A “Miracle” is another name for “Hard Work”

I have now run anime cons for 20 years. I got into anime in the period where the internet was rising, and legal access to this stuff was sparse, and generally limited to the biggest titles. I bought Fruits Basket on four. Separate. DVDs. I got each ON SALE for around 20.00. I paid EIGHTY PLUS DOLLARS for 4 DVDs of Fruits Basket.

But most of my early access was on blank DVDs with names and episode numbers written clumsily in sharpie. Handed over by friends, traded at con meetings, mailed to me by a friend via media mail. Fansubs and bootlegs, torrented and copied endlessly.

But there used those be a rule. A covenant. Unbreakable. Once a property was licensed, all illegal distribution stopped. Instantly.

The last episode of Fullmetal Alchemist I saw involved Hughes in a phone booth. The series was licensed right after that, and all access stopped. Fansubbers closed their listings, torrents dried up.

Because the end goal was licensing. We wanted nice, physical copies. We wanted professional, properly coded subtitles. We wanted an English Dub cast. We wanted to make anime a viable industry in the West.

So we bought Fruits Basket for eighty goddamn dollars.

So as I reach bitterly for my DVD burner yet again, it's time to remember. We upheld our part of the bargain. We bought it legally from them. We paid to see this industry grow and thrive.

A TOP TEIR BEST GREEN FOREST FLAG boy is just an AVERAGE WOMAN. And nothing can be more true than this.

Emotional maturity? no smoking? No gambling? No criminal records? Respect others? Control his anger? Gives you space? Understanding? Kind? Good looking? Cooks? Cleans? Stable job? Look after his children?

THAT'S ALL JUST A QUALITY OF AN AVERAGE WOMAN!!!

Kim Lip ❀ Icarus (250618)

Sweet crazy love 💜❤️💙

"god forbid people need 24/7 access to therapy to-"

THAT'S NOT THERAPY

THAT IS A PROGRAM DESIGNED TO TELL YOU WHAT IT THINKS YOU WANT TO HEAR

IT CANNOT PROVIDE YOU WITH THERAPY

DESIGNED TO TELL YOU WHAT IT

THINKS YOU WANT TO HEAR

IF YOU USE IT, PLEASE CREDIT ME!

use overdrive, libby, hoopla, cloudlibrary, and kanopy instead of amazon and audible.

use firefox instead of chrome or opera (both are made with chromium, which blocks functionality for ad-blockers. firefox isn't based on chromium).

use mega or proton drive instead of google drive.

get rid of bloatware

use libreoffice instead of microsoft office suite

use vetted sites on r/FREEMEDIAHECKYEAH for free movies, books, games, etc.

use trakt or letterboxd instead of imdb.

use storygraph instead of goodreads.

use darkpatterns to find mobile game with no ads or microtransactions

use ground news to read unbiased news and find blind spots in news stories.

use mediahuman or cobalt to download music, or support your favorite artists directly through bandcamp

make youtube bearable by using mtube, newpipe, or the unhook extension on chrome, firefox, or microsoft edge

use search for a cause or ecosia to support the environment instead of google

use thriftbooks to buy new or used books (they also have manga, textbooks, home goods, CDs, DVDs, and blurays)

use flashpoint to play archived online flash games

find books, movies, games, etc. on the internet archive! for starters, here's a bunch of David Attenborough documentaries and all of the Animorphs books

burn your music onto cds

use pdf24 (available online or as a desktop app) instead of adobe

use unroll.me to clean your email inboxes

use thunderbird, mailfence, countermail, edison mail, tuta, or proton mail instead of gmail

remove bloatware on windows PC, macOS, and iOS X

remove bloatware on samsung X

use pixelfed instead of instagram or meta

use NCH suite for free software like a file converter, image editor, video editors, pdf editor, etc.

feel free to add more alternatives, resources or advice in the reblogs or replies, and i'll add them to the main post <3