I spent last night looking at Neocities sites and here are my takeaways:
There's a real push to keeping the internet weird, open and less corporate-driven -- info on bypassing paywalls, protecting your data, archiving web media and basic coding/tech literacy.
(I found one tutorial on how to make a pop up that detects whether someone has an ad blocker and suggests they install one if they don't! Love that.)
There's also resources on finding the kind of internet that isn't the default experience anymore - alternate search engines I hadn't even heard of, human-made link lists and webrings. (Webrings! Turns out they never went away!)
If any of that sounds interesting to you, by the way - sadgrl.online has a lot of it and is possibly the best thing on the internet????
The "90's web" aesthetic is really fun and nostalgic, but I particularly loved seeing some people bring the better parts of the "modern internet" into it. What if we had weird, eye-searing personal sites BUT with plaintext alternatives for accessibility purposes? CW for flashing lights and unreality triggers?
(Again sadgrl comes in with a lot of resources for making your website accessible.)
Most of all, I'm honestly emotional about all the sites I found that were like, "hi! I'm 14 and this is my website where I talk about stuff I like haha."
It's so good that so many kids and teens who never experienced the "old internet" are still finding stuff like this and making their own weird stuff! Not just because weird websites are more fun, but because these skills are being passed down.
Anyway it's great and who knows maybe I'll make my own site sometime to keep horror media recommendations or something.
Lately, I’ve noticed It’s getting harder to find every Aleka’s Attic song online. So I made this shareable folder on drive with every song (officially released and unreleased) that we got the chance to find back in the day (x)
So uh….some dude apparently recreated Adobe Photoshop feature-for-feature, for FREE, and it runs in your browser.
Anyway, fuck Adobe, and enjoy!
an ever-updating masterpost of books i've recommended. please check these before you ask for recommendations in case they've been covered —
fiction
"the tragedy still happened, but it was important that the love was there"
japanese literature
korean literature [1], [2]
gothic writing
spooky adult horror gothic
some favourites
marathi books
some ruskin bond
indian fiction [1], [2], historical fiction, stories, [3], [4]
non-fiction
general assorted ones i like
some favourites
about people living through crises
on geopolitics, foreign policy, international affairs
on political philsophy
vaguely sociology
biographies
on economic history
on the silk route
on prisons, convict labour
on afghanistan, soviet invasion, terror
capitalism
on language and linguistics
on the ancient and prehistoric world
just a bunch on india
the indus valley
indian aestheticism, art
gupta empire
sangam literature
on the northeast
india and southeast asia
nur jahan, mughal women | more
islamic conquest and state-making
on kashmir
assorted nonfiction
colonisation and aftereffects
on nationalism
on cities
on mumbai
on bollywood in bombay
on cities
on delhi
on kolkata
essays
history, migration, labour
art, reading, travel, gender, sports
nature, climate, some history
political economy, environmental and urban history, cartography and space
my comfort books
light reading
books that have got me out of my slumps
on art, photography, aesthetics, design [1], [2], [3]
on the environment
just some story and essay collections
Seems like the silliest question ever but every idea I have seems so unoriginal. Do you tips or exercises to get the creativity going?
I do! I have plenty of pep-talks and resources for this sort of thing, so I’ve organized them here by method (prompts/playlists/advice/inspiration/etc)
Articles
Coming Up With Scene Ideas
Coming Up With “Original” Ideas
How To Turn A Good Idea Into A Good Story
How To Motivate Yourself To Write
Reasons To Improve Your Lifestyle
Tips & Advice for Aspiring Authors, Writers, and Poets
Healthy Forms of Motivation
How To Have A Productive Mindset
How To Fall In Love With Writing
Writing Through Mental Health Struggles
Why “Burnout” Is Oay - The Creative Cycle
How To Actually Get Writing Done
Playlists
Things To Listen To When You’re Working
Classical & Instrumental
Ambient
Sad Scenes
Chase Scenes
Epic Scenes
Fight Scenes
Angst Scenes
Fun Montage Scenes
Climax Scenes
Calm Scenes
Resolution Scenes
Romantic Scenes
Action Scenes
Science Fiction
Our Day Will Come
Contemporary Poetry
MORE
Prompts, Prompt Lists, & Writing Challenges
Dark Quotes & Prompts
Challenges For Different Types of Writers | Part II
Angst Prompts
31 Days of Prompts : January 2018 Writing Challenge
20 Sentence Story Prompt
Dramatic Prompts
Suspenseful Prompts
Sad Prompts
Romantic Prompts
31 Days of Horror : October 2019 Writing Challenge
31 Days of Fantasy - December 2020 Writing Challenge
Fake Relationship Alternate Universe Prompts
Assassin Alternate Universe Prompts
Soulmates Alternate Universe Prompts
Advice & Pep-Talks
Restarting Your Writing Passion
On Hating Your Old Stuff
Depression As An Inhibitor
Dear Writers Who Are Hesitant To Start Writing
“All First Drafts Are Crap” – My Thoughts
Getting Back To Writing After A Long Hiatus
Wanting To Finish A Story You’ve Fallen Out of Love With
Getting Motivated To Write
Getting Burnt Out Near The Finish Line
–
Masterlist | WIP Blog
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How To Use Fear To Your Advantage 👻💪💥
Understand you're scared and that's okay.
Think about why you're scared.
Instead of a problem, see fear as a chance to grow. See it as a challenge.
Use the fear to push you and make you work harder.
Face your fear little by little and slowly get used to what scares you.
Try deep breaths, meditation or imagining happy places.
Express your fear with a friend or family. Don't keep it in your head.
If something unknown scares you, learn more about it and look for ways to change your perspective to more positive outcomes with this new found information.
Break big scary tasks into smaller ones.
Be proud when you face and beat your fear. Always celebrate yourself even during the little steps to rewire how your mind perceives it.
Focus on good outcomes.
The more you do something, the less scary it becomes. So continue to practice.
Don't let your mind make the fear bigger than it is.
Physical activity can help reduce feelings of fear and anxiety so try to stay active.
Kitchen
How to clean up kitchen (particularly the sink, burnt pots and small aplliances)
How to take care of kitchen stuff so that it lives longer
10 commandments of a clutter-free kitchen
Organizing kitchen mini masterpost
5 things to do in the kitchen before you go to bed
What is soapy bowl and why it’s awesome
How to organize your fridge (also here, here and here)
Thins you should know about your fridge
Adding more storage space in a tiny kitchen
Cleaning
Lots of cleaning tutorials and tips. And some more
How to clean up pantry
How to make your house look cleaner than it really is
How to wash pillows
Cleaning the bathroom
How to clean the nastiest places (and get rid of bad smells, etc.)
Floor-to-celling guide to spring cleaning
Recaulking your bathtub
Cleaning grout
How to dispose of toxic waste
Cleaning the medicine cabinet
How to make chores more fun
You mustn’t skip these chores, but you can delay these if you’re busy
Easily forgotten things that you should clean/replace
Why you need a catch-up day
Small cleaning tasks to do in under 15 minutes (also here)
Looking for a flat/moving
First apartment checklist
Where too look during an apartment hunt (and some more tips)
Negotiate these things with your landlord
What to do first in a new place
What do clean before moving out
How not to get crazy during moving flats
How to downgrade to a smaller place
Organisation, storage
10 habits for better home organisation
How to store off-season items
10 storage ideas for small spaces (more here)
Storage secret weapons
How to organise your closet
Things to do before twice-yearly closet switchout
How to store and maintain your sweaters
Decluttering
Why it feels great
How to get rid of clutter
How to declutter (not only a flat)
What needs to be thrown away from your flat
How to let go of the things you no longer need
Things you own too many of; you can throw away these too
Decuttering the bathroom
Decluterring masterpost
Decorating
Projects for every room in your home/flat
Add style to your home
DIY decorating ideas
How to use negative space
4 common decorating mistakes and how to avoid them
Questions to ask yourself before buying something new
How to choose furniture that’ll be easier to clean
Season-specific tips
Things to do before the cold season
Household hacks for winter
Preparing for Christmas
Green thumb 101
How to take care of succulents
Never kill a plant again
Living alone / Sharing a flat
How not to be lonely when living alone
12 things you can only do when home alone
What you learn by living alone
Things you learn while sharing a flat
What to pack when leaving for a dorm
How to seamlessly share a kitchen (or a flat in general)
Safety issues to discuss with flatmates
Benefits of living with strangers
And also how to turn a house into a home