#stormcloak positive? kinda?

[farshores]

🌱, 👑, ☄️, ☁️, and ❤️ for mei and tei(or whoever you want tbh i just need others’ oc content like i need air)!

Putting theses under cut since it got a little long!

🌱 SEEDLING - what is their most vivid memory from childhood?

For Mei it was definitely when her magic kicked in! She was attempting to heal an injured bird she and Courron had found, buuut was a little too late and resurrected it instead! It didn't stay that way for long, 'dying' again soon after but Mei was too excited over the fact that something had worked.

Tei? Definitely the Serpent's Dance festival when they were around 14 or so! They've been to these events before, but it was the first after their injury & they had been cooped up for what felt like ages; being able to join his family and neighbors in the festivities was needed. Lotta goofing around and stuffing their face with street food that day.

👑 CROWN - what does your oc want to be remembered as? why?

Mei would like to be remembered for any (positive) medical advances in Tamriel's history. Or at the very least remembered for helping shed light on successful practices that is looked over by the Empire. While there is good stuff out there already, admittedly the more popular academia she came across were....outdated to put it nicely. It kinda sucks, she wants to fix that.

Tei's honestly not too focused on memory on who they were as a person tbh, at least not by strangers. They're the Dragonborn, they killed Ulfric before Tullius even thought to recruit them & crushed the remaining leaders when he did, they revived the Blades and are planning to try and chase out the Thalmor/topple down how the Empire is built. That's what's important for people to know.

☄️ COMET - what do people assume about them? are they right?

A lot of folks assumed Mei got to where she was due to being the LDB's daughter & politicians trying to smooch up to Tei. And well, maybe that could have been the case on her transfer to Summerset - but even then, she's worked hard to get where she's at! She loves her baba, but don't pin her accomplishments on them unless you want to make her upset.

It's a reputation that kinda stuck when they participated fully in the civil war, but folks - especially those sympathetic to the Stormcloaks - assume Tei is rather harsh, if not outright cruel. Which isn't too wrong, Tei can be, but even then they still know their limits and help when required (and worth their time)

☁️ CLOUD - a soft headcanon

Mei handles cuddles via (gently) wrapping herself around the other person. She even fluffs up her feathers so whoever she's cuddling with is nice and comfy as well.

Tei is 100% the type to gently cup their spouses' face in their hands to give them a lil smooch or tell them they love them. They just love being around the two of them, & any moment they can Tei is probably holding Ru or Kai's hand absentmindedly.

❤️ RED HEART - their love language(s)?

For Mei it's sharing her interests with you and going out of her way to learn about her friends'/family's/partner's interests so she can talk about it with them! Also small gifts, a similar habit she shares with Tei. They can range from being fancy jewelry, a good book, or a collection of pinned beetles! If you're into that kinda thing.

Tei is 100% giving small gifts or just hanging around doing whatever! Reading, cooking, just sitting next to one another enjoying each other's company, you name it. They just want to be near their loved ones and be there for them whenever possible.

[nam-imperii]

THE LAST CHARGE OF THE STORMCLOAKS

When Legate Octavian Tullius, Dovahkiin of the prophecy, arrives in Sovengarde he soon discovers that Alduin hasn't only placed a soul trap on the realm: six dragon priest have accompanied him, infesting that part of Aetherius as the World-Eater's retenue and blocking the road for the Hall Of Valor. But Octavian discovered he was not alone.

Those who once were his most hated enemies, now resting with the dead, are interested in the death of Alduin as he is and eternity is too long to hold a grudge.

And so Octavian Tullius, Galmar Stone-Fist and Ulfric Stormcloak fight together against the servants of Alduin, to help Octavian in reaching Tsun.

Two dead, a living.

Two rebels, a loyalist.

It's the Last Charge Of The Stormcloaks and it is a victory.

[full-pockets]

29. What kind of person will your Dragonborn be remembered as? 34. Does their journey ever end? For your Dragonborn please :D

AAAAA thanks for the ask!

Okay so I have like 7 DBs but don't really post their individual stories. Also they aren't all developed so some may not have answers or complete ones. This kinda contains some spoilers for the characters if I ever decided to post about their stories. I apologize cause this is gonna get long.

Chantilly Leice (main DB)

29) Amongst her faction members, like DBH, Companions, Theives Guild & the College of WinterHold, someone who rises to the position of leadership despite their own insecurities if they can handle such role.

Amongst those close to her, like Valdimar, her (late) wife and future husband, she's a kind person who, despite her own hardships throu out all her life, she works to be a better person and help those around her.

34) Her journey so far doesn't have an end, she's always out exploring/adventuring and she still has lots of life left to live.

Ginseng Thorn-Summons

29) Amongst the Imperial Legion officers, someone who never backs down, someone who's bravery outmatched any fear they have, and someone who, in a land of grey morals, tries to do their best for the people around them. Sidenote, she's a Nord.

34) Her journey doesn't have an end yet, as she, like Chantilly, is out adventuring alot. She also has some personal goals, like to finish her training so she can use her unique powers in their full extent, despite no one remaining from her village to properly train her.

Leif Hartvig-Brand

29) Amongst the village he's from, he was a kind, merciful young man always ready to help those who couldn't help themselves, generous and giving. However his story becomes one of sadness and darkness. Instead of conquering personal demons or overcoming hardships, his story is that of his own downfall and decension of his mental state, changing his personality. Amongst the StormCloak army, he's a battle ready warrior who won't stop till every Thalmor is dealt with and Skyrim is truly free of the Imperial Empire. He's also quite accepting of the DB powers, so he's often reffered to as the DB and likes the legacy that comes with it. Sidenote, his race is Imperial.

34) I don't have it fully written out, but I do want his story to have an end, an ill met fate caused by his own downward spiraling behaviour.

Braun

29) Amongst the Theives Guild, another person who rises to the position of leadership. Unlike Chantilly, he's isn't unsure of himself and accepts the position readily. Amongst the Companions, he's a capable warrior who's immense strength never goes overboard.

34) He's a not very developed character, so I don't have an end written out for him yet.

Desdemona

29) Unhinged, fighty, very skewed morals, causes problems on the basis of 'just asking'. She will not be missed by many. Not her family or the Volkhir Clan which she later joins. She gets along with the vampire clan just fine, but it's not like anyone would be upset about her death. Harkon might be a little miffed he lost such an asset, but I doubt he has any real feelings left in him. We see the way he treats his wife and daughter.

She will however be missed by one single person who holds her dearly even thou he thinks his feelings aren't reciprocated. They are, and she definitely sees the feelings he has for her, but she keeps it secret. To the one person that will miss her and truly got to know her, Malorei (not a DB), she still has an odd sense of morals, if any, that he can't deny. But he sees the true character she tries to hide, someone who is capable of caring for another, someone who tries to better themselves, even thou this 'bettering' is really just a form of power and approval from a certain family member.

34) She is another character I haven't written much about. I don't have an end for her yet, but she does later get a new arch in character after what she thought she wanted most fails her. Or maybe she fails it.

Electra

29) Electra would be remembered as someone who fought to change the prejudice seen against her but her alone, not her race (she's an Altmer). She tries to not be anythin like the pish-posh High Elves and actively does anythin she can to be the opposite of one. She is a genuinely caring person thou, esp to the elderly, it just takes some time to break her hardened shell or a sharp eye to see the small things she dies for others.

34) She doesn't currently have an end written out as I just started developing this character like two days ago haha. She is the oldest out of all my characters, at the ripe old age of 476, so she may meet her end sooner than the others.

Thanks again for the ask aka letting my rant about my characters!

[new-california-veteran]

So...I'm a Stormcloak supporter in Skyrim. It kinda feels like that's a dirty admission within the fandom, but I wanted to talk about why I think the Stormcloaks are marginally better than the empire. Note that I'm not a master debater (lol) or essayist, so this is probably gonna be messy. But no one actually has to read it so it's fine.

I feel like when people are anti-Stormcloak, they only hold that position for surface level reasons. Yes, many nords and Stormcloaks are racist. But...so is the empire. And the dominion. Literally every race in the elder scrolls is racist. Some more than others *cough* dummer and altmer *cough*

And while being anti-racist is an objectively good and moral position in the real world, the world of the elder scrolls is not the real world. There are gods and magic and monsters. There is more going on in Mundus than on Earth.

I'm not a lore master by a long shot, so I encourage anyone engaging with this post to do their own research on anything I say, but I feel confident enough to assert some things here. In the world of the elder scrolls, a gods power is directly tied to the prayer and belief they receive from mortals. The stronger the faith, the stronger the god. So when you have a god of men joining the divines, it causes a problem for certain people. Certain people who...disagree with mortality. Enter the thalmor.

The thalmor (and I guess elven kind at large, but I only really know of the altmer making a stink about it) view mortality as a prison. They long for the days when everyone was an immortal spirit. Basically a little god/demigod. So they seek the means to unmake the world.

A little side note of explanation: When the divines led by Lorkhan created the world, it cost them a lot of their power. Like a lot a lot. And some of the spirits that came with them were pretty pissed when they realized that they would eventually dwindle and become mortal. Others, specifically those who followed and believed in Lorkhan were cool with it (The schism between what would become men and mer) Seeing it as simply the next stage in existence within their new world. It's also a bit fuzzy whether Lorkhan tricked the divines into doing this or not. But considering they kicked his ass and yeeted his heart into the ocean, I'm inclined to believe he did. Or maybe they betrayed him in an attempt to seize power over the new world for themselves. Whatever, it's not important right now.

Back to the thalmor. So the thalmor are trying to unmake the world and reclaim their long lost divinity. To do that they need access to various towers dotted across Tamriel. I think there's one in each province, but I'm not super 100% sure on that. They also need Talos out of the way. You can imagine a god of men might be slightly opposed to a bunch of elves trying to unmake the world. Kinda fucks over everyone. So naturally they need to keep Talos out of the way. But how can they do that? That can't very well kill a god in their current fleshy predicament, can they?

No. But they can limit his power. And to do that, they need to restrict belief in him. Now I'm pretty sure the great war was about gaining access to the towers around Tamriel. But men proved slightly more resistant than the thalmor anticipated. So they settled for the next best thing with the white-gold concordat. Outlawing the worship of the god of men. See where all this is going? I know this has been a long read, and if anyone is still here I am finally getting to the point. Promise.

Now, with the worship of the god of men outlawed by a foreign power, some men were (justifiably in your opinion or not) pretty pissed about it, as you might imagine. So they rebel against what they see as an occupying force stripping their beliefs and identity from them. Fighting for sovereign rule of their homeland. And even if you ignore the whole "unmaking the world" angle, I'd hope you could at least accept the religious freedom aspect of the Stormcloak's fight against a crumbling empire of men too weak to protect the basic religious freedom of its subjects.

[curechocolattymilk]

TES V OC Thingie

[Got tagged by @jessaryss​ ! ]

Pause your game! Wherever your OC is in their game currently, tell me about their story so far.

✧✧✧ General

Current Level: 56

Name: Jeer-Tei Perdes

Name Meaning: Literally got it from a name generator lol. But lore wise it was a name gifted to them in honor of an Argonian who served beside Tei’s mother during the Great War

Pronouns: They/Them

Age: Early 30s where they are story wise???

Race(s): Argonian

Place of Origin: Hammerfell

Pick A Theme Song For Them: oof that's tough... From a Crowded Wound or maybe even Firstwake? If you really played around w personal interpretation/the lyrics that is haha

✧✧✧ Locations

Where Did You Begin Their Game?: Argonian Assemblage, Windhelm (Alternative Start)

Where Are They Currently In Your Game?: Whiterun

What Are They Doing There?: Just finished attending a party held in their honor (Post Blood of Kings)

Homes?: Breezehome, Proudspire, Lakeview & Autmnwatch

# of Locations Discovered?: 274

Dungeons Cleared: 104

Misc. Quests Completed: 87

Favorite Areas and/or Locations: Falkreath / Lakewview Manor. Both areas are where Tei heads off to in order to collect their thoughts/feel some sense of calm.

✧✧✧ Main Quest

Are They Dragonborn / Do They Know It At This Point?: Yes & yes

How Do They Feel About Being Dragonborn: It's...complicated, being thrust into the role of savior by gods of the Cult, which in turn are followed by the folk who see you lesser than them. Tei already has a dislike towards the Divines, this doesn't really help lol

Main Quests Completed: 21

Where Are They In The Main Story Line: Alduin's dead, currently trying to ignore the Civil War as long as they can before the Empire forces its hand into forcing them to join their ranks

Dragon Souls Absorbed: In total overall? 147. The amount currently stored in Tei? 45

Words of Power Learned: 64

Shouts Mastered: 21

Favorite Shout: Firebreath / Dragonrend

✧✧✧ Combat

Most Used Weapon(s): Daedric war axe OR Dragonbone battle axe. Tei technically has both on them at all times during adventuring, alongside a shield, so which they used depends on the situation/which they grab fastest.

Combat Style: Two/One-handed tank. Main tactic is to rush in, cause as much damage/chaos as possible to shake up the opponent, & clean up what the ranged attackers of the party (usually Rumarin, Inigo and/or Lucien) weren't able to deal with.

Armor Type / Level In It: HEAVY ARMOR BABYYYYY (Level 100 + 35 extra points via enchantments)

# of Training Sessions: 99 in-game, lore wise its a lot of self-teaching/keeping their skills learned from Hammerfell sharp. Some of these are magic but lore-wise this doesn't happen cus Tei is not a magic user, save for shouts. I just did those in-game for exp OR so I can help Lucien raise his magic skills :'D

Who Taught Them?: In-game?? Fuuuck so many npcs. Lore-wise? They learned this from their schooling in Hammerfell, going off the canon-lore that it's p much expected for everyone to have a grasp on combat & weaponry! Though they did learn a few things from Kaidan & Anum-La.

Favorite Enemy Type: Dragons! Despite the fact Tei does not have the best magic resistance, it's one hell of a challenge they love to meet.

Least Favorite Enemy Type: Automatons, because of a bad experience with them as a child. Also Undead, because they were raised not to disturb them & it just feels so wrong having to fight them/go into tombs.

People Killed: 945

Animals Killed: 749 (Hunterborn makes hunting fun lol)

Undead Killed: 766

Automatons Killed: 105

Daedra Killed: 136

✧✧✧ Magic

Favorite School(s): None, actually. Destruction is okay though....they guess

Most Used Spell(s): Firebreath or Dragon Aspect. Tei doesn't consider shouts spells though. It's totally different guys shut up they ain't no smelly mage gods

Spells Learned: 9 in-game, mainly due to the spells you're kinda forced to learn for some quests/the ones you automatically know

Items Enchanted: 19 (Tei technically doesn't enchant, and wont next playthrough for sure I wont give in this time >:[ )

College of Winterhold Quests Completed: 8

Where Are They At In The Questline?: Main quest is done bcus i dont like seeing unfinished quests in my journal lmao. Tei's involvement is completely different from canon though in my take. Moreso was hired as a guard for the expedition & was, unwillingly, dragged into the rest of the mess. Is not offered the Archmage position, that went straight to Tolfdir.

Opinions on Magical Guilds (Arcane University, Winterhold, Psijics, Synod, Radiant Dark, etc.): As they get older, they tolerate the guild & magic users more n more, BUT, Tei grew up in an environment that frowns upon the practice of magic, & it shows. They mainly mistrust necromancers/illusionists & still hold onto that belief that reliance on magic, especially for combat, is a weakness.

Bold words for someone with shit magic resistance.

✧✧✧ Crime

Current Gold: 10,640

How Did They Acquire Their Gold?: Odd jobs, selling a lot of the items they made/harvested from smithing & hunting (jewelers are their go-to hirers bcus Tei is great at getting things like ivory), Dwemer ruin diving (they refuse to loot the tombs), also yknow....being part of the Dark Brotherhood helps

Largest Bounty On Their Head: 11,240

For...?: Unfortunately they did not stand down when they were being falsely accused of murder in Markarth. First time Tei called down dragons (Sahrotaar, specifically, Tei managed to get command of Miraak's dragons post-Dragonborn) to absolutely smite some fools.

Current Bounty: None! They're good at not getting caught/threatening and/or bribing guards. :)

Locks Picked: 15 i think?

Jail Time: 1, Cidhna Mine

Jail Escapes: 1, teamed up w the Forsworn lol

Murders: 28

Assaults: 307....In their defense people keep getting in their way during dragon attacks

Items Stolen: 37, most of them from the nobles of Windhelm

Thieves Guild Quests Completed: N/A (wont be doing this storyline unless i cant find a mod that'll let me get the shouts locked behind it)

Dark Brotherhood Quests Completed: 20

Where Are They At In Those Questlines?: DB is completed main arc wise!

✧✧✧ Relationships

Relationship Status: Married to two lovely fellas

Current Companions: atm? none

Housecarls: Lydia & Rayya

Friends (outside of party): Zora Fair-Child, Inigo, Lucien, Anum-La, Morndas, Aela the Huntress, Nazir, Babette, Scouts-Many-Marshes, Isobel, Madesi

Children: Khash, Chases-Starlight, Ram-Ku. (going of where Tei is now - Otero & Mei come around later on in Tei's story!)

Romantic Interest(s): Kaidan & Rumarin.

Sexual Orientation:

GAY

✧✧✧ Religion

Pantheon: Yokudan, with a hint of Hircine worship in there

Patron Deity(ies): From the Yokudan pantheon: Tei mainly views HoonDing as their main patron, but also prays to/pays respect to Satakal.

They are also Hircine's champion.

Daedric Quests Completed: 3 (Hircine, Vile, Dagon - the last Tei didn't really help, moreso pissed off)

Aedric Quests Completed: 1 if you count the whole Alduin thing I guess?

How Devout Are They?: Tei is rather devout, esp to their Yokudan patrons, praying or making offerings daily. They aren't the type to really push it in your face though, but have no issues answering questions one might have.

How Do They Feel About Talos Worship?: Deep down they acknowledge & admit trying to ban worship is terrible, but....Tei also lets their bias/experience with Windhelm, the Stormcloaks & especially Ulfric kinda cloud over this. If the Nords want their old ways so damn much, why fight for a divine from the Imperial Cult? Why not go back to the actual old ways? No, this isn't about worship, not to the men leading this so-called rebellion, they just needed something other than their racist bullshit to fool the common man into throwing their lives away for the nobles sitting comfortable in their thrones.

Also during their whole thing of getting into their role of dragonborn, they get a bonus 'fuck this dude actually' towards Talos, Ysmir, whatever the fuck he calls himself. (tldr; it sucks but good luck hearing Tei say that fully)

✧✧✧ Politics

Gray-Mane or Battle-Born?: Neither, ask them again they will punch you for the love of Ruptga they get asked that every time they enter Whiterun.

Stormcloaks or Imperials?: Also neither, Tei hates em both n think they can all choke. Unfortunately they were forced to join the latter due to, yknow, calling dragons & causing massive damage in Imperial territories during isolated fits of rage and the group being more aggressive in wanting something in return for "letting it slide"....oops

Opinion on the Thalmor?: Oh absolutely despises them, they loudly complained having to work with them during the CW & would go out their way to disrupt their plans/piss them off. Sneaking was an option they did not take during the Embassy quest, if it helps paint the picture.

Opinion Of Ulfric Stormcloak?: Tei doens't say they hate people often...but they sure as hell hate Ulfric. Again, their experience in Windhelm added to this heavily, how both the Dunmer & Argonians were treated like shit, with no help whatsoever from the Jarl or guards when the local Nords targeted them. It's still up in the air if I keep this for Tei's story, but I have it where they knew Chases-Starlight's parents, who were killed. When Tei went up & demanded justice/an investigation, only to be brushed off because it "wasn't a priority," it completely destroyed what little empathy or hope they had left for Windhelm as a whole.

Opinion of The Empire?: Cowards too weak to continue fighting back against the Thalmor, in their opinion, & holds these views they grew up with even when being strong-armed into aiding them. If anything they're at least attempting to use their influence to hint towards a rebellion against the Thalmor, but the Empire could also full-on dissolve & they could give less of a shit.

Civil War Quests Completed: 0

✧✧✧ Personal

How Are They Doing? Need Some Juice? A Nap? A Hug?: The whole event of Blood of Kings has fucked with their head, to say the least. It's the starting point of Tei's eventual spiral. So uh...yeah they're not sure how they're doing everything they knew about reality was kinda challenged & they don't rlly have anyone to talk to about it so its cool, its fine, its all good.

A nap is probably needed, not sure about a hug theough they're super flinchy rn

Days Past In Game: 196

Hours of Sleep: 846

Food Items Consumed: 1833

How Many Playthroughs Have You Done With This Character: Tei actually is an older character from the 360 days so uh...maybe 5 at most? This playthrough & their S:EC one coming up when the mod releases being the main ones focusing on their story

Overall How's Your Level Of Fun: Alright I would say! I just been stepping away from Skyrim more often lately to avoid burning out from it

Must Have Mods To Play This Character (for story or other reasons): Ordinator, Wintersun Faiths, Immersive Armors, Sarcastic Player Dialogue, 3DNPC, Inigo, Lucien Flavius, Kaidan 2, Khash the Argonian, Alternative Start, Leviathan Animations, Beast Race Body Paints, Beast HHBB, Apocalypse Magic, Deadly Dragons, Growl: Werewolf Overhaul, Pronouns, uhhh....idk what else without actually listing my current modlist lmao

----

And that's it for Tei! Anyone who wants to do this go on ahead!

[nightingaletrash]

I’m replaying the Pact storyline, and I think I’ve figured out the things that bothered me most so far, so here’s my ideas for rewriting portions of the storyline to improve cohesion between zones and the overall feel of the story. This post covers Bleakrock, Bal Foyen, Stonefalls, Deshaan, Shadowfen, and Eastmarch. Riften on the other hand is getting a huge overhaul which I’ll make a separate post about, because I don’t much care for the Companions and how they were presented in this game  ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Under the cut because it’s kinda long.

Bleakrock, Bal Foyen, and Stonefalls are mostly driven by the idea that you’re conscripted to the war effort against the Covenant. You start out as a soldier as opposed to an agent like in AD and DC.

You’re not the first conscript that Tanval has sent into the Indoril family tomb, just the latest, and the first to succeed - that combined with your other accomplishments in repelling the Covenant is why he decides to send you to help Garen at Ash Mountain. While he has faith in his son, he wants to be certain that he has the best soldiers at his side to ensure his safety.

Tanval is known to boast about Garen on occasion, reminding him to be careful before sending him off on his tasks, really building up his fatherly pride in his son and the bond they share to make Garen’s death and Tanval’s reaction all the more tragic. Maybe he even falls mid-battle and is then raised by General Serien, forcing Tanval to strike down his own son whom he loved more than life itself, thus making Tanval’s fall from grace all the more tragic and understandable.

Holgunn is your commanding officer in Stonefalls, and is the one who sends you to Deshaan to investigate reports of the Llodos Plague once Stonefalls is secure as opposed to you delivering a letter to some random guy’s cousin. He jokes about being reluctant to give up his best soldier, but knows you’re needed more elsewhere now that Stonefalls is secure for the time being.

Deshaan is mostly the same, but with more acknowledgement of your accomplishments in the previous zones. High ranking officials recognise you as a war hero due to your efforts against the Covenant, as opposed to acting like you’re some random sellsword who showed up out of nowhere.

Similarly, Almalexia is treated as a major member of the Pact’s leadership, and is fully acknowledged as one of the major reasons that it even exists. Many dunmer (especially those of House Indoril) consider her THE leader of the Pact given her status as a Living Goddess, for her part in the Akaviri War, and her part in helping to establish the Pact in the first place.

When the Maulborn threaten Mournhold, she has the Vestige deal with the daedra in the Temple while she ensures the safety of high-ranking Pact officials in the city. If you ask why she’s giving you the harder task, she waves it off by saying that she would not give you a task that you could not accomplish, but alludes to wanting to keep up appearances of having control.

Upon completing the Deshaan storyline, Almalexia then sends you to Shadowfen to investigate threats to the Pact’s stability, and she grants you her full authority as a Hand of Almalexia, thus changing your status from conscripted-solider-turned-war-hero to a personal agent of a Living Goddess (whether you like it or not.)

Vicecanon Hrondar isn’t abducted from Stormhold like he is in game - as it conflicts with the fact that he was replaced prior to the Vestige’s arrival in Stormhold, and thus kidnapping him makes no sense - but rather the Vicecanon’s informant sees some citizens being taken into the ruins, which leads to the Vestige discovering the Dominion’s presence under Stormhold, along with information on Ten-Maur-Wolk. This forces the Skin Stealer impersonating Hrondar to agree to an attack on the ruins, which he then attempts to sabotage to prevent the operation from falling apart.

There’s more general upset in Stormhold upon the revelation that Vicecanon Hrondar was replaced by a Dominion spy; the city’s citizens have no idea who to trust and there’s a great deal of conflict, with people accusing one another of being spies for the Dominion. Rifts begin to deepen between the already-divided populace.

The Shadowscales are more involved in the efforts to drive out the Dominion, and are present at Loriasel.

When arriving in Eastmarch, you aren’t directed to Thane Mera Stormcloak because you ‘look like the kind of person she needs’ but because she’s the one who requested your presence (in-game Heita-meen claims you were requested in Eastmarch, yet this never gets addressed again). Mera needs someone to help her investigate the Stormfists and, as a war hero and agent of Almalexia, you come highly recommended.

You’re recognised by Jorunn as a Pact Hero and agent of Almalexia, and is aware of your prior accomplishments.

The Breton illusionist, Dhelan, is no longer in anyway involved in Eastmarch. Fort Amol sees a brief return of the Shadowfen Skin-Stealers; deserters from Ruuvitar’s regiment who stole the remaining potion that took Fildgor’s contract so they could make enough gold to avoid persecution from the Dominion for their desertion. Some dialogue changes depending on whether or not you’ve already completed Shadowfen, but it plays out much the same way regardless.

There is now a smack Prince Irnskar option. You’re welcome.

Naryu remains involved in Eastmarch after the events of Fort Amol. She says that she’s no alchemist like her brother Odral, but she’s picked up enough from him over the years to help the Ternion Monks slow the spread of the Daedric Poison that’s killing Jorunn - she explains that the Tong will overlook her stepping the bounds of her contract, as its to save Jorunn and that can only benefit the Tong’s reputation. She then receives orders from the Tong, a writ to end the life of Fildgor Orcthane. She joins the Pact army at Jorunn’s Stand, and helps the Vestige reach Fildgor.

Almalexia is present alongside the rest of the Pact leadership. In fact, she is the only reason that the Vestige is able to reach Skuldafn, which is famously impossible to reach without wings in Skyrim.

While Fildgor and his forces have had a decade to access the Dragon shrine and its portal to Sovngarde and create their own ways of moving in and out, the Pact doesn’t have the same advantage. Almalexia uses her divine power to get the Vestige inside of the shrine safely, and gives them portal stones that will allow their troops to filter into the ruins without any interference from Fildgor’s mages.

The Pact is cemented, and Almalexia gives Jorunn her blessing to take the position of High King of the Ebonheart Pact. 

When deciding what to do with Fildgor, you can kill him yourself, allow Jorunn to kill him, or allow Naryu to execute him. You can entertain the idea of sparing him, but Naryu’s writ demands his death and Jorunn and Almalexia agree that it would simply be delaying the inevitable to spare him there and then.

Naryu then departs Skyrim to return to Mournhold, but promises that she and the Vestige will see each other again.

After returning to Jorunn’s Stand, the Vestige is informed that the Worm Cult has arrived in the Rift and is causing chaos. Almalexia advises that Jorunn send the Vestige to deal with the threat, which he agrees to.

[red-queen-on-the-heathen-throne]

Skyrim is fucked up

Once you dig into the lore a little, you just kinda... want to burn all the factions to the ground.

The Empire because they’re sycophantic dicks who can’t get their shit together to defend their own citizens from what is, for all intents and purposes, a tiny island nation trying to force their (factually wrong, even) worldview on everyone.

The Dark Brotherhood for... okay, do I have to explain this one?

The Stormcloaks for being racist as fuck and also worshipping a dude who violently conquered an entire continent, slept with a woman he literally called a child, and then forced an abortion on her when her baby would have threatened his legitimate children’s position. I’m serious - Talos was an asshole.

The Companions for forcing you to join a daedric cult when they are afraid you couldn’t keep your mouth shut otherwise, and for their goddamn hero worship of a genocidal douchebag who decided killing every elf on an entire continent was adequate punishment for some elves killing a bunch of his people. Okay then.

The Blades are basically just Delphine trying to do whatever she likes. It just so happens to involve helping some people along the way. Also, she orders you to kill your dragon pal and is entirely unresponsive to any means of solving this mess in a diplomatic way.

The Thieves Guild are... I dunno, they’re still selfish dicks, but at least they’re not murdering people? Eventually?

I suppose the Mages Guild are all right, if for no other reason than that they barely ever leave the College anyway, and at least actively try to prevent any world-ending events from happening within their walls.

...fuck Talos and the Stormcloaks, though... >.>

[aly-the-writer]

Writer’s Reflections: Tag Meme

Tagged by @pikapeppa (Thank you! :) )

This little tag meme is an opportunity for writers to reflect on (and promote!) our own writing, but also to hear about the work of our fellow writers and to find something new to read!

Rules: answer the following questions about your own writing, whether fanfic or original. If you can’t/don’t want to answer a question, just put N/A. If you don’t have that many posted works, tell us about your WIPs or individual chapters/drabbles or even your ideas! Then tag as many writers as you like :) 

AO3 name and link, if applicable: Aly_H on Ao3.

What’s your most popular fic, by whatever metric is most relevant to you (hits, kudos, comments, reblogs, some other trait)? Let’s see, my most popular fic by every metric is Frost Flowers – my Surana/Zevran Voice-Verse longfic.

What’s your favourite fic that you’ve written? Oh, toughie… I think right now my favorite fic I have is “Just Another Night at the Vigil”. It’s a total fluff piece with Van Tabris/Nate.

It’s got some really close competition with “Nightlight in Hightown” – a F!Hawke/Fenris cuddle fic that’s gooey and adorable that makes me smile.

And – not in the DA fandom – but I really like how “ralof the medic for grumpy elves” turned out which was my first Skyrim fic. It features my grouchy bosmer assassin/stormcloak Riadel getting fixed up with a bit of help from his favorite Nord.

What’s your best fic, and is it different from your favourite fic?

It is totally different from my favorite because I’m a fluffy trash goblin who subsists primarily on a diet of cotton candy and pure unadulterated goo when it comes to fics. Quality does not apply to cuteness.

But uh…my best fic is probably The Dragon’s Heart. I wrote it at the beginning of the year (2018) and I really flexed my writing muscles with it. I’m super proud of the way it came out. The Dragon’s Heart is a Lavellan/Dorian fic that features a Thedas retelling of Beauty & the Beast

The runner up for this spot is probably “Those Left Waiting”, my Varric/Hawke ficlet set after Adamant that should only be read if you’re totally prepared to cry.

Do you have a fic whose popularity surprised you? Pretty much any of them that get kudos or comments. I publish expecting things to not get read. ^^’ Probably not the best way but I enjoy writing more than I do promoting so I don’t do a good enough job getting my stuff out there for it to garner a ton of attention.  Let’s see…I’ve been really surprised by the readership with Frost Flowers in the year plus I’ve been writing it. It’s a spin-off of a series written by a fic writer whose technical skills far outstrip my own, I expected it to float in the back of the archive and not get much attention and instead it’s had a really positive reception.

Do you have a fic you wish more people would read? Uh….not really? I love all of them and wouldn’t mind getting more readers on any of them. I know I’ve been kind of sad that no one gave The Apprentice a chance but I get why it’d not get any attention: it’s a gen fic, about a non-protagonist mage (the oldest of the Amell siblings), written in an experimental voice (for me), and it ends with the death of the main character at the Conclave. It’s not exactly going to be the sort of fic that checks anyone’s boxes but I enjoyed writing it so that’s what really matters.

Is there a ship or fandom you haven’t written, but really want to? Up until last week there was a really big glaring one: Merribela! Isabela/Merrill is one of my favorite DA ships but I had never written anything for them. (That’s Swagger by the way!)

I actually really want to write a proper Varric/Hawke piece but haven’t had any good ideas for it yet. I want to write some Solavellan but I have to actually PLAY the Solas romance to have a clue how to write it and I keep getting distracted. ^^’ Actually there are just a ton of ships that I need to write more for in the DA fandom.

I also kinda want to write a couple fics for Merlin but I haven’t gotten around to it. There’s also a few ships in Attack on Titan that I really want to write some stuff for. And a few other anime that I’d like to do ficlets for but haven’t found time to do a rewatch to write them.

Tell us a random fact about your writing process: “Process”…..no, I don’t think I know this word. Are you sure you didn’t just make it up? In all seriousness though I word vomit on the page in all at once in one or two writing sessions and then I don’t do nearly enough editing and throw it at Ao3. Oh! I do use excel to make timelines, outlines, and keep track of notes for my longer fics (FF is the only one with one going right now.)

Tagging: Do you write fanfic? Congrats. You are now tagged! :D

[tamrieltrinity]

((nostalgia rambling under here))

(9okay so I am going through all my old as balls likes because the number has reached annoyance threshold and so I went as far back as I could and it’s...weird. You see so many people who you invested time in getting to know, befriending and then they do not leave but slowly disappear out of existence. And some of them you don’t even know their names but there’s a deeper attachment. There’s people there who I was genuinely quasi-intimidated by through their sheer talent and it’s all gone. They moved on. Friends that unravelled slowly like a jumper caught in a nail. Do I really remember them? A lot of it will be tainted with rose tinted spectacles since MAN tumblr!drama amirite not everything changes.  It’s like...shit, do they remember me? Was I a positive influence or memory if they did? Where are those Stormcloaks and High Elves and furry self inserts that I would stay up late every night to interact with? Did those hours matter?  Some people are still here from all that time and I still consider them friends, even if I have a terrible habit of disappearing myself. It makes me happy to know that they are still there, different but not, still amazing all the same.  Some are gone and who knows if I will ever hear or read about them again. I wonder if they miss this or think about those months they were were. I wonder if the characters they made are still alive in some sub-strata of their conscious mind.  I miss it, I miss all of it but I cannot turn back time.  ...this is heavy shite I hate growing up. There’s so many vague connections that felt deeper than superficial names and places but feelings, deep and meaningful. If you’re reading this and this is relevant to you, I kinda just want to say I’m not asking to be BFFs or whatever. I just want to let you know that even if I never plucked the courage up to say off anon how much I really cared about you, I did. Your characters were so alive and I hope you’re still moving forward, brighter and better for this.  I’m gonna so cry into some cheesecake ahahaha fuck.  (So quick shoutout to new folk: I get emotional. And squishy. I don’t mean any harm from it and it’s not in a creepy way but I just love connections built on creativity over convenience of location.))

[vinkumakkara]

things about my LDB he changes every playthrough but i think i’m starting to work out like a timeline for him

he joins the imperial legion pretty early on as a healer in order to collect money for his studies. he’s not a very good healer (kinda competent in alchemy and mediocre in restoration) and neither is he a good soldier overall but Tullius considers his status as a dragonborn as a great tool to lower the Stormcloaks’ morale. when the Stormcloaks are defeated he’s basically discarded as useless by the general (”the gods have something else planned for you” or whatever he says, like sure) and it causes the few friends he made in the army to cut ties with him because the special treatment he’s received is honestly p ridiculous. he considers his time in the legion to be the worst time of his life and while he’s generally a very happy positive person it embittered him a little. Windhelm serves as the worst reminder, being another big reason he joined the legion, but he loves the people living in the Gray Quarter and considers many of them his family. city of mixed feelings (and a slow burn relationship with a certain dunmer)

he joins the college with master robes in conjuration (or however it’s supposed to work) as his main target and spends years earning it. he runs out of the money he earned in the army and has to quit his advanced studies to earn more, so he tries to join the dawnguard - he wants to make the best of it and study vampirism while he’s at it. he finds Serana yada yada and ends up accepting Harkon’s offer but its mostly because he thinks he’s gonna get killed if he doesn’t. he’s p upset about it at first and wants to cure it but then realises what a Great Learning Opportunity it is and decides to live as a vampire for a year instead and study how vampire and dragon blood mix. he pulls all the strings he can in order to win some jarls to his side to support & protect his little research project and even gets Tullius’ backing in some form. he strikes a deal with Falion who i think would be very interested in supervising him

he hires Teldryn at some point when he’s still a squishy apprentice mage as he visits Solstheim to find out more about Miraak and then the dude just never leaves his side. idk how the main story even plays into this but wanting to find out more about the thu’um and dragons in general definitely played a part in him joining the college even if his primary reason was to just study conjuration

also he’s super gay

[colonel-killa-bee]

How likely is a Stormcloak Skyrim-Hammerfell-High Rock Alliance? Would there be others willing to join the cause?

At the very least it’s more likely than a Skyrim Hammerfell High Rock alliance under the Empire since they literally abandoned the province. Even after the legion had to disobey their Emperor’s orders to help defend them prior to the five year war after it was dropped from the Empire. Bonus points for also possibly having Morrowind jump in if they remind them they were given Solstheim back, and if the Thalmor choose to bother them though I doubt that. Still, it’s more likely than under the Empire. Especially since they also abandoned Morrowind after it was reliant on the Empire for defense.

High Rock seems to be indifferent/waiting to see who wins the civil war before they pick a side. If Hammerfell gained their independence and Skyrim does too?

I’m positive they’d seek theirs as well. Besides, maintaining an Empire when you either have to get there by sea or through routes of provinces that are no longer in the Empire, it tends to be kinda difficult to maintain.

Anyway, if this war is inevitable then it's gonna require at least all of the human provinces to fight the Dominion. I'm confident they'll be fighting together no matter what, unless the devs want the Thalmor to win.

[tith]

I just booted up skyrim for a bit to work out some character stuff and now I’m like... ready to fucking study tes so I can write really cool backstories for my OCs (although I’m too lazy/poor to buy/play the other games, so chances that I’ll do that are slim. Anyway, some tidbits about my skyrim OCs under the cut:

I finally made Valille in all her redheaded nord glory (I wish I could make her more buff, or more tall, but whatever) and I think I am gonna go with my previous idea of making her and Vrandir siblings. They’re definitely close enough in look, if not personality- Valille is all business, and Vrandir in comparison mostly just wants a family. 

I’m thinking they probably had a couple of younger siblings, and that their family was originally from Skyrim. I don’t know why they left skyrim in the first place, but I’m thinking they may have gotten in trouble with the Empire and gotten separated. They agree that if anything goes wrong they’ll regroup in Windhelm (because... they’re all stormcloaks at heart, obviously) and so that’s where Vrandir and Valille are headed. 

I’m thinking I might set things up so that Vrandir is Harbinger (and maybe the Archmage?) and Valille is Ulfric’s pal and maybe the actual Dragonborn? She’d do considerably better in the Chosen One position since she’s a lot more duty-bound and tends toward lawful (which is weird to say considering she’s so into the rebellion, but while she may not like the Empire’s rules she very strictly adheres to the sort of stormcloak/nord moral code) vs. Vrandir who did not want to be involved in all the dragon stuff and mostly wanted to do his own thing and take care of his family (his family being both the Companions and also his husband and kids). Not to mention Valille thinks magic is for gay losers, and Vrandir (a gay loser) thinks magic is fucking sweet. 

anyway so i’ve got those two, brother and sister nords, and then there’s Nirkhet, my lil dunmer assassin girl 

I can’t say i really know all that much about her yet. i know she’s.. angry. massively angry. i havent designed a backstory for her yet so i dont know what she’s angry about, but there’s that. i dont think she.. cares that much about other dunmer? or like, i know she hates the stormcloaks because of the racism thing, but it’s more of an excuse to hate on the stormcloaks than like.. a sign that she plans to make any effort to help “her people”. i know she likes collecting shiny baubles, and i know she doesn’t like staying in one place for long- the house she’s built already is purely me wanting to build houses and have places to store things and not an actual canon element of her story. if she did have a home base, it’d be in an inn she trusts, probably, or like.. a shack with a loft out in the woods somewhere to hide in where no one will find her. i should look through the marriage candidates again to see if there’s anyone that calls out to me for her. 

i kinda like the idea of her traveling with the other two at some point- i can’t for the life of me think of any reason they would, but maybe they happen to be adventuring in the same area and get caught up in the same quest.