Old Internet, New Beginnings
May. 30th, 2025 01:44 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
arcadiamoonThis journal is yet again another foray into me trying to find my way back to the old Internet roots I just missed the boat on but was too young to fully immerse myself in or grasp the fact that one day all of the web would be either filled with bots or full of people all screaming over one another, vying for everyone's diminishing attention spans.
I did try to make a Neocities, and it is still an ongoing project, but the amount of time I need to devote to coding is too much to do in bulk, so I try to fix my site sporadically and when I actually remember I have the project going on.
It's been a really long week. Life hasn't been the best since the year started, and I'm genuinely at the tipping point for my job. I've started looking for new opportunities, but I still feel like I'm losing my mind. It's very hard to stay motivated in such a toxic environment, although it's been hammered into me that I should be grateful that I have a job in the first place. Point being, I'd like to keep my sanity, while still making money to save up to go back to school.
Anyways, here's my weekly roundup of what I've been entertaining myself with:
- The Department of Truth Vol. #30 - I have strong feelings about this issue, which I'll talk about below.
- Still reading my borrowed copy of On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous, which is starting to be a slog to read through. Beautiful prose, beautiful sentiments, but I much prefer Ocean Vuong's poetry to his half-poetry, half-prose thing he's got going on.
- Poetry by Richard Siken - The first poem in this link, which was definitely written for Condor of the 1975 Pollack film, all blonde and gorgeous, with Robert Redford's angel face.
Firstly, we still have Ruby talking to the homeless man she picked up, alluding to her mysterious backstory. Despite her being one of the few who have seen Babalon, we haven't gotten an explanation of how exactly it happened, and I wonder if it will be brought up in future issues. (By James' admission, we only have 20 issues left, and I'm not even sure if he might make a spin-off.)
Then, we've got Cole and Hawk, still at the bar. I swear, for all Hawk's teaching, I don't think we've seen Cole use his magic yet. And that's what I rather hope will happen, because it seems like the entire comic is leading up to Cole becoming the new Director, using both Lee's drive and determination coupled with Hawk's 'stick it to the man' attitude and magic. I have no idea how James is going to wrap it up, but I'm slightly apprehensive.
And then there's Lee. My sweet, stupid old man who is clinging onto his position as Director as tight as he can. I could talk for hours about Lee, about how he's literally built it the Department up from the ground, since it was only created by Capra, which means he got in around the ground-level. It's sixty years of blood, sweat, and tears, and it's literally all Lee has left. And despite what Doc tells him, he can't simply just hand it off to the children, because I think, he's a total control freak. Plus, he has a vision of how this story is going to end, and it has to run his way.
Then, what he does, what this stupid, stupid idiot does, is to talk to the President of the United States, ie. since this is following real life, a certain orange someone, and tell him that he's going to help him Make America Great Again using the Department. It's a hell of a risk. It's the stupidest thing I've ever seen Lee do, since creating Mothman with Doc. It also made me feel very, very cold inside, because I'm sure this is where shit is going to get real. I don't know what he's going to do next, or what's going to happen.
I think this is going to lead to the Department going public, and that would probably trigger some sort of Fiction apocalypse which Babalon descends from the sky and smites Lee into ashes. I know very well he's not going to last to the end of the series. He's 80 years old, and half a fiction. But I just really, really hope he pulls through.
Also, I discovered that Babalon has a male counterpart, at least, in legend. Her consort is Chaos, the Father of Life, which is the male form of creative principle. I'm guessing that it's Lee, or Cole, or whoever holds the mantle as Director (man or woman, either or). I don't know what it all means in the long run, or if James would even use that, but stranger things have happened. I know the next few issues are going to focus on Frank and how she got embroiled in the Department, so I doubt I'll be seeing Lee for the next three issues, if anything. And I'm real worried.
But anyways, I don't know, I guess I was just so caught up with the fun and intrigue of the comic that I forgot it literally takes place in the present, hence my shock at who the President was, or that Lee would even do that. But it makes sense. He's a prideful old man who wants to save his life's work, even if he says he's doing it for the good of everyone. So I guess we'll just have to see where this all tragically leads.
The Hot Wet Queer Summer jam is almost upon us, as is the Neo-Twiny Jam. I've prepped the best I could for HWQS, and I have an idea for Neo-Twiny, but I doubt I'll be able to juggle both at the same time. Hell, I'm not even sure if I'll be able to get my project done at the end of HWQS anyways, and that's three whole months worth of writing. But I know I have to go through with it, especially since I've posted everything online, and have paid for a very, very nice book cover. It'll be my first time putting anything out there.
The one thing I've come to realize is that I actually despise marketing myself, but as an indie author, you have to. No buts or ands or ifs. You have to. And it's bad enough that marketing is my job, which means that despite my knowledge, I am basically doing my job all over again... With the client being myself. Ugh! But I am excited to write this project. I don't expect it will sell, or that anyone will notice it, but it'll be nice to actually put something out there for people to stumble upon. No muss, no fuss.
I'll probably be talking more about the HWQS project as the jam progresses, but for now, all I can say is that it's a sci-fi mecha body horror. I've always wanted to write a mecha story, so this will be interesting.
Welcome!
Date: 2025-05-30 07:34 pm (UTC)Do keep mentioning that in your Interests, tags, introductions, and so on. There are lots of people into it and that helps find each other. Things like "old web," "small web," "indie web," etc. are synonyms.
The Follow Friday Master Post has lists of active communities by topic where you can look for some based on your interests. Many bloggers use recurring posts to pin down their key interests and maintain activity, which is also a good source of inspiration if you aren't sure what you want to post yet. The next big event will be the
>>I still feel like I'm losing my mind. It's very hard to stay motivated in such a toxic environment, although it's been hammered into me that I should be grateful that I have a job in the first place. <<
Bear in mind that it's not a profit if you wind up losing your health, which is a serious risk at a miserable job.
>>Poetry by Richard Siken - The first poem in this link, which was definitely written for Condor of the 1975 Pollack film, all blonde and gorgeous, with Robert Redford's angel face.<<
If you like poetry, I'm holding a Poetry Fishbowl on Tuesday, June 3 with a theme of "Gentleness Is Strength." Drop by and watch the fun, or give me some prompts.
Re: Welcome!
Date: 2025-06-01 07:26 am (UTC)And yeah, I'm already looking for a new job, so hopefully I'll be out of there in no time.
And thank you for the invite to the Poetry Fishbowl! I'll see if I can make it then :)
Re: Welcome!
Date: 2025-06-01 08:14 am (UTC)I'm happy I could help.
>> And yeah, I'm already looking for a new job, so hopefully I'll be out of there in no time.<<
I wish you luck with it.
>> And thank you for the invite to the Poetry Fishbowl! I'll see if I can make it then :)
I hope to see you then! :D