general
[freemediaheckyeah](https://fmhy.net/){target='_blank'} : website with links to just about any free or pirated material you could think of. if you're looking for something not on this site i recommend starting here.
knitting, crochet, and cross stitch
- PinDIY
- download knitting, crochet, and cross stitch patterns for free. downloading requires coins, which u can earn by doing “tasks” after signing up (hover on “my center” on the top right and click on “tasks”) which mainly consists of clicking on a button every hour and watching a video once a week. read more about earning coins here. has a huge collection of older, hard to find cross stitch patterns. usually as .pdfs but has “repaints” in .xsd or .pcs file formats too, which i prefer for backstitch patterns for use in cross stitch saga. has a good selection of knitting and crochet patterns as well. all patterns are user uploaded, so you can share patterns you’ve purchased too.
- Pattern Keeper
- android app that helps keep track of cross stitch patterns. i find the interface the most intuitive of all the cross stitch pattern trackers i’ve tried, but doesn’t support backstitches and fractional stitches. link is unlocked version. my mirror.
- Cross Stitch Saga
- another android app that helps keep track of cross stitch patterns. i find it much harder to get used to after using pattern keeper but supports special stitch types like backstitching and french knots. if ur cross stitch pattern comes in .xsp, .xsd, or .pat, i recommend using this. link is unlocked version. my mirror.
media
- AniWave
- my favorite website for watching anime, good selection and nice interface.
- HiAnime
- another website for watching anime. has soft subtitles so you can turn it off.
- TachiyomiJ2K
- android app for reading manga. can automatically update tracking with anilist. i recommend following this guide to get extensions working again. as for sources, my favorite is MangaLife particularly for completed manga.
- MkvDrama
- download asian drama with soft subtitles. great for gif makers or language learners who don’t want to watch with english subtitles.
- khinsider
- has a huge library of official video game soundtracks and game rips, downloadable in mp3 and flac format.
- Smash Custom Music Archive
- archive of video game music in BRSTM and other formats used in video games that support custom loop points. useful resource if you want background music that already loops seamlessly.
- Jpop80ss3
- download asian pop music from the 60s until now. mostly japanese but has some music from other countries.
- AudioBook Bay
- torrents for a ton of different audiobooks. if my local library’s libby or hoopla doesn’t have an audiobook for something i’m interested in i look here first.
- Z-Library
- repository of e-books you can download for free.
- BSD Bibliophile
- download books, poems, and essays written by authors featured in Bungou Stray Dogs.
- Sci-Hub
- get free access to academic journals.
- Internet History Sourcebooks Project
- a collection of historical texts, neatly organized into sub-categories based on location, time period, and topic.
- The Value of Knowledge: A Miniature Library of Philosophy
- a curated collection of texts on philosophy from the last 400 years.
chill
- KittyCat Cafe
- virtual cat cafe.
- CityHop
- walk and drive around the world while listening to lofi music.
- Japan Walkaround
- walk around Japan while listening to lofi music.
- ZenPen
- a minimal browser-based writing editor.
- Zen
- another minimal browser-based writing editor.
applications
- Obsidian
- a flexible and private note taking app with a ton of user plugins to make it highly customizable. notes are stored as markdown files so you’re not locked to the app. i like it for its ability to easily create connections to other notes and view those connections as a graph.
- anytype
- productivity app similar to notion but built with user privacy in mind. i use it to plan projects and organize my bookmarks.
- ImageMagick
- batch convert, resize, and compress images. i highly recommend using this or a similar tool to make your image file sizes smaller so your pages load faster.
- LocalSend
- FOSS cross-platform file sharing tool that allows you to share files to nearby devices. i use this to send files between my windows computer and iphone.
- Upscayl
- FOSS image upscaler.
- fooyin
- a music player for linux. i use it because it supports closing to tray and auto-playlists.
- Nicotine+
- GUI application for downloading from the soulseek network. mostly used for sharing music files, but some users share videos, games, and other media.
- MusicBrainz Picard
- open a file or folder of audio files and the program will add the correct metadata to it, then sort it into folders based on the album and artist. useful for automatically managing a library of music.
browser tools and extensions
- uBlock Origin
- a wide spectrum content blocker which is able to block youtube ads.
- LeechBlock
- a browser extension that can block user-defined pages after a certain time. has lots of tools to fine tune it, so you can limit pages only on certain days or time periods, make the limit reset every x number of hours, etc.
- Stylus
- a browser extension that lets you add custom css to websites. i have a sheet that hides the stats of websites on neocities, which you can access here.
- Feedbro
- a browser extension that lets you follow RSS/Atom/etc feeds.
- rsspreview
- extension that can preview RSS feeds in the browser. adds an icon in the search bar whenever the current webpage has an RSS feed available, making finding RSS feeds much easier. also words with local pages, so i use it to preview my RSS feeds to make sure they look okay before updating them on my site.
- Web Archives
- a browser extension that helps you quickly find and view archived and cached versions of the current web page.
- LibRedirect
- a browser extension that redirects YouTube, Reddit, Instagram, and other sites to privacy focused frontends. i really like that it has the ability to change the default search engine to SearXNG, which in my experience gives less shitty search results than Google, Bing, DuckDuckGo, etc.
- Teclis
- a search engine that focuses on pages from the non-commercial web.
- Search My Site
- a search engine that only searches user-submitted sites from the small indie web.
- Bypass All Shortlinks
- shortens the waiting time of shortlinks, and automatically progresses to the next page. indispensable if you download a lot from direct download sites.