Study / Bookmarks / Contents

Bookmarks

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             P E A R L

Introduction

Behold, my bookshelf of spooy webbed sites. For best effect, read these in a candlelit chamber with a blanket and a warm drink.

I find these links through hours of link-hopping, crawling, scuttling, and being a bit of a Fraidycat. I'll also attest to a few rounds with Claude, who covers the contemporary SEO-hellscape side of the net while I hand-curate things from the underground. If you want names, I use FlamedFury, Bubbles.town, Hacker News, Search my Site and Wayback snapshots of various directories as starting points. I give further credit to Lutzbug for taking some of the excess off my paws; as a policy we don't host the same links as to keep things interesting. Besides what you heard on your way in, note that this is a personal collection, not an exhaustive list.

Use the contents menu to jump to the main categories, or try out the new index for more specific topics. I have seen plenty of articles on the importance of linking, but none seem to mention the tools used in print. Search bars are javascript-based, and while handy, there is an immense disatisfaction I feel when I've punched in everything I could and recieved nothing. So, the index curbs your disappointment, tells you exactly what to expect and gives you a quick way to scan and see whether or not you'll get anything out of this collection.

Study / Bookmarks / "But why link?"

"But why link?"

If you're in a place like this, you're probably already well aware. To anybody new in this scene, linking is a valuable part of small-web culture and serves as a direct counter to the homogenisation of the web. To link while other people are content to be fed by algorithms is a sorely-needed skill. To surf is to be here at all, to internet is to be the surfer that stands on the shores and wonders how long the momentum will last. The curiosity that radiates from this figure is what sparks in us, when we realise the reward in seeking things out ourselves, as this place was always meant to do. Away from the warm darkness of a chatroom is the vast ocean blue of a trillion hyperlinks waiting to be clicked.

  1. Cain, David: "How to Surf the Web in 2025, and Why You Should". Raptitude. .
  2. "Every Site Needs a Links Page: Why Linking Matters". Melonking's Thoughts.
Study / Bookmarks / Index

Index

archives 7, 5, 6

ascii art 6, 7

blogging & writing 3

cats 3, 12

collectives 13

copyright 5, 13

data hoarding 3, 6, 15

dead internet theory 5

directories 5, 23

DOS & emulation 5

dreams 7, 5

dungeon synth 14

environmentalism 4, 13

esolangs 7, 6

fanlistings 9

folklore & the strange 6, 14

fonts 21

games 6, 7, 10, 11, 12

gardening 4

halloween 6, 7, 5

hermitdom 14

hobbies 4

homelab 15, 17

horror 7, 5

interactive fiction 6, 10, 11

internet criticism 3, 4, 5

IRC 6, 16, 17

linux 18, 19

mental health 5, 6, 5

monsters 7, 5, 14

nature 4, 8

netiquette 3, 16

newsletters 7

Study / Bookmarks / Index

nostalgia 4, 6, 7, 5

open source 13, 15, 17, 18

petz 6, 14, 23

pixel art & retro 6, 14

privacy & rights 6, 13

procedural generation 8

programming 6, 17, 18

radio 12

Raspberry Pi 19

RSS 15

Scooby-Doo 7, 5

slow web 3, 5, 6

small web 3, 4, 5, 6, 23

stuffed animals 5

terminal 6, 15, 17, 18

terrariums 4

Tolkien 6

torrenting 7, 15

toys 5, 5

usenet 7, 5, 23

vampires 22

virtual pets 6, 11, 14

web accessibility 21

web building 20

website layouts 20

Wikipedia 5

wikis 6, 6

writing in public 3, 5

Study / Bookmarks / Archives: General

Archives: General

16colors
Early ASCII/ANSI art archive.

Anarchivism
Wiki for data-hoarders.

Anxiety Aid Tools
Practical stress management methods.

Classic Horror
Archived horror-movie review site.

Dark Realms: USENET
Thirty-year old bulletin board.

DOSBox
The premier DOS emulator.

Dream Wiki
Artsy database of dreams.

Halloween Collector
Vintage Halloween decoration collector's journey.

Halloween Monster List
Compilation of halloween crafts.

Halloween Retrospect
600+ vintage Halloween ephemera collection.

LP Archive: Dwarf Fortress, Boatmurdered
The epic in its entirety.

Scooby Museum
Scooby-Doo things, expected to specific.

The Gallery of Monster Toys
90s-style midcentury monster toys site.

Old English Wordhord
Obscure, delightful Old English words.

Study / Bookmarks / Archives: Wikis

Archives: Wikis

Ardalambion
Guides on Tolkien's conlangs, Quenya.

Blood Wiki
Wiki for the 1997 shooter.

Esolang
Wiki for unusual programming languages.

IFDB
Interactive Fiction genre catalog.

Interactive Fiction Wiki
Wiki for GET LAMP games.

Petz Wiki
PFMagic Petz titles and modding.

Privacy Guides
The premier online privacy guide.

Tolkien Gateway
Wiki for Tolkien's fantasy epic.

Study / Bookmarks / Art: ASCII

Art: ASCII

ASCII Art by Sebastian Stöcker
ASCII art since 2000.

ASCII Characters Are Not Pixels
Deep dive on ASCII rendering.

ASCII Art Website
ASCII collection since 1994.

FUNGI
Gallery of user-submitted ASCII fungi.

Joan Stark ASCII Art Archive
Github mirror for famed Stark.

Roy's ASCII Corner
Carsten Cumbrowski's ASCII portfolio.

Stone Story ASCII Tutorial
Tutorials from Stone Story's creator.

Unicorn and Butterfly
Webcomic made entirely from ASCII.

AsciiArtist
Personal gallery of ASCII art.

AsciiPr0n
Archive of explicit ASCII art.

Study / Bookmarks / Art: Resources

Art: Resources

Calligraphr
Custom fonts from your handwriting.

AdorkaStock
deviantART pose-reference darling.

Animal Photo Art References
Posable animal skulls for reference.

Animal Photo Reference Repository
Zoo animals photographed for reference.

Dwellings
Procedural generator of tiny homes.

Free Nature Stock
Free-to-use nature scene pictures.

Procgen Mansion
Procedural generator of large homes.

Smolghost: Zine Resources
Five free zine templates.

Study / Bookmarks / Fanlistings

Fanlistings

Claudia
Fanlisting for the character Claudia.

The Vampire Lestat
Fanlisting for the character Lestat.

Vampire (General)
General vampire fiction fanlisting.

Vampires (General)
Another general vampire fanlisting.

Study / Bookmarks / Fanlistings
Study / Bookmarks / Games: Browser

Games: Browser

Colossal Cave Adventure
Seminal Interactive Fiction, Sierra-Online inspiration.

DiabloWeb
Diablo 1 ported to browser.

Monster Match
Space-Invaders clone matching monsters.

Party Cemetery
Space Funeral-like monster party game.

PETSCII Fireplace
Virtual fireplace screensaver with toggles.

Powder
Play with chemicals, liquids, powders.

WebGL Fluid Simulation
I love this one.

Study / Bookmarks / Games: Downloadable

Games: Downloadable

How to Raise a Dragon
Play a dragon breaking free.

KittyToy
Run a virtual cat shelter.

Space Funeral
Pyjama man saves the world.

Study / Bookmarks / Games: Novelty Sites

Games: Novelty Sites

Cats on Routers
Gallery of cats on routers.

Creepy Link
Turns your links freaky.

Gwil's Internet Time
Tells you the swatch time.

Kitten War
Vote on the cutest kittens.

Purrli
A sound-machine of cat purrs.

SomaFM
Radio station, especially Dark Ambient.

Sounds of the Forest Soundmap
Interactive sound map of forests.

TombZone
Make your own ASCII tombstones.

XP Paint
Recreates Windows XP Paint.

Study / Bookmarks / Other Netizens: Collectives

Other Netizens: Collectives

100 Rabbits
Creatives on a tiny boat.

Copyfree
Term for free media distribution.

Cult of the Dead Cow
Decades-old hacker group, cool ASCII.

Electronic Frontier Foundation
Nonprofit for digital privacy.

Low Carbon Software
Collective for environmentally-friendly software.

Study / Bookmarks / Other Netizens: Individuals

Other Netizens: Individuals

2bit
Site dedicated to 2-bit media.

Bogleech
Monstrous, grotesque, halloween-ish bestiary.

Datagubbe
Old tech enthusiast, pixel artist.

Dinosaur Dracula
80s-90s media reviews, spooky lean.

Dungeon Synth
Basic guide to Dungeon Synth.

Hallowdaze
Neocities site all about halloween.

Lilac Lynx
Petz site that taught flexbox.

Oodlecat
Petz fan, windows 95 theme.

Ritual Dust
Site for folklore and fantasy.

The Hermitary
A website about hermitdom.

Web Curios
Weekly roundup of curious corners.

Study / Bookmarks / Technology: Datahoarding

Technology: Datahoarding

Archive Team
Long-running archival project, needs helpers.

Beautiful Soup
HTML python scraper of choice.

EasyOCR
OCR transcriber of choice.

ExifTool
Exif-cleaning software of choice.

FFmpeg
Needed for YT-DLP, does more.

gallery-dl
Terminal downloader for galleries.

Ghost Archive
A Wayback Machine-styled website.

ImageMagick
Terminal picture editing since 80s.

Kill the Newsletter
Read newsletters via RSS instead.

Qbittorrent
Torrent client of choice.

Wget
Website scraper of choice.

yt-dlp
Downloading rare gems from YouTube.

Study / Bookmarks / Technology: IRC (For Users)

Technology: IRC (For Users)

Bash Archive
Extremely funny IRC chatlog archive.

Chat IRC Quote Database
Another funny IRC chatlog archive.

FreeBSD Wiki - IRC
FreeBSD's IRC documentation, community info.

Freenode
30-year old IRC network, FOSS.

IRC History
Abridged version of IRC's origins.

IRC History (GitHub)
Github repo retelling IRC-istory.

IRCHelp.org
Classic IRC resource since 1996.

Libera.Chat
Newer IRC network for FOSS.

Linux IRC Mini-HOWTO
Linux-centric IRC guide from 2005.

Netsplit
A search-engine for IRC networks.

TFTB IRC Guide
Anecdote on IRC's various perverts.

Jabber Server List
Directory of public Jabber/XMPP servers.

Study / Bookmarks / Technology: IRC (For Operators)

Technology: IRC (For Operators)

Ergo IRC Server
IRC daemon, written in Go.

IRC Docs Hub
Precise guide on IRC today.

irc3
Pluggable IRC library, Python asyncio.

IRCv3 Specifications
IRCv3 draft and stable specifications.

IRCv3 Working Group
Standardizing IRC protocol extensions.

Kiwi IRC
A web-based client for IRC.

Modern IRC
A suggestion and guide combined.

Ncat
Networking assistant for homelab needs.

Python IRC Library
Full-featured IRC client framework.

Sopel
Simple open-source IRC bot, Python.

Study / Bookmarks / Technology: Linux (General)

Technology: Linux (General)

ArchWiki
Wiki for Arch Linux, derivatives.

Awesome Linux
Github's awesome series for Linux.

Debian Wiki
A wiki for Debian.

Distrochooser
Interactive quiz to choose Linux.

DistroWatch
900+ Linux distributions catalog.

Gentoo Wiki
A wiki for Gentoo.

Terminal Trove
Catalog of freeware for terminal.

Study / Bookmarks / Technology: Linux (Raspberry Pi)

Technology: Linux (Raspberry Pi)

Awesome Raspberry Pi
Github's awesome series for Pi.

docs.pi-hole.net
Network-wide ad-blocking documentation.

eLinux.org Pi Hub
Embedded Linux Wiki's Pi page.

Ozzmaker
Local man's insane Pi projects.

Pi Documentation
Official Raspberry Pi hardware/software docs.

Pi Magazine
Tutorials, projects, community efforts.

Pi Repository
Raspberry Pi's official Github repo.

Waveshare Wiki
Pi hardware wiki, UPS HAT.

Study / Bookmarks / Technology: Website Building

Technology: Website Building

Alt Texty
Generates alt text for pictures.

Catppuccin
A pastel theme for projects.

CSS Tabs with Default Open Tab
Javascript-less approach to tabs.

Dracula Theme
This site's colour scheme inspiration.

Electric Zine Maker
Miniature program for creating zines.

Esoteric Codes
Articles on unusual programming languages.

Fraidycat
Follow people without algorithm pain.

John Doe Layout
One-page layout, single HTML file.

Kalechips Layouts
Accessible, mobile-friendly web 2.0 layouts.

Limegreen Wikitable
Wiki layout for character listings.

Petrapixel's Layout Generator
Layout generator, lots to customise.

Rarebit
JS webcomic display, small works.

Read Time
Estimated reading time for plaintext.

Waterfox
Firefox fork, my main browser.

Website Gallery Template
Gallery template by Werewolf Girlfriend.

Study / Bookmarks / Technology: Website Accessibility

Technology: Website Accessibility

Bring On the Tables
A guide on making tables.

Atkinson Hyperlegible Font, Braille Institute
A font for easy reading.

Beginner's Accessibility Guide, Solaria
Friendly accessibility guide by mutual.

How to Write Alt Text and Image Descriptions, Veroniiiica
A guide on alt-text.

Intel One Mono, GitHub Releases
An easy-to-read mono font.

Neurodiversity Design System
Neurodivergent-friendly web design site.

px to rem Converter, nekocalc
Converter for responsive REM format.

Readability Guide, Solaria
Guide to keep sites readable.

Sparrow's Guide to Accessible Webmastery
Guide for disability-friendly web design.

5 Ways to Make Your Neocities Site More Accessible, sleepydev
Five major accessibility improvements guide.

The A11Y Project
A site for accessible design.

Web Accessibility Guide, Solaria
Advanced accessibility guide for webmasters.

Join the Inclusive Front
Accessible web movement, retro badges.

Study / Bookmarks / Vampires

Vampires

By Light Unseen
All-round resource, handwritten book transcriptions.

Sites Pitt - Vampire and Ghost Stories
Academic vampire and ghost stories.

Margaret L. Carter
Vampire fiction author's official site.

Vampire Club
A fan-club for vampire enthusiasts.

Study / Bookmarks / Web Portals

Web Portals

AllChans
Imageboard directory, classic to disturbing.

Bubbles.town
Aggregates Small web blog posts.

Diagram Website
Diagrams small web's cultural regions.

Nightfall City
Stylish, immersive smallweb directory.

Petz Site Directory v2
Directory of Petz modding sites.