#rd lies a lot and often for very self serving reasons

[bixels]

Taking the current topic as an excuse to ask you to tell me all the reasons you love Rarijack. Your art for the ship is so sweet and intimate I'd love to hear any in depth thoughts you have.

Breathes in.

I think what makes their dynamic really strong is that they have opposing personalities but aligned values. It's deeper than just "opposites attract." Rarity's fancy, prissy, and femme while Applejack's modest, rough, and "masculine." But both value hard work (to the point of being workaholics), their families (both have guardianship over their little sisters), running successful businesses, and eventually each other. Their relationship can be boiled down to, "Despite our differences/disagreements, I still like you because we value the same things."

We see their relationship develop so much. In the first season, they can't stop bickering about surface-level differences. By season four, they still bicker, but will mend their relationship because they can't help but do nice things for each other. In Trade Ya, they start off arguing over personality differences (Applejack likes old junk and Rarity likes useless crap). Then they pivot and start arguing that they value their relationship more than the other. In the end, they mend things by sacrificing their needs and buying each other a gift. Even if they don't understand it, they know it'd make the other happy. And that's all that really matters. It's a genuinely sweet moment that shows how arguing can be healthy and necessary for relationships to strengthen.

We even see them dropping their hang-ups about each others' personalities. In Made in Manehattan, when Rarity runs off in dramatics about someone's fashion, AJ doesn't roll her eyes or scoff, she smiles. Oftentimes, their conflicts are very common domestic conflicts romantic couples face. Applejack's Day Off is about a woman's inability to balance work and life and find time to properly spend with her partner, causing her partner to feel neglected.

By season seven, they're actively participating in each others' interests. Any problems or conflicts that arise are dealt with, and they come out the other end stronger and closer. In Honest Apple, AJ pretty much spells out why their relationship works so well: even though she doesn't understand fashion, she can recognize and appreciate how much work it takes and wants to respect that. When she realizes her mistake in the episode, AJ goes above and beyond to fix things and apologize to Rarity. They care about each other so much.

The two go out of their way, sacrificing their personal desires and beliefs and doing things they normally wouldn't, to make the other happy. That's just love.

There's Simple Ways, where AJ gets stuck in an unwanted love triangle between Rarity and her hipster crush. And her frustration and anger can be so easily interpreted as AJ finding herself in a terrible position; the girl she loves wants another man, and that man wants her.

I dunno. I've always had a preference for opposites attract ships, but Rarijack's stuck with me like a brain worm because they have the perfect chemistry. The way they show they care, or do things for each other, I've always read it as the truest representation of romance in the show.

#rarijack #i refuse to be embarrased by how much i know about this damn pony show #this is part of the reason why i never bought into appledash unfortunately. their values aren't aligned #rd lies a lot and often for very self serving reasons #and she distances herself from her family because they're. cringe? overbearing? her parents are very loving and supportive #meanwhile aj's. whole fucking thing. is honesty and family #ask me #anon #this is why it's still a little baffling they aren't canon #we got SO much real development with so much potential subtext #and it never really crossed the finish line #i dunno every time they do something to show they care i'm reminded of myself and my partner too #whenever i see something that's inconvenient or complicated or against my personality (adhd haver) but i know it'd make my #boyfriend happy. i do it anyways. and i always think to myself “wow. that's what love is. that's what it feels like”

[cksmart-world]

The completely unnecessary news analysis

by Christopher Smart

March 17, 2020

THE END OF THE WORLD AS WE KNOW IT

& WHEN SPORTS ENDED

OK, either we've collided with a parallel universe or its the end of the world as we know it. We're talking about Sarah Palin's appearance as a fluffy, pink bear on TVs “The Masked  Singer,” doing a rendition of the hiphop hit “I Like Big Butts, I Cannot Lie.” (We couldn't possibly make this up.) If the former Alaska governor's singing debut was intended as a political comeback, it might have fallen short. On the other hand, who knows anymore. The one-time vice president wannabe sure can shake her booty, but good god, what does it say about our country? We're facing the biggest epidemic since the 1918 Spanish Flu and Sarah Palin is in a pink bear suit singing, “I Like Big Butts.” Think about it. Is Coronavirus really our biggest problem? Wilson and the band have seen some strange things, both real and imagined, and it sent them diving under the bed, holding their ears and screaming la-la-la-la-la-la-la. Every nation eventually self-destructs. It happened to the Romans. It happened to the Egyptians. We have a crazy man as president, the grocery stores are empty and Americans are glued to the TV, watching people in ridiculous costumes, sing ridiculous songs, while a panel of celebrities try to guess who it is. Jesus. OK, Wilson, pass the LSD, we need something to bring us back closer to normality.

WHEN SPORTS ENDED

In the distant future — say, in about a year — a surviving Earthling will write a book  recounting when all sports ended and time stood still. It'll be something like Harlan Ellison's classic sci-fi story, “A Boy And His Dog,” where there is practically no one left. It starts out at a time when sports was central to life. People would stop whatever they were doing to watch a soccer match, a basketball playoff and even baseball. But then a pox came over the land and everyone had to stay home, even athletes. First, the bookies went — killed by gambling addicts in Las Vegas. Then, the sports writers went missing because they feared getting real jobs. TV lost so much money that it went dark. Colleges closed because there no longer was a reason to have a school. Meanwhile, people at home went stark raving mad because they could no longer watch sports — not even high li. Years and centuries went by until aliens landed at Rice-Eccles Stadium in Salt Lake City. After some research and archeology, they determined that Earthlings had been strange beings with long arms and small heads who often gathered in large groups to self-flagellate and eat nachos. Then the aliens flew away to another galaxy, continuing their fruitless search for intelligent life.

THE BUCK STOPS OVER THERE

"No, I don't take responsibility at all," said President Donald Trump when asked if it was his fault there is still a lack of test kits for Coronavirus. It is rather heart warming to know our leader wasn't the one who screwed things up. That responsibility lies with some dummy somewhere — probably Obama and the Democrats. It's reminiscent — for all the wrong reasons — of Harry Truman, the 33rd president of the United States, who served from 1945 to 1953. The Missouri native was known for his no-nonsense approach and a sign on his desk that said, “The Buck Stops Here,” — to let everyone know he accepted full responsibility for the way the country was governed. Ah, but times have changed. The buck now stops with... whomever. When Ebola broke out in West Africa in 2014, President Barack Obama established the Office of Pandemic Response through the National Security Council in order to plan and execute strategies for battling such global emergencies. But in January, 2018, the Trump administration cut its funding and shut it down. Who needs a pandemic office, anyway? When Trump was asked last week if he took responsibility for disbanding the organization, the president responded: “That's a nasty question.” Then he added: “When you say, 'me,' I didn't do it...” Next question.

HOW BAD IS IT?

The Coronavirus is the worst thing to come along in a long time. So, Smart Bomb dispatched our team of crack sociologist to ask men and women searching for food in abandoned grocery stores just how bad things have become:

It's so bad, one woman said, that the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, aka the MoTabs, has self-isolated and is singing “The Truth Is Marching On” via Skype.

It's so bad, said a man holding a chicken wing, that KFC has dropped the slogan, “finger-lick'n good.”

Its so bad, said a young woman with pink hair and tattoos, that the Utah State Prison won't allow her boyfriend to make license plates that say, “Life Elevated.”

It's so bad, said a despondent Young Republican, that Mike Lee actually said there are some things bigger than politics.

It's so bad, said a woman with four kids, that people are trading Charmin on e-bay in exchange for ramen noodles.

It's so bad, said an old lady with blue hair, that telemarketing scammers from Nigeria are tricking people into sending hand sanitizer instead of money.

It's so bad, Fox News and Sean Hannity, Laura Ingram and Fox & Friends now say that Coronavirus is not a hoax.

It's so bad, said a pretty woman with a lot of cleavage, that Tinder is urging phone sex only, warning horny folks it's not worth risking their lives just to get laid.

And it's so bad, according to anonymous White House sources, that Ivanka Trump told her father that French kissing is out.

Post Script — Well, Wilson, “it's time to hunker down,” in the words of Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, because despite what the White House says, Coronavirus is not contained: "The worst is yet ahead for us,” Dr. Fauci said. “We are at a very, very critical point now." But guess what, Wilson, Donald Trump said he's got everything totally under control. “It's a very contagious virus. It's incredible,” Trump said. “But it's something we have tremendous control of." And Trump added this: "Young people, people of good health, and groups of people just are not strongly affected." Right. Not surprisingly, Dr. Fauci said younger people should be concerned. “You are not immune or safe from getting seriously ill,” he said. “There are going to be people who are young who are going to wind up getting seriously ill. So protect yourself." There's no getting around it, Wilson, someone is full of it and it doesn't appear to be Dr. Fauci. This is what Fareed Zacharia wrote in the Washington Post: “Trump has bluffed and fibbed his way through much of his life and thinks nothing of doing so again — except this time we are not charmed or amused by the bluster but rather frightened.” By contrast, the president rated his handling of the crisis thus far at a 10 out of 10. Well, that about says it all Wilson, so tell the band to take their masks off and take us on outa here:

Six o'clock, TV hour, don't get caught in foreign tower Slash and burn, return, listen to yourself churn Lock him in uniform and book burning, blood letting Every motive escalate, automotive incinerate

It's the end of the world as we know it It's the end of the world as we know it It's the end of the world as we know it And I feel fine...