*chimes aggressively at you*

The villain power couple is here! Miraak and Lilliandra have made it to the @tes-gala this year and just barely on time! XD This is my post-Apocrypha Miraak design after Lilli resurrects him. Miraak is the Tower and Lilliandra as the Ritual.

Apocrypha-era and pre-Apocrypha era under cut, as well as close ups and some lore bits :)

(Sheo’s) Haskill’s holiday

"He spoke not a word as he died. Not a whisper. Even in death, he mocked me with his silence!"

The Poison Gardens yes that is voryn

this painting is sort of about the personal issues i headcanon voryn having and the whole thing symbolizes a cage, the question of whether its better to be free but with risk or stay safe but painfully constricted. The hands are supposed to reference the Dagoth family (or more specifically the matriarch, Voryns mother) and the hardship that comes from being born with expectations of getting a position of such importance as a high councilor, not being able to choose what you actually wanted to do with your life. I did also kind of want to contrast this with the kind of luxurious palace environment, despite voryns issues you should still keep in mind that this doesnt compare to the more extreme struggles of a peasant. I also just wanted to try and design a building interior that feels sort of House Dagoth.

the text on the pillar is translatable but i know its a hastle, so ill just say that its about not being able to escape fate, multiple implications when it comes to that

close ups:

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

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

That's the point.

stare into the abyss and the abyss stares back // oil pastel on paper

Новый арт, приуроченный к выходу статьи, в которой я рассуждаю о том, что Цицерон не является религиозным фанатиком.

Её можно прочитать в моём тгк: beeplidrery

Omg thanks for the question :D I was very excited to answer this when I saw it last night! I can only assume this question may be related to my most recent fic update, but this does show up as early as my main fic!

Fate-Touched Ch 9: Lilli V 

“The rest of the afternoon turns to debates on various hypotheses, before falling back on axioms and magic theorems, and trying to see what sticks. They take turns writing with chalk onto the large slate board that’s on one wall ― a weird mix of their different scripts, mathematical equations, and magic theory.” 

I think a big part of it is that I treat magic as a real discipline inside the world, not just as an aesthetic or miracle machine. While TES game mechanics are obviously limited in showing you how magic really works, in the world, magic has schools, guilds, teachers, universities, formal study, experimentation, and people who specialize in different branches of it. So, when I write it, I try to think of magic less as “random impossible thing happens” and more as “this is a force people in-universe have studied, categorized, misunderstood, refined, and argued about for centuries.” 

When I write it, I don’t think “what cool spell can happen here?” and more in terms of:  

What is the mage’s skill level and knowledge? 

What is the mage trying to affect?  

What do they understand about the mechanism?  

What variables matter?  

What are the risks if they get it wrong? What are the limits? 

What assumptions are they making?  

What would someone trained in this field notice that another person wouldn’t? 

There’s also something in writing called soft and hard magic systems, coined by Brandon Sanderson. Feel free to read about it directly from him if you like here. But I’ll try to condense the ideas.  

Soft magic systems are often mysterious, vague, lack strict rules, often have no set limitation. Think magic in the HP series.  

Hard magic systems have more clearly defined and consistent rules. There are limitations and costs to what magic can do. There may even be consequences to certain spells or categories of magic. This magic system is often more explained to the reader, like rules of a game. One example of this would be the alchemy system of Fullmetal Alchemist. This system can feel more like a science than magic.

I write with more of the hard magic system in mind! Sometimes magic should feel mysterious, mythic, or unknowable, especially when related to the Divines and Daedra. Other times, especially when the POV character understands what they’re doing, it makes sense for the mechanics to be more visible. So, I don’t necessarily think every spell needs a rigid explanation, but I do like giving the impression that there is a structure underneath it, even if the reader is only seeing part of it. (I know from experience writing a very nerdy magic tes oneshot that it’s not always everyone’s cup of tea for it to be explanation/structure heavy :’)) 

Also, in my opinion, POV matters a lot too. Most of my main POV characters are mages, so they naturally notice magical theory, structure, technique, and consequences in a way a non-mage might not. A novice mage won’t know the specifics of their spells just yet but still manage a few small ones – whereas a master will know the magic theory behind how it should work. 

Lilliandra, in particular, is basically the fantasy equivalent of a scientist: she experiments, observes, compares results, tests limits, and thinks of magic as something that can be studied. Because of that, when the story is close to her, the magic tends to feel more analytical and grounded. She’s not just seeing a spell happen; she’s thinking about why it worked, what school(s) it belongs to, what variables changed, what could go wrong, and whether the result can be repeated. 

But that detail level would change with another character. Someone with no magical education might describe the same event much more vaguely or emotionally: light, pressure, pain, heat, fear, awe. The mechanics might still be happening in the background, but the narration wouldn’t linger on them because that character doesn’t have the language or training to understand what they’re seeing in full.  

TLDR: I try to let magic feel like a science to the people who would treat it like one, while still leaving room for mystery, myth, and horror when the story needs magic to feel bigger than the characters’ understanding. 

first art post um

happy oblivion remaster anniversary!! (it's been more than a week) (i'm literally so late) never forget martin's sacrifice 😢😢😢

this painting took me like?? 17 hours total and it's HUGE i genuinely dont know if tumblr is gonna fuck up the quality so below the cutoff there is a close up

FALSE GODS

the ending of the words is ALMSIVI