#punk rock branch specifically

[spooky-pop]

I crave passionate Broppy angst

[caifanes]

ended up at a spotify niche of italian scene technopop

[the-vegetarian-artist]

Asking you about your ska troll concept! They look so cool and I would love to learn more about them

@shadow-ray4 thank you for asking, genuinely was positive that no one would ask 😅😣 but I am HAPPY to share! To start here are the full refs I've done so far and explain as much of the concept as I've developed in my brain lmaooo (ALL MAJOR DEETS undercut cause its gonna be LONG)

@goldendaydna also helped with this and lowkey a concept we are semi working out since her sona Golden Tempo is an Urbano Troll (a recently named concept lol)

Ska Trolls are Big, Bright, and BOLD. Together, these elements create an energetic, highly danceable, highly vibe-able troll genre. They also explode into confetti and confections when excited or surprised. Dont worry they pop back up as if nothing even happened leaving a pile of candy and crepe paper on the ground. (Ska trolls are super popular with the kids.) They practically live for the music, known for dancing for several days straight with hardly a rhyme or reason to stop.

*Like even the smallest of surprises just make em POP! (Bonus Branch doodle cause why not??)

Adara, my sona, is a 4th Generation Ska Troll (her father being a 3rd Gen while her mama is a punk rock troll) so TECHNICALLY shes Ska-punk, but she still has the appearance of your standard Ska Troll so it's more a music specific.

Her great great grandparents being a reggae leaning funk troll and a rocksteady leaning funk troll who formed The Underground after being seemingly left behind along with other alt/subgenres of the main 6 kingdoms when they split. A place for alternative trolls like herself and her friends could live and PARTY HARD without micro judgments against their music. It's a haven for other trolls who feel they dont quite fit a specific genre or even one at all, but also HELLA secluded from the rest of the Trolls so they look different and SOUND different. (Cave acoustics and all) The surface likely gets trimmers and even earthquakes from their raging parties. (I'm still fleshing this out but I have this piece of "concept art")

*Its literally a bioluminescent shroom town. Like glowing mushroom homes, food, ect- glow worms on the cave ceiling like stars in a night sky. All the various alternative genre of trolls have like a glowy eye thing that allows them to just see naturally in the dark too-

*these were some posters I took heavy color influence from for Adara's pallet (I know they arent all ska, but punk, reggae, and rocksteady aesthetics were an addition)

Obviously I took most inspo from pinatas, party/confetti poppers, and the sorts mainly because the funk trolls poop...well. baked goods and I wanted to play off that but lean into the crazy evolution the trolls have canonically in the universe that foam at the mouth for 👀 🤲 But I wanted to make sure her colors and patterns gave off not just Funk influence, but also micro subculture influences that are within The Underground. (This including but not not limited to, how closely Ska Trolls were to the Urbano Trolls communities within The Underground)

*Exchanged tassels and stringy fur textures for more paper textures. Like literally walking, talking, breathing pinatas fr

*Queen Essence I love yuuuu

They are bigger than the average Funk troll and have very similar features to them, but texture and color wise are very different. They much more vibrant and staturated. Giving a mix of felt and crepe paper. They have tails as sortve as an evolutionary trait but also it gives maximum party mode as it can hold objects and act as an extra hand. Their ears are also longer and slimmer, making it harder for them to lift or perk up so they stay droopy unlike their funk counterparts. They are all naturals at brass instruments (mainly trumpet) and ALWAYS have a hop in their step.

*edit if the pics keep messing up... imma have to just remake the post 😭

[machiavellian-methylphenidate]

My headcanons as to what music the beta trolls like!

ARADIA: I had to think pretty hard about this one since I don't think about Aradia all that much, but I think she would listen to alternative rock... I'm thinking stuff like Pearl Jam and Foo Fighters. TAVROS: I think he would be into like two really different genres and nothing else. Like he'd be into ambient and breakcore and absolutely nothing else. Alternatively I think he would like video game soundtracks! SOLLUX: I honestly don't think Sollux would really be into music. Considering all the voices and stuff I think he would savor every moment of silence available. KARKAT: Tbh I think he would say he's into metal to seem more hardcore but secretly be into pop. I can totally see him listening to Britney Spears lmao. NEPETA: Digital hardcore, IDM, breakcore, techno... she would be all about that electronica shit!!! I think she would initially be really into animation meme music and then branch out into electronic from there! Alternatively, I can see her being into vocaloid!! KANAYA: I think she would like a lot of classical, but specifically orchestral with an emphasis on cello! I think she would appreciate the beauty and detail of the instrument itself. TEREZI: She would totally be into weird loud experimental shit. The kind of music you listen to and come out confused and with a bit of a headache. Stuff like KFC Murder Chicks, Xanopticon, and some Machine Girl would totally be up her alley! VRISKA: I know this is a common take, but I think she would be into pop-punk and grunge. She would be a huge fan of Avril Lavigne for sure! EQUIUS: Not many thoughts since I'm not a huge Equius enjoyer, but I think he'd take interest in nature ambient type stuff... not super musical but more environmental! GAMZEE: I'm not gonna say he would be into ICP because that's dumb and obvious. I think he would take interest in chiptune and bitcrush type stuff, the type that really scratches your brain. ERIDAN: He would be one of those music elitists that only listens to incredibly niche indie rock type stuff and then makes fun of you for not knowing about it. FEFERI: I think she would be the complete opposite of Karkat. She would pretend to listen to pop but actually listen to death metal on full volume. tysm for reading my ramblings have a good day :3

[carnivore-voyeur]

I appreciate the way Tobias uses genre to tell a story. The psychedelic rock of the 60s we hear in Kiss The Go-Goat and in Mary On A Cross make sense narratively as it harkens back to a fictional past when Papa Nihil was THE Papa. The Doors. Hendrix. The Animals. Cream. It wouldn’t be unbelievable to place these songs back in that time to make them Classic Rock Hits in the fictional 21st century that the universe of Ghost is set in. It’s not only that. It’s the evolution of rock within that universe Tobias is committed to.

Think of Dance Macabre and of Spillways, which literally involves Arena Rock legend Joe Elliott of Def Leppard. We get the sense that not only did Papa Nihil’ s style evolve but that the subsequent “Papas” were raised to love and appreciate this style - especially the ‘youngest’ or ‘newest’ one, Copia. It makes sense not only because Tobias was a child raised on that type of music, but narratively in the sense that his characters were too, and that Papa Emeritus IV especially incorporate it into his style as he ends up selling out actual arenas.

Tobias has been heavily involved in the metal scene, even way before Ghost. So, there are aspects of Ghost that are very much forged (lol) from him being immersed in that for so long. At the same time, he draws inspiration from theater, punk rock, pop, doom, 80s ballads and everything in between to tell a story and he does so effectively. To deny that Ghost is metal is absolutely ridiculous. To limit Ghost to metal is also absolutely ridiculous. Ghost is very intentional in their use of metal, as well as their branching into other genres.

Half the internal battle people have with labeling Ghost as “metal” comes from the fact that Tobias does this, but it’s in doing this that he really pays homage to the origins of metal. I think people forget (or maybe they never knew) what metal started with. We wouldn’t have shock rock without Screamin’ Jay Hawkins but if you listened to his music you wouldn’t automatically think “metal” unless you had a deep appreciation for metal. Even Black Sabbath by today’s standards would be under the scrutiny of gatekeeping metal elitists.

Ghost is a love letter to rock music across genres. Ghost also shows a deep appreciation for metal specifically. It fully embraces the “shock” aspect of metal. It’s heavy when it needs to be. It’s bringing metal back to the forefront after being beaten down by “butt rock” and the explosion of pop “indie” rock that was inoffensive to both atheists and evangelicals alike while still giving them a little bit of “edge” so they could still feel cool. Metal is a big middle finger to that, and Ghost was instrumental in reviving it for a large audience.

All. While. Being. A. “Satanic.” Band.

That’s hard! It’s brilliant. It should be impossible. It’s forbidden. It’s scandalous. It’s hilarious. They’re a joke. They’re the best thing you ever heard. They contain multitudes. So, haters can keep hating, but there’s a reason why Ghost is so popular and there’s a reason why they’re adored by so many rock musicians both inside and out of the metal scene. What they do is unique and nostalgic all in one, all while telling a story that uses genre as a literary device and yet creates these songs that can be enjoyed independent of their story.

[proxythe]

What kind of music can you see the P3 cast listening too? Your latest post just made me wonder that. Also just curious, what music do you listen to normally? I ask everyone this lol

im kind of unbelievably horrible at knowing music genres, let alone trying to assign specific genres to characters but i’ll try my best 😭 guys plz dont cook me if its bad im not that big of a musichead plz plz

Anyways. firstly, since minato and kotone both canonically listen to the p3 ost, i can assign them hip hop/rap/pop off rip. if it’s in their playlist, i think we can gather that they enjoy it.

minato - alt rock, pop punk, gothwave, video game osts. i say video game osts bc i yhink minato would like sitting around in a video game afk just to listen to the background music. i dont think minato is a goth but i feel as if gothwave has a sound he’d find enjoyable

kotone - alt rock, hip hop/rap, pop rock. she loves to lip sync to it and u can hear the song she’s lip syncing to bc i also know kotone probably turns her volume to max so loud you’d think she’ll damage her ears someday if not soon

yukari - dance pop, new wave, pop. she’s one of those people who hates country and sucks at listening to music outside her preferred genre. secretly likes a few alt songs but she’d never put them on her main playlist

junpei - hip hop, r&b. probably also a pop enjoyer, but honestly he’d like anything if it were catchy. he loves to dance and it sucks bc he’s really good at it so nobody can make fun of him

fuuka - alt/indie, pop. she’d also enjoy video game music, like minecraft ost and she cries to it. i think she mostly likes slower music. music that makes her feel like her soul is leaving her body and ascending to a different plane of existence

mitsuru - classical. rich girl… but i also think the girls would influence her taste to expand more and she’d find herself enjoying the worst songs you’ve ever heard in your life. it’s ok tho since it’s her first time branching out. she’ll grow…

akihiko - whatever’s on the radio, mostly enjoys upbeat faster paced music that can easily hype someone up. he’s kinda that one pic that’s like “Gym Beast Playlist” and the first song is hi high by loona

shinjiro - death metal, old school hip hop. death metal came to me bc i was thinking about casual outfits for shinjiro and i really wanted to put him in a death metal shirt bc of the font lmfaoo. but i prefer more old school hip hop for him and occasionally other things like old school rock music. he hates that new shit

ken - pop, alt/indie. ken is a kid so his taste is just beginning to form. he only knows pop radio. i also think ken’s music taste is music where you’d hear it and be like “god how does anyone like this” but he’s a child so he’s allowed to get away with it. and i say indie bc i also think ken is the type of person to be sad so he listens to more sad music as if it won’t make his mood worse. he goes on youtube and types “sad music playlist” when he’s in a bad mood

aigis - feel like she focuses more on the lyrics than the sound 😭 it’s her first day on earth she hasn’t yet learned that u can listen to music for the vibe instead of the lyricism. even then, i think aigis would probably enjoy almost any kind of music bc she thinks the creativity is beautiful

koromaru - adding him bc i think he’d have shinjiro’s taste from how much he loves him. he hears death metal and it puts him right to sleep…

ryoji - similar to aigis, but he’d probably heavily prefer whatever music the protagonist also enjoys. he has his own thing for classical music as well. he plays the piano and stuff …

+ thanks for asking what my taste is. i personally prefer to listen to a lot of rock, punk, metal, etc. if my cutesy art doesn’t make it so incredibly obvious BUT i enjoy anything as long as it sounds pleasant to my ears ✌️

[chaiwrote]

ISELDA'S BAND AU LORE ;

iselda's mom was a musician before her and would often take her on the road on all her vacations from school, cultivating within her a love for music. when it was time for school, she would stay with her dad. her parents never married and while they loved each other, never really committed in the sense of a traditional relationship, but successfully co-parented.

her mom wasn't a major celebrity but has what would be considered a cult following.

while iselda wanted to drop out at sixteen to pursue music, her parents urged her to stay in school. she eventually graduated early and actually took college courses, majoring in a degree in music. (specific field tbd).

during her time in college, she would often go to underground music clubs of all sorts. while she frequented the punk scene, iselda had a wide variety of interests and would clubs that hosted other music like jazz, funk, new wave, etc.

sometimes, she would be recognized by some of the scouts or older musicians that know her mom, and would be offered opportunities. while she was proud of her mom's career, she also wanted to branch out on her own and find a sound that was hers.

eventually, she would join a few bands/projects, subbing in for bass or drums. she played a variety of genres and had even gone on the road with bigger names for experience.

she also creates a lot of her bands' merch and merch for other bands. she loves sketching and has made shirts, totes, pins, posters, album covers, etc.

her first serious commitment was with the band, WOUND; an all girl's rock/funk band. they had an eclectic sound but often infused elements of funk in their music.

after some time (tbd), she leaves the band on good terms.

she takes this time apart to enjoy the freedom of travel on her own.

one night, at a show she attends, she watches drucilla (@weatherw1tch) perform, captivated by her stage presence and her music. they later strike up a friendship and eventually become a band together.

[pied-piper-the-survogel]

Fossil Novembirb, the first nine days

Hello World. I never thought I'd be on this site, but here I am. This blog was created for the purpose of participating in a-dinosaur-a-day's Fossil Novembirb. Fossil Novembirb is a yearly art event founded by Meig Dickson, a vertebrate palaeontologist who, as far as I can tell, studies dinosaurs, especially theropods. Don't fight me or em over birds being theropod dinosaurs. Neither ey nor I want to have this conversation, so enjoy the art!

I started off my Fossil Novembirb with Vegavis iaai. What makes this fluffy anseriform special is that we found a fossilised syrinx (avian voice-maker) belonging to one of these, so we can reconstruct their sounds. This Vegavis was coloured based on a bunch of anseriforms that are alive today, like ruddy shelducks and cotton pygmy geese.

For Day 2, I did a bit of spec evo and pulled out a scientific name I told myself I'd assign to a newly-discovered fossil genus. This sketch has a Serina-like text description for Phantasmavis.

Tropicbirds! I chose to draw Clymenoptilon because I was hoping "tropicbird" meant "brightly coloured bird". Even though they aren't that brightly coloured, they're still cool. And Kumimanu (approximately to scale in this drawing) didn't really have the obligation to be black-and-white like most extant penguins (because Inkayacu), so I went... mild-wild with the colours.

No... one's... tall like Gastornis, no one calls like Gastornis! In the bottom right, no one feeds small like Gastornis!

I've seen the "Andy's Prehistoric Adventures" episode featuring these megafowl, realised it was Walking With Dinosaurs with a human inserted, and drawn a mildly speculative colouration for these Gastornis. To the left, two adults have their necks out towards each other and are calling into the sky. Whether this is courtship or a challenge, nobody knows. But a calmer scene happens in the bottom right, where a mother shows her chick red berries on a branch to show them that it is food.

"Don't make me fly up there, you punk!" is one way to interpret the screamerduck Anachronornis' call in the direction of the Primoptynx owl. This scene unfolds in the Palaeocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum ecosystem of the Willwood Formation before it was rock.

It's a twilight hummingswift! We know the colour of this iridescent little birb from the Danish Fur Formation. I watched a tutorial on painting iridescence, but I'm not really satisfied with the parent feeding their chick to the left of the flying Eocypselus rowei. It's hard to see, but there's a baby hummingswift being fed a Cimbrophlebia scorpionfly.

London Clay has a lot of plant fossils. Not all of them are listed on Wikipedia, but there's a photo of a pencil-root mangrove seed listed. Featuring a speculatively-coloured Eotrogon, a Dasornis carrying away a mackerel, and a Prophaeton just gliding, and repeat telecasts Gastornis parisiensis and Eocypelus rowei, Eocene London was a birder's dream (believe me, I'm a kinda-birder).

This Tynskya art was somewhat late, rather dissatisfactory, and mildly rushed. I had an exam the next day. Don't judge me.

And here's a better Primozygodactylus! I couldn't tell the specific species because it wasn't listed for the Wikipedia image. But here we are: a bird that gives off ashy prinia/sparrow/orange-headed thrush vibes.

This concludes the first nine days! I don't know if I'll be doing the tenth because nobody's giving me straight answers about the palaeobotany of the Green River formation.

Enjoy!

[starscatteredsky]

Hihi!!!! Could I request a lambkin den board???

I just started interacting with other therians and I’m pretty nervous but gosh dang it this lamb needs a flock. (not cult of the lamb, just lambs in general)

-🐑

lambkin denboard!

so i wasn’t sure what kind of theme you wanted, so if you’d like something different, feel free to send a more specific ask! i’m happy to make another one :D (inside/outside, natural or human created, cute, soft, nature, etc, stuff like that!!

anyways, lambkin denboard! themes of barns, places to climb, soft white blankets or plushes, and natural lighting!

hope you like!!

-🎉💊

[image description:

a board with nine images.

image one (top left); a small messy cozy room with wrinkled grey blankets, a window letting in plenty of light, posters and a pride flag all over the walls, and grey curtains

image two (middle left); a soft sitting white lamb plush with a silky looking pearl white ribbon. it has a simplistic face and curly wool, with cream coloured simple circular hooves and cream coloured face.

image three (bottom left); a room with pale green walls, and a bed with a large “rustic” looking wooden headboard. more rusted wood planks hang from the ceiling, looking a bit like an old dilapidated bridge.

image four (top middle); a soft white blanket messily draped over a wooden couch with a grey cushion seat.

image five (middle middle); a small lamb standing in a grassy field, looking over its body to the left. the sky is a pale grey tinged with a bit of orange.

image six (bottom middle); a soft grey and soft white blanket pressed up against eachother

image seven (top right); a bed mounted to a wall, perhaps an upper bunk. the bottom looks like a tree branch, and the ladder to get to it looks like a treehouse ladder. the bed has small walls on each side with an opening for the ladder, made of overlapping wooden planks like a treehouse. there is a green sign that is partially cut off, but seems to say “the jack place”

image eight (middle right); a bean shaped lamb plush with bright white wool , soft blush, and floppy arms.

image nine (bottom right); an upper bunk made of white wood with its own small shelving unit, plus a place to hang what seems to be scarves. it’s got a sort of barn vibe, and lots of fun decorations are hung around, like fabric or rocks and beads

end description]

Requests open!!!

[image description:

a DNI banner with the background being the promotional image for Little Nightmares 2. The writing reads:

"DNI: radqueers, proshippers, radfems/TERFs, antikin/antitherian, homophobic/ ableist/ anti ACAB/ transphobic/ rasist/ antisemitic/ xenophobic/ antitheist/ anti athiest/ bigoted in any fashion, NSFW/sh/ed/cringe centered blog, fakeclaimer

Before you interact: We are pro mspec gays/lesbians, anti endo/tulpa "systems", enjoy MCYT/DSMP, pro self diagnoses with extensive research, multiple alters are punks/ anarchists"

end description]

[chronicas]

Okay lesson of lived experience from a goth raised by punks. This isn’t like. 100% how everything works because again, this is all just lived experience, but.. Many various rock subcultures started forming in the 50s. Those branched off or somewhat inspired punks, metalheads,and goths through the 60s, 70s, and 80s (not specifically in that order). Emos branched off of punks in the 90s and off of emos branched off sceansters in the 2000s. Lolita is similar to goth, but exists for very different reasons and is not connected to the goth music scene. The same can be said about steampunk fashion, similar in aesthetics to goth, but not connected to the music scene. The eboy/egirl fashion is inspired by alt fashion but without a strong attachment to a music scene or subculture.

Subcultures that branched off rock subgenres are collectively referred to as alt or alternative. For these subcultures, the primary things are the MUSIC first and the culture second.

Punk culture is anti-authoritarian and I’d say the easiest one to have a disconnect from the music (but again it’s still important) and is focused mainly on the idea of standing up against oppression. However this is not to negate that there are also oppressors that are punk as well, they’re just pretty much all hypocrites. Punk is centered a lot around anger, which is mainly directed towards the government. Don’t let that fool you entirely thought because the punk scene has some of the nicest people I’ve ever attended concerts with.

Goth culture is centered almost entirely around the music but there is a culture centered around the idea of separating oneself from the greater society in a rejection of social norms. Which is an idea shared by many of these subcultures in different ways but I’ve known it the strongest from fellow goths. Goth is one of the most obvious subcultures fashion wise, and can be the most extravagant, this stems from the central idea of the “otherness” goths like to impose.

Emo culture is again. Mainly the music. With the culture centered around the idea of pain. Talking about pain and outwardly expressing it. This isn’t to say this is a bad this, emo is like these other subcultures, a deviation from the social norm. Putting things that normally we as a society don’t want to talk about in front and center. I think this is why it’s popular with young people, so they can let their feelings be known instead of holding it in. Scene branched off emo, so the core theme is still there, but they’re getting a little funky with it. And their music is different (mainly metalcore/deathcore)

Anyways. The more you know °•☆

[trollex-is-gay]

Completely forgot to follow up to this post but HERE WE GO !!!

Also buckle up this post is long bc if there's one thing I will not do it is make brief post. Also I have a lot of opinions on this.

First off I have to put the one that's been on my mind the most: I think Velvet and Veneer would get on great with Electra but specifically two different versions of him. Velvet would vibe with pre-2018 rehaul Electra and Veneer would lean closer to post-2018 rehaul Electra. Both versions are major huffy puffy rich divas who don't like things not going their way, but post-2018 holds a slightly more mellow tone to him while still being just as much of an antag as his colorful counterpart, which I thing matches Velvet and Veneer pretty well. Idk if anyone else has noticed but Velvet has brighter and more saturated eyeshadow than Veneer in their final fits, at least it looks that way to me. Pictures for reference it makes more sense this way:

Second I have to mention one that's stuck to me hardcore and that's Poppy and Pearl but SPECIFICALLY post-2018 Pearl. Any possible starlight express fans seeing this post might think pre-2018 would be more sensible bc they're both pink but the thing is they have major personality contrasts. I think that post-2018 Pearl would get on better with Poppy because she has a younger and more peppier feel to her than her counterpart does, what she lacks in color she makes up for in being So Incredibly Confused all the time and honestly she just radiates Poppy to me far more than pre-2018, so yeah I think post-2018 Pearl would be good friends with Poppy. Hell great friends even. Though I ALSO think that Poppy would get along great with Rusty because he's a very excitable character and he has the EXACT determination and drive to succeed that Poppy has, the biggest difference between them though is that Rusty is a lot quicker to give up, he's got support but where Poppy has an entire kingdom at her back Rusty only had a handful of people and only two of them were complete steady support (I'm not knocking the Rockies bc their advice to him was genuine but hey read the room he knows the system sucks). Though on that note I think Rusty could get along good with Branch too, probably a tad bit closer with Poppy but they'd both be his pals in my eyes.

Poppy how come u get two cool train friends who happen to be a couple!!

Next up, I really do believe that both Greaseball and Flat-Top would get along with ALL of the rock trolls. But like specifically the rock trolls. Genuinely. Flat-Top would be more receptive to all of them while Greaseball would be less inclined to get personal with a lot of them and would chill better with the more titular guys like Barb. Flat-Top is just generally very punk and wild while Greaseball is very self-confident. I don't know how well Val and Flats would get on but I do believe he and Riff might get long better than he would any of the others. Greaseball would however get along best with Barb and mostly tolerate the others, maybe he'd enjoy Demo's company, but DEFINITELY not Blaze Powerchord. GB and Electra's rivalry is canon proof that diesel CANNOT STAND people as overconfident as he is.

^^^ pictured Barb and GB being silly because Greaseball's a self-absorbed dude and Barb is aggressive but what they have in common is they're actually goobers and few people truly see this. This is also part of why I think they'd be friends.

SAME PICTURE. Flat-Top is the brick truck on the left btw.

Anyway that's all I have for now it's like almost 11:50pm but I hope you see my vision and I hope I can convince people of each fandom to take a peek at the other bc as a trolls and starlight express fan I think these fandoms should have way more overlap, they're both goofy silly pieces of media that get looked down upon by the people outside of them for being fun and whimsical. Solidarity and all that.

[spooky-pop]

AU stuff is on the mind...I'm sitting here at my desk with my coffee with the intense need to draw out this idea...

Punk Rock Branch bringing Poppy to her first underground punk show. Branch hates parties, but not the way this specific group of rock trolls does it. Trolls are moshing and stage diving. Bands are jamming. Poppy has a bit of a shock because she's only been to pop parties, and this is Branch's attempt to get her out of her box but also share his world with her.

Poppy's reaction:

(this whole thing may or may not be inspired by my brother, who goes to these types of local rock shows and gets his ass KO'd in the pit lmao. My muse)

[neopronouns]

man, now i wanna be punk... got any resources i can look at avout the movement and the people or just useful stuff in general?

mrri [i] don't have any specific resources, but here's mrry [my] tips (keep in mind mrri'm [i'm] still kind of a baby punk fjklgsdk):

above all else, being punk is about radically caring about people! kindness in the face of an uncaring society, listening to and boosting the voices of marginalized people, attending protests (or helping in other ways), and leftist ideology in general are core tenets of punk politics. hate governments and oppressive systems and care deeply for the people being hurt. many people who decide to look/act the part of a punk already hold their beliefs!

in that vein, try to get involved with local activism! this doesn't just include going to protests/marches, doing sit-ins, etc. - volunteering at a local food bank, boycotting products, graffiti, hacking, and all sorts of other things can be punk. any way you can stick it to the man, no matter how small, is great.

don't buy into the commercialization of punk fashion. if you want a punk wardrobe, you don't have to spend hundreds of dollars on punk-style clothes from mainsteam brands. rip up cheap tights, make chains out of can tabs, sew patches onto your jackets and pants, dye your clothes black, buy a pair of combat boots and wear them until they fall off your feet, whatever! diy-ing, mending, and thrifting are all parts of the punk look, so if you can do those things, do them, and if you don't know how, look it up and try it out!

pick a band in one of the punk genres (such as punk rock, riot grrrl, folk punk, queercore, etc.), listen to an album, and branch out from there! punk music varies greatly, so you'll probably find something that really speaks to you. mrri [i] personally recommend starting with more modern music and working your way back, since that'll let you adjust to the genre first and then start learning punk musical history, but it's your call!

engage with other punk creations! films, visual art, stories, dance - there are punks in every artistic field, and chances are they'll teach you something wonderful.

create! put your feelings about society into something - paintings, songs, stories, whatever calls you. make tons of shitty art and love every bit of it. there may be open art exhibitions, zines, or other events near you (or in your online communities) that you can showcase your work in or view work from other punks in.

explore political theory! punk philosophical and political papers/books are great (and tend to be free somewhere), but if reading long texts is difficult for you, you can find documentaries, podcasts, youtube videos, etc. you may find it more accessible to follow punks on social media and learn through that as well.

overall, punk is not rigid in any sense. you may look different from other punks, listen to different music, make different art, etc., but you'll be united by your similar ideologies, and that's what matters.

and, very importantly:

FUCK FASCISTS! there are fascists in punk spaces, and you need to not only not listen to what they say, but work with other punks to make these spaces hostile towards them. actively reject their messaging.

[windandwater]

I haven't been able to listen to music since--uh. March. which doesn't necessarily sound like a problem but if you've ever gone 5 months without listening to music for an extended period of time, let me tell you, the inside of your head gets weird. the songs my brain has been dredging up to play on a loop are 1) deep cuts, 2) annoying, and 3) shit I thought I erased from my being entirely. I'm talking girl scout camp songs. songs from The Bad Times of life. one single refrain from a song the rest of which I don't remember.

distracting yourself with nothing but video game streams, the Sims, and podcasts, is not what I'd call healthy.

only thing is. when I joke about having the taste of an aging male hippie. I always mean one aging male hippie in particular. even the stuff that's not classic rock is a branch of all that in that it's folk, it's indie, it's something I like because of who I am because of my dad.

and if it's not that it's something I'm not really in the mood for.

so I bit the bullet and listened all the way through "Country Roads" (we went to & fell in love with West Virginia together a lot) and like a fool thought that because I only teared up I was safe so I listened to "Shenandoah" which always makes me emotional anyway for various reasons and y'all that part of the country was my favorite growing up and guess who always took me there?

I fell in love with the woods & mountains there. we would pick blueberries in the summer and go in the spring specifically to see wildflowers. it was there that I first saw a bear and learned not to be afraid of them. I went on trips just me & my dad because I loved hiking & camping the most out of anyone in my family, just like him, so he took just me, out into the woods.

I cried the way I did when I got the news. all over again.

I'm tired as shit of being this sad.

also: told my brother (who has been sending me punk songs with sad lyrics) that I did this to myself. he'd never heard the song and is not a folk person in general? or a huge outdoors person. but he was there on most of the same trips. he listened to the first 35 seconds and had to nope out of it. I am both vindicated and more sad.

[lookwhatilost]

a personal intellectual goal for myself is to figure out a theory of “internet extremism” that isn’t cucky or stupid, because i think pretty much all of them are.

“if you’re a good noodle and don’t go on 4chan or watch sargon of akkad videos, you can help save society” kind of shit. “only you can prevent forest fires” but as a theory of extremism. not only is this low iq ego masturbation, but it’s one of those things that’s so drenched in american cultural bias in a way that’s so obvious that it’s shocking how little it’s commented on.

so what is it actually? i think a few things, and i’m developing my opinions on this, but here’s what i think the big contributing factor is:

when i was growing up, if you were an angsty little brat, you had a salient branch of counterculture that you could channel that into. you could be a metalhead. or you could listen to emo pop punk. or you could channel that into gaming. or anime/manga/fandom. or you were a dd/lg nymphet, glamorizing your eating disorder. or maybe you could be one of those edgy atheists who was a total pain in the ass to be around. but you had something, and all of these were taboo in one way or another.

but younger gen “counterculture” seems to be largely aesthetic and not really tethered to anything in reality – think of how tiktok alt kids don’t coalesce around a particular music genre or specific interest. rock is dead. playing video games is more the rule than the exception. anime and fandom have been so mainstreamed that it’s difficult to remember the time before. it’s way more normalized to speak openly about having an eating disorder, and atheism more or less won the culture war.

if you think about it, not much is taboo anymore. nobody will look at you like your head is screwed on backwards for playing d&d. even stuff like kink doesn’t carry the stigma it once did. on paper, this is a good thing, but i can’t help but wonder if we lost out on something when the only taboos became stuff that’s frowned upon for a good reason.

i’ve talked in the past about how people use slurs on imageboards in a way that’s so abstracted that it leads them to say shit like “gayf– here.” and i want to return to that thought because i think it has a relationship with this. maybe this is mostly motivated for a desire for counterculture and there not really being anything like that anymore. but conspiracy theories are still taboo and so is nazism.

that and i remember people treating being a young republican like it was counterculture when i was around 19 or so. people laughed at this because most counterculture doesn’t operate like that, but maybe we should have taken that idea a bit more seriously – what this was speaking to. because now we have trads and retvrn types, and my gut is telling me that this is a reaction to things being way more relaxed than i ever remember or have read about them being.

shame is a powerful emotion for a good reason, but some degree of it is necessary for healthy social function. and maybe shame in the right places means that people air out their human darkness in a place where it ultimately isn’t hurting anyone.

[mothlover69]

💙 and 🌐 for whoever would like to answer!

Hi, Ruby wasn't it? You can call me Graverobber

💙 - what is THE song that always makes you think of s/i?

Im gonna have to say i dont care if you're contagious by pierce the veil. One because thats one of their favorite bands (I don't listen to them as much, but Logan sure does) but also... we live in a time where we're all in health related debt and Gene Co can take away our health at literally any moment. So yeah. Im gonna hear the lyrics "I don't care if you're sick I don't care if you're contagious I would kiss you even if you were dead" and think about them. Because nothing will take them away from me

🌐 - what is s/i's music taste like, and how do you feel about it?

Lots of punk and metal and rock. They branch out to indie and hip hop sometimes. They've been listening to a lot of suicide silence and lil nas x lately, which I don't mind. The genres we like are pretty much the same, but the specific bands differ sometimes. Like how I'm not the biggest ptv fan but they're obsessed with them haha