Years of Discovery:
I'm going to make a small thread about this particular aesthetic, unseen by many; misunderstood by most. It is no vaporwave, and it surely doesn't have the popularity of it either. Popularized by a particular European rapper Yajubin and then carried off to its ultimate form by the internet.
This is Xpiritualism; Or I'd rather call it Internet Surf Aesthetic.
I only want to make a short thread (I have to study sorry.) to bring light to it, because I find it so interesting. It has many weird notes unlike many other aesthetics; It is brash, contrasting, and at times violent. It is absolutely unfiltered and that is why I love it. There's nothing like it.
It is a call back to the days of the internet where you can go into google and begin your jouney and descent into being chronically online; going through websites starting off in newgrounds, clicking on an ad, and then enter the wild west. From playing flash games to seeing gore, and back to watching youtube videos; to then frequent a forum; and then look up the weirdest stuff on google. Nothing was curated for you for the most part, you had to go find it; you had to go on a journey.
Many of the websites you frequented were handcrafted instead of using major presets.
And at times, most of the websites, weren't of a high quality. But that doesn't matter. You were the first, you were the witness. An internet pioneer discovering websites unknown.
Many of the known users within their own forums, usually utilized profile pictures of their favorite media. Something done today; but there was something more particular about it. From the blur in the memories, it felt as if that person was the avatar. That is all you can remember after all. Its been too long; You can only remember interacting with them but the sentences are opaque; however their profile picture is ingrained.
Many of the individuals you interacted with back then, showed their love in the purest form. Displaying it. Love itself is the highest form of being. It shows no weakness and it is the light in the darkness. The game they enjoyed so much they displayed it; that game with the weird moon runes? They displayed that too! All of it; it didn't matter... it characterized their being.
Many users were adamant about their opinions, regardless of what it was in defense of. Religion? Games? Society? It was there; no person said the samething, but many had to argue.
It is a weird aesthetic, and I can't explain all either. Just what it means to me; and I suppose thats what makes it enticing. Its new.