cryptid in a jester hat

- i’m socially exhausted - i don’t have the time right now - i don’t know how to reply - i have a bad memory and got distracted - i’m having a depressive episode and don’t have the energy to socialise

not reasons i haven’t replied back:

Idk when I was younger, you could just go and go and find exciting new websites full of whatever cool things you wanted to explore. An overabundance of ways to occupy your time online.

Now, it's just... Social media. That's it. Social media and news sites. And I'm tired of social media and I'm tired of the news.

You're right that the internet is smaller than it used to be, but there's still some cool stuff left in the corners. I'd recommend checking checking out Neocities if you haven't--it's an independent web hosting platform like Geocities of the old web, and there are hundreds of interesting and active pages discoverable both through their search function and through web buttons (links attached to small pictures with the title of a website) within the websites themselves. Here are three examples of web buttons you may find in link pages:

Most Neocities websites have link pages or button collections with anywhere from tens to hundreds of these. Don't be afraid to explore!

If you're looking for something more like a search engine, I can point you towards Marginalia. It's not a particularly smart engine, but it's perfectly usable if you've ever been taught to use search engines back when they were mostly run through keywords instead of full sentence comprehension. There's also an "about" and "tips" section on the front page with more information. The algorithm of Marginalia can be filtered by the user to allow, disallow, or require JavaScript depending on your needs, plus there are filters designed specifically to prioritize web 1.0 sites or mostly text-based ones. It is possible to search for modern websites with it, but it can return websites from just about any decade (since the invention of the web, obviously) so long as they contain the information you're looking for. For example, here are some random interesting sites I've found using Marginalia:

Native Languages of the Americas: Native American Cultures

BASIC HTML COMPETENCY IS THE NEW PUNK FOLK EXPLOSION!

Earthbound Text Labs by Bill Eager

The possibilities for discovery are truly endless.

Now you might want to know about directories. These make browsing for websites easier, but require you to read through and judge which ones to visit, as there aren't algorithms ranking the sites besides the whim of whoever coded the directory. Some of them have themes, others don't. Here are two that I've used:

Yesterlinks Directory

Ichigo Directory

Directories can be harder to come by just by surfing the net, but they aren't impossible to find. Many personal websites have their own directories of interesting sites hidden within them.

Webrings are similar to directories, but are actually more community-based. You have to register your website to be a part of a webring, usually by sending an email to whoever runs it and meeting some kind of entry criteria. For example, my personal website used to be a part of a webring called Sweet Dreams, which was for websites that heavily utilize color palettes and images of cute things, particularly sweets. Webrings will give you access to a widget upon entry that allow visitors and other members to browse between the registered websites in a massive ring, ergo, where the term gets its name. Webrings can have any theme or criteria for entry. If you can make a website about it, you can find a webring for it.

Now, you might be wondering about social media alternatives. I can't offer much, but I can nudge you towards the idea of forums. Here's one I found that could really use some traffic. I also browse a bit on MelonLand forum, which is actually closed right now--it's currently closed on Mondays--but on any other day of the week, you can find a fun community there dedicated to web revival. You can find it through MelonLand's main page. I'd also recommend checking out SpaceHey, which is a MySpace clone that's customizable and easy to use.

like when he’s yelling “VA TE FAIRE FOUTRE” at Louis while he’s slamming the incinerator door shut in season 1, and then in the divorce court scene in tvl he says the same thing but he sounds like a whiny gay housewife. queerest line read in the whole show, I’d call it a hate crime if it wasn’t so accurate

and then the contrast between him whispering/hissing/drawling “I have the blood of Akasha in me” in season 2 and then his weird blithe tension in the tour bus in tvl when he says the same thing. Like he’s a middle school edgelord saying he has an everything-proof shield on the playground. Wild shit

Louis sees Lestat as this primal force of nature who looks like a romance novel hero, can effortlessly control any room, is "preternaturally charming," impeccably turned out, no one can say no to him for long.

but we get in LESTAT'S head, and suddenly he has scars and a tangled mane of hair, people are constantly talking over him, he sweats, he's getting beat up and his clothes are getting destroyed in a non-sexy way, he's flailing around wildly with NO idea what he's doing, people (lestat included) think he's untalented and annoying.

And LOUIS, well. Louis clearly sees himself as uncanny, reserved, compelling but a little off-putting. He is other: cut-off from humanity, holding his emotions and relationships at arm's length.

It's just video after video of people cringing and going "i don't know if I can be okay with this" or "Ok, it's different for vampires, but still weird" or "the episode is spent trying to tell us that 'it's different for vampires, sure', and the episode is telling us none of these things??????

I get that incest is a really taboo, confronting subject, and that might make it difficult to process, but the show is telling us so much about Lestat's feelings?? It's right there! What exactly is it about the story that is telling you you should be okay with the incest??? If it was just a handful of people reacting like this, I wouldn't be as surprised as I am, but it's pretty much every video I've seen?

Even the responses that aren't just knee-jerk disgust or reluctant acceptance barely draw from what the show is giving us, and in one particular case resort to Freudian "strong mother figure" Oedipus complex nonsense?? Or then it's just a game of thrones joke.

Again and again, Lestat's perfunctorily flippant voice over addresses the elephant in the room, and his arguments/assurances get progressively weaker. We are shown multiple times that Lestat has never been in an equal position to his mother, and that she has taken advantage of that since their mortal life. There is an inherent power imbalance to their relationship (parent and child) that was only exacerbated by their abusive surroundings, and despite Lestat's arguments, immortality has not, and will not change this!

Lestat isn't an enthusiastic active participant in their sexual relationship! For God's sake, look at his face! His expressions alone should tell you everything you need to know!