biggaybunny posted on 2023-01-29 at 02:21 (in some time zone):

I know it's been talked about before but I still don't think it's been emphasized how *fucked* today's internet experience is for children. I didn't know what the word "discourse" was when I was 8, or 10, or even 13. I was too busy playing the nigh-limitless amount of flash games out there on the internet and making sure my neopets were fed. Like I cannot stress enough that if I had free time on the computer, 9 times out of 10 I could go and play a jaunty little game someone had whipped up and put out there for no other reason than that creating games was awesome and easy to do. Or go to some page that existed just to collect memes; you see back then there were more than 4 sites, and you didn't need accounts to visit them. I didn't get targeted ads. I wasn't exposed to any sort of political ideology. I spent a lot of time on the computer but no one site monopolized my time or tried to fucking manipulate me into using it more. The internet was for more than one thing back then, and honestly I don't think enough people realize how much has been stolen from us.

mima-sama posted on 2023-01-29 at 08:33:

I understand the feelings of despair, but the rest of the internet is still very much out there. There’s a growing and dedicated movement to take it back from corporations. I’ll link a few of the neat little websites I’ve found on Neocities and in various other places.

https://sadgrl.online/ - A good jumping-off point that has html guides, links to webrings, and other cool stuff.

https://deathgenerator.com - You ever wanted to make one of those funny fake video game screenshots, but you don’t have the patience to do the image editing? Well, here you go!

https://signal.vercel.app/edit - A neat little free online midi editor! You can upload midi files or compose your own!

https://dan-ball.jp/en/javagame/dust/ - A cool falling-sand-type game. The website it’s hosted on is full of other cool games, most of which are free and don’t require flash (rip flash)

https://webshark.neocities.org/gamepages - Speaking of games that don’t require flash, here’s a whole page of ‘em. Most are fairly simple, but they’re still a lot of fun.

https://ocremix.org/ and https://vgmusic.com/ - Two websites that have been around since almost forever. OCRemix is home to video game music remixes, and VGMusic has a MASSIVE library of video game midis! I used to spend a lot of time on VGMusic in particular when I was a kid.

https://cooltext.com/ - You can make cool-looking text! They also have free fonts you can download.

And this is by no means a comprehensive list, no. This is just a sampling. There’s so much out there just waiting to be discovered-- you just have to go looking for it! (And remember, kids, be careful out there-- computer viruses and malware are still very much a threat, so I encourage you to get uBlock Origin or NoScript-- or both-- for your web browser before you start web surfing! Also never give out any personal information! And for the love of all that is good, and for your own safety, please stay away from the porn sites if you’re under the age of 18.)

Have fun, stay safe, and eat the rich

garcavisconde posted on 2023-02-03 at 15:56:

HEY KIDS, YOU WANT MORE GAMES? ITCH.IO HAS PLENTY OF WEIRD GAMES YOU CAN PLAY ON YOUR BROWSER OR DOWNLOAD ON YOU COMPUTER. Just remember to always check tags and description to avoid finding things that are for a much older audience.

funkylittlebats posted on 2023-02-07 at 05:48:

There's also special browsers like NuMuKi that you can still play old flash games on!!!

brendering posted an image with the text "Well this is just delightful."

mossspores posted on 2023-05-23 at 13:27:

Literally reblogging this mainly for the VGMusic link. That place fucking raised me in my own little solitude of *actually being able to find and download and listen to* video game tunes as a preteen in the mid-2000s, even if they were just (usually very accurate) recreations that people had made.

That site taught me about MIDI. It enticed me to learn to MAKE MIDI files. It’s where my entire digital music skillset began, and in turn I contributed a handful of MIDIs to the site, and so did many people I’d come to call friends and acquaintances through the Homestuck music and general VGM communities!!

We so desperately need to support sites like these, so please do give them a visit and, if you find value in what they provide, maybe thank the creators in whatever ways feel right to you💙