what is kibzone?

this is my personal website! here, you'll find me writing about the media I'm checking out and whatever else is on my mind. I've also got cool stamps and buttons, some quizzes (well, just the one for now...), and a collection of personal sites I like, if you're into that sort of thing. I'm hoping for more to come in the future, so stay tuned! :]

okay, but why is kibzone?

in today's internet, it's easy to let the currents pull you in whatever direction keeps your attention. it takes an active effort to break away from that and make something, and I think it's easier to do that when you have somewhere to channel your creative energy.

...in other words, kibzone is an excuse for me to make stuff! creating things is fun in and of itself, of course, but starting from a blank canvas every time can be daunting. for that reason, I believe there's value in having a space where these small bursts of creativity can work towards a larger whole. it's like an ever-expanding painting where I can add whatever I want, whenever I want - it's very freeing! :]

history of The Zone

the earliest version of this site came about in january of 2024. I'd just gotten done playing hypnospace outlaw, a neat little game where you explore a pre-y2k internet landscape you can only access in your dreams. it does an incredible job capturing the joy and freedom of the early internet, and it got me looking at the indie web of today.

my attempts to learn html/css in the past had never gotten far. but when I saw how many resources are out there now - such as the layout builder that powers this site - it gave me the courage to try again!

...anyway, I dropped the project almost immediately LOL. that version of kibzone never saw the light of day, but you're not missing much. about the only thing on it was a blog post about early pokemon spinoffs. (admittedly, that would be fun to revisit someday...)

fast-forward to one year later! I don't remember how I came across it, but I ended up discovering the melonland forum. it was a welcoming little forum, like the one I remember hanging around as a kid, full of people making their own personal websites! seeing everyone's creativity really expanded my idea of what a website could be, and I finally decided to give kibzone a serious effort.

and now, here we are! the site officially launched on january 4th, 2025, meaning it's over a year old now. hooray! :D