Because I am determined to finish this no matter what.
Day 26: Show a photo for every year that you've been into Goth:
Wait, I was supposed to be keeping track? XD
Day 27: The worst thing you ever did to a newbie:
Why would I go out of my way to wind up somebody who's done nothing to piss me off? The worst thing a 'newbie' is likely to do is call something Goth when it's not, which is hardly the end of the world. All you need to do is say "Actually, (band) is (genre), not Goth". Problem solved. No more fuss needed.
I'm not a fan of the idea that newbies are fair game just because they're new, or young. I've seen a lot of people try to justify blatant nastiness towards them with comments such as "they won't learn if you don't tell them they're wrong" and "the subculture doesn't exist to coddle you, I went through it, you should too." Neither of these excuses stand up. Rudeness isn't necessary to correct somebody who has made a mistake, and you can't expect people to meekly accept unfair treatment. I've never seen anybody asking to be coddled, either- the "we're not here to coddle you" line always seems to be used whenever somebody expresses fear of hostility. There's a big difference between wanting Goth to be a magic happy-clappy fantasy land, and wanting Goth to be generally non-judgemental towards newcomers.
Day 28: Do you consider yourself an Eldergoth?:
... No. Definitely not. I'm way too young.
Day 29: What do you think will happen to Goth in the future?:
At the moment the subculture seems to be widening its' boundaries. The 'Goth is what you make it' school of thought is growing all the time, and it looks set to eventually eclipse the more purist views of Goth. While it's impossible to know for certain what the future holds, I can see the definition of Goth becoming more hazy in the next few years as more and more people start to accept modern interpretations as legitimate. There also seem to be quite a few people around now who are opposed to subcultural elitism, so with any hope there'll eventually be a bit less of it.
Day 30: Make a list of blogs you regularly read and link to them?:
Not counting blogs I've linked to in earlier posts:
http://gothconfessions.tumblr.com/
http://thebbrants.blogspot.co.uk/
http://anonymousgothcat.blogspot.co.uk/
The first is a very diverse and friendly Tumblr community, the latter two are mostly personal blogs. Go and have a read. :)
