#the meta stuff is kinda cool

[waitineedaname]

I've been relistening to the homestuck soundtrack album by album while working lately and man. it's reminding me how much I genuinely loved about homestuck, and how that made the aspects of it that sucked so much more frustrating

[vivitalks]

Last night I saw the Great Gatsby musical. Before I went, I reread the Great Gatsby book (for the first time since 11th grade!) to get a refresher on the source material and the original story. Having the book so fresh in my mind made seeing the musical really interesting, and now I am going to do something I never thought I'd do, which is post some lengthy meta about The Great Gatsby. If you haven't seen the musical, this post may still be interesting to read, but it does contain some mild spoilers, so I leave that up to you. If you also haven't read the book, godspeed lol.

There's a lot I could talk about here when it comes to the way the book was adapted for the stage. But there's one particular thing I want to zero in on in this post, and that's the "unreliable narrator" of it all.

In the book, Nick Carraway is our narrator. He's an unreliable narrator practically by default - the idea is that he's retelling events that occurred two years prior, from memory. But even knowing that Nick is probably not reporting all events and characters with complete accuracy, it's hard to know which parts exactly are wrong, or what might have happened in reality, because even though he's an unreliable narrator, he's still the only narrator and this is the only version of events we know. We're forced to take Nick as our surrogate and take him at his word. Until the musical.

(I wondered how the show was going to deal with the fact that the story of Great Gatsby is not only told by an unreliable narrator but also by an outside perspective - generally speaking the events of the Great Gatsby aren't happening to Nick, they're just kind of happening around him. Yet he's the voice of the story, so in that way he's central to it, and I was curious how they were going to balance that fact with the fact that Gatsby is functionally the main character.

I think they struck a really good balance in the end. Nick's beginning and ending lines, lifted verbatim from his book narration, frame him clearly as the anchor of the story - I think that's the best word for it; the audience jumps from scene to scene, many but not all of which contain Nick, but we know that Nick is always going to be where the action is, or that he will at least know about it. He may not be the main character, but he's an essential character. But I digress a little bit.)

The difference between the way the story is imparted to the audience in the book versus in the musical boils down to this: in the book, Nick "plays" every character, so all their dialogue and actions, their mannerisms and the way they're described and reported, it's all informed by the beliefs Nick holds about them. Whether he means to or not, his biases paint certain characters in certain lights, and because he is our eyes and ears to the story, we have no choice but to absorb those biases.

But in the musical, every character is literally played by a different actor. Nick can only speak for himself. Nick can only tell his own parts as they happened. He may be "telling" the story, but we're watching the story. We have the benefit of an unblemished perspective on things - we can watch the events the way they actually unfold, regardless of how Nick believes or remembers they went down.

This difference - between Nick as the narrator and Nick as merely his own voice - is crucial in how the musical develops each character, some of them fairly different from how Nick described them in the book. And there's one book-to-stage change - a fairly small one, all things considered - that, to me, illustrated this difference perfectly.

There's a line towards the end of the Gatsby book. Something Nick says in narration, after his final conversation with Tom Buchanan, talking about how Tom gave away Gatsby's name and location to George Wilson (which ultimately led to Gatsby's death). Nick writes:

"I couldn’t forgive him or like him, but I saw that what he had done was, to him, entirely justified. It was all very careless and confused. They were careless people, Tom and Daisy — they smashed up things and creatures and then retreated back into their money or their vast carelessness, or whatever it was that kept them together, and let other people clean up the mess they had made…"

When I read this line in the book, I couldn't help vehemently agreeing. Screw those rich assholes! Money does corrupt! Tom and Daisy ARE careless wealthy people! It was easy to side with Nick, not only because he was the only perspective on the situation that I had, but also because he said this in internal response to a conversation with Tom, who, I think we can all agree, is a major jackass and a deeply unsympathetic character.

But in the musical, this line is spoken aloud by Nick. And he says it to Daisy, in her house, as she's packing up to skip town after Gatsby's death. In fact, he doesn't just say it; he shouts it, visibly and audibly outraged at her audacity to lead Gatsby on, ghost him, skip his funeral, and then move away to avoid the fallout. Nick is angry and highly critical of Daisy. But because we're no longer confined to his shoes, we also get to see Daisy's reaction - not as Nick remembers it, but as Daisy actually reacts. And because of that, we're able to really see, and confirm, that "Daisy is rich and careless" is not the full story.

I have to credit Eva Noblezada for a phenomenal performance (duh). Daisy in this scene is emotional, grieving, and it's clear she has been trying to contain these feelings for the sake of her husband and her own sanity. She's remorseful, not that Gatsby is gone necessarily, but that she allowed herself to entertain the fantasy of running away with him, only for it to be torn from her. She is trying to make the best of her unavoidable reality. And then Nick tears her a new one, calling her careless, accusing her of destroying things and being too rich to care.

And as I watched that scene, I was no longer wholly on Nick's side. I understood that this situation was so much more complex than Nick's chastisement acknowledged. Sure, Daisy wasn't innocent, but she also wasn't the callous rich girl Nick made her out to be. She did love Gatsby. And she also had a whole life with Tom. She had a daughter. She was a woman in the 1920s! That's a kind of life sentence even wealth can't erase.

The way Daisy responded may not quite have landed with Nick (if we consider the kind of fun possibility that the musical is the events as they happened and the book is Nick retelling those events as he remembers them two years later, then clearly Nick's disdain for Daisy's actions overtook whatever sympathy he felt for her), but the musical gave Daisy the opportunity to appeal to us. The audience. Having this omniscient perspective of things allowed us to draw our own conclusions, and I found myself a lot more sympathetic towards Daisy when I could both see and hear how she responded to Nick's verbal castigation.

In the book, Nick is the narrator. In the musical, Nick is a narrator. But he's no longer the sole arbiter of the story. The audience got to make our own judgements on the events as we witnessed them. Every one of us was a Nick - beholden to our own biases, maybe, but at least not beholden to his.

[skrunksthatwunk]

kinda thinking about how the women who serve as maternal figures/raise kids in yyh are never quite ready for it. genkai's an arguable exception, but like.. atsuko had yusuke at 15, shizuru's basically in charge of kazuma full time in her early 20s/late teens (depending on version) with very very absent parents, and even shiori is given a kid she wasn't expecting, in the form of an old, old demon rather than like. a regular, blank slate ass human baby. and although shiori seems to do quite well with kurama, kurama can never be honest with shiori about who he is, or much of what he's seen. if he was, it'd probably make things far more complicated and overwhelming. atsuko, no matter how much she cares for yusuke, Could Not Have Been and thus wasn't ready to have him at 15. her attempts to make the most of that situation have had middling success at best. shizuru has also been placed into a parental role. we don't really know how long she's been raising kuwabara, but that's.. probably still parentification anyway. she shouldn't have to do that, and she shouldn't have to do that so young. and i think some of her coarseness with kuwa is out of frustration with her own inexperience + inadequacy + uncertainty, his not cooperating, and their parents for putting this on her in the first place. the ones who know the full extent of their situation grow desperate and it squeaks out in unpleasant ways, and the one who seems unbothered by it is the only one who has no idea that she's in way over her head. and i mean. ok. gonna preface this by saying keiko is NOT yusuke's mom in any sense of the word. but she does take care of him in a way atsuko couldn't manage to. she's often looking after him and cleaning up after his messes and stuff. she takes him on as a responsibility, and that is, in a way, a caretaker role. not to say that it SHOULD be her responsibility, but it's how she ends up being.

and when the stress of trying to make someone take care of themselves or be kind or good or Whatever goes awry, again, the violence and arguing and distance and ugliness of caring for someone reveals itself.

and i wonder about that. for a series dedicated to physical fighting as a form of communication, what does it say that this extends to the complicated, quietly desperate situations of so many of the women/girls it depicts, whom our more central characters were shaped and raised by?

hell, even hiei touches on this, because hina loved hiei, but there was no way she was prepared for him, obviously, nor for the pain of losing him. rui (whom i also see as a sort of caretaker figure to hiei, inasmuch as either of them were caretakers) literally throws him off a cliff because she couldn't face down the village elders, and out of some mixture of care for hina and, likely, fear for her own survival. and the guilt and pain of that killed hina and deeply wounded rui.

it's like motherhood, this thing that's so often treated as sacred and beautiful, is a kind of stitched up, painful, eggshell-walking thing that hurts parent and child and it's just. oughh

[marblebees]

YEAH i went to jiujitsu tonight and i had a lot of fun….im starting to rlly like no gi tbh; its a much more straightforward game but I feel like it rlly makes you work on your strength and fundamentals

[makerofmadness]

ok I know I said I love dark cacao but like they didn't have to make two of him /j

(I'm sorry what the fzck is going on with kingdom right now like. I thought my friend was kidding when they said "ancient+" I thought it was a joke about Mystic Flour like what the fudge do you MEAN someone actually signed off on that-)

(I feel like I caused this somehow 😭 like I think I said once on here that cacao's my favorite out of the ancients but I didn't like to actually USE him but like. why not just buff him???? Or like they were doing that whole crystal jam thing and I know that was kinda only for the legendaries but like. it's something-)

[sirkoru]

[pikachu-deluxe]

after like half an hour i have once again concluded that i should just use whatever the hell i want in mario kart 8 deluxe instead of trying to optimize stuff that is different from the meta

[im-totally-not-an-alien-2]

Batman had Danny by his leg. More specifically he was hanging Danny upside-down 40 stories in the air via said leg.

Okay. So Danny maaay have stolen some tech from a lab. Okay, a lot of tech. But Batman thought he was a witness or an accomplice! Not the perpetrator themselves! Does he do this to all his witnesses?

Appearently Danny said that last part out loud and his sass was unappreciated, hence Batman letting go. Unfortunately for both of them Danny didn't want to fall and he instinctually stayed there floating perfectly still in mid air.

Danny may be a terrible liar, but he was a phenomenal actor, especially when he's feeling spiteful. Alright, he thought random bullshit GO! Before Batman could comment, our little menace gave Batman a scandalized look, "You're a meta?!"

"No." The bats scowled even harder than before "Your abilities may have manifested just now."

Oh ho ho, Danny wasn't going to let him get away that easy. "My parents would have killed me if I had the meta gene. I know. They checked." That one wasn't exactly a lie. His parents would have seen any superpowers as confirmation that he or Jazz were ghosts and then it was game over and they did check thier DNA for something a lot when they were younger...huh. Thoughts for later than.

"How do you know you haven't gotten mutated by any of the stuff you deal with? Besides if they were my powers then I wouldn't still be hanging upside down."

Bats grunted in acknowledgment and just stared at him for a few seconds, which was uncomfortable. Lucky for him one of the other bats landed near Batman on the rooftop and asked about the situation. Danny didn't hesitate, "Batmans a meta! I'm stuck!"

"I am not"

"Are too!" Danny quipped back. He sounded kinda childish but he didn't particularly care at the moment. More bats came after the second one spilled the beans on some 'com' thing. They mostly mocked Batman and asked if he was okay, which he was but he would like to be let down please.

Eventually someone called 'Red Hood' showed up and was really really mad that Batman had threatened a kid.

There were fireworks after that. The kind that belonged on a soap opera and Danny wished he had popcorn for it. Unfortunately he was stuck disrespecting physics for the time being.

Or was he? The big bad bats attention wasn't on him at the moment now would be a good time to ru-

Danny screamed, genuinely startled at the sudden free fall. He heard multiple people swear and grappling hooks fire. The next thing he knew he was shaking while holding onto someone for dear life. It had been almost a full year since the accident and yet he still lost control of his powers sometimes when distracted.

Luckily Red Hood is super cool.

----

Aka Danny gaslight Batman into thinking he has superpowers he can't control.

Red Hood is mad Bruce threatened a child.

[coralinnii]

❋ Crushing on a game character ❋ ↳ bonus: he kinda reminds you of your bf feat ⎸Leona ⭑ Azul ⭑ Jack ⭑ Kalim genre ⎸fluff, humour note ⎸no pronouns used with reader, established relationships, reader is kinda oblivious and scatterbrained. 

part one

Ugghh, the disgusted looks this man would give. Stop, I can’t handle the judgemental stares! 

Jokes aside, Leona’s not really going to care too much. It’s your life so you can like whatever you want so long as it doesn’t bother him. 

He may look like he isn’t listening to you as you gush about your ult fav, but he’s listening enough to get the gist of this fictional character that seems to capture your attention. 

“He sounds like a real jerk. You got some weird taste” 

“He’s actually a good guy, I swear!” 

“Well, for a good guy he sure acts like an as-“ 

Am I getting too meta on this?

Despite his supposed indifference, he pays enough attention to notice some similarities appearance-wise between him and your favorite character and of course he had to point it out at any given chance. 

“Can’t get your mind off of me, can ya?”

He can sleep through your gaming and your giggling well enough, and at the end of the day he’s the one that gets to have you in his arms as you fall asleep after a long gaming session.

But soon, you started buying some merch. At first, it was just some photo cards and keychains so it’s nothing too crazy. He almost can’t believe that people would actually spend time and money collecting those kinds of things. But when he realized that he could quell your anger a lot better now by handing you merch he made Ruggie get, he can’t complain about an easy out. 

Then the bigger stuff started coming in, and Leona starts to notice that this fictional bastard is taking more than just space in your phone. He doesn’t like sharing what’s his, fictional or not.

“You can’t be serious” 

Your lips curled into a pout as you glanced back at your new purchase that somehow offended Leona for some reason. “What? It looks cool, doesn’t it?” 

Leona doesn’t agree as he stood face to face with the monstrosity sitting on your desk.

A giant figurine of a certain character he’s starting to think he’s seeing way too much of.

It was a detailed piece with decor and props surrounding the character, showing off more of its 3D splendor. The smug expression on the figure, regardless if simply painted on, made Leona growled under his breath as it rubbed him the wrong way.

Your beastman boyfriend was waiting for you in his bedroom when the school day was done, expecting some quality time with his mate. Instead, he was practically left forgotten when you heard that a package was dropped off for you and you were excited to unbox your long-awaited splurge. Leona finally got your attention when he unceremoniously burst through your bedroom doors to find you rearranging your desk to fit your new figure.

“The damn thing is takin’ up your whole desk,” Leona sneered down at the piece of clay as though it offended his honor. “And it’s ugly as hell” 

“How dare you! He’s a masterpiece!” Leona felt a vein tense on his forehead. Did you really have to call it a he? “Besides, I still have space on my desk and just looking at him while I study relaxes me” 

As if to prove your point, you bent down to gaze at your new figure and a fond smile immediately found its place on your face. You playfully tapped the top of your character’s head, giddy as you took in the well-crafted design of the model. 

Leona on the other hand, can only feel a headache forming as he has to watch his lover go gaga over a cheap piece of clay (cheap to him, maybe!). It’s one thing to have your attention away from him when you're gaming, but he’s not gonna fight with a freaking toy for your loving looks outside of that. He’s the boyfriend here. 

You felt yourself pulled back by your collar, making you fall backwards unceremoniously onto your bed. You wanted to get up but Leona immediately joined you, trapping you as he laid his body atop of you, wrapping both his arms and his tail to keep you in his hold. He didn’t say anything but you could see his flattened ears and a sour expression across his face. 

“Do you really not like it?” You asked him, carefully caressing his head in hopes to ease his tense ears. Leona tried to ignore your question but one glance at your worried look just wouldn’t let him. 

“It’s fine… now stop talkin’ and just sleep already.” Quickly snuffing the conversation, Leona pulled you close to rest his head on you, being lulled by your heartbeat. Leona isn’t gonna tell you to stop if you really like this stuff, but his time with you is not negotiable. 

His first thought was how obsessi- I mean passionate you must be. 

Though, having been around Idia and even Jade long enough, Azul wouldn’t be that surprised as he assumed that this sort of infatuation with such a trivial thing is not something uncommon. Not something he would do but not surprised if you have something you like to such an extent. 

Azul would be curious and have many questions about your fixation. What’s enticing you so? How is it addicting for you? How can he possibly market on this- 

Being a doting partner, Azul would let you play your game in his office while he works on some paperwork. But Azul would secretly listen to you as you gush about the game and your favorite character. 

And I mean, ACTUALLY listen. He remembers your expressions as you ramble about that character’s favorite food or how good he looks in his new “skin” as you call it. He’s very attentive and he does find your goofy smiling very cute. 

But if this goes on, Azul might start to get worried. Is this character perhaps your ideal type all along? This suave and admittedly well-designed game character better suits your fancy than anything or anyone else. 

Azul would start comparing himself to this fictional character and wondered…is that who you wanted? 

You were starting to worry about your boyfriend so you made your way to his office. He seemed to be a lot busier lately and you noticed there were more papers on his desk than the usual contracts and bills. However, whenever you near him Azul was quick to hide certain things on his desk from your sight which you tried to convince yourself that something like that should be expected considering the confidential documents he may have as an owner of an establishment. But the way he forces a tight-lipped smile when he does so…it leads your mind to upsetting thoughts.

Working to dispel those thoughts, you knocked on his door but there was no response. That was strange since Jade assured you that the Housewarden was in his office and Azul would always respond back from beyond the door. 

Your worries deepened, you carefully opened the door just slightly in case Azul was actually preoccupied with a client. Thankfully, you saw no one on the guest seats and when you pushed the door further, you noticed your fair-haired boyfriend slouched in his seat pouring over some papers, mumbling to himself. 

“Azul?” 

Your voice startled the merman as he flinched out from his trance, his hands accidentally scattering his papers off his desk and close to your feet. 

“Ah no, wait!” Azul yelled in panic but you already took a good look at what was printed on the sheets of paper. 

It was your current favorite from the game you’ve been playing, with facts taken from the game lore as well as from fan theories. There were also pictures of his CGs with special dialogues catered to the players. 

Upon closer inspection, you soon noticed written memos and certain sections highlighted on these fact sheets, all in Azul’s intricate handwriting. 

Light-colored attire… prince-like aesthetic 

Skilled with swords…athletic appeal? 

Potential date sites? Food-sharing ideas….Hand-holding opportunities…

Littered all over the papers were scribbles as such which made you initially assume that it was for research purposes only. However, between these notes were details about you which made you rethink that assumption. 

You saw your personal interests, your food preferences, whether you would enjoy such date scenarios. Notes pondering if you would enjoy such a thing or if you find this attractive on Azul. 

Your boyfriend must have gone through so many websites, forums, and postings to find this much information without playing the game. Heck, you recognized some of these CGs from mini events that weren’t promoted as much as others. All this detailed research…you smiled at how adorably Azul-like of him. 

Azul eventually built his courage to break the awkward silence. “I can explain, my dear” 

You raised your brow but nodded. “Ok”

“I became intrigued by your fixation of this game and decided on checking on myself the appeals of this game” Azul pushed his glasses to cover his nervous countenance. “I must say, I am quite impressed with the details this company puts into their characters. Perhaps I can find some way to implement these elements into Mostro Lounge as a limited time event” 

You couldn't help but chuckle seeing Azul trying to compose himself, but the flushing of his pale skin betrays him. “I see. Well needless to say, I agree with your thoughts from what I can see, especially the date scenarios”

Your tease successfully flustered your Azul even more, but you want to fluster your cute lover further “While I do like the aesthetic of the handsome, princely type…” 

Azul watched you approach him at his desk, wary of the cheeky look on your face. Smiling, you proceeded to surprise him with a kiss on his face, teasingly close to his beauty mark. 

“…I like the very cute and clever merman better” 

How skilled you are to turn an octopus boiling red without fire.

Very confused. He understands that people have their own preferences and interests but he’s just…so, so confused. 

He supports you and your passions but you will have to explain the concepts like “simping” and “biases” to him. Very much a normie, but a supportive one. 

He makes sure that you balance your gaming life with your personal life, which means no late night gaming, no 3AM game check-ins, and he paces your grinding sessions with breaks. 

We don’t deserve him 

He would notice that your favorite character seems to be a beastman like him, but doesn’t connect the reason why you would be so infatuated with this silent wolf-like character in particular. 

Such a coincidence they look similar to each other, huh… 

He would chastise you if you get too absorbed into the game but he does respect your dedication and your gaming knowledge. 

If you offer, he wouldn’t mind trying out the game you love so much just so he can understand your interest better. 

“Ughh, I lost” 

You laughed as you watched your tall boyfriend groan, ruffling his hair in frustration. Jack decided to finally try out your new obsession and after a quick crash-course explanation from you, Jack tried his hand at the battle portion of the game. It ended unfortunately in his defeat as all his players died and the screen on your phone darkened. 

“You were really good for your first time, though” you tried to cheer him up. “Sometimes it just comes down to luck” 

You could tell however that Jack was still bummed about his loss, his tail slowly flicking around and his ears flattening on his head. 

“This is actually pretty tough” Jack grumbled under his breath, not realizing how complicated the game mechanics were. “I always thought you were amazing with how good you were at this game but wow…” 

“This man, complimenting me like it’s nothing…” 

Trying to cover your flustered expression, you crawled over to your boyfriend who was currently sitting down. Gently, you pushed his arms in order to climb onto his lap, your back resting against his chest which flinched upon your touch. You took back your phone from Jack’s hands. 

“Here, I’ll show you some stuff to boost your chances” you looked to your boyfriend, who went suspiciously quiet…quieter than usual. “Jack?” 

You could feel how Jack immediately stiffened at his name before he slightly yelled out his response “Right, got it!” 

Stifling your laugh, you made yourself comfortable as you continued with your gaming. Although, you couldn’t stop yourself from smiling when you felt a pair of muscular arms wrapping around your waist, and a fluffy tail resting on your legs.   

Another clueless but supportive partner. 

Kalim’s really glad you have something you really love and is happy to hear you talk for hours about anything and everything related to the game and your favorite game character. 

“He can do that? Wow!” “What? That’s such a sad story, poor guy!” 

He understands why you would like this character, seeing how jovial and sweet-natured your ult fav seem to be. 

“What a real nice guy, you must really like these types of guys, huh?”

“Yea…guess I do” 

He’ll go to conventions with you, even wait in long lines with you, and listen to fan theories while not understanding a single thing, all because seeing you so happy is worth it.

You will have to be the one with self-control because the moment Kalim finds out there’s merch out there, he’s buying them without hesitation. 

Even the less…subtle merchandise out there 

“Kalim…where did you get this?” 

“Do you like it? I saw this while searching for stuff you might like” 

You questioned what Kalim thought of you if he assumed that this would be something you like, because you’re faced with a large body pillow of your bias character laying on your bed, with your boyfriend joyously showing it off. The picture printed on the cover showcased your favorite character in a cute pose, which you were honestly grateful for because you wouldn’t know the best reaction to have if Kalim bought a less than school-friendly image. 

“It’s…wow” despite the insanity of the situation, you started to smile in amusing absurdity “I mean…I never thought I would have the chance to hold a body pillow, let alone have a cute looking one” 

Kalim, oblivious as ever, grinned as he assumed you were happy with his purchase “Right?! I heard from some people at the convention that pillows like these were really popular!” 

Ah, so that’s where he learned about this side of the fandom. Kalim is such an easy guy to talk with so he would occasionally start conversations with other convention attendees despite being a “normie”, so to speak. 

“I managed to get one commissioned with the fluffiest pillow I could get.” Grabbing the pillow, Kalim proudly held it out in front of you. “Here, feel it!” 

You did what your boyfriend asked, and your eyes widened at luxurious sensations under your fingertips. “Holy crap, this is so soft! And the picture quality is super good too” 

Any experience or expectations you had about body pillows is now blown out of the park as you can’t imagine anything ever beating the softness and quality of this body pillow. Heck, your regular pillows can’t be compared to the feeling of heaven you’re feeling. 

Kalim grinned at you, satisfaction and joy clear on his cute face. Gently, the tanned man pulled you onto your bed, making you lay onto the mattress with your boyfriend and your new body pillow. Wrapping his arms around you, you were now sleeping between the Housewarden and your printed-out ult bias. 

“See, even if I can’t be here, you still have something with you when you’re tired” Kalim’s ruby eyes shined with affection. “Though I don’t ever want to leave your side, I wanna make sure you’re never alone even if I can’t be with you”    

Internally screaming, you swore to protect this cinnamon roll.

[shadow4-1]

bro this MIGHT come off as the cringiest thing ever known to mankind but im probably the biggest game geek god has ever laid hands on so;

part time game developer!reader (or something like that anyways) was bored one day and decided to start to yk develop a game - in this au the cod games ovbi dont exist - but she makes a little demo of cod.. and when one day on base soap or some1 catches reader writing ideas and such (obviously not the actual missions they go on - that’s confidential) something in a note book he tells the others (more like gaz) and they get curious and bug reader until she tells them that she made a game demo including the 141…

and idk maybe she gives them the file so they can play it and they kinda like rate the things they say in the cutscenes or smth idk have fun with it

but yeah thats the idea thats been swarming through my mind for the past couple of days since i’ve found your account (WHICH I BTW LOVE i love how you portray all of the characters and shit)

byebye

Oh my gosh not cringe! This is such a cute idea!!! (Also thank you for the really cute gif! I love puppies :3)

I'm such a huge fan of weird meta stuff in my fanfictions. Like, the characters know but they don't know they're in a videogame? Haha, ngl I've had some thought about this too! Lemme add to your imagine real quick:

You spent all of your early adolescence learning how to code and make lil' games on your shitty old laptop. Now, with the more advanced tech the 141 had provided you, you take to making even more cool things during your (limited) free time.

The first game you felt confident enough to show off was a rough prototype of a fighting game. It only had two characters loosely based off of both Ghost and Soap. You showed it to Gaz as more of an offhanded joke, but he was excited. He too knew some things about game development and decided to help you out on the project.

It still wasn't a polished game, per se, but it was playable. Soap caught wind of your game and begged to try it out. With Gaz's help, you set up the firmware using an emulator and the jailbroken game console in the rec room. You felt so shy showing off something you did for fun.

And it was a huge hit!

Even with only two characters recruits and officer's alike spent hours playtesting and figuring out how to make combos. The room erupted into cheers when Soap figured out the first finishing move!

"Oi, Bonnie! I think you migh've made something really special here!"

[selanaris]

Batfam x Transformers ideas

I saw some back and forth between @cao-the-dreamer and @yes-i-write-fanfiction and it encouraged me to post up some of my ideas I had

The Signal (Duke Thomas) in TFP

The Signal is the one meta bat in Gotham. Basically, the idea is that he is in jasper on an undercover assignment to investigate the bots and cons there. it's his first solo mission of large-scale. (Albeit one with many training wheels) he is being set up as a national exchange with Miko.

The funny part is that Duke is most known in his siblings for never being caught, so all the adults assume he is a good child. At first Miko is annoyed at the new exchange, thinking he is kinda stuck up and quiet, but seeing a vehicon and autobot chase with her and bulkhead and two vehicons then out of nowhere, one con gets YOINKED back and it's signal with his kama/blade-chucks He slashes the tires and goes to the next con. even when the cons transform, he is able to use his kama like grapples to bring him up and take them down, going for eyes and necks.

His identity doesn't immediately give away the others. Of course, he doesn't give it away, and Duke and Signal are never connected. Bots are like, "As a human, you should stay out of this war"

"As a human, with extraterrestrials having a war on earth. I should be involved. And you can not stop me."

Ratchet is VERY facinated in Signals powers, Able to control, move through, and see any light or shadow on any spectrum.

Signal's identity is revealed when Duke and Miko are captured.

OF COURSE

They get out and back home right as the bots were getting ready to leave. Miko became even more of a ln adrenaline junky

"I WANT TO BE A SUPER HERO TOO!"

"Uh... no no no, nope, denied. And I'm a vigilante, so what I'm doing is against the law"

(Arcee in the back, "Great, we're harboring a criminal.")

Signal is trying hard to ignore Miko's constant question for him to train her. Her only talking about the cool, awesome stuff she could do. Eventually, he will snap at her when she puts herself in danger, and then she says, "wouldn't of happened if you trained me."

"No. It still would of happened. It could happen even more if I trained you. You don't become a hero because it's cool or awesome. And those who do don't last. I've been doing this for almost a year, and I've already seen more there than I've seen with the autobots. People get hurt Miko... and when you have the power to do something... it will always feel like it's your fault...."

(That's what I have so far, the other idea is Batman Beyond and TFA to post later)

[iamnmbr3]

ok so i'm rereading Order of the Phoenix and what's up with Draco being so... helpful??

Like back in the Goblet of Fire he's litterally telling the golden trio to hide Hermione because she's visibly (how could you tell tho?) a muggleborn;

then in OotP in the train to Hogwarts he comes to say hi to Harry and hints that Sirius had been spotted by Lucius (the dogging line);

THEN he goes all the way to lean on Harry during Care of magical creatures to say how Hagrid's being messing with stuff to big for him.

HUH??

Why on earth would you say that to Harry? To taunt him? But he could have done it without revealing precious intelligence passed by his father!!

Like, to me it makes sense if it is intended as Drarry moments, because he has a crush and can't help but being invested in Harry's life, and accidentally being helpful to Harry, but we know that it wasn't the terf meant.

And we clearly see how easily Draco can make Potter angry(their interaction during Potions and Quidditch, Potter stinks badges, Weasley is our king ecc.)

It seems like he's trying to help in a reeeeaally backward way, but at the same time he's enjoying himself so much that they do not translate as helping hand.

Also to me it kinda falls flat on a Doylist perspective because the golden trio would have hidden in the forest without him, and they were already worring about Sirius and Hagrid so...

What do you think about it??

P.s.: i reaaally love your metas about hp universe, can't get enough of it <3

yeah, it’s wild. I get why while the books were still being written some people thought he was secretly undercover trying to help the order or something.

I don’t think at that point he was consciously trying to betray his side yet. I think that didn’t happen till book 7. But at the same time, I do think two things were going on.

First of all, he always craves Harry’s attention and does everything you can to get it. And he also really wants to be a part of her story. Harry has other things going on his life and till book 6, Draco isn’t the center of his focus (although he does actually think about and watch him a lot - something Draco doesn’t realize but would be thrilled if he knew). From the moment that Harry rejects his friendship Draco looks for ways to insert himself back into Harry’s life. Dangling his knowledge of things Harry is interested in is one way of doing that. And it also puts him on Harry’s level - in his mind - because his secondary involvement with the Death Eaters mirrors Harry’s secondary involvement with the Order.

And also in his mind shows how cool and serious and important Draco is. He’s always creating the perfect set up for an enemies to lovers story but Harry won’t buy it. Like I think of his mind he think Harry’s going to be like OK I really wanna know what’s going on so I’ll make a deal with you and that will evolve into a grudging friendship. Of course Harry won’t do that while Draco holds the attitudes he holds. Nor as I’m sure he also hopes is Harry going to be like wow I realize you’re so important and special and well-connected and I was wrong to turn down a friendship with you. Draco desperately wants Harry to need and respect him. (Only when he grows beyond this post book 7, and learn to except Harry’s boundaries and to change his own behavior will he actually earn either of those things.)

Secondly though, I think it’s really notable that most of these instances end up helping Harry to either learn information about someone he cares about or protect someone he cares about. The example at the World Cup is really striking. Hermione is specifically in danger because Lucius is one of the Death Eaters under the hoods and he knows who she is and likely intends to target her. Obviously, Draco isn’t going to directly betray his father, but he does warn her that if she stays where she is, she will be recognized and attacked.

Draco at that point kind of likes the idea of violence but he doesn’t like the reality of it and I think a part of him is uncomfortable with what would happen if she actually got caught so although he doesn’t acknowledge it even to himself, that’s the basis of the words. Plus he knows was Harry will fight to the death to protect her. Something similar is probably also a factor in what he says about Sirius. Even his comments about Hagrid to at least revealed that he is alive In addition to dangling more knowledge if Harry will talk to him and pay attention to him - which he won’t.

[lowrezbonuslevel]

you... are my nakama.......!

Day 2 Revenge Kirby Fighters 3 and Knuckles: Old Man Yaoi Edition

⚠️ LONG (but good-faith) RANT (that gives a little extra context for today's drawing) UNDER THE CUT (don't worry it's not shipping discourse lmao) ⚠️

Okay so I know neither of these modes are canon and therefore it's SORT OF a moot point, but NARRATIVELY SPEAKING, Meta Knightmare Returns and Dededetour are completely and utterly backwards, right???

What beef does King Dedede have with Dark Meta Knight? What beef does Meta Knight have with Sectonia and Dark Matter Swordsman (besides the fact that they both breathe and hold pointy weapons)? I understand that there's this ongoing plotline with having MK face swordfighters to test his skill, but I still think King Dedede should have been the one to rematch both DMS and Sectonia in Robobot (I do know Sectonia DX in TDX exists, but she isn't the final boss of the Dededetour mode which kinda sucks).

Shadow Dedede himself is a decent idea, but he's new to the series and has absolutely no story introduction (and his design isn't all that interesting, at least to me). Sectonia? Love her, but she deserves a Dedede hammer to the face for all three phases and more. DMS (and Dark Matter in general)? The ORIGINAL Dedede opp (besides Kirby lol). I know these are just clones in-story, but the coolness factor is still there.

You can make the argument that MK got to fight Mecha Knight because of MKR--which is cool, definitely, but if it were King Dedede the same could be said for the Dedede Clone fight, so in my eyes it evens out (actually... Dedede beating Stock Mecha would probably have been even more hype. imho).

Also, a Galacta Knight battle with solo King Dedede would be rad. The power scalers would have a FIELD DAY!!!

Likewise, Meta Knight never actually got to beat DMK in a proper battle at any point, did he? So based on both canon and alt timelines, DMK could still whoop MK's ass. That's just wrong... :(

It's my understanding that TDX was made with absolutely no anticipation of Robobot, so it could be the case that they simply didn't want to give Dedede the spotlight twice. But I sort of wish they had held back on MKR regardless.

Really, I don't think you NEED the anticipation of Robobot's specific plot/mechanics to see that MKR would have fit perfectly in TDX, because it answers the question of "where the hell is MK and why did he sit back when Dedede got kidnapped"? Having him fight DMK would be a way cooler explanation than an implicit "he was doing something somewhere else."

Maybe he's been fighting on the sidelines and is now clearing out the castle--which is full of Sectonia's remaining minions, the strongest and most loyal--and getting to the bottom of some source of magic still coming from the castle. Meanwhile Dedede and Kirby are helping out the people of mainland Popstar that were displaced by Sectonia and the Dreamstalk. And DMK (or, even better--a form of Dark Mind!) serves as the final boss.

Likewise, while the main events of Robobot are going on, the King could be helping Floralia defend themselves from the invasion. (The existence of Sectonia Clone combined with the pause screen that claims "Floralia is too remote to be mechanized yet" is literally just a plot hole anyway. The invaders couldn't overtake Floralia by the time we're fighting Sectonia Clone... despite the fact that they obviously DID find the huge plant that leads DIRECTLY to their kingdom AND the invaders have a mother(computer)ship the size of Planet Popstar AND practically infinite robot soldiers...? Be so fr...)

Extra work/game industry deadlines are a consideration too, but I don't think that applies too heavily here because both modes could have heavily reused and repurposed assets and level designs.

MK could have just had the typical EX mode recolors and stuff, but maybe with the story explanation/design concept that the bosses are being controlled by the Dark Mirror this time, instead of being aggravated by Taranza.

Dededetour in Robobot could have subsequently reused TDX assets. I feel like this is even a case where reskins are the objectively cooler option, as opposed to entirely new assets: seeing the flowery, green areas of Floralia converted to gross, grey landscapes would have been AWESOME, as well as seeing the insects and flower-based enemies turned to robots. Maybe the People of the Sky have been mind controlled: the six main flower fairies work together as a miniboss, and defeating them/breaking their mind control apparatuses is how they are "rescued" here, in parallel to their game of origin. Maybe Taranza is also being mind-controlled in an act of universal karma and Dedede has to bail him out. That would be sick!

This stuff isn't a series-ruiner by any means, but it genuinely feels like a glitch in the Kirby matrix that the plotlines here are so mismatched. If I were whimsically rewriting the Kirby series, the MKR and Dededetour swap would probably be the first change I'd make. (And, again, I'd like to acknowledge that there are/were probably practical considerations of which I'm ignorant.)

You know how the series could still fix everything, though...? Kirby Fighters 3, BUT this time King Dedede and Meta Knight are the main protags. They get to fight magically-summoned/echo versions of DMK, DMS, Sectonia, King D-Mind, Yin-Yarn... you name it. TOGETHER. As husbands should!!!

[nicoleanell]

Still on my kick of meta-ing about IWTV season 2 a few months too late. LOUMAND FIGHT TIME. I gotta be sad about something real quick.

There's definitely a thing in the Armand-apologist side of fandom (the street where I live) where it's often brought up that nothing Armand says in that argument is quite as vile and monstrous as the "groomed me into a little bitch" line. My obligatory disclaimer IN FAIRNESS TO LOUIS: (a) it's certainly not a one-sided fight and they do both get some very ugly hits in, (b) Armand was the sober one (I don't actually think that's much of an excuse but worth pointing out he immediately forgot what happened and apologized even BEFORE any mind-meddling), and (c) holy shit the rest of the episode exists and nothing that preceded Louis' suicide attempt was a justification for the way Armand reacted after it. Cool? Cool.

But still - yeah. That line is gross and extremely Not funny to me. It crosses such a huge line so fast there's almost nothing either of them could say to de-escalate from that. (In fact I'd argue it crosses a line FOR THE AUDIENCE more than it even registers as that bad to Armand, which in itself is kinda sad. Like… his instinct in that moment is laughing and throwing trauma insults back in a stupid Southern accent. He was - I cannot stress this enough - more upset by being called boring.)

I think there's something interesting about the fact that in universe the way Armand responds by mocking Louis' brother's suicide is just as horrible - because Paul's death is meant to be something that was formatively traumatic and life-changing for Louis - but I'm not sure that it fully hits the audience as viscerally terrible on the same level as making fun of Armand being raped by his daddy-vampire and others as. a. child.

But anyway, with the understanding no one came out taking the high road there... the thing that actually kills me about that exchange is we KNOW in that moment, watching them hurl these horrible horrible words at each other: these are things they opened up to each other about in the past. These are things they told each other. They've been together for decades already. This isn't a "digging into your head and pulling stuff out" kind of thing, like some fuckin' Daniel or whatever. This isn't common knowledge of their backstories just because the audience knows it already. They're both acting like "this is a thing you whine about all the time" when they've whined about it to vanishingly few people in the world, actually!!

Armand brings up Paul and Grace because Louis has talked about them, and he listened. Louis has told him about watching Paul step off the roof, about Grace at the cemetary. And Armand told Louis everything about Marius, and Louis filed that away in his brain with some extra words that Armand didn't use. At one point or another, they both unpacked the heaviest shit that ever happened to them and said "have this, I think it's why I am the way I am", they shared these things with each other in moments of intimacy and vulnerability and said "don't hurt me with this, obviously, okay?" And now they're here, unloading it all back onto each other as mockery. Yeah, I've heard you say all that stuff about your damage, and it's fucking pathetic and hilarious actually. It's not just like "I'm trying to hurt you by bringing this up", it's also "you've always sounded ridiculous to me when you talked about this stuff, you know that, right? I pretended to feel bad for you and I truly could not care less."

Like one of the reasons I think that scene is so jaw-dropping is there's so much intimacy and familiarity with each other implied and also shattered by it. And man how DO you ever get back from that. I would start the memory-erasing from that moment forward for sure.

[skrunksthatwunk]

THROWINF MYSELF DOWN A CCHIMENY SO I CAN DIE SLOWLY IN THE CORBWEBS

YEAHH‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️

god im glad you're so Completely Normal about them im going to hold you to that talking about them for hours thing bc every time you add to this i think of like eight other things i've been meaning to talk about or haven't even thought of. horrible beautiful entropic kuwameshi discourse wherein brainrot begets brainrot. we are mad scientists shaking hands and everything is on fire and we're eprobably married or something. ok here goes. first things first: fUCKIGNucjgun. ourhfhh. secondly: the yusuke side of kuwameshi makes me want to rip my teeth out like yusuke thinks no one loves him and then boom the wake happens and i think if he wasn't so [gestures vaguely] emotionally stunted he'd maybe think a little more about what it means that kuwabara kept running back to him again and again even if it meant limping away and what it means to him to be loved for no reason. without anything to gain. he never had anything to offer anyone really he was just a dirty scrappy smart-mouthed kid so no one loved him (or so he felt) and yet here is this fucking guy who just loves the everloving shit out of him and he's kind of great? he's kind of an amazing person?? he's kind of wonderful and strange and a doofus and noble and fun and oh well i guess i have to make sure nothing happens to him because i could kill everybody in the world and then myself and it wouldn't make a dent in the vengeance debt i'd be owed. in a bro way of course.

hes fucking unforgivably ridiculous is my point. god. hhhhhhhhh

minutes away from smashing in all my neighbors' windows with a baseball bat over this but instead i will say YEAH THE KUWABARA MASOCHISM LINE. I THINK ABOUT IT A LOT. and not just because of my penchant for weird homoerotic dudes-fighting media but because yusuke too one look at him thought "oh this guy again" and said "you're one of those intricate rituals guys aren't you" with lethal force. if i was kuwabara and he told me that i think i actually would have died on the spot that would have killed me. he's right of course but still

OH AND THE TETHER TO HUMANITY THING see team urameshi (minus genkai) each fall along this little punnet square im gonna make now hold on save to drafts

ok it's an oversimplification but this creates a sort of gradient where kuwabara is the most human/representative of humanity and hiei is the most demon/representative of demonkind and kurama and yusuke fall into more ambiguous/transitional zones over the course of the story, where what exactly they are is a little more complicated. kurama's obviously human-adjacent and his character's about that ambiguity the whole time that's like. literally how we're introduced to him, but yusuke becomes demon-like/ambiguous much more distinctly (though he is always far more sympathetic towards demons and morally gray ppl/outcasts than anyone else in the square, which skews him more demon-aligned than kuwabara, if we wanna think of it that way (see yusuke befriending previous opponents/enemies of both demon and human varieties while kuwabara tends to only skew human, with kurama being an exception and hiei being a much more difficult/begrudging exception (just like how yusuke is an exception to hiei and kuwabara is a begrudging exception to him. hiei and kuwabara's foilship on this front is insane to me but i digress)).

and once yusuke wakes up and says it's mazokuing time and atavisms all over the place kuwabara's the last one that's purely objectively distinctly human and that isolates him and makes him feel like he can't follow. they're all going back to demonland to do demon shit and even if he could keep up with them he knows he wouldn't belong, wouldn't match with what they were or what they'd become. and he doesn't want to feel out of place in team urameshi any more than he already does (hiei's actually in a similar boat, reflected in his hesitancy to engage with humans, humanity, the team, and friendship kinda broadly. it's an insecurity they both share, though much of the source of that also comes from being rejected for being seen as a bloodthirsty monster, something he shares with yusuke and that is addressed. again, yusuke's more gray position on things makes it easier for him to get hiei, whereas kuwabara (as much as he's looked down upon as a bloodthirsty punk by some) clings to his honor code as a way of distinguishing himself and proving them wrong, and thus isn't really able to reach hiei. but hiei has his own honor code and shows surprise and dismissal at the idea of humans having honor codes. again, this is something they have in common, that anti-the-other-side bias despite having a good bit in common. oh my god. anyway), see his reaction to finding out genkai died and no one told him, etc. he is yusuke's primary tether to humanity and his old self as focused on by the story (as well as keiko, though with different emphases) and they both let yusuke go. yusuke leaves and kuwabara, for once, does not follow him. he needs to move on. (it's a lot like how keiko is portrayed. yusuke's shit wears on them both so so much ough)

so when kuwabara finally chooses not to follow, to stop chasing after yusuke, in effect trying to reform his identity around himself rather than yusuke and living his own life and accepting that as much as he loves him it's not meant to be, it means that the healthiest thing for him is to stay at home. to be away from yusuke because he means so much to him, because he's nothing without him, so maybe he can love him in a way that hurts less. and it sucks. it's brutal. and kuwabara pushes on anyway.

and after all that, after taking some time to figure himself out (and in turn giving kuwabara some space to figure himself out), yusuke decides to come back. he chooses to chase after kuwabara, to rejoin his loved ones, to return and love and be loved again. to accept the world that treated him like shit and never thanked him for risking him and his friends' lives to save it and that he resented and that he ran from. he comes back home to kuwabara. he gives up fighting (for the most part) like he did. he settles down. he comes home, because humanity and love are worth it. because kuwabara and all he represents and all he is is worth it.

and ain't that fuckin peachy that kuwabara's love is finally returned (both in that he comes home and yusuke's care from him is actually expressed outside of life-or-death situations)? (head in my hands screaming bawling my eyes out)

i don't mean to say "humans nice demons bad therefore it's good yusuke returned home" btw because like. frankly i have watched the show and am capable of basic reading comprehension. that's the whole damn point of the demon human thing is that it's not that simple. etc. what i like about yusuke returning home and returning to kuwabara and humanity is more that it shows him coming to love and accept the broken fucked up world he came from.

yusuke comes home to live with the people who love him in spite of every reason he has not to. because the people are worth loving even when they spit on him and the world is worth saving even when he's never thanked for it. yusuke's not really an honorable guy (not in an honor-code sense), but he gives people chances. he gives people chances over and over because he knows what it's like to be dismissed and mistrusted and he gives the world a chance over and over and over and he is rewarded for it as much as he is punished for it and goddamn. he keeps trying so much he comes back from the dead twice. sheesh. and yusuke coming home is him giving demonhood and the demon world a chance and trying to listen to himself and figure out if that's the place he belongs and deciding "no, because most of the people i love are in the human realm. so i'm going back." like he has from the beginning, yusuke chooses his loved ones. he has people he cares for in the demon realm and that demonness is a part of him, and i think he accepts that. but these are the people he wants to be around the most, the people he loves the most, the place where he wants his roots to stay.

he goes back to the human realm because the things he loves the most, more than endless fights or adventure or strange new landscapes, novelty and impermanence and relative anonymity, is here. being known and loved. loving and knowing and staying long enough to watch things change and grow and die.

he goes back because those things that are so precious to him can't follow. or, in the case of kuwabara, they weren't willing to follow.

point is the show ends at a perfect-as-it-could-be place for kuwameshi actually becoming something more healthy and balanced for the both of them. love that can express itself in ways besides sacrificing yourself for them and listening to them mourning you in the most excruciating way possible and then not talking about it afterwards. head in my hands AGAIN they're esufkucingsdl;jfasdfd. hell on earth. phew

thinking about how when hiei kurama and kuwabara were trying to bust out of itsuki's interdimensional monster guy and kurama was like ok. itsuki we're going to torture you until you let us out. so we can fight sensui 4-v-1 kuwabara was so desperate to save yusuke that he was fine with both of these plans that he otherwise would have found so dishonorable he woulda died to avoid them. but not if it's for yusuke. and when sensui kills him anyway kuwabara's also fine with 3-v-1 if it means he gets to avenge yusuke, even if it means humanity basically gets wiped out because of it. kurama and hiei are the same, but it's kuwabara who most consistently risks his life by clinging to his honor code, and here is probably the one time he breaks it. bc he can't lose yusuke again. if he doesn't even know who he is without yusuke then how is he supposed to be the same guy with the stupid honor code? like that matters now. he can't be the bigger man if he's barely even a person without him. jeeeezzzzz

[nightsetter]

Aubrey Plaza movie & show reviews

i know i'm not the only one obsessed with aubrey rn so i thought i'd rank some of her stuff that i've seen and indicate whether her character is gay or not to help people decide what to watch. i'll keep adding to it and hope others will add their recommendations too!!

starting with the most recent:

1. Agatha All Along (2024 series) - Gay - 10/10 obviously it's why we're all here haha.

2. Megalopolis (2024 drama) - Not gay - worst movie i've ever seen in my life lmao. however you get the incomparable experience of watching a bitchy blonde aubrey plaza sit on a dude's face so. also all her outfits are incredible??? 0/10 don't bother watching, aubrey is only in a few scenes so just skip around to find those.

3. My Old Ass (2024 drama/comedy) - Gay - 10/10 watch this asap! i laughed i cried, like in the best way. aubrey is only in a couple scenes, a longer one kinda towards the beginning and then a short one at the end, she also does voiceovers throughout. her character is bisexual and the focus is a mlw relationship. she's fantastic in it and the whole movie is excellent, loved maisy stella too and their chemistry together.

4. Operation Fortune (2023 spy thriller) - Not gay - action movies aren't usually my thing but aubrey plays the role of a sexy hacker spy like she was born for it and i loved every second haha. i wish the script had lived up to her potential but it was still a fun watch. 8/10 for that one gold dress ALONE

5. Emily the Criminal (2022 drama) - Not gay - 10000/10 HIGHLY RECOMMEND my personal favorite so far!!! Aubrey co-produced and she plays the main character. when i tell you this woman had me ACTINGG UPPPPPP in this sweet mother of all that is holy- she looks so good in every scene and it's genuinely great start to finish. boyfriend aubrey plaza save me 🙏

6. Spin Me Round (2022 black comedy) - Gay - ok so this movie is batshit but there's a truly incredible makeout scene with alison brie's character... aubrey is only there for like 1/3 of the movie but she steals every scene and looks soooo good in it, amazing costume design. i'll give it a 6/10 for that and her chemistry with alison.

7. Best Sellers (2021 drama) - Not gay - i loved this one!! aubrey's talent and range blew me away, and it's a heartfelt story. she stars as a publishing company heiress who develops a father-daughter bond with an old cranky author. definitely up there with emily the criminal & black bear as some of her best work. 9/10

8. The White Lotus (2021-ongoing series) - Not gay - aubrey stars in season 2, which you can jump right into if you want because each season is a stand-alone story. i enjoyed s1 as a satire about different types of social privilege, s2 was way less interesting and i found myself just waiting for the next time aubrey was on screen lol. but she's amazing in a dramatic role and wears so many bikinis lord forgive meee- 7/10 overall.

9. Happiest Season (2020 rom com) - Gay - everyone has seen this, but aubrey plaza and kristen stewart in the same movie is WAY too powerful i think i blacked out at one point. alison brie is great too. 8/10 minus a couple because of the stupid ending and idk its a lil cheesy haha.

10. Black Bear (2020 drama) - Not gay - another one that she co-produced and starred in. ill be honest it was too straight for me to really enjoy lmao. its a meta dive into the indie film industry that went over my head at times but it's thought-provoking and clearly very personal to aubrey's life and career, especially how she works so closely with her husband. she is insanely insanely hot in it and really showcases her talent so ill give it a 7/10.

11. Child's Play (2019 slasher) - Not gay - tbh i thought this movie was hilarious loll. aubrey stars as the mom, i wish there'd been more of a focus on her, it's more from the son's perspective but she's awesome in it and it's cool to see her in a different type of role. 6/10 it was fun as far as horror movies go. tw for gore

12. An Evening With Beverly Luff Linn (2018 comedy) - Not gay - i dont even know what to say about this one dlkjfdl. 1/10 aubrey is the only good part.

13. The Little Hours (2017 black comedy) - Gay - bro this one is a RIDE... aubrey plaza as a crazy heretical nun is one of the funniest things i've everrrr seen. she co-produced and stars in it again with alison brie. hilarious movie for its target audience (me), aubrey kisses 2 women and there's one scene in particular that uhh 🥵 well. no sorry i mustn't say. 11/10 movie (in my very subjective opinion loll). tw for sexual assault.

14. Ingrid Goes West (2017 black comedy) - Not gay - she co-produced and stars in this opposite elizabeth olsen. aubrey is always at home playing freakish characters and the movie is pretty entertaining. i was disappointed by the glaring lack of gay subtext haha but ill give it a 7/10. tw for attempted suicide.

15. Legion (2017-2019 series) - Gay - this show was so boring but i guess kinda interesting sometimes? haha she appears in most episodes only briefly and unfortunately this has to be the hottest character she's ever played, she's sooo in her element just being totally unhinged. her best eps are 1x06, 2x05 (😳), second half of 2x09 (hooks up with a girl), honorable mention to 2x10/11 bc she's only in a couple scenes but looks so good. season 3 she gets a little more consistent screen time dressed like a hippie if you can imagine, also somehow gets a woman pregnant? LOL idk i lost the plot at some point... good luck if you decide to watch (you definitely should). 4/10 tw for sexual assault and suicide.

16. Addicted to Fresno (2015 black comedy/rom com) - Gay - aubrey plays the love interest to natasha lyonne's character in this. she's only in a handful of scenes and i love natasha but their chemistry wasnt great imo. it's fun tho and has a happy ending, there's one cute kiss at the end. plus sweaty gym clothes 😶 i'll give it a 5/10.

17. Ned Rifle (2014 drama) - Not gay - i must be crazy for actually liking this movie kdfjd. kinda funny, very weird/disturbing, like an indie cult vibe. it's the 3rd film in a trilogy so you'll have to read summaries of the first 2 to follow what's going on. aubrey plays a starring role and her character does have an unsettling storyline but she's still soo fineeee and talented in it ugh. 5/10 its for a certain audience lmao, you'll either like it or hate it. tw for suicide and themes about sexual grooming.

18. The To Do List (2013 comedy) - Not gay - i probably would have liked this more when i was in high school haha but it's still pretty funny. she plays the nerdy main character experimenting with sex for the first time, so. a lot of what would you would expect with that 😭 god is real that's all i can tell you, 7/10

19. Parks and Recreation (2009-2015 series) - Not gay - this is the one she's famous for of course but for anyone who hasn't seen it, she gets a decent amount of screen time in an ensemble cast playing an adorably chaotic intern. 8/10 recommend if you're looking for a half hour sitcom, it's a great time :)

20. Criminal Minds (2005-ongoing series) - Gay - i only watched 4 episodes so can't speak on the quality of the show as a whole but i loved her soo much in it. she plays a femme fatale hitwoman which is the perfect aubrey role lmao. there are mentions of her relationships with women, but the focus is on her interest in a guy. She stars in 11x11, 12x22, and 15x6. also makes a brief appearance at the end of 12x21. 8/10 no complaints, totally worth watching for her.

i hope this is helpful to someone and please add more reviews if you'd like!