#not the most happy with the album cover but i care more about the song titles

[silverysongs]

Daughter of Smoke and Bone (music from season 1)

Track 1 / Waltz for a Blue-Haired Girl

Track 2 / A Sketchbook Full of Monsters

Track 3 / Poison Kitchen

Track 4 / Brimstone

Track 5 / Black Handprints

Track 6 / Wishes

Track 7 / An Angel in Morocco

Track 8 / Caged New World

Track 9 / True…Story

Track 10 / Fight or Flight

Track 11 / Hope Makes its Own Magic

Track 12 / Broken Doll Dance

Track 13 / Madrigal

Track 14 / Pull

Track 15 / Evanescence

Track 16 / The White Wolf

Track 17 / The Masquerade

Track 18 / Love is an Element

Track 19 / A New Myth

Track 20 / Evanescence (reprise)

Track 21 / To Eretz

[spiderfunkz]

✦ I LOVE THE SMITHS, AND YOU!

summary : you love the smiths, peter loves you.

word count : 0,8k

warnings : fluff, reader is oblivious & peter is just peter, not proofread btw.

a/n : based on this request!! my requests for peter are like always open so feel free to send in your thoughts <33 also this is inspired by that one scene in 500 days of summer but on a budget.

peter parker was in love.

sorry, correction, is in love.

he didn't know when this little crush started.

maybe it was in the 5th grade, when he was paired with you to do a project together, that's when he first met you. he remembered how he'd admire you as you glued those stupid looking dinosaurs on the cardboard.

he remembered how your overgrown bangs were almost covering your eyes. he remembered how he'd ask why you didn't cut it, and how you replied with — "i dunno, i don't want to cut it yet. my mumma told me hair holds memories. and i don't want to forget those memories."

he remembered how that reply made him smile. how he'd knew you two would get along somehow. and also, since then he became really picky when it comes to haircuts.

or maybe it was in the 9th grade. when you were one of the few people that wished him a happy birthday. he remembered that you gave him a really big smile, and he always noted how it was the prettiest smile he has ever seen, well, other than aunt may's of course.

or maybe it was last week. when you sat next to him in french class.

maybe it's because he noticed how your bangs were now blended with the rest of your hair, how he'd realized you never cut it since 5th grade. he wondered how many memories you have kept because of it. he wonders if he's in any of those.

he also wonders if you ever noticed that he liked you. how he'd always steal a glance when you're not looking, how he had your birthday marked on every calendar he has owned, or how he'd save up to buy you the things you looked at for too long.

maybe you did. and maybe you didn't know what to think of it.

to be completely honest, you were never much of a romantic.

never really. in your entire life you only liked two and a half things. the pasta your mom cooked, your hair, and sometimes, peter parker.

well, most of the time, peter parker. i mean he's your friend of course you like him! he's funny, he has nice soft hair that you just want to run your fingers through, he's smart and witty but he never brags about it, he cares for you, and his hand intertwines with yours perfectly.

okay, maybe you like him more than a friend. but that's another story you don't want to get too deep into.

"how about this?" you ask, holding peter's 'the smiths ; the queen is dead' cd in your hand.

you were supposed to do your english essay with peter today in his room, but like every other work you do with peter in his room, you both end up getting distracted.

"i forgot i had that, i loved it." he smiles, "put it on." he says, gesturing to the cd player.

"i love love this album! i can't believe you forgot you had this." you turn the player on as the song starts to play.

"you can keep it if you want, since you like it so much." peter says. "really?" — "of course." peter nods.

"thanks, peter. you're the best." you sat next to him.

peter hands you the paper you were supposed to do your essay on. "i wrote half of it with a pencil, you can just trace it with a pen." he smiles. "oh my god, peter. you know i could've done it myself." — "yeah but then it'll take you 5 hours and no sleep. besides, i'm almost done with mine too, so."

"aw, thanks." you lean your head on his shoulder as you read what he wrote on the paper. you focus on the paper, not noticing that peter's face is turning bright red.

a few minutes pass by and peter's calming down, he leans his head on yours. but when he does your head immediately jerk up. "oh i love this part!" you turn the volume up. "don't you?" you turn to peter, he nods.

"to die by your side is such a heavenly way to die!" you sang. "ugh, i love the smiths." you lean forward to grab a pen so you could finish the essay.

peter looks at you as you hum to the song. he notices your cherry tinted lips, and how your hair is clipped to the side with a clip that peter bought you years ago. he looks at you with such care and love. though unfortunately, you don't notice that.

you look to peter, "what do i have something on my face?". peter looks away, "oh uh no, sorry."

you furrow your brows. "you sure?" peter nods. "okay..." you laugh.

you continue to nod to the song, the pen in your hand overwriting peter's messy handwriting. "i loveee the smiths." you repeated.

"i loveee you." peter blurts out. he hopes it wasn't too loud, but you seem to be focused on the song and your paper.

"huh?" you turn to peter. "what? huh." peter awkwardly looks away, again. you look at him for a bit before smiling, "did you say you loveee the smiths too? i thought you weren't that big of a fan anymore." you clearly misheard him.

peter was dumbfounded, sure he didn't want you to hear that. but at the same time he did want you to hear that. "no i uh- i said, i love you."

"you love, me?" you ask.

"yeah, l-o-v-e."

"love love?"

"yeah. love love."

[misscinnamonroll16]

John pulls his goggles over his face when he's embarrassed, been crying or hasn't slept in a while

Floyd sometimes draws on facial hair

John Dory is often over caffeinated. He can't sit still bc he's got way too much energy. He often paces while eating bc if he sits down, he'll shake

All the boys talk with their hands when they really get into what they're saying. They are passionately talking about something and their hands Moving ™️

John's first tattoo (I believe he would get a few more but Floyd would still be the most tatted) he doesn't remember bc he was really drunk while it happened. He got it done on Branch's birthday way before the band got back together. He was in his feelings that day

Floyd looks the youngest, he's short and baby faced.

John can also look younger when he shaves his face (which offended Bruce when it happened)

If John covers your mouth with his hand, licking wouldn't get him to pull away. He has four little brothers who have all done that at one point and isn't phased by it

The boys shared a room when they were kids

Clay puffs out his cheeks when he gets mad. When on his own at the course, he had to train himself not to do that bc people (trolls) didn't take him seriously when he did. But with his brothers back in his life, that habit resurfaces.

John Dory can not resist the puppy dog eyes, and the little brothers know this and use it to their advantage

Floyd can cry on command

John Dory and Branch mumble to themselves. They just walking around talking to themselves, no biggie.

John Dorys writing style has improved from "baby, baby, girl". He wrote his own songs while on his own. It's mostly feelings stuff, talking about going back and changing things, stuff like that

Floyd has the ability to silently communicate with any of his brothers. Whether it's queer on queer communication with John or younger sibling communication with Clay. He can speak through looks but it only works with whichever brother he's doing it with. He can rope in another if he wants to

Bruce is the self care king. He has to force the others to do self care, mainly JD and Clay.

Floyd has also written his own songs while on his own, he has his own album.

John and Spruce forced Clay and Floyd to go into a haunted house with them as kids. Floyd DID NOT wanna go, practically had to be dragged in. Needless to say, the two of them almost pissed themselves with fear and JD never forced them to do it again. Spruce however, did try it again and was told no by John.

Floyd is afraid of clowns

John is incredibly handy but it's only out of necessity.

Bruce is still a little self conscious about his body. He has some bad days but as long as he's comfortable in is own skin, he's happy

Clay likes puzzles

John also likes puzzles but he likes the 'figure it out' type puzzles not put it together puzzles

All of the boys will have at least two kids at the minimum. They loved having siblings no matter what they say and want the same for their kids

[jokeroutsubs]

[NEW ENG TRANSLATION] Bojan Cvjetićanin, Joker Out frontman: The world's being destroyed by unhappy people, so we should try to bring happiness to as many people as possible

Original article Written by: Sonja Javornik 28.11.2021 English translation by: @varianestoroff proofread by: @flowerlotus8

With two sold-out concerts in Ljubljana's Cvetličarna (the second one will be broadcast on TV Slovenija on New Year), Joker Out proved that, after a long time, we have new idols for the youth. The two concerts in Cvetličarna sold almost 600 of their CDs.

The majority of their audience are girls, which isn't surprising, as the band consists of handsome, talented and smart lads. Bojan Cvjetićanin is the frontman of the band and also the author of most songs. The Sociology student fascinates in many ways, as, despite his young age, he's an excellent and knowledgeable interlocutor.

I was surprised by how enthusiastic senior fellow musicians are about your success. They say you bring hope that the music scene will spring to life again. I'm glad they don't see us as a threat, so it made me extremely happy to see their honesty. Last time, Boštjan Meglič¹ came up to me and told me with a genuine smile that we reminded him of their early days.

Yes, we can definitely compare you to Siddharta - but, after them, there hasn't really been a band to cause such hysteria and excitement. I can say that everything has worked out really well. COVID-19's impact on us was positive, as we couldn't wait for the first album. It was a big thing for us. Since it didn't make sense to release it when there were no gigs, we polished it and changed it in a way we're really satisfied with, and we can finally say for ourselves that we're a really good band. We have a great energy, we're all good musicians and our arrangements are good. We're a solid team.

Nowadays we don't seem to have as much patience as we used to, so it's good that this long pause hasn't demotivated you. Do you feel like there are other younger musicians who are willing to be patient to be successful, or are you more of an exception?

¹Boštjan Meglič is a founding member of Siddharta and plays drums in the band.

I dare say we've taken a very mature approach, covering all the aspects needed to make it work. We're always willing to play for free as opening act for exposure, without any financial demands. That felt like an understandable investment, and I think a few others are doing that too - bands like MRFY, Koala Voice... We also started to acknowledge how important the overall image is, because you also have to externally portray what you represent in the music. I think a lot of people underestimate that, or think of it as showing off, but clothes on stage are actually important, as we also act differently by putting on specific stage clothing. We put on things we really dig, and we don't look for inspiration in fashion magazines.

For sure, rockers in Slovenia tend to underestimate their image - maybe they're afraid of looking too pop. On the other hand, serious rockers have always put a lot of emphasis on appearance and distinctive clothing - think of Bowie, Freddie (Mercury), but also Guns N' Roses or AC/DC, who can't be counted as pop artists, for sure! Or Siddharta, for Slovenia. Could it be that you've made such a difference compared to other young bands because you don't do music as amateurs, instead you understand that also this business has its rules?

For sure. We realised that there's no shame in saying that this is our job. As long as being a musician is perceived as a hobby in this country, it'll remain a hobby. You're no less an artist if you make a living out of this!

When did you start taking care of your appearance? Would you have looked the same on the stage of Cvetličarna even before the COVID-19 epidemic?

We'd have a similar style, as we knew from the beginning that Joker Out had to work as a whole. For Cvetličarna we went to RTV studios and borrowed clothes. Our stylist Suzana Juršič was with us and helped us choose the right items.

On stage as sex symbols

When I met you backstage before your concert at Cvetličarna, you warned me not to miss the intro. And it was brilliant - you prepared a video intro. How so?

We hoped for an epic intro, but we couldn't picture what that would look like. Mark Pirc, who shoots our videos, quickly intuited what we thought, so we let him design the whole visual concept. Afterwards, he called us and told us that we needed special outfits, in which we then filmed the intro a few days before the concert.

You always mention regular colleagues, you must have an extended team, which is unusual in Slovenia, as everything tends to follow the 'do-it-yourself' principle - I'll do it myself, so I can spare the fee.

This comes from the 'hobby vision' I mentioned before. Everybody can do everything themselves to save money, we left other aspects to people who know best. We quickly realised that we needed to be surrounded by people who love us and understand what we want to become. Joker Out isn't just the five of us, but there's Mark, who makes videos, there's Sandi, the sound engineer, a lighting engineer, a photographer. The permanent part of the team is small. We also have a guy who helps us carry and set up the equipment, and we used to have a photographer for a while, but we don't anymore. We also have a PR rep.

What does it financially mean for you? Are you already in profit or do you still have losses because of the team?

Absolutely. The deficit's a big part of our narrative, and we still go deficit if we have to. We often have a headache when it comes to certain amounts, but we still go to the ATM as we believe in our story. And we go to the ATM a lot... (smiles)

All successful stories started with the band members investing their money because they believed in themselves - like Čuki, Siddharta... But really, not many are ready for a financial investment.

It could quickly happen that the risk's high and the reward's low. We're lucky we've never believed in failure. Our dream was to play on big stages, but the process never was a necessary evil for us. We enjoyed the climb. Well, there are still a few more climbs to go! We've made it up the first climb and are now on the first top cap...

Aren't you afraid this might already be the peak?

Honestly, I'm not afraid of this as I feel a lot of creative energy in me. With this album, we haven't said everything we want. Also, nobody's worried next album will be less successful. I dare say that, out of almost all alternartive artists, we're the ones who do the most ourselves and work like a well-oiled machine. Even our first album was successful commercially, which makes us very happy.

The album is available online, and you've also released a CD for fans. How many CDs have you sold?

I don't know the exact amount, I know we sold around 500 to 600 CDs just at the two concerts in Cvetličarna, which seems a lot to others.

We're surrounded by people who love us and understand what we want to become

Worry not, that's a huge number given the times. Do you feel like a sex symbol as, already by the second song, bras were flying on stage?

At first, we were very scared on the first night, as we waited a year and a half for this mythical moment. This certainly increased expectations, but also stress. I had a million different scenarios playing in my head, and then it happened...

Did you have any stage fright?

I had a weird stage fright. I wasn't afraid of going on stage, I didn't know what would happen afterwards. As we stood and waited, we heared everything happening on and off stage, so we went on stage quite scared and shocked. We couldn't realise all the enthusiasm was just because of us! The second night we went on stage already as sex symbols, that's how we really felt.

Are you the most popular with girls because you're the most exposed, probably?

Different sides have formed, so we're all satisfied. (smiles) When we post, we can't wait to see who people are rooting for, who's the sexiest...

Bigger stages than the one in Cvetličarna are waiting for you, but you've already played on smaller Slovenian stages over the summer. Was there such response as in the capital?

Everywhere we went, the response was really good. In Cvetličarna, people already knew lyrics that aren't even online yet! This didn't surprise us, as we knew that those who came to our summer gigs would also come to the other side of Slovenia for our concert. We have some fans who've been to more concerts than Kris, who missed two shows because he was travelling with his girlfriend! (laughs)

And you let him do it?

As at the time he had everything already booked, it couldn't be otherwise.

But I was angry at the time. Luckily, there's a fellow guitarist in Fat Butlers who we're very close with, and he was able to quckly jump in, as he knew our repertoire.

When someone really succeeds, that boosts the entire music scene. Even when Siddharta made it, the overall rock scene was in great shape, everyone was performing a lot. Do your young colleagues realise that you created opportunities for them too?

I know that the entire scene has really grown, but I can't say we're the reason for that. When we announced the Cvetličarna concert two years ago, our opening act Kokosy had just released their first songs. We chose them because they sounded extremely amusing during their performance at Škisova tržnica and had good energy. At the time, few knew this band, today they're already well established performers with quite an audience. Now also our audience knows them, so the vibes were really good during their performance.

Parents listened to Indexi and Bijelo Dugme. You come from a family of doctors. Are your parents upset that you didn't follow their path?

No, they're very happy. Mum's glad I didn't choose medical studies, dad would've been happy if I'd become a doctor too. But there's no hard feelings, as, with grandma, she's by far my biggest fan. Both go on YouTube every day and tell me how many views we make, when we'll be on the radio... I also have an older sister, who's an extremely diligent lawyer. She too is very proud of me.

So will your sister review all contracts to make sure some label or promoter doesn't scam you?

That's right. (smiles)

Your parents moved to Slovenia due to the Yugoslav Wars. Do you feel any bitterness, any trauma in your family because of this?

Both graduated medicine in Banjaluka, and came to Slovenia during the war, here they did their specialisation. Both consider Slovenia home, as here they felt accepted when they needed help. They never felt like foreigners. Sure, it was hard for them at the beginning, being foreigners in a shared country until recently², but, despite that, they successfully finished their specialisation and started a 'new life'. I never felt like a foreigner myself.

Have you ever been subjected to prejudice?

I went to a primary school with a few 'čefur'³. In Grade 8, only two students had excellent grades in Slovene - besides me, a classmate whose surname ended in -ić⁴. They probably didn't even know who came from where.

Nowadays, Balkan music's very popular among the youth. How did you keep up with it? Were you fond of it due to your roots?

Pretty much. When I was little, at home we had albums. As children, we listened to the music our parents listened to. Whether it was Indexi or Bijelo Dugme, we listened to that too. When I got my MP3 player, my sister too downloaded some songs, by Siddharta, Big Foot Mama, Trkaj and Murat & Jose. These four artists were my favourites and I could say they still are today, I still love the ex YU rock scene, especially the new wave.

²Bojan's family moved from Bosnia around 1992, the year in which the Bosnian government declared independence from Yugoslavia, a statal entity that administered the western Balkan peninsula for much of the 20th century.

³Čefur is a word with a pejorative connotation that denotes people from Slovenia who originate from other countries of the former Yugoslavia or are descendants of such immigrants.

⁴The suffix -ić is a very common way to form surnames in Slavic languages. It is a patronymic suffix, indicating 'descendant of' or a certain personal name. As in most cases, people with these surnames are Serbs or Croats, or descendants of these, said suffix turned into an indicator of one's ethnicity.

What we couldn't realise was that all the enthusiasm was just because of us

Did you start writing the texts in Slovene right away?

The first song was in English, and Martin still keeps its paper at home. The melody was good and I can use it, but the lyrics were terrible. I've never been able to write lyrics without a melody, so I write the melody first. Also, I've never written lyrics to a melody made by someone else. Except for the first one in English, I've written all the others in Slovene, and I only write when the inspiration hits me. That's when I sit and start working, and a new song comes out of that. I discard very few songs, if something isn't good, I usually find out after the first lines. I usually get carried away to the point where it progresses. I wrote the song 'Gola' differently at first, but I didn't like the chorus. Later Kris reminded me of it, and I knew immediately what to change to make it sound right.

So, are you quite self-critical?

It's true. Sometimes I like something a lot at first, but within a week it doesn't satisfy me. Then I'm sad, because I disappointed myself, and I discard it.

But the Serbo-Croatian language market is much bigger than the Slovenian one. Have you also written songs in Serbian or Croatian, which you certainly know thanks to your roots?

Not all of them, but I'm working on adapting the whole album. It's easier to write songs in Slovenian, but it's true that I never started writing songs in Serbo-Croatian either. I tried to write one song in Serbian, but it sounded so bad melodically that I quickly gave up.

How often do you visit Banjaluka?

I used to go there a lot as a child and teenager, but not much since the epidemic, so I miss it a lot. I miss my grandmother who lives there. We live partly in the city and partly in the country, and it's the country that I miss the most. Everything is so pristine there. Everything is the same as when I was a kid, even the people are the same. In rural Bosnia, there are no things that can hurt or disappoint you.

Well, politicians continue to fuel nationalism in Bosnia, so it's always tense.

I love Banjaluka, but, since I grew up, the atmosphere has been tense all the time, so I don't like that environment. I'm worried for my grandma who lives there, as times aren't looking good and things can snap quickly. In the countryside, luckily, you don't feel this.

Can music and your message help improve this world? Do you think you can change something with music?

Unhappy people are destroying the world, so we can try to make as many people as possible happy. I think spreading love and positivity is the best we can do. Goran Bregović⁵ said in an interview that he stopped believing that music could change the world when all the musicians and cultural figures united, but were unable to stop the war. I think it isn't the job of us musicians to spread world peace, but we can try to make people happy, as happy people won't cause wars.

⁵Goran Bregović is a Bosnian musician and composer.

[m1ssunderstanding]

Get Back Rewatch 55 Years On: Day Five

The thing is I absolutely love the album that comes out of this mess. Like I know a lot of people do not like Let It Be, but so many of my favorite songs are on it. One of them being “I Me Mine.” The walz element is haunting, and I can read the lyrics as anti-capitalist even though George himself mostly wasn’t. 

Laughing my head off at two boys from one of the best grammar schools in England, who have at this point made millions off of their writing, genuinely not knowing whether it should be “more freer” or “more freely”

The difference in how George shows Paul his new song vs John is striking. For Paul, he’s relaxed, nonchalant. For John, he stands up and performs it. And I think both are a defense mechanism, poor baby, because clearly, although Paul was very supportive of the song while they were alone, when John is roasting it, Paul just laughs along and George has to go “I don’t give a fuck whether you like it.” 

Ah, the famous “up-against-a-wall” conversation. Paul comes in all dominant and sure. “Haven’t you written anything else? Haven’t you?” But then John touches him, and makes him laugh, and Paul’s a melted, goo-goo-eyes mess. This is the real reason why John got to be the leader isn’t it? Because Paul was too damn soft on him to ever follow through with his bossiness.

Their scouse sounds BEAUTIFUL compared to the stupid ugly RP and MLH’s transatlantic shit.

“And now John’d like to say a few words on the subject.” John starts singing, Paul strums along and joins in on the “chorus.” They can’t communicate like healthy people, but they Can do this. 

So Peter Jackson took out Paul’s bitchy nod at Yoko as he’s stealing her man in real time right in front of her eyes. Unforgivable. But he kept in this adorable laugh, so that’s something. 

Three more covers that I think *mean something* “Stand By Me” and “Spinning Like a Top” by Paul, followed by “You Win Again” by John. Yoko’s sweet little shoulder kiss. Thank you for taking care of the poor wet kitten, girly. Maybe don’t introduce the poor wet kitten to heroine, but you do you, I guess. (OP recognizes that poor wet kitten is also an adult capable of making his own decisions)

The cut from Paul literally dancing to get John’s attention straight to John dancing with Yoko while inside Paul’s head a silver hammer is clanging ominously. I can’t. Followed by the knowing, loving smile from Ringo to Paul. You know, those moments when you validate your friend’s bitchy thoughts with a look. 

George is literally SO big inside himself, you know? You have to have superhuman self-love abilities to watch your friend – who is supposed to be helping you – shamelessly make fun of your art . . . and just “Do you wanna do that walz on the show? That’d be great.”

But did you guys know John was actually a really great mover?

“Yes, alright. Just sod off.” I love John. Paul’s people-pleasing ass would literally die first and he needs John to do this kind of shit for him and John’s only too happy to.

The moment when Paul and John are on the same wavelength about Dennis O’Dell’s stage. 

OK but. Did John get the clear plastic idea from Yoko’s art exhibits? 

“Any time we do anything it’s always got to be the best.” Poor Ringo. They’re all literally so tired of carrying so much weight for such a long time. 

“See, I’d watch an hour of him just playing the piano. Cause he’s so great.” With that fond, loving, smile. SUCH big dick energy here. The others could NEVER. 

“And I’ll have the plastic when you’re finished.” Literally for what, though? John, you little hoarding goblin. 

And then Ringo responding to MLH’s “I love you” with “Yes, I love you too.” Yeah, Ringo wins the prize for most healthy beatle of the day. 

*Pattie Boyd voice* “I just wish I knew what was going on there. But something. Something.”

Ugh, John looks so hurt. So tender. So heartbroken. While Paul is over there playing a damn funeral march because that’s the only way he lets himself express anything. But I actually love how Dennis O’Dell knows the clearest path to cheering John up is to say that Paul liked his idea. And how well it works. They’re literally so obvious to everyone but themselves. 

I love the bit when John walks in on the rest of them discussing the live show and MLH calls, “We’ve decided. We’re going to Africa.” And Paul hurries to cut in, “No we’re NOT.” Because he knows exactly how John can get and he’s going to nip this in the bud before John gets let down. And of course, John is all “YEAH LETS GO LETS GO!” And he’s talking about how they always wish they were recording abroad. “We could be in LA, or FRANCE.” (side eye emoji) 

Paul’s “Well said, John.” and “I’ve seen it, John. I went to the premiere. I thought you were great.” Why do all your compliments to him have to be in silly voices? Like, I know you think everyone is going to call you a pussy for saying something genuinely kind to your best friend, but they’re not, and he needs it. 

Holy shit this was a long day. See you all tomorrow with another long-winded-ass post.

[isa-loves-you]

Telling People, You're a couple. | The Group Chat Head canons | Pt.2

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Soft willy- you and nick have been dating for almost 2 months now. It's still crazy to you that you have this man, I mean come one look at him he is the definition of what everyone wants to be or be with. respectful, good height, nice built, the funniest person you have ever met, sweet and caring nick was all these things; which is why you were kinda scared of telling people you were a couple.

It's not like you were the most horrible person to look at but you in your mind you just thought you were okay nothing special just your average joe, but to nick you were the most beautiful person he'd ever met so of course he wanted to show everyone how special he is to have you in his life. Ever since you guys started dating he's been trying to get your approval to tell his fans but you still felt a little anxious on the idea so nicked eventually stopped asking to respect your decision. 

One day you and nick were at a burger place eating lunch talking about his new album. “I don't know what I really want for the cover but I was kinda thinking if you would be able to pose for it?” Nick said looking hopeful at you “Nick I don't know, what if people connect the dots? I'm already on most of the tracks. It would be weird if I am also on the cover.”. He had to admit it would be kinda obvious but that was the whole point, he was happy that you were there to help accomplish the album and it would just be even more awesome if he got to see your face on the front of it all

“Here your refill sir” the waitress interrupted yours and nick conversation with a smile “oh thanks” “if you need anything, and i mean anything else just let me know” the waitress was basically eye fucking nick while saying her little beg of attention from nick. This mad you fucking livid like who  does she think she is talking to a random man like this and in front of his girlfriend out of all people.

“Thanks but i'm good” Nick let out an uncomfortable laugh while trying not to look at her anymore. You had to admit this girl was pretty but you were definitely better looking than her and that's all you needed in the moment to make a decision that went against your words. “You know what?I will pose for the cover "what do i have to hide” for the rest of the day. Nick couldn't stop thanking you and asking if you were sure about this but you already agreed and can't go back on it now.

Two weeks later you and Nick were drinking and  trying to think of all the different types of ways to take pictures. Since the songs on the album were based off of video games more specifically the games you could only play on the Nintendo DS you came up with  the idea of taking them on a DS. After three hours  later you and Nick finally captured the right picture to put on the album.

A couple of days passed, and Nick had posted the cover as a promotion which was the picture of you on a DS with a bold light blue font that read “Digital Dreams”. 

(This is sorta what I was going for. obvious if you don't like it you can totally imagine something else. Also credit to whoever these beautiful people are , I am jealous.)

In the caption of the post Nick had credited all the people who worked on the album including you but did it a completely different way. “I also want to thank my amazing partner for helping me throughout the process and even being on the album front and in the song @ ur username  i love you.”

You were surprised at the amount of people who were so supportive of you guys, of course there were some people who weren't, but you couldn't care. You were just happy that Nick was happy.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Larry-  you were getting some food for you and Larry because he said he hasn't eaten all day. You and Larry have been dating for almost a month and it was the best thing that has happened to you in a while. Everyday with him was so much fun and the group was accepting of you for dating their friend.

You had gotten him and you something small because Nick and Tanner wanted you and Larry to go with them to dinner later but since Larry didn't eat you just grabbed something while you were out so he wouldn't be so hungry later. You had stepped into the house looking for Larry but he was in his room doing the podcast with the others.

You knocked on his door which he called out for you to open “dude you didn't have to do that thank you so much” “no problem it wasn't a bother to me”. You walked up to his desk to set the food down “hi everyone” you waved to all of the boys in the call which they waved back. 

You stood there for a couple more minutes talking to them before you left to go be on your phone and leave them back with their work. Almost 45 minutes later Nick, Larry, and Tanner came out so you guys could go to dinner and have a fun night out. 

You woke up the next morning in Larry's bed since you didn't want to drive home  last night. You see Larry at his desk looking at the podcast comments, you walk up to him and put a hand on his shoulder “so do they love me” you let out a small laugh. “They love you alright, it seems like they love you more than me” “well in that case switch me jobs, i would love to make dumb jokes all day “. you guys shared a laugh and a few more while looking at the comments. You were glad that the people who loved him were happy that he was with you.

[stevesbipanic]

Another great prompt from @wrenegadeone 💖

Corroded Coffin had gotten big, like national tour big, they had a bus for christsake! Eddie loves it, every night he gets to perform in front of an adoring crowd playing the music that he loves.

While Eddie loves all of his fans, it does come with a downside. He gets recognised, everywhere. He's perfectly happy to sign autographs and take pictures but it means that most people he meets are more interested in Eddie the Lead Guitarist of Corroded Coffin than Eddie, Just Eddie.

So it's refreshing when he meets Steve. Steve isn't a big metal fan and doesn't like how toxic social media is and never reads tabloids. Eddie met Steve in a little hole in the wall bar that he discovered was owned by Steve's closest friends Nancy and Robin, an adorable couple that he instantly hit it off with.

Eddie doesn't hide his musical talents from his new lover, playing him a cover of Steve's favourite song for their one month anniversary. Steve was so enamoured he asked Eddie to teach him how to play. Eddie was patient with Steve slowly showing him the chords and laughing together when he got it wrong. The lessons didn't last long but they were fun.

After three months Eddie came clean about his stardom not wanting to wait to have to tell Steve when he went on tour again at the end of the year. Steve didn't seem to care and still treated Eddie the same. After 6 months the two men moved in together, tired of jumping from one apartment to another and it meant Eddie wasn't paying rent while he was on tour.

One day, close to dating for 8 months, Eddie comes home to music coming from the bedroom. It sounded like Eddie's acoustic which rarely got taken out of storage. He cracked open the door and there on the bed was Steve, playing a beautiful acoustic that definitely wasn't Eddie's. Eddie tried to tell what song Steve was playing but didn't recognise it.

"You learnt how to play?"

Steve stops playing abruptly looking wide eyed at Eddie.

"Um, Hellfire end early?"

"Ah yeah, yeah it did. Stevie why didn't you tell me you were taking lessons, I wouldn't have been offended you know."

"Well, because I wasn't? I um, I already knew how to play?"

"You already knew how to play? Why didn't you tell me, why was I teaching you?" Eddie laughs.

"Because you looked so cute trying to teach me and I wanted to spend more time with you."

"Aw sweetheart, that's adorable. What're you playing anyway? I didn't recognise it. Also where have you been hiding this guitar?"

"That's something else I should come clean about, the guitar well it's been stashed at Robin's most of the time but I needed to record my new songs and her acoustics are terrible."

"You wrote that song?"

"Yeah, I've actually been writing songs for awhile, ever heard of Bat King?"

"Ah yeah... The guy that anonymously posts his shit in Spotify, it's really good stuff. Wait, no fuck Steve you're Bat King?"

"Suprise?" Steve says weakly.

"Baby your music is incredible, why didn't you tell me?"

"Well you know how people can be, same reason you didn't tell me about Corroded Coffin, I knew by the way, I don't live under a rock, Eds"

"I love you, Stevie. Finish your song, I'd love to hear it."

Eddie discovers that a lot of Steve's most recent songs are about him but he's written a whole album worth of songs about Steve for his next tour so he supposes they're even.

[cleolinda]

Weekend links, April 21, 2024

My posts

Initially I wrote, “I ran my mouth about the Watcher streaming/paywall situation because I make bad decisions,” but I think the post has actually gone over well? In short, I want to see them succeed but I am also deeply fuckin’ baffled. I so desperately want the tea about what was really going on behind all this, and how the guys are reacting to it now, and I really hope they can turn this around somehow. 

Side note, Friday was CHAOTIC. 

Reblogs of interest

The Hot Vintage Lady Polls are escalating in round four. We got to a point where I posted propaganda for Ava Gardner AND Dorothy Dandridge in their matchup. Probably the biggest scandal of round three was Vivien Leigh getting knocked out, but she’s now High Chancellor of the Shadow Realm. The most contentious matchup this time seems to be Judy Garland vs Natalie Wood, which is nearly 50/50 as of this writing. But keep your eye on Hedy Lamarr, who may have Mifune Sweep energy. 

(I think I love these brackets for the same reason I love Dracula Daily: it’s delightful that thousands of people on Tumblr actually have deeply-held opinions about things from many decades ago, and if they didn’t before, they do now.)

(“I’m Katharine Hepburn, and this is Jackass!”)

--

Happy Bread Day (Observed)!

Hozier Watch 2024: “Why Would You Be Loved” has arrived on the Wasteland, Baby! special edition. I like this post about how that song is in conversation with “No Plan,” one of my favorites. (I wrote about “Movement” a while ago, but I could have fully inflicted an essay on you about how “No Plan” pulled me out of my six years of hiding from the internet. Anyway, it’s a great album from a few years ago, check it out if you haven’t.) 

Generally I keep my mouth shut about Taylor Swift, but the new songs sure have some lyrics. I love Florence Welch, but I’m scared.

You’ve heard of spoon theory, now check out spell slot theory

“You’re either frolicking in this field with me, or...” is funny, but then you get to the reblog.

What if we lay in this field together and held feet

A deep breach of etiquette with a little dog named Gucio

A story about statue vandalism with a delightful twist

You gotta fight mint with mint (like I can bring in my lemon balm, but at what cost?) 

I saw this post about feeding wild skeletons on Pinterest and I loved it so much that I tracked down the original. 

Once again, Holy Shit, Two Cakes theory

Remember the haunted house I grew up in? Yeah, it had a carpeted bathroom like this.

“gonna start formatting my posts like fics on ff.net circa 2008” will do you exactly the psychic damage you’re imagining 

The Round Table attempts to use Zoom

Video

Lil Nas X covers “Jolene,” Dolly Parton loves it, and @oscar-wet-and-wilde has further Black Country recs

A big loud steppy

“He’s retrieving”

Crispy meows

Watching this angel of a Doberman get a full spa treatment is also self care

AND YOU DARE SAY NO MORE TREATS??!?

The sacred texts

I don’t like thing, now with artist credit 

Personal tags of the week

I love when I can use a really niche, specific tag, and this week, it’s mouth perfect size for meme, with a little shaped on the side.

[hobaworld7]

BTS Reaction - Love language

DISCLAIMER : this is how I think they would react in love. I'm in no way saying they are exactly like that. They do not belong to me. This is just an imagine.

I'm a baby army, please be nice in the comments and send request!

Jin

-He would be all five of love languages

-Acts of service? Cleaning the kitchen after you cook.

-Physical attention? Always his hand on your back. In public his hand will always be looking for yours.

-Gift giving? Before coming home, when he knows you had a bad day, he would be bringing you flowers and your favorite coffee.

-Words of affirmations? Your biggest supporter. Always. All the time. You were more precious than a diamond for him.

-Quality time? If you needed help studying, he would quizz you all night. He will take time to celebrate every little realization.

-He will never be mad at you, even when you would be driving him crazy.

-Always patient, always caring.

-Crying because of your period and you saw him being a little too nice to the barista? He would never go back to the coffeeshop, even tho it was more your hormones then jealousy.

-You text him at 1am because your belly hurt, his cellphone was always open for you. He would go to the 24h drugstore and get you all the thing you could need. Even tho he didn't know why you were hurting. Always all the options, stomach bug meds, sanitary products and three options of pain meds.

Suga

-He express his love by music and by his actions

-He rarely say that he love you, but he loves you more then anything. He shows it to you in a lot of other ways than words

-Texting you lyrics of different love songs

-If he could writes a thousand of love song for you, he will do it

-In front of the camera, he's always kinda cold and with his members always so caring but you were the one handling him when he would be with you

-He will be your little baby and you were the only one to see this side of him

-He would sometimes cry in your arms and openly talk about his struggles and his mental health

-You had to be stroking his hair every nights so he fall asleep

-And if he was away, he will call you on face-time and you would both fall asleep, still on face-time until the morning

-But he will do self care night with you every week

-Always letting you choose the restaurant

-He would only let you wears his shirts and hoodies when you were at his place

-Or naked, he would be a fan of every parts of your body

-If you say that it was a difficult day today and you don't really love your body, he will cover every mirrors and remember you how beautiful you are, kissing every parts of your body

-He would love your presence, even if you were just chilling on the couch in his studio all night and him working on his album. He would be so happy

-He would take breaks and go lay on you and ask for attention like a little cat

Nam Joon

-He would give you a lot of his free time

-Always calling you when he is in his car, or facetiming when he was away

-''Good morning beautiful'' ''good night, i love you princess'' Every. Fucking. Day. since you first went on a date. Never missing a day, no matter how busy he was.

-A lot of art date. Museum, Bookstore, Paint date. Even a pottery date

-What you want, you'll have

-You go shopping, he will just give you his cards because he knows you'll be responsable with his money

-If you go grocery shopping. His card. He will say 'don't forget to buy something for yourself'

-The most gentlemen ever, in every sphere of your love life.

-I feel like he would be so gentle with you, like you are a fragile little teddy bear

-But not in bed. Definitely not in bed. But still really respectful.

-He wants you at every BTS or solo show, in the back, because he wants to kiss you after performing

-If you call him because you're hurt, he would leave the studio and rescue you like a prince

J-Hope

-I think J-Hope would be a lot of Acts of service and Words of affirmations

-Like, he would text you ''Hey pretty, don't forget your coat, it's cold outside.'' ''You can take mine''

-But you would be so scared to take his expensive clothes so you were always wearing yours

-Except when he was literally clothing you, when you were going on a date, he was the one wanting to match with you

-He loved seeing you with his clothes or matching

-He was always so proud seeing you that pretty with the clothes he picks.

-He will also text you a lot of little remember through the day

-'You got this' 'You were so pretty this morning yeobo'

-And when you would be coming home, it will always be clean because he loved reorganizing and clean your place

-If one day you happen to say you love matcha ice cream, he would buy one pot every week so you never get out of your favorite

-If you say you need more pens for school, he would buy you some.

-You say you love that books, at your birthday, he would be buying you the entire autographed collections.

-And flowers. SO MUCH FLOWERS. Always with the meaning.

-And he would have a funny nickname for you. Like little beary cutie bear or something like that lol

Jimin

-Words of affirmation, always, all the time

-He knows he's cute, but do you know who's cuter? You.

-He will tell you everyday, never missing an opportunity

-You will always be sharing each others cute picture, doing finger heart or ayegos

-One of the member saying "hey Jimin you're cute today" he will answers ''You know who's cuter? My girlfriend, look at her in this dress''

-I feel like he would love to be near you and showing you his yours and that you are his

-Like sitting on his lap. He would enjoy it so much, hugging you with his arms around your hip and his heads on your shoulder with a little smile

-Lot of hickeys too. But not on him, he didn't like it. But he would marks all of your body if he could.

-I feel like he would be kind of savage in bed lol

-And if you were scratching his back, he would love it

-He could be a little rough so sometimes you end up with bruises BUT ALL WITH YOUR CONSENT.

-And you were both laughing all the time, until your body hurts

-He would be telling you every day how lucky he is to have you

-The 'i love you more?', he always had the last word. Because if you say that you love him more, he will be angry that you think he love you less.

-You're his world

V

-PHYSICAL ATTENTION.

-And little passive agressive comments

-Like : ''You're so fucking gorgeous. You shouldn't be wearing that dress"'

-But not in a bad way obvi

-I feel like Tae is very healthy in relationship

-Always listening to you

-He would always sleep with you in his arms

-You're his personal coussin literally lol

-Like you can barely move if you are in the same bed as him

-And when you're watching tv too

-He always want a physical contact with you

-He's driving, his hands is on your thigh

-But not like just resting on your thigh, he will hold onto you like his life was on the line

-Your body is his possession and he show it to you all the time.

-He'll buy you clothes too, when he see something that will suit you well he would buy it. No matter the price or if it's a designer clothes

-A lot of gift giving too

JungKook

-I feel like Jungkook would be reallyyy physical

-Hugging you and kissing you whenever he has the chance

-Cooking? His arms would be around your hips

-Putting makeup? He would sit near you, gaming on his cellphone and looking at you every time he finish a game

-He would also text you a lot

-Seeing your favorite dog's breed, he would take a picture for you

-"SARANGHAE YEOBO'' ''I love you so much babe'' ''can't wait for you to get home''

-''I got you your favorite kind of chips"

-"miss you" when you left an hour ago.

-He would love when you were working out together. He was never judging you and was always glad to help you with your form

-And after your workout he would accept to do some yoga with you bc you love it

-And it would be so funny seeing him do all the yoga poses

-He would be a needy boyfriend

-But i mean, JungKook, so you were never mad about his attention.

___

If you want to read more, here is the link of my masterlist : https://www.tumblr.com/kimtaehyung-taetae-writing/710423978560421888/masterlist?source=share

thank you army!

[rosewaterconley]

I solved a mystery that only I care about lol

ok so I have no clue what I'm doing and social media terrifies me. I will probably never touch this account again. why did I have to follow 3 algorithm-selected accounts to get into this website? I can actually name 3 people I'd want to follow on here and it's none of the people your fucking robot told me to follow. but hey, I feel like I have to post it here rather than my blogspot since nobody in the world actually uses blogspot and I want people to see this!

so anyway, there's this band out of the city of Milwaukee called Hero of a Hundred Fights. they dropped a couple CDs in the early 2000s and seem to have broken up, though all their members have been in bands since. that'll be important a little later. for now, Hero of a Hundred Fights are important to me on 2 levels:

I'm a Wisconsinite who has a tiny bit of an obsession with local history and art and really fuck with their weird mathy little corner of the 2000s hardcore scene

I'm a Faction Paradox fan and their 2001 EP The Remote, The Cold contains numerous references to the series! if you've heard of this EP before, it was probably in the context of some "music that references Faction Paradox" list or another

about #2... see, everyone already knows that track 2 is called Faction Paradox and track 3 is called The Celestis. we've all long since put together that the title is a reference to Lawrence Miles' Interference. but what about the lyrics? unfortunately, we don't know. they're not online, and the vocals are good, mind, but rather incoherent.

well, we didn't know. until I ordered a CD copy for like $8 lol. that's all it took! so here you go, the lyrics booklet plus some of the other artwork featured on the CD. artist Nick Slough did a great job on this art and it's a shame only the cover is widely available online (though that's hardly a problem unique to the physical version of this one album). turns out, this is some kinda concept album based on the Miles novel Interference. cool! really love the lyrics on Rope especially. "I need your blood to get this vessel running" and "my life was in your hands, I cut them off and now they're mine" are both raw as hell.

the cover art is pretty interesting. this album was recorded in 2000, released in 2001. the entire creative process occurred before the first standalone Faction Paradox release, The Book of the War. this means the album is entirely Doctor Who-based, not based on the FP series itself. it also means, if we assume the humanoid characters on the art are supposed to be the Remote, that this is the first-ever professional art depicting them!

disclaimer: the booklet lyrics don't 100% match up with what's said in the songs! it's mostly accurate but unfortunately there are some sections missing, some repeated bits that are only written once et al. that's all par for the course but I figured I'd mention it - especially in the case anybody wants to use this to transcribe the lyrics on Genius or some other site like that.

and while we're here, Hero 100 member William Zientara has been in a billion different bands, and I think he's probably the most responsible for the Doctor Who theme on this album. See, he was also in a short-lived band called Managara - named after a Doctor Who tie-in novel so obscure even I, owner of a complete set of Virgin New Adventures who spends my work breaks combing through digital copies of old fanzines, have only ever heard it discussed a handful of times. one of their songs is called Happiness Patrol. more recently, in 2021, he was in the band Fuiguirnet, who have a song called What Grows From the Seeds of Doom! which means Zientara has been randomly tossing Doctor Who references into songs from at least three different bands for twenty years!

so uhh without any further rambling here's the lyrics and art:

[strawbrygashez]

Henry and Ralph Teen/Young Adult hcs bc why not :)

————————————————————————

•Once henry reached a certain age and point of not caring much about keeping his parents happy at all/being punished, he began to leave the house a lot more. He’d rarely ever be there and he sneaks out if he has to :/ He spends the majority of his time at Ralphs but he also hangs out around music/cd stores, comic books stores, and other friends houses.

He just started hanging out at Ralph’s so much to the point where his stuff at home slowly keeps all making its way to Ralph’s room lol like extra clothes, comics, cds, stuff for pranks, and etc.

I feel like in the beginning of him leaving the house so much, his parents would keep nagging him about it and punishing him but he kept on doing it anyways so they eventually gave up. They probably even start locking the doors when it gets dark but it doesn’t matter bc if he needs back in, he’ll get Peter to help him or he will find his way in somehow or another.

•Henry rarely ever cuts his hair. He only does so when Ralph goes on about how tangled it’s getting. He doesn’t care about it looking great tho so he’ll just cut whatever chunks he needs to out. So his hair is long but different lengths in some spots. His hair is always sticking out.

•Henry has such an internal struggle inside once he realizes he wants piercings. He’s still extremely afraid of needles no matter what age but since all of his music idols and the people him and Ralph hang out with in the music scene have them.. he finds himself wanting some of his own more and more.

He’d try fake ones for a while but after some teasing about how ‘fake ones are lame’ from some people, he tries to put his fears to the side so everyone won’t think he’s ‘lame’.

He’s learned a few techniques to somewhat calm himself down when it comes to needles and shots as he grew up but he still has a death grip on Ralph’s hand as he waits to get pierced.

(Over time I think he’d have maybe a couple. A couple ears ones and an eyebrow one maybe.)

•Ralph on the other hand has no problem getting piercings done so he has a few too. Plus he also has a couple tattoos which Henry helped design! :)

•Once Henry officially moves out of his parents place, he goes no contact with most of his family members. He’ll talk to Peter pretty often and will chat a little with the family members who actually treated him well as he was growing up but that’s about it. Whenever holidays come around, he only goes to Ralph’s relatives with him.

•Henry works on a lot of the design aspects when it comes to his band. He designs album covers and merchandise (though Ralph takes over a lot of the stuff that has to do with fashion, like stage outfits and band t-shirts)

•Henry eventually starts seeing a therapist because he knows he needs one and Ralph helped push him a bit to seek one out. He finally gets diagnosed with a couple different things only when he’s finally an adult.. which he feels kinda odd about since he realizes he went his whole childhood dealing with all these mental issues with no support. Like he thinks pretty often about how if they’d just tried to actually figure out what was going on with him, maybe his life could had been a lot easier and more pleasant.

•Ralph has to help Henry remember to take his meds and help remind him where they are. Which he doesn’t mind at all. Even if Henry makes a bit of a show about not wanting to get up and take them.

•Henry mostly wears grungy type outfits but sometimes will toss on something more metalhead-y for concerts. Ralph wears just a whole lot of fashion styles because he loves so many.

•The more ‘darker’ songs that end up on their albums are almost always written mostly by Henry. He had so much pent up for so long it all just comes out when writing ideas for songs.

I’ve seen a few times people say Ralph would try to make Henry not make all of the songs about depressing things but that doesn’t really make sense to me. They both like rock music and music like that isnt exactly known to be all cheerful lol. They’d more than likely have some songs that are just fun and whatever but I really doubt Ralph would tell Henry no about an idea for a song. It’s their band not just his.

•Before their band gets big enough to where they can just solely rely on it as a career, Henry worked at music and instrument stores while Ralph mostly took up jobs working in clothing stores.

(Henry sketches a lot whenever he can during the slow hours at his job.)

•This one is REALLY a HC bc it kinda has nothing to do with canon at all but… I hc Henry to have heterochromia. And I think once Henry starts hanging out with musicians in the alt music scene, he hears a lot about how well it fits him and their bands visual style. It makes him stand out. (Like yknow how OCs are usually called edgy for having heterochromia??) He already thought his eyes are cool too but it makes him even more confident hearing that :)

[lambertdiary]

heyy so obviously i'm a big swiftie and i know you like taylor swift so i was hoping you'd be down to write something about Dalton staying up with you to listen to the new album (or 1989 tv) but he's too tired and falls asleep in your bed and feels guilty next day

happy youre back btw! i missed concept fridays

YES I LOVE TAYLOR SWIFT! I definitely stayed up to listen to 1989 tv last week and I have to admit I’ve barely listened to anything else since it came out. (Also I’m sorry if this one is too niche or specific, and it came out REALLY long and cheesy for some reason 😭)

The clock almost struck midnight, and Y/N couldn’t be any more excited about it. The new Taylor Swift rerecording was about to come out and she was counting down the minutes to finally listen to it.

She knew it was gonna be a long night if she wanted to listen to the whole album, so she told Dalton she wouldn’t be able to make it to breakfast next morning, but he immediately insisted he’d stay up with her, anything to spend time with his girlfriend.

Dalton wasn’t unfamiliar with staying up this late, given he had a complicated relationship with sleep which is why Y/N didn’t feel too guilty about having him to stay up with her, he insisted anyway, but he had been doing that every single night this week and right now, it felt like his body was begging for the sleep he didn’t get during the week.

“So this album came out in 2014?” He asked her as she handed him his dinner, climbing on her bed and sitting next to him.

“Yes, but she’s releasing Taylor’s Version tonight” “But why?” “Dalton, we’ve been through this before”

Dalton gave her a smile, he knew exactly why but he just loved to listen to her talk about the things that she loved or cared about “I know. And don’t worry, I promise I won’t interrupt you when you’re listening to it”

“Baby, it’s not like I’m gonna bite you” She laughed, but Dalton’s yawn interrupted her “You know you don’t have to stay with me, you can go back to your dorm”

“No! I offered to stay with you so I will” He stopped for a moment before saying “Unless you don’t want me to”

“Stop, of course I do” She leaned in for a quick kiss, softly smiling against him “I know you don’t really like her music but-”

“Who says I don’t?”

“I guess you did” She replied with an unsure tone as she tried to remember if he had ever said such a thing.

“I never said that. Plus, I kinda have to, that’s pretty much all we listen to” They laughed and Y/N could feel her face get red and her heart skip a beat, if there’s anything she loved the most about Dalton it was the way he showed interest in the stuff she cares about, instead of shaming her for them.

“I love you” She leaned in for another kiss, this time longer one. But not too long, since the alarm on Y/N’s phone went off and interrupted them.

“It’s out!” She took her headphones and handed one to Dalton. 

He happily took it and smiled at the sight of his girlfriend being so happy and excited to listen to the rerecording “What are we gonna listen to first?”

“I guess in order, I’m too nervous to jump straight to the vault tracks, or even to my favourite song”

After a moment of staring at the album cover, she took a deep breath and finally pressed on play.

“Oh my god!” She exclaimed as soon as ‘Welcome To New York’ started, Dalton’s smile growing.

Y/N listened to the songs carefully, paying full attention to every little detail on it and when it ended, she briefly shared with Dalton her thoughts, and he could easily tell she was loving it so far. 

He was listening to her with pleasure while he ate his dinner, and once he was done with it he asked Y/N if they could cuddle. He was feeling a little tired and he figured laying down for a moment might help. 

She had her back against the headboard as she nestled Dalton between her legs, his head using her front as a pillow and her laptop resting on his lap. 

He started to feel better, his mind and body immediately relaxing as his breathing synced with hers. What he didn’t realise is that he was feeling too relaxed, and he didn't even notice when his mind started to doze off.

“Oh, it’s time for vault tracks” She looked down at Dalton as she waited for an answer, but an even bigger smile appeared on her face when she saw his peaceful face.

She carefully took her laptop and put it next to her, placing a kiss on the top of his head before taking out Dalton’s headphone.

Y/N didn’t know for how long she stayed awake, but she listened to the vault tracks a handful of times before officially going to bed.

The next morning Dalton was the first one to open his eyes, squinting at the sudden light that was coming through the window. He yawned and rolled over to face Y/N, immediately remembering why he woke up there.

“Oh no” He whispered as he looked for his phone to check the time, he was sure it was somewhere under the covers.

The sudden movement made her slowly open her eyes, softly smiling at Dalton before greeting him “Hey”

He looked at her, an apology written on his face “Sorry baby, did I wake you?”

She let out a giggle “Kind of. What are you looking for?”

“My phone”

“On the desk” She pointed at her desk and Dalton thanked her as he reached for it, laying back down next to her after he looked at the time.

“I’m sorry”

“Why?”

“For falling asleep, I said I’d stay up with you”

“Dalton it’s okay, I know you were tired”

“But I promised-” “And you were here with me” She cut him off “Honestly it was really nice to listen to the first half with you, but I don’t care that you fell asleep, if anything it made it less embarrassing to freak out about the vault tacks”

“Why would that be embarrassing?” She shrugged her shoulders, her shy eyes trying to avoid his stare “Well, I still wish i didn’t fall asleep so I could freak out with you”

She blushed as she got closer to him, gently placing a kiss on his lips “We can still listen to them, you missed like half the album” “And what did you think of it?” “It was amazing, and she released a deluxe version with Kendrick Lamar”

They went to town to get some breakfast, listening to the rest of the album on their way there. He didn’t care what they were doing or what they were listening to, and she didn’t care if he fell asleep, as long as they were together, they were happy.

[7grandmel]

Todays rip: 04/05/2024

FEEL SO FINE STUCK INSIDE

Season 8 No Album Release (Read More) Circus (3mixphilip) - Five Nights at Freddy's

Ripped by KnightOfGames (@knightofgames)

Hey everyone - remember Stuck Inside? The Five Nights at Freddy's fan song I covered back in Willievan Afton Polkka, the one pushed entirely by long-time team member KnightOfGames? Back when I first wrote that post, the meme was just beginning to take off, sitting at seven rips total by the beginning of March. We've now reached the two-month anniversary of that post - and in the time since, the amount of Stuck Inside being done has grown exponentially. Not only has the total rip count more than quadrupled - currently at 33 - but the tune has also caught on with more rippers on the team than just KnightOfGames, bringing about a huge variety of more takes on the song. Granted, today's rip is still one from the man himself, but after you've listened to FEEL SO FINE STUCK INSIDE I highly recommend checking out all the other Stuck Inside rips if you haven't already - 12 AM - Maroon GO got a really good chuckle out of me in particular.

But yes, no matter - it's been three months since KnightOfGames first had the idea to start putting a silly fan song into his rips back in February, and it's arguably turned into the most prominent reoccurring tune to specifically debut during Season 8. And like, you'd think that would lead to a sort of overexposure to it, that one would get fed up hearing the same joke in so many places - but this deep into the channel's life, rippers have learned just how to leverage running jokes in a way that keeps them sounding fresh at every turn. Last time it was vocaloid - today, months after my post on SING A SONG ABOUT HOPES AND DREAMS, we're returning to the world of hyperpop, with one of the most cool-sounding interpretations of Stuck Inside that we've gotten yet. To be completely honest - this rip may alone have perked my interest in 100 gecs' music.

Yes, we're at one of those rips again, the kind where I'm woefully unfamiliar with the material that the rip's joke is using. But even moreso to an outsider looking in, there's a whimsy to 100 gecs' music that I just can't help but be allured by, a sound that somehow feels like a nostalgic calling to the early days of internet expression: to be loud, cringe and unashamed of being as such. FEEL SO FINE STUCK INSIDE is in particular using the band's debut single Money Machine as a baseline, both using parts of its instrumental and tuning the original Stuck Inside vocals to that level of distortion and higher-pitch that 100 gecs is known for. It's a surprisingly natural fit (hence why I'm writing about it here) for how different you'd think the two songs are in terms of tone - but then, Stuck Inside had its chorus be sung by a rather filtered voice to begin with...perhaps this combination of tracks isn't as far-fetched as one would initially think?

In truth, I don't know if there's much I have to say beyond my absolute highest recommendation to FEEL SO FINE STUCK INSIDE in particular - I'm just incredibly happy that Stuck Inside is continuing to see use in general. KnightOfGames' passion for the track is infectious, and it's really sweet seeing just how much its caught on with fellow SiIva viewers in the comments - despite how blatantly prevalent it was during the April Fools event in particular, I've hardly ever seen anyone complain about its overexposure the way people did with Grand Dad or Snow Halation back in Season 1. Perhaps that just speaks to how much better the rips have gotten over the years - Stuck Inside is incredibly prevalent, but each rip is made with such care and with such a distinct feel from the last to where it never feels as if the jokes are getting redundant or stalel.

Stuck Inside is just a damn good song - and through rips like FEEL SO FINE STUCK INSIDE, its presence on SiIvaGunner is also helping me uncover my tastes in music in a rather fun way. It's not an inherently funny leitmotif nor something grounded in any sort of meme culture - it is merely a tune KnightOfGames saw tons of potential in, and has leveraged to incredible lengths in the months since. I cannot wait to see what the future of Stuck Inside looks like, but FEEL SO FINE STUCK INSIDE will do just fine in the meanwhile.

[rachthepoet]

Matilda Analysis

A poignant narrative delving into themes of self-liberation, healing from past traumas, and a journey toward healthy love for the sake of oneself and nobody else. It's a testament to the resilience of the human spirit, delivered in an intimate and comforting atmosphere soundtracked by gentle instrumentation. This eloquent reminder to whoever needs to hear that it's never too late to seek the love you deserve and cultivate a life filled with joy and acceptance. Even if one must do so independently and abundantly.

The listener may not know the character of Matilda personally, but they know of her intuitively, anybody who can spare a few minutes to listen is invited in miraculously, as the song's configuration allows. And, what waits inside for those who venture? Harry sitting with his guitar, a concerned friend right as you need someone to be.

Here's a deep dive into Harry Styles' Matilda, from a poet.

Roald Dahl's 'Matilda' + Harry's Take

Roald Dahl (1916-1990) was a British novelist, short-story writer, poet, and screenwriter. He has composed many children's books, and has been bestowed the title of "one of the greatest storytellers for children of the 20th century". His knack was for writing children's books interlaced with rather dark, adult themes — like 'Matilda'.

If you didn't grow up with the book and/or haven't had the chance to read it, here is a summary for a bit more familiarity, which will lead to a more engaged discussion here! But, also, if you're familiar with the 1996 film, as many are, you should be just fine! As mentioned before, much of Dahl's works covered much darker themes. The children's book 'Matilda' speaks clearly of the following: emotional and physical abuse, tyranny, misogyny, scamming, attachment theory, and, the most obvious, child abuse and neglect.

In short, attachment theory believes that every child needs to form a relationship with at least one primary caregiver to develop, healthily, emotionally and socially. In 'Matilda', our main character lacks that primary caregiver until she meets Miss Honey. The impact of Miss Honey's warmth, care, and understanding on Matilda is so grand that trust is built (she reveals her telekinesis power to Miss Honey) and leads to a happy ending, as Matilda's attachment to Miss Honey wins over the weaker attachment of her parents — and Matilda moves in with Miss Honey, finding a loving and caring home/family at last.

Now it's time to circle it back to Harry's Matilda. I believe that Harry has taken on the role of Miss Honey as a complementary to the subject to whom he's disguised as quote-en-quote "Matilda" — a stylistic choice I have no doubt was heavily influenced by Dahl's tale. Not only is Harry a friend giving advice and refuge, but also a welcoming sense of care and a second home, which further ties into the third album's theme as a whole — debates of a house versus a home, and what home means to a person.

In the song Matilda, Harry alludes to similar situations, with direct connections to attachment theory and child abuse/neglect. As the audience solely, we don't know the specifics of the problem, but these are the main issues I grasp from the lyrics alone. Roald Dahl's Matilda, as told in the book, has much intellectual prowess — she's too smart, almost an adult in a child's body, most likely an effect of her circumstances' cause. Yet, set aside the knowledge of her adventurous nature and wits, there's no clear yes or no to answer if Matilda needs comfort. For she never cries, adamantly refusing to do so, and never seems to show weakness. She's too smart for that, after all. The single time she outright exhibits sadness about not feeling the love from her parents is when she's four and confiding in the librarian. I'm going somewhere, by the way, I promise you.

With Harry's Matilda in Matilda, lots of the same traits resurface. An adventurous spirit and a bright mind, but also the tendency to keep sucking it up and not letting one fall to tenderness, because it's been perceived in the brain as a weakness. None of what happened seemed wrong to her until a certain point. This is, apparently, no big deal, or so she says. Harry's Matilda speaks of her experiences like it's nothing at all, but it's everything. She's mighty like her fictional character namesake, so bright and lively that she can light up even the darkest days.

Upon a delicate, sadly playful melody of strings, Harry takes on the role of a friend but also a caregiver to show love to his character of Matilda. The Miss Honey, as alluded to before. In Matilda, Harry makes it a point to show Matilda the love she never received from those who should've given it freely. He expresses that, while none of this is his business, he's been thinking about it in concern. He tells her that she can start a family that will love her, will care for her, and there's nothing to be sorry for. With a wide, bright smile and a sharp mind, Matilda, you can let it go, and you don't have to be sorry for doing so. Let us show you what healthy love feels like.

Lyric Pull Apart

[VERSE 1] You were riding your bike to the sound of "It's No Big Deal" And you're trying to lift off the ground on those old two wheels Nothing 'bout the way you were treated ever seemed especially alarming till now So you tie up your hair and you smile like it's no big deal

You were riding your bike to the sound of "It's No Big Deal" / And you're trying to lift off the ground on those old two wheels: Here a little scene is set, and provides the listener with so much context and information. It's an idyllic childhood moment to picture, riding a bike, but there are cracks already. Cracks in a carefree childhood, cracks in what should've been. The line to the sound of "It's No Big Deal" had people frantically searching for a song to connect, but, from the language used, I never thought of it that way. Rather, it's the soundtrack of dismissiveness, instigated by those Matilda is surrounded with. There isn't a soundtrack of laughter or encouragement, but rather a shrug. It's in the frame of something heard, not something spoken, or, extending, something felt. To the details, the image of the bike is given as those old two wheels — tired, worn, maybe even inadequate. Strong symbolism there.

Then, trying to lift off the ground gives many implications and layered feelings. There's the literal, with a kid trying to play about and do cool tricks, alone on their old bike, maybe dangerous tricks, leaning into the absent parental presence, and maybe seeking attention. There's the symbolic, the imaginative, the evoking of childhood nostalgia and yearning. There's the metaphorical, to fly, rising above where they are stuck, an ache to escape.

Nothing 'bout the way you were treated ever seemed especially alarming till now / So you tie up your hair and you smile like it's no big deal: Those who've experienced trauma may feel or are told that their mistreatment is normal, and/or they shouldn't be the ones to complain because others have it worse. Therefore, they won't speak out because their minds have been conditioned that their issues are nothing to speak of. An internalization. But, as distance and time are gained away from the situation, realization becomes stronger than internalization.

Then, So you tie up your hair and you smile like it's no big deal curates a heartbreaking image of Matilda, self-sufficient and positive because she had to be, tying up her hair with a smile because she never saw the way she was treated as anything but status quo. It's a tragic echoing of the first line of the verse and also parallels Dahl's Matilda with the ribbon in her hair. It relates to the idea of putting on a mask, covering something up by pretending like everything is fine. Matilda, maybe, doesn't want to burden him with her problems and repeats rehearsed mantras in place of it. But, he sees straight through this, and the speaker assures Matilda that she doesn't have to hide, for he's there to listen and care.

And then we get another heartbreaking image, of Matilda as self-sufficient and positive, tying up her hair with a smile because she never saw the way she was treated as anything but normal, and a tragic echo of the first line, where she smiles “like it’s no big deal” - because it’s all she’s heard, the sound of her parents saying it’s no big deal, and she believes them.

[CHORUS] You can let it go You can throw a party full of everyone you know And not invite your family 'cause they never showed you love You don't have to be sorry for leavin' and growin' up, mmm

But the chorus is telling Matilda directly: you can let it go. It's so comforting and beautiful. He is reassuring the character of Matilda that she can drop the smile and acknowledge the inevitable pain caused (see verse 2), and then let it go and let herself grow. It's a gentle, validating way of saying that she didn't deserve the pain back then and doesn't deserve to hold onto it now. The speaker suggests that Matilda, and by extension the listener, has the power to create a new life for herself — one filled with people who have genuine care for her and those who provide the love that has been missing. Attachment theory.

You can throw a party full of everyone you know and not invite your family 'cause they never showed you symbolizes a break from the past and the forging of a new path defined by one's autonomy. Her family, the site of all of this complication and guilt and hurt, whom she now acknowledges caused her pain and never showed her the love she deserved. But now she can go out and seek that love. A reminder to Matilda that she can seek happiness elsewhere and build a chosen family based on love and respect.

Then, the ending line, You don't have to be sorry for leavin' and growin' up, is so important. When trying to extract oneself from an abusive environment, the blame will be twisted and put on the victim. They might try and make Matilda a stranger as a repercussion for her spreading her wings and thriving in the absence of their negative influence. And, here, the speaker is reassuring Matilda that you don't have to feel sorry for leaving and growing up. And, the language choice is interesting, for saying growing up akins it automatically to something natural, something that's bound to happen. Something you shouldn't feel guilty over. He says to Matilda that she should never feel apologetic for her growth.

[VERSE 2] Matilda, you talk of the pain like it's all alright But I know that you feel like a piece of you's dead inside You showed me a power that is strong enough to bring sun to the darkest days It's none of my business, but it's just been on my mind

Matilda, you talk of the pain like it's all alright / But I know you feel like a piece of you's dead inside: This is the only time within the song that there's a direct address to Matilda, although there's an underlying assumption that the song is being spoken to her throughout. This direct address serves a purpose though, as I believe it amplifies the words that follow it, you talk of the pain like it's all alright. While verse 1 framed Matilda as a child, this verse (verse 2) frames Matilda as an adult. She is doing the same thing, the same coping mechanisms, that were instilled in her when she was a child — "it's no big deal" and "it's all alright".

Closely followed by but I know that you feel like a piece of you's dead inside is where the speaker, in one of the few lines in the song to reference an "I", acknowledges Matilda's pain for her. He makes it known that he can see the pain that she's in, even as she tries to dismiss it. It also acknowledges a major recognition of the loss of self due to this past trauma and pain.

You showed me a power that is strong enough to bring sun to the darkest days: This line is just so gorgeous. I have such love in my heart for it. And I feel like many overlook the intention with the word choice, which lends to its touching nature. Choosing the words you showed me a power versus you are the sunshine in the darkest days (or something along those lines) changes the meaning, and makes more of a splash. The meaning shifts from you are sunshine, you are goodness, you deserve to be loved — which is not without its own lovely connotation, of course — to being around you, you radiate this energy and you can teach other people how to love.

In companionship to what's been told about Matilda, to imply that she has this power to bring the sun to the darkest days, to teach someone how to find the sun in their darkest days when she has experienced dark days... it's beautiful. And it's so important to notice that detailed difference and reiterates the notion that as sad of a song as Matilda is, it's also incredibly empowering.

It's none of my business, but it's just been on my mind: And then, the speaker takes a step back. It's not about his experience, and he acknowledges that separation, but does not withdraw his care or concern. It's none of my business is a delicate way to respect Matilda's boundaries regarding her past and the choice of what her relationships look like. He doesn't want to tell Matilda what to do and deny her agency, for then he would become just another one of the people who mistreat her. But it's just been on my mind illustrates the care of the speaker once more, a complement to what precedes it and to the song entirely.

"It's a weird one, because with something like this, it's like, 'I want to give you something, I want to support you in some way, but it's not necessarily my place to make it about me because it's not my experience.' Sometimes it's just about listening. I hope that's what I did here. If nothing else, it just says, 'I was listening to you'." — Harry Styles

[CHORUS ADD ON VARIATION 1] You can let it go You can throw a party full of everyone you know And not invite your family 'cause they never showed you love You don't have to be sorry for leavin' and growin' up You can see the world, following the seasons Anywhere you go, you don't need a reason 'Cause they never showed you love You don't have to be sorry for doin' it on your own

This is the first variation on and second iteration of the chorus, and it hits on the same themes as the first iteration. The first new line is You can see the world, following the seasons. Matilda can leave, not just her family but where she's from, and she still doesn't owe her family justification or reasons. The latter comes from the following anywhere you go, you don't need a reason. The sentiment is continued by the line you don't have to be sorry for doin' it on your own which is the repeated parallel to the previous you don't have to be sorry for leavin' and growin' up. It's so good. In one sense, it applies to the lines immediately preceding it — you don't have to be sorry for traveling and seeing the world on your own. Yet, because of the repetition, there's this parallel created that also refers to growing up. Matilda doesn't have to be sorry for growing up on her own. A grand acknowledgment that Matilda raised herself, and that comes with both sorrow and pride. The sorrow that she had to raise herself alone, but the pride that she is who she is as an adult because of herself.

[BRIDGE] You're just in time, make your tea and your toast You framed all your posters and dyed your clothes, ooh You don't have to go You don't have to go home Oh, there's a long way to go I don't believe time will change your mind In other words, I know they won't hurt you anymore As long as you can let them go

This whole ballad is truly a tour de force, but the bridge is the one to knock me off my feet every time. Much like Harry has done for the listeners with 'Harry's House', the speaker invites Matilda into his home. In the song's case, both literally and metaphorically.

You're just in time, make your tea and your toast: Tea and toast is such a cozy and homey image, and indicates this welcoming, specificity in welcoming into routines, like a fresh pot of tea and a nice piece of toast in the middle of the afternoon. There's no push or rush, as indicated with the you're just in time, as it was and will always be based upon Matilda's timeline. It's a sense of found family and a safe place to land after she's previously seen the world, followed the seasons, and all that. Welcome home, welcome to the party, welcome to the place where you can be you without begging for the allowance to do so.

You framed all your posters and dyed your clothes: I think this is a beautiful way to signify that somebody grew, focusing on the smaller details. But, additionally, there's a full circle moment, calling back to childhood — experiencing the small joys she never had the chance to, as her childhood was spent in a survival state. You framed all your posters and made this new house a home with favorite things from your childhood, now with an added sense of sophistication that was missing previously. You dyed your clothes, changing them to better fit a new stage of life. Parts of Matilda's childhood can be brought into adulthood with her, and reinvented to be rid of the negative connotations that may still be attached. You can let it go.

You don't have to go / You don't have to go home: The speaker reintroduces himself in the song to speak and bring more reassurance to Matilda, with nurturing and welcoming at the forefront. You don't have to go away from where we've invited you, Matilda, with your favorite teas and the way you like your toast, you don't have to go away from this place of people who love you for you. You don't have to go home reminds Matilda that she doesn't have to go back to the people and place she cut ties with, and that's okay. the use of the word home has intrigued me for quite a while, but I think it indicates that Matilda is still presently on the journey to let go of her past.

Oh, there's a long way to go / I don't believe time will change your mind / In other words, I know they won't hurt you anymore / As long as you can let them go: These last lines of the bridge importantly acknowledge the journey — not just of life, and not just the growing up and traveling and exploring — of healing. It's a bittersweet moment here, gently saying there's a long way to go. It isn't solved, it isn't over — for nothing ever is packaged up that neatly in reality. I don't believe time will change your mind, to me, is him saying that it won't be as simple as letting time fall between her and what happened. A lot of blood and tears is going to have to be shed to truly get to the point where it's not a constant background ache. Leading into, I know they won't hurt you anymore as long as you can let them go. Matilda, you need to give yourself permission to let this all go, both the situation and the facade you've been putting on. Let yourself feel, then let it go.

[CHORUS ADD ON VARIATION 2] You can let it go You can throw a party full of everyone you know You can start a family who will always show you love You don't have to be sorry for doin' it on your own You can let it go You can throw a party full of everyone you know You can start a family who will always show you love You don't have to be sorry, no

The shift in the final chorus can be undetectable if the listener isn't paying attention. But, once it's caught, it's impossible to miss again. This is a second variation of the chorus, on its third iteration. In the earlier verse of the chorus, the third line was And not invite your family 'cause they never showed you love. But, after Matilda has worked to let them go, it evolves to You can start a family who will always show you love — highlighting the beauty of found family, a family of choice. And with this evolution in the chorus, the meaning of doin' it on your own has changed, because rather than a reference to growing up or leaving and traveling, but starting a family, one who will love you, and Matilda has done it with her own autonomy. It's the next step on the road to healing, and there's always this reassurance that Matilda can do this on her own. He gives the power back to her and puts it in her palms, for she is strong and she is resilient.

Therefore, the whole message, the thesis statement of the song, lies in the final line: you don't have to be sorry. The song of Matilda is a conversation between her and the speaker, and in response to her unspoken guilt. In the various forms and layers, the repeated lyrics and parallels, context stacked on context, the listener — us, the spectators — is enveloped in the depth of Matilda and her journey. But, in that final line, all specificities and complexities are stripped, to simply conclude it all: you don't have to be sorry, let go of the guilt, and you can be happy.

Matilda left me reeling in a puddle of tears on the first listen, and my emotions are instigated with each listen after. Pieces that send me into a wave of emotions set off a green light, they'll always be my favorite. In a way, Harry has become our Ms. Honey in times we've felt like Matilda, gifted us a chosen family with those who bond over his music. Much like this song, beautiful and evocative it is.

A grand indicator of a great writer is the ability to write so deeply about experiences not necessarily connected to them and their own experience. The times where Harry is the 'outside looking in, narrator of other people's experiences' songwriter has always been something I admire, and the songs I find the most intriguing to study. There's a full narrative, and we are brought into the same emotions Matilda was experiencing at the moment, therefore fully enveloping us in the story. I don't know, you just feel it. And I love that you just feel it.

And he takes such care and consideration with this delicate story. He doesn't have to name them specifically or be overbearing with identifying details, but cleverly uses well-known themes of the Dahl children's book to explore feelings and show understanding. It's a warm song full of strength and bursting with love. A seldom promise to always be there and understanding to a friend who's felt alone and misunderstood in a time when they should've been heard. Making sure they know their power and the power of care and nurturing. And Harry, in Harry's House, will always show you love.

dedicated to this anon <3

Thank you for reading, you’re absolutely incredible! If there are any songs you’d like me to make an analysis of, please send your request to my inbox! along with any questions or insights you might have yourself!

[gracefullou]

I’ve been thinking about this and looking at peoples reactions on the setlist and the biggest problem to me is not 1D songs but the fact that there’s THREE 1D songs and like genuinely if I went to the festival and I saw him then afterwards I’d left with a feeling of “he doesn’t have enough solo songs”& “he’s still stuck on 1D” when it’s not true and we as the fans know that but the gp doesn’t.

Also I do understand him putting the songs that the gp knows and blah blah blah but well the gp knows jho (or at least some people) so he could’ve sang it instead of another 1D song or a cover which no one knows anyway. But overall I think Louis is stubborn and he won’t listen to us (esp since we’re such a small group of people lol) buuuut I’m really glad to see that the fans are saying very loud that they want more solo songs on the setlist because Louis deserves to know that his solo songs >1D songs and that people love them more so I hope he sees all the complains lmao

Hi, anon. I agree with everything you said. No matter the angle you see it from, it's not looking good. At first, i was disappointed solely for the fact that all these covers are taking up the place that fitf songs should've had. Simply bc i believe in its potential, i believe that every fitf song is so much better than any one direction song. I believe that no cover (one direction or not) is the key to win people over, but fitf is. Not in i'm a solo louie only his solo songs are good kind of way but bc it's the truth. Everytime the transition between a fitf song and a one direction one happens, i feel the dip in the quality. It's frankly striking. Fitf is my favorite album ever but also, i always make all my family and friends listen to Louis' music (usually not in an obvious fangirl way) and never has anyone said that this song is bad or that they didn't like it. On the contrary, most are now casual fans/ listeners and get excited along with me when a new release of his aporoaches. I also know what i felt/ thought when i heard fitf for the first time and that's why i have no doubt in my mind that an artist could not ask for a better representation. Fitf is EVERYTHING. I just wish Louis believed that too 😔. Anyway, the more that i think about it, the more obvious it becomes that Louis is waisting a lot of potential with his setlist choices. First of all, it doesn't send the message of a solo artist that is confident in his work. It can frankly paint him as the ambitionless loser from a dead band who can't move on from the break that the media (and some of his so called fans) try so hard to make people perceive him as. When in reality, he's been up to SO much since the pandemic. People respect ambition, they respect hunger for success and validation so why put yourself in a position where you can seem to not care enough? Larries and ot5s are horrible we know that (see how they're celebrating fucking seven of all things and then they have the audacity to claim that they love him and it's the toxic solos who don't respect his previous work 😬) but i can't help but feel that somewhere, sometimes Louis is responsable as well. Fans take cues from their "idols" and Louis is not helping with the three covers. I don't even know what he's trying to achieve with it 😭. Bc he does sing an awful lot of covers even at the tour shows when he knows the crowd is mainly his fans. Like the directioners that do show up now will show up even if he reduces the number of covers to one (and everyone will be happy then ☺️). He also needs to stop thinking too highly of 1D and assuming everyone is a fan. A lot of people are not. A lot of people don't even know their songs. It's been nine years, people move on. Today was the first time that i was left feeling a bit underwhelmed and not on a high after his set. It's one thing to sneak 4 covers on a regular tour set (it used to be less rip 💔) it's a whole other thing to fill it with those and leave your own beautiful songs off in a tight set like he has on those festivals and he needs to understand the difference ASAP. And it's not that he doesn't have "popular" songs under his belt. Back to you, just hold on, miss you are more than enough familiarity for any audience. Also, as much as he cares about "popularity" when it comes to 1D songs, he doesn't seem to care for the same for his own. Hello always you has over 100M streams on Spotify with no promo or playlisting and it's not even a single. Hoth, Chicago, angels fly, bigger than me are the most popular fitf songs after waoyf but they're nowhere to see on the setlist 😃. Instead of wdbhg why not reward fans with a favorite? Megamix is a clear fan favorite. Or defenceless as a nod to the fans' dedication and effort in 2020 for example? Or maybe he does reward them... With one dead songs 😭😭😭

[splanana-bitz]

This rant I'm about to go on will probably not even get noticed, but, I genuinely do not care.

I just want to take a solid few minutes to really praise Will Wood and how...intellectual and meaningful his lyrics are. I know that's probably obvious to a lot of other WW fans already, but his music has been causing me actual brainrot and I can't stop putting his albums on repeat, ESPECIALLY The Normal Album, and I can't and won't shut up about it.

(Heads up, this is simply a take of mine on The Normal Album that I've been really wanting to talk about. I am by no means disclosing that what I am about to say is objective and/or true. You may politely correct me or respectfully counter it with your own opinions/thoughts, but kindly remember, this is just me mindlessly blabbering about how much the album means to me, how the little details make up my theory for the album's theme/point, and just me fangirling over the thought he put into his music.)

Alright I'm gonna go out on a limb here and essentially just explain my Normal Album theory I compiled by making the most logical connections and assumptions based off the album's lyrics and certain song's context(s) from the album.

To me, The Normal Album is an ironic, satirical juxtaposition testing "normal" people's reactions to "hush hush" topics of conversation, or things we don't typically think/talk about that aren't considered "normal" at all. Not only that, but also how the little bits and pieces from different songs and lyrics from the album make up said theme, is just so astounding to me. It truly shows that he put a lot of thought into his work and you can tell some of the songs are hitting just as close to home for him as it does with a lot of fans who look really into it.

To further emphasize, notice how the first song of The Normal Album, "Suburbia Overture / Greetings from Mary Bell Township! / (Vampire) Culture / Love Me, Normally," the first name and part(?) of the song is literally starting with "Suburbia?" Suburbia is often known as a neighborhood that appeals as a peaceful, cookie cutter place to live or the collective standard people envision as to what "normal" people should act like or how if you really are "normal," this is how you should live your life; a shiny, happy family, white pickett fences, perfectly cut grass, etc. Suburbia also (stereotypically) expresses resentment anyone that does not fit their standard of "normal," and I think that's Will's entire point, not only expressed in this song in particular, but the entire album. He is testing the waters by presenting this as an exaggeratedly normal album on the surface, but the further you get into it and/or dive into the lyrics, it becomes evident this is not normal at all. Just like how modern, suburbian culture (that he very explicitly expresses that he despises (e.g, "fuck your culture," "culture is not your friend")) presents itself as normal, even though behind closed doors, we know there is most likely something that is not okay, or something going on that contradicts the suburbia's own self-established standard of normal.

Hell, even the album cover is Will wearing "normal" suburbia-esque attire, waving out a window with a smile on his face, presenting as the normal he very much opposes with this album's music. This enhances the theme because of how much its trying to look normal on the cover; only ironically portraying Suburbia as too good to be true even more. And this is only the first of many symbolic details found within the album. With the ironic title, plus this sense of imagery, who wouldn't think it wasn't normal? (but if you know Will Wood and/or look at the titles, then you know damn well this album is far from it.)

By showing us something normal on the cover and starting off the album with a song who's title's first word is "Suburbia," it unveils itself to be ironic yet symbolic, reflecting suburbian attitude and showing how these kinds, and plenty of other people, treat what should be considered important topics (identity, death, morality, mental health, etc.) as things to be swept under the rug because it was not integrated into their "normal" ideals, through its music and words.

For example, to help even further prove my point, just look at some of the lyrics/song titles:

·"It's only culture, and its more afraid of you than you are of it." - That right there, that right there is his entire thesis that sums up his point of the album, along with my theory. Anything different opposing "normal" culture, the same culture grows a fear of it, often times trying to silence it out of fear of losing control of or entirely losing the "normal" haven/standard that has been created and set. Will bringing up the topics he does within the album does this very thing, destroying the "normal" feeling that had been set at the beginning, along with revealing the album's lack of hesitancy to discuss tough topics, the undertones of its true nature, and shining a light on how the album is ironically not normal at all.

·"I/Me/Myself" - A song that plays into the themes of not only identity, but the same themes of normality and conformity by discussing how both cis and trans people have their idea of normal towards labels and how one should act according to theirs and are both capable of projecting it in a toxic manner that tries to push down anything that defies it. Will Wood LITERALLY wrote and explained how this song is talking about his experiences as someone who used to be a genderqueer person, how both people on each side of the gender spectrum tried telling him that he can't do xyz because he's a cis man/genderqueer person (or in general), his frustrations with said standards, and that he only wore his gender identity as something to serve a purpose. Just because your behavior, interests, or whatever, contradicts your birth gender, it does not mean you have to conform to labels on either side, even if its not "normal" to everyone telling you otherwise. This very thing also exemplifies how this aforementioned culture is "not your friend" and that it can and will very much push down its standard of normality down your throat, no matter how good it seems or what side its on.

·"Marsha, Thankk You for the Dialectics, but I Need You to Leave" - Like "I/Me/Myself," this song also presents two (most likely extremist) sides that have their own standard of "normal," but this time, it discusses mental wellness instead. Regarding the fact this song revolves around themes of mental health and the balance of how it should be treated, we are given two (or possibly several more) perspectives on the subject matter that could each be considered normal, depending on the evironment/generation. (E.g., we hear a side throughout the song that seems to oppose professional/medical help in this regard or leans away from heavy reliance on such things (e.g., "Back in my day we didn't need no feel good pills and no psychiatrists, we just drank ourselves to death/bled out in our bath," "A little identity never hurt nobody, but lately you've been focusing too much on yourself," etc). And then, we also hear a side that is also consistent throughout the song, seemingly the polar opposite (e.g., "Better safe than sorry, and we both know the danger," "And a little conformity never hurt nobody, but lately I've been worried that you're losing yourself," etc.) (This one is kinda loosely tied, but I still thought it played into themes similar to I/Me/Myself in terms of normality, sorry if it doesnt make too much sense)

·"Well this disease is defined by its treatment, you people make me sick!" - This bit from Outliars and Hypocrates helps emphasize the album's theme further due to the song itself (theoretically) being about human behavior and this lyric also showing how these "normal" people may treat anything different negatively, creating issues within the person who appears as different and making them think something is wrong with them, potentially forcing the person to conform in order to avoid being ostracized (further creating and pushing the established "normal" expectations). Thus, creating a "disease" that is not at all a disease, and merely just behavior that is only treated as such because it does not fit the metaphorical and literal suburbia's standard or ideals of "normal."

I could go on and on, but I have been typing for way too long at this point (my hands and brain are actually hurting, help- VHKDFJ). There are plenty of other lyrics and songs I want(ed) to integrate in this post, but as I just said, I'm very tired from writing all this, and besides, I think I've made my point/theory clear. Whether I'm correct (partially or fully) or not, this was still fun to talk about, and trust me I have so much more praise for this man and his work and I got plenty of more speculations as to what some of his other songs could mean. Maybe I'll make more posts on it sometime in the future, but who knows?

And again, I cannot stress this enough, please do not harrass me for this and if you do believe otherwise, please reply respectfully. I know some, if not most people are nonchalant at the least about this kinda stuff, but I do NOT wanna deal with any comments or replies I know I could possibly get that'll be going "Erm, Actually-" or getting pissed at me for having an opinion. I am in no way claiming my postulation is definitivelty correct, these are just MY theories and MY thoughts. If you have anything different to say or your own theories about The Normal Album, or just any of WW's music in general, I would love to hear them in a respectful manner and/or your reasons for why you think xyz about the album(s).

I just had to rant about how truly incredible Wood's choice of words and music were for the album. The theme is truly very astounding, but just the pieces in the words and titles that make up the puzzle, is what it makes it even better. It is just so well thought out and amazing to me. Will Wood is one of the most lyrically intlligent, and seemingly passionate artist's that I've ever seen. If you dont like his music or have never even heard of him, at least read more analytical posts like this just so you can get a taste, and/or at the least, appreciate how absolutely profound Will is with his lyrics. My compliments and explainations for his work do not do it justice. It is just something you have to listen to for yourself. His content just cannot be put into a box by words.