milliways_bar | Halloween Beach Bash!

Yeah, YT noticed that. Part of why she remembered seeing him around. "Because your definition of 'regular' is 'fabulous?' You must have really high standards."

YT, on the other hand, only wears makeup for special occasions, and is very much a t-shirt-and-jeans kind of person.

He laughs at that, a bright, almost musical sound.

"No, I don't think my standards are high. My standards are just my own. And what of yourself? You seem comfortable in your clothes, is this not what you would usually wear?"

"This?" YT plucks at her shirt. "Nah. But only 'cause I was born a few decades too late."

It says a lot that YT's original idea for her punk costume involved 'modifying' one of her school uniforms. Her mom admitted that it would be very punk indeed but nonetheless shot down said idea.

"Oh, was this style a fad?" he asks, innocent of the fact. He knows how trends come and go, though. "That shouldn't stop you from wearing it if you like it. I've seen people in modern-day Berlin who dressed similarly. --Well, modern day relative to me. Which would be about...seventy-five years or so from my own time."

"Hey, dude - punk's not a fad, it's a way of life."

YT is obviously - facetiously - quoting someone.

"There are still hardcore punks, I guess, but it's not the way it used to be when mom was one."

(There's a reason YT chose this particular costume.)

"I'm more of a skate punk, I guess. And I go to a school with a dress code, so I can't wear most of this stuff, or this." She looks upward and gingerly pats her spiked hair.

This is fascinating, but really, anything about modern popular culture fascinates him.

"So there are different kinds of punks? And I assume that this 'way of life' was a form of rebellion against the mainstream, or authority figures?"

The word isn't new to him, just the updated meaning.

"Damn skippy," YT says. "The original punk movement had a lot to do with music. Radio stations wouldn't play music by punk bands, right? Because The Man thought it was a bad influence on the youth or something like that." YT rolls her eyes. "So punk bands got around it by buying ad time on the stations and playing these really fast, really intense songs, for thirty seconds or sixty seconds or however long the ad spot was for."

Emcee's eyes light up because he thinks this concept is amazing.

"How absolutely subversive," he says with a grin. "I saw you and Jay at the DJ booth earlier-- was that punk music you played? I think it sounded like what they call 'rock and roll,' but much more-- mmm, aggressive."

"Most of it was punk rock. Some of it was heavy metal, but it's all the same DNA, you know? If you're into it I can send you some..." YT frowns. "Maybe this is a dumbass question, but do you use a computer?"

From what he's said, Emcee may be from back before home computers were a thing, and possibly even from before room-sized vacuum-tube-based computers were a thing.

"Well, I do know how to use a tablet and a smartphone," he says, rather proud of this fact. "I've borrowed them from the Bar before. They are far beyond the technology that's available at home. I myself still have a wind-up phonograph."

YT blinks. "Well, the purists say it sounds better on vinyl anyway."

Do vinyl records even work with phonographs? YT has no idea. What did they make records out of back then?

"Indeed? Perhaps I should experiment with punk records on my phonograph," he chuckles. "But I would certainly like to hear your recommendations in whatever media you see fit."

"Okay. I'll send you a Ramones record. I hope you can play it because I honestly don't know if it's compatible with the thing you got."

She'd be interested to know, though.

"Marvelous!"

Which is to say, 'cool.'

"Thank you, I adore hearing new music. If the record doesn't work, I can always get it in--" (what was the term?) "--digital form."

YT nods. "Or you can get, like, one of those portable record players." If Emcee likes punk she may try introducing him to nuclear fuzz grunge.

(That thought makes her miss Dave Strider a little.)

"A modern one, yes, with the speakers built in," he agrees with a nod. "They actually have those in my time, but they're fairly expensive."

His own phonograph is technically portable, but useless without a cumbersome speaker cone.

"Hey, Christmas is in a few months, right? Maybe you can drop someone some hints."

They can be unsubtle hints!

He chuckles with a nod and a small shrug of his shoulders.

"Perhaps I can," he says, though there is something there that also implies not likely. Besides, he has no idea where he'll even be at the end of the year. "If no one gets my hints, I can always borrow one here. But in any case--will you show me how to dance to punk music?"

"Lots of headbanging," YT says. "Otherwise, pretty much however the fuck you want, man."

He snorts a laugh.

"Headbanging?"

"Yeah." YT demonstrates to the beat of the song currently playing. It looks sort of like throwing her head forward, then back, rinse, repeat. "There's kind of a trick to it though, so you don't give yourself a headache. Or, like, a concussion."

It's an aggressive move, but such is the nature of the music, and for that matter, the idea of a punk way of life.

Emcee first bobs his head to the beat, gradually increasing the force. Not so much that he gives himself whiplash, but just enough to get into the rhythm. Mild headbanging, as it were.

He laughs. "I can only imagine what a punk band playing in concert would be like."

"There are videos," YT says. "And my mom told me about it. Sometimes it's, like, there's a riot and a punk concert breaks out."

YT figures the closest she can get to being in a punk concert is the LA. underpass gigs played by scrappy nuclear fuzz grunge and speed reggae bands. The vibe is, so she understands, pretty similar.

"Oh dear," he chuckles. "I think I would be content just to watch and listen. It doesn't sound as if I would survive intact if I found myself in that sort of crowd. I come from a much tamer nightclub scene--although, I think, in many ways, jazz music is rather like the punk of my time."

"'Cause those damn kids were all sneaking out to boogie down to it, right?"

By the time punk came out, jazz was old-timey music. By now most of the punk music of the 70s and 80s has gone that way too, and rap and nuclear fuzz grunge are what self-appointed moral guardians have their panties in a bunch about. Funny how that happens.

Edited 2016-10-31 17:33 (UTC)

Re: Music and Dance Floor

i_am_your_host - 2016-10-31 21:42 (UTC) - Expand

Re: Music and Dance Floor

feminine_menace - 2016-11-01 14:47 (UTC) - Expand