank. It was the only species he did not define. Just think about that for a moment.

For thousands of years, we have questioned what it means to exist, but only for a couple hundred have we questioned what it means to be human. How do we answer our questions to something with no definition, and the author of the term is long gone? In a time where the only way to become an expert was to observe the unknown, Carl Linnaeus made observations, he crafted definitions — are we not allowed to call out when we have done the observing now? What makes this century different from the last two?

Where do we draw the line when something new has been created?

Species anarchy is that line. It is also the act of drawing it. It is the act of crossing out human and replacing it with what you know to be the truth.

That is why it overlaps with alterhuman, otherkin and nonhuman experiences. It is not inherently of them, but you know who and what you are. Who am I to define you? Who is anyone to do so? You have the pen and the paper. You have the stick in the sand.

Remember that your brain telling you things is a message. Your brain is a very real organ. If you know something about yourself to be true, that is your brain physically being aware of an observable truth, and translating it into thought. Yes, this goes for spiritualism as well.

Species anarchy is a very broad philosophical ideology, and it can be applied to and overlap with many other core identity values. It does not discriminate against anyone, I want that to be very clear (I take holotheres very seriously). As I find myself learning more and more about different types of nonhumanity, I can see a lot of overlap between all these amazingly different experiences and species anarchy. I wanted to make a detailed post explaining the differences between them.

[tiafrye]

Your average* Breton

* - but not quite

I like to joke every now and then about Darien's clones populating Tamriel (because ESO NPCs are made with character creator and its assets, which is not much to begin with, and most of the breton are very similar; sometimes even rocking the same hairstyle), but the thing is - with Darien it's almost intended? Let me explain.

He's standing next to an NPC trader that could be his relative here!

I am replaying the base game right now and this is my second ever time letting Gloria Fausta live. I confess, I just really wanted more dialogue. On my first time 'saving' her back in 2015, I believe, I didn't catch that extra Stormhaven encounter. It's in Shinji's Scarp, which is a post-Wayrest location, and can be easily missed. Both characters being there is also tied to Gloria's survival.

(Missed opportunity to do a cameo-encounter like this in Alik'r as well IMO, since he decides to join the Fighters Guild after Rivenspire and the Guild holds the Council of Province Generals there if player is from Covenant? Unless there's one and no one found it yet.)

Back to Gloria. She has a lot to say about Darien even back in Glenumbra, but this particular dialogue scratched me because of her in-universe comment about him being average (and unfaithful but that's the fact for another day, another post, another deep dive).

And by all intents and purposes, he's average in how he looks. Given his hidden characteristics, design-wise he could've been made a blonde with striking bright eyes to match the light within but... he's just a lil guy. Hell, he's voiced by the actor who voices a huge chuck of background NPCs in TES titles. You get used to this voice even before you meet Darien.

Yet upon hearing Jon Curry's voice from an NPC in a full ebony armor (placeholder for the auroran armor) on a recording of player running trough Shimmerine during some preview event, I knew who I'm looking at. Instantly.

(What vid I could find now was from London preview and it doesn't have VO, but the one I watched 7 years ago was voiced; maybe from a different preview?)

Our average* breton has Personality, with a capital P. And style.

In case you've missed, NPCs in ESO usually have a template - one complete look they keep regardless of the situation (there are exceptions, for example Crafty Lerisa and her disguises), but not Darien. Darien has an entire catwalk worth of outfits based on his current employment and more. 3 for the Base Game, 5 if we count Northpoint disguise and its iconic half naked version + 2 in Summerset. It's way outside the box of what you'd expect from a guy who looks like half of Tamriel. But also...

He's loud, he's goofy, he's performative, he jokes around and shows-off. He's seemingly having fun in most dire situations (we'll talk about 'seemingly' part later as well). It's almost like he... wants to leave an impression. He wants to be remembered. And he is remembered. By his ex, who's smitten the moment they're reunited, even though she's the one who scolds him. By Alinon, by Skordo, by Gabrielle, by that bosmer gal in scribing questline who saw him once.

By you.

In real life you'd see a person like him across the room immediately and would be greeted with a smile. And you would see that smile first, not his average appearance.

I already mentioned his protagonist-like vibe in my previous post. This aside, Darien is just... lights up the place he occupies. I've never seen more joy from an NPC in ESO towards my own character. It makes you feel appreciated and cared for in his company. You have to earn his appreciation gradually from Glenumbra to Coldharbour, of course, but it's worth it in the end.

So... not quite average. Far, far from it actually.

Dammit, I love him so much.

[falmerbrook]

wait could i ask you to tell me about what exactly is going on with bosmer gender roles? i’m so curious about that

Gladly, yes!

So they don't seem to be purposefully portrayed as having distinct gender roles, but I think there's some interesting things going on in their lore to make it seem like they would.

Firstly, there's the Silvenar and Green Lady. They are mean to represent the Bosmer not only as intermediaries on a political/diplomatic level, but also represent their characteristics, needs, and values ("legally, physically, and emotionally" according to UESP). The Silvenar represents their spirituality, and is deeply attuned and empathetic to the needs and voice of the Bosmer. He's the more diplomatic of the two. The main origin story of the pair puts him as someone who saw past the "primal" state of the Bosmer, and currently represents the more "civilized" side of them. Meanwhile, the Green Lady represents their primal origin, strength, and physicality. Many of her other titles portray her as a hunter.

It's interesting how it seems that the Green Lady is always a woman, while the Silvenar can be either gender (and whichever gender they are is mean to be the one that best represents the Bosmer at that time). A not insignificant detail though is that we have only ever heard of male Silvenars, and discussions of the Silvenar even in a vague nonspecific sense tend to gender them as male by default. This way of portraying them and their origin story to me makes it feel like the writers, while indirectly acknowledging that they could be a wlw couple, see them more as a straight couple representing the average couple by default.

Anyway, it would make sense to me that the Silvenar and Green Lady could easily represent the sort of roles expected from each gender. Perhaps men are seen as the more empathetic and spiritual gender while woman are seen as the more aggressive and strong gender. Perhaps women are more commonly hunters or breadwinners (meatwinners?). The Silvenar being able to be male or female adds another layer to this. Perhaps the traits that the Silvenar embodies are traditionally expected in both genders, while the traits the Green lady embodies are expected more exclusively in women. I'm speculating here, but I don't think it's much of a stretch.

In general, however, the Bosmer seem a lot more chill about basically everything compared to most of the other cultures we see in this universe, so if gender roles are present, they probably aren't as extreme or as enforced as we see in many cultures in the real world. While there are implication of misogyny in some of the other cultures of Tamriel, I can't remember seeing any example in the Bosmer.

Next, there's the whole thing with Bosmer men being shorter than women (on average), which in universe doesn't seem to ever be brought up as something the Bosmer care about or that might impact the way they view men vs women (although maybe women being larger would associate them more with strength? I haven't seen anything to suggest this yet though), but acknowledging that this is a fictional society being crafted by people who live in our society, where men being short is considered emasculating (to some), and the way Bosmer men tend to be characterized as somewhat dorky, Bosmer men are overall portrayed in a less masculine way (by irl standards). Certain parts of the fandom have certainly picked up on this implication, and it implies that the expectations of how men act might be different for them.

Finally, on some more minor notes, this book from ESO claims that "the clan lines[...] are matrilineal in nature". They seem to make a distinction from tribe and clans in this text so I'm not exactly sure what they are referring to, but it's something. Additionally, Y'ffre, the central figure of the Bosmeri religion, is in one book about Bosmer myth referred to as "she", while the other depictions of her in other pantheons always use "he". I'm referencing the citations on UESP for this, and there are two citations where "she" is used, one inaccessible so I don't know the context, and the other the Bosmer myth about the Ooze, so I'm choosing to interpret this as a Bosmer exclusive thing. Make of that what you will.

Thank you for the ask, anon, and giving me a chance to yap!!

[da3drat]

I was looking for something else entirely and found this old snippet from the university au and honestly I liked it so much I had to post it lol. Meri teaches a third era history of Morrowind class (this is not why she was hired, they just make her teach it because she's oddly knowledgeable about the subject).

A hand shot up in Meri's peripheral vision and she grimaced. She knew exactly what was coming, it always did eventually.

"Sadri." She called on the student.

"But what happened to her after that?"

"To whom?"

"The Nerevarine. The primary source said she married Almalexia, is that true?"

"Most historical accounts seem to agree on that, yes."

"But how? Why? I mean she worked with the Ashlanders and the Dissident Priests. She read the alternate histories. Didn't she doubt her safety?"

Meri sighed. These questions had been so much easier to dismiss fifty years ago when she was still teaching exclusively Temple doctrine. In the years since several heretical documents had leaked with the Ashlander's account and been added to the historical conversation around the Tribunal.

"You would have to ask her that. There's no knowing for sure. However we do have some journal entries from her, and they don't seem to imply any kind of fear." She hoped that would end the conversation, but her hopes never seemed to turn out.

"They're SAPPY, too." Another student chimed in.

She should have burned that damn journal.

"Oh my gods, this passage killed me." One student snorted and flipped through his handouts. He placed a hand over his heart and vastly overacted as he read aloud. "Sometimes I get lost in her curls. Like the fires of red mountain they consume me and I can think of nothing else. The heat, the smoke, the sensations are all the same to me now. When I dream of her I feel lava. When I dream of the mountain I see her eyes."

"Is there a question there, Mero?" Her eyebrow quirked with irritation.

"No." Mero laughed. "I agree, she didn't sound scared to me."

"Well, yeah, she was brave." A tiny bosmer girl said.

"Fearless." Meri corrected. "Not quite so admirable as brave."

"Aren't they the same?"

"Bravery is acting in spite of fear." Meri walked slowly between the podium and her blackboard as she spoke. "If you're not feeling any fear, there's no bravery in your action." She pointed at Mero with her chalk. "Take Mero here, he doesn't fear being made a fool and acts without considering the possibility." A chuckle rung through the lecture hall. "If he, say, was anxious about the way he were perceived maybe it could be considered brave to constantly interrupt my lectures. Or me; I'm not afraid of spiders, is it brave to carry them out of my office in my hands? Or does it seem that way to you because you fear spiders? The spider could bite me, it could be poisonous, but I carry it all the same. It's not brave to take unnecessary risk, but it does imply a lack of concern for the consequences. Fearlessness."

"So... she married Almalexia because she didn't fear the consequences?"

"Perhaps. Perhaps it was political, or convenient, or any number of other things. But look through those journal entries again after class today. Try to find one example of fear, or any time she seems concerned about the consequences of action or inaction. I expect to hear your findings tomorrow when we finish discussing her trek beyond the Ghostfence."

[changelingsandothernonsense]

Hey, I followed you a while back because I'm in love with your elder scrolls art and Josh specifically and I LOVE when someone gets really into worldbuilding. Do you have a ranking for how much you like/enjoy the elder scrolls races, or just which ones are your favorite?

Hello Anon, thanks for the ask <3 Simply put, I'm a completely exclusive Resdayn simp. I would definitely put Dunmer at the very top of my list. There's just so much about them that appeals to me lore-wise. I studied West and Central Asian History for a long time and I still find it fun that a lot of places in Morrowind (as well as most of the Ashlanders) have Assyrian based names (which is based in Akkadian that I've got a solid background in) but 0 of the meaning behind them is utilised. Anything that begins with Ashur (Assur) for example refers to revering the national god of the Assyrians. I've kinda tried to work that into my Ashlander's belief system with Ashur being a great hero. With Dunmer I kinda have a ranking- I love Ashlanders and have worked a fair bit on their world building with the goal of making them more significant within the Nerevarine's story than they end up being in game. Particularly the Urshilaku, who really should be more central given they kinda have a cult around the Nerevarine. I also have done a lot with House Hlaalu because I find the idea of them to be interesting. Greed above all else does make for an interesting antagonist. The Redoran are the next Great House i'm slowly building, with a lot of references to Japanese history. I want each House to have a distinct culture and I also do this with the Ashlander Tribes. Naturally, I also really like the Chimer and Dwemer for the same reasons that I love Dunmer. I'm a history dork. I'm basing Dwemeri culture heavily off of Akkad and the Chimer off of the Third Dynasty of Ur and the Indus. I have a fun HC about Nerevar that leads me to... the Ayleids

I got really into the Ayleids in 2013 when I sat down and played through Oblivion for the first time (I couldn't afford video games much as a kid) and I found it for $11 AU at JB one day and snapped it up because I loved Skyrim so much. I fell in love with the lore surrounding the Ayleids and just Mer in general I guess. I have played as a Bosmer and a Breton before but I always come back to Dunmer. They just play into all my other interests way too much and I love their overall look. Also theres so much Dune in there (another fictional interest of mine) that i'm surprised they didn't throw in Shai Halud.

I'm kinda a one track mind sort of person XD

[poor-ciceros-voring-again]

So I've been jotting down ideas the past few days about diseases and hygiene in Tamriel, and I've decided these ideas expand into Healers and even as far as Necromancy.

*Just for reference while reading this, I personally believe there is a very fine line between accepted restoration magic and Necromancy. Flesh magic in particular is blurred along the edge between those two.

According to the book Skin Blights by Any Other Name, the people of Tamriel, at least some of them, have knowledge that proper frequent bathing, clean clothes, and only eating quality food will lessen the chance of diseases. So I decided to take this and run with it. I personally believe that this was taken to heart and it's fairly common to be clean and well groomed. I also think that larger cities, especially ones such as Solitude, Whiterun, the Imperial City, etc make use of proper sewage disposal to lower the risks of disease and also to keep the city/streets clean.

Regarding the last point, I think common areas such as bath houses and public outhouses are common in large cities as well.

I believe masking is also a fairly commonly practiced way to fight outbreaks and general illnesses. They might not necessarily know what causes certain diseases, but they know they DO consider it to be a type of miasma. I believe this practice was adopted from the Redguards in the Alik'r Desert, who use a type of masking to protect themselves during sandstorms (Excerpt from Alik'r Survival for Outsiders).

There was a major resurgence after Red Mountain erupted in the 4th era and every day masking is now common in still inhabited parts of Morrowind and Solstheim, especially in parts where ash from Red Mountain is common.

I believe masking was made common among most groups of Necromancers fairly early on due to the belief that diseases from the undead were miasmic in nature(plus it helped keep gross smells at bay via herbs/flowers/etc), this eventually lead to what I would compare to plague doctor masks being created. I think you can recognize a lot of necromancer groups based on their mask design of choice. Some aren't in a group and choose one for more aesthetic purposes. (Example: my OC Karasu is a necromancer and a Nightingale who follows Nocturnal. His mask of choice is a raven.)

On a similar note, I think gloves became common use when dealing with injuries, surgeries, or blood for general sanitary purposes not long after cleanliness started to become more important to the general population.

At one point in time I believe the Dwemer were able to create microscopes (based on some of their other machines) and by extension discover bacteria and other things, however a lot of this knowledge was lost when they disappeared.

The school of restoration isn't as powerful as the games make it out to be. I believe that health potions act more as pain medication with an added bonus of encouraging cells to regenerate or completely regrow, same with healing spells.

Cure disease potions and spells can cure a variety of very common illnesses, but it depends on the severity of the illness. Some diseases need specific treatments due to natural resistances.

Praying to cure diseases doesn't always work, and it doesn't work for every disease. I believe diseases like various forms of vampirism and lycanthropy are mainly cured this way.

Natural disease resistance only effects specific diseases and ailments, mainly ones that are specific to the region where they live or lifestyles they lead. (ie Bosmer, especially those who follow the Green Pact, are naturally more resistant and sometimes even immune to diseases such as Cannibal's Prion)

Healing spells can close small cuts and wounds relatively easily, but it can only assist so much when it comes to big gashes and other major wounds.

I believe surgeons would exist and play a major part alongside Healers and Alchemists when it comes to major wounds.

Surgeons are magic users who focus on the school of Flesh Sculpting, which I believe blurs the lines between Restoration and Necromancy.

Most of the best Surgeons are those who have studied Necromancy or practice it currently (or previously). If currently, its mainly the ones who believe you can practice necromancy in an ethical and humane way.

God, I have more but I didn't know I'd already typed so much and my hands are starting to hurt. I might share more later

@unsettlingcreature

[emelinstriker]

omg i can't get this outta my head i have to write it out

so like- i'm just havin skyrim vids up in the background these past days cuz my nostalgia keeps dragging me back like every half a year or so, and like

imagine a Skyrim ESAU crossover

like my brain can't stop thinking of the reader being the dragonborn, and their champions find them when they absorb their first dragon soul- like- I'M HAVIN FUCKIN FLASHBACKS RN OF HOW I WENT AROUND SKYRIM WITH A BUNCH OF FOLLOWERS AND IT STRAIGHT UP FELT LIKE A RANDOM FAMILY WHERE HALF WERE PRACTICALLY TRYNA PUSH EACH OTHER OFF CLIFFS AND IT WAS GREAT dhfndhgdnghdfnghdfg

wukong and macaque would most definitely be from the tang mo (technically not present in normal skyrim- but like- apparently they do exist somewhere in the lore- so might as well think they both moved to skyrim-)

while mk would be more like half tang mo and half breton, or another human race. it'd be a fun time going through caves with giant spiders with him fhgnfhgnhfg

azure would probably be a of khajiit cuz you can kinda make khajiits look like lions- but like make him- yknow- a taller and more buff khajiit ig-

ao lie would probably be considered half argonian, but would actually be an ancient dragon disguised as half argonian- very much ironic when his master is the dovahkiin- also, free horse for your travels ig- easier access to going up 90° walls fhgnfhgfg

nezha would either be lookin like one of the human races OR an elven race cuz of the ears and special perks- cuz like, dunmer for example actually do have fire resistance and surround themselves in flames- though he ain't rly lookin like a dunmer ig? maybe more bosmer direction? but like he'd basically be one of the gods in disguise- maaaybe a daedric prince, but would be funnier to have one divine companion and one daedric companion lmao-

much like nezha, i was thinking red son would also be havin more of a dunmer perk, maybe havin somethin similar to a flame atronach body out of his disguise- but he'd most definitely be a daedric prince tho

mink would absolutely be like a random npc curse bound to some scroll the dragonborn finds in some tomb or somethin- imagine him being like that one random ass npc that pops up when you first take an item/the scroll

also what i mean by i've basically had to deal with this type of group before and it was hilariously amazing and i'm so gonna do it again next time i play skyrim again-

though, sadly didn't have the alduin mod that playthrough, so instead i had dave-

[bluegekk0]

so you have voice claims for grimm and fpk? im curious to know what they sound like in your head, and the rest of the family too haha

I already answered a similar question a while back but I'd love to revisit it! I'll drop some samples/clips as well, like I did last time.

Vyrm in my head sounds like Rory Williams from Doctor Who. Here is an example of what he sounds like. He does speak rather quietly, though, so this short clip from another video is probably an even better example. Whenever you talk to him, you definitely get the impression that he sounds like this on purpose, like he doesn't want to be too loud and bother anyone. It's almost like he's constantly half-whispering.

Grimm, to me, sounds like Mads Mikkelsen. Particularly his role in Doctor Strange, like this clip. One thing to note though, he speaks in a much stronger accent with trilled R sounds. But the depth and general sound of his voice would be very close to Mads.

EDIT: The accent part is still accurate, but I now imagine his voice to be more similar to Chronos from Hades II. The god-like otherworldly echo is only present whenever he's angry (or wants to scare someone), otherwise he speaks normally.

In the previous ask I said that his Nightmare King form has a different voice, and I still stand by that. Back then I suggested another Doctor Who character, The Beast from the episode "The Satan Pit". But while replaying Horizon Forbidden West, I realized how much I love how Hades sounds there and I think I much prefer that for NKG. Here are the voice lines. It sounds incredibly ominous, but also oddly soothing, which I think fits Grimm/NKG perfectly. Though like I said earlier, he would have a slightly different accent. Also, it fits especially well considering he's much weaker after his banishment, so I think it would be really interesting if his voice in the Nightmare Realm reflected that.

Hornet has in-game voice lines, and she'll surely have even more of them in Silksong, but my interpretation of her sounds a bit different. Ellie from The Last of Us is basically how I imagine it. No additional comments here.

Holly is a bit tricky since they don't talk, but they still make sounds. More specifically, the void within their body can rumble, producing low-pitched, quiet sounds, just like the Abyss ambience from the game. I've never thought about their voice if they were able to talk, for some reason I just can't imagine what that would sound like. Them being voiceless is a very big part of their character for me.

Zote... He probably has the most extensive voice lines in the game, so I never actually looked for a voice for him. Since in the AU he's not an old man like many people think, it makes some sense that he'd sound younger. I definitely think he'd have an overdramatic, borderline cartoonish sound to his voice. You know, Oblivion's voice acting is really goofy but it might just be the lead. Maybe he'd sound like the Bosmer from that game? It's fitting cause they often sound like absolute jerks hahah

Lewk, like I said before, would sound like young Simba from The Lion KIng. It just fits in my mind. And continuing the Lion King inspiration, I like to think Milo sound like young Kovu from the second movie once he's Lewk's age. And Asta would sound like young Nala, just to complete the trinity hahaha

I'm not 100% sure about Zote and the twins, so if I find better voices I'll probably update this post or make a new one.

[unknownhomosapien]

Actually have a thought about mixed race in Tamriel. I didn't check any sources, its just mostly my hc about it!

Most of elf/mer races came from one origin (aldmeri/nedes in particular). That mostly means it more than possible to have race hybrids without any problem, only difference here might be a type of living that led to some unique features and it might can cause some problems, but not critical as should be. All them have the same reproductive system, but the reason, why there is a luck of examples of them is because of:

1. Basically some provinces are monoethnic and doesn't want to be mixed (big cultural differences)

2. Risk to get nwah'ed by everyone and preferring to call themselves by one race

3. Technical Health difficulties, but i think its a quite rare stuff

4. Identity problem? Ig there is a chance to get rejected in religion, race-only groups, etc.

5. Devs just fucking lazy, bretons doesn't count

I mean. Characters like Altmer/Orsimer, Dunmer/Redguard, Bosmer/Nord for example would be cool af (not me having Bosmer/Dunmer one hehe). Honestly would like to think Dumac really was mixed (dwemer/orsimer), as well as Nerevar (chimer/nord). It don't look obvious with them, but, hehe, RUMORS........

Also i don't like the fact that they should be look exactly like one of the parent. Bruh, i need a graceful tall orsimer with olive yellowish skin????? Nord warrior with sharper face features and small pointy ears????

Didn't include beastfolk cause they're cannot have kids with men/mer, BUT they might have with vampire/werewolf beastfolk?

Not gonna do stats sheet cause someone already made it but goddamn i wanna see more mixed characters or at least ppls original characters 👉🏼👈🏼 underestimated topic to be honest

[nazmazh]

Corollary to the "Draw Orcs and Goblins more monstrous" refrain:

Consider also drawing your Elf girls [and boys] more monstrous too. Not just your Drow/Dark Elves either!

Like sure fine nobody can stop you from making 'Normal skinny Human with pointy ears' (or 'that but green skin and maybe cute little fangs/tusks' for that matter).

But you can also choose to lean into Elves as otherworldly/alien creatures from the Fey realm.

Give 'em animal eyes; all-black glossy eyes; a mouthful of surprisingly dagger-like teeth. Give 'em plant-like parts; bits out of sync with reality; weird organs or anatomy, period. Make 'em reptilian, or avian, or insectoid,

Give 'em weird social norms - Like really weird.

Sure give 'em standard Fey blue-and-orange morality - But also: Outright repulsive customs.

Examples Below the Cut:

Physically, Elder Scrolls/Skyrim's Elves/Mer are pretty tame. Dwarves being a subrace of Elf (Dwemer) that is (likely?) extinct is a nice playing-with-ideas twist. Orcs being just a regular subrace of Elves (Orsimer) is fun too, in that same way.

(Aside - But I absolutely love when Dwarves are given an Ancient Mesopotamian/Babylonian-inspired look)

Falmer, like Tolkenien Orcs/Goblins, are corrupted Elves, but suffering from generational effects of subsisting off toxic fungi in caves, resulting in blindness and overall physical weakness - But physiologically, they're still Snow Elves and not, like, magically-transformed.

The three other playable races that aren't Orcs/Orsimer don't look too physically out-there (Altmer, Bosmer, Dunmer - High, Wood, Dark). A little more angular. A little scrawnier. Skin hues outside typically-Human ranges (Golden, Wooden, Ashen), that sort of thing.

They all definitely have a little bit of not-quite-Human look to them. Bosmer might occasionally be born with horns, apparently - And despite otherwise having the skin tones closest to Human skin tones, might be the most alien of the three.

Bosmer, contrary to many portrayals of Elves as vegetarians completely unwilling to harm non-Sapient creatures [Although this doesn't always fit with their reputation as legendary hunters], are primarily carnivorous, and by custom of their faith, avoid harming *plants* - To the point that cannibalism is a normal, indeed expected thing - For any kill they make - Including sapient enemy combatants - Their customs/religion dictates that they should consume the corpse within 3 days.

(Honestly, playing as a Bosmer and knowing this factoid was funny when I stumbled into that one Daedric Prince artifact questline - Namira, I believe? The ring that gives you boons for eating corpses. It was like "Well, technically, I should have been doing this the whole time, right?" I'm actually still a little saddened they didn't have unique dialogue for Bosmer Dragonborn during that quest. Like "Oh no. Not cannibalism. How utterly vile. However will I square this with... Yeah no, I can't keep this bit up. I've honestly gone a little soft eating all the vegetables that I inexplicably find fresh in all those Draugr tombs. This'll get me closer to the traditional Bosmer way.").

Continuing the cannibalism theme going [boy. That's a hell of a sentence, isn't it?] Elves in the Divinity universe keep this cannibalism trait too - Less of an obligate-situation than the Bosmer, I think - But, instead, any time they consume flesh, they psychically get memories from the person the flesh came from - Much like the Zombies when they eat brains in iZombie. From what I can remember/find, I think it's just the flesh of sapient beings that triggers this - They're not flashing back to green pastures any time they bite into a beef steak.

Divinity's Elves have also taken on a more in-Human look as the series has gone on:

They're more unnaturally tall and skinny, with their musculature looking more intense that that of Humans - Not that they're beefier - As you can see above, it's that their muscles seem to just out more - The rifts and valleys of their abs and other bundles of muscle tissue seem deeper and more prominent at all times. I believe their eyes appear more similar to animal (cat/dog) eyes than Human eyes.

Compare that with the Elven princess character from an earlier game in the series:

She looks far more traditionally like the "Pointy-Eared Beautiful Human" - Which is fine, but I appreciate the uniqueness in design/appearance as the series has gone on.

Finally, for ones that are coming to me right this moment - In God of War (Norse pantheon era), though the Elves are much more directly inspired by Norse Mythology (the same ultimate inspiration for many Fantasy/Tolkenien Elves, along with Celtic / other European mythology/folk beliefs involving The Fair Folk), the devs/designers have added a wonderful personal touch to make them possibly the most alien-looking Elves (that are still called Elves) that I've seen for a long while in games:

Not only are they winged - They have INSECTOID wings!

They live in hives and have similar societal structures and seemingly have at least some level of hive-mindedness going on!

Light Elves are all addicted to the energies of their power source, while the Dark Elves managed to avoid succumbing to its corrupting effects.

In certain elements, Light Elves seem to have moth-inspired features, while Dark Elves definitely have dragonfly-like wings.

They're still treated as having that unearthly Elven beauty in-universe, regardless of their insectoid features (though perhaps a little differently-so than more standard Elves). And looking at the artwork for them, the designers definitely did not intend to have their underlying biology make them look significantly different/less-conventionally-attractive.

If nothing else, their designs show quite well that it's possible to add some more monstrous/inhuman physical traits into Elves while keeping them both distinctly "Elves" and "Beautiful to behold" in ways that are easily understood by most people.

Anyway - To summarize:

More monstrous Orcs and Goblins - Yes.

More monstrous Elves - Also yes.

Able to add less-Human features while maintaining broadly attractive character designs - Definitely.

Able to go more monstrous and not worry about "Is this character/fantasy race still fuckable?" - Certainly.

Hot bog-standard babes, but with pointy ears and/or green skin and cute fangs? - I mean, I'm not gonna stop you. Nobody really can, but I hope you'd be able to find something of value with using a different design approach that incorporates more features that lean into their non-Human traits more heavily.

Whatever floats your boat, really - For everything from aesthetic look, storytelling/world-building, and sure, sexualization purposes too. Not really gonna tell anyone anything to the contrary (Unless, like, they're trying to design their characters/races to look like children or something).

I find a lot of anti-elf posturing in fantasy pretty lame because people will shit on elves and then draw orc and goblin women looking like this:

[actual-skyrim-quotes]

New Intro Post (Posted March 5, 2025)

Want to see the old intro post? Click here.

Blog Info

Hey everyone. This is an incorrect quotes blog for the elder scrolls. You'll mainly see quotes for Skyrim, Oblivion, and Morrowind, but you may also see occasional posts for Arena, Daggerfall, ESO, Redguard, and Battlespire.

You'll also see semi-frequent TES related polls, some silly TES shitposts, and occasional quotes and gushing about my OCs. I may also eventually post some comics here, but that is very much a "maybe" at this point.

Mod Info

Call me Miraak, I guess, idk (or if you know any of my other names, you can call me those, too). I'm an adult in my 20s. I'm genderfluid and aroace (romance favorable, sex repulsed). My pronouns do change, but most of the time, I'm okay with they/them or he/him. If you want to see my exact pronouns on any given day, take a look at my main blog description @doctor-disc0. My current pronouns will be surrounded by sparkle emojis there.

Common Tags

#incorrect quotes - self explanatory. I'll also tag with specific games, such as #incorrect skyrim quotes

#tes oc quotes - for quotes that involve my OCs

#poll, #polls, or #tes poll - for any polls I post

#not a quote - tag I use as a catch-all for anything unrelated I might post. Examples include me complaining about Tumblr posting drafts and me talking about random shit

#nsft - this tag probably won't get used often because I'm sex repulsed, but I do occasionally post things that are not safe for Tumblr (or work lol) so block this tag if you are a minor or do not want to see such things

If a character shows up in a post, you can expect me to tag them, usually with the name they are most known by, sometimes with additional names as well (example: sometimes I will tag #ayem on posts about Almalexia).

If you ever see a character name you don't recognize, and you see the tag #tes oc quotes, that usually means I am tagging an oc. A short list of my favorite OCs will be under the cut (if you want more info on them, see my pinned post on my main blog)

Ingar the Mage - Altmer Mage (he/him). My Eternal Champion from Arena.

Eleiridin - Dunmer Sorcerer (he/him). My Agent of Daggerfall from Daggerfall.

Avani - Dunmer Healer (she/her). One of my Nerevarines (my Nerevarine is plural).

Nerevar II - Dunmer Mage (he/they). Nerevarine.

Drarayne - Dunmer Nightblade (they/he/she). Nerevarine.

Charlie Ervine - Redguard/Breton/Bosmer Mage (they/them). Hero of Kvatch.

Ko'Lheta - Suthay-Raht Khajiit Mage (she/her). Oblivion OC.

Dar'abi - Alfiq Khajiit Mage (she/they). Oblivion OC.

Eivine - Altmer Necromancer (she/her). One of my Dragonborns (I have 2). Descendent of Ingar.

Mehra Indoril - Dunmer Nightblade (they/she/he). My other Dragonborn. Descendent of Nerevarine.

Eivinidine - Altmer Necromancer (she/her). My main Vestige. Ancestor of Ingar and Eivine.

Yvanna - Bosmer Warden (she/her). Vestige. Eivinidine's wife.

Kora gra-Muzgob - Orc Sorcerer (she/they). Vestige.

[tundrabound]

IMAGINE A STORY, NOT GOOD AGAINST EVIL BUT OF NEED AGAINST NEED AGAINST NEED [...] *#TUNDRABOUND. a very low activity & selective skyrim-centric multimuse lovingly curated by jove (21+, EST) follows from @turnandface

prompts. pinterest. opens.

RULES AND MUSE LIST UNDER THE CUT !!

RULES

ACTIVITY. tundrabound is a very low activity blog, my main multimuse will be my consistent priority. It is a fun little side project and I will be here as the inspiration strikes me. This is said not to discourage followers, I just want to be upfront.

CONTENT. I am very much a believer that you are the curator of your own online space. While some of the same serious subjects may not crop up here as they do on my main multimuse; there will still be possibly triggering content on this blog, including, but not limited to violence, gore, death, drug use & more. Viewer discretion is advised!

FORMATING. I use x-kit rewritten (editable reblogs) to clip threads and keep my dash neat. I ask that you use the same. I don't use any particularly fancy formatting; I default to small text. However, I am always happy to readjust font size if needed. There will likely be little use of icons in threads.

SHIPPING. some characters (ri'shardul is a great example) have NPC spouse(s) in some timelines, but not others. These timelines will have a note attached and are not a common occurrence on the blog. Flirting is okay, some of these characters will most likely try and flirt with your muse. This blog is multi-ship, all relationships exist within their own verse unless it is specified otherwise! Don't be afraid to send shippy memes or tell me if you want to ship! There's only one way to test chemistry. USFW will be present and will be tagged as "SUGGESTIVE … HELGA'S DAEDRIC BOOTS."

INTERACTIONS. memes I repost here do not have an expiration date, feel free to dig through my meme tag. I ask that you please specify the muse(s) when you send memes. I tend to prefer pre-established connections to first meetings. Anything can be an icebreaker if you're brave enough.

GENERAL. you must be 21+ to interact. general rules apply, no heavy godmodding. mun ≠ muse. I may offer other fantasy verses for muses if they are already preexisting on their bio, but otherwise this is a primarily skyrim focused blog! Thank you for taking the time to read all of this, now to the fun part!!

MUSE LIST

Ri'Shardul. Kahjiit. a mercenary and thief. primary. info.

Cato Magnus. Breton. scholar and student at the College of Winterhold. primary. info.

Sanjay Halloran. Redguard. a pirate and merchant prince. secondary

Kaspar. Nord. pirate and loyal bodyguard to Sanjay. tertiary

Caelim. Bosmer & vampire. running, always running . 216. secondary

Edasich Mbatha. Redguard. scholar and adventurer. secondary

Matthis Savhen. Dunmer. disgraced Telvanni Wizard. tertiary

Lyron Silvertongue. Imperial. bard and the next coming of the Gray Fox. tertiary

[eldernerd0720]

introduction

hi! i'm dot, and welcome to my page! my page is peridot themed, but my posts don't have a solid theme. i mostly repost things i find interesting, or post my disorganized thoughts and poetry with the occasional scenic picture (i.e. trees, sunsets, fields, etc.)

as i said before, my interests are what can be expected to be shared on my page, including but not limited to these topics/images below:

shows i enjoy - memes and discussion about shows i'm interested in or enjoy watching, examples include but not limited to steven universe, adventure time, bee and puppycat, orange is the new black, stranger things, helluva boss, rwby, fruits basket, the chilling adventures of sabrina, friends, hazbin hotel, the boondocks, aqua teen hunger force, and sometimes bluey.

elder scrolls series - mostly about elder scrolls v: skyrim and the developments of elder scrolls vi, the beyond skyrim mods, skyblivion, and skywind, however there are a few oblivion posts sprinkled into the category.

retro video games - mostly original playstation and playstation two games since i grew up playing those as a kid. examples include but not limited to spyro: year of the dragon, pac-man world, pac-man world two, darkstone, pokmeon crystal, and others.

pokemon - mostly a fan of the johto region, but have played many of the other games. top two favorite games are most definitely pokemon soulsilver and pokemon crystal.

2000's nostalgia - anything that 2000's babies grew up with or experienced as a whole.

music - i like most kinds of music with a few exceptions, such a screamo. i don't know every genre of music, but a decent bit of them, so this list may expand. my favorites are probably classic rock, grunge, alternative, indie, rap, and metal.

parenting - i have a 3-year-old so there will be some funny moments i post about on here and sometimes the struggles of my journey as a parent. no, i will not be posting pictures of my child.

pets - i have a dog (husky & pit mix), a black cat, and 2 birds, so they might pop up every now and then.

liminal spaces/the backrooms - anything that falls in the category of feeling like the backrooms or a liminal space, places that give off a sense of unease but also calm, i suppose.

analog horror - my favorite type of horror genre, i may talk about upcoming games of this type or games that i've found of it.

poetry and literature - i tend to repost quotes or poems i find to be interesting or endearing. i'm also working on a book series from the point of view of an altmer-bosmer woman in the elder scrolls universe named willow titled "lost faith", so i may ask questions relating to it or post about it's developments.

pride - as a member of the lgbtq+ community who identifies as genderfluid, pansexual, and demisexual, i sometimes post the struggles about accepting and finding my own identity.

the struggles of adult adhd - i was diagnosed as a child, and still struggle with it today so some jokes and/or genuine posts about it.

nature - rarely, i post nice pictures i take of plants or scenic views and i find more rural areas to be a lot more comforting, so i talk about that sometimes.

i don't have many rules on this page other than to not be prejudice towards other people.

possible triggers when browsing this blog can be found below

note: if i missed any, please let me know. i'm very new to this and not very good at it.

TW:

swearing, a lot of it

talks of mental health struggles

talks of violence in video games

posts and reposts with literature that can be disheartening or sad

resposts of surreal and liminal photography

[the-skooma-den]

If I continue with the au thats like, tes but its a funny animal world then eventually ill have to confront the fact that broadly all the species are very roughly to scale in those.

Which means no matter how I slice it razum-dar would be one of the tallest characters

[nientedenada]

Where are the Mixed-Race Characters? Hiding out in the continuity errors, of course!

Originally posted on r/teslore. I've been inspired by /u/jotting_prosaist 's magnificent apocrypha: A Commentary on the Misinterpretation of “Notes on Racial Phylogeny” and the discussion in the comments. People really are interested in seeing more mixed-race characters in TES, and while we have an increasing number of such characters, and more on their way (if some of those Skyrim babies are ever born), there aren't that many.

But what if they've been under our noses the whole time? What if one of them is Belethor, our favourite Breton shopkeeper the Prima guide describes as Bosmer?

Now, before I go into the details here, I fully acknowledge that these racial discrepancies certainly began as continuity errors. But why not embrace them to give the NPCs deeper backstories and flesh out the world?

'Belethor' is a much more Bosmer-sounding name than Breton. That suggests the Prima Guide is based off an earlier draft in which he was a Bosmer, but that in game development, he was changed to a Breton. However, for in-world purposes, Belethor could have had a Bosmer or part-Bosmer parent who bequeathed him a Bosmer name to honour that part of his ancestry.

Aringoth, the owner of the bee hives in Riften, appears to be an Altmer, but is called a Bosmer by Vex and Brynjolf. Why can't he both?

Enthir appears to be a Bosmer but identifies himself in conversation as Altmer.

So they were like your kind? "Like the Altmer? Yes, I would say their culture quite possibly rivaled our own."

Hlidara Mothril in Oblivion is Countess Alessia Caro's Altmer advisor who is working with her to Imperialize Leyawiin. And yet, the court mage Tsavi calls Hlidara "Nibenean". What if, despite Hildara's Altmer appearance, she is more attuned to her Nibenese ancestry?

I'm sure there are more folk who are referred to as the "wrong" race. And interpreting the continuity errors as lore would make the world and the characters really interesting!

Further examples: Xatriks on Hlidara: Not to mention her Dunmeri name. Also Angaredhel. 

One dialogue mistakenly refers to him as "Angaredhel the Altmer" and his name is more typical of an Altmer name than a Dunmer name. However, two other dialogues correctly describe him as "Angaredhel the Dunmer".

And Mankar Camoran of course. Half of these inconsistencies may be actual mistakes though. Me:  Ooh, nice additions. I'm sure they start out as mistakes, but they can become lore. :) Someone asked why we needed more mixed-race characters.

Me: Because, given the world, there should be a lot more of them. We see mixed-race couples continuously in-game, but the people we meet rarely are presented as anything but pure [insert race here]. It's an impoverished version of a richer possible world. We can assume it's both game mechanics, and a limit on how much dialogue can be written for each character (most characters aren't going to tell you about their relations), but this lack of characters that don't fit inside homogenous racial slots has actually convinced a lot of TES players that race is, in fact, an immutable biological state in Elder Scrolls lore, even when the one text we have on the subject doesn't claim so. TES would definitely benefit from making this subject clearer. If you look at the game of Skyrim, I can think of two mixed-race characters: the Breton/Redguard Lylvieve siblings. That's ridiculously low. And we know absolutely nothing about their experience, so they're not interesting either in that respect. Until the games give us better examples (and ESO is doing a little bit of that), we're on our own imagining anyone interesting at all.