h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

http://www.h2g2.com/A418169
I feel this would be an appreciated entry as it identifies a seemingly unknown but irksome phenomenon that has come to my attention- now you can all watch out for it. There's a lot of Guide-going attention focused on different youth culture sub-groubs, and I consider this one- mercifully rare in real life- to be worthy of note. There are very few such sub-categories I object to, so I tend to pity rather than simply slag off.
Unlike- surprisingly for me- Townies, I've never met a good one. I'm mainly interested in knowing if anyone else recognises them and, if so, what they think.

One or two comments: As has been pointed out to one of my articles the tone of the Guide is objective so one should rather use "are commonly seen" or "one sees" rather than "I see" and suchlike.
In your article you contrast "Townies" and "Mock-Goths"; while you go to explain what "Mock-Goths" are, no explanation is offered for "townies". As for the Mock-Goth part: would you consider the subject sufficiently covered by A391790?
Cheers
Tube

Not exactly unbiased is it.
To be honest, this article made me feel a little uncomfortable.

JMHO.

- Adam

Enjoyed this, though it does need rewriting... one thing though, you should do something on that particularly depressing subspecies known as the Manics Fan... also get rid of the bit about True Townies - even some of these have redeeming features, and also one of the hallmarks of the Mock-Goth is the hatred of Townies...

Addressing comments/grievances:
The subjective tenor will be dealt with.
A full explanation of Townies is provided in the article by that name, if you really want one. (Strangely, no Townies have written to complain...)
Tube- have replied to direct comments about Goths/Non-Goths at the article itself.
Adam- sorry about that, but it was meant to be in jest. I reasoned that, since Mock-Goths have neither the imagination or sense of humour, they wouldn't be anywhere near this place. As for bias... someone's writing will out of necessity convey their opinions. Conversely, people rave about things they enjoy, which is even more opinionated.
Manics fans- not immediately familiar, but are they related to the I'm-still-at-school-but-in-a-band types?
Townies- true and otherwise- made me utterly miserable for ages so I'm a little embittered, but I'll scratch that bit.
Hatred of Townies- Mock-Goths I Have Known were previously pseudo-Townies (so they avoided the sort of bullying I got). Maybe they're ashamed of their dark past.
Thanks for reading,
Mandragora.

Manics fans are a horrible mutant cross between the Goff and the indie kid, with the worst features of both. They have every fault you ascribe to the mock-goth in your article, plus self-mutilation, worship of a talentless dead man (but of course to say he's dead makes you a leper in their eyes, no matter that the man's last known movements were to leave his empty car by the Severn Bridge, Wales' most notorious suicide blackspot, that he had attempted suicide in the past, that he was being treated for depression, that he idolised Ian Curtis , who killed himself in simillar circumstances, and that his dog had just died, he can't be dead. He must be living in Goa or somewhere...), and love of the whole spectrum of music from REM to Smashing Pumpkins, and eveything inbetween...

Don't take any notice of what I write - I don't!
I was just in a foul mood that day, and was mean to everybody.


- Adam

Of course, I forgot self-mutilation. At least it's something that people find highly embarrassing when they grow up a bit. (Appreciation of a wide range of music is good, but you've got to retain healthy cynicism.)
I like to take notice of people when they've taken the trouble to write, and once again, I didn't want to upset anyone. Thanks all for replying.

Hmm.

So is it going to get a make-over, then? Dr Wonky's comments would seem to still be relevant - it's just a touch unbalanced in my mind - and uses too many in-phrases that you and your friends know, but nobody else will...

To be honest, I think the entry on Goths at [URL removed by moderator] covers this already - maybe it could be extended a little, and perhaps you'd like to comment on how so - but the basic material is there.

Sorry could you repeat that URL please Lucinda? Was it a link to an h2g2 page? If so, I think the moderators are moderating in more than just moderation

I hope you don't mind if I was to supply the URL, it's http://www.bbc.co.uk/h2g2/guide/A473924 (Note to moderator: This is an internal link...). Still, should be be edited out you can find it at my homepage (shhh... don't tell anybody, but I've got *links* at my page! And this WWW thingy is full of them... )

I'll go smack the moderation help desk around. Bad Squack! No Biscuit!

Here is an odd coincidence. You correctly pointed out my use of obscure in-phrases, but I didn't know anyone but us used the excellent 'No biscuit!'
Superb. Perhaps we should all get together and work on a glossary.

I think I saw the phrase in an essay by somebody on game design, entitled "Bad Game Designer! No Biscuit!". So I stole the phrase, naturally...

To which you could add, "No biscuit- get back in your box."

I wouldn't call the article unbiased either, but I did think it was fun. Maybe we could have a "Satirical Guide" category, for stuff like Mock-Goths and Mary Kay Commandos.

But I would have enjoyed your article just a bit more, if your list of Mock-Goth features were actually in list format.

A satirical guide entry would be good, because then I could go nuts.
I've by now forgotten what the article actually contained, but I'll go immediately and tinker with it.
(Sounds of tinkering.)

I hope so --- before the bisquits get dry

Reformatted.