Wizard's Statement
[source]
I considered not even doing something like this given that if I'm honest most of the answers I have are split between "I don't know" and "david_lynch_eraserhead_no.jpg" so there wasn't much point, but upon some reflection there are perhaps a few things.
the first may seem obvious but the bulk of the work on here (text/story) is fiction, which I mention not necessarily for disclaimer purposes, even though they apply, but as a word and concept that does get questioned on occasion with regards to its "worth". scare quotes probably give you some idea on my estimation at minimum of the amount of follow-up questions regarding metrics that word requires, but it's also a decent segue to the next point: I would say the Network has at least one core principle, but no core purpose other than to be.
that is at least what we're shooting for, although admittedly at least for me it's been a different way of approaching something so unsurprisingly given those conditions it's a continual learning process. to continue the confession, though, that was part of the appeal-- not that the streets don't find their own uses for things, but even when you take into account it, uh, manifesting all this *gestures at webpage(s)*-- I dunno, deciding or perhaps more accurately acknowledging that I was not going into this with some endgame or specific goal other than maybe following the rabbit hole. but at the end of the day the Hávahol, Cobragate, and Queen Hum are simply there to be, and to a large extent so is their story.
great place for the next segue though because going back to that first point: I think a thing that often happens with fiction especially in recent years (maybe I just noticed, who knows) is that it gains some weird level of respectability if it's being used like a Party City mask or landlord special coat of paint to hide the True Story (tm), which often ties into another trend where fiction or really any artistic effort in general is assumed to be The Author Processing Something or that part of the "worth" is perhaps derived from a therapeutic or otherwise healing benefit of the creation. and to be clear: I am more than willing to believe and accept this may happen for some people, but as usual for me I would like this logic to continue to the idea that it should not be assumed. I have nothing against literary analysis but that is not the same thing as current pop structures where a narrative is apparently meant to be the brightly colored sugar pill that makes the “truth" or author palatable, and I unfortunately don't think it's a coincidence that this dovetails in to the current monetization/attention economy that a large part of the mental health industry has hitched its wagon to, along with the already-there issues that aren’t really endemic to the field: there’s a lot about getting back to normal, but not much about becoming something else. if you’re going to come back wrong; don’t come back. you will be fixed, healed, and optimized, and if any of this is starting to sound like human resources/marketing jargon, don't worry about it. other products don't, after all. I realize there's an argument when a work has at minimum one piece of the author very obviously in it, but: not as much of a Tolkien fan as many (perhaps a surprise) but his frustrations with his war experience being assumed to be the “true" story of LotR or whatever are resonant, along with perhaps his reasoning, because if you read this far I will tell you the secret of why I started screaming at the universe and making questionable occult decisions:
