Small Web September Kick-Off/Check-In 1: Goals!

[enchantedsleeper]

Somehow it's September already and the kick-off point for Small Web September has arrived! \o/

As a reminder, this is the first of five ‘check-in’/comment points that will be published during the event – you can check out the schedule and dates of these posts over on the event intro. There’s no cut-off point for commenting on these, so you can add something at any time – you also don’t need to comment on them all or do them in order! The themes are a loose guide, but all discussion is welcome.

This first post will be for introducing yourself and your project(s) and talking about what you’re planning to do during the month. Of course, there’s no obligation to stick to what you’ve set down and no-one will be checking up xD But it can be a nice thought exercise! You’re free to make the goal(s) as broad or as specific as you like – it’s totally up to you.

There’s no set format for this check-in, but here’s one you can use if you’d like (just copy-paste and replace the placeholders with your own answers in the comments):

<strong>Name:</strong> (Username, nickname, whatever you like to go by)
<strong>Project(s):</strong> (Share a link to your project(s) if you’d like to, and/or describe what you’re making or would like to make!)
<strong>What are you hoping to work on for SWS?</strong> (This can be as general as “add to my site”, or as specific as “archive X fanworks” or “implement a responsive layout”. You could even include ‘bonus goals’ – more ambitious things you’d like to get to if you have time!)

Also, if anyone would like to answer it, here’s a discussion starter: What interests you about the small/indie web, and how did you learn about or get into it?

Comments

[kalloway]

Name: kalloway
Project(s): lemonadecafe | The Lemonade Cafe (Fan & Original Fiction, some explicit content)
What are you hoping to work on for SWS? Archiving! Everything is currently a mess for various reasons I'll mention below. I'm going to set a goal of archiving five fics or chapters per day for the month though I'll probably have to adjust that down once I see how things are going.

What interests you about the small/indie web, and how did you learn about or get into it?

I've always been here! I made my first Geocities site in early 1997 and have always had some site of my own somewhere since. I had (have) a version of the Lemonade Cafe on a friend's hosting, however friend has had far more real life happen than is fair and I've lost touch with them and access to editing the site. I mirrored all the fanfiction on it to AO3 back in 2019 and started mirroring off original fiction to DW but got behind on that... I then stopped posting to AO3 entirely for [reasons] last year and am trying to get all my writing in a single place (technically two - DW & NC) under my own control and organized in a way that I personally feel makes sense.

Unfortunately my writing goes back to late-2002 and there's a lot and *sob*.

The nice thing is that I can always remind myself that if one approach doesn't work, I can always go back and arrange things differently, etc.

It's going to feel good to have it done.

But, otherwise, I just... the internet becoming five sites with people talking at each other and not to each other got pretty depressing and I've loved being on the Fediverse and just having random little conversations with people. I've loved seeing people's websites and it just... takes me back to the late-90's and wandering around webrings and spending all day looking at galleries or finding a random web novel. Just... look at all the cool stuff people are making, this is great!

[enchantedsleeper]

I was just browsing the list of fandoms on your Fanfiction page and noticed .hack//Legend of the Twilight - I don't often meet fellow .hack fans in the wild! \o/ You've got a wealth of excellent fandoms on that page (so many fandoms :O) but that one jumped out at me xD

Unfortunately my writing goes back to late-2002 and there's a lot and *sob*.

I hear that - my fanwork history goes back to 2005, and my "omnific chart" with all my fanworks has more than 150 entries. I'm sure your list has even more, especially judging by the number of fandoms xD It makes it feel like I'll never really be finished with archiving, particularly given that I keep making new works, but I'm hoping that I'll get into a rhythm with archiving and make more progress there. Annnny minute now. I just need to stop getting hung up on the look of the thing ^^;

But, otherwise, I just... the internet becoming five sites with people talking at each other and not to each other got pretty depressing and I've loved being on the Fediverse and just having random little conversations with people.

Absolutely, and I love getting that sense of fun and unexpected discovery back as I browse through people's websites <3 Who needs a day job, we should all just get to spend the whole day tooling around with 90s style webpages and finding cool stuff :D

[kalloway]

Oh yay, another .hack fan! I have admittedly never finished the games, but I love how broad the canon is. I think I'm still missing a bit of the later manga/novels but otherwise I've got a long shelf of it all. It's such a unique series.

I mostly write drabbles and other short things, so yeah. (I'm not good at having huge ideas, just little moments and jokes and filling in tiny gaps.) I suspect it'll take me years upon years to get everything archived but if I can catch up with stuff that's not on AO3 for any reason, either too new or too original or too whatever, it'll be a good start. Then I can chip away at stuff that's already somewhere at least. (I was going to say 'somewhere stable' but I don't entirely think I'd use that word anymore.)

I really do need an excuse to bust out my vintage gifs.

[enchantedsleeper]

Oh yay, another .hack fan! I have admittedly never finished the games, but I love how broad the canon is. I think I'm still missing a bit of the later manga/novels but otherwise I've got a long shelf of it all. It's such a unique series.

Me too! Legend of the Twilight was one of the first manga I ever read since it was available in my school library, though they only had volumes 1 and 2 so I bought volume 3 (and for a long time didn't own the others xD I have them now, though, after I had the strong desire to re-read and had left school far, far behind). I loved the PS2 games although I only got as far as #3 (Outbreak), because it was so hard to get hold of Quarantine for anything I could afford. (I must have got lucky with the other three). Now, I guess I can afford it, but I'm not sure if my save data from the other games will still load xD (I still have my PS2!)

I never quite finished watching .hack//SIGN, which I should really do at some point. I also love the .hack//AI Buster light novels and really wish they had a fandom; I've tried requesting them for Yuletide a couple of times, but no takers 😅

I mostly write drabbles and other short things, so yeah. (I'm not good at having huge ideas, just little moments and jokes and filling in tiny gaps.)

Those are my favourite kinds of fics to write, too. I have some bigger ideas but it's hard for me to finish them, so especially in the last 6 years or so I've tried to keep things constrained and write little things, not big multichapter epics. I know many fans can serialise fics comprising hundreds of thousands of words and even finish them and I take my hat off to them, but it couldn't be me xD

[kalloway]

I know many fans can serialise fics comprising hundreds of thousands of words and even finish them and I take my hat off to them, but it couldn't be me xD

Same, same. I have a trail of unfinished WIPs behind me and never again. (I mean, maybe I'll finish them someday, we'll see?)

Oh, the availability of the OG game quartet was just terrible. IIRC I pulled some stunts to track down one of them. (Maybe Outbreak?) GU keeps getting remasters, idk why they haven't done the originals yet...

[alaterdate]

Love that icon.

"under my own control and organized in a way that I personally feel makes sense."

This has resonated with me. I always felt like square peg not fitting into round hole when trying to upload something to AO3. It's a breath of fresh air to describe and collect my work how I want to. I've said this before, but you've been an inspiration to me!

"The nice thing is that I can always remind myself that if one approach doesn't work, I can always go back and arrange things differently, etc."

I redid nearly my entire site last October and it was glorious.

[kalloway]

TY! It was some eight-menus-deep confirmation for something back on LJ and when I saw it, I knew I had to make an icon out of it.

Aw, thanks. It actually took me years after making my account to really post to AO3 because it was too... a lot of things. I really only did the big back-up when I couldn't get in touch with my old host (which has happened again - site is still online but ??? so yeaaaah)...

One of my favorite old things to do was seasonal themes, at least on the home page. I think this year will be out, but maybe next year I can do seasonal changeups at least with graphics if not more.