Shit Goths Do

Don't conform! All dye hair black and wear black and look like they arrived from a Tim Burton Film...

Warning: Use of the word Goth is plentiful and abundant. Because this is a Goth blog and post and it's a word we use a lot because we are Goth. GOTH GOTH GOTH GOTH GOTH

Okey dokey! Tonight's post is inspired by some of my favourite pictures on the internet which are all, not surprisingly, Goth or of Goth relation.

They come accompanied with a beautiful list of Shit Goths Do. This post is strictly for the amusement of other Goths and those who just "get it" rather than "get offended by it."

Before we begin, dost thou recall those babybat days of olde where one tried simply everything they saw at least 3 different Goth icons do? Well that's the media's fault righty there. One thing Gothy babes and boys don't do is conform, right? Well I believe we all do conform. We all conform to at least 1 Goth stereotype we see commonly appear on our computer screens, TV shows, Goth related dating sites, Facebook pages and Goth magazines. Even the musically acquainted Goths (ESPECIALLY THEM) are our biggest influences. The "look" of Goth is an aesthetic created by the original scene and media took it to dramatic levels: Black hair, black clothes, pale skin and morbid expressions. Yes, some of us may turn around and say, "oi I just like all that stuff" and may or may not identify themselves with Goth. However, I believe we are conditioned by the media to prefer one thing to another because it is "Goth" or more "Goth" than this or that yadda yadda. Here's an example, when meeting another Goth would you tell them how much you idolize Lady GaGa, or bullshit your way into making them believe the biggest Bauhaus fan ever? I could honestly say, I wont admit to another Goth that I love Evanescence because that band, is not Goth. What's worse is, it's considered Poseur Goth. Do you ever look in the mirror at your natural hair colour and piercing-less body and think "I don't look Goth"? I know I have. There is a huge deal of pressure to be what is considered "Goth." I can tell someone I am Goth and if I'm not wearing makeup or elaborate clothes they will say "you don't look it" and it really bums me out because on those days that I'm just not feeling it, my confidence is shat on even further when my Goth ego is denied. Yes, its a stupid, insecure thing to get pissy about but honestly, not feeling Goth enough is a terrible thing. I am a slave to the Goth media. And I am sure at least 30% of you are too. I like my Ginger hair and bushy eyebrows that don't match and I am keeping them because that's me, and I know I'm Goth. However, I am certain you have committed at least 2 of these darkly-inclined trope sins: 

Possibly my favourite example of Goth in the media

#1- Shaved eyebrows

Where did this even come from? I would seriously like to know. It's not just a Goth thing but we do tend to get crazy with the styles and arches and patterns and are famously renowned for it. 

Viktor "Joji" Grey

#2- Dodgy Black Hair Dye

Ok so you've decided to go Goth. What's the first thing you do? Dye your hair the same colour as your PVC skirt. Sure there's a bit of regrowth and it makes you look sickly but hey, it's Goth....Right?

What Richmond said

 #3- Going Through the Whole bottle of Liquid Liner

This one is easy to explain, the Punks did it, New Wavers did it, New Romantics and other Alternative and Androgynous groups did it so the Goth's followed. This isn't necessarily a stereotype specifically to Goth but there are definite feels for this in any Goth's books.

Hello Siouxsie <3

#4- Fishnets and Stripes

Nothing says 80's quite like some ripped fishnets layered over each other and Tim Burton made Stripes our go-to for socks and accessories.

Cute pig tails <3

#5- Boots!

I swear it's a Goth dress code to wear black boots... I wear boots... In summer too... THEY JUST LOOK COOLER THAN SANDALS

Delicious.... I bet they are Pleaser...

#6- Posing on Gravestones

Oh my goodness every time you search Goth you will find woeful black-clad beings flaunting their Demonia's on the last resting places of the decaying. Personally I find this disrespectful but it is as common as a bad Deathhawk day.

I've seen worse but I bet Gramps 6 feet under is cracking a stiff one

#7- Spikey Choker Bracelet Doo Dackies

This is also incredibly common and one of the main things that make the normies go "Oh that's so Gothic." TV shows featuring Goth's have always chucked these accessories on the characters, for example Abby Sciuto (NCIS), Lisbeth Salander (Girl Who Kicked The Hornet's Nest), Misa Amane (Deathnote) and Nancy from The Craft just to name a few.

Double Spikey Neck Chokey Chokeroos

#8- Adopting A Sexuality

Oh you know there is something wrong when you CHOOSE to conform to the stereotype of "all Goths are gay, bi or some weird sexuality." I am openly Pansexual (I like Kitchen utensils hehehe) but not because it's unusual and interesting but because it's me it's my preference. I know plenty of straight Goths, homosexual Goths and homophobic Goths. So never think that being straight is not Goth because yes you can have an open mind, but don't force yourself to like something you just don't.

Now, Kiss...

#9- Writing and Enjoying Depressing Poetry

A past time of many people, I presume, however depressing poetry doesn't make you any more or less Goth. If a Goth came up to me and started reciting Poe then I would feel really awkward and walk away...

HA memes....

#10- Being a Loner and/or Strictly With The Scene

Smoking Cloves with the other Goths and listening to The Cure whilst deeply internalizing the afterlife, does not make you any more Goth than that Afro-Goth guy who has a pretty blonde Girlfriend and enjoys playing soccer behind the gym with all his mundane friends. If you are Goth, you may get along with other Goths or just clash so terribly that hell freezes over. Whatever the situation, don't weed out friends and hang out with certain people because it seems cooler or raises your Goth points because at the end of the day, who you choose to hang around shouldn't effect who you are.

Naawwww :3

So to finish up this post, all I really have to say is be yourself and be who you want to be. Alter your appearance, change your taste in music, play around with different designs and fabrics and go crazy. Be aware of the cliches, media tropes and stereotypes and if you can, have fun with them! Because to be perfectly honest, Goth is what you make of it.

Leedle leedle leedle lee

Listening to: Dreckstuck by Centhron

I'm bored.... LET'S PIERCE MYSELF

Piercings aaaaand the diy of it

So you want a piercing or you are fascinated by it, right?

If not move on.... I kid, I kid xD

But seriously, if you want a piercing THIS is the post for the broke ass people who just want that gorgeous stud, ring or stretched piece of skin.

Errrrrrrrmmmmmm....

What you will need

- Needle (or safety pin, if you're broke ass, and compare it to the size of the jewelry, the average piercing is 16g but it would be wise to go for a 14g due to swelling)

- Foam or cork or even an apple depending on where you are piercing and what supplies you have ( this is to help pull the needle through and press the skin to the needle tip)

- Tissues. LOTS and LOTS of tissues

- A make up mirror (or just a mirror)

- Good lighting

- Surgical gloves (optional)

- The jewelry (always go for a lasting item like surgical steel, sterling silver etc)
- Sharpie/Vivid or pen to mark area

- Ice (optional)

- Something to sterilize with

Preparation

Sterilize. Sterilize. STERILIZE. I cannot stress this enough. There are many ways in which one can do this.

1) Lighter: Burn the f<3k out of the needle until the metal is the colour of your soul

2) Alcohol: Sterilize by soaking in alcohol

3) Nail polish remover: Same as alcohol

Place ice on the area of which you wish to puncture if you aim on numbing it first. Take some Ibuprofen or any pain killers in appropriate doses. Numbing cream sounds like an interesting way to go (a great idea for tattoos I've never actually tried it on piercings).
Sterilize the needle AND the jewelry, better safe than sorry.
Make sure you have the right kind of jewelry for the piercing you are wanting. Banana Bars are the most generic kind you can get but double check the oracle of Google for metals, gauges and lengths.

Let's stick NEEDLES in ourselves!!!!

- Mark out the spot you want to pierce with the sharpie/vivid or pen

- Get a good look in the mirror and confirm the spot

- Double check that the lighting is brilliant and reflects off your pale complexion nicely

- Make faces in the mirror

- Get a good grip on that needle and place your foam/cork/apple etc on the opposite side to your needle

- Stab it!!!!

- Keep the needle in there until you have the jewelry (if you haven't purchased any by now, I demand photos of you with your needle in your skin going shopping for the jewelry to swap it with)

- Put teh jewelry in and admire your new body mod!

Source: Google Images 

(I'm not good with sources most of it is Google Images or Pinterest xD)

Other Options

Fake it til you make it. My favourite quote of all time. There are so many easy DIY ways to do it and look great with your faux-mod.
DIY links here:

Paper Clips for piercings
Faux Studs with Eyelash glue

Go ahead and find the fake way to make it (I don't know what piercings you guys are all into) but otherwise these guys righty here are reeeaaaally cheap and look good anywhere with the spring action clip and also you know those little rings that hold your charms to keychains? Stretch em out and you have a ring just like that! 
If you've got money and don't wanna DIY or pierce it, Ear Cuffs are reasonably priced and gorgeous.

Big list of common piercings YOU can do at home!

Here are some brilliant sites you can go to! I just learnt how to do links in my ICT class using HTML and honestly I'm just feeling it today, so here ya go:

Clicky heeeere for list of piercings!

Another list of piercings over yonder!

Those will have to do for now :3

But there are so many kinds of interesting piercings out there I mean check out this woman she has every inch of her face pierced xD 

Most Pierced Woman

(Most obvious caption ever)

So go forth and find out what you want and think about it. Whether you want it done pro or an at home job, whether or not you can hide it for work, school, from your parents etc and if you seriously want it like you would diiiiieeee without it!!!

I have my smiley, septum and bridge piercings because I think they flatter me. I have a web piercing under my tongue for no apparent reason (probably because the boyfriend has one) and my ears done because everyone else got theirs done when they were 5 so I did too. Honestly, I prefer the ones I chose to flatter me a LOT more than the ears and tongue frenulum. I guess, doing what everyone else did/does/has is not the BEST reason (not always a bad one if you are willing to live with the consequences) but rather to do it for you, yourself and nobody else. At the end of the day, when we morph into Vampires, it's our body. It's your body. Do what you want with it.

Read the risks, be safe, have sterilized tools and go nuts!

                  Listening to: My teacher going apesh!t   :3

Ramblings of a Goth Student Representative

Goth and School Uniform

Since I have become Student Representative at Melville High School, my appearance has become... Well... A little less Gothy.

Being an important figure at a UNIFORM School means I have to do the UNIFORM thing and *shivers* confoooorrrrm.

So to all those partial to elaborate makeup, body mods and the darkest shade of raven here are some ideas to bend the rules whilst hitting the books:

- Lace petticoats just peeking from the hem of ones Uniform skirt

- Gothic pendants under Shirts, Polos, Blouses etc

- Skull, studded or PVC Belts in the pant loops or waist band of skirt

- Black bows in hair

- Simple earrings of Skulls, Bows, Rockabilly Motifs, Small stretchers and even surgical steel captive ball rings look formally alternative

- Safety pins!!! I have two in an X shape on my school Jumper

- Long black socks or tights with lace detail or bows

- Layered Opaques

- Garters are seriously cute, man

- Chunky black shoes (steel capped look wicked) or if you can get away with it, TUK creeper boots or your generic creeper shoe, platform Canvas shoe and other badass soled footwear

- Mary Janes in PVC

- Lace ribbon for shoe laces adds a unique twist

- If you can, opt for layered hair, dreads or go for shaved sides or Skinhead styles (Chelsea Skin Head styles for girls looks preeeetttyyy wicked) even pigtails (teased and messy) look particularly Abby Sciuto-esque

- Hair colour go for the cliche of Black as Death, Dark Brown, Bright White, an unnatural shade of Copper or Orange, subtle hints of Burgundy or Red and even an Ombre do in any of these shades

- Bracelets (if you are allowed) any will do whatever you admire if you are allowed one go nuts

- Watches: Now we can get spiffy with Fob Watches, Steampunk Clockwork watches or necklaces or even a nice black watch. If that sh!t won't suffice, how about a heavy duty Industrial looking black chunky time telling piece of wrist armor?

- Winged eyeliner or smudged black liner around your eyes (Like the black guy-liner on Sims)

- Black tinted lippy 

- Clear retainers for piercings

- Easy to hide piercings like a Septum, Belly Button or that Frenulum Piercing your Mom doesn't know about *cough cough

- And who could go wrong with a seriously morbid motif Backpack and Drink Bottle? Have em all look twice when you sip your black current juice from a medicine glass bottle

                                        

Shoes will need to be practical and stylish

                                       
                                 Watches are subtle and can be elegant as f<3k or hardcore as hell

Makeup shouldn't be too much of an issue to stay subtle but maintain that dramatic flair

                                          
                                              
                                                      

        

Hair is your best way to experiment with styles, natural shades, highlights and accessories

DIY or buy online is the best you can do for hair pieces on the cheap

On this note, my pretties, one does not have to look the part ALL THE DAMN TIME. If dressing how you wish interrupts your education or prevents you from learning (as in you have regular dates with your Deans and/or Principle on Uniform Policy and Regulations) for Andrew Eldritch's sakes go with the flow. I get told that since I have become Student Representative (an important member on the board who in fact gets to have the biggest opinion on Uniform changes) that I have become "less Goth." If I am less Goth then that means I am less me, and I don't feel any less me.

The best thing you can do is grab the uniform code and work around it. Black hair accessories are allowed, right? So I took that a step further and started wearing black veils and bandannas to Goth up my copper cut. It is easy to get away with things as long as you get your bats in a row. 

                       Listening to: Where the Wild Roses Grow by Nick Cave and Kylie Minogue <3

What in the bleeding fudgesicles IS Goth???

Wowee what a question... when faced with such a thing, I am not so much stumped but rather full of word vomit. I can describe, explain, analyse, pick apart specifics, tell you a metric f<3k tonne about the different types and cliches and common misconceptions however, these people who ask are often of the narrow minded sort and require the briefest of answers.

So, what does one do when faced with such a vague and demanding query? 

Easy, just find a blunt object and bash the asker around the head a few times before running home and hiding in your blackest mink blanky. 

Wrong.

It's a lot harder than that.

The Oracle of "Wiki" has told me that,

Goth is: 1. A member of a Germanic people that invaded the Roman Empire from the east                      between the 3rd and 5th Century yadda yadda....

And, *cringes*

             
                2. A) a style of Rock Music derived from Punk, typically with apocalyptic or                                      mystical lyrics. 

                    B) a member of a subculture favoring black clothing, white and black make up                            and Goth music.

Oh dear. Seems the all knowing Wiki isn't even on the right track... One can go to Urban Dictionary and get a more accurate description.

Well then, lets have a go at cracking this case wide open? What do we all have in common?

Black clothing (at least the base of all our get ups are black), we stand out (most of the time at least), a lot of Goths I have met dye their hair (most of them go for raven black) or modify their appearance in some way e.g. piercings, tattoos, scarification, contact lenses, dramatic makeup so on so forth.

So Goth has a look, but what about character?
From my experience, Goths are usually pretty cheerful people despite common misconception. However, quite a few are arrogant, pretentious, vain and/or completely self involved and emotional beings, intelligent, creative, confident (most of the time) and lead very interesting lives. So basically, just NORMAL HUMAN BEINGS. 
My quest for finding the purest definition of "Goth" is never ending. For the most part, our wardrobe is at least 50% black, we are creative on a morbid and theatrical plane and we tend to like the same kind of music. Also, Goth is unlimited. We can go anywhere with it. So finding a brief definition that captures the true essence of what it is to be in the subculture is nearly impossible. Even Liisa Ladouceur, author of Encyclopedia Gothica wrote 295 pages JUST on Goth to cover about 85% of its basis.

                    Great read by the way highly recommended for the wit and wealth of smarts

However to all new comers and those intrigued by the scene, I give you this:
Goth is a subculture of people with similar tastes in fashion, music and literature that lean towards the occult, the taboo and the darker side of reality to embrace its beauty.
That is as simple as I can get without being stereotypical or bashing your head in.

And I now present to you, your very own Goth card:

                       Use with the greatest caution and, don't be a Gothier than thou twat, ohkai?



                                    Listening to: American Beauty/American Psycho by Fall Out Boy

Greetings and Salutations, about me hehe

                             Wonderful stuff about me!   

Qs & As

POTATOES?????  

Yes, uhhh yes potatoes....

Are you a goth???!!!!   

Yes I do consider myself one of those ?

WHAT'S YOUR NAME? 

Kismet Skattebol, otherwise you can call me Kizzy ;p

If you could eat people, would you eat babies or adults?  

Babies, they are juicier

If the sun was a ball of water, would you boil it and drink it or drown your enemies?  

WHO ASKS THESE QUESTIONS!!!

Ok, serious time.... 

What is the first thing you notice about people? 

Their face obviously xD But yeah face and height usually

What is the first thing people notice about you? 

The way I dress and my hairstyle/colour(s) and how short I am 

What is your hair colour? 

I change it quite often, my favourite colours in it is Blue and Green otherwise my natural is a copper colour (I'm part ranga part brunnette ^-^) 

When did you become a Goth? 

When I was 6 years old I started identifying myself with Goth and the subculture however I was not allowed to dress the part until I was 11 

What says 'GOTH' to you?

The look in all honesty. If someone "looks" Goth, that is a clear statement to me that they are Goth. The main pieces that make Goth to me visually are the amount of DIY someone put into that outfit, the amount of black in the outfit (Oh how deliciously cliche) and how they pull it off as far as creativity and demeanor goes. A metalhead may wear black, a punk may have a DIY'ed get up and someone who likes Goth but isn't may have creativity and demeanor, but someone who is truly Goth has a certain air about them and generally, a deviant grin on their face :D

What is your favourite genre of music?

I listen to Victoriandustrial (the phrase coined by Emilie Autumn to describe her electric Violin sounds) EBM, Industrial, Classical, Celtic, Pagan Metal, Symphonic Metal and 80's music ^-^ I just really like music I don't have a favourite 

                                                                    Oh look it's miss Autumn now                                                             

What's your favourite Pizza?

Meat lovers, Beef and Onion, Cheese Extreme and Pepperoni! (Mmmm I love it)

R U single bbyxx 

Hahahahahahahahahahahahahaha foolish mortal, no. 

If you could get any body modifications, what would you get? 

Tongue split surgery, Vampire fang surgical implants and a double bridge piercing. I might get a tattoo eventually (when I find a doozey) but otherwise that is it :3 

QUICK, DESCRIBE YOURSELF IN THREE WORDS!!!!!!

Uh fuck I mean shit uhhhh uhhh quirky? Ahem, quirky, creative and clingy. Yes... That answer was a lot longer than it needed to be xD 


I am looking forward to getting this blog up and running and linking it to For The Love Of Goth facebook group, facebook page and pinterest because it's my greatest pleasure to put time and effort into this beautiful thing. Happy blogging!

                                                   Listening to: Losing my Religion by System Syn