#how to people bear to be so driven its embarassing

[stephaniedola]

there are two types of Writing Emails in academia

i hate this and i hate you

i am baring my soul to you right now and you're so cool and smart so if you even look at me i will die

[ribbons-in-autumn]

MY 2023 MEDIA ROUNDUP

I've read a lot of manga in 2023. I've watched some things in 2023. Here's my roundup of some of the best ones. Screenreader users I don't know how image ID descriptions work so I'm just gonna type out the text on the image.

Part 1 - Manga

There is no good manga that came out (or rather, started publication) in 2023. But here are some of my favourites that continued (or ended) publication.

Dungeon Meshi (ended publication) - An incredibly heartwarming story about family, adventure, and cuisine. Full of heart of traditional fantasy stories with an impeccable worldbuilding that accentuates its excellent characters.

Skip and Loafer (currently publishing) - Kindness and niceness doesn't always go hand in hand, but this story reminds you that everyone has the capacity for good. Its complex characters scheme, doubt themselves, keep secrets, confide in each other, tell jokes, keep busy, and do all the things that make them feel human and real.

Ikoku Nikki (ended publication) - Tearjerking, heartwrenching, cathartic. This story depicting life and grief makes me cry like no other, but it is not about sadness. It is about love, it is about awkwardness, it is about embarassment, it is about everything that keeps people going, that keeps us alive.

Medalist (currently publishing) - Something a bit different from the others, this is an underdog sports story, with wonderfully written characters and gorgeous art, it tells a story of grit, tenacity, and the hope that those feelings bring about. The main and deuteragonist characters are definite standouts at the cost of rather shallow side characters. Still, it's probably the best sports story in recent manga history, though.

The following are manga I read in 2023, but may be published earlier. Exercise caution as I'm too lazy to describe them.

Q.E.D. Shoumei Shuuryou - Case of the week mystery

Ohana Holoholo - Tearjerker story about former lovers who come to raise a child together

Ace of the Diamond - Baseball

Look Back - Growing pains and the horrors of being an artist

20th Century Boys - Insane goose chase conspiratorial mystery about a cult-driven coming apocalypse

Billy Bat - Supernatural thriller about international conspiracies based around a cartoon bat

Bokura no Funkasai ('Our Eruption Festival') - How two very different people handle their lvies being upended by a miracle

Tengoku Daimakyou ('Heavenly Delusion') - Post-post-apocalypse story about a country trying to rebuilt from its mysterious ashes

Sousou no Frieren ('Frieren: At Journey's End') - Longing, desire, regrets, and doing menial tasks for shit pay

Karakida-ke no Koshogurashi ('The Karakida Family's Life Among the Old Books') - Three sisters live together under the roof of their grandfather's antique bookstore

Part 2 - Movies

I'm not gonna claim I'm a regular moviegoer. Here's my best two out of ten movies I watched from this year:

Killers of the Flower Moon - This was my first Scorcese film and it did not disappoint. The direction and acting kept me repulsed at all times. I applaud them for portraying such an utterly unlikable protagonist. Lily Gladstone rocked.

Oppenheimer - Nolan's style of editing adds to the chaos of the story. The quick, sudden cuts from all the concurrent plotlines really lends itself well to how the story plays out. Cillian Murphy slayed.

Here's other movies which may have come out earlier:

Theatrical Revue Starlight (2021)

Dungeons & Dragons (2023)

The Handmaiden (2016)

John Wick: Chapter 4 (2023)

Evangelion 3.0+1.0: Thrice Upon a Time (2021)

Part 3 - Shows

Which is mostly anime. Sorry.

The Bear (Season 2) - People trying to live their best lives in the fine dining industry past their traumas and hardships. It is very stressful emotionally, but also really cathartic.

BanG Dream! It's MyGO!!!!! - Five girls, each 'lost' in their own way, find solace and comfort in music and each other's company. Within this idol anime lies so much heart and passion, it's no wonder Bushiroad has released countless merch of them.

These ones are all from 2023, I just don't want to write abot them.

Succession (Season 4) - Thrilling conclusion to the four season saga of this royal fuck-up of a family taking the world possible path on every crossroads

Gundam: The Witch From Mercury (Season 2) - A horribly rushed but still good ending of the main couple's storyline (and Guel). I just wish it was a 39-episode anime with a movie

Skip and Loafer - Incredibly faithful adaptation that stays true to the original while improving upon the already excellent characters

Heavenly Delusion - This anime is just straight up a better delivery of the first four books of the manga

Overtake! - NYOOOOOM! Also, great character writing.

[foulserpent]

solvej 4 and 5?

At present, how are they perceived by the people of Skyrim? By the general population, and by different factions?

really depends on what “present” is, but the most interesting answer is at the time of her death/as high king

general population: mixed bag. the years immediately following solvej’s coup were tumultuous, but at the time of her death things were actually a good bit more stable than they had been in recent memory, and skyrim was an independent province. shes surprisingly popular all things considered, but the majority of the population is neutral or negative towards her

she made an enemy out of nord nationalists, particularly in systematically eradicating the stormcloaks and in ceding the reach. her policies are largely conciliatory, with the goal of creating a united skyrim that can stand against the thalmor, and this is often interpreted as weak and placating. on the other end of that, she enforces her rule with the implicit threat of letting dragons go unchecked or intentionally setting those loyal to her on her detractors. and towards the end shes kind of spiraling and focused on becoming a living god.

anyway in terms of factions

thalmor: open hostilities

imperial legion: driven out of skyrim, some conciliatory measures, offered allyship against the thalmor

stormcloaks: wiped out

companions: outed as werewolves, some killed, but the people of whiterun liked them enough not to drive them out

thieves guild: pretty much unimpacted

dark brotherhood: pretty much unimpacted (i think they got a couple contracts against her, which failed)

college of winterhold: solvej used to teach there so its kind of awkward. the archmage, malae, does not like solvej’s whole godking thing but she doesnt seem to get the memo and puts a lot of effort into public works projects restoring the college and encouraging membership. so its like, alright i guess

How were they perceived before their Dragonborn identity became widely known?

solvej wasnt like, famous, but she was relatively known in a lot of places, partly due to being so conspicuous. she taught part time at the college of winterhold, and most people whove lived in winterhold, solitude, morthal, dawnstar longterm have seen her around and know her as “that big argonian” and someone you dont want to bother. 

she has one embarassing incident shes recognized for in windhelm, where she challenged some dumbass to a drinking contest and obviously won since shes the size of a bear and kept drinking to show off. eventually became extremely drunk and like smashed half  of the inn and got arrested in the streets after being restrained by like 10 guards. shes very embarassed about it but a lot of people there thought it was dope