LAM

amber/paragon is SO compelling to me.

it's literally the greek myth of pygmalion and galatea. the carver creating their ideal soulmate, that comes to life.

paragon soaks in the life and misery and blood and emotions of everyone he comes into contact with, and is torn apart by everyone's expectations and disappointments in him. but amber is able to hold herself apart from him, and she remains totally mysterious to him. she does change him, but not in the one-sided way everyone else had. and she gives him his vision back.

amber is the carver who is obsessed with their muse, their ideal soulmate. and paragon is literally named paragon, the representation of all that is virtuous and beautiful. but the etymology of paragon goes back further. it referred to a touchstone, that would test the purity of gold. back further, it meant "to sharpen"

amber is associated with gold, and also carving knives. really what this reveals is an aspect of fitz/fool's relationship. the catalyst will be the chisel chipped and dulled for the sake of the world, for the broken tool is that which will pry open the future. fitz is her tool that must be broken. but paragon parallels fitz in many ways, and his name means 'to sharpen'.

the difference between amber and pygmalion is that pygmalion carved his ivory woman because he was disgusted with the women he saw. amber carved the man she loved. the difference between paragon and galatea is that she was perfect. both were made against their own will and paragon's story reflects the darker side of that.

but galatea isn't really a human woman, though aphrodite breaths life into her. she is too perfect. paragon will never be human either, nor amber, but they are much closer, they are human by proxy of their loved ones. that's why it's so important that amber carves paragon with all his scars and his crooked nose.

Grief