.out from thee shapeless mass. @sweetnecropolis - Tumblr Blog

Statue to Meridia

Something I've always loved about Skyrim was something very specific -- a line from the quest The Cure for Madness, in which Cicero, still unseen, shouts through the Dawnstar sanctuary: "could you at least... slow down a bit? I'm not what I used to be."

Even before I really started paying attention to Cicero and loving the character as much as I do, that one line instantly clicked as a double-entendre after having read his journals. The first and most obvious meaning to "I'm not what I used to be," was his age. Cicero is canonically in his 30s-40s by the time we see him in Skyrim, and on a surface level he's talking about how run-down he physically feels. But the second meaning is what's most intriguing. He takes the phrase "I'm not what I used to be" literally, in that the line represents how much he'd changed from his former self throughout the course of worshipping the Night Mother, being alone with her for at least 10 years, and finally arriving in Skyrim and seeing Astrid trying to take a personal hold over the whole Dark Brotherhood.

That line is the first blatant signal to the player character (at that point in the game, the Listener) that Cicero is so much more self aware than he ever openly lets on. And that one line is what fully cemented my love for Cicero just as a whole during my first Skyrim playthrough.

#*resisting the urge to infodump about my OC x canon ship randomly*#but anyway what I will say is YES and I feel like Cicero being a lot smarter and more self aware than he lets on is so very overlooked when #it comes to his characterization #like he is the funny meme jester yeah but that’s like a fanon thing mostly and I feel like that gets lost sometimes idk idk I like exploring #that part of him in writing :) really there’s so much there do with Cicero… le sigh #Cicero Skyrim ilysm <3

mythicalmeowz

mmmm jester

emergencyd4

r-r-raf

Could robot estrogen fix Lore?? I don't know, but I think it's worth a shot

mcswoop-spaghett

Finally decided to post some of my art, expect more later:)

drunk-librarian-art-deactivated

"Laughing, laughing, laughing, laughing! It is the jester! A voice from the Void, to cheer poor Cicero! I accept your gift, dearest Night Mother. Thank you for my laughter. Thank you for my friend."