About the website
The rationale of the website is explained on the home page.
The waterfall pixel art on the home page is from: Jungle Waterfalls (Morning), by Mark Ferrari (c. 1994-1996).
https://pixelartus.tumblr.com/post/88612727976/pixel-art-masterpieces-jungle-waterfalls-elvish-falls
http://www.effectgames.com/demos/canvascycle/
Leave me a note
If you have any additional information that would go well on one of the Topics pages, leave me a note on my NeoCities profile. (I think that's how this works?) I will try this for now, instead of posting my email and risk it getting Zucc'd by spam bots.
88x31 button
Feel free to link this if you like the themes or aesthetic of the site.
About the River Kingdom
What is the River Kingdom? I don't entirely know myself.
The impression I received from many old personal websites is that the sites were the author's personal realm. They did not merely have an aesthetic theme; they were a palace, a lair, a safehouse, a dungeon, a kingdom, a shrine, a home away from home. The place we wanted to be, and a place where we could be our true selves. A fantasy or, more often, a place that blurred the lines between reality and what reality should—and could—be.
That is what I seek. A kingdom where all with a kind heart are welcomed and all are protected. A land where the leaders genuinely care about the well-being of the entirety of the inhabitants and have the competence and tools to get things done. A culture where injustices are obliterated and where we are able to live up to our potential as individuals. A community where there is compassion, comradery, liberation, and peace for those who have been shattered by modern society. True freedom.
Why is that such a common theme in fantasy and yet so rare throughout the real world?
Source: eightbitstories (2019).
Source: Syntetyc (2013).
About me
The most liberating thing about the internet is that personality is more important than mundane biographical details or arbitrary characteristics that we have no control over. As such, I have never personally cared to gossip very much about the meaningless details of my own life.
It suffices to say that I'm a nerd with varied interests. I enjoy learning about history, art, philosophy, world cultures, internet culture, and gaming, among other things.
I suspect that, in time, this website will contain personal reflections as well as general nerd-ism.
What does the future hold for me, you, and the web? Who knows. Our journey is always "under construction." The past is not gone and the future is unwritten.
About you?
I would like to sign off by saying that I hope each and every one of you never forgets that we are a part of society, rather than apart from it.
Each of us—no matter how insignificant, young, "uneducated", poor, or "talentless" that we may perceive ourselves—has the potential to shape the world. That is not just a mindless platitude. Even I would have dismissed it as being such 15 years ago. However, seeing where my life has taken me over the years, I now realize that, even when I felt my weakest, most pathetic, and most hopeless, I still had that spark inside me. Somewhere, you still do too.
We are far greater than we have been conditioned to believe, especially those of us who are young and have been continuously spit on and tormented by school, family, work, and society at large.
You probably won't become a billionaire or a rock star, but if you have a passion you can make an ever-lasting impact on someone's life and the world. Indeed, that is the only way the world has ever changed. Every leader and person of significance throughout history was at one point just a kid who was treated like trash from their elders or had imposter syndrome wondering if they really had the ability to make an impact.
I believe in you. Just as random internet people saved my life by believing in me, the River Kingdom believes in you.
If you learn a single thing on this website, I hope it is the sentiment above.