#Discounts on Substack

[mehmetyildizmelbourne-blog]

Section 12: Practical Guide to Substack Discounts & Founding Memberships

Summary of my Udemy Course “From Zero to Substack Hero.” Image source from the video location Purpose of this Series for New Readers This is a new series upon request from my readers. I recently developed a course titled “From Zero to Substack Hero” and published it on Udemy and shared it on Content Marketing Strategy Insights owned by Dr Mehmet Yildiz who kindly allowed me to use his Substack…

[i-miss-2013]

❄️ Happy December cuties! ❄️

To celebrate, I’m having a discount for TWIRL Magazine offering *2 WEEKS FREE!!* Yayyy! 🎀

➡️ Visit https://alisamariah.substack.com/christmas24 to redeem the discount! It’ll direct you to the payment options and make sure to select ‘free’! 💗

(Must be redeemed by December 31, 2024!)

Enjoy reading cuties and happy December! ✨

💋 Taglisters: @2543jj @cottoncandywhispers @lavender-rising @lou007sstuff @sullengirl78 @bambibabydoll123 @evascoastal @amaliasdiary @hailey09diaz @jimmakoscake

[jdebbiel]

started a Substack :)

[dashcon-two]

Vendor Applications Open Now!!

Reminder to everyone that DashCon 2’s vendor applications are now open! Please fill out this form (https://forms.gle/tyNPA6AJv2xiJ8ko7) if you’re interested.

Artist Alley/Vendor's Hall (Dealer's Hall) is a space for independent artisans who create print media, handmade crafts, or other merchandise. There are 65 available booths. Each booth is a 6'x3' space, with a 6'x2' table and up to 2 chairs available. Each booth will cost $135.60 CAD ($120+ 13% HST), but discounts will be available for Black and Indigenous Vendors. Booths include admission for one artist. For more details please see the Dealer's Hall page on our website.

Applications will be open until all of our slots are filled. Booths will be assigned on a first-come, first-served basis, except if we receive an extraordinary number of applications. In this case, a lottery system will be used to assign booths. In this case, our team may take up to 4 weeks to process your application.

A reminder that panel applications will open on February 10th at 9 AM EST, and tickets to DashCon 2 will be available on February 22nd, 9 AM EST.

As always, you can find more at www.dashcontwo.com, or subscribe to our mailing list over on substack!

[drdemonprince]

Any chance you'd expand on the hank hill trans guy post? (Sorry, best indicator I could come up with.) The concept interests me as I decidedly know my maleness, yet don't feel impeded by for the most part, any male gendered norms/boxes. I am fairly masculine, though I rarely use those kinds terms to describe myself. I have found I often do stray outside of what society pushed for me when I transitioned, yet I again do not feel it has taken from my right to maleness whatsoever. I am just me, who happens to be male. I have had friends try and suggest I am NB adjacent but I do not feel this way whatsoever. I feel more people are outliers to gender expectation than we care to admit and it's disappointing the way cis-people deny that. Hope this wasn't too long winded, I value your writing and perspective, and wanted to hear more of your thoughts on this.

Yeah, well so many things all get conflated by gender labels, and it's all so personal, you know? Masculinity does not have to mean maleness, and a person's gender identity might be a reflection of some innate quality they experience themselves as having, or a general summary of their tendencies, or their desired presentation, or their sense of affinity with other people, or an interpersonal tool, or something they just go along with because it was given to them by society, or any other number of things.

I think my recent substack piece on detransition goes into this pretty well, and I have an upcoming piece of what @pastimperfection calls "bilateral dysphoria" that comes out next week that delves into it too.

I think I mostly saw taking on a male identity as a means to an end more than any kind of innate reflection of who I was, though I did feel an affinity with effeminate men for a lot of reasons. I think I also discounted how much I have in common with my fellow nonbinary people of all stripes, because that identity became so strongly associated with being an annoying type of queer person that everybody else just wrote off as ultimately being their assigned gender at birth anyway no matter how much they protested. it doesn't help that 'nonbinary' is a catchall term for literally thousands if not millions of very distinct experiences and desires.

transitioning gave me control over how i was perceived, finally, but hormones are a throttle that only go in one very specific direction, and you don't really have all that much control over which changes kick in at which times and what people will make of you once you do start registering to them as some identity other than what you were first saddled with. it's an incredible gift to be able to toggle that throttle. but it's limited, not because medical transition isn't incredible and needed for so many, but because there is no escaping the goddamned binary cissexist logic that influences everything about how people treat you, how you navigate institutions, who finds you desirable and what they want out of you, and so much else.

if you're able to cast a lot of the external societal bullshit aside and feel strong in your maleness, maybe you're stronger than me or maybe our orientation to these things is just different, i don't know. i was never all that sensitive to feedback that i was doing the whole being-a-woman-thing all that wrong. i reveled in violating those rules to an extent. succeeding at being a woman despite my best attempts was what felt super dysphoric. and now i guess im succeeding at being a man, insofar as im always read as one, and it feels just as uncomfortable and objectifying and false. i thought that with manhood i could probably just grit my teeth and deal with it, but i'm finding that i can't.

ive always been very open that for me, gender is a thing I Do, and i guess to those who know me well it wouldnt be surprising to hear that i have gotten tired of Doing Being a Man and dont feel like playing that particular gendered game anymore. I tend to get bored of things! and find the flaws in things. and find my comfort in being fault-finding and contrarian and not being a joiner. and thats okay. i learned a lot along the way. not having to try any more is a huge relief. i can just do whatever. and know actively that people will more often than not be wrong in what they make of me.

maybe it was natural feeling for you to decidely 'know' your maleness without a care for masculine standards because that is the right identity for you! and maybe i only feel secure in the "not knowing" realm and in letting go of what people think of me or finding any kind of tidy categorization for it because that's the right spot for me. for now. until i find a new interesting way to be unhappy and striving for more and different again. :) that's just part of being alive, for me.

[ohwolfling]

hey, gang! in the last few I've introduced a new poetry series, re-introduced Project Evelyn, my project on sex work in modern cyberpunk, started morning work & lurk streams with Fields of Mistria, and am planning some special Halloween stuff for stream. It's SUBtember on Twitch, so you get discounts there that come outta Bezos' pocket not yours or mine, and it's always a good time to support small creatives anywhere.

You can find me here -

ko-fi

twitch

substack

as a disabled, transient/homeless freelance writer who won't take jobs training AI, every bit of help is so precious and important. right now it's a delicate balance to remain in less-than-official housing with a friend vs out on the street. Things are harder for everyone right now! Please don't give me or anyone your emergency toothpaste money. But know that every single dollar is meaningful for someone like me (and I'm sure other small creatives you know, if I'm not your jam).

[sillysoliloquyshits]

Hellos peoples, recently posted my first long-as-hell comprehensive guide on how to write a contrapuntal poem, but since it's my first blog, I'll give a discount by posting parts of the guide here, but check out my substack if you'd love to!

How to start your first contrapuntal poem:

1. Find a central theme of duality

In my humble opinion, the backbone of a truly fascinating contrapuntal/twin cinema is a compelling binary that can be juxtaposed with two separate columns. Ask yourself this: what kind of theme encapsulates the isolation while also revealing the subtle parallels of unity and oneness? Almost anything, from life and death, love and heartbreak, to conflicting identities and feelings.

The poem could also be a conversation between two people in opposite settings. That’s why the possibilities of binaries are endless and the concept is your oyster to explore! Even if you’re overwhelmed by the many ideas, you can start with a simple topic or a theme you like, and think in contrasting perspectives to start the ball rolling!

2. Start with the easier column first

Once you have settled on the theme, decide on what the right and left column would be, whether it’s one side of a certain conversation, or the past to the present/future, etc. Most people start with the first and left column to write completely before writing the second right column, as it’s more natural to determine the left side first and develop the right accordingly. However, if you feel the fixed perspective on the right is easier to pinpoint, by all means!

3. Leave gaps to add or change lines

Writing contrapuntal poems is multitasking in ensuring the lines of each column makes sense while also able to flow continuously across. That’s why adding, deleting, changing lines or just repositioning them will be done regularly. Don’t worry if it doesn’t stick to the landing, since not every bottle flip will land perfectly sometimes. Give yourself room when writing or typing the poem out to change the arrangements when needed! (Though it is a lot easier to type contrapuntal than writing on paper–)

4. Check if the second column flows well itself

While it is tempting to try and see the magic by reading across both columns, it would be advisable to check if the second column could stand on its own first, so as to do necessary tweaking first and ensure the second column is sound before bridging both columns. Also, as contrapuntal poems can sometimes be written through the flow of intuition and may not be what you initially planned for, write anyway and see where it goes, as long as each column makes sense by itself first.

5. See if it flows nicely together across

This could be difficult when it comes to your first few attempts, so a tip could be ensuring the poems are written in a table with just two columns and putting the first column to right align and the second column to the left align. That way it will be easier to read the lines across, but even if you wish to format the poem differently, you can do so after editing to ensure you have an easier time reading the lines across first. If you wish for a slight cheat code, each line per column could be something in a phrase that could stand by itself, thus making it easier to link to the next line of column without enjambment sometimes.

6. Punctuation and especially semicolons are useful (from @two-bees-poetry )

Punctuations are usually the toughest things in contrapuntal, but commas are often better than full stops, and semicolons are especially useful at the end of a line going to a next column due to it’s versatility. In my opinion, you could use the colon and the dashes as well as an alternative when suitable. Opting for no punctuation throughout or sparse use of it is also okay!

7. Formatting on google docs is also quite easy

Once the two columns are on the table, to make it more clean without the black border lines, you can highlight the whole table and go to format > table > table properties > colour on the computer, and choose either to make the colour of the borders go from black to white, or to press the length to go from 1pt to 0pt. Volia!

8. Or… try to write two columns simultaneously–

Writing one column at a time is one way, but writing both at the same time, like inching down one column by a few lines and then continuing another is the daredevil method that I use. This method is for those who may be a bit impatient or find themselves not truly knowing what exactly to write despite planning, so might as well inch a bit down both columns to achieve the unifying poetic voice while not minding to stop sometimes (or more often) to ensure each column, as it’s developing, also makes sense by itself.

Somehow my intuition just gets a hold on me and I can’t stay in one lane often, so that happens to me when writing these poems. It’s basically conjuring magic by splatting some awesome ideas like spaghetti on the wall and watching how the lines just miraculously slide into place.

But anyway, these are the basics on how to start! These aren’t set rules since everyone has their own unique methods and styles. However, if you would also like some more tips on how to spice up your contrapuntal poems with originality and depth, here are some awesome ideas:

1. Read other people’s incredible poems

If you like a good output, start with good input, and lots of people have written cool contrapuntal poems. You could even google ‘Singaporean twin cinema’ and find some more mind-blowing attempts. Once you are inspired by their works, you would have a better grasp at how others do their style of contrapuntal and subconsciously learn from them.

2. Plan an outline of rough ideas you want to delve deeper in before starting on the poem

Dump some ideas like banger lines or deep ideas you want to try exploring before getting into the poem proper, so as to get your mind more focused on the lines you may want to consider inserting or making it better.

3. Don’t be afraid to write longer than you expect

Sometimes your muse would feel it has to be longer and you may find yourself going on and on and that’s okay! Follow where your muse wants to lead you and you will be greatly rewarded when you feel a poem is long enough for you to stop or when you need to shorten after some editing, hehe–

4. Spice it up with literary devices

If you or your muse are up for it, unique and thought-provoking metaphors or even symbolism throughout the column or both would work spectacularly. You can also utilise cool concepts like personifications for a nice twist when your poem calls for it.

In my opinion, alliteration is the simplest way to spice up your poetry, especially when you can use different kinds of alliteration to present different sound effects. (But that's another article maybe, you can google sibilance or fricative alliteration to find out more!) You can also go wild with unconventional phrases of alliteration, such as using an apt concept as an adjective that gives a unique spin to the alliteration, such as ‘Lilithian lavenders’ (from one of my poems), or any other one-of-a-kind phrase that's yours to create!

Anaphora between successive lines are also cool. But if you wish to create a greater sense of rhythm in the poem, you can opt for internal rhymes, by choosing certain words that rhyme to give a greater oomph to the work when you read it. Assonance and consonance are also the next best things to cohesively bring the harmony of the poem much more closely.

5. Go hog wild with different variations and forms and styles

Haikus are easy to write, but what if you could do a contrapuntal haiku instead to up the challenge? Believe me when I say I tried and succeeded in doing a contrapuntal villanelle. But you can take any poem form, from limericks to triolets to sonnets or cinquains etc.

If you also want to explore the writing styles of other poets and writers with notable and recognisable poetic voices, like Sylvia Plath or Ocean Vuong, you can take inspiration from their recurring use of phrases and spin in language and certain symbolisms they use often, such as Plath’s sardonic tone in poetry or Ocean Vuong’s way with words like ‘say __’ or ‘tell me__’. As long as you don’t chug it through a language model or blindly follow the unsavoury aspects of the poet’s writing (like racist outdated language etc), you should be good to go, and using contrapuntal poetry to freely explore the different dimensions you can go with an iconic poet’s style is certainly something to add bursting flavour in your writing!

If you’re even more of a daredevil and learn Shakespearean plays, no one said anything about Shakespearean English styles in contrapuntal poems are off the limits, so go for it and satisfy that competitive muse of yours!

And booyah, a banger of a contrapuntal poem with a rich texture of interconnectedness, and a feast for a literary student’s eyes and mind. But overall, what matters most is that you go with the flow of naturally developing your own writing style and voice in contrapuntal poems and having the most fun out of it, and stretch your muse to new heights with this poetry form.

....... And yeah, you reached the end of my long blog and that was the last 80% of my blog so-

[mickmercer-goth]

ON THIS DAY ... in 1984 - BONE ORCHARD 48 photos from the Batcave, 31st October 1984 now on my substack > https://mickmercer.substack.com/ - free to subscribe. That was a big year for the thrilling Bone Orchard with their “Jack” album and two mesmerising singles in ‘Jack’ itself and the brutal ‘Swallowing Havoc’. (If you ever see a copy I highly recommend the 2011 CD/dvd compilation “Stuffed To The Gills & Other Fishy Tales”.)

My Goth, Punk and Indie photobooks can be perused here » https://mickmercer.substack.com/publish/post/100069746 - with 20% off all cover prices until midnight on Friday November 2nd, just enter discount code SURPRISE20 at checkout (keep all in CAPS as it’s case sensitive there). Goth classics (GRBB, Gothic Rock, Hex Files etc) on Kindle can be found here » https://tinyurl.com/5yuee2y4

[mariacallous]

Black Friday is not just about cheap TVs, cut price gaming consoles, and saving money on laptops; it’s also about getting a bargain on Faraday cages to stop 5G from melting your brain, grabbing a great deal on biblically inspired diet pills, and securing that hot-pink T-shirt with a picture of president-elect Donald Trump on the front.

This year, far-right extremists, MAGAworld, and conspiracists are all jumping on the Black Friday bandwagon to try and persuade their followers to buy untested health supplements, unfunny novelty mugs, and guns—lots and lots of guns.

Rather than advertising on mainstream online marketplaces offered by sites including Google or Facebook, these groups are targeting their audience where they live, on fringe and alternative online platforms with little or no moderation. Spaces like Gab, a white-supremacist-friendly social network run by a christian nationalist. Or Telegram, where election deniers and neo-Nazi groups happily sit side-by-side despite new privacy changes being introduced this year. And of course,Trump’s own Truth Social, where his most devoted followers can be found.

Gab and Truth Social did not immediately respond to a request to comment. Telegram spokesperson Remi Vaughn said that ads placed through the Telegram Ads platform are vetted before they are shown.

For those feeling a little drained after Thanksgiving, alternative health company Exodus Strong is offering discounts on a dietary supplement which has “7 Biblically-inspired ingredients and a molecular hydrogen generating blend that optimize your Mind and Body to function the way God intended.” The tablets, which are currently being advertised up to 60 percent off on Truth Social, include, among other biblical ingredients, frankincense and myrrh. Those who purchase one of these supplements will even get a free gift: a prayer plan.

Undermining the boasts about the product slightly, however, is the disclaimer on the company’s own website that reads: “These products are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.”

Launched just in time for Black Friday, the new online store from right-wing YouTube-alternative Rumble features a who’s who of conspiracy theorists and conservative agitators on its front page, including Trump confidante Laura Loomer and underpants-wearing baptiser Russell Brand.

The store itself is a cornucopia of unimagined gems, everything from Faraday cages for your phone to stop 5G melting your brain, to nuclear fallout preparedness kits for the bargain price of $349. Rumble did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Many far-right and conspiracy newsletters and subscription services are offering huge discounts to lock in their audiences for the next 12 months. Gab for example is offering 50 percent discounts on yearly subscriptions to its AI service, whose racist chatbots have been trained to deny the Holocaust.

An antisemitic Irish blogger who is a close ally of white supremacist Nick Fuentes is offering 40 percent off his Substack subscriptions directly to his existing readers, showing that the effort to cash in on Black Friday hype is not limited to extremists in the US.

By far the most popular Black Friday ads on these platforms are from gun manufacturers, who are offering huge discounts on everything from high-powered rifles to a pink “no drill cheek rest” for your scoped long gun. (The “MAGA Patriot,” a Trump-themed AR-15 that was created in the wake of the president-elect surviving an assassination attempt by the same gun, is not discounted for Black Friday.)

Some of these promotions are simply flogging pro-MAGA paraphernalia. On Truth Social, Fox News host Sean Hannity is promoting the Black Friday deals available in his own merch store. From coffee cups with the phrase “leftist tears” to a “Daddy’s Home” T-shirt featuring a picture of Trump in front of the White House wearing a hot-pink jacket, Hannity has something for all tastes—as long as those tastes align with a pro-Trump, MAGA, Christian nationalist view of America.

For those Trump supporters who may be missing the glory days of 2020 when they could come together online to rage against the voting machines for stealing the election, conspiracy group Audit the Vote PA has got you covered with a T-shirt emblazoned with the words “election denier,” advertised on Gab.

And the biggest election denier of them all, pillow salesman Mike Lindell, is, of course, having a massive Black Friday sale. The man who has sponsored huge swathes of the far-right media ecosystem with promotional codes for the last four years is now offering a two-pack of “We the People” pillow covers for just $25.

On these alternative platforms, discussions about Black Friday are not only about getting 50 percent off “Make Christmas Great Again” T-shirts. Those promotions are interspersed with incredibly antisemitic and racist posts about the day, including several featuring children in black face.

Some users of Gab and Truth Social are also pushing back against Black Friday, calling out the “deranged libtards who turn into dangerous NCPs” during the event (misspelling NPC, which is used to describe someone who is predictable or robotic.) Others insist they are “boycotting Black Friday” because it’s a cash grab by the globalist elite.

And of course, conspiracies are never far away.

One user on Trump’s Truth Social, who calls themselves “Trust the Plan” (spelled like trusttheplqn), believes they have uncovered a secret message in one store’s Black Friday promotional material based on “intel” provided by another Truth Social account called Entheos. The conspiracy theory centers on the store promoting a “storewide blackout” for Black Friday, which “Trust the Plan” believes is code for something sinister taking place, though they fail to say exactly what this is.

“Black friday is on the 29th, but their sale starts on 27th (date that Entheos gave). And why would there be a ‘blackout storewide’ for black friday? You want complete opposite of a blackout...so people can actually shop.”

For others however, the situation appears much more dire. One Gab poster shared an article from a conspiracy site discussing a “global escalation” on Friday. The piece suggests that recent comments by Russian president Vladimir Putin related to launching a nuclear strike signal a looming apocalypse. “Stay Armed, Stay Safe, Patriots,” the poster wrote on Gab.

[official-trainwrecks]

Summary: Duke Kingston has never been Hawaiian enough for his Hawaiian family. (tw: racism, racial violence)

As a reminder, Friday posts will be locked behind a paywall starting next week. A paid subscription costs $5 a month (or a discounted rate of $50 a year), for which readers will receive four bonus stories each month.

This week's bonus story gives a glimpse into Duke's life before he moved to Seattle.

Art by mangomangoj on Instagram.

Please enjoy this free preview! Subscribe to the Trainwrecks Substack to receive chapters directly in your email inbox!

[mehmetyildizmelbourne-blog]

Celebrating My First 50 Students on Udemy and First 500 Subscribers on Substack

As an appreciation, I offer a 33% discount (max I can do) to my Medium and Substack Friends, and I also donated my course to the Substack Mastery Boost program to help freelance writers I failed Vocal Media in 2023 and the Medium boost program in 2024 but now, in 2025, I am winning on Substack and Udemy and determined to succeed thanks to the support Dr Yildiz, his team, and his community. 18…

[wutbju]

Hey Meghan.

Just FYI -- they weren't in Clearwater, Florida, but what is now Lynn Haven, Florida. Not a big deal, but if you're going to search. One is pretty far from the other.

You can search all the newspapers here.

Now Bob Sr.'s younger brother was a member to the JWs in Clearwater. He's noted in the papers frequently. Bet you didn't know that! ;)

And Jonathan Baker, thanks for this!

The pre-orders are already shipping, and my copies have arrived. Officially, it's out May 28.

You can see my substack for the book (where I'll publish things that I had to cut for length) here. When I get a discount code, I'll post it there too. Just FYI.

As soon as the semester's over, I'll be posting on the substack more regularly.

Thanks again for the shout out. I share your desire for searching and digging.

PS: Lance Foster Collins? Oh honey. Those syndicated columns in the 1930s are full of hot air. And finding Bob's hypocrisy usually doesn't work within his own organization.

[grimsourgames]

Playing Tabletop Games Alone: Our Backstory, Influences, and Why We Make Solo TTRPGs

When you want to play a tabletop game, but don't have a party, you play solo!

Who are Grim Sour Games?

We are a husband and wife team who love games. Although we usually play solo.

I’m more into Tabletop Games while he plays video games, and we’ll be branching out to video games too, eventually. 

But for now, I enjoy making tabletop tools and solo games.

My biggest influences are:

Ironsworn: Starforged

Brindlewood Bay 

Floating Bookshop

Colostle

Into the Starlit Sky

Pine Shallows

Star/Pathfinder

Troika!

And Cesar Capacle games

Just to name a few. If you like games like these, they will be big influencers on everything we make. 

So, how'd it all begin?

I spent years wanting to play Dungeons & Dragons but didn't have enough players, and at the time I had no idea there was anything else like it, let alone solo games.

I finally got my mom and sister to play but it got too hectic trying to get everyone together. I was yet again… solo.

Determined to play, I did a little poking around and found out that there is more out there and even ways to play solo!

I tried a few resources that helped me, but I still found it lacking. That's when I started making my own resources. An all-in-one solo system to help me move forward in my games. 

Read the rest on our brand new Substack where I'll share:

Game and Tool Updates: Stay up-to-date with the latest developments and features.

Solo Actual Plays: Check out our solo gameplay sessions, which are written in script + prose format and include dice rolls and other information.

Blogs for All Players: Whether you’re new to solo tabletop gaming or an experienced player, our blogs offer helpful insights and tips.

Game Recommendations: Discover new games we think you’ll enjoy.

Content Updates: Be the first to know about upcoming releases and content.

Community Interaction: Share your stories and connect with other soloists.

Discount Codes & Early Access: Gain special discounts, early access to new releases, and top priority for playtesting new games and tools.

[gothcommiemommy]

⬇️Click 4 more Sadgirl poetry⬇️

SADGIRLS

Get over to Substack, STAT!

[drbased]

Why tumblr, and not wordpress, or medium, or substack?

When I started writing, I had an instinctual trust that I knew what I was talking about, but I had for so long locked my own subjectivity into its own pocket dimension inside my head and discounted my ability to be in any way comprehensible. So it made intuitive sense to me to begin writing on a platform where I could get immediate feedback from others. Tumblr facilitates a sense of communication and community, which is something you can't really get from those other platforms.

But moreover, as per my relationship with self-imposed obligation - or 'perfectionism', as you may call it - I made a deliberate choice to write on a platform that doesn't require me to write long, thought-out essays. I've discovered I enjoy rogue-like video-games for the exact same reason: the less pressure I have to do something 'in full', or for a certain length of time, the more I can end up in flow and paradoxically end up doing more of it. I don't start my writing with the intention of creating something extraordinarily long - I do so because communicating ideas is validating, gratifying, and I guess fun to me.

I still have that 'tug' of obligation - it's essentially an addiction, except it's an addiction that is easily accessible 24/7. I think the closest analogue is being a workaholic or having an eating disorder - on the surface, you're doing things that a lot of people value as healthy self-discipline, but that means it's extraordinarily difficult to register them as problems. Moreover, the fact that you need to eat and you need to work means that if you have a disordered relationship with these things you can never fully escape them, unlike say an addiction to alchohol which you can go the rest of your life never touching. But even with those things there's a theoretical element of compartmentalisation which I can't have (I hope this comes across in the matter-of-fact way it was intended; I am not ranking mental disorders nor claiming to be uniquely cursed): I have to always have some level of consciousness and make very present decisions not to feed this addictive desire - it is still hard for me to parse the difference between real-life consequences and my deep-seated belief that negative consequences = a bad grade in the life-long classroom that is life.

I take a while responding to anons such as this for this reason, and there are two major components to this. One, I have this craving to be understood/comprehensible, and for other people to be interested in me - I want to be validated as per my desire to recieve a 'good grade' at life in the form of positive consequences. But also, the fact that someone has sent me a message at all then sparks that sense of obligation to respond. I know logically that nobody sending a message, especially anonymously, desires an instant response or would judge me for not responding - and even if they did, I would think they were a major asshole. But it's still not habitual yet for me to internalise that feeling. I'm still working on parsing the difference between wanting to respond because 1. I like writing about stuff 2. I like sharing knowledge/what I've learned and 3. I like not disappointing people when they ask questions - and feeling obligated to respond because of some bizarre sense that the person would judge me for being messy, inconsistent and rude, and said person then becoming some conduit for the universe's omnipresent judgment of my character, as if I'm going to show up at the pearly gates and someone will tut-tut at my long list of times I've minorly inconvenienced someone else by being a human being with a personality.

One thing about the nature of tumblr that really helps is that even if I'm 'doing it wrong', then jesus christ there are people on this platform who are doing it even wrongerer. I know logically that that is not a metric I want to be living my life by - but we're all human and we do compare ourselves to others, and I'll take whatever psychological comforts I can get. There is a possibility that I will never feel at ease with writing 'properly', and I don't feel as comfortable knowing that as I would like - my self-awareness has me recognising that I still desire to 'work towards' writing properly, but I am also trying to be aware that if that ever does happen, it will be my choice at the time, so until then I must trust that I know what I'm doing, and so I will continue to post my long pieces here.

On a more practical, lizard-brain level, I just believe that I wouldn't get as much traction on another platform. There's something vaguely cold and unfeeling about writing essays on these other more traditional platforms - that sense that you're sending stuff into the void seems so palpable that I can detect it without having to try. Also here I can block people, and make sure my message is recieved and absorbed by my intended audience. Using those other platforms feels way too public, too accessible by bad actors, and it's dangerous enough to be talk about feminist theory online as it is. I like that I can monitor responses to what I write in real time - whenever a post of mine 'breaks containment', that's when I get a hate anon. And of course I can see people reblogging my stuff with their weak-ass copypasta deliberate misunderstandings of radfem theory, which is always a satisfying reminder that what I write is so out of the scope of what the bad actors are willing to engage with. In short, it just feels safer writing here, yanno? And number go up. I like seeing number go up.

[mickmercer-goth]

ON THIS DAY ... in 1984 - BONE ORCHARD 48 photos from the Batcave, 31st October 1984 now on my substack > https://mickmercer.substack.com/ - free to subscribe. That was a big year for the thrilling Bone Orchard with their “Jack” album and two mesmerising singles in ‘Jack’ itself and the brutal ‘Swallowing Havoc’. (If you ever see a copy I highly recommend the 2011 CD/dvd compilation “Stuffed To The Gills & Other Fishy Tales”.)

My Goth, Punk and Indie photobooks can be perused here » https://mickmercer.substack.com/publish/post/100069746 - with 20% off all cover prices until midnight on Friday November 2nd, just enter discount code SURPRISE20 at checkout (keep all in CAPS as it’s case sensitive there). Goth classics (GRBB, Gothic Rock, Hex Files etc) on Kindle can be found here » https://tinyurl.com/5yuee2y4