#mtmf hc

[masterthiefmercerfrey]

Mercer Frey, popping out to grab some treats for his underlings

A little random, but thinking about how Thieves Guild members are mostly nocturnal due to their work, I wondered about Mercer, who is not beholden to keeping those same hours, might be just starting his day. In the Philippines on early mornings (in my area as early as 4am), the taho and pandesal peddlers will be out selling their fresh foods, and I had this silly idea.

If he feels so inclined, perhaps Mercer would visit the khajiit vendors, keeping up on the latest intel and rumors while also grabbing a couple bags of goodies. He comes back, morsels in tow, timed a little too perfectly as the last of the members are filtering into the cistern. Mercer keeps his face nonchalant as the others come to the table to grab their share, but inside, he's got the curliest, self-satisfied grin.

Small things like this placates them enough, and while they're laid in their bunks with warm sweets in their belly, Mercer can enjoy some peace at his desk for a few hours.

[masterthiefmercerfrey]

snowveil altercation sketch! I'm not good at conveying ideas, but I wanted to draw something between work

[masterthiefmercerfrey]

he's very measured with his responses, I think mercer's biggest charm point for me is his level of restraint in everything he does. it's the paranoia I think, he is in a state of being used to it but also being so hypervigilant that he can't afford to be used to it, so he tires himself out in every interaction with a constant control he has with himself and how he talks to others. it's hilarious yet sad.

my personal timeline estimation post puts him around 48 during the events of the game and i feel like the utter stress and inner exhaustion he puts himself through is why he looks so absolutely shitty. the man has gone through a wringer of his own making, and it absolutely shows on his face lol

all this to say his death is a much needed rest. I hope you got to steal back your soul from nocturnal, because bro... you really need to sleep, not be stuck in the fucking shadow realm

[masterthiefmercerfrey]

the time scheme for the entire questline seems botched, like there were 3-4 people working on it at once and somebody just assembled their combined efforts in ways that don't really make sense, but that's alright. we make do.

that aside, I think the real reason mercer stayed for 25 years when he could have just ditched the guild long ago is because he actually does care about being seen as the 'responsible guild master'. not to the people surrounding the guild but solely just to the people within it. it almost seems too simple, but... taking the mantle from gallus was one thing, but actually having all that put on along with the grief from members making him feel more important than he actually was...? unearned reliability and responsibilties that just seemed to slip more and more while his own betraying actions inadvertently plunged the guild further into the palms of maven black-briar.

there's a certain kind of feeling that comes with not wanting to leave a place.

hiding something youve done from people once close to you while also having layers of disdain. lying because its convenient, because so many years have gone by that it may as well be rewritten. not caring what they think if they found out the reality, but also not wanting to taint the perception even more when it does slip

[masterthiefmercerfrey]

guild's curse

not sure if I ever wrote it here or not, but I think about the guild's "curse" in two ways:

either

the guild is cursed with bad luck, but due to Mercer's ownership of the Key, he is unaffected. nobody notices this because he simply is too busy being chained to the desk with paperwork and making arrangements for others to go out on jobs himself.

or

the guild is not cursed, but they are instead feeling a very specific lack of Nocturnal's blessings. when the Key was removed, it simply closed the well of luck and thus revealed the guild's members true abilities, unaided by a daedric prince. it's a slap of a reminder that perhaps they had gotten complacent in their skills over the years. ...it doesn't seem like things have improved much at all in the last decades, with reality being easier to handwave as a "curse" out of their control. perhaps this is why the player character, even as bad or good of a thief they might be, can still succeed only because they are the only one really trying anymore.

[masterthiefmercerfrey]

.

very happy people are agree about mercer being a parent

[masterthiefmercerfrey]

despite everything, I believe he is still good at his position of guild leader and is reliable with matters. it seems like members often rely on his leadership with arranging missions and smoothing things over with Maven when things go wrong.

I just think it's more interesting to imagine that there are still parts of the guild he is attached to, as broken as it is when we see it in-game. there's a path with my characters I like exploring where mercer has come to terms with the guild falling apart, but something in him even with all his contempt, wishes to wrest it from Maven's funding at the very least. without her, it'd be much easier to continue siphoning the guild's gains and the guild's reputation wouldn't be so in the gutter (tee hee).

viewing the eyes of the falmer theft specifically as his Grand Leave in abandoning the guild only when his betrayal was revealed makes me enjoy the story more. he has stayed so long already, it doesn't make sense to leave the guild and cut the trickle of coin he has access to unless he needs to, right? in another world, I would like to see mercer stay in the guild and continue fleecing money while actually distancing the guild from the black-briar funding.

[masterthiefmercerfrey]

he's so cute I can't handle it. dear guildmaster...