44EllaBonbon44 this comment made me make the single grossest laugh I have ever done. I’m pretty sure i sounded like a donkey on crack. I’m sick and I laughed and coughed at the same time
You’re completely wrong. The best book in Skyrim is the one where a little girl has a meeting with some dragons and asks them “how do you speak when your jaws and lips are clearly not designed to create human speech?“ And the dragons respond “the same way our bat like wings carry us when we’re obviously too heavy to fly”
The Lusty Argonian Maid is the Elder Scrolls equivalent to those erotic visual novel games where you start because you wanna see sexy times but then complete the games because your engrossed into the story of people in the game. The sexiest thing of all is being emotionally open and caring
I want a mod to add him into the game as an NPC book collector trying to get his hands on some of these books and you can take quests from him to give them to him. It'll help highlight these more interesting books.
I thought you were gonna say just make his quest to read those books as he said. It'll activate when you find one of them, and give you 300 gold (...pieces) if you flip through every page
Brian, I have bad news for you. The people who want to read Skyrim histories are the same people who want to watch videos about Skyrim books. In this essay I will
@@NotAFanNAF wait, you actually think a degree makes you an authority what is and isn't "good" fiction? It's all subjective. Brian's intelligence and experience means he can give a more nuanced and informed opinion, but it's still an opinion.
For anyone on PC, just a heads up that there's an awesome audiobook mod that collected a bunch of voice actors to read almost all of these books. When you pick one up, you get the option to start the audio book. It's actually a really awesome way to experience them, whilst hunting deer or organizing cheese wheels or whatever people do in skyrim after 10 years of playing it
I love that The Book of Fate (which is a blank page) is included in the list of good fiction. The Book of Fate shows the destined fate of the reader. The player's character is a hero, which in TES lore is someone who is unbounded by fate and free to forge their own destiny.
A bit of lore behind that, Our heroes in every game aren't born under any of the star signs on the standing stones, they are technically born under The Prisoner sign. The Warrior takes away the Prisoner's skills, the Thief takes away their possessions, and the Mage takes away their identity. When The Prisoner is freed (and the character customized) it is their symbolic act of becoming anything they desire and being unbound by the Fate of the Aurbis. There are a lot of pages that explain it better than me, but that's the basics.
The Real Barenziah is like fanfiction, in that it starts out incredibly horny as the main character screws everyone in sight, and then gets way too real and horribly depressing as the author gets bogged down in lore and heavy storytelling.
@@jewelv1600 Oh yeah, apparently "all young dunmer are promiscuous" and she has lots of partners when she's young. And then she gets caught up in numerous political love affairs and becomes the mistress of Tiber Septim himself, most of the people she loves end up dying, she falls out of favor with Talos, and gets tricked into revealing the Staff of Chaos by Jagar Tharn. At least, that's what I remember from reading it several years ago
"I read everything, I am the keeper of the picture" This man needs his own NPC in the Arcanaeum with a bunch of lines from this video. Modders I'm looking at you
My favourite book was the one where the guy has his men around the table for dinner, and knows one of them has betrayed him. He waits until they have all eaten before telling them all that he knows of the plot and has poisoned only the traitor's food - whilst the antidote is in either a wine vessel or dessert or some such. The guilty party immediately dives for the antidote and guzzles it down. Only then, does the man reveal that he wasn't _exactly_ sure which one betrayed him, and so he launched a trap. Turns out, the food was never poisoned, and the "antidote" was indeed the poison all along. In one fell swoop the man was able to not only identify his enemy, but deliver his punishment simultaneously. Absolute legend.
i love how when he says "what gives you the right to decide whats good writing" he says he read all the skyrim books and not HE HAS A CREATIVE WRITING DEGREE!
@@larslowther1495 Exactly. How many of the great modern authors had degrees in creative writing? You know, the ones who grew up/went to college when creative writing degrees were already popular? I can't think of one.
Brian, I've got some potentially sad news: Waughin Jarth is probably dead. He's a Breton author who was around during the late third era, which means it's unlikely he'd be alive by the time of Skyrim as he'd be well over 200 years old.
Bethesda pulls this stuff all the time. When making Oblivion they gave Sir Patrick Stewart and ENTIRE BINDER about the character he voices. A character that lives for a solid 5 minutes.
But if I recall it, he still loved readin it and getting into the character, even though it was just 5 minutes. But I can't find any information about this binder even.
@Ben Affleck Is An Ok Actor The thing is, you really don't _need_ a binder's worth of details to educate someone on the importance of Uriel Septim. Going that far to ensure a VA has an accurate grasp on a character with, like, eight lines in the game he's in is very extra.
LastTheNoel Also there is a website devoted to the dragon language and you can translate words and phrases in to dragon tongue and vice versa! It’s incredible!!
Coming to this after Halo is somewhat disappointing. In most videos he has a dry, sarcastic, sometimes self-deprecating, always funny theme running under the sated goal. In this one, he just seems to be doing exactly what he stated he was going to do.
Ahmed He was a dumb bitch and the only information I retained from the book was that A) I hated reading it and B) No he wasn’t a dwemer they were ruins when he got there the dwemer were gone
My favorite line from begger has to be "during pregnancy, the queen had been more than twice as wide as she was tall, and the act of delivery took three months and six days after it had begun"
@@hel2727 ruclips.net/video/0dj7EVJ_mtA/видео.html i believe this song and its awkward presentation has, maybe ironically, become the "play wonderwall" of video game circles thanks for coming to my Ted Talk. **clap* *clap* *clap**
This video is basically Hermaeus Mora having a mental breakdown while speaking to the dragonborn about all the knowledge he has except Hermaeus Mora is less sexy than David Brian Gilbert
Also "DRAGONBORN!" "Aw, crap, he's mad at me." "I just read every single book in tamriel!" "I'm regretting becoming your champion." "HAVE YOU HEARD OF WAUGIN JARTH?!"
_ Correct, as in they aren’t doing it purposefully to reference him as a joke, but they do it without thinking, genuinely it’s become a real reaction they have. I’ve had it happen with a few comedians, it’s weird but fun
Neph Drummond yeah, but the way that he used it was ironically, so if they just used it like he used it instead of as a reference to him using it it is still ironically.
_ He may have used it ironically but that doesn’t at all mean that OP uses it ironically. That’s not really how picking up other’s lingo works. You start to subconsciously use it, whether ironically or unironically, and then it just seeps into your natural dialogue.
To everyone who wants to read the 58 books that Polygon rated "good fiction." (In alphabetical order.) 16 Accords of Madness, v. VI-IX-XII A Dance in Fire, v1-v2-v3-v4-v5-v6-v7 A Game at Dinner Advances in Lockpicking Aevar Stone-Singer Ahzirr Traajijazeri Argonian Account, Book 1-2-3-4 Beggar Breathing Water Chance's Folly Feyfolken I-II-III Flight from the Thalmor Incident at Necrom King Kolb & the Dragon Love Poem Mannimarco, King of Worms Mystery of Talara v1-v2-v3-v4-v5 Ode to the Tundrastriders Palla, Volume 1-2 Purloined Shadows Response to Bero's Speech Sacred Witness Sithis Song of Hrormir The Armorer's Challenge The Black Arrow, v1-v2 The Book of Fate The Dowry The Exodus The Marksmanship Lesson The Red Book of Riddles The Refugees The Windhelm Letters Thief Wabbajack Warrior Words and Philosophy Words of Clan Mother Ahnissi
Thanks fpr this! I was looking some generous soul to have done this the first time I watched the video. Now Im glad I checked the comments again on a re-watch :)
Some very, *very* good ones he didn't put in his 'good fiction' category: The Rear Guard, The Wraith's Wedding Dowry, The Locked Room, and Withershins. Of his 'good fiction' category, several particularly good ones are The Armorer's Challenge, Chance's Folly, A Game at Dinner, and Breathing Water. Morrowind has even more, but I'm very glad that these at least made it all the way into Skyrim.
I enjoyed the accounts of Mzelfenkelt or whatever. Seriously. Both him and Bzaltenzalft. Okay that was my lame attempt at being funny, But I literally enjoyed every historical book I came across, especially the ones about Dwemer lore because their civilization fascinated me.
I've had to pause this video after he said that to come and make this comment. He has the songs of Pelinal in his "boring" category, and I just have to wonder what fucking life he lives that the stories of a racist time travelling robot are fucking boring.
My personal favorite book in Skyrim is Racial Phylogeny, because, "... it is by no means clear whether the Argonians should be classified with dreugh, men, mer, or (in this author's opinion), certain tree-dwelling lizards in Black Marsh." I'm not quite sure why, but that line gets me every time.
@@Silverwind87 Why is it a problem? Racism is a thing that would 100% exist in that setting, and it should be there for the player to either have the chance to combat it(such as when you can persuade the argonian dock workers employer to pay them the same wages a nord receives) or ignore it or enable it.
@@Silverwind87the other dude who replied has a point, the intent was clearly there to make it racist, but not because they are racist but to be faithful to how the world would realistically develop with vastly different races/species (very unclear sometimes)
Me: i don't have time to read five scientific articles everyday, my teacher's expectations are way too high Also me: ah yes time to re-read and chronologically organize my entire elder scrolls library
NOTE: Something that Brian didn't mention was that _The Argonian Account_ is actually the sequel series to _A Dance In Fire,_ both of which feature Decumus Scotti. If you decide to read TAA, you should consider reading ADIF first (although ADIF is 7 books while TAA is only 4, and according to Brian TAA is better, so I'm not gonna break down your door if you decide to just read TAA straight away).
our school had a thing where at the beginning of the next school year, the person who read the most books would win something. destroy the competition by reading 338 books
I want Hermaeus Mora's quest in TES 6 to just be reading every single book, front to back, with a huge test afterwards, and the only reward to be the title of "Keeper of the Picture"
Butt Monkey onr of them is in ESO, probably that’s the reason, and most of the books that aren’t Vol 1 and 2 are fairly obscure. For instance, there is only one copy of the Lusty Argonian Maid Folio.
Yeah, A. It was his life's work, that's not something you can just pull out of your ass in a week, and 2. That's how you only publish like 5 books in your life.
I've been working on a universe for almost 9 months now (longer than some people work on their children) and basic backstory; monarchy was overthrown cause the king burnt his 6yo son alive, all the records for the rulers before then were destroyed, only folk tales and records in other places survived. So now, if I want to chuck in some cool ancient hero I can, and just have that be fine, and if I want to leave 7000 years of a blank slate; I can. Records got destroyed all the time throughout history. If it wasn't something undeniable and important enough to be documented, then it's unlikely that it'll be recorded, and if it is, it's even more unlikely that everyone will have the same version. Make it inconsistent. Make things be forgotten. Whether you know the truth in your head or not; preach to faulty record keeping. Get wild. Have fun with it.
Just to add on your comment from a different perspective. Think of it this way: Imagine that you knew you will continue to live on for an absurd amount of years... 400 000 years let's say! Would you keep your phone as a memento to this era? Keep it and make sure it survives another 1000 years so that at one point you can sell it as a historical artifact, or preach to your great great grea x100 grandchildren about the age that to them would be equal to a stone age culture for us, or even better, it would be magic to them if there was a big cataclysm or sth? No, you wouldn't! It's an everyday object that serves it's purpose. Heck, you wouldn't even remember most "epic moments of history" in a lifespan of 400 000 years.
@@rizahawkeyepierce1380 especially considering that tolkien was a linguist and not a writer by trade, meaning he spent a lot of time in screaming matches with everyone who edited his books, because he was making up words and language structures as he wrote and had to convince every publisher that they were legitimate and intentional. he also apparently stated that he wrote the books in such a way as to make a movie based on them impossible, but that might be apocryphal. so the lord of the rings is obtuse on purpose.
@@rizahawkeyepierce1380 It's the 21st century. Authors ought to pull literature out of their ass and get cash. Actually no, authors should write whatever they feel like just for jokes and steal money from the poor. But honestly, it's such a waste of time to write books and do so seriously like Tolkien. Just get a job at a tax office and buy stocks in fast food chains.
Took a break from reading an academic book on history to watch this, spat my drink all over the desk when he said 'nobody has ever enjoyed writing or reading an academic paper'
If this was fair everyone would get that by default. Everyone should have everything they need by default and I think a system that doesn't provide that, and instead forces people to suffer, like the one we have now, is a system in need of massive change.
rewatching this video again and remembered that directly because of this video recomendation i read Beggar, Thief, Warrior, and King as my reading book in english last year. i copied the entire series into my phones notes app and really enjoyed reading it. i even took notes and wrote summaries during the last two minutes of our class reading time so that i could better remember and understand the story as i read it. it was such a different style from everything else i read that year and reminded me how much i enjoy reading and analyizing stories, aand encouraged me to actively find media that i enjoyed rather then just pick a random book from my shelf when i was told i need a reading book for my english class.
You know, I've been playing Skyrim recently, it's my first playthrough, I came across one of the books Brian recommended completely by chance, it was just sitting on the floor in a dungeon, now I make sure to mouse over each book I come across just to see if I recognize the name. Hell I even picked up The Chronicles of Nchulef just to see how bad it was (it's bad), this video really made me appreciate the flavor text when normally I would skip over it, I've made it my own little out of game in game quest to find all 58 books Brian recommended, so thank you Brian, I have not jettisoned your gift.
"rrrRRRRIVITING" "mythicaaaaaaaaaal stories" "eEH" "Waughin Jarth" "Im a big jArTh hEaD" "Decumus Scotti" "you have to fast travel by, being eaten alive with a worm? thats great" "it's just so flavourful, and thats why im a jarth head"
The thing is that a lot of the literary analysis of historical, mythological, and even “eh” texts are important to the lore. “Alduin is Reel,” which was in your Eh section, shows the concept of mirrors, how different cultures *literally* shape gods, something confirmed by multiple other books like the Monomyth or even out of game lore like Shor, Son of Shor. Also the sermons of Vivec are a master class in metaphorical analysis.
I will never forget the book about the thief girl who worked too slowly & her vampire-related revenge on her teacher. It was brilliant. I kind of forgot what I was doing in-game after the book ended honestly... The book about Sheogorath's background is pretty cool too
I was getting a bus and as I climbed its stairs, I heard a bass boosted RIVETING in my head and paused for like one second, delaying the rest of the passangers who began to scream at me. Thanks Brian and Polygon
Lusty Argonian Maid should be an honorable mention, just because they had the balls to write actually somewhat decent erotica about an adulterous affair between a human and his lizard maid _AND_ hide it in a video game that is so broad that they might never even see it.
SOME history is boring. Migration and war history is never boring. History of the common bowl and spoon would be boring. Things like Norse history, the Mongols, or the Great Plague isn't. I can spend hours just reading about or listening to knowledgeable people talk about ancient weapons and armor and their history.
Wayne Purcell some migration and war history is very boring. A lot of the wars that were started over the dumbest things and resulted in no gain whatsoever can get boring after the 100th time.
Michael Henry there’s a level just above that though. The point where something was really pointless or stupid but not pointless or stupid enough to be amusing. It’s like the movies that are so bad they’re funny, but there’s also just bad movies.
Brian: "This is a wonderful way of showing people 'You need to read everything to get the full picture.'" Also Brian: "Should you read every book in Skyrim? NO! WHAT!? ... DON'T READ THEM!!!" He is trying to keep us from learning the truth.
yeah i read most of the books in elder scrolls and his assessment is correct mostly history and mostly boring there was one story for gaining 1 heavy armor skill point where a knight who was being cuckolded managed to sneak up on his wifes lober by walking up the stairs in full plate armor om his hands in order to get the drop on him lol.
You know, I am really so glad that Polygon picked up Brian. Like, I never really watched Polygon, but now that they've made content with Brian, I've been convinced to have a watch of some of their other stuff, and it's pretty good. Plus, I really love Brian's infectious humour and smile, it always just makes my day. Especially this and the LoZ timeline, some of my favourite informative funny gaming-related stuff.
Brian David Gilbert is the Jon Bois of Polygon. He’s like, the best, most fun person on the channel, makes fun and informative long-form videos, and pulls people into seeing what the rest of the channel is like. He’s super great
I've realized afterwards I have seen two of bdg's own videos before without knowing his name. The ha ha what video and the iona street one. He's a comedic genius
3:44 legit paragraph that says they were pals that hung out.its like when you need to make a 4 page essay and need a good grade but don't have a good source so you write a overly complicated run on sentences.
I remember playing either Skyrim or Oblivion and I found a book called A Dance in Fire. The book was written by Waughin Jarth, surprise surprise, and it was about Decumis Scotti again and his adventures in Valenwood. I always wanted to know more about Valenwood as it seems the most interesting province but to my knowledge no games have taken place there. The book was such a deep dive into what Valenwood and the wood elves were like through the eyes of a "civilized" imperial. I made it my personal mission to find every volume of the books and read them and I did. Finding a volume of that book was worth more to me than any other loot in the game.
No joke, I'd pay real money to see those staged readings of Skyrim drama
Sammmeee
Same
Same
I’d pay money for someone to complete The Lusty Argonian Maid with the consistent erotic tension for the whole 7 Acts.
Same
All the different angles make me feel like I’m multiple students attending his weird class
44EllaBonbon44 this comment made me make the single grossest laugh I have ever done. I’m pretty sure i sounded like a donkey on crack. I’m sick and I laughed and coughed at the same time
Ellery Oh my gosh lol. You’ve made my day with your crackhead donkey laugh.
I would LOVE Brian David as my college professor
ARandomFandomFan that sounds like a questionable porno
Where do I enroll?
You’re completely wrong. The best book in Skyrim is the one where a little girl has a meeting with some dragons and asks them “how do you speak when your jaws and lips are clearly not designed to create human speech?“ And the dragons respond “the same way our bat like wings carry us when we’re obviously too heavy to fly”
m a g i c k , b a b y
according to all known laws of aviation- [I AM SHOT]
Whats this book called?
@i want to commit literal genocide. sadly I don't remember, it's been nearly a decade since I read it and I couldn't find it by googling it
What about a hot lizard
The Lusty Argonian Maid is the Elder Scrolls equivalent to those erotic visual novel games where you start because you wanna see sexy times but then complete the games because your engrossed into the story of people in the game.
The sexiest thing of all is being emotionally open and caring
echo? idk dont spoil it
That is a book that exists in skyrim lol?
It became a work of satire for me because all female Argonians have smokers lung, and reading the maids lines with that kind of voice makes me laugh.
That's Adastra for the furs out there.
@@marcuswestphal4955 yes
I want a mod to add him into the game as an NPC book collector trying to get his hands on some of these books and you can take quests from him to give them to him. It'll help highlight these more interesting books.
And if you give him a particular one he takes a moment to read it then looks up at you completely dead-eyed and
*_R I V E T I N G_*
Thats... just flipping genius... modding community! You have a side quest!
I thought you were gonna say just make his quest to read those books as he said. It'll activate when you find one of them, and give you 300 gold (...pieces) if you flip through every page
So basically we should replace the vanilla NPC who asks you to hunt down books for the mage's guild.
You get extra payment if you take a quiz he gives you on the contents of some of the books
"It's time for the number one book"
Me: "it's the lusty a..."
"It's NOT the lusty argonian maid"
Got me
Timestamp...?
@@yt_krg ..no, you're a timestamp!
@@yt_krg 9:22
I was your 1k like 💪
I cried
Brian, I have bad news for you. The people who want to read Skyrim histories are the same people who want to watch videos about Skyrim books.
In this essay I will
thank you for coming to my ted talk
IS EVERYTHING OKAY AT HOME??
WHERE'S THE ESSAY. But really I would love to have an audio book set with all of these fully voice acted.
You will what?!
Where’s the essay OP?!
“I read every book in Skyrim!”
Me: Wow, that’s impressive!
“I printed it out in 5.5 font.”
Me: Wow, this guy is mad!
💯
You must be new here.
There's a reason the series is called "Unraveled". :D
He's become the new librarian of the College of Winterhold
I hope he manages to tolerate tht irritating orc ............
New librarian or not, Urag's rules about books still stand
@@rahulverma8774 i like that guy :')
*A S S O R T E D B O O K S*
Neva loved Urag Gro-Shub
“what qualifies you to do this?” *ignores creative writing degree from Hopkins*
I think reading all 337 books was probably more effort than getting a degree tbh
@@genuineinterest Well, no.
@@allrad4911 I think he was being sarcastic, if he wasn't though that wouldn't matter because you are right
@@NotAFanNAF wait, you actually think a degree makes you an authority what is and isn't "good" fiction? It's all subjective. Brian's intelligence and experience means he can give a more nuanced and informed opinion, but it's still an opinion.
@@8Rincewind I don't even know man, someone here is right but it's probably not me
For anyone on PC, just a heads up that there's an awesome audiobook mod that collected a bunch of voice actors to read almost all of these books. When you pick one up, you get the option to start the audio book. It's actually a really awesome way to experience them, whilst hunting deer or organizing cheese wheels or whatever people do in skyrim after 10 years of playing it
When books become holotapes.
The Elder Scrolls: Borderlands
I thought it was ported to console?
@@newguy371 ...yes you can?
@@newguy371 Skyrim Special Edition LITERALLY has a built in modding system fully supported, included and endorsed by Bethesda
I love that The Book of Fate (which is a blank page) is included in the list of good fiction.
The Book of Fate shows the destined fate of the reader. The player's character is a hero, which in TES lore is someone who is unbounded by fate and free to forge their own destiny.
Thank you for this, kind strangers. I was trying to find "the book of fate" in a collection I own and was almost losing my mind
AND THERE IS ALSO A BOOK CALLED THE PIRATE
@@NigerianCrusaderis that the fith book of beggar, thief, warrior, king?
NOPE ITS STANDALONE@@lavabiscuits
A bit of lore behind that,
Our heroes in every game aren't born under any of the star signs on the standing stones, they are technically born under The Prisoner sign. The Warrior takes away the Prisoner's skills, the Thief takes away their possessions, and the Mage takes away their identity. When The Prisoner is freed (and the character customized) it is their symbolic act of becoming anything they desire and being unbound by the Fate of the Aurbis. There are a lot of pages that explain it better than me, but that's the basics.
Brian *reads all books in skyrim*
*Hermaeus Mora wants to know your location*
This guy have all the forbidden knowledge in skyrim
Lmao
*Hermaeus Mora already knows your location*
😂👏
Oh god. Not him
brian’s brain is the most organized chaos i’ve ever seen
I read that as Brain's Brian
"Imma do something weird and random. But by gods name, it will be done correctly"
@UCiWIfZSqwh5Q_2snvF1EU-Q ughhh this Boi is sexy affff
Organized and chaos? so Brian is Jyggalag and Sheogorath all in one
I wish to be taught this power
It's been over a year and I still think about "RIVETING" and "HOW DARE YOU JETTISON MY GIFT?!"
As a Brian, I concede that BDG is the best Brian.
Brian Cuellar that was legendary
And you'd be second best. :D
You're a close second in my book buddy :)
what about brian cranston
The Real Barenziah is like fanfiction, in that it starts out incredibly horny as the main character screws everyone in sight, and then gets way too real and horribly depressing as the author gets bogged down in lore and heavy storytelling.
IM SORRY W H A T
@@jewelv1600 Oh yeah, apparently "all young dunmer are promiscuous" and she has lots of partners when she's young.
And then she gets caught up in numerous political love affairs and becomes the mistress of Tiber Septim himself, most of the people she loves end up dying, she falls out of favor with Talos, and gets tricked into revealing the Staff of Chaos by Jagar Tharn.
At least, that's what I remember from reading it several years ago
@@jewelv1600 yep. Then you meet her granddaughter in Skyrim during the Thieve’s Guild quest line!
@@giggityguy That feels like a fantasy version of Roxana by Daniel Defoe 🤔
(Which is also terrible btw)
@@giggityguy also feels very fanfic-y where she pops out a few kids who are then barely mentioned again
"I read everything, I am the keeper of the picture" This man needs his own NPC in the Arcanaeum with a bunch of lines from this video. Modders I'm looking at you
I want Urag to just randomly shout "SKYYRIM BOOK REPOOOOORRT!"
OH, GOD. YES, PLEASE!
He could give you a quest where you have to bring him a copy of all of Jarth's books.
Low key want a small quest line where you can hear this entire rant.
Nah he'd probably be wandering through Apocrypha at this point
“History is so boring”: the guy who has spent hours overanalysing the history of the sonic the hedgehog production bible.
Writing history thats litterally made up is less boring than reading history
THE WHAT
Edit: when I read this I imagined a version of the bible where the people are replaced by sonic characters
Mr Random look up sonic bible Brian David Gilbert. It’s worth it. Trust me.
That wasn't history, that was GOSPEL!
Didn’t he also read the Geneva Convention
brian you _cannot_ and _will not_ stop me from reading all the books in skyrim
Twice
Ya done yet
@@magicmac6184 No, polar died a fifth of the way through. The fiction was so dry it dehydrated them to the point of death
YA DONE YET???
polarbethy YA DONE YET??
My favourite book was the one where the guy has his men around the table for dinner, and knows one of them has betrayed him.
He waits until they have all eaten before telling them all that he knows of the plot and has poisoned only the traitor's food - whilst the antidote is in either a wine vessel or dessert or some such.
The guilty party immediately dives for the antidote and guzzles it down.
Only then, does the man reveal that he wasn't _exactly_ sure which one betrayed him, and so he launched a trap.
Turns out, the food was never poisoned, and the "antidote" was indeed the poison all along.
In one fell swoop the man was able to not only identify his enemy, but deliver his punishment simultaneously.
Absolute legend.
Damn, that's a very good one. Do you remember the name of the book?
A game at dinner@@luxiam9148
@luxiam9148 "a game at dinner." it's also a skillbook for alchemy since it teaches your character about poisoning people, lol
The alternate last supper.
A GAME AT DINNER IS GREAT
3:30 So, in summary: Four guys went to a place, had a conversation, and then went home.
rIVETING
And they became buddies :-))))
@GiantGoblin oh my god, they were roommates...
The true friends was the conversation we had along the way.
That's just a basic nightout
Random Guy: "Oh, so you're a Skyrim fan? Name every book in it."
Brian David Gilbert: "I'll do you one better."
Ok so I have come to the conclusion that Brian is a simp for lizards since the lusty argonian maid is short and only has innuendos
Ah, perfect, 337 likes
@@jvpro2076 scalie
@@VincentGonzalezVeg if this word is gonna mean the reptile version of furries then I don't wanna be credited in its creation
@@jvpro2076 dont worry, it does mean that but, you werent the first its been like this since 2020
i love how when he says "what gives you the right to decide whats good writing" he says he read all the skyrim books and not HE HAS A CREATIVE WRITING DEGREE!
With both he would have such a power to say what is good fiction
If you need a degree in creative writing...
@@larslowther1495 Exactly. How many of the great modern authors had degrees in creative writing? You know, the ones who grew up/went to college when creative writing degrees were already popular? I can't think of one.
qwerp poiuytre creative writing degrees don’t teach you how to decide what’s good.
@@finchhawthorne1302 Reading all 337 books does though, ya dingus.
Brian, I've got some potentially sad news: Waughin Jarth is probably dead. He's a Breton author who was around during the late third era, which means it's unlikely he'd be alive by the time of Skyrim as he'd be well over 200 years old.
Time for a necromancer to get him back on the writing table
@@pedrojose660Let's hope he'll find a particular disk and not mistakes the names
or he could go the boring route and idk show up as a ghost or something
So he really is like the Tolkien of Skyrim
@@goranpersson7726 Yeah like being dead means nothing in the elder scrolls lol half the important characters we meet are dead
"They are valid.
And they're wrong.
And they always seem to find my comment sections."
I was scrolling through the comments while the video played. Somehow the second I got to this comment, this line played. I am a sorcerer.
323 likes and 1 comment
Been trying to get RUclips's "end" URL parameter to work for like 10 minutes so I could send just that to a friend...
RegiRuler 5:23 AM you get your 1,400 like 10 months later you swine!
If your erection lasts for more than 7 acts, consult your physician.
Such a LArGe and MAgNiFICent piece!
Oh I snortled!
HA
1000 likes
Perfect
Plenty of time, my sweet, plenty of time.
Bethesda pulls this stuff all the time. When making Oblivion they gave Sir Patrick Stewart and ENTIRE BINDER about the character he voices. A character that lives for a solid 5 minutes.
But if I recall it, he still loved readin it and getting into the character, even though it was just 5 minutes. But I can't find any information about this binder even.
@@Liggliluff Oblivion behind the scenes... There was a bonus disc that came with the Oblivion Special Edition.
I dream to be that extra one day
@Ben Affleck Is An Ok Actor The thing is, you really don't _need_ a binder's worth of details to educate someone on the importance of Uriel Septim. Going that far to ensure a VA has an accurate grasp on a character with, like, eight lines in the game he's in is very extra.
you talkin about grandpa piss?
If only Brian had learned that Bethesda printed whole collections of the books so he didn't have to print them.
He loved to print. He just lived for printing.
@@polygon polygon why do you say this like he’s dead. Did pat use gnarly wrestling moves to huck him through a table or something.
@@wanamingo4961 brian left polygon
@@mischiefandmisadventurestu1878 no he died
@@polygon "He loved to print. He still does, but he also used to as well."
Fun tip for you Skyrim lore nerds: there is a website called The Imperial Library that has every single piece of written media from every single game.
Ty
Thanks, should make actually reading the chronological books easier then
Oh dear god...
AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!! T H A N K Y O U!!
LastTheNoel Also there is a website devoted to the dragon language and you can translate words and phrases in to dragon tongue and vice versa! It’s incredible!!
coming back to this after the halo video is like looking at firelord ozai's baby pictures
Amen to that
Coming to this after Halo is somewhat disappointing. In most videos he has a dry, sarcastic, sometimes self-deprecating, always funny theme running under the sated goal. In this one, he just seems to be doing exactly what he stated he was going to do.
JiffyJames85 it’s impressive to see how much his content has evolved
i appreciate this comment 10/10 reference
I’m doing the same AND YOU ARE RIGHT
He’s not exaggerating about The Chronicles of Nchuleft. I read the whole thing. It’s all like that.
You poor, poor soul. WHY
Can you tell me more about general Rkungthunch? Was he a dwemer by any chance?
@@Ahmed-vk8pv Just going by the name; I would think so.
I carry that book around as a grim reminder
Ahmed He was a dumb bitch and the only information I retained from the book was that A) I hated reading it and B) No he wasn’t a dwemer they were ruins when he got there the dwemer were gone
He mentioned fast traveling by worm and I said out loud "Oh yeah that one!"
oh worm
Out of all the comments, mr. Polygon decided to give this comment the spotlight. Congrats!
SHAI HULUD
"316,000 words"
Fanfic readers: Oh, that's average
Gotta get those numbers up, those are rookie numbers
Same
Me, casually reading a 2 million word fic: IVE BEEN ATTACKED
Homestucks: You sweet summer child, you babe swaddled in the cashmere blanket of ignorance.
@@Silverwind87 I've only heard legends and they scared me.
“beggar, thief, warrior, king” is my favorite song by the oh hellos
This!
I love you
There will come a beggar who asks you for some change,
He needs to get out of this place, oh ley oh lie oh lord.
I understood that reference
You win at life
My favorite line from begger has to be "during pregnancy, the queen had been more than twice as wide as she was tall, and the act of delivery took three months and six days after it had begun"
Remember when Unraveled started, and Brian was just like, neurotic, instead of channeling eldritch madness?
No
Can we have BDG and the rest of the Polygon staff perform the whole Lusty Argonian Maid play?
Chris Brinkley I need this to happen
PLEASE
May Bracy you doubt their theatrical strength?
@@voiceofsaph3225 It is my belief that they are the ultimate thespians.
Chris Brinkley the maid should be a random lizard they find somewhere
*walks into Starbucks with acoustic guitar* "Ooooooh there once was a hero named Ragnar the Red-"
this needs to happen
i wonder if, someday, i'll understand the joke here..
probably not :)
I believe in you Gallag.
IKRR
@@hel2727 ruclips.net/video/0dj7EVJ_mtA/видео.html
i believe this song and its awkward presentation has, maybe ironically, become the "play wonderwall" of video game circles
thanks for coming to my Ted Talk.
**clap* *clap* *clap**
This video is basically Hermaeus Mora having a mental breakdown while speaking to the dragonborn about all the knowledge he has
except Hermaeus Mora is less sexy than David Brian Gilbert
hmm... tentacles...
HAY! This comment section is kink shame free. If you wanna bang Hermaeus Mora (in tentacle form) go and follow your deams!
Not to me
He's actually secretly Hermaeus mora's new champion and got that title after doing this
Also
"DRAGONBORN!" "Aw, crap, he's mad at me." "I just read every single book in tamriel!" "I'm regretting becoming your champion." "HAVE YOU HEARD OF WAUGIN JARTH?!"
3:29 is probably my favorite part of the video, the way he says *R I V E T I N G* will always crack me up
It's so powerful I love BDG
The first Skyrim book I legitimately decided to read was Alduin is Real. I was immediately captured by the horrible lack of grammar.
Oh man that one was so funny
Was it written that way on purpose
Jimbo yes because it is a uneducated nord who wrote it but he was correct 100% which is very ironic
And he ent Akatosh
You got to love that irony
this man has now caused me to unironically say "rIVETING" in everyday conversation and i dont know whether to curse or thank him
Ellie Peltz unironically?
_ Correct, as in they aren’t doing it purposefully to reference him as a joke, but they do it without thinking, genuinely it’s become a real reaction they have. I’ve had it happen with a few comedians, it’s weird but fun
Neph Drummond yeah, but the way that he used it was ironically, so if they just used it like he used it instead of as a reference to him using it it is still ironically.
_ It may or may not technically correct, but that’s what they meant and how it’s used.
_ He may have used it ironically but that doesn’t at all mean that OP uses it ironically. That’s not really how picking up other’s lingo works. You start to subconsciously use it, whether ironically or unironically, and then it just seeps into your natural dialogue.
Idiots: Fifty Shades Of Grey
Me, an intellectual: The Lusty Argonian Maid
Sexy lizard > actual people
The sultry argonian bard
I mean both have the same level of foreplay.
@@Snakekitty94 so just a bard.
Argonian or Draconian?
My favorite was this blind bandits book, and it having absolutely no text at all. Just a blank book. Made me actually laugh out loud
Ahh, I but didn't you notice the braile?
To everyone who wants to read the 58 books that
Polygon rated "good fiction." (In alphabetical order.)
16 Accords of Madness, v. VI-IX-XII
A Dance in Fire, v1-v2-v3-v4-v5-v6-v7
A Game at Dinner
Advances in Lockpicking
Aevar Stone-Singer
Ahzirr Traajijazeri
Argonian Account, Book 1-2-3-4
Beggar
Breathing Water
Chance's Folly
Feyfolken I-II-III
Flight from the Thalmor
Incident at Necrom
King
Kolb & the Dragon
Love Poem
Mannimarco, King of Worms
Mystery of Talara v1-v2-v3-v4-v5
Ode to the Tundrastriders
Palla, Volume 1-2
Purloined Shadows
Response to Bero's Speech
Sacred Witness
Sithis
Song of Hrormir
The Armorer's Challenge
The Black Arrow, v1-v2
The Book of Fate
The Dowry
The Exodus
The Marksmanship Lesson
The Red Book of Riddles
The Refugees
The Windhelm Letters
Thief
Wabbajack
Warrior
Words and Philosophy
Words of Clan Mother Ahnissi
I oof'ed a little when I couldn't find Hallgerd's Tale and Immortal Blood
Thank you, good sir.
Where is the doors of oblivion QwQ
@@rootintootinnewton You're welcome. :)
I initially made this list for my own use. But then i thought, others might be glad if I shared it.
Thanks fpr this! I was looking some generous soul to have done this the first time I watched the video. Now Im glad I checked the comments again on a re-watch :)
“Hey Todd???” The sign of a Polygon man in pain
Operatic Egg This Is The Nugg
Legends has it, he films this all on one camera multiple times
@@ellacsarno411 It's a joke you walnut
@@aggrave790 yaaa i shouldnt be writing comments overcoffeinated at 3am
@@aggrave790 love the use of the word walnut haha
@@sacex594 Thanks I definitely stole it from something but I don't remember what.
Just reading this comment hurts me.
Some very, *very* good ones he didn't put in his 'good fiction' category: The Rear Guard, The Wraith's Wedding Dowry, The Locked Room, and Withershins. Of his 'good fiction' category, several particularly good ones are The Armorer's Challenge, Chance's Folly, A Game at Dinner, and Breathing Water. Morrowind has even more, but I'm very glad that these at least made it all the way into Skyrim.
Rear Guard was probably my favourite ngl
Wait he really didn't put Withershins in good fiction. I thought this guy's taste couldn't get worse lol
The cameras be like : 🔼🔽⬅️➡️↙️↘️↪
Cant unsee
I don’t think it would have bothered me too much to begin with, but now this is really distracting lol
They’re following his eyes
No joke, I thought you were going to enter the Konami code.
Damn
Boy he is using those 3 cameras
Yes got a little too much at the end
Ya I had to look away because it just became too much...
"history is boring"
- video made for fans who are invested in a game's lore and history
Henriko Magnifico we are kinda boring.
I enjoyed the accounts of Mzelfenkelt or whatever. Seriously. Both him and Bzaltenzalft.
Okay that was my lame attempt at being funny, But I literally enjoyed every historical book I came across, especially the ones about Dwemer lore because their civilization fascinated me.
@Mendes idk I like it all
I've had to pause this video after he said that to come and make this comment. He has the songs of Pelinal in his "boring" category, and I just have to wonder what fucking life he lives that the stories of a racist time travelling robot are fucking boring.
"I don't care about Barenziah, it's boring" DID YOU MISS THE BOOK WITH THE THORNED KHAJIT COCK? YOU THINK BARBED CAT MAN PENIS IS BORING?
I would legitimately pay for a stage play version of The Lusty Argonian Maid with BDG as the lead actor.
💀
Brian gives off a very specific "let's do the fork in the garbage disposal" energy
"I am going to throw myself into the sea"
"OH MY GOD GUYS KIKI'S DEAD!! SHE YESS-ED TO DEATH! WE GOTTA YES HARD ENOUGH TO REVIVE HER!"
I would give you a like but you're at 666 already
why is this??? accurate??
I hate how accurate that is
Brian is the fork and the books are the garbage disposal
3:29 at the end of all that the way he just says “R I V E T I N G” it kills me
I quote it all the time now.
same! it is so hilarious. i dunno why lmao
Same
3:58 for the “R I V E T I N G”
I literally decided to rewatch this video just for the "R I V E T I N G" lmao
I don't know who this strange well dressed nerd is, but I am in love with him.
I just came down here to the comments section to say, "so it's not just me, right? Everyone's in love with him?"
@@gamingbitchface6823 He's soooooo dreamy...
@Anthony White The tie.
if u think his dreamy then im angel from heaven ... :D :)) jk
@@shahin1339 wtf
BDG: ITS OVER 312,000 WORDS!!
*fan fic writers/ readers laughing maniacally in the distance *
Ew.
Ew.
C0DA
Ew.
My exact thoughts.
"There's no way you can maintain that kind of erotic tension for seven acts" *cries in 400k words slow-burn enemies-to-friends-to-lovers fanfic*
I feel that.
Lol you’re actually right about this.
No lie, I wanna read that.
YES. THIS.
@아니네 But its a vkoooook
waughin jarth looks like what would happen if you tried to describe a human purely from memory to an alien sketch artist
My mind immediately went to the changelings in Star Trek DS9.
So does his name.
I dont care if I know the videos by heart, im going to watch the entire series again for the the 30th time.
Oh wow this got a heart
@@Fi___ a heart for a heart.
Haha exactky
@@cable7763 hol' up, *anymore* ?
i for sure thought i was the only one who did this
My personal favorite book in Skyrim is Racial Phylogeny, because, "... it is by no means clear whether the Argonians should be classified with dreugh, men, mer, or (in this author's opinion), certain tree-dwelling lizards in Black Marsh." I'm not quite sure why, but that line gets me every time.
its just so funny how casually racist like half the books in these games are to every race without exception
@@plugshirt1762 This a problem pervasive in the high fantasy genre.
@@Silverwind87 Why is it a problem? Racism is a thing that would 100% exist in that setting, and it should be there for the player to either have the chance to combat it(such as when you can persuade the argonian dock workers employer to pay them the same wages a nord receives) or ignore it or enable it.
@@Silverwind87the other dude who replied has a point, the intent was clearly there to make it racist, but not because they are racist but to be faithful to how the world would realistically develop with vastly different races/species (very unclear sometimes)
I'm reading them all. _Just to jettison your gift._
I like how Polygon just hearted "Physical Mainfestaion of Cancer"
Do IT!
...Cancer is generally a... physical thing.
What I like most about this comment is that I don't know if you're telling the truth or not
I will read because it will improve my english
The video we never knew we needed
True
Facts
Oh I knew... And I waited, for I don't have the will to read them all
True
Then we did
Teacher- “make sure to read 15 books over break”
me- “time to head to the college of winterhold”
Me: i don't have time to read five scientific articles everyday, my teacher's expectations are way too high
Also me: ah yes time to re-read and chronologically organize my entire elder scrolls library
Its a good place to find books 😄📚
Katrin Baumgarten right???
Honestly, I have been reading books from oblivion for my Final project.. why not
@@nicole_hagedorn There's books in Oblivion? 😮
NOTE: Something that Brian didn't mention was that _The Argonian Account_ is actually the sequel series to _A Dance In Fire,_ both of which feature Decumus Scotti. If you decide to read TAA, you should consider reading ADIF first (although ADIF is 7 books while TAA is only 4, and according to Brian TAA is better, so I'm not gonna break down your door if you decide to just read TAA straight away).
Polygon did such a great job hiring Brian
Hard agree. I just wish we still had Week in Review or some other musical outlet for this good good boy.
Have you seen his cover letter? How could they not!
"No one has ever enjoyed writing or reading an academic paper" is a completely true sentence and I feel very strongly about it.
I have, but it's like 1 in 10 at best
The trick is cherrypickin so you only read academic papers you enjoy
I've actually enjoyed both writing and reading papers, but yeah, I had opportunities to choose topics that were interesting to me at the time
that quote comes from the guy who has spend a bit more than a year now with a series almost always reading way too much academic papers xd
literally busy procrastinating by having this video open while trying to write a journal article I really don't want to anymore
BDG: does anyone actually have the time to read all the books in skyrim?
Everyone, in quarantine: *sweats nervously*
Thief was like the first book i found and omg let me tell you i was enthralled by the story, and excited to find the other three
"Should you read every book in Skyrim?"
"No."
*video ends*
Teacher: So what did you read for the summer?
Me: Argonian Account
our school had a thing where at the beginning of the next school year, the person who read the most books would win something. destroy the competition by reading 338 books
I read The Real Barenziah. Daggerfall version,of course ;)
The L U S T Y argonian maid uwu
"the lusty arg-"
Pfft, your not even on my level. I read the lusty argonian maid.
I want Hermaeus Mora's quest in TES 6 to just be reading every single book, front to back, with a huge test afterwards, and the only reward to be the title of "Keeper of the Picture"
First Name Last Name Nope! Thumbs down 👎 That actually sounds like Rectal nugget crumb-age
Imagine the Speed-runs for that quest
@@theleanbusinessman5431 someone failed 3rd grade English. 😂
@@MaskJackal100 Don't you get the joke?
Calm down Satan
What a funny guy, I hope his employer gives him health insurance
Lusty argonian maid - oral tradition
Lusty argonian maid Vol.1.
Lusty argonian maid Vol. 2.
Lusty argonian maid Folio.
Lusty argonian maid, a song.
Sultry argonian bard.
Fair argonian maiden.
That’s all you need.
Mmm
Lusty argonian footman is my favorite pub.
The combined volumes of Lusty Argonian Maid Vol 1&2 with the DLC is my favorite book of all time
Stephen L the Folio, is one of my most important piece in my collection.
Butt Monkey onr of them is in ESO, probably that’s the reason, and most of the books that aren’t Vol 1 and 2 are fairly obscure. For instance, there is only one copy of the Lusty Argonian Maid Folio.
My friends, The Lusty Argonian Maid is both academic AND instructional.
It taught me how to polish spears. But for sone reason I have yet to find spears on my travels.
serious li Use mods and you can download Spears and other “spears “.
Before you bake bread you must let it rise
I used to use the picture you used for the longest time. I called myself dady smuirf
2
"Tolkien did the world a disservice by convincing fantasy writer's that they need to chronicle every single second"
As a fantasy writer... THANK YOU.
Yeah, A. It was his life's work, that's not something you can just pull out of your ass in a week, and 2. That's how you only publish like 5 books in your life.
I've been working on a universe for almost 9 months now (longer than some people work on their children) and basic backstory; monarchy was overthrown cause the king burnt his 6yo son alive, all the records for the rulers before then were destroyed, only folk tales and records in other places survived. So now, if I want to chuck in some cool ancient hero I can, and just have that be fine, and if I want to leave 7000 years of a blank slate; I can.
Records got destroyed all the time throughout history. If it wasn't something undeniable and important enough to be documented, then it's unlikely that it'll be recorded, and if it is, it's even more unlikely that everyone will have the same version. Make it inconsistent. Make things be forgotten. Whether you know the truth in your head or not; preach to faulty record keeping. Get wild. Have fun with it.
Just to add on your comment from a different perspective. Think of it this way: Imagine that you knew you will continue to live on for an absurd amount of years... 400 000 years let's say! Would you keep your phone as a memento to this era? Keep it and make sure it survives another 1000 years so that at one point you can sell it as a historical artifact, or preach to your great great grea x100 grandchildren about the age that to them would be equal to a stone age culture for us, or even better, it would be magic to them if there was a big cataclysm or sth? No, you wouldn't! It's an everyday object that serves it's purpose. Heck, you wouldn't even remember most "epic moments of history" in a lifespan of 400 000 years.
@@rizahawkeyepierce1380 especially considering that tolkien was a linguist and not a writer by trade, meaning he spent a lot of time in screaming matches with everyone who edited his books, because he was making up words and language structures as he wrote and had to convince every publisher that they were legitimate and intentional.
he also apparently stated that he wrote the books in such a way as to make a movie based on them impossible, but that might be apocryphal. so the lord of the rings is obtuse on purpose.
@@rizahawkeyepierce1380 It's the 21st century. Authors ought to pull literature out of their ass and get cash. Actually no, authors should write whatever they feel like just for jokes and steal money from the poor. But honestly, it's such a waste of time to write books and do so seriously like Tolkien. Just get a job at a tax office and buy stocks in fast food chains.
Took a break from reading an academic book on history to watch this, spat my drink all over the desk when he said 'nobody has ever enjoyed writing or reading an academic paper'
I demand the Lusty Argonian Maid dramatic reading.
Yes, yes, yes.
Plenty of time my sweet, plenty of time.
Lusty Argonian Maid or anarchy
Dexter Badger AJ why not both?
I would enjoy
"How _dare_ you jettison my gift!" is definitely my new favourite phrase.
LOL more like ILC...
I literally chortled
What does it mean? Or referencing?
I bore this burden! For you!
Those 8 writers deserve paid retirement for the rest of their days
For real tho
everyone does
@@pumpkinpartysystem no. If this was a fair world you'd have to earn that which these writers have
If this was fair everyone would get that by default. Everyone should have everything they need by default and I think a system that doesn't provide that, and instead forces people to suffer, like the one we have now, is a system in need of massive change.
@@pumpkinpartysystem no that's wrong. People have to EARN their keep. If you cant earn your food and living you shouldn't want it.
rewatching this video again and remembered that directly because of this video recomendation i read Beggar, Thief, Warrior, and King as my reading book in english last year. i copied the entire series into my phones notes app and really enjoyed reading it. i even took notes and wrote summaries during the last two minutes of our class reading time so that i could better remember and understand the story as i read it. it was such a different style from everything else i read that year and reminded me how much i enjoy reading and analyizing stories, aand encouraged me to actively find media that i enjoyed rather then just pick a random book from my shelf when i was told i need a reading book for my english class.
You know, I've been playing Skyrim recently, it's my first playthrough, I came across one of the books Brian recommended completely by chance, it was just sitting on the floor in a dungeon, now I make sure to mouse over each book I come across just to see if I recognize the name. Hell I even picked up The Chronicles of Nchulef just to see how bad it was (it's bad), this video really made me appreciate the flavor text when normally I would skip over it, I've made it my own little out of game in game quest to find all 58 books Brian recommended, so thank you Brian, I have not jettisoned your gift.
A true men of culture. Good Reading for you.
It seems the 🎶 Skyrim Book Report 🎶 has served you well
*I read All 337 books in Skyrim*
Weird flex but ok
Gay
Didn't expect that reaction but that's ok
I commented just bcoz
perfect meme fit
So "weird flex but okay" is getting kinda famous
Weird flex but okay
"rrrRRRRIVITING"
"mythicaaaaaaaaaal stories"
"eEH"
"Waughin Jarth"
"Im a big jArTh hEaD"
"Decumus Scotti"
"you have to fast travel by, being eaten alive with a worm? thats great"
"it's just so flavourful, and thats why im a jarth head"
"HEY TODD! WhAT THE FuUCK???"
"History's so bOOOORIIIIIIIIIING. *aAAA-* "
"jARTH, YA DID IT AGAIN!"
"Who doesn't love a little erotic lizard fiction?"
"HOW COULD YOU JETTISON MY GIFT?!"
_(inhales)_ *_N O O O O O O O O - -_*
The thing is that a lot of the literary analysis of historical, mythological, and even “eh” texts are important to the lore. “Alduin is Reel,” which was in your Eh section, shows the concept of mirrors, how different cultures *literally* shape gods, something confirmed by multiple other books like the Monomyth or even out of game lore like Shor, Son of Shor. Also the sermons of Vivec are a master class in metaphorical analysis.
He is only trying to keep us from reading them so he can control all of the information. Don't let yourself be censored. Read all the books.
It literally just hit me that all the skyrim books combined are longer than Ulysses and the first book of a song of ice and fire wtf bethesda
Crazy part is even normal games can have 1000s of pages of dialog.
316k words? That's the size of a good fanfic.
Good fiction
Goooood fiction
on this watch I was definitely like, hold on a sec, Embers by Vathara is 700,000+ words, 300,000 is sizable but it’s not wild
Everyone, reply with the biggest fanfic you've ever read! Mine is 789,589 words long (according to the AO3 word counter).
@@thewolfofthestars1847 Around 1.3 million words was probably the largest one I've read in its entirety.
I will never forget the book about the thief girl who worked too slowly & her vampire-related revenge on her teacher. It was brilliant. I kind of forgot what I was doing in-game after the book ended honestly... The book about Sheogorath's background is pretty cool too
I give two shits about a king who lost a war seven hundred years ago
Yeet
Everyone does, they just don't know it. August, Saturday, etc.
I give three tbh
@@eoincronin6146 I give three hundred shites!
slow down there ^
RUclips recommended coming in pretty clutch at 1am
I was going to like your comment, but then saw it was at 420 likes and withheld it
Exactly the same for me
rip aniki PepeHands
I love it when people talk directly to Todd. We know he's always watching.
you know a video is legendary when your brain plays it in your head out of nowhere even after 4 years
Went through the same motion. This Brian Gilbert guy is a RUclips legend for me.
True
I was getting a bus and as I climbed its stairs, I heard a bass boosted RIVETING in my head and paused for like one second, delaying the rest of the passangers who began to scream at me.
Thanks Brian and Polygon
🎶SKYRIM BOOK REPOOORT🎶
Lusty Argonian Maid should be an honorable mention, just because they had the balls to write actually somewhat decent erotica about an adulterous affair between a human and his lizard maid _AND_ hide it in a video game that is so broad that they might never even see it.
somewhat decent
it's pretty badly written
Now I wanna read this dragon maid fanfic
It's awfully written what do you mean 😂
Lusty Argonain Maid was written for Morrowind. You have no goddamn idea how much suggestive content is in Morrowind.
“History is BOORRRINGGGG” As a history major, I feel that.
Imagine Sheo's voice (aka Wes Johnson) saying that, friend.
SOME history is boring. Migration and war history is never boring. History of the common bowl and spoon would be boring. Things like Norse history, the Mongols, or the Great Plague isn't. I can spend hours just reading about or listening to knowledgeable people talk about ancient weapons and armor and their history.
Wayne Purcell some migration and war history is very boring. A lot of the wars that were started over the dumbest things and resulted in no gain whatsoever can get boring after the 100th time.
@@Aplesedjr Sometimes I find the stupid and pointless history to be fun because the stupidity and pointlessness is amusing.
Michael Henry there’s a level just above that though. The point where something was really pointless or stupid but not pointless or stupid enough to be amusing. It’s like the movies that are so bad they’re funny, but there’s also just bad movies.
Brian: "This is a wonderful way of showing people 'You need to read everything to get the full picture.'"
Also Brian: "Should you read every book in Skyrim? NO! WHAT!? ... DON'T READ THEM!!!"
He is trying to keep us from learning the truth.
I read almost every book in Morrowind over the course of about 600 gameplay hours. Totally worth it.
GET HIM!
Centorea 88 Hermaeus Mora & the Psijic Order want to know your location
He is the keeper of the picture
yeah i read most of the books in elder scrolls and his assessment is correct mostly history and mostly boring there was one story for gaining 1 heavy armor skill point where a knight who was being cuckolded managed to sneak up on his wifes lober by walking up the stairs in full plate armor om his hands in order to get the drop on him lol.
"Beggar, Thief, Warrior, King" are all amazing, but I also personally recommend:
The Armourer's Challenge
Vernaccous and Bourlor
You know, I am really so glad that Polygon picked up Brian. Like, I never really watched Polygon, but now that they've made content with Brian, I've been convinced to have a watch of some of their other stuff, and it's pretty good. Plus, I really love Brian's infectious humour and smile, it always just makes my day. Especially this and the LoZ timeline, some of my favourite informative funny gaming-related stuff.
Isaac Morris
His humor has a tad bit of the three beautiful brothers in it.
You should definitely get into the monster factory videos because they're made by three gods called the McElroy brothers.
Brian David Gilbert is the Jon Bois of Polygon. He’s like, the best, most fun person on the channel, makes fun and informative long-form videos, and pulls people into seeing what the rest of the channel is like. He’s super great
I've realized afterwards I have seen two of bdg's own videos before without knowing his name. The ha ha what video and the iona street one. He's a comedic genius
@Boco Corwin We're all gay for Brian, we're all gay.
3:44 legit paragraph that says they were pals that hung out.its like when you need to make a 4 page essay and need a good grade but don't have a good source so you write a overly complicated run on sentences.
I feel attacked... But it's true, especially when I get paid for essays.
Mr. MAXXAM to quote K2SO: these are prisoners... I am here to imprison them... in prison
I forgot about "HOW DARE YOU JETTISON MY GIFT!?" I'm dead, I must use this forever.
Such a powerful line
I remember playing either Skyrim or Oblivion and I found a book called A Dance in Fire. The book was written by Waughin Jarth, surprise surprise, and it was about Decumis Scotti again and his adventures in Valenwood. I always wanted to know more about Valenwood as it seems the most interesting province but to my knowledge no games have taken place there. The book was such a deep dive into what Valenwood and the wood elves were like through the eyes of a "civilized" imperial. I made it my personal mission to find every volume of the books and read them and I did. Finding a volume of that book was worth more to me than any other loot in the game.