ᯓ★ MARLEY !!

I’ll forever stand by the fact he’s socially unintelligent, not emotionally unintelligent

He doesn’t pick on social cues that seem obvious to others, but when someone is openly needing comfort from him, he’s immediately vulnerable and really good at comforting people. He knows how to use a soft tone, he’s not afraid to express that he sometimes feels scared or insecure too if it helps that person feel less alone, he knows how to reassure them. Like his emotional intelligence is above that of your average teen boy.

Even his communication skills are not as bad as he’s bashed for. After he and Els fight in s4 he makes a genuine attempt to talk to her and is actually doing pretty good in this conversation before his insecurities are brought up and he gets defensive and the whole thing crumbles, and he clearly apologised to Will in s4 too and took accountability, and generally if he feels there’s an issue he won’t leave it unspoken

Emotional intelligence isn’t being able to pick up on people being upset when they don’t directly tell you, it isn’t being able to notice if someone has a crush on you, it isn’t being able to read any tone- it’s mostly about having empathy and care for others and knowing how to vulnerable and sensitive !!