This is my character's journal that I'm keeping as I play through Skyrim. Every time I sleep, I stop playing and record what happened throughout the day. I'm playing the original version, with lots of mods to make it more immersive and realistic (Wet & Cold, iNeed, etc) which makes it more fun for me.
Journal Entries go up once they're edited.
Click Here to Start!
If you'd rather read it on Ao3, you can find it here:
An Archive of Our Own, a project of the
Organization for Transformative Works
I update in roughtly 5k word chunks (two or three entries, usually) on ao3. The fic on ao3 is a bit behind tumblr, but at least you can get email updates and such there.
Thanks for reading, and I hope you like it!
If you prefer audio format, I'm very slowly making it into a podfic, too! Listen Here on AO3
My Asks are open, so feel free to ask about my headcanons, the Lore as I understand it, whatever! I also like to draw, but I'm terribly indecisive. Let me know if there's a particular moment in the fic you'd like to see.
You can also share your work with me! Please! Share links to your stuff! Fanfic, Fanart, OCs, Headcanons, Cosplays! Or Tag Me! I want to see it and share it!
THIS IS THE PLACE FOR SHAMELESS SELF-PROMOTION! DO NOT FEEL BAD FOR SHOWING OFF STUFF YOU MADE!
I don't care if it's a shitty photoshop cut/paste job of Elenwen as a Barbie, or a joke gif with Tullius and Ulfric made with comic sans text and fuzzy-edged pngs, it is going on the fridge.
Bronwen's Hoard - (I'm going to semi-retire this) My sideblog where I reblog general TES stuff and TES adjacent things.
Also - FUCK AI. Human-made things only. If I share AI slop, for the love of Mara, tell me.
Once when I was in undergrad, someone described something as “problematic” in class and our professor was like, “That’s cool, but ‘problematic’ doesn’t really mean anything. It means that the thing you’re describing has a problem, and in and of itself that’s not bad. Art, especially, should always have problems, or else it’s not interesting and not art, either. It sounds like you’re trying to say that this is bad, but you don’t want to say ‘bad.’ Is that right?”
So from then on whenever one of us called something problematic, he would make us talk it out until we could name the “bad” thing we were hinting at. In this particular class, 7/10 it was some type of oppression, and the remainder was like, “I’m uncomfortable because this is very new/confusing/pushing boundaries that made me feel safe.”
Once we stopped calling things “problematic” and stopping at that, class got way more interesting and... we all had to say, like, “that’s racist” or “that’s misogynistic” or “ew capitalism gross” out loud, which a lot of us had never done in a classroom before. Or we had to be like, “Uhhh... I’m not sure what’s so bad?” and confront our own beliefs and that was maybe even more useful.
Anyway. Whenever I see the word problematic, I can’t help but think of this professor being like, “Good starting point, now let’s get specific.” I think when we have to commit to saying “that’s ___” it requires a lot more careful thought about the truth and impact and complexities of whatever we’re claiming. Sometimes there really is some bullshit afoot, and also sometimes it’s art, and it should be full of problems, because that’s what art is.
At the risk of sounding anti-intellectual, I think that college should be free and also not a requirement for employment outside of highly specialized career fields
technically you can, if you don't care about degrees.
Free Harvard courses.
Free Courses from Stanford.
Free Courses from MIT.
Free courses from Yale.
Free courses from Princeton.
Free courses on Coursera.
Free Courses on EDx
Free Courses on Alison
For paid, there's The Great Courses+/Wonderium. 20$ a month for unlimited courses.
When searching, the phrases you're looking for are Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs), or you can do a general search of say, "free online college courses."
Oh, and so you don't get surprised like I did, have an avoid: Hillsdale College is a conservative Christian site and not a valid MOOC place. Sign up with them and you will get things like THIS IS WHY THE LEFT IS TURNING YOUR KIDS TRANS AND GAY in your inbox.
We're back in Solitude, and the kids are SO happy!
We're happy, too. We were only gone for a few days, but I didn't realize how much I'd miss them.
Anyway, we adopted a new dog right after breakfast!
His name is Vigilance. He's dark gray with a white muzzle and white paws, and pale eyes.
Cedran, the old guy at the stables, was actually glad to be "rid of him". He was still a bit sad to see Vigilance go, though. Apparently one of the cannibals we took out at that horrible dinner was Banning, Cedran's assistant and the one who raised and trained all the dogs. With Banning dead, there's just too much work to do, and Cedran doesn't have time to take care of the dogs.
Vigilance was the last one left, so we bought him.
Cedran confessed that no one wanted him because he was the fiercest one they had. That, and there were rumors that Banning might've raised him on more than just animal meat, "if you catch my drift."
Yeah.
You know, I'm not surprised.
Oh, well. At least we know he won't be afraid to bite people. So long as he doesn't try to EAT anyone, we'll be all right.
Septim liked him, and that was good enough for us. Also, Vigilance isn't afraid to run into a fight!
We ran into a handful of Forsworn at the bridge on the way back here. They were outside of that little cabin again, where they like to lurk.
Vigilance was off like lightning, and threw himself at the first person he could get his teeth on! He took care of that one all by himself, which was fine with us. He's going to have to learn how to stay low to keep under our spells and arrows, though.
Anyway, after that, we decided to see how he'd take to getting armored up. It took about a quarter mile or so of road for him to get used to it, but once he settled into it, he moved in it like it was a second skin!
He wasn't sure what we were doing at first, but Septim came up and snuffed at him until he sat still and let us adjust all the buckles and straps.
We'll have to take him to Beirand tomorrow to get it fitted properly. He's a bit deeper in the chest than Septim, and I think it's a bit tight in the shoulders for him, maybe.
He's a much younger dog, too. According to Cedran, he's barely over a year old, unlike Septim. We asked him about Septim while I was counting out the gold, and his best guess is that our boy's at least five or six! Lydia said that's getting up there for a dog like him, and I'm not surprised. He's just gray all over, so it's hard to tell if his muzzle's going white or not.
We mostly stuck to the road, but we cut overland in a few spots to save time, and to see how he'd handle things like crossing rivers and such. He did just fine, and he's not afraid of animals, either.
I almost stepped on a mudcrab (thought it was a rock) and he was on it before it could snap its claws on my ankle!
He also chased every rabbit, elk and goat we saw on the path, but at least he listens when we call for him. That's why the walk here took so long!
I wanted to see if he was scared of Shouts, so I tried out something simple – Whirlwind Sprint.
I was right about it before. I did learn more of it, and I went a LONG way – All the way through Dragon Bridge!
Vigilance didn’t seem to mind it, so that's good. He just started barking and chased after me. He seemed worried once he caught up, almost like he was scolding me for disappearing on him like that! He barked at me and whined and snuffed at my boots like it was their fault for moving so fast.
Still, we got into Solitude just as night was falling, and got home before the kids were ready for bed.
They were happy to see us, and ran forward to give us all hugs. They wanted to know all about Vigilance, and when we told them that Septim was going to spend all of his time here with them, they gave us a bunch of hugs before piling on him. The swore up and down that they'd take good care of him!
Jordis said we were going to spoil them rotten, and Valdimar told her, "I don't think so. My ma always says, 'You can't spoil them with love'."
I'll have to remember that one.
Anyway, I'm glad we got the chance to gather more loot. Not only do we need to adjust the numbers to allow for another dog, we're probably going to drop some serious coin at Radiant Raiment tomorrow. I know the good stuff they've got on the shelves isn't cheap. Four custom outfits plus accessories is NOT going to be easy on the purse.
We filled Jordis in with the plan while she made us all a quick dinner. Erandur offered to cook, but she told us to sit down and put our feet up, which I was thankful for.
They STILL hurt!
Probably not as much as my arms will. The wounds are starting to "pull", and Erandur said that when that happens, we're going to have to start rubbing a cream into them to keep them from healing too tightly, whatever that means.
That's going to hurt like a cheese grater soaked in lemon juice, I just know it!
-/-/-/-/-/-
I was right. That hurt almost as much as the first time they cleaned my arms. I had to bite down on a belt to keep from waking the kids!
At least the sleeping potions help. I don't wake up from the pain if I move around a lot when I sleep, and I wake up feeling great!
Speaking of sleep, now that the pain's worn off, I'm going to try. Tomorrow's going to be a busy day!
real talk, i saw this other vid 7 years ago where a trainer like this lady gave some of the most important physical health advice I ever heard that changed my life:
#1. You should be able to lay down on the floor (face down or back) and be able to get up without your hands. If you can't? Spend a little bit every day just doing that, laying on the floor and getting up again no hands style, then laying down again (you'd be surprised how fast it wears you out after a few times)
#2. You should be able to get up out of a chair without using your hands or grabbing on to anything. Can't? Fucking start training mother fucker! Just a few uppies every day could save your damn life when you get older!
#3. You should be able to turn your neck to the side without twisting your upper body in the same direction, you should be able to turn your head freely without moving your shoulders, chest or torso! Start looking up loosy goosy neck exercises! It makes such a HUGE difference!
#4. You should be able to motherfucking stand on one foot and keep your balance for longer then 15 seconds. Haha sounds easy right? Thats what I thought when I tried after watching that vid, i was horrified to find how hard it was! I started doing "one leggy style" standing any chance I got, when I'm in line somewhere, when I'm watching a video... just do a few rounds of 10 seconds on each leg for like 5 min every day!
You get older and you think you still have all the same limberness as you did when you were 8, but whens the last fucking time you ran around and played like an 8 year old? You loose that flexibility so subtlety and then one day when you need it? BAM ITS GONE
Start getting into these habits now, i don't care if you're 18/25/30/45/50 OR WHATEVER JUST START YOU WON'T REGRET IT!
I want all creatives to know that no matter how much you bend to the whim of others, how hard you work to make everyone happy, how careful you are with your words or works - it will never be good enough to those making the demands, to those who make you walk around on eggshells.
There will be those who hate you for your creative works. There will be those who hate you for how you are liked and loved by others. Please remember this.
Work on projects YOU want to do. Stay focused on your own joy in the creative progress. Do not take criticism from those you wouldn't take advice from.
This is your time and energy that you are using. So, use it on projects that bring you joy.
HEY that's MY emotional support morally ambiguous misunderstood full of trauma touch starved yearning for love drenched in blood responsible for numerous atrocities comfort character who is TRYING & u will TREAT them with RESPECT
