i think the near-extinction of people making fun, deep and/or unique interactive text-based browser games, projects and stories is catastrophic to the internet. i'm talking pre-itch.io era, nothing against it.
there are a lot of fun ones listed here and here but for the most part, they were made years ago and are now a dying breed. i get why. there's no money in it. factoring in the cost of web hosting and servers, it probably costs money. it's just sad that it's a dying art form.
anyway, here's some of my favorite browser-based interactive projects and games, if you're into that kind of thing. 90% of them are on the lists that i linked above.
A Better World - create an alternate history timeline
Alter Ego - abandonware birth-to-death life simulator game
Seedship - text-based game about colonizing a new planet
Sandboxels or ThisIsSand - free-falling sand physics games
Little Alchemy 2 - combine various elements to make new ones
Infinite Craft - kind of the same as Little Alchemy
ZenGM - simulate sports
Tamajoji - browser-based tamagotchi
IFDB - interactive fiction database (text adventure games)
Written Realms - more text adventure games with a user interface
The Cafe & Diner - mystery game
The New Campaign Trail - US presidential campaign game
Money Simulator - simulate financial decisions
Genesis - text-based adventure/fantasy game
Level 13 - text-based science fiction adventure game
Miniconomy - player driven economy game
Checkbox Olympics - games involving clicking checkboxes
BrantSteele.net - game show and Hunger Games simulators
Murder Games - fight to the death simulator by Orteil
Cookie Clicker - different but felt weird not including it. by Orteil.
if you're ever thinking about making a niche project that only a select number of individuals will be nerdy enough to enjoy, keep in mind i've been playing some of these games off and on for 20~ years (Alter Ego, for example). quite literally a lifetime of replayability.
these are some games i like playing with my friends, feel free to leave additions in the replies =3 all of these games are accessible through a desktop/mobile browser, although i don’t know how many of them would work on mobile.
tough love arena: a super fun beta fighter! you can play rolling 1v1 matches in lobbies of up to 8 people
gartic phone: kinda like the game telephone, but for drawings instead!
skribbl.io / sketchful.io: pictionary! you can add your own prompts.
draw battle: kinda skribbl/sketchful but team versus team!
frantic fanfic: put in your own characters and work together to make fanfics! HIGHLY RECOMMEND!!
giddio: buncha board and table games!
tagpro: topdown tag game!
codenames: use teamwork and hints to guess your team’s code names!
town of salem: mafia type game– might be difficult to play nowadays
mafia.gg: ever played TOS or any mafia game? this is a simple text-based form of it! really fun for roleplaying within the game.
one night ultimate werewolf: another social deduction game!
spyfall: game works better in call- figure out who the spy among you is by asking questions about your special location!
pokemon showdown: make a poketeam and play matches!
tetr.io: online tetris! kinda functions like tetris99.
there are a LOT of cards against humanity clones, like pretend you’re xyzzy or picturecards… i haven’t tried a lot of them, so proceed with caution!
geoguessr / virtualvacation: guess locations of places- virtualvacation is like geoguessr, but with videos instead
When I was a kid, my dad hated when I hung up anything on my walls. My art, band posters, movie posters, anything. Not with taxks, not with tape (it “ripped the paint off”) not with anything. At one point in 5th or 6th grade he came in my room and found me hanging up a Diary of a Wimpy Kid poster with tacos and he was like “EVERY HOLE YOU PUT IN THE WALL TAKES $10 OFF THE VALUE OF THE HOUSE.” so when I was mad at him, I’d insert tacks into the wall in places he couldn’t easily see just out of spite. Whoever owns the house now is probably wondering about it.
Starting 2023 by checking in on which emulators are currently #1 🏆
I reviewed Emulation Wiki's updates and updated my Top Emulators guide with the latest and greatest emulators.
My guide goes into more detail and gives different recommendations for different audiences. This graphic is simplified for social media and not intended to be the end-all and be-all.
Anyway some things to follow when youre a beginner cook:
Don’t constantly shift your food around in the pan if you want to form a crust on it, the less you move it the better.
Don’t be afraid to add water if youre frying up food and the food/sauce looks a bit dry.
Don’t fry up your garlic early on in the cooking process (unless youre making a quick garlic oil) as the garlic flavour can straight up disappear if overcooked for too long and/or the garlic can become bitter if burnt
Don’t overcook your vegetables. Look up recommended cook times for them. Your distaste for vegetables stems from them being overcooked and being poorly seasoned.
Don’t microwave stuff for more than 2 minutes at a time unless you know what you’re doing. Reheating stuff tends to fare better when you mix food between microwaving times since microwaves develop hotspots if you microwave it uninterrupted for too long.
Don’t try cooking everything at the hottest setting. It’s super tempting to have a high flame and do a meal quickly but actually follow directions and cook at medium or low heat.
“Because distillation removes protein if good manufacturing practices are followed, and because it is possible to verify the absence of protein or protein fragments in these products using scientifically valid analytical methods, TTB will permit “gluten-free” claims on distilled products from gluten-containing grains as long as good manufacturing practices are followed to prevent the introduction of any gluten-containing material into the final product,” according to the TTB.
Everything But the Kitchen Sink Casserole
Ingredients
(Feel free to swap ingredients based on what you have on hand!)
Protein (choose 1-2):
2 cups cooked chicken, turkey, ground beef, sausage, or tofu
1 cup cooked beans (black, kidney, or chickpeas)
Vegetables (choose 2-3):
1 cup diced onion, bell pepper, zucchini, or mushrooms
1 cup frozen peas, corn, or spinach
1 cup chopped tomatoes (fresh or canned)
Starch (choose 1):
3 cups cooked pasta, rice, or quinoa
3 cups diced cooked potatoes
Cheese:
1–2 cups shredded cheddar, mozzarella, or your favorite cheese
Optional: ¼ cup grated Parmesan
Sauce (choose 1):
1 can (10 oz) cream of mushroom, chicken, or celery soup
1½ cups marinara, Alfredo, or cheese sauce
1½ cups broth mixed with 2 tablespoons sour cream or yogurt
Toppings (optional):
½ cup breadcrumbs, crushed crackers, or crushed potato chips
Extra cheese for sprinkling
Seasonings:
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon Italian seasoning or paprika
Salt and pepper to taste
Preheat Oven: Preheat your oven to 375°F (190°C). Grease a 9x13-inch baking dish.
Cook Protein & Vegetables: If not already cooked, sauté protein and vegetables in a skillet until fully cooked and tender.
Mix Base: In a large bowl, combine cooked protein, vegetables, starch, and sauce. Stir in shredded cheese and seasonings.
Assemble Casserole: Pour the mixture into the prepared baking dish. Spread evenly. If using toppings, sprinkle breadcrumbs, crushed crackers, or chips over the top, followed by extra cheese.
Bake: Bake uncovered for 25-30 minutes or until the casserole is bubbling and the top is golden.
Serve: Let the casserole cool for 5 minutes, then serve warm.
Make Ahead: Assemble the casserole, cover tightly, and refrigerate for up to 24 hours before baking.
Freeze It: Wrap tightly and freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the fridge before baking.
Customize It: Add fresh herbs, hot sauce, or mustard for an extra kick.
Enjoy your cozy, crowd-pleasing dish! 🥘
Weirdly anti-millennial articles have scraped the bottom of the barrel so hard that they are now two feet down into the topsoil
spec. spec. spec youve changed the game. i never realized your pointer finger and your wrist artery are the same. holy shit. im going to draw hands thank you
aasdjsd its not really an artery but its a useful landmark to facilitate the Flow of a pose imo
Saw that post about transmascs and how ppl need to talk more about vaginal atrophy and how it's easily treatable with estrogen cream without affecting your HRT and it got me thinking about how none of us transfems seem to talk about dick atrophy either and how it's also easily treatable with topical testosterone cream provided you're not taking a T blocker (so on a GnRH agonist, estradiol monotherapy, or have had bottom surgery). Without T you don't get that passive tissue maintenance so unless you want to get hard every other day for the rest of your life to keep it healthy you're kinda screwed and erections can become really painful, let alone the change in length/shape. So yeah ask about topical testosterone.
Character creation and development:
Character creation questionnaire
Character foils
Core values
Core values 2
Creating a character from scratch
How eating an orange reveals character
Fears, weaknesses, and pet peeves
Flaws
Flaws and Vices (list)
Inventory
Nicknames
Outline for a distinct character
Personal effects
7 Key Traits of Enduring Characters
What does your character know?
Your character as a paradox
Your character’s closet
Dealing with large character casts
Types of Character:
Creating a likable villain
Strong Female Characters
Supporting characters
Throwaway characters
Mary Sue / Gary Stu
Loner Characters
Character Arc:
Building a character arc
Series Characters
Steps of change
Swoons and wounds
Character dialogue:
How your character asks for help
Character-specific dialogue
Cursing
Speech patterns
What we say vs. what we mean
Who has control
Relationships:
Power imbalances
Pacing your romance
How to avoid unintentional romantic subtext
On the page:
Creating a strong first impression
An exaggerated first impression
Characterization through appearance
Description
Showing emotion
Staging
Thank God I have (insert character here)
Torturing your Character (and reader)
blog created as an archive of posts i would want to save for various reasons
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