#aureole live

[doritofalls]

square halo, circle of stars, nimbus :]

halos

[gentrychild]

AU if Frieren managed to make Himmel immortal by accident

1 - This is because of a strange grimoire Frieren found in a mimic. She didn't know what the magic was about, tried the spell, and Himmel, who was the closest to her, was struck by it. Once he wakes up, the party makes some tests but nothing seems wrong.

2 - Things go one like in canon, they defeat the demon king, they go back to the capital, they make that promise to meet again in fifty years to watch the meteor shower. Like in canon, Frieren shows up two weeks earlier to get the dragon horn. Himmel hasn't aged a day. He waits for her to notice it but she has no sense of time so she doesn't realize anything wrong. It's not only Heiter shows up that she thinks something might be amiss but comes to the conclusion that it's because of Heiter's drinking habit.

3 - Heiter, Eisen and Himmel scream their heads off at her because she truly has no common sense. Also, they have been trying to reach her for fifty years to figure out WHY Himmel isn't aging but she is ridiculously hard to contact. Frieren is still not convinced that it's not because of a good diet.

4 - Himmel and Frieren keep traveling with each other and both invade Heiter's home. Fern gets one magic teacher and one overprotective uncle in one day and she is pretty happy with it. Heiter keeps roasting Himmel every day over the fact he can't confess his feelings to Frieren and how it might take a millennium for them to finally be together. Eisen and his student, Stark, are also in their lives.

5 - The journey happens not because Frieren is trying to go to Aureole but because Himmel left for the ruins of the demon king castle in the middle of the night. No one knows why or where he currently is.

+ 1: Himmel's immortality is about him aging very slowly like Frieren but he can still be killed.

[everydayfrimmel]

August 21, 2024

“Companions”

400 words, canon compliant

Theirs is a companionship of both accident and necessity, and if asked, Himmel couldn’t recall how it began. But he’s grateful that it did.

He’s found, at different points, many people here who knew Frieren when they were alive, but none she had ever mentioned, and therefore none, he concludes, who really mattered to her. He found her mother, once. But the Frieren who her mother knew is not the one Himmel journeyed with, and for that, he needs somebody else.

Himmel can’t say how long he’s been in this enchanted, miserable place when Flamme finds him, but it feels like much too long.

He knows her by her earrings. Kind of Aureole to give her a copy of the ones she passed down when she died.

“Let me guess,” is the first thing she says to him when he recognizes them, and her hair, and her falsely carefree air. “Would-be lover?”

It takes Himmel a moment to be willing to admit it.

“Something like that,” he says.

They only talk about Frieren at first, filling in the gaps in each other’s knowledge. It is a functional arrangement: Flamme had always hoped Frieren would take a journey like theirs and is eager to know how they managed it, never saw her make friends or get herself stuck in a mimic, and Himmel knows only crumbs about her past. They laugh often and try to pretend that it isn’t lonely to talk from a so-called paradise about somebody they miss desperately in the world of the living; he is glad for the company.

But it grows from that.

Flamme is the sort of person he admires most, lively and fun-loving but full of conviction. She looks at Himmel, after not too long, like a long-lost son.

And there is no point in it when they’re stuck here, waiting for all eternity for the people they love to expire and join them, but both of them have been thinking it for some time when she says, “if I’d been around when she met you, I’d have told her what was up.”

He smiles. “Would you?”

Flamme ruffles his hair.

“She just needed a push,” she tells him. “If I were around, and someone like you came calling…well. I’d have kicked her from the nest in a heartbeat.”

“Uh…”

“I’m serious. I would’ve.”

He doesn’t know whether that makes things better or worse.

[talonabraxas]

Eye of Sirius 'Supernal Vision' Talon Abraxas

O grace abounding that had made me fit to fix my eyes on the eternal light until my vision was consumed in it! I saw within its depth how it conceives all things in a single volume bound by Love, of which the universe is the scattered leaves; substance, accident, and their relation so fused that all I say could do no more than yield a glimpse of that bright revelation. I think I saw the universal form that binds these things, for as I speak these words I feel my joy swell and my spirits warm. Twenty-five centuries since Neptune saw the Argo's keel have not moved all mankind, recalling that adventure, to such awe as I felt in an instant. My tranced being stared fixed and motionless upon that vision, ever more fervent to see in the act of seeing. Experiencing that Radiance, the spirit is so indrawn it is impossible even to think of ever turning from it. For the good which is the will's ultimate object is all subsumed in it; and, being removed, all is defective which in it is perfect. Now in my recollection of the rest I have less power to speak than any infant wetting its tongue yet at its mother's breast; and not because that Living Radiance bore more than one semblance, for it is unchanging and is forever as it was before; rather, as I grew worthier to see, the more I looked, the more unchanging semblance appeared to change with every change in me. Within the depthless deep and clear existence of that abyss of light three circles shown three in color, one in circumference: the second from the first, rainbow from rainbow; the third, an exhalation of pure fire equally breathed forth by the other two. But 0 how much my words miss my conception, which is itself so far from what I saw that to call it feeble would be rank deception! 0 Light Eternal fixed in itself alone, by itself alone understood, which from itself loves and glows, self-knowing and self-known; that second aureole which shone forth in Thee, conceived as a reflection of the first or which appeared so to my scrutiny seemed in itself of its own coloration to be painted with man’s image. I fixed my eyes on that alone in rapturous contemplation. Like a geometer wholly dedicated to squaring the circle, but who cannot find, think as he may, the principle indicated so did I study the supernal face. I yearned to know just how our image merges into that circle, and how it here finds place; but mine were not the wings for such a flight. Yet, as I wished, the truth I wished for came cleaving my mind in a great flash of light. Here my powers rest from their high fantasy, but already I could feel my being turned instinct and intellect balanced equally as in a wheel whose motion nothing jars by the Love that moves the Sun and the other stars. -Dante Alighieri, Paradiso, canto 33

[mystery0028]

Frieren Timeline/Pacing

(Manga Spoilers at the very bottom)

Rewatching Frieren made me realize just how much thought the writer put into the pacing and timeline.

It feels like a slow-paced anime, but also time passes by really quick? Like the first episode literally shows a 50 year time skip? But is this really true?

50 years, 20 years, 4 years, 2 years, 6 months, about a year, around another year, 6 months,(Story Starts), 6 months, 2 months, 3-4 months.

Notice anything?

These are the timeskips/timelapses in the timeline. And as Frieren learns more about humans and learns to appreciate the present, the gaps get smaller and smaller, with the everyday being elaborated on more.

Now maybe that's not on purpose, but it certainly seems like it is. The thought and care to create such a subtle way to show Frieren's growth and understanding and appreciation of the NOW - all the while still reminding us of how old she is and how these years really aren't all that long to her in the grand scheme of things? Beautiful.

Expanded Timeline Given Below:

The first episode (1st manga chapter) starts with first a 50 year timelapse (Himmel dies at the end of this), and then a 20 year timeskip, before we end with Frieren deciding to stay with Heiter to translate a grimoire even though it could take 5 or 6 years (barely any time at all for Frieren- over a 1000 yr old elf)

The next episode (chapter-2) starts after a 4 year timelapse (24 years after Himmel's death) to reach a point where we see Fern's progress on learning magic and also the deterioration of Heiter's health. Heiter dies and then there is a 2 year timeskip (26 years after Himmel's death) until we come across our first 'quest' (chapter-3) that we see Frieren and Fern undertake - the search for the blue moon weed flowers. There is a 6 month timelapse before Fern decides 'this is taking too long' and tells Frieren that she thinks its time to pack up and move on - they end up finding the blue mood weed right after that conversation.

The third episode (chapters-4 and 5) is set another year later (27 years after Himmel's death), and the 4th episode a year after that (28 years after Himmel's death) We spend 6 months of this year cleaning up a ship wreck (Episode 4, Chapter - 6)

This is where the present day storyline properly starts - 28 years after Himmel's death -with our party finding out about Aureole (Episode 4, Chapter-7) and picking up another member (Stark) (Episode-6, Chapter-10/11) as they head north.

After that its all small timeskips as we join the party on their 'quests' as they head north.

The next biggest one is when they are stuck in a blizzard for 6 months near the Schwer mountain range and so cannot move ahead. This is in the 2nd half of episode 11 (Chapter-24).

After this timeskip we find out it is now 29 years since Himmel died.

Again small timeskips (in days or weeks - normal for an anime) as we get to Ausserst (during which we meet Sein, spend a few weeks in his village, travel a bit, and then get stuck in a village for a month due to a snow storm - no major time skips here by the way), then 2 months timeskip between reaching Ausserst and writing the First Class Mage exam. (Episode 18 and Chapter 37).

The anime ends after the mage exam alongside Chapter- 60 of the manga. Keep in mind this is still 29 years since Himmel's died.

**Manga Spoilers Ahead**

We don't hit 30 years from Himmel's death until Chapter 70, and 31 years until Chapter - 105. There's a timeskip of a few months where they live outside Weiss with Denken, as Frieren analyzes a curse, and they deal with defeating a demon (Macht Arc - Chapter- 81 to 104), but you get the point.

The manga currently is on 31 years after Himmel's death. (Chapter-134 is the latest as of writing this)

-1.9.2024

[squawk-chatterbox]

World Map!

Was this unnecessary? Yes. Definitely. I did not have to make this whole map for my worldbuilding stuff, I really didn’t, but it makes things so much easier to visualize!

Now when I talk about geopolitics I can point to a map and say “this one right here, that’s the dictatorship that is horribly xenophobic and has a massive ego but gets away with it because good trade relations!” (Top right, if you were curious)

I worked this place ground up from plate tectonics and placed biomes with the help of geological features and ocean currents. I couldn’t poured rice onto a piece of paper and traced it, but a reason for everything!

I will admit that it is quite inaccurate and probably needs to be reworked, but I’m very proud.

Now, the nations in this world have been jam packed with lore, and while I’d love to ramble about that here, it would take forever and be an organizational nightmare.

But then again, giving you a map with names, telling you it’s cool, and then telling you I’ll elaborate maybe some other time is anticlimactic, sad, droll what have you, and I don’t want this to be any of those things!

So, instead, I’ll give you a reason to stay tuned…

With some wonderful highlights of what’s to come!

Introducing:

Aureole!

Self proclaimed “City of Sunshine” smack in the middle of a hellscape of their own making! They have lots of territory, most of it inhabitable!

Viru!

The only city where magic isn’t outlawed, and also drives half the economy by supplying the black market which everyone else pretends to hate!

Transoceanic Links!

Neutral territory, very hard to live in. Natural habitat of sea serpents and pirates.

Senit!

They haven’t noticed the entire secret city under the mountain range yet, and they probably never will!

Capitulum!

They built their capital on a giant tree! Bad design? Maybe! But it doesn’t seem to be anywhere close to dying yet.

Township of Nivalis!

Not a lot of land, but a really scary Navy.

[ecargmura]

Frieren: Beyond Journey's End Episode 10 Review - The Strongest Mage

You were expecting a big battle between Frieren and Aura? Please, this isn’t a battle shounen manga. Besides, I think what the writer did for this buildup wasn’t to show off how much stronger Frieren is compared to Aura, but the fact that Frieren hates demons so much that the writer even incorporates that hatred into not focusing on Aura only towards the end. Imagine hating demons so much that the one standing in front of Frieren is such a pissant that she’d rather think back on her memories with Flamme and Himmel than focus on the current battle in general. That’s a total disrespect to Aura from Frieren and I wouldn’t have her behave any other way.

Throughout the flashbacks, Frieden’s hatred for demons has been revealed; demons killed the elf village she was living in and she managed to kill the demon general Basalt in retaliation. She was the only survivor and could’ve died if Flamme hadn’t shown up. Flamme decided to take Frieren as her apprentice because they share similarities from hating demons to loving magic. The most memorable lesson Frieren recalled from her tutelage with Flamme had been suppressing her mana in order to trick demons. Her time with Flamme has been finding ways to use magic in order to destroy any demon that stands in her way. At first, Frieren had found it pointless, but now, she uses it to her advantage centuries later when she meets Aura, a demon who’s ability requires her to use large quantities of mana. I honestly loved how Frieren clapped back at Aura’s long live by telling her that she’s a mage who has lived much longer than she did.

Flamme is such a good teacher. She chose her apprentice well. I think the fact that she chose an elf to continue her legacy was a smart decision. She taught Frieren everything and the latter has all the time in the world to retain the magic and then later gets her own apprentice in Fern. I really like Flamme’s personality. She’s like Frieren’s adopted mom, but there was still a bit of a border between them. Her mindset was also a strong, lasting factor in Frieren. She didn’t mind becoming a disgrace of mages if it means to destroy every last demon in the world. I think the sweetest part of the interaction between master and apprentice was that Flamme was the one who taught Frieren the flower field magic that she later incorporates during her travels with the hero’s party and later with Fern back in Episode 2. The chance encounter with Flamme paved the way for Frieren to meet Himmel who says the same thing she once said to her master when she first met her.

Some aspects I like about this episode was seeing the demons animated. Like, in the beginning, Lugner’s eyes wandered around a lot, which is something I quite liked seeing because he was rather emotionless and composed throughout most of his screen time. Seeing Aura becoming panicked when the scales tipped over to Frieren’s favor. When Frieren commanded Aura to kill herself, the detail of the sword cutting Aura’s hair before she did the thing was really good. While I do love amazing animation, little details like these are nice to see too!

I feel like this is now the end of this arc. I do wonder where Frieren and the others will go now. I’m seriously invested in their adventure towards Aureole. What will they get themselves into going forth? What are your thoughts about this episode and the end of this arc?

[kvetchlandia]

Uncredited Photographer Poet Wallace Stevens 1916

Children picking up our bones Will never know that these were once As quick as foxes on the hill;

And that in autumn, when the grapes Made sharp air sharper by their smell These had a being, breathing frost;

And least will guess that with our bones We left much more, left what still is The look of things, left what we felt

At what we saw. The spring clouds blow Above the shuttered mansion-house, Beyond our gate and the windy sky

Cries out a literate despair. We knew for long the mansion's look And what we said of it became

A part of what it is … Children, Still weaving budded aureoles, Will speak our speech and never know,

Will say of the mansion that it seems As if he that lived there left behind A spirit storming in blank walls,

A dirty house in a gutted world, A tatter of shadows peaked to white, Smeared with the gold of the opulent sun.

-- Wallace Stevens, "A Postcard From the Volcano" 1923

[winxlobotomyward]

WINXSONA FOR THE NEUTRAL CLASS MAGIC USER WOOHOOO

Name: Anesis (Greek name meaning “Comfort” or “Consolation”, kinda tying into her power in an abstract way).

Magic Title: Yogini of the Kapila’s Love (yes she has a powerful energy creature like Bloom, haven’t decided if she knows it yet but probably not).

Planet-Kingdom of Origin: Kriti (A planet with a love for anything tangible, felt, immanent and sensory -  songs, flavors, paintings, pictures, plays, clothes and perfumes and anything of the sort! 

It spills over into their faith, about a Goddess’ living presence in all aspects of the world, with many forms and faces. Evidence of her existence is shaky according to magical research, so it remains an odd quirk to many others. There's a reason, however, why they believe, which will be shown.

Kriti is matriarchal, but things have been getting slightly more balanced with modernization. It attracts plenty of tourists because of the various pleasures to experience, and even animal sacrifices if they’re not squeamish. It takes inspiration from South India, the more matriarchal societies of indigenous america such as Hopi and Tewa cultures, a bit from SEA metropolises like Manila and Bangkok, busy and lifesome and making you want to run around to do and buy everything.

Personality and Overall Being: Anesis comes across as ladylike, yet also warm and maternal for most people. Wanting to help others in her own seemly and measured way, in a friend group, she’s the emotionally strong and poised one, whose responsibility is second nature.

Despite this, she has a mischievous part of her prone to good-natured devilment. This is only shown amongst good friends and family, so she can blindside them with a highly uncharacteristic remark just to see their reactions.

The motherly and responsible parts of her personality cause her to take responsibility for things that aren’t her problem, leaving her open to be burdened with everyone else’s issues without consideration for herself. She has a deep need to feel useful and wanted, she was raised by loving caregivers (her mother, her aunts and uncles and occasionally the father, as per Kriti tradition) but they could pile big expectations on her as a girl from such a respected family. 

Her two older sisters and older brother were often horrifically cruel to her and her younger and final sibling, Glyca. Having none of Anesis’ good nature, they were spoiled, entitled, bullying monsters. From protecting the very young Glyca she awakened her strong-but-nurturing streak, and from the damage it gave herself she got the need to feel needed.

Adding to the bullying, she often saw a being no one else could see - a cow spirit she called Kapila. Her older siblings detail how some food industries imprisoned and tortured cows for milk and tore their babies away from them for veal. Her mother scolded them when they were caught, but Kapila was the true comforter, dabbing her tears away with a nuzzle.

Being on the wealthier side, it wasn't unusual for Anesis’ family to have a toe dipped in magical society. When one friend of the family heard of these persistent visitations she insisted it was a sign of wondrous magical potential, and to consider introducing her to magic education. Anesis loved it, thinking it brought her closer to the phantom bovine, culminating in her enrollment in Vishuva Yogini Institute (despite the impersonal frost that last word gives off, it's a lovely place to be when you sense the atmosphere). 

For once, she felt she was truly doing Mother proud! Euclea, the eldest and most foul in her torments, tried to copy her magical success. Her Yogini skills were lacking, but at a fairy academy called Alfea, she was doing good enough, and hadn't skinned any kittens to drown in vinegar quite yet.

But Kapila never left her side, she  could appear as a divine woman in a flowered aureole, a pillar of shining cloud, and a cow. The cow was much larger and discernable powerful, like a queen of all beasts. 

She said she was once a more godlike entity, like the great dragon. Kapila had sacrificed her own being, powdered into uncountable specks for the gift of ‘love’ for sentients, people! But it is the time of her return, the people have lost their way in greed, scorn of wisdom, and ghoulish violence and destruction of one another, all for what?

By gathering the produce of her lost pieces, the love in the soul of those that still have it, she’ll be crowned queen, no one will not hear her when she tells to remember their innate goodness, the flesh of their heart, which alone was irreplaceable.

Alesis’ mission was of She, the all present mother in the loving soul, the most important gift in totality of sentient beings. Unifying the world enough to set Her free, back here, it’s her strived-for masterpiece, a miraculous magnum opus that will set so many more free from what they've trapped themselves in, never alone whilst She’s by their side.

---

Wooh! That was a lot, I apologize for the shit shitty oh so fucking shitalicious image quality it's the best I can do.

Her civilian fashion is like, wholesome 60s girl with that shot of Y2K yass-slay-bih cuntissima. She wears heavier makeup to look older. Although I suppose there's a bit of less mature feminity in the hair now and short lace skirt etc etc but still 69s inspired

Magic Winx definitely plays up the less mature side, with the large puritan collar thingy, cute cow head motifs across the hem and babydoll dress evoking a 60s "Dolly" (a fashion trend back then where they war more childish looking things, like Melanie Martinez but more DMT)

(Realised it looks like a nightgown, I'm gonna head cannon Kapila visited her mainly at night or even in her dreams)

need to flesh out her powers but for now thing of blooms divine do-much-more-that-normal-fire-fairy stuff, but swap out fire for , healing, emotions, souls and whatever princess peach has

[heytherecentaurs]

Her Love (Fia & Irina)

At the end of my incessant night she was the dawn, suffusing a sufferer in her lustrous golden mercy; her face aglow in the aureole of my devotion, her eyes illumined mirrors reflected my affection. In the stark interposed lonesome dark, memory of her flickered, a refuge candle burning, and I endured by the warmth of yesteryears’ embers in exile from her ever-light and the glory of her love.

I grew from barren soil in the Reaper’s graceless kingdom, a hopeless waifish wight in his army of the Not-Yet-Dead, a living death, unloving and cruel, for a soul of earnest yearning; I found hopeful sanctuary in her with childish optimism, though misery’s emissary wrenched her from my grasp and condemned my flesh for the virtue of my soul divine. (A soul forever locked to hers like binary stars.) I endured three thousand nights sans the aurora of her love.

At the conclusion of my untamed juvenescence I strode into the unfurled dark well-equipped with the breadth of my tutelage, a blade and a bared heart, searching for starlight in the overcast climate of our age. My companions in stride, I raced into the unknown, delved into the mysteries of god-abandoned Eldermourne, through undead peril persevered and the ethereal veil slipped, to a desolate realm where once more I dreamed of her love.

In the garden of our ecstatic reunion slithered a serpent bearing a crown of untempered knowledge, its divinity a powerful narcotic adulterating her mind, giving impulse and fury dominion over her better nature. Forced to dim the long-sought light of my Dream, as the fires of coronal Cerenysus possessed sweet Irina her supernova snuffed another treasured flame, and in its extinguishment, I wept, despairing her love.

Miracles glorious and divine: resurrection and forgiveness, second chances and fulfilling the promises of our past, we sailed a current of triumphant daybreak towards the undiscovered horizon of buoyant possibility. We learned of each other anew with intimate fervour, supplanting my ache for her with a quenchable thirst; we found home in one another, built it in the peaceful valley and grew a Grove for two, nourished by our love.

—heytherecentaurs

[aspec-manga-snom]

Aspec Manga Rec: Frieren: Beyond Journey's End

This post will contain mild spoilers for the plot and character dynamics of the Manga. Sorry about the long post, but its a lot.

Contains a romantic subplot not involving the main character. Some evidence for an Aspec Protagonist. Reference to Sexual themes but no explicit imagery or sexualization of characters.

Remember, panels are right to left.

Written by Kanehito Yamada and illustrated by Tsukasa Abe, Frieren: Beyond Journey's End follows the journey of Frieren, the elf mage of the hero's party after their victory over the demon king. She travels to speak to the now dead hero Himmel in Aureole, where all souls rest. Currently being released as an anime by Studio Madhouse, now seemed like an apt time to talk about it.

The manga explores themes of loss, grief, found family, coming to terms with your emotions and the importance of non-romantic relationships. Especially with our protagonist, Frieren, bound to live a life of near immortality from a human perspective.

Immortality and Relationships:

As we follow Frieren on her journey north we are told directly that she herself doesn't understand the nature of relationships. Her perception of the world is stuck in how she will long outlast the people that she cares for. Below this appearance is someone who truly care for others.

She learns to cherish the time she spends with others and we can see that with how she treats Fern, her apprentice. The adopted daughter of one of her former companions, who she begins her journey solely with.

We are shown in a flashback to the end of her previous journey that she would never consider an apprentice because their life would never amount to much of her own existence:

Frieren often conflicts with the ideas of relationships and it is the main conflict of her returning journey north. Fern very quickly becomes incredibly important to her, taking care of her needs and very swiftly looking after her apprentice's condition instead of continuing her own journey northward. Frieren defies her own beliefs and worldview because she has learned that the people that she does care about will eventually disappear; as it is the nature of her lifespan for them to be nothing but fleeting moments. She chooses to spend time with her companions because she wants to carry their story and memory for the rest of her life, something that she never felt with the hero's party.

How is this Aspec Representation?

Clearly more depictions of unfeeling characters as aspec isn't progressive in making aspec people seem more "human" but I think how Frieren subverts this trope demonstrates a great aspec character.

At this point, this representation is, and will probably continue to be a headcannon more than it will be actually confirmed, but it has some pretty good foundation.

Early on, Frieren directly tells us this about elves:

This is a pretty overt statement of her romantic and sexual orientation as early as Chapter 13 of the manga as the journey was just beginning. There are some questionable parts of this claim that "all elves" lack romantic and sexual attraction, but the author directly displays elves later on that hold or are implied to have romantic feelings for other characters. It reminds me of how some aspec people believe that everyone is like them, having an understanding without knowing fully that they have different experiences.

*Note, they kept the panel above in the anime.

So where does this leave Frieren as she is perceived by others?

No one questions this about her. It never comes into question if she had found the right person or if she was interested in the relationships herself, it is just accepted. In a later chapter exploring the romantic subplot between her two companions, she is asked for dating advice to which she responds:

The interaction is treated very naturally which mirrors realistic assumptions of these feelings and experience with them that might come with age.

The only claim to her holding romantic feelings towards another person was towards the hero Himmel. Which is suspect to say the least. Most of these assumptions are based on their close emotional bond, how much Frieren grieves his death and how Himmel treated her.

Throughout flashbacks, we can see that Himmel almost constantly was flirting with and then subsequently denied by Frieren along their journey. It isn't played as hurtful or annoying, just as a form of endearment that wasn't reciprocated; something that neither character seems to grieve in any fashion. They had a close emotional bond, but the manga doesn't display it as anything but platonic and I believe that to be true.

TLDR:

Frieren exhibits multiple aspec traits in how she perceives others and her relationships to the people in her life. While her traits may be seen as "inhuman" on the surface, she deeply cares for others without needing to be in a romantic or sexual relationship. The manga puts very little focus on romance and merely on the nature of relationships of all kinds and meanings.

This is my first large-scale post like this, so I would appreciate any feedback people are willing to give me. It is a very long post so I hope I didn't ramble too much

[borisbubbles]

Eurovision 2023: #18

18. AUSTRIA Teya & Salena - "Who the hell is Edgar?" 15th place

Decade ranking: 51/116 [Above Ronela, below Jeangu]

OOOOOH MIO PADRE, I'VE GOTTA ROAST ME SOME BARBIES, ooooooooooh no.

It does NOT pay to be funny, sadly. Yeah, I wish I didn't have to go there, but sometimes the stars just don't align. With Loreen and Pasha being reunited and the year generally being mediocre, Liverpool 2023 already had enough parallels with Baku 2012. The "preshow obsession has a disappointing live" part I could have done without.

Like seriously. Was there ever a more slam-dunk end of contest favourite for me than TeyaLena? (well other than You Know Who, but we'll get there). My recent faves were Think About Things, Shum and In Corpore Sano. All uptempo, all enjoyable, all secretly very clever entries, eating and mothering (or in Da­ði's case brothering) as THE act on everyone's lips as the dust settled. Edgar was one of two entries who could have been The One for this year!!! But as Poe Poe Poe became Poo Poo Poo I'm forced to pack up my praise pen and bring out my critical analysis quill :-/

Fortunately, like the ladies, I am such a good writer, so enjoy this lengthy review, which is more like a vivisection:

ON THE FLAWS OF 'WHO THE HELL IS EDGAR?'

The first instinct would be to say that the song was impossible to bring, but I don't buy into that logic. "Edgar" was great, a vision, and absolute fucking BANGER. That's the hill, I'll die on. Despite the flaws of its live, I will always cherish it as a song.

Granted, the song was a lot of things at once. That's what made it both iconic and live liability. You try to explain to a layman casual audience member what Edgar is about. How it satirizes the music industry. How self-deprecating it is. What an API is. What an A&R is. What the 0.003 stands for. Now do that in the THIRTY SECONDS TIME FRAME it takes for the video teaser to play. You can't. You can be the best commentator or the most eloquent eurovision-obsessed guncle. Also, you're making me think with your words. Thinking bad. ME WANT ENJOY SHOW. ME WANT GOOD TIME, NO THINK.

So, there's two approaches you can take here, if you play to win.

The first by embracing the campness and going full ham, which how the televote countries would handle it. Your Moldovas, Ukraines, Finlands, Serbias, Norways. Hand Edgar over to one of them, and TeyaLena would start bent over a laptop or typewriter, harrassed by ravens or men in Edgar Allen Poe costumes, who would so a possessed zombie dance while TeyaLena try to escape the clutches.

Naturally, such an act requires less effort from the performers and could be seen as an easy cop-out by juries (die, juries!) and result in a loss of points and well, Austria don't play that way. Austria don't have a built in televote base and feel they are better off playing for the same juries that would normally reject an Edgar.

So instead they went for option two: embrace the hyperpop and try to build momentum off its hyperactivity. Fair enough, that's less interesting and safe, but a valid choice that can result in a very good time.

On this occasion though, it was a MISTAKE.

The best part about Edgar was the combination of dumb hyperpop memes with clever satire, and the staging ignored the latter completely. It showed Edgar Allan Poe TWICE, and then spliced in the Spotify reference in the background without context. That was all the act did with the satire. They should have named this song "Where the hell is Edgar?". The vague references only work when the entire audience is already in on the joke, otherwise it's a three mins of braincell murder. If a pleb tuned in blind (over 75% of the audience), tough luck on them for trying to make sense of it all. SHOULD HAVE FOLLOWED ESC ON TIKTOK!!!.

Bottom line: THE STAGING WAS PEDANTIC.

Thematic acts can alleviate that problem. Think Konstrakta's spa tableau vivant, Katryna's tron aureole, the presence of Gagnamagnið on the stage alongside Daði Freyr. This year we had Vesna's hexaplet choreography, Käärijä's ballroom dancers, Loreen's panini press, Gustaph's motivational graphics, even Alika's fucking self-playing piano applies to this principle. All of these did well, the competent ones with juries, the camp ones with the tv. Intuitive but thematically fitting visual cues that instinctively get the vibe across without requiring the audience to ponder it too deeply (or become a parody, I SEE YOU, France.) that's what effecive staging is about. Now compare the above good stagings to what Austria came up with: Four dancers in Samanta Tina garb, some more created by the LEDs in the background, and a VERY basic choreography. This is not a just simplification but a dumbing down. Every visual cue comes across as nonsensical, because nothing quite ties it together with the music. If only the song itself had provided us with a clear visual reference point, huh?

Of course, a dumbed down staging concept could still yield a good result despite itself if the live was teeming with energy and bounced off in every direction to match the music. Folks would be voting based on pure performance skill and nothing else. After all, Ewnicorn bluffed its way into third on that very principle. Sadly, neither Teya nor Salena were versed in the art of singing and dancing at the same time.

So ultimately, you're given this awkward performance where Teya acted really well and produced delectable facial expressions - I mean who doesn't love THIS:

-but failed to harmonize with Salena, while Salena hit most of her notes but clearly struggled with the Dietmann's simplistic, toddler-like choreography, like a Leila Jane or Mirud on stilts. Nice that they complimented each others weaknesses by showcasing opposite talents, but if you wanna do well just get yourself a girl who can do both.

And there we have it, Teya and Salena. High Risk, High Reward usually plays out for the better, but this is one such occasion where the high risk was avoided and the just reward was a disappointing score on the middle of the scoreboard. Such is the price of not embracing your queer-coded campness in Eurovision. We have landed in mild-like hell, just like Nina Zilli and Jonsi and all the others that I wish I could love more, but sadly did not live up to their initial hype. That too is life. Onward to better things, and things will surely get good as we move forward, right?

THE RANKING

[neonscandal]

Hello, when I read your post, that you don't mind if someone gave manga recs, I feel relieved. Because, some people (that I know) kinda mind if someone gave manga/manhwa recs. These are my top 7 favorite BL and bonus 2 GL (thanks if you want to read & sorry if maybe you already know and don't like them) :

1.) Therapy Game (my first BL and my all time favorite, never got tired of re-reading, HEA).

2.) Dear Gene (it's more LGBTQ themed and just so good, HEA).

3.) A Home Far Away ("If I were a woman, loving you would not be a sin", angst not happy ending, but worth it).

4.) Welcome Back Aureole (coming of age kinda story, realistic BL, from the mangaka of Skip and Loafer, HEA).

5.) Sankaku Mado (I read this before JJK, and I understand more about curses after reading this, for me it's not like the usual BL, but you just want to keep reading it, kinda spooky).

6.) Fake (90'S BL that is just so fun and interesting, love how their relationship develop, and also quite funny)

7.) Love for Sale (what a ride, when you think it's just the usual trope, then you'll be surprised, love all the characters and also how they handle their relationship).

8.) Her Tale of Shim Chong (one of the best GL ever, please read this, felt so realistic even if there a fantasy element).

9.) Doughnuts Under a Crescent Moon (so sweet and cute but also really felt like every day life).

Sorry if my reviews are sloppy, @neonscandal and I hope you'll enjoy some of the above.

I want to thank you, because of you now I became AshEiji, BakuDeku and SatoSugu shipper. Really love your metas and all your posts, thanks for sharing your hard work...🌷😆

For as long as I live, I may never finish my TBR or TBW but I'll certainly try. ✨ I only had five of these on my To Be Read list so thank you for sharing (one of them was ofc a GL)! Don't apologize for anything, especially for such succinct synopses.

I regularly think about if there's a way to include a "Currently Reading" and/or "Currently Watching" on my blog without just... posting that regularly. Admittedly, it feels like exposing a bit too much of myself but, at the same time, I really enjoy being able to connect with other people about the stuff that I read when I'm deep in my thoughts and feels. IDK if you care but, if you do, I'll be sure to reblog this post with my thoughts on your recs as I read them.

As I said, sometimes I feel like I'm exposing myself a bit. When I was younger, I used to think you learn a lot about someone from what they read and listen to. I still think that. I tended to be really furtive while being really eager to learn more about others, especially in this way. Now, here I am, constantly telling strangers about my favorite ships, characters and stories and, all the while, wondering what it is you guys take away from that. It's just funny to think about. Maybe it's growth. And now you're giving me the chance to learn about you. I appreciate the opportunity.

You thanking me for your ships is hilarious. I'm sure it was only a matter of time before you found and loved them, too. Sharing my hard work? Baby, I'm sharing my mental illness. Welcome to the misery, I'm glad you like it here 😂💖

[jaqswan]

the sun shines through breathing branches

and creates an aureole around your figure

until its light laughs through your heart

bursting and tangling your insides

and having its way with your body

like the nature that all living things

seem to possess

[frierenscript]

Himmel's feeling for Frieren / ヒンメルのフリーレンへの想い

I've finally finished posting all 28 episodes!　I know there must be some or many mistakes here and there, since I typed a huge number of words by hand myself. Please forgive my work isn't perfect... I'll correct as soon as I notice any.

Someone said that Himmel's entire life is a long love letter to Frieren, and I agree 100%. I also think that Frieren's long journey to Aureole is like reading Himmel's love letter little by little.

In episode 14, Himmel put a ring on Frieren as if proposing, that revealed us he loved her. But he didn't tell it to her.

Why not? I guess it's because he's a human who would die "soon (for Frieren)". He met Old Man Voll who still has been living the rest of his long life without his loving wife... I think he imagined Frieren's long life after his death...

Himmel remained single all his life and lived alone until his death. I feel so sad that he couldn't be with Frieren for 50 years, in spite that he was a real hero who even saved the world...

I can't wait to see what happens next in the story, and I hope that at the very end, Frieren will meet Himmel's soul in Aureole!

Until season 2 comes, I will be working on another anime, "The Apothecary Diaries (Kusuriyano Hitorigoto)" and "Demon Slayer (Kimetsuno Yaiba)", and sometimes come back to "Frieren" for more detailed study.

Thank you so much for visiting me and reading my blog!

遂に全２８話をアップしました！何しろ膨大な文字数を全部一人で手打ちしているので、あちこちに入力ミスや編集ミスがあります…

気付き次第訂正していきますのでご容赦ください。

どなたかが「ヒンメルの人生そのものがフリーレンへのラブレターだ」と書かれていたのを拝見したのですが、全くその通りだと思いました。そして、フリーレンのオレオールへの旅路は、そのラブレターを少しずつ読んでいくようなものです。10年かけて読むラブレター…なんて素敵なの。さすがヒンメルですね。

14話で、ヒンメルがフリーレンにひざまずいて、まるでプロポーズのように指輪をはめるシーン。あれでヒンメルがフリーレンに深い愛情を抱いていたであろうことは確定しました。でも、ヒンメルは最後まではっきりとフリーレンにそれを伝えなかった。何故でしょう？

私が思うのは、どう頑張ってもヒンメルは人間で、フリーレンにとっては「すぐ」死んでしまうから、だろうと思います。

ヒンメルもフォル爺に会っていますよね。ずっと昔に亡くした妻のために長い生涯ずっと妻の故郷を守り続けている彼の姿は、ヒンメルの中で、自分の死後のフリーレンの長い人生を想像させたのではないかと。

そしてヒンメルは生涯独身で、最期まで一人で暮らしていたようでした。世界を救いさえした勇者なのに、50年間フリーレンと共に過ごすこともできず、どんなに寂しかっただろうと思うと切なくなります。

この先のストーリーが楽しみで待ちきれません。最後の最後には、フリーレンがオレオールでヒンメルの魂と再会できますように！

シーズン２が始まるまでの間、私は他の作品2つ、「薬屋のひとりごと」と「鬼滅の刃」に取り掛かります。時々、フリーレンのもっと細かい内容の投稿もしに戻ってきます。

読んでいただきありがとうございました！

[liquidstar]

heres my theory though. and its probably really wrong but manga readers dont confirm or deny anything im just spitballing. frieren said shes used to hearing her master beg for her life, and never elaborated on what the fuck that meant. im wondering if maybe, at the end of her life, flamme also became desperate to keep living on and looking deeper and deeper into types of magic that would allow such a thing. we've already seen this sort of idea with heiter, but he still accepted his death at the end (also part of the immortality search was a ruse anyway). and i think thematically foils frieren's arc really well, that her lifespan is something people desire and yet its both normal to her and also... kind of sad. the typical immortality themes. anyway this next part of the theory is totally wild assumptions, but what if aureole isnt... real? what if it was something flamme deeply wished for at the end of her life? who knows.... maybe the real heaven was the friends we made and watched grow old and die along the way