oh frieren: beyond journey’s end how i love you and your Insanely Introspective Humans that manage to shape history from beyond the grave because they kept making profound bangers while they were still alive
I HAVE ADDENDUMS TO THIS THOUGHT. And it’s because I can imagine like three different scenarios this transpired
a.) they both had their first drink together. Himmel is Completely Normal About It, but inside Heiter something AWAKENED and he’s never been the same since.
b.) Heiter drank first and Himmel was being a bad influence. he was like CHUG! CHUG! CHUG! and to this day, Heiter cites it whenever Himmel tells him to cut it out. He’s like “you encouraged me remember?” LMAO
c.) Himmel drank first and it went something like
“I bet you couldn’t stomach this stuff if you tried!”
“…i’m going to be a priest, himmel, i’m not going to drink”
“someone’s scared~”
and himmel doesnt realize it just then, but he’s opened pandora’s box. it was all over
I think a lot about how becase Himmel and Heiter have been friends from childhood onward, Himmel HAD to have been there for Heiter’s very first alcoholic drink…he watched it happen. i just know it. the beginning of an era
anyway isn’t it funny that 1000 years later, serie ends up finally doing what flamme wanted her to do, leading a large mage association. pin that prediction up on the fridge alongside “frieren will kill the demon king” and “frieren will want to know about humans”. flamme stays winning from beyond the grave
I think a lot about how because Himmel and Heiter have been friends from childhood onward, Himmel HAD to have been there for Heiter’s very first alcoholic drink…he watched it happen. i just know it. the beginning of an era
[lies on my bed thinking deeply about himmel and how himmel's actions just transcends time itself that almost the entire continent changed because of his boundless kindness. even the most simple and mundane acts of carrying baggage of the elderly or playing with children, defeating monsters far smaller than the exaggerations that storytellers share, to defeating the demon king, a feat that would always follow his name. yet even with that feat. ,we see time and time again through the anime and manga that himmel had been so kind that even a decade later, that kindness remains everlasting. great feats are glorious, theyre inspiring. yet even the smallest acts can last beyond lifetimes and several generations. everyone who had ever encountered himmel had been changed and everyone who shared stories had been changed as well. even if it was second hand stories that romantisized his image, tales of grandeur, tales of kindness and simplicity. no matter what they are, his genuine kindness, his personality of gentleness and compassion still is still remembered even a century later. and will be remembered as long as people live]
Himmel is such a profound character and no amount of articulation can tell y’all how much I ADORE him. He knows damn well that he and Frieren were never meant to be, and that it would be beyond his lifetime if she ever reciprocates—but he’s so wholehearted, honest, and unapologetic in the way he loves and cares. He doesn’t let the knowledge of no reciprocation deter him from showing her that she’s loved in all these different, beautiful little ways; he does it all so that if/when the day comes that Frieren DOES realize her feelings, she’ll also doubly see that he’s loved her just as much all this time.
It’s been a while since I’ve done any Frieren musings but I’m so, so incredibly sappy and with the drop of the beautiful “children aren’t the only ones that need comfort” scene I just have the immovable headcanon in my brain that Frieren and Himmel were touchy!
Not in an odd way, and not in ways directly meaning to imply romantic intent—Frieren wouldn’t really identify that, and the last thing Himmel would ever do is take advantage of her—but I love thinking it was just second nature for them to bundle up together at a tree stump. Or for Frieren to plop her head on Himmel’s shoulder while he’s polishing his sword, or vice versa while Frieren’s sat at the bed reading a tome. Just a really cute mutual reciprocity of little gestures like that which probably helped Frieren of the present be so openly affectionate (re: headpatting everyone in her party, bundling up in blankets with Fern). let me have this ok
Happy Holidays everyone! I’m a teensy bit late to Christmas, but I wrote a fluffy Frieren piece about a little village called Frölich—known as the town most beloved by Santa. 🎄🎁✨
( Sorry if you saw my post earlier—I made some edits to it since then >.> )