Gwenily's List

Please install uBlock Origin or Brave Browser, regardless of if you use any resources listed here.

uBlock is more than just an adblocker. It's a tracker blocker, malware blocker, phisher blocker. It's lightweight, and often makes virtually every site you visit faster as a result of removing stuff only meant to hurt you. Even aside from this list, but especially for resources in this list, you should have this installed. No, ABP is not good enough, and is shady. Use uBO.

Soon, uBO will break on chromium based browsers due to Google's push for manifest v3 and its seemingly targeted approach to crippling adblock. If you want to use uBO, userscripts, and other extensions which rely on how manifest v2 handles extensions, please switch to Firefox and harden it (resources below).

If you want to keep using a chromium based browser, Brave is the only one i can recommend for a number of reasons. On the ad/tracker blocking front, Brave comes with Brave Shields, which is a built in ad/tracker blocker that uses the same lists as uBO, however the control and customization is not as flexible as uBO is. If you insist on using a chromium based browser that isn't Brave, at least install uBO Lite.

What is this list?

A collection of things I personally use, think are useful, or that I think are generally neat. I want to both shine light on things that deserve more attention as well as provide peers with what amounts to a repository of services, tools, and even tutorials to some extent. Oh, and cool stuff.

Notice any typos, broken links, or out-of-date information?

Please open an issue, or create a pull request. You may also open an issue if you have any questions, comments, or concerns.

How do I use this list?

Some items could easily fit in more than one category. Use Ctrl + F (or Cmd + F on macOS) to find what you're looking for. Items are in no particular order. If you find something interesting, you can middle click it to open it in a new tab!

Also, consider bookmarking this page if you find it valuable! Ironically enough i personally use it all the time, even though I made it x3

Contents

• General Piracy
  • Media Servers
• Videogames
  • Piracy and Preservation
  • Emulation
  • Homebrew
  • Mods Enhancements and Re-Implementations
  • Misc.
• Computers
  • Hardware
  • Software
  • Web Browsers
  • Search Engines
  • VPNs
  • Operating Systems
  • Privacy and Security
• Addons
  • Browser Extensions
  • Userscripts
  • Discord Modifications
• Cool Stuff
• Other

General Piracy

• Awesome Piracy A huge curated mega-list of piracy resources. Many of the links are outdated as the repo has been archived, but the source is incredibly invaluable none-the-less.
  • Awesome lists in general are very useful.
  • The author of Awesome Piracy has recommended a couple other mega-lists (1, 2, 3) in the repo's archival announcement, but I have yet to review them in any depth, though i do find myself using them.
• Archive.org Site used to archive a bunch of stuff. Also home of the wayback-machine. Basically the library of the internet as far as media is concerned. So much is on here it's rediculous. If you're in a collection, be sure to view all files on the right panel if you're looking for a specific file. Some may require you to sign in. A favorite of mine for roms, books, in-browser emulation, and flash games. Has tons of entries on this list.
• Pirate Bay Mirrors Updated Aug 2023. List of mirror sites pulling from The Pirate Bay's database. Visiting the pirate bay directly is sketchy in my opinion, but it's database will always be invaluable. Do note however that in more recent times, their collection has become more and more unmoderated. Tred with caution. I do not recommend the subreddit's suggested VPNs. Check the VPN section below
• TorrentGalaxy Movie torrenting site. I'm using it to hold me over since RARBG went defunct. Not sure what the best alternative is yet.
• Piracy.moe Previously known as the anime index. A resource to find ways to pirate/stream anime, manga, etc. Just a good resource for weeb piracy warez n' such.
• Nyaa.si Anime torrenting database. Probably the best out there. My first line of fire for anime piracy. sukebei.nyaa.si is their NSFW counterpart.
• Soulseek Peer-to-Peer network for (mostly) music piracy. A lot like how Limewire worked (I think? idk I was too young for it). If you're on Linux I recommend using Nicotine+ to access soulseek.
• YayPonies Piracy site for basically all official digital media for the My Little Pony franchise. shows, movies, comic books, bonus features, etc. They also host other shows, including Bluey, Star Vs The Forces of Evil and Wander Over Yonder (as well as Ducktales and Steven Universe, albeit deprecated).

Media Servers

• Jellyfin Basically, host your own damn netflix! Free open source software, lets you stream media from your own server. You can even just give family and friends the website, username, and password, and they can stream your library too. Movies, Tv, Music, as well as a group watch feature which automatically syncs the video between viewers in case you're watching online together and dont want to have to manually sync every time someone wants to pause. Supports a ton of devices.
• Plex Similar to jellyfin, but with more bells, whistles, and plug-in support. Unfortunately, not open source, and contains paywalled features. I don't like it as much, but it's valid.
  • dizquetv A plug-in for plex which lets you create a live "TV channel" autopopulated from content on your plex server. You could even add TV Bumpers.
  • Retroarcher A plug-in for plex which also lets you stream videogames. Under heavy development. I haven't used it myself, but it seems cool.

Videogames

Videogame Piracy and Preservation

Console/Retro Games

• No-Intro Romsets This is a database of roms available for download that match no-intro's official set. Add / after the URLs to view the contents of compressed archives from the browser. Torrents can be problematic, and you may have an easier time if you use a download manager like jdownloader if you're downloading in bulk. No-Intro is a group that basically makes the standard database for making sure your roms are clean, but they dont provide the roms themselves, so this (and every) romset isn't official.
  • Redump ISO sets. There isn't an entry for every redumped system in one listing on internet archive that i've been able to locate, but this collection should get you started. Redump is a very similar organization to no-intro, just for discs instead of cartridges. For the Ctrl+F friends: PSX, PS1, Playstation, PS2, PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, WiiU, PSP, Vita, Saturn, Dreamcast, 64DD. Also see the link below if you're a ctrl+f friend
  • Modern-ish Systems (PS3/4, Switch, etc) A megalist for each. Download then install on each system with it's default backup installation method. Check Hacking & Homebrew Resources below for more info on how to install the games onto your console.
  • ISO and Rom Sites directory via the emulation wiki a bunch of sites to download retro games, listed on the emulation wiki.
• Patched English Translation ROMs English fan translations of various games, pre-patched and ready to go.
• Gamecube Collection by Ghostware Full North American ISO set of gamecube games. Be sure to log in and either show all files and pick which you want, or get the torrent and manage from there in your torrent manager.
• Wii Collection by Ghostware, Part 2, Part 3, WiiWare/Virtual Console Multi-part collection of commercial Wii games. Be sure to log in and either show all files and pick which you want, or get the torrent and manage from there in your torrent manager.
• NXBrew (Switch) Switch piracy downloads and torrents
  • Ghostland (Switch) eShop replacement for Switch using Tinfoil. use https as protocol, nx.ghostland.at as host, and / as path.)
• hShop (3DS) eShop replacement for 3DS with free downloads. A must install since the eShop is deprecated. Has all games that were on the eShop including updates and DLC.
• Software Clearance Bin Huge collection of commercial abandonware. Not my first line of fire for seeking out a specific title, but SUPER fun to meander about and see some random shovelware game you played as a kid and go "omg I'm gonna pop this in rn like right now rn".
• Legal ROMs Wiki (Fandom) Yeah its a fandom wiki but its still pretty neat. A list of ways you can legally acquire digital versions of plenty of retro games. You probably own a few games that are incredibly trivial to pull roms of and may not even know it. A nice option to have.
  • Legal ROMs on Steam A guide for how to pull ROMs from various games on steam.

    PC Games

• Fitgirl Repacks Repacks for modern games. (Repacks are compressed versions of games, I've rarely had problems with them though). As for other repackers, fitgirl endources RG Mechanics, RG Revenants, RG Catalyst, Xatab, El Amigos, Kapital Sin, and KaosKrew (rips). However I've never had to use them.
• Free GOG Games Free release for almost every game on GOG.
• CreamInstaller DLC unlocker tool based on CreamAPI and more. Lets you unlock paid DLC for legitimately owned games for free, though if the DLC is a seperate download you'll need to track that down and merge it. I use it for the PinballFX games, since all those have all their dlc packed into the game lol. Works online too! Just know developers could easily track this and ban you if they went out of their way to. Steam probably could as well, though there's no recorded cases of valve taking any action against people that use this. Use CreamAPI or other tools directly if you're on Linux.
• Pirated Games Mega Thread Lists resources curated by those at r/CrackWatch, as well as some anti-recommendations so you know what to watch out for. Anything on my list superseeds anything there (at least for me) obviously.
• Old Games Finder Search engine to find copies of old PC games. Some sites it may lead you to are paid, but not all. Use Archive.org as another line of fire.
• r/CrackWatch Gaming piracy subreddit. Will tell you who cracked a game and removed it's DRM if a game has been cracked, which should give you enough information on where to find said cracked game. Also carries with it other useful info. Be sure to read the beginners guide on the sidebar.
• Internet Arcade A bunch of retro games are playable in browser on Archive.org. If you dont want to go through the trouble of setting up an emulator and downloading roms and you just need an instant way to check out an old game for some reason, this should be your first stop. Suprisingly good support since it uses a javascript port of MAME. Here's Libble-Rabble as an example because I love that game.
• Flashpoint A project meant to be an exhaustive preservation of flash games and animations.
  • Flash on Archive.org Similarly to the Internet Arcade, Archive.org also supports playing flash games in browser using Ruffle, which Newgrounds also does for flash games that have remained on the site.

Videogame Emulation

• Emulation Wiki A wiki on videogame emulation. Extremely useful if you want to compare and contrast features of emulators for a given console. Especially good for figuring out what the best given emulator for a console is, since especially in recent years emulators have become fairly competetive with one another.
• Retroarch The frontend for libretro. Nice if you want to have all your retro games in one place, navigatable with a controller, and especially useful if you're looking to use it's unique features (netplay, shaders, etc). Download emulators as cores from within the program, scan for your games, and then run the game with their respective core. Easier than it sounds. I prefer it to standalone counterparts for most emulators, but not anything more powerful than an PS1. Also sick for emulating on console, I have retroarch installed on my Switch, for example. Nintendo Switch Online emulators be damned.
  • I would like to note that there's been a lot of claims of abusive behavior towards one of the lead developers, TwinAphex. Including potentially contributing to Near's suicide, and driving devs to quit projects and leave the emu scene (such as duckstation's lead developer). I'm having trouble finding much definitive information on it all, but I'd be remiss not to mention it. Hopefully the scene creates a competetive alternative some day. If you're on mac, I'd recommend OpenEmu above retroarch in many cases anyhow (because I like it's UX better)
• Fightcade The definitive way to play virtually every retro fighting game online. Uses a collection of emulators forked with GGPO-based rollback netcode and online matchmaking. This essentially allows for an extremely smooth online experience, and is a more modern standard for online fighting games. It also supports replays, which is a huge boon if you're trying to git good at any of these old games.
  • If you want to use rollback netcode on a non-fighting game for whatever reason, it can do that for the emulators it supports as well. Though it isn't the primary goal. At the time of writing it supports a number of MAME romset arcade games, super nintendo, and dreamcast. Check out Slippi below if you're interested in playing Super Smash Bros. Melee with rollback netcode.
  • You can have Fightcade automatically download roms by using lofi1048's scripts direct-download (updated 04.20.2023) and extracting the archive to Fightcade's Emulator folder, or ~/.var/app/com.fightcade.Fightcade/data/ if you're using the linux flatpak. Once the files are extracted into the correct folder, join the desired game's respective channel and it'll download automatically. If you were already part of a channel, simply leave and re-join.
• Citra (3DS) and Yuzu (Switch) Emulation Tropical Haze (the LLC responsible for Citra and Yuzu) was sued by nintendo in Feb 2024. As a result, the software isn't able to be distributed officially by Tropical Haze. This is all the resources you need to get the final builds of either emulator running. Contact me or open an issue if any of the links inside of this paste stop working. Note that both emulators were licenced under GPLv3, so the code is still licenced under the GPLv3. Using, forking, or developing either emulator is still 100% above board.
• Emulator Compatability Lists. Basically, for any given emulator, they'll list all games for the console they're emulating, and how well they're emulated. In the case of the Dolphin Wiki they'll even list optimal emulator settings, enhancements, and more for individual games.
• EmuVR Play retro games in emulation using libretro in a VR environment. You can actually play light gun games! showcase! Just really cool in general. Simulated CRT televisions and atpmospheric lighting showcase, netplay showcase, and even adding videos and music as VHS, DVD, and CD objects, as well as internet tv channels. I've seen people having cartoons running in the background on a tv in one corner while they play super nintendo in the other. It's really neat.
• Red-Viper Play Virtual Boy games on 3DS. Obviously, this recreates the 3D effect that in my opinion many virtual boy games require. Looks great, and you can change the colors to anything you want. Virtual Boy Wario Land is trapped on that thing, and that game is worth playing, so yeah. You can use the No-Intro link above or Vimm's Lair to download VB games
  • VBjin-OVR Play Virtual Boy games in VR, which re-enables not only the 3D effect, but the VR effect too, since that's what the Virtual Boy was going for. That said, i think the VR setup was more of a means to an end than the point, but i'd be remiss not to mention the option. You can change the colors to black and white.

Videogame Homebrew

• Hacking & Homebrew resources From the homebrew threads on 4chan's /vg/ board. Follow any guide here for it's respective console and you wont have any trouble if you have basic reading comprehension. Also provides links to piracy websites in the post-instillation sections.
  • webcfw Nintendo Switch Payload Loader that works in chromium browsers. For booting into cfw. Not mentioned above so I thought I'd drop it here.
• Pretendo Network 3DS and WiiU homebrew. a free replacement to nintendo's servers. Play games online, etc. Heavy WIP but extremely promising.
• riiconnect24 Wii homebrew. Brings back support for utility channels, such as forecast, news, everybody votes, check mii out, and mail
• wiimmfi Brings nintendo Wii and DS game servers back online. Mario Kart Wii is still especially popular, especially with CGTP-R which is listed below.
• Lan-Play.com Play Nintendo Switch and PS4 games online by using LAN over the internet! No PSN or Nintendo Switch Online required. For switch, you dont even need to hack or install homebrew for any OFW (Official Firmware) games! For games labeled as use with CFW (Custom Firmware) only, you unfortunately must hack your switch to play LAN online, though. This is the only viable method I know of for playing pirated Nintendo Switch games online, or playing online with CFW in general. But yeah, wanna play online with someone specific? check this before subscribing to some nintendo paid online service :3

Videogame Mods Enhancements and Re-Implementations

• Rompatcher.js Some listings here are romhacks and may require you to patch a rom, use this tool to do so. I dont supply the patched rom directly because many of these update over time.
• RetroFab is a collection of simulators available to play in browser of various LCD games (such as the Game & Watch series). Send it to your buddies and show them how they'll never beat your score in Ball or whatever lol :3

  Fan Games

• Dr. Robotnik's Ring Racers An amazing kart racer mod for Sonic Robo Blast 2, which is a sonic fangame built using a modified version of Doom (well, Doom Legacy). It's one of the best kart racers ever made, better than most Mario Kart entries, even. Hundreds of tracks, fanmade characters, etc. Lively community. showcase. Its the sequel to Sonic Robo Blast 2 Kart (SRB2K).
• Super Mario War (SMWStuff Continuation) A fan-made multiplayer Super Mario Bros. style deathmatch game in which players try to beat one another in a variety of gameplay modes. Super fun party game. Basically, Duck Game before Duck Game, with goomba stomps. If you're not sold here's a video showcasing the game and talking about it's history
• Power Bomberman A feature-rich Bomberman fangame. supports up to 12 players, has over 650 characters, over 70 stages, and an unpresedented level of settings to tweak.

  Randomizers

• The Big List of Video Game Randomizers A well maintained list of all videogame randomizers the author knows of. Pretty swell :)
  • Archipelago A Multiplayer, multi-game randomizer. Supports a bunch of games. Get an item in OoT, could give your friend playing Kingdom Hearts II an item. They get an item? could give it to someone playing Hades with you both. Basically takes all your games and mixes them all up. Supported games list. There's a number of third-party supported games out there, like this one i found for BatBoy, so keep an eye out. I think they're all documented in the big list but it's kind of hard to control for archipelago support specifically.

    Smash Bros.

• Slippi.gg Super Smash Bros. Melee with online matchmaking, rollback netcode, and replays. Check out Fightcade above for other fighting games. Unpatched ISO
  • I also recommend using Uncle Punch Training Mode which is for training. Requires the unpatched ISO.
• Project+ Continuation of Project M, an extremely popular and famous mod of Super Smash Bros. Brawl that makes it play more like melee. Adds Roy, Mewtwo, and Knuckles to the roster. New stages, music, cosmetics. It's a better game. Trailer, Unpatched ISO
  • Project M EX-Remix Project+ if it was... insane? The character select screen straight up looks like some fan-wiki shit. Adds all characters from 4 and Ult, a bunch of fan characters, stages, music, etc. great showcase video. Requires the unpatched ISO.
• Smash Remix a very impressive Smash 64 expansion mod. 1.5.0 release trailer

  Pokémon

• PokéRogue an in-browser roguelite pokemon fangame. Pretty neat!
  • Pokémon Emerald Rogue 2 a roguelike romhack for Pokémon Emerald. Widely considered to be one of the best romhacks ever made, especially if you like roguelikes.
• Pokémon Unbound My favorite pokemon game is a rom-hack. Idk how to feel about it either. It's a "Fire Red romhack", but I'd sonner consider it a campaign made in gen 3's engine. Backported pokemon, mega evolutions, a great campaign. It's awesome. Unpatched ROM
• Poké Transporter GB a tool to transfer pokemon from gen 1/2 to gen 3 (and therefore all the way up) using official gameboy and gameboy advance hardware. Was made to "feel" official and prevent often immersion breaking methods used by other homebrew software seeking to achieve the same goal. Showcase, Dev Video
  • You can also play Gen 1/2 games on the 3DS Virtual Console to transfer directly to Gen 7 (and therefore up) officially.

    Classic Sonic

• Sonic 1 Forever and Sonic 2 Absolute Modified versions of the official 2013 remakes for Sonic 1 and 2. This is possible thanks to the decompilation This is the definitive way to play both games. You'll need either the Data.rsdk files or an apk of each game. Sonic 1 apk, Sonic 2 apk
• Sonic CD 2011 Decompilation A decompilation of the official 2011 remake. You'll need the Data.rsdk file to play. here's a tutorial if you need help. Either the base decomp or using Sonic CD Restored (a mod for the decomp) is the definitive way to play.
• Sonic 3 A.I.R. A fan-made widescreen remaster of Sonic 3 & Knuckles. The definitive way to play. The S3&K.bin from the steam release is required to play.

  Super Mario 64

• romhacking.com Website that hosts romhacks primarily for Super Mario 64. Founded and owned by YouTuber/Twitch Streamer SimpleFlips. They offer a launcher that lets you run n64 hacks from the website. Unpatched Super Mario 64 ROM
  • B3313 A beta-based Super Mario 64 hack. Every copy is personalized. Don't spoil yourself. Use the abandoned version.
  • 60fps Hack (Optional Widescreen) A hack to get Super Mario 64 to run in 60fps, and optionally widescreen as well. Though I'd sooner recommend the PC port. Showcase
  • Kaze's Profile Kaze is an extremely talented romhacker for SM64. He's the author behind star road, chaos edition, and the afformationed 60fps mod. Sort by most downloaded if you're interested. His YouTube Channel has some super interesting showcases, behind the scenes, and more as well.
• Super Mario 64 PC Port Info a website hosting info on Super Mario 64's PC Port, which is based on the game's decomp. The pc port allows the game to play natively on pc in 60fps and widescreen, rather than in emulator. Lets you use a number of other enhancements as well. Unpatched Super Mario 64 ROM.
  • Project SGI / Render96 A gorgeous mod for the PC Port that makes the game look like the Silicon Graphics Inc. 1996 renders (such as the game's boxart). When following the tutorial use the latest version of MSYS2 instead of the one they link to directly. Check out this showcase

    Chris Sawyer games

• OpenRCT2 An open-source re-implementation of Chris Sawyer's Roller Coaster Tycoon 2, however it also allows you to play RCT1 scenerios if you provide a copy of RCT1. Extremely good in countless ways. Requires a copy of the original game. RCT2 iso, RCT iso.
  • Roller Coaster Tycoon Classic is a fine official way to play scenerios from both games on mobile devices. I like the way it orders scenerios :)
• OpenTTD An open-source simulation game based on Chris Sawyer's Transport Tycoon Deluxe. You can provide a copy of the original TTD for original graphics and sound. TTD iso

  Doom

• Crispy Doom is my preferred way to play DOOM and DOOM II. It's a fork of the sourceport Chocolate Doom. There isn't really a definitive way to play Doom, but this is very good if you want to preserve the original experience with higher resolution, framerate, mouse look, better controls, etc. Do not enable jump or free vertical looking. Dwars' Overview+ Doom + Doom II addendum is a good watch if you want more info on sourceport options out there.
  • Roland SC-55 Music Packs This site provides music packs meant to emulate the sound of an SC-55. If you're using Crispy Doom, be sure to download the config files for it. The Roland SC-55 was a sound module released in 1991, and is widely considered to provide the best sound for DOS games. I'm not sure why Crispy Doom doesn't replicate it by default. Comparison
• You'll need the .wad files to play. You'll want to get The Ultimate Doom, Doom II Hell On Earth 1.9, and optionally Doom II No Rest For The Living BFG edition, SIGIL, and Legacy of Rust, then go from there.
  • Doom has a complicated release history, so i recommend cross-referencing the Doom Wiki just in case to make sure you're getting the version of the game you prefer. Later re-releases had more levels for example.
• Doom + Doom II, Fitgirl id/Bethesda's most recent port for Doom to modern hardware at the time of writing. Good if you just want to pick up and go. Contains optional remixed music, and a new official chapter (as well as sigil and other past expansions). Even has a mod list to play modded wads from an easy to browse menu, albeit this feature is absent from the switch release and leaves some to be desired (and also isn't compatible with gzdoom exclusive wads). Regardless, this is by far the best official way to play Doom, and is a significant improvement over the Unity ports. See the Dwars overview addendum above for more info
• GZDoom is a sourceport which is good for virtually every modded doom wad, especially since many wads dont support other sourceports. Change texture filtering to none in the options. Doomworld 25 Years is a good place to start to discover modded wads, as is their Cacowards ceremony. My favorite wad is MyHouse.wad. I also quite like Treasure Tech. I have not played many custom wads.
• SIGIL Doom's 5th episode, which was designed by John Romero for Doom's 25th anniversary in 2019. I recommend you grab the buckethead version from the .wad files link above. I'm giving it it's own bullet because it feels like it deserves it's own mention, and also because he made it for GZDoom, albeit Crispy Doom supports it.
  • Legacy of Rust Doom's 6th episode, which came out with Doom + Doom II's release in 2024. Made in collaboration with id Software, Nightdive Studios, and MachineGames. Basically just 16 new maps which also utilize some content formerly left on the cutting room floor.
• The Playstation port of Doom is also incredibly interesting as it's a very different but cool take on the game. May as well also mention Doom 64 has mouse controls now since it's good, but that's a different game.
• As long as we're here... Action Button Reviews Doom is the best video/retrospective/overview of the game to ever exist. S-Tier vid.

  Mods misc

• romhacking.net Basically the website that hosts romhacks, save for romhacking.com and game/franchise dedicated fourms (such as for Pokemon). Unfortunately, romhacking.net shut down on August 1st 2024. The link goes to an official archive of the sites content, hosted on Internet Archive. You may be able to use the wayback machine to browse the main site to find new hacks, then download them from the provided archive link.
• Sonic Adventure DX Mod Loader Sonic Adventure DX infamously has numerous problems compared to the Dreamcast original. The Sonic Adventure Mod Loader comes bundled with a ton of fixes that bring it in line with the dreamcast original, and also provides optional enhancements as well. And of course, allows you to install mods in general. Playing on PC with the mod loader is the definitive way to play Sonic Adventure.
• Widescreen Super Mario World Super Mario World in widescreen. 16:9, ultra-wide, you name it. Showcase, Unpatched ROM
  • Super Nintendo SA-1 Mods The same author makes preformance enhancement mods for various Super Nintendo games. Games like Gradius III are virtually unplayable without it. Comparison
• The Mother 3 Fan Translation The english translation of Mother 3, featuring Tomato of Legends of Localization fame. Unpatched ROM
• TF2 Classic A free Sourcemod that aims to re-imagine the 2008/2009 era of Team Fortress 2. New features range from weapons and maps to gamemodes such as VIP and Four-Team. If you're sick of vanilla TF2's bots, lack of support from valve, and general shitty state, try this out.
• CGTP-R A widely installed mod for Mario Kart Wii with a lively online community via wiimmfi. Adds over 200 new tracks to the game. 2019 Trailer

Videogame Misc.

• My Life In Gaming A youtube channel dedicated to retro games. I mention them specifically for their RGB series, which extensively details ways to get the best possible picture out of your retro consoles. There are broad episodes, episodes focused on specific consoles, and episodes focused on specific equipment
• TheBackloggery Sort of like MAL for videogames. You can detail what games you own, how you own them, and if you've played, beaten, completed, or mastered them.
• SteamGridDB Database of cover assets for Steam, since a lot of games are missing covers and the like. Includes non-steam games as well, in case you put those in your steam library.
  • SGDBoop tool that automatically applies assets from SteamGridDB directly to your Steam library with a click of a button, removing the need to download and set them manually.
  • Millennium a theme/plugin mod for the Steam client, which allows you to once again theme steam to your liking.
    • Adwaita for Steam A skin to make Steam look more like a native GNOME app, for the GNOME heads.
  • Steam Rom Manager Useful for bulk adding non-steam games (such as retro games) to your steam library with image assets pulled from SteamGridDB
• Sudomemo Brings the DSi's flipnote hatena service back online with community-run servers, has support for both DSi and 3DS! People are posting great stuff! Example 1, Example 2, Example 3
  • Sudomemo Archive An archive of virtually every flipnote ever that was on the flipnote hetena servers when it shut down.
  • Kaeru World is ran by a different team. Same idea as sudomemo, but for Flipnote's sequel Flipnote 3D. Less active, still cool.
• Death Generator Also known as Sierra Text Generator. Lets you create custom text boxes in the style of a ton of different games.
• NoClip Lets you look around 3D environments in browser for a ton of games you absolutely played growing up as if you were using noclip in source.
• Earthbound Battle Backgrounds Generator for moving earthbound backgrounds.
• Super Lesbian Animal RPG SLARPG doesn't really belong here but fuck you it's my list. Everyone must play this. An RPGMaker game by Ponnet (aka Bobby), the author of Thanks Ken Penders. With music by Beatrix Quinn. Give it a shot if you like "quirky earthbound inspired RPGs" or gay people. Fuck elden ring, it's my GOTY 2022. Be sure to read the (short) official prologue comic before you start.
  • Bobby recommends joy2key if you want to use a controller. Do NOT do this. Use steam input with community uploaded profiles (or make your own). If you don't own the game on steam, add it as a non-steam game and use steam input anyways. Also, dont play on 1.5x or 2x unless you really need to fill the screen, it stretches the pixels (blame RPGMaker for both of these limitations). If you read this far, there's sort of an easter egg if you try to go to melody's real tumblr page featured her in-game laptop :3

Computers

Hardware

• LTT PC Building Guide (2024) a sort of "choose your own adventure" style mega-video as a PC building guide, use youtube chapters to learn about whatever specific part you're interested in, or just watch the whole thing if you're starting from scratch.
• PC Master Race Explained in 9 minutes an incredibly entertaining animation styled to look like it was made in flipnote studio, which talks about the pros and cons of buying phones, laptops, gaming laptops, pre-built PCs, and custom-built PCs. Also talks a bit about right to repair. Highly recommend you give this a watch if you're in the market for a new device or care about computers at all.
  • This video is also available in Japanese, Mandarin, Russian, Korean, and Cantonese (incomplete).

Software

• qBitTorrent Torrenting client. The only one worth a damn.
• NewPipe A FOSS app that lets you watch YouTube on your phone without signing in to Google. It also allows you to download videos, listen to them in the background, skip ads, and skip sponsored segments. Basically everything YouTube Preimum offers and more. Also supports bandcamp and soundcloud for music streaming.
• ReVanced A manager to apply mods to various android apps. Especially useful to remove ads on apps like YouTube. Most people prefer this over NewPipe since it lets you use the actual YouTube app (or any other apps it modifies).
• Tartube a gui frontend for yt-dlp and others. Basically, it's a video downloader. Never search "youtube mp3 converter" or "youtube downloader" again. Supports more sites than just YouTube. Also downloads mp3s and thumbnails. Be sure to use yt-dlp in tartube
  • youtube-dlp Command line program for downloading vids from youtube and others. Use this if you just want the command line utility and dont want the gui that tartube provides. If you dont know what this means, get tartube.
• cobalt.tools site that lets you download media from youtube, twitter, twitch, tiktok, reddit, instagram, snapchat, facebook, tumblr, and more and more and more. Just paste the link in and you're off.
• JDownloader Download manager. Scrape websites, read the clipboard for links to downloads, etc. Have them all in a neat list. Especially useful for archive.org collections or for when you have a slow internet connection.
• Handbrake Video transcoder. Compress, convert, etc. Throw videos in and choose which format you want and watch the filesize shrink.
• ShareX Best screenshot software there is. Still sad there isn't a linux version.
• Open Broadcast Software (OBS) Best video recording, screen recording, and streaming software there is. Pretty self-explanitory.
• Davincibox an unofficial Davinci Resolve Linux installer. Davinci Resolve is natively supported on linux, but only really for Rocky Linux for some reason. This sets up a distrobox instance that'll have Davinci running as if it's a native application on any distro!
• Photopea A free "remake" of Adobe Photoshop in browser. Doesn't upload files to the cloud, and works better than it has any right to. Use Photopea Adblock as well (i had to change the value in the script to 320). uBlock already blocks ads on photopea, but the space is still reserved for the ad. Using this will fill the whole screen and remove the adspace. This is a userscript.
• Pikimov a motion effects and video editor that runs in chrome. Its an after-effects alternative made because the developer needed to do VFX work on linux. Has layers, keyframes, video effects. Free, doesn't upload files to the cloud. Very nias.
• Sumo Similar to Photopea in that it's a suite of creation tools that run in browser. Has apps for paint, pixelart, music, audio, video, code, 3D, and photos. Check the app dropdown menu at the top banner of the page. I'll be honest, I dont use it myself, but someone recommended it to me and it seems nice?
• Obsidian.md writing/note taking app that stores all documents you make in human-readable markdown. You can use community plugins (built in plugin store) to store your vault to the cloud. Recommendation video
• Kommiku a nice manga/comic reader i like, made with Adwaita theming for GNOME. Comes with pirate comic/manga repositories built in, somehow. Not to be confused with the android app of the same name, its a different project.
• List of Adobe Alternatives Sick list of alternatives to adobe suite software. Useful for linux or if you just hate adobe (But, of course, pirating their software will always be moral :P )

Web Browsers

Note: I recommend you only use "flagship" or mainline browsers as daily drivers. You need to trust security updates (or updates in general) will be timely, stable, and consistent. The less niche the better. Venture out if you wish, just know the risks. I'd also like to give an anti-recommendation to edge, google chrome, and opera gx. All three are shady as hell (and equilivent to eachother in their shittyness, do not fool yourself).

• (Hardened) Firefox Yep, firefox. Unlike (virtually) every other browser under the sun, it's not chromium based. Mozilla sync is useful, you can use extensions on mobile, has virtually all the standard features you'd expect from a web-browser. I highly recommend you "harden" it with PrivacyGuide's recommended configuration upon install (basically, just changing some defaults to improve privacy/security). Firefox will continue to support Manifest v2 after google kills it, as well. The mobile app is also fine.
  • Arkenfox For advanced users. It's a user.js config template for firefox. Basically it helps you change deeper firefox config settings for better hardening. Disables mozilla telemetry and other mozilla bullshit. Provides similar fingerprinting protections that Mullvad Browser below supplies. Arkenfox is more flexible, but mullvad can thwart more advanced tracking scripts. It will not anonymize you like tor or mullvad browser. You really ought to read the arkenfox wiki if you want to use it. A few options cause some websites to break, which can be easily changed. If you want an easier alternative Betterfox might be for you, however I can't personally vouch for it's legitimacy, as I haven't looked too deep into it.
  • FirefoxCSS Store Don't like how firefox looks? Want to theme it to be minimal, look like chrome, opera gx, edge, or any number of other looks? Well, here's the site for you. You can use other people's css scripts, or make one yourself if you know or are willing to write some css. You may also want to check out r/FirefoxCSS if this seems interesting to you, since the store is just a collection someone curated.
  • Firefox Focus a lightweight mobile browser by mozilla. It's faster and more convenient than the mainline firefox browser, but it's less feature dense. Note that DDG's mobile browser is about as lightweight and i have to imagine more private (i dont really trust mozilla when it comes to privacy).
• Brave Browser If you want to have a chromium based browser, brave is the only one I can recommend with my chest. Unlike firefox, it's generally privacy respecting out of the box. Note that you will NOT be anonymous when accessing .onion domains, do NOT use it to surf Tor with anything remotely sensitive. Disable "brave rewards" and their other crypto bullshit on install. Since Brave is chromium based, it will eventually be forced to drop support for manifest v2 due to google dropping support for it, however brave ships with Brave Shields, which is somewhat comprable to uBO since it uses many of the same lists, albeit not as flexible or customizable. The android and ios apps are also fine.
• Tor Browser A firefox based browser that makes you anonymous. Makes your browser look the same as all other Tor users, which makes it very hard to distinguish between users. Do not modify any defaults. Read about proper etiquette or else it'll be useless. Allows you to access .onion domains. Numberphile has a great video about the technical details of how the tor network keeps you anonymous. Do NOT use Tor with a VPN. Do not daily drive. Do not install any extensions, except maybe ublock origin (a common... enough... install to make it okay... maybe). Also, it's gonna be slow. The Android app is also good.
  • Onion Browser (iOS) Torproject recommends this as the way you ought to connect to the tor network on iOS, though note apple forces browsers on iOS to use WebKit, which means it's not going to be as private/anonymous as standard tor.
  • check out Tails under operating systems below if you need privacy and anonymity at the operating system level, it's made in collaboration with torproject.
• Mullvad Browser Okay, not technically a flagship browser, but I trust mullvad and torproject (they both worked on this browser). Mullvad browser is a firefox/tor-based browser. Basically, the idea is tor, but instead of using the tor network it uses a VPN. It does not require you have a subscription to mullvad vpn to use. You probably(?) ought to use the same etiquette as you do with tor. Don't do anything that'd make your browser stand out, etc.
• DuckDuckGo Browser (mobile). not technically a flagship but i trust ddg well enough. ddg's browser isn't chromium or firefox based, so that's neat. It's good as a lightweight "just need to see the thing" browser. I particularly appreciate that you can add a ddg search bar to your phone's homepage as a widget (which will search ddg's search engine in the dgg browser). ddg's fire button is also very nice, it wipes all tabs and data from all sites (except sites you select to fireproof). I only really recommend you use this for mobile devices, though. Not so useful on desktop.
• Safari Yeah you probably didn't expect this one, but out of all the big tech companies apple is surprisingly okay about privacy and security. Don't go out of your way to get it if you aren't on an apple device, but it's a lot better than you think it would be. Not chromium or firefox based, so that's neat. I especially and particularly think it's worthwhile on iOS as a mobile browser since they're all going to be WebKit anyways, but it's fine on MacOS too.

Search Engines

I recommend just adding all of these engines as search shortcuts to be honest, though you could always use bangs in ddg/brave/kagi.

• DuckDuckGo My daily driver; usually gets the job done. Search results are sourced bing, but unlike bing it's good about user privacy. Bing results aren't as bad as they're meme'd to be. Also uses bangs, which lets you search other sites (ex !w for wikipedia). Very useful.
• Kagi is a search engine that is funded by a paid-subscription model. They're good about user privacy. They source their results from a number of other engines, including some indexing they've done themselves. Kagi supports bangs (and lets you add your own), and their results are very high quality. You can have kagi automatically summarize an article, which will have AI give you a tl;dr of it's contents. My favorite feature from kagi are their lenses, which let you change the "type" of search results you get. Maybe instead of getting listicles, you want actual user discussion. Maybe you're looking for recipes specifically, or you're troubleshooting your code, etc. There's even a "small web" lense, which will highlight indie sites. It also lets you create your own lense, if that's up your alley. You can also promote or demote a site for your future searches, or block them entirely (get fucked fandom). Give their free trial a shot. It's preimum quality, but it comes at a preimum cost. It's priced at $10/mo (or $108/yr) for unlimited searching. They also offer family plans if you want to try and throw in together with the homies.
• Brave Search From the guys that made the web browser. Brave's biggest advantage in addition to being privacy respecting is that they have an independant search index. This means they source their searches theirselves, and they dont rely Bing or Google. The results are better than you'd expect them to be. So if you want to resist big tech monopoly, this is probably the engine you want to go to. Also supports bangs, like ddg does.
• SearX SearX is a bit different in that it's open source and decentralized. This means that no one can really own SearX, and everyone knows exactly how it works. kind of like Mastodon if you're familiar with that. Privacy respecting, but you have to trust the host you're using, which can generally be done by making sure they're running vanilla. You could also disable javascript if you want to be extra sure you're searching privately. You can even host it yourself if you want to go the extra mile. It aggregates from a number of other engines and sort of mixes them all together and sorts based on relevance. You can select what search engines it pulls from in it's settings, which will effect response times. Super neat. Oh, and it also has an anonymous page viewer if you want to preview sites without tracking through a proxy. Note that I've linked a SearXNG repo, which is basically SearX with a nicer UI
• Startpage Startpage is sort of like ddg, but it indexes from google. So if you want a private google front-end, here's the search engine for you. Also has the anonymous preview feature SearX has.
• SauceNAO Specifically for reverse image searching, and it's very good. Always my first line of fire. When it fails, there are hotlinks to google and yandex for additional reverse image searching, as well as a few other reverse image search engines. Pairs well with their Image Search Options extension.
• Mycroft Project Not a search engine, but a tool for adding more secondary "engines". Typing into the omnibar in your browser to do a search shows little buttons at the bottom labeled "search this time with" with icons for various websites. These are called search shortcuts. This feature should be self explanitory, click the wikipedia button, search with wikipedia. If you do this on a website, if they support it, you can add that website's search to that list in your omnibar. Not all sites you can search on have native support for this feature, though. Mycroft allows people to write scripts for websites that dont support this. I use this for SteamGridDB and HowLongToBeat, for example.
  • Brave Browser has a feature called "site search" that lets you do something similar, but with a custom browser-level bang instead. If you're on brave, you can access it here. here's an example i made for the official minecraft wiki, should be easy to figure out how to make your own from there.

VPNs

• All entries in this section are taken from This Techlore Video
• Techlore's VPN Chart Easy to read, objective information on various popular or noteworthy VPN services.
• Do you really need a VPN? An infographic from IVPN's site.
• Mullvad Great, but no transparency report, no warrant canaries, no 2FA. Otherwise fast and no bullshit VPN. Priced at €5/mo ($5.46/mo), which translates to €60/yr ($65.54/yr).
• Proton VPN Fast, private, no bullshit VPN. Transparency reports, warrant canaries, the works. No 2FA, unfortunately. Ran by the Proton Suite team. Priced at $48/yr for basic and $96/yr for preimum at the time of writing. They also offer a free version with less features.
• IVPN Fast, private, no bullshit VPN that openly tells you what a VPN is and isn't good for and if you actually need one. Transparency reports, warrant canaries, 2FA. Supports Wireguard. Email-less signup option. Priced at $60/yr for standard and $100/yr for pro.
• RiseupVPN A free and Private VPN. It and CalyxVPN are the only free VPNs I trust. Unfortunately has few locations and can be slow. Don't use unless you need, the extra traffic makes it slow for others that need this.
• CalyxVPN A free and private VPN. It and Riseup are the only free VPNs I trust. Unfortunately only has 1 location and can be slow. Don't use unless you need, the extra traffic makes it slow for others that need this.

Desktop Operating Systems

Note: I recommend you only use "flagship" or mainline distros as daily drivers. You need to trust security updates (or updates in general) will be timely, stable, and consistent. You also need to trust the people actually maintaining your distro. If no one is actually reviewing the code then you have no idea what the system is actually doing. The less niche the better. Venture out if you wish, just know the risks. Linux distros[?] are operating systems all based on the same open source, liberated core. No ads, spyware, or bullshit. Comapnies aren't going to abuse you or hold your system hostage behind spyware or accounts or paywalls. Everyone can see the code, everyone can use it. This results in better usability, privacy, and control for everyone. Yes, open-source software is more secure. Linux can be almost anything you want it to be. It can be easy or hard. It can be simple or complex. It can hold your hand or trust you know what you're doing. It can be immediately functional or customized excruciatingly to your liking. It isn't one thing. It's not obvious how bad windows or even MacOS is until after you've switched. You don't know there's something better until you have it. Even if you "dont want to think about computers", linux is for you in 2024.

• But, Linux Is Bad! / OK, Who Is Linux NOT For? A couple short paragraphs I wrote which I wanted to move off of the list to save space. Read it if the title seems relevant to you. (Yes, it is actually not for some people.)
• Rufus is a program for creating bootable USBs, because windows doesn't have that functionality built in (windows moment). So you'll need it to install linux if you're switching from windows.
  • Etchdroid can be used to create a bootable linux USB instead of rufus if you have an Android phone, but you'll need a way to write to a USB (i used an otg usb adapter, some phones come with one)
• Linux Mint a "just werks"/"beginner" linux distro based on ubuntu. Fine for linux newcomers. If you dont know what to pick and dont know what all the jargon means, you can pick this to get started. Good for if you miss Windows 7, since it ships with Cinnamon (though you could also use the Cinnamon Fedora Spin for that). Good for grandmas. Better Than Windows:tm:.
• Fedora Workstation a great linux distro. This is what I currently daily-drive. Will require a some tinkiering on startup, because you'll want those propietary codecs or whatever. Else, Fedora's intent is to stay up to date without breaking your system, staying up to date is important for desktop in my opinion, and not randomly breaking your system on update is something I prefer. Its an incredibly straightforward distro with a servicable out of the box experience. Utilitarian.
  • Fedora Workstation Spins if you dont like GNOME, Fedora has "spins" for other desktop environments such as KDE Plasma, Xfce, Cinnamon, Sway, and more.
• OpenSUSE Tumbleweed is very similar to Fedora in many ways. They reproduce a lot of the same work and use the same package manager as Fedora, but OpenSUSE might be a bit better if you know what you're doing, depending on usecase. Good for power users, sysadmins, etc. The main advantage over Fedora in my opinion is YaST, which is a really nice settings suite. It doesn't sound all that hot on paper, but its cool. OpenSUSE is also rolling release like Arch, but they test packages for two weeks before shipping, which means stuff breaks less often.
• Arch Arch is cool, if Arch is for you. If you want to use it, you ought to know how to read. You'll have to "know what you're doing". Read the docs. Anyways, Arch is a rolling release distro that ships bleeding edge software, so be prepared for things to break when you're updating. Stuff isn't tested, so you'll have to fix stuff often, but you also get everything before anyone else. Using Arch also gives you access to the Arch User Repository (AUR), which is full of community maintained packages for literally everything you can think of (dont use it if you dont know what you're doing, but you ought to if you're using Arch). Try it if you like control and fixing things. I'd also like to anti-recommend arch-based distros like manjaro or endeavor as well as any install-scripts for your first Arch install. You really should know how the system works to fix problems, and the installation is kind of like a tutorial in a way.
• Tails a portable operating system focused on privacy. Get in, do your business, and get out. Only works by running off of a usb; it's meant to launch on any computer and leave virtually little trace once you shut it down and unplug. Uses the Tor network. Give it to people trying to arrange an out of state abortion, those stuck in domestic abuse situations, journalists, activists, anyone who needs to turn any computer into their private machine for a bit. Not for daily use. If you want something more long term that can be for daily use, look into Qubes (just know you're not exactly going to be gaming on it.)
• Fuck windows, its dogshit and spyware. You dont know how much better it can be. Regardless, If you MUST use it for whatever reason Microsoft Activation Scripts may prove useful to you. Microsoft supplys free download links to much of their software (including Windows 11) on their site, so you can just use that then activate with MAS instead of paying.
  • Winaero Tweaker if you are going to be using windows, at least use this registry quick-editor to easily customize it to your liking and remove bloatey bullshit you dont need like spyware, ads, cortana. Works for Windows 7 through 11. Showcase TikTok

Privacy and Security

• Privacy Guides Basically the authority in protecting your privacy and making your digital life more secure, in my opinion. Check in every now and then to see up to date information. This should be your first resource for privacy/security everything. Including software recommendation.
• Techlore A YouTube channel that posts super helpful recommendations and guides on all things privacy. Also hosts a weekly show called Surveillance Report (old episodes) which recaps news and important events in the quickly everchanging world of privacy. They also have a website.
• Proton Mail Privacy focused e-mail service. Their frontpage is a little bit misleading about what it can do, and quite frankly e-mail just is plain not a private protocol, but at least they're not selling your data. Will not protect you from feds (no e-mail service will).
• Bitwarden Best password manager. Free, secure, private, and functional. Export your current password vault and import it into bitwarden asap :)
• Signal Messenger Messenger app. Fast, easy, private, secure. E2EE, VOIP video/voice calls, voice messenges, emoji reactions, stories, group chats, free stickers (make your own sticker packs and download packs by others), I can go on. Even if it's primary draw is that it's private and secure, it's so easy, functional, and well made that you might just be able to get your family and friends to use it just because it's a good messenger. That's even if they dont care about privacy.
• Matrix open-source, decentralized, and privacy focued alternative to discord. Also supplies bridges that lets you send and receive messages from many other chat services including discord, signal, telegram, facebook messenger, SMS, whatsapp, and more.
• Alternative Front Ends sites like youtube, reddit. twitter, imgur, imdb, genius, google translate, and whatever else are often filled with bloat, trackers, and other creepy bullshit you dont need that downloads way too much data; not only violating your privacy, but hogging internet resources to do so. These alternative front ends simply deliver the content you want to see without the bullshit. If these interest you, you may also want to check out LibRedirect, a browser extension that automatically redirects you to said alternative front ends.

Addons

Browser Extensions

Note: keeping your browser extensions to a minimum is good etiquette, so as to decrease your attack surface. extensions have privileged access within your browser, require you to trust the developer, can make you stand out (which makes it easier to track you), and weaken site isolation. Get uBlock Origin or use Brave Shields no matter what.

• uBlock Origin Adblocker, malware blocker, and tracker blocker. Blocks the visible AND invisible shittyness that comes with ads and other bullshit like them. The internet's condom. A must install if your browser supports manifest v2 extensions.
  • uBlock Origin Lite If your browser does not support Manifest v2 extensions and you insist on using a browser other than brave or firefox, use lite.
• Image Search Options Reverse image search tool offered by saucenao.
• Sponsorblock Skip youtube sponsors. Works better than you'd think it would. Also offers options to skip recaps, non-music sections of music videos, self-promo, and more.
  • DeArrow Alternative community sourced title/thumbnails to reduce clickbait. I recommend changing some settings to have the show original button to always display, and have the origial title/thumb to display by default. That way you can just click a button next to a click-baity video to see the dearrow submitted title/thumbnail manually. I like this since it has a bad habit of spoiling some videos, and imo titles/thumbs are "part" of the video, artistically.
• Annotations Restored Restores archived YouTube annotations. I only use this when I know a video used to have annotations and hope they were preserved.
• OneTab Save a ton of ram and clean up your tab bar with a single click. It'll roll all (or individual) tabs into a single tab as a list. It's OP, great for tab hoarders like myself.
• Indie Wiki Buddy Fuck Fandom Wiki! If a community has an independant wiki not hosted on fandom, this extension gives you options to add a redirect link, automatically redirect you, and/or remove fandom-hosted wiki results from search engines. Here's a list of wikis they support. For wikis that are still on Fandom, it also gives you options to view those wikis on aternative frontends like Breezewiki.
  • Unfortunately, it doesn't auto-redirect wikis that have moved to wiki.gg, but you can check their wiki list (linked) for wikis they host. Wiki.gg hosts a collection of gaming wikis and was created by a former Fandom and Gamepedia staff pair. It's essentially Gamepedia 2. It's not independant but anything is preferable to fandom.

Userscripts

Note: Your browser must support Manifest v2 to take advantage of userscripts, which Google will kill in 2025. To use userscripts on chromium in the meantime, install another chromium browser other than google chrome, like brave. After manifest v2 is killed in chromium for good, you'll have to use firefox to take advantage of these.

• Violentmonkey An extension that lets you load userscripts. Think of them like modifications to websites, without being their own full extension. If an extension has a userscript version, jump for it. You can find userscripts I use below. Violentmonkey is private and open source. You can also use Greasemonkey if you're having compatibility issues, but it's not as lightweight.
• Tampermonkey scripts list Page listing resources for finding new userscripts.
• 4chan X Chan boards it supports are basically unusable without it. Thread watcher, view full image on hover, board hotbar, catalogue default, keybinds. It's OP.
• Chrome Dark Scrollbar and Audio Player I was having trouble getting chrome themes to have a dark scrollbar, so here's a userscript for getting a dark scrollbar on chrome.
• BetterTTV More emotes, features, etc for twitch. Select "other" browser even if your browser is supported for the userscript.
• Show Twitter Censored Media. Automatically unspoilers sensitive images when browsing a user's media tab on twitter
• Twitter One Click Block adds a block button next to people's usernames on twitter
• TwitchAdSolutions video-swap-new and vaft are userscripts provided on this page which can block ads on twitch, sense those tend to get through adblock.
• Video Speed Buttons lets you increase the playback of youtube videos past 2x. I recommend editing the userscript and changing the controller to VSC, since in my experience VSB slowly causes youtube to become unresponsive (changing it is easy).

Discord Modifications

• Vencord A modified desktop client. However, this one comes bundled with all of it's plugins, and the plugins can be enabled and disabled as you wish. Tons of useful stuff here. You can also create custom themes using css
  • Vesktop A Discord client based on the browser version of the app, with vencord pre-installed. Offers better privacy as well as screenshare support on linux with wayland. Its also noticably more lightweight. This is the client I recommend if you're on linux.
• Bunny A modified client for Discord's mobile app. If you don't know if your device is rooted, it isn't. Get plugins from bn-plugins or by installing Nexpid's Plugin Browser (available on bn-plugins). You're also able to use themes from Revenge's Discord.
• Discord Embedder Not an addon, just a website that lets you paste links to videos that may not be embedding in discord, and (sometimes) fixes them. Works with catbox. If you remember how the fnaf movie was being passed around awhile ago, it was using this.
• Rebane's Discord Color Text Generator NOT an addon, just a website that lets you generate colored text for discord. Here's a video explaining it
• BetterDiscord Betterdiscord is a modified client for Discord on desktop. It does not come with all its plugins pre-installed like vencord does. You can find plugins from the BetterDiscord Plugins site

Cool Stuff

• PetPet Tool for creating those petting gifs memes.
• KidPix A port of KidPix to browser
• Microsoft Paint A javascript remake of Microsoft Paint to browser
• Nostalgic Kids' Sites An archival project managed by Rare Noggin Stuff that's dedicated to hosting 00's and 10's websites aimed at pre-school children. Hosts snapshots of Nick Jr., Nick Jr. Playtime, PBS Kids, and PBS Sprout at the time of writing.
• Neal.fun Cool little distractions by a guy named Neal. The Password Game blew up when it released, but i had the site listed before then B)
• Spellcheck, a word game spelling bee browser game, its neat
• Topsters create those nice looking favorite album graphics (or games, books, movies, shows, anything really)
• Bingosync lets you create collaborative bingo-boards with others. The primary usecase for this is videogame challenges, particularly using the lockout mode.
• 3DMM Source Code Microsoft made 3DMM open source. You may know of 3DMM from Jerma's Rat Movie Duology or Vinesauce Joel's Blue Shell Incident
• Radio Garden Shows you a map of the world, where pins on the world are local radio stations you can listen to.
• Minecraft Heads Minecraft has a feature that lets you load in player heads as a block, this is a database of player heads that make for good decorative blocks. On each head's page, a command is provided to add the head to your in-game inventory without mods, which will work so long as you have op permissions on a cheats enabled world.

Other

• diyhrt.wiki Do It Yourself Horomone Replacement Therapy. Especially useful if the system is failing you (underdosing, gatekeeping, waitlisting, potentially even banning if SCOTUS decides to be particularly evil soon), but even barring that it's an alternative to be considered to give you more control over your transition and possibly even save you some dosh. Both feminizing and masculinizing horomone replacements are covered. Also just a good resource for learning about hrt and it's effects in general (which you really ought to do. Most doctors do not have the time or need to research the ins and outs of transition, and are... safe but surprisingly very ignorant).
• MonkeyType best site to test keyboards and your WPM. If you want to battle people in real time, I recommend Typeracer though
• TheraminTrees a YouTube channel explores issues around abuse, manipulation, dogma, and systems of undue influence. Hosted by a licenced therapist. Life-changing stuff inside.
• Catbox.moe A nice, free, minimum bullshit image and file cloud. Also check out Litterbox for hosting files which are temporary in nature and can just be deleted whenever (this is a homegrown project ran at a loss most months, be nice and be reasonable).
• IsThereAnyDeal Key sites like G2A are shady and fuck over developers, but there's a load of second-party official key sellers (ex. Humble Bundle) that don't and still get you a deal on your games. This site is basically a live database for those, so just check it when you're wanting to buy a new game and you may save yourself a few bones. It can also notify you when a game goes on sale anywhere.
• Erowid A website dedicated to harm-reduction and education for a number of drugs. Includes sitable and non-sitable information (such as personal experiences, opinion pieces, media writings, etc., etc.,)
• MyTime.io great for creating one link that a bunch of people in different timezones can use to coordinate. Basically, you format the url as something like mytime.io/13:00/PT or mytime.io/1pm/PT to have 1pm PT conveted into your timezone automatically. It'll give the correct time for anyone connecting. Be sure to turn off your VPN and tell everyone else to as well for it to work!
• Just The Recipe Paste in a recipe from a recipe site and remove all of their bullshit lifestories and clutter
• Reddit A website you're probably using wrong. It's invaluable for finding information within or about a given hobby, product, or niche. Tired of shitty listicles you get from your search engine when you just want to know what a good xyz is? Or how to fix a problem? or-- Reddit. Literally just add site:reddit.com to your searches (or whatever the format is in your favorite search engine is) and you'll get better results. Edit: this only works with google for recent information due to an exclusivity deal. what the fuck. (startpage, searx, and kagi should still work since they all index from google, but jesus)