I am not on Zorin OS now and have not been for a while... I did not want to say nothin' but...
What are you running these days?
Well... I have not yet settled on a name for it.
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Did you make your own OS? Ha ...
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Mysterious and intriguing... More details to follow?
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MongrelOS? bit of this, bit of that, bit of the other, maybe. 
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So ... Linux from Scratch?
You're not wrong.
I have assembled distros before by setting a base; then using modular packages to construct a desktop.
This time is different and my current build is scratch built and experimental.
I am Fed Up with experiencing Windows style domination and control on my own computer. For a tiny example, the shift in GTK4 to Gnome decided that they are entitled to recolor my icons to what they think the color should be.
It may seem unimportant, but is actually significant.
For visual accessibility, it is the end user who knows what brightness and colors are safe for them.
Or the average user who knows whether a color influences their productivity. For example, soft blue light can make you sleepy and less productive.
And LibAdwaita, which overrides controls you set and injects its own "following GNome's HIG in order to be what Gnome wants you to see." Yes, I tested libadwaita-without-libadwaita and I tested LibAdapta and the problem is that Gnome Keeps Changing LibAdwaita in order to break both workarounds, causing the maintainers of the workarounds to constantly lose sleep catching up to and fixing the breakages.
There was a simpler solution. Rip It Out.
Get rid of it.
I created a "Fake-Adwaita" which is similar in principle to "fake-root" that packages can see as the dependency fulfilled.
But it just sits there, overriding and injecting nothing.
Then, it came down to my frustration over gtk2,3, and 4, all being used on the system, GTK4 simplifying and removing things... I need a new toolkit. One compatible with all three; but moves forward with one logical and versatile ToolKit.
Combining them into one was the logical course.
I've been calling it RTK for lack of anything better; fundamentally, it is GTK4, but with the best elements of GTK3 added back in (as well as fixing the LD_PRELOAD problem) and it does not rely on or call any LibAdwaita extensions; it is a unified modular toolkit, nothing more.
And so far, everything is working really well. Ignore the theme, it is being used to demonstrate ability, not looks.
And then the X11/Wayland fiasco... My own opinion is that Wayland does get a lot right. But the implementation of it leaves too many holes, not to mention the security concerns of the fact that on Wayland, if you hack the desktop, you get access to everything.
It lacks the buffer of a reinforced server. But a server is not how I want to go.
So, I have been working on my own compositor and display manager, as well.
You can see why I needed to fission this off. A one-off comment, it led to questions that do not have simple answers and I did not want to hijack the other members serious topic.
My goal is simple: In all this internecine squabbling, I want to make sure I've got mine no matter what decisions other developers make as they jostle each other for dominance.
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AravisianOS is coming ... Hahaha! Of Course with a blue Theme I guess?
If I remember correctly, it was in 2021, when we first chatted about you @Aravisian making your own OS. I knew it was going to be a huge undertaking, but I supported you, because I believed in your mission statement. Here you are in 2025, slipping us a teaser of your progress, awesome! 
I agree, Gnome has produced far too much control, since the 40 series. They were not too bad in Gnome 38, but once they kicked off the 40 series, thats when they went off the cliff.
A lot of what we see in 4 was present in 3, but not strictly enforced. 4 did not introduce it, it brought stricter enforcement. It was not a switch; but a turning up of the dial.
No. I like it. 
I'm a fogey who prefers square corners, but otherwise, I actually like that quite a bit.
A simple script would square all the corners out, and about 7 minutes with Gimp in XFWM4 would get the titlebars.
I'm interested to see how far you'll end up taking this in the end. Even a distribution based on another is a monumental task for a single person, but it's been done several times. I'm not aware of single developer from-scratch distributions making any headway, but I suspect that's more about my ignorance than their existence.
I'm less bothered than you are about the current situation and immediate future, as nothing yet is harassing me for information/sign ups/mandating telemetry or upselling me, but the direction bothers me, and modularity has been an issue for me on Zorin. (See: my attempt to replace pulseaudio with pipewire, only to inadvertantly rip out zorin-os-desktop.)
If one knows how to write it. <_<
It takes me 7 minutes in GIMP to find the "draw a square" button. (Yes, I've used it and am not just saying that based on hearsay about its UI.) I'm not suggesting these are actually difficult tasks, only that finding a starting point is often harder than the work itself. Making my own themes hasn't interested me since Windows XP, and I lost interest in HTML at 3.0, before CSS, so a lot related to setting styles is utterly foreign.
Seriously though, the theme looked nice, and need not be ignored. 
Too much heat, i'm sweating in here lol. 
Thanks for clarification, its now strictly enforced, where before it was not. Just another reason why the Zorin bro's have to work so hard to make the OS usable, in the next release.
This is the bane of my existence and the cause of all procrastination.
But what I meant was - I can supply those (script, custom XFWM4)- or teach how.
And YES you are right that what I have embarked on is daunting. Toolkit, display manager AND I also have built my own forked XFWM4 that lacks the border with grab area problem - But what has made it doable so far has been taking one thing at a time. One goal, one project - then move to the next.
Integrating it... that is harder.
But that becomes one goal... one project... at a time.
It's a root.
As I was thinking about the state of things, it brought me back to thinking of the roots - it all began on Zorin OS 12.
I was trying to port Azenis theme to Zorin OS 12. After much novice attempts, I nominally got there...
What you are seeing above in the screenshot is Azenis-Prime, the latest incarnation that includes GTK4 and is my rebelliousness against Gnome, Flat, LibAdwaita... it is a statement.
And... I like it, too.
What I mean is... The dial is nowhere near set to max.
Yet.
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I’m happy to see you on your journey but please @Aravisian don’t leave this community because you are a loved integral part of all of us. Please stay!!!
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With this, I am changing my Forum Name to "Capt. Grumpy."
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I would really like to see this project continue, whether you're serious about it or just toying around a bit. A lot of great things started as side projects, so nothing wrong with taking it slow!
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With a Script, I can't help, but when You want no rounded Corners, maybe one of these 2 Themes could be something for You:
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