#i listen to some of the goth music but I’m wanting to incorporate the styles into my everyday looks | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

shortmania · 5 years

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If Olga had children, what do you imagine they would be like?

Oh, I created a batch of those years ago. This pic’s from 2014:

To create OC kids, there’s a lot of junk you have to consider. Mother, father, family, parenting styles, income, environment, and all the ways these things might come together to form a person. And thinking about Olga as a mother has always been… fucking hysterical, honestly. Like can you imagine? Can you stand it? I’ve only ever been able to think about it in short bursts because it’s too much for me. It’s too much.

There’s also The Patakis to think about, and the ways Olga is likely to change as she gets older. Lucky for my sanity, I see her developing into a calmer, wiser, less chaotic sort of person. Less luckily, I don’t see this being a particularly significant development. It doesn’t matter if she’s 20 or 50, she’ll always be Olga Pataki and Olga Pataki is ridiculous. I don’t want to say she’d be a bad mom, but… she wouldn’t be a very good mom, either? She’d do some things right and other things very wrong. I’ll get into that, but lemme just do a quick rundown of the other basic considerations here: dad, income, and environment.

I created a husband for Olga around the same time I made these kids, but I never developed him very far past a few basic traits and a general backstory. So he’s very basic, but he works. Charles was a good friend from Wellington College (in England) who shared most of her English classes, was the only one to maintain contact with her after she transferred to Bennington, came from money, raised by nannies, bit of a nervous wreck but hides it well because that’s how he was taught–to be pent up and twitchy. His fam wanted him to be a lawyer or business man but he quietly rebelled by becoming an English major instead, knowing full well how useless a degree it is and not caring at all. He eventually goes on to be a successful playwright, though, and Olga performs in all his plays. So, income would be decent verging on very decent, and their kids would grow up somewhere teeming with theatrical opportunities. Probably somewhere really crowded and loud and pretentious.

Getting right into it then, from left to right, we have Angelique, Helena, and Genevieve, because Olga’s That Bitch. They attend(ed) a fancy private school because Olga’s That Bitch. They’re all very well-read, well-traveled and “well-behaved” because Olga’s That Bitch. But since Olga is, as specified, That Bitch, her kids didn’t escape her influence unscathed.

Tbh, I do think any kids Olga would have would be Pretty Good Kids™– barring her having any with an absolute scumbag like she so easily could, but that’s another question entirely (I write fluff and comedy, so these kids reflect that) – but. Hmm. I see Mom!Olga being extremely affectionate, extremely emotional, and frequently selfish; generally hella overbearing; definitely stifling. And she wouldn’t want to, but I can’t see her not on some level perceiving her children as extensions of herself, and thus incapable of coping with anything less than Excellence on their parts. Not to say that I think she’d be a monster. I don’t think she’d force them into things or demand they win awards or anything like what Bob or Miriam did to her, but being in the same room as her with a less than impressive report card would be… uncomfortable. And that’d be on top of her always being in their business, looking over their shoulders, and constantly trying to spend quality time with them. Even when they don’t want to spend time with her, and so help any of them that say as much, because Olga’s incredibly sensitive. So layers upon layers of bad, there.

Some rebellion would be expected, then, so Genevieve gets into the goth punk scene. She’s more casual about it as an adult, but Olga doesn’t understand her. Helena uses comedy and misdirection as a defense and smiles very big and very nervous when her mom’s lip wobbles at her a little too expressively. Angelique straight up hides from her. She used to be sweeter, used to gently comfort her mom whenever she inadvertently did anything that upset her, but it took a toll on her and she can’t handle crying, or disappointment, or criticism, and she hates explaining herself so she avoids ever needing to. She’s a little emotionally underdeveloped, as a result. Not good for anyone to avoid conflict.

I also see Olga babying the hell out of her kids, so that would be another reason for Genevieve to rebel and Angelique to be Babey. In some ways, it’d be good, like they’d be generally very sweet kids, but I’m not sure how emotionally stable they’d be. Better than Olga, at least. Their methods of coping with heartbreak and life’s little every day tragedies would be… interesting, though. I sense a lot of Beethoven’s 5689574th and other general dramatics. Dancing, ice cream, black mourning veils being broken out over the smallest things. Either that or just complete repression.

Since you asked specifically how I imagined the kids, I’ll go ahead and give a messy little bio on each.

Genevieve: I wanted to play with the dichotomy of the Posh Gifted Nerd archetype and the Cold Badass Rebel archetype. Bob has an influence on her in that he’s something of a military enthusiast (I guess?), and I see Genevieve being lowkey into that as a kid, until she gets older and learns more about what goes on overseas and how much carbon emission hummers give off. Incorporates a lot of her old camouflage into her goth punk looks as a mocking salute to that now. Proudly rides on the outskirts of society in her down time, but she’s the most academically-driven out of her sisters and was absolutely Valedictorian. Reads a lot of books, a lot of Smart Person magazines, and listens to a wide range of music (classical, alternative, showtunes, punk, jazz). Creative. Loves history, but especially the Georgian, Victorian and Edwardian periods of Europe. Super into black pearls and lace. Bit nihilistic, but cares a lot about everything. Always gets into very interesting conversations with Helga, but Olga has no clue how to talk to her.

Angelique: I already kinda rambled about her, but she’s my All Natural Girl. No makeup, no piercings, had to be talked into using conditioner, almost gave up shampoo once (bad month for everyone). Shy, sweet, sensitive. Concerned with the world at large. She tries to be an academic like her family but she’s really not. She dresses and behaves like a perfect little nerd, but school doesn’t interest her, and she feels hella guilty and self-loathing about it. All she ever really wants to do is watch trashy made-for-TV dramas, cook/bake and moon hopelessly over guys. DIY af, buys nothing new. Is Babey. Soft clothes, soft eyes, a little messy and chaotic. Constant low-level thrum of anxiety. Rumpled button-ups and over-worn sweaters energy, forever jeans, rarely in skirts because skirts are stressful. That character you forget and underestimate but shocks you with insight from time to time. Will probably end up a baker or smthn. The oldest of the kids, actually, though she rarely acts like it.

Helena: That girl who raids your fridge, chews twelve sticks of gum and paints your nails whether you want her to or not. No sense of personal space, very touchy-feely, always wants to braid hair and thinks makeup on dudes is the greatest invention ever. Goes against the dress code at her school very brazenly but gets away with it because her work is excellent and the teachers adore her. Attitude in spades but she’s a sweetheart. Lots of friends. Loves her mom to death but tends to avoid her without quite meaning to. More Daddy’s girl, though she avoids him, too. Parents are no fun. Thinks her Aunt Helga and Uncle Arnold are the absolute shit, because why would we want to live in a world where she didn’t?

And that’s my take. There are lots different ways Olga With Kids could go down, but Intense and Stifling are pretty much the two things I see as being universal variables in the equation. So, yeah. Maybe a little less fluffy than originally intended, but Idk. These are old designs. Other drawings and further information on these kids here and here. Shown pic here. I hope this was helpful anyway. Have a good.

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alpha-incipiens · 4 years

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Favourite music of the decade!

This is some of what I’d consider the most innovative, artistic and just great to listen to music from 2010-2019.

First a Lot of very good songs:

Crying - Premonitory dream

Arcade Fire - Normal person

Sufjan Stevens - I want to be well

Deerhunter - Sailing

Foster the People - Pumped up kicks

Carly Rae Jepsen - Boy problems

Grimes - Butterfly

Travis Scott - Butterfly effect

Future - March madness

Kanye West ft. Nicki Minaj et al - Monster

Juice Wrld - Won’t let go

Danny Brown - Downward spiral

Kendrick Lamar - Sing about me, I’m dying of thirst

Kate Tempest - Marshall Law

The Avalanches - Stepkids

Iglooghost - Bug thief

Vektroid - Yr heart

Ariel Pink - Little wig

Mac Demarco - Sherrill

Vektor - Charging the void

Jyocho - 太陽と暮らしてきた [family]

Panic! at the disco - Ready to go

The Wonder Years - An American religion

Oso oso - Wake up next to god

The World Is a Beautiful Place & I Am No Longer Afraid to Die - I can be afraid of anything

And my top 20(+2) albums:

Calling Rich gang’s style influential on trap would be like saying Nirvana may have had some impact on early-90s grunge. In 2019 with trap so omnipresent in popular music, hip hop or otherwise, through the impact of artists like Drake and Travis Scott it’s almost hard to remember when this was a niche genre - it was Rich gang that popularised its modern sound here. Birdman’s beats with their rattling hi-hats and deep bass could have been made 5 years later without arousing suspicion, while Rich Homie Quan and Young Thug deliver consistently entertaining flows and numerous bangers between them. Thugger, this being his first major project, steals the show with his yelpy and hilarious rapping style. This may have once been the defining sound of house parties in the Atlanta projects; now it can be heard blasting in the night from white people’s sound systems around the world.

Early 21p may have never aimed to be cool, to avoid a certain appearance of lameness, but they did have a knack for writing some really catchy pop with an optimistic message. To the devoted, the critics of Pilots’ apparent mishmash of nerdy rap, sentimental piano balladry and EDM production were just stuffy, wanting music to stay how it was back-in-the-day forever and unwilling to get with the times. This viewpoint is understandable when you approach this album openly and actually listen to Tyler Joseph’s lyrics about youthful anxiety and insecurity, delivered with real conviction and sincerity, actually recognise that disparate musical elements are all there for emotional punch. A few songs do underwhelm. But this is emo for post-emo Gen Z’s and it’s easy to see why to some it can be deeply affecting.

The musical ancestor to the ongoing and endless stream of ‘lo-fi hip hop beats’ youtube mixes, chillwave filled the same low-stress niche, and Dive released at the peak of the genre’s relevance. Tycho’s woozy, mellow sound prominently features rich acoustic and bass guitar melodies over warm synths, enhancing the music’s organic feel compared to that of purely digital producers in the genre. The experience of starting this album is like waking up in a soft bed, the cover’s gorgeous sunrise reddening the room’s walls, while a guitarist improvises somewhere on the Mediterranean streets outside. And it is indeed great to study or relax to!

Simple, minimal acoustic guitar and vocals. If you’ve got talent this type of music shows it, or else it doesn’t: perfect then for Ichiko Aoba. Her touch is light, her songs calm, meditative, in no rush to get anywhere. As if serenely watching a natural landscape, one can best understand and enjoy Aoba’s music in quiet and peaceful appreciation.

Through the incorporation of genres like shoegaze and alternative rock, Deafheaven managed to create a rare thing: a metal album that’s both heavy and accessible, needing no sacrifice of one for the other’s sake. Over these four main songs, there’s a sensation of being taken on an intense, atmospheric and even emotional journey, with the band stepping away from the negativity and misanthropy that dominates most metal. The vocals, closer to the confessionalism of screamo than classic black metal shrieks, express more sadness than they do aggression, and in respites between solid blaring walls of guitar and drums, calm pianos and gently strummed guitar passages set a pensive tone. This totally enveloping, flawlessly produced sound can take you away, like My Bloody Valentine’s best work, into a dream or trance.

By the late 2000s MCR had taken their thrones as the kings of a subculture formed from the coalition of goth, emo, scene and other assorted Hot Topic-donned kids, and earned a lifelong place in the hearts of many a depressed teenager. But after the generation-defining The Black Parade Gerard Way took off the white facepaint and skeleton costume, ditched the lyrics about corpse brides and vampires, and embraced an anthemic, purely pop punk sound. The silly story of Danger Days, set in a dystopian California where villainous corporations rule and only the Punks can stop them, serves as a kind of idealised setting for the all-out rebellion against authority and normality that so many fantasised about taking part in. The band’s electrifying performances are the most uplifting of their decade making music. For many diehards the upbeat sound here was a celebration that they’d made it through the most difficult years of their lives, and a spit in the face of those who’d done them wrong.

The teller of rural American tales, the indie legend, the teen-whisperer himself. John Darnielle, long past his early lo-fidelity home recordings and now backed by a full band, loses none of the heart his songs are famous for. The theme of the album, taken straight from John’s childhood when the pro wrestling on TV offered an escape from his abusive stepfather, is complemented by the country and Tex-Mex flavouring to the instrumentation. Some of the best lyrics in his long career infuse the stories of wrestlers with universal meaning - his characters try, fail, lose hope, reckon with their mediocrity, and when they step into the ring they’re up against all the adversity life can throw at them. John Darnielle’s saying that when that happens, you stand up and sock back.

Folk music was always a major part of the Scandinavian black metal scene during its peak years, so when American musicians began exploring the genre naturally they incorporated American styles of folk. The complex, oppressive and sometimes hellish compositions here, starkly contrasted with bluegrass that sounds straight from the campfire circle, give the impression of life in the uncharted woods of the American frontier, in the middle of a brutally cold winter. Almost unbelievably, one-man-band Austin Lunn plays every instrument on the album: multiple guitar parts, bass and drums as well as banjo, fiddle, and woodwinds.

Andy Stott seems to delight in making his music as unnerving, haunting, perhaps even scary, as possible. The female vocals these songs are built around become ghostly, echoing and overlapping themselves disorientingly. The percussion, audibly resembling metal clanging, rustling or rattling in the distance, is often left to stand for its own, creating a tense space it feels like something should be filling. UK-based club and dub music can be felt influencing the grimy almost-but-not-quite danceable rhythms here, but the lo-fi recording and menacing vibe makes this feel like a rave at some sort of dimly lit abandoned factory.

There’s so much Mad Max in this album you can just picture it being set to images of freights burning across the desert. True to its title, the nine songs on Nonagon Infinity roll into each other as if part of one big perpetual composition, with the end looping back seamlessly to the start and musical motifs cropping up both before and after the song they form the base of. With its fuzzy, raw sound, bluesy harmonica and wild whooping, the Gizz create a truly rollicking rock’n’roll experience. The band would go on to release 5 albums within twelve months a year later, but Nonagon shows these seven Australian madmen at the height of their powers.

Sometimes you just want to listen to fun, hyperactive pop. The spirit of 8-bit video game soundtracks and snappy pop punk come together to create a vividly digital world of sound that seems to celebrate the worldliness, connectivity and shiny neon colours of early 2010s internet culture and social media. The up-pitched vocals and general auditory mania recall firmly Online musical trends like nightcore and vocaloid, while the beats pulse away, compelling you to dance like this is a house party and the best playlist ever assembled is on. It demands to be listened to at night with headphones, in a room lit only by your laptop screen.

“You hate everyone. To you everyone’s either a moron, or a creep or a poser. Why do you suddenly care about their opinion of you?” “Because I’m shallow, okay?! … I want them to like me.”

The fact that that Malcolm In The Middle quote is sampled at the emotional climax of this record should give some idea to the absurdity that defines Brave Little Abacus. It’s not even the only sample from the show on here. And yet the passion and urgency so evident in Adam Demirjian’s lispy singing and the band’s nostalgia-inducing, even cozy, melodies are made to stir feelings. The tearjerker chords and guitar progressions are so distinctive of emo bands with that special US-midwest melancholia, and they are interspersed with warm ambiance and playful sound effects ripped from TV and video games, seemingly vintage throwbacks to a sunny childhood. Demirjian’s lyrics, yelled out as if through tears or in the middle of a panic attack, verge on word salad in their abstraction, but that’s not the point: you can feel his small town loneliness and sense the trips he’s spent lost on memory lane. The combined effect all adds to Just Got Back’s themes of adolescence and the trauma of leaving it. While legendary in certain internet communities for this album and their 2009 masterpiece Masked Dancers, the band remains obscure to wider audiences.

These Danish punks know how to convey emotion through their raw and dramatic songs. Elias Rønnenfelt’s vocal presence and charisma cannot be ignored: his husky voice drawls, at times breaks, gasps for breath, builds up the deeply impassioned, intense force behind his words. The band sounds free and wild, unrestrained by a tight adherence to tempo, often speeding up, slowing down or straying from the vocals within the same song, as if playing live. Instrumentally the command over loud and quiet, tension and release, accentuates the vocals in crafting the album’s pace. Horns and saloon pianos throughout give the feel of a performance in a smoky, underground blues bar, with Rønnenfelt swaying onstage as he howls the romantic, distraught, heartbroken lyrics he truly believes in.

At some point on first listening to Death Grips, a thought along the lines of “He really yells like this the whole way through, huh?” probably crosses the mind. When Exmilitary first appeared, quietly uploaded to the internet, the rapper’s name and identity unknown, another likely reaction among listeners might have been “What am I even listening to?” But perhaps more revolutionary than Death Grips’ incredibly aggressive sound and style might have been its foreshadowing of how over the next decade underground rap acts would explode into the mainstream through viral songs, online word of mouth and memes. It showed all you needed to come from nowhere to the top of the game was to seize attention, and it did that and far more. MC Ride’s intoxicatingly crass, intense rapping captures the energy of a mosh pit where injuries happen, the barrage of sensations of a coke high, while the eclectic mix of rock and glitchy electronics on the instrumentals is disorienting in the best way. If rap were rock and this was 1977, Death Grips would have just invented punk. Ride’s lyrics paint a confrontational, hyper-macho persona; unlike much hip hop braggadocio, the overwhelming impression given is that Ride truly does not care what anyone thinks. He just goes hard and does not stop. It’s music to punch the wall to.

Inspired by classic rock operas, this concept album represents some major ambition and innovation in musical storytelling. Delivered in frontman Damian Abraham’s gravelly shouted vocals, the complex lyrical narrative of the album follows a factory worker, an activist and their struggle against the omnipotent author (Abraham himself) who controls their fates. Featuring devices like unreliable narrators and fourth-wall breaking, it takes some serious reading into to untangle. But it’s the bright guitarwork, combining upbeat punk rock and indie to create some killer riffs, that gives the album its furious energy and cinematic proportions.

Joanna Newsom is enchanted by the past. Like 2006’s ambitious Ys, the music on Divers makes this evident with its invocation of Western classical and medieval music, throwing antiquated instruments like clavichords together with lush string orchestration, woodwinds, organs, folk guitar and Newsom’s signature harp. With her soulful, moving vocals leading the way, it’s hard not to imagine her as some kind of Renaissance-era country woman contemplating nature, love and mortality in the fields and the woods. As always Newsom proves herself a stunningly original and creative arranger with the sheer compositional intricacy and flow of these songs, and most of all the harmonious intertwining of singing and instrumental backing.

Burial’s music is born from the London night: the bustle of the streets, the faint sounds from distant raves, the buskers, the rain on bus windows. This EP’s dreamlike quality makes listening to it feel like taking a trip across the city well after midnight, watching the lights go by, with no idea where you hope to get to. Every single sound and effect on these two songs is so precisely chosen, from the shifting and shuffling beats, the swelling synths and wordless vocals that sound like a club from a different dimension, the ambient hiss and pop of a vinyl record. Musically this sound is drawn from UK-based scenes like 2-step and drum ‘n bass, but twisted into such a moody and abstracted form as to be nearly unrecognisable as dubstep. Just when this urban, dismal sound is at its most oppressive, heavenly soul singers or organs cut through like a ray of light in the dark.

There’s an imaginary rulebook of how construct music, how to properly make tempos and combinations of notes sound harmonious, and Gorguts have spent their career ripping it up and throwing it in the bin. On 1998’s seminal Obscura, their atonal experimentation sounded at times like random noises in random order. But listen closely to Obscura or Colored Sands, their return after a long hiatus, and the method behind the madness emerges. One mark of great death metal is that it’s impossible to predict what direction it will go even a few seconds in advance, and the band achieves this while presenting a heavy, slow, momentous sound. The density of inspired riffs, and the intricate balancing of loud and quiet, fast and slow paced throughout these songs are exceptional. In instrumental sections the guitars will echo out as if across a barren plane, then the song will build up to the momentum of a freight train. Behind the crashing and twisting walls of guitar the patterns of blast beat drumming are almost mathematical in nature. Luc Lemay’s harsh bellows sound like a warlord’s cry or a pure expression of rage to the void. It’s threatening, menacing, unapproachable, but it all makes sense in the end.

Futuristic yet deeply retro, Blank Banshee’s music takes vaporwave beyond its roots in the pure consumerist parody of artists like Vektroid and James Ferraro and makes it actually sound amazing. Songs are built out of a single vocal snippet processed beyond recognition, new agey synthesisers, Windows XP-era computer noises, hilariously out of place instruments, all set to the 808 bass and hi-hats of hip-hop style beats. The genre’s pioneers intentionally sucked the soul from their music using samples pulled from 70s and 80s elevators, infomercials and corporate lounges - here the throwback seems to be to the early 2000s childhood of the internet, and the influence of a time when email and forums were revolutionary can be felt. The effect of this insanity is an album that whirls by like a techno-psychedelic haze: the atmosphere of dark trap beats places you squarely in a 2013 studio one moment, the next you’re surrounded by relaxing midi pianos and humming that a temple of new age practitioners would meditate to. Still, at some point when listening to this album, perhaps when the ridiculous steel drums kick in near the end, you realise that this is all to some degree a joke, and a funny one. It’s hard to overstate what an entertaining half-hour this thing is.

While 2012’s Good Kid, m.a.a.d City presented a movie in album form of Kendrick’s childhood and early adult years, TPAB’s journey is one of personal growth, introspection, and nuanced examination of the state of race in post-Ferguson America. It’s simultaneously the Zeitgeist for the US in 2015 and a soul-search in the therapist’s office. Sounding deeply vulnerable, he openly discusses depression, alcoholism, religion and feelings of helplessness. The White House and associated gangstas on the cover give some idea to the album’s political themes, with Lamar contrasting Obama’s presidency to the political powerlessness and lifelong ghetto entrapment of millions of black Americans. Everything I’ve written about the lyrics here really only scratches the surface because the words here are substantive, complex and dense with meaning. Near enough every bar can be analysed for multiple meanings and interpretations, essays can and have been written on the overall work, anything less does not do justice. The musical versatility on display is astounding: the album acts as an extravaganza of African-American music, from smooth west coast G-funk to east coast grit, neo-soul and rock to beat poetry, and most of all jazz. Like an expertly laid character arc the record progresses through its ideas in such a way that they’re all impactful, with the slurred rapping imitating a depressed drunken stupor followed later by exuberant, defiant cries of “I love myself!”, the white-hot rage against police brutality balanced by the hopeful mantra: “do you hear me, do you feel me, we gon be alright”. Perhaps the most culturally significant album of the 2010s and an essential piece of the hip-hop canon.

This harrowing hour chronicles the struggles and everyday tragedy of a series of characters and their relationship with the city they live in, narratively driven by some outstandingly poetic lyrics. Jordan Dreyer’s wordy tales despair at the poverty, gang violence and urban decay in the band’s native Grand Rapids, Michigan, an almost childlike open-hearted naivete in his words as he empathises with the broken and alienated people in these songs. There’s no jaded sneer or sly lesson to be learned as he sings about the child killed by a stray bullet or the homebird left alone after all their friends move away, just genuine second-hand sadness and a dream that compassion and community will eventually heal the pain. Taking elements from bands like At the Drive-In’s fusion of punk and progressive, and mewithoutyou’s shout-sung vocals, La Dispute hones its sound to a razor edge to put fierce instrumental power behind the lyrics. Not an easy listen, but a sharply written songbook and a perfect execution on its concept.

Around 2008, Joanna Newsom met comedian Andy Samberg. Within a year, their relationship was becoming the basis upon which the poetry of Have One on Me was spun. Newsom’s lyrics, exploring her relationship with her future-husband, nature, death, spirituality, are above all else loving. Through her warm and vibrant voice, at times an operatic trill and in others deeply soulful, she expresses the joy of love for another, the peace and earthly connection of her beloved pastoral lifestyle, deeply affecting melancholy and grief. Contemplative, artful, genuine or expressive: every lyric in every sweet melody is used to offer her ruminations on life or overflowings of passion.

More so than her previous and next albums, the feel of the album is of not just a folkloric past but also the present day, with drums, substantial brass and string arrangements, and even electric guitar anchoring the sound to Newsom’s real, not imaginary, life in the 21st century. Yet songs here with moods or settings evoking simpler lifestyles and the women living them in 1800s California or the Brontës’ English moors still have a universal relevance. Whether rooted in past of present, the instrumental variety of these compositions, from classical solo piano, grand orchestral arrangements led by harp, to the twang of country guitars or intricate vocal harmonising, makes it apparent that this is the work of a master songwriter in full command of well over a dozen talented musicians. Ultimately, what makes this my favourite album of the decade is that, very simply, it is one stunningly beautiful song after another, all collated into a cohesive 2-hour portrait of Newsom’s soul.

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secretshinigami · 5 years

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Masterlist of Mello’s Birthday Bash Prompts

A compiled list of everyone’s prompts from the exchange – thank you for letting us post them, and we hope you guys enjoy them! Prompts are organized by their submitter, so be sure to give credit if you use one.

niastuki

near in a nice suit

near and light making out

Mikami and Light with their hair and suits wet sharing and umbrella

matsuda confronts near on with the theory he brings up at the end of the manga

exploring domestic life between near and light

misa amane being interviewed at some point after the time skip

theredtint

B with hanahaki disease

Kitsune!B

Ghost A (for my A go to pastreplacement, but it can be any A you like) & zombie!B

B&A bnha au, powers are up to you but anon me if you want my ideas

During Mello's and Near's generation A and B become ghost stories of Wammy House and Matt absolutely loves scaring the newbies with them

B learning about how his eyes work

kiranatrix

Light playing piano with Ryuk perched on top of the piano

L building a sandcastle at the beach

Venom-DN AU with Light in a symbiote costume (with Ryuk as the symbiote)

Light and L try to study together for a test at college but mostly just snark back and forth

The reason why Mello loves chocolate so much

Ryuk takes a day off and plays some pranks on the Kira HQ team to amuse himself

the-real-death-note-victim

L and Light wearing trans and/or nb merch

L or Near using a chewable stim toy

Light and ghost!L in any tender scene

An L/Wedy/Aiber date night

L/Light soulmate AU, any kind of delayed onset of them finding out they're each other's soulmate

Any masc character getting their first binder from a friend or partner

synapsi-s

A and B during Halloween night

Light and Sayu having a nice moment together

Young Mello celebrating his 13th birthday at the Wammy's

Naomi's (or L's) thoughts about the LABB case (after it was solved)

Mello and B encounter

Mello and Matt during their last day of life

izaori

Mello and L eating birthday cake, maybe wearing those fun party hats

Matsuda getting matching sweaters for the group but only Mogi wears one with him

Near making a snow angel

Screen reader support enabled.

The other second gens (Near, Matt, Linda, whoever) throwing Mello a surprise bday party

Light finding out Misa loves reptiles and she begs Light to let her get a big snake

Ryuk tries to get the other shinigami to celebrate Christmas because he wants free stuff

eyecicles

Near playing with some white bunnies

Near as a renaissance prince (would be cool if you could keep his colour palette!)

Gevanni in a bathrobe, drinking coffee or something & just chilling for once

Sidoh in a Santa hat, eating some chocolate and being happy

Light tries to teach an unwilling L how to ice skate

Near and Ryuk discussing Light after Light's death

B and Light playing tennis, but B is really bad at it and constantly tries to cheat

queer-of-the-blue-moon

Misa and Rem doing a little goth fashion show.

L dressed as Sherlock Holmes.

Matt and Mello smoking, talking, watching the rain through the window (cuddled up together in blankets with hot chocolate, possibly?)

A story of how Ryuuk summarizes his adventure with the human world in a poem, really dark poem, which he later declaims to the Shinigami King and the unnamed Shinigami.

Death Note x Death Parade crossover, about what actually happened to Light after his death.

AU where Light actually feels guilty when he's almost done with eliminating L, and overwhelmed, he hesitates which ruins his plans (but maybe it's better this way).

weneedtotalkaboutdeathnote

HDM/Daemon AU with BB and Misora (Raven for B, Black cat for Misora).

Anything Moonriver (Neax x Light) (doesn't have to be shippy).

Anything L x B (doesn't have to be shippy).

L can see ghosts, but he chooses to ignore them. This becomes increasingly had to do when B's spirit shows up during the Kira investigation.

Older Near introducing himself to potential successors.

Halle and Gevanni catch up for coffee and talk about life and the Kira case etc (post Kira).

silcnt-scul

Roillsh Downton Abbey AU with Quillsh being a lord and Roger his valet. If possible, it would be cool if they could be close in kind of an intimate way.

Mello sitting on a vape cloud that is being blown by Matt.

Wammy as a captain on a sailship, in a captain uniform and all. Bonus points for tiny L sitting on his shoulder like a parrot.

Roger and Quillsh swordfighting in full 1700s style with frockcoats and all.

Wammy's children Attack On Titan AU, maybe how they all lost their families to titans and joined the military?

Roillsh Age of Sail AU: Quillsh is the captain of a large ship, Roger is the first mate, and during one of their long journeys, one of them finally confesses(Maybe being under influence of too much whiskey?) which leads the other to confess. Something like that.

During the Kira case, Roger and Quillsh send each other lengthy letters(Love letters, perhaps?). After Quillsh's death, Roger finds one more letter that Quillsh set to be sent to him/found by him incase of the failure of Kira case.

almostsane-things

Body overgrown w flowers (extra points if flower choice has special meaning connected to the character)

Redesign DN characters in a wonderland/ looking glass environment

Mello w the prompt ‘Ghosts in our past’ (feel free to incorporate personal headcanons)

Gelus watching over Misa from the Shinigami realm

L’s first ongoing investigation

The story of how L found Wedy and/or Aiber

The Kira case from Sayu or Sachiko’s pov

misas-biggest-fan

light being tailed by l's ghost

naomi visiting beyond in prison

rem at one of misa's music concerts

kira!L goes up against detective!Light

Mello meets Beyond and discusses the LABB case

Misa starts to healthily process her trauma over her parents and leaves light

sstwins

Something angel themed with Mello ([not scar Mello... ahaha] or angel/devil Mello and Near... feel free to play with that idea)

Something with L and a great magnitude of sweets

L/Light art with the handcuffs (pretty and symbolic... you know, the whole stereotypical thing)

Anything involving any/all of the Wammy's Boys as kids!! Maybe studying or doing games or anything, really!

yeggami

Beyond Birthday and Light with some cats

Aiber, Wedy and L hanging out

Matt attempting to make a cake for Mello's birthday

B cosplays his favourite character

The X Files AU with L as Mulder and Light as Scully

AU where A doesn't die

Something angsty with Light x B !!

my-doodles-xd

Lawlight sleeping together (in the yotsuba arc)

Misa,L and Light in the amusement park because why not

L and Sayu seeing ryuk for the first time

Near and Mello (both adults) seeing L for the first time

Light x Misa in the amusement park

Lawlight on a date in the pastry shop (i like top light yagami btw)

A fanfic where the investigators (L,Light,Soichiro,Matsuda,etc.Misa counts too) has 1 week free from work,so they can focus on other things

complicatedmerary

Light and Takada dressed as Kimye

Sayu and Sachiko having a girl’s night

Mello and his secret hobby (can be anything, I want to be surprised)

Halle and Mello having a deep conversation about their future

Mello’s backstory before Wammys

Misa pretending to date Hideki Ryuga for the tabloids even though she would rather not

jk-iconoclast

Matt wrapped as gift for Mello

Near and Matt celebrating Mello’s birthday

Mello is alone on his birthday and is sad/cries

After Mello left Wammy's, he's spending his birthday alone

Near reflects about Mello, silently honouring his first birthday after his death

Matt or Near (or both) surprising Mello on his birthday

ginogollum

DN characters with steampunk outfits

A coffeee shop AU

Mello and Near on Mello's motocycle

AU where Mello and Near work together as L

How I met your mother AU (I love mello/near but any ship is fine)

L survives, he has no longer the need for successors. What do they do with their life?

puropoly

beyond birthday listening/singing oingo boingo tracks

near, mello and matt playing videogames

A and B watching bad horror movies (I don't know if asking for OCs is permitted by the rules, in case it isn't just draw your own idea of A, that's fine! but if it's possible to draw my ver of A (you can check her in my art tag) I'd pretty much roll on the floor in joy :'] )

B and L have tea together in an abandoned house B is currently living in (you can take this in any direction, my main idea is them reflecting abt the past at wammy's in their own melancholic and cynical way)

B and A hanging out at the city, doing normal teen stuff, trying not to worry about their lives at Wammy's and just having fun together

A Near's Normal Day at the SPK (you know, like in that comic Obata drew for the DN movie I think, where they show a normal day of L's life) (please don't put Near in a washing machine LDGJSD)

yagami-raito-kun

Young teenage Light excitedly showing his father his tennis trophy

Light and Sayu doing cute, sibling-ish activities

Light haunting Near as a ghost

AU where Wammy’s House is an X-Men-style school for mutants and the Kiras are supervillains

Light and Sayu doing cute, sibling-ish activities

Light haunting Near as a ghost

Anonymous Prompts

Ryuk tries to intimidate Mello.

Near visits Beyond in his prison cell.

Wammy's house boys band (just so you know I'm picturing Mello as full goth rocker here)

Mello haunts Near from beyond the grave.

Sayu finds the notebook without exploding the drawer.

After Light's death, Misa takes Matsuda on a mutual pity date.

Mello in a witch outfit

Beyond Birthday and Naomi Misora bonding time

Near and toys

Mello and the flag of the gender and-or orientation of your choice (not straight or cis please)

Your hc on what A looks like (bonus points if they're not a cis man)

Mello and a ghost au (anyone can be the ghost)

We hate each other but apparently our teachers ship us and make us partner up all the time and sit next to each other and for the love of God if you don’t shut your mouth I’m gonna shove you on the desk and snog the hell out of you with L and Light or Near and Mello and Matt

Near and Misa keep in touch after Light's death, though not on really friendly terms, until Misa's suicide

Mello and gender exploration (make up, clothes, trans stuff)

Beyond birthday and A at Wammy's house doing kid stuff and crapping on L's legacy

mello in fishnets !! or some other cool outfit

some soft meronia

mello in an oversized hoodie

meronia yuri on ice style ice skating au

any soft meronia

what were things like for mello after he left wammys?

Remisa Dinner Date

Takada/Lidner Takada flirting with flustered Lidner

Misa and L going clothes shopping

Remisa Human AU Rem nervous on a first date

L and Misa discuss fashion and makeup trends, to Light's dismay

Lidner worries her feelings for Takada could compromise her mission

Mello and/or Matt comforting Sayu during her kidnapping (can be shippy or non-shippy).

Any of the following pairings sharing a bubble bath: Mello/Matt, Mello/Near, Matt/Near, Mello/Matt/Near, L/Light, Hal/Mello.

Beyond Birthday dressed as Winnie the Pooh and eating jam out of a honey-pot.

Mello and/or Matt comforting Sayu during her kidnapping (can be shippy or non-shippy).

Super fluffy sick-fic with any of the following pairings: Mello/Near, Mello/Matt, Matt/Near, Mello/Matt/Near.

Mello & Matt survive. I don't care how, as long as they're alive & (more or less) happy (can be shippy or non-shippy); would also prefer if Near is somehow involved too.

#prompt list #death note #deathnote #mello's birthday bash 2018

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wknc881 · 6 years

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Top Ten Hip-Hop & RnB Albums of 2017

2017 may go down as the poopiest year of the ‘10s. Unless of course you’ve spent the whole year with the TV off and your earbuds plugged in your ears, in which case you may think of 2017 as a pretty solid year for Hip Hop & RnB music. Not nearly as good as 2015 or 2016, but 2017 has given us many new faces and many new favorites, while also reminding us just how much some familiar faces have grown. So what better thing to do than to torture myself by only picking out my personal Top 10 albums for this year. I’m not sure if it was harder picking my top 10 or ranking my top 10, but nonetheless I am a fighter so let us move on to the list.

10. Smino - blkswn

The first time I fell in love with Smino’s music was last year on the Monte Booker assisted track “Kolors”. The song was just a teaser of what could happen when Booker’s atmospheric, groovy beats mix with Smino’s eccentric flow and sharp lyricism. That blend of styles is what eventually would become the St. Louis artist’s debut album, blkswn. Running at 18 tracks long, blkswn can best be described as a long, but never boring, ride through space at 2:00 a.m. in a Honda Civic (and yes I am aware that there is no sense of time in space). Producing nearly the entire album, it is hard to ignore what Booker is able to bring to the table as an up and coming producer redefining the genre of hip-hop. Smino raps on various different topics that range from Netflix and chilling with his shawty to speaking on the black experience in America and delivers this with a very fresh and unique flow. Also, the sequencing on the album cannot be ignored. It’s is so good to the point where you don't know where one song ends and the next one begins, producing a very fluid album listening experience. For sure worthy of a Top 10 position this year.

Favorite Tracks: "Glass Flows", "Netflix & Dusse", "Anita", "Father Son Holy Smoke"

9. Goldlink - At What Cost

Goldlink impressed many critics, fans, and myself with his second mixtape And After That, We Didn’t Talk, which was released two years ago. Instead of continuing his career in LA or another major city, Goldlink decided to stay home and create an album all about home. At What Cost is all about, and for, the DMV (a popular nickname for the area surrounded by Washington D.C., Maryland, and Virginia). Goldlink raps about many DMV related topics, such as go-go music and the increased gun violence and death of many black youth in the area. It’s easy for Kendrick Lamar or Drake to rep their hometown because their hometowns are so popular already. The DMV is a city often underlooked as a major hip-hop city and Goldlink wanted to prove that on At What Cost. With features from many popular DMV artists, like Wale, Mya, and Shy Glizzy, and songs that feature go-go production, At What Cost is a fun, dancey, and entertaining album that let’s the world in on the sounds of the DMV. Also, it would be remiss of me not to mention that “Crew”, with its infectious hook sung by Brent Faiyaz, is one of the best songs of this decade. Don’t @ me.

Favorite Tracks: “Have You Seen That Girl?”, “Meditation”, “Crew”, “Kokamoe Freestyle”, and “Some Girl”.

8. SYD - Fin

Despite the name of the album, Syd’s career in music is far from over. Syd (formerly Syd da Kid) has been around making music since 2011 with Odd Future. Her band, The Internet, has put out 3 albums, including the Grammy-nominated Ego Death released in 2015. In 2016, Syd delivered a few features for artists like KAYTRANADA, Isaiah Rashad, and Common. It was 2017, however, where Syd established herself as an independent and confident voice in R&B. Fin is Syd’s first solo project and she sounds as fierce as she has ever been. Leaving the familiar neo-soul sounds of Ego Death behind, Syd goes for a more contemporary, 90’s R&B flavor on Fin. Focusing on topics of success and relationships, Syd delivers a fresh R&B album in a time where R&B is beginning to become stale in lyrics and trap heavy in production. Syd has struggled with stage fright and anxiety for most of her career, but these past two years, and on Fin, Syd has proven that she is here to be a confident, sexy, and bold R&B artist. Syd’s songwriting ability and magical, lush voice make for a stellar debut album.

Favorite Tracks: “Shake em Off”, “All About Me”, “Smile More”, “Body”, and “Dolla Bills”

7. Princess Nokia - 1992 Deluxe

A few things caught my eye when i first saw Princess Nokia’s 1992 Deluxe: it was an album titled after a year (those albums are proven to be better), her bright smile on the cover, and her totally New York tomboy outfit. New York City’s Puerto Rican culture is huge and is one of my favorites. Unfortunately, there haven't been many representatives of Puerto Rican culture in Hip-hop (Fat Joe is the only one to come to mind). But have no fear, Princess Nokia is here and she is amazing. You may know her from that video of woman throwing soup on a man’s face in a subway after he was screaming racial slurs and two young black males. Yeah, she’s the one who threw the soup. That same attitude is what makes 1992 not just a great, gritty album, but also a very classic New York album. Nokia’s bars and verses are vicious and unapologetic. Nokia raps about her mischievous upbringing (“Bart Simpson”), her tough personality (“Tomboy” & “Mine”), and the beautiful city she grew up in (“Saggy Denim” & “ABCs of New York”). She mixes modern trap production with classic NY boom-bap and clever, illustrious lyrics to create a wonderful peek into the life of Princess Nokia.

Favorite Tracks: “Bart Simpson”, “Mine”, “Saggy Denim”, “Green Line”, “Goth Kid”, “Brick City”, and “Chinese Slippers”

6. Brent Faiyaz - Sonder Son

If Brent Faiyaz’s name sounds familiar it’s because it should. I mentioned him earlier when I was talking about Goldlink’s explosive hit “Crew” that really made Brent Faiyaz a popular name. He also worked on a project with his group Sonder, which was a very soft and smooth RnB album. But Sonder Son sounds completely different from anything he has released before. Sonder Son is the proper introduction to Brent Faiyaz himself and proof that he is more than just a really good voice. Sonder Son is filled with personal narratives and introspection, which is pretty different from most RnB albums you hear nowadays. It does, of course, come with a few love songs as expected on almost any RnB album. But what makes Sonder Son stick out to me the most, and why it’s on this list, is the throwback 90’s RnB production and 90’s feel it has. Faiyaz was born in 1995, but Sonder Son sounds like it was made in 1999. The 22-year old’s clever and mature songwriting and production with beautiful guitar riffs and slow drums makes for a very solid debut release.

Favorite Tracks: All of them but I want to say that “Talk 2 U” is my absolute favorite.

5. Vince Staples - Big Fish Theory

Vince Staples is young, black, intelligent, and loud and Big Fish Theory will not let you forget that. Vince came out with his strong double-disc debut Summertime ‘06 two years ago and in the last two years, Vince has drop any guest features for a wide range of artists (ScHoolboy Q, Gorillaz, Kali Uchis) and even dropped the Prima Donna EP last year. These last two years highlight how much Vince has grown as an MC and has even strayed away from his usual sound and Big Fish Theory is a good example of that growth and change. Vince is still rapping about topics concerning race and politics, but this time in more curt and direct manner than before. With shorter verses and repetitive hooks, Vince wanted to get straight to the point on this album. Fans of Vince Staples will no doubt the huge difference in production this time around. Giving off Yeezus vibes, the production is very industrial-EDM heavy with maybe only one or two songs that actually sound like a traditional hip-hop beat. With features from artists like Kilo Kish, Ray J, Ty Dolla $ign, and a killer verse from Kendrick Lamar, Big Fish Theory is the backdrop to a dark, apocalyptic future. Kind of imagine if Tron was set in Long Beach, California under a corrupt system and that’s what Big Fish Theory sounds like.

Favorite Tracks: All of them

4. Tyler, The Creator - Scum F*ck Flower Boy

Tyler’s debut studio album came out over six years ago and Mr. Creator has come a long way since his roach eating days. Released two years after the experimental album, Cherry Bomb, Flower Boy is Tyler’s most mature album to date from his writing to his production. The first single “Who Dat Boy” (featuring a verse from his buddy A$AP Rocky) was a very excellent return from his two year hiatus and “911/Mr. Lonely” is one of the best (and most fun) songs to come out this past summer. From the very first track, it is clear that Tyler’s production has been highly influenced by very bright and sunny sounds, which matches perfectly with the sunset and sunflowers on the front cover. You can also tell that, from the very beginning as well, that Tyler is getting more personal on this album than he has on any other album he’s put out. Discussing topics of fame, loneliness, nostalgia and his own sexuality, we get a very good look on what’s really going on inside the mind of Tyler, The Creator. As usual, the entire album was produced by Tyler himself and it is some of his best production. With lush strings and vibrant keys, it is very clear that Tyler has been learning how to incorporate more sophisticated instrumentation into his work. And despite the list of popular names that pop up in the features (Rex Orange County, Frank Ocean, Kali Uchis, Lil Wayne), it still feels like Tyler’s show and he is shining brighter than ever.

Favorite Tracks: “See You Again”, “Who Dat Boy”, “Pothole”, “911/Mr. Lonely”, “Boredom”, “November”, but really all of them

3. Kendrick Lamar - DAMN.

I think I speak for most people who listened to DAMN. that the title is more than appropriate. Once I finished listening to this 55-minute project, all I could say was “damn”. From beginning to end this album slaps. And it slaps hard. The transition from the suspenseful intro “BLOOD.” into the Mike WiLL Made-It produced “DNA.” is rush of bars and beats as we are reintroduced to much angrier Kendrick Lamar that we haven’t heard for a few years now. DAMN. is a pretty good painting of what 2017 turned out to be as far as politics and social issues go. Lamar discusses what’s going on his life (“FEEL.”, “LOVE.”, “FEAR.”) as he is becoming even more of a superstar, while also reflecting and commenting on the current state of the people (“LUST.” and “XXX.”). As expected, Lamar’s pen game is as vicious and intricate as ever and the production on this album has been taken new heights. Sounding nothing like his last two LPs, DAMN. further shows how Lamar has probably grown the most among his peers and is definitely one of the best.

Favorite Tracks: All of them let’s be honest it was pretty fire

2. SZA - Ctrl

Ctrl is one of my favorite albums of the year (it’s my #2 duh), but my sister loves the album even more than me and has her own personal connection to the album. So the following review will be told by sister, Carmen. Enjoy.

"This album is one of the most empowering albums of 2017 for women. Solána Imani Rowe is a badass woman who is not afraid to sing what she really feels. SZA released her debut album this past June, after months of delays, and it debuted at number three on the Billboard 200. The types of things she sings about mainly on this album are the empowerment of women, demanding respect from men, sexual acts and behavior, the intimacy and heat of relationships, and just the grimy truth of how people are in today’s society. The first song on the album is “Supermodel” and it is about how SZA slept with her ex-boyfriend’s friend because her ex did her wrong and left her. This was such a dope way to start an album off because she comes straight out and says basically “yeah I’m leaving and slept with your friend oh well that’s what you get”. Not many women in the industry will say something so straightforward. SZA’s lyrics and the way she sings them so confidently is what makes this album very strong. The following track on the albumis the Travis Scott assisted “Love Galore”. SZA wrote this song to tell the story of a man hitting a girl up saying he’ll be down and how he’s a real one but then after he gets what he wants he leaves. This song is one of the most popular off the album because of the boppy vibe it has. It’s something that as soon as you hear the beat and what she’s talking about you just go “ahhh sookie sookie now” and just dance. My personal favorite off the album is “The Weekend” because she sings about the role of the main chick and the sidepiece in the relationship. Many women, and myself love the vibe that the song gives off because the feeling of having someone trying to play and take advantage of you but then the tables are actually turned and you’re the one who’s playing them is like no other. Also it explores the high people get off of sexual behavior because for SZA to be a woman and to tell that man you are only here to give me what I want to please me sexually and that’s it, incredible."

--- Carmen

Although it is not her first album under Top Dawg Entertainment, Ctrl is the proper introduction to SZA and proves she is ready to be a superstar.

Favorite Tracks: “The Weekend”, “Go Gina”, Drew Barrymore”, “Doves In The Wind”, “Garden(Say it Like Dat”

1. Joey Bada$$ - ALL-AMERIKKKAN BADA$$

Personally, I think Joey Bada$$ is the best MC in the game right now. While some people may give the “Best MC” award to Kendrick Lamar, I think if Joey can make 3 more albums like ALL-AMERIKKKAN BADA$$ (ABBA), then he would definitely deserve that title. Joey has put out three solo projects, one of which was his debut album. All three of his previous projects were solid, with clever lyrics and an old school boom-bap aesthetic. However, on his debut album, Joey never really switched things up and basically released another mixtape. I’ve always compared to Joey to Biggie in how he has the ability to sound effortless when rapping and has never really had a bad verse or song in his career. Since we know that Joey is a good rapper, I was really looking forward to ABBA in hopes that he would also be able to construct a good album with a message and a concept. And boy did Mr. Bada$$ deliver. Running 12-tracks long, ABBA is Joey’s most political album yet. Splitting in down the middle, we see in first 6 tracks that Joey takes on a Superman role in addressing racial issues in America and provides lots of hope. The production is rather light and joyful, and Joey has a very calm tone throughout. That is until the last 6 tracks on the album. Starting with “Rockabye Baby”, Joey switches the flavor and starts to release his own personal anger over the issues in America by rapping with a voice that is much more aggressive and production that slaps. Most importantly, though, this album is relevant and could not have come at a better time. Being so young, it is impressive to see an artist like Joey Bada$$ take on political rapping and while also making a good and cohesive project. ALL-AMERIKKKAN BADA$$ is one of Joey’s strongest projects and it was my personal favorite for the year of 2017.

Favorite Tracks: All of em fam

Honorable Mentions:

A$AP Mob - Cozy Tapes Vol. 2

Rapsody - Laila's Wisdom (honestly have not given this a thorough listen or else it might've been top 10)

J.I.D. - The Never Story

Daniel Caesar - Freudian

BROCKHAMPTON - SATURATION II

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putthison · 7 years

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Way Down in This: Subcultural Cachet in Cool: Style, Sound, and Subversion by Greg Foley and Andrew Luecke (part II)

Yesterday we posted part I of an interview with Greg Foley and Andrew Luecke, the authors of Cool: Style, Sound, and Subversion--a field guide to the looks and music of the groups that shape culture from below the surface. Today we’re posting part II, with more of Greg Foley’s rad illustrations (see his take on normcore above).

Pete Anderson: If your next book drilled down on just subculture, which would it be?

Andrew Luecke: Pachucos. Their style was so cool and they never got the credit they deserve for being influential. Also, my dad grew up in LA during the 1940s and 1950s and would talk about the pachucos he went to school with, and how cool they were with their pegged pants and skinny suede belts turned to the side. That made an impact on me, even as a kid. So I guess there’s the personal connection there too.

Greg Foley: Yeah I think that’s got legs to be done with a more comprehensive update. I’d also like to go deeper on gangs from around the world. What they have in common and all the distinctive traditions, rituals, and details.

PA: So many subcultures thrive on interpretation of other cultures (i.e., Swedish greasers)—sometimes misinterpretation, but it almost doesn’t seem to matter, people absorb it and apply it in their own ways to their own lives. Any examples of subcultural incorporation that stick out?

AL: Well, it’s interesting that you mention those Swedish greasers, the raggare, because that was another criteria for including a subculture. It had to have moved far enough beyond its influences to be its own thing. Of course, as our infographic shows, these subcultures are all knitted together too. I was struck by how many subcultures around the globe incorporated the zoot suit or drape suit, which arose in Harlem, into their styles. French zazous, German swing kids, Teddy Boys to some extent, Soviet stilyagi, even some greaser subcultures. I was also struck in researching the Cholobianos, who listen to this slowed-down cumbia music, that their own mythology says that their music influenced chopped-and-screwed music in Houston, Texas, due to migration. It’s not verifiable, but even as an urban legend, that’s interesting. I mean, cumbia is originally this Afro-Colombian thing, then to Mexican cholobianos, and then to Houston.

GF: We did draw a line to avoid redundancy. We weren’t going to include every international version of goth, for example Turkish goth, since we covered the origin of the style.

Greg Foley’s illustration of Swedish raggare.

PA: When you were drawing up the matrix, did anything surprise you? I was trying to look at the arrows—any way to quantify the MOST influential subculture?

AL: No, none of it surprised me since it was coming from research I’d already done, but hopefully their are some surprising things in there to some people, like the American Ivy League influences on mods, partly via jazz musicians like Miles Davis. I’m sure there is a way to quantify the most influential subculture based on number of mentions in the book, but I’m not convinced that would really capture anything special about that culture. And so many of the most influential subcultures, like punk, were influenced by other super-influential subcultures, like greasers. I think it’s that continuity that shows influence.

GF: I had hoped that every culture would be tethered in history, so it surprised me that certain groups were isolated. That is maybe until someone new takes some inspiration from them.

PA: I noticed that some of the illustrations seem to be capturing actual people, vs some that seem more notional. Are all based on reference photos? I assume some of these groups don't have a lot of visual documentation out there.

AL: Good eye. All the illustrations are based on historical photos and we fact checked any detail we included against the sources and texts. In some of the more recent subcultures, we couldn’t help but include recognizable people since they’re the icons of that particular style. In at least one case, we knew someone that we based an illustration on, and asked them. But, Greg was also super diligent to make sure that even those people with recognizable features were pastiches of different photos.

GF: Because it would’ve been impossible to get rights for all the photos we’d need, I decided to build a sort of perfect “group picture” for each culture. To illustrate them in a balanced way, I combined details from a variety of different photos, often incorporating many sources on just one figure. This was partly so we could included as much important visual information as possible—for groups like surfers or skateboarders, that spanned eras, to ones that included different details for both sexes. One of the major challenges was imagining color for all the early cultures that only had black and white reference documentation. I tried to stay as accurate to the material as possible. On the other end of the spectrum, we needed thumbnails of the album covers to present the playlists visually. Since we didn’t have the rights to all that artwork, it only seemed natural to illustrate all those with the same hand quality. The visual aspects of the book are a little more gestural than the text, but in the end we hope it has a cohesive and distinctive quality that makes people want to go out and look a little further into the cultures around us.

Thanks to Greg and Andrew for your time! Greg designs and creative-directs Visionaire, and Andrew is a professional trend forecaster and style editor.

#COOLthebook #Andrew Luecke #Greg Foley #Punk #Raggare #Stilyagi #Pachucos

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kpopdancings · 6 years

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Why K-Pop Star Chung Ha Washes Her Face Three Times Every Night

New Post has been published on http://www.whatsupkpop.com/why-k-pop-star-chung-ha-washes-her-face-three-times-every-night/

Why K-Pop Star Chung Ha Washes Her Face Three Times Every Night

Raise your hand if you’re ready for Chung Ha to have a goth concept. The 22-year-old Korean pop singer has covered the bases for cute and colorful looks since debuting with disbanded girl group I.O.I in 2016. Now that she’s been a soloist for a good year and a half, imagine her swiping on black lipstick before taking the stage.

Chung Ha doesn’t hate the idea when I suggest it during a recent phone interview. “Maybe for Halloween,” she tells me as she sits backstage before a performance in Seoul. “One day, I would love to try it.” She even brings up trying out a midnight blue lipstick because she loves dark lip colors, so I swear I’m not the only one who is putting this concept into the universe for Chung Ha.

At the moment, Chung Ha is focusing on the concept for her newest mini-album Blooming Blue, though. True to the season, the music video for its title song “Love U” radiates summer vibes, including but not limited to, Chung Ha’s beachy blonde-streaked brown hair and popsicle-stained lips. “[The concept] might remind you of a pool party,” Chung Ha says. I dare you to watch the music video and not want to slip on your bathing suit.

Experimenting With Beauty Trends

Some of this summer’s most popular beauty trends also dominate Blooming Blue’s concept. I have to admit that I screamed internally when I scrolled past a photo Chung Ha posted on Instagram to tease the album of her face speckled with pearls in the formation of freckles. It’s exactly the kind of experimental look that gets me excited about covering K-pop for Allure.

For another promo shot, half of Chung Ha’s hair was tied up into two mini buns, her cheeks were swept with a lemon-yellow blush, and her lids were covered in a shimmery wash of bubblegum pink. Bold eye shadow, in particular, has been incorporated into makeup as she makes the rounds on South Korea’s popular music shows to promote “Love U.” Like many K-pop stars, Chung Ha consistently has the same makeup for every performance. For this comeback, colorful underliner is the focal point of her makeup. “I put on different colored eye shadows on my [lower lids],” she says of her everyday look. Today, she notes that it’s purple, but she’s also done baby blue and fuchsia.

My favorite part of the whole look is the tiny star-shaped rhinestones placed right below Chung Ha’s tear ducts. While promoting her last title song “Rollercoaster,” Chung Ha points out that she had circular ones on the middle of her lower lids. For her goth concept, she can do tiny half moons on the outer corners of her eyes — just saying.

Because Chung Ha seems so on top of beauty trends, I ask her if there are any happening in Korea that haven’t made their way to the U.S. yet. “I’m not sure because we can share everything on YouTube,” she says. True. That’s how she recently found out about cryotherapy. “I haven’t tried it before, but I really want to,” she says. Maybe we should get cryofacials while we’re in Los Angeles for KCON LA? (I’m only half-kidding.)

The Impact of “Rollercoaster”on Chung Ha’s Look Throughout our interview, Chung Ha repeatedly refers back to “Rollercoaster.” Its bright concept truly helped solidify and define Chung Ha’s aesthetic in the K-pop world. Not only was has it been her favorite concept so far, but it’s also one that she says fits her personal style best. The glow-in-the-dark makeup was fun, but Chung Ha still isn’t over the amount of glitter involved. I thought I loved glitter, but Chung Ha lives for it. She brings it up so many times I start to wonder if it runs through her veins.

With copious amounts of sparkle on her eyes, outfits, and nails for the music video, the concept made Chung Ha feel more comfortable than, say, the cutesy, ice cream-themed concept I.O.I had for its final album. (She names this as the hardest concept for her to pull off.) While in the makeup chair for “Rollercoaster,” “I gave a lot of suggestions, like, let’s do glitter here, let’s do glitter there,” she says. “I love glitter so much.”

Turns out, giving input on her hair and makeup concepts is commonplace for Chung Ha. But that doesn’t mean she doesn’t like input from others either. “I also love listening to other people’s advice, so I could try new stuff like the freckles,” she adds.

Chung Ha does have thoughts on her next concept, though. Surprisingly, the look she has is mind is completely opposite to her favorite look. “For my next concept, I’d like to go very matte with more of a nude tone,” she says. “And my hair not colorful, just black or maybe brown — really minimal.”

Chung Ha’s Go-To Skin-Care Routine Despite being experimental with her hair and makeup in her professional life, Chung Ha rarely tries out new looks when she’s not working. “Because I wear makeup all the time when I’m on schedule and on stage, I give my skin time to rest and breathe,” she explains. “I actually don’t put on makeup that much in my free time.”

Instead, Chung Ha concentrates on giving her skin some TLC with soothing sheet masks. “They’re comfortable and easy to dispose of,” she explains. Wash-off masks, on the other hand, aren’t her favorite because rinsing them off can be harsh on skin, and she’s all about gentle formulas.

Cleansing is also a key part of Chung Ha’s skin-care routine. “Even if you put so many good products on, there’s no use if your skin isn’t washed thoroughly,” she explains. If she’s wearing makeup, Chung Ha starts off with an eye makeup remover before embarking on a three-step process. An oil cleanser kicks things off by gently sweeping away any leftover makeup. (My favorite is the Banila Co Clean It Zero Original Cleansing Balm, in case you’re looking for a recommendation.) Then, she reaches for a foaming cleanser like the Neogen Real Cica Micellar Cleansing Foam.

Lastly, Chung Ha like to do what she calls “bubbling it out” with face wash that, well, bubbles. (She didn’t mention her go-to, but try the Belif Pore Cleaner Bubble Foam.) “That’s about it,” she finishes off the list, as if it isn’t an extensive cleansing regimen. I tell her some people just use a face wipe and call it a day, so I respect her washing her face three times. “Really?” she replies. “I thought I was really simple because I wear so much makeup.”

She thinks the rest of her routine was simple, too. Spoiler alert: It’s not. After cleansing comes her toner set. The first one is a cleansing toner. (Allure editors love the Acwell Licorice pH Balancing Cleansing Toner.) The second is a hydrating toner. Then, she smooths on an essence, a moisturizer, and a sleeping pack — in that order.

If you lost count of how many steps that is, Chung Ha’s skin-care routine adds up to nine steps. Occasionally, a tenth is incorporated. “If I would do another one, I would do eye cream,” she adds. “But I don’t usually do my eye cream. I forget.” Same. I’m glad K-pop stars forget to put on eye cream, too.

#Chung Ha

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The Myspace-era bands keeping the internet's weirdest music genre alive

The internet can be a deeply unsettling place, especially when you stumble upon videos that you probably should've left alone. But, if you were like me in 2011, you sought out the weirdest of websites and the creepiest of pastas, then shared your intel with all your post-emo friends.

By 2016, I was surfing the internet for some quality spooky material during my college years when I stumbled across something called witch house.

SEE ALSO: Meet the man who makes music with vegetables

It was a musical genre most had pronounced dead — and yet was still surviving and thriving in the weirdest corners of the internet. Two major artists from the early days of witch house, known as White Ring and Ritualz, have been instrumental in helping keep the genre going.

"I really don't know if witch house was ever really alive honestly," Bryan Kurkimilis, one-third of White Ring admits. "It seems like it's always going to be in a perpetual adolescence when it came out 10 years ago, and it's kind of stuck there now."

Kurkimilis' White Ring started off back in 2006 as a duo featuring him and vocalist Kendra Malia. In 2011, the duo went on hiatus, and in 2016 Adina Viarengo joined the band to serve as the group's second vocalist. Now in 2018, with their debut album Gate of Grief finally complete, White Ring is back on track and very much determined to keep witch house relevant.

According to Vulture, witch house music was birthed during the late 2000s and early 2010s during the end of the Myspace era. But the genre's deep, dark electro-wave sound, and the occult imagery in its lyrics, fashion, and music videos have continued to draw fans in well past the genre's prime.

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Early witch house artists typically produced spooky tracks that sampled from '90s and '00s horror films and hip-hop records. They layered these samples with heavy bass riffs, lots of synth, and sometimes vocals. Visually and aesthetically, people in the community reflected this dark music by incorporating magic symbols, upside down crosses, and pentagrams into all black hip-hop clothing.

Like many things created on the internet, witch house had a relatively short shelf life. The term itself appears to have come about in 2009. Travis Egedy (known as Pictureplane) used it in an interview to describe the music he and his friends were producing.

"Mark our words, 2010 will be straight up witchy," Egedy wrote in Pitchfork.

Travis Egedy in his warehouse/studio

Image: Denver Post via Getty Images

He wasn't wrong about 2010, but mainstream interest in witch house didn't last long. The genre tapered off in the early '10s when it was overshadowed by vaporwave, another internet-fueled genre of music.

"I think people are still looking and hoping for witch house bands that have gone away to find a way to come back," Adina Viarengo of White Ring said. "I feel like there's a really devoted base that wants more of this kind of stuff. There's a need for it right now."

The demand for this type of music is something that drives artists like JC Lobo of Ritualz to continue to producing tracks. He started his career on Myspace in late 2009 with just a computer, and to this day Lobo continues to make music that is influenced by this largely forgotten era of music. He released a Ritualz album titled Doom earlier this year.

"It's really different now because witch house isn't as visual anymore because everyone's been a part of the scene for a while," Lobo explained in a phone call. "But the music is different. It's definitely a lot more techno and ravey compared to its earlier hip-hop sound."

"I'm not really a part of the scene anymore," Lobo said. "But when I'm on tour, I play witch house songs and all of the kids from the community come out and listen along."

Lobo posing for the camera.

Image: Courtesy of JC Lobo / Taken by Francisco Mendez

"Witch house was innovative," Lobo said. "It was new and dark, which was really important because it had been a long time since that kind of music was appealing to a large audience."

What made witch house such a strange phenomenon was its purposeful obscurity. Witch house musicians hid. When I accidentally stumbled upon the genre after listening to a witch house remix of a Charli XCX song by BLVCK CEILING, I was happy to know there were a ton of artists and tracks out there — even if they were hiding their names behind band names made up of random symbols.

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While BLVCK CEILING was my own personal introduction to the genre, other artists from the community have made their mark on the scene, some even as early as the Myspace era. A few notable artists from the community include GR†LLGR†LL (pronounced GrillGrill), oOoOO, and Salem.

Artist names featuring crosses and inscrutable symbols are typical. For someone outside of the scene, it's a challenge to find specific tracks or musicians. While Ritualz hid behind the logo "†‡†," White Ring had an all-white Myspace page that required the user to highlight the entire page to see text about new tracks and announcements.

"I always think of it as having a punk spirit where everything is always a 'fuck you,'" Kurkimilis said. "It's like I'm gonna release a song, but I'm gonna do it in this weird way."

Having an immortal punk spirit is obviously cool and all, but the people who helped cultivate it eventually moved onto other projects. While White Ring and Ritualz are the only major figures to release full albums in recent years, other notable artists in the community find interesting ways to stay relevant.

Image: Nigel Ryan / Courtesy of white ring

Take witch house rapper Gvcci Hvcci (pronounced Goo-chee Hoo-chee), who was a major figure back in 2011. As one of the very few prominent women producing witch house tracks, Gvcci amassed a cult following.

In 2012, a post on crvckhouse, a Tumblr page dedicated to promoting witch house artists, claimed that Gvcci Hvcci had passed away. Lobo, who was apparently the last person to collaborate with the rapper, was the first to speak about the news, and confirmed her "death."

"Shortly after our track came out, people kept asking me where she was," Lobo said. "I eventually just started to say 'she's dead' because I was friends with her producer who said she closed all of her accounts and was going to stop releasing tracks."

Prior to her "death," Kurkimilis says he actually had a brief interaction with the mysterious figure in 2011 over the phone. Around this time, rumors began to circulate that the pictures Gvcci Hvcci had used to promote herself were fake. Her entire identity was in question.

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"I know for sure it's an actual girl," Kurkimilis claims. "She was not the girl in the photos, because a friend of hers showed me a real picture of her. I know she's a real person."

After seemingly catfishing everyone in the community, Gvcci Hvcci had made a name for herself. Her infamy would continue to grow after her supposed "death."

Just two short years later, to everyone's shock, Gvcci Hvcci released a track titled "Bullet in the Head." The witch house community went into a frenzy. The rapper, who was now revealed to be alive, took advantage of the cultural moment. As the lyrics go, Gvcci was officially "back from the dead."

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Had Gvcci Hvcci really faked her own death for recognition? The answer is murky. Some community members aren't convinced that the Gvcci Hvcci who returned is the same artist from 2011.

"I just never denied anything and I was playing along with the myth of Gvcci Hvcci," Lobo admitted. "The producer found a different girl, or unreleased tracks, I'm not sure which. I didn't really keep up with the story but it's funny how people are still speculating years later."

These days Gvcci Hvcci is relatively silent. An unfinished track titled "ttryan" which was released in January of this year serves as her most recent published work on Soundcloud. When we approached her on Facebook for a statement, the anonymous rapper responded with: "Guess what? Chicken butt," and sent a link to her Go Fund Me page.

Gvcci Hvcci continuing to troll in 2018

Image: Mashable / Xavier Piedra

On the page, Gvcci Hvcci is asking for $2,500 to help produce and release her work-in-progress track, "Issa night." In the past six months, Gvcci Hvcci has raised $130 from three people of her $2,500. As of September 2018, there have been no updates on production of the new song.

Song titles hiding behind symbols and artists with mysterious personas are what makes witch house unique — and what's kept the genre fresh.

When musicians like Gvcci Hvcci fake their deaths, or when artists like White Ring return from a years-long hiatus, it helps revitalize the community. Like any dedicated fanbase, lovers of the niche genre get excited when they hear news about their favorite artists, good or bad.

Without witch house, we wouldn't have mainstream artists like Charli XCX, Chvrches, and Grimes, who've attributed parts of their style and sound to this genre of music.

"It’s hip-hop for goths," Charli said during an interview with Self-titled magazine in 2012. "I like the whole scene – the cult imagery, the upside down crosses. I love witch house."

Charli XCX during the early days of her career in 2013.

Image: Caitlin Mogridge / Getty Images

Despite its age, witch house still has a place within our culture. While the dark aesthetic and sound might not appeal to everyone, witch house continues to persist, especially on the internet. In fact, Lobo's a firm believer that witch house marks a major chapter in the history of internet culture and music.

"I think witch house has amazing value as being one of the first generations of music born from the internet," Lobo said. "Before then you didn't have any dark or ambient music, so it was a really good balance for internet music genres like chillwave and vaporwave that had mainstream appeal."

The sound itself has shifted a bit over the past ten years, and whether or not it's a positive change is up for debate. Shifting from its hip-hop-inspired sound, witch house has become more clubby and electronic than ever. Lobo attributes this change to the need for faster music that people can dance to.

"I wish it would go back a bit to the days of droning sounds and anonymous artists," Lobo said. "It seems like a lot of people are trying to make it about dancing, and I notice that's a big focus for producers. But the appeal at first was to listen to this weird and dark ambient noise."

But why should anyone listen to this music in 2018? "I think its good to have a balance in your life especially with music," Lobo explained. "Listening to different music will help you understand different people and communities, so it's important you give it a chance and try a bit of everything."

Image: Courtesy of Ritualz / Taken by Daniela Quant

Like any genre of music, witch house has cultivated a community of followers who are dedicated to their favorite artists. Specifically within the witch house Reddit community, the page stays somewhat active as new artists create and share new tracks, or when, for example, White Ring makes an unexpected return.

"Once a genre is created, it can never really go away," Viarengo said. "I know there are pockets of people all over the world who are into witch house that are going to continue experimenting with it."

Lobo agrees and believes that witch house's hip-hop and electronic roots will allow it to evolve alongside these genres.

"I don't think it will ever get stuck," Lobo said. "Hip-hop and electronic music has been changing over the past 30 years, and witch house's sound will continue to be influenced by those two styles of music. Audience-wise it might get stuck, but it can get bigger still, it just need some more time."

With White Ring and Ritualz at the recent forefront of the witch house movement, the community and genre are still in good hands. While I wait for more tracks to feed my goth fantasies, I'll be casting spells to Gate of Grief and Doom on repeat.

WATCH: We made that scene from 'The Shining' a lot less scary with bad foley

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