#all this to say really that this was one of my favourite episodes of this season

[idrawstuffidk]

Oh ace, oh sweetheart I am so so sorry

Ace reminds me so much of myself from middle school and high school, the anger, the feeling of isolation, the paranoia that everyone is out to get you

It hurts so so badly to feel that way. It’s why Ace was so so important to me. It’s why I loved him so much, because I saw him for who he was, someone who was deeply hurting and lonely and afraid, and he was.

Everyone pushed him to do what he did. Everyone. The only person who didn’t was Levi. Everyone hated him, but the people I blame the most for what Ace did are Veronika, Nico, and Hu.

Hu was so antagonistic towards Ace, so defensive of Nico and so delusional and I hate her so much

Veronika served to scare him further and further and say that he would be the next to die

And Nico, of course, proved her right. They tried to murder him.

What happened to Ace here, no wonder Teruko broke down a bit. It’s exactly what happened to her in the first trial, save for the fact she didn’t kill anyone. They were both almost murdered. They were both traumatized by it, they were both distrusted and hated by everyone during the trial. It’s why she must have wanted him to fight back so much. I hope she comments on that, I hope she thinks about it, I hope she feels something when Ace dies and I hope she is honest about it. I hope he reminds alive in the narrative like Xander and Min, I hope he and Arei both do.

I love Ace, now even more than ever. I cried so hard, I love him. He didn’t deserve this. That being said, I wonder what Teruko’s plan was. She said that the person to kill next would’ve the one who should carry out her plan, since it’s so high risk. I wonder what she will ask Ace to do, I wonder if he will do it.

I want a mini episode for him, I love the artwork of ace, though I do not like the closing argument ending artwork of him, not a fan, he could have looked so much better than that. I love his new sprites too. I love everything about him, really. I think he is one of my all time favourite characters, and he’s going on my “closest to kinning iv’e ever been list” right next to Nikei.

And with all that being said, thank you for reading my ranting and feelings about Ace and why I love him so so so much. And to give an update on how my OC Elenora would be doing: she’s sobbing hysterically. I’ll need to post more about her to make you understand why she is so heart broken

And on that note, I’m going to be writing a fanfiction where Elenora saved Ace because I think she could, it just takes some clever timing. It’s ok, Ace is alive and well with my lovely OC in my happy little universe.

[dreamerwitches]

Rating labyrinths: Gertrud!

Okay! Let's go with the labyrinth ratings wheeee!!!

What I'm going to do is rank separate parts of labyrinths (eg. anthony's labyrinth from ep 1 is separate to gertrud's from ep 2) but I'll also give an average at the end.

I will (most likely) only be doing labyrinths that are in colour (so maybe not manga witches)

Anthony's labyrinth from episode 1

I think this is a really good one, especially as the first shown (not including walpy's). It really shows of the cut-out style of the labyrinths and the deep blue-hued colours are perfectly moody. The use of runes in the background is also really fun for secret messages. I feel the only downside is that it doesn't really scream Gertrud to me. Like, if you didn't know the series well and was shown this, I doubt you'd think it belonged to her. HOWEVER... I think this does work for Gertrud since all her precious roses are in her room with her. It makes sense that she'd keep them close.

You could say that it's weird that this labyrinth doesn't share colours with the main one but I think it works because it's a familiar's labyrinth. The photorealistic buildings also match the main labyrinth. I wonder if the butterfly and anthony traffic signs are meant to be a subtle warning to madoka and sayaka hmmm

I really like this one. A 5/5 for me

Gertrud's labyrinth from episode 2

There's a lot to it so it's kinda hard to summarise in images lol. But it's another great one. Great imagery, lovely colours and has themes brought over from Anthony's labyrinth. I think the orange tones, although relaxing, also give off this sepia feel that makes it a little unnerving too. Like looking through a tinted view makes things seem unreal.

One of my favourite parts are the doorways that lead to black nothingness. Really helps with the labyrinthine feel. Small touches like the portraits with slight things changed in them to make them scary. It's the kind of thing you don't notice unless you pause. I also like how it seems the labyrinth becomes more luscious as you get deeper. The trees start bare, then with black leaves, then Gertrud's room is fully in bloom.

I wasn't sure whether to rank the boss room separately, maybe I will... I think the ceiling that doesn't quite make sense works well to make it feel disorientating and it's a fun contrast to the kinda pretty garden around Gertrud. It's messy but in a good way. I also think having the boss room have a different theme to the rest works. Just as before I mentioned that roses are only in her boss room, I think it would make sense that her special place may be better taken care of or just look overall nicer. It's very good but I'd say, not my favourite segment. Maybe just because it's only one room?? That makes it a little unfair to compare to the rest...

I'll give the labyrinth a 5/5. Boss room is a 4.5/5

Gertrud's labyrinth from Magireco episode 11

Yeah... this one isn't it, chief... like, it has the things of her labyrinth but it's just not... uhhh I dunno it feels more like a set piece than a proper area...

Let's start with what I like: of course, I love the Gertrud motifs. The butterflies, the cut out images and the hidden text (although it's no different than the original anime iirc). I really like the halo above Gertrud's area. And the hanging loops. It's weird but pretty. Suits Gertrud!

Sadly that's where my positives end. The stark white is NOT Gertrud it's so weird... I guess the stone rose works better but not the rest. I kinda hate in the zoom out where... it just looks like a video game level, like I'm looking at mario 64 or something ToT that is not a labyrinth..! Just the overall layout is meh. I dislike the random fluff pile below it too. Just felt like they didnt know what to fill it with...

It's a dud but has some good things... I'm giving it a 1.5/5. I know there's worse which is why it's not a 1.

So overall Gertrud get's a.... 4/5 wow!!!

[evony256]

DRDT CHAPTER 2 EPISODE 15 SPOILERS

Another ramble because this episode was FIRE!!!!!

All of these are mental notes that I had while watching the premiere of the episode.

-calling it rn it's Ace

-I am literally kicking my feet rn

-Ace I'm sorry to tell you this but you seem kinda screwed

-NICO'S LITTLE "I'm sorry" THAT'S SUCH AN AWESOME DETAIL

-Whit this is a serious moment please

-I always found the parallels between Teruko and Ace very interesting, even though they didn't show up a lot, so I'm glad that we got more of that. It feels like Teruko was made to parallel almost every character... Interesting....

-Charles: "He'd have the element of surprise as well." Hehehe.....

-THANK YOU CHARLES THESE OTHER GUYS ARE ALL IDIOTS

-Charles: "Your input is unnecessary." Damn Charles really did tell David "Who asked"

-J: "Isn't Ace... too stupid?" Oh my GOD J- (I know most people won't agree but J has just been a bit annoying to me this trial... This line did not help)

-I'm actually starting to like Ace a lot. I liked him even before this episode but he truly is such an interesting character. How he has a hard time choosing between his dignity and risking his life seems so unreasonable, yet so humane. I always felt as though Ace was one of those really REALLY misunderstood characters (even I have mischaracterized him, I'll admit...) and I was really excited to learn more about him, although I didn't expect it to be like this.

-I love Charles so much he's literally me (close enough) Thank you once again Mr Cuevas for showing us the height of the drdt cast's idiocy.

-Even Hu had to try to somewhat help Ace (when she told him to calm down). Though I think it was more because she wanted to not feel "useless" while Ace was desperately fighting for his life

-The way the text in the Non-Stop Debate circles around J's head reminds me a lot of the Literature Girl MV

-Ace's new sprites are so pretty ngl I like them a lot

-I'm sorry but when I saw the argument armament for a split second I thought that Ace had a bowl cut.... Anyway ARGUMENT ARMAMENT YAYA!!!

-Teruko: "We determine who lives and who dies by a majority vote." DID YOU JUST SAY MAJORITY VOTE, TERUKO??????? *Not so, Sou intensifies*

-The Teruko and Ace parallels going hard rn....

-I love how Ace acts compared to Min. Min was desperate to prove that she wasn't the killer, even when she knew she was done for, but Ace just gives up. He's just too tired to argue anymore, he feels too bad about what he's done and he knows that his fear of dying has finally caught up to him and that there's nothing he can do. He was so afraid that he would get killed, so he decided to kill someone first. It didn't really matter who it was, he could have chosen Hu or Levi but he chose Arei simply because it was convenient. Ace is such a morally gray character and a very good one at that. It's very rare that you see these types of characters portrayed in such a realistic way. Amazing work, DRDTdev.

-J: "Murder is unacceptable, no matter what." Okay Tsurugi Kinjo /j

-AREI EVEN BEFORE DEATH YOU WERE BEAUTIFUL

-How we feeling Ace fans

This episode actually left me shocked... Like. WOW. Episode 13 isn't my favourite episode anymore, this is.

[margoshrmargoshing]

FOLKS I FINISHED BEAST WARS (thoughts and spoilers under cut)

1. The timeline is absolutely unique, i love how optimus and megatron aren't even optimus and megatron and how bw relates to g1

2. The graphics will never be an issue to me, it's more than enough for the time period and it's much more than watchable. I'm in love with the slimy cgi and didn't pay much attention to the quality. All i can see is designers and animators having fun

3. I think that the designs gradually got a little fucked up but it's okay

4. I really enjoyed Blackarachnia's character, she was so interesting for me! I'm not aware of the fandom's general opinion on her but she's my special girl now

5. There was like at least 5 times more on-screen gay kissing than straight kissing

6. If you didn't understand how insane i am about dinotrap from my previous posts then now i can say it's my #1 pairing,, i rarely have a fav ship when i watch something because of The Multishipper Curse that makes me think about too much characters together but for bw specifically i have a favourite. Usually I'm a little turned away from dynamics that are built on characters insulting each other but it's a special case, because they definitely share a bond and i can ramble for hours

7. Bw optimus is my 3rd place fav after tfp and tfa respectively (because they're a classic) (even though i know it's not even him) he's very much of a Some Guy who is Hungry And Needs a Nap and i like how he's just. a person. like a leader but he's just a guy come on. probably for the same reasons i love tfa op, i like seeing him get mean and angry and worried and yelling at his team and then understanding that he was wrong. my man

8. The predacons are so chaotic it's insane. The lack of a (main character i mean) Starscream is not noticed because there's not one con trying to take over, not two, not three, but I'm pretty sure everyone in the whole goddamn team has attempted it at least one time during the show.

9. And, with lack of Starscream, Megatron took all the cuntiness for himself. He stands out insanely among other continuities (again it's not him so). That voice? Thanks David Kaye!!! He's doing the whole dramatic hot villain thing that Tumblr loves, with blood baths and everything, and it deserves to be noticed. Megop is the classic tumblr dramatic villain x tired hero stuff you see in like 2016 writing prompts and everything. Megatron is insane here

10. I really enjoyed Dinobot. I cannot say this loud enough but he is my second fav after Rattrap because he's a really interesting and conflicted character. You see him as inherently evil? He does a beautiful gesture of kindness. You see him as good? He fails to disobey his nature. It goes on and on until his last eps. The betrayal? I was sobbing. That scene when he's on his knees with a sword? It fucked me up. The episode ending had me on the FLOOR.

11. I'm conflicted on dinobot 2 because on one hand, i do appreciate how it is shown how actually fucked up megatron and his schemes are. He's insane, and he's obsessed: he doesn't try to make any super soldier or whatever, but specifically wants to bring back dinobot and make him stay. And he fails, because it *is* dinobot deep inside, and that brings him down; his real sense of honor. He won't stay. His sacrifice was insane. But on the other hand, i actually didn't want Dinobot to be actually brought back. Sounds very nice but i think his actual death was really a point to his character that made me love him more. And when i saw Dinobot 2, i was kinda hoping that he would be an empty shell, an attempt, that it would be a plan Megatron put too much hope into, and that it's *not* dinobot, just a copy without a mind. Maybe im just weird sorey

12. Transmutate is gender

13. I love rhinox but it's sad that they didn't make him stand out as a character like the other maximals. He rarely got to be a main character, and even when he got to, he was just the butt of a joke and didn't get to build relationships and resolve personal problems like his teammates did. Or maybe i just wasn't looking at the screen when he did who knows. He's my big weird man

14. I enjoyed Tigatron and his conflict about the conflict so much

15. I'm actually sometimes a little disoriented/lost when watching something so i just straight up didn't notice half the character deaths??? I was just wondering where they went and then went oh.

16. who the Vok are the Vok. I wish they weren't Just Mysterious Aliens but more than that

17. Why did they keep making all of the characters so trans it's not funny im in tears

18. Beast wars was absolutely made for goddamn freaks im sorry. i loved it

19. I think everyone at the studio was gay for megatron. Why else did they animate the scene where he's in the bath wiggling his dinosaur toes

20. WASPINATOR FUCKING HAPPY AT LAST

[yrsonpurpose]

lust. for power.

[motherfracker]

Seeing the flashbacks in 7x08 sheds so much light on Bobby's reaction to certain events during the show.

Why Bobby treated Buck the way he did after the embolism and the lightning strike. It's so much more than just being an overprotective parental figure.

The first time was this fear that Buck was in front of him, coughing up blood and dying. He couldn't save his father from dying, but he sure as hell could try and save Buck. And do everything in his power to make sure he remains safe and out of danger.

And then Buck dies after being struck by lightning. He sits vigil at his bedside when he knows there's a chance that Buck will pull through. And he comes back. So, of course, this time, he treats him differently; of course, he overcorrects and gives him slack in his performance review. Of course, he's gentler with him, Buck woke up. And his father didn't.

Their relationship is so complicated in that Bobby views Buck as his son, but he's also been this trigger for the trauma he experienced with his father.

What happened with his father also reinforces why Bobby struggled so much with being unable to sus out Jonah. Bobby put on his headphones and didn't notice what was happening in his house.

[sskk-manifesto]

Proof that bsd would be a lot better if they just let it pass the Bechdel test more often

[nedlittle]

[alt]

2x21 "crisis" really is a perfect episode

[running-in-the-dark]

just realised something random: I've always been kinda sad that there isn't any media that my parents liked and shared with me, that sort of thing. I know of things that they like, of course, but it was never something they showed me or anything.

and I just realised that's because it was never something nice, something fun, something they wanted to share - no, they only ever brought up things that they liked as a way to say that everything I liked was bad.

[skullisbones]

secret life is my favourite life series. 100%

[valkaryah]

One of Tony Soprano's best one liners:

[whatsagirltoblogabout]

5.13 - banger finale.

[mycological-mariner]

My mother’s been watching The Terror for the first time over the course of a month. She knew absolutely nothing about the history and I’m just gonna say that she would have done numbers here.

Re: episode one “Fuck that, fuck that so hard. I hate this show I hate this show. Oh god. I can’t look” (thalassaphobia rip)

“Homosexual ship back then! Seamen, hold fast, come on!”

“So did that actually happen? Is this real? Is that real? How do we know this happened? When was this? So this didn’t happen but the other thing did? Did this actually —“

“So WHY did they go in the middle of winter??” and after an explanation, “Well why did they go at all?” and another explanation, “Fucking hell, that’s horrible. These were people’s children!”

Re: Ronan Raftery as Lt. Irving: “Hang on, that’s the guy in Moone Boy! The one choir guy, the one who knocks up the sister! Wait lemme check - yeah, it’s him!” Bonus points for her recognising half the cast.

“You could say he’s got a leg up”

“If they start carving up bodies, I’m out.”

“The Bible thumper, is he gonna die? He’s gonna die.”

“‘Hey baby, wanna check out my sideburns?’”

“Mm, bacon.”

“Fucking hell, it’s angsty again! This is stressful!”

“Are we finishing The Terror Barbecue tonight?”

Sitting in her armchair in the corner, smoking and saying possibly to herself, “Angsty. Angsty boys.”

[unnecessarilygrandiose]

.

[sskk-manifesto]

What a good episode. Maaaaaan

[loverboydotcom]

i don’t have a review for fellow travellers as a whole but with regards to the AIDS depiction there were 3 moments that mirrored ideas i’ve had for lover boy + have been trying to figure out how to write delicately so watching those parts was a bit like woagh….if anyone gets the privilege of reading those parts of lover boy one day sorry in advance for the heartache i think im about to write something beautiful