bethesda biding their time to finally unveil the oblivion remaster at the perfect moment (skyblivion almost done, BDS adds microsoft and its subsidiaries to the boycott)

first piece to come out of the valentine commissions! This is killing me with how sweet it is I want three little bantam guars digging around in a greenhouse. jealous for real

What if Meridia fuckin partied

that mythic dawn museum in skyrim is extremely funny. imagine if someone opened a bin laden museum in kansas and the owner said that his dad flew the 9/11 plane. also its in his one room house. i am standing on his bed

Solstheim Interlude 2: Raven Rock Elite

More Solstheim elves, this time the fancy folk of Raven Rock.

I'm making an effort to give Solsthim elves a little more fitting variety in their outfits.

Adril Arano

The first face that greets you in Raven Rock. I thought he should look a little more culturally Dunmeri.

Cindiri Arano

Adril's wife, wants to return to Blacklight (and who can blame her?) She wears some polished ebony discs inlaid with a gold Redoran scarab, a relic of the mine's years of abundance.

After much trial, I removed the bone belt from the Robes of the Lich and made it into a nice set of robes for her

Lleril Morvayn

I gave Lleril a ebony and beetle wing diadem, seemed fitting for the ruler of Solstheim.

Vindil Severin

Gave Vendil a very tall ponytail look, as well as a hair doodad that pays homage to Mephala which feels appropriate for him lol.

Tilisu Severin

Tilisu now has some decorative markings and new hair and earrings.

Mirri Severin

Mirri got a new tattoo, earrings, and a small set of scars on her cheek.

Rezza for @forestcathedral

Your library book is 872 weeks overdue.

One thing I don't see show up as a consideration in worldbuilding a lot is what things are professionalized.

By that I mean how (and whether) certain activities or focuses are conducted in an organized, professional manner or treated as a career path or industry (often with set standards or training involved) rather than those that are treated primarily as hobbies or conducted in an ad hoc manner.

Standing armies, for example, are professionalized in a way that temporary armies or militias aren't. Being in the military is a profession that is organized and has specific standards and training and that clearly distinguishes between people who are or are not in the military. If we look at a lot of past wars, though, as well as many militias, being in the military was not a career for most people (especially most enlisted) and the time and effort between deciding to join and being on a battlefield was significantly smaller.

A professionalized military will generally be a stronger, more cohesive, more effective military--but it is also far more expensive to maintain, because as it is a profession the military servicemembers pull their salary from the military on a regular basis, and it takes away hands from other tasks such as manufacturing and farming.

Over the last few hundred years a lot of countries have seen (to varying degrees) professionalization of fields like firefighting, policing, pharmacology, emergency response, and search and rescue. In these cases, it reflects 1) a recognized need for a standing trained force that can respond quickly; 2) a recognized need for standards and credentialing; 3) the ability societally to have individuals who might otherwise be contributing to manufacturing or food production not do that indefinitely; 4) a dedicated ongoing effort to maintain standards, trainings, etc.; and 5) organizations (generally governments) that can pay for these services.

We also see the professionalization of other things, like youth sports--the push to treat youth sports as either primarily a system to develop professional athletes or a career on its own.

When you're doing worldbuilding, consider what roles would be treated in this professionalized manner, rather than those that would be viewed as temporary positions or conducted on an ad hoc basis.

Is there a standing professional military? How does the professionalization differ between officers and enlisted?

Is emergency preparedness, response, or recovery a professionalized field? Is the focus of that profession on planning? On search and rescue, triage, or other immediate response activities or coordination? On rebuilding following disasters? On managing grants, tax relief, or other monetary aspects of rebuilding?

Is pharmacology a regulated industry that requires training or credentialing? Is medicine?

Is firefighting generally conducted by individuals in the neighborhood? By private industry? By unpaid volunteers managed by a governmental or non-governmental organization? By full-time paid staff?

Are these positions generally a full-time job or an ad hoc/as needed job that can be called on? If it is an ad hoc position, what are the credentialing requirements to be put on the roster?

get this woman therapy, new pronouns, and some hrt

Marcurio's stupid ponytail is robbing us of some truly luxurious hair, I feel.

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

-Please do not reupload/edit/use without proper credit or linking back. Preferably ask first.-

Waterfalls in Markarth

The Iron Age Kitchen, The Scottish Crannog Centre, Loch Tay, Scotland

Some inked works I don't think I've shared. Featuring Azaren and Vespera (and Daren Dres, aka one of Azaren's many aliases)

(TES V: Skyrim, PC screenshot)