#minor spoilers though… not really

[fumifooms]

Helki compilation

Helki is a prisoner-turned-servant. He’s a criminal canary and was implicitly one of Milsiril’s charges, and now that she’s retired he’s become her servant.

He must have gotten into Milsiril’s good graces, wether through attachment or convenience, which is a feat considering Milsiril’s a socially anxious recluse. Interesting since it’s not like he seems like the agreeable type, shifty upbeat delinquent style… We really don’t know much about him, not even what crimes he did, so there’s a lot of space for speculation on all grounds.

Edit: Shanghai QnA with Kui gave us a new juicy morsel of info!

Interesting… The original answer in japanese is: パッタドルと同じような杖を使っていました。今も同じものを支給されているのですが、すぐになくすのでもはや携帯していないようです。 That it’s written in japanese seems to say that there isn’t the same double translation issue there was last QnA, so if someone wants to look at the original phrasing and word choices it can be done. Perhaps Helki-Milsiril has a more protégé dynamic undertone than previously thought… "For various reasons", meaning circumstances that made it so the squad had to choose between saving him and saving their own skin, or like, "man this guy’s personality sucks we don’t really like him"? Likely to be a mix of several things, since ‘for various reasons’ implies the situation was either complex or they had multiple reasonings. In either case, the phrasing is very much that Milsiril couldn’t abandon him herself, and so a relationship sprung out of that. Another instance of outcasts seeking out and sticking with other outcasts in Dungeon Meshi. This could mean that it’s a bit less out of personal attachment and more out of a sense of duty on Milsiril’s side as well though.

Still edit: So then maybe him staying with Rin in that comic isn’t that much because of work ethics or that he cares for kids (or maybe he does because he feels kinship to them, alone and mistreated), but because he didn’t want to join the other canaries in that room chatting and laughing… Maybe the isolation was exacerbated because he became Milsiril’s favorite, teacher’s pet style, but I’d also be careful about assuming the others disproportionately dislike him, it could be that they just don’t really care for him. Why? Could be because of his personality, because he’s seen as shifty or unreliable or annoying, if an event, who knows who knows, but I like to think because of the Rin comic that he generally just tends to be a loner, that he’s "weird" in a neurodivergent vibe, he doesn’t conform to proper social behavior which in elven society seems especially alienating. He’s the only one with Rin to think of her sake, not only worth observing/caring for but also asks her to eat, but he does this with an offputting stare, not really emoting, and then well, the infamous alone with her staring munching covered in blood panel. He stands out. I’m a fan of the theory that it was a "Helki? Not that I dislike the guy but I’m not risking my skin for him" situation… Ok end edit back to older observations.

He seemed to be acting out of his own initiative in the Rin comic, he doesn’t look thrilled to be there in many post-canary comics but he also seems content enough. He restrains Milsiril in the Mithrun cleaning comic which is interesting to think of for their relationship.

It’s fun to notice how he’s the only one that didn’t get bored of looking after Rin, and then reports back about her condition… I’d say he was getting used to taking care of kids which would come with the job of serving Milsiril, but then, not enough for him to clean the blood off himself hah. In this way it’s interesting to think about his relationship to the idea of parenthood, he’s probably the closest thing to a father figure/male role model Kabru had growing up, without mentioning the other kids. I feel like he’d consider himself an older brother, cousin or uncle figure sooo much sooner than a father, but even then I do think it’s just his job and he’s not really invested or forming real relationships with any of them much.

It’s curious to note that he’s dressed in canary uniform presumably after having been pardoned and living with Milsiril? Which you can tell by the armor bits (the yellow strips of spider silk). In the Kabru training montage and the Rin comic specifically. It seems very implausible for him to have still been a canary while being a retired Milsiril’s servant and being with her all the time, and the cleaning with Mithrun comic (where he’s not in uniform) happens after Utaya so it could happen after Kabru was taken in but around the time of the Rin comic. So why uniform? It could be one of the best outfits he has, so it’d make sense to wear it around especially if you’re sparring or getting… Blood on you? Could just be because that's how Milsiril wants him to dress. But yeah we don't know when exactly Helki becoming Milsiril’s servant happened. We do see Mithrun’s charge Cithis be tasked with taking care of him, so a charge being given a servant-caretaker role doesn’t seem all that out of the ordinary, sometimes even prior to retiring.

Imo, if he doesn't work for Milsiril he goes back to jail/the canaries/has to try and get a job instead of just tending to her, so Helki is staying with Milsiril because she's the best option for him. He’s her milsiril's personal servant and does mostly dull tasks involved in that. He’s not particularly suited to the role but they’ve gotten used to each other to him so she took him with her, and he does prefer it to canary work so it works out decent for him. I think he’s used to reading her and managing her moods and he’s one of the rare social connection she has.

Under spoiler is stage 2 interpretation stuff, bigger speculation, in a reblog I’ll make soon I’ll go over my thoughts for stage 3 interpretation lol. Helsiril I’m coming for you

Translation of the canary hierachy chart used is by Thatsmimi, here

[deoidesign]

Hm... I'm feeling benevolent...

[echo-and-dust]

now that my brain has somewhat unscrambled itself i have gotten most of my thoughts in order about season 3.

and the first thing i will say is: i loved it.

while it was gutwrenching and polarizing in some ways and i feel that i am entitled to financial compensation for what its done to my mental health, i loved this season for pretty much almost everything it did.

i cannot fault people for having issues with much of the characterization and plot choices made—that’s been the trend during the entire run of the show after all, and imo it’s a testament to the phenomenal way it generates nuance—but i wanted to share my feelings on the recurring opinions i’ve seen about some of these things.

first, i do not blame simon at all for the things he said in the final scene. he’s a child who has been receiving endless verbal and physical harassment on top of all the trauma he is still trying to heal from. he just watched his boyfriend lash out in anger and hurt—while not at him, but it must’ve been a close resemblance of how he might’ve seen micke act. at least, that's what i thought, though i've seen others say otherwise.

and yes, wille is not micke, but just because wille’s source of outbursts is different from micke’s doesn’t mean simon is wrong in drawing similarities. at least he's finally getting a true glimpse into what wille has had to deal with. i've honestly grown to like that they didn't have simon immediately comfort him though; wille's mental illness is not his fault, but it is his responsibility, and instead of pushing a message of unhealthy co-dependence, the show has simon be honest: "but i see that everything hurts you and that hurts me too." and to me, that's so important.

plus, it doesn't make their love any less genuine. wille is a victim of the circumstances; he is not evil, and he is not undeserving of simon. he just has a lot of growing and healing to do, a lot of unlearning and exposure therapy because he's still blinded by privilege even when he tries not to be.

speaking of, i have so many thoughts about wille that i feel like i need to save for its own separate post, but to sum them up: i'll still defend him with my life, and he needs to get the fuck away from that institution.

also, the fact that the responsibility of controlling simon's media decisions was placed solely on wille confused me at first like—why wouldn't they get a professional to give him proper media training?

then i realized, this could be the royal court's way of sabotaging their relationship. they knew that making wille the one to tell simon what he can and cannot say or post would create distance and animosity between them. despite the ramifications of simon's behavior on social media, it seems they still thought it best to have his boyfriend be the one to try to mold him into the system. because they knew that's how they could get rid of him. in conclusion, fuck the royal court (we been knew but still).

one of the standouts this season was their transparency regarding the show's politics. it not only works well with the show's arc (wilmon is public, everything's out in the open now and there's nothing to hide), but also it felt necessary at a time where censorship has been rapidly gaining momentum. it felt so refreshing for these characters to talk so openly about racial discrimination and queerphobia and class disparities, forcing both character and viewer to acknowledge that they exist and you should feel uncomfortable about it.

i don't think i can add much more to what was already said about it—most of the fandom is more eloquent and observant than i am anyway—i just wanted to reinforce how important this season is to myself and the story even with how controversial it is to fans right now. a lot of people may disagree with me and that's fine.

[twistmusings]

My Personal Highlights for the latest chapter.

Heavy Spoilers for book 7 under the cut obviously!

Floyd's ADHD ass floating around because he lives for the struggle™. (Relatable)

Floyd's entire waking up sequence:

Floyd flying through the air upside down, on fire, and collared so fast that you could miss it if you didnt pause on the exact frame.

Riddle quite literally vibrating with anger and requiring TWO (2) whole professors to hold him back when he is a solid 5'2".

Floyd spending the rest of the flashback upside down and you only see his shoes sticking up.

Jade dancing around and cackling at Floyd while he's upside down.

Azul pretending not to see it because he's been dealing with them for years.

The fact that Night Raven College definitely has never had a normal orientation.

Riddle being the thing that triggers Floyd's brain to wake up. It is a character theme for them atp.

Bioluminescence. :) I just think they're neat.

Jade having positively 0 respect for anyone ever and actually being full of himself. (This is the funniest possible outcome for his characterization, no one @ me. As I said in my earlier post, Jade is if Charli XCX wrote Von Dutch about an eel.)

Jade's dream existence is still one where people rely on him - in fact even moreso than reality and he's the center of attention.

Jade being the weakest link of the twins when it comes to imagination.

Jade being the twin that their parents struggled with more because he knows how to act polite but he's actually just a snobby brat.

Jade's internal image of Floyd being essentially doodle bob and his internal image of Azul being a doe-eyed shoujo love interest. 💀 He is so unserious.

THEY HISS AT EACH OTHER LIKE CATS WHAT

Throwing hands is becoming a theme

O c t o p u s

He's actually adorable what the fuck. I will take seven, please.

Azul's ideal world is that he can do a sport™ and be a cool sports guy™. He knows all the songs in High School Musical I am convinced.

Azul's alternate ideal world where he's an arsonist.

Floyd's solution is "Azul is boring like this, let's punch him."

Jade and Floyd's trying to save Azul from slipping deeper but when they can't their response is essentially "good luck don't die" with the cadence of ending a phone call and a high five.

Floyd got his ass kicked by Jade and them bickering like siblings once Azul is safe.

Bonus:

He has breached containment someone come get him

[ravs6709]

“You bastard, are you the <<Big Brother>>?”

LIKE FROM 1984???? who the fuck is this guy im

This plus your way later ask about someone else made me laugh because like. You already met the 3rd protagonist. It was buddha

As for this guy actually he's the protagonist of the authors' other work the world after the fall who. Ig he made it out of his own universe??? And from what I've read so far he hates regressing he's always been one to always push forward so that would explain his reaction to kdj (who has regression stigma so...)

[amplexadversary]

I'm surprised by Undertale Yellow in that so far my two favorite characters are the ones the game seems to refuse to allow the player to kill.

Usually my tastes tend the opposite way, toward characters that can't be saved, or who are unique in that they can die.

[sexybritishllama]

i really like the dawntrail music overall it has some banger tracks but i DO think we could have used... slightly more variety in leitmotifs. there's just a couple too many reiterations of the main trailer tune imo

[dylanconrique]

wait... why do i suddenly really love monica after that opening?????

[wordswhisperinthedark]

Incoherent ramblings on THAT scene of Good Omens 2 EP6

(spoilers below the cut!)

Just the reason why they separate hurts so much because Aziraphale wants to protect Crowley so badly, and the easiest way to do that would be to have him by his side on the same side. But he's been hardwired to think that Heaven is the right side, even forgetting they've decided to be on their own side. And that's the bit that hurts Crowley the most because he thought Aziraphale would want him just as he is — he thinks they have figured out that the dichotomy of Heaven and Hell is flawed, that what they have transcends that; what they are is their perfection.

AND THEY LITERALLY JUST SAW THAT A DEMON AND AN ANGEL COULD WORK. (AND IN A SHORTER TIME WITH LESS MESSINESS).

To have representatives of the sides they both fought to separate from be able to confidently say they're enough together must've hurt Crowley so much, considering the eons he and Aziraphale spent together. He feels like it should come easier to them, they know each other.

But now they don't.

.

.

.

(WAIT. Oh it's because they're not really clear-cut angels and demons anymore, who have strict guidelines and limitations and ways of being. They've been living on the one planet with the biggest mess of the universe. How could they not be influenced by us?)

[twistedsamuraiadvice]

I gave Metis Cykes an oversized blunt, sorry if she codes more robots to be homocidal.

I am unconcerned. Aura was the more homicidal of the two, and she has chilled slightly.

Does that mean you should have done so? Nay. Will there be death wrought? Not likely.

Disappointed,

-Simon Blackquill

[methinmycoffee]

*Spoilers for The Simpsons and Family Guy*

Simpsons: Who shot Mr. Burns?

Family Guy: And Then There Were Fewer

South Park needs to do a murder mystery episode. Many shows do them, but I’m just going to use The Simpsons and Family Guy for examples.

The Simpsons has the ever-famous “Who Shot Mr. Burns?” Duology, ending season 6 and beginning season 7 with two episodes centered around the mystery. While not technically a “Murder Mystery” it’s still an iconic whodunnit that sees the entire town turn against each other as the try and figure out the culprit. The ending is kind of a cop-out, when the shooter is revealed to be Maggie Simpson and she is not charged with a crime. (Originally the shooter was going to be Barney, and he was actually going to go to jail for a season or so). It’s still full of a lot of genuinely good clues, such as every clock reading 3:00 to hint at how the sun dial is supposed to be read.

Family Guy has “And Then There Were Fewer” which was the premiere for season 9. This 50 minute episode of the show contains no cutaway gags, and is a true to form murder mystery. We see the actual deaths of a few characters, including a character that was introduced in the episode (Stephanie), James Woods (who was later brought back, which is lame), Muriel Goldman, Derek Wilcox, Pricilla, and finally the killer, Diane Simmons, is shot after a showdown with Lois Griffin. This is my favorite episode of the show, honestly. Even though they brought back James Woods, every other character named remains dead throughout the show, and there are even a couple mentions of their deaths throughout, especially for Muriel and Diane. Diane Simmons was an especially prominent character throughout the first eight seasons, appearing as the co-anchor to Tom Tucker (yes that’s his name) every time the news was played, which is frequently. They give her character motivations for wanting to kill James Woods and frame Tom Tucker for it, which she reveals to Lois in a very dramatic scene towards the end of the episode. Honestly even if you don’t like Family Guy this is a pretty solid episode, aside from a few really lame jokes.

South Park, ever starved for ideas, could totally do something like this. It’s not like it doesn’t fit the tone of the show, and it’s not like we don’t have any side character to spare. It could also work fairly well as a weird dream episode or something, and then they could do it with the main class of 4th graders. I would hope they leaned more towards the Family Guy episode, and it seems like that would fit the show more. The one problem is that the cast of South Park is mostly children, but there are definitely side adults that we could lose, and they’ve never been above killing some kids.

Maybe we could drop some characters we haven’t seen in awhile, like Ned, and then move up to character we see often but wouldn’t really be missed. Someone irl (@unoficial-trader-joes) suggested the mayor and I think that could work. We could also drop some less-popular 4th grade characters, like Annie Knitts, Red McArthur, and if we’re feeling really wild maybe Scott Malkinson or DogPoo Petuski. It would be a fun time, I think.

(Also the Killer should be Kenny, and he’s killed in a final showdown like in the Family Guy episode, but then he just comes back because he’s Kenny)

[tornsurvivors]

re4 remake separate ways: go through this laser hallway. my inner alice: ....oh no, talk about a bad deja vu.

[seagullcharmer]

just realised that my current design for my lorule swamp people is basically just. the people of lurelin.

[makiswirl]

ok sorry if this is a silly question but I'm always curious about how post canon edling works? like what is their situation.

did the edwin proposal just never happen or are they exes? are the edwin kids a thing?

does ed live in xing at some point or does he just travel around and sporadically visit ling whenever he can? I think repeatedly traveling through the desert could be painful with automail so maybe only once a year or every couple years?

idk, let me know ur thoughts!! :)

OKAY SO I OBVIOUSLY CANNOT SPEAK FOR LIKE ANYONE ELSE WHO'S INTO THEM but i do have a specific canon for them (exiled) (and like... i don't like the writing of the fics anymore... but my main interpretation still centers around it and follows the same beats so surely that means something right)

ANYWAYS HERE'S THE GIST/RUNDOWN OF I HOW I KIND OF SORT OF MADE THEM WORK:

--

(going to use parts of my personal doc for my ed blog (@alchemsol) that i use to keep track of stuff i've written that's canon for him just for convenience's sake)

so the general gist of the beginning of exiled is that after around four years of rehabilitation and one travelling in the west (what we see him doing at the end of canon, diverging without the edwin subplot since i prefer them being written in a more familial way like the start of canon did), ed travels to xing to visit everybody again along with his brother since he's working as an amestrian ambassador for xing now and living in the palace and learning alkahestry with mei, along with figuring out how to get jerso and zampano's bodies back ^_^

somewhere around this time ed and ling get together

during the span of about a month or two after the main plot ends, ed stays with ling in the palace and essentially accompanies him for a while as his s/o (unbeknownst to the main public). a while after he's called to border city milos to help solve a dispute with an alchemist

it is important to note that ling, despite this having been his entire goal and wanting to help his people and help reform xing, really fucking hates his job more than he thought he would since he's spent his whole life as a free spirit lol. more of ling's character arc involving naïveté it is!

so what ling does is he essentially knows that he can't really help xing much more than he already has in his position, and in a very strong sense of burnout and a horribly poor mental state that can really only hurt his people more than it would serve them, he and lan fan decide to desert, he fakes his death, and they both leave for and arrive in resembool while ed and al are still away in creta.

with mei having already been named his heir at this point in case anything were to happen to him and without any children due to the sudden elimination of the concubine system and lack of a love interest PRIOR to ed, she agrees to assume the throne and do what she had originally intended to do before ling had won the philosopher's stone and mostly continues out ling's work

"bluebirds" (the last exiled fic) essentially centers around ed and ling adjusting to resembool life (especially ling because of how goddamn high-stakes his life has been up to this point) after ed and al return from milos, and also introduces winry and pinako to the series. al leaves to return to xing after it concludes

the tl;dr by this point is that lan fan and ling are now in resembool, and while winfan ALSO begins forming in the background of the story, ling and ed adjust to the whole situation of ling, a whole-ass emperor, having faked his death and randomly having showed up AT THE ROCKBELLS' (and ed's in a more non-literal sense) DOORSTEP, which ed is Very ":/" about bc they didn't talk about this and it could be dangerous as fuck but when are they not known for being ballsy!!!

the other titles listed happen after "bluebirds" and exiled conclude, but are still in the same canon. coulomb arc is a personal project with a writing partner (my boyf) that veers off into this non-canon au ficlet, terrible day for rain and names to call you by are ficlets that i've posted and deleted in the past that introduce nella and leroy who ed and ling end up adopting (along with ollie who they had also adopted shortly after the events of under the apple tree), and the other ed/ling fankids i've mentioned (jingyi, delilah, chao) happen sometime after matryoshka and end up as their biological children

golden years is obviously the end of all that but it isn't really important since it's an unnecessary ficlet i just wanted to write ages ago lmao

--

TL;DR: my interpretation is probably really far from what most people would consider in-character or most likely to happen after canon especially since it just ditches parts of the epilogue entirely as a result of it being a love letter to myself and what i like and not really much else because i just felt really silly goofy after consuming fullmetal alchemist content for the first time

however ^_^ ! it's basically just ed and ling living wild in their early 20s and then settling down and basically turning into domestic gay middle-aged men with 9 million kids because i think they deserve better than constant drama for once in their life lolz. i simply think it's good and soft for them to be normal especially given ling especially didn't get a taste of it at all when ed at least got a small sippy

ed ofc still travels from time-to-time because that's just the kind of guy that he is (usually bringing ling along with him to show him amestris), and he typically avoids doing it entirely unless he has a like. VERY important trip where he won't be gone for long after they have children mostly in fear of accidentally becoming like his father even though he's mostly forgiven him and absolutely doesn't hate him at all by now since he knows better than what he used to and why things ended up the way they did. it's just the matter of them getting used to living like actual normal and happy grown people, even with some bumps along the way, and they finally get to heal from everything that happened to them when they were younger together

tl;dr x2: i think they should heal and be shitty little country boys and make out maybe

[crucefix]

because of your url: do you think people hate abby just because she killed joel or is it just immature gamers being immature gamers?

having unfortunately spent time in tlou comment sections and threads, it is the latter. i understand hating what abby did, i understand not being able to love her because of it, but still hating her after going through her entire journey in part 2 is just being wilfully unresponsive. especially if you consider the demographic which is unfortunately Gamer Men. they refuse to empathise with abby because they don't want to. she killed their badass self-insert male character and has biceps bigger than they ever will lol of course they refuse to empathise with her. yet they maintain that ellie should've killed her at the end - proving that they don't hate abby because of killing joel, because if it was for that reason then why is it ok for ellie to get revenge for her father figure but not for abby? and i know everyone likes to go on about how ellie is joel's daughter, and i'm not trying to diminish their bond at all, but they had only known each other for a few years when he died, and for at least one of those they were barely talking. meanwhile joel murdered abby's literal father, her only family left (plus the world's chance at a cure). abby did so many good things in part 2, she was wrecked by guilt at what she did, she's clearly a good person who did a bad thing out of desperate grief and ellie took the same if not worse actions than she did but gamers hate nuance and don't want to be told their big stronk male chara wasn't actually the good guy.

[raskies456]

labyrinths in Zelda are like bug zappers to me. if I see one i will immediately drop everything in order to get to it so I can die inside it