Its my birthday so I get to talk about what I want.
This year started out pretty mad for my mental health, the first quarter of it was exhausting, but then a silver lining showed up for me in the form, of, well it was a few different things converging at once, but they all culminated in this album coming out at the perfect time for me to sink myself into. I was already starting to take more interest in All Time Low again after playing The Sims 4 with my Sim of Alex, also wanting to find the source of this gif. All very haphazard, but anyway, it all ending up with me throwing myself so deep into All Time Low this April that a hyperfixation formed, mind, a hyperfixation for a band I already liked, just cranked up to absolute max. A band I already liked, and members from it I already liked and had ponies of that I used before, but didn't do a whole lot with, and now I'm just obsessed with them, as might be evident but the sudden influx of me using them in art and commissions and even plushies.

I got invested in DVDs, liveshows, just pictures, music videos, all the songs, Alex and Jack, Jalex shipping in general, even got me reading fanfics and getting invested in them again, making a lot of art after a few month hiatus from depression, getting really invested in my Sims of them, even throwing so much personality, backstory, and just story of their EQG versions. I haven't felt this obsessed with a band in years, which is a nice feeling to have, it reminds me why I got invested in making all these ponifieds in the first place, and why I haven't stopped and have no intentions to as I am happier than ever. So, All Time Low jumped up from a band I already liked straight into the top 5, and the fact that I previously simped for Jack did not change at all and only grew stronger when a week or so ago my internet was out and I rewatched every (minus like 2) All Time Low music video as I had downloaded them of course and my takeaway from it all was being obsessed with Jack. But hey, Alex has all the fun design details as a pony, and I'm totally planning getting a giant fluffy plush of him so he wins out too.

Inspired by how my Sims of these 2 are just...perfect? The perfect couple, and let me tell you, literally none of my other Sim couples are even close to these two in terms of how well they get along and how attached to each other they are. All my other marriages are complete disasters filled with fighting and not getting along and just me having to always fix them. Not so much with these two, they are attached at the hip, are never mean to each other, and trust me they can be mean to others, I never have to 'fix' them in any way, I never have to struggle with them making each other happy, it's refreshing and just what I needed this year, a nice happy constant with unflinching romance. I end up writing them similarly in stories, albeit, not entirely the same way.

This description is a long rambly mess but I just can't help it. This image is just a simple cuddle, a hug, a nuzzle even? My filename says nuzzle but frankly It looks dubious. At least they're happy.

Even when this hyperfixation slows down, I will still consider this band to be in the top 5 for me after all the help it gave me this year in bringing me from a really low point into a really high one, with dozens of vector ideas for things to do with these two, with a strong motivation to make more pony designs too, to the constant story ideas, the relaxing fun of The Sims, and just the sheer happiness I feel about it all. The plushies and art being permanent reminders of just how much one thing can affect me so positively.