#tesfemslash

DAY 5: OBLIVION boethiah and mephala. 

when youre two immortal gods who share spheres of murder, mutual assassination attempts are just one facet of a millenias old romance

TES femslash week Day 1: Dawn

"You did say you wanted to look the part, my Thane," says Lydia. Grave and unsmiling, she offers the offending object again. "This is a traditional Nordic helm."

"It is a hat," says the Dragonborn, "with horns on it."

She turns about, tall and splendid in her bright mail and gleaming plate, and admires the billow of her cloak. And Lydia, standing aside, admires the woman wearing it. There's a subtle grace and power in the way that the Dragonborn, gilded in the dust-flecked light that streams through the armory's sole window, tests the balance of her raiment—she moves like a rippling dancer, like a snake uncoiling in the sun.

And she won't try on her helmet.

"The horns are an emblem of Shor," Lydia explains with a strained, if patient, smile. "That's why we wear them into battle. If they're good enough for the god of men—"

"—they should be good enough for me, is that it?" The Dragonborn turns to Lydia, her smile stern, her dark eyes flashing like flint. "Well. I am not your Shor."

Lydia is nothing if not practical. She meets the Dragonborn's gaze with steadfast unconcern, though she wants to blush and laugh and look away—she has never seen a pair of eyes that blaze with such devouring heat. She's never heard a laugh so rich, never seen a smile so sharp, never melted before a keen look like butter before the knife.

Then again, she's never sworn her life to a woman before. Not formally, at least.

"No," she agrees, flushing. "You're our Ysmir. And if a hammer splits your skull, the world ends with you." She holds out the helm. "And I'll be out of a job. So put this on."

For a long, long moment, the Dragonborn looks at her.

"All right," she says at last, and sinks to one knee. She bows her head.

"Oh." Lydia stares, her face heating further. "You—you want me to—"

"Yes," says the Dragonborn. "Please."

It's a dismal coronation, thinks Lydia, fitting the helm on the Dragonborn's head. There's no music, no feast, no gold-adorned crowd. The armory is dusty. The stale air smells of oiled leather and polish. But when Lydia's fingers—never clumsier—have fumbled the last clasp, she does not draw away, and the Dragonborn looks at her with gratitude and warmth.

"I will try to be a good Ysmir," she says softly, her smile grim and strange. And then, with a bright, swift laugh that chases the shadows from her face: "How do I look?"

She looks like a warrior. A hero foretold. And that, Lydia knows with an instinctive ache, is not an answer her Thane will ever want to hear.

Hey all! As a fan community, we’re putting together a femslash week (+ leap day) for the final eight days of February. We thought this would be a fun way of contributing to Femslash February as well as encouraging authors, artists, crafty types, & all sorts of content creators to showcase some of their headcanons and ideas about wlw characters in TES, canon or not.

What is accepted?

The honest answer is anything as long as it contains women and/or woman-aligned non-binary characters in relationships together. Art, short stories, sculpture, crafts, poetry, drabbles/microfiction, headcanons, graphic design, 3D art - any medium is accepted. If you create content of any kind, you’re welcome to participate.

Similarly, there is no restriction on how “canonical” your relationships need to be. You can depict OCs - in fact, one of the great strengths of Elder Scrolls as a series is how much you can develop your OCs, and we’d like to celebrate that too. Similarly, if you imagine particular canonical characters as wlw, you are more than welcome to depict them as such. OCs/OCs, OC/Canon, Canon/Canon is all acceptable.

What are the prompts and when are they?

Great question! The prompts are rough guidelines - one does not need to follow them rigidly, and can just post whatever they’d like. But if you’d like an extra dash of inspiration, or a scheme to follow, here is the schedule for the prompts:

22nd February - dawn

23rd February - magic

24th February - theatre, performance, & masquerade

25th February - wounds & healing

26th February - oblivion

27th February - promise

28th February - home

29th February - wildcard // free space

These can be interpreted as rigidly or as loosely as you’d like. You can use these ideas as a motif or as a more general theme that you can treat more abstractly. They’re designed to be a starting point from which your imagination can jump off and go wild. Don’t feel constrained by them!

How do I share my work?

Very simple! On tumblr you can share anything you make with the tag #tesfemslash.

If you’re crossposting to Archive of our Own, there’s a collection at TES Femslash Week 2020 you can add your works to.

Best of luck! I hope you enjoy this challenge :^)

The Elder Scrolls Femslash Week, day 1:  Dawn