Uh hi. Is this my first actual like blog blog post? I have no idea what i'm doing, but we'll see where this goes and whether this'll actually have a topic or it'll just be me rambling.
Recently, I've been trying to step away a bit more from social media platforms and the likes. I’m sick and tired of AI. And my data being stolen for AI. Also the doomscrolling. I can literally feel my brain rotting up there. As the internet just gets worse and worse, I can feel myself searching for an escape. Social media aside, I still want to see other cool profiles and use my creativity online, and I've found that neocities really hits that spot and making a website is so much fun oh my god. Added bonus of being able to dig up my rusty coding knowledge (which was and is almost nonexistent unfortunately).
I also love love love looking at all the other different websites on neocities it’s my favorite part by a million miles. I love looking at someone's website and seeing who they are. I love how their can personality comes through every little part. A CSS-less website can still have so much charm. A personal website is like someone's little house on the web. Their own space. Their world. Each one is different (except the blank templates rip). I don't who how to explain it, but I can almost feel each one. Like I'm actually there. I'm probably just going insane, but some are warm and inviting, others are bright and cutesy, still others cold and professional. Or cold and homey. Colorful and chaotic. Refreshing. Dark. Minimalist. Maximalist. Like the crisp morning breeze. Like a day in late summer. Always something new. Someone new.
Someone saw their favorite movie again for the 17th and is falling in love all over again. Someone is heartbroken about their breakup and the loss of their 9-year relationship. Someone does not love that new installment for the game series I've heard of but never played. So many lives being lived. So, so many. I love that feeling of exploring all of these worlds, knowing that there's always another one to explore just a few clicks away (I guess that makes me like an intergalactic traveler? That seems like a bit much though). I love the feeling of sifting through the neocities websites page, looking for the next person I'll meet.
I'm starting to think that that hub is the most important part for me. The trusty fallback amidst the constant newness. Maybe its just because i hate change (who doesnt?). Its not even just with neocities. When I'm going through a webring, that go to next webring icon is like my ticket out. Its not even that I don't like being on a website, its just a continued presence in a new place is so so comforting. I also like playing games with different levels but same aspects (what am I even saying). Like the same character and the same box you need to touch, just with a different setting? I don't know how to explain it. Now that I think about it, my oldest (and admittedly favorite) oc (who is a total mary sue oh my godd) is literally just this concept. Shes immortal and can travel between different like multiverses. She'll like get a headache with vision of a world in a multiverse and its future disaster, and its her job to go and stop it by herself?? (I put her through quite a bit of pressure huh 😭) also her direct involvement can't be known so she has to try and get other people to unknowingly like save the world lol. I loved making up stories of where she'd go next and as who. Maybe I wanted to be like her.
I always like sorting the neocities websites by random. Thats how I feel I find the most diverse amounts of websites. Doing this naturally ends up bring up a lot of abandoned websites. Last updated: 2021 type stuff. Its strange, almost like looking at a time capsule of someone else's life. I almost like it. I wonder what they would be doing now, whether they're even alive. It just reminds me of my own presence, that this stop on the tour is from days past. I'm not quite sure how I feel about it. Maybe you're feeling that same feeling right now. Maybe you're reading this article 5 years from now (or whatever your present is) because you were scrolling through random websites on neocities and found a funny looking one and starting sifting through the pages. Sorting by random also seems to bring up a ridiculous amount of abandoned websites-in-progress. Most of the websites I click on have maybe a functional index page and the rest of the site is just broken links, and were last updated 3 years ago. I get it, I can understand that feeling of starting something and never finishing it so well. That's what happens to most of the stuff I do. Maybe it'll happen with this website. It's almost guaranteed to happen to this blog. I've tried to make a blog a a few times before, tried to write articles several times before, but once I sit down to write, I can't think of anything I want to say.
Maybe that'll change one day.
I hope.