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aesthetics and identity
Feb. 28th, 2025 12:54 pmso ... aesthetics . aesthetics as in both general sense of beauty , and as in specific styles and subcultures around these styles . think this sort of problem probably always could happen , but much more often now , that people feel lost without aesthetics to guide - life is something to put inside this pretty box and show off , to prove to others .
think that is real shame , and see ways people hurt from this . some people even talk about media in aesthetics only : cottagecore dream book , perfect fall aesthetic movies , princess aesthetic music , so on . not important to know or enjoy actual contents ... just aesthetics . on flip side , there is silent implication that anything outside aesthetics not worth attention .
that is part which frighten kossai , this idea that everything which engage should fit in same boxes , individual preferences mean nothing . also not entirely sure how to say , but like ... to limit to any subset of media - genre , aesthetic , target audience , anything - can seriously limit information and topics which come in . strict focus on feel good aesthetics can also really hamper engagement with media that specifically do touch on important topics .
of course very well familiar with how aesthetics and genre preferences will influence what draw in to start with , but think that is not reason to write off and refuse everything else .
kossai did first dip toes in star trek through one of holodeck episodes , where characters mistake voyager crew as faeries - direct line of interest ! but did not write off this episode , or any others , because scifi plots with obvious scifi aesthetics . star trek series can have fun plots and important topics both , and happy that was able to find episode to dip toes in and build interest in franchise , without feel totally swarm in only scifi aspects ... hopefully this make sense .
of course , maybe could argue in some way kossai is hypocrite - talk before about music library , and that sort more or less by ... aesthetics . like to think different , of course - kossai do not only own and listen to this library , or write off other music entirely . just by circumstance of HOH-ness , lyrical music can be harder and need more effort to listen , so instead main library is large assortment of instrumental and soundtrack .
another point which think deserve attention is in hobbies . remember lifestyle lolita list ( livejournal link ) and other things like this , hobbies and activities to directly incorporate some of most flowery and romantic interests . and that ... again , understand that aesthetics and current interests can be bridges to new things - would never say someone need to find some " purer " reason . but again - is this for true happiness and interest , or just to play part ?
on flip side , sometimes will have to do boring and awful things - understand want to add some whimsy and beauty . this is exactly why kossai giggle about idea of bring jaunty market music into stores , listen to something more upbeat and fun than whatever radio is on , take some control over task that is physically painful .
yet still , there will be situations which just can not well pretty up - and still worth time and effort . should not wear most beautiful clothes to go paint or garden , but these things can so well fulfill that aesthetics of tasks not important - and worry that too much heart in aesthetics can undermine that .
sort of hard to navigate all this in just words alone .
think that is real shame , and see ways people hurt from this . some people even talk about media in aesthetics only : cottagecore dream book , perfect fall aesthetic movies , princess aesthetic music , so on . not important to know or enjoy actual contents ... just aesthetics . on flip side , there is silent implication that anything outside aesthetics not worth attention .
that is part which frighten kossai , this idea that everything which engage should fit in same boxes , individual preferences mean nothing . also not entirely sure how to say , but like ... to limit to any subset of media - genre , aesthetic , target audience , anything - can seriously limit information and topics which come in . strict focus on feel good aesthetics can also really hamper engagement with media that specifically do touch on important topics .
of course very well familiar with how aesthetics and genre preferences will influence what draw in to start with , but think that is not reason to write off and refuse everything else .
kossai did first dip toes in star trek through one of holodeck episodes , where characters mistake voyager crew as faeries - direct line of interest ! but did not write off this episode , or any others , because scifi plots with obvious scifi aesthetics . star trek series can have fun plots and important topics both , and happy that was able to find episode to dip toes in and build interest in franchise , without feel totally swarm in only scifi aspects ... hopefully this make sense .
of course , maybe could argue in some way kossai is hypocrite - talk before about music library , and that sort more or less by ... aesthetics . like to think different , of course - kossai do not only own and listen to this library , or write off other music entirely . just by circumstance of HOH-ness , lyrical music can be harder and need more effort to listen , so instead main library is large assortment of instrumental and soundtrack .
another point which think deserve attention is in hobbies . remember lifestyle lolita list ( livejournal link ) and other things like this , hobbies and activities to directly incorporate some of most flowery and romantic interests . and that ... again , understand that aesthetics and current interests can be bridges to new things - would never say someone need to find some " purer " reason . but again - is this for true happiness and interest , or just to play part ?
on flip side , sometimes will have to do boring and awful things - understand want to add some whimsy and beauty . this is exactly why kossai giggle about idea of bring jaunty market music into stores , listen to something more upbeat and fun than whatever radio is on , take some control over task that is physically painful .
yet still , there will be situations which just can not well pretty up - and still worth time and effort . should not wear most beautiful clothes to go paint or garden , but these things can so well fulfill that aesthetics of tasks not important - and worry that too much heart in aesthetics can undermine that .
sort of hard to navigate all this in just words alone .
