WHY KROKODIL?
Welcome to the originOne of my biggest accidental inspirations, a website that planted the idea in my head that websites could be wonky and home made, is fUSION Anomaly. I discovered this absolutely trancendant website a few years ago. I don't remember where or how but I do remember the thrill, curiosity and, to be completely honest, fear that filled me when I entered the mostly black screen with the thin white frame and the little yellow dot as my only proof of life. I had never seen anything like it. It was wonderful. Starstruck, I bookmarked the website on my dinky school chromebook and explored every node to its fullest. I can see some of the features like the mostly black backgrounds and the random exploration features in KROKODIL.
A few months ago, when the fUSION craze long had dissapeared from my memory, I saw a tumblr post advocating for "web-revival" and something called "NeoCities". It grabbed my attention, and as my eyes read the text, I could feel the fixation vibrations. The combination of intricate work to fulfill the life long wish to have a unique outlet on the World Wide Web, and the flame of revolt and revolution against the sterile, minimalistic, pre-set website making up the majority of the modern Internet, spoke to me deeply. I knew that this was going to become my life source for the next months.
KROKODIL is what I created. I thought a few days about the name. Conveniently, I had a half-cooked concept about creating a personal art-zine and therefore, had a whole pile of name ideas. Many didn't inspire me, like Sincos, Surgeree, Ajskreem, Odeon, Pocket. Others were mid and could have fit something else, like Kånst, Pjew Pjew, Braincrack, Maks. But then, there was the absolute BANGER ASS NAMES, like Station 7, Ell Ess De, Zhack, Pulver and Veiwing Hazard. (Please don't steal any of these, I may want to use them for something else...)
I was deciding between Zhack (from my internet name Dazhak, also because it sounds like "Tjack", a Swedish slang word for amphetamine), Ell Ess De (a literal spelling of LSD how it is pronounced in Swedish) and Pulver (a Swedish word meaning "powder"). Then one night, when I was casually bumbing my mostly Russian rave playlist while thinking of ideas, it all fit together in my mind.
Just as I was thinking of how my name suggestions are all weirdly related to both drugs and Sweden, the track "DOLBOEB" by Russian Village Boys came on. I love that track, so I got distracted and nodded along to the quick, fried beats. But this time I actually tried to listen to the lyrics, why not check how my Russian comprehension is doing? And, as you probably expected, one of the most repeated words was indeed "крокодил", or "krokodil".
In the song, "krokodil" refers to Desomorphine, a drug similar to heroin that can cause extreme skin ulcerations, infections, and gangrene from long term usage. It is many times stronger and more addictive than heroin and rots your skin and fat layers, making it look burnt and scaly like a crocodile, hence the street name "krokodil". Since I have an uncontrollable hunger for knowledge about anything vaugely Eastern European, I had alredy researched the drug earlier and seen horrific pictures of the effects. (Here is an article that is both extensive and summarising, no graphic pictures either.)
It was like the perfect representation of me, my obsession with Eastern Europe and my interest in the morbid. It was a drug street name, meaning the exact same badass animal in both Swedish and Russian. I had to name the website KROKODIL. I don't know why I used all caps but they look cool, and are mandatory when referring to it.
When I revisited fUSION Anomaly to write this, I saw the website through new eyes. It felt familiar, not only because I explored the website before, but because I understood it. Making my own website made me realise that fUSION Anomaly wasn't so mysterious any more. I understood how the code must look like and how the links were sorted into folders behind the graphics and text. It is still my favorite online creation.
Why though? Why make the website?
I don't know, asshole, why not make one? One of my worst habits is trying to milk purpose out of everything I do, when it might possibly be, and hear me out here, just for fun? *sound of imaginary haters's brains exploding*
