#web development from scratch

[chinmayeebehera]

The hardest aspect of beginning a career in web development can be getting started. But if you do, you might be shocked at how much you can learn using the online tools at your disposal in only one day. Then, all that is left is for you to focus on honing your skills for your new career. 

[softvisioncorp]

How to Build a Website and Application from Scratch

In the modern digital landscape, a professionally crafted website or application is no longer a luxury—it’s a necessity for businesses, brands, and startups alike. Whether you're a solo entrepreneur or managing a growing company, understanding how to build a website and application from the ground up can empower you to bring your ideas to life and reach a wider audience.

Define Your Goals and Requirements

Before you start designing or coding anything, it's critical to clearly define your objectives:

What is the purpose of the website/app?

Who is your target audience?

What features are necessary?

Will it be a static website, dynamic platform, or full-stack web app?

Pro Tip: Create wireframes or sketches of the user interface (UI) to visualize your idea.

2) Choose the Right Tech Stack

Depending on your project, select the technologies that suit your needs. Some popular stacks include:

Frontend: HTML, CSS, JavaScript (React, Vue, Angular)

Backend: Node.js, Python (Django), PHP, Ruby on Rails

Database: MySQL, MongoDB, PostgreSQL

Mobile App: Flutter, React Native, Swift (iOS), Kotlin (Android)

Tip: For startups, using open-source tools or low-code platforms can reduce costs and time.

3) Register a Domain and Choose Hosting

Your domain name is your digital identity. Choose a name that reflects your brand, and register it through a reliable provider like GoDaddy, Namecheap, or Google Domains.

For hosting, consider:

Shared Hosting for small websites

Cloud Hosting (like AWS, Azure, DigitalOcean) for scalable applications

4) Design the User Interface (UI/UX)

An intuitive, mobile-responsive design increases user engagement and conversions. Tools like Figma, Adobe XD, or Sketch can help you prototype the layout before development.

5) Begin Development: Frontend and Backend

Start with building the frontend using frameworks like React or Vue.

Develop the backend API to handle business logic, databases, and server interactions.

Ensure proper data validation, security, and error handling.

6) Integrate Features & APIs

Add features like:

User registration/login

Contact forms

Payment gateways (Stripe, Razorpay, PayPal)

Third-party APIs (Maps, SMS, etc.)

7) Test Thoroughly Before Launch Conduct:

Unit Testing (for individual components)

Integration Testing (for connected modules)

User Acceptance Testing (UAT) to get feedback from real users

Tools: Jest, Selenium, Cypress, Postman

8) Launch and Monitor

Deploy your app/website using tools like:

CI/CD pipelines (GitHub Actions, Jenkins)

Monitoring tools (Google Analytics, Hotjar, Sentry)

Announce your launch across social media, email lists, and digital forums.

9) Market Your Product

Use SEO, content marketing, paid ads, and social media to promote your new platform. Don’t forget to collect user feedback and iterate.

Conclusion

Building a website or application Development from scratch may sound complex, but with the right plan, tools, and mindset, it becomes a structured process. Whether you choose to DIY or hire expert developers, understanding each phase helps ensure a smooth journey from idea to launch.

[intelisync]

Crypto Growth Hacks: 2024 Beginner's Guide to PPC Marketing

Effective marketing is paramount in the fast-moving cryptocurrency sector, and Pay-Per-Click (PPC) advertising stands out as a powerful strategy. PPC marketing provides immediate visibility and precise targeting, enabling crypto businesses to reach potential investors and users efficiently. Platforms such as Google Ads, Facebook Ads, and Twitter Ads offer advanced targeting capabilities, allowing for highly customized ad campaigns. By setting clear objectives, conducting detailed keyword research, and crafting engaging ad content, crypto companies can harness the power of PPC to drive traffic and boost conversions.

The crypto market presents unique challenges, including intense competition and shifting regulations, which make PPC marketing particularly advantageous. PPC allows for rapid traffic generation and real-time performance tracking, essential for maintaining a competitive edge. Regular monitoring and optimization, including A/B testing and keyword refinement, are key to sustained success. Additionally, embracing innovative trends like AI, video ads, and blockchain integration can significantly enhance PPC campaign effectiveness. Staying informed about industry trends and prioritizing user experience are also critical components of a successful PPC strategy.

Intelisync offers customized PPC marketing solutions tailored to the cryptocurrency industry. Our comprehensive services include keyword research, ad creation, and performance optimization, ensuring your campaigns are both compliant and effective. By partnering with Intelisync, you can leverage expert knowledge to navigate the complexities of the crypto market and achieve measurable results. Unlock your crypto business’s potential with Intelisync’s expert PPC solutions. Contact us today for Learn more...

[miku-earth]

miku.earth update: September 15

Hi all! This is a lil progress update for those interested. In a rush? Here's the cliff notes!

The map site at miku.earth is back: sorry for the delay in fixing it! Check it out: it has six hundred Mikus!

Including the hyuge ol' queue, we've collected over 3,100 mikus!

Representation is important! I've been using some fancy stats to avoid bias. To that end, please help make sure we have a Miku in every African country!

oh hey! you clicked 'keep reading!' well hi! here is your Miku Direct. . The map site, miku.earth, is back!

I ran into a kinda complex issue and it was a whole Thing. I was working on the site the whole time though! Sorry for the delay, and I hope you enjoy now it's back up and running.

This site has six hundred Mikus on the map, and more are added each week. It was recently rebuilt from scratch (fun fact! I am not a web developer) so I hope it is far zippier and less glitchy as before. A mobile-friendly version is coming soon too!

Also: check out the new search feature! In addition to the title, artist name and region(s), it can also search for the categories indigenous and historic!

cw: this video involves moving around a 2D map with some speed. on the site itself site, this only happens when you hit the Enter key.

We've reached more than 3,100 mikus!

Even at its Miku-per-hour speed, the queue will continue until 2025 at least! This is with thanks to an incredible number of contributions, including donations of literal thousands of links.

Thank you so much to @awnowimsad, @worldmikuposter @the-hatsune-miku-trend, @communist-hatsunemiku, @council-of-beetroot, L-A and a whole host of DMers and emailers for helping get this far.

Oh and by the way: over two thirds of the collection are tumblr posts! Given that this was originally a twitter trend… if you know any Twitter users who are into this trend, please reach out. Some napkin math tells me there are at least 10,000 works of art total out there, which is, by the way, surreal. Let's make sure not a single one is lost.

If you're super curious, the collection is public! I have some tools to auto-annotate (I do not want RSI), but be aware the backlog isn't vetted.

Representation is important!

Fun as this trend is, this project was always intended as a serious study into how people represent their own culture through artwork. I'm no anthropologist, but I feel it is important to make sure this collection is respectful and bias-free. If we're to represent the world, we have to avoid underrepresentation!

To that end I've used some fancy statistics to calculate a "representation value" for each country. Here's a table if you're into the stats of it! This info is handy to help me with the queue – especially with tweets as they're a lil more effort than a carefully-tagged reblog. Of course, Indigenous, hyperspecific and low-note Mikus get priority.

And, well, of course you can see on the site there are purple regions for countries still missing a Miku. In particular, please help me make sure every country in Africa is represented.

Thank you for reading!

Phew! That was a lot. If you're still curious, please check the behind-the-scenes and source code. I work in the open! Even if my code is probably messy.

And if you're a programmer, issues and pull requests are welcome! This is actually a static site, so it's purdy easy to develop.

[meraki-sunset]

so your crow strider au gave me inspiration for my own au, but i've built up the idea in my brain so much that now im scared to try to put it to paper (oops) did you ever deal with this while making crow strider? (and if you did, how you got over it would be much appreciated thanks fhdjks) also your art is cool :]

Hi, sure, i encountered a few blocks when writing CSAU and other projects. I think my method comes down to a couple rules

You need to know how the story ends from the start, so everything in the story leads to the end. Things can change about the contents of the story as you write it and you change your mind about the events that will transpire in it, but you need an end goal you can build your story towards. Most importantly, this is what allows you to add foreshadowing for said ending and structure the narrative in a clear direction. Otherwise, you might come up with a cool ending too late and regret some choices from past chapters that now don’t help this new ending you want

On that same note (and i’ll proceed to copy and paste from an old post) You need to have a Word document with a rough timeline of the events from start to finish. You need to know how it ends from the beginning and how they get there. It can be really, really vague, but it has to be there. It can go like

. They start the game, the trolls bother them.

.both games go to hell

.scratch

.trip, develop relationships

.new set of kids/teen drama

.old kids they get there

.to hell again

.John retcons everything

.new timeline

.they win

And that's homestuck simplified, Those are your Acts. With them, you will know where you're going and if you need to change something earlier. Everything will be constantly up to change of course, but you will be going from point A to point Z more easily.

From there, you go to every point in that list and create a Word document for all of them. I have them in different folders to have every act separated and in order.

A folder for each Doc for every Act, Numbered, and in each one make more lists like that one telling what happens, for example

WordDoc1 - ACT 1 "They start the game, the trolls bother them"=

.John needs to get his game

.introduce Rose

.introduce the trolls on pester chats

. John gets the game

.introduce Dave

.etc

And those are your chapters. Now you can know the extent of what you want to do and if it makes any sense.

I addition to that, every Folder can contain not only the Word document for the Act but also relevant texts and art that are connected to the Act, so evey folder is all about that specific act and any inspiration for it.

Another piece of advice I can give you is to hint at anything important. That's a rule of comedy; actually, the comedian usually closes the show with something related to the first things they said.

That works for everything, and makes people go, "Oh the thing! The meaningless thing they said earlier, it was a clue all along!"

Interconnect it like a web, and that web will stop the story from falling

Homestuck is so ridiculously interconnected that you lose track of the stuff and objects that repeat that have no way to be where they got to be, songs and people and events that are too similar to not be connected but nobody addresses, things like that make it feel like you're dealing with a universe and not just a line of events.

3. Yet another thing, it's something I'm still trying to assimilate, and is that less is more, sometimes things don't need to be said, specialy not bluntly, and an expression, a gesture, a flinch can summarize them. Backgrounds can be reduced, and ideas can be conveyed.

one example is, In homestuck, it's never said that Dave was raised with lack of food. He never sais it, but it's shown in how happy he was to find a warm bottle of juice in his closet, how there is only weapons on the kitchen and no sign of food, how he later sais he never learned what the purpose of a fridge was until he saw it on tv. If someone is lacking something, don't have them say, "i grew up without X thing" show what filled that space in the absence of X thing.

Instead of some character saying, "My dad was never there for christmas" have them say how they thrited for presents at the local goodwill, payed with their lawn mowing money and put the presents under the tree themselves for their siblings and mom.

4. Something that I always have in mind when writing the dialogs and sketching the scenes, is

"I have an idea; what's the easiest way for someone to get the idea, to get the feelings i want to transmit from the idea?" I made the art something I could handle drawing hundreds of times, simplified the coloring, the aspect symbols, the way I draw backgrounds, the way I write dialogs, etc.

That will save you time and work and could prevent you from getting stuck with a project too big to handle

5. This is the most important one: The first draft’s only purpose is to exist.

Writing is like playing darts sometimes; you only get closer to hitting the center by missing it and learning what not to do. That’s an actual rule on animation and a motto on the Disney office. “Get it wrong as quick as you can,” because when you learn what you’re doing wrong is when you start learnign what doing it right means.

If it helps, title your first draft “the dumb version,” because that’s what it is—the version to get the idea out of your head, and then you built over it.

On the same note, once you write "the dumb version" don’t correct it. Rewrite it. It’s annoying, I know, i know, but fixing and fixing a text only carries the mistakes from the first draft, and everything looks kind of disconnected, because it ends up being a Frankenstein text of all the versions of the story mixed together.

This also applies to art; that’s how I handle both writing and drawing; if it’s not working, hold onto the core idea, new page, restart.

Rewriting it puts it in perspective; it feels like a text of its own, with a clear intent in mind.

I think that’s all I have. Making a story is mostly about managing your strengths and weaknesses, organizing and not being scared of it not being perfect.

Hope this helps.

[valeriehalla]

mwah mwah mwah mwah mwah I just found your VN and it's so cute and arresting and so full of nonbinary longing I'm absolutely in love already and it's kinda inspiring me to do the scary job of opening up a word doc and try writing some of my own stuff for the first time ever

also wrt aster i love love love love love the idea of being freed from agab. just... can't remember. who cares. no longer having to measure up to a gender metric or constantly minimizing your male shoulders or female hips and worrying about your ratios or presentation - and just relax and enjoy it instead of treating it like a constant chore of maintaining a dozen spinning plates to avoid being "found out". freed from presentation pressure. mwah.

also also as a fellow web developer I'd love to hear more about your stack for ssg - gatsby? svelte? vite? 93 nested imported html docs? one really really big div? I ask because while I don't know if I'll ever have the chops for music production, reading and discovering that inline music player absolutely tickled me, both narratively and as a developer, what a delight, so so so good

My “stack” ... hmmm. “Stack” .................

So, for the main website I just used “Lektor”, which I picked out of a hat on the basis that it was python-based and could do the one thing I cared about (HTML templating). But the CURSE/KISS/CUTE reader is coded from scratch. It is a single-page app, and it loads and displays story content by grabbing the HTML from a JSON file I call the “story file”. The JSON in turn is created by a parser that I wrote in python that parses a specially-formatted markdown file which I also confusingly call the “story file”. The script format for this latter file is slightly custom but is mostly just “normal markdown but I repurposed code ticks as a macro format”:

The music player is pretty rudimentary and just offloads all the complicated business to howler.js.

It’s a funny patchworked leaning tower of python but it gets it done and gets it done entirely client-side and that means I don’t have to dip even one of my toes into the haunted pool of server-side web development =w=

[ifishouldvanish]

Vanish's Alurox Starter Pack

Hey y'all 👋

Has the line "not the first time you saved my life" been haunting your every waking moment since you watched Castlevania Nocturne Season 2??

Do you find yourself consumed with thoughts about what Alucard and Olrox might be like together??? Of what might have been? Of what could still yet be?

Because I and approximately 2.5 other people on this webbed site have been shipping these two since season 1 first came out, and I have a small backlog of content to help scratch your itch for more Alurox.

FANFICS

There are like, a whopping 5 Nocturne Alurox fics on AO3 🫠 But here's an even smaller selection for your reading pleasure:

Too Much Conversation by @fallloverfic (E) | The first Nocturne Alurox fic ever! Olrox came to Machecoul to accept an invitation from Erzsebet Bàthory—But what if Alucard had gotten to him first, and he made a trip to Wallachia instead?

Until The Sun Rises Again by yours truly (E) | I have a longfic focused on these two that I've been updating monthly for like a year 🫠 it's basically a continuation of where season 1 left off, with the gang + Olrox cloistered at the castle looking for a way to stop Erzsebet. In the process, they slowly develop an attraction to each other—a development that leaves Alucard conflicted with guilt.

Something in the way you're looking through my eyes by @delta-pavonis (E) | This is actually a fanfic of my fanfic. And it's filthy and kinky and delicious. Expanded my mind to all the smutty possibilities for sure. Mind the tags ;)

META & RAMBLINGS

Because sometimes you just gotta wax poetic about Them.

"Do you ever think about how both series are kicked off by a powerful vampire losing the one they love most?"

What Alucard and Olrox can learn from each other

Alucard the Myth; Olrox the 'Dragon'

Recovering the lost parts of themselves

My Ship in Five Minutes: Alurox Edition

The Sun and Moon

Loving again after loss

[dumbasshomo]

RIPTIDE AND INJURIES !!

they’re pirates it makes sense they get wounded and they have the scars to prove it.

jay’s knees are permanently scratched up especially in the early days where she was still developing her sea legs, now with tiny scars from where she kept moving.

on a larger scale her hands are calloused and thickened from holding a bow and pistol. there are thick scars from her early training days because her father always taught with the real weapons. the scar that marks across her abdomen is raised and still hurts if she moves the wrong way.

gillion is a patchwork of scars and un healed wounds. the webbing between his fingers torn in some places, the sensitive skin never fully able to heal. the lighting scars wrap around his upper body up to his neck, the energy that once entered his body traceable. he’d never admit it but on bad days his right shoulder can lock up, swinging heavy swords from such a young age pulling those muscles past their breaking point.

chip, at this point could be considered more scar than skin. tiny white flecks from knife fights when he was young, a crooked nose from one too many broken noses. he has been confused where the burns on his arms are from, thick and raised and still red despite his age. his artificial finger will entirely lock up if he doesn’t oil it or too much salt water

idk sometimes the brain wants the pookies to deal with the horrors

[3liza]

everyone suggesting alternatives for Photoshop is inevitably not actually using most of the Photoshop functionality, which to be fair is probably the vast majority of the potential Photoshop userbase.

the reason Photoshop has been industry standard for 30 years is that it does almost everything and has almost always done almost everything. it has had a few weird slow adoptions, for example it didn't support basic live mirroring while drawing until the 2010s (ish). it didn't have recovery saves or auto saving until about then. it's never been the absolute last word in real media synthesis, that was Corel Painter for years and now I think CSP is probably the king. illustrator is better at vectors. etc. but Photoshop can do all of those things well enough to prepare a professional grade, print-ready artwork from RAW file to layout to text to retouching to total from-scratch illustration, in one step, with layer and channel separation, multiple types of masking, adjustment layers, lossless file object placement, vector text transformation including all standard print layout tools like kerning, like spacing, comprehensive font support, and both true font variation and faux transformation like fake bold and fake italic. and clients and print workflows are expecting PSD files and file preparation for this reason. Krita, as an example of a popular program suggested as an "alternative to Photoshop" which I have used for hundreds of hours to do professional and personal work, is great for drawing but has a completely unusable text engine, you can't make a webcomic with speech bubbles easily and quickly in Krita. it was like pulling teeth even trying to put "BABY SLUT" on my Lethal Company skin with Krita. but you can lay out an entire magazine in Photoshop in an afternoon, and people do (print preparation is whole other topic I'm not saying vogue is prepared solely in Photoshop, it isn't, I'm saying you CAN do it in Photoshop)

I have never paid for an Adobe product, I am not pro Photoshop, I am pro getting my work done. I would absolutely love for there to be an actual Photoshop alternative, but there isn't. there are individual alternatives for individual features of Photoshop, and if you are working in a limited professional scope or you just want a drawing program or just want to make your webcomic or just want to do pixel art then one or two programs will replace Photoshop for you. everyone who, like me, has to do RAW editing, fashion retouching, print and web layout, pure digital illustration, vector illustration, text and graphic design, and all the rest of the crap I have to do in a format that's accepted by publishers and the rest of the various workflow destinations it's just not realistic. which is why it's great that Photoshop is completely trivial to pirate at any stage of its development you care to install,including versions prior to the introduction of the AI crap, the cloud crap, and the rest of the crap no one serious is actually using unless their manager is forcing them to

[smokingcreams]

Re: 8tracks

HUGE UPDATE:

As I said on my earlier post today the CTO of 8tracks answered some questions on the discord server of mixer.fm

IF YOU'RE INTERESTED IN INFORMATION ABOUT 8TRACKS AND THE ANSWERS THE CTO OF 8TRACKS GAVE, PLEASE, KEEP READING THIS POST BECAUSE IT'S A LOT BUT YOU WON'T REGRET IT.

Okay, so he first talked about how they were involved in buying 8tracks, then how everything failed because of money and issues with the plataform then he talked about this new app called MixerFM they developed that works with web3 (8tracks is a web2 product), that if they get to launch it they'll get to launch 8tracks too because both apps will work with the same data.

Here is what they have already done in his own words:

*Built a multitenant backend system that supports both MIXER and 8tracks

*Fully rebuilt the 8tracks web app

*Fixed almost all legacy issues

*Developed iOS and Android apps for MIXER

What is next?

They need to migrate the 8tracks database from the old servers to the new environment. That final step costs about $50,000 and on his own words "I am personally committed to securing the funds to make it happen. If we pull this off since there is a time limit , we will have an chance to launch both 8tracks and MIXER. … so for all you community members that are pinging me to provide more details on X and here on discord, here it is"

Here the screenshots of his full statement:

NOW THE QUESTIONS HE ANSWERED:

*I transcribed them*

1. "What's the status of the founding right now?"

"Fundraising, for music its difficult"

2. "Our past data, is intact, isn't?"

"All data still exists from playlist 1"

3. "Will we be able to access our old playlists?"

"All playlists if we migrate the data will be saved. If we dont all is lost forever"

4. "How will the new 8tracks relaunch and MIXER be similar, and how will they be different?"

"8tracks / human created / mix tape style as it was before

mixer - ai asiated mix creation, music quest where people earn crypto for work they provode to music protocol ( solve quests earn money for providing that service )"

5. "Why is 8tracks being relaunched when they could just launch MIXER with our 8tracks database?"

"One app is web2 ( no crypto economy and incentives / ) mixer is web3 ( economy value exchange between users, artists, publishers, labels, advertisers) value (money) is shared between stakeholders and participants of app. Company earns less / users / artist earn more."

6. "Will we need to create a separate account for mixer? Or maybe a way to link our 8tracks to mixer?"

"New account no linking planned"

7. "What do you mean by fixed almost all legacy issues and fully rebuilt the 8tracks web app?"

"We have rebuilt most of 8tracks from scratch i wish could screen record a demo. In Last year we have rebuilt whole 8tracks ! No more issues no more bugs no more hacked comments"

8. "Will the song database be current and allow new songs? For example if someone makes a K pop playlist theres the capability for new songs and old not just all songs are from 2012. There will be songs from 2020 onwards to today?"

"Current cut of date is 2017, we have planed direct label deals to bring music DB up to speed with all new songs until 2025. This means no more song uploads"

9. "The apps would be available for android and outside USA?"

"USA + Canada + Germany + UK + Sweden + Italy + Greece + Portugal + Croatia in my personal rollout plan / but usa canada croatia would be top priority"

10. "Will 8tracks have a Sign in with Apple option?"

"It will have nothing if we don’t migrate the database but yes if we do it will have it"

11. ""Will Collections return?"

"Ofc If we save the database its safe to assume collections will return"

12. "Will the 8tracks forums return?"

"No that one i will deleted People spending too much time online"

13. "No more songs uploads forever or no more songs until…?"

"Idk, this really depends on do we save database or no. Maybe we restart the process of song uploads to rebuild the and create a worlds first open music database If anyone has any songs to upload that is

We operate under different license"

14. "What is your time limit? for the funding, I mean"

"Good question I think 2-3 months"

15. "From now?"

"Correct"

16. "When is the release date for Mixer?"

"Mixer would need 2-3 more months of work to be released Maybe even less of we would use external database services and just go with minimum features"

17. "Do you have the link for it?"

"Not if we dont secure the database that is number one priority"

*That was the end of the questions and answers*

Then he said:

"You need to act bring here (discord) people and help me set up go fund me camping of investor talks fail so we secure the database and migrate data so we can figure out whats next"

He also said he'll talk with the CEO about buying him the idea of community funding, that all who participate should have a lifetime subscription and "some more special thing", we suggested a message on the 8tracks official accounts (twitter, their blog, tumblr) and he was okay with the idea but he said they need to plan it carefully since the time is limited.

Okay, guys, that's so far what he said, I hope this information helps anyone, I don't know if they get to do a community funding but take in consideration it's a plausible option and that what they want from us is to participate in any way like for example spreading the message, if most people know about it the best, they also want you to join their server so here's the link to the website of mixerfm and where you can join the server:

Keep tagging few people who were discussing about this:

@junket-bank, @haorev, @americanundead, @eatpandulce, @throwupgirl, @avoid-avoidance, @rodeokid, @shehungthemoon, @promostuff-art @tumbling-and-tchaikovsky

#8tracks

[caligvlasaqvarivm]

You said you wanted to talk about power sets and I have to say- have always been a bit confused about Seers. I've done so much research (because one of my ocs is a Seer of Heart) but I've really come up with nothing (I'm NOT the best at classpect stuff, the whole passive/active thing goes Right over my head for example). So! I guess I want to hear your thoughts on it (or if you want something more general, hearing your thoughts on the passive/active thing would also be nice)

so seers are the passive counterpart to mages, and they're both combined under the similarity of "sees the future."

Thing is, "the future" in homestuck is a mutable concept, being laid down by the actions of the players. this is the split between the seer's powers and the mage's powers: the mage's "prophecies" always come true, because the mage's ACTUAL ability is to CHOOSE a future. mages, an active class ("exploit their aspect to benefit themselves" according to calliope) actively use their aspect to collapse the possibilities of the future into a single course of events that Definitely Will Happen. because players are 3d beings experiencing time in cross-sections, this appears to be prophecy, rather than active determination.

on the flipside, then, Seers are the actual prophets, because their powers allow them to see the branching paths of the future (along with letting them just, like, regularly "see" things associated with their aspect - terezi can see brain ghost dirk, and kankri jumps in on the cronus/meenah conversation right as something pale is happening, implying that he's able to sense relationships developing so he can cockblock them.) passive classes "allow their aspect to be used by others" (according to calliope), so that's what seers do: they see the branching paths of the future through the lens of their aspect, and by doing so, serve as guides for the rest of the party - Rose, after god tiering, is constantly leading her party down the "most fortuitous path," and terezi, whose mind powers are associated with consequences, behavior, choices, and karma, is a master manipulator, able to see the branching webs of outcomes from even minor changes in behavior.

That all being said, Aspect is tied to fundamental personality, and Class is tied to character arc. The Seer character arc is hubris, followed by a fall from grace, and then with self-inflicted "blindness" to cope with the shame and guilt. For example, Rose's need to be the smartest person in the room made it easy for Doc Scratch to manipulate her; this led to her mother's death, which Rose coped with by drinking herself stupid. Terezi's overconfidence in herself as a master manipulator led to her eschewing her personal feelings and painting herself into a corner where the only viable option was to kill her BFF Vriska, the guilt of which she coped with by throwing herself into a toxic relationship with Gamzee, which was a loss for the forces of justice and karma, but a big win for the clown (plus all the stuff with her literal vision). And Kankri is currently suffering from both at once, his insistence on being the team's "spiritual leader" making him widely disliked, and his insistence on celibacy a self-induced "blindness" to his clear feelings toward latula and cronus - feelings which make him act really shitty to mituna, and make him step between cronus and meenah right as meenah's about to make Cronus reconsider some harmful behaviors.

Heart, meanwhile, is associated with feelings, intuition, motivations, the soul, and the self. Its players are characterized by vulnerability and sincerity - its players have very strong emotions, sometimes overwhelmingly so, and are also naturally gifted at understanding other peoples' inner selves, able to see them for their best... and for their worst. There's generally two ways for an Aspect to manifest "at its worst" - toxic overabundance, or "inversion," where it starts to exhibit the traits of the opposite. A Heart player at toxic overabundance is needy and fawning, demanding attention at the same time as they enthusiastically allow those with stronger desires to walk all over them, in an attempt to please the strong desires they sense - Dirk often flips between critical/controlling and needy/desperate; Nepeta lets Equius walk all over her; Meulin has TWO awful, shitty boyfriends who do horrible things to her. At inversion, they become misanthropic and manipulative, using their influence over emotion and desire to engender terrible outcomes - seeing only the worst in others, they actively work to ensure the worst sides of others are provoked into the open. At their best, then, a Heart player is able to separate good desires from bad, just wishes from selfish ones, and encourage the best in people while helping them deal with their worst.

So a Seer of Heart would start out arrogant - perhaps a Mean Girl type? Someone assured in not only their ability to engender their desired emotions from others, but entitled to those emotions. "You know you love me!" is the "vibe," so to speak. Heart players are naturally capable of sensing motives and emotions; a Seer of Heart turns that up to eleven. They'll be perfectly assured that their ships are the best ships, that their read on people is the correct read, that they'll be able to tell how others feel and how they'll react. Also they might be able to see ghosts because of Heart's sway over souls.

When something finally happens that shatters this arrogance, they'll fall into willful self-blindness to cope with the guilt and shame. As Heart is what they can see, that means they'll deliberately try to obfuscate their ability to sense feelings, motives, and emotions - perhaps literally isolating themselves and becoming a NEET/hikikomori, perhaps replacing their brain with a computer, etc. etc.

Once they overcome this and figure themselves out, they're going to specifically be great at, tbh, therapy and life coaching. able to literally see all emotional conflicts and the ways in which people will emotionally respond to certain situations, a Seer of Heart is going to be amazing at helping others understand themselves, their own feelings, and the feelings of the others on the team. they'll be insane diplomats, too, able to grok at a glance what all parties on a negotiation desire. you can't lie to a seer of heart!

[skysometric]

Skysometric Design Retrospective, Part 1

Where It All Started

somehow, after a decade on the internet, i've become one of those people who has a whole Personal Brand™. at first i leaned into it on purpose, partly because i wanted to make videos as my shtick (until i didn't), and partly because i didn't really know how else to express myself on the internet early on. these days, however, keeping up a personal brand is less about Who I Am and more that i just enjoy graphic design. making this stuff is fun!

so over the past few years since coming out and rebranding as Skysometric, i've put a lot of work into a new logo, website design, icons, video thumbnails, and even more besides. i'm pretty proud of how it all turned out! and now that most of the heavy lifting is done, i'd like to write about how it went and some things i've learned along the way. there's a lot to talk about, so strap in for a pretty long series!

but, to start, i can't talk about Skysometric without a quick history lesson about WillWare, the old me – the one who got the ball rolling on graphic design in the first place.

———

maybe this is obvious to the trained eye (or maybe not!), but i'm an entirely self-taught graphic designer. i've never taken any classes, studied design styles, learned the fundamentals, or even so much as had a single course teaching me how Photoshop works. (not that i use Adobe anymore, but you get my point!)

instead, everything i know, i learned by doing. i learned how image editing software works by making tiles and backgrounds for Mari0 levels. my fundamentals are deeply rooted in drawing mazes as a kid, so i quickly discovered how to set up grids in every image editor i got my hands on. i picked up other design techniques by attempting to imitate their logos or styles for personal projects over the years.

on the one hand, this means that i've developed a style and workflow that is wholly and uniquely my own! on the other hand, anytime i get stuck, i don't always have the tools to get un-stuck... or even the words to google it.

so instead of googling it, i used the tools i had to make all of this:

rest in peace, WillWare (the brand). clockwise from top left: logo, social media banner, video end slate, stream archive thumbnail.

what started as just a fancy logo to replace my old Sonic profile picture, snowballed into an entire branding suite across web and video! i learned a lot about graphic design as i gradually expanded these designs into my other creative pursuits. you can see so much of that self-taught style i described above in these few examples – geometric grids and graph paper, simple shapes and layers like my Mari0 work... and imitation of Google's Material Design guidelines, like drop shadows and color choices.

in fact, i leaned so hard on Material Design that, after some time, it no longer felt like my own style. anytime i wanted to branch out, i felt constrained by somebody else's design standards! so i challenged myself to find my own design style from scratch, which I called "New WillWare":

this neon light grid is still pretty dang inspired, but it's not "me" anymore.

it took a couple years of slow iteration to arrive at this neon-looking "light grid," and while it rocks, it also painted me into a corner. i had no idea how to make anything more than pretty promotional pictures in this style – i couldn't figure out how to make it work with video, webpages, or even just text, no matter how much i tried to go back to the drawing board. and my lack of formal experience made it that much more difficult to solve these problems!

so after a while, i felt pretty stuck. my old design didn't feel like my own, my new design was a dead end, and i felt like i was too invested in both to start completely from scratch again. i was simultaneously too burnt out to continue, and too scared to throw everything out and start fresh!

and then i transitioned, and started calling myself Sky.

in case you missed the *cough* subtle indicators, both of my old designs are centered around the letter W (being part of my old username and all). "Sky" does not have a W. so, uh, none of this fits anymore! even though i love this old work, and still consider it part of my history, it no longer accurately represents me or my identity. ready or not, it's time to design something new!

on one side, i felt pressure to get away from my old look, the product of a younger designer whose efforts were still the standard for my online presence. on the other side, i felt pressure to rise from the ashes of my redesign, make something of all the failures, successes, and lessons that i learned.

and thus, shedding my old brand identity and donning my new gender identity, i hit the sketchbook running.

to be continued...

[fujocoded]

Event Announcement!

Join FujoCoded at Escapade, the original slash slumber party with three decades of fannish history, in Los Angeles, CA from Jan. 31st to Feb. 2nd! Come chat with us about fandom, join our panels, and maybe even buy an exclusive new Fujoboard...

Want to attend in-person? There's still time to sign up!

You can also register for the upcoming online-only Escapade 35.5 or donate to help out this long-standing fandom tradition directly ($20 gets you access to the Escapade 35 Discord!)

@essential-randomness will be hosting 3 panels this year, all about a better fannish internet:

What's up with BlueSky (and decentralized social networks)?

The Fujoshi Guide to Web Development - Building a Fandom from Scratch

Personal Fannish Websites (co-hosted with Elf)

Finally, Escapade needs your help! Even if you can't attend, there are still tons of ways to chip in and help secure the future for this piece of fandom history. Spread the word, tell your friends!

And here's the exclusive Escapade FujoBoard.... under the cut!

See you in the vendor alley for this, our other merch, and maybe some more "exclusive merch" from Ms Boba's personal stash of samples!

[intelisync]

2024 Guide to Liquid Restaking: Everything Beginners Should Know

The advent of liquid restaking is significantly altering the dynamics of the DeFi ecosystem by allowing stakers to reallocate their assets across multiple protocols without the need to un-stake. This innovative approach enhances both liquidity and flexibility, enabling users to maximize their staking rewards by participating in several staking opportunities simultaneously. By diversifying staking activities, liquid restaking mitigates risks associated with exposure to a single protocol and enhances overall security. It also improves liquidity, making it easier for users to trade and transfer their restaked assets, a flexibility not afforded by traditional staking methods.

Liquid restaking's seamless integration with DeFi platforms facilitates the use of staked assets in various financial products, thereby opening up a plethora of innovative use cases, such as collateralized lending and synthetic asset creation. This integration supports the decentralization ethos of blockchain technology by allowing more participants to engage in staking without the constraints of locked assets. As the DeFi sector continues to evolve, liquid restaking is poised to become a foundational component, driving greater innovation and user participation.

EigenLayer exemplifies the benefits of liquid restaking by enabling users to maximize their staking rewards while securing multiple blockchains. This approach not only enhances capital efficiency but also fosters new opportunities within the DeFi space.

For those looking to leverage these advantages, Intellisync provides advanced liquid restaking solutions, ensuring your assets remain accessible and continuously productive. Join the Intellisync revolution today and optimize Learn more....

[itchywebreviews]

Exit/Corners - a game review

Are you looking for a game to scratch your Zero Escape itch?

Exit/Corners, by Canadian-based Moon Moth Games, is a free visual novel/puzzle game available on itch.io and playable in web browsers.

You play as Ink, a student who wakes up alongside four other strangers to find himself kidnapped and locked inside a mysterious abandoned hotel that's rigged to explode. They can escape, as long as these 'Contestants' solve a series of riddles and puzzles within a 24-hour time limit. Or, they can die.

Without spoilers, this game surprised and delighted me. It's 29 episodes, takes several hours to complete, and has detailed art and a custom soundtrack. I can strongly recommend it to anybody who enjoys character-focused mystery stories and simple but satisfying puzzles (and who doesn't have an issue with dark themes or depicted violence).

None of the puzzles felt 'unfair', as the game has a great hint system where you can ask the other Contestants for advice or their opinions, which gives you extra insight into their characters as well as providing hints. If you get really stuck, ask them enough times and they'll eventually spell out the answer for you.

The relationships that develop between the Contestants, positive and negative, form the emotional core that the plot needed to keep the reader invested. At first most of the characters are abrasive, stressed, and either insulting to or dismissive of each other. The only friendly face is Aether, the girl who woke up in the same room as you, but she has her own secrets she's keeping. As you can imagine from people picked to play a deadly game, all of them have hidden depths that they're unwilling to trust the other Contestants with—including Ink. Uncovering the pasts of each Contestants is as much part of the mystery as who brought them together, and why.

Generally I found each backstory reveal satisfying, placing each character's previous actions in new context. There was one particular reveal that worked so well on a meta-level that I felt genuinely called-out by the fact I hadn't realised what was happening. Actions that felt unrealistic or confusing could often be explained through later information, as well as the high-stakes situation revealing the best and worst sides of each Contestant.

The mystery plot was excellently foreshadowed. As new information is revealed, through Ink's internal monologue the reader is also gently reminded of relevant points they may have forgotten—allowing them a chance to put the clues together as Ink does without being excessively heavy-handed. Many of the biggest twists were hard to predict, with enough clues that I could guess some of the elements, whilst the actual unveiling left me staring at my screen in shock as my mind went over all the clues I'd overlooked or missed. The plot started slowly, picked up the pace as revelations started stacking on top of each other and revealing the shape of the plot, and in the last few chapters definitely sped up as the different mysteries converged together. The ending felt a little rushed, but each major plot thread and mystery was neatly resolved when the true purpose of Exit/Corners was explained.

This won't be a game for everybody, but for a completely free game that doesn't even require a download? If any of this interests you, give it a try. It might surprise you.

Spoiler-free warnings: This game includes depictions and discussions of graphic violence, depictions and discussions of mental illness and suicide, derogatory language, and internalised bigotry.

What's next for Moon Moth Games? Although they have a demo for an upcoming game called 'Séance: Spectral Noise' on their itchi.io page, there have been no official posts since March 2022. A twitter post from January 2023 stated the project ran into legal difficulties. There have been no subsequent updates.

[certifiedlovergirlsstuff]

girlieee your spiderman!ethan landry fics are literally my most favourite thing EVER!! I know you already made a fic like this but could you do a fic where it’s pouring rain, reader is sleeping and she hears a knock on her window and it’s Ethan🧍He’s got rips on his suit and some rips on his mask and he’s like scratched up and bleeding a lot so reader lets him inside to help patch him up? It’s all angsty but fluffy too (hurt/comforttt)😁 tooootally understand if you can’t write this, I have too much respect for you and your work to be upset haha!! ilyyy🤍

you know always helps to see if i could write similar scenarios in different context (i didn’t write any of the actual patching up, i hope that’s okay🫣). i hope i did your request the justice you deserve. and thank you so much for enjoying spider-man!ethan just as much as me and everyone else💗💗💗 (not proofread or spell checked, forgive my messy words)

used the prompts “let me explain-“ and “can you calm down?” from @urfriendlywriter

pairing: spider-man!ethan landry x fem!reader wc: 1.3k

masterlist

it was a gloomy day, morning to night, on this friday night in new york. luckily you only had one class in the late afternoon on campus so you were able to stay home the rest of the night. you cooked some grilled cheese for dinner, ate some ice cream, caught up on your show. then you showered, did some homework, read about two chapters on your new book as you laid in bed before sleepiness coated your eyelids and they fell shut.

you weren’t sure how long you were asleep, maybe thirty minutes to a few hours, you couldn’t tell. you smacked your lips a few times that were aching for gulps of cold water, so you made the short walk to the kitchen and chugged the water bottle in your hand.

with sluggish steps you made it back to your room ready to throw yourself back into bed. but then a noise caught your attention. you thought you were imagining it, brain working slower while rain beat against the side of your building harshly, but it came again. and again this time louder with urgency. you thought it was coming from your front door somehow, but movement by your window stopped you in place.

slow and small steps carried you closer and closer to the dark window until you could see someone sitting on your fire escape, someone colored in blue and red.

they waved when you were in view and you noticed all the cuts on his suit and mask. so you pushed the window up fast and yelled into the roaring wind, “spider-man!” and he yelled back, “hi! sorry i just need some place to wait out the storm and i stumbled here. i swear it’s me!” and he shot a web to the other side of the building to prove it.

so you moved aside and he climbed through the window then stood to his full height with a slight sway to his body. you held your hands out hesitantly, “uh, you wanna sit down?”

“if- if i can, that’d be great.” he sounded winded and tired. you grabbed his wrist and guided him to your desk chair and he sank into the seat, leaned his head back with his eyes to the ceiling.

your eyes followed the slow up and down of his chest, “i think i already know this answer, but are you okay?” wringing your fingers together with your teeth biting into your bottom lip.

spider-man took a deep inhale that was followed by a shaky exhale. he did that two more times before adjusting his seating, his palms resting on his thighs as his bug eyes stared at you. “i’m gonna take off my mask-“ “wait, what?”

he continued, “i don’t want you to freak out, y/n.” now you were even more nervous, “how do you know-“ and before you could finish your sentence spider-man yanked his mask off and underneath sat a pillow of sweaty brown curls along with watchful brown eyes.

you couldn’t speak, your lips parted but no sound came out. hands moved to cover your mouth while frantic pupils took in this new development. ethan landry was spider-man. the boy you sit next to in your shared english class. the boy that causes your heart to beat faster than normal at just the mention of his name.

it felt like your brain went through five stages of emotions in five seconds. confusion, worry, upset, butterflies, then finally anger.

eyes that were wide as saucers now narrowed as you dropped your hands to your sides and stared down the superhero boy as you yelled, “what the fuck, ethan!”

he held his arms out like you were a dangerous animal. “okay, i know it’s a lot-“ you scuffed at the words, “a lot? yeah it’s a lot! your fucking spider-man and haven’t told any of us!”

he cringed and brought a hand to his neck while looking away. “actually… chad knows…”

a beat before- “get the fuck out.” stone cold face and voice. ethan jumped from the chair on unsteady feet, “y/n, just calm down and-“ “don’t fucking tell me to calm down! i’m pissed at you and your telling me to calm down?”

ethan sighed before sitting back in your chair. you stayed standing with your arms tight across your chest, nostrils flaring and wishing you had laser eyes. though your mind was worried about ethan’s health and his injuries, but you had to hold your ground.

“y/n,” he said with a plea, “just- just let me explain. or whatever you want the answer to, i’ll give it. just… please y/n.”

a clench to your jaw before moving to sit on your bed, arms still crossed over your heart. “fine, but i just have one question?” ethan sat up straighter, eyes alight. “anything.”

“why didn’t you tell me?” body slumping and face softening. “do you not trust me? i wouldn’t have told-“

“no, no. it’s not…” ethan moved from the chair to beside you on your bed. your knees knocked together and you dropped your arms to sit in your lap, fingers picking at your pajama pants.

“the only reason chad knows is ‘cause he’s my roommate. and he walked into my room before i could hide the suit.” ethan hesitated before setting his left palm on your thigh just above your knee. your eyes staring at the red fabric and ethan watching the side of your face. “i didn’t tell you because i don’t want you involved.”

looking away from his hand and to his face, his scratched and bruised face. “oh, ethan,” reaching out to cup his cheeks.

his gloves hands fell atop yours, “people that know about me being spider-man… it puts a target on their back. and i didn’t want anyone to know, but when chad found out i tried really hard to make sure spider-man wasn’t seen around him. but with you especially… i could never forgive myself if something were to happen. i need you in my life.”

“i just… you could’ve told me and i would help you with all this.” referring to his damaged skin. “do you do it yourself or does chad help?”

ethan glances down, “i do it myself. unless it’s some place i can’t reach i’ll ask chad for help. he kinda says the same things, wants to help me.”

your thumbs stroked his cheeks, “it’s cause we care about you, ethan. we don’t like seeing you in pain and we don’t want to think about… losing you.” throat constricting from the emotions growing.

ethan grips your wrist, “hey, hey. you won’t lose me. i’ve been doing this for three years now. i can handle myself.” making sure his eyes look directly into yours to convey his words.

a tear drops, “doesn’t mean i won’t worry about your safety all the time now.” eyes zeroing in on a cut along his lip, “now, why don’t i clean you up. seems you’ve had a stressful night.” and ethan huffed a laugh at that, “you could say that.”

you guided ethan to lay on your bed, his grunts and groans twist your insides. you smooth a hand over an unmarred spot on his chest, “i’ll get some bandages and rubbing alcohol. best we can do for the night.” and you moved to leave, but ethan wrapped his hand around your wrist keeping you close as he whispered, “thank you. i owe you.”

a scrunch of your brows at his words, “no, no you don’t owe me. i’m here for you always. and i know you’ll be here for me. that’s all we need.” nudging a knuckle at his chin, sharing a special smile.

“just rest while i take care of you, bug boy.” leaning down to press puckered lips to ethan’s temple, just below his curly bangs. pulling away, ethan smiles dazedly, “bug boy?”

you pulled away from his touch and shrugged as you walked to exit your bedroom, “gotta give you a new nickname. can’t keep letting the title spider-man get to your head.”

-

ethan landry taglist: @astrxq / @websterss / @teenagedramaqueenlisa