June is Pride month, and it feels right to highlight the one character that my readers might fall in love with who won’t respond in kind. Sly is our other host, the wise one, and something of a Bibliophile or a Sapiosexual on the surface. But, under his calm stoic ways, Sly is someone who falls on the LGBTQ+ side of life. We never see him develop feelings for anyone, even if his dark appearance and boozy milkshakes get him a lot of fans. Sly stays focused on the business because he falls more into the Aromantic Asexual category.

I sometimes joke that if this were a fantasy series, Sly would be a centenaries old vampire type. He is quick witted, drawn to conversation but never really speaking too much. He knows you better than you know yourself, but you also don’t get to see much or any of Sly’s past. The characters tease him for being a shadowy ninja for a reason. But, Sly became a fixture anyway. So, in honor of our untouchable host Sly, I dedicate the Pride month kick off post to him. The very man who helped create and also guards our legendary myths in the Red Letters universe.

If Tweety asked Sly to describe himself in a song, the debate would last multiple nights as they talk about music a lot. But one Sly would say captures his essence in music and something of message? Could even be dance moves too, we don’t see the middle of the night when Sly is alone. You can also see where Sly might have been influenced by last week’s character…. (Note- I don’t own any of these videos. I try to use the ones most credited to the artists every time.)

Bad Boy Good Man – Tape Five

Sly is seen as a quiet presence in the book, but he is very strong. The silence makes his wisdom wiser. So we don’t know a lot about Sly from emotions or reactions. We do get a glimpse of his time in training for his position. He softens the harder sharper parts of his loneliness and becomes vital. But in the very beginning? Sly, who gives his full mouthful of a name, distrusts everyone new. So this next song almost feels like his character both in lyrics, in keeping with the new/odd stuff, and how his relationship develops with other characters. He is judgemental, even if he doesn’t mean to be (being a walking dictionary can come off as pretentious in a bar) but he learns to trust our Female Main Character over time with her actions. And that’s the deepest relationship he has in the series. How he is with the former and the new owners, that’s his deepest connections. That said, Sly grows into someone everyone blindly trusts too. He’s a moral compass, a mirror, and yet, still somehow the wizard behind the curtain.

Trust You Like I’m Blind – Matthew Parker

By now you might be wondering what exactly an Aromantic, Asexual slightly silently judging stoic ninja compass of a man does in a bar and nightclub? Besides quote famous quotes and mix boozy milkshakes of course. Well, Sly is a great listener, does have some therapy level advice if you’re able to catch it, and generally likes interesting company. He just has no interest in you outside of the bar, so he lives a bit like this song.

‘Til You And Your Lover Are Lovers Again – Engelbert Humperdinck

It’s my hope that fandoms will enjoy Sly for being the master mystical illusionist with a Sherlock Holmes level brain. Hopefully he inspires you and makes you low key wonder if he’s ever been morally grey, even though he looks so prim and proper. He’ll see you, through you, know you and your desires. He also won’t leave the bar. So if you want time with Sly, you have to stay, sometimes all night to just keep talking to him.

How do you flirt with our gentlemanly scholar then? Try showing off your grammar skills? See if you get that facial tick of a reaction with something funny like this one.

I Love You Period – Dan Baird

The best way to talk to Sly all night long? Discuss music. He can debate the merits of lyrics and mood, tone and tempo, dissect the discography with a deceptive gleam in his eye. And the Beatles have so much material, you might even keep him entertained for the whole night. Especially if you understand why a song like this one speaks to his old and lonely soul.

In My Life – The Beatles

A little bonus content? When I hear Sly in my head, I think of two different spoken word poems. It helps with the verbose nature of Sly’s thoughts even if they are not always on the page as such.

Girl Who Reads – Mark Grist for Roundhouse

This one is a longer one, but it is very much a wordy dictionary thesaurus type of thing that screams Sly’s internal monologue when not given a topic.

Language – Stephen Fry