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strawsoldier · 9 months

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Fall 2023 Anime-Round Up

Incredibly strong season for anime. Popular IP's finally getting their anime adaptions (Frieren, Kusariya). More enjoyable sequels (Spy x Family, Kagejitsu). And probably the biggest anime in existence finally finally came to it's conclusion (AOT)

oh and Zom 100 finally came back from production hell lol

Anime of the Season: Jujutsu Kaisen 2nd Season

Best Opening: Specialz (Jujutsu Kaisen 2nd Season) + Nemurasareta Lineage (Ancient Magus Bride S2)

Best Ending: know me... (Undead Unluck)

Drops: 100 Girlfriends, Stardust Telepath (may pick those up someday if im bored)

Plans to Watch at a later date: N/A

Completed:

SPY×FAMILY Season 2 - (8/10)

I never liked how SpyFam diluted into an A plot or B plot with each and every episode after the second cour of the first season. This also occurred in S2 but was definitely a return to form for this show. Everything else was mostly the same stuff. If you loved S1, you'll lvoe this. Very excited for the upcoming movie.

Attack on Titan: The Final Season - The Final Part - (10/10)

What can I say about this juggernaut of a franchise ending that hasn't already been said? I still remember myself in 2013 watching the first episode of Attack on Titan being floored that anime could be like this. If it wasn't for this show I would not have discovered of what Japanese Animation has to offer outside of Naruto and One piece. Thank you so much to all the staff involved in making this- From WIT and MAPPA.

and I hope I never have to type that stupid title ever again

Arknights: Perish in Frost - (8.5/10)

Very engaging season of Arknights. Can very much see why Arknights fans say the writing just gets better and better with each chapter. Still not going to play the game tho lmao

Blaze <333

The Eminence in Shadow Season 2 - (8/10)

The frenzy has begun. The moon is red. We are out of time.

stupid isekai continues to be stupid (wholesome). Can't wait for the movie

Dead Mount Death Play Part 2 - (6/10)

Still enjoyable, and very much written by Narita. But man the production quality of this show took a major nose-dive and killed some enjoyment of this show. Very willing to watch more though.

The Ancient Magus' Bride Season 2 Part 2 - (8/10)

While DMDP suffered a animation dive in it's second half, Mahoyome absolutely ramped up it's production quality; both from a direction standpoint and animation.. Philomela was a fascinating character to watch and I'm so happy with how her arc ended up concluding. I don't khow much more time will be spent in the College, but hopefully we can more arcs about the other characters like that. Lucy plotline is still unresolved afterall.

Also finally an OP with animation that MATCHES Junna's vocal range. Love to see it.

The IDOLM@STER Million Live! - (7/10)

Can a show tell a story with 39 main characters across 12 episodes? Turns out, not really; But credit for trying though. The recent installment of the Imas franchise was a relatively safe one that didn't bother to do anything more than "Here are these girls and the quirks and troupes associated with them". That being said, The CG animation was incredible. Shirogumi outdid themselves with this show. Now I think I can say that Studio Orange isn't the only studio that successfully do a full CG anime.

pour one out for shinymas anime that isn't gonna look this good :pensive:

Jujutsu Kaisen 2nd Season - (10/10)

My hope for HI/Shibuya Arcs getting the most pristine quality of treatment when they get animated was answered, and then some. The way it elevated each and every moment in the manga in ways that I would never expect or anticipated had me dying of excitement every week. It's tragic to see how horrible the circumstances were in making this show, but I very much appreciate all the hard work that the all the staff did in this season. They went above and beyond and I can't thank them enough

Also Fuck you, Manabu Otsuka

Rurouni Kenshin (2023) (6/10)

I never got a chance to watch the OG series growing up so I thought I would give this a shot. Kinda bored a lot though. I heard the next arc introduces a really great villain so I'll stick around for that.

Zom 100 - (7/10)

And the award for "Most Ironic Anime of the Year" goes tooooo....

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gayhawkelatehomicide · 5 months

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Meet Miriani Lavellan, my first ever inquisition character (the replay version, because the real first one was on PS4 in 2014) and my first solasmancer. I romanced the egg on my totally blind first playthrough and was appropriately devastated. Here's a bit about her interacting with a normal person in Skyhold, which is the closest to a finished piece about her I have so far. The current title is "A Song in the Stillness" from Trials 1:3

"I have heard the sound

A song in the stillness,

The echo of Your voice,

Calling creation to wake from its slumber."

The Inquisitor comes down to the holding cells under Skyhold sometimes. She always comes alone, without her intimidating retinue of friends, and without the fancy regalia that she's always in at formal events. Like that, she seems less like The Inquisitor, Herald of Andraste, leader of the armies of the faithful and chosen of the Maker, and more like a real person. She usually brings a snack to split with the guard on duty. More often than not, in the hours between dawn drills and the noon meal, that's Amara Voll.

A soldier from the area south of Tantervale, Amara joined the Tantervale guard to send money home and help her family's struggling farm break even. She'd worked every odd job the guard had to offer before settling in as an apprentice jailor. When the sky tore open and demons started falling out, she'd been sitting in a stockade watching two drunks sleep off the effects of their most recent stupidity and listening to an angry Dwarven merchant shout profanities from down the hall. Inquisition recruiters came through a few weeks later, offering better pay and a chance to do something about the state of the world. Letting an opportunity like that pass by would've been stupid. She'd survived Haven by the Maker's grace and her own bloody stubbornness, and found herself in Skyhold. The head jailor appointment came because no one else with any experience managed to make it all the way to their new fortress, and the Commander was making do with what he had. Amara figured it would be a short-term assignment, but no more-qualified replacement has materialized. So she spends most of her days down in the cells, reading books or practicing sword drills to pass the time.

A lot of the luster of joining the Inquisition has worn off, and Amara's beginning to consider going home. It looks like they've got the ancient darkspawn magister on his back foot; she can go back to her parents without feeling like she's leaving something unfinished. Then the Inquisitor starts passing time in the prison. Not with her, of course. Amara isn't vain enough to think the Herald of Andraste has any interest in her, but there she is. At least three times a week. Offering to share an apple, or some cheese, or a blueberry tart.

Inquisitor Lavellan is polite, if distant, and mostly seems grateful to be out of everyone's line of sight. No one comes down here after her, though Amara doesn't know if that's because they have instructions not to or because they don't know where she is. Either way, there are no advisors or messengers or people with problems chasing the Inquisitor up and down the many, many stairs to the holding cells. Amara gets the impression that it's a rare respite in the Inquisitor's long days of deciding the fate of Thedas.

Enemies of the Inquisition are in relatively short supply, and they never stay for long. Lady Lavellan is a recruiting judge, when she can be. She's merciful. Some of the nobles don't like that—Amara overhears a couple of fancy-dressed courtiers discussing it in the garden once, where she's spending a few of her off duty hours. One of them says Mistress Poulin should've been dealt with more harshly. Amara just shakes her head at that. She doesn't hear all of the gossip around Skyhold, but even she knows that the poor woman was just trying to save her home. Nobody should go to prison or worse for that. Besides, Mistress Poulin spent most of the week she was in the cells reciting the Chant from memory, praying for forgiveness, and talking to Mother Giselle, so she can't be that bad.

Amara is a bit puzzled by how gentle the Inquisitor is with Servis, the Venatori commander of the enemy forces in the Western Approach, but it's beyond her pay grade. She's just glad there had been a templar on guard with her while he was under her watch. It would've been a bad look for such a high profile prisoner to get away, even though all he'd done the one (brief) time he did get out was steal Amara's coin purse. The nobles complain that he should've been locked up or executed, but Inquisitor Lavellan gives him a position as an informant and smuggler. One of the Nightingale's spies, who Amara sometimes passes time with in between assignments, tells her that Servis is being watched closer than a Merchants' Guild treasure vault, and that's good enough for her. The Inquisitor doesn't waste a potential agent, her reputation for mercy is proven to be well-earned, and the holding cells are empty again.

The general lack of occupants in the prison and the fact that the Inquisitor doesn't come with a trail of supplicants mean that she and Amara are usually alone when she comes to visit. The first several times, it doesn't result in conversation. The Inquisitor comes through, offers Amara a snack, and goes to sit in the crumbling back end of the prison, dangling her legs over the side and watching the waterfall rush past. The cliff edge makes Amara dizzy, and seeing the last great hope for peace in Thedas sit so close to it makes her quite nervous, so she stays at her post and doesn't watch. She should've guessed that the Inquisitor wouldn't be content with silent company forever, though.

"I realize I never asked your name, Sergeant." The Inquisitor is in the process of tearing a chunk of bread in half to split it with Amara when she makes this observation.

"Amara Voll, your worship." Amara stands a little straighter.

Inquisitor Lavellan hums acknowledgement, wrapping the clean dishcloth she brought around her half of the loaf and handing the other half over. "Where are you from, Sergeant Voll?"

"Tantervale, worship. Well, near Tantervale. South, a bit." Amara takes her bread, but doesn't start to eat it yet. She's talking to the Inquisitor. She's plenty likely to make a fool of herself without adding the possibility of talking with her mouth full, thank you very much.

"Lovely country up that way," the Inquisitor smiles, a certain unexpected wistfulness in her expression. "It's beautiful in the fall, particularly the wheat and barley fields when they're ready for harvest. I miss living where it's warm even in the later months, don't you?"

Slightly taken aback, Amara speaks without thinking. "I didn't know you'd been there, your worship."

The Inquisitor scrunches up her face and for a moment reminds Amara painfully of her youngest sister when presented with a vegetable. She realizes, looking at her, that the Inquisitor can't be more than twenty years old. "Please, don't call me that. I can take it once or twice, but three times is too many. I've never claimed to be holy or blessed."

"Oh, I'm so sorry, your-" Amara cuts herself off awkwardly. "Uhm. What should I call you then, Inquisitor?"

"You could use my name," she suggests. The teasing warmth in her tone takes the sting out of the words. The more she talks, the more she reminds Amara of her little sister. Now that she thinks about it, Lilly's nineteenth birthday must be next spring.

"I don't think the Lady Ambassador would be pleased to hear me do that, my lady," Amara replies cautiously.

The Inquisitor rolls her eyes. "Josie cares too much about formality. Call me Miriani, please. I hear my name so rarely, these days."

"Yes ser…"

The Herald of Andraste crosses the room to sit in one of the other small wooden chairs that are scattered about for the use of the prison's guards and their guests. She pulls off a bite of bread with her teeth and munches on it, closing her eyes for a moment, enjoying the flavor. "Oh, this is fantastic. The cook's new assistant has really outdone himself. I'll have to see that someone confiscates Cook's switches before she does anything to make him want to leave."

Amara eyes the bread in her own hand. She should probably wait, but… The Inquisitor makes another delighted sound in the back of her throat as she takes her next bite. It would probably be rude to let the bread get cold. Certainly. Very rude. She tears off a bite-sized chunk with her fingers and pops it in her mouth. Warm, buttery goodness bursts over her tongue and she understands the Inquisitor's reaction. The texture is excellent—soft, with just enough crisp in the crust to crunch when you bite it—and the flavor is perfect. It sends Amara back to festival days when her whole family would pile into their farm cart and ride up the road to the nearest village, where they could get bread from a real bakery instead of their mother's rather underwhelming stone oven.

They share a brief, companionable silence while they both give the bread their full attention, as it deserves.

"So, Sergeant Voll from near-Tantervale," the Inquisitor opens eventually, "what brings you so far south?"

"I joined up before Haven, your w- uh." Amara stumbles, because of course she does. Well, she didn't get this far without learning how to carry on despite awkwardness. "I got recruited in the early days. One of Lord Varric's initiatives in the Free Marches, I think."

"Oh, I remember those," she smiles into the middle distance, tilting her chair back on two legs and balancing there. "Join the Inquisition for wealth, glory, and a chance to strike back at the sky!" she quotes melodramatically. "I never liked those posters. Did you ever see the ones Varric had printed with me on them?"

The memory brings an involuntary grin to Amara's lips. "Yeah. They had you all glowing and righteous, with a big Inquisition symbol behind you, and sometimes a raven, right?"

The Inquisitor groans. "They were terrible. I asked Varric to burn them. Of course, he thought that was hilarious, and Sera started sketching even worse ones. I think she's still got a stack hidden somewhere, waiting to ambush me with them."

Amara snorts. "I did run across one pinned to the door of the Singing Maiden. I hope for your sake it wasn't, er. Accurate."

"Oh Creators," the Inquisitor hides her face with her free hand. "I thought I took that down before anybody saw it. I told Sera no more art of me with my pants down, for all the good it did me. She reminds me of my cousins—causing problems then getting out of the consequences by being too cute to stay mad at."

"My youngest brothers are like that," Amara commiserates. "Twins. Too smart for their own good and always up to something."

"How old are they?" She inquires warmly.

"They'll be turning… Maker, must be twelve this summer."

"That's such a good year," Miriani smiles. "Three of my clanmates turned twelve a season or so before I left. It was like watching them turn into people in front of my eyes."

"Yes!" Amara sits up straight in her chair to fix the Inquisitor with a startled look. "That's exactly the feeling. Like before they were echoing everything around them and all of a sudden they've got their own opinions."

"And they're always such opinions!" she laughs. "I remember that was the year I decided we shouldn't have Keepers anymore. I suppose for a human child that would be like… trying to convince everyone that there shouldn't be chantry mothers, or schoolteachers."

This draws another undignified snort from Amara. "Oh yes. I think my crusade was against eating meat from animals we'd named, but I remember that phase. Strange to think it happens to the Dalish as well."

"Why strange?" Miriani takes another bite from the end of her bread and cocks her head, looking curiously at Amara in a motion oddly reminiscent of a bird.

"Well… I don't know," Amara hedges, unwilling to give voice to what she now realizes is a less-than-thoughtful preconception. She fumbles something else out in a hurry. "The Dalish we talked to were always so… closed off," she manages not to say "hostile," at least.

Miriani hums, considering Amara's words as though it hadn't taken her three minutes of mumbling to produce them. "I suppose we must seem that way, to humans. Do you know, my clan was chased out of a piece of woodland around Pasanan—that's a modest town just east of Ostwick—one year because a farmer saw one of the hunters near his barn, and a week later one of his cattle fell ill? He claimed our hunter must've put something in the feed. Why he would've done such a thing was never discussed, but the villagers came after us with torches and pitchforks."

Amara frowns. "That's awful!"

"Yes," Miriani agrees peaceably. "Another time, there'd been a bad harvest the season before we arrived in the area around Serrault. We didn't even camp for three days before the local humans were after us, hurling accusations of Dalish curses until we fled into the Tirashan. There's a varterral that lives on the edge of those woods, and Keeper Istimaethoriel woke it to defend us. If it hadn't driven them off, I truly believe they would've chased us till either we were all dead or they were. As it was, they killed three halla and six of our warriors."

"I.. I don't know what to say," Amara confesses, appalled. "I'm so sorry."

Miri waves her off with one hand, a bitter little smile on her face. Her eyes are hard and distant. "It's nothing you did. I'm sure there were perfectly reasonable people back in that village who knew we couldn't have had anything to do with the harvest, and who would've stopped their stupid neighbors if they could. I've long since outgrown holding a grudge against all humans for such things. Being angry at you for what they did would be as useless as them being mad at us over a drought. My point is that the Dalish have a great deal to lose by showing ourselves to be anything but perfect, harmless travelers. It's likely that anyone you spoke with was their clan's best negotiator. You wouldn't know us."

"I want to," Amara blurts. She immediately bites her tongue. Insensitive, insubordinate, foolish…

The Inquisitor's smile warms, however. Her fade-green eyes search Amara's face for a moment, and apparently find whatever they're looking for. She nods slightly. "I think I'd like that. It would be nice to talk about my people, if you want to learn. All my friends up there," she tilts her chin towards the stairs, "are either too busy or too caught up in their own troubles. I'd appreciate having…" and here Miriani hesitates.

"Well," her smile becomes a shade more self-deprecating, "a normal friend, I suppose. Someone who isn't…"

"Someone?" Amara finishes, her own awkwardness soothed by the Inquisitor's.

"Yes," Miri agrees, relieved. "Sera would say 'someone little', but I wasn't sure how that would go over. But yes. If you'd like."

"I would, your worship," Amara smiles back. This time, the title is teasing. Just a bit.

Miri groans. "Please don't start with that again! I came down here to get away from all the stupid ceremony."

Amara can't help it. She laughs. After a second, the Inquisitor joins her. Her laugh sounds rusty, a little unused, but Amara likes it. Despite the yawning gap between their ranks, despite the different races and the staggeringly disparate upbringings, maybe they can truly be friends. It's a pleasant thought.

#dragon age #dai #my writing #oc: miriani lavellan #my ocs

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