Being on the indie web is so REFRESHING!!

No - seriously.
In the back of my mind, I always remembered a time where the social internet was more inspiring, personal, creative and more WEIRD.
But being born in 2005, I grew up right around the time social media shifted, atrophied into a hyper-profitable, algorithm-based ... something where genuine creatives are pitted against each other in a constant, sisyphean battle for relevancy.

And as someone who just wants to upload art for fun and to socialize, I feel...unwelcome there. I was practically raised on the internet, except on niche fandom forums (not "fandom.com"...) and DeviantArt, and as these spaces have slowly died out or folded to appease the demands of modern social media (never forgive Tumblr's hidden genAI-training toggle. traitors.), it's slowly started to feel like I just...wasn't meant to be here anymore!?

So when I discovered the indie web, HTML blogs, Neocities, Nekoweb I genuinely ... cried a little lol. Something about these maximalist, stamp- and button-hoarding, hyperpop-neo-y2k-frutiger-aero-weirdcore-ultra-kawaii-puppycore personal websites just fills me with so much unadultered joy. I love the internet. Not the one sold to us by technofascists - this one!

And I know my website falls very firmly on the minimalist side - not just by indie web standards but the wider internet in general.
But, with this website I wanted to achieve two things. One: Evoke the aesthetic of a standard, black and white manga scan. And two: allow my art to exist in a space without distraction. Kinda like a modern, béton brut museum. (Although I Fucking Love brutalist architecture and I'm often more fascinated by the museum itself than the art featured inside it lol.)

The main reason I migrated here was to archive my art, free of modern social media bullshit. OK - done. Now, however, I've kinda fallen in love with HTML and, I think, in the coming months I wanna set up a shrine for one of my special interests! So uhh.. stay tuned!?!?!

Thank you for reading! Much love, Lola >⩊<

HELLO!! My Neocities page is now of age (one week old) meaning I've been unleashed can now make comments like this and dump my stupid thoughts under your awesome websites. 

-

hi!! Thank you so much for giving my website a shout!! It felt kind of surreal reading my name, and made me much happier than you might think, lol.. (*ᴗˬᴗ) I also love what you're putting out there. Your writing is genuinely thought-provoking, and combined with the hints of interactivity and the presentation of it all, it is a *really* unique neocity that I'd love to see more of c: 

Testing this shitt outttt - edit: oh wow making collapsible text is surprisingly a lot easier than i thought. i was trembling at the idea of needing to write css or... javascript... (shudders)