Goodbye...?

My dear subjects,


I have found my kingdom. I am in the process of taking it back. I will be gone for a time, but do not fear. I know not if I will be back shortly or if I will be resigned to return but once a year. Some may call this a hiatus; some may consider it semi-retirement. All I can assure is that I seek the freedom to write in synchrony with my inspiration.


My greatest grievance with dead blogs was always that few authors failed to write a goodbye. Most disappeared, while some just faded with their lack of motivation. However, I think it courteous to always thank those who walked alongside you on your journey. To my inner circle, my supporters, and even just those passers-by: thank you. My path to the throne has been absolutely enchanting and I look very forward to the next leg of our adventure together in the Forgotten Kingdom. Until we meet again, whenever that may be. I am now the blogger formally known as Prince.


Long live the King

[I trust you can find the key on your own. It's been in front of you the whole time.]

aqcctdkas x de ylu pqc qcpndka tbds tbck ylu pqc icqtpdkhy jlqc dktchhdackt tbpk tbc qcst x fust tbc epit tbpt ylu tllg tbc tdjc tl ncidmbcq tbds mqlvcs tbpt wc pqc gdknqcn smdqdts x tqust jc x d wdhh qctuqk x sccdka ps ylu pqc pk prklqjphhy rqdabt dkndvdnuph mhcpsc tpgc ipqc le tbc gdkanlj dk jy prsckic x dt jpy rc elqalttck rut dt ds jlqc djmlqtpkt tbpk ylu iluhn gklw x qcapqns x mqdkic chd

Weave Me Tales of Irony

This is going to be one of my rare personal posts. As you may know, I write about dead blogs. I first stumbled across Blogger in the beginning of 2018 AD, years after it had began its decline. I lurked on the site for quite a long time, studying the ruins of the community that once thrived on this noble platform. It was inspiring enough for me to begin a blog of my own as a place to share my thoughts on Blogger. However, as of late I have been gradually losing my inspiration.


I still have an ever-growing list of dead blogs/bloggers that have piqued my curiosity, but sometimes I lack the words to say about them. At one point, I considered taking my blog in another direction by making it a blog where I follow up with dead bloggers and interview them as to why they quit or where they are at now. I potentially have the means to do so, seeing as I have a large collection of contact information at my disposal. But the challenge seemed a bit daunting and I didn't know exactly how to approach it. It makes me wonder how much content I should try to produce. When I started this blog, I had only four goals:


1. Acquire at least 10 views
2. Receive a non-spam comment
3. Acquire a follower
4. Have some kind of correspondence or community with like-minded people


At this present juncture, I have achieved three out of four goals. I still wish that others who like dead-blogs could have found my humble corner of the internet and joined me in my investigations to form a community of Blogger-sleuths, but I realize it was asking a bit much for an invisible blog on a dying platform.


How ironic would it be if a blog about dead blogs died?


Long live the Prince?

Wooden Hearts

[The Prince has decided to share one of his compositions for the first time.]


Chop my heart and whittle it
Into any shape you like
Gather up the shavings, give a spark
I'll give you light


Take my body, cut me
Shave and slice me paper-thin
Let your ink run down my pages
And engulf me in your sin


I fell for you like timber
Now I'm tinder under heat
Too far gone, and far too long
Since my wooden hearts have beat


My oaken shield and armored bark
Have met their time to burn
Invoked have I, the ancient words
That my wooden hearts return


All remains are scraps
Of a fractured masterpiece
Abuse what's left with no regret
Your name's on every sheet


LIVE AGAIN


Long live the Prince

A Breath of Cedar, an Ear of Song

I once more explored the deepest recesses of this odd land. I have been discovering older blogs of late by searching "[randomthings].blogspot.com", and a lot of the better URL's were taken earlier in the site's history. Among my discoveries, I found this blogger who started a large collection of day blogs. When read together, the blogs weave a story of a girl who is a veritable rolling stone. It took a bit of time to sort the chronology of the blogs, but here it is.


http://cedarfuckedup.blogspot.com/            03/17
http://whatthefucker.blogspot.com/            03/21
http://ifuckinghatethisshit.blogspot.com/     03/23
http://theseainsideme.blogspot.com/           03/24
http://receiptsfucko.blogspot.com/            03/26
http://runawayfromme.blogspot.com/            03/31
http://sweetrainfallsdown.blogspot.com/       04/07
http://listeningtoyoufuckmeover.blogspot.com/ 05/15
http://whycouldishouldiwouldi.blogspot.com/   05/20
http://parkingatnyparks.blogspot.com/         05/27
http://bakingcolors.blogspot.com/             05/28


The author, (a girl called Cedar), is quite the curmudgeon. She was apparently in possession of a Master's degree, had trouble forming lasting relationships, and has been to more places than I could keep track of. I couldn't find where it was written, but I believe the author once said something to the effect of "I wish someone cared enough to put the puzzle pieces together and realize that I'm not okay.". Her cries have not fallen on deaf ears. The Prince always hears the pleas of his people. It has been over a decade since Cedar has posted, but wherever she is, I hope she's doing well. If you feel led to do so, maybe show her some love on her blog? I think everyone can appreciate some love, no matter how long it's been. Stay fly, my people. And if you have a wandering heart as well, I hope your heart finds a place to call home.


Long live the Prince

A Little Update: Star-Crossed Lovers

In case you haven't read the original post, here it is: (http://longlivetheprince.blogspot.com/2018/04/star-crossed-lovers.html)


To recap, Friday Night Dream is one of the most somberly romantic things I have ever read. It is the correspondence of star-crossed lovers Catatonic and Valentina. Catatonic's Blogger account was always private and unviewable. However, I recently checked on the blog, and it appears he has gone so far as to delete his account.


I'm not entirely sure what it could mean in regards to their interaction, but it seems to me that Catatonic sought to distance himself. It is a dark day for the world of romance. Someday I hope to find out what happened betwixt them. Until then, you all are up to speed now. Keep love alive.


Long live the Prince

The Abandoned Bards

There seems to be no shortage of undiscovered artists in this strange land. If only these guardians of culture didn't perish in anonymity. It breaks the heart to see wasted potential. All art deserves a spotlight, and the motley crew known as "Soon To Be Famous" are no exception.


Soon To Be Famous (http://rockingsongs.blogspot.com/) is a blog connecting members of a somewhat informal band. Though the members of this group appear to travel somewhat frequently, it is presumed that all the members originated at one point from Tucson, Arizona. They were active on their band's blog for only a few short months (July-November 2004).


The members themselves were quite difficult to track down. And it seems evident that they were all quite fond of their musical endeavors, judging by the posts on the members' personal blogs. So it's mildly confusing as to why no audio recordings of their music can be found. Perhaps it was because 2004 was a different time and it was more difficult to create & share recordings. Or maybe their songs never became more than lyrical compositions. Suffice to say, my curiosity towards their music grew exponentially upon stumbling across their lyrics. If only the bards were still about. Alex was the most recent poster, with his personal blog being sparsely active until 2007. However, an affiliate of Alex-who has not been verified to be part of the band-was active from 2001-2011. That seems to be the latest remnant of this band of bards.


Here are the band members that I could find, in case you wanted to visit their personal blogs:
https://www.blogger.com/profile/08495329183951128982 (Alex)
https://www.blogger.com/profile/10433703016389221307 (Katie)
https://www.blogger.com/profile/14326621217698414113 (Sarah or Alex #2?)
https://www.blogger.com/profile/17318372660133267937 (Steve)


As is typical, I'm not really sure how to end this. The blog is a memorial for a crew of creative cavaliers who no longer weave words with wild whimsy. It saddens me in my adventures to see closed chapters of beauty and uniqueness; but I suppose that is where the beauty lies. Flowers are beautiful because they wilt. Everything is fleeting, which is what makes everything so breathtaking. Maybe someday this abandoned land called Blogger will lose its charm to me, but today is not that day. Long live the bands of Blogger.


Long live the Prince

Honorable Mention: Day Blogs

I don't know what it is about Blogger that allures people so fiercely for such a short amount of time, but I have seen so many blogs that were started and never lasted longer than a day. I thought I would mention a few here. Most of them look promising if you don't think about the fact that the only post is years old.


1. Angels Fall, Darling (http://midnightazia.blogspot.com/)
For a thirteen year-old, this youngling is a brilliant poet. It seems like she just wanted to post some poetry late one January evening.


2. Wednesdays and Rain (http://anotherboringwednesday.blogspot.com/)
Although this isn't technically a day blog, it shares many similarities with the previous blogger, so I wanted to include this week-blog in the list. The blog centers around a high-school girl named Wednesday. Yet another youngling that had enough emotions to merit posting on the web. As a note, her blog theme appears to be somewhat glitched. It's probably out of date.


3. Gubble Bum (http://gubblebumlove123.blogspot.com/)
I'm beginning to see a pattern in the age/sex of those who make day-blogs. This thirteen year-old girl created her blog not too long ago, compared to most of the other blogs I've seen. Glad to know blogging culture isn't dead.


4. Xox_bRiiT_xoX  (http://brittanylovescorey.blogspot.com/)
I have referenced this blog before in one of my posts, and it is one of the older blogs in my collection. It looked promising.


5. My Better Life (http://intro-lizzo.blogspot.com/)
This blog fascinated me for reasons I won't go into. But suffice to say, it's another day blog. This one does break the pattern of day-bloggers being minors, though.


Before actually compiling this list, I didn't notice any patterns. However, looking on it now it seems that most of the day-blogs I've seen are by women, most of whom were young.


If you know of any interesting day-blogs, feel free to drop links in the comments. Already this blog has lasted longer than these other blogs did. I hope that's a good sign.


Long live the Prince

Simple Subtraction: Ainsblog-Blog=Ainsley

I really don't have much to say about this, but I thought it warranted mention: There once was a gal named Ainsly. She had a blog with posts dating back several years (http://ainsblog1.blogspot.com/). It wasn't an amazing blog, but it was well-written and personal. She began her blogging pursuits in November of 2010 and had her final post in October of 2017. Without warning, she deleted-or drafted-all the content on her blog about five months after her latest post, leaving it blank in late April of 2018. There really isn't anything else I can say about the matter, but I thought it would be good to have a written record of a blog disappearance. I followed her blog at the time, when one day I checked on it and it was devoid of posts. I guess you could say it was another Blogger mystery...


Long live the Prince

The Infamous War Child

ATTENTION: Part one is a draft I wrote a while ago. Part two is an update. Something brilliant happened. Enjoy.


PART ONE:


I have been meaning to talk about the War Child for quite some time now. Hers was among the first lands I visited. The War Child's name was Skyclad, (sometimes referred to as Skyclad-Niall, Morphine Malaise, or Goth Girl). Here is her story as best I can decipher:


Skyclad is an author. She penned three separate blogs, my favorite being War Child (http://warchild-skyclad.blogspot.com/). In this blog she posted many short stories, poems, and revelations. It was obvious by the archives I found that hers was a soul birthed from battle and feud. It was clear that she had seen many things that no child ought to, and her written works make beautiful the hardships she had experienced.


In an effort to escape, Skyclad fled to a mysterious land called "Pan Historia" (http://www.panhistoria.com/). Pan Historia is such a curious place that I think it deserves its own blog post. With that in mind, I will keep the summary brief. Pan Historia is a site dedicated to collaborative fiction and roleplay writing. It was here that Skyclad wrote many works and dedicated many hours.


The difficulty in all this is that those who dwell at Pan Historia are incredibly difficult to track. The use of pseudonyms is employed as well as keeping any personal writing in character. Though I am an expert tracker, I was still unable to uncover the identity of the mysterious War Child. I was able to triangulate her location to Ontario, Canada. The trail went cold after that.


Skyclad's writing is some of the most brilliant I've seen. She began her journey in 2008 and mysteriously disappeared in 2011. I've been tempted to electronically mail her and inquire as to whether she is still writing, but I figured that would be ill-advised as her blog is a sliver of who she once was, and is not representative of whom she is now.


"You can't open up the story of my life, turn to page 738, and think you know me." -Arin Hanson


I encourage you to read up on the writings of the War Child. I'm sure you will find it an enriching experience. And if any of you know her identity, please send her my best wishes.


PART TWO:


Something absolutely brilliant happened. While part one was sitting in my drafts, I was assembling another draft titled, "Authors of Dead Blogs Whom I Have Considered Contacting". (It was simply a list of dead-blog authors and any contact information I managed to find. Please let me know if you would be interested in having that list published, by the way.) I had the great War Child at the top of the list and decided to revisit her Pan Historia account for curiosities sake.


After careful navigation of her many works, I found that two of her accounts had both been accessed within the last month, leading me to believe that she was still present on the site. In the name of art, culture, and curiosity, I infiltrated Pan Historia and made an account of my own. Miraculously, I was able to make contact with her Skyclad Niall account. I thanked her for her wondrous written-works and asked her if she was still actively writing. This was her reply:


"I am still writing actively. *S* Use the name Sky here of late. True, my blogger account has long been inactive. *S*"


The great bard is still at large, and the kingdom can rejoice. Thank you for joining me on this little journey of intrigue. If you wish to see Skyclad's work on the odd world of Pan Historia, here are the links to her various characters (in ascending order of activity).


http://www.panhistoria.com/Stacks/Novels/Character_Homes/home.php?CharID=1227
http://www.panhistoria.com/Stacks/Novels/Character_Homes/home.php?CharID=1397
http://www.panhistoria.com/Stacks/Novels/Character_Homes/home.php?CharID=6097
http://www.panhistoria.com/Stacks/Novels/Character_Homes/home.php?CharID=7902


Long live the Prince

Windows are Eyes to the Soul (Another Blogger Mystery)

This is perhaps one of the greatest Blogger mysteries to date. I have been cross-referencing countless blogs to gather the data and the pieces still aren't quite in place. It boggles the mind how many players in this crazed game there are!


I seem to have jumped the gun. Allow me to start at the beginning: This post is about Aurora, author of the blog "A Window Apart" (http://awindowapart.blogspot.com/). Here is her story as best I can decipher:


Aurora, (also known as Aurora-CW), is a young woman belonging to a family of five; her mom, dad, and two sisters--of which she was the proverbial blacksheep. Her family belongs to Romanian aristocracy, and her family moved from Romania to Hollywood when she was fairly young. Her large mansion in Romania is where she grew up, and she was initially quite distraught upon moving to Hollywood. She was active on Blogger for only 7 months, (September 2009-April 2010), during which her content consisted of photography, poetry, and beautifully woven illustrations about her life and the discontentment therein.


In her posts, she detailed many aspects of her life. Her family was incredibly wealthy, but she had no affinity for the well-to-do. Her father was kind, but her mother was typically overbearing. Her sisters were the picture-perfect children that made their parents proud while Aurora embarrassed them at all their fancy dinner parties with her antics and lack of class. She had two best friends named Andrei and Catalena. They met in Hollywood, California and had been friends for a long time. Andrei helped Aurora produce music under the name Bird Brigade. The music is on her MySpace account, but the audio files seem to be presently unavailable. There are many other things that Aurora details, but that is the bulk of definitive facts. Aurora's last post was on April 7, 2010. In the post, she communicates that she has been sent back to Romania against her will. It is unknown whether she was sent there on her own or if her family collectively moved.


Now you may be thinking, "Your Highness, this just sounds like another dead blog. What makes this so much more mysterious?". A valid question, loyal subject. Allow me to expound; Aurora's blog was not the only one of its kind. Under her blog's list of "The Fabulous", she links 14 blogs of whom she is affiliated/friends with. Five of those blogs no longer exist, and eight of the remaining nine were active and silent around the same time as Aurora's. Most of the blogs had a similar tone. Many of them were rich, depressed, and hedonistic Hollywood girls who hated life and portrayed their suicidal pessimism in poetic ways. All of them were artistic existentialists who also had an affinity for fashion and designer clothes.


Many seemed to be friends either through life or through Blogger. And if you visit the various blogs and the blogs that they link, it forms a massive web of blogs that are all alike. It's mind-boggling how deep this web goes, and even more confusing how or why they seemed to have been born and killed around the same times. Most of them started around 2009 and died around 2011 without any warning. One of her blog friends, Victoria, from "Belle de Hiver" (http://belledehiver.blogspot.com/) ended on the exact same day as "A Window Apart".


Aurora could still be in Romania for all we know, and all these other blogs that have been deleted, privated, or abandoned still pose a great mystery. How could a web so massive with so many similar parts die all of a sudden? The very existence of this web is a mystery, let alone its corpse. I encourage you all to dive down the rabbit hole and see what you can infer. It is quite a curious conundrum and I will certainly be preoccupied with it for years to come. If any of you are able to track down any members of this tangled web, I would be quite grateful. Almost every link these people provided are dead or unavailable with no clues as to how/why this interlacing network formed. Your best bet is likely the only active member of this labyrinth that remains: (http://mymotherfuckedmickjagger.blogspot.com/). Thank you.


Long live the Prince