#that live an occupy a place

[wolfspaw]

[obscureenthusiast]

-Brutus and as many as 60 co-conspirators, circa March 14th, 44 BC

[the-ipre]

not to magicians post in this year 2024 but theres a reason that 'a life in the day' has still stuck with me all these years

as a suicidal teen who survived into an adult who wants to live but can't get rid of that instinctive 'you wouldnt have to deal with this if you were dead' response to any difficulty, the idea of a quest where the only thing that you have to do is live is so important to me. no catch, no way to circumvent it and get out earlier, the only thing that you have to do is live your life, day in and day out

you get to grow old, and the only thing that is asked of you is that you keep going. it may not be perfect and it may not be easy, but there is no ticking clock and no world to save. all you have to do is live one day after the next. the seasons will change, and you will grow old, and you will learn that the beauty of all life is not something that can be summed up in any way less than living it

there is no shortcut, and isn't that a wonderful thing?

[koko2unite]

[news4dzhozhar]

[homoqueerjewhobbit]

This really needs to enter the tumblr reaction meme vernacular.

(it helps if you know how this character sounds but still)

[randomnameless]

It's always interesting to see how UO gives to its local church a neutral role in the world - dare I say neutral good as in the faith is cited by some characters as their source of inspiration and strength to endure the various events the game puts them through...

And then, apparently, the decision of not having the option to kill Sanatio is controversial?

albion thoughts under the cut

Albion was undercooked because bankruptcy and all, and I already wrote a bit about the general wtf of that arc that can basically be summed up as "Scarlett's dad told his two right hand men that his daughter is away/in hiding and made them swore to never reveal anything about her to anyone, including themselves", so when Scarlett's dad kicks the bucket, they both know a heir exists somewhere, but they can't trust each other and have a fall out instead, which leads them to fight and, ultimately, to the "plot" and "antagonism" of this arc.

Sanatio's basically in charge of the Orthodoxy - Nigel is in charge of its knights? - and the Pope's second.

Pope told Sanatio Scarlett exists and went away for a "mission", but never told him where she was sent to - something only Nigel knows.

The Pope kicks the bucket - given how Galerius laments his death in Cornia, I doubt Arant was killed by his goons or something after unlocking 5 out of 6 sanctuaries, that's why he's super happy that they finally found Scarlett to unlock the last one - and then Sanation, as the de facto dude in charge of Albion is faced with a dilemna.

Not knowing where Scarlett is, he either reveals to his people and the faithful that the Pope is dead and is line is extinguished - which would send the faithful and the people of Albion in disarray because 1/the pope and his line are revered/sacred in Fevrith's religion 2/the orthodoxy falls apart, including the local churches etc etc, and we see and are told that the faith is the only thing some people rely on to withstand and survive the Zenoiran invasion -

Or Sanatio hides the Pope's death - asking Baltro to sort of preserve his body from decomposing too much - thus lies to the people of Albion and the Faithful, but at least they can still have faith/believe that somehow things are going to be better, and the Church is still, somehow, allowed to do its stuff (Zenoira apparently doesn't mind the church helpind people and doing Sharon things).

"But that means working with Zenoira, the ones who invaded his homeland and the baddies of the verse!"

Having replayed that part in Bastorias, we have a NPC who's basically telling us that while Albion apparently "accepted" to work with Zenoira, their autonomy is nothing but a façade since Zenoira stationned a good chunk of its army there : in a way, Albion is occupied by the Zenoirans.

Without any clue about Scarlett's survival or location, I suppose faced with "we destroy you and what makes your people withstand our occupation/nonsense" and "you will lie to your people and we won't turn you in minced meat, you'll be left with some degree of autonomy (lel) but we won't kill your people (not overtly at least)", it was basically having him be stucked between two hard choices, but only one meant immediate doom, so it's the one he avoided.

Of course it sucks - and a half baked plot being a half baked plot - means that when the Liberation Army manages to boot Zenoira away from Albion, Sanation's choice to accept the Zenoiran rule, if it means temporary respite for his people is seen as fishy/inacceptable, but iirc his Raenys rapport is pretty upfront : some people resent him for siding with Zenoira, and yet, he picked what was, at that time, the "lesser evil" between the two.

Albion is interesting because it's one of the few recurring motives in this arc, and it contrasts well with what we saw in Cornia in the beginning.

Clive's rapports with Joseph are all about him coming to terms with what his father did - and how it wasn't useless - even if it mean his and his family's death : he fought and resisted against Zenoira. Clive himself seems to have little love for the lords who "turned against the crown" and sided with Zenoira after the invasion.

We could have had a confrontation with Monica (and Melisandre!)'s pov, because Monica's grandpa apparently supported Zenoira under the promise/assurance that Galerius and his army were going to let their people alive/alone if they sided with him (as much as Zenoira follows on those kind of promises lol). But then, it's revealed that Monica's grandpa was actually supporting, in the shadows, the Liberation Army.

In the last arc of the game, this is echoed again through Jerome - the knight who bakes sweets. Sure, there's not a lot to say about him since we recruit him so late in the story, and he has nearly no rapport convos to flesh him out : and yet we see in his mission that he is a local lord who is very much appreciated by his people, but immediately surrendered when Zenoira invaded Albion, instead of fighting them (like Fodoquir!) because if he surrendered, it'd mean his people would be spared.

And they were untouched (apparently?) by the Zenoirans.

However, Jerome still thinks he deserves to die (Alain can execute him if the player wants to be an ass I guess) because, even if it was for his people's sake, the thing is he still worked/accepted the Zenoiran rule.

Interestingly, in an era where some people cry everywhere they want "morally grey" settings, it's the second time that when some characters are faced with impossible dilemnas, some part of the fandom revile them for picking a "wrong choice".

in both cases, those people are in charge of that setting's major religion, maybe it's just a coincidence?

Clive wonders if his father made the right choice to priorize "the cause" over "his people", when Jerome immediately abandoned "the cause" for "his people".

and then you have Fodoquir who abandons both when his people sacrifice his son

I guess I'd really have appreciated a rapport conversation between Jerome and the Cornian knights, but VW ran out of time/money.

[phantomrose96]

So I know this isn't anything that like actually needs an apology but it'll make me feel a bit better to say it. Oof whoops this ABoT chapter is super late. Timing kinda sucks since I wanted to have some updates out while s3 was airing but

Been kinda mega busy and stressed since October with the whole condo buying thing which rolled right into immediate day 0 plumbing and boiler issues I had to get fixed and general moving hassle and financial commitment stress and I kinda just fried myself hard. Plus then acclimating to a new place without my familiar street or familiar grocery store or familiar room or any of that. Like there's no "just go home and take your mind off it" to this cuz home is the "it". So I'm just kinda enduring until I can calm the hell down.

And anyway I definitely have progress on ch47, like 7000-ish words of it, but it's the kind of like "there is writing there" and hasn't exactly hit the "there is substance there" that I want ABoT chapters to be. Like this in particular is a chapter I want to be good, not just be done. So it's taking time to get my brain somewhere that can do that.

[the-lady-maddy]

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[chucapybara]

borrowing that line from the post about blade but ugbrmgjrk to be dead and yet still adored in your memory...

innamorati, her old self long gone and forgotten, gone missing when she never emerged from the depths of the abyss she fell into—and yet the knight that she once was is all the same still loved in her absence

her captain, still glancing at the space she occupies—or once occupied—by her side; her captain, so accustomed to the frigid rime of snow and ice, but had since softened in that gentle knight's company; her captain— who had been ■■■■'s best friend since their youth, for whom she grieves now by seaside—who had lost a precious confidante and by extension a part of her own heart.

those she had saved, still stricken by ■■■■'s sacrifice as they are swaddled in sheets and bandages, tended to with utmost care—those she is thought to have given her life for, still trapped in the memory of the knight's kind and assuring smiles and careful comforts, a spectre, a haunt as quickly gone as she appeared.

a mother in mourning of an unkempt bed; two blood brothers appalled, a liutian sworn sister dismayed enough to plateau a mountain and level it with ice and hoarfrost.

people who still carry the memory of her, and everything that she once was

[justthatspiffy]

.

[queenerdloser]

the thing about seeing shakespeare live is that sometimes you really gotta reflect on the history built into these plays. they were written 400 years ago. sometimes during a particularly good monologue or piece of banter, i'll sit back and reflect on the fact that i'm hearing the same words someone listened to hundreds of years ago, that i might be laughing at the same joke someone laughed at hundreds of years ago. i cry during a scene and i have to wonder: what regular person whose name i will never know, who never got written in the history books, who passed through life unremarked and unremembered, also cried at this scene? how strange to know for certain you share this connection with hundreds of people you will never meet and will never know the names of. how strange to know they could never have dreamed that the silly play they went to see--that some of them also loved, that they maybe saw multiple times, that they knew the words to and the plot to so well, these well-worn favorites--would be seen by a future people they probably couldn't even envision.

we watched the same play. we laughed at the same joke, cried at the same sad scenes. got shivers at the same great piece of dialogue, heckled the same rowdy characters. and we'll never meet, we'll never know each other's names, and we're only really, truly connected by a play that has lasted for hundreds of years by sheer happenstance and bloodyminded love for the arts.

[jinnazah]

NEED my upstairs neighbors to eventually get sick of me having super loud sex and move out

[strohller27]

.

[monster-noises]

Auguh not to get too Hopless Shell of a Man on you but i'm trying to find a daydream to get lost in to lull myself to sleep but i'm finding I can't.

Cause the kind of daydream that puts me to sleep have always been more aspirational, if grandiose and slightly unrealistic, explorations of like.. what my dream house would look like, hanging my art up in a new-bigger better- apartment, what my table would look like at a con, or my work in a small gallery or art show..

but it's at the point where i can't suspend my disbelief enough anymore to indulge in the Premise of most of these things because Every Ounce of possibility has been squeezed out of these things.

And maybe i'm just really too depressed and there's something i'm not seeing but god it's Really Fucking Bad Out here if My can-imagine-anything-like-it-could-happen-tomorrow-regardless-of-probability Ass can't even daydream myself to sleep because it's... Just not realistic!!!! Like i know we already know that but damn!!!! My mental health is in shambles and almost all of the causes are external and i can't control them!

[weirdtakoyaki]

Even without epilogues the good ending for durge was satisfying imo. Was really happy with the last convos and the theme of freedom, accountability and family that I held through my playthrough.