What the World Needs Now…

“Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that.” ― Martin Luther King Jr

The ever positive Pinkie of Pinkie’s Paradise created this award way back in February of 2020 and I begged for one. Thank you thank you thank you Pinkie! I LOVE THIS AWARD.

And then life intervened and one thing led to another and I never did get to write a blog post for the award. Which I think worked out okay, because heaven knows we sure need some super happy love spread these days, too. So I’m finally doing this tag and hopefully it will rejuvenate it a bit in these dark days, spreading a bit of sunshine around the internet.

Here’s the rules:

1. Thank the one who tagged you and if at all please tag the original post as well. This is my first blog tag and a bit of a passion project so I would like to see where it spreads! Oh and use Super-Happy-Love as a tag!
2. Display the Super Happy Love Logo in your post Share the rules!
3. Choose a minimum of 2 out of these 6 prompts to answer in this blog! More is always allowed! These six prompts are as follows!
   – Tell about a person you love, this can be a friend, partner but also a celebrity or even youtuber who means a lot to you. As long as they once took breath on this earthly realm you are allowed to  pick them… Tell us why you love them.
   – Write something about a fandom or franchise you love. It can be your favorite game series or about just about anything that is bigger than just a single product! Tell us why you live this so much!
   – Tell us something about a character that you love. Do you have a Waifu, a Husbando, maybe a mentor or someone who taught you a valuable lesson. Tell us why you love them.
   – Tell us something about a piece of music that you love. Does a anime intro mean a lot to you? Did you have a special memory to a pop song, like your first dance at your wedding? Maybe a piece of video game music? If you love it, you should tell us why!
   – Show us why you love a piece of media so much! A Book, A Game, A Anime, A Movie maybe even a random piece of fan art, you are free to pick as long as you can show us why you love it.
   –  Write something about yourself that you love! For those who like a challenge, there is a hard mode in this blog prompt as well. Tell us why you love a certain aspect of yourself
4. Put on your rose tinted glasses. For once you are allowed to gush about the things that you love without having to balance it out with negatives so that you seem objective. In fact your are actively encouraged not to bring negativity into this tag. So no “Nowadays..   is poopoo but back in my days.. .it was great. Just say it was great! Love is blind after all!
5. Tag 6 bloggers you love so they can take on this challenge as well.
6. Everyone who comments something lovely about your post ALSO gets nominated. (Should they so choose.

❤ ❤ ❤ ❤ The Tags

#1 – Someone I love. I’ve never been one to fall in love with a celebrity, so you’ll have to settle for real life everyday heros. Yes, there are two. I won’t share their real names, but perhaps someday they will be meandering around the Internet and will see this. Because I’ve lost contact with two of the most beloved people in my life through one thing and another and I wish I could just give you a call some time.

The first was a young man who was larger than life. He called me out of the blue one day and announced, “I’m a singer, a musician, an artist, and a bisexual. Would you consider dating me?” I laughed until I had to sit down, then replied with, “I’m an artist, a shit shoveler, a writer, and a bisexual. Are you sure you want to date ME?” The upshot was we dated for a whirlwind six months or so, never exclusive, but the treasure was that we became deep friends. More than anything else I owe him for the day he told me, “I don’t know who’s been loving you, babe, but they ain’t been loving you right.” It was literally the first time anyone ever told me that I was not the complete loser and worthless waste of space, air and food my abusers had convinced me I was. In that moment he flipped a switch in my brain that probably saved my life. He made it okay for me to be me and to be happy.

The second is one of the bravest, strongest and most beautiful souls I have ever had the privilege to know and love. She walked into the bar where I was working one night and got hired as a fellow dancer. She was a gorgeous leggy lion with a thick, black mane to the middle of her back. Her first night she sat down and started talking to me and didn’t stop for a couple of hours. She did pause once and say “I don’t know why I’m telling you all this” and take a breath before she went on. I sat gobsmacked and fascinated. We were briefly roommates and even more briefly lovers, but most of all we were the best of friends. I promised to be by her side when she had her gender reassignment surgery, but time and travel and business intervened and we lost touch. I’m sure she has long since had that surgery, and last I heard she had an amazing life going holding swinging sex parties.

In any blessed life you will have a few people that you can sit down and talk to about ANYTHING, absolutely ANYTHING and get back only love and acceptance. (At least I certainly hope you do). For some of us that is harder to find and even more necessary and precious when we find it. These two people gave me that love and acceptance during a period in my life when it literally made the difference between a life lived with love and joy and acceptance, or in misery and self hatred. I never give up hoping to find them again some day.

#2 – A Fandom or Franchise I Love 

Godzilla and I have been buds as far back as I can remember. I was born only 5 years after his first appearance. Just in time to see him on afternoon TV in thrilling black and white about once a week – or so it seemed. Being able to rage out of control and mash huge buildings, swatting tanks and fighter jets aside like flies was an appealing life style to me then. Some days, it still is. Through reboot after reboot I always find something to like or dream about in every new incarnation. But I think it always comes back to being an irresistable force that mankind can never completely conquer.

#3 – A Character You Love (oh yeah, I totally intend to do all six 

Tohru Honda of Fruits Basket. Because she embodies unconditional love. That is the one thing she offers without fail to all of her friends, all of the zodiac children, and far as I can tell to everyone she meets. And yet she isn’t the least bit full of herself or self aware that she is an angel. She has worries and self doubt like crazy and this brings her down to earth. It gives her friends the opportunity to reassure and support her so that she is a true friend, not just someone you admire but could never live up to. She’s just about perfect and still perfectly human.

#4 – A Piece of Music I Love We could be here all day. Oh, just one?

My life, especially the first 25 years of it, was not really a good life. One of the things that helped me survive it, was getting lost in rock’n’roll.

When I was in my teens my mother and her current husband took a trip to New Orleans and dragged me along. They spent most of the trip saying “NO NO NO” in increasingly frantic tones of voice while I soaked in Bourbon Street, the blues, the queens, and the first time ever feeling like I belonged somewhere. The high point, however, was being allowed to slip into a club where Dobie Gray was performing. He walked down off the stage, and knelt in front of me, took my hand, and sang this song to me. I. Was. Gobsmacked. Still am just thinking about it.

#5 Show us why you love a piece of media so much

I am one of “those” people. I have been to see The Rocky Horror Picture Show over 500 times. I have played Columbia and Janet in the revue. I have seen it performed live on stage twice. For the first time in my life I had a group I belonged in. I was accepted.

And when I reached the breaking point of my life – the little broken bit of life raft I held onto was this.

“Don’t Dream It, Be It.”

From there, I rebuilt a life that I wanted, and that I love.

#6 – Something about myself that I love

I am “what you see is what you get”. I do what I damn well please, when I damn well please. Doesn’t mean I don’t love people and sometimes choose to do whatever it is they want to do. It does mean you shouldn’t ask any questions you don’t want the answer to. I’m not binary and I don’t fit into any little box of any kind. I do, however, fit into hollow trees and small caves.

Nominations!

Nominating six bloggers I love without any overlap with bloggers who have had this tag before is going to be impossible. On the other hand, if you like, it will let you gush all over again about some of the other things you love. I mean, just ONE song? I know we can all do better than that!

Bloggers I love including old friends and new and in no particular order:

MoeGamer who I expect to gush about more great old games – and maybe some new ones, too!

Terrance Crow/Crows World of Anime who clearly enjoys sharing the love of anime and blogging.

Irina of I Drink and Watch Anime who I suspect has been tagged with this before – but I’m sure she has some love left to share…

Biblionyan is owned by four cats, what better recommendation is there?

Tiny Ugly Animal is a new friend. I can’t wait to learn more about them!

Shallow Dives in Anime– hah, let’s see you reduce this to an @ 😉

So there, hah. No obligation or anything. But I will say it was very nice today to sit back and contemplate things I love to share, instead of gagging on the news and fretting over things we cannot change.

Blessedbe