A_Three_Letter_Acronym



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    Always Read the Fine Print by

    Fandoms: Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, Elder Scrolls  

    21 Jul 2021

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    Summary

    Vera's world ended not with a bang, but with a whimper: the year is 2095, the world in the throes of late-stage climate change. The Earth will keep going, the humans - not so much. As it turns out, the apocalypse is contagious: either that, or she has spectacularly bad luck. Waking up naked on a bloody altar isn't the best introduction to a new place, but you make do with what life hands you. After a rocky start, Vera finds herself in Markarth, trying to make a new home for herself amidst the violence, corruption, and Thalmor zealotry. But just when things are finally settling down - as much as they can in the city of blood and silver - a Nord and a Dunmer roll into town with the mother of all bad deals. Always read the fine print.

    This series starts about a year before the events of the game and will continue through the timeline and the DLCs. This fic is the first installment. Canon-compliant(ish), but skews towards a lot of original content. Narration is in 3rd person limited; the protagonist is not the Dragonborn.

    Please note: content warnings applied to individual chapters.
    With deep gratitude to efmrider and polymorphic for their keen beta-ing eyes and support

    Series
    Language:
    English
    Words:
    196,789
    Chapters:
    53/53
    Comments:
    1,825
    Kudos:
    1,076
    Bookmarks:
    268
    Hits:
    36,986
    Bookmarked by A_Three_Letter_Acronym

    18 Jul 2023

    Bookmarker's Tags:
    Bookmarker's Notes

    (writing this, like, a month or so after I finished reading. details not necessarily specific)

    Centers on two people in similarly sticky situations, both desperate to restore/reassert their agency. Despite having incentive to leverage other people's dirt (including each others) to gain their independence from a common antagonistic force, they don't lean into that quite as much as they could. Dare I say it, they build a partnership out of their shared circumstances.

    Things the author is skilled at:

    Characterization -- perspectives and attitudes of characters come across very clearly in dialogue and descriptions. Vera's perspective is what guides us through the world, and the author uses her memories of her time in the modern/future real world environment (apocalyptic/post-apocalyptic) and her relationships with friends from that world to illustrate her assessment of her current situation. Very much enjoy that. In-game characters are expanded on significantly, and lore heavily inspires original characters. Characters are multi-faceted. I love it.
    World-building/expanding -- the world is very much fleshed out. Markarth is a living, breathing, gritty city here, and canon fantasy racism has nuanced implications.
    Foreshadowing and mystery development -- If a reader knows some lore, they will be able to guess at aspects of the characters' obstacles. However, there is still always a lack of clarity on the motivations of characters and what, exactly, each of them might know. This fic is absolutely building toward more complex things than a simple narrative rehash of gameplay. I love it.
    Humor -- certain characters' personalities are expanded on to support the humor. Author effectively communicates the main character's voice. I have sent screenshots of some dialogue to a friend, the lines were that funny (I'm looking at those scenes with Calcelmo and Aicantar).

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