#world of retro pop culture

[witchy-vibes1983]

[cinematicwasteland]

[clobberbox]

“It takes two people to run a concert: one back stage, and one out front. One man alone cannot do this.”

Check out our EXCELLENT new 60’s psychedelic tie dye shirt design inspired by one of the most iconic movies of the 90’s - WAYNE’S WORLD 2!

Great gifts for music and movie lovers. 

WAYNESTOCK tees are available to buy online in a range of colors, here.

[toruandmidori]

Shop our collection of t-shirts inspired by the undisputed best movie franchise of the 90’s - WAYNE’S WORLD!

Featuring references and logos from the movie including The Gasworks nightclub, WPIG - the home of Handsome Dan! and of course Stan Mikita’s donuts. A most excellent munch post. 

Great gifts for fans of cult classic movies.

Shop the full range here, individual links below: 

THE GASWORKS

STAN MIKITA’S DONUTS

WPIG

[salgiudici]

[imreidswifey]

Velvet Minds -S.Reid-

Famous Singer Reader x Spencer Reid

Summary: When the BAU is assigned a case involving murders linked to the music of the enigmatic singer Y/n, Dr. Spencer Reid is drawn into their world of haunting melodies and vintage allure.

Author’s Note: Hi, lovely readers! First, thank you for choosing to dive into Velvet Minds. This story contains mature themes and darker elements, so please read the warnings carefully. I tried to keep the balance between mystery, emotion, and romance, and I hope you find yourself immersed in their journey. Happy reading, and I’d love to hear your thoughts! Your feedback means the world to me.

Warnings: Violence and Crime, Mental Health Themes, Mature Themes, Mystery and Suspense, Emotional Content

———————————————————————————-

The small Nevada town was unremarkable, a blur of cracked asphalt and sun-faded storefronts. The crime scene, however, was anything but. Reid stood in the center of the motel room, his keen eyes cataloging every detail.

The room was steeped in 1950s nostalgia: a rotary phone sat on the nightstand, a cigarette still smoldering in an ashtray. But the focal point was the record player. It sat in the corner, spinning Y/n’s “Midnight Motel” on repeat.

“Looks like our unsub has a theme,” Morgan remarked, gesturing to the décor.

Reid nodded but didn’t respond. His attention was consumed by the music. The melody was melancholic yet mesmerizing, the lyrics a tapestry of longing and despair.

“Y/n,” he murmured to himself.

“What was that?” JJ asked, glancing over.

“The artist. Y/n. They’re known for this retro aesthetic and emotionally charged music. Their songs are often about isolation and nostalgia.”

JJ raised an eyebrow. “Didn’t peg you as a fan of cinematic dream-pop, Spence.”

“I’m not,” he replied quickly, adjusting his tie. “But their cultural significance is undeniable.”

Unshaken by Reid’s deflection, JJ smirked. “Right.”

As the team worked, Reid couldn’t shake the feeling that the music held more than just atmospheric appeal for their unsub. It felt personal, almost like a signature.

Back at Quantico, Reid dove into research. Y/n’s career was a study in contrasts. They had skyrocketed to fame with their debut album, Echoes of Velvet Dreams, yet they remained elusive, retreating from public view between releases.

“They’re like a ghost,” Garcia said as she tapped away at her keyboard. “No scandals, no sightings outside of carefully orchestrated performances. Even their interviews are cryptic. The fans eat it up, though. They call themselves the ‘Velvet Hearts.’”

“They’ve cultivated an aura of mystery,” Reid observed. “It’s part of their appeal. People project their own emotions onto the music, creating a deeply personal connection.”

Garcia spun her chair to face him. “Sounds like you’re one of those people.”

Reid ignored her, focusing instead on the patterns emerging in the case. Each victim had been found in a space meticulously designed to mirror Y/n’s aesthetic. And always, one of their songs was playing.

The team’s investigation led them to Kansas, where Y/n was performing a rare, intimate show in a vintage lounge. Reid and Prentiss attended under the guise of being fans, blending into the crowd of retro-clad concertgoers.

The atmosphere crackled with anticipation. When Y/n finally appeared, the room fell silent. Draped in a sequined gown that shimmered under the dim light, they looked like a vision from another time.

As their haunting voice filled the space, Reid felt a strange pull. He couldn’t tell if it was the music, the case, or something else entirely, but Y/n had an undeniable presence that commanded attention.

After the performance, Reid approached their manager, flashing his badge. “We need to speak with Y/n about a case we’re working on.”

Moments later, he was ushered backstage. Y/n sat at a vanity, their reflection framed by dimly glowing bulbs. When they turned to face him, their gaze was sharp, cutting through the haze of their ethereal persona.

“You’re FBI,” they said, their voice softer but no less commanding than on stage.

“Yes, Dr. Spencer Reid,” he replied, extending his hand.

Y/n studied him for a moment before shaking it. “What’s this about?”

Reid hesitated, momentarily distracted by the way the light caught on their features. “There’s a string of murders. Each scene is styled after your music, your image. We believe the unsub may be targeting people in connection to you.”

Y/n’s expression didn’t waver, but their hand gripped the edge of the vanity. “If someone’s using my art to hurt people, I want to help stop them.”

Over the next few weeks, Y/n became an unlikely collaborator. Reid found himself spending long hours with them, combing through fan letters, interviews, and obscure references in their lyrics.

Their dynamic was an odd but comfortable rhythm. Y/n’s introspective nature balanced Reid’s analytical mind, and their conversations often veered into personal territory.

One evening, while reviewing letters in a small recording studio, Y/n asked, “Do you ever feel like you don’t belong in the world you’re in?”

Reid looked up, startled by the question. “All the time,” he admitted.

Y/n smiled faintly. “That’s why I write. It’s the only way I know how to connect.”

Reid nodded, understanding more than he expected to. “For me, it’s knowledge. Facts and patterns—they make sense when nothing else does.”

Their eyes met, and for a moment, the case, the unsub, the danger—it all faded away.

The case reached its climax in a derelict diner on the outskirts of St. Louis. The unsub, a disillusioned fan, had recreated a scene from Y/n’s song “Midnight Motel”, complete with neon signs and half-empty coffee cups.

Reid and Morgan cornered the unsub, who ranted about preserving Y/n’s art, his obsession spilling out in fractured sentences.

“Y/n doesn’t want this,” Reid said, his voice steady. “You’re twisting their message.”

As the unsub was subdued, Reid’s thoughts drifted to Y/n. The case was over, but he wasn’t ready to let go of the connection they’d built.

Months later, Reid received an unmarked package. Inside was a vinyl record: Y/n’s latest album, Velvet Minds.

He placed it on his turntable, the familiar hum of the needle filling the room. The first track began, a delicate piano intro leading into Y/n’s unmistakable voice.

“Dedicated to Spencer,” the liner notes read.

As the music played, Reid leaned back, a rare smile tugging at his lips. Somewhere, in the vastness of their respective worlds, he and Y/n had found a melody that was uniquely theirs.

[disease]

"UNTITLED" // 2007 YOSHITOMO NARA 奈良 美智 [coloured pencil on coloured paper | 16 ½ x 11 5/8"]

With her short cropped hair, dark green dress and rebellious energy, the girl in Untitled (2007) emits the youthful defiance that has come to typify works by Yoshitomo Nara. [...]

"He is widely celebrated for his paintings and coloured pencil drawings of juvenile, cartoonish characters with large gazing eyes and endearing personalities. They inhabit imagined and insouciant paper worlds, brandish absurd objects and props—knives, sprouts, cigarettes, and electric guitars—and express a wide range of capricious, childlike emotion. Stern and somewhat sulky, our subject hovers in indeterminate space. She stands upon a Japanese flag with her small feet positioned perfectly over its crimson sun. Emblazoned around her miniature figure are the words ‘Up Yours!’, and, ‘All the Nations!’. As an advocate of peace, questions of nationhood, conflict and world politics weave through Nara’s art in such pithy phrases and symbols. Exhibited at the Centro de Arte Contemporáneo de Málaga—the first show of the artist’s work in Spain in 2007-2008—the present work was one of twenty coloured pencil drawings hung along the final wall of the gallery.

Born in 1959 in Japan’s rural Aomori Prefecture, Nara’s youth was marked by his country’s rapid post-war economic development and an influx of Western pop-culture, from Disney animation to punk and rock and roll. The artist expresses heartfelt nostalgia for the retro media—record-sleeves and comic books—that offered escapism from an otherwise solitary childhood. ‘Of course if you think back to the ’70s,’ he says, ‘information moved very differently. There was no Internet obviously and even the release date of albums in Japan could be delayed as much as six months … I would just sit there, listen to the music, look at the art on the cover and I think I really developed my imagination through that’ (N. Hegert, ‘Interview with Yoshitomo Nara,’ Artslant, 18 September 2010). This sensitivity to the worn, tactile quality of objects is triumphant in his art today and distinguishes him from the likes of Takashi Murakami and his Superflat movement. Untitled bears the enlivening traces of artist’s hand, present in the rough ‘outside-the-line’ scribbles that imply the girl’s messy hair. Bracketed with Nara’s unfiltered, handwritten text, the image feels distinctly personal, like a secret note exchanged between friends.

As early as his time at Aichi Prefectural University of Fine Arts in the 1980s, Nara began to draw onto envelopes, cardboard, and scraps of found paper. He continued these explorations at the prestigious Kunstakademie Düsseldorf where, under the tutorship of German Neo-Expressionist painter A. R. Penck, he was encouraged to work fluidly between painting and drawing. ‘I [loved] to draw every day and the scrawled sketches, never shown to anybody, started piling up’, Nara has said. ‘Like journal entries reflecting the events of each day, they sometimes intersected [with] memories from the past. My little everyday world became a trigger for the imagination, and I learned to develop and capture the imagery that arose’ (Y. Nara, ‘Nobody’s Fool’, in N. Miyamura and S. Suzuki (eds.), Yoshitomo Nara: The Complete Works, Volume 1: Paintings, Sculptures, Editions, Photographs 1984-2010, San Francisco 2011, p. 43). Mischievous, cute, and quietly ferocious, the present work attests to the enduring appeal of Nara’s little rebels." — via Christie's

[desifleabag]

Hello beautiful people out here!

I am Deepali. I am from Pune, Maharashtra. I am 21 years old (shaadi ki umar)

Desi fleabag? Because I relate the most with that specific character. Horny, messy, vulnerable, and crazy all the time but also considerate, expressive, and kind. I am a desi version of her.

🎀What I like? I like to dance, sing, journal, write poems and stories, and doom scroll all the time

📍Professional side of me

I did my bachelor's in philosophy. I have been working in an organization for quite a long time. I am a content writer. I am a writer/poet. I am an open mic performer. I have performed at esteemed platforms like tapeatale, poemsindia, kommune, and many more. I am a psychology and sociology student too. I am a co-facilitator and youth lead in different schools through my organization. I have worked on poetry anthology books.

The most important part of my life is being a poet or a writer. It's been a decade since I started writing, and professionally, it's been two years. My poetry and stories revolve around different and unique topics like mental health, family dynamics, feminism, societal norms and culture, romance, life intricacies, friendship, etc. I love being a poet and telling people stories about me and the world because I believe poetry is everywhere. I have a blog called Sip and Sofa Stories where I share the most wholesome blogs and fun-to-read stories.

Not much of a reader, but I like reading poetry by Sylvia Plath and more female writers.

💌 Movies and songs? I am a die-hard fan of Bollywood. I listen to 2000s Bollywood and retro songs. No one can challenge me the way I vibe on these songs and dance. My childhood is memorable because of Sunidhi Chauhan, Lata Mangeshkar, Kishore Kumar, RD Burman, Asha Bhosle, Sonu Nigam, Shaan, Arijit Singh, and many more artists. I also listen to Kpop, pop, indie type of music on days when I am dissociating at the fullest. Hold my clutcher, I am a Swiftie and Lana Del Rey fan too, bitch.

I love Bollywood movies, and I am yet to discover more Western movies. I have a bunch of comfort movies like Ye Jawani Hai Dewaani, Piku, Om Shaanti Om, etc.

🪕 My aesthetic type? A combination of Geet and Piku and a little bit of Poo vibe sometimes. But I love desi clothes. Kurti, jhumkas, bindi, bangles, oh god I love being a woman.

Interesting facts about me :

🌸I have three tattoos on my body (Crescent moon, "you're on your own kid" title, "grateful"). I love getting tattoos!!

🥃Loneliness who? I go to bars, cafes, and parks alone because why not. I fear no god.

💛I never was in a relationship, just some hardcore crushes who crushed my soul.

❤️‍🩹I have been in therapy for almost three years and on and off on meds. GAD (generalized anxiety disorder) gang assemble!

😶‍🌫️I love and hate spending time on LinkedIn. Girl boss era.

💬I write poetry about my crushes and defame my ex-friends. They know it very well! Lol.

I am a hopeless romantic and a professional delusional person. I will cook the best scenarios in my head and write about them. I romanticize life on another level though there are 156 rupees in my bank account by going to aesthetic cafes.

:¨ ·.· ¨:

`· . ୨୧⭒๋࣭ ⭑ 𝛢𝑛𝑑 𝑤ℎ𝘰'���� 𝑔𝘰𝑛𝑛𝑎 𝑘𝑖𝑠𝑠 𝘵ℎ𝑒 𝑏𝑟𝘰𝑤𝑛 ℎ𝑎𝑖𝑟𝑒𝑑 𝑔𝑖𝑟𝑙𝑠,𝑊ℎ𝘰'𝑠 𝑔𝘰𝑛𝑛𝑎 𝑤𝑖𝑝𝑒 𝑎𝑤𝑎𝑦 𝘵ℎ𝑒𝑖𝑟 𝘵𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑠? ⊹ ‧₊˚

🖇To connect with me

𖹭 kavitavali.deepali to read my poems and stories on instagram

𖹭 sip and sofa stories blog. I write monthly blogs

Thankyou for reading my long ass introduction! Flying kiss tumhai💋

[calder]

originally written for zetans/bts

Zetans were designed by Adam Adamowicz for Fallout 3, inspired by the UFO lore from previous Fallout media. Like protectrons, the design of Zetans strongly evokes "Martian"-adjacent pulp science fiction films of the 20th century.

This is likely why their suits in Fallout 3 resemble tinfoil. The sci-fi trend of greys in shiny suits may have been inspired by a story related to the legend of Roswell, wherein the government allegedly confiscated a sheet-like alien metal from a farmer. In supposed photographs of the material, it resembles tinfoil.

The Fallout 4 revision of the Zetan design gives them a bulky harness with a large, rigid metal base for their helmets, and an apparent respiratory apparatus on the neck. The design closely resembles the uniforms worn by martian soldiers in the 1996 film Mars Attacks!, which is itself a retro pastiche of pulpy alien B-movies.

The name Zetans is based on Zeta Reticulans, a designation commonly used by sincere extraterrestrial theorists for "short greys," the stereotypical stock aliens typically invoked in pop culture depictions. Most people who report being abducted by aliens identify or describe their tormentors as short greys.

The modern conception of flying saucers primarily emerged in America in the wake of World War II. Early sightings were strongly correlated with sites of nuclear experimentation or nuclear power. These reports were celebrated among science fiction enthusiasts, who began forming "flying saucer clubs" as early as the 1930s.

The topic of aliens saw an explosion of popular interest after the 1947 Roswell Incident, when nationwide media published sensational reports of a flying saucer having supposedly crashed in New Mexico. The legend of the "Men in Black" may stem from unconfirmed reports of government agents intimidating civilians in the wake of the Roswell Incident.

The conception of Men in Black as disguised aliens was codified and popularized by the 1975 book The Mothman Prophecies. In Fallout 76, the Emissary is a character who fits the description of a Man in Black. The Emissary holds a key to one of the domes at Black Mountain Ordnance Works, which is based on the "TNT Area" north of Point Pleasant where the Mothman was first seen. There were many reported sightings of Mothman and UFOs at that site throughout 1967. Conspiratorial Mothman-UFO folklore often asserts the dome-vaults of the TNT Area to contain government secrets, which is thoroughly reflected in the game.

The popularization of the short grey abduction scenario is often attributed to the story of Betty and Barney Hill, who reported being abducted in 1961, and provided vivid, evocative testimonies under hypnotic regression. They also drew star maps which were likened to Zeta Reticuli, hence the name Zeta Reticulans. Skeptics criticize hypnotic regression as a technique and hold that the supposed star maps do not meaningfully depict Zeta Reticuli.

Theorists (conspiratorial, Fortean, and skeptical alike) often connect the modern alien abduction scenario to historic reports of supernatural encounters, especially European fairies, and other similarly-psychedelic "trickster" beings throughout the history of folklore.

i should continue this some time. there's a lot more to say.

[acquired-stardust]

Game Spotlight #17: Telenet Music Box (1989)

Acquired Stardust is back with another spotlight! Need something to read to get your mind of recent world events? Been hunting for some new music to listen to? Do you just like learning about cool obscure stuff? Join Ash for a look at one of the most obscure things as of yet featured on the blog in 1989's Telenet Music Box for the PC88!

When thinking about the history of video games, many people of a certain age conjure to mind a beginning marked by the boom that Nintendo's NES (known in Japan as the Famicom) brought to the world. Fewer people will be overly familiar with Atari's platforms or their competitors, and fewer still will likely have heard about the infamous crash of the American video game industry in 1983 beyond being able to regurgitate myths of Howard Scott Warshaw's adaptation of E.T. the Extraterrestrial (1983) bearing supposed direct responsibility.

This pop history approach becoming so normalized to people is frustrating but understandable because it's all around us. Being inundated with countless YouTubers and streamers professing a love for retro games has inadvertently created a narrative that video game history is a straight line through mainstream smash hit consoles and this couldn't be further from the truth - there is a whole world before and around the NES that has gone largely unexplored, particularly in the west, and odds are if you've spent much time on Tumblr you're probably passingly familiar with the subject of this spotlight.

Japan has finally begun to more widely adopt PC gaming (in part due to the phenomenon that is vtubing), with an absolute explosion in market share in the past decade. What you might not know is that Japan actually has a pretty rich history of PC gaming that really blossomed in the 80s and 90s with several hardware manufacturers such as NEC and ASCII offering options that would give the world some early looks at teams and individuals that would come to define the medium going forward.

One such game changer (no pun intended) is Hideo Kojima's Metal Gear debuting in 1987 with its definitive version on MSX PCs and getting an incredible sequel that puts the NES-exclusive Snake's Revenge to shame, and another Kojima title would go on to define the NEC PC98 in popular consciousness with classic sexy adventure Policenauts easily being the most memorable title which would subsequently be ported and updated several times for home consoles such as the Sega Saturn and Sony Playstation.

You may be familiar with the PC98 as screenshots from its many games are popular around Tumblr, most often featuring gloriously mid-late 90s anime girls rendered in stunning pixel art that feels like it exists somewhere out of time as things isolated from their origin as video game screenshots. Having been on Tumblr for over a decade (and the internet at large for even longer), it's my observation that the rediscovery of and appreciation for this retro anime aesthetic (and its later PC98 permutation) was really born here on Tumblr before spreading to other platforms to the point that you've probably seen at least one shot cross your dashboard before. But for this spotlight we're going even further back to the predecessor of the PC98, the PC88.

NEC's PC88 was released in the early 80s and most models featured a whopping 62 KB of RAM (in comparison to the NES's 2 KB) and many later models featured Yamaha sound chips which resulted in games often being visually and aurally significantly more impressive than you would see in home consoles at the time, in some cases lightyears ahead of the NES particularly in regards to music which is a pretty great thing for the sake of this spotlight. The games themselves were also quite varied in content from everything to the kawaii and comedic to erotic and even plenty of horror, with many standout games more accurately reflecting wider Japanese pop culture of the era than what you'd see on the comparatively sterile NES.

This wild west, edgy punk rock software library that goes part and parcel with Japan's nascent PC gaming scene is one of the coolest elements of going back to explore it. You never really know what you're in for, and you might be surprised (or even disgusted) with some of the unique experiences the platform has to offer. Many of these games (and those on the successor PC98) are completely untranslated and Japanese comprehension helps their enjoyment greatly and while often simple enough to enjoy without it that aspect has certainly contributed to their enigma in the west.

There are a lot of factors that have made PC88 and PC98 fandom and emulation not as glamorous as that of home consoles and some of that is due to limitations of the hardware in how it handles scrolling screens, with a noticeable chug as games scroll. Another factor is the compounding nature of its flaws and obscurity meaning emulators themselves are in Japanese and a bit tricky to figure out how to handle, old PCs infamously lacking a lot of user friendly features we take for granted today.

One such surprise is Telenet Music Box, a collection of then-prominent publisher Telenet Japan's biggest games' music. It's barely even a game and more a piece of software fit for a museum, with minimal activity limited to browsing game albums (a total of 13), choosing songs to listen to and creating custom playlists. Each of the 13 game albums is showcased with beautiful splash art and accompanied by a tracker for the keyboard as well as titles for each song and a timer for the length of songs.

Included in the mix is an impressive slate of Telenet Japan's games that showcase the depth and variety of the PC88's library such as Mugen Senshi Valis and even an early alternate manifestation of Shin Megami Tensei as a top-down dungeon crawler reminiscent of Gauntlet. Each of Telenet Music Box's 13 albums have their standout tracks, with some from Luxor and Final Zone being among our favorites.

Telenet Music Box is not a wholly unique concept and several other similar games were released for the platform (as well as the PC98), but it is an exceptionally clever one who's usefulness is perhaps all the more apparent now almost 40 years removed from its release, serving as a fantastic introductory course to a little understood part of video game history. It's a fantastic time capsule and with plenty to offer listeners of its roughly 3 hour runtime well beyond its value as virtual archaeology worth excavating.

Perhaps its most valuable asset is its ability to highlight the true nature of history. History is not a static thing with a start and an end but rather a living breathing thing that touches our everyday lives. Rare is it that anything begins or ends from nothing, with things instead in a constant state of evolution even when rising from the ashes of something else. One particular example of this is in Wolf Team's Final Zone (which features hilarious commentary in its opening scene that I'm not sure how made it past management - do look it up if you can) and Mugen Senshi Valis, the latter of which having been extremely popular in its time, spawning tons of ports and several sequels, with the team behind it eventually morphing into Namco's Tales Studio, responsible for some of the most beloved JRPGs of all time such as Tales of Symphonia and Tales of Vesperia.

While PC88 emulation can be frustrating to work out or find files for, an unforeseen strength of Telenet Music Box's concept of 'game as an album' is how much easier its discoverability is in recent years compared to the more traditional video games it shares a platform with, being far more easy to interface with and experience than the games it itself chronicles, and it can be found on YouTube in its entirety for your listening pleasure alongside plenty of other PC88 soundtracks. I invite you to dip your toes into this little-known scene and hope you come out of it with appreciation for the wide world of games outside what may be familiar to you, and maybe even some new favorite tracks.

A gem hidden among the stones, Telenet Music Box is undoubtedly stardust.

- Ash

[cyberpunkonline]

Vaporwave: The Ghost in the Meme Machine

In the fluorescent haze of your late-night doomscrolling, you stumble upon an image: a glitchy sunset overlaid with Japanese katakana, a Greco-Roman statue floating in a pink void, and a faint, distorted jingle from an 80s mall. You pause, caught in a strange mix of nostalgia and unease. Welcome to the world of Vaporwave, where the ghosts of cultural memory collide with the relentless remixing of internet memetics. This isn’t just a vibe; it’s a full-on sensory virus, haunting your digital dreams and your Spotify playlist.

What the Fuck is Memetics?

Let’s start with the basics: memetics is the science of how cultural ideas spread, mutate, and survive, much like biological evolution but for the mind. Memes, in this sense, aren’t just cat videos or TikTok dances. They’re cultural DNA, carrying complex ideas in compact, sharable forms. Think of it as cultural copy-pasting with a twist—every share or remix adds a layer of meaning.

Vaporwave is a memetic juggernaut. It’s endlessly remixable, a digital ouroboros that feeds on itself. Each new track or aesthetic riff—whether it’s a slowed-down pop hit or a retro Windows 95 logo—becomes part of an evolving cultural feedback loop. It’s not just nostalgia; it’s nostalgia as a viral meme.

What About Hauntology?

If memetics explains the viral spread of Vaporwave, hauntology explains why it hits so hard. Coined by French philosopher Jacques Derrida, hauntology is all about the lingering presence of the past—the unrealized futures, the dreams deferred, the ghosts of what could have been. It’s the bittersweet feeling you get when you see an old Walkman or hear an 80s jingle: a future that once felt so close but now feels irretrievably lost.

Vaporwave is hauntology’s poster child. Its aesthetic—corporate Muzak slowed to a crawl, glitchy VHS effects, and imagery ripped straight from old tech ads—creates a dreamlike space where the past and future blur. It’s like wandering through a digital graveyard of 20th-century optimism, where every warped note and pixelated sunset feels like a ghostly reminder of a world that never arrived.

The Vaporwave-Faewave Nexus

When memetics and hauntology collide, you get a cultural hybrid that’s as infectious as it is haunting. Vaporwave excels at this, but its mystical cousin, Faewave, takes it to an even stranger place. Faewave merges folklore with digital distortion, adding an otherworldly layer to the mix. It’s Vaporwave with a touch of the uncanny, blending ancient myths with neon grids.

Take the visuals: Vaporwave’s pastel palettes, Greco-Roman statues, and retro tech create an instant sense of familiarity, but they’re also unsettling, like fragments of a forgotten dream. Faewave doubles down on this, mixing glitchy aesthetics with runic symbols and eerie soundscapes. It’s not just a genre; it’s a portal to a parallel cultural timeline.

The sound? Oh, it’s wild. Vaporwave’s slowed, warped samples of 80s pop hits already feel like they’re dragging you through a half-remembered mall. Faewave goes further, layering in ethereal chants and dissonant echoes, making you feel like you’re drifting between worlds. Both genres tap into deep emotional currents, playing on nostalgia, loss, and the eerie beauty of cultural decay.

A Real-Life Snow Crash Virus

If this all sounds a bit like a digital drug, that’s because it kind of is. In Neal Stephenson’s cyberpunk classic Snow Crash, a computer virus doubles as a mind-altering substance. Vaporwave and Faewave aren’t quite that literal, but they’re just as potent. These genres don’t just entertain; they infiltrate. They dig into your psyche, resurfacing memories you didn’t know you had, and leave you longing for futures that never were.

And it’s not just psychological. These hybrid memes spread like wildfire, infecting digital spaces and reshaping cultural conversations. They’re everywhere: on Instagram moodboards, in TikTok soundtracks, and even in high-fashion campaigns. Vaporwave and Faewave aren’t just genres; they’re cultural phenomena, weaving a digital web of shared emotions and fragmented memories.

Why It Matters

Here’s the kicker: Vaporwave and Faewave aren’t just retro curiosities or ironic internet fads. They’re mirrors, reflecting our collective hopes, dreams, and failures. They remind us of the promises of the past and the disillusionments of the present, all while offering a glimpse into new, hybrid cultural futures.

So next time you find yourself lost in a vaporwave playlist or mesmerized by a Faewave artwork, remember: you’re not just consuming media; you’re part of a cultural ritual. It’s memetics meets hauntology, a digital séance with the ghosts of futures past.

Cheers to the ghosts in the machine. May they always glitch in peace.

[witchy-vibes1983]

[cinematicwasteland]

[youremyheaven]

Vedic Astrology Observations

Uttarashada natives often have very mongoose like features (esp face shape) since mongoose is its yoni animal. Often times these natives have a very small head.

Jessica Parker Kennedy is an Uttarashada Moon

Jennie is UA sun & Jane Levy is UA moon. Notice how they both have a similar eye shape and tapered chin.

2. Punarvasu girlies have such doll like faces. Punarvasu is considered the most feminine nakshatra and I think that impacts the physiognomy of its natives, giving them very cute, dainty, hyper feminine features.

Isabella Moner & Billie Lourd are both Punarvasu sun

Both Karina & Miranda Kerr are Punarvasu moon

3. Hasta Moon women are celebrated for their femininity in the world of entertainment. Since Hasta is ruled by the Moon, these natives are endowed with pleasant demeanour and natural vibrancy.

Dita Von Teese, who is known for emulating a hyper feminine 1930s starlet glamour, has Hasta sun & mercury (her moon is in another feminine nak of Mrigashira while her Ketu resides in yet another feminine nak of Punarvasu)

Bae Suzy, who is known as "First Love of the Nation" in South Korea, because her youthfulness and innocence reminds people of their "first love" has Hasta sun.

A lot of Bollywood actresses have big 3 Hasta placements, Katrina Kaif, Kriti Sanon, Tamanna Bhatia and Tara Sutaria are all Hasta moon.

(I'll probably make a separate post about this but these women fit North Indian beauty standards and Moon dominant women are always considered the North Indian ideal)

(Notice how all of them have slightly thin long noses and big-ish foreheads and an elongated eye shape?)

Anne Hathaway, Emma Stone, Ariana Grande, Kate Winslet, Karlie Kloss, Anya Chalotra, Lili Reinhart, Kristen Bell, Isabelle Adjani are all Hasta moons and most of them are known for their grace and elegance, while others are known for their girl next door persona.

4. Uttarashada & Purvashada natives are drawn to grandness, luxury and big gestures. In music, I've noticed how many musicians who make music that synthesizes and integrates many diverse sounds, genres and perhaps cultural influences often have Uttarashada placements.

Ryuichi Sakamoto, who often mixed electronic music with African, Chinese, Indian (and many others) music and was known for his "East Meets West" style had Uttarashada sun.

Daft Punk, the French electronic music duo is also known for mixing funk, synth pop, techno, disco and other genres with electronic music. The duo consists of Thomas Bangalter, who has Purvashada Sun, Uttaradhada Mercury & Venus, and Guy Manuel de Homem Christo has Uttarashada Venus.

Cher, who was also known for working across genres has Purvashada moon.

Damon Albarn, who created the virtual band Gorillaz has Uttarashada moon.

Bjork who is known for her unique music has Purvashada Venus

5. A lot of musicians who have a robotic/virtual reality/futuristic concept often have Uttara bhadrapada, Punarvasu and Revati placements.

Guy from Daft Punk is UBP rising with Punarvasu saturn.

Damon Albarn who created the virtual band Gorillaz has UBP sun, Revati saturn amatyakaraka.

Grimes, known for her aliencore, cyberpunk sound/aesthetic has UBP sun

6. Punarvasu natives often make very airy,soft, gentle, "glam" music. They're often very synth heavy and very inspired by 80s esque retro pop. Kali Uchis who has Punarvasu sun, Dua Lipa, Chaka Khan and Mariah Carey who have Punarvasu moon are good examples.

(Notice how even these pictures radiate a very similar glittery, retro glam aesthetic)

[kaiakaevents]

Crimson Clover Week From February 7th to 14th. [2025]

PROMPTS.

1. Medieval Fantasy / Urban Fantasy*.

2. Legacy / Moon.

3. Flowers / Jewels.

4. Movies [AU] / City Pop*.

5. Immortality / Necromancy.

6. Famous AU / Partners in Crime.

7. Valentine's Day / Bad Luck.

Explanation of [*]

Urban fantasy is a genre that mixes fantasy elements, such as magic or supernatural creatures (vampires, wizards, fairies), with modern or urban settings. Unlike medieval fantasy, where everything happens in an ancient world full of castles, urban fantasy takes place in contemporary cities, such as New York or London. In these types of stories, magic coexists with technology and everyday life, sometimes in a secret or hidden way. A good example of urban fantasy would be Harry Potter when wizards live in London and use magic while others don't notice. City pop is a musical genre that emerged in Japan in the late 1970s and rose to popularity in the 1980s. It is a mix of pop, funk, jazz, disco and soft rock, creating a fresh and relaxed sound, inspired by urban life and the modern lifestyle of that time, especially related to big cities and the idea of ​​enjoying luxury and leisure. Visually, city pop is associated with a retro aesthetic that reflects 80s culture, bright colors, neon lights, sports cars, cityscapes, beaches and fashion from that decade. The images evoke a nostalgic feeling, like eternal summer, in an atmosphere of urban glamour.

RULES.

You can include other couples, but the main focus should always be Akako x Kaito.

Platonic fanworks are welcome.

Don't forget to put the corresponding tags and warnings on your works.

You are free to interpret the instructions as you want, you don't have to take it completely literally.

You can mix all the themes, not do some, do all of them or do just one, it doesn't matter, we accept any contribution for the AkaKai community.

We will be working with the following tags: #CrimsonWeek2025 #CrimsonWeek #AkaKaiWeek and #AkaKaiWeek2025.

You can send a message or write in the comments if you have any doubts or questions! It's always a pleasure to help.

[natsuki-bakery]

⁎˚ ఎ Ranfren Agere Headcanons ໒ ˚⁎

caregiver nyen with sebastian? or just sebastian agere hcs

•When regressed, Sebastian exhibits an intense fascination with old technology or retro gadgets. He might be drawn to vintage video game consoles or outdated computer systems, reflecting a childlike wonder and curiosity about technology

•When feeling particularly small and scared, Sebastian might express his fears about Nyen to a trusted figure ( especially Luther ) , seeking reassurance that Nyen won’t hurt him. Hearing that Nyen won’t, and that they actually care in their own way, might slowly ease his fears

•Sebastian becomes more playful and energetic, seeking Randal’s attention for fun activities. He might challenge Randal to retro video games, engage in silly pranks, or ask him to participate in imaginative play

•Quirky Humor : His sense of humor becomes more playful and whimsical, embracing slapstick or childish jokes. He might engage in humorous antics that fit his character’s style but with a more innocent twist, like playful pranks or silly puns

•Sebastian regresses by creating elaborate imaginary worlds or scenarios, much like children do during playtime. He might pretend to be a hero in an epic adventure or create elaborate stories with his friends, blending his adult experiences with childlike imagination

•His regressed state could involve a renewed obsession with collecting items, such as rare comic books, collectible figures, or nostalgic memorabilia !

•Sebastian often asks innocent, sometimes naïve questions about Nyen’s behavior when he’s regressed. He might ask others why Nyen is so angry or why they act the way they do, trying to make sense of it in a childlike way

•Comfort Food : During his regressed phases, Sebastian craves comfort foods associated with his childhood, like specific snacks or meals. He might express strong opinions about the best candy or the ultimate cereal, reflecting a nostalgic attachment to these foods

•The six buttons on his black shirt are a source of fascination when Sebastian is regressed. He might button and unbutton them repeatedly or just trace their outline with his fingers, finding the repetitive motion soothing

•Little Sebastian often touches or adjusts his white ruffle collar when he’s feeling anxious. It acts almost like a security blanket, giving him something familiar to hold onto in moments of insecurity

•Regressed Sebastian might display a heightened sense of vulnerability and trust. He could lean more heavily on his friends for emotional support, showing a need for reassurance and guidance in a more innocent manner

•He frequently references or quotes from pop culture of past decades, showing his childlike engagement with media he grew up with. This could involve discussing old TV shows, movies, or music with a sense of nostalgia

•His regressed state might lead to awkward or innocent interactions with the more eccentric characters in the Ivory household. He could display a mix of confusion and genuine curiosity, trying to relate to their odd behavior while maintaining his own sense of normalcy

If you're in the basic criteria , are DSMP fans, vivziep0p fans , h0tel/h3lluva b0ss fans, Owl h0use fans, St4r butterfly fans, Ghibli fans, ddlg/abdl blogs, nsfw/k!nk blogs, anti-agere blogs, or anti Christians/Christianity blogs : just dont interact !