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hiiii, im new to the group, im a baby bat (18) I've only been in the goth subculture for a few years, but I was looking for any tips or recommendations from elder goths or anyone who's been in the subculture for long ;)
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any tips or recommendations for baby bats?
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Reply by Shadow Bliss
posted
updated
I wouldn't really call myself an "elder" but I've been an active part in my local Goth community for about 8 years and I'm 25 now.
First and foremost, my main recommendation is that money shouldn't really be a huge deterrent. What I mean by that is in the early days there was no local store that charged $300 for a pair of knee high, buckled boots, a lot of people used DIY stuff to make their clothes or found them in bargain bins. So don't think "to fit in I need to spend a huge amount of money on an outfit." You can just whip something up in all black and that would actually be more in keeping with what Goth started as over $250 leather pants or whatever.
Second (and to get to my view thats somewhat controversial in the modern space), its good to have a knowledge of goth music. You can obviously listen to other stuff and you don't HAVE to like all of it but its definitely worth looking into the nitty gritty of the bands that started it all. This forum post so far is an adequate place to start.
My only other tip is that you MAY experience racism with regards to gatekeeping assholes. I just want to say here and now, thats complete bullshit. Goth would not exist in the way it does today without the influence and help of POC artists (the examples are literally too long for me to list). So I just want to say don't let any of that shit dishearten you and don't think that Goth as it is comes from a place of racism.
Well thats it, I don't really have any further tips but I hope you did find this helpful.
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Reply by DarkMiryam
posted
I think that Shadow Bliss already gave you the rightest and most complete answer. I only add an important thing: it seems that nowadays goth subculture became a sort of challenge among people who buy and wear the best (and more expensive) clothes: never fall into this trap!
I've seen many Facebook goth groups becoming sorts of shop window where people discuss only about shoes, clothes and make up.
My suggestion is: be curious. Listen to music. Read books. And ask, ask, ask! This is the right place to do it!
Reply by Turkleton
posted
Goth is a music based subculture, and so the music is at the core of it. You can look like you're the King of Hot Topic or whatever, but if you don't know the music then... Well then you need to do your damn homework lol.
But yeah, if you have any questions feel free to ask! So far everyone here seems to know what's up
Reply by Mystic
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updated
Music is the life of the subcultures existence and if you don't like the music THAT"S OK! I don't like emo music so I never describe myself as emo, it's really that simple.
But if you do end up liking the music take your time and really explore it. Have fun. Sit in a room and absorb a goth cd. Read the little flier that comes with it. Break down the lyrics etc. If you don't really wanna buy cds rent them from the local library. Yes you can simply listen to them on spotify and bandcamp but I tink having a physical copy of something to study does wonders. Have fun, be curious and be yourself. :)
Reply by xX_N1ghtm4r3_P01s0n_Xx
posted
To add on to what Shadow Bliss said about the racism; Goth is a leftist subculture, as is Emo and Punk. If anyone tries to gatekeep the Goth scene cause of race then they are in here for the wrong reasons and should be ignored.
You don't need to wear black clothing to be Gothic. Some people can't for one reason or another, especially when parents are involved. But that doesn't mean you can't come across as Goth while wearing colour. Just look at Priya from Turning Red. It can still work, regardless if you're wearing bright pastel pink or the darkest threads known to man.
And to reiterate what everyone else has said; the music is at the core of it. The history is a fucking long one, but here's the genres you should look into; Post-Punk (this is where the roots of the music started, and was what bands like The Cure, Siouxsie and the Banshees, Bauhaus and so on were described as back in the day), Goth rock (later bands who took inspiration from the Post-Punk bands of yore. This includes Inkubus Sukkubus, Christian Death (warning, one song mentions the n word even though all the members are White. It's a heavily debated subject in the culture) and Type O Negative. There are also more modern day bands considered Goth rock, such as The Birthday Massacre, Motionless In White, AFI and She Wants Revenge), Gothic metal (closely related to Symphonic Metal, you're looking at bands like Within Temptation, Blackbriar, Nightwish and so on - Evanescence are NOT Gothic metal, they are Nu/Alternative metal with Gothic influences), New Romantic, Batcave, Dark Wave and so on (the last three I mentioned are all 80s genres. Batcave specifically refers to music played at a now defunct nightclub in London where bands like The Cure and Siouxsie and the Banshees played). Other notable genres, though not explicitly Goth, you find often get mentioned include Emo (you'd be surprised how many Goths also listen to MCR, for example), Visual Kei (look up Malice Mizer and you will understand why, they were big back in the 90s and still hold quite the influence today - GACKT, who was the singer for the band, is a VERY big deal in Japan and Mana runs Moi-même-Moitié and is considered one of the grandparents of the Gothic Lolita style), Metal music (not just Symphonic and Gothic; Nu metal, Alternative metal (this is where Evanescence is allowed), Folk Metal, Pagan Metal, Death Metal, Black Metal (careful with those last two, sadly there's a lot of Nazis and racism associated with them :') ) and so on), and the odd pop musician (think Kerli (Bubble Goth), Nyxx (who is describes themselves as Britney Spears meets (ignoring his shady bs) Marilyn Manson) and so on. I wouldn't consider someone like, say, Melanie Martinez as 'Goth', but some of the imagery and themes certainly can appeal to Goths. Lady Gaga is a bit of a catch 22 honestly; she has some very Gothic-Poppy tracks under her belt ("Judas", "Bloody Mary", "Alejandro" come to mind) while also having very not Gothic tracks "("Just Dance", "Poker Face", "born This Way" etc) but still is a great musician to listen to).
And finally; have fun. As long as you are happy, healthy and not in any danger, who cares? Let loose and explore, have yourself a gay ol' time and enjoy to your heart's content.
Reply by birytu
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I'm also new to dumb ways to die so I don't understand the goth subculture very well
Reply by Val
posted
im also new to the subculture, i started getting into rock and metal when i was 11
and only a year ago i started getting into more gothic muxic and the scene so
these somments are very helpful
im a total baby bat