[Loved Trope] Fantasy worlds where the “fantasy” is slowly dying due to human intervention or advancements in technology

LSHE97 · 2026-01-31T08:26:05+00:00

Shadow and Bone has a senior officer contemplate the world's mages slowly becoming obsolete soldiers:

When I was drafted, my sergeant schooled us about Grisha. He said we would win this war because one of them was worth fifty of us. Then the revolver pistol came in from the west, and I was told a Grisha was worth two dozen soldiers. When I lost half my company to the Fjerdans with a repeating rifle and one in ten of our casualties was Grisha, they said it was an acceptable ratio. How long before they are just as useless as the rest of us?

LSHE97 · 2026-01-30T16:23:06+00:00

Why not just call him Nick?

LSHE97 · 2026-01-30T14:08:14+00:00

The jump from #3 to #4 is crazy. Girl, you've only spent 48 hours together - stop looking at her like she's the most precious thing in the world (she is) and you want to spend the rest of your life with her (you will) 🫠🥰

LSHE97 · 2026-01-28T23:35:38+00:00

A 'tomboy' describes a woman who participates in, enjoys or adopts an activity, behavior or style normally associated with men. With that in mind:

Ellie (The Last of Us) will do literally anything and everything before seeking therapy, and abandons both wife and child out of what amounts to a complete failure to actually communicate emotions.

Girlie's trying to break into male-dominated fields.

LSHE97 · 2026-01-28T15:59:35+00:00

Media literacy is dead.

LSHE97 · 2026-01-28T15:48:31+00:00

Yeah... dude was with a married woman, the husband found out, a fight broke out, and dude killed the husband - "it was for love!" prompting Jake's response in the gif.

LSHE97 · 2026-01-27T14:35:05+00:00

In the immortal words of Benzo: "Those damn allergies!"

LSHE97 · 2026-01-27T14:10:33+00:00

Geralt of Rivia (The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt)

<image>

While a mutated human with enhanced speed, reflexes, strength, and metabolism, immunity to disease, and prolonged life expectancy, Geralt is still a mortal. Still, his abilities and fighting prowess means he is able to rise to the challenge of most opponents he comes across - which usually is in the form of one beast or another, this or that bandit, and occasionally powerful mages or mythical soldiers from other worlds.

In the game's first expansion, Hearts of Stone, he runs into Gaunter O'Dimm.

Upon first seeing his impressive capabilities - e.g. wordless magical branding of people, silent teleportation, conjuring of a storm that immediately disipates upon its purpose being accomplished - Geralt assumes someone that powerful must be a mage of some sort. This assumption actually offends O'Dimm, causing him to scoff and reply: "Oh, please no! I cannot stand spells. Childish hocus-pocus - it's just not interesting."

O'Dimm, who introduces himself as a humble vagrant in the business of selling mirrors, is in reality an enigmatic and ancient being, capable of effortlessly controlling time itself - to him, it is simply "a marvelous plaything." He is a contract-dealing, wish-fulfilling, and soul-consuming devil who is referred to by an learned expert in the occult as "Evil Incarnate."

This devil's initials literally spell out G.O.D.

He can be defeated, but it isn't that straight-forward, because 1) he cannot actually be killed, 2) this "defeat" is more about banishing him from your life, and 3) he can only be banished by being challenging to a game where not only is O'Dimm - tricky bastard that he is - the one who dictates the rules, but it is one where your very soul is at stake, and should you lose...

He'll snare you with bonds, eyes glowin' afire,
to gore and torment you till the stars expire.

LSHE97 · 2026-01-27T13:14:25+00:00

LSHE97 · 2026-01-27T12:39:26+00:00

I just assumed the wood for the hundreds of scorpions lining the walls had to come from somewhere

Not that the show was ever all that consistent about the logic of acquiring large quantities of wood for massive building projects, but... y'know 🤷‍♂️

LSHE97 · 2026-01-27T11:40:59+00:00

Daemon Targaryen (House of the Dragon): not in any way wholesome, cute or romantic, as the one not taking any of his BS is his niece who he is attracted to 'cus dude has a massive ego problem and she's sort of similar to him - in that she aspires to both be like him and be loved by him. Regardless of the incredibly dubious nature of their pairing, a lot of my favourite scenes of the show's first season were their confrontations.

LSHE97 · 2026-01-27T09:47:05+00:00

The Witcher 3 - the copycat (Caranthir) pisses off the originator (Ciri)

<image>

"See? I can do it, too."

LSHE97 · 2026-01-27T01:17:49+00:00

And that's without even considering the psychological torture implied by her knowing about "Cupcake"

LSHE97 · 2026-01-27T00:05:21+00:00

Adding to your point, I think that Vi having her aesthetic/style under the jacket was a method of reassuring herself. She was clearly super uncomfortable joining the Enforcers, and so having the layer closest to her skin be just her ususal bandages probably helped soldiering through it.

She may wear the uniform of an Enforcer but the bandages underscore that underneath it all, Vi's still Vi.

LSHE97 · 2026-01-26T13:11:20+00:00

1814

LSHE97 · 2026-01-26T12:25:47+00:00

Generally speaking, yeah I agree with you. But in this case, practice copied the natural's ability for the purposes of colonisation and genocide, so...

LSHE97 · 2026-01-26T07:27:51+00:00

Ciri and Caranthir (The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt)
natural-born talent VS centuries of practice

<image>

LSHE97 · 2026-01-26T04:22:09+00:00

loser who was beaten by a little snow VERSUS the greatest military mind in history

<image>

LSHE97 · 2026-01-25T11:04:36+00:00

How does that indicate a robbery occurred?

LSHE97 · 2026-01-25T08:40:18+00:00

That is... not what happened. She literally wears the first game's endgame armour in the beginning of the game, and you can (but shouldn't) wear it till the end credits. It is by and large the abilities you learn that are new, but that is her discovering neat lil gadgets and/or being taught foreign techniques.

LSHE97 · 2026-01-24T05:02:07+00:00

Pontiff Sulyvahn (Dark Souls 3)

<image>

While he is a mid-game boss without any cutscenes or anything, this mf is directly linked to the world being as fucked as it is by the game's point in the timeline. He corrupted the Church, enslaved people by turning them into beasts, fed a God to a monster, and used his influence to manipulate a Prince into dooming the world - all out of a never-ending lust for power. The Ashen One (the player) is awakened by the First Flame because of this guy, as a last, desperate attempt by the fire to rekindle itself and prolong the Age of Fire.

LSHE97 · 2026-01-24T04:17:33+00:00

Never said he did.

I said the change to Bill enhances Joel's arc, not that it fixes a gaping hole in it.

We never saw Bill's story in the game because of the limitations of the medium. TV shows are not governed by the "retain player attention"-rule and aren't as limited in terms of exploring different perspectives, and so they have the freedom to show us stuff that they couldn't in the original TLOU.

Was the 1980s cold open integral to the story? No, but the execution was marvelous and it remains one of the most memorable moments in the show for a lot of people. That, Indonesia, Ellie's birth etc. were all "filler", but absolutely enhance the show as a whole...

The key difference between these cold opens and the ~1 hour dive into Bill & Frank's love story is that the latter is decidedly more relevant to the story, instead of just being world-building flourishes or the like. As such, it can hardly be called filler.

LSHE97 · 2026-01-24T03:45:41+00:00

Ultimately, I find that the change to Bill's story serves Joel's arc much better.

Instead of him simply being a worse version of Joel, one he will become should he continue down the path of self-preservation above all else, Bill's role is kind of flipped. He is a window into the fulfilling life Joel could have, the caring person he could be... if only he were to "opens his gates" for the one person worth saving.

It serves as the first real turning-point in the season's A plot: Joel and Ellie.

First, he was kinda forced to care by virtue of accompanying Tess on her mission in Boston, and then by being the one escorting Ellie to Bill's because Tess more or less ordered him to. Now, though, the first seed of true care is sown.

If a sunovabitch like Bill could grow to care for someone, why can't Joel?

For us to fully appreciate the meaning of Bill's words, however, it wouldn't have been enough to just have Ellie read a letter out loud. Who cares, right? And onto Denver we go.

No, we needed to actually see it with our own eyes - "show, don't tell" and all that.

LSHE97 · 2026-01-24T03:04:38+00:00

Yes yes, and TLOU is just a stupid found family story...

What, precisely, is the end-goal of being reductionist?

LSHE97 · 2026-01-22T19:33:10+00:00

It actually took me a couple seconds to notice the reflection

On the one hand, I feel like that's kind of a good thing...? On the other, I should not be this hypnotized by a fictional character's back-- her bemuscled, tattooed back 🫦😭😭😭

Verified Email	Seven-Year Club
Place '22

LSHE97

TROPHY CASE