Some Assembly Required - Fall 2025 Free and low-cost alternatives to mainstream garbage. Image: a grackle perched on a crescent wrench. --- Inside cover Image: a mouse with a pair of welding goggles pushed back on its forehead. --- Facing inside cover Welcome, dear reader, to the Fall issue of our zine! When did it get so expensive just to ... be? Even this free booklet probably has you asking "what do you want from me." Everything has a price, and it just keeps going up. Been eyeing a lovely new 3d printer? It's not cheap. Do you have the tools to maintain it, or are you going to have to buy those, too? And then there's the software required to give it its instructions. Even free online services cost something ... your attention is being packaged and sold to advertisers. It doesn't have to be this way. Turn the page and begin a trip into free, cheap, and cooperative alternatives to the consumerist treadmill. When we band together, we can make things that benefit everyone, without costing a fortune. Free your mind, and your pocketbook will follow. - Buttons the Gnome Fall 2025 --- Industrial Cooperation What if, instead of trying to buy all the tools and toys you need to make cool stuff, you banded together with friends and bought them as a group, then organized it so that you could use what you need just when you need it? Like, way cheaper, and you don't have to store it all yourself, and everyone wins ... Congratulations, you just invented the co-op! Here's what to search for in order to find the right kind of friends to make nearby. "Maker spaces" tend to be people with heavy industrial equipment. Think welding, laser cutting, 3D printing, and other dangerous awesomeness. "Bike co-ops" are just like they sound -- people with all the tools and skills to help fix your bike. Image: a screwdriver "Hacker spaces" blur the lines between physical and virtual. If you can run software on it, they're into it. News flash: your city's central library might have cool stuff too! Image: a woman with a wrench in one hand stands proudly next to a 3-d printer that has a gnome statuette in it. "Tool libraries" are the O.G. lenders of saws, wrenches, drivers, and some frankly scary equipment. --- Digital Liberation Corporate media have only one purpose in life, to keep you glued to them and watching advertisements. And corporate software has one goal -- to keep you subscribed to the platform. But there are alternatives! Free, de-centralized options (think: can't be manipulated by billionaires or governments) abound! Image: a grackle with a cigrette hanging in its beak. Care to rot your brain with images and videos? Check out Pixelfed. Link: https://pixelfed.org/how-to-join Like your media short-form and text-based? There's Mastodon! Link: https://joinmastodon.org Need to edit images but don't have the cash for Adobe? Try The Gimp. Link: https://www.gimp.org Screw Microsoft and Google. Try Libre Office instead! Link: https://www.libreoffice.org Generate QR codes without ads, trackers or up-sells at justaqrcode.com. Link: https://justaqrcode.com --- Chat Oui-Ja-T What does your future hold? Ask the oracle! Aquarius, you keep humming a tune that no one else remembers. This fall, déjà vu comes from a dream you forgot you had. Try putting your keys in the wrong pocket. Pisces, you'll mistake a stranger for an old friend. They may mistake you back. This fall, tears arrive in public places. An unopened letter haunts you. Image: a crystal ball. Aries, you rush ahead, only to find another starting line. An argument sparked in an exitway follows you down the street. Lace your shoes now for an unexpected sprint. Taurus, you cling to the steady rhythm even as the tempo shifts. A locked drawer opens without warning, revealing something you didn't plan to confront. Gemini, you speak with echoes, and somehow they answer back. This fall you'll overhear a secret meant for both of you. A bird in flight portends luck -- watch for it. Cancer, you retreat into your shell and discover it has new rooms. This fall, a visitor carries a memory you thought you'd buried out back. Meanwhile, a cracked teacup insists on one more use. Image: an ornate teacup with tea in it. Mercury is retrograde: November 9 - 29 X-giving dinner could get ugly ... Image: three cards, their backs visible. Leo, you shine even when you swear you're keeping it casual. Soon, you'll get caught rehearsing in a reflection that wasn't a mirror. An audience will appear where you least expected one. Virgo, you keep finding typos in places no one else dares to read. A forgotten list resurfaces this fall, demanding to be completed. You will follow a thread farther than expected. Image: a contemporary magician's wand. Libra, keep rehearsing both sides of the argument, just in case. A choice you postponed will make itself in your absence. A tilted picture frame demands more attention than the painting inside it. Harvest Moon -- October 6 Beaver Moon -- November 5 Cold Moon -- December 4 Image: a crescent moon and some stars. Scorpio, you recognize truths that others only dare whisper. This fall, a secret slips into the open, wearing someone else's name tag. Sagittarius, you aim at horizons that move just to tease you. This fall, a wrong turn becomes your favorite story. Your map folds itself, hiding a path you swore you'd follow. Capricorn, this fall an unfinished task returns charging interest. The clock ticks louder when you're not looking. You'll find a ladder leaning where no one admits placing it. Image: a grackle in a fortune teller's headdress. Get more digital divination, daily at tinyhoroscopes.com Link: https://tinhoroscopes.com --- Take a Penny A penny doesn't seem like much, until your purchase comes to just over an even dollar amount and you're about to get a pocket full of change. Then it's essential, and having a friend with a penny changes everything. (Or being that friend.) Image: a tray with some pennies in it. Believe if or not, lots of folks have "pennies" they'd like to get rid of. The time honored option for finding free stuff is your local Craigslist's "Free Stuff" section, of course. "Nobody knows you, when you're down and out." Image: a couple of carrots. And a growing number of people are taking part in "buy nothing" movements. Some items are given for free and others are traded in barter. Search for a local group on socials! Image: a cauldron, steaming. "This stone soup sure would be better with some carrots." Don't remember the "take a penny, leave a penny" tray? Your grandparents left a Wikipedia article! Link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Take_a_penny,_leave_a_penny --- Leave a Penny The gift economy goes both ways. Got something extra to pay forward? Here are some ideas to get involved. Image: a packet of sunflower seeds. "Seed libraries" let you "check out" seeds that you can plant. When they flower and fruit, it's your turn to "return" the seeds to the library for the next grower to use. "So, how do you make money?" (You don't.) Got a patch of dirt and a love of learning? Build your very own "little free library" where passers-by can borrow books and media from your shared stash. Make sure to register with the little free library map! Link: https://littlefreelibrary.org/map/ Try sharing your work with a "Creative Commons" license agreement Image: a stack of books. No need to leave the couch ... have you considered editing a Wikipedia page? Search for "stubs" to get started. Image: a little free library. Reading isn't illegal yet! --- The Tip Jar Economy Let's face it, you're unlikely to get rich off donations, but passing around a hat can leave you with some decent beer money. (But don't quit your day job.) Image: a tophat on the ground with some bills and coins in it. As a digital alternative to throwing cash in your guitar case, platforms have sprung up to accept "tips" for creatives. They'll take a cut, but you might consider ko-fi or patreon. Link: https://ko-fi.com Link: https://patreon.com Image: an open guitar case with a QR code inside the upper lid. Print up a QR code to your Venmo (and list your user id) to give those "sorry I don't use cash" cheapskates no excuse not to send you a couple dollars. Image: a jar labeled "tips" with bills and coins in it. "What goes around comes around." It's not always about cash. Got something else of value you can drop in the tip jar? (Smokes, poetry, gold?) "Good tippers are better lovers." --- Finding a Zine Culture Intrigued by little paper labors of love? Search your local area for zine meetups, festivals, and workshops. They're everywhere! Plenty of people would like to help you get started making your own, even. Most independent coffee houses have a space for free newspapers and community postings. Share! Image: a desk stapler. Leverage the right hashtags when posting on socials, e.g. ... #zine Image: a ballpoint pen. If your zine is appropriate for the masses, try stashing a few copies in a nearby little free library! Remember: some of the best zines are photocopied illicitly at work. (But don't use your own login!) Image: three raccoons inspecting a photocopier. Got a digital version of your zine? You'll need to host it somewhere so that others can download it. Try freeloading off sites like Google Drive and Box.com. Alternately, many indie gaming sites host zines, for instance itch.io. --- Back Cover Scrollable, printable, and accessible versions available at https://trickster.exchange Link: https://trickster.exchange Image: a woman in twin hair-buns, fishnets, and lace-up boots kicking a photocopier in anger.