#like it's DEFINITELY 70-80s style but what group

[nadiajustbe]

@jutenium @violecov @entanglementbroke @your-queen-shuri @deadpiano

justiman enjoyers please accept my humble offering. inspired by @nadiajustbe's post about ben's guitar

putting this under the cut because i don't want the caption to get too long.

i Do Not know why justin looks like oscar wilde, i swear it was an accident. i Did draw the green carnation on purpose, and only later realised that green carnations being a symbol of homosexuality is a thing of our world and wouldn't be known in ingary. ....which means ben grew the flowers and gave that to justin Knowing the symbolism. dork.

most of the descriptions in the book are super vague so i just made up the designs. while ben canonically has ginger hair, i don't remember if justin's hair colour was ever mentioned in the books (his blue eyes Were mentioned in cita) but the strangian soldier had grey hair so i was going for dark grey. but the markers i used make everything too dark so it looks black now. not that i'm complaining.

justin's uniform is my design with some inspiration from these. all that was mentioned in hmc were green uniform and long shiny boots, and the green uniform was his disguise according to lettie so ??? i have no idea what he wears when he's not in disguise so have this i guess.

the guitar is mostly based on this. for ben's outfit i went for a cloak-ish thing to make him look wizardly but kept the shirt and pants casual since ben seems to me like the type to wear practical clothes in contrast with howl's flamboyance.

[zahri-melitor]

Batman v Ra's Al Ghul, by Neal Adams: A Bronze Age fever dream of a comic, written in 2019-2021.

Neal Adams caps off his over 50 year career with DC comics by...them letting him write a book for the first time in a decade.

Now, Adams is famous for his Bronze Age artwork, not his writing, and it's deservedly so: this is not the comic you would pick up if you were interested in award winning writing. But I have to say, it's actually something far more fun than 'good writing'.

I think the easiest way to describe the incredibly wild vibes of this title are 'Adams writes a multiverse Bronze Age time travel AU fic', where the cast technically consists of a modern set of characters (Dick is Nightwing and both Tim and Damian are Robin), but all of the characters are drawn, talking and acting like they just walked off a page in 1974 or so.

For assistance, that's: Dick in the yellow with the very 70s black vest; Tim in the blue t-shirt; Damian in the red t-shirt; and Bruce in the suit. You end up keeping track of them in this title by their haircuts.

Bruce and Damian here cannot remember anything about being Batman and Robin; Dick and Tim appear to have shown up with a fantastical story that cannot be proven (as I said, this has INCREDIBLE reality hopping AU vibes).

Some of the characters have been mindwiped. Some of the characters are robot duplicates. A whole list of characters Adams helped create show up largely because he created them (seriously Kirk and Francine Langstrom show up for a couple of pages mostly to give Dick and Tim an airlift into a difficult to reach entrance to the Cave). Nobody sounds particularly in character at any point, but that's not really a problem in this comic, because what it really is is a giant jolt of Bronze Age style writing nostalgia direct to the brainstem.

They don't make comics like this anymore and reading one written in the 2020s like this reinforces why.

Deadman's brother Aaron and sister Zeea show up; his brother is busy pretending to be an alternate Australian version of Batman called Marvin O'Hearn, and his sister is a psychic running around in the most 70s outfit imaginable controlling things and mindwiping Bruce on Ra's orders.

(And yes, if you too just asked 'Boston Brand has siblings???' the answer is 'kinda sorta but definitely not these two', however given Adams was writing Boston in 1968 at one point he's got as much right as anyone else to claim there are additional siblings)

There's a group who PRETEND to be the Court of Owls but secretly are a group of industrialists called The Money who want to control the world via paying for legislators, judges and industry (and yes I realise that sounds exactly like the Court's thing, but Adams was almost 80 when he wrote this, he can have an expy Court if he wants one).

Bruce pretends to be Matches for a good chunk of the back end of this comic and it actually acknowledges that Matches Malone was a real gangster before he died and Bruce stole his identity (something other writers and the fandom often forget), because Adams wants one more spin with the character he designed.

There's also a moment in the sixth issue where one of Ra's pet scientists tries to sell a panel of Gotham execs on a perpetual motion machine based on electrolysis as his replacement for the current Gotham power generators and at this point I lost it giggling at the portrayal of Ra's as a cheap charlatan.

(There is also a sneaky joke that only works if you know what British salad cream is; there's this sequence of the kids talking about Alfred making sandwiches with 'crappy salad dressing' instead of mayonnaise, only this tray has been made with mayo...and it's a hint that Alfred has been replaced by a robot. I laughed; I suspect it might be non-obvious to American audiences)

This is not a comic to read if you are interested in 'main continuity' or 'coherence' or even 'good writing'. However if you want some wild antics that feel like someone's 3am fanfic AU written in pure Bronze Age vibes and to see the last work of one of Ra's Al Ghul's creators? Give it a chance. You'll never be able to predict what's on the next page.

[flimflamfandom]

Hi there, it’s me again. I hope you’re doing well and that you’re having a good day/night. Since it’s pride month where I’m at, I was wondering how Rocky got into fighting for LGBTQ+ rights as well as women’s rights? Was he an avid supporter since he was a young adult or was it later in life? 

Also, I was wondering how Rocky’s shows would work? What’s his comedic style? And did he ever talk about his activism stories openly in his shows? 

And, as a last question for now, do you have any other miscellaneous older Rocky trivia that you would like to share? If for some reason you can’t answer these questions then I completely understand. You’re busy with a new job if I can recall and I wish you all the best in your future endeavors. Please make sure you leave time for resting as well if/when you can, burnout’s no joke. I adore your future Lackadaisy headcannons! 

Hello! New job has been taxing, but fun. In any case, I CAN answer the questions!

FIRST

As far as activism in this case goes, most of his started during his later life in the 70s and 80s - Rocky was never particularly public about his sentiments towards the queer community until then.

His sentiments were definitely aligned with the community - he didn't have to be convinced to accept them - but after Stonewall, he started to try and add more gays into stories he pitched, shows he wrote, etc. He wasn't necessarily groundbreaking in this regard - it's very 70s style stuff - but he did his best to keep them from being the punchline.

During the AIDS crisis, he was notable for visiting friends of his who were patients - of which there were remarkably many. he wasn't going into any marches at this point in time, being in his 70s, and he was mostly retired, but he did contribute some TV episodes about the crisis here and there.

HIS SHOW

Rocky went through a few different forms of entertainment - first, of course, was radio. He was brought on to run a comedy show, which was structured around parodies of other radio shows, comic adaptations of dramas, and show-within-a-show episodes which were explicitly about running the show. Think of him as this universe's Jack Benny.

He transitioned to Television in the early 50s, and he did well there! He was notable for his show's transition, which was one of very few radio-to-TV bids that actually...y'know. Worked.

But he was ALSO notable for a game show, Ivory Towers, which ran from '55 to '62 - a quiz show where a group of college professors would compete against random attendees to answer questions. After being pretty much the only quiz show NOT to be cooking the books after the big Quiz Show scandals, it started to run with the subtitle of 'The Cleanest Racket in Town'.

OTHER TRIVIA

Rocky actually got a lot of fanmail from girls. It made his wife rather jealous.

In the OLD AU, I shipped Rocky with an OC named Loretta - she has been written out of existence.

Rocky once entered a pie eating contest and won, and wore a giant fake pie slice on his head for the next show. He became so well known for it that he would enter that contest annually until he died.

Rocky almost recorded a comedy album about Christmas - it never got released or published.

[thornsofthefuture]

an interview with varya from CROSSPARTY & The Sextapes — a talk about psychedelic rock, thailand and cannabis

today's thorns of the future guest is varya, a vocalist and lyricist of one of the biggest russian witch-house bands, CROSSPARTY, as well as a vocalist and lyricist of The Sextapes, an electronic and indie duo. CROSSPARTY has been in the scene since 2012, and The Sextapes, technically since 2019. CROSSPARTY's first ever release was the "#SWAGHUNTER" LP, which was released through the Phantasma Disques label.

thorns of the future: how and when did you and uken start CROSSPARTY?

varya: At first, I need to tell you this story from the beginning. Uken wasn't the first musician in Crossparty. In 2012 the group was invented by Ilya Bespalov and me. Ilya is an electronic musician from my hometown Vladivostok. Before Crossparty i was singing in a punk-rock band named Cosmic Pirates. We were friends and one time we decided to try to create something together in an experimental electronic style. In 2014 Ilya decided to leave our band for personal reasons and I've asked Uken to join me. The rest is the story.

thorns of the future: what was your craziest experience at a live show?

varya: Every live show is a crazy experience in some way, you know. Sometimes it’s crazy in a good way, sometimes in a bad. I can tell you about my first live show in Moscow on WITCHOUT 2. It was crazy because I was very nervous and was stuck in a toilet 2 minutes before the show because the door locker was broken. Some guy in a waiting line broke the door and when I got out the show had already started and I needed to run to the stage while the first song was playing. Good that it was an instrumental track without a vox, but it was really hard to run through the crowd to be on time at the beginning of the second song and of course I was out of breath.

thorns of the future: tell us about your first ever live show.

varya: My first serious live show was when I was 15 with my punk-rock band Cosmic Pirates. Before them I was in a girl group called Cashew, but we didn’t do live shows. Guys from Cosmic Pirates heard my voice at a Cashew rehearsal and asked me to join them as a lead singer. At the first rehearsal they said to me that we have our first live show in 2 days. We wrote 2 new original songs with my lyrics and the rest of the songs were old. Everything was really good and the guys presented me like a new lead singer to their fans. 

thorns of the future: what's your favourite CROSSPARTY song?

varya: Because all of Crossparty's songs it’s very personal and autobiographical, I love them all in different ways. But i can tell my Top-5: Cult, Suffocate, Lost Girls, Twins, Iamwar. 

thorns of the future: recommend us some bands/artists that you like.

varya: I love different genres, especially the old kind of music. Psychedelic rock from the 60's, disco from the 70’- 80’s. I can tell that I am a huge fan of The Kills, Lady Gaga, Johny Mitchell, Blondie and Yanka Dyagileva. I think that it’s my Top-5.

thorns of the future: what is "cult" about?

varya: I wrote this song about relationships between me, myself and i. It’s about closing myself from everyone and making love with the darkness and pain inside me. When I wrote it I was 16. At this age I was so lost inside, didn’t trust others, but at the same time I was confident with the things that I was doing. My life was not easy at this time, and I was struggling between love and hate. 

thorns of the future: you're also a part of a band called "the sextapes" - can you tell us something about it?

varya: Razorz (EPILEPTICS) and I wanted to create something with “indie rock vibes from 2009” and I think that we did it. I hope that in the future we can make more music. Now we have some problems because we live on different continents and both have a lot of work. But soon we will release some new songs, we are now working on it.

thorns of the future: what is "splinters" about?

varya: Splinters it’s definitely about love, you know like explosions, glitters, butterflies and all that stuff. But at the same time it’s not about teenage love, i think it’s more about when your heart was already broken and you now have only splinters of it, but feel love like it's the first time and ready for your splinters to shine.

thorns of the future: are you planning to release any new songs soon?

varya: Yes. Now I'm working on a couple collaborations, and preparing to start a new project soon. I’m not released anything for a long long time because at this time I'm walking through the immigration process. I've moved to Thailand and do business here with my husband. Starting something new it’s always difficult, especially starting a new life in another country.  But now things are getting better and I have the inspiration, time and mental health to start working again on new music. 

thorns of the future: any artists or genres that you don't like?

varya: I’m not a fan of Russian rap but I can't tell if it's bad or that I hate it. It’s still art, but kinda weird for me. But what I really hate - Russian propagandist music - is really a piece of shit.

thorns of the future: what's the riskiest thing you've ever done?

varya: Getting married, I think (just joking). I've done a lot of crazy and risky things in my life, I cannot tell you just one. All my life it has been a crazy journey, and sometimes doing some risky things it’s very nervous and anxious. For now I think that moving to another country where i’ve never been before was risky - but it was the right decision at the same time.

thorns of the future: is there a country you would never like to live in?

varya: I think I couldn't live in a muslim country. I am a punk bisexual independent woman that loves freedom of self expression in each point of my life. Just because of the rules and laws of this, it's not for me. And now i can't live in Russia, because of the war and stupid laws. It’s just not safe and I don't want to just sit and stare at how our government is ruining the future of millions of people in Ukraine and Russia.

thorns of the future: what's your favourite drug or favourite type of alcohol?

varya: I love any type of Alcohol haha. It’s true. I have a high-functioning alcoholism type and I really really love to drink something. I’m not using drugs so much for now, I was addicted to amphetamines 7 years ago for 1,5 years and now i’m careful with it. Our business is in a cannabis industry and I don't even smoke. But if I want to I can get high, I do not prohibit it to myself.

thorns of the future: is there anything you want to say to your fans?

varya: Stay true and love yourself as much as you can do. Peace for you, and thank you for your support!

we would like to thank varya for answering all of our questions. we really appreciate you. that’s all for now.

images: varya

video: Cypress Čempr3s

spotify:

https://open.spotify.com/artist/6fYvyj8razige7PRfHoi9c

instagram:

https://www.instagram.com/witchlagoon/?hl=en

bandcamp:

https://crossparty.bandcamp.com/

peace.

[lowsodiumscifi]

Call of Duty headcanons - 141's favorite metal bands/metal genres

This headcanon was personal for me, so I didn't rush this one.

This is pure fluff!

Includes Phillip Graves

Comment what headcanons you guys wanna see, because I'm running out of ideas fast lol. It can be anything, any pairing, any headcanon, any character. You ask, I'll do it.

Enjoy my self indulging headcanons about heavy metal.

John "Soap" MacTavish - Hair/thrash metal

If you ever asked Soap what his favorite kind of rock music was, he would say "party rock by lmfao" He's an airhead, be patient with him lol

In all seriousness, hair/thrash metal is more his style.

If you couldn't tell by the way Soap takes care of his mohawk, homeboy loves the crazy hairstyles. Goes feral over it.

Soap wears tight jeans that extenuate his thighs all the time on missions, so he loves to just dress in the tightest of pants and pretend to be in an 80s music video.

Leather, animal print, spandex, even studded or spiky chaps. You name it, Soap will do it.

Will definitely put on some sensual 80s metal song during sex. Kingdom comes's "what Love Can Be" Sounds about right.

Soap once brought the 141 to a Pantera concert, and ended up brawling some punks in the moshpit for bullying Gaz.

They ended up getting kicked out by security and Ghost ended up dragging his sorry ass through the parking lot.

Price was definitely a disappointed dad that night. Mostly disappointed at himself for letting his children get too rowdy on his watch... and joining in on the brawl.

Simon "Ghost" Riley - Melodic/doom metal

When the cold weather begins to come around later in the year, and bands like Katatonia, Opeth and Swallow the Sun put out more music, Ghost is always there.

Ghost is from Britain, so he appreciates any music that comes from Europe.

There are two types of moshpits when it comes to melodic/doom metal - The ones with viking chanting and feral animal noises - and the ones with the tear jerkers, the ones that go just to feel things.

Ghost once took a trip to Sweden with Soap for work, catching a Katatonia concert while there.

By the time the fith or sixth song starts playing, Soap is baffled and emotionally drained by how heavy Katatonia's riffs and lyrics are.

Standing in a sea of swaying, rowdy and possibly drunk crowd of thousands of Swedes, Ghost takes the opportunity to hold Soap's hand.

In Ghost's defense, it's an outdoor event, and it's so cold outside, hell could've froze over. Soap knows the real reason, though.

By the end of the night, everyone is headbanging and swaying.

They both plan to go again next year.

Kyle "Gaz" Garrick - Alt/nu/rap metal

Gaz is that "I listen to everything" kind of friend.

Is definitely open to new groups, genres and sounds.

Leans more into the early 2000s rock/metal a little more.

Gaz is more "cultured" like the younger generation is, and loves the memes that came with the generation too.

Some of the rookies will catch Gaz singing along to a Rammstein song, and fail... miserably. His German sucks.

Soap and Gaz got so drunk one night that both men started belting "bring me to life" by Evanescence every time Ghost would walk into a room, and laughed so hard they almost threw up.

Some 90s rap metal is cheesy, but Gaz tolerates it. Since he mostly grew up with hip hop, Gaz feels obligated to like some rap metal.

Loves any kind of metal song with movie references or influences.

Gaz doesn't go to a lot of concerts, no matter how much of an extrovert he is. It's just not his thing, especially when it comes to heavy metal.

HUGE fan of Linkin Park.

Gaz definitely cried after Chester Bennington's death. Has a whole Playlist dedicated to the singer. 💙

John Price - Alt/classic/grunge metal

Price is a man who loves the classics.

Just because something is "classic", doesn't necessarily mean it's "old".

Yes, Price is older than all of them (probably), and grew up with a lot of 70s and 80s music, but surprisingly, Price loves bands who are with the modern times.

The cure, Deftones, Bush, Red Hot Chili Peppers, REM. You name it.

Tried to get into punk metal once, definitely wasn't for him.

Like Gaz, he's the "I listen to everything" friend.

Price goes into bars once in a while while off duty, with the boys and Laswell and will hear a Soundgarden song playing. He likes it. A lot.

Cigars, whiskey, company of friends and some metal is what makes his nights better. It lifts his spirits tremendously.

Definitely doesn't go to concerts anymore. Will flat out say no if you asked, end of conversation.

Why go to concerts when you can watch them at home on YouTube? Lol

Will cook breakfast to the sound of Alice in Chains playing in the background.

Phillip Graves - Metalcore/post-hardcore

Like the all American he is, Graves likes to fucking party. The best kind of parties? Metalcore concerts.

Graves' journey through his metal listening experience started tame enough. It soon turned into being fascinated with groups like Lorna Shore, the Dillinger Escape Plan and Atreyu.

Tried to once attempt a fry scream. Ended up blowing his vocal cords out.

He'll put Lorna Shore full blast on his headphones and let Will Ramos' voice numb his brain until his head is buzzing and his ears are ringing.

Likes to test people's ability to point out vocals. "Is this an animal? Or a human being making this sound?" LOL

Will throw shit with every breakdown in a song.

Comes up behind someone and will yell a "BLEGH!" just to scare the shit out of you. Lol

[centrally-unplanned]

Re that post about Kenzaburo Oe, you mentioned the term 1968 kids, talking about him and Hayao Miyazaki, how would describe that group? I get the gist of a certain kind of utopian artist from that generation, but I haven't heard it before, wondered if there was any other traits/anyone else you'd put in that group?

Definitely worthy of a fuller write-up, and I wish I had a concrete "unifying" source for all this, but Japan had a rapidly growing leftwing radical movement in the 1960's. The Anpo protests, a huge series of demonstrations against the US-Japan Security Treaty (which gave the US military bases in Japan) from 1959-1960 were the launching point, and they built on growing movements of unionization, environmental activism, and anti-militarism. It culminated in the 1968 seizure of much of the campus of the University of Tokyo by the 'Zenkyōtō' student activist faction, which was part of a global wave of student activism in 1968.

And like in so many places, 1968 was this movement's high water mark - they were awash in factionalism, police broke up their occupation, and support for them plummeted in the face of the violence they both initiated and recieved. In the 1960's members of these factions thought that they could seize political power, change the state, all that jazz. By the 1970's that dream was dead.

Most political-style artists were part of this movement, and shaped by that break - as political opportunity faded, they saw in their art a way to express their concerns, visions, etc that the political system would not. Since I am an anime person, this is where a lot of leaders of 70's and 80's anime would emerge from. Hayao Miyazaki and Isao Takahata were both animators at Toei Animation during this time, got heavily involved in the union efforts there - Miyazaki was the union's general secretary in 1964 - and were avowed Marxists. Mamoru Oshii was similarly active, participating in the Shinjuku Riot over the Vietnam War and identifying as Trotskyist-Left. There is an entire genre of Japanese cinema called New Wave which was part of and shaped by this movement - director Shūji Terayama would be a notable for films like 1971's Throw Away Your Books, Rally in the Streets, which I will mention because its creators included theatre director and music composer J. A. Caesar (real name Takaaki Terahara) who composed the soundtrack for Revolutionary Girl Utena, for the anime connection. There are of course hundreds more I could name.

I think their themes are well known - what united them as a 'movement' was A: they all mutually saw themselves that way, and B: they are the last generation to believe that their art could truly change minds. Miyazaki is making Nausicaa because he actually thinks it will turn people away from techno-fetishization, stuff like that. Creators after that make works about society, but they don't view them the same, their ambitions are different - insight vs activism, or reform vs revolution. Of course these creators will age and change - Oshii for example did so, he would famously criticize Miyazaki of being a typical "Anpo man" in feeling like his films were responsible for society and the world, saying such responsibility was itself a form of fascism (its Oshii, he says shit like this all the time). In his criticism you can see the identity of the 1968 generation reflected back. They were more-or-less wrong, of course - art can change things, but not that much, and it turns out politics is way more complicated then their visions could contain. But I respect their conviction dearly and find the art they made to have something irreplacable due to that conviction, so its worth remembering.

[the-writing-mobster]

miscellaneous hcs about the baby face characters? 🙏

What a pleasantly surprising ask, dear heart!

Hmmmm...

———

MISC BF! Sans HCs:

1. He knows all the words to every Chop Suey song and shouts them at the top of his lungs while driving.

2. He lies about his zodiac sign (he has 3 major Scorpio placements but he always lies about them)

3. Sans loves mosh pits but hates crowd surfers because once he didn't notice a huge man coming and he fell on him; his neck was sore for three days straight.

4. He steals construction equipment to make belt chains, and to disrupt building projects he doesn't agree with.

MISC BF! Nick HCs:

1. He has a lot of Opinions about the Backstreet Boys. Please do not bring them up or else it will be all he rants about for an hour straight.

2. Likewise, Nick once tried working at a radio station but quit because the manager wouldn't play any of the music Nick wanted to play. (He's petty like that sometimes)

3. Nick is the kind of guy to catch spiders and put them outside because "they do so much for the environment >:( don't kill them just because they're small!"

4. He refuses to get a driver's license because he doesn't want to be dependent on cars. (He hates L.A... and is dependent on Sans, who has a car)

MISC BF! Maeve HCs:

1. 80% of her wardrobe was handmade, the other 20% was thrifted (mostly the denim)

2. She frequents drag shows when she can and is a big tipper with her gig money, and is a good friend to many local queens.

3. The only reason she hasn't chopped her mane off to conclude her transition is because she enjoys styling it like Glam Rockstars and Trad Goths of the 80s.

4. She is definitely a dungeon master. Maeve would fucking love DND, and only she is qualified to run them.

MISC BF! Midas HCs:

1. Has keyed cars with bigoted bumper stickers, and ripped confederate flags down on private property. He does not give a shit about optics or the property laws.

2. Probably owns more spikes and studs than anyone else in the group.

3. Midas has named all of his lil snakes, but every time the boys ask for an introduction, he gives them the wrong names just to fuck with them.

4. He has a really interesting singing voice, but he hates to sing and prefers his funky little synth sounds.

MISC BF! Jonas HCs:

1. He puts stickers all over his belongings. Bitch loves a vinyl sticker.

2. Jonas 100% believes he does the best backflips, and while he's pretty good, he has a 70% Eat Shit ratio to his 30% Stick the Landing Ratio. (Sans is keeping track)

3. Jonas is extremely efficient in a fist fight and has surprised people with how easy he can knock someone out. This has come in handy at a protest and at a concert when a girl's ex was acting *problematic.*

4. His voice cracks all the time because he's a little (big, 6'9 ft) squirt 🤭. That's right, he's a whimperer.

.

.

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And guess what? They've all been fairy god mothered into humans for my manuscript >:) but that is a tale for another time.

[vivianbernadetteaurora]

Cherie Curry and Courtney Love ❤️

Similar age between  between these two one started out in the 19th 70s at a very young age doing similar things to what you would’ve done in the 90s Rockways for women playing rock in baby doll dresses or underwear in the corsets. It was a very niche market but the runaways were produced or managed by a really evil man. I can’t remember his name but he is well-known.

 Anyway he had Leaford and Josia to start off with as the guitarist and basis of the runaways and he was looking for his next part of the group which would be Cherie Curry who is a twin and became the singer of the group slowly they became big in their own kind of way not like it’s exactly kind way or boy groups not boy bands but boy dominated groups They were you could say the 70s version of hole with cherry bomb and other songs 1970s and early 80s

This was Courtney loves influence back then of what she wanted to be. She said she wanted to be a  juvenile juvenile like curry k she saw her is very similar to her. Kind of like a Nancy‘s budging thing but in music where Nancy would be more of the manager type she didn’t have the music musicals talent she didn’t have to pay the guitar. She tried to play the guitar or drums her mum said that she became impatient quickly and got angry. It wasn’t for her. She was definitely if if she had lived longer would be more of the type of person in the industry. I guess Jewish person. Her

I saw a really horrible comment about Nancy earlier on YouTube saying that if she lived longer, she would’ve ended up unnerving someone or killing them and that she was rotted to the course so I sent this person because I said they needed it disgusting thing to assume she was in pain our whole life She was mentally ill from the day. She was born luckily she had a mum that understood that but also her mum didn’t understand her. I don’t think too. I kinda get that relationship. I have very same kind of relationship with my mother where she probably tried a lot, but felt out and I’ll with her, anyway!, And anyway going back to the runaway situation of it all and how they were treated in the 1970s and 80s by their manager was abusive they were he was emotion abuse to them and physically, the movement along a lot kind of way were sort of not against it but didn’t know what they felt about it. They felt oh well I’ve gone through it and it’s over. Maybe they weren ANTI women coming forward.

But we do things in different ways, so I definitely say early Courtney Love was influence by this whole look with style styles definitely important to her in her career kind of like Madonna she said at one point her Madonna had the same stylist. I don’t know if I believe this a lot.

 but a time in the mid 90s Courtney polished herself up and stopped doing heroin and other drugs and became in the movie industry for awhile. This is why she knew about the Harvey Weinstein situation and stay away from him. I think it’s important all these women have these stories from the 70s and a lot of them have not come forward they are a certain type of woman and they are. It’s just how it is and they are the type of woman that I admire and love and make me feel powerful. I have recently felt like I have lost my power and these women make me feel confident and I wish I still felt like that I give off this fuck you and fuck the world come across at the same time as good, Joan jett, is is still very big in the industry, Cherie, is now a chainsaw artist and I think she’s wrote a book about it and how she does it. There’s an episode of keeping up with the Kardashians where Rob is on it where he is doing it and making things out of it she’s not a recluse, but she’s out of the spotlight compared, but like this comparison, it’s all influenced this as well and I think a lot of people missed the point and also Patty Smith, horses. And another woman of that time, I can’t remember their name right now.

[queenimmadolla]

ALWAYS, ok just a fun little question, I need to know why you’re so drawn to Eddie, JUST GO HAM AND GUSH ABOUT IT BABE

Boy am I glad I fixed (i think) the read more thing because I’ll give you everything I got:

I gotta start this off by saying i had no intentions and no interest in watching stranger things 4 when it premiered. The wait between season 3 and 4 was pretty long, especially because of covid and while i had attempted to keep the interest up, there wasn’t a whole lot of the fandom active until a little before st4 dropped, but the last time i was here, it was dead as hell. And so i left, not ever expecting to come back. then one day, after st4 had started streaming i was just scrolling through twitter and i saw a picture of Eddie. He piqued my interest immediately, the only thing i could equate it to is like when you were in high school, catching sight of someone you never really noticed before and being completely smitten at first sight. I wanted to know more about him, needed to. So i finally started the new season.

One thing that’s important to know before i detail exactly why i became so interested in Eddie is a little background information that i wont go too deep into detail about, but i lost my dad in early 2021. We were very close, he also liked Stranger Things (both of my parents did but we’re not gonna talk about my mom’s favs rn) and our bond only deepened during my late teenage years because of how into 70s and 80s music i was (am, but you’d think I was a 70s girl if you saw me)—like everyone else who was a teenager through st1-3, IT, and watched all the 80s tv shows that aired on like nick at night, tbs, tvland, etc.—and those were my dad’s golden years, he’d been in several bands and a DJ. He played the guitar (left me with so many guitars and a ton of amps) and he could absolutely SHRED it. He appreciated all genres—really, he just loved any song with a good guitar solo—but he loved rock and heavy metal, for obvious reasons (the guitar shredding). He was definitely a metal head, though he didn’t look the part (he’s black, heavily resembled Wesley Snipes especially back then, and you wont ever see a whole lot of aesthetics of black metal heads of the 80s for obvious reasons, and he was rocking the jerry curl lol, but it was a mullet). He was a pretty intimidating looking dude, that never stopped him from singing along to R5 with me and the Jonas brothers, one direction, Kelly clarkson, he’d encourage my love for music in whatever form/genre I liked. He got so excited when I also finally started appreciating the same type of music he did, but that wasn’t til around 2 or 3 years before he passed. And then when he did, i didn’t have any to talk to about it.

And here came Eddie, to the rescue (he and the rest of the Hawkins gang also popped up when I was being iced out of my only friend group at the time and I was really depressed). I liked Eddie, not only because I was INSTANTLY attracted to him, I also liked his style, I liked his hair, his pretty brown eyes (what they do to me should be illegal), how adaptable he was (stern when the hellfire boys needed it, gentle around people he could tell were shaken) and how he encouraged people to maintain their individuality (namely Dustin, while Eddie was really hot in the cafeteria scene, I wasn’t too fond of how he was ragging on people for what they liked, because they weren’t like him—when they weren’t even harassing or bothering him and I didn’t care for how he was unwilling to see Lucas—one of his little sheepies who was finding his way—play in one of the most important games to him but we got more Erica out of it so I’ll forgive him). His voice is also surprisingly comforting to me, I can’t explain why. AND HIS THEATRICS! My god, I could imagine watching him goof around, letting himself collapse onto the floor because of trivial things and just being dramatic and funny, all day long. The best part about him, is that he’s the most real feeling boy out of the “core three” (Steve, Jonathan and Eddie, I don’t count Billy for me because I don’t like him for obvious reasons) to me. See, I’ve been interested in all three of those boys. Jonathan first, then Steve (and still kind of) but my loyalty is to Eddie. Jonathan was first because it was Jonathan VS Steve, you know? The quiet underdog from the wrong side of the tracks, the good boy. it’s a character trope but a good one. And then Steve, former mean rich boy with a heart of gold. Another excellent character trope. Both of those boys are picture perfect Teenage Dreams. Then you have Eddie, who—I can’t explain how I know, I just do—would bark at someone who was bothering him until they were freaked out enough to go away. He’s considered trailer trash, a metal head with messy hair who deals drugs, becomes a friend to freshmen who no one else wants to associate with, starts arguments with the ‘popular’ crowd—that boy is NOT a victim, if Chrissy hadn’t died in that trailer he would have been harassing Jason and his crew more than the other way around lol—talks in weird voices, has weird gimmicks all while comforting sad girls, being chivalrous enough to help them into boats and holding Robin during the quakes in the Upside Down. In my opinion he’s far from a bad boy and difficult to stick into one character trope box. And out of all the boys, he’s the most realistic Teenage Dream. He’s one of a kind but it also feels like I could find him somewhere out in the world.

But my favorite thing about Eddie is the fact that I know I’d be gushing all about my love for him to my dad if he were alive. And my dad wouldn’t mind because he’d be his favorite character, too, with all of their shared interests and how Eddie is kind of the epitome for the crowd he used to be a part of. Sometimes, I entertain the idea it’d feel an awful lot like telling my dad about a boyfriend and him finally like him, my dad hated all my boyfriends and refused to let me tell him ANYTHING about them. Like everyone else who loves Eddie, I wish he was real, but mostly for that reason. Honestly, I’d barely be able to be friends with Eddie. My crush on him would be way too intense for me to like operate as a normal human being around him and with him, I can tell I’d regress to my high school self and love/admire from afar because of my shyness. Those high school crushes were pretty magical for me, though nothing ever came from them (I didn’t start my maneater ways until after high school when I got hot and started doing drugs) and yeah, that’s the type of teenage dream he is for me. My love for him is intense enough to have me not only reading fanfiction—which isn’t all that surprising because I’ve been doing it since elementary school—but freaking WRITING it!!! I can count the amount of times I’d done so in the past on one hand (most of which I deleted a long ass time ago) and still have fingers available. Now, i can’t stop. I just can’t. And it’s all because of him. Everything i write is like my way of writing a love letter to Eddie. Even if I did stop writing, I wouldn’t ever stop being drawn to him.

So, all of that is why I’m so drawn to him, why I really do love him, and why I don’t think I’ll ever be able to let him go. And you might notice a lot of that also reflects in my writing.

So, all of that is why I’m so drawn to him, why I really do love him, and why I don’t think I’ll ever be able to let him go. And you might notice a lot of that also reflects in my writing.

[saltlickmp3]

Very long post with an intro into music I like! i have posted about most of these bands before at some point, but here's a masterpost of sorts.

@literatureisdying here it is! it is intimidatingly long sorry but I really hope you enjoy it! i tried to group the songs, they are in a more or less logical order but feel free to just pick some or shuffle.

Patti Smith - my favourite! I could talk forever about Patti I love her with all of my being. she was initially a poet and artist before turning her poems into rock and roll in the early seventies in the New York punk scene - she is very influential to just about every female rock musician since. her four earliest albums are the best, her debut Horses is generally regarded as one of the best albums ever. in more recent years she has written a series of memoirs which are also amazing and definitely worth reading even if you don’t know anything about her or her music. her androgynous style and generally i-don’t-give-a-shit punk attitude have become iconic. (***disclaimer for this part - she has one song using the n-slur, she isn’t racist, she was trying to reclaim the word but she’s white and it came off wrong. it was the wrong choice of word. she’s not racist, i don't support use of that word, the fanbase as a whole understands what she was *trying* to do and then ignores that song and moves on. this is a PSA, please no one try to argue with me about this thanks. sorry to put this right at the top.***)

Einstürzende Neubauten - German industrial band led by Blixa Bargeld, they formed in west Berlin in the early 80s and had a bit of a reputation for wrecking stuff - a lot of their early stuff is shouting in German with distorted guitar and hitting metal stuff but as they evolved they wrote some really beautiful things.

PJ Harvey - my other love! PJ is a constantly evolving artist and every single one of her albums is something different and also very good. She has an amazing voice and plays guitar and piano and has incredible stage presence, especially from 1995 with all the costumes and makeup - a lot of her songs kind of fit the ‘female rage’ vibe (especially Rid Of Me) but she does it very very well - since the mid 2000s she has done some stuff concerned with england and the folk history of it, her new album I Inside the Old Year Dying is amazing and slightly bizarre. some vaguely sapphic undertones to some of her stuff :)

Radiohead - a band to obsess over if there ever was one. They are stereotyped as being music for depressed loner virgins which is a little funny but also kind of true haha. A lot of their music is very ominous and emotional and a bit dark and pessimistic, but that’s the appeal. they are all top-tier musicians - Jonny Greenwood plays a lot of instruments including some you’ve never heard of and Thom Yorke has one of the most iconic voices, and his lyrics are just brilliant. they started off as like a britpop adjacent - prog rock sort of band but then in 2000 they released Kid A, which has not a lot of guitar and lots of ominous electronics instead - all their albums have their own distinct vibe. Thom and Jonny also have a new project called the Smile which are currently releasing and touring. 

*interlude* - This Mess We’re In by PJ Harvey and Thom Yorke - my two favourite 90s musicians make a song together!! this is from PJ pop-rock album, she wrote it but Thom sings the second part. I don’t know if they recorded this in the same studio or if she sent him a tape to sing over, but if they did do it together there are no photos of them together which was a missed opportunity if you ask me.

Hole - Courtney Love’s band. sort of riot-grrrl adjacent grunge, very angsty (a lot of this is very angsty though haha). lots of very female - specific songs which is cool. pretty intense, lots of screaming but she’s very good at screaming

the Slits - 70s feminist punk reggae band! they only made one album when they first started but it’s very cool. also quite female-centric, songs about being yourself and fighting conformity and capitalism yay

Bob Dylan - arguably the most influential figure in western music, he has like 40 studio albums but Desolation Row is my favourite song of his. he started off doing folk music, then did stoner psychedelic folk-rock and then almost died and did some country, then folk rock but with a massive band, then gospel rock, etc etc he keeps changing. very enigmatic, hard to place. still tours at age 82. famously has a kind of grating singing voice but lyrics make up for it.

Joan Baez - folk singer and activist - Silver Dagger is a traditional song from her first album - she was only 19! she has an incredible voice, really string vibrato. she was big into anti-war activism and civil rights, did a mix of covers of traditional and contemporary stuff and wrote her own songs too. played at Woodstock festival of music and arts!

Pentangle - late 60s english folk-rock band. they are all insanely talented musicians and Basket Of Light is one of my favourite ever albums - it’s all acoustic instruments but played in really interesting ways.

Led Zeppelin - they may be a band mainly enjoyed by middle aged white men but damn are they good. another band where every member is insanely talented - jimmy page and john paul jones between them can play everything with strings. blues rock - III is their best album and super underrated. songs about lord of the rings, folklore and wizard battles, because y’know, they’re also hippie nerds. some of their stuff is a bit problematic :/ Jimmy was weird and also into occultism.

Joni Mitchell - a folkpopjazz musician - very inventive guitar style, only two of her songs are in standard tuning, and she is also an amazing piano player, and has one of the best voices - she is the originator of the confessional-singer-songwriter-very-specific-lyrics-acoustic-guitar-women, she did it first and best. alas most of her stuff is no longer on spotify, she left the platform to protest antivax podcasts on the site, but everything is on youtube and there are always cds. Raised on Robbery That Song about the Midway Ray's Dad's Cadillac

Aldous Harding - she is from very close to where I live! she does completely bonkers art-folk-something with John Parish who also produced PJ. she’s wonderful. she describes her performance as ‘song acting’ more than singing. i love her. she’s so awkward.  Warm Chris was definitely my album of the year for last year.

Marlon Williams - from the same place! last year he invented a new genre, as you do, Māori disco pop, on his album My Boy. very soulful voice, he was a choir boy, used to do very folk stuff but not so much anymore.

*interlude* Nobody Gets What They Want Anymore by Marlon Williams and Aldous Harding.

SO - Aldous and Marlon were romantically involved for a while a few years ago, he produced her debut - when they broke up he wrote the album Make Way For Love about her, AND THEN invited her to sing with him on this song, he sang his part then sent it to her. so very tragic emotional and cool. BUT THEN - i saw Marlon live last year, and he BROUGHT ALDOUS ON STAGE TO SING THIS WITH HIM. FOR THE FIRST TIME. anyways i was so excited and also very normal about that. there’s a bad phone video of it on youtube but i was thrilled and also astounded to say the least. i have also been lucky enough to meet both of them :D benefits of living in a small country i guess. 

The Beths - NZ’s best indie band! lyrics are much darker than the cheerful music and backing vocals would suggest. very good vibes, their music videos are delightful as well.

Courtney Barnett - queer Australian singer-songwriter! she’s very cool, a nice mix of folkier and grungier stuff, has that sort of talking singing style - plays her own guitar, likes fitting as many syllables as possible into the line.

Björk / The Sugarcubes - the Sugarcubes were an 80s Icelandic band doing sort of new-wavey pop stuff but with bonkers lyrics - when they split Björk started doing bonkers electronic pop music. she’s delightful. she’s very good at screaming and singing wordlessly.

Spiritualized - shoegaze-inspired space rock, atmospheric alt-rock - this song borrows from Elvis

the Flaming Lips - delightful 2000s indie rock this album makes me so happy

Voom - another NZ band! indie band very good

Built to Spill - indie rock, fantastic guitar in this one

Pulp - britpop, songs about sex and despair in a way that makes it sound like an intellectual pop-culture review, if Jarvis Cocker says something weird it’s almost definitely tongue-in-cheek

Neutral Milk Hotel - bonkers indie album about loss of innocence inspired by Anne Frank. it’s a bit of a joke that people are like ‘i’m so alternative i like Neutral Milk Hotel’, it’s not as obscure as it sounds like it is.

Dean and Britta - these songs accompany Andy Warhol’s Screen tests, where people would be sat in front of a camera for a couple minutes. designed to match the vibe of the person.

Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds - Australian gothic rock - a lot of their stuff is kinda intense, Nick had some issues, but a cool mix of *sex and death* and yearning love songs. Blixa Bargeld (mentioned above) was in the band for a while - their songs range from full sleaze to full orchestra.

*interlude* Henry Lee by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds with PJ Harvey. hehe now this song - it’s a traditional murder ballad re-written by Nick for his album Murder Ballads. he wanted a woman to sing this with him and so asked PJ - now go watch the VIDEO. like stop reading this right now and go watch the video. it is the single most romantic tension-filled video clip i have ever seen and i love it so much. they hardly knew each other at that point!! and they’re dressed the same and the touching ashajkshakjhs anyways. in one live version Nick has pink nails too hehe. they started dating shortly after this, intensely but not for very long - when she dumped him Nick wrote The Boatman’s Call and the stuff PJ wrote for him is on Is This Desire?. 

Sigur Ròs - Icelandic post-rock ambient band - very cool rolling wave of sound music, atmospheric doesn’t even begin to describe it. Svefn-g-englar translates to ‘Angels of Sleep’,  sleepwalkers. the sometimes sing in Icelandic and sometimes in Hopelanic, a made-up language

my bloody valentine - one of the first and best-known shoegaze bands - loveless took them a really long time to record but is amazing, the layes of reverb and delay - you can't ever really hear the lyrics but it’s more about the general feeling.

Slowdive - another shoegaze band, a bit lighter instrument-wise, but lyrics way more tragic. Souvlaki Space Station is a really good album.

The Smiths - original emo band for sad introverts. lots of songs about being alone and unloved, rife with literary references. tragic but in a good way. great guitar, great bass, Morrissey has good voice & good lyrics but some *problematic opinions :/*. lots of plagiarising both lines in songs from books & poetry and also using other people’s photos for album art but it’s cool. 

Sonic Youth - new york no-wave band - lots of distortion, ten-minute-plus songs etc. Kim Gordon is the bass player and lyricist/singer of some of the songs and she’s very very cool. another one of those bands with a lot of music

Rowland S Howard - he was in Nick Cave’s goth band in the 80s, this is his solo work from later, it’s pretty heavy musically and lyrically, but it’s cool. there’s just something i really like about how this sounds and how al the instruments work together.

The Cure - they’d make a goth album, then a pop album, then another goth album etc etc - the pop stuff is fun but the goth stuff is way angstier.

anyways, there’s a very long introduction to my taste in music! i hope you like at least some of it :D <3

[atarashii-gakko]

Interview with DECORATED YOUTH

January 26 2022

🕯️

Unlike most J-Pop female idol groups, ATARASHII GAKKO! staunchly refuse to be objectified, they wear sailor-fuku (sailor suits) uniforms in a style that were worn by Japanese students back in the 70s and 80s which feature long skirts and pulled-up socks. While musically AG! merges elements of modern J-Pop, Showa-era kayokyoku, rap, punk, and dance music, they also choreograph their own aggressive and expressive dance moves, which are a hybrid of the energy of Japanese butoh dance, heavy metal headbanging, and hip-hop street dancing. If it sounds impossible to categorize them in any genre, that’s because it is, and it’s meant to be that way. With Money Mark acting as their mentor and coach, AG! took control of their creative output and artistic identity and created the brilliance that is The SNACKTIME EP

°^*•.•°

HI! So, these past 20 months have been pretty intense due to various reasons including the pandemic… Before we began, how are you doing with everything? How has this last year been for you and how are you feeling? How have you been coping with everything?

SUZUKA: It’s been an opportunity to reflect, to search within and realize what my goals are and what makes me tick! This journey of reflection was quite exciting, very inspiring times!

KANON: A lot of things went under drastic changes and there were hesitations and struggles for sure, but it opened up some quality time to get to know myself on a deeper level, which was a positive aspect.

MIZYU: Going on stage was our core venture, we lived for it. So, when that came to a halt, keeping our social media up and live became crucially important! We posted new clips from our past performances, published our liner notes, or produced merch for our online audience, making sure that there was always fresh content for our fans online. I think this contributed to expanding our reach to listeners out there beyond the physical stage!

RIN: The situation led us to earnestly think about the message we truly want to convey, and also on a personal note, to realize my sincere aspirations and devotions. We ventured into ground breaking activities during this period, so the pandemic was definitely a turning point for me and also feels like the dawning of a new chapter for us.

🕯️

Going back to the beginning. Where did you grow up and what was your childhood like growing up there? Did creativity/music/art play a big part of your childhood?

S: My mom is a huge Beyoncé fan so I’ve been dancing to her tracks since I was in diapers. Seeing how much I loved dancing, my mom signed me up for dance classes and that’s how I got into the entertainment industry as a performer. I really loved being on since stage since those early years.

K: I did so many after school activities growing up but none of them stuck until I encountered dance. I was really fascinated by it, so dancing became a huge part of my daily life back then. I was dancing all the time. Because I grew up in the country side, my days were quite simple just consisting of the back and forth between my home, school, and the dance studio.

M: I was born and raised in Tokyo. I loved to get up and dance whenever there was music playing, and started taking dance classes when I was in second grade. Music and dance were always there throughout my childhood days, and I loved it.

R: My dad is a hip-hop fan so perhaps I was listening to hip-hop music ever since I was in my mom’s womb. Of all the experiences I had since I started dancing and competing in dance tournaments, there is this inspiring quote from my favorite teacher who told me ‘don’t forget your love of music when you’re dancing’. From that moment on, I am ever so captivated by the elation when the body links with music through dancing.

🕯️

When you were old enough to start seeking out music, where did you regularly find yourself (a certain record store / internet site / getting recommendations from a certain friend)? Who were some of the artists you first found and then were always on the lookout for?

S: I seek out new things on Spotify but I also love discovering music from my friends and family. Money Mark also shared with us some of his favorites, I saved them all and listen back to them. My favorite artist: Beyoncé

K: My older sister’s music library was a big influence when I was growing up. My favorite artist: Koda Kumi.

M: Kyary Pamyu Pamyu was my first favorite artist and I started exploring from there. I was also intrigued by how artists artistically express their sounds through music videos and live performances, it was so exciting to see.

R: I would rummage through my dad’s cd collection, or share discoveries with friends, or Shazam something playing that caught my ear. I am amazed how music is everywhere, all around the world. And there’s music I wouldn’t encounter in my bubble, so when I met Money Mark he taught me so many new things it’s been lots of new discoveries. My favorite artist: EVISBEATS

🕯️

Talk some more about your formative years… What was the very first concert you attended? When was the first time you felt super inspired by music? Were there posers on your wall when you were growing up?

S: A concert from Lady Gaga: she came out on stage and performed in a transparent dress with taped nipples, that left an extremely powerful impression on me.

K: When I went to see Koda Kumi: there was an enormous stage with a fountain, the way she switched between costumes was like magic, and I felt like I was in a dream!

M: I have always been in love with the creations around Kyary Pamyu Pamyu. It’s cute and eerie and so exciting. I had her CDs and DVDs from concerts, her photo books with her cool styling and never missed a post on her gram!

R: The first concert I attended was by MISIA: I was really young but remember being blown away by her powerful vocals, stage presence and her aura! The moment I was super inspired by music was when my dance teacher made a remix track just for me. It was filled with the nitty-gritty of all the things I loved, and I just had to move!

🕯️

What was your mindset going into the creating / recording process of this EP? Did you feel any sort of limitations when writing or recording it? Which songs were the easiest / most difficult to create? What song(s) are you most proud of on this record? Why?

**We wanted to create something really mind blowing. There was no pressure to be felt, just pure excitement! Fantastico came out quite quickly, and producing Pineapple Kryptonite was like putting together pieces of a puzzle.

S: I am especially fond of CANDY, I can’t wait to perform this in front of a crowd and make them go wild.

M: All of the tracks are dear to my heart, but because Pineapple Kryptonite was the first song that we completed, it’s especially moving to perform it on stage, every time I get that fuzzy feeling. It’s something indescribable and profound. Makes me very proud

🕯️

When and how did the EP title SNACKTIME come about in the album creation process? What is the significance of the title?

**The title was decided after we got back to Japan from LA. In LA we were cramped in the recording room and working on the tracks every day, so our snack times where we would leave the room for a break and eat snacks to refresh, then pitch new ideas to each other, was really essential for the progress of our work. That’s how our EP came to be, owing it to our snack time

[thatonebabybat]

Goth history time!

So, the subculture was named "Goth" after the music genre "Gothic Rock", which evolved from the postpunk music of the late 70s and early 80s. It's a genre with lots of dark or poetic lyrics (sometimes inspired by gothic literature, but not always), heavy basslines and distinct vocal styles (it's hard to put into words because I'm not very good with music terminology, it's something you can just know when you hear it after you get a feel for it). Since then, gothic rock has grown and thrived, but also branched into a few different subgenres, like deathrock, darkwave, ethereal, coldwave, and a few others.

These are all also considered goth music by most due to the close connection to gothic rock, though where the lines are drawn in subgenres can be a bit blurry since some things stray far enough from their roots that they become their own genres/subcultures (much like how goth itself seperated from punk). Sometimes darker styles of postpunk are included under the goth umbrella too as a nod to gothic rock's roots, others have stricter definitions of what it means to make goth music, and I'm sure there are people out there who can explain it better than I can. I think this video by Cadaver Kelly is a good resource if that's something you're interested in.

Many people within the subculture, when it began, took inspiration in their fashion from the music artists they loved. Whether they saw the artists in photos or during performances and wanted to mimic their style directly, or were inspired by the lyrics and sound of the music and took their own spin on it. It was also common for goths who went to goth clubs or goth nights (where goths would play goth music, dance, share art, or just connect with eachother) to take inspiration from other clubgoers. Goth fashion was, and is, incredibly varied, but it shares a common source- the gothic rock scene.

Basically, what this all means is that Goth is shorthand for gothic rock and its subgenres, and goths, as a group of people, are those who are fans of goth as previously defined.

There are lots of other art forms besides music that goths can connect over, from macabre films to poetry to alternative fashion, but goth music will always be at the core of the subculture and what defines it as a scene. The other things are just fun optional things you can participate in if you'd like.

Goth is like a cake, and the batter itself is made up of the music, and all the other things like fashion and literature are the decorations on the cake.

The decorations can be picked off or changed or skipped and you'll still have a lovely cake.

But if you try to remove the cake and just eat the toppings, or replace the batter with candy, or put all the toppings on a pie... it might still taste good, but it's a fundamentally different dessert. You can't go around calling that cake and expect people to not have questions or complaints.

If cake just isn't for you, that's ok! No one said you have to eat it! But don't tell the people at the birthday party that you brought a cake and then meet them with peanut brittle.

saw some discourse about this recently so wanted to get some tumblr opinions:

reblog for bigger sample size etc etc etc!

[boyohazard]

Book/Movie/Show Recommendations

The Southern Reach Trilogy: if you enjoyed the 2019 movie "Annihilation," you'll definitely enjoy the book it was based on and its sequels "Authority" and "Acceptance." They're quite a bit different from the movie, and obviously the sequels expand on the premise in various ways, but if you enjoyed the surrealist sci-fi horror of the film, then you've gotta read the books.

Psycho Goreman: This movie is just plain fun. It combines 80s-style practical effects with sitcom-style family humor, body horror, and Power Rangers-style action. If you go into this movie expecting to have a fun time while not having to digest super thoughtful themes and concepts, you'll have a grand old time.

Freaked!: Do you like the Bill and Ted movies? Do you like early 90s pop culture references? Do you like comic body horror, practical effects, and gross-out humor? Then watch Alex Winter's directorial debut, Freaked! It's on YouTube for free!

Neuromancer: Are you a big fan of cyberpunk? Then read the novel that started it all! So many fundamental cyberpunk concepts were originated in this book, and it weaves an absolutely fascinating and engaging narrative.

John Dies at the End series: Yes, I'm gonna beg you to read this series until the day I die. Surrealist and Eldritch horror comedy at it's finest. The movie ain't half bad, either.

Doom Patrol: Yes, another thing I will plug until the day I die. An DC/HBO Max show about a group of misfit superheroes. Expect some of the weirdest episode concepts you've ever seen. It's got Matt Bomer and Brendan Fraser in it, and LGBT rep out the wazoo, what are you waiting for?

Trust: Do you like Luca Marinelli? Do you wanna watch him play an evil 70s Italian manslut Mafia member? Yeah you do. Go watch this miniseries fictionalizing the kidnapping of John Paul Getty III. If that doesn't seal the deal for you, it's got Brendan Fraser in it!

The Ear, the Eye, and the Arm: Yes, it's technically a YA novel, but don't let that turn you off. This Afrofuturistic novel is set in 2170s Zimbabwe, where the children of a powerful general are kidnapped and it's up to a trio of detective brothers with mutant abilities to rescue them. Still waiting for it to be adapted into a streaming miniseries starring Michael B Jordan and Willow Smith. Nextflix/Hulu/HBO/Amazon Prime, where you at?

Snowpiercer: One of the few Bong Joon-Ho movies to be originally written and performed in English, this movie based on French novel is about the occupants of a train that contains all of the surviving humans after climate change causes the Earth to become an uninhabitable deep freezer. Expect a lot of the same themes about class disparity as his much more famous film, "Parasite"

Mad Max: Fury Road: Tom Hardy. Charlize Theron. Amazing stunts and practical effects. Themes of cult mentality, patriarchy, female liberation, resource scarcity, and found family all set against a backdrop of souped-up cars, suicidal devotees, fanatical warlords, and loud guitar music in a post-apocalyptic desert wasteland.

Watership Down: You know that animated film with the rabbits that scarred you horribly as a small child? Read the novel it was based on!

Prospect: A retro-futuristic Space Western with Pedro Pascal as one of the main characters. Go watch it if you're a fan of Firefly and/or Cowboy Bebop.

Attack the Block: John Boyega's film debut, before he got fucked over by Disney/Lucasfilm. Sci-fi horror comedy about an alien invasion in a tower block in London. Themes about class disparity, especially about how poor children in the urban UK are immediately assumed to be dangerous criminals.

[starthelostboys]

i’ve been thinking about what decade each of the boys (and star) would think was the best, so here’s what i think it’d be in an au where all of the boys survive and star is a full vampire

star: the 90s. i don’t think she likes dwelling on the past too much, but she considers this the decade where she really came into her own and became much more confident and comfortable with herself than before

david: the 80s. while there’s definitely more superficial reasons for him to like this decade best (he thinks it was the best style-wise), it’s also the decade where he met star and michael, and i think david’s a sentimental person. it’s also the one where max finally died, so david remembers it as the first time since he became a vampire that he didn’t feel controlled

dwayne: the late 50s/early 60s. this is right after when i hc that marko became a vampire, and when they became an actual group instead of just david and dwayne hanging out. for dwayne, he looks back fondly on it because it’s the first time he actually felt like he was apart of something.

marko: the 70s. outside of just liking the punk fashion of the era, this is also when i hc that he met paul, and he’d consider that one of the defining moments of his life.

paul: the early 2000s. unlike the others, i don’t think paul has some extremely personal reason for liking this decade best. he just thought it was a fun time.

[scmsdivinecultists]

What your fave SCM god says about you

I read one psychology article and now I’m all knowing. Hope at least one of these points apply to you simps

If your favourite is Leon, you are one of the following:

Youngest child

Outcast or the “popular” kid

Daddy issues

Your childhood dream was either to be royalty or be rich

You hyperfixate to many things

You might say ur not charismatic but you’ve had at least more than 1 person you rejected a love confession to

“You’re wrong, I’m right, shut up.”

You don’t fall in love easily but once you do, you fall hard

You like smug bastards or you have a bondage fantasy

Your favourite voltage game is one of the following: Kissed by the Baddest Bidder, Court of Darkness, Masquerade’s Kiss, or Kings of Paradise

You have fairy lights in your room filled with pictures or posters

You had a massive friend group but at least 5 people have left from then to now

You cling onto memories like they’re a lifeline

You have the latest phone or more than 3 leisure electronics

If your favourite is Scorpio:

You can’t be any taller than 5′6

You probably listen to bands and can’t go anywhere without your headphones

Really creative

Your favourite Shakespeare play was Hamlet or Macbeth

Have had or is going through an emo phase

Hates writing essays

Have 3 best friends max

You have definitely bought albums, posters, or merch of your faves

ur probably a weeb

you’ve broken a bone or you’re very knowledgeable in the medical field/how to harm the human body for some reason

dark humour is the best humour

Your friends are very concerned for you because of said humour

You like watching people play Monopoly bc of the chaos

into so many fandoms that you know the lore of your faves more than you know the material you learn at school

If your favourite is Teorus:

You are an only or youngest child

Spoiled

Daddy/Mommy issues

Abandonment issues

You feel like you fade into the background/don’t contribute much to the group

You feel like you are often forgotten

You’re close with your cousins

You probably have a pet

Taylor Swift or 1D for life

Have definitely threatened to kill or beat someone up despite you intimidating no one

You want to play an important role but you are so not the leader type

You like Ouran Host Club

You like the outdoors

You probably like To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before

Your favourite disney princess is Rapunzel or Cinderella

If your favourite is Huedhaut:

You are definitely a romantic

You’re not an air sign (Gemini, Aquarius, or Libra)

You’re a moron or you make bad decisions and Hue is there to help balance that out

Chances are you read more fanfic than actual books

Your system is 70% caffeine

For some reason you have lots of random trivia

Have you considered therapy for your suppressed trauma?

Dungeons and Dragons fan

You’re really into alcohol or you despise it

Loyalty is the trait you admire most

You want to feel like a sassy and classy bitch but you gave up after 2 days

Your favourite ship trope is enemies to lovers or slow burn

A lot of pent up angst but you hide it 

you put other people > yourself bc you don’t want them to make the same mistakes you did

Why do you have so many memes saved?

Why do you have reaction pictures for everything?

If your favourite is Dui:

You’re probably not into guys

FAKE IT TILL YOU MAKE IT

Either you’re a precious sunshine child or you are the most fucked up human in your friend circle

You have a choking kink

You either take sides in fights or you’re the middle ground

You make lots of threats but no one is acc taking them seriously

You probably are a massive manipulator

You’re psychotic and have violent tendencies 

Your best friend lives far away from you/ you have an internet friend that gets you more than your IRL ones

You say honesty is the best policy but you lie the most

Everyone comes to you for advice but you think you’re the most mentally unstable

You have identity issues and u change ur mind all the time 

Whatever you were as a kid, you’re probably the opposite of that now

If your favourite is Ichthys:

You are attached to the characters with the most trauma

You must not be a clean freak or your room is equally as messy as Ikky’s

Oldest or middle child (either way u have siblings) 

Never got to go to an amusement park as a kid 

Want attention/didn't get enough attention as a kid

You want Ichthys’ parents to adopt u bc they are the family stability you crave

Unresolved trauma and definitely not mentally stable 

You liked dinosaurs as a kid

You had pet fish as a kid and they all died bc you overfed them

Using anything else to escape ur reality 

Cartoons > real life actors

Probably hate seafood or afraid of the sea (ironic as it is)

Nostalgia is your best friend

Hurt/Comfort is your favourite AO3 tag

You collect random shit or you have a memory box

You are the reason child leashes were invented

You got into real dangerous situations as a kid and you’re wondering how you lived through that

Your comfort characters all got it the worst or are dead

If your favourite is Zyglavis:

How are those high expectations treatin ya? 

You either want to get into medical, sciences, or law

When you were younger you got enrolled in extra classes (swimming, piano, ballet, etc)

Your parents encouraged creativity until you got older and they told you to choose a more “realistic” goal

Good grades = everything and you’ll pull all-nighters to finish tasks or assignments

Former gifted student 

The actual smart kid in class 

YOU HAVE SELF ESTEEM/CONFIDENCE ISSUES

80s are not good enough for you or your parents

Overachiever for any reason 

Sleep? What is sleep?

A dom or a brat

You have strict parents or you have had pretty loose rules growing up

You had a lot of friends in grade school and now you have like 4 friends

You are no longer human, you’re just a walking husk of stress

If your favourite is Krioff:

You want to fuck one of Krioff’s family members

You have siblings

A pyromaniac or deathly afraid of fire

Commitment issues

You watch or ur a sports fan

You own an iPhone 6

You’ve ate forbidden items or you’ve thought about it (the fish tank pebbles, erasers, glass, slime, etc)

Everyone thinks you’re the awkward kid but no you’re just shy

You actually like the ocean waves

Once people get to know you, they got a whole thing coming for them

You either suck at driving or can’t drive

A great listener but you don’t feel like you give good advice

Conflict is a no no for you

You definitely had a glow up

You’ve befriended the seniors growing up

You either don’t like kids or you love them

You have a sweet tooth and everyone questions how you are not diabetic with the amount of sweets you’ve consumed

If your favourite is Aigonorus:

You’re either an insomniac or a hypersomniac. Whichever one, you don’t know how much sleep is enough sleep

You’re probably a sub

Commitment or abandonment issues

Desperate for validation and appreciation

touch/love/attention starved

You have a stuffed animal collection or you still have those childhood stuffed animals

You love the idea of love but you are not ready to deal with breakups

You wish you didn’t care but you care too much

Your aesthetic is cutecore

Probably into maid cat boys

Studio Ghibli or Sanrio stan

Comfort > style anyday

You only own sneakers nothing else

If your favourite is Partheno:

You’re definitely not into just guys 

You’re a drama kid and you are here for the tea whether it involves you or not

you have the receipts for everything

You were the one kid that played “family” or “house” every recess

no one knows where you get all your cute shit but it serves

have been suspected of witchcraft or considered the dark arts

Stole makeup from your fam as a kid and played with it

HIDE THE TRAUMA. HIDE THE PAST.

You already have a senior quote picked out

You’re either really horny or you just want to cry over how much you love so and so

“Why do men-”

You really want to own that Partheno doll in that one CG

Your most used social media app is Instagram or Snapchat

Your favourite demon brother from Obey Me is most likely Asmodeus 

If your favourite is Tauxolouve:

Your favourite KBTBB guy is either Baba or Mamo

You’re into music or theatre

Your ideal date is to go to an opera or a museum

You say you like/dislike something but end up changing ur mind later or when you try it out

In your opinion, the music nowadays is just not it

You recently found a receipt from Walmart for something you bought 5 months ago

Anniversaries are important

When making decisions, you pick the worst possible one

Your most expensive clothing items are your shoes or jewelry

You wish you could attend a ball and marry into royalty, like Cinderella

You like the idea of soulmates or string of fate 

Obviously or secretly insecure/self deprecating but you’ll raise all hell if your loved ones talk shit abt themselves

You want your partner to propose first

You like the underrated characters or your favourite characters are unappreciated

If your favourite is Karno you are:

You have childhood trauma, some of you are just not aware of it

You’re the parent of the group

You enjoy ships that have a mom/dad dynamic

Either you’re banned from the kitchen or you’re the one banning people from the kitchen

You were threated with the slipper or you threaten with the slipper

As a kid, you enjoyed Dora or Ni Hao Kai Lan

Your favourite trope is the found family trope

Either you’re an example to your family or you keep getting compared to other kids

An angel around the family but a chaotic bastard with others

You’re probably into some really kinky shit

You like Dangonronpa

Spiritual or religious

Probably had an imaginary friend 

You decided you were gonna turn your life around after reading/watching something and went back to the hot mess you were in 3 days

[maxwell-grant]

Any thoughts on Darkman, the Liam Neeson movie? I heard it was originally going to be a Shadow movie.

I love Darkman very much, but I've realized recently that this love comes with some pretty bittersweet feelings at the story behind it.

Michael Uslan: I was going to produce a Shadow feature film with Sam Raimi, but Sam got consumed by back-to-back movies and we ran out of time. We were headed in a good, period piece direction and managed to do so without relying on yet another bout with Shiwan Khan. I later had another major director passionate to do The Shadow, but a person at the company wanted to do a modern day TV series instead, which ultimately did not go... - comment saved from a post in The Shadow Knows Facebook group

For those of you who only now got into The Shadow or don't remember, for much of the early 00s, when The Shadow basically had no current projects and Conde Nast was taking down webpages and fan content left and right, the only things that kept this "fandom" alive were occasional fanfics (many of which are gone now), and the dim light in the horizon that was the rumors that Sam Raimi was finally going to make his Shadow film. Dig back on The Wayback Machine for Shadow web page and you're gonna see this as consistently the only thing they had to look forward to in regards to the character. These rumors floated around for over a decade, at one point Tarantino was even supposed to direct it, but he confirmed in 2013 that it wasn't going to happen. At least, not with him at the helm.

The project has been dead for a while now, and Conde Nast seems to be shuffling around plans for the character, and I deleted my Facebook months ago so I haven't kept up with any news, although it seems the James Patterson novel wasn't received too well, so I'm not sure what other plans they have in the pipeline.

Back in the 1970s, after the release of Richard Donner's Superman and in line with The Shadow's pop culture resurgence, thanks to the paperback reprints and the 70s DC run, there were plans to make a Shadow feature film, and there were quite a handful of scripts being tossed around for the following years (Will Murray states most of them were horrible), several names attached to the project at one point or another. The plans died down a bit following Gibson's death and only really picked up again after the 90s, and of course we all know that the 1994 movie came out with spectacularly bad timing. From what I recall, it seems Sam Raimi wanted to make his Shadow film in the 80s, was unable to secure the rights, and then just made his own version, which would go on to be his first major motion picture.

Even after making Darkman, Sam Raimi still wanted to make The Shadow. I guess that's ultimately the bittersweet part for me. I imagine the current state of Shadow media would be significantly better if Sam Raimi, who was a fan of the character and the pulp version (and even knows of The Shadow's connection to Houdini and stage magic), got to make his Shadow film, years before Blood & Judgment, years before Burton's Batman made it impossible for a Shadow film not to be compared to it, in a time period where it wouldn't have had to compete with The Lion King and The Mask for box office. And second, I have been drawing up my plans for Shadow projects for, what, 5 years now? And I have just barely got my foot off the door as a filmmaker. Sam Raimi had a decade-long career as a cult filmmaker before he got turned down, and decades later, after becoming a household name in charge of Marvel's biggest icon, the project still fell through. It doesn't exactly get my hopes up, y'know.

I love Darkman, it's the best Shadow film that doesn't technically star the real Shadow, and it works pretty well on it's own regardless of that association, but I do get pretty sad looking at it from the outside, because I just can't help but think on what it could have been.

In some aspects I do think the film benefits from not being about The Shadow proper, because it means Raimi got the freedom to do whatever the hell he wanted. The character of Darkman already existed separately from Sam Raimi's plans for a Shadow film, already carrying off the Phantom / Universal Monster influence, and what Raimi did was basically combine the two ideas together.

He took the basic iconography of The Shadow, a terrifying urban crimefighter in coat and slouch hat, and add in other Shadow traits like his mastery of disguise, his disfigurement, and that wonderful scene where he's invisibly running circles around a panicky triggerman while laughing maniacally, a moment which definitely feels like Raimi taking a second to indulge himself to do what you can call The Classic Shadow Scene with a character he's, for the most part, succesfully convinced us (and Conde Nast's lawyers, most importantly) isn't supposed to be The Shadow.

But then he filters these through his own influences and style to make him a new character, so instead of a mysterious mastermind with lots of resources and a enigmatic background, instead he's a disfigured and psychotic scientist with a vengeance against those who made him that way. He's like Night Raven, in the sense that he's built off traits that The Shadow has, but develops them differently to the point he stands on his own as a character. It's The Shadow combined with The Phantom of the Opera, filtered through a 1930s Universal Horror lens, played for greater tragedy and a dash of Evil Dead 2 wackyness.

He hides away in trashed up ruins and bickers with a cat, he has fits of rage that make him endanger innocents, he has a doomed love affair, and sometimes he gets so batshit he gives us hilarious moments like "TAKE THE FUCKING ELEPHANT" and "SEE THE DANCING FREAK! PAY - FIVE - BUCKS! TO SEE THE DANCING FREAK!". Moments that really show why he was such a good fit for Spider-Man despite the liberties he took with the source material.

I think the big thing that helps to make Darkman works as a property in it's own right is also that, ultimately, these influences are ultimately at the forefront of it, and the core of it works on it's own. Darkman is a believable, engaging character in his own right, one who tells a story that would be more at odds with The Shadow proper. 

In some aspects, Darkman tries to be The Shadow, he is forced to become The Shadow by literally picking the clothes off a dumpster after he escapes the hospital, and it's a miserable, wretched existence, in a way rather befitting his status as a legally safe knock-off. He is a creature of nightmare who lost his face and takes on a dozen others to fight crime by turning terror against them, except he is still just a man in the end, and no man was ever supposed to live like this.

Raimi was also inspired by the Universal horror films of the 1930s and 1940s because "they made me fear the hideous nature of the hero and at the same time drew me to him. I went back to that idea of the man who is noble and turns into a monster".

He originally wrote a 30-page short story, titled "The Darkman", and then developed into a 40-page treatment. At this point, according to Raimi, "it became the story of a man who had lost his face and had to take on other faces, a man who battled criminals using this power"

A non-superpowered man who, here, is a hideous thing who fights crime. As he became that hideous thing, it became more like The Phantom of the Opera, the creature who wants the girl but who was too much of a beast to have her

I decided to explore a man's soul. In the beginning, a sympathetic, sincere man. In the middle, a vengeful man committing heinous acts against his enemies. And in the end, a man full of self-hatred for what he's become, who must drift off into the night, into a world apart from everyone he knows and all the things he loves.

For the role, Raimi was looking for someone who could suggest "a monster with the soul of a man"

It's the fact that Darkman is ultimately played for vulnerability and tragedy that really sets him apart. While I wouldn't go far enough to say The Shadow is a man with the soul of a monster, still, the difference in presentation is still there when it comes to these two. The Shadow is The Other, Darkman is You. Darkman is the victim of extraordinary circumstance that affects his life, The Shadow is the extraordinary circumstance that affects the lives of others. People react to The Shadow, Darkman reacts to people (and rather poorly).

One is the man who takes off his skin (or yours, staring back at you) to reveal the weird creature of the night ready to prowl and pounce and cackle at those who think they hold power over it's domain, and the other is the monster who falls apart bit by bit until you are left staring at the broken man within who has no choice but to be something he was never supposed to be.

The Shadow is The Master of Darkness. Darkman weaponizes the dark, but in the end, he's still just a man, lost within it. Not everyone can be The Shadow, and you would most likely turn into Darkman if you tried.