#first post is an essay of course

[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

[gunsatthaphan]

I hate their asses sdkjhgf

[bumblingest-bee]

many of the things wrong with me can probably be traced back to the number of times i watched my fair lady as a child

[bam-monsterhospital]

season 2 of "My Adventures with Superman" is so heckin good.

i spent an embarrassing amount of time and energy starting to write a sleep-deprived mini-essay that was basically just me gushing about this show's version of Brainiac, before all my energy left and i had to go sleep. Long story short, i really enjoy this show ouo

[nyatbinary-81]

i feel like im going insane has anyone else noticed the sheer amount of times faded is associated with the puppet in the logbook. or asked how faded knows cc well enough to ask such specific questions if theyre supposedly a stranger who shares an animatronic with cc. does anyone question why the vengeful spirit is a random kid.

[onyx-was-here]

[shaking, with tears pouring down my face] sonic the hedgehog is a game about friendship

[batsplat]

[baddhistory]

What Is This, Anyway?

A youtube channel! Well, specifically, it's the blog of a youtube channel that I'm creating for the specific purpose of putting some good, engaging, actually-fucking-cited history video essays out there.

See, it occurred to me a while ago that maybe, just maybe, all the American zoomers and millennials going around saying things like "I feel like my history education was severely lacking, because in 2020, all the sudden all these protests were referencing historical events that I'd never even heard of, and I really want to know more about history," might actually want to know more about history. And that maybe, just maybe, the reason people weren't engaging with history had less to do with the idea we've somehow been sold that it's Inherently Boring and more to do with lack of access.

The problem is, when I looked around the internet at accessible "history" on platforms like podcasts, TikTok, and Youtube (and, frankly, Tumblr), there were ~4 categories:

Well-researched, accurate history, but boring as fuck*

Pretty well-researched, but lacking citations, context, and/or using outdated, incorrect analysis**

One-off videos, which then become part of the discourse because they sound plausible - sometimes true, usually partly true, partly hyperbole or incorrect extrapolation.

Complete Lies, Now With A Grain Of Truth! - hot takes on history by people who are either conspiracy theorists, propagandists, lying grifters, or all three***

But I am a historian. I work with a lot of brilliant, entertaining, thoughtful, ethical, careful historians who have a lot of interesting things to say, and whose work, I think, would land incredibly well with people who are looking online for history they never got taught in school. It's just that our discipline doesn't value digital projects, for some reason, and that a lot of historians are too busy, and that a lot of us are not great with technology.

And but so anyway, I'm good at public speaking****, know my way around modern technology pretty well, care a lot about history and particularly the way we teach and learn it, and get really irritated both by historians who shrug and say "Well, guess people don't care about history anymore," instead of "How can we reach out to people who want to learn history," and by, well, the bad history I see masquerading as good history across the web.

Because people who want to learn deserve better!

[it has only just occurred to me that putting footnotes in the tags means they will not show up in reblogs. future footnotes will be behind a readmore cut.]

[thawthebeez]

alrighty Haikyuu essay time again because I watched s2 ep5 and I have a lot of feelings.

The part I want to talk about specifically is the argument between Hinata and Kageyama because I feel like it's a fantastic display of their characters and values, and I also feel like it is heavily glossed over and reduced to "omg it's gay because they were making physical contact" which I would like to fix.

I'd like to take a quick moment to highlight the tension that gets established from before they even enter the gym.

This frame right here is fantastic, because it shows an empty seat beside BOTH OF THEM, and the fact that they're both sitting closest to the window makes that gap feel further. And it both sets the mood and FITS the mood, especially with Hinata having just been told by literally EVERYBODY (Ukai, Suga, AND Kageyama) that doing a fast attack with his eyes open is useless and it's not even worth trying.

The fast attack Hinata pulls of with Kageyama symbolizes freedom for him. It's an attack that avoids blocks (blocks being symbolized as tall, tall walls preventing him from seeing the other side), an attack that lets him fly, and an attack that lets allows him to use his abilities to their maximum potential (speed, height, and agility).

However, this current form of the fast attack in regards to Season 1 and 2 is still run completely under Kageyama's actions. Hinata may be running fast and jumping high, but that's the only freedom he has. The rest of it is done by Kageyama. So when blockers do start to catch up to the fast attack, it's frustrating, because the whole point the attack was to avoid blockers but now they aren't so Hinata, even at his maximum effort, is no longer free again.

To be free, he knows he needs to open his eyes- and to have the self-awareness to realize that on his own is impressive, but it also puts him in a tough spot because he is once again fighting on his own.

Now imagine you're Hinata, you want to fix this attack that you know isn't going to work anymore, and everyone is saying "it's not possible. It'll never happen." That'd probably give you some flashbacks to middle school when you wanted to start a proper volleyball team and go places with it only to be told "never gonna happen, kid," and it'd also be frustrating as hell.

Hinata is not at all the type to just give up. That man has never given up on something in his life (both pre- and post-time skip). The difference with this fight, however, is that he needs at least one other person to be on board for it to even work, and nobody is giving him that.

Hinata's quick attack symbolizes freedom for him. It seemed limitless at first but here he's hit one of those barriers and nobody seems to want to help him break through it. The thing that was once freedom for him now has him trapped.

Because Hinata (especially at this point in the series) is shit at everything besides his attacks. He can't block, he can't receive, and he can barely serve. He knows that if he loses this attack, he'll be useless (which he expresses later. Again, the self-awareness of this man is astounding).

This is what makes the motivation to fix the quick attack to strong. There's a lot at stake.

Which perfectly shows Hinata's 'unstoppable force' vs Kageyama's 'immovable object' mentality.

(okay small Kagehina ramble here because I am weak and flawed

the fact that kageyama noticed the subtle change instantly is nuts. like the fact that his tosses have grown to be muscle memory and have adapted to toss the ball right where hinata's point of impact is every time, coupled with the fact that he immediately notices that his jump isn't reaching that point, AND that fact that he knows what exactly is distracting him OUGH they just understand each other so well i'm so normal about it)

NOW LET'S GET INTO THE GOOD STUFF

(going to use manga panels for the sake of being able to understand things like dialogue and such)

A lot of people tend to misinterpret Tobio's character as one that's mean or cold-hearted, but he's not. This a bit of dialogue where that conclusion could be drawn. He looks angry, sure, but what he's saying is entirely true. Hinata is weak, and there are a lot of other things he could be working on. Kageyama is not wrong.

We also have a little bit of the ol' 'immovable object' with Kageyama outright not wanting to try the new attack. He's justified for saying this, though, because the whole point of being in that gym is to practice and get better. What they're doing- trying and failing with no progress- is not practice. It's a waste of time, and Kageyama being Kageyama, wasting time in the gym is NOT something he does. Like. Ever.

And what Hinata says here is entirely true as well. He knows and understands that without the quick attack, he's nothing. There's no point for him to be out there, which is precisely why he's fighting so hard for it. He wants to be out on that court more than anything.

Kageyama's response saying that his tosses evade blockers is like saying "You're no good without me. There's no reason for you to be out there without me," which Hinata obviously takes offense to because WTF? The quick attack is meant to represent freedom for Hinata and the fact that that freedom can only exist when another person says so is a paradox. It's not true freedom if that's the case.

(Now, side note, one part that was added in the anime that does not appear in the manga is that Hinata points out that the attacks got blocked when they were against Nekoma and Seijoh. Kageyama asks if his tosses weren't good enough and Hinata says "No, they were perfect. Spot-on. But they still got blocked." It's weird how that's an anime exclusive because it's another fantastic show of character- how Hinata does genuinely appreciate Kageyama's tosses and also the recurring motif of Kageyama expressing and insecurity and Hinata immediately comforting him about it.)

Hinata's "I won't be able to get any better because of this" is also ultimate truth. It's him expressing how he's trapped if they continue like this- if he's not able to fight on his own.

And Kageyama is once again back with a line that makes him sound awful BUT it's not really his fault (number one Tobio apologist right here hi ^_^) because in Kageyama's mind, Hinata wanting to get better is selfishness. WHICH MAKES SENSE because when Kageyama continued to train long after practice all throughout middle school TO GET BETTER, he was called selfish. His tosses were good, they would evade blocks, he was good, he trained to get better, and he got called selfish. He destroyed his team's balance because he was better (amongst other things like, you know, his grandpa passing away. That would cause quite a disruption as well).

"I'll only toss to those who are essential to victory" is yet another horrible-sounding line, but coupled with "The same holds true, even now" makes it essential to the prolonging of the 'immovable object' aspect of Tobio's character. Because Kageyama isn't unjustified or evil for saying that he'll only toss to those who will score points. Like, of course he's only going to toss to those who score points. Who else would he toss to?

Where Hinata prioritizes development (because that's where he's at), Kageyama prioritizes victory (because he's passed that stage of development. He's good, and he knows he is, and he no longer needs to focus on getting better because he is better. Development will continue to come, but he doesn't need it in the same abundance that Hinata does).

(Or he at least doesn't need physical skill development. Tobio could definitely use some emotional development- which he does get later on in season 4- and oh, don't you just love how they compliment each other like this? Hinata needing physical development since he strives in emotional understanding and Kageyama needing the exact opposite? Yin and Yang? Sun to Moon?)

Hinata HAS to be an unstoppable force. One of the main focuses in Haikyuu, especially between Hinata and Kageyama, is their rivalry and how they use each other to motivate themselves. Hinata is far behind when it comes to his skills, and if he wants to reach Kageyama's level so he can continue playing volleyball, he NEEDS to get better- keep moving- be the force he is and keep barrelling through.

And Kageyama, always complimenting Hinata is every regard (setter to a spiker, winter solstice to summer solstice), HAS to be his immovable object. I'm sure he doesn't mean to be, because Kageyama will always be seeking to improve himself and others around him (ex. raising Tsukishima's point of impact with his tosses), but it's so in-character of him to not want to move for the sake of complimenting Hinata's need to.

Haikyuu has got to have some of the BEST characters out there. They all work so well together, and I have yet to find a series where the two main characters compliment one another THIS WELL. Being the two main characters, of course they have to drive the plot of the show forward, but to do it in such a beautiful way is something you don't see very often.

[unproduciblesmackdown]

since it's my legacy, every time it's been like 5 minutes since i last posted about it:

let's take a precious scintillating moment tonight to think about how Autistic Character winston billions is

[todayisafridaynight]

The whole giri-ninjo part of the discussion you guys were having scratches a particular itch in my brain! I love all of it but I personally have been caught on that one line for quite a while with Mine.

I'm going to defer mostly to Tenno's interpretation since I'm not particularly studied, but I have some brain-worms about what exactly the concept of giri-ninjo means to Mine specifically.

Giri is a fun word to try and define. It's not just moral obligation, it's societal expectations and informs the kind of loyalty and friendly behavior that comes with business, duty, etc. In gift-giving, there's the obligation to return a gift with another, sending cards out for holidays, etc. It's not negative but it is again, obligation, and built a lot on either reciprocal action or simply the rules of society. Ninjo is quite literally "human feelings", so it encompasses emotions such as love and compassion that can inform giri, or even be in conflict with it. The giri-ninjo value system of what we owe to each other, reliance on one another, is inherent in the dependence bonds that Tenno mentioned.

I believe Mine says something along the lines of how he hates people (Kiryu) who live their lives only on that principle alone. This is really interesting to me, as in a way giri-ninjo seems to define exactly the type of bonds that Mine specifically sought out in the yakuza. Why would he despise it?

For one, he could think Kiryu foolish to believe that he can build his life entirely around these bonds that Mine finds to be fallible and subject to be taken away at any moment. I feel like on top of rejecting interdependence for individualism, there's also the matter of giri mixed in. Mine is quite familiar with relationships built entirely on obligation, especially in a business setting. Relationships where people are kind to one another not because they particularly care, but because it's simply something that you have to do as part of society- the kind of thing that results in the betrayal Mine felt at his former workplace.

Mine wants to care about someone and be cared about, not a concern compelled by duty or the sense that you owe each other. I suppose one could read relationships like this as not only unreliable but also as false. It's the most uncharitable interpretation of giri, but not one that I would put past Mine.

There's a lot more I could spam abt it but it's ground already covered and this is getting long anyway haha. Again don't take this like 1000% seriously I'm only really a native speaker in household conversational and had to learn the rest by aggressively pestering my family for their takes on scenes in Yakuza, and even then people have their own personal reading of things. I just wanted to send bc these thoughts have been spinning in my brain ever since I heard the line the first time.

This kind of interpretation's pretty sensible (if that's the right word anyway) honestly; it's definitely a fair and just assessment, and makes a whole lot of sense in regards to Mine, his wants, and his philosophy! I'm definitely a fan of this exploration of the subject..

[nerdie-faerie]

I literally had a meeting with my professor today about these upcoming assignments where she stressed to me not to get distracted and keep it narrow, right? I sat there and explained that I want to include this and I think this is related but I'm worried that it's not strictly relevant and will lead to me getting distracted which I do not have room for in my word count and she looked at me like 'yeah obviously? like why are you bringing it up if you already know thats whats going to happen?' because the issue isn't that I don't know what the problem is, I'm well aware of my problems, the issue is that knowing isn't enough to prevent it. I need you to tell me that I'm right in this assessment and that I definitely cannot include all of that. I need strict parameters because I cannot be trusted

[afarthestarsarewaiting]

One day I will stop looking up triggering things on the internet I promise

[ssluggishh]

english 101. the self esteem killer

[hussyknee]

i'm so confused rn, can you explain the goncharov thing?? i get off tumblr for five minutes

(Edits closed as of 28 Nov.)

Lmaoooo

Nah I getchu. So this post has been circulating for like two years:

Link to post.

But yesterday, it had inspired someone to do this:

Link to post.

Next thing I knew there were fake Letterboxed reviews.

Goncharov moodboards. Really good ones.

Link to post.

Meta analysis. So many fake meta essays. Disturbingly good ones. And of course the memes. (Edit: HAVE I SAID THIS SHIT IS DISTURBING)

As you can see, the myth just started to grow, characters and ships and tropes being added one after the other, almost bizzarely without contradiction, until there was enough of shape to the whole thing for people to start posting fanfic about it on AO3. "No beta we die like ice-pick Joe" is already a tag.

Link to post.

It was hilarious in the beginning, but the way it's developed within less than a day, kind of like it's being willed into existence, is freaking me out a bit. We're toying with powers beyond our comprehension. 😂😂😂

Link to post.

Of course, there could be an ulterior motive as well.

Link to post (tags mine).

Edit: guys, please tag these posts "unreality" so people with disassociation issues can filter them out (not this one, this is an explainer). <3

----------------------------------------------

Edit 2: Aparently the boots in the original post are actually referring to a movie called Gomorrah that came out in 2008, directed by Mateo Garrone, based on the Scampia Feud. And other people had also been making posts about the fake movie for a while before the poster took off.

found by @thepotch

Edit 3: Explainer: why did those boots have this movie on them anyway?

Edit 4: Alt text added to all images courtesy of @valentineish ❤️

Edit 5: Turns out tumblr has done this kind of thing before. Nine years in this hell place and I had to have "Squiddles" and penis smp explained in the replies.

Edit 6: This post collects the Lore so far.

Edit 7: Lynda Carter (real one)/ earns more/ Tumblr cred.

Edit 8: Holy shit y'all we have the theme music. With sheet music. And it's on Spotify!

Edit 9: THERE IS A TRAILER WITH THE THEME MUSIC

----------------------------------------------

I made this post 18 hours after the movie poster went up. Closed edits 27 hours after first posting. So all of the above happened within 45 hours of the movie poster going up.

Edit 10: Google document live-compiling all the lore so far (Day 3)

Edit 11: Masterpost of Goncharov soundtracks (Day 3)

Edit 12: Entertainment news articles covering the Gonch-posting (real) (Contd from yday)

Edit 13: The music from the masterpost all compiled into a 31-minute original score with video edits on YouTube (edit: unfortunately taken down)

Edit 14: Staff's Goncharov art showcase for Tumblr Tuesday

As of closing on Day 3 there are 371 works in the AO3 tag.

-----

Updating with Day 3 shenanigans I missed yesterday:

Edit 15: Goncharov TV Tropes page

Edit 16: Ethics of Gonchposting

Important PSA 1 (how to reduce harm to Tumblr's neurodivergents)

Important PSA 2 (reality affirmation, anti-bullying)

Important PSA 3 (why you should stop trying to vandalise legit information sites)

Edit 17: Character lore from beezlebub whose poster they originated from

Edit 18: What we know about/ Director Matteo JWHJ0715 (#unreality)

Edit 19: Link to post with screenshotted and described NYT article (scroll down) and this golden exerpt from BuzzFeed: 💀

(alt text included)

End of Day 4 there are now 485 works in the Goncharov tag on AO3

----

Didn't get to update this on Day 5, so these are the Day 5 doings:

More trailers!

Trailer 1 (My favourite)

Trailer 2

Trailer 3

Trailer 4

I also just found out about the Goncharov Game Jam.

It appears this opened a day after after the meme took off.

Goncharov was first entered into Wikipedia between Day 4 and 5 (attempts to vandalise it with fake info don't count, incidentally – please knock that shit off) under List of Internet Phenomena. This was then expanded into its own Wikipedia page at the end of Day 5 because, according to the talk history: "the topic now meets the notability threshold for its own artice due to significant coverage in The New York Times and other sources cited." We're on Wikipedia, people!

And then we made The Guardian half a day later. So while the meme is definitely dying down to embers by now, it still stays winning.

YouTube channels with episodes on the meme:

InformOverlord (4:30)

Lessons in Meme Culture (2:43)

End of Day of 5 there were 511 works on AO3, and End of Day 6 (today) there are 556.

--

🚨BREAKING 🚨 from Martin Scorsese's daughter's TikTok (real actual)

tw: unreality:

We did it you guys!

Clarification: Francesca Scorcese asked her Dad about the meme and Martin played along. Please reblog this PSA to help Tumblr people with psychosis. Thanks.

Final edit: Day 8. Media reactions to Scorcese's TikTok (everyone from Forbes to Vulture). That one Tumblr user who said they'd do a screenplay if their post got notes has promised to shoot a single scene, but please don't be dicks just because you reblogged it; leave them alone until they get around to it themselves. As of end of Day 8 there are 609 works in the AO3 tag. I love all you lunatics. Peace! ❤️

[rodrickheffley]

my philosophy prof is so bad at remembering to post stuff to the course website im so annoyed lol he still hasnt posted the 2 things i have to read for monday