Trip to Orlando, Florida

Yes, I am still alive! I am terribly sorry for not posting more frequently, but I am caught up in homework and travels at the moment! Here is a little update on where I was gone to during the first half of the holidays!

Our parents decided to take us to Orlando, Florida as they, themselves, had done as children. It certainly was nice to escape the snow and cold temperatures for a week. The best part is: even in the South, I didn't even catch a tan! Here are few of the thousands of pictures we took:

This is for my little sister Vermilla, who just joined the
blogger family at: http://beyondthesubculture.blogspot.com/

Yes, I've been to Hogwart's School of
Witchcraft and Wizardry!

I found my place here! ;)

I am - quite ironically - a Ravenclaw!

We had much fun!It was great to spend Christmas with the palm trees and the warm weather! I couldn't post every picture (because this post would be too darn long) but you get the idea. We've been to SeaWorld, Universal Studios, and Disney World. My childhood is now complete!

The Goth Challenge! Days 19 to 22

Day 19 - Share beauty advise and take a photo of your make up.

Oh boy, makeup! I love making new designs around my eyes! I try to be as creative as I can and find a new one everyday! Here is the most recent picture I have:

Apologies for my eyeliner being kind of faded;
This picture was taken at the end of the day...

I don't have much beauty advise but I can say that the biggest mistake one can make with makeup is not washing off the makeup before bed. To me, it feels really disgusting and I feel as if my pores are clogging with oil by the second! So please, for your skin's sake, wash off all traces of makeup before bed!

Day 20 - If you could dye your hair any colour what would it be?

Regarding the fact that I have recently dyed my hair black as I've been wanting for 6 years, I don't intend to get rid of it yet. Although, an idea came into my head not long ago: I want to get tints of purple in my black hair.

Ok, I don't want my hair to be entirely purple! I want it to be black, but it should shine with a purple glow in the light. Now, where to find that kind of stuff where I live? That's the hard part!

I looked around and found this:

L'Oréal: Deepest Plum (Source here)

It was close enough, so I decided to give it a try! This is how it turned out:

The purple only showed up on my brown roots... I took two pictures with 2 different functions on my phone to show more precisely the purple. I guess I should've expected it because I had black before but the woman at the store told me otherwise and bla bla bla... I'll try a better purple next time! :/

Day 21 - What body mod do you have or have you considered?

No, I do not have any body mods except for the simple ear piercing I got when I was little. I had a bad experience with piercing and REpiercing my ears before so I don't think I'll be getting any more soon... Although I would love some! I would like either a lip piercing or snake bites! As for tattoos, I would like to have a spiderweb in the back of my neck like Abby Sciuto from the show NCIS:

Source here

So those are my future body mod ideas! Anyone got other suggestions for first body mods?


Day 22 - If you could attend any Goth event what would it be?

So many events! But to choose only one? Probably between Wave Gotik Treffen and Whitby Gothic Weekend. First of all, WGT is probably the biggest Gothic event the world has seen to this day. It would be an honor for me to say that I've been to the biggest Gothic festival of the world! Second of all, this year, Whitby Gothic Weekend is on the weekend of my birthday! What are the odds of that?! It would truly be an amazing present, but my parents do not plan on traveling (or letting me travel alone) for a while... Darn... :/

The Goth Challenge! Day 7 - Ten of your favourite goth bands. (Late?)

Sorry everyone! I just realised that I had never posted this before and I had it saved in my drafts for months now! Apologies for this little slip, I'll make sure to check next time! Anyway, on with the Goth Challenge!

Ouch! This is going to be hard... I am still a Babybat so I don't know too many of them, but it's too hard to choose! So for all those Babybats out there, here are the Goth rock bands I started with (these are NOT in any order!) :

1. The Birthday Massacre: Being a local band, I felt quite honored to live so close to the origin city of one of my favourite Goth bands! The Birthday Massacre was born in Toronto, Ontario (Canada) and are well known worldwide today. I love the fact that a woman is the lead singer, and Chibi is so great at it! The music is heavy at times and slow at others. They sure do make a good use of that keyboard!

2. Bauhaus: Definitely the kings of Goth rock! Bauhaus always has an eerie feel to their music. Every instrument is used in harmony with the other to create a mysterious work of art!

3. The Crüxshadows: I love the fact that they stand out with their techno/electronic side of the Goth music. They are very easy to start with as a Goth band! Just look at Rogue's (lead vocals) hair!

4. Inkubus Sukkubus: I absolutely LOVE Candia's voice! Inky Suk is really a band to look at in Goth rock culture. They are still an active band with their newest release The Dark Goddess. Here is a look into this great album!

5. Switchblade Symphony: Tina Root is so adorable! I love her cute Gothic look! Their songs are both creepy and cute at the same time. See for yourself!

6. Siouxsie And The Banshees: Siouxsie is probably one the most popular Gothic female icons. When you think Goth rock history, you think Siouxsie Sioux! This band is straight out of the 70's and still has style!

7. Emilie Autumn: The queen of Goth, Emilie has her own unique style and music. Her songs speak to the soul with their deep lyrics! Most people can really relate to them!

8. Johnny Hollow: Very dark and amazing music! I completely LOVE Janine White's makeup in this next video! The song is addictive... I had it stuck in my head for two days now...

9. The Crypt Club: I love this local band from Montréal, Québec (Canada)! It is once again a band formed close to my home. Listen to these amazing people!

10. Voltaire: Dearest Aurelio Voltaire Hernández! A true artist at heart! His voice is truly amazing and his songs are masterpieces!

So these are my 10 suggested bands to the beginner Babybats! Enjoy guys!

The Goth Challenge! Days 14 to 18

First of all, I got my bangs cut! Here's a picture I took with my phone's crappy camera in my mom's bathroom:

Excuses for being in my pyjamas...

Back to where we were...

Day 14 - What was your best and worst DIY disaster?

Hmm... I don't have any pictures of my WORST disasters because they just ended up in the garbage or cut up to use for better projects, but I can say that I accidentally cut the whole sleeve opened one time... It was accidental... But I just used the burgundy fabric for more projects.

Now for the better ones:

This was a show-off picture for my friends

Yes, I am a gargoyle ^,..,^

I am the one in the red...
The black shirt was the DIY

Day 15 - Your favourite or most expensive item in your wardrobe.

Oh wow! This will be a hard choice! I personally think my Demonia boots are the most expensive things I have but I am not quite sure. As for my favourite item, I could never choose! Each item has their turn being my favourite at some point!

Day 16 - What's the most casual you've ever dressed?

Casual eh? Well if I am to stay at home for the length of the entire day, I WILL stay in pyjamas all day! But when I was only a budding Babybat (ok, I still am), I would only wear a black tshirt and black pants because it was all my little 9-year-old self had. I still dress like that when I have to go to work, because my Gothic attire would not be acceptable while serving food... Bummer! :/

Day 17 - Your favourite Goth brand.

It depends for what. I don't really have a favourite Goth brand in general since I do a lot of DIY with my clothes. When it comes to footwear, I like Demonia and New Rocks; when it comes to clothes, I enjoy Poizen Industries or Living Dead Souls or even Emily Strange! I like these brands for clothes that I could not achieve myself by simple DIY.

Day 18 - Worst hair experience.

Ouch! I've had plenty of those! Since I have thick curly hair, I have always found it hard to work with. I straighten my hair everyday because I cannot deal with the curly poofy mutation atop my head.  One day, a hair stylist decided to chop most of my hair off and give me a short, square bob... With curly hair, you can imagine how ugly it looked. She hadn't even cut it straight or anything. So the next day, we had to go to a PROFESSIONAL hair stylist for a fix-up! It was awful. I did not want to be seen in public like that. I wore tiny pigtails until my hair grew out. I will always remember that... Thank goodness for straighteners!

The Goth Challenge! Days 9 to 13

Day 9 - What genre of music do you dislike?

Guys, please don't get angry at me for being stereotypical but I find I cannot stand country, pop, and reggae music. They completely get on my nerves and I just can't catch onto it. All the mainstream music is always the same, all synthesized and fake. I don't understand how people get so hooked onto this while bands with TRUE amazing talent remain hidden in the shadows that the other bands create. I like finding true artists and I pay my respect to them!

Day 10 - What do you hate and love about the subculture?

What I love:

• The freedom of expression
• The fact people can still be their own person while still being a part of the subculture
• The music!!
• The clothes and the many possibilities of outfits one could create
• The fact we can all stand out

What I dislike:

• The high prices on the accessories and footwear :/
• The fact people don't exactly know what Goth is so they turn out to be know-it-all mall-Goths
• The rudeness that those know-it-alls have... -.-

Day 11 - Is Goth a lifestyle for you?

Well I must definitely say that Goth occupies a big role in my life! The fashion, music, etc... But I must say I don't ONLY listen to Goth music... It could drive someone completely bonkers to listen to one single type of music all the time! I also enjoy heavy metal, death metal, classic rock songs, and more! Also, I don't dress up super fancy all the time! Sometimes a black t-shirt with black pants is good enough for me! Especially with school and all... It's fun to not have to think up a whole new outfit for every single day... Plus, we all have our lazy days!

So yes, Goth truly IS a major part of my life, it's who I am and who I love to be! But I am not Goth, and Goth only!

Day 12 - What's your Gothic inspiration?

Well my biggest inspiration at the moment is Amy from The Ultimate Goth Guide! She has inspired me to write this blog although she does such a better job at it than me!

Other then that, I get inspired by other pictures of Goths online or in the media, but mostly it's the bloggers!


Day 13 - What was your first band t-shirt?

My first band t-shirt was Disturbed! I was soooo happy to have bought it all by myself with my own money back then! ^,..,^

The Goth Challenge! Day 8 - What's your worst and best experience with non-Goths?

Ah non-Goths! They surround me in my everyday life! You see, the only other "Goth" in my life is my little sister, which is attempting to become "Goth" in my honor. All my friends are therefore non-Goths. I love hanging out with non-Goths because I'm the odd one out among them! I love being different and standing out while being myself!

But, just like in every community, there are people that aren't the greatest to be around. Some of these non-Goths believe we Goths are easy targets for pathetic, insulting jokes and bullying. This is where I have had bad experiences.

I always was a shy, insecure child with low or hardly any self-esteem at all. Being different made me prone to bullying. It always seemed so funny to others to make fun of me with pathetic insults and obvious sarcasm. For 6 years straight, I have been put down and had no self-esteem whatsoever. When I turned 14 years old, I finally decided to come out of my shell and put my combat-booted foot down once and for all. After doing this, I found friendship among non-Goths and even my first ever boyfriend! ;)

Also, if you asked me what was my ultimate pet peeve, it would be people mimicking or "copying" me. It has happened to me so much that I almost went crazy! Now I can't stand it anymore, although my sister constantly does this. It had happened on many occasions that someone would do everything to try and BE me instead of being themselves. Let's not get into deatils, because I'll start to ramble on and get off subject.

Anyway, all that to say: I love my non-Goth friends, and I haven't had much experiences with actual Goths, but I bet it would be fun to find someone who understands my tastes and lifestyle!

The Goth Challenge! Day 6 - Hand write your favourite lyric and take a picture.

What a fun thing to do! Especially if you're bored/tired/lazy like me at the moment! So here it is:

This is written on my little Emily The Strange diary! I write very very small as you may see. My teachers keep reproaching that they require the use of a magnifying glass to read my writing... So I brought them one once, just to see their reaction (or to shut them up)! ^,..,^

This is my favorite lyric at the moment. It changes constantly with my mood or with the weather! This is from the song "Clown" by Switchblade Symphony. It's stuck in my head right now! :P