Curate, connect, and discover
I know that the thing that makes me feel so connected to Vinland Saga is Askeladd and Thorfinn's relationship. Something about it is one of the most impactful things to me, but Ive been trying to think of what it is so I can capture it again in new art.
I think what it might be is something about hating someone you love/loving someone you hate. Something about how we don't get to choose who we hate or who we love and the great unfairness of it all
Like if I hate my father, I hate someone I love. I don't get a choice of just hating him. No matter what I want, he will be a deeply important part of my life, even if he died and disappeared forever (I don't hate my dad, it's more complicated than that. I love him but feel hurt by him. This is just for example purposes).
Like Thorfinn does not get a choice; the man he hates and wanted to kill is forever a very important part of his life. Because Askeladd raised him, Askeladd is permanently important. There is nothing that lets us move on 100% from these permanently important people. No matter what we want, they will keep affecting us. There's something hard-hitting about this unfairness.
I think Askeladd and Thorfinn's relationship impacts me the most because it's one of the purest examples of getting no choice in how we feel about someone: An enemy who has done horrible things to you becoming like a father to you. It also captures the extreme unfairness of this situation by having Askeladd be taken away from Thorfinn in a way that was completely out of his control. He didn't even get to end Askeladd on his own terms. Someone else took away his reason for living, the person who he defined his life by, even though he hated this person.
It's just very oof to love someone you hate.