<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><rss xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/" xmlns:content="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/" xmlns:atom="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom" version="2.0"><channel><title><![CDATA[General Discussion]]></title><description><![CDATA[Casual discussion about the culture, trends, and topics that don&#x27;t fit elsewhere.]]></description><link>https://taiban.live/category/9</link><generator>RSS for Node</generator><lastBuildDate>Thu, 16 Apr 2026 12:06:44 GMT</lastBuildDate><atom:link href="https://taiban.live/category/9.rss" rel="self" type="application/rss+xml"/><pubDate>Mon, 13 Apr 2026 23:28:32 GMT</pubDate><ttl>60</ttl><item><title><![CDATA[does any1 have any information on haruhiko ash?]]></title><description><![CDATA[the guy from the zolge and eve of destiny.. trying to find info on him but i just wanted 2 ask if any ppls here kno something kewl abt him 
]]></description><link>https://taiban.live/topic/266/does-any1-have-any-information-on-haruhiko-ash</link><guid isPermaLink="true">https://taiban.live/topic/266/does-any1-have-any-information-on-haruhiko-ash</guid><dc:creator><![CDATA[seileen]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Mon, 13 Apr 2026 23:28:32 GMT</pubDate></item><item><title><![CDATA[What VTM Clan would a Bandmen fall into.]]></title><description><![CDATA[What Vampire the Masquerade clan would your favourite bandmen fall into?
Feel free to post multiple looks for the same person, like would Moi Dix Mois Mana be an Anarch and Malice Mizer Bara no Seidou Mana be a Lasomba?
It's a silly topic but my friends and I have gotten into playing Vampire The Eternal Struggle card game, based on the table top game. I being the obnoxious host that I am, brought out my collect of vkei acrylic stands and assigned them to people based on what I felt appropriate for the clan they were playing.
If you aren't familiar with the game, here is the tldr:

It's a table top RPG that came out in the 90s. I'm going to explain things poorly but it is a table top RPG published by a company called White Wolf. There's actually multiple different RPGs that all take place in the shared universe but vampire is the most popular. Its had videos games and as I mentioned, a card game made based on the setting, maybe more that I'm unaware of. I actually have never played the table top or any of the video games but the card game is fun.
The thing that I think makes it appealing is that there's different vampire clans that all have various unique traits and influences. So if you are really into Lost Boy style vampires, you will have the Brujah to fill that niche, maybe you really like vampire rock star Lestat, well good news we have Toreado! Maybe you're like me and really like Nosferatu, well they have Nosferatu. It's a fun setting to read the lore on and the card game is pretty fun if you can get a group going.

Here is a link to a wikipedia with the different clans and bloodlines
https://whitewolf.fandom.com/wiki/Clan_(VTM)
https://whitewolf.fandom.com/wiki/Bloodline_(VTM)
Here's what I subjected some of my friends too the other night.
For Lasomba we have Mana.
[image: 1775418489613-150281e8-494a-45d1-b4fb-989b05f99a9f-image.webp]
Ventrue we have CEO Asagi lmao.
[image: 1775418516981-2bfbb4c9-ad2c-4481-8beb-a17c04a2345c-image.webp]
Toreador is of course Kamijo.
[image: 1775418552316-518e1ed1-505a-47a8-befd-24a49401168e-image.webp]
Most of my acrylic stands are Asagi so everything else was just, Asagi but with a whip or Asagi posing like a horse girl and Asagi as a Samurai etc etc. So my selection was limited but it was funny. I also put on a playlist that would sometimes cycle through Malice Mizer, Kamijo, D, Dracula Flow, etc
]]></description><link>https://taiban.live/topic/252/what-vtm-clan-would-a-bandmen-fall-into.</link><guid isPermaLink="true">https://taiban.live/topic/252/what-vtm-clan-would-a-bandmen-fall-into.</guid><dc:creator><![CDATA[SATAN-GOTH-ZONE]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Sun, 05 Apr 2026 20:09:56 GMT</pubDate></item><item><title><![CDATA[2010s In Visual Kei – The Good, The Bad and The Ugly]]></title><description><![CDATA[@disposable My problem back in the day is I really latched onto accusing them of being unoriginal because of their song DIE KUSSE basically being a metalcore version of Filth in the Beauty. So everything else they did I just couldn't accept other than being some copy of something else and I was just really stuck up my butt about it. At the same time, I was really into Grieva and they are probably the most notorious about rippin on dir en grey so like, looking back, can't help but be like wow I was really pretentious and annoying huh? LOL!!
I don't really know when I got over myself but I got really into Penicillin and at some point I couldn't help but notice Tsuzuku's singing reminding me so much of Hakuei's singing. I was hooked after that, he's a fun and versatile singer.
Otherwise, Mejibray dominated and held everyone's attention for a reason and that's probably why they had so many haters lmao.
]]></description><link>https://taiban.live/topic/216/2010s-in-visual-kei-the-good-the-bad-and-the-ugly</link><guid isPermaLink="true">https://taiban.live/topic/216/2010s-in-visual-kei-the-good-the-bad-and-the-ugly</guid><dc:creator><![CDATA[SATAN-GOTH-ZONE]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Sat, 28 Mar 2026 09:45:48 GMT</pubDate></item><item><title><![CDATA[Bands with unreleased&#x2F;&#x27;live-only&#x27; material]]></title><description><![CDATA[@brainimpediment  I never knew about some of those unreleased kein ones (sabbat &amp; watashi no naka). Very interesting!
Hope they have some decent recordings of those old performances floating around somewhere so that we'll get a chance to hear them again lol
Merry has some live-only songs as well. I've got an old tereko from around the time of Gendai Stoic's release featuring a song I haven't been able to identify, and I don't think it's ever reappeared anywhere else. There are also a few later tracks from the 2010s that don't seem to have been properly released, like this one for instance:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AiecDx9pFRw
There's also that sludgy version of Violet Harenchi that was featured in a tour promo video at one point, but nowhere else. Might be that these were live-only privileges or FC material, but I don't know for sure.
]]></description><link>https://taiban.live/topic/184/bands-with-unreleased-live-only-material</link><guid isPermaLink="true">https://taiban.live/topic/184/bands-with-unreleased-live-only-material</guid><dc:creator><![CDATA[Tokage]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Sat, 21 Mar 2026 12:31:06 GMT</pubDate></item><item><title><![CDATA[Cover art: the good, the bad, and the WTF]]></title><description><![CDATA[@disposable The font choice kind of makes me angry in a way I can't quite explain.
]]></description><link>https://taiban.live/topic/125/cover-art-the-good-the-bad-and-the-wtf</link><guid isPermaLink="true">https://taiban.live/topic/125/cover-art-the-good-the-bad-and-the-wtf</guid><dc:creator><![CDATA[omochadorei]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Sat, 14 Mar 2026 20:11:48 GMT</pubDate></item><item><title><![CDATA[Collectors: What are your holy grail item(s)?]]></title><description><![CDATA[I have been very lucky in that weird shit that I want has appeared for reasonable prices, but one of them, LAB. THE BASEMENT'S Sayonara, ningen bokujou Fukanzenban which they only made 50 copies of came with a bad burn on the DVD-R with the full live. Nothing I own can read it :/. I'd love to get my hands on a copy of Ura Archives 2003-2008, but I do at least have the files!
]]></description><link>https://taiban.live/topic/111/collectors-what-are-your-holy-grail-item-s</link><guid isPermaLink="true">https://taiban.live/topic/111/collectors-what-are-your-holy-grail-item-s</guid><dc:creator><![CDATA[tenyards]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Thu, 12 Mar 2026 21:54:15 GMT</pubDate></item><item><title><![CDATA[Favorite Visual Kei Demo Tapes&#x2F;Cassettes in general]]></title><description><![CDATA[
@SATAN-GOTH-ZONE said:
I also love the art/design for all those early demo tapes. Close up of someone's eye(s) taken with a polaroid, moody dark art drawn by a friend or the extravagant KEY PARTY designs.

It's very unfortunate that the transition to CD in visual kei was so comprehensive and that it coincided with what's arguably a decline in popular culture aesthetics that happened from around 2005 on. I know there's an element of kitschy appeal to how suddenly vk bands would have covers that looked like they were by Creed; but these decadent, gothic aesthetics whether full blown Aubrey Beardsley or just a fuzzy black and white photo of a church looming over rose petals were actually great, period. That's why this period of vk is getting increased attention in music circles outside of weebdom, while late 2000s vk is severely overlooked, because that whole world is an acquired taste.
]]></description><link>https://taiban.live/topic/108/favorite-visual-kei-demo-tapes-cassettes-in-general</link><guid isPermaLink="true">https://taiban.live/topic/108/favorite-visual-kei-demo-tapes-cassettes-in-general</guid><dc:creator><![CDATA[disposable]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Thu, 12 Mar 2026 14:48:10 GMT</pubDate></item><item><title><![CDATA[Your Top 10 Visual Kei Albums of All Time]]></title><description><![CDATA[Late, but better than never! From top to bottom, ranked. Gonna nerd out a bit on this one lol.
Major top 10 VK albums:

"ALIVE" by SOPHIA (1998)
"OTHER GOOSE" by GUNIW TOOLS (1997)
"-Stand by My Soul-" by FAME (1998)
"merveilles" by MALICE MIZER (1998)
"TRACES" by BLue-B (2000)
"Ark" by L'arc-en-Ciel (1999)
"Sculpture of Time" by La'cryma Christi (1997)
"Ja, Zoo" by hide (1998)
"EDEN" by LUNA SEA (1993)
"Parade" by Plastic Tree (2000)

(Honorable mentions: "Mayoeru ko Hitsuji no Subarashiki Hibi (迷える子羊の素晴らしき日々)" by Genius (2004), "mind soap" by Raphael (1999), "MACABRE" by Dir en Grey (2000), "TRANS" by THE SPACE COWBOYS (1997)
Indies top 10 VK albums:

"Dai 5 Jikkenshitsu (第5実験室)" by cali≠gari (1999)
"LA VIE EN ROSE" by D'ERLANGER (1989)
"Itachigokko (いたちごっこ)" by Kamaitachi (かまいたち) (1989)
"Geki-Totsu!!" by COLOR (1988)
"GOES NOWHERE" by superbrunch (1998)
"LESS THAN ZERO" by GLAZZ (1991)
"Meikyoku Album (名曲アルバム)" by DECAMERON (1990)
"humanoid 226" by PARADISE ALLEY (1998)
"Akuma Kicha (悪魔鬼茶)" by DEViL KiTTY (2002)
"Kaidan Kubitsuri no Mori (怪談 首つりの森)" by Inugami Circus-dan (犬神サアカス團) (2002)

And mini-albums are a whooole other thing altogether lol.
]]></description><link>https://taiban.live/topic/94/your-top-10-visual-kei-albums-of-all-time</link><guid isPermaLink="true">https://taiban.live/topic/94/your-top-10-visual-kei-albums-of-all-time</guid><dc:creator><![CDATA[robkun]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Wed, 11 Mar 2026 15:39:47 GMT</pubDate></item><item><title><![CDATA[Atmospheric albums &#x2F; songs]]></title><description><![CDATA[ill make sure to! all these lists you have are perfect for my lack of nagoya band knowledge lol. i saved these two for starters and will definitely move onto the others at some point!
]]></description><link>https://taiban.live/topic/89/atmospheric-albums-songs</link><guid isPermaLink="true">https://taiban.live/topic/89/atmospheric-albums-songs</guid><dc:creator><![CDATA[reiketsu]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Wed, 11 Mar 2026 06:50:24 GMT</pubDate></item><item><title><![CDATA[Music recommendation thread]]></title><description><![CDATA[Here's another recommendation from me: bask in the deep. They were around for most of the 2010s and had a dark, atmospheric sound that should appeal to people who are into the gloomier side of art kei and nagoya kei. Their vocalist is now in camellia dystrudia. They dropped a bunch of singles, two mini-albums, and a full album before disbanding in 2017. Their full album was uploaded to the band's official YT account:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iQ5z1TNXQoo
]]></description><link>https://taiban.live/topic/75/music-recommendation-thread</link><guid isPermaLink="true">https://taiban.live/topic/75/music-recommendation-thread</guid><dc:creator><![CDATA[Tokage]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Tue, 10 Mar 2026 20:51:58 GMT</pubDate></item><item><title><![CDATA[My package got destroyed for no reason]]></title><description><![CDATA[If it's any consolation, I see multiple people complaining about this online, reporting that it might be a glitch (when packages are scanned in some way that results in a bogus status such as this). Some of the affected people confirmed that they received their packages fine.
So hopefully this is just a goof in the system! 
(edit: this seems to be an issue specific to Zenmarket btw)
]]></description><link>https://taiban.live/topic/24/my-package-got-destroyed-for-no-reason</link><guid isPermaLink="true">https://taiban.live/topic/24/my-package-got-destroyed-for-no-reason</guid><dc:creator><![CDATA[Jigsaw]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Mon, 09 Mar 2026 06:35:36 GMT</pubDate></item></channel></rss>