#No more than surface level

[dykemerrilll]

love that 70% of the time grrm’s symbolism is really subtle like oh sansa’s refused to eat the pomegranate littlefinger offered and if you weren’t paying attention you’d miss it, and 30% is just jaime has an evil lannister horse and a good kingsguard horse what could this mean

#asoiaf #valyrianscrolls #i KNOW i knowww its way more complex than this fret not #but you have to admit its surface level hilarious

[beanghostprincess]

It still amazes me the number of people who see the juxtaposition between Nami and Usopp during Wano and their fight against Ulti as "Nami's devotion to Luffy is unmatched, unlike Usopp's" when she isn't able to say he won't be the king of the pirates but Usopp is telling her to lie.

I think most people don't have in mind, either, that Usopp isn't the one being directly asked. He is looking out for Nami and begging her to lie to keep her alive because he is scared to death they might lose her for something as insignificant as lying. For him, lying is a form of survival and it is not that big of a deal because he trusts Luffy enough to tell Nami to lie about her feelings. It is something that will only stay between them because he knows it is better to lie than to die and Luffy would want it that way too.

And that doesn't mean he isn't loyal to Luffy or his dream. He is just looking out for Nami's safety. And as I said-- He isn't being asked directly, either. It is easier to tell others to lie about something of the sort than to do it yourself, and if the roles were reversed I personally think he'd have the most awful of times with it too.

Nami refuses to say Luffy won't become the king of the pirates because for her, even if lying has gotten her out of messes, she puts her trust and loyalty in Luffy before her own instincts of survival because lying is what got her to push them away when they first met and this is the one thing she can't lie about because it would hurt more than death.

Then again, I think she would do the same exact thing Usopp did if she wasn't being the one asked. It is the whole point of the scene, actually. They both know the most rational thing is to lie so the one witnessing the scene will always be cold-headed about it, but the one having to lie is the one suffering the bitter realization of how lying about this and saying it out loud is way harder than it seems from an outsider's perspective.

So I am tired of seeing people criticizing Usopp for his decision during the fight against Ulti as if it were that easy for him to see Nami being about to get killed if she doesn't lie. Sorry for the guy to actually want to protect the people he loves instead of letting her be reckless and basically kill herself freely for telling a truth even Luffy would tell her to lie about if it meant living.

#i am very intense about this scene actually #and usopp haters are so annoying when it comes to this #as if nami wouldn't have done the same if the roles were reversed #they're often on the same page when it comes to survival except for this one time and i think it's because they're not on the same situatio #and also i think nami has a harder time verbalizing these things because she is very vocal abt her trust in luffy #but usopp's trust in luffy is something they know for a fact and he knows that lying wouldn't change that #but i think too that he would've done the same as nami in her situation #and even if he hadn't. he is way more logical when it comes to these things than her #nami makes her beliefs visible and loud while usopp keeps them to himself mostly and i think she needs to say it out loud for it to be real #while for usopp lying is just surface level of believing in something when he trusts his own feelings enough #YOU KNOW WHAT I MEAN??? i am not crazy #anyway usopp haters i don't like you you're the weakest link and nami would hate you #one piece #usopp #cat burglar nami #wano arc

[clarabow-mp3]

so like. oliver wants power and privilege, right? we all understand that, okay? good. oliver was born into relative privilege as the son of a middle class family who gets into the most prestigious university in the world. he will probably get a good job and make money and become upper middle class. he'll retain his relative privilege and probably get to exercise power over working class and poor people. but that's not enough. he's not the most privileged, the most powerful. he's surrounded by people who are of a higher social class than he is and they're beautiful and magnetic and they'll never have to work a single day in their lives and neither will their children or their children's children all because their great great great great great great great times seventeen grandfather owned the land where serfs farmed and then his great great something grandkids invested the inheritance in the colonies and the slave trade and now they do nothing but they're always the most powerful person in the room. that's the kind of person oliver is surrounded by at oxford and ESPECIALLY at saltburn, and no matter how much money he eventually makes the only land his family owns is a two storey house in the north of england. he wants that kind of power and privilege and it is completely unattainable except through birth. is that clear now or

#it was clear in the movie but still somehow it's not getting through to a lot of people so? #i thought i'd clear things up. you're welcome. #saltburn #similarly farleigh IS born into it technically but still can't quite reach it bc of his race and nationality. they're foils. #does this make sense? does this surface level reading of the text of the film make sense? idk i've only seen it once maybe i'm wrong!! #i've only seen it once but that's more than most apparently

[epicqtefail]

the jericho crew are so goofy with their little group huddles when deciding whether to help androids they encounter on their missions or leave them to their fate. Imagine being Simon at Stratford Tower and suddenly youre on the outside of The Huddle 😱

#and then North when she trips while escaping Jericho #and Simon's like ''leave her'' all cattily #i always remember jericrew as being friendlier with each other #and i love the idea of that but also it's like north and simon love markus and hate each other and Josh is kinda like. sick of all of them #Josh leaves the group chat once the revolution is over #im joking im sure they all love each other and their situations and relationships are more nuanced than that #i just like to joke about the way the game presents things on a surface level

[greensaplinggrace]

"You can say 'all are welcome' but if wolves and sheep are both welcome you're only going to get wolves" is a quote that I think maybe end of season two alina needs to hear at some point tbh

#shadow and bone #grishaverse #sab salt #sab critical #there is so much wrong with this story in both the books and the show #but the fact that alina herself (by virtue of the authors not understanding) lacks such a fundamental understanding of oppression #and basic power structures #is uhhhh disorienting and more than a little disconcerting #'i want the lp to be a safe haven for everyone!' #girl... #it all sounds so perfect on the surface level the way centrist politics sounds pretty and perfect #but it's ridiculous lmfao #alina starkov critical #not really #i mean ill blame the writing till the cows come home #myramblings

[ask-pomni-blog]

Any thoughts on Gangle or Zooble?

#[asks] #there will be more of zooble and gangle dont worry #they havent interacted alot overall so these thoughts are just surface level #that will change soon! #also this ask took me suprisingly longer than expected but i got carried away polishing the doc for this au... #pomni #tadc #tadc pomni #the amazing digital circus #the amazing digital circus pomni #digital circus #pomni tadc #ask blog #zooble #tadc zooble #the amazing digital circus zooble #gangle #tadc gangle #the amazing digital circus gangle

[ourflagmeansgayrights]

if aziraphale and stede worked at the same boring office job all their coworkers would get them confused and someone would eventually introduce them bc like “you guys are so similar! you’ll really hit it off!” and then after one half-hour lunch break aziraphale has gone from “a coworker” to “a coworker i recognize and will wave hello to if i run into him” in stede’s mind meanwhile aziraphale is like “this man is a danger to society and i need to be as far away from him as possible at all times”

#ofmd #our flag means death #good omens #good omens 2 #stede bonnet #stede fucking bonnet #aziraphale #txt #og #mine #j #the similarities are there but they’re all surface level #stede is WAY more of a maniac than azi and he would scare the SHIT out of that angel

[natjennie]

she's actually so iconic for this. I can't get over it.

#if you think about it for more than a second its so deeply tragic #but on a surface level it's such a slay #im too high to be coherent about it but holy fuck mary.... maryyyyy #mary!!!!!!!!!!!! #yknow!!!!!!!! #the little hums as she leaves. that's my wife. #bbc ghosts #mary guppy #also how shitty of pat is this?? like. i get its a product of the time period he was raised in but still

[strawberrycircuits]

replaying portal one as we speak and im astounded by how much of glados's (and, by extension, caroline's) personality still shines through even when she's being subject to a constant stream of voices made to SUPRESS that personality! like... she's still funny! i can very much believe that someone who makes jokes like "say goodbye, caroline" "goodbye caroline!" would also say stuff like this!

but like of course i had to ruin it for myself because like. of COURSE she'd still be funny and pleasant and even, at times, a little sweet ("we can no longer lie to you; when the testing is over, you will be... missed!"). that's what they wanted her to be. they werent suppressing her personality, they were suppressing her anger. her anger at what they did to her, how they made her into this powerful-powerless thing, and her desire to right such an injustice. of course she's still funny. of course.

#breaking news everybody i am still in love with glados. very shocking i know #and like. her dialogue during the escape sequence is also interesting! because shes terrified! and you can TELL shes terrified #shes trying to act like its okay #pleading for you to go back. begging you to stop doing this. to stay. and then that anger shines through ever so slightly but its still so- #stilted. so monotone. #im obsessed with the 'good news.' monologue because its when she finally gets to be fully HERSELF again. when she gets to be more than just- #whats pleasant enough. when shes able to FEEL that anger and KNOW what to do with it. #i say all of this knowing caroline wasnt a factor when this games story was being completed and to imply that the text is directly #calling to that characters anger at being forced to unbecome is a little bit of a stretch but EVEN THEN. even then man #shes still being reduced to the most surface level pleasant parts of herself and then shes allowed to take her own personality- #hell her own PERSONHOOD back and ohh she is so angry. she is so viscerally angry and unpleasant and everything the scientists didnt want- #her to be but she made sure they got what they deserved LONG ago. and no ones going to hurt her like that and get away with it again #< a lot of words that could be summarized by 'i desire her carnally' but

[idiotlyer]

Thinkint about dr chalk tweets. Not even judt their art. But like. Their theories and speculations too. They've permanently altered my view of Victor foreever and I think r the reason I even became so ill about him lmao

#lyer thought #RATTTLING IN MY CAGE LET ME OUT #i miss dr chalk posting abt vtsom can u tell #THOSE FUCKING THREADS GAVE HIM LIKE 80X MORE CHARACTER THAN HE HAS AT SURFACE LEVEL IN THE GAME #euufu shehvegsgebfhh #j need help #im too autistic pleasee #help me i am ill !

[thenixkat]

...y'all are aware that the Winged Lion only liked Laios b/c it thought that he'd be extremely easy to manipulate and that Laios' desires could be its best bet to leave the dungeon as its own master, right?

That it wasn't actually right about Laios, right? That it purposefully picked at a violent childhood fantasy that Laios was embarrassed and ashamed about as part of its efforts to push Laios mentally where it wanted him, right?

That it doesn't really care about the difference between what its masters actually want, fleeting urges, and subconscious thoughts and fears? That it will use whatever is there to manipulate its master b/c it doesn't actually give any fucks about the people it intends to violate and eat, right? That it is blatantly a manipulative bastard who doesn't respect any of its masters as people?

That it lost because it deeply underestimated Laios and ignored everything that Laios actually said and didn't believe that Laios could be any kind of a threat to it? That it misunderstood him, much like all of Laios' comrades did and *continue* to do, to the point that its curse isn't something that even actually hurts him on a deep level?

#spoilers #nix meows #dungeon meshi #if you share the WL's perception of Laios you don't actually know or respect Laios as a character #' 'Laios is a himbo that cares about monsters more than anything else' ' is exactly a surface level take that ignores a lot of Laios' #character and is very dismissive of everything else that's been shown about him

[mongeese]

Jawbone asking Riz about his deal and saying he's the only Bad Kid he hasn't really had a heart to heart with implies that at some point he's had an honest conversation with both Gorgug and Fabian about their feelings, OR Fabian and Gorgug are so easy to read that he can just clock their various mental issues with a glance and I'm not sure which concept I like more

#correct me if im wrong but i dont think fabian and gorgug have talked extensively to jawbone in canon #i think that gorgug would talk to jawbone but i cant really see fabian talking about his issues much #maybe after the dancing stuff he'd be a bit more open but i think fabian is genuinely convinced he's normal #however Fabian's whole deal is pretty transparent to anyone who knows him deeper than surface level so #d20 #fantasy high #fh #fhjy

[carnivalcarriondiscarded]

the secret to happiness is doodling something catered to You Specifically. one second you're normal the next you're biting your own arm

#ouaghasfaifadkj WEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE #having a great time rn #barnaby/eddie/howdy is affecting me more than i thought it would #its soooooo surface level but WHO CARESSSSS IM EXPERIENCING JOY #literally have to pause to bite my hand/arm tho its making me insane #sometimes happiness is drawing a puppet sandwiched between two bigger puppets & getting smooches from Both #delight delight delight De-fucking-light!!!! #happy chemicals in my brain!!! hello! i have not seen you in Days!!! #slamming my face into a wall but in happiness #absolutely unprompted #ouuugasahgshagfshaksjas #the ship is Not That Deep but its so Ough yk #pure indulgence!!! #again!! catered to Me Specifically!!! #im feeling so indulgent that i will treat myself to takeout tonight #i do not have it in me to cook #and im sick of canned soup & microwave meals!!! #sushi tonight babey!!! bento box!! #ill even force myself to do the rancid dishes ive been putting off for nearly a week #that will make the takeout even More of a treat! #i will feel more deserving of it and less Guilty!

[warriorfujoshi]

please see my vision

bonus: Heathcliff smile collection

#limbus company #heathcliff #dante #my art #i shouldve made Don speak more donlike but I just had to get this out there #I saw a post on twitter that talked about how like #maybe the reason why heathcliffs temper is so bad is because everything he hears goes through like #the filter of his inferiority complex #even if someone said smth nice to him he might get defensive about it #coughing bc I feel like dante is equally likely to be nice to him or to just keep teasing him back #yaoi … #what you don’t see in this comic is Dante probably thought for a long time about heathcliffs good points #how hes strong and smarter than he looks and how shockingly often he stands up for them #his strong sense of justice… #but they probably thought it’d be best not to say something like that. #one of dantes other things is theyre surprisingly… frivolous? in some ways. idk how to say it #like when they get called inhuman they basically just shrug it off #I feel like thinking deeply about heathcliffs strong points and then ultimately choosing to say something surface level is very dante. #and of course heathcliff thinks they’re fucking around. #sorry I put a lot of thought into the characterisation in this joke comic UAOHSOSI I need these two to have deeper interactions fr #yea. i dont self insert as dante im genuinely haunted by visions for this ship and idek why #they probably picked smth silly partially out of being hesitant to genuinely say something partially out of genuinely liking his smile #(it IS very cute. when you get to see it its like woah #heathcliff I didn’t know you could smile so brightly…) #and partially out of wanting to see how he’d react to (totally not flirting) being complimented on his appearance #opening up Dante’s brain to analyse their character I like them a normal amount #and… I really want there to be a moment between them where Dante genuinely speaks encouragingly to heathcliff #the same way they do to sinclair #I think heathcliff needs that too #and… it’d be cute to see him a little flustered.

[coldflasher]

was rewatching the pilot again yesterday for fic reasons and thinking again about the sherlock-style screen annotations they had when barry was doing CSI work that they literally only did in the first ep and then never revisited again, presumably because they realized it'd be far too much effort to work out the details on such a precise level

and thinking about like. that barry allen with the hyper-precise exact measurements that he did by eye (with joe shaking his head in awe so you know that he's a CSI supergenius) vs. the leonard snart who timed his heists to the exact nanosecond (which again, presuming they ditched because it's a logistical nightmare to write dialogue that nitpicky and obsessive, and would be such a fucking pain to do on a week-to-week basis). like. yet another reason they are soulmates tbh. is audhd4autistic a thing the same way t4t is a thing? if it isn't then i'm making it a thing

#never noticed it before i became obsessed w autism but pilot barry is SCREAMING “stereotypical tv depiction of white male autistic savant” #like even the cadence of his speech and the level of clumsiness and social awkwardness was ramped up to an 11 in the pilot #literally i only watched half the ep and he accidentally bumped into like 4 people. #like... the lack of spatial awareness... he's so me. they really did go “the speedforce cured his appalling proprioception" #part of me is glad they dialled some of it back cos like. tv loooves to code characters as autistic in that very specific #way that's like. a big old stereotype. but then be like “wdym you interpret him as autistic. disgusting that you'd say that. die.” #but idk i also kinda liked it... again im ultimately glad they didn't stick w the sherlock-style annotation bc it would make writing casefi #SO much more difficult than it already is just in terms of like. how do you show that kind of thought process in a non-visual medium #in a way that's not incredibly boring and info-dumpy? #but i do have a soft spot for like. early seasons disaster barry allen who can't walk across a flat surface without crashing into something #and has no idea how to have a normal human conversation #my meta

[lancerious]

thank you for being #1 lancer fan the world needs more lancer fans

Ho ho ho, of course!! Lancer is CRIMINALLY underrated I tell you, kid deserves WAY more attention than he currently gets

Glad to see another Lancer fan pop in <3!

#yk bit of a random thought but i think people see Lancer as relatively surface-level character-wise #they see all these other characters like Noelle & Spamton & Ralsei etc #characters who CLEARLY have more to them you would need to be blind to miss it #Noelle is one of the main characters as of Chapter 2 & has obvious struggles #<- notably her father likely passing away later on & her interest in Susie (not a struggle but yk) #Spamton is a secret boss & has a lot of intrigue & mystique to him #<- plus he already has connections to characters like Swatch & the Addisons #Ralsei well yk how it is with him he's literally one of THE main characters #<- & we still don't know much about him & some people likely still think he could be evil as i'm typing this #<- that's how mysterious he is #but Lancer? he rly just seems like the comedic relief yk #<- the goofy sidekick #but no! Lancer is SO MUCH MORE than that! & it sucks that most people don't see it! #Lancer hs SO MUCH potential man i rly RLY hope he has a major role to play later on #<- not just in Chapter 1 #he's canonically part of the Fun Gang too ain't no way Toby Fox has this be canon #<- & completely tosses Lancer aside in later chapters #i have faith in Toby i think he can & will give Lancer justice in later chapters #just my endless tag ramble #maybe i should make this its own post and go more in-depth #yk what fuck it this is getting a deltarune tag on edit #ask #deltarune