Site Cemetery

Most of us know the phrase “murder your darlings”, and it applies just as much to webpages as it does to writing. Over the years of curating this site, I’ve created many ill-fated ideas that eventually met horrible, awkward deaths. This page serves both as an archive of those experiments and a eulogy for the souls that succumbed to my apathy. Yet within their remains, there may still be a silver lining for you, the reader: something worth salvaging from their poor bones.

The Graves

            _O_
           |---|
           \ _ /
           _/_\_
        __/__ __\__
       \  _ _ _ _  /
         |       |
         |       |
         |_______|
       _| CREDITS |_
 .nnNN|_____________|NNnn.

Died on the rack during a confession of its pointlessness.

        
        
        
            ___
         __|   |__
        |___   ___|
           |   |
           |   |
         __|___|__
       _|FANGSALOT|_
 .nnNN|_____________|NNnn.

Cannibalised by its webcomic sibling.

           _____
          / / \ \
         / /   \ \
      __/_/     \_\__
     |     _____     |
     |____/     \____|
      \__/       \__/
       ||  R.I.P  ||
       || FICTION ||  
       ||_       _||  
 .nnNN|_____________|NNnn.

Shackled to the wall and allowed to wither.

        
          _________
         /  .---.  \
        |  (0 . 0)  |
        | ___uuu___ |
        |           |
       _|  LIBRARY  |_
 .nnNN|_______________|NNnn.

Claimed it was a library. Had actually come here to kill me.

           .-----.
       .--'.-----.'--.
       \.--       --./
        |   R.I.P   |
        | OUT-GOING |
        |           |
       _|___________|_
 .nnNN|_______________|NNnn.

Trapped in the floorboards.

        
           .-----.
         __|     |__
        |   R.I.P   |
        |RABBITHOLES|
        |           |
       _|___________|_
 .nnNN|_______________|NNnn.

Cooked into a stew.








         .---------.
        /   R.I.P   \
       _|_ SHRINES _|_
 .nnNN|_______________|NNnn.

Eviscerated as a sacrifice to unearthly forces.

        
        
        
        
        
         _____
        |   R.\___
        |  SITEMAP\__
        |           |
       _|___________|_
 .nnNN|_______________|NNnn.

Sent into a hedge-maze and found drowned.

          ________
        _)_ __ __ (_
       \___________/
         | .----. |
         | R.I.P  |
         |WEBCOMIC|
         |  RECS  |
         |        |
         |________|
       _|__________|_
 .nnNN|______________|NNnn.

Starved of all meals, except for nonstop Rabbithole Page stew.

          _________
         /  .---.  \
        |  (0 . 0)  |
        |    uuu    |
        |           |
       _|           |_
 .nnNN|_______________|NNnn.

Left to the elements to expire.

          _________
         /  .---.  \
        |  (0 . 0)  |
        |    uuu    |
        |           |
       _|           |_
 .nnNN|_______________|NNnn.

Exsanguinated for not doing my bidding.

          _________
         /  .---.  \
        |  (0 . 0)  |
        |    uuu    |
        |           |
       _|           |_
 .nnNN|_______________|NNnn.

Tossed into a portal to hell.

The Eulogies

† Credits

A credits page isn’t a bad idea. In fact, I think it’s courteous, helpful and perfectly in the spirit of Web Revivalism. But, unless my credits page grows genuinely substantial, I don’t think it can exist as a standalone page. For me, it made much more sense to fold it into my About Page’s FAQ section. After all, people will inevitably wonder about the fonts I use, the layout I work with, and other such things. It’s a lot more efficient this way.

† Fangs a Lot

Technically Fangs a Lot isn’t dead at all, it’s more undead. Much of its discussion and subtext still lives on in my webcomic, and I’ve been working on a new incarnation of it. This new version doesn’t review things in the traditional sense; instead, it focuses on the atmosphere and ambiance of vampire-related media. The idea is simple. If you enjoy the mood of a particular film, you’ll be able to find something with a similar tone. For example, if you loved Francis Ford Coppola’s Dracula and wanted something with the same rich, gothic romanticism, I could point you toward comparable works. Likewise, if you’re fond of the Hammer Dracula films, I’d curate other Hammer releases that best match that tone. So the new Fangs a Lot will function more as a reference guide, a playful, slightly silly, and light-hearted one. It should carry a sense of artistry without feeling pretentious, all while keeping the “palate testing” motif intact.

† Fiction

The Fiction section has potential, but not enough to warrant a standalone page. Much like a credits page, it can easily be consolidated into another part of the site.

† Library

Library technically still exists, but in two ways: first, as my homepage directory, and second, as my bookmarks page. I felt that calling it a “Library” was somewhat overstating things, since it’s relatively small now. The name would make more sense for a collection with a larger number of links.

† Outgoing

I realised I could easily do this in a footer.

† Rabbitholes

Rabbit Holes was an idea I discarded years ago. From what I remember, it was meant to cover generally weird or unusual topics, the kind of things you fall into metaphorical rabbit holes for. The problem was that I didn’t really resonate with the motif of rabbits, and I couldn’t make it work well enough for me. I liked the idea of a bookmark shelf more than anything.

† Shrines

I know there are people who will swear by this template but I don't understand it much. I don’t think it’s bad to split my shrines, but I think it’s atypical to the old web spirit to box them into a giant pile. If I'm going to really wear my heart on my sleeve, I can't squirrel them away. To me, that’s better suited for virtual-shoeboxes or other such miscellany, rather than things I'm truly pouring myself into. Many shrines also aim to be sources of information. My shrine for Dungeon Keeper 2 is still intended to be useful today, years after the game was released, and it’s still nowhere near done.

† Sitemap

A site map is needed for very large pages, but my Home page's directory does this just fine. It’s closer to the old web vibe and keeps my homepage feeling relevant.

† Webcomic Recommendations

If I'm going to recommend something, I should do it with all my heart. I want to be serious about my recommendations rather than just listing comics, especially if I don't have a connection to its author.

† Webring

Webrings have largely outlived their initial usefulness and seem to be more of a social status signifier nowadays. They can be fun for surfing, but many contemporary webrings aren’t very surfable. A lot of them are quite shallow in terms of content. There’s potential, but only a few sites are serious about their material, or some creators may lack time or knowledge on what to do, something I completely sympathise with. If I’m going to join a webring, I want it to really mean something to me. Creating one personally would be a lot to maintain on top of everything else. The only webring I created was very successful with the people I showed it to. They absolutely adored it, promoted it widely, and loved the idea, but I went on to focus on other projects instead.

† Weird Wikipedia

It didn’t suit my site personally. My friend Alex, however, was enamoured with the idea and used to spend hours browsing the page I created. After I deleted it without a backup, I was lucky to still remember most of what I featured, because we spent so long exploring the depths of Wikipedia. I’d love to see more examples. A lot of the concepts need to be genuinely unusual, not things everyone online already knows about. Part of the fun is discovering stuff you didn’t even know existed. If you want something curated and educational, I highly recommend adding a page like this.