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47 comments
I will not pretend to understand all of it as I am not lore knowledgeable nor am I a philosophy major. In fact I think I learned more about the philosophy of life (and the joy of living) from my Labrador retrievers then I did in any classroom. Life is a state of mind. But I love the concepts and you do make me think. Brilliant work as always my friend!
If I may put it into my very simple words: It brought back the feeling that I have since the first playthrough. For me Alduin isn't the bad one. He'd create a new world with a new order. For better or worse noone can say. The more bad one is the Dragonborn.
It was fascinating although it made your stunning pics to a subsidiary matter.
As in the game is, Alduin is the advent of the end of a cosmic cycle, and is the order of things that everything is over, even if it leaves unresolved the question of its ultimate meaning. The dragonborn is not evil, but is an attempt to prolong life, in an attempt to make sense of it. The story of Kartika, narrates this tension from a particular point of view, revealing aspects that even deep Lore, leaving in shadow. Thanks again.
This was more like a thesis or commentary on the cosmos Farv! I love some of the points you touched on (the search for meaning in things, the ideas about love), and I really liked your slant on Alduin /Dragonborn. Very interesting take and one that I'll have lodged in mind when playing now.
I couldn't think of a better vessel for your philosophical Runminations than Kartika: she kind of embodies skyrim... beautiful, lethal and a true enigma.
Amazing stuff dear. Just amazing.
Kartika is for me a kind of extreme evolution of Lara Croft, not coincidentally is wearing her backpack, which has made the jump over an infinite abyss and came across incredibly. What she found perhaps we'll never know, but I hear her voice, and then there is something beyond. Skyrim maybe it's just a big run-up for a jump.
The philosophy is great as are the many ideas you have expressed. It isn't something easily commented on though. Not like reading a story where you can discuss plot lines and whether you like a character or not or go over what happened. Most of this is more of a meta-story withing a story - much like an onion it has many layers. There is an actual story of your characters, then another layer above that and so on to the point where there is a story OF the story.
I lack the time to really comment on all the wonderful ideas expressed here - lots of concepts. I will just mention a few things that came to mind.
Love - was that in regards to the idea that the Amaranth requires love or something else entirely? I ask only because in lore there is the suggestion that it takes love to reach the highest states. To me I saw it as giving up oneself for the act of creation. Your story is somewhat in reverse though - where it is a step down to dream; unenlightenment versus enlightenment.
Meaning - heh humans have discussed the meaning of life since they could ask the question. Can't really cover it here. To me meaning is simply to exist so that reality can be perceived. However your ideas on meaning, the futile search for it, echoes a little of that I think. Perhaps the question is more important than the answer in this case. I am not sure I followed all of it correctly to be honest.
Daedra - the whole thing with Mora and the other Daedra was fascinating and I really liked your take on them and the role they played (along with the Aedra). It is a different approach (as is the Dragonborn and Alduin).
A lot of this would take a lot more time to digest and not easy to do when it is mostly one way but I enjoyed thinking about it and like many of your other posts will most likely return to re-read again.
Oh want to mention about "loving the world as it is and accepting it means loving yourself and accepting yourself" which makes a lot of sense if the world is actually you and your dream. The idea of wanting to improve versus accepting is a great one - one I could argue either way depending. Seeking to improve oneself is not a bad thing yet one must also accept and love oneself as well ... not an easy thing to do in life.
One thing I am wondering about is that she awakens and dies - so does this mean her universe dies at that point when she awakens? Then what world does she die in? The world of Talos, the previous dreamer? That is how I somewhat see the TES lore - as dreams nested with in dreams but not exactly nested as much as perhaps overlapping and all existing at once and the same time.
Which also reminds me that the idea of eternal truth never being knowable as one can never "get outside" of infinity to know it - instead one can only bask in it. Not sure if I have the concept write in my head. Again so much of this would require a great deal of reflection - which I tend to do on my own all the time but obviously can't comment on all here
So wonderful post. The pictures are wonderful of course but it tends to be your stories that entertain me the most
PS - Like Ericka I learned a bit by accident who your avatar is. I am not a philosopher though much as I like to reflect on life. Time is the most precious commodity and mine has been directed elsewhere. Perhaps some day I will read some of the many books Ericka suggested and ones I suspect you have also read. For now I tend to focus mainly on Psychology and Consciousness for my non-fiction reading otherwise I devote myself to fantasy and writing.