queer and what you might call freakish

ROUND FIVE POLLS [HERE]

PROPAGANDA BELOW

there are a lot of fun ones listed here and here but for the most part, they were made years ago and are now a dying breed. i get why. there's no money in it. factoring in the cost of web hosting and servers, it probably costs money. it's just sad that it's a dying art form.

anyway, here's some of my favorite browser-based interactive projects and games, if you're into that kind of thing. 90% of them are on the lists that i linked above.

A Better World - create an alternate history timeline

Alter Ego - abandonware birth-to-death life simulator game

Seedship - text-based game about colonizing a new planet

Sandboxels or ThisIsSand - free-falling sand physics games

Little Alchemy 2 - combine various elements to make new ones

Infinite Craft - kind of the same as Little Alchemy

ZenGM - simulate sports

Tamajoji - browser-based tamagotchi

IFDB - interactive fiction database (text adventure games)

Written Realms - more text adventure games with a user interface

The Cafe & Diner - mystery game

The New Campaign Trail - US presidential campaign game

Money Simulator - simulate financial decisions

Genesis - text-based adventure/fantasy game

Level 13 - text-based science fiction adventure game

Miniconomy - player driven economy game

Checkbox Olympics - games involving clicking checkboxes

BrantSteele.net - game show and Hunger Games simulators

Murder Games - fight to the death simulator by Orteil

Cookie Clicker - different but felt weird not including it. by Orteil.

(this is a joke, i don't think scientists giving a weird mammal a little jolt For Science is inherently unethical, but fuck it's funny)

i was freezing cold and soaking wet so i took off my jeans and t shirt since no one else was there but a man walked in, in a full blue velvet tuxedo and when we saw each other in my state of undress we both apologized.

he said the men’s room was closed for maintenance and asked if i minded if he used the women’s and i said i didn’t.

he came back out of the stall and said he was tired and actually came in to rest for twenty minutes before he got back on the road and i said that was fine so he sat on the bench in the bathroom and closed his eyes and we were both silent for a few minutes and then he opened his eyes and asked where i was headed and i said i was meeting friends at some club and he said

“i don’t know why you’re going to the club when you could be going to Ravioli Night.”

i said, “to what?”

he sat up excitedly and began to describe what sounded like a black-tie ball, all centered on eating a multi-course meal of different ravioli dishes.

it was already ten at night so i assumed he’d just come from there. i said sorry i missed it but maybe next time.

he said, “it only happens every four years, but you’re in luck; the first course isn’t served until midnight.”

i said, “people gather at midnight to eat ravioli?”

he smirked mischievously and said, “until dawn.”

my dress was mostly dry so i pulled it on over my head and i said, “based on your tux, i think i’d be too underdressed.”

he said, “you can be my plus-one, and no one will ask.”

it seemed to me this man had some sort of major social authority in this mysterious, nocturnal world of ravioli.

i considered it, but i said, “sorry….my friends are waiting for me.”

he smiled sadly for a moment, stood up, and asked if i had a pen. i did in my purse. he wrote coordinates on my arm and said, “if you change your mind….”

then he left.

i walked outside and he was already gone. i got in my car and hesitated to turn the key, considering the thrill in my chest at the concept of so much ravioli.

I AM A GLORIOUS EMPEROR, I CAN EARN THE LOVE OF MY CITIZENS!

I AM A GLORIOUS EMPEROR, I CAN ADEQUATELY PREPARE MY SUCCESSOR!

“The Hood Internet”, based out of Chicago, also compiles mashups for different generations, including mashups of hits from certain years, and these are available on their Soundcloud.  Lyrics to the “40 Years of Hip Hop” can be found HERE.  They also include a Spotify Playlist that includes all of the songs used in the mashup, if you want to just delve into the songs used throughout the video.  

it's deeply frustrating to see how many people have abstracted into layers of theory which have no relation to actual physical reality anymore. no, that trans man isn't signalling his crypto-terfism. yes, all art is political but no, that doesn't mean a thousand people need to huddle around to misinterpret a tattoo and attempt to divine a stranger's detailed socio-political viewpoints from it. no, just because you can make your reasoning sound kind of feminist doesn't actually make it feminist to—and i cannot stress enough that this is what's happening—come together with thousands of people to disparage and insult a trans person afab for getting a tattoo you don't like.

"well, i think it's ugly and obviously a bad idea, but—" stop. consider why you feel the need to concede the idea that the tattoo is bad. consider why you feel it's appropriate to comment on the tattoo's quality or artistic merit in this context. why does that matter? why do there need to be a hundred well-meaning replies which all begin by insulting the tattoo?