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Tumblr users will see a post mentioning a day if the week and just fucking black out and reblog it

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Hi, sir. Do you have any suggestions or tips for someone who feels like they do not want to go on living anymore?

I know that it sounds kind of counter-productive that someone who wishes to end their state of living to be seeking advice; but to be honest, I’m just looking for an excuse to hold on.

The best advice I can give, as someone who has been there, is, because it gets better again. Killing yourself is an incredibly permanent solution to what is often, in retrospect, a temporary condition. You are miserable now, so miserable that existing is painful, but you may not always be miserable. And when the sun comes out in your life and your mind and your heart, you could be very glad you are still alive and breathing.

#tw suicidal ideation

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do NOT feel bad abt scarfing down a tub of raspberries. there is NO reason at all to ration them like other delicious treats bc they WILL mold as soon as theyre out of your line of sight

#and with #ADHD #they will also cease to exist #once they are out of your line of sight

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i need people do do me a favor and be absolutely normal about it

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Here are some of my favorite weird/experimental audio dramas! They're pushing what this medium can do and I love them for it.

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Reblog if you think a woman can be complete without children

Y’ALL HAVE TIME TO REBLOG THIS. IT TAKES LESS THAN FIVE SECONDS.

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If your modern Javert Derailed AU doesn’t feature him downloading the Reddit app in a fugue state and posting, unedited, the longest and most controversial inquiry r/AmItheAsshole has ever seen, dni

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In light of the Lore FM thing: if you want audio recordings of fanfiction, SUPPORT PODFICCERS.

If you didn't know already: podfic is basically fans recording themselves reading fanfic, almost always available for free. There are so many amazing podficcers out there and they don't get enough love for all their hard work!

There's an audiofic archive here, thanks to Jinjurly.

And most podficcers tag their work as "podfic" on AO3 if you want to search there, too.

And if your favorite fic hasn't been recorded, there are ways to request them. I once got a podfic recorded as a gift for a friend in exchange for a Fandom Trumps Hate donation, and it was amazing! And as an author, I've used the "podfic welcome" and "podfic available" tags on works that I'd like recorded and that have already been recorded, respectively. And some podficcers might even take commissions or have requests open on their blogs.

AND it's a very welcoming and supportive community who are happy to share tips and tricks on how to get started, so you too can record fic for others! If you've ever thought "man, I wish there were a way I could contribute to fandom but I can't draw and I'm rubbish at writing," maybe podfic is for you!

Anyway. PODFIC IS A THING. SHOW IT SOME LOVE.

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Hey runners (and walkers)! Thought this might be helpful :)

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probably i just said it but i want to say it again:

- don’t apologise if you don’t know english.

- yes, english is the most common language on the internet but you are not forced to know it perfectly.

- your own language is beautiful.

- non-english people make a huge effort to write in English everyday on this website.

- support non-english people and don’t make them feel bad if they do not know English. 

- actually support all the languages.

- spread more language diversity on Tumblr.

thank you. 

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So stick with me here.

Steve and Robin minding their damn business at a diner. Steve’s got his hair all slicked back and pretty like it usually is, he’s got a preppy little jacket on and is literally just existing but an angry little alternative guy comes marching up to their booth.

Because see, Steve is wearing a very old shirt of his boyfriend’s very successful band, Corroded Coffin. Simply because he likes it, and Eddie is on tour so he left it at home with Steve, because he’s fucking sweet like that.

But anyway, angry alternative bro comes marching up saying, “I bet you don’t even know Corroded Coffin. Name three songs.”

Steve is shocked actually because CC’s fans are usually pretty fucking chill and also very aware of Steve, but he can’t help but laugh at Robins eyes going wide at the question. She goes to speak and Steve cuts her off, looking at the guy.

“This is my boyfriend’s shirt actually. I could FaceTime him and see if he could name three?”

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With the various rumors and releases of Tumblr possibly changing how they do things... (gestures to the vague rumor mill)...

Zines.

I really think we as Folks Who Make Things and Folks Who Like Art Writing Poetry Music Comics Other Things need to explore zines. And I mean ZINES. Nothing glossy. Nothing fancy.

Very. Cheap. Zines.

I've been threatening mentioning I was going to create a guide on how I'm going to approach this -- and I'm going to -- but I am also realizing in the writing I Do Things Highfalutin because I am who I am + had a career in graphic design.

Let's talk about how you can make a zine very cheaply and very pretty.

STEP ONE: SUPPLIES

Very bright paper. I like "Astrobrights" because they are absurdly bright. Here is a link in a store I like. I buy a lot of paper and envelopes from them. You can generally find Astrobrights in big box office stores. It prints on laser printers and ink jet and photocopiers.

Very bright envelopes. What's that? Astrobrights has envelopes?! AM I SOLVING PROBLEMS let's not get ahead of ourselves.

Letter paper is 8.5" x 11" and is the most common size in the united states (overseas folk will have to use this advice with a grain o'sea salt and search yer own waters).

A9 envelopes are a letter sheet folded in half.

A2 envelopes are a letter sheet folded in half, then folded in half.

#10 envelopes are your common long envelopes, letter paper folded in thirds.

Pick the size you like.

If you want to get big and fancy, Tabloid is 17" x 11" -- so double a letter sheet. This gets tricky to work with but is neat in sizing.

STEP TWO: ZINE CONTENT

Do you know how to use InDesign or similar program? Use that.

No? Use Google Docs or Word or whatever other program and ramble.

Want something special? Write out some or part with a sharpee or pen.

Mix and match both.

If you are feeling fancy, design it like a booklet -- mock up a sheet of blank paper as if it were a brochure. If not, just design it straight up and down like a letter. There are no zine laws.

STEP THREE: ZINE PRINTING

Print at home on your home printer.

Don't have a printer at home? Print it at work (don't get fired)

Can't? Your local library may be able to help.

You need 1 copy on white paper.

FedEx Office has photocopiers. Your local library may too. Or your job.

Print 1 copy of your zine on white paper and then photocopy the rest onto colorful paper (or white paper, it be yer zine seadog).

Or print everything on the color paper if you have access to free printing, that's fine too.

The photocopy setup is purely "printing tends to cost more than photocopying."

If you want to slash prices, print 2 per sheet and have FedEx office cut them for you, this will cost $1 - $5 depending on how many sheets you are dealing with. This is for when you're doing a LOT of zines at once.

Or use their manual paper cutter yourself for free.

STEP FOUR: ZINE STAPLING

"Long reach stapler" is what I recommend. There are a few varieties. They tend to be $20 - $30.

Or just use 1 sheet!

STEP FOUR: ZINE POSTAGE

A single first class stamp for 1-2 pages. If you get up to 3+, go to the post office and ask them to weigh a comp you have assembled.

This is a guideline.

It's a really good idea to check at least once how much your zine weighs just in general. Post offices have scales. And are pretty. And have stamps.

OKAY ENOUGH LUSTING FOR THE POST OFFICE FROM THE GHOTS POST OFFICE BLOG BACK TO WORK

STEP FIVE: ZINE MAILING

This is actually the most difficult part. Label printers exist with various costs -- if you're starting out? Go with printable labels.

Your office supply shop will have them and they'll have templates you can drop in the customer addresses.

Save yourself time by using this label as the thing that seals the envelope -- don't lick envelopes.

A key tenet to staying in business is constantly reviewing physical (and mental) labor and stressors and reducing them as much as possible.

Return address labels are intensely cheap in literally every online printer, google "return address labels." Make sure you have this because at least a few of your shipments will come back to you.

STEP SIX: ZINE PRICING

Okay here is where we get uncomfortable because we're talkin' coins.

Prices are based on above links. You can get whatever paper you want, so this is guidelines. All numbers rounded up.

Payment processing ($0.30) + $0.05 sheet + $0.15 envelope + $0.66 first class postage = $1.16 base cost

$1.16 + 2.9% of $1.16 payment processing = $1.20

Plus taxes. I'm not getting into tax figures YOU DO THAT (just say 30% for easy math, this is not saying "your taxes are 30% or that mine are" I am saying "I am going to factor 30% for this equation to complete this guide".)

I did not include the mailing label (it will be $0.01 - $0.05 depending on how fancy and how many you buy) because you have the option to just write things and also it fits into the rounding of the above.

If you use Patreon, include your fees. Probably replace the above processing fees with your patreon processing... fees? I don't use patreon I don't know how it works.

Retail option 01: $1.50 - 1.20 = $0.80 gross - 30% = $0.09 / net / zine.

Retail option 02: $2 - 1.20 = $0.80 gross - 30% = $0.56 / net / zine.

Retail option 03: $3 - 1.20 = $1.80 gross - 30% = $1.26 / net / zine.

Should it be $1.50? Should it be $3.00? MORE? LESS?! That is for you to decide. Base it on what your zine contains, how long it takes you to write/draw/etc. it and how you want your flow to be.

STEP SEVEN: ZINE FREQUENCY

When my shop launches, it'll have a zine once a month. We are going to offer a subscription option + a "I just want 1" option.

You can do a zine monthly, or every few months, or whatever.

Keep in mind that the purpose of doing this is to break the dependency on social media marketing.

KEEP IN MIND AS AN AUDIENCE MEMBER TO A CREATOR YOU LIKE THAT THEY ARE DOING THIS TO BREAK THEIR DEPENDENCY ON SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING.

If you have a lot of energy and an audience that comes to your shop a lot? Consider doing a zine monthly.

If you do not have a lot of energy and/or your audience is tapped for cash frequently? Considering doing 1 zine per season.

Consider 2 zines a year if that works better for you!

NO RULES ONLY JOY

Not sure? Experiment! Be upfront! "This is new. I'm figuring this out. Billionaires are tinkering with these things and we gotta figure something else out."

BONUS STEP: NETHERWORLDPOST.COM

so hi I'm atty and I'm your loud long rambler today

Netherworld Post Office used to be @evilsupplyco and now we are rebranding in prep of relaunching. Same person behind the rambles and comics, new name with a more focus (mail instead of mail + seemingly everything else in experiment)

if you enjoyed this ramble and/or like ghosts, monsters, witches, mermaids, and fun stories and projects focused on cozy Halloween, you may like us when we finish the rebranding and relaunching in autumn 2023.

email sign up (the zine will come when we are open)

WHETHER YOU JOIN MY LIST OR NOT

I really, really, really hope you consider doing a regular, or irregular, zine. Something outside of email, something outside of social media, something that connects I MADE A WEIRD THING and the people who say I LOVE THIS WEIRD THING YOU MADE.

The walls are closing in on free social media as a platform for people who make weird things to build audiences for free or very cheap.

And with that...

netherworldpost.com as one final hat pass

good luck folks

thanks for listenin' to the ol' ghost

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I agree that Frank & Beth's relationship is forever finished, but I also think that it takes two. Frank cheated. Not disputing that. Beth also wasn't a perfect wife. One of the scenes we see is her arguing with him about pursuing money and fame instead of the art with Charley. The fallout from the divorce is period-typical, but the "take him for everything he's got and keep him away from his kid" is such a bad take for someone who is as devoted as Frank was to his son. I am not a Beth hater by any means. I'm just also not a Frank hater -- and have gone through a messy divorce with kids.

To your point about watching the friendship deteriorate in reverse: that was really bittersweet. Maybe it's the Old Person in me (I'm almost 40) but what I liked is that it doesn't shy away from the good times, even though bad things came in the end. It's still worth celebrating/appreciating the good along the way.

Thoughts on Merrily We Roll Along

In short: it's so fucking funny that it's advertised as this wholesome show about friendship when it's actually an incredibly bleak show about the erosion of friend groups lmaooo

Longer thoughts:

Lindsay Mendez wasn't playing Mary Flynn when I saw it--instead it was Jamila Sabares-Klemm. She was absolutely fantastic. I'm really glad she got time to shine on stage, because I thought she had a wonderful voice and was a top-notch actress. She was believable with the intense emotions, and she was incredibly funny. She should get a leading role on Broadway

Jonathon Groff and Daniel Radcliffe were also incredible. Once again, able to deliver the comedy and tragedy in the show with equal measure. Radcliffe was great as a sort of nervous Charley (he really nailed it with "Franklin Shephard, Inc."), and Frank is a really unlikable character in the beginning, so I think it speaks to Groff's performance that you want to stick with him and see how he got to that point

I love the storytelling device of telling the plot in reverse, because it makes the entire show sad without a constant barrage of explicitly sad songs; because we already know this story has an unhappy ending, the songs that are happy on a literal level are actually really bittersweet. It's a great way to tell a sad story without the whole show being a bummer, in one sense, but in another sense, I think seeing the super happy, hopeful scene at the end made the finale of the show much sadder than if the musical had ended with the scene that's actually at the end of the timeline, with Frank's life completely down the toilet, Mary as a dysfunctional alcoholic, and Charley having been cut off and out of the picture. I don't even consider this to be a spoiler, since this is literally the first scene of the musical lol

Relatedly, I liked how the musical reprises were in reverse. Sondheim talked about taking the same music and having it mean different things to characters at different points in their lives, and that's done really well in this show

Spoiler, I guess? But I love that Mary never told Frank how she felt. You're expecting some kind of emotional confession, and it never happens. That feels realistic. I also love that Mary never resented Beth, who was Frank's first love, and tried to look out for her when Gussie started to go after Frank.

The set was great, as was the book/dialogue written by George Furth that connected the songs. I think that this show could be hard to follow with weaker dialogue and songwriting, and I can kiiind of see why a rougher version of the show would fail (though I don't think the original version deserved to close so soon in '81). But as the show exists now, I was able to follow everything fine without having known much about it before walking into the theater

So yeah, I really enjoyed it. I thought these were well-written characters whose story was told in an interesting, unconventional way, and I think the execution was successful. Everyone in the cast was great, and I had a great time

#merrily we roll along #glass half full interpretation maybe

[omg-elledubs-things]

do you think its cowardly to never come out? I just don't think I'll ever be brave enough to.

do whatever you want forever

[omg-elledubs-things]

*sees you use the term "gaslight" appropriately and allows you to move one stair up my 72 step throne in order to address me*

[omg-elledubs-things]

Thoughts on Merrily We Roll Along

In short: it's so fucking funny that it's advertised as this wholesome show about friendship when it's actually an incredibly bleak show about the erosion of friend groups lmaooo

Longer thoughts:

Lindsay Mendez wasn't playing Mary Flynn when I saw it--instead it was Jamila Sabares-Klemm. She was absolutely fantastic. I'm really glad she got time to shine on stage, because I thought she had a wonderful voice and was a top-notch actress. She was believable with the intense emotions, and she was incredibly funny. She should get a leading role on Broadway

Jonathon Groff and Daniel Radcliffe were also incredible. Once again, able to deliver the comedy and tragedy in the show with equal measure. Radcliffe was great as a sort of nervous Charley (he really nailed it with "Franklin Shephard, Inc."), and Frank is a really unlikable character in the beginning, so I think it speaks to Groff's performance that you want to stick with him and see how he got to that point

I love the storytelling device of telling the plot in reverse, because it makes the entire show sad without a constant barrage of explicitly sad songs; because we already know this story has an unhappy ending, the songs that are happy on a literal level are actually really bittersweet. It's a great way to tell a sad story without the whole show being a bummer, in one sense, but in another sense, I think seeing the super happy, hopeful scene at the end made the finale of the show much sadder than if the musical had ended with the scene that's actually at the end of the timeline, with Frank's life completely down the toilet, Mary as a dysfunctional alcoholic, and Charley having been cut off and out of the picture. I don't even consider this to be a spoiler, since this is literally the first scene of the musical lol

Relatedly, I liked how the musical reprises were in reverse. Sondheim talked about taking the same music and having it mean different things to characters at different points in their lives, and that's done really well in this show

Spoiler, I guess? But I love that Mary never told Frank how she felt. You're expecting some kind of emotional confession, and it never happens. That feels realistic. I also love that Mary never resented Beth, who was Frank's first love, and tried to look out for her when Gussie started to go after Frank.

The set was great, as was the book/dialogue written by George Furth that connected the songs. I think that this show could be hard to follow with weaker dialogue and songwriting, and I can kiiind of see why a rougher version of the show would fail (though I don't think the original version deserved to close so soon in '81). But as the show exists now, I was able to follow everything fine without having known much about it before walking into the theater

So yeah, I really enjoyed it. I thought these were well-written characters whose story was told in an interesting, unconventional way, and I think the execution was successful. Everyone in the cast was great, and I had a great time

#merrily we roll along #i just watched it recently #i disagree about the bleakness #but maybe that's because I'm a hope punk kinda person #i hope that right after the first scene #slash last event timeline wise #Frank calls Charley and starts back after his dreams