Fourth Wall Break #3: Website Errors, Website Errors, and Mythical Fourth-Plus Campaign

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UPDATE: Within about 24 hours I got an email from Google saying the site had been cleared and it included a list of links/downloads not to include to avoid getting hit again and none of that stuff was stuff that was on this blog (which, again, is just...recaps of solo rpg sessions with links to itch.io and DriveThruRPG and free stock art websites). 

This goes back really likely to "glitch" or something up with the template that caused a false alarm (aka, a glitch). 

Anyhow, guess I can get back to posting long descriptions of rooms in a aetherpunk laboratory now.



For some reason that I do not understand, the "dangerous site" error has started cropping up on this blog. Going into the search console says the content on the homepage includes "deceptive pages" and the home page is just, you know, Blogger's own layout:


There was a follow button I tossed up but took down but that was the official Blogger widget (and no one followed). I only have a few real theories here: 
  1. A glitch occurred (which feels most likely).
  2. Some content posted to the blog created a false-positive of sorts because writing/table/prompts OR some of the copy-paste from the source documents created some sort of link that seemed to be driving people to potential phishing. 
  3. Someone (or, some bot) reported content as phishing for some reason. 
  4. Some link I used to credit the sources has been taken over in a way that it looks I am driving people to a now suspect page. 
  5. Something happened to my template (which is one of the few offered by Blogger) that caused some of the script/code to be suspect.
I did find out that some of the content copy-pasted from my Google Drive notes had some glitching going on so I removed all of that and reformatted the text. That potentially triggered it if thought I was trying to sneak people off to some private document (I don't actually know how the images loaded since those should have been "private" but it worked and I went with it). 

Dealing with that hassle (and asking for a re-review) did make me go and try out some new things. The blog is light-on-dark now since it seems to work best for my own readability. I cut a few elements down, tweaked the the sidebar slight, reset fonts back to more default. 

The Other Website Error

The other problem I am having is with images. Adding an image works just right. Reusing some images (such as my line breaks) keeps driving errors. I don't think, based on the fairly barebones layout of the media manager, they really expected people to a) upload a fairly large number of images AND b) reuse some of them. I think the assumption is either/or. I have thought about cutting out the more usual "reused" bits (such as my section breaks). I feel like this is a problem that will only grow worse over time but I guess I'll see.

I guess I could trim it down to mostly just a header image and avoid subsequent ones but I really *like* the visual telling. 

This could be a pair of things pointing towards me redesigning my own blog again so I can do what I want. I do not mind this, per se, but I love the overall backend of this one. I know a lot of the other solo-RP folks are using SubStack so that's an option. 

I don't know. For now, I'll muddle through on this one and get better at some things. 

The Mythical Fourth-Plus Campaign

I have three campaigns active right now. The central campaign to the blog (as far as I am concerned) is The Bleak + The Pearl. The other two are also dear to my heart (The Bloody Hands and then Eustace Delmont and the Case of the Rambler's Inn). Eustace probably has a few more "chapters" before it hits a stopping point (Eustace and Hitomi will most likely return I just don't know when and what context). The Bloody Hands is kind of open ended in a way where even I don't know where the end goal really is. The Bleak + The Pearl has a definite conclusion but I would not want to guess how long it will take to get there. 

I have been mulling over whether it is best to wait until one of those hits a good proper "volume break" or to just add in other things because I want to add in at least a fourth campaign (and possible a fifth). The so-called "fourth" campaign is actually one that was meant to be added a long time ago. I'll get to that one. The possible fifth is one I have been mulling over involving Troika, Acid Death Fantasy, Pax Reptiliana, and bits of 24XX. The idea behind it is 400-years after "The Convergence" - in which a bunch of aliens showed up in the solar system - the Earth is a strange wasteland. A few stragglers combine with the remaining humans and engage in mayhem and mischief. 

I do not want another "The Zone" type campaign, per se, though there will likely be patches of badness. It is more a way to have a kind of apocalyptic-punk high-fantasy game with laser beams, air ships, castles, and so forth. Cyberhorses riding across the Carolina Waste past the Appalachian Death Worms. You get the idea. New Atlantis. Huntsvegas. Troika themed weirdness. 

The Fourth campaign, though, is bringing back the Barston Bakersfield chronicles. Starting in the City of Humb and the new-Guard kind of storyline then maybe picking up one of the other side characters off doing other hijinx. I still do not know if Barston is retired or not but if he is, then maybe it is time to time-skip to a new generation. 

The problem is, where do I fit either of these ideas in, or any one-shots. I guess the trick is just to give it a whack and go from there, eh? 

Anyhow, let's see if I get my blog to NOT through an error message anytime someone tries to view it. 

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