LOG

12/23/24: First anniversary

ROS has been up for a year now. And, as I expected, I don't really have much to say other than I'm just glad I didn't abandon this project. It's finally stuck around long enough to allow me to see a path I want to take it in: less of a replacement for social media features, and more along the lines of just a big gallery or digital garden for everything I'm willing to share online.

While I previously felt anxious about the viewership of the site going up, I realized there's really no invasive algorithm on Neocities that defines a site's visibilty, and unlike social media, there is less of an emphasis on numbers. It doesn't feel as oppressive anymore.

So, thank you—whoever you are—for viewing my site. As a celebration, I've doodled some of the ROS residents together. To another year ...!

The text reads: '1 year of Rare Oarfish Sightings!!'; Doodle of my OCs An, Vanitas, and Dahlia looking at a single cake slice
Doodle dedicated to Rare Oarfish Sighting's one year of being online
12/20/24: Changing formats again

I'm not sure why I didn't do this earlier considering the name of this page, but I've decided to switch to a somewhat themeless short-form format one last time. This is because one, I don't have too much to say, and two, I have my vices. The youth yearns for the microblog.

Anyways. I finished the new layout !!!!! I learned git and semantic HTML and everything !!!!!!!! So on my site profile please comment "I love you A.A. Fish you are the smartest programmer in the entire world" !!!!!!!!!!

11/14/24: Webmaster woes and planned updates

I've finally gotten out of that "creative funk" that I described in my last log entry. In place of it, my brain has spurred on this immense feeling of unease about having a presence online. The site's anniversary is next month and I don't have anything fantastic to show for it, nor anything really meaningful to say—yet its viewership keeps growing. Looking at numbers is the very trap of social media, I know. But the pressure to perform is a natural one, so I'd rather say my piece now before I retreat back into my shell.

I'm currently working on one last layout for this year to get rid of the uneasiness of managing my site. It's not a big jump as compared to the revamp back in March, but hopefully it'll lose the jankiness and become easier to maintain.

Live preview of a testing room file for the site
Live preview of my testing room file

Sketch for an index update
Sketch for an index update

You can also expect the project and shrine pages to be in development again sometime after the layout change. In fact, I've decided to move the shrines to the project hub, where I'll instead just compile some short words for my favorite pieces of media on one page.

Wireframe for a new shrine page
Wireframe for a new shrine page. I promise the colors won't be this ugly

I'm trying to make animations again too, so hopefully my Youtube channel purge won't be in vain either.

Popipo x Mouthwashing WIP
9/24/24; Video scraps and my whereabouts

Hello, it's been awhile since I've been online ... This year has been very strange for me creatively. It's difficult to describe, but essentially I've been having these strange fluctuations between not creating anything at all to creating a copious amount of stuff. Currently, I'd like to think I'm in the middle of this phase.

This log was originally supposed to be an update on some planned pages for this site, but that's been post-poned until I get out of this creative funk. So for now, I've made a compilation of animation scraps I've made throughout spring to fall, and some commentary to go with it. I've kinda forgotten how to write for an online audience so I apologize if the commentary comes off as disjointed ... (′д` ) You can view the video by clicking the thumbnail below.

Thumbnail for a compilation of scrapped videos
This will take you to an unlisted Youtube upload.

This is technically a sequel to this other compilation of videos I made back in February, which I have also linked below. It was originally posted for my audience on Instagram however, so there's a bit of missing context.

Thumbnail for a compilation of scrapped videos
This will also take you to an unlisted Youtube upload.