#fund my bullshit

[cyberhai]

Hey y'all! 

Good news in Cyberhai World: I've finally achieved my teenhood goal of becoming a drag king! 

Bad news: drag is expensive and it is HARD to get hired in a town saturated with college kids, I've applied to like seven or eight places now, no luck.

So my ass is doing something I've never done before. I'm opening commissions!

I take payment via PayPal, or art in exchange for something off of my Amazon drag wishlist(value will be listed next to the respective item)!

-

**RULES AND INFO**

- I will NAWT draw Wack Ass Ships. Underage, incest, illegal age difference, etc.

- I AM NOT SELLING NSFW TO PEOPLE UNDER 18!!!!! Yes I know almost every teen on the net has seen porn, no I will not be the supplier!

- Along with the previous…I can and will nope out of drawing certain kinks. Yes I will draw shibari no I will not draw Leon Kennedy pregnant (unless you bribe me with like 50 bucks because a bag is a bag).

- If you want complicated machinery or weaponry (ex. mgrr or ultrakill character) it is an extra 5 bucks because that shit takes a thousand years. I won't charge extra for a character with like, a mechanical limb or eyepiece.

- Send as many character references, pose references, color palettes, etc as you want!!!

- Amazon Wishlist items vary in value! I will list this in a note beside the product!

- Amazon Wishlist exchanges will not charge extra for complicated machinery!

PRICES

Icons - $5

- Comes with full color and cel shading

- Additional characters +$3

Half body - $10

- Comes with full color and cel shading

- Additional characters +$6

Full body - $20

- Comes with full color and cel shading 

- Additional characters +$15

Amazon Wishlist

FIRST PERSON TO COMMISSION ME GETS A FREE STUPID ASS WOJAK EDIT WITH THEIR ORDER!!!

Reposts are also hella appreciated!

[stil-lindigo]

PALESTINIAN FAMILY FORCED TO RESTART FUNDRAISING - PLEASE DONATE!

PROGRESS: £520 / £35,000

a little while ago, I was contacted by Amal Abushaban, a Palestinian mother of 5, for help regarding her Gofundme campaign.

In summary, after spending months raising over $13,000 for her family, she attempted to withdraw the money. She did everything right, she answered Gofundme's questions, she provided the details of her beneficiary and she contacted their support team - only to be left in the dark until an email came one day, notifying her that her campaign had been closed and all donations were now in the process of being refunded.

I tried kicking up a major fuss about it online, as well as trying to pester Gofundme Support on my own account, but all it did was send me in circles as I desperately pleaded for the Gofundme Support person I was assigned to at least re-instate the damn fund. Even worse, Amal got her first email today about refunds going through.

Regrettably, Amal is being forced to start over completely in her fundraising efforts. Her beneficiary has started this Paypal fund for her. Please donate and share!

PROGRESS: £520 / £35,000

[saintcirce]

Please do a whole post about phd applications, funding applications, fellowships, TAships etc. Would love your take on it. Thanks

I'm chronically horrible at responding to asks, so this is coming later than you probably expected!

For context, I'm now a second year PhD art history student about to take her doctoral (comprehensive) exams in April. I applied for PhD programs during the last semester of my master's program, which was a terminal degree through a different university than the one I currently attend.

I applied to two PhD programs in the United States and two in the United Kingdom: the processes are different, particularly when it comes to funding. The former will automatically consider you for funding and it's expected, at least in the humanities, that they will grant you tuition remission and a stipend for at least four years (potentially more, depending on your particular program). It's also possible to win additional fellowships, either through your university or a third party. For example, I have departmental funding (ie. a stipend that I receive for being a Graduate Assistant) and an outside fellowship from my university's Graduate School. My department applied for that fellowship on my behalf before I even enrolled. The other American university to which I applied also offered me tuition remission and a stipend, but it was less than the university I currently attend.

Two general notes about funding in the United States: (1) it often changes to account for rising cost of living but that does not necessarily mean you will be making a living wage, and (2) it often changes depending on whether your school has a Union. Graduate workers at my university are currently working to unionize, which would not only guarantee a living wage for union members but also offer protections for international students and student parents. There are a lot of benefits but the TLDR for funding is that unionizing often means the difference between $28,000 and $45,000 yearly stipend (see this article from the Boston Herald about BU's graduate student union). Graduate Assistants are often not allowed to hold a second job outside of the university and it's also difficult to do so when you are (a) working, (b) completing coursework, and (c) independently researching. My museum fellowship, which I'm due to begin in a couple days, jeopardized my funding status and I had to fight my university for them not to take away my fellowship. It ultimately worked out because I had my department chair's support but not all students are similarly supported—and not all departments are willing to advocate for their students.

Pivoting to UK schools: the TLDR is that they offer very little funding for international students and the funding that is available, either through the institutions themselves or outside organizations, is often not enough to cover the cost of living. Tuition is largely cheaper than in America but the difference was not significant enough for it to factor into my decision. If you're interested in more detail, I'd recommend reaching out to @therepublicofletters who actually attends a UK institution. She can also tell you more about how their programs are structured. Unlike American PhD programs—which involve at least two years of coursework, doctoral exams, and graduate assistantships before defending your prospectus and beginning dissertation research—UK programs ask you to apply with a prospectus that you will use as the basis for dissertation research that you begin immediately upon entry. The difference is that American programs typically take 5-7 years to complete whereas UK ones are only 3-4 years. While this may seem convenient in the short term, I was advised that American institutions (museums, universities, etc) often prefer PhDs from American institutions because of the extra work completed.

Setting aside this technical information, I chose the four programs to which I applied based on vibes. I had a master list of schools and advisors and I contacted each one to see if we fit in terms of academic interests and personalities. I did not want to work with an advisor I didn't like and who didn't like me—or who had so many students that they had no time for me. Aside from speaking with them personally, I also reached out to their current advisees: students will often give you a more honest perspective on faculty and the department as a whole. I would almost lend more weight to what the students say than any of the professors because they are and/or will be your peers. They are also the people who will give you the most honest information about how professors and the department view students of color, women, queer students, etc. Art history and the humanities are fairly white, straight, and male dominated, so it's important to get a read on how non-normative (for lack of a better collective term) individuals are treated. I used this information to narrow down my master list to four schools, each of which I would be happy to attend. Whether I was admitted to one or to all four, I would have a place to go where I would be content and able to find community.

This is a personal note but something to consider when it comes to advisors is gender. That should not be a determining factor but I realized after committing to my current school that this is the first time I've worked with a male advisor. I love him dearly and he is one of the most encouraging scholars I have met but there have been occasions where there is a disconnect based on life experience. That said, I know many people who have had no issues at all!

Throughout this whole process, the name value of the schools was functionally irrelevant. In my experience—and that of the numerous individuals who advised me during the application process—your advisor is far more important than your school. While this will necessarily vary by discipline, you want to work with someone who has connections and/or knows how to network. For example, an older scholar will likely know everyone and their mother whereas a younger scholar will know fewer people but likely be more present at conferences, etc.

In the end, what matters most is your happiness and stability. Will you like working with your chosen advisor? Will you like taking classes in other disciplines within your department? Will you be able to make friends and/or have civil relationships with other graduate students (ie. will people steal books you need because they know you need them, like at Columbia)? Can you afford to live in whatever city in which you school is located? Are they paying you a living wage and/or offering you alternate opportunities to apply for funding?

I chose my school based on the graduate community, my advisors (I now have two), and the funding package. There have been incidental issues that I could not have anticipated, but on the whole, I do not regret my decision because I prioritized my happiness when I was applying and did not make decisions based on what I thought other people would want. This is a huge commitment and you need to be self-motivated, to rely on your love of the subject, to make it through the hard times.

My last bit of advice, which I received from my undergraduate advisor: don't go into debt for art history! If a program isn't paying you and/or isn't paying you enough, then they're not worth your time. Know your worth and ask for what you deserve, never be afraid to negotiate funding.

Let me know if y'all have any other questions! This was a long one but I hope it was helpful.

[naivety]

so i spun out and hit a tree on the way to work in the beginnings of the snowstorm this last week. even the cheapest replacement hatch is going to cost me $375, and a new taillight $150. i haven't got a quote for how much it'll cost to smooth out the frame, or any of the labor. for the last 3 years i've been trying to save up to move me and my 2 disabled siblings out of such an extreme rural area to a place with even a little more transportation security for this reason alone, as well as the level of isolation i'm forced to experience socially as a closeted trans person in the middle of trump country. i'd already more than halved those savings just to get a deal on this car last fall to have a more reliable vehicle for a move.

my mom has offered to help pay what she can, but she's not exactly rolling in cash either, so i thought i'd throw this into the ether. if you're in a tough spot yourself as so many of us are, please keep your money, but if you have some extra cash, any dollar will help.

p*ypal

c*shapp is $foolshope

[tearlessrain]

I hope even one single person who refused to vote to preserve their Moral Purity realizes the monumental degree to which they fucked up

[albatris]

my first pay came in..... the urge to spend it all immediately.....

[imabiscuitinthousandworlds]

you ever have to listen to someone talk shit about something based on a negatively and very exaggerated article and then just not listen to you who has actual personal insights on the Thing which literally changed your brain chemistry and is one of the greatest things ever but you can't even finish talking about just how the article is even factually wrong and half lies. like. maybe shut the fuck up

[freckleslikestars]

My MFA costs £14,438

My scholarship takes that down to £11,550.40

The UK student loans company offers a maximum of £12,471 to cover both the tuition fees and cost of living.

My university only allow me to have up to 15 hours of employment a week.

I earn minimum wage.

Tell me again how the UK are progressive with allowing working class people to get a higher education, because right now I don’t see it.

[bibleofficial]

where is my fat husband

[thefirstknife]

While I 100% agree that if people aren't having fun they should take a step back/quit, I don't like the "if you're not having fun just go find another game" argument because it's so often used to shut down actual legitimate criticism from people who are otherwise enjoying the game but want genuine problems to be addressed. (I've seen it, for example, when people try to bring up bigotry in games and suggest maybe making some changes to remove it. I always get wary when I see people say it now.)

Oh yeah absolutely. There's real criticism that we have to be able to point out and discuss. A lot of the times people use this for any minor criticism someone has and I agree, that's often a way to shut down the conversation. Criticism in general is supposed to come from a place of love: you love something and you want to see it be better.

Unfortunately, in this case, when the community turns into ONLY negativity and criticism, it's kinda hard to believe they care about the game anymore. If people still had some positive stuff to engage with and were enjoying the game but had issues, then sure. But most of the negativity online right now is just purely rage bait. Bungie apparently has no redeeming qualities, and Destiny is dead. Misinformation is spreading about everything: all devs abandoned Destiny to work on Marathon (claim with no source that's accepted as fact and makes no sense: Destiny is the only game making them money, they can't abandon it before Marathon is out. Like, logically), monetisation is the worst in the industry (I genuinely don't believe that they play other games if they think that Destiny's monetisation is the worst in the industry), Bungie is maliciously banning people for fun (????) but also Bungie isn't banning people enough, Bungie is maliciously making server issues and didn't develop a "fix server" button in their office, game development is easy and Bungie is just lazy and the devs don't want to tell us anything because they're evil, Destiny is falling apart and nobody is playing anymore (just trust me bro), and most recent one which is possibly the most baffling of all - Bungie Foundation is a scam to write off taxes. Yes, that is currently discourse (which apparently gets recycled every year). Bungie Foundation, a charity organisation that's been going on for 13 years and is an independent registered organisation, is a scam. This is where we're at with the community mentality. And there's even more.

When we're at this point, it's truly something else. Like, if they believe conspiracy theories about Bungie and think Bungie is scamming them, maybe they just shouldn't play the game anymore. Why are they still here if they think this is all a scam? I would drop the game if I believed any of this so strongly.

Normal people having criticism and all is perfectly fine however! I did my fair share especially recently about the season pass pricing changes which I called a predatory practice and still believe it is. There's a lot more stuff to complain about while still enjoying the game and not basing your entire online existence and personality on hating Bungie. If they've got nothing else to do besides sitting on twitter shitting on Bungie, maybe it's time to move on.

I've also had my suspicions about the motives for hardcore Bungie hate after the incidents involving transphobic attacks on Bungie devs following the LF showcase, as well as all the crap about Nimbus and their VA. Given the recent developments about the general anti-LGBT+ mentality, I wouldn't be surprised if there's a contingent of people who are focusing on Bungie more than anyone else for how outspoken they are in their support for LGBT+ causes. Like, not to do some big reach or something but it's fairly curious that gamers online are adopting the anti-LGBT+ sentiments while Bungie is aggressively supportive. It just rubs me the wrong way that the one company that's committed to this and has been for years before most other companies jumped on the bandwagon is the one that they're choosing to paint as the worst villain. And the LGBT+ support isn't even all, as Bungie has other initiatives where they actively support women's right, reproductive rights, poc rights, disability rights and so on). I don't know, I've been a part of the gaming community for a long time and while there's been massive changes since the early days (and since gamergate days), the issues of bigotry in gaming remain. It feels particularly suspicious to, out of ALL companies, single out Bungie which invests in charities and progressive causes. Like, in the grand scheme of things, every corpo is robbing me blind, I know that, I have to give money to corpos to live on this Earth, so I at least want to give it to a corpo that considers me to be a human being and funds causes that promote my rights, instead of wanting me dead.

Ironically, all of this weird hate makes it harder to have actual normal criticism. It just gets drowned and lost in the sea of exaggerated bullshit and lies and conspiracies perpetuated by people who just don't seem to like the game anymore. At the end of the day, it's a video game. Whatever criticism we have, if it gets to the point where we just can't handle the state of the game, the best way to show it is to simply stop playing. A deluge of harassment on twitter will not bring about meaningful change nor will it adequately convey our criticism to anyone. If they truly want some changes, they would do this criticism in a way that matters, instead of creating a horde of angry gamers who will latch onto every lie and create a hate bandwagon.

[suburbias]

no more grad apps im done with grad apps

[theninjamouse]

Oh big sads time, ok

[noodleblade]

After a day of a pretty depressing road trip, it’s time to tuck into bed and finish some wips

Also fuck tumblr and it’s AI bullshit.

[belovedblabber]

I often think about a coworker I had at the pizza place I worked at not long before my first big breakdown. He came in to help close one night that wasn't his shift just to hang out and have a beer, and he got fired for stealing customer pizza points. He was the kindest person, and on like my second night when i fucked smth up bc I wasn't trained right and the person training me yelled at me to the point of me having to go cry in the bathroom, this guy ran after me when the shift was done, gave me some of the tip pool even though I wasn't supposed to be eligible yet, and told me he and another coworker thought I did a great job, and that he'd talk to the guy who was shitty to me, bc it had been out of line. Idk where he is now, and there's a high chance he doesn't even remember me, but I was at such a low point walking miserably to the bus stop and idk man, it was such a little act of kindness and it sticks with me to this day

[fettery-fetterie]

They don't know I have headcanon him as a former sex worker for 3 years now

[thelivingautomaton]

the predoctoral fellowship i resubmitted in the fall not only didn't get funded, but in fact got even worse reviews than the first submission, except literally all of the reviewers' critiques were unrelated to the actual scientific merit or value of the work i was proposing. anyway i am feeling very poorly and very stupid today and hate everybody and everything, &c