#but financial anxiety

[sovaghoul]

Second day of anxiety for no reason and now fucking clothes are giving bad sensory. Tonight I decide if I can afford SoM tickets for this weekend and pray I make a wise decision (wise for myself over all, mental health included)

[biggest-gaudiest-patronuses]

craving pathetic wet old women characters. where is the feminism

[neuroticboyfriend]

to the poor (or otherwise financially unwell) person reading this, please don't beat yourself up about how you spend your money. especially if you're disabled or come from a not-well-off family.

it's not wrong to buy fast food if it means you eat. it's not wrong to make indulgent purchases if it means you're happy. it's not wrong to get things to make your life easier. it's not wrong to buy something to comfort you. it's not wrong to get new clothes, especially if what you have is old or doesnt fit well. etc. etc.

you're doing the best you can under an oppressive system (ie. capitalism). and odds are reducing your spending won't make you financially stable (which sucks but still). life is hard enough. don't make it harder by beating yourself up over something that ultimately is not your fault. it is not your fault.

[strangecowplant]

please help me pay my kitties emergency vet bill!

ive never done this before but one of my cats just had to get an extremely sudden emergency procedure and i don't know what to do, my vet and i have reached out to a couple incredible programs here to help with the bill but one is less than half and the other hasn't replied back yet, i've already declined the blood work (CA$356) to lower the bill at the risk of possible underlying liver and kidney issues not being found but its still a monumental amount for us right now. i just feel so helpless

we had enough to pay the minimum deposit to get the procedure started in time thankfully, but we were already scraping by as it is and now we're in desperate need of funds to eat/pay rent/pay off any remainder of the bill. i am disabled without aid and have been unable to work/haven't worked since 2015 but am on track to hopefully start working pt this fall. i live with my mom who has 3-4 jobs including one seasonal job which needless to say is stressful and wearing her down. we unfortunately are stuck in the most expensive place to live in canada with the inability to save up to flee so the cycle is never ending.

this is Teddy, my typically very silly vocal happy boy who's not quite 2 yet, my comfort king, my little muffin who acts like a weighted blanket for me at night and eases my anxiety, his favourite toy is his pink unicorn poof, he loves car rides and he can shake paw!

he got a sudden urinary blockage last night with no straight answer as to why and progressively got worse as the night went on, i didnt sleep at all, i was panicking and bawling, naturally, and raced to the vet to get in as soon as the door opened. i assumed it was a uti which wouldn't have been as costly, but it turned out to be much more severe and life threatening. i never expected my usually extremely healthy boy to suddenly be at risk of that and im still trying to just process whats been happening

he needed to be sedated and given a catheter and some medication, the total bill came to CA$985.62, of which we were barely able to pay 500 of, and one program was able to donate 300 leaving a total of CA$185.62 for the bill. this, of course, leaves us scrambling for food and rent as well

i know there are a lot of fundraisers out there needing donations right now, and i really hate letting myself be so open and raw like this but even a dollar would help tremendously and i would be forever grateful for any help whatsoever, even a rb to signal boost is greatly appreciated <3

TLDR; my cat had a sudden life threatening issue and now we can't pay the full vet bill or pay for food/rent

Paypal

[thefirstknife]

I want to be optimistic about the future, but as somebody who has been through 4-6 EoS events and witnessed several others friends have gone through, with a lot of the rumors/news breaking about future plans for the game itself, and some changes introduced in TFS I'm slowly starting to get a bad feeling about things. I'm not giving up on the game, but it's feeling hard to be hopeful when I'm starting to get similar vibes to the other EoS events I've been through.

I'll mostly focus on this article from Jason Schreier because I don't really trust any other rumours that are floating around. I know a lot of people are super depressed about everything and it's easy to spiral into doom and gloom, which I want to avoid because it just stresses people out, over things they can't really change, and primarily over things that are far from confirmed.

Obviously we don't know anything for certain yet, but from what little the devs told us when this happened:

While our team is taking time to help support each other, we want you, our community, to know that we expect no disruption to all of our previously communicated content plans. Our content roadmap remains unchanged. This also includes our future plans for next year and beyond.

Nothing is changed and plans are clearly in place. It goes without saying that this can be flipped on its head at any point, but it also has to be said that it would be quite strange for a franchise of this scale to simply go down without an honest attempt to keep it going. Obviously various media ends all the time and studios are shut down and all that, but I feel like people are jumping on that conclusion way too easily and simply over unconfirmed rumours which puts people in a mindset that "the game is over." According to devs and Jason's report, it is clearly not planned to be over. We have yet to see if that works out.

Either way, we're set for this year for sure and there's clearly a plan they've already hinted for next year. What concerned people the most, I think was this (more under):

The company also plans to continue updating Destiny 2, although it will no longer pursue regular paid expansions as it did in the past, according to the people familiar. During one recent meeting, a company leader told attendees that sales of each expansion had declined year over year, including June’s The Final Shape, so they would be moving away from an annual release model. Some staff said they’re optimistic about the vision for Destiny 2 under new director Tyson Green, a Bungie veteran who took the helm earlier this year. In the coming months, the people said, Bungie will look to retain and attract players with smaller-scale content drops modeled after Into the Light, a well-received update in April that added a new mode to the game. Rather than selling this content, they said, Bungie will aim to release it for free along with overhauls to activities that it hopes will appeal to hardcore players. Other vague plans for the future include a storyline that will feature characters and worlds that Destiny has not yet explored.

Personally, I don't necessarily see this as something bad. I've actually been in favour of stopping yearly expansion for years. A big expansion every year is a big thing to commit to and it simply cannot be up to the best standards every single year. Some years will simply be smaller or "worse" and they won't engage people as some others. To this day people are still demanding expansions the size of Forsaken, every year, and that is simply mathematically impossible to make. So we get stuff like Shadowkeep and people flip out (Destiny died back then too). In my opinion, I think expansions every 2-3 years with smaller content drops in between is much better and healthier, and would result in better expansions.

We don't know if expansions are ever happening again; this report seems to imply not, but nobody really knows what state Destiny will be in 3 years from now, if it still exists. Until then, I'm perfectly fine with smaller content drops and updates. Obviously we don't know what that will look like; maybe it will be bad, but maybe it will not be bad. We simply don't know. I think people just heard "no expansion every year" and assumed that it's all over and no other content will ever be interesting or engaging ever again, which is something I simply don't see. For example, this episode has quickly become one of my favourite content in Destiny ever and it's not an expansion. I feel the same about some seasons which I enjoyed more than some expansions.

This is a matter of preference of course. Some people only tune in for expansions so for them "no expansions" effectively means no more Destiny. A lot of people also wonder about stuff like raids, which launch with expansions; what about those? Are we ever getting a raid again? We don't know, though it's worth noting that some raids have launched with DLCs and seasons, so launching a raid without the expansion could still be possible. We'll simply have to wait and see.

A lot of people are also concerned about the confirmation that Destiny 3 was never in development. I don't find this surprising at all and firmly believe that people who believed in D3 in the first place have not been fully aware of just how much devs never wanted to make another game from scratch again. This is from when they announced vaulting back in Arrivals:

With Destiny 1, we solved the “ever expanding, exponential complexity” problem by making a sequel in Destiny 2. We left behind all of Destiny 1’s content and many of the features players grew to love. We believe now that it was a mistake to create a situation that fractured the community, reset player progress, and set the player experience back in ways that took us a full year to recover from and repair. It’s a mistake we don’t want to repeat by making a Destiny 3.

I don't think anything has changed about their opinion on this over the years. It may have become even stronger actually, given how much content exists in the game right now and how much content would permanently disappear, alongside everyone's progress and collections, if they restarted everything. Not only that, but they know that a new game would have to launch with basically no content that would have to be built up over the years and would result in the same anger from players that plagued D1 vanilla and D2 vanilla. Nobody would enjoy going from 9 raids (maybe 10 if there's a reprised this year?) to 1 raid. Like I'm not sure if people realise this, but D3 will have no content in comparison. People were exceptionally mad about Beyond Light which reduced the amount of content and items due to vaulting; D3 would have less than that.

So I'm not sure why people expect and want D3. I never vibed with that idea. Not in any foreseeable future. I don't want to restart my progress, I don't want to lose everything I collected, I don't want to wait for years to get more than 3 strikes in the game. So the confirmation that this was never in development is not only super obvious to me, it's also relieving.

I think these are mostly the things that people are panicking over, from stuff that is now known a little better from Jason's report. When it comes to other rumours and leaks, we simply don't know if they're true and how detailed they are so I will not be stressing about them and I'd advise everyone else to not stress about them either.

We all love the game very much and the idea that it will end one day is very upsetting, but it will. One day it will end. Is that in 2 years or 20, we don't know. I'd like for people to definitely move away from the doomposters on twitter, to not latch onto any rumour or leak, and to give developers space and patience, as well as do anything we can to support those that were laid off.

I personally also think that the content creators with the biggest platforms should use the current anger and despair to pressure Bungie or Sony into making meaningful changes. Instead of posting about how "it's so over, goodbye everyone, Destiny is dead," I think they should be encouraging fans to bully these corporations with the one thing they understand best: money. Hey corpos, we ARE still interested in Destiny, we WANT to keep playing, we WANT it to keep going and we WILL bring our money if you do something about this situation. Because I don't trust any of these people who are claiming they're big fans and also how their livelihoods depend on making content for this one game, but are so easy to doompost and give up and say that the game is now over. How would anyone seeing this feel other than concerned and in despair?

Is it possible to change anything? No clue. Corporations can obviously be bullied into action, but we simply don't know how much effect we have here. Still, I'd rather try.

And I'd definitely try to stay positive, or at least neutral. We currently have no confirmations about anything being over, and plans for future content exist. Things will likely be different, but that doesn't always mean worse. And if it is? Well then it is and people will stop playing.

And of course, if anyone lost interest over this and over these reports, that's understandable. Taking a break from it all is recommended. Whatever happens, happens. If the game is still there and the interest is regained, everyone can always come back. No one has to decide right now whether they'll keep playing or stop forever. We can change our minds later depending on any new information and the state of the game.

The point of this whole thing is basically; we don't know anything for sure and overthinking about what-if scenarios that are years out is not very helpful. Venting concerns and talking to others can help though, which is why I want to try and stay as reasonable as possible in a situation where we genuinely don't have any proper confirmations.

We'll see! I'll keep playing while there's something to play and while that something is interesting to me, no matter how small. I hope this helps keeping people at least a little bit less stressed about the whole thing.

[bitchesgetriches]

bitches, how do you stop thinking about money all the time?

for context: currently i live and die by my budget as i used to be very bad with money (no longer!) and sticking to this budget enables me to save 100-200 each month. i am not quite scraping by but i cannot afford many luxuries. i am expecting a solid raise in 3 months but I have no idea how much it will be exactly. several hundred a month, at least. and i find myself continuously going over my future budget in different scenario's. calculating how soon i will be able to pay off my loans depending on this raise. calculating how much i need to make to justify going back to vocal training. calculating how much i want to save vs how much to pour into my loans, depending on how much I'll make. it's driving me insane, i can't stop thinking about it, and i won't get a solid number for another month or two. can you help me manage this financial anxiety?

My sweet summer child, we are the co-owners of a financial media company that we run primarily in our free time for donations from broke strangers. If I knew how to stop thinking about money constantly none of us would be here right now.

In all seriousness, I'm so sorry you're preoccupied with this anxiety! I suspect the answer will be to distract yourself with something else (every time you think about money, go watch a puppy video instead) or to handle it the same way we recommend handling any kind of anxiety. To that end, here is our advice:

Season 3, Episode 4: “The More Money I Save, the More I’m Scared To Lose It. Can I Break the Cycle of Financial Anxiety?” 

Everything Is Stressful and I'm Dying: How to Survive a Panic Attack 

Bitchtastic Book Review: Kurt Vonnegut’s Galapagos and Your Big Brain

Did we just help you out? Join our Patreon!

[postalninja]

GUESS WHO WAS JUST AWARDED A $5000 SCHOLARSHIP????

IT ME :D

[ohnoitsthebat]

Sorry to keep talking about this.

You can unfollow. I'm just beside myself and worrying about things. About my mom's upcoming appointment with her cancer doctor, about the next steps we will have to take, about this bill, about everything. I don't know what to do. Like I said yesterday, I've struggled for my entire life, and I'm tired. Just tired of fighting.

this is what I am currently dealing with. trying like hell to get the money.

[afro-elf]

you can ignore this!

[ebonytails]

(clasps my hands) Hi everyone, i'm doing a quick interest check !

Please only respond if you would consider becoming a patron of mine! I want to see what site people would prefer the most and where my audience is. :-]

As for rewards, I have many ideas! From regular WIPS of all my work (school, commissions, boothing, etc), to Livestreams (If my internet allows it), to timelapses, etc! Also commission discounts :-)

[gideonisms]

When the urgency just is not there...when the primal urge to do fuck all takes over...

[biggest-gaudiest-patronuses]

*tries to organize my thoughts*

*remembers i'm not in school and therefore beholden to neither heaven nor hell nor any man's grading system*

*joyously shredding & tossing all my carefully arranged 3x5 mental notecards into the air like so much beige confetti. raising my arms in victory, cheering raucously until i accidentally inhale bits of homemade confetti*

(*coughing up itty bits of paper like a cat evicting a hairball with a firm understanding of tenants' rights*) wait wat happens next

[neuroticboyfriend]

it's okay to spend money. it's okay if you have trouble saving. it's okay to buy things that make you happy. it's okay to buy things that improve your life. it's not your fault the world we live in is so incredibly expensive and inaccessible. all you can do is your best. please don't neglect yourself.

[kiindr]

i'm interning as a psychology intern at a school and lately, I've been coming across some kids whose parents make them feel like a financial liability and not good enough to get spent on for basic needs like food and education, and clothing.

like, madams and sirs, it is YOUR RESPONSIBILITY to provide for your child. you needn't have had a child in the first place if you weren't willing to pay for them. but now that you have one, you have no business making them feel as if they're asking for too much when you pay their school bills or get them books or get them uniforms.

these children come into the counselor's office about "academic stress" on most occasions and i slowly watch their eyes get moist as they talk about how their parents keep rubbing in their faces the fact that they're spending too much on them, that they don't deserve to have money spent on them like this, that when they were kids- they didn't have as much.

YEAH?? SO WHAT?? isn't the entire point of being a parent to do your best to provide your children a better life than yourself? what are you even on about??

if you're one such person who got told similar things by their parents, as an adult you might have restrictive spending habits and low self-worth. you might have trouble asking for help and doing nice things for yourself.

i just want you to know that:

you deserve getting spent on

you are not a burden

you deserve to feel loved in every way and that includes materially and financially

if you're a minor, it is not your responsibility to pay for yourself or worry about finances

you're not too much

[tcfactory]

i think he should have a Border Collie. intelligent, enthusiastic, determined, and very good at rearing sweet little sheep ;)

I was trying to look into local breeds, but I really don't know enough about them tbh so might as well! Airplane's haphazard world building allows for much wilder things than foreign dog breeds in ancient fantasy China and the few collies I see in passing are a delight.

I think Binghe's daemon in PIDW would actually be another wolf when it settles, despite his best efforts. Growing up his daemon is almost always in the form of a sheep (to the point people wonder if it has already settled, despite Binghe being far too young for that to happen) because of his subconscious (maybe even instinctual?) need to appear harmless. It's one of the things that triggers Shen Qingqiu's anger at him - it's not unnatural for a daemon to favor one kind of shape or another, even if it's rare for children to stop experimenting early, but something about Binghe's little lamb daemon tickles Shen Qingqiu's paranoia just the wrong way.

Shen Yuan sees nothing wrong with it, but then he doesn't really have the right cultural understanding of the world to really get why it's weird. Of course Binghe's daemon is a little sheep, he's a gentle and sweet little white lotus! Makes perfect sense to him! It's his cruel shizun's awful influence that will make the gentle lamb turn into a ravenous, rabid wolf - he's certain there's some kind of commentary on the cycle of abuse in there, even if only by accident, because he doesn't trust Airplane to write depth if his life depended on it. He's not completely wrong, but he's off the mark enough to be surprised that Binghe's daemon starts taking on canine forms when Shen Qingqiu eases up on targeting him.

In this AU Binghe would probably end up with a wolfdog of sorts, inspired by Shen Yuan's claims that his own daemon used to be a dog too.

[lumaxramblings]

if i see one more person say that jonathan isn't a raging abuser like billy because he "had support, unlike billy" i'm going to snap. what support was that, exactly????