#even with only a small part on the song the impact is huge

[hyunpic]

everyone is loving the rush remix 🫶🏻

[some-thirst-here]

Pretty shy

Leo x Reader

There was always something good about the acoustics in the gym. Which is why you like sneaking away to sing after school, when there isn't any sporting practice of any kind. You waste no time in slinging your backpack down on the bleachers. You start pulling homework out and singing along to the song coming through your headphones.

"My names Noel. In gym class I mostly duck, and I kinda smell. Puberty really sucks. I like this one guy but he's pretty shy."

You belt out the song while moving around gently to the beat. The next part of the song is louder and you raise your voice to match it.

"He doesn't know who I am, and he doesn't give a damn about me. Because I'm just a teenage dirtbag baby."

Bumping into someone behind you knocks you out of the cosy little world you were just in. Heat crawls up your neck as you turn to see who. It's not one, but four guys you have never talked to. The heroes from the news. Your heart drops into your stomach.

The one in blue reaches a hand out to you, while opening his mouth to speak. Without thinking you flinch back and immediately start cramming the homework right back into the backpack. Throwing your backpack over your shoulder, you bolt. Tripping over your own feet as you run out the doors. You don't see the dejected look on the turtles face.

A moment after April walks up to the guys. "What was even that?" She can't help but ask.

Raph snorts. "They took one look at nardo here and ran." Raph pats Leo's shoulder. "It must be hard being that ugly bro." Leo promptly smacks his hand away.

April frowns, not liking that answer.

*****

For the next few weeks you make yourself scarce. The only glimpse anyone can get of you is the back of your head. You're determined to stay far away from the turtles. It was working pretty well. Unfortunately for you today is a pep rally in the gym.

The whole school is packed in the gym. So many people everywhere. Luckily your headphones do block some of the noise. You decide to sneak up to the top of the bleachers. While squeezing your way up someone knocks into you. The momentum makes you lose your balance. Your backpack is not helping as the weight helps pull you over the guard rail.

A surprised gasp leaves you as you tumble over. Your headphones hit the ground first. Squeezing your eyes closed you try to brace for impact. The sound of sneakers scuffing the floor is all you hear before you land.

"Hey, I've got you. Are you ok?" A voice very close to you asks. It takes a moment for you to open your eyes. You realize the turtle in blue has caught you bride style. He gives you a nervous smile waiting for you to speak.

"Your eyes are brown." You say without thinking. He blinks in confusion. Your heart thunders in your chest. Why did you say that?

You are once again scrambling up and out of the gym. The first thing you do is run and hide in the bathroom. After closing the door, it swings right back open and smacks against the wall. You nearly jump out of your skin. April O'Neil herself is marching up to you. You very visibly gulp. She backs you up to the wall.

"What was that? Do you have some problem with mutants or something?" April asks, clearly annoyed.

"Wh-what? That's not-." Your eyes widen as you try to reply. April raises an eyebrow.

"Well, what is your problem then?" She asks curious. You sigh, your shoulders sagging.

"I just... They saved a whole city. But every time they see me, I look like an idiot." You finally admit. You run a hand down your face. April's eyes widen. Her annoyance dissolving.

"Oh, I wouldn't worry about it. You should try actually talking to them. They're all kind of huge dorks." April gives you a small smile. Thoughts of bacon, egg, and cheese fill April's head. You rub the back of your neck.

"I'm not sure that's a good idea." You mutter. April ignores your protest and grabs your hand to pull you along.

"Well, I mean Leo did just save you from a potentially broken neck, so I think the least you can do is say thank you."

"Oh ,um, right." Heat creeps back up your neck. You don't have to go far as Leo is waiting outside the bathroom. April officially introduces the two of you.

"You dropped these." Leo says holding up your missing headphones. A bright smile spreads across your face.

"Thank you." You say. Leo gently places them into your hands. You pull the headphones around your neck.

"Thanks for catching me too." You say softly looking away from Leo's face.

"Yeah, no problem. It was nothing. Not that you're nothing, you're totally something. It was just easy..to do." Leo rubs the back of his neck. Why did he say it like that?

You can't help, but smile at his rambling. Maybe it wasn't going to be so hard to get along with them.

[hkpika07]

C-C-C-COMBO BREAKER

Did you know Big Engine Brawl by @spaceboid and the rest of the lovely team makes me just a little insane. It’s probably one of my favorite ttte things anyone has ever done ever.

Everything about it is just so prefect and right. Especially with Gordon my blorbo Gordon. I’ll be doing some autistic analysis. Spoilers under the cut!

OKAY. So this has captured gordon so perfectly in my humble opinion. His first song Indignation (perfect name by the way) is GRAND and very idk how to describe it but it feels fancy. Even his facial expressions here are very indignant and apathetic. He’s not really taking this seriously because he thinks he can EASILY win. And I love how later near the end of the song the chart for Gordon’s part gets so overly complicated and more complex. It’s like how he thinks so highly of himself that he pushes himself past what he can physically do. He’s so determined to win that he does more than he can manage because he’s a big engine, he’s supposed to be able to manage it. And he thinks he’s so much better than this random small thing that he’s showing off. And if you learn anything on Sodor, it’s to not show off. AND THEN RIGHT AS HIS SONG IS SUPPOSED TO END HE FUCKING BREAKS AND HURTS HIMSELF BECAUSE HE PUSHED HIMSELF TOO FAR. HE GOT SMACKED DOWN FOR SHOWING OFF. Just like the hill. Also I love that his buffers fall off it reminded me of the cgi episode where his buffers fell off and he had to get huge diesel buffers.

AND HIM CALLING ON HENRY TO HELP. ITS LIKE HOW WHENEVER HE FUCKS UP OR PUSHES HIMSELF TOO FAR HE HAS TO CALL ON OTHERS TO SUPPORT HIM. LIKE EDWARD AND HENRY AND THOMAS.

God and the big finale sone with all 3 of them. I’m gonna go insane I’m gonna eat concrete. Gordon’s angry flushed face as he’s finally taking BF seriously. He’s so FOCUSED. I LVOE how they all work together. At points where James and Henry take up the lead part of the song and Gordon is providing harmony support. I am running around my room I am stimming so hard I think I might explode actually. JAMES AND HENRY’S JUST TIRED APATHETIC FACES TO IT ALL. THEY ARE SO DONE. NOT ONLY WITH BF AND GF BUT WITH GORDON’S UNNEEDED FRUSTRATION ABOUT IT. ALSO WHEN JAMES AND HENRY FIRST COME FOR BACKUP THEIR MUSICAL STYLE REFLECTS THAT. HENRY’S IS LESS GRAND THEN GORDON BUT ITS FAST AND DANGEROUS IT REMINDS ME OF THE IMPACT OF THE FLYING KIPPER. AND JAMES HAS A SLIGHT SWING IN HIS SECTION A LOT LIKE HIS MUSIC.

In short this captures Gordon’s character absolutely perfectly in ways that will make me autistically infodump about it to anyone who will listen. I may have gotten some music things wrong because I am not a musician at all. But I do know Gordon’s character and this is perfect. 1000000/10 PLEASE GO PLAY AND SUPPORT IT

[sweetmariihs2]

I feel like Jessie's background with Emily resonated with me the most because of the way it portrayed girlhood.

The Toy Story movie shows a lot about childhood in a boy's eyes (Andy), he lives in a "boy" room, has "boy" toys, watches "boy" cartoons and even the main characters, at least in the first movie, are all masculine characters. We see the adventures he creates with his toys and most of them are stories of action, with male characters as protagonists, it's not like there's anything wrong with that, but it's more focused in a boy's childhood itself, from the toys, to the media he likes to watch, to the room, and everything.

But Jessie... Jessie had a girl owner. And that only scene, with the "When She Loved Me" song, portrayed that very well. Not only because they added a girl but because the world around Emily and Jessie is a girl world. A "girl" room, "girl" adventures, even the fact that she enjoyed a cartoon fron her time and liked it through a girl's eyes and you girls know what I'm talking about, just has a big emotional impact on me. Some of you reading this post maybe felt like me: had the Monster High fever in 2014. Watched all the Barbie movies. Had everything princess themed.

I like how Emily didn't cared much about gender steriotypes (dresses and makeup) when she was younger, just like Jessie. Most of us don't, and after a specific age we start to care and enjoy. And I liked how the movie emphasized this, that Emily has changed and grown up, but Jessie hasn't. It's almost as if Jessie had a childish soul forever, which in fact is quite real due to the fact that she's a toy. Maybe what Emily left behind stayed in Jessie. I think the fact that Emily was the one who took Jessie out of the box also affected her a lot, because Jessie learned to live through Emily, and whether she liked it or not Emily helped shape her personality, like sharing opinions and liking the same things. I think that was also one of the reasons Jessie got so sad, because she and Emily were so similar and so well-matched that it was almost like losing a part of herself. Emily probably saw herself in Jessie's character, the red hair, the brave and sweet attitude, the cowgirl style and the love for horses.

Many of us identified with a character growing up, for example, I loved Raven Queen from Ever After High and everything about Ever After High, I had products, toys, dolls, even my school backpack, I watched the cartoon and carried my doll everywhere, I made her watch it with me, wanted to have purple highlights in my hair, and I thought she looked so much like me. Today the show was canceled without an ending and the dolls are no longer made. I still have mine, but... do you notice how familiar this story is? (I also didn't liked makeup and clothes much back then.)

When Emily started to grow up she changed, and also started to enjoy things that we, for example, started to enjoy. Makeup, music artists, stylish clothes, which are also part of the huge girlhood experience, one way or another. The little girl that loved Monster High is still in you, but now she's grown up and she enjoys listening to music and getting dressed. I listen to Lana Del Rey and Aurora now, like many of you probably listen to your favorite artists too. I went to concerts and own albums.

And that's why I love Jessie's flashback so much: because while the whole series is based in a boy's childhood, there are some small moments that weren't, and those moments were so perfectly represented, because every girl has a story like this. Yours was with what? My Little Pony? LPS? Barbie?

I feel like the Barbie movie got that really well in some moments too. It's the kind of thing you don't see in media that much. Girlhood truly is an experience.

[farfromstrange]

Matilda | Matt Murdock x Reader

Masterlist

Summary: You left your past behind to start a new life, but the road continues to be rocky even years after getting out of your hometown.

Warnings: Angst, hurt/comfort, talk about childhood trauma, emotionally absent father, daddy issues (not the sexy kind), crying, not proof-read

Word Count: 2k

A/n: Since I saw this song live for the third time ever and I cried my eyes out because lately, I relate a little too much to this song, I thought I'd use my interpretation of it to channel some emotions. You don't have to read it, do with it as you will, but I think some of you might see yourself in this little fic too and it might help you too, maybe even give you some hope for the future. If you get the chance and haven't already, give that beautiful song a listen!

You’re happy. Two words you never thought you would use in the same sentence or context, but it’s true; You are happy. You’ve abandoned the small town you were born and moved to New York City. You have a well-paying job, one that you’re happy with. You’ve pursued your dreams, the dreams so many people have tried telling you not to pursue. You have managed to move out and on and start a life that’s made for you, not the people around you. You’re living for yourself, finally. And then there’s him, Matt Murdock, the man of your dreams. You’ve been dating for two years and although you’ve had your ups and down, you have never been more in love. He’s taught you that you don’t have to please everyone and that your life belongs to you, no one can tell you otherwise. He’s taught you what safety and stability can look like, and he’s taught you how it feels like to be loved and to love someone as unconditionally as you love him. He’s helped you find yourself and you are forever grateful for that. 

When you came to New York, you were broken and looking for an escape. You struggled to get back on your feet after falling out with your family, with your father especially, and you just wanted to forget that your life before ever existed. You truly believed you were broken beyond repair. Most of your relationships in the past had failed and you came to realize that the problem was your choice of men. You didn’t know how to trust someone else, you either got too attached or too afraid of commitment, and that fear carried into all parts of your life to the point you considered crawling back home on your knees and begging for forgiveness for something you didn’t even do. The wounds from your childhood were deep, and you weren’t sure how to heal something that ended up having such a huge impact on you. 

But then Matt came into your life. One day, you were having coffee at your local Starbucks when he walked in. He bumped into you, hitting you with his cane. You remember apologizing profusely, but he told you, “You’re good, it’s not your fault.” He bought you another coffee to replace the one you spilled and you’ve been inseparable since then. 

When he first learned about your family history, he wasn’t surprised. Your tendency to apologize for everything, your fear of loud voices, and the fear of failure that you displayed whenever things weren’t going your way told him everything he needed to know. Although when you told him how deep your wounds truly run, he could only wrap his arms around you and promise you that you were going to be okay. And he was right. 

You got better. You learned how to deal with your past. You’ve got yourself a man who loves you unconditionally and he has been nothing but supportive since. You’ve built a new life for yourself and you’re still growing. Things are going well. It’s the kind of optimism you never fathomed possibly as a child. 

Back then, you lived to please your father and to support your mother after he left, and when he started a new family, blaming yourself for not being good enough became the standard. You grew up thinking everything that went wrong was your fault and that if you had just done better, he wouldn’t have left and started a new family. A family he still treats better than he ever treated you, and while your mom moved on, you grew up trying to fix everything and everyone around you but yourself, and it broke you. That was ultimately the reason why you chose to leave, and you forced yourself not to look back. You don’t want to be the same broken little girl anymore. You’re a grown woman now and your new life offers something your past lacked - love. 

Though when your father called the other day and asked you to join them for family dinner while he is in town, your past turned around to bite you in the ass. 

The door finally falls shut behind you, shielding you from the outside world. The entire evening was spent being forced to watch how much better your father and his new family are doing and it has broken something inside of you that you had spent years trying to fix. You played along, confrontation not being your strong suit, but you had never wished to leave a table so soon. 

Matt looks up from his spot on the couch, one headphone in his ear as he is towered over several case files. You don’t want to bother him while he’s working, but there is nothing you coil slip past him, especially not when you’re already close to tears. He’s told you before, “If something’s wrong or you’re not feeling well, I want you to tell me, no matter what time of day it is or how busy I am. You can talk to me.” You’ve often felt like a burden before, considering he had to teach you so many things you missed as a child, but learning how to ask for help or simply seek comfort without feeling guilty has by far been your greatest challenge that persists up to this day. 

When he hears the change in your breathing and your racing heartbeat, he slowly gets up. “What’s wrong?” he asks softly. 

It’s not the kind of question that should hit you as hard, but it does. And when he opens his mouth to ask again, “Are you okay?” It is game over. 

The first tear slides down your cheek as you press yourself against the door, your eyes directed toward the ceiling. You try to blink away the tsunami that is about to hit, but the sobs are already standing close by, waiting for their moment to shine. 

You hate that, after all this time, your father still has the same power over you, and that you still don’t know better than to let his behavior and his words cut way too close to home. You let his ignorant self break your heart time and time again because even now, the hope that he will find something worth putting effort into you and rekindle your relationship is still a dying flame inside your withering soul. It’s a flower that never truly dies, and it hurts you time and time again. Matt knows that. He hates that you do, but there is nothing that he understands more than craving the attention and love of the parent that has failed to do so before. 

“Sweetheart,” his voice is suddenly so close and when you glance to your left, he is standing there, his arms wide open. 

You shake your head. It’s too much. What you need, you can’t have. 

“Come here,” he says. 

You don’t want to, but at the same time, you do. Your feet carry you over, your body doing the talking your mouth fails to do. The way your shoulders slack tell him parts of the story. 

You fall into his arms, your tears flowing freely now. They stain his dress shirt, but he doesn’t mind. He holds you close to him, rubbing your back, and your sobs vibrate off his shoulder. 

“I hate him,” you manage to choke out. 

He nods. “I know.”

“I fucking hate him!"

“I know, sweetheart. Let it out. You can let it go.”

And so you do. He is your haven, your sanctuary, and you are too tired to fight. 

You remember learning how to ride your bike as a child and accidentally hurting your knee. Like any other child, you cried. Your father told you that it’s no big deal, to push through and move on. That much, you understood and you still do, but he told you the same thing every time you cried. Crying was considered a weakness. Part of you still believes it, which is why you hardly ever cry in front of anyone. As a child, it had never felt especially alarming, but as you grew older, you started to realize how twisted it was to connect emotions to weakness. They’re not. Matt taught you as much, as have all the other new people in your life, your friends, your chosen family. Still, it’s a part of you that you can’t seem to shake, no matter how hard you try. 

Letting it go had never seemed like a possibility before until you met Matt and started anew. On days like today though, you tend to forget, and he has to pick up the pieces of your heart your father has shattered only an hour prior. 

No matter how many times you say that you’re okay with the pain he caused, there will always be a part of you that feels dead inside whenever you think about it, a part that yearns for the childhood you never got to have, and a part that is angry at everything and everyone even though you promised yourself to always be kind, and you try to do so. But sometimes, it’s hard, and Matt knows how hard it is because he is familiar with the feeling of anger. 

He slowly pulls away from the hug to hold your face in his hands. “Whatever he said to you, don’t let it get to you,” he tells you, “because he doesn’t get to have that power over you.”

You sniffle. “It hurts,” you say.

“I know it does, but that’s why you have to let it go. Them, him, all of it.”

“Every time I try, he manages to come back into my life. It’s like I can’t escape him. I just don’t want to go back to where I was before.”

“You don’t have to,” he says and strokes your cheeks. “You’re home with me, right where you belong, and you’re going to be okay.”

Matt lowers his forehead against yours and you close your eyes, inhaling his signature scent and feeling his warmth fill your body with serenity and a sense of safety. You feel less alone in his arms. 

He presses his lips to your forehead before moving on to your lips. “I love you.”

You muster a weak, “I love you too.”

“It’s okay to move on, sweetheart.” He always knows what to say, you have noticed. He speaks from his soul right into yours, and in his arms, you don’t doubt it. You don’t doubt him. You believe him. “You already did, and it’s okay to not want to be confronted with the past again. The next time he wants to talk, just say no. Family is who you feel comfortable with, who you feel loved by, and you don’t feel loved by him,” he says. “Or do you?”

“No,” you whimper. His perception of love is twisted and you have never truly felt loved by him. 

“Then he and his new family are not worth it. You don’t deserve this, you deserve better, and you deserve to be loved.” 

“Why is it so hard to let it go even though it hurts so much?” You swallow a broken sob. “I just don’t understand…”

“It’s a phenomenon hardly anyone understands, but you’re not alone. Not anymore. I’ve got you and I won’t ever let you go, so I’ll help you the same way I always have, okay?” The scars are fresh and Matt tries not to abuse them too hard. He gently tugs you toward the couch and sets you down next to him, pulling you into his chest. 

You curl into him, seeking his love and comfort like a scared little kitten. “I’m sorry,” you say. 

Matt shakes his head, running his fingers through your hair. “You don’t have to be sorry, I just want you to be okay.”

You shudder. 

“You don’t have to be sorry,” he says, “especially not for turning your back on them and doing it on your own.”

And he's right - you don't have to be sorry, and you refuse to be any longer. In his arms, you're finally safe, and you refuse to let the man who ruined your childhood ruin your new life too. Because you deserve happiness, and you don't want to lose it again, whatever it takes.

[candyrain-collective]

Coping With Triggers

triggers. they're hard to deal with. this is an understatement. but you can learn how to cope with them, and you can work on skills to help you lessen their impact on your daily functioning.

completely eliminating triggers in your life is going to be a long process that probably involves a lot of therapy and self-reflection. usually, however, you need to be able to function at this point in your life. so here are some things you can do to make your life a little bit easier in the interim:

Identifying Triggers: the first step of solving any problem comes with identifying them. figure out what types of thoughts and situations specifically trigger you. what are they about? what reminds you of them? write this stuff down somewhere so you can remember it.

Eliminating or Avoiding Triggers: this comes with a disclaimer. eliminating or avoiding triggers should be a temporary measure while you work on overcoming them, else you risk making a trigger into this huge bogeyman that seems unbeatable. no good. but even so, you need to function now, so skip those invites to the bar if you're scared of crowds, or stop putting on the clothes that make you feel terrible in some way.

Anticipating Triggers: if you find that you will probably be triggered by something in the future that you cannot avoid, do your best to prepare for it by reflecting on what helps with coping. you can try meditating, or asking a friend to talk with you about the experience afterwards. prepare some methods of self-care for when the triggering experience is over.

Recognizing Options: oftentimes when we are triggered, we get stuck in tunnel vision mode, where we can only see one way out, or worse, see no ways out at all. try to remind yourself of your own agency by asserting it in small ways, reassuring yourself that you can control some part of the situation. if you cannot control your external situation, try asserting control over your own reactions to the situation, even in small ways. instead of feeling like you have to stay in a crowded bar, give yourself the option to leave! give yourself the option of either looking at the needle or looking away when you're receiving a shot. in the vast majority of situations, you can do something to change either your behavior or the environment. take advantage of that agency.

Grounding, or Distinguishing the Past from the Present: when we get triggered, we often are transported back to the past in some way, whether that is with episodic memories or feeling small or losing a sense of time. try grounding in order to orient yourself to your present location. you can do this with various sensory activities, such as:

putting a cold compress or ice (be safe with this!) on your face

touching a soft blanket and noticing the texture

eating a food and noticing how it tastes on your tongue

chewing on some gum

listening to some sounds of nature, either outside or with a video

humming a song to yourself and noticing the vibrations in your throat

going outside and looking out as far as you can

finding and object and taking your time to notice all its small details

once you find yourself adequately grounded, try changing your environment to make you feel more safe in the present. Wrap yourself up in your favorite blanket, or put on some music that's soothing. Take some time to relax and return to your baseline, whatever that might be.

if you find yourself unable to ground or calm down in the face of a trigger, or you need help doing so: seek help. talk to a trusted therapist or friend or even pet. lean on your support network, whatever that may look like. try journaling or writing all of your bad thoughts down and getting everything out of your head. whatever you do, don't try to ignore it - it can only be repressed for so long. eventually, you're going to have to take the time to take care of yourself.

i hope this post is useful for anyone who deals with triggers! if you have any thoughts or additional tips, feel free to chime in with your input!

[rainynightmoonlight]

More about the Family | Genshin Impact x Male Reader

The description is down below. This is also on my Wattpad and Quotev! Enjoy!

Description: Celetsia's Divinity About you: About you About the family: About the family | (You are here) Prologue: Born from the stars | TBW Chapter 1: A child, the wolf, the dragon, and the god | TBW

WARNING: Talk of abuse, neglect, and other heavy themes. None of these images are mine. Some of the clothing isn't accurate to what they will be wearing during the story.

Y/N'S Family:

Name: Delyth

Age: ??? Desc: She is a being much like an Adeptus but way more powerful. Delyth was sent from Celestia to care for Y/n, since Y/n was causing to much trouble. She loves Y/n dearly, and considers him her own son even if Y/n existed before her. Y/n loves Delyth and admires her so much. Y/n does everything for her, and tries to make her proud of him. She is like a teacher to Y/n. The way she lives forever is through a special treassure, that if taken away, she will start to age normally and be suseptable to human sicknesses. There is only a certain amount of time for her to find a new treasure. Her treasure is her husband Idris. Nation: ???

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Name: Idris

Age: ??? Desc: Idris is the same kind of being as Delyth however his treasure is something else imbuide with an immortal power. Idris loves Y/n dearly and always wants to be around him, trying to be a doting father to Y/n. He spoils Y/n, and Y/n's brother Aisure, with the treasures he finds when he travels. He loves telling stories and preforming the songs he's heard along the way. Y/n loves Idris' stories and writes them down as to not forget them. Idris was a huge part in the Archon war and fought the best he could to protect his family, to protect Y/n. Both him and Delyth were really close with the gods and often had them take care of Y/n. Nation: ???

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Name: Aisure

Age: ??? Desc: He is a god, much like Y/n is. He is the god of Peace and Purity which he would later pass on to Y/n after he dies. He can control light and water. He can heal others and bring peace when one is having anxiety. He adores Y/n and only wishes to protect him. He often follows Y/n around especially when Y/n goes to other nations. The two are very close and Y/n wants to be around Aisure forever. The two take care of each other when their parents are away. Nation: ???

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Name: Vane

Age: 20 (?) Desc: Vane is a man of deception and had found Delyth in a time of vulnerability. He had fallen in love with her and used her to get to Idris' treasure to gain immortality. Y/n was weary of him, and nevr fully trusted him. Y/n was only proven right when Vane left with his fathers treasure, leaving his mom sick and dying. After Delyth died, she took Y/n's memories only to leave the rage and revengeful feelings toward Vane. Nation: ???

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The orphans:

Name: Erin

Age: 19 (?) Desc: Erin was the first Orphan that Y/n took in. He was left in the god's care when he was doing readings on the kids whose parents brought them to him. Erin's parents were dissatisfied with Y/n's reading on the boy, so they just handed him the tiny child. Y/n didn't know what to do, so he brought the small boy to his decaying home. However, after seeing how the living conditions weren't good for him, Y/n had started to rebuild and refurnish his home. When Erin was a little older, he had helped Y/n with the rebuilding. Y/n raised him myself and taught him all kinds of things, and in return he helps Y/n take care of the other kids. The other kids call him Big Bro. He is very childish and plays pranks quite a lot. Nation: Mondstadt

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Name: Lucinda

Age: 13 Desc: Lucinda is a kind girl, but doesn't show it often. She is obsessed with fancy things and loves pretty objects. She was part of a rich family and was constantly hit for not being good enough. She is very flat with her expressions, but is very kind to younger children. Y/n found her when she was on an outing with her family, but lagged behind. He noticed how bruised her neck was and offered to take her home from there. She is seen as a fun killer when the other kids get out of hand. She has high respect for Y/n and only wishes to help. Nation: Mondstadt

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Name: Grace

Age: 3 Desc: Grace is the newest member to the children Y/n has saved. She doesn't speak much out of fear of being hurt. She was very sheltered when she was with her family so she didn't get to experience much, luckily she was saved at a young age by Y/n so she is now safe. She is helped during the Stormterror incident. Nation: Mondstadt

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Name: Cai

Age: 4 Desc: Cai is a lonely and clingy girl that clings to Y/n alot. She is very dependent on Y/n and Erin. She is also super sweet and innocent. Cai also cares a lot about how people perceive her and others feelings. She was conditioned to think this way because of emotional manipulation. I saved her from an attack of hirlichirls after her parents left her for dead. She was 3 when I saved her. Nation: Liyue

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Name: Feng

Age: 14 Desc: Feng is someone who seeks out beauty in everything and is always a “perfect” girl. But her family wasn’t so perfect. She was whipped whenever she didn’t do something right. So she has physical scars of the abuse her parents and maids inflicted. Her maids were jealous so they constantly abused her. Y/n took her when she was in a cellar chained to the floor. Nation: Liyue

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Name: Daiyu

Age: 16 Desc: Daiyu is an intelligent and gentle boy who is very independent. He was a loner and often bullied by the kids in his neighborhood because he had different interests than them that they found strange. His parents soon started to side with the kids and never defended him from this abuse. He was frequently neglected, causing him to be overly independent. He followed Y/n one day when he was lost in the forest, and followed Y/n all the way home. Nation: Liyue

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Name: Hishiomi

Age: 8 Desc: Hishiomi is a very smart girl that works very hard and tries to please those around her. When she is given a task she tries her best to complete it no matter the difficulty. This was because her family pushed her too much to the point where she was always crying in the cold at nighttime, not even being let in the house. Y/n found her outside her house one night and whisked her away to my house. Nation: Inazuma

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Name: Sherubi

Age: 15 Desc: Sherubi is a very happy girl and is always smiling, even when she is hurt. She was forced to put on a happy facade in her family. She was forced to think that she was a burden if she showed any sign of negative emotions. Y/n found her when she was alone in a forest without clothes. He took her in and helped her work through her emotions. Nation: Inazuma

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Name: Akio

Age: 5 Desc: Akio is a shy boy that is easily embarrassed, and he is very attached to stuffed animals he is given by people that he is close to. He has abandonment issues due to the fact that he was always left alone, so he depends on the companionship of stuffed animals. Y/n found him in his house all alone with stuffies surrounding him. He always insists on holding his bunny when doing stuff, saying it's helping him do the work. Nation: Inazuma

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Name: Gyasi

Age: 4 Desc: Gyasi is someone who values every little thing she is given, even if it's a small flower that doesn’t last forever. She is super kind even to things that are considered monsters. Gyasi wasn’t given much and realized she wasn’t normal, well she was, but her family constantly made her seem like a monster. Y/n found her crying on the footsteps of her home. Gyasi is often outside and seen in the forest trying to study the monsters and people.  Nation: Sumeru

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Name: Omari

Age: 13 Desc: Omari loves pranks and making other people smile. He often plays pranks with Erin. He can be careless sometimes but knows when he has gone too far. He was shamed for being sad and weak. So he pushes himself to have a brave face. He was also cut by his mom whenever he was out of line. He has scars from these cuts. Y/n found him outside his home when he was bleeding. Y/n treated his wounds and took him home. Nation: Sumeru

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Name: Lea

Age: 15 Desc: : Léa is a kind girl who is very shy and is always found with animals surrounding her. She had to fight for her food because her parents were never really home. And when they were, they would beat Léa without a reason. Y/n found her when she was scrounging for lizards. Nation: Fontaine

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Name: Alexander

Age: 4 Desc: Alexander was taken 6 months before Grace was taken in. He is a curious boy who doesn’t understand what danger is. He was not given much thought by his family. He was never favored or given much because his parents neglected him, always focusing on his biological older sister. I took him in when Y/n saw him not being given any food for 3 days. Nation: Fontaine

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Name: Charlie

Age: 5 Desc: Charlie is a shy boy that is weary of others but is very connected to nature. He was beaten by his mom and dad for the strange markings on his face, but Y/n took him. He has lived with Y/n and the others happily. He is also super well taught in reading and fighting.  Nation: Fontaine

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Name: Daniel

Age: 6 Desc:  Daniel is a boy cut off from society. He is often irritable and doesn’t like to talk to others about anything, but never means to hurt others feelings. This is because he was conditioned to not talk and stay in line or else he would starve. Y/n found him passed out on the roads and took him in. Nation: Natlan

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Name: Felix

Age: 9 Desc: Felix is a super sweet boy always ready to help but is incapable of doing much because he doesn’t have much skill. His family conditioned and raised him without teaching him anything and always making him do the work. But since he didn’t know how to do it he always did it wrong which resulted in a beating. Y/n took him in when Y/n saw him being beaten up for doing the laundry wrong. Nation: Natlan

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Name: Jax

Age: 12 Desc: Jax was homeless and always running away from foster families. He was a victim of people’s ignorance and them thinking someone else will save him. He is a very obedient child who does what he’s told, but has an intolerance for people who are rude to him and his family. Y/n found him when he was freezing to death. He is one of the most hardworking out of all the orphans. Nation: Snezhnaya

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Name: Fae

Age: 10 Desc: Fae is an outgoing girl who loves to talk and enjoys a good conversation, even if someone is just listening. She was often hit for talking too much by her dad because he thought kids and women shouldn't be gifted with a voice. She pushes herself to prove to people that she isn't useless. Y/n stopped her from getting slapped once, and he took her in from there. She loves talking and exploring around the area. Nation: Snezhnaya

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Do not repost or translate without my explicit permission! Reblogs are welcome!

[mostofthingsmostofthetime]

Omg just watched episode 2 of Distant Lands & I'm screaming.

Now, don't get me wrong, I definitely shipped Bubbleline before, but this episode had me INVESTED!!!!

Ahhr, I don't even know where to start?

The glass kingdom is so beautiful. I don't care how impractical it'd be, I wanna live there.

Marceline's old look was so awesome!!!!!! like, don't get me wrong, she always looks good, but I know WLW were being fed this episode, lol. As for me, I want Bubblegum's wardrobe STAT as not only is it a pastel lover's dream come true, but all the clothes look so soft (which I don't know how they manage to convey in 2D but they did).

Domestic Bubbleline has my entire heart forever, bye!!!!

Am I correct in seeing the friendship between glass boy & See Through princess as a parallel to Finn & Bubblegum's early friendship? Like tall, beautiful royal that's bogged down by her duty vs small, younger(?), disabled (which Finn later ends up becoming), blue boy who starts feeling dismissed/not taken seriously by his older(?) friend & wants to help/be a hero despite not having any powers (ok, so Finn has lightning amuinty, but that didn't come till much later)? Plus, there's the whole fire monster trying to kill him only for it to turn out to not be so bad, like when flame princess was introduced, & turning into (what looks to me like) some kind of a butterfly at the end, which we know was one of the things Finn was reincarnated as in a past life.

Those royal helpers (or whatever they're called) suck ass.

Simon, I love you!!!! Also, Ignore those monsters. Wear that moomoo & crown if it helps you cope.

They bubble wrapped him!!!! I'm crying, that's the sweetest, funniest & most practical way to go about it though like dude, you're litrually made of glass & already have a cracked face. You need to be way more careful about your obvious fragility.

I'm sorry, Bonnie, but the song does slap.

This is the major Bubblegum betrayal that I've been hearing about? Omg you have to be kidding. Like, I'm not saying you HAVE to love her as a character, but you really had me scared she was gonna do something absolutely twisted & it turned out to be.....this? Like, don't get me wrong, her reasoning wasn't the best & it was definitely bad of her to keep it from Marcleline, but do we really want characters without flaws & why are some fans seemingly convinced that Bubblegum is the sole AT character (especially out of her & Marcleline) that has any? Like the episode litrually gives us serval scenes from both of their POV's to show us that they each have good & bad qualities, streaths & weaknesses, baggage/insecurities & don't always handle everything the best way (especially in the past) but that they clearly love each other & are now in a much better place. Where they are willing to learn & grow & be vunrable by actually talking things out & apologising if they do something that hurts the other. Also wasn't, overcoming past hurts that are impacting your current, hard earned happiness by realising that you can't always be right/win all the time & that it's not always worth it if it means loosing what really matters to you, a huge part of the theme of the episode?

Mama Marcleline, we finally get more of your backstory & god dose it hurt. RIP queen, you did the best you could (am still scared to find out how you ended up pregnant though coz like, Hunson's a freak LMFAO!). Also, baby Marcy, I wanna hug you so bad 💔😭.

Ok, that song is so fucking cute that it makes me wanna bite my own cheeks off & eat them, and no, I don't care that that doesn't make sense.

That's how she got the band shirt? Omg, shoot me dead!

Oh, Simon, you know those banana guards can't do shit lol.

Omg Finn!!!!! Ok, so I kind of already saw that visual (being online, you can only avoid spoilers for so long), but still. My man, looking good. No prostetic? That's probably nice for amputees to see. The Jake Tattoo makes me both happy & sad because, on the one hand, it shows how much they love each other, but on the other, he probably got it because Jake is dead in this time period (I'm assuming).

Omg, grown-up Bronwyn is so cute 🥰!!!!!!!!

All the other cracks being revealed in others was a lovely touch. Thinking about the cracks as flaws or imperfections (or truma like the "damage" people accuire through being alive) & how society demonises that to the point where people feel like they have to hide them & then lash out at others who can't or refuse to hide theirs. Also, love the princess getting pants, lol. The angry monster secretly having a cracked face the whole time got me ok . Like, no wonder it hated the palace for how they acted towards glass boy. When it first saw him, it was probably so happy to know that someone like it existed & then was so hurt that Glass Boy was trying to change himself to be like everyone else.

Yes, Glass boy, kill those assholes!!!!! I hate hypocrites. It's sadly realistic, though. Sometimes, it really is the people with the most flaws who wanna condemn people the most.

[bbygirl-aemond]

I’m really curious where you come up with prophecies and Valyrian lore from? It’s canonically different as Vermithor and Vhagar aren’t siblings. Nor are there any confirmed prophecies about Aemond. There are no multiple dragon riders, even Danaeyrs only rode Drogon. Is the lore canon divergence, or your interpretation of what cannon could be?

Yeah sure I'm happy to compile all of my reasoning for the different magical decisions! I've grounded all of these decisions in different parts of canon, and took a ton of care to make sure I never once explicitly contradicted canon laws surrounding things like magic and dragon heritage. So even if you disagree about the source material I've based these decisions off of, you at least have to acknowledge I haven't violated anything by introducing this lore. I'll mention my sources more explicitly below, but I've drawn from A Song of Ice and Fire, House of the Dragon, Fire and Blood, The World of Ice and Fire, and remarks made by House of the Dragon's showrunners and actors. So let's go through it (for other Stormbreak readers, there might be some interesting hints in here...):

Vhagar and Vermithor

First, a tiny correction: Vhagar and Vermithor aren't siblings in Stormbreak. They're parent and child. This isn't confirmed in canon, but there's a ton of evidence to suggest it, drawing from Fire and Blood and House of the Dragon. According to canon, Vhagar and Vermithor are the only two dragons alive during the Dance with multiple, highly-specific features: Their size, their coloring, and even their bone structure. I've written about this biology aspect in more detail here and here.

It also fits very well into GRRM's narrative arc for Vermithor to have hatched from either Vhagar or Balerion's egg. Jaehaerys with Vermithor is set up as a direct parallel to Aegon on Quicksilver. Aegon dies fighting Maegor, who's riding Balerion, specifically because his dragon is too young and small. Vhagar was still bonded to Visenya at the time, so the next best option for a thematic match to Balerion would be either Vhagar or Balerion's offspring.

Additionally, it's significant that Rhaena, who's coded as a potential dragon dreamer, is the one who puts this egg in Jaehaerys's cradle. Perhaps she foresaw some part of the conflict that would happen, and knew Jaehaerys would need a formidable dragon that would allow him to go up against Balerion and Maegor. I've written about this in more detail here.

Even if you don't believe Rhaena's a dreamer, it's canon that the tension between Maegor and Aenys existed long before Aegon or Aenys ever died and Rhaena would have known her family's political position was very precarious. In this case, it makes even more sense for Rhaena to use Vhagar's egg specifically; at the time Jaehaerys was born, the only dragon on Maegor's side was Vhagar. It would make sense for Rhaena to want to arm her family against the dragon she knew would fight for Maegor's claim and would be trying to counter Vhagar in particular with her choice of egg. And what better counter to a gargantuan dragon than its own child, guaranteed to also be huge?

Aemond as a dragon dreamer

There are a few different parts to why I felt Aemond could have a connection to the future. My sources for this are the HotD showrunners, Aemond's actor, and the ASoIaF series.

I drew inspiration from the writers of House of the Dragon, who talked with Aemond's actor at length about intentionally basing his character off of the myth of the cyclops from Greek and Roman mythology. The cyclops has only one eye because he traded the other for knowledge of his future death. This idea of trading an eye for foresight is pretty common throughout mythology; another example is the god Odin from Norse mythology. From the interview, it's clear that Aemond has some knowledge of the future, because the actor was specifically asked to consider how that knowledge would impact Aemond's personality when deciding how to portray him. I've talked more about this here if you're curious!

The interview then made me wonder whether there might be reasons for two of Alicent's children having explicitly confirmed abilities to see the future (though to varying degrees). So in Stormbreak, the dreaming abilities of Aemond, Helaena, Jaehaera, and the fourth mystery dreamer are all related to their Hightower heritage. I've based this on canonical theories by the Maesters as to how House Hightower originated, plus canonical details about the structure/foundation of the Hightower itself.

As a hint: According to The World of Ice and Fire, the Hightower is built upon a second, much older fortress of unspecified origin. It's made of fused black stone and contains "gloomy halls, vaults, and chambers," so it's a veritable castle/fortress in and of itself. I wonder where else we might find fused black stone in the ASoIaF universe...?

Multiple dragon bonds

This is going to be the shortest part of this ask, because I've already explained everything in a separate post here, but maybe you had some trouble navigating my blog and couldn't find it. For your future reference, I have a document here with a directory of every post I've ever made. If you navigate using the outline on the left-hand side, you'll be able to get pretty easily to the portion that deals with my posts related to Stormbreak.

TLDR: The multiple dragon thing isn't an Aemond-specific ability. None of these things are. And if some of y'all would wait until the fic is finished to come after me for unfairly favoring him, you'd understand that! I mean, I have 2+ members of Team Black planned to end up with two dragons. It's a Targaryen thing, and they're all Targaryens, so statistically it's going to happen.

Part of reading a WIP is that you need to have faith in the author; if anyone struggles with that, they should stay away from WIPs in general, including this one. Remember, that's the joy of fandom- you get to choose to engage with the content that best fits your preferences!

[meta-squash]

One of the strangest and most depressing things about streaming old(ish) contemporary media (as in, from the 90s and early 00s) that originally came out on DVD is loss of music rights.

In 2020 while recovering from top surgery I rewatched Queer As Folk for the first time in a decade, but I had long since given my DVDs to a friend, so I watched it on amazon.

By far one of my favorite scenes that is intensely affected by the musical score is the scene at the very end of season 1 when Justin is gay bashed and then there are a series of shots of him being loaded into/out of an ambulance, Michael getting Brian's phone call, and Brian and Michael waiting in the hospital while Brian cries. And over all of this is Parce Mihi Domine by Jan Garbarek & The Hilliard Ensemble, an absolutely beautiful piece of music.

But evidently the rights to that song have been lost, and instead it has been replaced with some unidentifiable royalty-free song with violins and choral background and a woman vocalizing.

It's something that I think doesn't really get talked about, but music selection for movies/television shows usually isn't done arbitrarily. Music is a huge part of creating atmosphere in a scene, conveying mood or even giving a scene an underlying symbolism or metaphor. And in a show like Queer As Folk, where a huge percentage of the show takes place in clubs or bars, music selection is really, really important.

Also, the scene that uses Parce Mihi Domine is the final scene of the season finale of the first season. The song was chosen for maximum emotional impact so that viewers will remember the scene and remember the show and want to come back to it.

It worked. I'm pretty sure Parce Mihi Domine was one of the first songs off the QAF soundtrack that I downloaded onto my ipod.

But now, unless they're watching the DVD (or a pirated stream maybe), a viewer is not going to get the same experience, with the same musical impact. (This is not the only song that was replaced on the QAF soundtrack, btw.)

I just find it so sad, and it's just another small detail within the layers of not owning media.

[for-a-home-that-once-was]

if someone wanted to really understand you, what would they read, watch, and listen to?

Oh that's a good question, hard one too, so prepare for wall of text. 😂

Before i dive into answering the question i have to say that music, movies/tv series or books only show part of me. And again it's hard for me to say because i have personality disorder and that's where it gets tricky, while yes, media and books did and still do form me as a person they only give you a small glimpse and i'm not sure if it would make someone really understand me. To actually understand me a person would need to talk to me personally, also to know history of my country and know what was happening in Europe and in my country when i was growing up, to know a lot about mental illnesses and disorders and adhd and autism and abuse. Because all these things contributed a lot to who i am today.

Now back to the question. I'll start with music because music is a big thing in my life. Nightwish, Avantasia, Edguy and Rammstein are the bands that had the biggest impact on me and still do. Especially lyric wise. Oomph!, Iron maiden, Satyricon, Taake, Arch Enemy, Amon Amarth, Tarja, Faun, Corvus Corax, E nomine, Wintersun, Twisted Sister, Queen, Wardruna, Lord of the lost, Hardline, Triptykon, Rotting Christ, Eluveitie, Eivor, Manegarm, Heilung, Beast in Black, Battle beast.... All these bands and many more are something that a person should listen to in order to understand parts of me. I also want to mention Michael Jackson as his music was and still is a big thing in my life and even when i was in my early teens and didn't understand English well, i vibed with his music so well and i liked him as a musician and felt connection too. Then i also want to mention Lady Gaga, Hayley Kiyoko and pop music in general. I wasn't raised metalhead from my childhood and for almost up until 15 years i mainly listened to pop music and even know i do sometimes because some songs are just way too relatable.

Now movies/tv series. I grew up with LoTR movies mostly but also The Matrix and Harry Potter. Lord of the rings had the biggest impact on me tho. I've watched so many movies that it's hard to actually name all of them. Schindler's list, Shawshank redemption, Monster house, Spirited away, Howl's Moving Castle, some of Marvel movies like Iron Man or Thor, Insidious, The Witch, Gladiator, Ratatouille, Repo: The genetic opera, The handmaiden, Millennium. That's all i can remember for now. Now tv series. Sherlock, The Vikings, Loki, Peaky blinders, Game of thrones, Our flag means death, Netflix Ragnarok, His dark materials, Stranger things, Westworld, Hannibal, Halt and catch fire, Twin peaks.

And now books, so as i said i grew up with LoTR movies but before that it was books for me, so i became a lover of Tolkien stuff at very early age. Of course Harry Potter too, i have all 7 books but they never made that huge impact as LOTR did. His dark materials trilogy, Silva rerum books, Dracula by Bram Stoker, Forest of the gods by Balys Sruoga, The trial by F. Kafka, The gospel of Loki by J.M. Harris, Dina;s book trilogy, Name of the rose by U. Eco, Foucault's Pendulum by U. Eco, Americon gods by N. Gaiman, The dark tower series by S. King, Petro imperatorienė by K. Sabaliauskaitė. I think that's about it.

Sorry for such a big wall of text but i can't respond to this any differently. 😅

[funkyphonophorae]

Tell me about the cubes.

assuming you mean geometry dash, unfortunately there is no angsty gd cube lore for you to hear of, but i can tell you about some of my favourite levels in no particular order!!!! (decoration and vibes-wise, i am not about to actually beat these anytime soon unfortunately)

xo by krmal

xo is a very controversial level because many think it is "lazy" as it uses extremely basic blocks with no decorations on them whatsoever. the most complicated it gets decoration-wise are the effects which are cool but not particularly flashy. this is why people don't like it and don't think it is worthy to be officially uploaded onto the servers.

however, i really like xo!!! it has genuinely incredible music sync, surprisingly well thought-out design and extremely interesting structure for the limitations the creator was putting on himself!!! levels like xo are great because of how original they are. in times like these ones for the community, where most extreme demons are generic glow with tight wave spam and straightfly as the only reason they are difficult, xo isn't afraid to completely challenge the oversaturated market of extreme demons by prioritising making an interesting level over making one that exists only for it to get attention for being on the demonlist (top 150 hardest levels in the game).

i'll put the rest under a cut because WOW i didnt expect to rant that much about xo...

2. LIMBO by mindcap + more

limbo is very hard to describe because, as cheesy as it sounds, its less of a level and more of a visual experience. even just watching a run of this level (which almost every player will have to do since it is very difficult) is surreal. there is so much creativity poured into every section of limbo that sets it apart from other levels. it is also incredibly consistent for a megacollab (a level where lots of people made small parts of it) but each part still feels distinct enough to be memorable while keeping to a central theme.

3. killbot by boldstep

killbot has one of the coolest concepts for an extreme demon out there. the supposed "story" behind the level is that the player has downloaded a corrupted computer program that is out to kill them (hence the name, killbot), and throughout the level textboxes appear showing the system attempting to delete the killbot virus. the level starts out green and as it progresses, turns into red and black as the virus corrupts more and more parts, until finally at the end the virus is said to have been forcefully deleted.

the level kinda hurts to look at because of all the flashing and general air decoration but still maintains a very cool atmosphere. it does not look fun to play though.

4. decode by rek3dge

finally a level within my skill range! decode is a simple level, but very effective. it has a great song, a certain iconic wave section, and it technically isn't anything special, but who cares. i've never seen anyone hate decode. it's a universally loved level, which is incredibly rare for the gd community, and even rarer considering its rated demon (albiet only easy demon).

fun fact: spaceuk, the perpetrator of one of the game's most shocking and destructive hacking scandals, beat decode as his first ever demon level.

5. emerald realm by castrix + more

this level is based on ori and the blind forest/ori and the will of the wisps, which are great games so that already makes this level super cool. but i think i speak for everyone who's ever seen this level when i say that emerald realm has some of the most beautiful decoration in any gd level. you can appreciate emerald realm as a piece of art regardless of whether you've played the ori games or not. (yes, culuc's part is obviously the best one, all hail culuc, etc).

6. jigsaw

nothing extraordinary about this one...but it's a saw-themed gd level that looks super cool. so of course it's one of my favourites, even if it's not had a huge impact on the community.

7. congregation by presta

(insert funny congregation jumpscare meme). congregation is controversial, similar to xo, because it has less than 40,000 objects, which doesn't sound like much to someone unfamiliar with the game - but the current hardest level has over 200,000 objects. so naturally some people were irritated when congregation was rated - another case of a level being seen as "lazy" by a large number of the community.

but...congregation is so cool! it has a technological atmosphere emphasised with a fitting song that creates a feeling of mystery, unease, and the incredibly long build up to the drop of the level as more and more things begin to appear that makes it surprisingly suspenseful. the second section of the level does bring it down for me but this is still a great example of an extreme demon that stands out from the rest.

also, it has no wave or ship, the gamemodes that extremes usually rely on to create difficult segments, which makes it even more original!

8. b by motleyorc and scorchv2

b is a medium demon set in a beehive. you must navigate the beehive while avoiding some scarily large bees with ._. faces. simple but effective level that pretty much everyone loves.

oops it is now 11:21pm i should probably sleep now. yay

[lageografiademicamino]

How should voting system be changed in Eurovision?

So..... Community is buzzing about the results of the Grand Final and especially the voting system. I find it unlikely EBU wouldn’t change the system in somehow considering how huge is the people’s reaction and they did drop the juries from semifinals last year so... Anyhow here are some options. 

1. JURIES ARE DROPPED FROM EUROVISION ENTIRELY 

France 2023. 

I don’t think this will happen. First of all, there are too many delegations and countries that benefit from the jurers. Second, it wouldn’t change the problem. Last year folks were crying why Juries didn’t stop Ukraine winning with sympathy televotes. People don’t always know the best and we do make decisions based on politics etc soo.. Every year we’re not happy with either side of voting system but I do believe we need both sides to continue in the contest. 

2. JURIES PERCENTAGE WILL BE DROPPED 

Currently jurers hold 50% of the votes in the final (semifinals it’s only televote). In some national finals their percentage is less and people votes have more impact. If this scenario did happen, would it be 30%? 40%? 45%? 

Ukraine 2023. 

3. JURERS WILL BE INCREASED TO ADD DIVERSITY OF THE VOTES 

Currently there are 5 jurers / country. Would adding more people bring diversity of giving the points? Because they often are surprisingly aligned on their big favourites. They should be musical professionals or media professionals experticed in music industry and they’re not allowed to talk about the acts to each other or have any connection to the delegations, artists etc. 

4. BRINGING IN 3RD VOTES (TELESCOPIC)

Georgia 2023. 

Sanremo and Benidorm Fest use Telescopic votes. I think they have 15-25% impact to the final points. This might help to smoothe the biggest differences between audience and the jurers or make the final decision in some cases perhaps. 

5. KEEPING JURERS BUT MAKING JURY SHOW PERFORMANCES PUBLIC 

Currently only the audience that bought the tickets to Jury shows and press sees the actual Jury show. Would it be better to add visibility here by publishing the performances later on Youtube? 

Armenia 2023. 

6. KEEPING JURERS AND CHANGING CRITERIA 

So the current criteria being: 

Vocal capacity of the artist(s)

Performance on stage

Composition and originality of the song

Overall impression of the act

Every year the entries outside of pop genre seem to be receiving less Jury love. Jurers should represent different genres and parts of the industry though to appreciate rock, rap entries for example. I wonder is the singing overly hyped in the criteria and should there be different guidelines for it because you can’t judge pop song singing and rock song singing in the same way. 

7. KEEPING JURERS BUT MAKING THEM VOTE ALL THE ACTS 

Croatia 2023. 

Again to make the jury votes more even and less in favour for the big favourites only, would it help if they’d judge ALL the entries? Having limitations on how many 12 points etc you can give of course. This would also solve the zero points dilemma. 

8. KEEPING JURIES BUT CHANGING TELEVOTING TO VOTE 3 ACTS WITH THE SAME PRICE 

In Junior Eurovision public must choose 3 different acts I believe. Not sure how this would work but it would help diving the points instead of people voting for their one and only favourite. In years like these when we have such a strong televote favourites like Finland and Sweden, they tend to suck all the votes and there isn’t much left to anyone else. We saw the televote scores being quite small even for songs that were loved (Austria, Moldova, Czechia etc)

Portugal 2023. 

9. KEEPING THE JURIES BUT CHANGING TELEVOTING FOR FREE

They do this in Melodiefestivalen I think. They’ve built up an app just for voting where voting is free. Again people wouldn’t just vote for the number 1 favourite but several acts and this would also perhaps prevent the unpleasent zero points situations. 

What are your thoughts on the voting system in Eurovision and how would you change it? 

[noblest-roman-of-them-all]

Over the last few years I have been writing birthday and thank you letters to each of the Sides on their "birthday"/appreciation days in lieu of fanart, so it seems fitting to continue that tradition today and wish a very happy birthday to Thomas himself. Both the character and creator of Sanders Sides. And to say thank you.

It's hard to put into words just how much this series has meant to me, especially in the last three years or so. It's helped me to find the courage to be passionate about writing again, to be comfortable in my body and make choices in fashion that make me happy, to feel safe exploring my sense of self. It's had a really huge positive impact on my life.

I remember going to see Welcome to Night Vale live for the first time and on the way up my friend handed me their phone and said "Look up Sanders Sides. I need you to watch it and tell me what you think."

And I will be honest, my initial thought was "This is a little cheesey", but in retrospect I think that was just a little bit of a defensive wall coming up. As I watched the series by binging that weekend, I felt a little more seen than I had before and I didn't know exactly how to phrase it other than, "That's kinda how my brain works too.".

And that is a big part of why I kept coming back to it. Because I felt seen. Then last year I was diagnosed with OSDD (otherwise specified dissociative disorder) and a few things clicked into place in my brain. I understood the why of it. I understand that this series isn't meant to be about DID and I'm not saying it should be, but for me personally, as someone with a dissociative disorder and part of a system, it was refreshing to see something mirror close to my experiences. It was huge to me. I felt less ashamed or embarrassed, less strange or weird for the way my brain worked. I finally had something to point to and say, "that's like me!". And I really think that that helped me accept my diagnosis. There are several alters in my system that have been helped by this series as well, that have felt seen and represented in the struggles they hold for our system. For some of them, it's helped thrm find their own sense of self. It's helped us heal. And I'm really grateful for that.

And it's not just this series. I remember watching the 33 lessons from 33 years livestream. And I don't know which number it was, but talking about putting on a mask and it being hard to feel like a real person. I had only been aware of my system for what it truly was about four months at that time. And having a sense of self was...shaky at best for me, but there was a sense of solidarity that came from that. It was comforting to know I wasn't the only one who experienced those kinds of feelings. It helped me to feel more like a person to hear someone else say that they also struggle with that concept.

Even things that could be considered as small as the tweets you share. For me, seeing someone else so openly share their experiences with things like body image issues, or like skin and scalp issues. It reminds me that I am allowed to acknowledge that I struggle with those things. Upon first glance I don't look like someone who would so I try to pretend I don't, and I end up feeling worse for it. But seeing your example of being open, it helps me to remember that those are just normal things that people deal with, and I don't have to feel ashamed for being one of them.

Don't even get me started on the Trying too Hard music video... The thing about OSDD/DID, it's caused by trauma in earlier childhood. And at that time I was really struggling hard with coming to terms with that. I was trying to be strong about it, learning to cope with the the plot I'd been given. And that song gave me so much hope. My brain, my system, it didn't choose to be divided. That's just what happened because of our circumstances, it was decided for us in a lot of ways. But we are strong and we are tough and we're learning to fit this plot that we've got. And we're learning to see each other and ourselves for who we are. It took me so long and so many loops of that song to be able to name that big explosive feeling in my chest. But it really helped me to feel so hopeful about our future together as a system.

There are a lot silly things I've taken from this series. To this day when things just aren't working out I still throw up my hands and say, "there's no winning at Christmas!" and it makes me smile and helps release some frustration, every time I hear "cognitive distortion" I echo "Häagen-Dazs dispersion". Every time. Even in therapy. It's an issue. But it makes me smile. Also without fail, I get called out when Taurus jokes are made. I have never put any stock in Zodiac related things before, but now I'm half wondering if there's something to it because without fail, I get called out. There are lots of little joys that this series has brought me. But there are also some incredible lessons that I've learned. And I will forever be grateful for that.

So thank you, so very much, Thomas. And happy birthday.

@thatsthat24

[daincrediblegg]

ok children gather 'round because all of these kindof have the same answer and I am way too passionate about this subject and the history behind it that I physically cannot remain silent about it

So if you were a 90's kid like me, you grew up with this film on VHS. if you were also like me, then you probably remember it very differently from how it was released recently both in blu-ray and on streamer formats and probably were freaking out thinking this was some kind of mandela effect for years: and THIS IS BECAUSE. THERE IS A CRUCIAL SCENE MISSING. AND LITERALLY I CANNOT STRESS THIS ENOUGH. THE TWO MINUTES CUT KINDOF CHANGE THE EMOTIONAL IMPACT OF THE WHOLE MOVIE??? and allow me to explain why.

That video above it the Deleted Song "When Love is Gone" was ONLY EVER featured on the VHS release of The Muppet Christmas Carol that came out through the 90's. Why? because initially, some uppity disney executive market tested it and went "kids are gonna get antsy with that and not like it" so they cut it then for the theatrical release, but then Brian Henson (director, son of JIM) somehow managed to get it into the VHS cut of the film. Kinda went rogue about it if memory serves. Now, as a child, this was kindof... a huge part of the movie for me? like I remember listening to it and crying a bit as a kid because this one song is just... so emotional? like seriously. other than the fact that it's being sung by Meredith Braun (who at one point played Eponine in Les Mis, and you gotta have some SERIOUS pipes to do that) AND Michael Cain, and it's a love song in a way, like it's very clear that she still cares for Ebenezer but she recognizes that her love for him is different than his love for her and she has to leave him, meanwhile THE MAN IS BEHIND HER CRYING AND SHE DOESN'T EVEN SEE HIM AND CLEARLY IT'S THE BIGGEST REGRET HE HAS And honestly? That's a HUGE part of what made it stand out for me as a child. Like. The muppets themselves were all fun and good but then you have this song for a second... and it really feels true to the dickensian spirit guiding the whole film, and it's what's made it to me the most true to form adaptation of his yet. It's phenomenal. And this dumbass disney exec said "it's too adult emotional for the kids" (an argument that always has and will always continue to be completely fucking stupid).

So then what happened? why didn't they put it in the DVD and Blu Ray releases that have come out throughout the years? Well, literally DISNEY LOST THE FOOTAGE. APPARENTLY. so when they went to restore it and reformat it for those releases AND THEN SUBSEQUENTLY for the streamer release, it was literally missing. and Brian Henson has been asking them to look for YEARS. FINALLY they found it back in 2020, and then only last year did they upload the fully restored version that you see me ranting and raving about.

"But Egg", you ask, "why does this matter? What does this small 2 minute sequence change about this movie SO MUCH that it merits a huge ass post about it that is making people confused?"

Because let me tell you friends. Belle does not seem very significant and kindof pointless to flashback to without that song. It's like ok. she's there. She tells Ebenezer she's breaking up with him. and then... THE MUPPETS CRY ABOUT IT??? and that's it. That's all you get. you don't get any of the sense of how deeply this affected this guy- the LITERAL PROTAGONIST THAT YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO CARE ABOUT. And it's all because, again, say it with me folks: the dipshit disney executive said "It's Too Emotional For Children".

Not ONLY that. But THIS SONG IS LITERALLY THE REPRISE THEY SING AT THE END OF THE FILM. WHICH. LET ME TELL YOU. IT'S FUCKING WEIRD FOR THAT TO LITERALLY COME OUT OF NOWHERE COMPLETELY LEFT FIELD AS A NEW SONG AT THE END. Like it makes no sense. ok sappy sentimental "the love we found" all right. BUT REMEMBER. THE ORIGINAL LYRIC IS "LOVE IS GONE". IT'S SYMMETRY. IT'S POETRY. IT'S FUCKING VITAL. An the movie is good as it is but literally trust me this makes it infinitely better when you see it as a whole. Please. Just trust me on this. Thank you and goodnight. oh yeah and here's a decent article that talks about it and that shall serve as my source for a lot of this

you're welcome

OK THIS IS NOT A FUCKING DRILL EVERYONE FUCKING REPEAT AFTER ME. THIS IS WHAT YOU WILL DO WHEN YOU WATCH MUPPET CHRISTMAS CAROL THIS YEAR:

You will navigate to the page on disney plus (and it has to be here. Unless someone has actually uploaded the REAL movie anywhere else you cannot get it elsewhere)

BUT YOU WILL NOT HIT PLAY. You won’t do it. Because it’s NOT THE REAL VERSION OF THE FILM AND DISNEY IS FUCKING LYING TO YOU AS IT ALWAYS DOES

You will scroll down HERE. To EXTRAS instead. You MUST GO HERE. This is non -negotiable

THEN YOU WILL SCROLL DOWN TO THE BOTTOM OF THE EXTRAS AND YOU WILL THEN HIT PLAY ON THIS BAD BOY: THE FULL LENGTH VERSION

And you will watch it. And you will thank me for having been so blind and led astray by that stupid fucking mouse. You’re welcome.

[ijustwantedtobeoneofthestrokesuk]

Believe The Hype

Sheffield

Conor McNicholas “Arctic Monkeys killed the NME. I went to see them on the small band stage at Reading Festival, couldn’t get in the tent and kids were singing every word to songs they hadn’t been released yet, they hadn’t even had an NME cover yet. We’d lost control of the conversation. After that, we knew they were going to big but not to the extent that they did.”

The Strokes were the catalyst of this story, their success put the spotlight on New York and it gave the bands who had been struggling before they had even formed an opportunity to strive. Then it was The Libertines who set London on fire but they burned out before the scene exploded but again, they weren’t then first band doing it. This story can only end with one band, who destroyed it for all of the others, simply because, they were better. Everything changed when Arctic Monkeys arrived and they took it in their own hands.

Blaine Harrison (Mystery Jets) “The first time I encountered Arctic Monkeys was a tiny support show we were playing for a long-gone indie band called Dogs in Stockton in Yorkshire in 2005, and Arctic Monkeys were first on the bill. No one knew of them yet but we’d heard their demos through the producer of our first album, James Ford.  

There was about 6 of us in the room when they came on to play, but as soon as Alex stepped up to the mic: ‘Last night these two bouncers…’ we all knew we were watching something very special. When their demos surfaced they spread across the internet like wildfire and were headlining festivals within a year. In terms of their impact, it was incredible to see a band whose lyrics took the idiosyncratic eccentricities of being British and made it on such a huge level. For the first time since Blur maybe. I guess a good riff is global. Maybe that’s the secret. Riffs transcend language barriers.” 

It’s hard to put a defining moment for the band that changed everything...  

Their first gig was nothing to write home about and the early material didn’t stand out but once they cracked the code, something changed for Sheffield’s Arctic Monkeys who’ve not stopped dropping classics ever since. The amount of people trying to watch them at Reading & Leeds Festival, before they had released anything was madness, their (proper) debut single went straight in at number one, as did the record-breaking album. Then there are the headline slots at Glasto and how their sound has naturally evolved over each album. Arctic Monkeys have consistently hit milestones that any band would be proud. All of this wasn’t a surprise, the media didn’t know about the Arctic Monkeys until they had to, even the music industry was caught off guard but those who were in the scene could see it happening, months ahead of it.  

Bill Ryder-Jones (The Coral) “They turned up and changed things, finally we had someone original who spoke about our lives. They changed things more than The Libertines I think.”

The buzz from the demos was unlike anything else before it and it wasn’t part of any clever marketing plan (no hook-up with the NME). It was fan-led and it worked because they were better than everybody else (this wasn’t unique, there were lots of new bands at the time gaining a fanbase because demos were making their way around the forums, but Arctic Monkeys were unique). The Strokes hype was fully calculated, this wasn’t. The internet created a new opportunity to break a band, despite it being nothing to do with the band. Arctic Monkeys killed the scene because they were too good, no other band stood a chance after their arrival.  

Ronnie Joice “The Arctic Monkeys were the explosion at the end of a fuse that The Libertines had initially lit. Their demos online were lapped up by everyone, not only because they were free and there was almost an album’s worth of music there but because they were fucking amazing.” 

Alex Turner, Matt Helders, Andy Nicholson and Jamie Cooke were 4 school friends from High Green in Sheffield who liked football, Oasis and hip-hop. They saw their mates Milburn play gigs in Sheffield at The Boardwalk and they wanted to do the same, Milburn said they could support them when they got some songs. Alex’s dad was a music teacher so he had access to equipment then, at 16 Matt got a drum kit for Christmas and Andy got a bass. The 3 of them played covers together, none of them sang, then Jamie joined in. They briefly had a friend, Glen who came to sing but that didn’t work so Alex sang until they found a singer. None of them had played before and they only practiced when they were together in the garage at Alex’s parents' house so they all learned at the same time. Matt had been a DJ at house parties before, playing UK garage and hip-hop giving him an understanding of rhythm, Alex had an interest in language, other than that, it was a similar story to the beginning of a lot of bands. 

They taught themselves while Alex started to pick up the art of songwriting but he was painfully shy. They weren’t the most outgoing bunch of lads but each one wanted to have their moment in each song, however big or small that was, a sly guitar solo, something fancy on the bass or a drum trick. It might have gone unnoticed by the listener but it played a huge part in the dynamic of the band. Within 2 years they wrote some of the biggest songs of all time. 

James O’Hara “I first heard of Arctic Monkeys on a coach coming back from York having watched Judan Suki (early Rev and Ed band), Alex was playing rhythm guitar with them and played me a track, can't remember which one and can't really remember if I liked it, just remember thinking it was a proper shit name for a band, still do, it's awful.” 

On the 13th June 2003 Arctic Monkeys played their first-ever gig which took place at The Grapes, a pub in Sheffield city centre.  

Like any new band, at first, they weren’t great, they played gigs around the city and used Yellow Arch Studios to practice and write. They’d get all their mates and family to come to gigs to make it look busy. They recorded demos to hand out at gigs. The first bunch of songs were ok but they quickly progressed into something special, so much so that their friend and photographer, Mark Bull (the Sheriff of Sheffield) wanted to share the songs with a friend, instead of giving them the CD he uploaded them online and gave the friend a link.  

Alex wrote the songs, he’d bring them to Yellow Arch and The Attic (around the corner) and they’d add their own parts, practice them then play them at a gig. The songs were just about what happened on nights out, social commentary, similar to the way rappers write.  

This was at a dawn of a new era, MySpace was coming of age, there is a misconception that Arctic Monkeys were ‘a MySpace band’, when in reality they didn’t even have MySpace, they didn’t really understand the internet.  

James “I think everyone in Sheffield knew they were great ages before the press caught on, I do remember turning up to a gig at The Harley and being a bit annoyed that it was so hard to get in. Felt like every person I knew in Sheffield was at that gig.” 

In 2004 these demos that had been ripped from CD started to make their way around the internet, shared on forums, such as the influential .org. This was driven by two fans, the Sherrif of Sheffield and Curly Matt, a student in Nottingham who loved the tunes, which included iconic tracks ‘Dancefloor’ (I Bet That You Look Good On The Dancefloor) and ‘Scummy Man’ (When The Sun Goes Down). The band were completely unaware of their online popularity and were left shocked when they’d start to play outside of Sheffield and not only have fans but have fans who knew the words to the songs.  

James “I think the file-sharing helped get people to gigs and then they blew people away and I think they were, in large part, blissfully unaware of what was going on online.” 

2005 started with Arctic Monkeys playing to a handful of people at gigs in Sheffield, by May they sold out The Boardwalk, then in July The Leadmill could have sold out several times, a month later it was those famous Reading & Leeds Festival shows.

Up to this point, they had only officially released 2 songs, Fake Tales Of San Francisco and From Ritz To The Rubble on a local label. But everyone (well, the indie kids on the forums) knew the songs from the demos, which was basically the debut album. After that there was a bidding war, they could have cashed in and signed to a major label offering £££’s but they chose Domino Record Company instead, an independent label who took the band to Lincolnshire, away from distraction to record the most important album for a generation.  

Paul Melbourne “After The Libs changed everything, Arctic Monkeys did it again but in a bigger way, and there's not been another band since that has released consistently good and evolving music the way they have.” 

In the video for the band’s first ‘proper’ single, I Bet That You Look Good On The Dancefloor (which topped the singles chart in October ‘05) Alex told viewers not to “believe the hype”.  

Luke Travers “I remember watching the music video for I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor and seeing Alex Turner and Matt Helders wearing Fred Perry polo tops, I instantly got my mum to buy me one. I remember watching Matt Helders drum and thinking that's all I want to do.  

I think they connected with kids my age with how rough and ready they were, I never worried about getting spots again when I saw them on TV, looking like an average teenager, as weird as that sounds! They shaped a lot of my life from school going into college and as their music/appearance changed I felt I changed as well. I think seeing they could do it made me feel I could as well which really got me into music, I put down my skateboard and focussed all my time on playing the drums. Music to this day is still a massive part of my life and it started with that.” 

The hype, which was growing by the day was justified when debut album, Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not was released in January 2006 (a week early as it leaked online), becoming the fastest-selling debut album in UK chart history. It was an album written by teenagers, about teenage life. About girls, nightclubs and scraps. It sounds so simple but it was Alex Turner’s capability to make everyday life sound so poetic. It was a generation-defining band and set an unrealistic standard for all of the other bands to keep up. 

Conor McNicholas “People think of Arctic Monkeys as an indie band but, early on they were probably more influenced by Red Hot Chilli Peppers’ Blood Sugar Sex Magik and hip hop. The way Alex delivered lyrics and Matt’s drumming came from hip-hop. They connected with people, they looked great, they had an attitude and their songs were amazing, they weren’t fucking great.  

We booked them on the NME Tour for January and February 2006, the band were adamant that they wanted to be first on, the slot that Coldplay, Franz Ferdinand and Kaiser Chiefs had previously played but they were the biggest band in the country. It simply wasn’t possible, venues wouldn’t allow it, fearing crushes. They should have headlined but they wouldn’t, Maximo Park had to, and every night they had to play after the most important band of a generation, it was morally destroying them “

From then the band had ‘made it’ but no one ever expected them to go on to do what they have done. They weren’t ‘cool’, they didn’t live the rock ‘n’ roll lifestyle or seek fame like some of the others in the scene did. In the early days they avoided interviews and award shows as they found those situations uncomfortable and unnecessary at the time, many mistook their shyness for arrogance.  

James “They dealt with early success with commendable maturity and resilience. They had and still have an unerring ability to sniff out bullshit, if something doesn't feel right they don't do it. It served ‘em well and it continues to serve ‘em well.” 

There seem to be conflicting stories around the departure of bassist Andy, who was replaced by an old friend, Nick O’Malley who was in another Sheffield band, The Dodgems. At the time we were told that Andy was uncomfortable with the pressure of success and attention however Andy has spoken years later and that wasn’t the case. These were times when mental health wasn’t discussed, especially when it’s teenage lads living out a dream. The band was writing songs for the second album on tour, during sound checks, after a UK tour they had 1 day off before heading on a European tour, then 3 days off before an American tour followed by studio time. Andy needed to sort something out at home with the family and told the band he needed some time off. Nick stepped in for the American tour, Alex was going to play bass on the recordings. When they returned from America Andy was told he was no longer in the band.  

They didn’t speak for 2 years after the meeting and Andy doesn’t have memories for the following few years as he, understandably struggled with depression and suicide but he got help, time healed it. They are mates again now. When the band headlined Glastonbury for the first time in June 2007 he watched them on TV at home, alone but in a home bought with money from the songs they were playing.  

Having been to Leeds Festival as punters in 2003 and 2004, then packing out the Carling tent in ‘05, the lads found themselves on the main stage in ‘06, playing just before headliners Muse, having released just one album. It takes most bands years to get to this stage, none of them could have even played their instruments 4 years previous, now Matt is confidently drumming in a tracksuit.  

Like The Strokes with Is This It, all eyes were on Arctic Monkeys to see if they could replicate the magic of the first album with a second, and the answer was yes. Favourite Worst Nightmare came out just 14 months after the debut, it flowed with more greatness and showed progression. The quick follow-up allowed them not to milk the success of the debut, they weren’t comfortable heading out on an arena tour just yet. Many bands would dine out on the ‘if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it’ mantra but the secret to Arctic Monkeys success is that they haven’t stood still. Each album they release shows progression, Tranquillity Base Hotel & Casino took a huge left turn but like the rest of the back catalogue, topped the UK album chart, only The Car didn’t, but it was competing with Taylor Swift…

Conor McNicholas “I wasn’t surprised how commercially successfully Arctic Monkeys became, firstly they were British, British bands always do better because they are ‘for us’, but they were just brilliant.  

For Arctic Monkeys to be a great band the second album had to be good. I was invited to Domino Records office, sat in a room with huge speakers, a cup of tea and left to listen to Favourite Worst Nightmare. As an editor, if what comes out of these speakers is good we can run with this, covers, interviews, tours… if it’s shit I’ve got to get the fuck out of here, drop this band and find an equivalent act ASAP. If it’s not good it will just tank. 

All of these things were going through my head then that drumbeat opens up on Brianstorm from these speakers, like bam. The production levels had just gone up, the scale of it, I nearly cried, I knew within 3 seconds that they were going to be one of the biggest bands. The album just flows, it’s in my top 3 albums released during my time at the NME. I knew that was the pinnacle, no way they’d do it on the third, no band ever does. Humbug didn’t hit the mark but they got their shit together again.  

They only did interviews with the NME when they were told to but they never enjoyed them, at least one interview for every album release and ideally at Christmas, they had a sense of humour.” 

While Arctic Monkeys were the biggest band in the UK Alex went off and worked on a side-project with Miles Kane (who had supported Arctic Monkeys in previous bands, The Little Flames and The Rascals) and producer James Ford (long-time collaborator). The Last Shadow Puppets had a ‘60’s pop-inspired sound and it was the start of Alex ‘performing’. The 2008 debut album, The Age of the Understatement is grand and bold, the long-awaited follow-up, Everything You’ve Come to Expect (2016) is playful and when they toured it, Alex showed a touch of Bowie as he confidently strutted on stage. 

After 2 huge albums and major tours behind them Arctic Monkeys headed to the States to record their third, heavier record, Humbug (2009), in LA, produced by Queens Of The Stoneage’s Josh Homme (you can hear his influences) then in New York with James Ford, Humbug might have shown a new sound to the band in everything from the lyrics being less ‘to-the-point’ and the drumming was heavier. There wasn’t the ‘hit’ singles on Humbug, compared to the first albums but it highlighted the band’s new objective, to be more dynamic in the studio and explore more sounds. The album gave them the freedom to do what they wanted going forward. 

A solo project for Alex (Submarine an EP (2011), the soundtrack to Richard Ayoade’s film of the same name) and the easier-on-the-ear 4th album, Suck It and See (2011) bridged the gap between the time turned up the gears once more. 7 years since the release of their debut album, Arctic Monkeys were an established band around the world with 4 albums that showed ambition, America was the home for Alex and Matt but as a band, they hadn’t “made it” there, yet…

Then AM arrived in 2013, a slicker, sharper, leather jacket-wearing band appeared and delivered a flawless and concise album to match their new look. From the moment AM kicks in with Do I Wanna?, then into R U Mine? you know this band means business. The hysteria was back, the band cracked America and they headlined Glastonbury for a second time. What else was left for the band who sold millions of records, headlined the biggest festivals and won the awards?

Well, they kept people guessing and waiting. The band wanted to go into the studio after a lengthy AM tour but they were empty. They gave themselves some space as they hit their 30’s, Jamie and Nick were living in Sheffield, Matt was still in LA (working on various projects, including a Iggy Pop album). After touring the second The Last Shadow Puppets album Alex moved to Paris, and for the first time he wrote songs on piano, initially for a solo project. After sharing the demos with the rest of the band, it turned into a very different 6th album.

There’s no point second guessing where Arctic Monkeys will go, nobody would have thought they’d get a lounge album when they dropped Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino. There was no lead single, or press shots that would guide you like the leather jackets and hair cuts that came with AM. The reaction was mixed. Fans loved it or hated it, reviews were the same. One of the hardest things for the band after releasing their debut album was avoiding to repeat it, it was so successful it would have been easy to milk it, now they couldn’t sound any further away from it. It was 5 years between AM and the follow-up, it might not have been as successful as the previous albums but there was a thirst for the band and when they toured they seamlessly fit in their new piano-heavy tracks alongside indie disco hits with ease.

Again, don’t bother predicting what album 7 would sound like, people were expecting they would return to the heavy sound of AM but no, The Car arrived in 2022 and it followed with more puzzling, piano-fueled tracks that Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino offered. In some parts, it was heavier, in other parts delicate. Alex works on a different level to anybody.

As bands go, Arctic Monkeys define a generation, they haven’t followed trends or made money moves and they have repeated themselves. Alex might cringe when he is still having to sing the lyrics he wrote as a teenager. He’s probably not been on a dancefloor in 20 years but those hits will be passed down, generation to generation, like any culturally important songs are. 

Is This It, Up The Bracket and Whatever People Say I Am That's What I'm Not had an impact on society that goes beyond them being just great albums. Without Is This It we might not have got either The Libertines or Arctic Monkey, and while Alex Turner confesses that he “just wanted to be one of The Strokes” on Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino opener, Star Treatment, The Libertines definitely made it look possible. 2 decades later and they still sound exciting. Some bands are only important in the “moment” but we have lived through that, we can look back, remove the context and The Strokes, The Libertines and Arctic Monkey still matter (beyond the Y2K revival Gen Z trend).