29 July, 2025
Sometimes it's fun to get a little nostalgic, and when it's that time the Internet Archive usually has your back, at least when it comes to old webpages. This week, they sent out an email informing their most ardent fans that they have an early 2000's Geocities GIF archive set up at gifcities.org. You can search for whatever you like and odds are pretty good that there will be a bunch of old hand-animated GIFs from 2001 just waiting to greet your eyeballs with color-clashing wonder! But for me, the icing on top is that if you actually click on any of the GIFs, the Archive will try to load up the original webpage which that image was placed on. And from there... Well, it's just following breadcrumbs down a rabbit hole, isn't it?
For example, why don't you join me on an adventure to For the Love of Yaoi, a website from November of 2001 for a yaoi (gay, but just saying that wouldn't be anime enough) comic complete with fanart, character bios, an FUQ (Frequently Un-asked Questions) and all sorts of other delights. Interested in writing the author an email? Well you can find her at psycocatgirl at hotmail. Yes, that's how it's spelled, roll with it. Unfortunately, many of the images are broken on this site, but there's enough left in the original illustration gallery to get the general idea. This is classic 2001 internet here.
For the Yaoi not your kind of place? That's fine, why not a more personal website? Take a look at that URL: angelfire.com/emo/faeries/. That's a banger straight from the first click. Brandie here has got some excellent taste for 2002, although the color scheme of each of the pages certainly wouldn't tip you off to it. Honestly, there's a lot of personal pictures, poetry, and descriptions of her wardrobe here on this site, but I think that's why I like it. This is the kind of thing that the modern web just doesn't have space for anymore. Sure, you could post your personal poetry on your Mastodon feed or whatever, but would your followers be excited to see it? Here, it's Brandie's website and she can do what she wants to.
Alright, listen, let's take a turn back to yaoi again because that's where maximum cringe comes from on the 2000's internet. Join me at the Ecchi Fangirls Club if you dare. There's a warning right there on the first page, "open mind & ecchi thoughts required". It's basically a glorified webring with a members list, club rules, and some logos to include on your personal website. But really the whole reason why I wanted to write this blog is the Official Theme Song which I offer here, unedited:
EFG Official Theme Song!
Thanks to Auburn Lawrence for making the Ecchi Fangirls Club our very own theme song! Sung to the tune of "Barbie Girl" by Aqua.
Hi, Aya.
Hi Ken.
Do you wanna go for a ride?
Sure, Ken.
Jump In...
We're ecchi fangirls, in our ecchi world!
Keeping bishes from all those witches.
We mess with their hair, RP them everywhere...
Toys and lubrication, it's our imaginations!
Come on fangirls, let's go party!
We're ecchi fangirls, in our ecchi world!
Keeping bishes from all those witches.
We mess with their hair, RP them everywhere...
Toys and lubrication, it's our imaginations!
We're just hentai girls, and this is our yaoi and yuri world.
Dress them up, make them fight, we have great times.
Writing lemons, playing mushy, feel the ecchi thing.
They're kissing here, touching there, hanky panky.
We make them touch while we play, they are ours, they can be yours.
Uu-oohuh..
We're ecchi fangirls, in our ecchi world!
Keeping bishes from all those witches.
We mess with their hair, RP them everywhere...
Toys and lubrication, it's our imaginations!
Come on fangirls, let's go party!
(4 times)
We make them walk, talk cutsie, do whatever we please.
They are all the stars, we watch and drool on bended knees.
Come jump in, be our friend, let us do it again!
Hit the town, fool around, we'll all party.
We make them touch while we play, they are ours, they can be yours.
We make them touch while we play, they are ours, they can be yours.
Come on fangirls, let's go party!
(4 times)
We're ecchi fangirls, in our ecchi world!
Keeping bishes from all those witches.
We mess with their hair, RP them everywhere...
Toys and lubrication, it's our imaginations!
We're ecchi fangirls, in our ecchi world!
Keeping bishes from all those witches.
We mess with their hair, RP them everywhere...
Toys and lubrication, it's our imaginations!
Come on fangirls, let's go party!
(4 times)
Oh, I'm having so much fun!
Well, Duo, we're just getting started.
Oh, I love you, Heero...
Ugh, it's just...it's a masterpiece. Listen, you may feel like I'm making fun of these old websites, and I am, but I also love the absolute freedom and lack of self-awareness on display with each one. Honestly, this is how the internet was meant to be. The fact that the Internet Archive scooped these websites up so many years ago and is still around hosting them so that we can look back on them (fondly?) today is an incredible service. Some people these days are starting to create their own personal websites again (like this one, for example) and I can only hope that this trend continues so that generations to come can look back on our content with the same amount of ridicule which I'm heaping onto these poor, innocent souls. Because hopefully I deserve it just as much as they do.