#OR EVEN AKATOSH

[anxiousxdreamer]

what if i was just shameless and shoved myself into skyrim huh then what

[nerevar-quote-and-star]

I see people ship their characters with Daedric Princes, or at least simp and/or thirst very hard for them coughNocturnalcough but like what about the Aedra? The Divines? Yeah, no one wants to ship their character with Talos. I understand. But there are other options! Dibella-shaped options! And Stendarr, okay? I like Stendarr. And Arkay. And I know you all love Kyne/Kynareth, don't lie!

[who-heaven-shed]

this thought legitimately keeps me up at night

[trickstarbrave]

the nords from early on in established lore are mortals who have wrapped up their identity in opposing elves and the elven gods. they value shor, the god who made this world, and curse auri-el who took his ripped out heart and fired it across the globe. it is ironic, then, they would see the creatures made by the god of time, dragons, and worship them. i understand they are a culture who is animistic and worships what the animals represent, (the games calls them “totems” but this doesn’t correlate to actual totemism as we know it irl but this is probably just some good old fashioned racism at work) but also wouldn’t the dragons know? how do they handle the nords cursing their father and creator? how do they handle his scorned name? do the nords even know alduin is the crown of all of the elven god’s blood stained creation?

or do they believe the nords are right, in some way? that their father is too weak, so it is their right to rule? or do they know something about the creation mortals don’t, like the good daedra who lead the chimer and exposed the ‘lies’ of trinimac?

this is never really explored. which is very unfortunate. we have actual dragons in the flesh we can talk to and speak to about this, but we are never given the chance. paarthurnax seems to honor the god of time and treats him with respect, but also was lead by kyne, widow of shor. i don’t understand it and i wish i did.

[incorrectskyrimquotes]

Martin, seeing his descendant: CHAMPION!!

[eldritchborn]

I know I have the apocrypha inspired dragon I drew, but kinda wanna try designing a legit dragon form for Mora itself for fun

[alhavaradawnstar]

building on those tags I have SO much figured out about vyrthur & gelebor that is. Not canon

[littlegalerion]

I mean...it's an idea...

[paranormal-potatoes]

hey what was that about Martin leaving something somewhere Sheogorath?

[endawn]

cyrodiil has a beef with tevinter & orlais.

[morihaus]

borgas might even actually live longer because he could spend his energy declaring war on the paravanic league instead of going to valenwood to die in a failed invasion... imagine if the marukhati were able to get an actual foothold into skyrim, and in this world somehow skyrim becomes shaped by their stupid religion while cyrodiil is chilling out with kyne as their patron deity

[nerevar-quote-and-star]

Avarenya, praying: For Saturalia, I want a dragon.

Akatosh: Be realistic.

Avarenya: Okay, I want a boyfriend.

Akatosh: What color do you want your dragon?

[uesp]

Moraelyn: "Considering the shape of your mouth and teeth, how do dragons manage to speak the humanoid languages so clearly?" Akatosh: "Why, in much the same way that we can fly, even though our wings are not naturally strong enough to support such heavy torsos."

[dankar-camoran]

There's a post I saw a while back about the Divine Right of Kings but it's a Curse, and it's pretty much what it says on the tin: You are obligated to rule over others, regardless of not only what they think about it, but what you think about it. You cannot abdicate, you cannot abolish the system, you're stuck with absolute power that you do not want because something greater than you has deemed it to be so.

And it makes me think of Martin: The priest who found out he was heir to the throne. The man who watched his home be destroyed and so many lives snuffed out, and then was told it was all because he happened to be living there. Because the family he'd known for his whole life, who he'd presumably loved dearly, weren't his 'real' family in the eyes of powers greater than he, and his actual father was the Emperor he never knew personally, who is posthumously tasking him with saving the world. And that's only the first step, because even after the Oblivion Crisis is over, he's still going to be made Emperor, because that's what Akatosh expects. It's what the Blades expect, it's what so many people will expect. What he expected isn't a factor.

There's nobody else with the right level of Chosen-ness, it's just Martin. And if he has any children, he'll do so knowing he's condemning them to the same fate that completely took over his life. Whatever family Brother Martin could have had is no longer an option; he's now Martin Septim, and part of a bloodline that's far more important than the kind of people he used to consider himself one of.

When you meet him in Kvatch, and he bitterly asks "do you need a priest?" it's clear he feels like his whole life up to this point now means nothing, considering all he's lost. And your job is to confirm it for him, and set him on the path that was chosen for him, rather than the one he would have chosen for himself.

No one needs the priest anymore

[argisthebulwark]

This is wrong.” “So wrong.” This prompt is so Miraak and LDB omggg

REAL AND TRUE. taken from this prompt list i rbed, mild nsfw under the cut, minors dni.

"This is wrong." The Last Dragonborn's voice held little conviction, entirely betrayed by the way their fingers slid easily through Miraak's hair. He chuckled, a biting kiss left as his lips trailed down their stomach.

"So wrong," he practically moaned into their skin. Shivers ran up their spine at the sight of him; robes torn open by their own eager hands and face flush with excitement. Miraak knelt before the Last Dragonborn, reverent hands tracing every scar he'd personally left on their body.

"We should probably stop," the Dragonborn wanted nothing more than to keep Miraak's lips on their skin but gods, it was wrong. They'd fought against him for ages just to end up here, giving in entirely to the filthy fantasies only he could drudge up.

"Oh, definitely." He agreed easily, fingers unbuckling what remained of their armor. "We should stop before this goes too far, Little Dragon. I wouldn't want to sully Akatosh's new favorite."

"Shut up." Their face heated at the title, any further argument devolving into a needy moan as sharp teeth grazed along their inner thigh.

"Skyrim's hero, the Slayer of Alduin, the Last Dovahkiin," he chanted each title, humming approvingly when their hips bucked under his attentive kisses. Gods, even fake praise aroused them when he spoke it. "If only they could see their savior now, needy and begging for my sinful touch."

[falmerbrook]

Snow Elf culture?

*pulls up a chair*

Perhaps...

A wee disclaimer that I'm not particularly good or creative with developing cultures or societies, but my brain has just latched on to the snow elves in a way where I can't stop myself. But anyway

I developed a lot of this because of a big ass draft for a fic I've been writing on and off about Gelebor and Vyrthur, so a lot of my headcanons are religion heavy. I'll start there:

Gelebor seems to place Auri-El and the Chantry of Auri-El as having significant importance to the Snow Elves over the other gods/temples. He's probably got a bit of bias in that regard since he's devoted his life to Auri-El, but in order to differentiate their religion from the other elven ones I like to think that their religion in general worshipped Auri-El as not even just as the figure head of their pantheon, but almost monotheistical, while the other gods (Trinimac, Syrabane, Jephre and Phynaster according to Gelebor) were like minor divine figures or just legendary heroes even more than in Altmer myth, depending on the interpretation. My idea is that if their culture had been allowed to continue on, it would've eventually become monotheistic, but by the arrival of the Nords they were in a bit of an awkward transition period with it.

I also like to lean into the sun motif with Auri-El that they established in Dawnguard and with Auriel's Bow, partially because it's another thing to make their depiction of him more unique, and in part because it makes some very juicy irony for Vyrthur. Some ideas include:

- The more religious folk tend to pray at noon when the sun is at it's highest. - The two biggest snow elf festivals happen on the summer and winter solstices. As far north as they are, the summer solstice is during a time of year where the sun barely sets and the winter one is during a time of year where it barely rises. The summer one is more jovial and celebratory, with a grand feast. With almost 24 hours of daylight, the festivities last up to three days straight, with folks commonly staying awake for over 24 hours. Most of it is spent outside, with the celebration being focused on making the most of the weather and daylight hours to spend as much time in the sun and the light of Auri-El as possible. The winter festival is as large scale but lasts longer and is lower-key. It also involves a feast but features more winter foods and meat and alcohol. It is more pensive. At this point in the year, there is no full daylight, and so this season is seen as a test of one’s faith and mental fortitude. This festival acts as a break from this trying time, taking time to relax, build community (a strong community will allow them to make it through the winter and strengthen their minds), and bond with family and friends. It is about a weeklong break, where leading up to the festival everyone works harder to prepare for it and allow themselves to have the break. There are activities and festivities, but they remain indoors for the most part and are smaller. - I've referenced this before, but with long winters with little sunlight (due to harsh weather and short days), they see that time of year as a reflective test of will and faith.

Due to their proximity to dragons, it was hard to miss the connection between Auri-El (/Akatosh) and dragons, and so their depiction of Auri-El is either much more influenced by the iconography of dragons, or is a dragon (although their depiction of dragon Auri-El is much more benevolent than the Nord/Atmoran one). I got the idea for this one from this Reddit post (i know I dog on Reddit a lot but this one has got some fun stuff in it, even if it's a bit out there)

^On that note, later in the timeline (post Dragon War (the timeline is very fuzzy on when this and the Night of Tear happens. They are both sometime vaguely in the late Merethic Era I believe, but it's unclear which happens first or how long each conflict is)) some Snow Elves see a sort of unreturned, unofficial comradery with dragons, seeing themselves as both on the receiving end of the Nord's/Atmoran's brutality (disregarding whether it was warranted or not in the context of the Dragon War).

Ok here's some more general cultural ones:

I mentioned my reasoning for this in this post, but I like to think their general settlements were not as permanent, with a larger focus on wood and building into the sides of hills (good for warmth), while their temples tended to be made of stone and much more permanent. This is why there are so few identifiable Snow Elf ruins across Skyrim. Their cities and towns were easy to wipe out, scavenged for resources, or were in good places for Nordic cities (perhaps Bromjunaar was originally the site of a Snow Elf city?), and their temples were either very hidden (e.g. the Chantry of Auri-El) or eventually converted to Nordic temples.

I love this journal in general for gleaning ideas for Snow Elf headcanons for, but one interesting this is the use of "Old Ones" and "Young One". They're treated like established titles. From that I like to think they place a lot of emphasis on the respect of those older than you. The social hierarchy and whose opinions are most valued is heavily influenced by age. Folks call anyone older or more revered “Old Ones” as a term of respect, and anyone younger than them “Young Ones”. Old One is almost never used in a demeaning way, but Young One can be (not always). Typically, “Old Ones” is used in the third person (e.g. you wouldn’t refer to someone directly as “old one”) whole “Young One(s)” can be used as an epithet for someone directly or in third person.

When thinking about death/"burial" customs (needed for some scenes in the fic I'm planning), you have to consider that there probably wasn't a lot of land in a place like Skyrim where someone can be buried. Nords intern their dead in crypts or burn them to get around this, and I like to think Snow Elves participated in something akin to sky burials (at least sometimes). After preparation, the departed's body is left outside on a ledge, cliff, or the temple balcony to be scavenged by birds. This is seen as a metaphorical return to Aetherius, while their soul literally returns to it. They do this even in poor weather or deep winter. If it doesn’t thaw and rot/be scavenged until months later, so be it. The length it takes to rot is considered indicative of how long it takes for the spirit to let go and move on (not in a bad way though. It’s interpreted more in the way of the soul or body grieving). It's seen as if they may wish to wait until spring to finally rot if they want to experience one more warm, sunny day.

Food (I mostly wrote this in my notes in the context of the Forgotten Vale and Chantry of Auri-El, but I think it could work elsewhere as well to an extent): Plant-based food is grown in gardens in the spring and summer, and that that is able to be stored is carefully preserved through the fall and winter. Winter foods include some nuts, dried vegetables, and dried and preserved/fermented grains (like wheat, barely). These foods must be eaten slowly throughout the winter to last, and winter diets are more meat based. Summer foods include apples, cabbage/lettuce, leeks, tomatoes etc. Snowberries can be found in the wild out of season of most other fruits, and provide fruit in very early spring. Occasionally, fungus from caves is harvested, but this is seen as a delicacy (foreshadowing).

Ok, that's it for now. I gotta go to bed. Thanks for the ask!!!! :D