paradoxal

As kind of a tangent, other laws or contracts have to be worded to ensure benefits don't discretely discriminate against non-heterosexual relationships. For example, my company has in its contract that people get both paternity and maternity leave if they have a child. It even has a line after that says something like "Or in the case of a same-sex relationship that chooses to adopt, you get _x_ amount of time to bond with your child." Obviously it's worded much better, but I was happy to see that they specifically stated a same-sex option.

Lmfao this. It's not like people get hurt when two gay people marry. "BUT HOW DO I EXPLAIN THIS TO MY CHILDREN", really simple, the way my mother did it: sometimes people don't like people from the other gender but from the same gender. That's it. THAT'S REALLY IT. People talk about it like it's some difficult math formula but it really isn't.
 
Also people who claim it ruins "the sanctity of marriage" bc marriage should be between a man and a woman is a load of shit because 1) Britney Spears got married once for 7 hours while drunk and that's not ruining the sanctity of marriage while a gay couple who has been together for 10 years that wants to get married does? 2) These people always yell that the bible forbids it but hey the bible also forbids you to do a lot of other things but they don't seem to care about those lol.
 
In short: being homophobic isn't freedom of speech, it's being a douche and highly illegal.

Closed. Thank you

I haven't been shocked by a VK act or a horror movie since I was 12. Anyone who gets shocked about that kind of thing anymore is probably either a kid or a suburban mommy. I think once you pass a certain age you get more shocked by things in reality more so than some goth guy chortling in a puddle of blood.

Alright, this is not a fucking therapy session. Stay on topic, and with that I mean the discussion we had earlier (the influence of glam metal/rock in visual kei) or any other topic related to the statement "New VK vs. Old VK". Everyone's free to disagree and discuss there, as we like to promote healthy discussion. Whether or not blackdoll worships Lycaon, or if Miyuu has a degree in psychologic analysis is not relevant, so drop that for now. Irrelevant/trolling posts will from now on be deleted.

My new pic 

Ichiro just standing there looking awesome. they dont seem to have a video of him modeling but whatever.
 

what's not to love?

... I didn't even know Danger gang still existed XD

It's seriously tiring (and meaningless) to debate whether x is vk or not-vk, so let's not go there.
 
 
 
Imo this is only partially correct.
 
We have to remember there are broadly speaking 2 routes to becoming popular. One is for the band to throw their hands up and pander to what the average consumer wants. Think of it as the political party with no particularly interesting/good ideas and just go along with what the public happens to want at that point in time, just so they can get the largest median share of votes. At the same time, there are bands who are genuinely good at what they are doing and over time they attract the attention of people whom they otherwise wouldn't have. Case in point is SID's first live right after their transition to Ki/oon: they sold out Budokan in under 2 minutes with the kind of music that they've been consistently doing for the 3-4 years since they formed, which suggests that they already had a good number of non-vk fans who liked them even before they went major.
 
For most vk bands that become popular and eventually go major (or at least sign with a "big vk label" like PSC), it's usually some combination of the two. The question is how far one leans to either end. Vk bands generally get very little exposure in the mainstream media so it's impossible to gain popularity if they insist on spending 100% of their time making music that no one else cares about. But that doesn't mean that popularity always means quality is sacrificed or that band members are invariably reduced to puppets manipulated by their label. Ultimately it all depends on how much of what the band is doing is up to the members and how much is up to the label. And unless we're actually in the band, it's difficult to know. Tempting as it may be, let's not be too bogged down by the stereotypical progression of "indies vk band who's not popular but good" -> "major ex-vk band who's popular but shitty" because neither category is even stable in and of itself.
 
 
To stay on topic: I'm always interested to see what DIV puts out. The last single for me was a bit of a hit-and-miss. The PV spot sounded great but the full song was slightly less atmospheric that I thought it would be. Clearly they were seeking to try something new (which is always a great attitude regardless of results), but the pseudo Aqua Timez "rap" at 3.30+ didn't fit into the overall ambience of the song. B sides were better than the title track which isn't surprising given it's the kind of sound in their comfort zone. Let's see what they will do in the new single

I actually started crying when I heard about this in a restaurant yes I'm that pathetic.
 
I'm still in a huge shock and I'm super happy they're coming abroad. Doesn't matter where they'll have their concerts, I will attend at least one even if it isn't in Finland. If the schedule fits mine I'll try to attend more than one concert. I just can't wait for the schedule to be revealed.
 
This is like a dream come true for me. Lycaon was one of the bands I never thought who would come to Europe.
 
Best. Birthday. Present. Ever.

To my knowledge they're not paying squat, but the European wapanese organisers are who bring them here. Then they complain about how nobody showed up.
 
Fucking finally coupling tours. Totally going.

I decided I could post a few old lolita pics of me. These are from 2009-2011.
 
October 2009 when I just got a new jacket!!
 
 
Tsukicon 2009 @ Helsinki, Finland.
 
Blingbling swag lolita in July 2010, probably the hottest day of the summer (~30C) and I just had to wear lolita... You can't imagine how hot I felt with all those motherfucking extensions and gazillion layers of clothing.
 
 
This is a pretty casual coordination from May 2011 and it's the last time I ever wore lolita ;__;
 

timezones are the best because I get to be the first on here to wish para a very merry birthday <3

Full PV 悪女の微笑(akujo no hohoemi) : 

blackdoll, this is not a bash bands threads. If you want to write stuff like that, at least give it a bit more context. Hell, from that post I would think the only thing you have ever done is hate those bands.

Kiitti hitosti pretsy

I had no idea during its release days that it was *almost* completely in English ( the good ol' glory of Kyongrish!)
 
Also lately: the chorus off sukekiyo's "vandal" ("listening to dead kennedys/I hand down a malicious verdict on you") was very incomprehensible for me during the first listen

Kazuki's leaving because his mother is terminally ill and his father can't cope with looking after her. And he's the only son in the family. So yeah, terribly sad and painful to lose him but I think that's as legit a reason as one we'll ever find for someone leaving a band.
 
(Also, people need to stop trolling if they have nothing productive to say...)

Thanks, Ito. I was expecting five stars but thanks. 
 
I've got friends too, in this case ! ...
 
......But even more than that. Honey...
 
 

This piece of news brought tears to my eyes. Oh how I would love to be at that concert ;_;

Only reason I said "doesn't make me a bad fan" is because you had said something to the effect of "Jesus. This fanbase already" or something similar. Which I translated to "why would any fan of anything want to hear rerecorded songs but specifically x fans and if you think you need to hear rerecorded versions you're a bad fan", but I digress.
Anyway, you're totally right in that it's just a difference of opinion, but you also seem to be making it appear that your opinion is gospel and that's why I used the word "elitism" when maybe you didn't feel you were being elitist but it appears that way when you're the kind if person that says things in the vein of "modern music and production value is dull and lifeless"
I mean sure Justin Bieber and Austin Mahone are dull and lifeless, but if you take songs that were good and make them slightly cleaner and maybe louder through production, it doesn't make a great song any less good. And then guess what if you hate the new one just listen to the old one and there's your problem solved.
I, personally, would just really enjoy hearing Say Anything with a 21st century feel that's all.

The name's Dyxanadu. I'm also known as Bardie.
 
I'm kinda new-ish to the visual kei scene, been a fan for about a couple of years now, but don't really consider myself an expert or anything. I just really like how the whole thing works, it's so crazy sometimes. Although most visual bands do look nice, I'm not in this just for the looks, I do care about the music too. As long as they sound good, then they're cool.
 
My first visual kei band was Megaromania, may they rest in peace. I also like MERRY, Moi dix Mois, Metis Gretel, Versailles, Dir en Grey, Lin -the end of corruption world-, KISAKI Project, etc. As of recently, I've started listening to bands such as Phantasmagoria and X JAPAN. I like some oldies too, such as Da'vid Shito:AL and Malice Mizer. I tend to listen to indie bands more, yet I'm also now trying out mainstream bands as well.
 
I have a growing collection of VK items such as photosets, chekis, and magazines mostly purchased from people selling them on Tumblr. *_* I haven't attended a single VK concert, which depresses me, and I want to learn Japanese, partially to be a bit closer to the VK bands I like, to know what they're saying. ;w; After all, I've been very interested in Japanese culture for as long as I can remember.
 
I've been on this forum on and off when randomly googling something, but now, I've been actually acknowledging it, and I think this may be a good place where I could make some VK friends. This seems like a nice place I guess, haven't been on a forum in a very long time. I'd like to know more people who are into visual kei, and just visual kei in general. I hope I have a good time here. ♥
 
xoxo
Dyxanadu 

Ikuma for tetsu_sama! full resolution version here

 
 
And unfortunately I'm off for the night! I might be able to get on later tonight but if not I'll be back tomorrow with maiku's pic