#if anyone knows a piracy website with the show

[sophiathefallen]

Tokki: "I'm guessing you're having way more flare-ups than you did here."

Jentry: "'Cause in Seoul, I had you, Rupert, and Min Jae"

IS THIS AN ALLEGORY FOR CHRONIC ILLNESS??? IT CAN'T NOT BE, RIGHT?! IT'S SO IN YOUR FACE, THEY LITERALLY SAY "FLARE-UP!"

[krafterwrites]

Genuine question, does anyone know why shady ads and redirects to random sites are such an inherent part of piracy websites? If their goal was just to give people viruses then why would they go through the work of creating a site that actually works and has all these games/shows/comics available instead of just lying? Or is their top priority to actually give people these things and having insane amounts of ads trying to scam you is the only way they can afford to keep the sites running?

[cat-mermaid]

anyone know a good recording tool to record a small section of an anime from a website? Got someone I want to show a fantastic sequence from the read or die anime, but they are hell bent paranoid about any online piracy websites and won't open any links to them

so I just want to record 2 minute clip, any options?

[peppermintfables]

On Monsters

So both Black Sails and One Piece have monsters as a theme (and so do many other pirate shows. Being a pirate and and being a monster are almost irrevocably linked). And since Im obsessed with both and no one else has magically written the exact essay I want I suppose I have to do it myself. The world is a cruel and unfair place.

Generally a monster is defined by two things. First of all they exist outside the norm/ society and secondly they are evil. Stories that deal with monsters as a theme are usually challenge one of those. What if monsters are evil but they also exist within society. Or in fact are more likely to exist as part of one? What if monsters are solely defined by their separation from society without them having to actually be bad and are often in fact only seen as evil because if condition one is true, condition two is presumed true as well. I think on this website we often go with the second option. I dont think I have to tell anyone here is a trend of looking at monsters and going „they are actually so nice and also my friend and we bake cookies and overthrow the government together“. Something something queerness and otherness. Smarter people have written smarter stuff than me and also i just want to talk about gay pirates.

I think the portrayal of monsters in One Piece and Black Sails is both very similar and has some difference that Im not quite able to pinpoint yet (which is why Im doing this in the first place). I think in both cases its about choice. Not only the choice to be a monster but the choice of what kind of monster you’re going to be.

The tag line of Black Sails’ monster theme is probably “Everyone is a monster to someone”. But that’s not where we start. We start with this:

“Monster” is not a thing you are. Monster is a narrative role other people put you in for their own benefit. It’s a tool used against you.

In comparison in One Piece we have this:

Chopper has been thrown out of reindeer and human society for not fitting in (and thus being a monster) and here we have Sanji calling Luffy a monster like it’s empowering. Luffy can fight *because* he’s a monster. And for the first time Chopper can see being a monster as something worthwhile and like he, a monster, maybe has a place amongst other monsters. And while in this scene Sanji is talking about Luffy specifically being a rubber-man and that being more of a monster in a physical sense (and doesn’t Sanji of all people saying that hit different now) we have plenty of scenes that talk about a different aspect. Specifically Usopp calling the monster trio monsters because they know no fear and are also maniacs who love fighting. Id argue that here too is a monster something positive and powerful to be.

Maybe that is the difference I was looking for. Black Sails starting with the term monster as something other people put on you and One piece starting with strength coming from monsterousness. I feel like that is also indicative of each shows tone and attitude towards piracy. So where do we go from here?

In Black Sails we are getting to “Everyone is a monster to someone” with Abigail realizing that pirates arent as inhuman and cruel as she was led to believe. Monster continues to be a narrative role but turns out civilization is not the only one telling stories. We are going towards “maybe monsters are within society as well.” And then we have Flint being iconic:

There it is! Choice! Power! So long society tries to frame Flint as a monster and they go to Ashe and Ashe is like “We can make you not the monster. You just have to tell your life story and that will make you vulnerable enough that people will see you as a person”. And Flint, who would rather have been seen as a monster than apologize, goes “This sucks but okay”. And then Miranda happens. Monsters *are* within society as well. Everyone is a monster to someone and you have the choice to make: Who are you going to be a monster to and what kind of monster will you be? And Flint takes that narrative role that people have tried to assign to him and makes it his own. He makes it into something that gives him power. Because if he’s going to be a monster either way he’s going to be one on his own terms. Im going to go insane.

Number one being Chopper choosing to be a monster.

Look at my boy go! Again: Embracing the monster you are, but making it your own. He’s doing it for his captain not just bc the Strawhats would do pretty much everything for their captain but bc it’s okay to be a monster amongst other monsters. Because that’s where he first learned that being a monster can be not just not bad but a good thing.

And then there’s Sanji. It’s kind of hard to analyze it because I absolutely do not think that Sanji’s arc concerning his modifications is over yet but let’s take a look at what we’ve got so far.

So in conclusion: It’s about being the monster you choose to be instead of the monster others want to make you and Im crying.

[newcronomicon]

counting pickles not tagging anyone as a tag so:] @nathanexplosionbignaturals

last song: ero s onoga svjieta by let 3. to no ones surprise HJVFCHDKXJ

favourite colour: AUHHH currently really feeling ourple i love a good purple

currently watching: your pretty face is going to hell and trailer park boys :]

last movie/tv show: ypfigth ^^

sweet/savoury/spicy: sweet AND SPICY BOTH AT ONCE

relationship status: turns into an ant wouldnt you like to know weather boy

current obsessions: let 3 DUH. also ive been fixated on making vocal synth covers again WEEEE

last thing you googled: a certain piracy website i aint mentioning here

no tags but if u see this feel free to do this yaay :3

[queen-zigzag]

ever hear about toad patrol?

classic canadian television. i wanted to seek it out and yeah, it's technically find-able, but man.

so the first thing i did was try to pirate it, naturally. i can tell you exactly what my go-to website is if ask in DMs. anyway, they had toad patrol, but it only had the first season, and there was an obnoxious watermark over it the whole time

also, they didn't have season two. lame, lets check youtube. sometimes older shows can just kinda be uploaded scott-free, so maybe...

well, worth a shot. the good news is they have season 2 in decent quality, but season 1 still has that watermark. im glad its not lost media or anything, but i want something a bit more clean. lets see what my other cites have to offer.

well, im not gonna go back and screenshot every "no results found" page i got, but every single piracy website i checked didnt have it. no streams, no torrents, no DDLs. im surprised this show is so under-the-rader, i feel like theres a lot of people who watched it as kids. hell, it aired on toon disney in the states. oh, hey, maybe its on a streaming service?

okay, pureflix and TBS. never heard of em, lets check it out.

oh that's VERY christian. i looked around everywhere that'd make sense, but i couldnt find a sniff of it. it had other canadian classics like madeline and rescue heroes so i was actually pretty hopeful, but theres nothing. how about tbs?

wow, that's... not a lot of shows. mostly cable network stuff like sitcoms, gameshows and some crappy looking h*rry p*tter spin off. why did they say itd be here? whatever

okay. last resort. physical media

huh! thats not as bad as i was imagining. y'know what, i might-

...oh. at 22 minutes per episode, that's only 4 episodes total. are there other DVDs?

WOAH thats pricey. i managed to find another DVD too, so altogether the first season would cost 70 bucks canadian before shipping. that's a bit too rich for my blood.

welp, im out of ideas. im glad the show's at least available at all, even if it's not the best quality and has iskysoft's grubby little mitts on it. still, if anyone's got ideas on where to check, lemme know

[shanie-the-toyaddict]

I don't want to hijack anyone's post so I'm putting my two cents about media piracy/preservation here.

As someone who literally grew up in the era of "Keep Circulating Those Tapes", I have this thing about keeping things. About "owning" them.

If I like something, be it a fanfic or a tv show or even a yt video, I save it. I literally pay money for a yearly subscription to one of the best stream ripping programs out there because I'm obsessive about this. Before that, it was ripping websites. Before that? P2P. Before that it was literally copying and pasting text into a MS Works document and printing it out.

I have fanfictions still printed out from 20 years ago. Catherine Semerjain, one of the biggest authors of Shane McMahon fanfiction in the 90s... I have her stories printed out and saved in little books. Encyclopedia Xenaica, a proto-version of a fan wiki, I have printed out and saved in it's ENTIRETY from before it was taken down.

Yes, I printed a WIKI. This was 2000, the internet was small back then.

This behavior has never stopped.

It has, however, transformed.

So damn many data discs. SO MANY. I have volumes upon volumes of data discs of media that I saved because you literally never know when or where shit will vanish. Somewhere, I have a full series burn (absolute potato) of "You Can't Do That On Television" because that series evaporated for decades until someone uploaded the converted tapes, only for it to vanish again.

But it is preserved. I have it. On disc. On file. On backup.

My backups have backups.

I have FIVE external hard drives, the smallest of which is 3 TB. That's also the oldest and everything on there is backed up at least one other place.

The point I'm making is that I am obsessive about hard copies of things and I have even more digitally.

And it's all because I remember the 90s.

I remember before the internet, before there was streaming, before TV on DVD. Back when if you liked a show you damn sure better have your VHS running when it was on because you might not get a second chance. (I'm looking at you 90s Shanie who accidentally taped over the original broadcast of Xena's banned episode). I have been hardwired to distrust the internet as an archive because I've gotten hurt so many times.

Listen to me closely.

Streaming has never been a savior.

If it's on the internet it is, by definition, temporary. They say "the internet is forever" but that's a lie. Very few things on the internet are truly forever. Everything ends, everything fades, and if you don't preserve these streaming shows while they're around you're gonna find yourself empty handed the moment that the winds change and the mood shifts. Seriously, there's tutorials out there on how to do piracy right. Read them. Learn them. Love them.

Then start doing it.

Because it's been made very clear that corporations don't give a shit about preserving media. It's up to us.

It's always been up to us.

[northwest-cryptid]

We are once again back to "things you could have educated people about in a nice way but you wanted to be an assholes instead." But hey I have to give this one credit where it's due because normally I get upset since they don't typically actually explain anything but this post does.

It is that simple, is easy to forget with how normalized it is but piracy is an underground and illegal thing, it's just not super enforced on the users end. It's more likely my internet service provider would shut down my internet before I'd ever have cops at my door asking me to prove that I bought that video game that suddenly showed up on my computer.

However that doesn't mean that sites that host proper torrents and such don't get taken far more seriously, and sites that are potentially dangerous whether that be through malicious viruses and malware or through other means; will gladly take their place using the same name and aesthetics to the point you won't easily be able to tell. I know you think yourself a highly computer literate individual who could spot that shit a mile away but trust me, you aren't. Even if you are it's entirely possible the person you're downloading from got their torrent from a sketchy website and maybe they aren't.

What I'm saying here is that the more mainstream and wide spread these websites become the easier it is for people who want to cause you harm (and no I don't even mean cops) to access them all the same.

It's not like you're out here going on "the dark web" or something, anyone can access this stuff. Essentially it's the same as if you knew about a really cool store that has everything you ever wanted at a criminally affordable price. However it's located at some really discreet place way out of town and you make sure only to tell your very good trusted friends about it because you don't want everyone else shopping it out every time you want to go. You'd be pissed off to see it all over social media or on TikTok with thousands of people flaunting their finds on their own accounts because suddenly you find that this once private thing has become overly public, and only a week later it became so popular that it was looked into and found to literally be criminal and now it's shut down.

We're really back to "loose lips sink ships" but with a slightly different meaning. Anyways I know my version is like 5 times as long but I'm not calling you an idiot for trying to share something exciting and fun with the world, so hopefully you can understand why we can't just go around doing that. No shade to OP I get it, it's annoying to see one of the few underground communities out there being exposed and beaten down by over excited newcomers who don't understand the culture, I just don't think insulting them and being mad at them is a great way to get them to understand we're on the same side and just asking that they not accidentally destroy our few remaining sites.

Unfriendly reminder that all you idiots being like "yeah just pirate media now, fuck corporations!" posting links and just openly telling people where to download pirated media are why it's so hard to find safe, working sites for it anymore.

I've been doing this shit for over 20 years and the availability has gone down as it's become more mainstream. The more you publicly talk about all these sites the less there are. Shut up. Tell people in private or don't tell them at all.

[moved-please-leave-me-alone]

YO WHATS UP IPHONE USERS ITS YA BOY JIMMY BEANSWORTH BACK AT IT AGAIN TEACHING YOU HOW TO PROSPER IN THE DEATH OF STREAMING SERVICES AND DOWNLOD SHOWS YOURSELF TO KEEP ON YOUR PHONE FOREVER AND EVER!!!!

Ok I’m gonna stop being annoying now. Here’s what you’ll need:

-the notes app (comes pre-downloaded, and if you delete it you can just download it again. You NEED it for this tutorial btw)

-A piracy site that lets you download things OR a YouTube video downloaidng wbesite if you’re downloading music/a YouTube show

OK SO FIRST download the thing you want. For this example I’m using Inanimate Insanity. Download each episode, or a compilation, using your preferred piracy site or YouTube downloader site. You should know how to do this, this tutorial isn’t for that. If you don’t know, then just google “YouTube video downloader” or something and find a website like that, or just find a piracy site, or ask someone, or look it up

NEXT. Go into your safari downloads AND MAKE SURE IT DOWNLOADED AS AN MP4 OR AN MPEG4!!!! Or an mp3 if you’re a music person

NEXT, once your video is downloaded click on it and then click on the square with an arrow facing outwards

NEXT, go to the share options, and scroll until you see the “Notes” app.

Click on it. This opens the menu for the notes. It should save to a new note, you can keep it like that or put it in an already existing note. You can name it later.

Now it’s downloaded! Keep going for the rest of the series. NOW FOR THE SECOND PART OF THIS TUTORIAL: ORGANIZATION!

This is entirely optional!

Now, I like to keep each note its own season of a show, and I name the note “[name of show] [season number]”, for instance, here’s the note for season one of Inanimate Insanity!

I like to organize aaaaaall the shows in folders, like this! (“Collections” is just for YouTube compilation versions instead of individual episodes, if that’s your kinda style!) and put it all in one big “shows” folder!

I’ve never been good with explanations or tutorials, so I hope this all made sense. Apologies to the cooler, non-iPhone users, as I use an iPhone and cannot help on your end. If anyone does know then please add onto this! Happy downloading! Death to streaming services!

[kadethecat]

what about... 20? :D

Thanks for doing the ask game! 20 is breaking the rules. I haven’t written in a while, so sorry if it’s not the best, but here it is. Also the formatting might be messed up since I’m on mobile.

Summary: Susie and Noelle wanted to have a cool night where they could watch a bunch of episodes of their favorite show, but the streaming service they have access to through noelles parents doesn’t have it on there, so Susie suggests Piracy.

“You mean like a date? Really?” Noelle wanted to make sure she was interpreting what Susie had said right.

Susie turned to the side and put a hand behind her head, her hair hiding her eyes even more. “Well, only if you want it to be…” Noelle was touched. Noelle couldn’t believe a cool girl like Susie wanted to go out with her! She was barely keeping herself from jumping around. “So what do you… what do you wanna do?” Susie was looking her in the eyes now.

“Um… maybe we could watch a movie, or a show or something?” Noelle suggested.

“Oh, I know! You could show me that cartoon you were talking about! If you uh… if you want to, anyway.”

Oh geez, Noelle hadn’t thought that Susie would actually be interested when she brought it up. She’d still follow through and watch it with her, but she was a bit embarrassed about her own taste. “Um, sure. What time?”

“Can we do 11? Like in the morning?” Susie asked.

“I’m pretty sure that works for me. So… see you then I guess?”

“Uh, sure. I’ll see you later.”

Noelle and Susie had parted ways from in front of the school, and Noelle was in her room, gushing. She was just so happy that she finally had a real official date with the girl she liked! Of course Noelle was still in fear of it going horribly horribly wrong, but she was able to put that fear aside for the most part. As well as how she always felt guilty thinking about Susie, and even guiltier now that something was actually happening. Ah, she should probably start preparing for the date to make sure it goes well.

She booted up the computer and made sure she remembered her family’s Sora login correctly. She successfully got into the streaming service, and looked in her watch list for Caught in Rola. Huh, it didn’t show up. Sora does glitch a lot... She decided to put the site’s search function into use, and Noelle put the name of the series in, and still no results showed.

Noelle’s heart was pretty crushed. Her date with Susie was probably ruined, and she hadn’t even finished the last season of the show. Ugh, she couldn’t believe that they would just take it down with no warning. She fell into bed and put on the white noise she liked to sleep to, and turned off her lamp. She still couldn’t stop thinking about the situation she was in. What was she going to say to Susie? Would she think it was Noelle’s fault? Maybe the blame did fall on Noelle. After all, it was her who told Susie that she would definitely be able to do it.

- -

The doorbell rang. It was 11:17, and Noelle was still anxious. Maybe she just shouldn’t open the door. Maybe then she can forget about this and it will somehow be fixed… the doorbell rapidly rang a few more times, and Noelle walked to the door to unlock and open it.

“Hi, Noelle, I almost thought you weren’t gonna get the door, haha. Sorry for being late. I like, forgot for a second that 10:57 was right before 11, so when I checked the clock then, I wasn’t prepared at all to leave, but hopefully it’s okay?” Susie was a bit embarrassed, and it showed on her face.

“It’s totally okay! Um, Susie? Do you think you would be okay if we uh, did something else other than watching the show…?” Noelle asked, avoiding eye contact with her date.

“Wha? I’m not mad or something, but why?”

“Well I checked and… Sora doesn’t have Caught in Rola on it any more. Sorry to let you down.”

“Oh, well. that’s not good. Uh I do think I know… something else we can do. Can I use your computer for a moment?”

Noelle was unsure what Susie was thinking of. “Alright, sure, as long as it’s within reason. And you can come inside now! Sorry for making you wait outside for so long.”

The two headed inside the roomy house, and made their way into Noelle’s room. Noelle had temporarily taken down the most embarrassing posters she had, but a few were still up. Noelle sat on her bed next to Susie, set the laptop between them and logged into her account to direct Susie onto the browser.

“Okay uhh, do you have an adblocker?” Susie asked Noelle, looking up from the monitor.

“No? Probably not I think, what’s that for?”

“No? Uh, okay. It like, removes annoying ads and popups from websites while you’re on them.” Susie tried explaining. “I’ll just get one for you if you want. It’s free to have.”

Noelle just gave a simple “Okay,” and Susie continued her work on the device.

“Okay so, I know a website that we can probably watch it on, so I’m gonna pull that up now.” She put in a weird sounding url and hit enter. A bunch of ads and spam showed up for a split second, but were quickly done away with thanks to what Susie had gotten for Noelle. “Here it is! It seems sketchy but it’s completely alright to do and doesn’t make you a bad person on its own.” Susie proclaimed.

“Wow, you’re sure that this is okay? It’s pretty cool!” Noelle was pretty excited to see the show, she would even be able to finish it on her own if she couldn’t with Susie.

“Well, yeah, as long as you didn’t invite any cops, haha ha…” the room went a bit cold.

“This- Are you saying that this is a crime!?” Noelle nearly shouted. Was she dating a criminal? Was her mom actually right about Susie being a delinquent bad influence?

“Hey, hey, I said it was moral, not legal.” Susie tried to reassure.

“Wh-what if we get caught? Undyne’s really scary, and-and people might think it’s my your fault O-or-“

“Hey, Noelle.” Susie said pretty calmly. “We’re not hurting anyone. We’re just a couple of teens who wanna watch a cartoon. And, you’re mom’s paying for that other service anyway, so the creators of the show already got stuff for what they made. It’s basically already been completely paid for, if that uh, makes sense.”

Noelle was actually almost crying, but she thought that Susie was probably right. She tended to draw her own moral line at things that the people around her would approve of, but, well, now that she thought about it, there was probably more that they wouldn’t approve of or understand, like the dark world, or how Kris can time travel, apparently.

“Wow, that’s uh… a lot.” Susie was staring at Noelle.

“Did uh.. I… I didn’t mean to say that out loud.”

“Hey, it’s okay! Let’s… let’s go watch our illegal cartoons now.”

“Okay!” The two girls pulled up the show, and watched the show until into the night.

[jewfrogs]

so you want to be a pirate: a guide to book acquisition

disclaimer: for legal purposes, everything i’m about to say is purely hypothetical. it would be terrible if anyone were to use the advice outlined in this post to commit any ill*gal activities.

i’ve seen a few posts on here about ways to pirate tv shows and movies, which are great, but getting books can be slightly more complicated and pose higher security risks. this guide is for people who want to get into book piracy but aren’t sure how to go about doing it. it’ll be broken down into three sections: (i) Staying Safe, (ii) Where? and (iii) How?.

i. STAYING SAFE

unlike streaming movies or shows, pirating books generally involves downloading files to your computer, which carries a higher level of risk for viruses and malware. it’s important to be mindful and keep yourself safe. one of the most important things to keep in mind is that no book will ever download as a .exe or .dmg. those are file formats for software on windows and mac respectively. if a file you download that isn’t specifically software ever comes in that format, delete it immediately, because there’s a good chance it’s a virus.

in terms of privacy and security, a vpn (virtual private network) isn’t strictly necessary for pirating, but it’s absolutely recommended. very basically, vpns protect you by encrypting your data and disguising your ip address, meaning that your activity cannot be traced to your machine or to you. there are hundreds of vpns out there; this guide by thatoneprivacysite is a great resource to help you choose one.

you’re also going to want a robust adblocker, because most file transfer sites are crawling with ads. i personally use ublock origin and find that it works super well for me; the other two most popular adblockers are adblock and adblock plus (two unconnected products). additionally, i recommend installing this anti-adblock killer script (stops most sites from asking you to disable your adblocker to continue) and adsbypasser (prevents popup windows and skips countdown ads).

finally, one of the best things you can do for your internet privacy in general is to stop using google chrome. switch to a browser that keeps your data safe and secure; you can visit this page on privacytools.io for more information. i recently switched to mozilla firefox, and i can’t recommend it enough. (as an extra step, consider not using google as your primary search engine and switching to duckduckgo instead.)

ii. WHERE?

there are a lot of websites where you can find free ebooks. the three that i use are:

forum.mobilism.org: a crowdsourced forum where users post a wide variety of ebooks, including audiobooks. two things to note: 1) you do have to make an account to search the site, but doing so is completely free, and 2) the files are hosted on outside file transfer sites and linked to on mobilism, which means you’ll occasionally find posts with dead links, which is super frustrating.

library genesis: possibly the BEST ebook website. genuinely unmatched. files are hosted on the site itself, so you never get dead links, and there are several mirrors for each file. the site occasionally goes down, but there are multiple alternate links you can use. it has sections for fiction, scientific articles, comics, and “sci-tech” (nonfiction—this is where you look if you want textbooks!)

zlibrary: i don’t use this one as often, and the search function can be a little janky, but it has an extensive library of books (mostly nonfiction or popular fiction)

i don’t personally use other ebook sites very often, but here’s a repository of piracy links made by reddit user (i know) u/Wiggly_Poop that has sections on ebooks and textbooks, in case you can’t find what you’re looking for with the three above.

iii. HOW?

understanding how ebooks work can be slightly daunting at first, so here’s a quick breakdown of the file types you’re likely to see on these sites:

.epub: “electronic publication”; this is, in my opinion, the platonic ideal of an ebook. epubs can be opened in ibooks or another e-reader app, they adjust to your screen size (and you can manually adjust font and font size), and i believe they’re compatible with screenreaders. i almost exclusively read epubs. i just think they’re neat!

.pdf: “portable document format”; i think most people have a general understanding of what a pdf is. pdfs can be viewed on pretty much any device you can think of, including in internet browsers and e-reading apps, without the use of additional software. pdfs don’t adjust to different screen sizes or allow you to change the font size, however, which can be difficult if you’re reading on a small screen. (textbooks and such are almost always pdfs.)

.azw/.azw3: the kindle file extension. to my understanding, these can only be read on kindles. i do not have a kindle, so i know very little about them.

.mobi: another ebook format similar to epubs, but you can’t open them in ibooks (where i do my reading) so i don’t use them or know much about them. they’re compatible with kindles, calibre, and other file readers specifically designed for mobis.

you’re probably going to want a file unpacker/decompressor as well. sometimes, especially when you’re using mobilism, the file you download will be compressed (typically in the .zip or .rar formats). this reduces the size of the file and allows you to upload multiple books as one file, but they can’t be accessed directly and have to be “unpacked” first to get the contents out. i believe that both windows and mac can unzip .zip files directly (with a double-click), but .rars require another program. for windows, i recommend 7zip, and for mac, i recommend keka, both of which are free and easy to use.

and there you have it! there’s a lot i haven’t touched on here, but this is pretty much all you need to know to get started finding books on your own. the bulk of this information comes from my own experiences pirating books, which i’ve been doing for a few years now and never had significant trouble with.

if you have any questions after reading this post, feel free to send them my way!

[doomdoomofdoom]

Learn Piracy. Learn Emulation. Learn Torrenting. Learn Troubleshooting. Learn Basic Maintenance. Learn Modification.

Learn where to get your information and files reliably. It's so much easier than you think.

The digital space is becoming harder to navigate and digital properties are becoming near impossible to own.

Shape the way you engage with it. Also get yourself a fucking adblock.

Extended Ramble on each point below the cut

Learn Piracy: The one everyone should know about is your bread and butter Movie/TV Show Piracy. Streaming services are recreating cable and splitting the content you're looking for across 15 individual platforms to pay for. You do not have to do this. In a rising number of cases, piracy is the only way to access something. Currently, media piracy is as easy as typing "[show] watch online free" into a search engine of your choice and you'll almost definitely find an option in the first three results. Familiarize yourself with the websites that reliably give you the content you want. Occasionally one will go down, but there's plenty of replacements. Streaming a movie online isn't technically legal, but unless you down- or upload, theres virtually no way anyone cares. Use a VPN and private browser to be on the safe side. Get yourself an adblock before browsing free streaming sites. Trust me. Literally everyone can do this. Piracy Bonus Tip: Go to https://lumendatabase.org/, search for the media of your choice and filter by DMCA complaints against google. You will get a list of every site that had to be removed from google results for providing said media. Try a few.

If you are looking to pirate (audio) books, consider checking your local online library first. Not only is that 100% legal, but it also supports libraries.

If you are planning to pirate software, vet the source before downloading. It's pretty easy to tell if a website is trustworthy once you've seen a handful.

Learn Emulation: You can play console games on your PC. Even the shittiest laptop can run a Nintendo DS Emulator. You ever see the price of physical copies of old Pokémon games? Don't pay that. In 9/10 cases it's as easy as looking up "[console] emulator" and "[game] rom" Emulation requires downloads, so be sure to vet the source of any files you grab. You'll be fine. If it's on the first page of search results, it's almost definitely safe. Consider buying a cheap controller that connects to your PC, most games will play better that way. Emulation Bonus Tip: Playing on an Emulator gives you access to tools your regular console does not have (without jailbreaking it). This includes Mods, Cheatcodes, Quicksaves, and changing the game speed. Pokemon Sun/Moon plays much nicer on 1.25 and with the option to speed up cutscenes.

Learn Torrenting: Torrenting is basically downloading's big brother. It's a bit scarier. However, it holds a plethora of files you won't find elsewhere, like that childhood game from 2007 you couldn't even play if you still owned a physical copy because your PC doesn't have a disk drive. In an era where media can just be wiped from a platform with little to no warning, torrenting is an act of preservation. Always use a secure VPN when torrenting. This one isn't my area of expertise, so do proper research before engaging. Torrenting Bonus Tip: Torrenting is basically crowdsourcing the Internet. The more people offer a certain file, the faster it is to download. If you want, you can then join in and offer the file you downloaded. (Keep you VPN on at all times, tho.) Sharing is Caring!

Learn Troubleshooting: If you're a bit younger, this isn't necessarily something you've been taught anymore. Basic Troubleshooting is a vital skill. You can solve about 90% of your software problems by turning your device off and on again after a brief wait. (Yes, it's basically a meme at this point. For good reason!) If that doesn't work, try uninstalling and reinstalling the troublesome software or drivers. Other common solutions are running it as administrator or in compatibility mode. For general problems, like your PC randomly slowing down, check your task manager to identify the source. Most operating systems and software also have built-in troubleshooting options, but the mileage varies. Troubleshooting Bonus Tip: You can find most of your problems online. If you can't, don't be afraid to ask. There's dozens of forums with surprisingly altruistic tech savy people. State your problem clearly and kindly, and you have a good shot at tailor-made help. Also familiarize yourself with basic lingo, like what a driver or an Operating System is.

Learn Basic Maintenance: Learn it out of spite. Electronics keep being "optimized" to allow as little physical maintenance as possible. Apple in particular. If you don't know how to maintain your device, you have to send it to the manufacturer so they can do it for you. At a price, of course. Or even better, you have to buy a new one! You should know how to safely open your device, clean where necessary (usually the fans), check for loose connections, and reassemble. Ideally, know how to remove and exchange parts if they become outdated or damaged. A new laptop battery is much cheaper than a new laptop, and is in my experience the first thing to give out. Plenty of manufacturers try to prevent this by making the insides inaccessible or using special screws. Look online. You can buy the according screwdriver. Avoid using devices that cannot be opened at all. Maintenance Bonus Tip: Whatever your device is, no matter how specific, there's a YouTube tutorial for it.

Learn Modification: The base settings of anything are 9/10 times the worst ones for you. "Accept All" is the default for website cookies. Installing a program often comes with additional stuff they try to sneak into the installation process unless you remove the right checkmark. Modify your settings; never assume good will. You can modify so much more than they want you to know. Modify your key binds, modify your start menu, your notifications, your entire User Interface! Modify your favorite games! There are so many options already out there, look for them! Modification Bonus Tip: Get an Adblock. Get an Adblock. Get an Adblockgetanadblockgetanadblockgetanadblockget A Fucking AdBlock. Whatever browser you are using to access the Internet, modify it with an adblock. My personal recommendation is uBlock Origin, which has blocked 116 elements on this site alone as I type this. Do not perceive 116 elements of advertisements. Free yourself of autoplaying videos and pop ups. If you watch ads to support a creator, you can disable adblock on the sites in question.

All of these are thing you can do. Things you can learn in a day or two. I don't consider myself particularly tech-savvy, I just like convenience.

Here are some things I've done and learned with nothing but a search engine and the countless helpful forums out there (allegedly): - Gotten Spotify Premium for free forever - Played every Pokemon Game I ever wanted, including randomizers and enhanced fan versions - Set up a Jarvis-like Desktop Interface with music player, weather report, and shortcuts to different programs and websites (abandoned that after a few months because it wasnt very convenient after all) - Saved over 1000 bucks by not purchasing every single Sims 4 DLC (seriously, they add up in the quadruple digits) - Installed a second mode for my controller that lets it function as a collection of shortcuts for my drawing software - Blocked literal millions of ads

you have to learn basic facets of Computer. do not avoid technology because it is "scary". there are 1 million youtube tutorials out there. do not let capitalism convince you that you have to buy a new computer every time it starts to fail. do not let capitalism convince you that you have to pay for shitty subscription garbage and just suck it up and deal w/ it. I'm going to be fully honest, I am a dumbass with computers. everything I know about them comes from sheer autistic fascination or necessity, not a brain that is compatible with them on a fundamental level. but I use linux, I pirate adobe products and I built my own damn computer. you can too

.

[alicepao13]

I’d actually advise people to learn beyond googling “movie/tv show” free online. That’s the easiest way to catch a virus, by not knowing what to do. For me, there’s no excuse for someone not to know how to download a torrent in this day and age, besides “I don’t want to learn how to do it” of course. There’s a shitton of tutorials and really good, extensive guides out there that can guide anyone through any issues. Also, most households that have internet have decent internet speed over the world, and if you were to watch a movie online, downloading a torrent is usually an easier affair speed-wise than being able to keep up your speed at a decent level throughout the whole movie/show (unless the website pre-loads the content).

(To the people living in a country that takes piracy seriously, I would actually suggest that they use a VPN, and not the free kind either, or they may suddenly be left without internet by their ISP dumping them for watching Barbie online. Nobody wants that.)

I’d also advise people to check a few private trackers, learn a bit about them. They’re not for everyone but if you can keep your seed/leech (aka upload/download) ratio up, they’re pretty good. The good ones are usually not open for sign ups, they’re invitation only, but a few times a year they randomly open sign ups. But if you stick to public trackers, absolutely no PirateBay, their torrents are filled with viruses and it’s tough to distinguish the good ones if you’re new to the whole thing.

For me, when it comes to ways to get pirated content, it will always be:

1) Torrents

2) Warez (the websites that give you content through outside hosts like Rapidgator, 1fichier, etc.)

3) Or should I say, very bottom of my list, watching online. Should only be preferred by people who don’t have enough hard drive in their disk, and people who don’t know what they’re doing, but it’s still the easier way to get malware on your computer by clicking the wrong thing, exactly because you don't know what you're doing. Those sites are usually filthy and any click can redirect you to god knows where. I don’t consider the loss (if it’s actually closed) of Soap2day a huge loss, but a motivator for people to try to search under the surface, maybe learn a couple of things.

PS: To whoever tries to tell me “Oh but with an adblocker all those possibly full of malware links disappear”, why the fuck would I care about that? It’s like telling me that you’re okay to walk every night through a neighborhood filled with muggers as long as you have two beefy dudes for protection. And whatever adblocker you may have, it's not 100% foolproof. But aside from that, what does it say about the website and its reputation?

PS2: I cannot stress enough how useful a VPN is these days. Like, everyone must have noticed by now that google and literally every company online knows you by now on a very intimate level, due to your online habits. It’s creepy. Hide some of that activity, it’s not about whether you’re doing stuff that’s considered illegal. No one needs to know this much about you.

Truly wish everyone would shut up about 🏴‍☠️ sites so that they wouldn’t be shut down. It is not that hard to Google “*movie/tv show* free online.” and then keep quiet about it.

[skuthus]

The Internet Isn’t (and shouldn’t be) Cable

In the beginning, there was Blockbuster. Next, there was a small company that mailed DVD's to your house to watch with your family and friends: Netflix. Then, the blockbuster-killer and innovator in all things video media decided that they wanted to take their Movies-on-demand idea to the next level: Provide a central, digital repository for customers to watch all the movies that are already being mailed to them any time they want from the internet.

There it was. This was the idea that made Netflix the powerhouse it is today. This was also the idea that led many content publishers (Disney, NBC, Universal) excited at first, and then nervous. You see, Netflix really was revolutionary. Publishers had no good way of getting their older IP in front of customers on a regular basis - had no way of making good money off of old TV shows and movies. People bought VHS and DVD’s, shared them with their friends, and that was that. People consumed way less media - and even though the individual content was more expensive (in the form of physical media), people probably paid less on average due to the cost of entry per product.

Netflix provided a way for content publishers who otherwise would just be sitting on old content to make money through licensing. At first, not a lot of faith was put into the Netflix model, publishers felt they were giving something away for nothing in return and so they did not provide their best and most consumed content. However, the enduring customer base and increase in views made the content more and more valuable to list, eventually making netflix a place where blockbuster content could be listed and viewed with ease by anyone.

As a long time customer of Netflix, I saw the value of my subscription increase every year. More and more content was becoming available and I was generally satisfied with both the quantity and quality of the selection. Like many people who use netflix, TV became something I could put on in the background, a comforting voice and distraction while I went about my daily life. The Office, in particular, became an excellent show for me to put on in the background while I worked, cleaned, or studied. Plus, being able to switch from The Office, to Daredevil, to Parks and Rec, then to a movie throughout the day with ease was basically a game changer. It kept me on Netflix all day.

Before Netflix was well established, the majority of web media content (including music, movies, tv shows, and porn) were easily accessible through piracy. Services like Limewire, and websites like Thepiratebay made obscure, new, and hard-to-get content easily downloadable and easy to watch. Consumers who were tech savvy enough could grab the latest movies from the comfort of their own homes, and shows on cable-limited platforms like HBO (who didn't start providing online streaming until 2010), that were nearly impossible to access legitimately online, became viewable for the first time due to piracy.

Netflix (and Hulu) turned this piracy incentive on its head. People who were before pirating content out of convenience were now foregoing their digital theft for the easy-access of Netflix. As the content increased, it became harder and harder to justify the effort of piracy and easier to just pay one flat Netflix subscription and watch the content from there. After all, most of the shows we watched had been there for years - no need to worry about them going away - the platform was rock solid. Everyone I know stopped pirating shows and movies as much. Sure, there were still holdouts with high-cost subscriptions that made very little sense (HBO GO), and as a result a lot of the shows people still pirated were ones that weren’t easily accessible on Netflix.

Today, things are not so clear-cut. Shows that used to be staples of the Netflix subscription (’It’s always Sunny, The Office, Parks and Rec) have disappeared or have been slated to disappear from the service for the first time in what feels like a decade. Star Wars and Avengers films, something that used to be fairly accessible with Netflix are also going away. One might think Netflix has failed to keep the interest of these content publishers, maybe because their subscription numbers are rapidly falling? No, the reason is much stranger. Content makers have seen the success of Netflix and the value of their previously inaccessible IP and decided to reclaim their content control to be used for individually created services. NBC is making a streaming platform for The Office and other shows to be viewed on. Disney just released Disney+, whose main attraction is a single new Star Wars show, and thousands of disney films that no one wants to watch (and a few everyone already watches on Netflix).

You might think, “Great! Now some of my favorite obscure shows are viewable for the first time, at a decent price point” but you would also be wrong. Disney+ costs $69.99 a year (or $6.99 a month) and Peacock (NBC’s streaming service) will cost anywhere from $10-$14 a month. To me, it sounds like I as a consumer will now have to pay $20 a month MORE to watch content that just a year ago I had complete access to. I will have three different bills for this content and three different logins. On three different apps. On three different websites. They might stream in three different qualities, and now there are three different organizations responsible for ensuring that I have access to their content.

Also, with Net Neutrality gone, What is there to stop Comcast (who owns NBC/Universal) from choking Netflix access, or Disney+ access, in favor of their own platform? My guess would be that Comcast, Disney, and the like have made a calculation that because consumers are so used to the convenience of streaming that we will simply give in to their separations and pay money for the additional content, no questions asked. However, I see a different reality.

I think that the only reason we all switched to Netflix in the first place was because of how agnostic it’s content was to begin with. I think Netflix is just convenient enough to be easier than pirating, and that adding hurdles, costs, and logins to previously existing content might push some over the edge enough to stop paying all together. I think that this decision is going to enable piracy - after all, Piracy seems nefarious to the content creators, but only ever existed as a market force to begin with - consumers want the content and they will get it however they see fit. There is no morality in economics - Businesses do their best to cut corners to deliver to consumers for the lowest possible cost and highest possible profit (see above), I see no reason why consumers shouldn’t do the same to businesses.

Sourcing:

vice.com/en_us/article/3kg7pv/studies-keep-showing-that-the-best-way-to-stop-piracy-is-to-offer-cheaper-better-alternatives

https://www.sandvine.com/hubfs/downloads/phenomena/2018-phenomena-report.pdf

[musicallisto]

Hello my mootiful moot!

(Hahaahhahah see what I did there?)

So you know I’m learning Spanish.. do you know any free websites or apps in which you can watch Spanish shows with Spanish subtitles? It would be so awesome if you could help me with this!!

Love,

Mee!

hi! first of all, that’s so cool you’re learning Spanish! especially since you love the “castillian” accent lol, no one ever says that.

I’ve never had to actively learn Spanish, so I couldn’t recommend you specific resources. For learning German, I use Duolingo, which is totally free and pretty useful for beginners to get to an intermidiate level; and it’s so satisfying to see your streak grow! You can learn Spanish with it, I totally recommend it. I also watch videos on the EasyGerman YouTube channel, which is specifically targeted to people learning the language with subtitles and features native speakers using their normal pace/vocabulary, so it’s great to really get a sense of the actual language you want to speak. There’s also an EasySpanish channel!

As for shows, I believe there’s a lot on platforms like Netflix, Prime, etc, but if you’re like me and don’t have any of these, then piracy is your friend. (but don’t say I told you that.) you can find just about any show you want to watch with Spanish subtitles if you look hard enough and have a good ad blocker.

My main advice would be to be exposed to the language as much as possible - it sounds obvious, but I really mean it. I learned English watching countless videos and trying to sing along to my favorite songs. At first I had no idea what anyone was saying and I sang pure gibberish, but from repeated exposure, I finally picked up on a few things. It’s the best way to learn!

Wishing you the best of luck!

[knaveofmogadore]

Context for Flewelling; She wrote the Nightcrawler series, which has had some traction on tumblr intermittently, but is really one of those forgotten queer YA novels from the early aughts. I've never read them, I've heard that the bisexual protags are cool but that rest is derivative. She was added to a mailing list for the night crawler series per request in 1999, where a fan regularly shared her fanfiction and didn't know the author was added. Here are her first and second responses to seeing it:

"Dear Owlet: The website you have posted, and all fan fic that appears there, are illegal under copyright laws, and must come down. Fan fic shared privately among a few friends is one thing. It still illegal, mind you, but at least its private. Posting it on the newsgroup was pushing it. This is simply not allowable at all. You are copyrighting material that is not yours legally. This disclaimer on one story saying that I've graciously chosen to pretend that it isn't there will get me sued and blackballed. I know you all mean this as a compliment, but it's simply not OK. If you like my work, please respect it and don't put me in an impossible situation. Sincerely, Lynn Flewelling"

And then, about a week later:

"There are several bottom lines here. 1. If Bantam thinks I am giving out permission to anyone for this, they will cancel my contracts and not give me any new ones. You will never see original Nightrunner fiction again, and I will have been robbed of a very happy occupation. 2. Whether you are writing about Seregil or Fox Mulder or Sherlock Holmes, if you do not have legal permission from the author, their estate, or publisher, then you *are* violating US copyright law. It is creative piracy. Doesn't matter how many disclaimers you put on, or if you're being paid. It. Is. Illegal. 3. No artist is flattered by their hard wrought creation being used by others without their express permission. Aside from the monetary considerations, it is rude. You wouldn't walk into someone's garage and take their lawnmower without asking, would you? Or walk into an art gallery with a camera to make copies for your own use? (Any art in my web page gallery is there with the artist's written permission) Fan fic amounts to the same thing. It's not my intention to hurt anyone's feelings. Please consider mine. If I have been unclear in the past, I apologize. It wasn't until this all came up that I realized how serious the ramifications to my career are. I also never imagined things would go this far. No one has permission to use my work in any way. Sincerely, Lynn Flewelling"

Some notes:

Sherlock Holmes has been in the public domain since 1981. Despite several attempts ot sue on the basis that character development creates a different IP, the Doyle estate has always lost in court. Because that's a stupid thing to say.

YES, don't show fanfiction to writers. But also, don't join random fangroups of your work, email list or otherwise, if you don't wanna see...fanworks?

I thought that comparing fanfiction to stealing a lawnmower was really funny and I needed everyone else to read this email and appreciate it

Authors Convinced Fanfic is Illegal/Requires Permission

Terry Goodkind: “Copyright law dictates that in order for me to protect my copyright, when I find such things, I must go out and hire lawyers to threaten these people to make them stop, and to sue them if they don’t.”

John Scalzi: “Let's remember one fundamental thing about fanfic: Almost all of it is entirely illegal to begin with. It's the wild and wanton misappropriation of copyrighted material”

Diana Gabaldon: “OK, my position on fan-fic is pretty clear: I think it’s immoral, I know it’s illegal, and it makes me want to barf whenever I’ve inadvertently encountered some of it involving my characters.”

Robin Hobb: “Fan fiction is like any other form of identity theft. It injures the name of the party whose identity is stolen.”

Anne Rice: “I do not allow fan fiction. The characters are copyrighted. It upsets me terribly to even think about fan fiction with my characters. I advise my readers to write your own original stories with your own characters. It is absolutely essential that you respect my wishes.”

Anne McCaffrey: “there can be no adventure/stories set on Pern at all!!!!! That's infringing on my copyright and can bear heavy penalties…indiscriminate usage of our characters, worlds, and concepts on a 'public' media like electronic mail constitute copyright infringement AND, which many fans disregard, is ACTIONABLE!”

Chelsea Quinn Yarbro: “No. Absolutely not. It is also against federal law.”

Lynn Flewelling: “Whether you are writing about Seregil or Fox Mulder or Sherlock Holmes, if you do not have legal permission from the author, their estate, or publisher, then you are violating US copyright law. It is creative piracy. Doesn't matter how many disclaimers you put on, or if you're being paid. It. Is. Illegal.”

Someone Else, elaborated in the notes