#this quote describes the relationship these 3 have perfectly

[notedchampagne]

Bro the 6th familial relationships fuck me up so much like the weird Juno and Pal more of a mentor than a mother vibes? And it seems like from Dr Sex that her and Pal's dad are either divorced or just straight up had nothing to do with each other until the genomics department decided they should have a child together?? Like imagine you're a ruthless academic career-woman and one day you get an email from the government like 'congrats! You're a mother!' And they hand you a fresh vat baby that is half you and half your co-worker that you talked to one time at the Christmas party like??? I don't think I would have the most healthy relationship with that child either tbh

And Cam! Earlier in Nona when Pal and Pyrrha are talking about going to the park it is only Kiki that he mentions she might want to save, no mention that apparently both her parents are there too? Her entire family is on the line here. Then she doesn't want her dads to see the Paul transformation because they "wouldn't understand"? You just know there's some long running disagreement there with how far she's yoking herself in with Pal. Do you think they secretly resent him? Did this cause a rift in their family? And what did the conversation look like before or after the transformation? Did Cam tell them she was about to die? Or did they turn away for five seconds and she finally killed herself for her obsessions behind their back? Who broke the news to them? (Who is going to break the news to Pal's dad?) The whole thing just makes me insane!!!!

Also apparently there is some incredible nepotism going on in the 6th oversight body here (or maybe everything is nepotism on the 6th lol)

YOU GET ME i love the 6th house so so much the way the house functions both as a united family w their genetics & a university with the academic quibbling is so fun to me- the sixths weakness was described as "A sprawling organization of erratic loners, the Sixth are chaotic by nature and terrible at collective action." which is 1) hilarious. palamedes is the peoples marxist princess 2) just generally fascinating as a whole. if we take that at face value and consider the 6th house as populated by genius loner nerds, it actually makes sense that they prioritize sending out attractive people to diversify the gene pool - with reference to your statement: dr sex provided a nice handful of evidence that while palamedes and juno have a formal dynamic, theyre affectionate enough that they seem close (at most, to the extent of some gay kid and their favorite english teacher) but seeing juno like a distant mentor is most likely right

taking on more quotes from dr sex, i think its most likely that the Sixth house encourages child bearing / raising through subsidies and an extended work leave of sorts:

Palamedes said, “Enjoying parenting. Enjoying the parenting buyout, I should say. He’s only doing dissertation supervision—and half a year of Immediate History, of course—but he’s got his own projects on the go.”

alexandrites and nireids might be required to go offworld to flirt and have children (i think i came across another post floating somewhere noticing kiki and cam were half-sisters, implying their parent was one of the mentioned) but for residents staying in the sixth house, they probably have about 3-7 other people they could possibly produce children with outside of consanguinity. although forcing them to have children by way of vat birth etc etc is entirely possible in Hell Empire a lot of them probably gave in just for a few years of parental & academic benefits.

one last point - sixth house children canonically live in a dormitory! so if you consider a professor going on paid leave to raise children while doing their own projects for about 7-9 years, then going back to work while their children are sent to a dorm to do nothing but study and train with other peers their age, it falls together so perfectly bro. it makes so much sense. of course pal and cam are nice to their parents but rarely ever close - they were most likely raised and taught communally! god i love worldbuilding

#as for nepotism well. who doesnt indulge in nepotism lmao #talking back #tlt meta #the locked tomb #palamedes sextus #camilla hect #the mysterious study of dr sex

[badass-queer-couples-battle]

Gay wrongs tournament, semifinals of the losers bracket

Propaganda:

For Wen Kexing and Zhou Zishu:

you've got the founder of the fantasy ancient Chinese CIA and the leader of what is essentially the mafia and then they're soulmates and in love. they're both willing to kill anyone who dares hurt the other while also just wanting a soft domestic life together

Zhou Zishu is an assassin and spymaster who put the current Emperor on the throne, and then quit his job by faking his death (kinda, hes still dying but not as fast as he was supposed to). Had done A Lot on his old job, including murdering children (more than one, and at least one of them in a way I can't even describe without several trigger warnings), exterminating whole families, war crimes (and i dont mean this in a buzzword way, i mean "organized a public execution of foreign diplomats during war time")… btw he doesn't feel particularly bad about any of this, because he believes it was necessary. Like he wouldn't do it for fun, but he thinks the ends (putting a good Emperor on the throne) justified the means (all of the atrocities). As a retiree, he definitely cut down on the amount of morally reprehensible murder, but not murder in general. He still routinely kills ppl, he just doesn't go out of his way to kill more. Wen Kexing, meanwhile, is the Ghost Valley Master - Ghost Valley being a place where the worst of criminals are exiled. Even in such a place, he has reputation as a complete lunatic, owed partially to the fact that he either skinned a man or fed him his own flesh or both at one point, and partially to him having a rule where he would kill anyone who came closer than 3 meters to him. But in truth, everything he'd done was to survive the Ghost Valley and eventually take revenge for his parents, who were brutally murdered when he was only nine. By the start of the novel's timeline, he put his plan in motion - the plan that would drown jianghu in blood, but also deliver poetic justice to all responsible for his parents' deaths, as well as all who'd commit the same crime given the chance. And these two men, these two murderers and schemers, meet - and unexpectedly, find in each other the person who /understands/. The person who is just as ruthless and whose hands are just as bloody, but also the person who knows standing at the top of the world is not worth it, who seeks the same freedom of leaving it all behind, and who is still, underneath it all, a human, with human heart seeking connection. So you have this couple who understand each other with barely a word, and who want the same things - who are so hungry for domesticity and for people they can just goof around with when all their lives they had to measure every step and word - but ALSO where one half a couple is like "i gotta go murder hundreds in revenge" and the other half is like "ok pick you up at 6". (This btw is why I'm submitting novel's iteration of the couple in particular. Show wenzhou with their ridiculous breakups over morality could Never.) Also they were both hiding who they are when they first met, and later flirted about having figured each other out. Finally, I'll leave you my favorite quote that just. perfectly sums up their relationship: "And just like that, they fell asleep in each other's arms, steeped in the smell of blood."

You’ve probably already had submissions for them but I’ll add on. One of them founded an assassin’s guild and killed a staggering number of people. His malewife is the leader of a sect of insane murderous outcasts, and he attained his position by proving to be the most crazy and murder happy of them all. Most of the plot involves him wandering around watching his schemes get more people killed. Together they adopt a kid that was only orphaned due to said scheming (oops). They’re terrible and I love them.

For Legolas and Gimli:

They literally have a running competition between the two over who has more kills. And non-canon my ass, Legolas took Gimli to valinor

They kill alot of orcs together. They make it into a competition. Better minds than i have spoken about the couple ness

#losers bracket semifinals #word of honor #lotr #lord of the rings #legolas #gimli #wen kexing #zhou zishu

[foxes-that-run]

But Daddy I Love Him

Daddy I love him is an Ariel quote, when Ariel gives up her voice for love. Taylor has given up love for her voice (career), but also not spoken up for what she wants most. But Daddy I Love Him is a continuation of a theme of how fame and fandoms have affected Taylor's personal life. What I love about this song is it sounds like an older Taylor Swift song, she embraces a country sound and speaks her mind.

While the parallels to the reaction to a relationship in May 2023 can be seen, this overlooks much of her experience with this behaviour. I don't mean to say it is not an element, but it is far from a complete story to say it is about ending a 3 week relationship with someone about whom she also said "And I'll forget you, but I'll never forgive" on the same record.

In her NYU Graduation address in May 2022 Taylor had part of the concept in this already swirling in her mind, a full year before she dated Matty Healy:

Having journalists write in-depth, oftentimes critical, pieces about who they perceive me to be made me feel like I was living in some weird simulation, but it also made me look inward to learn about who I actually am. Having the world treat my love life like a spectator sport in which I lose every single game was not a great way to date in my teens and twenties, but it taught me to protect my private life fiercely. Being publicly humiliated over and over again at a young age was excruciatingly painful but it forced me to devalue the ridiculous notion of minute by minute, ever fluctuating social relevance and likability. 

What Taylor is referring to is the treatment by the media and fandoms throughout her career, but this was never more of an issue than 2012-2014. Nothing is a terrifying as a teenager on fledgeling social media. This TikTok creator describes it perfectly:

From tabloids, twitter, tumblr, even people who looked like Taylor were abused.

So yes, Harry has had and worn t-Shirt with the song title for years, and yes they have both dressed up as Ariel. But that is not all that makes this song about Taylor loosing her love over fan behaviour... it's because she did. She lost the love she wrote 1989 including "This love left a permanent mark / This love is glowing in the dark"  about. And it continues today, there are a lot of people who still call Harry's partners vile names and think it is OK to treat others poorly because they suggest he could care for someone. I think anyone who's read this far knows exactly what I mean, probably first hand.

This affected Taylor the point the Clean Speeches on the 1989 Tour were on this topic, every night she talked about bullying, self worth and holding onto love.

The 'Daddy' is not just the fans and media, but probably her team also. I think the varied shapes in the CDs are to show this comes in many forms and roles, not just one experience. As Taylor said to Rolling Stone in 2014 before 1989 was released:

Lyrics

[Verse 1] I forget how the West was won I forget if this was ever fun I just learned these people only raise you To cage you Sarahs and Hannahs in their Sunday best Clutching their pearls, sighing, “What a mess” I just learned these people try and save you ‘Cause they hate you

For the international fans like myself 'How the West was Won' is a 1960's film about American colonisation. I think the opening 2 lines do 2 things, place us in a country setting and also tell us Taylor cares more about speaking her mind than what may be higher bigger goals.

The second half of this verse goes on to set out that it is fans who are approaching her love lost as trauma porn, and I am here for it.

I also note the cage reference, Taylor (and Harry) have a long theme of being caged or trapped by fame, she has a literal cage in her Nashville apartment, he has a cage tattoo and they have used cage, glass boxes, fishbowls, snowglobe imagery. Here she points out the fans are not really there for her, they are seeking to control her.

[Pre-Chorus 1] Too high a horse for a simple girl To rise above it They slammed the door on my whole world The one thing I wanted

The pre-chorus furthers that the final straw has been broken, she's been cornered by fans to give up something she cares for.

Vigante Shit "Ladies always rise above / Ladies know what people want / Someone sweet and kind and fun /The lady simply had enough"

Is It Over Now? "I was hoping you’d be there and say the one thing I’ve been wanting, but no"

That is the only time Taylor has sung about ‘wanting one thing' before. This also reminds me of the Delicate Behind the Scenes, where she said she got a note from a lover and wants to be with him but realises 'it can never be him'

[Chorus] Now I’m running with my dress unbuttoned Scrеaming, “But, Daddy, I love him I’m having his baby” No, I’m not, but you should see your faces I’m telling him to floor it through thе fences No, I’m not coming to my senses I know he’s crazy, but he’s the one I want

In the chorus Taylor acts out a churlish child yelling at a father. The 'daddy' is many roles, her actual parents, fans, media and probably record company and PR people who told her she could be with the one she loved, throughout her life. She says the matching line to Harry's Kiwi, which has the same meaning.

Taylor 'floors it through the fences, fed up and unwilling to listen. This is great imagery, to break through fences, and also as metaphorical fences that have been placed around what considered acceptable for her. Cars are also a Haylor theme, including Run below and often used as a metaphor for their love escaping as it is here. (All I know is that you drove us off the road / Let’s get out of this town, drive out of the city, away from the crowds)

Is It Over Now?: Was it over when he unbuttoned my blouse?

Run: And my so-called friends, they don’t know I’d drive away before I let you go

In Kiwi Harry yells a tabloid line followed with it's none of your business. In his Harry's House ONO complete with pointing at the camera and crowd. Taylor also referenced these same tabloids headlines in the Reputation magazine.

Kiwi "I'm having your baby / It's none of your business"

[Verse 2] Dutiful daughter, all my plans were laid Tendrils tucked into a woven braid Growing up precocious sometimes means Not growing up at all He was chaos, he was revelry Bedroom eyes like a remedy Soon enough, the elders had convened Down at the city hall

In the second verse Taylor establishes that she has gone everything asked of her:

Style - "I got that good girl faith and a tight little skirt"

Style - "So it goes, he can’t keep his wild eyes on the road"

Yet is denied freedom and the elders decree the match is unsuitable. I think the elders are her team. She describes the muse as chaos and revelry. This is very reminiscent of the I Knew You Were Trouble introduction poem, but while in 2012 Taylor was contrite and said it was too much she now revels in the revelry:

"And the crazy thing is I don't know if I'm ever gonna feel that way again, but I don't know if I should. I knew his world moved too fast and burned too bright, but I just thought, how can the devil be pulling you toward someone who looks so much like an angel when he smiles at you? Maybe he knew that when he saw me. I guess I just lost my balance. I think that the worst part of it all wasn't losing him it was losing me"

[Pre-Chorus 2] “Stay away from her” The saboteurs protested too much Lord knows the words we never heard Just screeching tires and true love

The 'daddy' has now forbidden the love, this is reminiscent of Love Story: "And my daddy said, “Stay away from Juliet”

[Chorus] And I’m running with my dress unbuttoned Screaming, “But, Daddy, I love him I’m having his baby” No, I’m not, but you should see your faces I’m telling him to floor it through the fences No, I’m not coming to my senses I know he’s crazy, but he’s the one I want

'Crazy' and Madness are a Haylor theme, particularly in the Blank Space music video, and these lyrics

Wonderland "And in the end, in Wonderland, we both went mad"

Kiwi "She's driving me crazy, but I'm into it (Oh) and "It's getting crazy, I think I'm losing it, I think I'm losing it"

But many more songs:

[Post-Chorus 1] I’ll tell you something right now I’d rather burn my whole life down Than listen to one more second of all this bitching and moaning I’ll tell you something ’bout my good name It’s mine alone to disgrace I don’t cater to all these vipers dressed in empath’s clothing

I love the last line, vipers dressed in empaths clothing, that is exactly what they are.

[Bridge] God save the most judgmental creeps Who say they want what’s best for me Sanctimoniously performing soliloquies I’ll never see Thinking it can change the beat Of my heart when he touches me And counteract the chemistry And undo the destiny You ain’t gotta pray for me Me and my wild boy and all of this wild joy If all you want is gray for me Then it’s just white noise, and it’s just my choice

The only time Taylor has described someone as wild in lyrics is in Style "So it goes, he can’t keep his wild eyes on the road"

Afterglow "Chemistry until it blows up"

I love the end of the bridge, elsewhere on the record Taylor describes her long term relationship as grey, staid and boring. For many years some fans have shoehorned this person into lyrics because they want to see themselves in her, as they settle down they want her too. From my point of view some rather loud warning signs in songs were overlooked, or seen as 'she's remembering the past/when they first got together' to avoid accepting she was unhappy and wanted out.

Out of the Woods "The rest of the world was black and white But we were in screaming color"

[Verse 3] There’s a lot of people in town that I Bestow upon my fakest smiles Scandal does funny things to pride, but brings lovers closer We came back when the heat died down Went to my parents and they came around All the wine moms are still holding out But fuck ’em, it’s over

This verse is where I think it becomes clear than the 2023 lens is at best reminding Taylor of a past love, because that relationship never came back. Matty has said they never dated in 2014, there was no controversy around her attending concerts then. They dated for a few weeks then stopped talking, and of story.

However Harry and Taylor did sing about a hidden relationship for years. In fact Taylor wasn't connected to anyone else in a serious way for three years. In particular

Wildest Dreams: I said, “No one has to know what we do”

This Love "This love came back to me, oh, oh, oh"

I know places : "Somethin' happens when everybody finds out / See the vultures circling, dark clouds" and "we're bulletproof I know places (Hide) and you know for me, it's always you"

…Ready For It?: "Island breeze and lights down low, no one has to know"

I Know Places TV's lyric video for got a very TTPD themed look.

[Final Chorus] Now I’m dancing in my dress in the sun and Even my daddy just loves him I’m his lady And, oh, my God, you should see your faces Time, doesn’t it give some perspective? And, no, you can’t come to the wedding I know it’s crazy, but he’s the one I want

Taylor is asking her fans, parents, media if they have grown up, from when they were teenagers playing with her real life, do they have perspective and willing to accept that she loves someone of her choosing?

And no, they can't come to the wedding, but I bet they have Eras Tour tickets....

#Youtube #but daddy i love him #haylor #Taylor Swift #ttpd #the tortured poets department #bdilh

[malinaa]

2023 WRITING REVIEW

tagged: no one i just wanted to do this and i forgot about it soz </3 tagging : board of directors i'd tag u here but this is mostly fic-based so sorree... anyway if u have already done this my b.... i wld like to see ur post tho @evcndiaz | @brimay | @usignedupforthis | @seek--rest | @posallys | @dustorangeheartssnowman | @adhd-merlin | @queerofthedagger

number of stories posted to ao3: 34 ±1 bc i updated a fic from a while back <3

word counted posted for last year: 90k... a feat (i wrote more but it was ofic so add like maybe 10k to that)

fandoms i wrote for: alex stern series, merlin, house md, pjo, spidey, hunger games, doctor who, & the grisha trilogy

pairings: merthur / arwen / mergwenthur / mergana, darlingstern, hilson, percabeth, petermj, everlark, tenrose, malina

stories with the most KUDOS: jealousy, jealousy (house md) with 522 <3 BOOKMARKS: except my life (merlin) with 137 <3 COMMENT THREADS: rip current (pjo) with 38 <3 *technically the answer to all of these is tested with torment but that's a fic i updated so i don't reallyyyyyy count it

work i'm most proud of (and why): thread of gold (arwen, bbc merlin) because i don't exactly post 2nd person fic and tbh most people HATEEEEE 2nd person fic AND i got people to enjoy it. HA!

work i'm least proud of (and why): coffee drinker (gen fic, bbc merlin) because it was just a promptfic and i didn't even really feel like posting it but i wrote it so i might as well yk?

share or describe a favorite review you received: any review that quotes a line but this one from judas kiss (arwen, bbc merlin)...

THIS. IS. WONDERFUL ❤️❤️❤️ *creates bookmark with gusto* I LOVE that you dug into what it might have been like for Gwen while she was under that enchantment! It was so creative to have her past memories blurring with glimpses of the present during the enchantment. I *felt* her disorientation, and it *hurt*. I felt so bad for Gwen all over again! 😭😭😭 That aspect of this story could have been a fantastic standalone one-shot in its own right, but noooo, you raised the bar and KEPT GOING and made it even better!!! I love that you showed Gwen and Merlin staying friends after Gwen becomes queen, and I love how she confides in him and how he immediately drops everything to go look for the offending piece of jewelry. The bit about Arthur’s incredulity at Merlin’s method of testing the enchantment was a great dash of humor, and I love that you fleshed out the concept of the enchantment to be something the others could experience so that they could truly *know* that Gwen had been innocent. And don’t even get me started on how much I love Arthur’s “Forgive me.” I love how he doesn’t think twice about humbling himself in front of everyone because his focus is solely on Gwen, consumed by the urgency of doing the right, honorable, and loving thing in that moment. You write Arthur and Gwen’s relationship so beautifully. 💕 Well done; I hate you (/affectionate) for all these feels. 🥰🫂👏

a time when writing was really, really hard: august through october... idek why i was literally in agony not writing

a scene or character you wrote that surprised you: writing jj in spider-man: homewrecker because i've NEVER written him before (in my memory) and i was like. Hello .

a favorite excerpt of your writing: cannae lie i have a few favs so... killing is a love language (mergana, bbc merlin) Heartbreak snakes up his throat, constricting him at the sight of her. Morgana’s beauty is incontestable even like this, but her hatred wore her down to her bones. Gone were the full cheeks and rosy lips, the perfectly combed hair, the wardrobe that would put princesses to shame. Now, her face is sunken in, her hair a curled storm, her dress is merely black rags at this point. thread of gold (arwen, bbc merlin) Your father’s presence is larger than life. Larger than love. It looms. It casts shadows long enough to hide every hope and dream you’ve ever had for yourself. the boy and the girl (malina, the grisha trilogy) Memory fractures into shards. Real or not real? There’s Mal in the meadow. Mal buried beneath the hanging tree. Mal cold in her palms. There’s a sky darker than night. Her hands bloodied. A knife lodged in his heart. Her knife. His blood. Her fault. She killed him. She loves him. Her fault. Rest her head on his still chest. Her fault. No heartbeat. Her fault. No warmth. Cold light spilling from her palms. She killed him. The Saint’s only true worshipper martyred.

how did you grow as a writer last year: my hopes from last year was that i finally finish a multichap fic.... 😭 does a short 3-shot count. besides that i wrote more consistently and i'm finally Used to my writing style. i think.

how do you hope to grow this year: hell if i know if i could write something longer than 20k that'd be great 😭😭😭😭

who was your greatest positive influence this year as a writer (could be another writer, beta, cheerleader, etc.): the board.... @rosesau / @bipercabeth / @stellwood fnh...... i'd tag katie but she absconded from tumblr smh. anyway hi freaks n geeks

anything from your real life show up in your writing last year: oh i don't even know. nothing ig

any new wisdom you can share with other writers: bro idek the more i write the more writing becomes fundamentally so hard to talk about ... sorreeee

any projects you're looking to starting (or finishing) this year: IF I DON'T FUCKING MAKE PROGRESS ON MY PLAY I WILL BASH MY HEAD INTO A WALL. THIS CAN'T KEEP HAPPENING. ATLAS AND VIVIAN YOU WILL BE WRITTEN ON THE PAGE INSHALLAH

#tag games #2023 #writing #text #tais toi lys #not the numbering getting fucked. whatever

[its-elioo]

As someone who is long-time fan of Mlp EG and who has just finished watching TFP, your fic is true delight. I read it 5 times at least and it is still awesome. You perfectly matched girls with their autobots partners just as well as you did with decepticons as their evil counterpart. For example Twilight/Shockwave - both have high inteligence, but while one uses it for greater good and to help the others, the other abuses it to gain power and hurt the others; Fluttershy/Soundwave - even thought they are both animal lovers and quiet types, FS is just very shy girl while SW is calculating sadist; Rainbow/Starscream - Apart from being queer icons (If you can look at these two without the word gay constantly entering your mind, congrats, you´re legit cishet) they´re actually pretty similliar in function and personallity wise. They´re both eccentric, aroggant showoffs and are also fastest on their team. But it´s their differences that are making them great foils. RD is impaitent hothead, who jumps straight into action without the second thought, while SC is great schemer, who has his plans planed out. RD is literally element of loyalty, while SC is mostly loyal to himself and etc. I can´t wait to see all their interactions in the future. If you´re interested in some writting advice, there is one minor thing that can be fixed : your description of characters feelings and thought. You start explaining how and why they feel that way instead of giving readers benefit of the doubt. The best term I can think of is that you are describing a picture. Like you want us to see, hear and understand everything at once. It creates unnecessary sentences or whole paragraphs without which some emotional moments would have sounded better. For example if paragraph in Ch.2 with sentence "She was too stuborn." it would have sounded so much better. Or sentences like "She was too precious." are also kind of waste of space since they don´t tell anything new.It´s not worst type of description,but it can create a feeling that you don´t trust youre readers to read from emotions characters alone. Many new writers and comic artists are often doing this. It can be solved 2 ways : by improving their writing or start drawing comics. I´m sorry if I confussed you in some way. I tried my best to explain it, but english is not my primary language. If you don´t mind, I would recommend fics from @whatwooshkai to see what I am talking about ( it´s mostly TF shipping stuff, but man, the writting is so good that I can´t stop reading even if I wanted to). Overall great story and art, just writting needs a little improvment.

I want to finish this already long post with few questions:

1.What is group dynamic with eachother? I mean in and outside of their decided pairings. I can see Sideswipe and Rainbow´s relationship as chaos siblings and that Rainbow is definitely driving Ratchet insane, but what about the others? I´m courious to know.

2.Did you already started writting the next book? If not, do you have planned when you will start?

3.Do you consider draw this as a full time comic or at least draw some parts of it? Or drawing some strips of your incorrect quotes?It´s just that you´re artstyle is so pretty and redesigns of the autobots and girls are great. It´s shame to see so little of them.

4. Did you thought about getting your comics dubbed on youtube?

5. Do you draw ideas from the asks from your followers on Tambrlane or you take commissions only? Like if they had a idea for a comic/sketch and they post it to you, would you draw it? If not, could they draw it with your redesignes?

6. What gave you idea for this crossover? My best guess is that comic from Hasbro.

Holy- I never thought I would get such a long ask.

*rolls up sleeves and rubs hands*

Okay, let’s do this!

First, I want to thank you so much for the kind words, the fact that there are people who got really interested in my fic makes my heart flutter. <3

And I really love it when readers point out small details that I haven’t thought about that much while writing! Thank you a lot for the advice and recommendations, I really appreciate it! I will keep that in mind!

Now, to answer your questions:

1. You are absolutely correct about Sideswipe and Rainbow’s relationship, in my opinion, they will be the best chaos siblings (I am 100% sure that most of the members will go insane because of their pranks) I could write more detailed headcanons for them and the others too.

2. The next book is nearly finished, I will make sure to post it at the beginning of January.

3. I will drop more art soon, promise! Sorry for the lack of content, I’ve been pretty busy for the past few months. But now I’m finally free and I will certainly start drawing again! I also have several ideas in mind for some parts of the next book.

4. I don’t mind my comics being dubbed as long as I’m credited and they’ve asked for permission.

5. Again, if I’m credited and asked for permission, there will be no problem for other artists to draw my redesigns. I don’t usually take requests and it really depends on my free time and motivation, but if I really like the idea that has been suggested, I would (probably) draw it.

6. Good guess! But actually no. I was really into this crossover way before Hasbro decided to make a comic of it. I’ve been into a lot of fandoms and reading crossover fanfics basically became like a hobby to me. I got a lot of inspiration after I accidentally stumbled upon some pretty good written Tf/Mlp fics, but it took me a lot of time to finally get enough courage and start writing my own. I’m more than thankful for the support and love that I was given through the years! It really motivated me to keep on going!

#ask #crossover stuff #robots and magic #thank you for the questions!

[angelasscribbles]

A little bird told me that's it your birthday, so...

Can't believe it's been another year!! Where the heck does the time go...?

I know you have not been focusing on TRR as much recently, but I wanted to celebrate by putting together a bit of a collage of the amazing stories and relationships you've built over the past 3 (...4?) years on Tumblr!

So, sit back and enjoy!

I know these are your normal ships, but I couldnt resist adding in some BR Riley x Leo as well 😆

And... last but not least, some incorrect quotes to top it all off! Hopefully I've managed to find some new ones you haven't seen before!

Just Riley

Riley: I love saying 'fuck me' because it can either be sexual or self-loathing and those are two things that describe me perfectly.

Riley: To everyone who has treated me poorly; I am sexier than you.

Riley: If we were in prison you guys would be like my bitches.

Riley x Liam

Liam: *banging a pen on the table out of frustration* Riley: Stop that. How would YOU feel if I banged you on the table? Liam: I— I don’t know the correct answer to that question.

Riley: I know every song to ever exist it doesn't matter if it's from the past, present or the future. Liam: Oh yeah? Then continue this. Liam: I don't cook I don't clean- Riley: So let me tell you how I got this ring. Riley & Liam: ..... Riley & Liam: GOBBLE ME, SWALLOW ME-

Riley x Drake

Riley: Hey, wanna take a shower with me? Drake: I have a gun in that nightstand beside the bed. If I ever say no to that question, I want you to take it out and shot me because I’ve obviously gone crazy.

Riley: What’s your body count? Drake: Do you mean sex or murder?

Riley x Max

Riley: You look good in that hoodie. Maxwell: You know where else I'd look good? Riley, zero hesitation: My bed. Maxwell, at the same time: By your side- wait, what?

Maxwell: Heh, Riley sneezes like a girl. Riley: How about I pound you like boy? Riley: That didn’t come out right.

Riley x Rashad

Riley: I committed all 7 deadly sins in 30 minutes. Rashad: Wow, I've gotta hear this. Riley: I was angry and envious of my neighbor so I lazily seduced his wife and ate all his groceries and didn't share. Rashad: You forgot pride. Riley: No, I'm pretty proud of this.

Rashad, barging in: Syphilis! Riley: Rashad: Riley: Pardon?

Riley x Leo

Leo: There are 20 letters in the alphabet, right? Riley: Nope, there's 26. Leo: Ah, I must have forgotten U, R, A, Q, T. Riley: Aww, that's cute, but you're still missing one. Leo: You'll get the D later ;).

Riley: Know why I called you in here? Leo: Because I accidentally sent you a dick pic. Riley: *Stops pouring two glasses of wine.* Accidentally?

OH, my gosh!! Those images are fantastic! (Also, funny story, a Leo x Riley x Drake idea has been percolating in my head.....)

The quotes were all good, espeically the "Do you mean sex or murder?" (So spot on for BR Drake!)

But this....

Maxwell: Heh, Riley sneezes like a girl. Riley: How about I pound you like boy? Riley: That didn’t come out right.

made me snort laugh!

I think it came out just right! (still want to write a Riley x Max pegging scene....)

Thank you so much for this! Seriously, day made!!

#angelasscribbles #it's my birthday

[rainydawgradioblog]

my very indecisive ranking of an album which i find so fantastic that it’s nearly impossible for me to rank

one cold winter night in 2021, while i was doomscrolling through tiktok, i accidentally stumbled across an original song video by a girl who has become one of my all-time favorite artists. hana bryanne, a singer-songwriter and self-described “emotional brunette” (same.) came out with her debut album dollface in september of this year—and it blew. me. away. hana summarizes the essence of dollface to be “what it’s like being a very sensitive girl in a world that is not always particularly equipped to handle that,” and her beautiful emotional sensitivity clearly levels up her music. dollface is an exemplary member of my favorite genre, which is essentially "poetry with a backing instrumental track.” i love lyrics, and i especially love hana bryanne’s. i find it to be a steep challenge to properly rank an album i find truly amazing, as putting tracks near the bottom is genuinely painful, but i think i’ll manage. here goes nothing!

(TW: some mentions of sexual violence, suicide, and mental health struggle)

1: spades

my obsession with this song is never-ending. i couldn’t possibly be mad at any number-one picks for this album, but i didn’t have any trouble picking mine. the dreamy instrumental that picks up at the second verse, transitioning later into a fantastically swelling and somewhat frenetic electric guitar interlude, and hana’s haunting and beautiful vocals make this track sonically incredible. of course, the lyrics are equally as stunning. they deliver a simple yet poignant account of a past relationship you can’t quite shake the memories of, that haunts you “like a face or a song you should know/but you don’t,” this song communicates so much through sensory description, from “sweet was the smell of the flowers that grew here,” “hot was the taste of your breath in my mouth,” to “in the rain, will you touch me like i planned it?” the imagery of this song is simply delectable. hana draws you into her world, and it feels like you can feel things alongside her as she experiences them. spades is a masterpiece. 

2: dollface

the title track of this album does NOT disappoint. an account of the sexual violence that hana faced as a girl growing up in the age of the internet, this song leaves me gutted every time. the chorus brings a simplistically incredible set of lines: “and he’s gonna want you/and you’re gonna let him” and “he’s not gonna know you/so he’ll call you dollface” capture the certain resignation, defeatedness, and objectification of the issue with absolute stomach-dropping perfection. below is a quote of hana’s that she posted alongside dollface’s announcement that pairs perfectly with this song. it’s imperative that you all see it. 

3: clementine

it will never be an easy task to capture the depth of a mother-daughter relationship in any one form of art, but hana does a pretty damn good job. my standout lyrics from clementine are as follows: “at the edge of the bed/in my silhouette/solemn she says/‘i was beautiful then’/i take your hunger/make it mine/i’ll peel apart your clementines/just promise if i change my mind/i’ll still look like you” the inherent connection between a parent and child who have each other’s faces? the yearning of a mother to still look young as her daughter does? peeling clementines as an act of love? (im a sucker for it every time) the mother in the daughter’s silhouette? there’s so much i adore about this, and so much that could be said about it.

4: cool girl song

this is my college anthem. indeed, “i’m a million miles away,” and “pushing at my luck for some good fun.” something i love about this song is it’s acknowledgment of coolness as a complete illusion, and one that you have to work hard at too. “it’s a trick, and a good one.” very cool about it-esque, which this boygenius fanatic appreciates. i love a good account of the never-ending facade of being fine. when i walk around campus with this in my headphones, i can convince myself that i’m a cool girl™️ … plus it’s catchy as hell.

5: doing the play

i LOVE this song. this opening track sets up the coming album with ease and perfection. another song elevated by it’s gorgeous, dreamy instrumentals. i like to think of this song as a voicemail, or perhaps a letter. i won’t speculate on an artist’s personal life, but the message hana leaves—whatever its significance may be—is stunning. i particularly love “i go to bed with the same old jokes/i’d go to bat for the strangers first,” as a moment of striking self-reflection amid her memories. this song carries a certain nostalgia i can’t get enough of. 

6: visions

visions was released as a single in the spring, and i could not stop listening to it. hana repeats the line “i just can’t stand to be alone these days” throughout the song, and yet the line “keeps me like a secret, my own company/i’m reaping what i’ve sown” reveals a certain self-isolation at play in the same issue. hana sings about her ever-present loneliness while the instrumentals carry on steadily with the breeziness that she tries to convey to the rest of her world. an intentional choice, most likely, as hana has discussed concerning the track how “mental illness especially makes you a really good liar… self-isolation is really challenging and that’s what I wrote the song about.” (note-another perfect walking across campus song. enjoy.)

7: susannah at the wedding

this song is so good. i’m already questioning my ranking. this track 3 brings the most upbeat production out of any track on the album, and it is FUN! at least the instrumental is…the lyrics? well, that’s a different story. what i love about this choice is that the upbeatness of the track vs. the melancholy and frustration in the lyrics create a perfect conflict to mirror the internal conflict of feeling shitty at a wedding, an occasion that’s supposed to be idealistically fun and joyful. the outro, with it’s 9x repetition of “there’s no room in you for the things that i like” is a personal favorite. something about the anguish of an obsessively repeated outro will hit home every time. 

8: lake michigan

lines like “i have seen things i wish to tell you/i have seen things you’d never wish to know” make it feel like such a rich history backs this song, so in line with hana’s amazing personal authenticity. there is so much vulnerability in the words of this song, like so much of the album as a whole, and it elevates the experience of listening by 100 times. her vocal delivery shines on this song, like the emotion behind “come on baby try me/i can show you what dramatic is” which once again hits home for us sensitive, emotional girlies out there, and the crystal clarity of her voice on even the highest notes will never cease to be incredible. 

9: dollface reprise 

being a reprise, this track is much simpler than many of the others, but this only adds to its beauty. the quiet guitar and vocals make it feel so intimate and reflective, perfect for this song. the callback to 2021’s tiktok famous klepto in the bridge/outro was so exciting to hear, and so beautifully integrated to the new track. “i’ve got a good thing goin’/just gotta live a little longer” feels so familiar to the feeling of living on the permanent precipice of being a young person, constantly riding the line between exciting success and falling apart into utter chaos. 

as we get into the lower numbers, i will restate that the placement here is literally just because of my own personal sonic preferences. every single one of these songs is beautiful. go listen to dollface. 

10: valentine’s day

this song is beautiful and heartbreaking. hana has stated that her suicide attempt from 2022 inspired much of the content on this album, and this song definitely reads to me as having a lot of content about struggle with mental health, and the isolation and coldness of that experience. the theme of resignation and defeatedness that i think is done so beautifully in parts of this album returns with “they’ll drag me back down by my ankles/no fight, no light in my eyes/no sound.” 

11: news

my favorite lyrics from doing the play make a return! yippee! this is another track that i resonate with so well as a young person in the midst of the hurricane that is growing up. i love the lines “you tell me i’m changing, i say i know/but i still know how to put on a good show.” so much intrigue lies in the minute details of any song, and i adore the word choice on “i’m betting the news is good/i’m betting the news is just fine,” as whatever the news is, she isn’t actually hearing it. just betting. whether this is about news from back home, news about the world, news from an old friend or partner, or something else, this small detail holds so much meaning to me. 

12: clementine II 

this felt like the most reasonable bottom pick, solely because of it’s short length and lyrical simplicity, but it still hurts. i love this whole album!!! this song is still fantastic. following clementine. a song about a hana’s relationship with her mother, the lyrics of this song are devastating. “won’t you stay where i can see you/won’t you stay where i can go/won’t you stay where if i need to i can let you know.” this refrain is beautiful and heartbreaking. this woman knows just how to tug at my sad little college student heartstrings. brb, calling my mom as i write this (and shedding a tear, perhaps). 

and that’s it!!! a final note from hana’s words about the album: “dollface is about resilience.” this album delivers such a beautiful message and story through some of the most gorgeous-sounding vocals and instrumentals that i've heard this year. i hope i was able to communicate a fraction of this album’s genius. decide for yourself! pleaseee pretty please go listen to it! i’ll link it on spotify right down here. 

stay cool!!!!!!

K-MURPH 

#Spotify

[gralunaisland]

Part 2 of "Why Gray is NOT a Tsundere"

(An Anti-gr///via Post)

[Links to Part 1 and Part 3 are linked here.]

Refuting the @f*ckyeahgr*via post:

Again, this is the post I read that tries to prove Gray is a tsundere which I will be analyzing and countering to prove that Gray is in fact not a tsundere.

Anyway, first, I will say I agree with the Anon that suggested this to me all those months ago. This post seems to be quite reasonable at first glance, at least compared to other Pro gr///vian arguments which tend not to be.

However, I gave it careful thought, and I believe I have a response to each of their points.

Also, remember, as I said in Part 1, I refer to the Pro gr///vian writer of this post as "Author", and their quotes are in orange. Lastly, this post is the longest of the 3 parts so be prepared.

Onto the Author's post:

"Yes, there is a difference [between being a tsundere and not returning someone's feelings]. But, it’s a shame when shipping preferences get in the way of people seeing obvious character traits for what they are."

This is what Author basically starts out by saying, and it's really a baffling thing for a Pro gr//vian to say.

I mean... in the nicest way possible... look at the pot calling the kettle black.

Pros are literally the ones whose shipping preferences get in the way of them seeing juvia's glaring, painfully obvious traits (flaws, they're flaws) for what they are (again, flaws).

The hypocrisy is pretty baffling to me, even if it's accidental.

Because Pros just ship Gray and juvia together with no real thought as to the healthiness of the relationship, they usually flat out ignore her toxic traits:

from the stalking ("she only did it a few timessss" or "it's not stalking, she's just watching the guy she likesss even if she's following him across the country without his knowledge"),

to the emotional manipulation ("noo she wasn't making Silver's death all about her and her selfish love of Gray, she was just apologizinggg", ignoring the fact that she never said sorry and ignoring the fact that she said she had no right to love him but she continues to “love” him afterward because she didn’t actually believe that, she just wanted Gray to make her feel better even though he’s heavily grieving right now etc.),

to the ignoring him whenever he is obviously uncomfortable or when he literally rejected her ("nahhh his clear rejection of her and her feelings was just a red herring, he obviously just adores her, no doesn’t mean no, and consent is all subjective anyway" etc.),

to ignoring all his boundaries ("awww isn't it so sweet that they lived together after FT disbanded?? let's just forget the fact that she trespassed, refused to leave, and then tried to sleep with him" etc.),

to creating creepy merchandise all with Gray's face on it and using it to get off ("heyyy, don't kink shame! it's perfectly healthy to do this even if the person she based all the merch off of doesn't know she's doing this and doesn't like her back" etc.)

etc. etc. etc!!!

I'm sorry, Author, but you are describing yourself when you're trying to call out Antis. Your adoration of the ship gr///via blinds you from seeing juvia's obvious traits as what they are, detestable, as well as from seeing that Gray is a victim here, not a willing participant and most certainly not the bad guy here.

But let's continue.

Author moves on by claiming Mashima proclaimed Gray's "tsundere-ness" himself by highlighting it on the manga cover with the words "You've never seen Gray make this face before!", as if that proves the face Gray was making was tsundere. I also found another translation of what I think Author was referring to on the gross title page of juvia for 413 Days, which says "This will be the first time Gray shows this side of himself", which would directly contradict certain things that this Author says that I will get to later on.

To be honest, the face he makes actually does look pretty tsundere, if we're just going to focus on looks. He's frowning with eyebrows furrowed, and he's got a slight blush on his face.

However, Gray was probably only making that expression because of a combination of being ashamed of his "harsh treatment" (aka rightful treatment) of juvia from that particular day (because he's a nice person and actually he wasn't even being harsh now that I went back to read the stupid chapter), being ashamed that he "treated her badly" when she was "just trying to be nice", being grateful for something cheerful on a dreary day, as well as being embarrassed again that it was juvia, the girl who's made it abundantly clear she desires him and pesters him who was cheering him up despite how much he's told her off.

I'm thinking it's mostly that last thing as the reason why he makes that particular expression. He's a big softie, and yet he's been setting hundreds of boundaries for juvia-- rightfully so-- so it definitely pains/embarrasses him to actually enjoy something she gives him.

In that case, it makes perfect sense why he 'hasn't made that face before' because this is the first time he actually appreciates something juvia does for him.

All that makes abundantly more sense than him “trying desperately not to let anyone know that he likes juvia", which is the whole point of the classic tsundere face where they pretend to hate the person they like in the first place by the way, especially when in the next panel, which Author shows, he's smiling, and especially since he's alone and has no one to prove it to, least of all juvia who isn't even there.

Then Author brings up Erza witnessing Gray smiling and wearing the scarf, saying she "passed by with a knowing smile on her face", as if that proves anything? I honestly don't know what they thought they were proving here, really, because yes, Erza saw Gray wearing the scarf, and she smiled with a blush on her face.

Uh... Like we care what she thinks??

I absolutely hate Erza when she's butting into Gray's personal "love life". On a different occasion, she berates Gray for not giving juvia a clear answer, even though he's made it clear to anyone who's not an imbecile that juvia's actions bother him, basically saying it's his fault that juvia keeps pestering him, actually victim blaming him even though he was just being a nice guy to juvia. She literally encourages juvia's insane and just plain inconsiderate behavior towards Gray and supports her through it all. She really shows that her true loyalties lie with helping juvia ruin his life rather than with the man whom she's been friends with since childhood. Erza is the one who tells juvia she has to give him a gift since it's "their anniversary". If Erza was really Gray's friend, then she should know that that day was the anniversary of Ur's death. But noooo she still puts juvia up to bothering Gray even though she knows how Gray reacts to juvia's antics and even though by then he'd already rejected her. And even if she didn't know that it was Ur's deathday, then after learning, she should've been supporting Gray, not juvia. Oh gosh, the words Erza spouted to juvia while she was crying for ruining Gray's day:

"Besides, I don't think Gray was bothered too much by your gesture. It's just one day. If lives were lost today, then today, lives were also born. How important each and every day is... depends on how important you feel it is to you."

This made me want to rip the red hair out of her head. Not only does she spur juvia on to bother Gray even though she knows Gray already rejected her, she tries to make juvia feel better (instead of comforting Gray) by basically saying, "don't feel bad for annoying Gray on the most important and saddest day for him. People die and are born everyday, so Gray should just get over it."

Onto the next point:

The next thing Author looked at was the panels where juvia made bread with Gray's face on them.

"Prior to that, we had people pointing out that Gray was completely contradicting his own rejection, by being obliging towards Juvia, with his very tsundere-ish line of “Well, since you went to all this trouble…” while BLUSHING and taking one of her breads (who blushes when they eat bread?)"

What's absolutely hilarious is that a total of five people had blushes on their face in the two panels Author showed. Blush does NOT equal romantic feelings every time it shows up in manga. If it did, then not only did Gray and juvia have romantic feelings in these panels, but so did Cana, Mira, and Elfman. Uh, "who blushes when they eat bread"?? Maybe ELFMAN who literally has blush on his face when he says, "This tastes really manly!" as he eats juvia's bread???

Need I say more on this point? No? Good.

Anyway, onto Author's point of pointing all this out, remember, Gray isn't a mean person.

He's actually never been mean to juvia; he's not mean to people in general. One example is when he was so apologetic and felt so bad that he'd accidentally hurt Mirajane's feelings when he thought a drawing was childish. The closest thing he's gotten to being mean is his rivalry with Natsu, but it's shown time and time again that that's just surface level rivalry and fooling around and that he actually cares about him. Baking bread takes time and effort, which he recognizes with his words (which accounts for the "very tsundere-ish line"), and it's among the marginally less creepy things she's tried to give him, so why wouldn't he accept them, especially since he's nice?

Accepting something she made is not akin to declaring that he actually likes her. He's probably only blushing because she's embarrassing him like usual in front of the whole guild. He's also sweating hard, which shows that it's probably stress from the public humiliation too. Gray's never liked juvia's over the top antics, especially how she's not subtle in public about it, and her baking him bread with their faces on it is definitely embarrassing.

Onto the next point:

"And then there was the 366 moment that he initiated (gripping her hand and intimately telling her he was with her) which again was completely contradictory towards his previous words of rejection towards Juvia, and obviously had romantic implications behind the moment. I mean, how do you go from this (and mind you, the official translation was even harsher than this, as he said refused/rejected, rather than “No thanks.")"

"To this?:"

I'm confused how Pros have the audacity to show Gray's rejection and then to pretend like it didn't matter at all. Notice how they even mention that the official translation was harsher? Gray was making it completely clear that he didn't reciprocate juvia's feelings, without any hint of the classic tsundere blush and stammering, without any of the unease and uncertainty. He was laying it all out in the open. He wasn't even being cold in the tsundere sense; he's not being cold by firmly setting boundaries and by making it clear he doesn't consent to being treated like this by juvia. Why can't they just understand that no means no?

As for the second scene, Gray has always been there for his friends emotionally and physically. Remember in the Phantom Lord arc where Erza was collapsing against his chest in defeat and he held onto her? Remember when Gray was physically supporting Lucy as she used the Book of End? He expresses concern for his friends through physical means many times over the anime, and this time with juvia would be no exception. Just because he lays his hand on juvia's hand, a girl who's a part of the guild he loves so dearly, a girl whom he still considers a friend even though juvia shows time and time again she's not willing to be friends with him, doesn't mean he loves her; he's merely supporting a worried, stressed comrade of his.

Him being kind to juvia and him loving juvia are not mutually inclusive. In other words, him doing the former doesn't necessitate the latter. He's just a kind person in general, as I've said many times, and if you can't see that he's a kind person in general, are you even a fan of Gray's? Honestly, I wouldn't think many Pros are fans of Gray because of how toxic this ship is for him, but I'd love to hear how they reconcile it in their mind.

Onto the next point:

"And Gray’s tsundereness does not just apply to Juvia. He has a HISTORY of being tsundere with people. The first arc he participated in within the series (the Lullaby arc) flat out established him as tsundere, when he acted as such with Natsu, by not wanting to directly tell him to not die (see the embarrassed blush):"

"And before you say, Natsu was acting similarly, no. Natsu has NO PROBLEM telling Gray in the Galuna Island arc to not die. That’s the difference between Gray and Natsu. Natsu has no problem directly showing how much he cares for people."

Well, honestly good for Author, they show that they realize being tsundere doesn't just apply to romantic interests.

Rather than him being tsundere here, though, I think this is literally just a case of "boys being boys". Guys just don't tend to be very emotionally vulnerable. It's not a secret that most of the time Gray and Natsu butt heads. The times where either of them tells the other that they actually care for each other are not often.

Here, Author, you state that you can't say Natsu was acting similarly here, however, I disagree, because while, yes, Natsu made it clear in a very dire moment when Gray was about to kill himself through Iced Shell that he didn't want him to die, in this moment, Natsu acted the same exact way that Gray did, flushing and then quickly turning away, breaking eye contact. I don't think either of them are being tsunderes, they're just not used to showing how much they care for the other on a regular basis, and for guys, it can be especially embarrassing to show it.

You say that's the difference between these guys, that "Natsu has no problem directly showing how much he cares for people", but I mean, think back to the Phantom Lord arc where Gray fights your precious juvia, where Gray declares loudly and proudly that he'd die to save Lucy from them. I'd say that's plenty direct, especially since juvia (though she's an idiot so I wouldn't put much purport to this) mistook his passion for romantic love for Lucy. Also think to how viscerally and visibly angry Natsu, Erza, AND Gray were when Sabertooth's Minerva was brutalizing Lucy in the GMG, and how both Gray and Natsu ran out onto the field in front of everyone to catch her. These are only a couple of examples, but Gray has no issue showing how much he cares for people, even publicly.

It's just more awkward for him to tell these things to his dude friend, especially with a dude friend he bickers with jokingly for the most part, especially when the situation isn't exactly dire yet.

Onto the next point:

"Another example of Gray’s tsundereness was when he first met Erza. He acted tsundere with her too, being antagonist towards her, while obviously caring about her feelings, but trying his best to hide it:"

I feel like here, Author is just misreading it, which I don't blame them since they're only looking at these panels, but to get the full picture, they need to look beyond these panels and at the entire chapter/episode. If you do, you'll see that Gray doesn't "care for Erza's feelings" as soon as he meets her. He's actually annoyed by her and fights with her and picks on her from the get-go because of how standoffish she acts.

He's not acting tsundere here; he's genuinely surprised to see her cry for the first time. He's totally thrown off guard since he's used to her just putting 'em up and fighting him back. He definitely wasn't prepared for her to show her vulnerable side. I don't think the trembles and the nervous sweats show him desperately trying to hide any semblance of sympathy, I think he's just seriously surprised by this turn of events and is woefully unprepared and nervous to deal with a pretty girl crying, and then of course he has to deal with expressing his sympathy, but I definitely don't think hiding the sympathy was the first thing on his mind or even the first instinctual thing he did. The first thing he did was ask her why she's always on her own. He immediately dives right into the deep questions, showing his natural kind side.

Author segues from that into:

"In fact, Gray makes a speech during the TOH arc about how Erza has to be in FT so she wont cry. Do you think Gray EVER told Erza any of this? Not likely."

Sigh.

I'm sorry, but a guy not telling a girl that he doesn't want her to cry doesn't mean he's a tsundere. You see, being a tsundere means you normally act cold and harsh to someone. Gray doesn't with Erza, he just jokes around with her and is usually scared of her, but he's showed plenty that he actually cares for her. Just because he doesn't tell her all his heartfelt emotions about how much he (platonically) loves her doesn't mean he's being a tsundere. I think people forget how guys are in general, not that they act as a monolith, of course, but it's a definite theme amongst men to be more closed off with your emotions, which doesn't necessarily mean you're actively hiding them and covering them up by acting mean and cold like tsunderes do.

In addition, I've already said in Part 1 that you can't take "not talking about your feelings" as equaling tsundere because again, that would mean most everyone in the Fairy Tail universe is a tsundere because no one talks about their feelings all the time except in dire straits like what is depicted in the picture above.

Another segue:

"But again, in comparison, Natsu has no problem saying things directly to Erza in the very same arc, and crying in front of her. Natsu can be immature sometimes, but he’s no tsundere. Gray, however, IS."

IIII just don't get it.

Without even trying to attack them, I honestly feel like Author hasn't read or watched most of Fairy Tail. At the very least, they’ve forgotten most of it. Gray cried for Ur right in front of Natsu, Happy, and Lucy in the Galuna Arc before Natsu ever did. He cries again in front of them when he sees Ultear's sacrifice. And of course, Pros would never forget Gray breaking down crying at his father's grave. And he has very plainly shown how much he cares for his friends on a regular basis, literally in every arc. His anger and his passion to protect them is honestly on full display every fight.

I've already addressed this earlier in this post anyway, but anyway one last thing before I move on, I just have to say that Gray is such expressive character that I am quite actually baffled that viewers could see him and immediately think he's a closed off, harsh, cold-acting tsundere. In my next watch through, I'll be sure to pay more attention to those moments where Gray is being super expressive so I can list them all off, but seriously, that's what these Pros need to be doing, to actually take some time to analyze Gray's behavior and his responses to juvia's actions. Maybe then they'll realize how off-putting and toxic she is, and that maybe before Gray was brainwashed by Mashima, he reacted in a way that made sense and was honest considering those facts.

Onto the next point:

"And of course, he acted like a little brat with Ur, and lashed out at her, even though she was like a second mother to him, and took care of him. But, of course he cared for her, even before her sacrifice. He was just hurt. As Ur said, there was darkness in his heart because of what happened with Deliora, and she sealed that away for him, but his tsundere quality remained lol. ^-^"

Oh goodness... This point actually made me sad...

Now Pros are trying to say that “the only reason why Gray would possibly reject juvia's disturbing advances is because of how Deliora traumatically scarred him by taking away everyone he loved, which made him into a tsundere”?...

I am almost at a loss for words...

This is beyond delusional. How could they just completely ignore juvia's glaring, toxic, abusive faults and go right to "Oh, well trauma is the only reason Gray wouldn't wanna shack up with someone as wonderful as juvia-sama despite the fact that she ignores consent, she ignores privacy, she ignores Gray's desires and goals, she hates everything he loves, and she just wants herself to be happy"??? This is legit juvia-level delusion, and it's a bit frightening.

I also hate that Author reduced the immensely and deeply and irrevocably traumatized Gray to just “acting like a brat” as well. It’s awful. It just goes to show you how lots of Pros aren’t Gray fans at all, just juvia fans.

To be honest, though, despite all that, this is the closest we've gotten to Gray acting like a tsundere. Here, he does act harsh and temperamental, and he took out his anger and his anguish and his hurt that he got from losing his family on Ur, despite him clearly caring for her at the end and being heartbroken that she sacrificed herself for him.

However, I still don’t think this is an example of Gray being a tsundere.

If I were to split hairs, one could argue that it was this moment where Gray started to care for her, or at least realized it, after seeing what lengths she was willing to go for him, and therefore, he wasn't just acting cold to hide his familial feelings towards her, though I will admit that's probably a reach.

To go a different route, though, this just isn't a case where, quoting one of the definitions of tsundere, "They will occasionally let slip their warm and loving feelings hidden inside. They hide their feelings due to being shy, nervous, insecure." All 3 definitions say it's a gradual process of showing warmer feelings, but right up until the very end, Gray was completely hostile towards Ur. There was nothing gradual about the abrupt wake-up call that was Gray realizing that his mistake would cost this woman, whom he should've felt gratitude towards, her life.

And clearly, Gray was only acting harsh and cold and temperamental because he was just misdirecting his negative feelings at Deliora towards Ur. As a little kid, he didn’t have great control of his emotions, as little kids don’t, and with the great loss he had, he needed an outlet, a scapegoat, and he settled on making Ur his emotional punching bag. He hated Deliora, he hated life for taking away everything he loved, so he projected that hate onto the only person he could express that hate towards: Ur. Acting harsh and cold and temperamental doesn’t mean you’re a tsundere: it could just mean you’re a traumatized individual who desperately needs an outlet to express your grief and anguish. Gray wasn’t “being a tsundere” because “that’s his character trait where he’s just socially awkward and therefore can’t express his feelings”, he was just lashing out at the world that wronged him so badly.

[[And remember at the very beginning of this post, where I said I'd get back to something? Well, it was the translation of the 413 days quote where it said "This will be the first time Gray shows this side of himself" with the picture of Gray making a "tsundere" face. If we're going to take Mashima's word for it, wouldn't it not make sense that Gray has always been a tsundere since he was a kid, as Author suggests here and in the chapter where kid Gray confronts kid Erza, and yet he only acts apparently like a tsundere for the first time in the 413 days chapter?

Something isn't consistent with the facts, and I believe it's Author's assertions. How could Gray “be acting like a tsundere, being a tsundere,” throughout his life, and yet he only starts to act like it in 413 Days?? Either way, it doesn't matter to me because I don't think Gray is acting like a tsundere in 413 days either, nor here with Ur nor with Erza, but it just goes to show how even the text itself disagrees with Author, and it shows that Author’s conclusions are not actually coming from canon material.]]

I'd definitely have to rewatch it and get more insight on it because it's already been a year since my last rewatch, but these are my thoughts on it for now. Please do give me your thoughts on this, or on anything, dear readers!

Anyway, even if Gray was acting a mite tsundere here, and that's a huge if, that doesn't necessitate that Gray would stay that way his whole life, especially considering the impact Ur had on sealing the darkness for him.

To wrap this portion up, I find it rather nutty that Author decided to take Deliora's trauma as the reason for Gray's supposed tsundere-ness, and that they even acknowledged that Ur was sealing away the darkness, and yet they decided to cherry pick what the trauma affected and what part of the trauma stayed and to claim that Gray's now a tsundere in his romantic and platonic pursuits (despite him showing he's definitely not at the very least in the latter case). I wish I knew a psychologist who could analyze Gray (though I've heard from a friend that they showed juvia's profile to a psychology professor and they came to the conclusion that she's actually insane which is fun.)

Onto the next point:

"He even acts tsundere with Lyon. He insults him and is antagonistic towards him all the time, and sees him as a rival, but he clearly loves him like a brother (and in fact, Lyon is the same way, as we saw how broken up he was when Gray died)."

Again, Author doesn't understand the bond of bros. I'm like this with my own brothers: insults are the norm even though we love each other. I think this is how most young guys are too actually. Maybe Author hasn't been around enough guys to understand that.

I suppose that's focusing too much on "personal experiences", but I don't know how to mention it besides saying that that's just the culture of many young men... I don't know what Author expected, that all the guys who aren't tsunderes would have heart-to-hearts on the daily about their feelings and how much they love each other?

But anyway, about what they said. I think Author's words here even agree with my stance on this subject. "He insults him and is antagonistic towards him all the time, and sees him as a rival, but he clearly loves him like a brother". You see... Isn't a tsundere supposed to be warming up to their person of interest? Immediately after their fight on Galuna Island, they showed they did still care for each other. There wasn't really anything gradual, they just had to settle this "disagreement" and to settle the long-standing resentments.

What's more, you have to stay logically consistent, Author.

You said before "But again, in comparison, Natsu has no problem saying things directly to Erza in the very same arc, and crying in front of her. Natsu can be immature sometimes, but he’s no tsundere" and yet you say here that Lyon is the same way (i.e. is a tsundere) like Gray.

Thing is, Natsu has the same exact dynamic with Gray that Gray and Lyon have; they insult, they bicker, they brawl, and they have each other's backs. And yet you acknowledge that Natsu is definitely NOT a tsundere, so why the heck is this proof that both Gray and Lyon are tsunderes? They both make their own feelings clear when it counts, just like Natsu. It's not like Natsu, whom as you mentioned is totally fine with declaring his feelings for his friends, says all those heartfelt things in regular day-to-day life, just out of the blue, like "Erza, you mean the world to me", or "Lucy, I would die for you a million times over," or "Happy, I'd give my left nut to be your friend forever" etc. etc. Gray, and even Lyon for that matter, will say those heartfelt things when the moment is right, just like Natsu does.

AGAIN, by this faulty definition, everyone is a tsundere. Because Erza knocks Gray's and Natsu's heads together on a regular basis, but she loves them, and generally does it for their own good. Lucy will tell the boys to put a sock in it if they're getting out of hand or will send them flying with a Lucy kick for intruding in her house, but she also loves them dearly. And Happy will say the most out of pocket stuff, especially to Lucy, and yet this is all in good fun. They're not purposefully acting harsh or cold, especially not to hide the fact that they actually love each other, and especially not because of a character trait that makes it particularly hard to express their true feelings, they're just acting as friends do in light-hearted times. For the most part, they just hang and chill and laugh as friends should, and what's more, they really do build each other up, even if it's through insults that get Gray and Natsu fired up to compete with their magic.

(No one better bring up juvia and say "oh well juvia also jokes around and doesn't actually hate other girls" because she's never joking in the slightest and she actively tries to drive other women away through her glares and her muttering and tries to demean them for daring to be in the same vicinity as Gray. Nothing about what she does is uplifting, the only feelings she's feeling in these moments are misplaced and manic jealousy, prejudiced hostility, and severe insecurity, and she literally shows that she legit would wish harm on others just so she could get near Gray, and has actually tried to kill women who get too close to Gray as well as Gray himself, so this is NOT the same thing. That's no friend.)

Almost done:

"Again, he is HARSH and TSUNDERE towards those he cares the most about. He has insulted Natsu, Lyon, Ur, Erza (calls her a monster) and JUVIA. And, he also is embarrassed when his true feelings come to the surface, and tries hard to keep them private. He doesn’t want people to know HOW MUCH he cares, and because of that, he rarely talks about his feelings to anyone, let alone directly to the person he’s having those feelings for. This is classic tsundere behavior. "

This is the same quote that I'd shown in the very beginning (in Part 1).

Something I'm just noticing now is that Author specifically doesn't include Lucy in the list of people he cares most about. This could be one of a few things or even all of them, but a common trend I've seen among Pros is that they're threatened by Lucy's healthy and solid relationship with Gray so they try to pretend they're not the best of friends.

Another reason for not including her might just be that Gray's relationship with Lucy just doesn't support their narrative. He's definitely not mean to her, though he does keep her vanity in check sometimes, but he shows that he cares for her even from the beginning, from being willing to stake his life to rescue her, to making sure she got home safe since there was a stalker following her around, to, again, since I love this scene so much, the GMG scene where he runs out in front of everyone to catch her and save her from more injury, to his and Lucy's heartfelt conversation after the Avatar arc, to how much time they spend together talking and hanging out. Nothing about his actions towards her is tsundere, so Author can't include her in the list of people Gray loves most because it doesn't coincide with their argument, like so many other things.

Anyway, moving past best girl Lucy reluctantly, I'd love to learn the reasons why Author thinks Gray's cared about juvia "the most" since the beginning. Remember, this Author has been trying to prove Gray's had this tsundere-ness since he was kid in order to prove that all of Gray's rejections of juvia are simply him being too uwu shy uwu to admit he actually loves her and that he's actually liked her this whole time. I've been talking about this in some wonderful recent asks I've gotten, how juvia is quite decidedly not Gray's type considering all the women he's cared about in his life, and I'd genuinely want to hear what reasons Pros could think up that would explain what made Gray fall for the crazy, selfish weirdo who doesn't care about friends like he does, and who certainly doesn't care for Gray's emotional and psychological well-being.

As for the rest of this paragraph, I've already talked about how not talking about your innermost feelings with people on a daily basis doesn't make you a tsundere. I've repeated myself enough.

The last pertinent bit and Conclusion:

"That’s why I also think that anyone at this point who sees Gray’s actions as someone who simply does not return Juvia’s feelings, is someone who is letting their bias cloud their judgement. The evidence for Gray’s feelings towards Juvia has been mounting since at least the Tenroujima arc. To not see where things are clearly headed between them, is just to be in denial. By all means, ship what you like, but don’t deny a blatant character trait, because you don’t like what it implies for something you don’t ship."

I hope my readers could tell me if I'm letting my bias control how I look at all these scenarios. At one point, I was struggling to put my thoughts to paper so to speak, so this post could definitely use some polishing and outside critiques.

In all honesty, though, I don't think I'm letting my bias cloud my judgment. I did my best to look at each instance objectively and to try to stay consistent with my reasoning.

I personally think this Pro as well as Pros like them are letting bias cloud their judgment in terms of how Gray is literally being emotionally, psychologically, and physically abused by juvia and by their contrived, unhealthy, toxic relationship.

Their last words are kind of aggravating, to be perfectly transparent. They are definitely entitled to their opinion. I for one can't complain because I have similar feelings about certain Pros myself. However, it's just insane the amount of hypocrisy in this last paragraph. I've already mentioned the hypocrisy once in this post, but man, cast the first stone, will you? So many Pros continue to be in denial of just how damaging this relationship is for both characters, really, and some Pros would just rather point fingers at everyone else who has even the slightest issue or who points out the slightest discrepancy or criticism and claim we're the crazy ones.

We always knew where the ship was going to be headed (cough headed to hell) because of the might of the Pro fandom. Obviously, Pros wouldn't accept anything less than marriage with 55 babies between the two of them. (Yes, hyperbole, you get my point.) I for one am not in denial that they're an item now in 100yq. My argument is simply that Gray hasn't loved juvia all this time, that he hasn't been a consenting and willing participant in juvia's madness that she calls romancing, and that the only reason he's with juvia now is because of the infinite manipulating and peer pressuring and gaslighting that happened up until this point. That, and Mashima's awful writing and similar peer-pressured self when it comes to this forsaken ship.

All I have to say is, in the words of this Pro Author, don’t deny a blatant character trait. Don't deny juvia's toxicity and abuse. Don't deny the harm she's inflicted upon Gray's psyche. And then we can finally really have a talk on why you support her.

Here's the link for Part 3 of this post!

(Feedback on anything in this post is appreciated!)

#This was really long and I’m hoping I’m not just twisting facts to fit my narrative like the author accused antis of doing #I tried looking at the facts objectively #anti gruvia #anti juvia #fairy tail #anti juvia lockser #anti juvia loxar #defend gray fullbuster #gray fullbuster #anti gray x juvia #fairy tail discourse #fairy tail discussion #fairy tail debate #gray isn't a tsundere #gray is not a tsundere #tsunderes #tsundere #anti erza #anti erza scarlet #fairytail #gralunaessay

[night-dark-woods]

2023 Book Recap!

i really figured out this year what i like and don't like in a book i think, at least for scifi/fantasy books.

that ursula le guin quote about genre: "Ignoring all this, our novice is just about to reinvent the wheel, the space ship, the space alien, and the mad scientist, with cries of innocent wonder. The cries will not be echoed by the readers. Readers familiar with that genre have met the space ship, the alien, and the mad scientist before. They know more about them than the writer does."

& something one of the boys on the stephen king podcast said, where he described being familiar with a genre or medium as seeing the seams, and then a bit later as being like an erector set, where you can see all the pieces.

and that's really it, like bc i have read so much scifi and fantasy, every novel is an erector set. i know what the pieces of the kit are, and what they're supposed to build, so i can recognize when its built well and when its built poorly, and i can recognize when someone does something really cool and different with those kit pieces. but if someone doesnt do anything good or interesting with them, its just a pile of pieces, and that's not enough for me.

so, in descending rating order, books i read this year:

5/5:

The Broken Earth Trilogy by N K Jemison: spectacularly original worldbuilding, heartwrenching story, delightful narrative devices. getting added to the favorites shelf with Baru.

The Three Body Problem by Liu Cixin: very fun hard scifi book. if i don't have to google a math concept while reading your scifi book im not interested. i have not yet read the sequels but will.

Machineries of Empire Trilogy by Yoon Ha Lee: great military space opera with REALLY cool novel worldbuilding (the technology of the empire functions because of a high calendar maintained by ritual sacrifice!!!) and very neatly executed plots.

4/5:

How The Light Gets In by Louise Penney: perfectly enjoyable mystery novel i read to bond with my mother. old ladies who saw it sitting next to my register at work were at first delighted i was reading it and then aghast that i was reading one from the middle of the series out of order.

Dead Silence by S A Barnes: fast-paced scifi psychological horror, delivered exactly what i was expecting.

Mistakes Were Made by Meryl Wilsner: doctor mechanic fic with the serial numbers scrubbed. also exactly what it says on the tin.

Plain Bad Heroines by Emily M Danforth: fun gay story that jumps around in time and has several cool narrative styles including whatever it is where there are in-universe texts included with the story narrative.

The Luminous Dead by Caitlin Starling: scifi cave-diving survival horror with a homoerotic relationship between the caver and her handler. loses a star for an underwhelming ending but overall it ruled i love survival books.

Blindsight by Peter Watts: this book made me the maddest a book has made me since i read The Word for World is Forest in high school and got so upset at one of the characters that i made myself nauseous. on the one hand the worldbuilding was very intricate and interesting and its a truly fascinating first contact story, and on the other hand i want to fight the author in a parking lot for how eco-fascist and misanthropic the thesis statement is. this book pissed me off but its also going to be something i will reread and also think about for a long time, and for that it can get a 4.

3/5:

The Archive Undying by Emma Mieko Candon: cool far-future post-apocalypse with ai gods, about bodily horror and autonomy when youre dealing with high tech divine possession. good book but not for me.

This Is How You Lose The Time War by Max Gladstone and Amal El-Mohtar: fine, underwhelming. novel equivalent of a montage and the prose didn't wow me.

Acceptance by Jeff Vandermeer: made me realize what i want from him is an actual ecology book i would love that but i hate his fiction.

The Cartographers by Peng Shepherd: would have been higher if it had a stronger conclusion, fun concept though and it was fun to see the ways it referenced Hill House. speaking of:

The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson: alright, i havent read enough horror to know what i like but this wasn't it, im glad i read it though.

2/5:

Stories of Your Life and Others by Ted Chiang: fine, none of the story concepts were compelling to me so it was hard to like any of them, though the Tower of Babylon was fun.

The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet by Becky Chambers: no stakes, boring, no thought put into the politics of the setting or the plot.

Authority by Jeff Vandermeer: absolute fucking slog of a book with a boring protag.

She Who Became The Sun by Shelley Parker-Chan: i dont like historical figures rewritten to be lgbt, i think the pacing and tone was inconsistent, and if youre going to write a book about a military campaign you need to actually care about writing military engagments and logistics. also as my friend Jake said. for a novel trying to do something with gender, there sure arent very many women.

1/5:

none apparently!

#bookposting #my posts #apparently i read annihilation the year before bc it wasnt in my bookposting tag and i started that at the beginning of this past year #i like keeping track of my books like this! its fun #also some of these are slightly diff ratings than i initially rated them bc some i posted right after reading and then thought about more #and liked them less lol #posting this at fucking 2:23 am. no one will see this. #also thats 22 books! almost 2 a month #thats more than i thought

[sidneypoindexter]

Clumsy Smurf has autism

(originally posted as a blog post on the Smurfs Fanon Wiki, now reposted onto my Tumblr.)

A. PERSISTENT DEFICITS IN SOCIAL COMMUNICATION AND SOCIAL INTERACTION ACROSS CONTEXTS, NOT ACCOUNTED FOR BY GENERAL DEVELOPMENTAL DELAYS, AND MANIFEST BY 3 OF 3 SYMPTOMS

A1. Deficits in social‐emotional reciprocity; ranging from abnormal social approach and failure of normal back and forth conversation through reduced sharing of interests, emotions, and affect and response to total lack of initiation of social interaction.

Poor social imitation

The example for "poor social imitation" is "failure to engage in simple social games." Clumsy Smurf has difficulty figuring out what other Smurfs are doing and going along with it. He's often seen being confused by the other Smurfs' behavior, and not quite fitting in.

A2. Deficits in nonverbal communicative behaviors used for social interaction; ranging from poorly integrated‐ verbal and nonverbal communication, through abnormalities in eye contact and body‐language, or deficits in understanding and use of nonverbal communication, to total lack of facial expression or gestures.

Abnormal volume, pitch, intonation, rate, rhythm, stress, prosody or volume in speech

This mostly applies to the 1980s cartoon. Clumsy Smurf's voice in the 1980s cartoon has unusual intonation and rhythm.

Abnormalities in use and understanding of affect (note: responsive social smile should be considered under A1, while affect that is inappropriate for the context should be considered under A3)

One of the examples offered for "abnormalities in use and understanding of affect" is "inability to recognize or interpret other's nonverbal expressions." I am not quite sure how to describe how this applies to Clumsy, but it does.

A3. Deficits in developing and maintaining relationships, appropriate to developmental level (beyond those with caregivers); ranging from difficulties adjusting behavior to suit different social contexts through difficulties in sharing imaginative play and in making friends to an apparent absence of interest in people.

Difficulties adjusting behavior to suit social contexts

One of the examples offered for "difficulties adjusting behavior to suit social contexts" is "unaware of social conventions/appropriate social behavior; asks socially inappropriate questions or makes socially inappropriate statements." This is something Clumsy does a lot. I can quote multiple moments from the 1980s cartoon alone- "Gosh, Brainy, your trap is the most terrible of all!" "You've already written enough books for two brilliant careers!" etc. In Smurfs: The Lost Village, he does this quite a lot as well- telling Smurfstorm that Gargamel made Smurfette, speaking out loud ("Isn't this exciting?") when the Smurfs are supposed to be being quiet and stealthy, impulsively yelling out "I RODE A DRAGONFLY!" to Papa.

Difficulties in making friends

One of the examples offered for "difficulties in making friends" is "does not play with children his/her age or developmental level (only older/younger)." Clumsy does have a few friends his age. But in multiple episodes with the Smurflings, he's seen just hanging out with them and they like him a lot more than they do the other adult Smurfs. They seem to see him as a friend, rather than a boring adult, despite his age.

Another example offered for "difficulties in making friends" is "has an interest in friendship but lacks understanding of the conventions of social interaction (e.g extremely directive or rigid; overly passive)." This fits Clumsy's relationship with Brainy perfectly. Brainy is incredibly directive and rigid and bossy, and Clumsy is overly passive. In The Smurfiest Of Friends, Clumsy also leaves a party thrown for him in order to go find Brainy, leaving his other friends behind in favor of the friend who said he didn't like him anymore.

B. RESTRICTED, REPETITIVE PATTERNS OF BEHAVIOR, INTERESTS, OR ACTIVITIES AS MANIFESTED BY AT LEAST 2 OF 4 SYMPTOMS:

B1. Stereotyped or repetitive speech, motor movements, or use of objects; (such as simple motor stereotypies, echolalia, repetitive use of objects, or idiosyncratic phrases).

Stereotyped or repetitive speech

One of the examples for "stereotyped or repetitive speech" is "repetitive vocalizations such as repetitive guttural sounds, intonational noise‐making, unusual squealing, repetitive humming." In the 1980s cartoon, Clumsy Smurf makes a lot of non-word noises in reaction to things. He also, more relevantly, has a habit of singing and humming to himself while doing things. All the Smurfs sing the Smurfs song, but Clumsy sings and hums more than the others, making up his own little songs that are only heard for brief periods of time in one episode each.

Stereotyped or repetitive motor movements

One of the examples offered for "stereotyped or repetitive motor movements" is "repetitive hand movements (e.g., clapping, finger flicking, flapping, twisting)." In the 1980s cartoon, Clumsy makes a lot of repetitive hand movements to express emotions. When he's happy, he claps, flaps his arms up and down (flapping one's arms up and down is the most stereotypical stim out there, and he is shown doing it in his model sheet for the 1980s cartoon), and pulls on his hat.

Another one of the examples offered for "stereotyped or repetitive motor movements" is "stereotyped or complex whole body movements (e.g., foot to foot rocking, dipping, & swaying; spinning)." When happy in The Secret Of The Village Well, Clumsy Smurf jumps up and down while clapping. In the episode Clumsy In Command, while thinking, he gently bonks himself on the head with the purple pandyroot stick, and doesn't seem to be aware that he's doing this. In Smurfs: The Lost Village, when he gets really stressed out in the caves, he curls up into a ball and starts rocking back and forth.

Another one of the examples offered for "stereotyped or repetitive motor movements" is "abnormalities of posture (e.g., toe walking; full body posturing)." In the 1980s Smurfs series, Clumsy's natural standing posture is different enough from the other Smurfs that it's pointed out in his model sheet. His legs are straighter, he leans back a bit, his shoulders are held a little higher, his hands are more splayed out, and his smile is wider.

Stereotyped or repetitive use of objects

One of the examples offered for "stereotyped or repetitive use of objects" is "nonfunctional play with objects (waving sticks; dropping items." In All The News That's Fit To Smurf, Clumsy states that he enjoys picking up his rocks and dropping them in order to hear the sound that they make.

B2. Excessive adherence to routines, ritualized patterns of verbal or nonverbal behavior, or excessive resistance to change; (such as motoric rituals, insistence on same route or food, repetitive questioning or extreme distress at small changes).

Adherence to routine

Another example offered for "adherence to routine" is "unusual routines." Clumsy Smurf keeps things clean, like, a weird amount. He washes every rock he finds after he gets it (Papa's Wedding Day), washes his rock collection routinely (Jokey's Cloak). In The Comet Is Coming, he took a bath when he thought the world was going to end because he had to be clean for the big event- even though it doesn’t really matter if you’re slightly dirty at the end of the world. The example in The Comet Is Coming cannot be explained by his low intelligence, as he was under the effect of the intelligence serum at the time.

Rigid thinking

One of the examples offered for "rigid thinking" is "inability to understand nonliteral aspects of speech such as irony or implied meaning." This is a very common thing that Clumsy does. He doesn't understand when other Smurfs are being sarcastic or rhetorical, and he doesn't understand metaphors. In the episode The Astrosmurf, he responds to Brainy's metaphorical and rhetorical question of "Where were you when brains were handed out?" with the very genuine answer of "Gee, I dunno. Maybe I was with you, huh, Brainy?" In the episode The Littlest Giant, he doesn't understand the metaphor "Size is a relative thing." ("Uh, gee, Papa Smurf, I see now what you mean. Size is a relative thing." "Very astute, Clumsy." "Uh, yeah, it's a good thing Simon has big relatives!")

B3. Highly restricted, fixated interests that are abnormal in intensity or focus; (such as strong attachment to or preoccupation with unusual objects, excessively circumscribed or perseverative interests).

One of the examples offered for B3 is "interests that are abnormal in intensity." Another example offered for B3 is "preoccupations; obsessions." Both of these apply to Clumsy Smurf's rock collection in the 1980s cartoon. Clumsy Smurf collects rocks, he loves his rock collection, and it seems to be his main interest. In multiple episodes, other Smurfs see rocks and think of Clumsy- in The Comet Is Coming, Papa Smurf tosses a rock into a pond, and Sassette says "I hope Clumsy didn't need that rock for his collection"; and in Poet's Writer's Block, Poet tells the Wildebeasts to leave his goodbye letter under a rock, because he knows Clumsy will find it if it's under a rock. In Papa's Flying Bed, when Clumsy falls asleep and his dreams start controlling the bed, reminding him of Greedy's cooking or Smurfette doesn't do anything, but reminding him of his rock collection immediately makes him start dreaming about it. I repeat, it was easier to make him dream about his rock collection than it was to make him dream about Smurfette, the girl who he has a crush on.

B4. Hyper‐or hypo‐reactivity to sensory input or unusual interest in sensory aspects of environment; (such as apparent indifference to pain/heat/cold, adverse response to specific sounds or textures, excessive smelling or touching of objects, fascination with lights or spinning objects).

One of the examples offered for B4 is "in all domains of sensory stimuli (sound, smell, taste, vestibular, visual), consider: atypical and/or persistent focus on sensory input." In A Bell For Azrael, he gets so distracted by the sound of bells that he nearly gets run over by a cart, and then gets so distracted by the sound of bells again that he completely ignores Brainy.

C. Symptoms must be present in early childhood (but may not become fully manifest until social demands exceed limited capacities)

We cannot apply this to Clumsy because we don't see much of him as a child, but from what we do see, he seems to have been the same as he is now, just smaller and quieter.

D. Symptoms together limit and impair everyday functioning.

Clumsy Smurf's symptoms limit his ability to communicate with the other Smurfs, as he often doesn't understand what they're saying. His difficulties with friendship cause him to be easily manipulated by Brainy. Being distracted by the bells in A Bell For Azrael nearly got him killed.

Other

Edited to add after I found a PDF of the full DSM-V: According to the DSM-V, "Many individuals with autism spectrum disorder also have intellectual impairment and/or language impairment (e.g., slow to talk, language comprehension behind production). Even those with average or high intelligence have an uneven profile of abilities. The gap between intellectual and adaptive functional skills is often large. Motor deficits are often present, including odd gait, clumsiness, and other abnormal motor signs (e.g., walking on tiptoes)."

In conclusion

In conclusion, Clumsy Smurf can probably be diagnosed as autistic in official canon Smurfs media using the DSM-V diagnostic criteria for autism. He doesn't have nearly as much supporting evidence as Brainy does, but he does fit the criteria.

#txt #smurfs #the smurfs #clumsy smurf #autistic clumsy

[hanako-san]

So… I've been wondering about a question to ask you about your boy for so long. And I finally managed to get one! YAY! 😄

The qusetion is:

Let me know your "Top 5 favorit quotes of your boy until now." 🍀

Yay!! I'm so happy! I really like your question!! Thank you for it! 😆 I have one quote with a pilot. Hope that also matters😁

Ch.36

"just being shown that someone is thinking of him. I think that would make him happy"

I just love how he pretended to be goofy, but it shows that he took Kou's pain seriously.I really think about him a lot and he would be 100% very happy. I just know there was a smile on his face just because I'm thinking about him. It was such a small thing that would make my little boy happy.

2. Ch.20

"Death is the end. You become a spirit and wander the near shore ... but that's not continuation of life. Once you died,it's over. There nothing after that. You can't go anywhere from there. Doesn't how deep your regrets are,or how much you wish to things was different. If you couldn't do something in life... you can't do it after you're dead[...] You can't be so kind to the dead because we have no future"

I skipped what Amane said to Kou about Mitsuba. He was telling the truth here because he described his own pain in this way through the pain of Mitsuba, who also couldn't pursue his dream and also after death cannot do it. Mitsuba and Amane are similar in terms of grief and dreams, although the situation of their deaths is different. Amane perfectly described his own pain and Mitsuba's. No matter how much Amane regrets or how much he would like to do otherwise, there is no chance of it. Death is the end, not the beginning. This is so real. My boy just showed that he really regrets what he did. This is really something to read from his words. I want his happiness so much.Yes, I want him to be lucky. I love him so much and I know he is a good kid and he deserves the best and all that is good!

3.Ch.0.3(pilot chapter)

"You have to treat girls nicely"

He is my beloved gentleman!!🥰 He's so cute knowing he's knows to be good with girls . …..that's my boy😆

4.Ch. 14

"Sensei! The moon is already out! Have you ever wanted to go to the moon,sensei? Well... I have. The moon is so big and beautiful. Maybe that's why I just I feel like it's gotta be really great place"

I love so much how much and how much passion Amane has for space and the moon. He loves the cosmos so much, his passion is so fascinating and he believed that someday people would be able to fly to the moon and he was right, but he gave up his dreams and how much he loves the moon, the cosmos for the purpose of killing his brother. So sad … boy … my sweet boy was giving up his dreams for this one purpose for a reason. Give him luck AidaIro! He has suffered a lot already!

5.Ch.5

"the scary ones are muuuuuch more likely to make an impression, Am I right?"

Yes my Amane You;re totally right!!!! This is really true. Terrible things are more remembered than good ones … Amane here gives the same facts again!

This my top 5!

but I want tell you more!! I'm sorry I can't end up like this! Others quotes

6.Ch.39

"Give me a candy"

Well … give me a candy yeah !! haha !! I like it even though amane was sick here by the mokke, but it's so real. Candies are good!

7.Ch.2

"I am one of this school's seven mysteries. I can't let dangerous supernatural killers stay. I have no choice but to exterminate them. It my duty supervise all supernaturals in the school and maintain proper relationships between us and humans"

He keeps order, but he also has to fulfill wishes. He not only keeps the school paece, but he looks so badass and more cool here, and he really said in a really cool way.

Thank you for the ask! As usual, I'm out of control, but I can't help it. Hope you don't mind

#jibaku shounen hanako kun #jibaku shonen hanako kun #toilet bound hanako kun #love of my life #yugi amane #amane yugi #hanako kun #jshk spoilers #my answers #ngmn2002

[mesillusionssousecstasy]

“An ideal Husband” by Oscar Wilde: Review

This book could have been really amazing if it wasn't for it happy ending which ruined everything.

Mrs Cheveley and Lord Goring deserved to be together (page 55 to 59), they have an incredible dynamic/chemistry. Even Sir Robert Chiltern agrees to this "You are well suited to each other". I really didn't see coming his affection for Miss Mabel Chiltern, that was absurd (page 67, 68) and even Sir Robert Chiltern agrees to it, "Arthur cannot bring Mabel the love that she deserves."

Until this point, I'm still wondering the morality of the story (page 78). At least Les liaisons dangereuses is far more better and ended way better.

The book is full sarcasm, with surreal conversations.

Also, why introduce Vicomte de Nanjac at the beginning of the story to never hearing from him ever again (page 4)?

It is said at page viii that "The action of the play is completed within twenty-four hours", but at page 71, Sir Robert Chiltern said "For two days I have been in terror". Consequently the action of the play took place during forty-two hours (2 full day). So there is something wrong.

Here a passage that described Lord Goring to perfection, "Why, he rides in the Row at ten o'clock in the morning, goes to the Opera three times a week, changes hi clothes at least five times a day, and dines out every night of the season. You don't call that leading an idle life, do you? (page 2)" and the other one at page 7, "Thirty-four, but always says he is younger. A wellbred, expressionless face. He is clever, but would not like to be thought so. A flawless dandy, he would be annoyed if he were considered romantic. He plays with life, and is on perfectly good terms with the world. He is fond of being misunderstood. It gives him a post of vantage." (A modern Andréa - Hell)

Mrs Cheveley is "a genius in the daytime and a beauty at night", Lord Goring's words. I like Mrs Cheveley's mind too, trying to blackmail Sir Robert Chiltern in order to get what she wants (page 15-16). She is so damn cunning. At page 26, I thought she was a spy, but I was wrong. There is one thing I didn't understand, it's Mrs Cheveley's relationship with Baron Arnheim (page 52).

Poor Lady Chiltern, jealous (page 20) and naive (page 23 and 43), and of course she is discovered everything and react poorly (page 30).  

The title "Ideal (husband)" is mentioned at page 22, 43 and 48.

The mystery of the diamant bracelet is revealed at page 60. And I thought innocently that Lord Goring gifted her the bracelet, oh wrong of me.

At the end (page 75), Lord Goring is using Mrs Cheveley's tactics to obtain what he wants. But when he does it, it's ok, nevertheless when Mrs Cheveley's does it it is wrong. Shame.

Beautiful quotes: - Page 1: "Horribly tedious! Never know why I go. Never know why I go anywhere." - Page 3: "Oh, I love London Society! I think it has immensely improved. It is entirely composed now of beautiful idiots and brilliant lunatics. Just what Society should be." - Page 5: "Oh! Mrs Cheveley goes everywhere there, and has such pleasant scandals about all her friends." - Page 6: "To attempt to classify you, Mrs Cheveley, would be an impertinence. But may I ask, at heart, are you an optimist or a pessimist? Those seem to be the only two fashionable religions left to us nowadays." & "Questions are never indiscreet. Answers sometimes are." - Page 16: "I will give you any sum of money you want. Even you are not rich enough, Sir Robert, to buy back your past. No man is." - Page 17: "English men always get romantic after a meal, and that bores me dreadfully." - Page 21: "One's past is what one is", "Robert are you telling me the whole truth? Why do you ask me such a question? Why do you ask me such a question? Why do you not answer it?" & "I am not changed. But circumstances alter things." - Page 25: "Well, at the worst it would simply be a psychological experiment. All such experiments are terribly dangerous. Everything is dangerous, my dear fellow. It it wasn't so, life wouldn't be worth living...", "Men who every day do something of the same kind themselves. Men who, each one of them, have worse secrets in their own lives. That is the reason they are so pleased to find out other people's secrets. It distracts public attention from their own" & "Life is never fair, Robert. And perhaps it is a good thing for most of us that it is not". - Page 28: "I am always saying what I shouldn't say. In fact, I usually say what I really think. A great mistake nowadays. It makes one so liable to be misunderstood." - Page 33: "Of which I know nothing by experience, though I know something by observation." - Page 35: "Musical people are so absurdly unreasonable. They always want one to be perfectly dumb at the very moment when one is longing to be absolutely deaf." - Page 37: "What a dreadful prospect." - Page 38: "The higher education of men is what I should like to see. Men need it so sadly. They do, dear. But I am afraid such a scheme would be quite unpractical. I don't think man has much capacity for development." - Page 41: "Do you know, Gertrude, I don't mind your talking morality a bit. Morality is simply the attitude we adopt towards people whom we personally dislike. You dislike me. I am quite aware of that. And I have always detested you. And yet I have come here to do you a service" & "In this world like meets like. It is because your husband is himself fraudulent and dishonest that we pair so well together. Between you and him there are chasms. He and I are closer than friends. We are enemies linked together. The same sin binds us." - Page 46: "To love oneself is the beginning of a lifelong romance, Phipps". - Page 47: "However, it is always nice to be expected, and not to arrive. I am not expected at the Bachelors', so I shall certainly go there", "Oh, why will parents always appear at the wrong time?" & "During the Season, I only talk seriously on the first Tuesday in every month, from four to seven." - Page 48: "Bachelors are not fashionable any more. They are a damaged lot. Too much is known about them." - Page 51: "My dear father, if I am to get married, surely you will allow me to choose the time, place, and person? Particularly the person", "In married life affection comes when people thoroughly dislike each other, father, doesn't it?" - Page 52: "Oh! Spies are of no use nowadays. Their profession is over. The newspapers do their work instead." - Page 55: "You are mad. What have I to do with her intrigues with you? Let her remain your mistress! You are well suited to each other. She, corrupt and shameful - you, false as a friend, treacherous as an enemy even" "I am glad you have called. I am going to give you some good advice. Oh pray don't. One should never give a woman anything that she can't wear in the evening." - Page 57: "My dear Mrs Cheveley, you have always been far too clever to know anything about love", "I don't mind bad husbands. I have had two. They amused me immensely" & "When I saw you last night at the Chilterns'. I knew you were the only person I had ever cared for, I ever have cared for anybody, Arthur." - Page 58: "Oh there is only one real tragedy in a woman's life. The fact that her past is always her lover, and her future invariably her husband" & "Oh! don't use big words. They mean so little. It is a commercial transaction. That is all. There is no good mixing sentimentality in it. I offered to sell Robert Chiltern a certain thing. If he won't pay me my price, he will have to pay the world a greater price." - Page 64: "My dear father, when one pays a visit it is for the purpose of wasting other people's time not one's own." - Page 65: "Why don't you try to do something useful in life? I am far too young. I hate this affection of youth, sir. It is a great deal too prevalent nowadays. Youth isn't an affectation. Youth is an art." - Page 76: "Loveless marriages are horrible. But there is one thing worse than an absolutely loveless marriage. A marriage in which there is love, but on one side only; faith, but on one side only; devotion, but on one side only, and in which of the two hearts one is sure to be broken."

What a waste this end.

Bonsoir. Thank you, next.

#quote #quotation #citation #quotes #livre #book #book lover #bibliophile #book therapy #book addict #book community #book worm #book review #an ideal husband #oscar wilde #lord goring #Mrs cheveley

[badass-queer-couples-battle]

Gay wrongs tournament, round 2 of the losers bracket

Propaganda:

For Vegas and Pete:

Evil babygirl & stealthily evil babyboy. Vegas, known committer of atrocities, and Pete, who didn't rise up the ranks of being a mafia bodyguard for nothing. Never forget how Pete brutally shot and killed his coworker who dared to shoot Vegas in front of him.

I mean. They both kill people all the time. They even have evil gay BDSM sex. It's all right there.

it's plainly obvious to anyone even looking in their direction how murder husbands they are. both have canonically killed multiple people, often on screen. Not to mention the onscreen scene of Vegas literally torturing someone. 

For Wen Kexing and Zhou Zishu:

you've got the founder of the fantasy ancient Chinese CIA and the leader of what is essentially the mafia and then they're soulmates and in love. they're both willing to kill anyone who dares hurt the other while also just wanting a soft domestic life together

Zhou Zishu is an assassin and spymaster who put the current Emperor on the throne, and then quit his job by faking his death (kinda, hes still dying but not as fast as he was supposed to). Had done A Lot on his old job, including murdering children (more than one, and at least one of them in a way I can't even describe without several trigger warnings), exterminating whole families, war crimes (and i dont mean this in a buzzword way, i mean "organized a public execution of foreign diplomats during war time")… btw he doesn't feel particularly bad about any of this, because he believes it was necessary. Like he wouldn't do it for fun, but he thinks the ends (putting a good Emperor on the throne) justified the means (all of the atrocities). As a retiree, he definitely cut down on the amount of morally reprehensible murder, but not murder in general. He still routinely kills ppl, he just doesn't go out of his way to kill more. Wen Kexing, meanwhile, is the Ghost Valley Master - Ghost Valley being a place where the worst of criminals are exiled. Even in such a place, he has reputation as a complete lunatic, owed partially to the fact that he either skinned a man or fed him his own flesh or both at one point, and partially to him having a rule where he would kill anyone who came closer than 3 meters to him. But in truth, everything he'd done was to survive the Ghost Valley and eventually take revenge for his parents, who were brutally murdered when he was only nine. By the start of the novel's timeline, he put his plan in motion - the plan that would drown jianghu in blood, but also deliver poetic justice to all responsible for his parents' deaths, as well as all who'd commit the same crime given the chance. And these two men, these two murderers and schemers, meet - and unexpectedly, find in each other the person who /understands/. The person who is just as ruthless and whose hands are just as bloody, but also the person who knows standing at the top of the world is not worth it, who seeks the same freedom of leaving it all behind, and who is still, underneath it all, a human, with human heart seeking connection. So you have this couple who understand each other with barely a word, and who want the same things - who are so hungry for domesticity and for people they can just goof around with when all their lives they had to measure every step and word - but ALSO where one half a couple is like "i gotta go murder hundreds in revenge" and the other half is like "ok pick you up at 6". (This btw is why I'm submitting novel's iteration of the couple in particular. Show wenzhou with their ridiculous breakups over morality could Never.) Also they were both hiding who they are when they first met, and later flirted about having figured each other out. Finally, I'll leave you my favorite quote that just. perfectly sums up their relationship: "And just like that, they fell asleep in each other's arms, steeped in the smell of blood."

You’ve probably already had submissions for them but I’ll add on. One of them founded an assassin’s guild and killed a staggering number of people. His malewife is the leader of a sect of insane murderous outcasts, and he attained his position by proving to be the most crazy and murder happy of them all. Most of the plot involves him wandering around watching his schemes get more people killed. Together they adopt a kid that was only orphaned due to said scheming (oops). They’re terrible and I love them.

#losers bracket round 2 #word of honor #kinnporsche #kinnporsche the series #faraway wanderers #vegas theerapanyakul #pete saengtham #wen kexing #zhou zishu #wenzhou #vegaspete

[kits-ships]

Cat, rabbit

-selfshippery

doing them for the fourth doctor specifically :3

cat: Does your f/o give you the silent treatment when you argue? Do they try to make it up to you with a lot of affection or do they try to talk it out first?

i feel like the doctor is always kind of bad at describing/verbalizing his emotions so he might fall quiet for a bit, but in a relationship my vibe is 'i will communicate my feelings over a conflict we have and that is a threat' so, good luck doctor. if i didn't speak up though, i imagine he would just slowly pick up a normal conversation (awkward silence bad) and do little things like bump hands/rest his head on me as a very small, nonverbal apology.

although, if i was wrong in the argument, i can also see him telling me exactly how and why im wrong before citing his sources hjkgfgd

rabbit: Is your f/o a hard worker, or do they tend to get lazy? What about you as a couple? Are you collectively hard-working or lazy?

do you know the quote 'i choose a lazy person to do a hard job. because a lazy person will find an easy way to do it" ? because that perfectly describes me and the doctor as well.

like yeah, we'll get the job done and everything, but we're looking for the quickest way to do so. although, one does tend to overthink situations and come up with a overly complex situation on the occasion.... like the time four once bred and trained a bunch of moths to defeat sentient scarecrows (by eating their clothes) like what.

#thank you for the ask! #i love rambling #tw bugs #tw: bugs #if anyone needs me to tag moths lmk... i know they can b freaky

[booksandwords]

When I See You Again by Daryl Banner

Read time: 3 Days Rating: 5/5 Stars

The Quote: There is in fact a fate worse than death. It’s being in love with someone who doesn’t love you back. — Beau Whitman

Warnings: From the author himself... "When I See You Again contains some potentially triggering subject matter, such as domestic abuse (note: abuse is implied, not described, and doesn’t involve the main characters directly), alcoholism, non-violent bullying, and infidelity (note: the actual act of infidelity isn’t directed toward the main characters, but does involve them). If any of these subjects disturb you, please practice self-discretion before reading."

It is hard to find books in this genre that feel somewhat original, this one does. While the overarching idea of a realistic relationship dynamic is not uncommon the way this is written with consistent five-year jumps is. Starting at 5 years old and effectively ending at 40. The plots are different in each of the chapters some are heavier than others but all create a complete image of Beau and Caleb's relationship. Beau and Caleb themselves are complex and so human. We get to see some of the pivotal moments that made them who they are as people and as a couple. The support characters are added as needed to both Beau and Caleb's circles and used well. No one is meaningless. There is more change to Caleb's circle than Beau, perfectly suiting their personalities. The is a lot of symbioses almost in the relationships. This is a book that focuses on human growth and timing. The idea that fate must be worked for and love takes work. Even if the lovers are clearly made for each other. Also the ripple effect your actions cause impacts, good and bad on other peoples lives. Actions have consequences, particularly poor actions but that fits Beau's behaviours.

The unanswered questions posed by each chapter are largely answered later in the book. When they aren't it is a natural flow, lost contact. Time is key here. Time is key to much of the plot of When I See You Again. When I See You Again is about the impact time and timing has on a relationship. The writing is intelligent. One thing you must remember in the early chapters the framing it is essentially being told by 30yo Beau and Caleb at that point. I really appreciated the styling of the epilogue and the information that can be revealed in such small bites through time.

Just some annotated quotes and a warning...

"It’s amazing sometimes, the intuition of children. How clearly they see the world for exactly what it is, unclouded by so-called adult intellect and knowhow. Is innocence, in its own way, a kind of purified truth?" — (Caleb Fletcher) This is such a wonderful line and full of truth.

“This isn’t you falling apart any more than it is a snake falling apart when it sheds its skin. You’re shedding off all the shit you don’t need anymore. This is just …” Beau found the words. “This is you becoming you.” — (Beau Whitman) Beau is fifteen when he says this. He always could cut through the bull***t more than anyone else in either of their worlds.

"Love is often a broken path, and it rarely makes sense, but in the end, does it really matter how two souls at last find each other?" — This line really doesn't belong to either of them. But it does become them.

“There’s a reason not everyone sticks around in life. It’s like sifting dirt for gold; eventually, the only ones who matter are the ones who stuck around.” — (Beau Whitman) I mean I think this may be a quote from somewhere I feel like I know it. But it's an objectively good line.

That’s who they still were a lifetime later: just two boys racing home through a storm—racing home to each other. — (Caleb Fletcher) These are the last lines and omg they are perfect.

I really recommend When I See You Again for something a little different. It will appeal to a particular kind of reader but it is ideal for that kind of reader. That writing is so readable and enjoyable. The characters have distinct voices, something authors don't always manage to do for the whole work. It uses characters well, tells a fantastic story, in a way that makes it readable. All leading to a satisfying conclusion.

#daryl banner #when i see you again #book review #ktreviews #read 2022 #booklr #i loved this #i adore life dramas and daryl does it well

[waugh-bao]

Since you asked me the question about Charlie and Keith, I figured I’d ask the same! 😀

Thanks!

These are in no particular order, because I really couldn’t choose.

1. The nipple pincher bit in Stanley Booth’s book. There are so many layers. That Keith would do this in front of people, Charlie mentioning that he’d been doing it for at least 3 years, how Shirley was apparently in the car when Keith did that, the way it fits into Ian Stewart’s designation of them as a comedy team, etc. For men of their generation to show that much ease with physical intimacy and not living up to every macho/masculine stereotype is very interesting to see. It perfectly incapsulates the weird sweetness of their friendship.

2. Ryan Adams’ story about Keith chasing a guitarist from his band out of a bar with a broken off bottle for insulting/‘snubbing’ Charlie. Keith was in his early 50s (this happened during the recording of Bridges to Babylon) and had known Charlie for 35 years, but in no way had their relationship cooled down or faded with time. Keith was crazy about Charlie from day one, and he would never, ever let anyone do anything bad to him.

3. “He gets better and better—it makes me sick. Charlie just thinks he’s a mediocre jazz drummer."-Keith Richards, 1983

All of Keith’s quotes about Charlie are beautiful, but this one hurts. Keith tried so hard for so long and in every way he could think of to try to make Charlie see how special he was, and you can/could just tell that never quite succeeding in that broke his heart a little. He’s still trying, too. That moment in the My Life as a Rolling Stone documentary where he calls Charlie “perfect” and an “immaculate conception”, then glances upwards and taps his heart, to let Charlie know he’s talking to him…it’s devastating. He’s truly never going to give up on making Charlie see that he’s loved and worthy of love.

4. Two parts of Keith’s book Life: when he was discussing Mick’s solo career and when he was writing about how he nearly died falling from a coconut tree. In the first one, he stops to mention, halfway through eviscerating Mick, that Charlie was “even more” hurt by what happened than him. And in that other story, which happened decades and hundreds of pages later, when he’s describing what it was like to have a brain aneurysm he says that the only thing he could think of that might compare would be Charlie’s migraines/that going through it gave him greater appreciation for what a migraine sufferer went through. The fact that he always put Charlie’s pain and well-being in front of his own is extraordinary.

5. Shirley calling Keith a great “Charlie-watcher” during an interview in 1998. As far as I’m concerned, Shirley is the coolest (unofficial) Rolling Stone, and I love how she fully embraced her husband’s relationship with his bandmates/friends. She never put up an objection to Mick and Keith kissing Charlie on the mouth when they were dating, encouraged Charlie to stay with them on the road, allowed them to help out with raising her daughter, etc. Shirley fully embraced her husband’s weird platonic life partners, even the one that could never stop kissing/hugging/making doe eyes at him in public, and she deserves all the credit in the world for that.

#the rolling stones #charlie watts #keith richards #old married band #mick jagger #young married band #middle aged married band #shirley watts #ask response #ask game #my (platonic) otp #charliesmydarling