a riot of feral hamsters

I was watching someone react to the golden land arc chapters and it really didn’t hit me until I saw her reactions to Gluck as a character that like, aside from, Denken, Frieren, and maybe Edel, the characters in canon (or just the public in general) really don’t know what he’s like and after the arc, the public most likely think of Gluck more negatively now. Like, at the start when Edel and Lernen were doing their mission to see if the bracelet was still working on Macht, they go to see one of Gluck’s servants who made it out alive, and it seems that generally those who know of what happened to Weise think he was clueless and greedy and was using Macht for wealth when that wasn’t the case at all. And post-golden land arc if a trial were to happen, those not in the know (basically everyone else who isn’t Denken, Frieren + party, and the magic special forces) will probably continue to think that he didn’t know any better about using a demon or that he was some evil mastermind who was planning long-term and setting everyone up for failure from the start.

Idk where I’m going with this really, I just wanna yap and this could all just be a bunch of bs/me spending too much time on things that don’t really matter in the grand scheme of frieren canon, but as the reader knowing how he really is I feel kind of insane about it 💀💀💀💀

LOL yeah I think that's why it's extra tasty as readers because we know Gluck wants to let the truth be told because he is proud of his (and Macht's) combined efforts. Gluck's persona as a public figure took 0 damage before, during, and after Macht - and how the man is reacting is very fun to chew on.

This is going into manga-only territory:

When he is "invited" to the Empire in that questioning room with the Imperial mage; the higher ups have a vested interest to keep up his image (for some reason?) and they don't actually want to give him the death penalty for colluding with a demon. Which is super interesting!! I haven't put my thoughts together for what I think that means for the greater political atmosphere but I love the dynamic of Gluck being the one who wishes to openly be judged and condemned for his actions vs the other powers at play actually wanting to keep the regular population in the dark.

Isn't it interesting that Macht's signature spell isn't "violent" in the traditional sense. It's described as a curse: Changing the property of anything into indestructible gold. But by itself that's all it does.

Can we assume Macht didn't (could not) visualize himself ending Weise using pure violence? Encasing the entire city in gold wasn't his only option. He could've rained down gold flakes and have everyone bleed out in the streets but instead he decided to immortalize the city and the surrounding region.

It's preservation, in a way.

What a tender ending he chose. As a demon who is born with instincts of hunting and devouring humans, for him to default to his magic, for his magic to be something that doesn't destroy but perserve as indestructible gold, is so very tragic.

wip dump of back when i was really into gsgw and infected my friend with brainrot and she started cooking up a fantastic hallucination (or is it really) fanfic that never got finished bc school got the better of her and I got yeeted into old man yaoi

Omg dont be sorry at all!! It's great having more things to chew on >w<

I LOVE the question of Denken and Gluck's relationship!!! I think it's so easy to see current!denken's understanding of who Gluck is as a person and their most recent interactions - and assume it has been smooth sailing all along. My thoughts are in line with yours - I agree Denken's relationship with Gluck is probably some version of weird. Yes there would be gratitude of being taken in and provided a (superior) education, but at the same time, Denken would not fail to see Gluck is also benefiting from this arrangment.

Gluck now has a built in back up successor (since his only heir before Denken came along was Lekture who is frail and a girl - canonically we have not seen any heirs or current rulers who are women; I can only assume there's biases in canon that reflects historical ones) plus if Macht can train him into a superior mage, even if Denken doesn't end up ruling, he becomes a valuable military asset with a vested interest to fight for Weise/Lekture. Win-win!

I love Gluck and as much as I wish to write him as a sentimental dilf with a penchant for adopting strays, I see him as more of a man with the potential to view relationships as transactional. Giving Denken the best environment to activate his potential as a mage isn't just to give Denken a sense of direction in life; it’s to make Weise strong. (Hilariously enough it feels like Macht-I-kept-his-favorite-teaset is actually the more sentimental one here...)

Right now I prefer basing a lot of my hot takes on the manga: I don't see any scenes between Denken and Gluck alone spending quality time together. But Denken has tea scenes with Lekture. Training montages with Macht. So between Denken and Gluck IT’S FREE REAL ESTATE FOR ME!! >:D

a random assortment of HCs that may or may not appear in the fic:

-her favorite type of books are the travel-diaries/tales from travelers of distant lands, she loves the northern plateau and wishes she can one day see the oceans described in those books, but knows her health is too frail and also does not want to put herself at risk in case she is kidnapped and used to threaten her father

-likes big poofy long dresses because it hides her frailness better

-at one point thinks everyone good at magic can grow their own horns (like Macht). was secretly upset she could not grow her own set

-horrible with the stove. She tried making soup and burned it so bad, she's been sticking to sandwiches ever since

-unironically likes drinking milk

Thinking a lot about Macht and Lekture these days.

We see so little of Lekture and I'm REALLY interested to discover what her character will become as I keep writing. Rant incoming below:

happy braunsol 🍽️it's time to eat!

Day 7 - Fairytale

I love mr.tvhead and his emotional support pet