Teen Gothic

Mainly, I really want to meet like-minded people. I've been listening to the music forever but I've never met anyone else who likes it irl. I'm really bad at making friends so I've been looking into local events, but I have sensory and social issues that make clubs and concerts pretty unenjoyable.

I want friends that like the same things as me, but idk where to go or what to do or if I'll be a buzzkill for not wanting to go to loud events. Any words of wisdom?

This might be a shot in the dark! I’m autistic and ever since I was a little kid I’ve always been obsessively interested in dark things like death, skeletons, spiders, gothic horror etc. Now in my 20s instead of shaming my interests I’m embracing them and going fully goth. I love the style, the music, the themes, it just feels so me.

I just wanted to see if anyone else is in my boat. Even if you aren’t autistic necessarily, has this always felt like a deeper part of you?

I spent most of my life repressing my autistic wants, needs, and ways of self-expression purely because I was told it would make neurotypical people "like me more" and "be less uncomfortable around me." Now that's over. I'm done with that shit.

At goth clubs I don't make facial expressions if I don't want to, stim in public, am not shamed for my "weird" interests, tell people they absolutely cannot touch me, am encouraged to truly feel and express my intense emotions, dress however the hell I want, and truly be myself without judgement. These safe spaces have made me grateful beyond words. Thank you all for being in this lovely community.

I made 2 other autistic goth friends, and we did the most ridiculous full body stimming (that could barely be described as dancing) for 5 hours straight with nothing but encouragement from those around us (: The very idea of stimming through bouncing, stomping, having t-rex hands/loud hands/raptor arms (which are very goth with certain dance moves), and flapping my hands in public even to a mild extent horrified me for years, but look where I am now! Confident and so happy

If there are any other goth autistic people in this sub, please share your stories and experiences (: <3

Went through the whole """goth phase""" a decade ago (i.e. dressing in black and being a moody teenager and thinking liking skulls made me Edgy™ without actually understanding what goth was) but now I'm finding actual goth music and madly trawling this sub for recommendations and just

The music. My brain. It gets me. It gets being into the stuff that people around me would label "weird" and "why do you even like that" which has just been my whole life up to this point. So many songs are just so aurally pleasing and I was happily stimming to my growing playlist tonight because I can feel the music. I'm even finding some of my new favourite bands and songs and playing them on repeat so much that I'm going to sleep with them playing in my head 😭

Just…so glad I found this sub and all the recommendations, they've really kept me busy lately when I needed it 🖤

Do any other autistic goths feel this way? I feel like alot of autistic traits are just seen as goth stereotypes to most people. One example is that one of my biggest special interest is horror. Normally people would be like "Why do you know so much about violent media? You're a freak…" While with me they go "Ofc you like that stuff just look at you" along with many other autistic traits being seen as stereotypes such as barely emoting or being touch averse. And thats not even mentioning the fact that goth dancing is peak stimming. I feel like being goth gives autistic people a good excuse to unmask because we don't have to worry about being seen as weird if society at large already does.

I'm not sure whether I should post this on here or goth fashion or wherever or at all but I want to get this out

I love being goth and autistic. This sounds weird as I'm typing it out but being goth as someone with autism is just so freeing and accepting in a way that I wouldn't have expected a few years ago. Also, somehow it's become a way for me to mask better to the public?

Weird special interests? Average goth. Mumbling or weird speech quirks (repeating stuff, spelling, rhyming)? Hardcore goth!! I speak in a monotone voice thats hard to detect sarcasm from? That's super hard-core goth!!

But besides the publics stereotypes, everything about the gothic lifestyle is so freeing to me. I love swaying and stimming to staple trad goth songs, I love fidgeting with my layered necklaces and I love the feeling of bell sleeves on my arms and I love the feeling of my shoes grounding me. I love always finding and discovering the beauty in the strange and macabre. I love talking to other goths who don't look or talk to me like im below them, but instead see me as a person.

I'm not sure where else to post this, but I'm just filled with joy every second I indulge myself in my gothic lifestyle. It's such a freeing experience where I feel like I can be myself in a community that accepts me. I want to thank all of you, not just the goths in this subreddit, but every single goth out there who welcomed me with open arms, who gave me song recommendations to my now favorite bands, who told me that sugar water was a good substitute when making my bats nest because I can't stand the feeling of hair spray, who told me that I didn't have to dress in corsets and velvet even if I hated the feeling of them just to fit in.

Thank you to all of you who made this a safe place for me to thrive and really be myself 🙂