#Incredible themes

[mistofstars]

My oh my, War and Peace has so many fantastic themes besides the romantic elements (which, imho, don't play the major part).

It's about hope, belief, empathy, how easily you can be corrupted when you are around the wrong kind of people, morals, peace of course and its absence, forgiveness, pride, family...

The romance seems like a side quest tbh 😂

[egophiliac]

looking at next month's schedule and between the end of 7-12 and the wishing lantern event it's like

February is officially RIDDLE MONTH, brace yourselves to be absolutely blasted into ashes everybody

[teratomatica]

you always land on all fours

[escyn]

Old Wounds Reopened[flood]: Kyoshi Warrior Sokka | Blue Spirit

Zukka Week Day 3 (id in alt)

+some close-ups bc I love them so

other things from ZW2024: Day 5 | Day 6 | Day 7

[bevioletskies]

If God doesn’t want us to love each other, then what’s the point of having God in this world?

GEMINI NORAWIT & FOURTH NATTAWAT in TICKET TO HEAVEN (2025)

[bubblybloob]

Soul Sanctum! Soul Twisters are the bane of my existence, right behind Primal Aspids and those flying assholes in Crystal Peak.

Most of HK’s most annoying enemies are the flying ones, because they’re good at getting out of the way of your shit by teleporting or flying backwards, and or they have subtle telegraphs for their attacks, while those same attacks blend in fantastically with the background (I can not even begin to describe my visceral hatred for the flying crystal shits).

Masterpost

[mimimar]

i've been completely charmed by witch hat atelier♡

(art prints)

[chickengeak]

Communications

[orangelamp42]

andor has not one not two but THREE mean lesbians and that’s what makes it peak television

[fetidbog]

Obsessive ASOIAF theorizing misses the point of the stories, I think! George's goal is to tell us a sweeping fantasy with heavy romantic elements and really beautiful characterization grappling with themes of redemption, power, agency, identity, love, loss, growth, death, (re)birth, etc etc. He obviously has some big plot points and mysteries, but those serve to reinforce the themes (e.g. Rhaegar and Lyanna are there to talk to us about love and tragedy and cycles and identity). George isn't chucking in a mystery to just have a wild and shocking reveal, he's putting it in to serve a narrative point and when you lose sight of that you are losing the plot, quite literally.

To me, it's much more interesting to see how certain themes develop over time as George sits with them (e.g. Jaime's progression from the outline into his POV character form is a perfect example), historical inspirations (BUT not as a way to crack a code!!!), and literary allusions and references.

[fkapommel]

First flower of my House, wilted

Harrow the Ninth, Muir/ Bradamante at Merlin’s Tomb (detail), Alexandre-Evariste Fragonard/ The Great Flood (detail), Joseph-Désiré Court/ Metamorphoses, Ovid/ Cemetery Statue in Green Mount Cemetery, Maryland/ Our Lady of Tears, Unfound/ Photography, Unfound/ Harrow the Ninth, Muir

[the-words-we-sung]

Felice Ehrencrona

for @youngroyals-events week 2: Felice 🫶

[absolutechaosss]

Do you ever go insane thinking about how every member of Laios' party is extremely atypical for their species, but a lack of exposure and understanding smoothes out these differences and makes everyone think they're the "typical" representation.

Senshi is terrible with other dwarves since he has no practical interest in mining or weapons craft. We cannot know this until Namari and later, Senshi's backstory are introduced. When we see him interact with dwarves, it's awkward and clear there's a fundamental disconnect.

Chilchuck is incredibly tall for a half foot and as such has to manage his weight more than other half foot dungeoneers so he doesnt set off traps. The first detail takes the changlings to properly understand, the second is referenced in text but is fully explained in additional materials. It is plot relevant that people who don't have the exposure to half foots might not even realize they're their own species.

Marcille as a half elf is kind of obvious to many of the elves who encounter her and they're deeply cruel and assume she's driven by a desire to be able to have children but the party never notices and Senshi especially thinks of her as a typical elf even though in truth she's so outcast she could never dine with her mother at the queens table.

Laios and Falin are a bit more complicated, since we as the audience do have context for most of tallman culture, since it mirrors our own mostly, but both of them have magical aptitude that both people like Marcille, who has a lot of access to mana and people like Chilchuck, who has very little and no magical training, fail to understand how isolating it is to have that much potential and aptitude.

Arguably Toshiro and Namari fall into this as well. Toshiro looks like the embodiment of the silent but noble warrior, but his own party and extra material confirm that he's abnormally shy and introverted, something that makes it hard for him even in his own family. Meanwhile Namari is able to stand on her own as a weapons expert and "typical" dwarf, but total dwarves who are total strangers like Dya know who she is and resent her.

Arguably a lot of dungeon meshi is about peeling back layers and assumptions not working out, but it's so great that every member of the core party gets interpreted by others (and maybe the reader) as "typical", especially with the skills line up, as a human fighter, halfling rogue, and an elven mage are so basic a stereotype. But none of are able to achieve that standard. These assumptions and misunderstandings only thrive because each party member is so inexperienced with both the biology and culture of the others. The only way they gain context is either interacting with a wider pool of people or experiencing it for themself. Everything in this story is so layered and I love it.

[heartscrypt]

the web - fear of manipulation and lost control made manifest

[painfully-unoriginal]

it's like burning...

[aquanutart]

dragon dance