#i appreciate the effort the artist is putting into the arg

[sparticus2000art]

Oh hey it’s that guy!

Requested by my roommate

[skinks]

how do you keep finding these incredibly niche and incredibly awesome aesthetics

omg WELL, I will try to be concise here!!

basically it started because I got really into vaporwave relatively early in its existence, I think I discovered it in around 2013. Now, something about there being an entire online named Artistic Movement with clear design principles was extremely cool to me, and 2013 is also the earliest I can find a use of the term “junglepunk” on my blog, because this is the term I was using as a personal placeholder for the type of stuff that I have since discovered is being called utopian scholastic. I figured, if there wasn’t a “vaporwave” equivalent for the art/media niche I remembered so vividly, I would just call it something of my own.

So, I came to this newer discovery because in the decade since getting into vaporwave I’ve followed just… so many aesthetic blogs. One of my absolute favourites is @newwavearch90 but I love going on an adventure down various tumblr rabbit holes of related blogs and posts. I also watch a lot of design history videos on youtube, as well as having an interest in lost media, old web stuff, analog horror ARGs, stuff like that. For example, this guy’s video about clip art is very interesting:

And so, a few months ago youtube recommended me THIS video and as soon as I saw the thumbnail I was like oh holy shit, I know exactly what style of design this is talking about. Anyone who used Windows XP would recognise this:

And once again, like the vaporwave discovery, the realisation that there are ongoing efforts being made to classify design movements of which I have vivid living memory was like… mindblowing to me. For some reason, lol. My appreciation for vaporwave has always been through a reflective filter of the media produced during that time, my response to it is really my response to the media, as opposed to having any real emotional connection to the actual time period and places the media is portraying.

And so after discovering Frutiger Aero I googled it, and came across the CARI (Consumer Aesthetics Research Institute) site. They work to catalogue and index this exact stuff, the aesthetics and reasoning behind all these different movements. It’s also co-founded by the same guy who runs @newwavearch90. Finding the actual names of the aesthetics I have the most emotional connection/nostalgia for has been less of a stroke of luck, but more because I’ve been snooping around the types of blogs and websites where I just happened to see certain posts tagged either Global Village Coffeehouse or Utopian Scholastic, then the giant lightbulb goes off. The relief of putting a name to a sound, an image, a feeling that was so important and exciting and comforting to you in the past, that has shaped so much of your taste and interests in the years since.

I think the base concept of “aesthetics” in general has gotten a bad rap in recent years. I know it can be grating to see teenagers try to categorise their whole identities into the easily consumed “aesthetic”, but we can’t ignore how much ageism and specifically misogyny is wrapped up in that assessment. Like, yes, where once there were just preps and goths it can be depressing to see teenagers (especially teen girls) ask themselves whether they are “old money east coast quiet luxury aesthetic girlies” or “mallpunk y2k whimsigoth aesthetic girlies” - but the problem isn’t in teens trying to find their identity, it’s that social media pushes the search for identity specifically through consumerism.

Teens liking aesthetics on tiktok just isn’t my concern. I’m far more interested in how art and design aesthetics relate to consumerism, to technological advances, to socio-political cultural context, to societal values. Why did these aesthetics arise at the time they did, and why were they popular, why did they fall out of the zeitgeist etc.

So yeah, to be not at all concise in any way; it’s because this stuff fascinates me and I love researching it 🥳

[purpleyellow]

Don’t trip

NCT 22nd member / Dream 8th member

Bee’s Masterlist

“Bee gets hurt during a concert” Thanks to the anon who requested this!!

a/n: I think this could be more dramatic but if I’m honest with you, I like the way it came out. Don’t be shy and interact a little, ask box is always open. Any kind of feedback will be very appreciated💛

It didn’t make much sense to Bee when the stylists decided to give her black heeled boots for one of the Dream Show concerts when she had perfectly performed in the previous days with her usual platforms and sneakers with an obnoxious amount of sole.

It’s not that she didn’t know how to wear heels, on the contrary, being the tiny person she was, she had gotten used to dance in them for award shows and quick performances. But thinking about the hoverboards and excessive jumping off things they did during the concert, she felt uneasy about doing them without as stable shoes.

Talking about it to one of the stylists, the older woman brushed her off. “We thought you would look more mature in them, I’m sure you won’t have much problem with it. You’re lead dancer after all, aren’t you?”

Bee agreed with her, still a bit uneasy about the situation, she considered talking about it with one of the managers around, yet the fear of being an annoyance kept her silent. She would only wear them for the first two parts of the concert anyway, after they got out of the fancy costumes and put on the shirts and jeans she would be able to wear sneakers again.

Chenle stood next to her and furrowed his eyebrows “Why did they give you fancy shoes if you’re as tall as you were with the other ones?”

“I don’t know” She mumbled shrugging her shoulders “At least they’re fancy” Side hugging her, he led them to where the rest of the dreamies were getting their mic packs to go on stage. 

The first few sets went by without much trouble, Bee tried her best to dance naturally and even managed to forget about the boots at some point. Although, she was more cautious when jumping around since she felt the floor more slippery than before.

When they went for outfits change the girl felt a little relieved she could get comfortable again, but the stylist handed her a pair of white boots with even bigger heels. Unfortunately, she didn’t have time to argue, and when Bee talked briefly with her manager, he only gave her an encouraging pat on the back and urged her to stand in place.

Walking next to Renjun, the boy raised an eyebrow as she fumbled with her in-ears. 

“Is everything okay?” He asked her standing on the marked spot and watching Haechan and Jisung going on stage first.

“Yeah, I’m just a little worried about the turns,” She told him remembering the choreography, mentally cursing at herself for not practicing it in different shoes before.

“Isn’t there some way she can change her shoes?” Renjun asked a nearby staff, also a little worried something could go wrong, but all he got as a response was a no. 

The cheers increased again as Jeno, Jaemin, and Chenle went on stage and the girl tried standing on her tippy toes.

“Just change the choreography,” Renjun told her.

“But I’m supposed to be mirroring you” Bee frowned, not wanting to make things different because of an inconvenience.

“I know, just make it look cohesive and no one will mind. Really, if you don’t think you can do it then change it” As he spoke, the staff urged them on stage, the song slowed down relatively as they went out, going from hip-hop to contemporary.

The girl took a deep breath and started doing the movements like she had learned them but when it came to the end of the set, she couldn’t think of anything interesting enough to do. So feeling less than confident, she jumped in the air as an attempt of completing a spin. 

The jump went fine, her arms elongating the move beautifully, but when it came to the landing, her left foot touched the floor sooner than anticipated, making her lose her balance and, as an unconscious attempt to soften the crash, she landed with all her weight on her right knee.

With the rest of the boys walking near them to finish the dance routine together, Haechan was the closest to her and he reached out to help her get up with a hand on her arm. Taking the first step to her position, Bee felt a shock of pain burst through her right knee, making her stumble a little in his hold. 

Sucking it up so it wouldn’t be so noticeable, she out herself together and walked to her spot, making a lot of effort so she wouldn’t limp while dancing to the rest of the song, occasionally feeling one of the boys staring at her worriedly. 

After the song ended, they jumped straight into the next one and the girl noticed how it wasn’t hurting as much as before yet she was sure once the adrenaline from the concert wore off, it would hurt ten times more and she would have to heavily ice her knee for it to get better quickly.

Trying her best not to limp too much, Bee pushed through until they had a break to interact with the fans, using that time to rest on her left leg and not move too much.

Moving his mic from his mouth, Renjun approached to talk to her “Is it hurting too much?” he asked and she nodded leaning her weight on him but hiding it with a side hug to not worry people too much.

After she answered him, Renjun turned to Jeno, who had been watching them from the other side of the stage, and gave him a thumbs-up, sending the older running backstage.

“What’s he doing?” Bee asked him, moving her microphone as well but didn’t get a response back.

Instead, she stood next to him and watched the boys talking. Two minutes later, when Jisung was the one speaking, Jeno came back running with her usual white sneakers in hand, making the girl sigh in relief, Bee had to fight back a smile when the fans started cheering even though they probably didn’t know half of what was going on.

Kneeling in front of her, Jeno set the shoes down and started unzipping her boot. “I can’t do it, get up,” She said loud enough that her mic picked it up making some nctzens laugh.

Looking at the audience with an annoyed face, Jeno rolled his eyes exagedarily and went back to change her shoes.

“And that my friends, it’s a gentleman,” Haechan said extending his arms to them and adding to the entertainment of the fans.

Patting her foot once he was done, Jeno got up and Bee thanked him with a smile, picking up the boots from the ground and handing them to a staff member who had run on stage. Even though her knee was still slightly hurting, she was glad she didn’t have to deal with the shoes from hell anymore.

Going down for the last change of costumes, the girl noticed how the stylist didn’t look her way at all, but since she would only wear a white skirt with the standard black shirt from the concert, Bee didn’t really need her presence. Yet, she still felt bad for not following the woman’s wishes. 

“Jeno said she wasn’t willing to give away your sneakers that easily, but since he had to be on stage one of the managers pressured her to give them to him,” Jisung said sitting next to her as they waited for the rest of them to be ready. A makeup artist coming close to dry some sweat off of his neck.

“I should apologize to her” Bee mumble and Jaemin approached them.

“You’re acting like you couldn’t have gotten seriously hurt today,” He said untangling his in ears and softly kicking her knee with his foot “That fall looked bad, is it hurting?”

“Just a little” She nodded as someone screamed for them to head back on stage, getting up from her chair, Bee felt that the pain had increased, probably from the minute she spent cooling down. Wincing and leaning her weight on her left leg, she made both boys arch an eyebrow at her “Okay, maybe it’s worse than I thought”

��Arg, Yun-hee. We can’t take you anywhere” Jaemin said with fake annoyance and crouched down in front of her, gesturing for a piggyback ride. 

“I should walk there to warm up again. The show isn’t over you know” Bee smiled patting his back and Jaemin huffed getting up.

“I talked with the staff, they’re putting a stool for you to sit on for the rest of the performance” Renjun spoke as the group got together on the hallway.

“They don’t have to, I can pull off the rest of the concert, it’s almost done, anyways,” The girl said, not because she didn’t want to seem incapable, but because she didn’t want to make people more worried.

“You’re limping right now, do you seriously think you can do it?” Haechan pointed out and walked in front of her, doing the same thing Jaemin had done a minute ago.

“Been there, done that, she’s not accepting piggyback rides” The pink-haired boy said with monotony.  

“I almost fought with the stylist for your shoes, you’re sitting in the stool,” Jeno said uncharacteristically serious putting an end to the argument and dragging them to the stage.

Sitting on the stool, the girl tried her hardest not to pout as the boys walked around the stage. She felt even more stupid since they weren’t even dancing to the songs playing, so as an attempt of entertaining herself, she got off the chair and dragged it closer to the edge of the stage, opting to interacting with the fans there instead of sulking.

[rogue-of-broken-time]

JSE Writers Appreciation Post

Okay so, I've been doing some thinking, and I feel like writers are Very Underappreciated in general, especially on this site. I'm not going to start an argument about whether visual arts or writing is "harder", but the act of consuming the written stuff takes more effort than just looking at a piece of art, and therefore less people choose to do so.

That's why I'm gonna make this post. I myself don't do much fic reading (because my ADHD hates me), but I think I have enough of a following to give some others a boost.

Here we go!

@septic-dr-schneep just came back from a hiatus and she is Writing Confidence Goals. She has so many cool AUs and versions of our beloved characters, and on top of that she's super nice in general. Go give her a follow if you're into the JSE ego boys in general, she's got plenty for ya ^^

@huffle-dork is someone I don't know quite as well, but I know they have their own AUs and versions of the egos boys, and they're an artist on top of that! I haven't seen their writing as much as their art, but if the art is anything to go off of, I'm sure it's awesome :D

@beerecordings, where do I even start? They have SO much creativity burning inside them and it really shows. Like, seriously, they'll take an idea and spin it into something completely of its own and wow everyone. It's so cool to see them do their thing!

@egopocalypse is definitely someone I'd like to get to know better– because I'm honestly kind of intimidated. I believe River is into ARGs as well as writing things, and also is a freaking master of codes, which, is like, freaking wow.

@crystalninjaphoenix has a few cool-looking JSE ego AUs! I haven't read into them myself, but I see this person in my notes whenever I do any writing and I just wanna appreciate them too. They seem very sweet and it looks like they've put a ton of thought into their work :D

I know that @jasmineon is working on her own AU (which you can follow along with on the blog @fall-from-grace-au) and it looks super cool! It has a focus on Jackieboy Man and I know she's super excited to share it with the world! (bonus points: search #ffg au on her main blog to learn more about it!)

@a-septic-mind is one of my closer online friends I've made in this community, and although I haven't read her writing myself, I do know how passionate she is about it. She puts so much thought into how she crafts her stories and AUs– she just needs an audience for them. Go give her some love ^^

This is by absolutely no means everybody, just some that come to mind when I think of writers in the community– so what I'm gonna do is ask others to reblog this with their own additions of JSE community writer friends, and I'll reblog those.

Let's spread some love to the writers!