Morphosis, Moreau Virus subculture

1. #1Morphosis

   Keys: beastcore, Morphosis, Moreau culture, Morpho, Morph, Morphs, moreau music

   Morphosis, also known as Morpho, Morph, or (often by humans, to the chagrin of many moreaus) beastcore, is a musical and stylistic counter-cultural movement that has developed among the moreau community - most especially moreau youth, as they search to establish an identity for themselves. Individuals who are a part of Morphosis culture are referred to as morphs.

   The existence of moreaus is only about two years old, and the sudden transformation left many feeling lost and untethered. Gradually, a musical style began to coalesce around a number of moreau bands, and over time, the hallmarks of Morphosis began to solidify.

   Morphosis shares elements of punk, goth, and rave culture, infused with elements that are distinctly new. Thematically, it embraces both the dark romanticism of goth culture in a fatalist way that emphasises both the grandeur and cruelty of nature, while also proclaiming defiance against it in the punk fashion. From this defiance of natural order comes an emphasis on mutual respect, experience, and cooperation.

   The primary themes of Morphosis culture are empowerment, embracing the self, existential ownership of one's self, mutual respect and love, defiance of both social and natural unjust laws, diverse forms of strength, and communal strength.

2. #2Morphosis music

   Keys: beastcore, Morphosis, morpho, morphs, Morph · Secondary: tunes, Music, bass, tune, songs, song, beat

   Morphosis is a music-centered culture. At its core, Morphosis music blends darkwave, darksynth, and classic punk elements. Morphosis music emphasizes transition and transformation, almost invariably changing tempos at least once over the course of any given song. Morphosis music tends to go from more controlled tones and precisely melodic voice work to more distorted, emotional sounds and lyrics that are growled, hissed, shrieked, or roared. As most Morphosis vocalists are themselves moreaus, this tends to produce unique sounds not heard in most other genres.

   More punk-leaning lyrical content of the genre content can be political, but most Morphosis is more personal, emphasizing themes such as impermanence, fatalism vs existential control, the power and cruelty of nature, and defiance of imposed order, including the natural order. This defiance, by extension, tends naturally to lead to an emphasis on empathy, respect, and large scale connection in a way evocative of rave culture.

   Bands integral to the Morphosis scene[Maneater, The Things in the Deep, Pack Tactics, Pink Fliyt, Cold-blood, On Black Wings, Pounce, Before a Fall, Herd]

3. #3Morphosis style

   Keys: beastcore, Morphosis, morpho, morphs, Morph · Secondary: clothing, clothes, Style, outfit, hair, fashion

   Morphosis style has elements of various Gothic styles, coupled with the neon and multicolored lights of 2000s rave culture.

   Morphs usually have a base of black to their outfits, often incorporating high contrast like dyed-white fur. Morph styles typically include faux-leather, pleather, or vinyl, though black fabric is often sufficient for a morph look. Mesh and fishnets are common. Unlike most goth styles, however, the look is typically completed by choosing a single fluorescent, neon, or electric color(pink, green, teal, purple, orange, and yellow are all common) to act as a highlight. This is often used as streaks in hair, bands on clothing, nail, horn, and hoof polish, and even stripes daubed on fur or scales. Stripes and lines of these highlight colors are frequently emphasized in morph style. Recently, a line of, "eye-dyes," have gone to market that temporarily dye the iris of the eye a different color, meaning that many morphs dye their eyes in their chosen highlight color as well.

4. #4Morphosis events

   Keys: Events, festival, event, concert

   While concerts in the more typical sense do happen, Morphosis events are typically referred to with that very broad term - "event." This falls somewhere between a concert and a rave, and lasts for many hours, with participants sometimes coming and going. Events can feature at least one headliner, but can feature multiples. Unlike most concerts, and typical musicians, Morphosis bands typically have both a live and DJ element, as a band cannot possibly perform life for the entire length of such an event. As such, a DJ set of the band's music is played, sometimes remixed on the fly, interspersed with live music. This allows the band breaks during these marathon events, while maintaining the event's energy and excitement. Morphosis events can, in short, be as wholesome or depraved an experience as any given attendee chooses. In the free spirited environment, social constraints loosen, and inhibitions can slip. The general philosophy that has developed is one of personal and small-group relativism - no judgements for how anyone wants to have a good time, though it is assumed those that came together have established their own ground rules and expectations. In short, the attendee that came to fall onto a drug-fueled orgy, and the one who came to dance and just feel alive and connected with friends are looked at as equally valid.

5. #5Morphosis and humans

   Keys: Beastcore, Morphosis, Morphs, Morph · Secondary: humans, biter, Human, biters, posers, poser

   While there are many moreau morphs who are happy to see humans embrace morphosis culture, there is a substantial number that dislike humans attempting to involve themselves in one of the few things they think of as genuinely belonging to them. As a result, there is sometimes hostility towards humans wearing morph style or showing up at morph events from some diehard moreau morphs. This is far from universal, but is enough to cause potential conflict.

   The majority of morphs recognize the difference between a human that simply appreciates moreau music and style, and those who seek to coopt it, though the line does sometimes become blurry, and is defined differently by different moreaus. Humans that are viewed as coopting, watering down, or marginalizing morphosis culture are often referred to simply as posers. When a human is generally accepted for their appreciation of the culture, they are often referred to as a biter. "Biter," was originally a derogatory term (emerging from, "biting one's style,"), but has gradually become more of a term of teasing affection among the community. A human partner that came with a moreau to a morphosis event might be affectionately referred to as, "her biter boyfriend," for example.

6. #6Morphosis dance

   Keys: , Morphosis, morphosis, morph · Secondary: swaying, ruttic, dancing, sway, Dance, performic, rocking, rock

   Morphosis dance style is very open, both because of the emphasis on freedom, and because of the diversity of body types liable to do it. Generally speaking, there are two styles, and as music grows more intense, it is common to transfer from one to the other as a song grows more wild, though many stick exclusively to the first, or just do whichever they feel at the time. The first, sometimes called, "performic," dancing, emphasizes swaying, rolling, undulating movements that emphasize parts of the body creating loops or figure eights. This can be supplemented by colored lights or glowsticks. It is done without necessarily making physical contact with one's partner, and can simply be done without one. The second style is sometimes called, "ruttic." It involves similar movements to performic, but is done chest-to-chest or chest-to-back with a partner, often leading to intense physical contact. Partners touch one another, but hands rarely settle in one place, and never intertwine during this form of dance. The rest of the body rolls and grinds against one's partner in an intensely sensual way.

7. #7Event venues

   Keys: Morphosis, morph, morpho, morphs, event · Secondary: room, hallway, lounge, nest, rooms, den, hall, Venue, stage

   Morphosis events share certain expected commonalities. Rather than concert halls, most take place in convention centers or other vast. Sprawling structures that can be rented for a night. Most feature a main room with the headliner band. Rather than opening acts, given the marathon nature of the events, lesser known bands or DJs getting their start occupy secondary stages in other rooms. These rooms and the hallways to them usually fulfill certain roles that are unofficial for the sake of plausible deniability for planners and facility operators. Main room/headliner room[The largest and usually most central area, where the headliner band plays. Typically the center of energy, dancing, and community.] Bar[often along one edge of the headliner room but not always. Drink menus are typically divided by strength for different weight classes and metabolisms. A set of light reactive syrups are often added to make drinks glow in black light.] Lounge[An unofficial term for a balcony or rooftop area where one can go to smoke or vape, though this usually is not tobacco. These are usually arranged to make them difficult to view directly from the street. Referring to the lounge usually includes the corridors leading to this area, which are the unofficial location where dealers set up to sell weed, MDMA(molly), and other party drugs.] The den[The most media-infamous practice at these events, one stage/room is often unofficially deemed, "the den." Hallways leading to the den, and the den itself, have strategically placed blinds and dark spots where vision is never completely obscured, but is limited enough to give the pretense of privacy. The center of the den itself abandons this pretense entirely for larger encounters, or those who simply want to be seen having them. Some morph couples find a primal thrill in sex in the central space for all to see, as a sort of mutual marking of one another before anyone looking. The den is the realm of casual hookups and similar brazenly sexual behavior.] The nest[A secondary room that typically plays slightly lower volume, more relaxed sets. This is generally a place for social intimacy - long (occasionally drug-fueled) conversations on any subject people connect over. A lot of snuggling happens here.]

8. #8Cultural practices and slang

   Keys: Morphosis, morph, morpho, morphs, event · Secondary: polyping, mark, culture, O.N.E., marking, polyp, practices, slang, jungle law, customs, practice, custom

   "Rule O.N.E."[Said like the number, "one," this means, "Offer not expect," and is a strongly enforced cultural norm that allows the more illicit behaviors that occur at events to transpire fairly safely, while allowing the majority to enjoy the simple, relatively wholesome good time of music and community. O.N.E. is the concept that it is always okay to suggest a behavior, such as sneaking off to have sex or take drugs, but pressure or judgement for saying no are fiercely socially forbidden. All members of the community are expected to help enforce this. Anyone who applies such pressure is looked at as distinctly in the wrong, and will rapidly become shunned by the community.] "Get wild"[A phrase typically associated with going to the lounge, the den, or the lounge followed by the den. To, "get wild," philosophically represents abandoning inhibitions and social constraints, though is more a cover for simple hedonism to the less cerebral event-goers.] "Polyping"[A term for a larger event-goer carrying a smaller event goer. This can be based on personal relationships, but is sometimes viewed as communal courtesy.] "Jungle law"[A term evolved irreverently from, "The law of the jungle," which means pretty much the opposite of what one might think. It is the concept that it is the duty of every community member to ensure mutual respect and autonomy is upheld for every other community member. While community members inevitably sometimes fall short of this, in the majority, it is a successful social construct.] "Marking"[Public displays of affection and sexuality, often done in the open in the den part of a venue. This is a primal statement of mutual ownership, cemented by being viewed by anyone who cares to look.

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