#outdated website design

[wisertech]

In today’s digital age, your website serves as the face of your business. If your website is outdated, not responsive on mobile devices, or not generating the traffic and conversions you need, it may be time for a redesign. This blog outlines 10 key signs that indicate it’s time for a website redesign, including poor user experience, mobile responsiveness issues, slow load times, and inconsistent branding. We also cover the redesign process, from setting goals to enhancing SEO strategies, to ensure your new website aligns with your business goals and drives better performance.

Key Points:

Declining traffic and low conversions

Poor user experience and mobile responsiveness issues

Slow load times and outdated design

Importance of consistent branding and better SEO practices

Business growth and handling technical issues effectively

Why You Should Read This Blog: A website redesign can improve your brand image, increase user engagement, and boost your search engine rankings. This blog offers insights into recognizing the signs that your website needs a revamp and provides actionable tips for preparing for a successful redesign. Whether you're aiming to improve your online presence or keep up with the latest digital trends, this guide covers everything you need to know about website redesign.

Stay ahead in the digital race by ensuring your website is optimized, modern, and user-friendly!

[twothpaste]

the fact ayo three (without add-ons) still doesn't offer permanent / universal filter settings really is downright embarrassing. "don't like don't read" is a shitty argument when folks (esp minors) still have to read abjectly wretched tags & summaries at the top of any page, before manually and tediously navigating the filter settings. also because the filter system is a clunky & archaic dinosaur, you can't always filter multiple things at the same time. the website only recently added a (also very clunky & archaic) "mute" feature, which is nice compared to the useless block feature, but feels like the world's smallest band-aid.

[pixolabo]

13 Signs Your Website Is Outdated and Needs a Redesign

Are you losing customers due to an outdated website? Learn the signs and get expert tips on updating and optimizing your online presence today. #outdatedwebsite #outdatedwebdesign #signsyourwebsiteisoutdated

13 Signs Your Website Is Outdated and Needs a Redesign Does Your Website Still Meet Your Business Objectives? Is your website living up to its full potential or stuck in the past? An outdated website can hurt your business in today’s fast-paced digital world. It can make you lose credibility, drive away potential customers, and hinder your online success. Discover how to keep your website from…

[too-much-tma-stuff]

Finally Getting Help (pt 3)

first | last | Masterpost | Next

What Tim and Bruce found was completely ridiculous. It really wasn’t hard to find the Doctors Fenton’s website but it was ridiculous! It was outdated and gaudy with animations of cartoony ghosts everywhere. If it hadn’t been for how clear Danny was about his parents' names Tim would have skipped right over it. But when he got past the terrible website design and started reading it his stomach just dropped lower and lower.

The writing was clean and scientific though it couldn’t disguise the malicious delight they took in tearing the creatures they called ‘ghosts’ apart. Whatever these ghosts really were Danny had been internalizing this attitude about Himself for years! They also bragged about their weapons and their government contract. So whether that was true or not Danny hadn’t been lying or delusional, it was his parents. And regardless of what these ghosts actually were it was obvious they were supernatural so RR sent a link to the website to Zatana.

(link)

RR: What do you think?

Tana: Lol is this a joke?

RR: I wish, I know it looks like one but no, this is deadly serious.

Tana: Hang on

Red Robin put down his phone to give Zatana the time to read over the site and looked more into Maddy and Jack Fenton while she did. He found their graduation certificates, and pictures of them in college with what must have been a much younger Vlad. So they were actually doctors of some sort, they had their doctorate, though that didn’t exactly make it any less likely they had gone fully off the rails now.

His phone dinged and he picked it up to see one short message from Zatana.

Tana: I’m coming to the cave.

Tim sighed and put his phone back down, spinning his chair to face B who was hunched over the computer typing furiously. “Zatana is on her way, I asked for her opinion of the Fenton’s research and she must think it’s big.” He said as he dug out a domino mask.

“Hm,” B sounded and went to get his cowl. “Report?”

“The Doctors Fenton are doctors, they got their doctorates though I don’t know in what yet. They’ve been friends with Vlad since university and they certainly at least think they’re studying ghosts. Their website has articles on behaviours and biology, and how to hunt and hurt ghosts. They brag about a government contract.” Tim summarized. “You?”

“The Ghost Investigation Ward does exist and they are a government agency but they only seem to be active in the town of Amity Park and they’re so inept! It wasn’t hard to hack them, they’re trying to sound mysterious and a little dangerous talking about protecting humanity from invasions from other worlds but I don’t think they’re actually that competent,” Batman said with a scowl.

“The only reason we didn’t know about this was because we weren’t looking! And it’s possible Danny is right and they were jamming calls from Amity to the JL, but I have a terrible feeling what actually happened if that the call came through and someone heard them talking about ghosts and rogue government agencies, assumed it was a prank and blocked them,” Bruce said massaging his temples.

“Ah,” Tim said, his heart dropping at how plausible that sounded. Could they have saved Danny before, if they had taken that call seriously.

“And Vlad is the mayor of his town, there are articles about Danny fighting him in public. It seems like everyone knew their relationship was antagonistic at best and No One defended him. The GIW also listed him in their special thanks for helping fund them. I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s been using them as a tool to threaten and control Danny.” Batman said with cold fury. Tim took a deep breath, and exhaled slowly.

“We weren’t able to protect him, but we will avenge him. And we’ll keep him safe Now,” Tim reminded his father. Privately thinking that as soon as he could he was going to tell Jason about this so they could Really make sure Vlad never came near Danny again. An arrest just wasn’t strong enough for a man like that. He wasn’t going to tell Bruce that though, obviously.

The sound of the Zeta tube interrupted their moment as Zatana arrived, looking slightly more ruffled then she usually did. She must have really rushed here, which was a bit worrying.

“Zatana,” Batman greeted.

“Hello Batman, before we talk I need to check your wards.” She said already walking past them.

“Hm,” Batman sounded, making RR smile a little, how Batman made that sound mean so many different things always sort of amazed him.

“I need to check the ones on your home too. And I’d like to meet the boy you have under your care,” She said briskly.

“How did you know about the boy?” Batman asked gruffly.

“Lucky guess,” she said briskly, her hands glowed as she walked around the cave, making seemingly random gestures as if touching or pulling on invisible threads. None of the bats really understood magic so they left her to it. When she was done they let her up into the manner, she knew their identities already after all and she checked all the wards on the home very thoroughly, occasionally casting spells to reinforce them. They collected Dick and Damian trailing after them curiously as they went as well.

“Alright, can I meet the boy now?” She asked, turning towards Bruce who crossed his arms and puffed out his chest a bit.

“Not till you explain to us what’s going on,” He growled and Zatana looked over the curious stubborn faces surrounding her and sighed.

“Fine,” she allowed, resigned. She rubbed her temples as she looked around for a chair and sunk down into it. “So what the Fentons seem to be referring to as Ghosts are actually denizens of the Infinite Realms, the space in between every world and afterlife. Some of the beings there were once people who died but many aren’t. They’re also known to be very powerful and quite violent though thankfully not particularly interested in the living. The fact that the Government is apparently messing with something like this is very bad news.

“Constantine and I have been keeping half an eye on the situation in Amity Park but they had their own pair of Heroes, Phantom and Red Huntress, who seemed to have the situation well under control so we weren’t all that worried about it. We weren’t tracking the more human elements of the GIW and the Fentons,” She bit her lip and thought for a moment.

“When Tim sent me that website and I was made aware of those, that changed things. What’s worse is the photo the Fentons’ have of their family. Their son… we knew Phantom looked young but ghosts often stay at a younger age than they really are, with how powerful he was we assumed he was Old. But he looks exactly like the Fenton’s son. Did they not notice he was dead or…” She looked around at their faces, apparently getting her answer from their expressions.

“There have been rumours for a long time about a very rare and powerful sort of living dead, humans soaked in the pure energy of the infinite realms resulting in a still living ancient. It’s so rare that people usually think it’s a fairy tale but with the work Phantom’s parents do it makes a sick sort of sense. And what it means is that that boy you have stashed away is basically a baby God and we all have to be very careful.”

There was a heavy silence as they all processed what she was saying. “Are you… sure?” Tim asked, uncertainly.

“I won’t be till I meet him, but I’m as sure as I can be without that at the moment,” she said firmly.

Tim sighed and pulled out his phone. “Cas is with him, I’ll text her to see if she’s up to meeting you. If he’s that powerful we don’t want to push him right?” He asked as he typed out a text to Cas.

“Yes. Like I said he’s been acting as a hero in Amity, he seems like a good kid but I have no doubt in my mind if he’s pushed too far we could have a truly apocalyptic situation on our hands,” She said which made Tim swallow thickly.

His phone dinged and he checked it. “Danny is willing to meet you but he’s really tired so go easy on him and don’t stay long,” Tim relayed her message.

“Alright that’s fine, thank you. Show me the way please,” She requested.

Bruce took over, leaving the way. “We don’t want to overwhelm him, I think only I and Zatana should go in, with Cas still there since he seems to feel safe with her,” Bruce informed his children.

“Alright, just tell us everything soon!” Dick demanded and Bruce’s lips twitched up in just the suggestion of a smile as he nodded to them.

He took off his cowl, he wasn’t in his full uniform anyway and he didn’t want to scare Danny. Besides if he had been a hero even if he clocked Bruce he would understand.

“Hello Danny, it’s a pleasure to meet you, I’m Zatana,” She introduced herself s she followed Bruce in. She would have offered her hand to shake but Danny was half hiding behind Cas sitting on the bed.

“It’s nice to meet you too. What’s with the outfit?” He asked curiously which made her laugh.

“I’m a hero, one of the less known ones. I’m part of Justice League Dark which is their supernatural division along with Constantine and Deadman and a few others. He’s a ghost, but I assure you the government hasn’t been giving him any trouble, probably because they knew they wouldn’t get away with it.”

“So I’m just lucky then,” Danny said with a bitter curl to his lips.

“As a hero, I want to ask, are you Phantom?” She asked rather bluntly.

Bruce shivered as the temperature in the room suddenly dropped a few degrees and Danny’s eyes started to swirl with green as he glared at Zatana who managed to barely react. Batman noticed how her back tensed a bit but it was barely there. “You know?” Danny demanded. “You knew about what was going on in Amity and you didn’t help?!”

“I’m very sorry Danny,” She said genuinely. “We knew something was going on, but we didn’t look closely enough. We thought that you were an older ghost just of someone who died young because of your strength, and it looked like things were under control. Normally our involvement wouldn’t have been appreciated, intruding on someone’s haunt, so we didn’t look any closer. I am so sorry we overlooked you but we’re going to make up for it now I promise.

“I’ve checked and reinforced the wards on the house so nothing should be able to come in uninvited, and I’m going to contact the rest of the JLD. We’re going to go to Amity, we’ll figure this out and deal with it I promise.”

The temperature in the room slowly went back up, Danny was still upset, but he didn’t seem like he was about to snap anymore. While Zatana had been talking Cas had started gently rubbing Danny’s back and that seemed to be helping too. After a moment Danny looked up again and nodded, accepting the help.

“The veil must be very thin there, to let so many ghosts through?” Zatana probed gently.

“It is, but more than that two years ago my parents succeeded in building a portal to what they call the Ghost Zone. This kinda green world of floating islands.

“A portal,” Zatana said flatly, blinking rapidly. “To the Infinite Realms?”

“Ah is that what it’s really called? Ya probably? That’s how everyone’s been getting through. How I got my powers too, the ghosts call me a halfa, but I’m not the only one. Vlad’s one too.”

Batman heard Zatana mutter “Two?” softly, baffled and alarmed but she nodded. Bruce filed that information away too, it seemed Vlad was even more of a threat then he’d first appeared to be.

“Alright, I’ll get as many of the JLD together as I can and we’ll head to Amity. We’ll shut down the portal and deal with this.” She said determinedly.

From the look on Danny’s face he didn’t really believe her, but he nodded again and leaned against Cas. “Good luck I suppose,” he muttered and sighed, rubbing his face.

“Just… tell me if you get in over your heads okay, I’m used to dealing with all this stuff.” God he sounded so tired, the poor kid.

“I will, but don’t worry about us, just take care of yourself okay? This is a good place to be, I promise you won’t have to be alone anymore.” Zatana assured him. She probably had more questions, but it was very obvious that Danny was getting tired.

“Bruce is good dad,” Cas chimed in, speaking up for the first time. It embarrassed Bruce a little but he smiled at them and nodded a little.

“Thank you,” Danny said, his shoulder slumped and his back curled. “Can I go to bed now?”

“Of course Chum,” Bruce agreed, starting to shoo Zatana out of the bedroom with Cas on their heels. When they closed the door behind them Bruce heard the lock click quietly closed behind them. He really hoped that Danny would feel safe enough to sleep well.

@zlinen  @sebas-nights   @littlefeather345  @isnt-that-grape     @idontgetpaidenoughforthisshit  @shadowkatt99  @fantasticstoryteller @blackshuckatdusk @blacksea21090  @sithlordchimchnga @fanfictionforme2 @imalittlefangirl25 @bushbees @yotsubaayase @thomasdimensor @ultimatebluff

[crowboy-bebop]

U.S.-based friends! For no particular reason, I'm compiling a list of resources that might be helpful to people in the coming four-ish years or so.

Medical Resources

Medical Information Removed By The Trump Administration

Jessica Valenti's Substack - a collection of the pages removed from the CDC's website. Includes documents on contraception and reproductive rights, sexual health, and intimate partner violence.

HRT

Trans Harm Reduction - website for HRT information, such as source testing, information on safe injection practices and disposal, and resources for sourcing injection suppplies. They also share links to healthcare resources.

DIY HRT: Everything I Can Legally Tell You by Lily Alexandre - information on self-medicating without a prescription. If this is unavailable, PLEASE let me know.

Reproductive

Plan C - an online database of telehealth providers, community networks, and websites that provide abortion pills by mail

Legit.Clinic - an easy way to check if a clinic is actually a crisis pregnancy center; uses Reproaction's database listed below

Crisis Pregnancy Centers

These are anti-choice organizations, usually run by or in connection to churches, who use misleading tactics and fearmongering to scare people out of seeking abortions. They often advertise things like "abortion counseling" (which is really just talking people out of abortion), and abortion pill "reversal." Their main purpose is to either scare you out of seeking an abortion, or to stall you long enough that the process to get an abortion is more difficult.

Reproaction's Anti-Abortion Pregnancy Center Database - an online database of anti-abortion "crisis pregnancy centers" that rely on misleading information to talk pregnant people out of getting an abortion

Expose Fake Clinics - an online resource for leaving reviews of crisis pregnancy centers and their misleading claims

Name and Gender Changes

Federal

SSA Sex Designation Change Questionnaire (archived) - as of Jan 26th 2025, this page has been taken down on the official Social Security website. That does NOT mean you cannot change your gender marker, it is just being purposefully obscured. One thing to note; even before the current administration, there was no option for an unspecified gender designation, so X will not be an option unfortunately.

Social Security Card Replacement - this is the form you will need to fill out in order to change your name or gender designation.

State

A4TE's ID Documents Center - state-specific information on how to change your name and gender marker on ID documents like birth certificates, driver's licenses, etc. Also has information on passports, but that is unfortunately outdated as of January 26 2025. (thanks, @wannabeast13!)

Miscellaneous

r/DataHoarder - a subreddit dedicated to archiving digital information. They've been heavily focused on documenting information that has been removed due to the Trump administration.

This is by no means an exhaustive list. I'm compiling resources as I find them. If you have anything you think should be added, send me a message!

Lastly,

It's Okay To Take A Step Back

Don't let the continuous onslaught of bad news send you into a doom spiral! Take a deep breath. Get some water. Log off, get together with friends, join or start local communities. The world isn't all bad, even if it feels like it is. The most important thing right now is that we stay together and not let the bad overwhelm us into apathy.

[wrenkenstein]

CLONE X OC WEEK 2025

DAY 1 : INTRODUCTION

WOOO!! It's finally monday where I'm at, so I can start posting my Clone x OC prompts! ^^ I've been really excited to do this, and hopefully I get everything right. Even managed to doodle up a really quick banner for it, lol. So, without further ado, here are some important links for anyone wanting to keep up with my posts for the week who are new...

Juno's Bio website

Juntech informational Hub (outdated!)

... And, here's the tag for the account! @clonexocweek

Now, let's get into the prompts!

How did Juno and Tech meet?

Due to the semi-spoilery nature of this part of their shared story, and with our primary project regarding these two meeting still being in the works, I'll try to keep this vague while still being interesting! ~

Unfortuate circumstances had Tech completely separated from his brothers, trapped as a hostage in an underground testing facility designed by Separatists. They subjected him to various different types of grueling tests and torture - one of them being combat endurance training.

These sorts of tests were meant to examine a clone troopers endurance under extreme pressure when faced with an enemy (or many). Tech was a particularly fascinating subject to watch, especially due to his enhancements often creating a defecit in his combat skills. Who wouldn't want to spectate a mutated clone troopr fight endless waves of droids and sentients alike? Especially one with such a focus on brains, rather than brawn?

It didn't take Tech very long until they got bored of watching him mow down wave after wave of droids. Thus, they finally threw in a human variable... and little did Tech know, that this human variable was none other than Juno - a fellow prisoner in the same facility.

Of course, they're covered head-to-toe in specialized combat gear that completely covers the face. They have no idea who the enemy is - just that they need to shoot.

(today is not a drawing day for me, so please excuse the ugly sketch. xD)

[wyrmwinds]

I think that the closest thing to a personal social media for her would be either:

A bot she paid someone to code that cycles through various sentiments of hers named something like Drangahr Quotes (it mostly @'s various official Ishgard accounts daily to dunk on them). Most people believe that it's a fake account with no real association with the real Ava Drangahr and consider it a poor taste parody ("It's so reductive to reduce the Warrior of Light to her slight distaste of Ishgard. I can't believe that account is still up")

A webpage. It's really bare-bones, very web 1.0 but readable. Hosts information about the New Order of Dragoons, basic information about herself, dragons, a copy of a legal document outlining the crimes of Ishgard, a page where she reviews various fishing spots, and a page full of low res photos of g'raha in his cringe chuuni moments captioned like an adoring mom on Facebook. Once in a year or so she makes a very messy blog post.

Really don't know what Ava would be like on social media because while she is a Hater and could definitely be a poster of all time, she is also very anti-Allagan, and would be very reluctant to use a tomestone. She'd be keyed in on how they scrape your data for the creation of biochemical abominations and thus not use a tomestone unless it's jailbroken to avoid sending sensitive data to the main server, or alternatively use a garlond ironworks flip phone.

She would delegate any crucial posts she wants to make to Alisaie to post on her social media account. Ava does not have a personal digital footprint. I do think people would meme the hell out of how Ava refuses to get on Loporitter or whatever. You post a bad take and people would reply with "Posts that would make the warrior of light join the site just to kill you".

There would definitely be people misinterpreting her trepidation for just hatred of technology. It's not that, she's basically a few degrees away from an IT worker who knows enough about technology to avoid using anything made in the last 8 years.

[if-you-are-tired-clap-your-hands]

On making a living as an artist

In a world where art and other creative pursuits should be an inspiring, honest and a direct reflection of our society, it is truly disheartening to realize that most mainstream artists come from some place of privilege. Whether it be racial, financial, social, or geographic, artists succeed not just from their skill alone, but from having the privilege to make enough sacrifices to pursue art as a full-time job. Even when you do find the right representation, it may feel as though you must sacrifice your independence and your voice as a trade for financial security. This can make you feel like you're alone, or just another piece in a system designed to exploit you for capitalistic gain. Now, now, sweet artist. I know you may feel quite depressed after reading all this. It's hard not to. Part of these frustrations are why I'm here writing this in the first place : because I believe that these systems must change and our approaches to financial stability as artists must be more transparent. I believe positive change comes from the transparency to know what it is that needs to change. For too long, our culture has resisted a more public conversation about personal finances. In many ways, this has enabled us to become a society that's content to embrace the outdated trope of the starving artist. Let's change that.

« How do I make a living as an artist ? », answered by visual artist Yumna Al-Arashi, in the Zine On making a living as an artist by The Creative Independent. You can read it for free on their website !

[tempural]

Hi!! I wanted to say that I loved reading about your journey of creating a personal website. I'm still unsure between Vercel and Netlify. I have a small question to ask. See, one of the reasons I want to make a website is to archive drawings and journal/sketchbook. Would you have any tips for creating an area on my website just for the diary/journal, which has tags, files for each entry, etc.?

Bello!

Really happy to hear about your interest in websites! I want everyone to make their own site so I don't have to log into social media and get instant tummyaches ♥

Vercel vs Netlify: I think I settled on Vercel for absolutely no reason whatsoever. I just made a site on Netlify, then tested on Vercel, and now I have like 5 websites on Vercel so I just kept using it LOL. I'm sure a more tech-savvy person would know the difference - I think they have certain integrations with specific programs.

Creating a diary or journal with tags:

There's a couple of different ways you can do that, with different levels of work needed.

you got me yapping again:

This sadgrl tutorial might be outdated and may or may not work, but explains the process better than I can.

Easiest: make a journal on Dreamwidth, or another blogging site (wordpress??) that allows easy tags and RSS feed, and embed that RSS feed onto your site.

This requires almost no HTML set-up, and the easiest to organize tags, but you don't truly have the data on your own site since it's just embedded.

When I snuck into a web design class at college, this was one of the methods that the professor used for a blog within a portfolio site LOL.

Shit like wordpress is what a LOT of ~professional~ sites do for their blog section. They code it separately from the main site haha. It's the most popular thing, but not necessarily the best. And wait til you read on what the CEO of wordpress has been having meltdowns about... he owns tumblr too!

It's made with a tutorial for Neocities if that's what you use.

Medium: Set up zonelets.

It will require some HTML and JS editing, but will help automate making headers/footers for each page of a blog.

I've never used it myself, but I see other people speak highly of it.

HARD FOR ME CUZ I'M A GORILLA: I believe a lot of professional web devs will slap your face with their coding cock until you use a static site generator (SSG) to make your site.

You will need some coding knowledge to set up the tagging system since it doesn't come with it enabled by default. But it's made explicitly to be an alternative to big Static Site Generators which are...

It requires some more intimidating knowledge, because it's a lot of scripts that turn files that are not HTML/CSS/JS into plain HTML.

Also you have to use the command line, and that doesn't come with buttons that tell you what you can do. You have to copy/paste all that shit or memorize the code to 'dev build astro' and it all looks silly.

I've used Eleventy, and now am using Astro. Other people use Hugo or Jekyll or some other stuff with crazy names like Glup Shitto. I hate all these sites cuz none of the words mean anything to me. This is a common theme for me and tech. I don't know what NODES or CONTENT or ISLANDS are!!!

I had the most success attempting to learn how to use a SSG by downloading a template and altering it with github + VScodium. Here's the template page for Astro. You click on a theme you like, and it takes you to its github page. (If you don't want to use evil Microsoft stuff sorry. Skip this entire section.) Follow the instructions on the page for "forking" the glup shitto. When it tells you to run commands, I run those commands through the terminal window in VScodium. These tutorials never tell you what these commands do cuz they assume you already know. Usually those commands automatically install the files you need onto your computer, and create the final files.

You can see my wip here for a "tag system" that SHOULD show members of a web listing haha but I don't know what I'm doing and I have a reading disorder AND don't know cumputer good.

THEORETICALLY this will be the simplest and easiest way to maintain tags and files, because after you set it up you just have to write the "content" of the blog page. And you don't have to set up the header/footer ever again. I see the vision, and potential, but I am not there yet when it takes me 5 hours a day to figure out what any of the words in the documentation mean and I don't want to ask an actual tech person cuz they will be like 'obviously just press the Blip on the Repository and then Suck My Ass in the command line".

(side note I haven't updated fujofans in like a year cuz I'm struggling with this part to make updating easier).

Con: the final HTML/CSS code is really ugly if it's "minified", and a lot of themes use """"""professional"""""" CSS libraries like Bootstrap and Tailwind that I honestly think are ugly cuz that's what every fuckin' tech website uses to style their pages and make them look Professional and Minimalist with stupid code like style="500-w dark-gray-balls D-cup-bra" on every single element. Even Toyhouse uses Bootstrap. Eugh!

But maybe you're smarter than me and can wrangle these things better!

That was really long. Woops. I hope you can slug through this wall of text and find something helpful. Feel free to email me if you have any more specific questions. I may or may not be helpful.

If someone else sees this and has better suggestions for making BLOGS, please chime in. I'm begging you.

[fllagellant]

After screenshotting my original 1:27 am rant just for safekeeping and returning to this line of thought, I think I would like to swing this bat at a hornets nest . And I shall call it ;

BG3 And Polyamory, AKA The Discourse From The Eyes Of The Polyamorous

Hi, I am now disclosing the polyamorous part of my queer identity to the internet. Yay! Remember, I am only one polyamorous person on this website and I am not the spokesperson. This is just my own opinion and my own feelings with how both the game and the fandom seem to be handling the inclusion of polyamorous relationships and characters.

And in my humble opinion: Yikes !

This should be no surprise, but the polyamorous rep in bg3 isn’t … really good . It’s there, sure, and maybe I’m the fool for expecting it to be good when it really is the first time I have ever really heard of a game having an actual polyamorous option. Like on purpose. But with how much bg3 was hyped up as being super inclusive and completely different from all other games in the genre, I had hoped that it would take a good approach to polyamorous people and relationships.

Suffice to say, it fell flat once I actually looked into it.

The companions listed as open for an open/poly relationship are Astarion, Shadowheart, Minthara, and Halsin . What’s wrong with that?

3/4 of these characters already feel like they lean into the conservative fear of polyamory . Three of them are the ‘ evil ‘ members of your party . While ( besides Halsin, but we’ll get to that ) the rest of the ‘ good ‘ character are all monogamous. Growing up in a conservative home, in a conservative province, discussions of the idea of polyamory always came back to the same argument. That only the strange and amoral would do it. Only people who can’t be trusted and don’t actually care about you want to be in a polygamous relationship. And sadly, that is what I see echoed in the choices of who is and isn’t polyamorous.

I romanced Wyll in my first playthru. I had always planned to romance Wyll, actually, since I first saw his design when I first learned of bg3 during its early access days. When I met Halsin next, and chose the options to flirt with him, I thought that a polyamorous relationship between my Tav, Wyll, and Halsin would be cute. I had hoped it would work. I had already seen plenty of Astarion and Halsin and Tav art and gifsets and every other piece of fan content floating around . I had hoped that maybe that bit I read about who is and isn’t open for polyamory was outdated, and I could have this relationship play out in my little playthru .

Of course, it came down to having to choose. And I shrugged it off, at first. Sure, Larian didn’t make Wyll polyamorous for whatever reason. It is the first game that has polyamorous options, and I can just continue the game but have that polyamorous relationship in my head as my canon for my character. That’s fine, that’s what I’ve done before. It can’t be different now, right?

But then, I looked online, opened Tumblr, wondering what other people would say. Not thinking that it would be a big debate about if it is or is not okay to pair certain characters in an ot3 or not.

Wyll can’t be polyamorous, because knightly tales of courting and the mere act of courting is strictly monogamous. Pairing him in an polyamorous relationship is fundamentally misunderstanding the character and you’ve missed the point of him if you do that. It’s wrong to want that, wrong to think about it. The game has polyamorous options, be happy with what you have.

And so, I felt guilty. Larian already set up this dichotomy between their good leaning characters having the normal and good monogamous relationship and the evil leaning characters having the strange and perverse polyamorous relationship. But then, to see that the mere act of pairing your own character with two characters because you think it’s cute, is now being looked down upon so heavily and being seen as a “ fundamental misunderstanding of the characters “. And to have those ideas an opinions suddenly become the most agreed and accepted stance on the topic? How was I supposed to feel anything other than shame. Like I had been enjoying the game wrong, in a backward way.

If Wyll was polyamorous, you do know his approach to love wouldn’t change, right? Same with Gale. Same with Karlach. Same with Lae’zel. None of them would suddenly have to have completely different approaches to love and how they want to show it and how they want to go about it. Wyll can still be replicating the courting, the dancing, the slow burn that he always heard about in bards tales and he could still be polyamorous. There’s this idea that polyamorous love is only able to be expressed in very specific, very narrow ways. That miss the point of what love is.

People don’t act like this with the polyamorous companions, I’ve noticed. You aren’t suddenly bad and misunderstanding the story of Astarion or Shadowheart or Minthara or Halsin for having a strict two person relationship with them, and not expanding into the idea of those characters taking on another partner at some point. If you have Astarion in a strict monogamous relationship, no one says anything. But saying that you have a Tav who’s dating both Karlach and Gale? People are going to talk about you. They’re going to make vague posts. They’re going to talk about how it is Impossible for those characters to Ever be comfortable in a polyamorous relationship and how it is Wrong to protray them as happy in one.

I didn’t think people forgot that the stereotype of monogamy = good and polyamory = bad is still alive and well, but it seems that when it comes to the funny dungeons and dragons video game, it’s okay to prop that stereotype up and get mad when that is possibly challenged.

Now, what about Halsin? He’s a strictly good companion. He cannot fall under the pervious argument, so is he an exception?

No. It’s worse.

Halsin being polyamorous stems in racism. Wood Elves are all described as being polyamorous, and that they do not understand jealousy. And that they do not ever settle with any of their partners. And that the relationships they have are seen as “ doomed to fail “ . This is a stereotype. Commonly associated with indigenous people. That we cannot hold a ‘ proper ‘ relationship and that we always sleep around . We didn’t fit the white model of what a (white) family and a (white) relationship should look like, so the stereotypes and misconceptions started. And, unsurprisingly, ended up as another bit of dnd racism and bioessentialism.

Halsin doesn’t uphold the pervious argument at all, but he shows another part of the discussion that I don’ t think anyone really thought of. The racism stereotypes didn’t vanish when Larian made BG3, they’re all still there. You still have good races and evil races. You still have all the dnd bioessentialism that everyone was so keen to say was gone or just pretended it wasn’t there anymore.

And Halsin is an example of those stereotypes that people are still feeding. So much content with him in it narrows him down to ‘ Big Elf that Fucks and is Horny ‘ or ‘ Big Elf that can be Sexualized no matter What he Does ‘ and it is because Larian didn’t remove the stereotypes in the first place , and fandom doesn’t care enough to take a step back for a second to realize they’re playing into them.

Am I saying you shouldn’t have an ingame polycule with the characters available? No. If it’s cute, and you like it , and it makes sense with the story you’re making for your character, and literally just because you can, go for it! But for the love of god, can we be a bit more careful with how we treat the concept of polyamorous relationships and how we talk about them? Polyamory isn’t just a fandom thing with your ot3s, it’s a real life thing. And we can see how you treat people just having fun with their characters. You understand that, once you get that torn up over the act of making three characters hold hands, it becomes a little bit hard to forget that that is the attitude you hold towards the concept of polyamory when it doesn’t fit the molds you’ve subscribed to.

[thecoppercompendium]

An overdue reintroduction

I've been here a while and, to be honest, my original pinned post is a touch outdated at this point. I've made a tonne of stuff since then, for a start.

So, hi! I'm Daniel (he/they) an indie TTRPG designer. I've made 7 original games to date, as well as several supplements for D&D 5e and some that are system agnostic.

I'm based in the UK, am interested in pretty much anything TTRPG-related (and adjacent areas, too), and love to hear about the awesome stuff people are designing! Seriously, there are so many talented people on this website.

I'm a member of UK TIN (UK Tabletop Industry Network), and cannot recommend having a bunch of people to talk to about TTRPG design with enough (if you're UK based, go join the TIN discord!). I'd love to discuss design and people's games here, too!

Right, on to my games! I'm only going to put my original games on this post (for the pretence of brevity), but I'll put links to my itch.io and DriveThruRPG above the cut if you want to check out everything I've made. For the rest, delve below the divide!

Let the games begin!

A one page, card-based game about struggling to prepare for and survive the coming revolution, as the advisors of the current ruler. Backstabbing not required by highly suggested. Pay-what-you-want.

Get it on itch.io

Get it on DriveThruRPG

A little one page solo game about pushing a boulder up a hill. One more try. Maybe this time you'll reach the top. Pay-what-you-want.

Get it on itch.io

Get it on DriveThruRPG

Who doesn't want to make a monster? Another one page game, in which you and friends dissect hated documents to create glorious life. Mind the angry mob, looks like you've upset the villagers... (Pay-what-you-want.)

Get it on itch.io

Get it on DriveThruRPG

A game based on Caltrop Core in which players delve into the cursed fragments of the old world, within the temples the Old Gods left behind. You might explore a twisted mirror of a city street, a school or even a space station. Use the power of your mutations and curses to overcome the odds and emerge alive. Paid, but with community copies available on itch.io.

Get it on itch.io

Get it on DriveThruRPG

Do you have days where the world just doesn't want you to reach your destination? That's what this one page solo game is about. Made after a discussion about getting to UKGE with UK TIN. Pay-what-you-want.

Get it on itch.io

Get it on DriveThruRPG

A solo, card-based game about climbing a mountain and learning who you are as you climb. Begin with a bare-bones character and learn who you're playing as you overcome obstacles and ascend ever higher. Not everyone will make it to the top. Everyone has a journey worth making. Paid, but with community copies available on itch.io.

Get it on itch.io

Get it on DriveThruRPG

A one page minigame for solving complex puzzles, for instance lockpicking, hacking or creating a precise chemical. Uses codebreaker-type mechanics with scaling difficulty. Pay-what-you-want.

Get it on itch.io

Get it on DriveThruRPG

Thats all for now folks! I'll add new games when I create them! I've always got a bunch in progress, as is the game designer's dilemma...

[thecouncil-aac]

Hell yeah!!

We've been struggling to get our old Fire tablet to work (was a gift years ago, ended up not using it much) for over a week now

For context, it's 5th generation (from 2015), and hadn't been charged/turned on in YEARS (literal) so it's old as fuck but in decent condition

It was so outdated, that it took two days of just updating software before we could even begin to try figuring it out - none of the apps would work, websites wouldn't load, ect

Today, the update that made the software functional again has downloaded

After everything

We were able to find the Fire's version of Coughdrop, download it, and get it to sign in

We can use our tablet as a designated AAC device now

No more worrying about our phone dying and not being able to communicate

We can use our phone for phone things, and still always have a voice

We are so happy

We know nothing about technology, and my partners couldn't figure it out either, so we were starting to lose hope

Fortunately, it was just a matter of cycling through all the updates!

[ponett]

I've been curious about Godot for awhile now, what resources have you been using to learn it? If you don't mind me asking!

I actually fell out of learning Godot really quickly when I started trying to learn it earlier this year, although this is more due to the timing and my own continued burnout than anything wrong with the engine. (I like what I've seen of Godot so far and need to get back to it.)

The main resources I was using were the official beginner tutorials on the Godot website and a handful of video tutorials by HeartBeast on YouTube. The problem, really, is that I jumped on shortly after the public release of Godot 4.0, and there was very little learning material available for Godot 4 at the time. There's TONS of stuff out there for Godot 3, but 4 seems to be juuuuuust different enough in terms of features and syntax that not all Godot 3 tutorials will work for Godot 4. I was also reluctant to roll back to the older version of the engine, even though the devs have been constantly reassuring people that Godot 3 is still viable, just because I didn't want to spend all that time learning a version of the engine that's already outdated. So my brain just kinda shut down in the face of having to make this decision and I put off actually learning Godot

Right now I guess I'm mainly waiting for GDQuest to put out the updated versions of their courses for Godot 4 - particularly "Learn to code from zero with Godot," which seems like exactly the in-depth introduction to designing things in Godot that I need as someone with very limited programming experience. But who knows when the hell that'll be done

In the meantime I did at least make this

[beesmygod]

Move over webtoons, there is a new player in town: fables dot pro, launching October 14th (It's advertised over at topwebcomics)

0 faith in a platform whose website is completely borked on mobile

lmfao hold on. its MADE by the topwebcomics guys. that explains why its going to be wildly outdated feeling

what if instead there was healthy collaboration between web design guys and artists and those who dabble in both and you worked together to make you own website for your comic. what if you just used neocities+rarebit

[lacefuneral]

ok i've seen some posts about the tumblr alternative cohost but none that were actually helpful so!

(disclaimer: i am very new to this website. users who have been there longer can and should chime in with additions and/or corrections)

Cohost Introduction Post

What is cohost?

Cohost is a fledgling website that is essentially a tumblr clone, but with its own culture and site-specific features. It is also very much a work in progress. You are encouraged to talk in the cohost forum to suggest changes for devs, report bugs, and upvote other people's suggestions. This website WILL grow and change over time. And as such, I do not know if/when the information I share here will be outdated. Edit: To answer an ask I received, anyone can join cohost without an invite. It used to be invite-only. It is not this way anymore.

Is "adult content" allowed there?

Yes. Cohost is not on the app store, meaning that it is not subject to Apple's specifications. You can post illustrations, writing, and photographs (cohost does not support any video formats at this time, just gifs). Cohost has an elaborate filtering and trigger warning system (moreso than tumblr), and you can disable adult content for your entire account or for individual tags. I actually don't engage with the adult content at all on there. Visual CSEM (both real and fictional) is specifically forbidden (although frankly I think the guidelines could be stricter wrt written content. Still, does seem to handle this better than AO3 does, going as far to say that written content about real minors is forbidden.)

How are minors protected?

The minimum age to join cohost is 16, and requires proof of parental permission to join. Users who are under 18 are automatically age-gated and cannot view adult content.

If cohost isn't on the app store, how is it used?

You can, of course, use cohost on a computer, but it is designed with mobile in mind. Opening the website on any IOS browser, clicking "share", and then "add to home screen" will install an app for you to use. The same can be done on an android. There is a guide here.

How does cohost work?

First, you create an account. Then you wait for approximately two days (read: weekdays) for the account to be activated. This is done to prevent spam bots. In the meantime, edit your profile. List some interests, your pronouns, your other social media links. Give yourself an icon. Note: icon and banner file sizes are small. You may need to shrink and compress images.

After the two days are up, make your first post! Write a basic introduction (with what you feel comfortable you feel sharing) and list some interests you like, maybe some hobbies, media, etc. And then tag this post with "#welcome to cohost". This will let existing members know that someone new has joined, and they may initiate conversation and/or follow you.

Next, go to the search and type in "The Cohost Global Feed" and click on the tag. Bookmark this tag. This is essentially one giant community space where you can find random users. (There is currently some discourse on the website as to whether this tag existing is a "bad thing" or not because "cohost isn't supposed to have a global tag". Just ignore that lol). Next, go back to search and type in things you like. TV shows, maybe. Video games. Music. Anything. See if people have posted in the tags. Follow them. Comment on their stuff. Click "like" to bookmark the post if you want to.

Most crucially, make sure that you bookmark the actual tag so you can look in that tag again later without having to manually type it each and every time. Also, you get a feed called "bookmarked tags" which allows you to scroll through all of them at once, which replaces the "for you" feature other websites have.

You can "share" a post (called "rebug" in user slang) which serves the same purpose as a reblog on tumblr. In a rebug, you can add your own tags or comment in the body of the post. Cohost users do not talk in tags as much as tumblr users - they tend to prefer to speak in the body of a rebug, or in the comment section (replies). At this time, you cannot view all reblogs. But you can view all comments in the comment section. Any post that is rebugged will preserve the tags of the OP, with any additional tags added being attributed to you. Rebugs are named after the website mascot Eggbug, a purple bee-like insect.

Posts are called "chosts" - and shitposting is called "shitchosting." Two examples of global shitposting tags are "#css crimes" - which is when a person does goofy things with the HTML/CSS editor to make colorful text, fake chat windows, and such - and "#shitchosting" which is a general shitposting tag. I've also seen people use tags like "#random".

If a post makes you laugh, check out the OP's profile. See if they post frequently, and if you have any common interests. If you realize you want to block or mute someone instead, you can.

You can send asks just like on tumblr, but your inbox must be manually opened first. So remember to do that.

How do I look at my own blog?

This is one of my gripes about the UI. You would think, intuitively, you would click here (at the top of the screen). But you would be wrong!

It is ACTUALLY under the sidebar menu, called "Profile." And I'm not the only one to to complain about this. (To get back to your dashboard, by the way, you click on the cohost logo.)

Are there sideblogs?

Yes! Each sidepage (sideblog) has its OWN set of likes AND followed pages (blogs). This allows you to easily switch between multiple sets of dashboards. A lot of users use this to have a SFW dashboard and an adult content dashboard. But it works like tumblr, too. You can have a side page/dashboard for whatever you'd like. Maybe one of your pages is for programming. Maybe another is for photography. You switch between your pages by clicking the arrow next to your icon/username at the top of the screen. ("Ohhhhh.... THAT'S what that's for.")

What's the userbase on there like?

Mostly programmers. Trans people. Furry artists. Plural systems. Furry trans plural programmers. Certainly a lot of shitposters. The website is trans-run and, as such, has zero tolerance for TERFs. Everyone seems pretty friendly from what I can tell. And there's very much a culture of "follow someone randomly based on their vibes" that doesn't happen as much on tumblr. Tumblr is more like "I really like this TV show, I'm going to follow 40 blogs about just this interest." Because the cohost community is so much smaller, there is a lot less content overall, especially fandom content. You can't follow 40 fandom pages because your fandom tag has a total of 3 posts, all made by one person approximately a year ago (well. for me anyway).

Cohost, then, actually has much more in common with real-life socialization. You seek out people with interests that may be very different from your own, and to find a common interest is very exciting! Unlike tumblr, you are encouraged to tag as much as possible. This allows your posts to be seen, to find common interests. And, of course, don't forget to look in "#Welcome To Cohost" too! You may find some new friends there.

What file formats can I post in?

Currently, I am aware of basic image formats working (like jpeg, png) animated gifs, and mp3s. You currently cannot upload videos to cohost. I believe the reason is not related to server costs, but rather as a way to curb the uploading of copyrighted content.

How does cohost make money?

There are no ads, and yet, as far as I am aware, cohost is operating comfortably. There is, however, an entirely optional "cohost plus" that is $5 USD a month. Currently, there are a few perks, but not enough to convince me.

What if I think something about cohost should change?

Cohost has a forum where users can submit ideas for features and other users can discuss/upvote those ideas.

Here is a list of posts made for newcomers to read:

[wrenkenstein]

CLONE X OC WEEK

DAY 2: QUALITY TIME

Ya girl is a bit early today - college calls, and I need to go to bed early tonight. But... why not indulge in some cute clone content before I sleep? ;) And even better, I get to spotlight some of my favorite artists who've drawn Juntech before as well!

As usual, here are some important links:

Juno's bio website

Juntech informational hub (outdated!)

And the tag! @clonexocweek

Without further ado, here's todays content!

What does 'quality time' look like for Tech and Juno?

For two braniacs of similar prestige, Tech and Juno have a lot of ways they like to spend time together. But quality time for them isn't always just working on shared projects!... Even if that's something they enjoy doing to wind down. No, Tech and Juno have multiple ways of sharing each others space...

Museum hopping

Art by my beloved @cloned-eyes

It makes perfect sense that two nerds would enjoy such activities - a perfect excuse to be in eachothers company, AND one where they can engage their minds? Museum's are a favorite place for Juno and Tech to visit whenever they stumble upon civilized planets, and they always make an excuse to take a "Rsearch venture" to the local museum, if possible. But the trips to the museum do more than just give them an excuse to be learning on-the-go; there's quite a bit to be said about how such an excursion is made even more enjoyable by having the right company around. Tech and Juno adore being able to have an excuse to just... talk to one another about their interests. Not that they needed one beforehand, but being surrounded by so much intrigue prompts discussion, and they indulge hours of informational exchange - and cute comments sprinkled in, where Juno will compare Tech to a particularly strange bug, and Tech will feel his cheeks flare a bit.

Shared invention

Art by my perfect @echojedis

Working together on shared projects might seem like a chore, but to these two, it's something they adore. Being able to throw themselves into invention and work together offers them great alone time, and keeps them engaged and constantly bouncing around better and better ideas together. Tech is happy to have someone so invested in building like he is, and Juno is happy to be able to assist however she can - even if her expertise lies more in science and experimentation than it does engineering and assembly. Tech uses this time to actually teach Juno how to be a better and more informed engineer, which has already proved to pay off, as Juno is rapidly growing more and more fluent in the art of inventions and design - and she's already capable of keeping up with Tech. And Tech? Well, he feels adored just having someone around who cares enough to learn.

Discussions... long, long discussions

MORE @echojedis ART

What did you expect out of the two chattiest people around? It seems fitting that the other has finally met their verbal match, as Juno and Tech love to talk. Either jumps at the excuse to continue in-depth discussion about various topics of interest - astral engineering, planetary biology, diversity between biological fauna, you name it. These two will never shut up. Crosshair wants to kick them both in the mouth for how often they keep him up at night, chattering away like two eager birds. But nobody has the heart to stop them - this is the first time in their lives they've had someone else willingly engage in thoughtful dialouge with them about their interests. Who wouldn't want to spend hours talking with their favorite person?

Sleep

Art by bloodbroox

Sleep is a touchy thing for Juno, who has never allowed herself to sleep near another living soul. During missions, she'd stay up all night keeping watch, using it as an excuse to never fall into the vulnerable state of sleep - and this was a habit she intended to continue abiding by... until Tech showed up. Tech figured out pretty quickly that the level of vulnerability and saftey sleep required made it something Juno rarely sought out, to the point it was affected her abilities. So? Under the guise of research and improved efficiency, Tech suggested they start napping together. (linked is a fic, if you want a detailed read of how it happened. ;))

And it didn't just work. Juno became addicted to the feeling of another warm body, and soon, she became dependent on needing Tech around to sleep properly.

Tech is more than happy to accomodate - he can sleep anywhere at any time, and it just seemed logical to help Juno break her clans destructive habits and embrace sleep. It's a test of trust, one of their unbreakable bond, and Juno tests that trust every day whenever she sleeps with Tech... and Tech has no intention of breaking that promise to keep her safe.